USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume III > Part 22
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editor. During the Spanish-American War in 1898 he was special correspondent for the "News" with the 8th Massachusetts Infantry, United States Volunteers.
On August 5, 1905, Mr. Webber was ap- pointed assistant postmaster of Salem, an office he has held for twenty-eight years. Although the scope of his work is broad, Mr. Webber gives generously of his time and means to all measures tending to the public good. During the past fourteen years he has been a member of the Salem Plan- ning Commission. A Republican in his political views, he has served his party as president and secretary of the Salem Re- publican Club for several years and as sec- retary of the Republican City Committee for seven years. For twenty years he has been connected with the "Now and Then" Association, as its secretary, and is also sec- retary of the 8th Massachusetts Infantry, United States Army Veteran's Association, an Essex County organization. Fraternally he is affiliated with Essex Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, acting as its secretary for the past nine years ; a member of Sutton Lodge of Perfection. He is also a member of the Washington Association. Mr. Web- ber is the author of "Greater Salem in the Spanish War" and also of the 8th Massa- chusetts Infantry entitled "Twelve Months in the Service of the United States."
On October 9, 1905, Harry E. Webber married Alice Bates, of Beverly, who died on January 27, 1928. Mr. and Mrs. Webber were the parents of two children: I. Carl Edwards Webber who is a graduate of Salem High School, Staunton Military Acad- emy, of Staunton, Virginia, and of Boston University, and is now connected with the Boston Board of Fire Underwriters of Bos- ton. He is a first lieutenant, Officers' Re- serve Corps. 2. Priscilla Endicott, graduate of Salem public and high schools.
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FRANK L. CHASE-Prominent in Young Men's Christian Association work for many years both in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, Frank L. Chase is manager of J. B. Blood Company, retail grocers and provisions, of Salem, Massachusetts, one of the finest stores of its kind in New England.
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Aug- ust 21, 1877, Frank L. Chase received his education in the public schools of that city. His first commercial experience was gained in the Manufacturing Jewelers' Board of Trade of Providence, where he remained for seven years acquiring a fine business training. He then became intensely inter- ested in the work of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association, and was appointed secre- tary of this organization at Attleboro, Mas- sachusetts, a post he held for about four years. Resigning from this position he came to the Providence Young Men's Chris- tian Association as assistant secretary, hav- ing in his charge membership and religious work. During the following four years he was connected with the Connellsville, Penn- sylvania, Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, as general secretary.
At this time Mr. Chase decided to again enter the business world and, coming to Boston, he became associated with Cobb, Bates and Yerxa Company, wholesale and retail dealers in groceries and provisions. Starting as a clerk, he has gradually worked up through the different posts until he has reached the managership of the Salem store of J. B. Blood Company which, as previ- ously stated, is considered one of the finest of its kind in New England, not only for the excellence of their products, but also for the convenient and original methods they have for displaying them. Mr. Chase is a member of the Rotary Club, while his religious fellowship is with the Tabernacle Church of Salem.
In 1902 Frank L. Chase married Julia W. Brown, of Providence, Rhode Island, and they are the parents of a daughter, Made- line.
FRED LESLIE ATKINSON-To the older residents of Newburyport the name of Fred Leslie Atkinson will recall memories of a man who not only successfully adjusted himself to the various business changes of a half century, and so contributed to the pros- perity of his city, but of one who also con- tributed to its community spirit and its charities.
He was born in Charleston, Maine, on No- vember 12, 1856. When he was eight years of age he came to Newburyport with his par- ents and remained a resident of that city until his death sixty-four years later. His father was the Hon. B. F. Atkinson, who served two terms as mayor of Newburyport and was at one time a prominent ship builder there.
After attending the high school of his city Mr. Atkinson was employed in the office of William S. Coffin, a local coal dealer. Four years later he was appointed deputy col- lector of internal revenue and served under the Hon. Charles C. Dame for five years. In 188I he was associated with his father in ship building and when that industry waned, with the passing of sailing ships, he estab- lished a coal business with Captain H. M. Cross as partner. Still later he organized the Atkinson Coal Company and was its head for many years. The company devel- oped a large wholesale and retail coal busi- ness. He became interested in several other commercial enterprises. Among them were the St. Croix Paper Company of Woodland, Maine, which he served as director for a number of years, and the Towle Manufac- turing Company of Newburyport. He was foremost in reorganizing this latter com-
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pany; served as its president for twelve years and placed it upon a paying basis. He was one of the directors of the First Na- tional Bank of Newburyport.
In politics he was a Republican, a con- tributor and counselor of the party rather than an office seeker. He was, however, ap- pointed postmaster by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and was reappointed by President Taft. He held the office for six years.
In 1883 he married Susan B. Russell, daughter of Albert and Mary (Hinkley) Russell. Albert Russell was the founder of the Albert Russell Iron Foundry of New- buryport. One son, Russell, was born of this marriage. He died in 1901 at the age of sixteen years and while a student at the Governor Dummer Academy.
Mr. Atkinson's death, on July 16, 1928, was a grief to many friends and a loss to the community upon which he left the impress of a vigorous and upright character.
ARTHUR F. SMITH is general agent for the Holyoke Mutual Fire Insurance Company, at Salem. He is a native of Salem, born September 20, 1866, son of A. Augustus and Maria (Foster) Smith, both natives of Massachusetts. His maternal grandfather, Isaac P. Foster, was one of the original directors of the Salem Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and he was suc- ceeded by his son, Isaac P. Foster, Jr., Mr. Smith also becoming a director in this same company. A. Augustus Smith for some years owned a book store in Salem but in later life was connected with the Water Department of Salem. He also served as a member of the City Council when the water works was established and was one of the committee that was instrumental in having this utility established in Salem.
Arthur F. Smith received his education in the public schools of his native place, and also studied in a business college in Bos-
ton. His venture into business was in a wholesale shoe supply house in Boston where he remained for about five years. He then worked in the employ of Henry Alley, of Wenham, who was engaged in apicul- ture, specializing in the raising of queen bees. Returning to Salem, Mr. Smith be- came connected with the carpentry and contracting business, which he carried on for about twenty years. For about two years the insurance business claimed his attention as an independent adjustor. In July, 1913, he associated himself with the Holyoke Mutual Fire Insurance Company as a special agent and adjustor, traveling throughout New England in this capacity. A few years later he was made general agent of the company. Mr. Smith's terri- tory is all of New England, where he has charge of all the underwriting done by the company. He is also a director of the Salem Cooperative Bank.
On October 19, 1893, Arthur F. Smith married Ella R. Goldthwait, of Salem, and they are the parents of two sons: Richard F. and A. Plummer.
HALBERT WILFRED DOW-The as- sistant clerk of the District Court of Law- rence, Halbert Wilfred Dow is an attorney in active practice and one of the progres- sive citizens of his native city. He was born on July 19, 1893, the son of Henry F. and Johanna (Freiberg) Dow, his father being a native of Maine, and his mother of Sweden. Henry F. Dow, now retired, was for many years interested in the insurance business.
Halbert W. Dow completed his prepara- tory education in the Dover, New Jersey, High School, from which he was graduated in 1912. For a time he studied in the office of the Hon. Willard W. Cutter, judge of the United States Circuit Court, but in 1913 he came to Lawrence to enter the law office of
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Sullivan Brothers, attorneys. In 1915 Mr. Dow matriculated at the Boston Univer- sity Law School, and was admitted to the bar of Massachusetts four years later. Mean- while, upon the entrance of the United States into the World War, he entered the service of his country, September 29, 1917, as a private in the 5th Battalion, Depot Brigade, stationed at Camp Devens, Massa- chusetts. He was promoted to sergeant in the Auxiliary Remount Depot, No. 301, Ist Battalion, O. T. C. F. A., quartermaster sergeant, Auxiliary Remount Depot, No. 310, Camp Devens ; second lieutenant, Per- sonnel Officer Field Remount Squadron, No. 356, United States Army.
Mustered out of service on January 10, 1919, Lieutenant Dow prepared himself for passing the bar examinations, and was ad- mitted to practice on September 16, 1919, and established himself in practice. He is a member of the Lawrence Bar Association. During the years 1924-25 and 1926 he was a member of the school committee of Methuen, and was appointed assistant clerk of the District Court of Lawrence on Sep- tember 30, 1926, an office he has held since. Mr. Dow is a member and vice-commander of Methuen Post, No. 122, American Le- gion. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, and is a member of all the bodies of Masonry, Scottish Rite, including the thirty-second degree.
On February 26, 1921, Halbert Wilfred Dow married Helen P. Snow, of Lawrence, and they are the parents of three daughters : Evelyn Mae, Elizabeth Helen, and Con- stance Marie.
JOHN E. FENTON -- Like many of those born at the turn of the century, John E. Fenton, attorney and Register of Deeds, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was delayed by the World War and its aftermath in entering the teaching profession which ne
followed while studying law. He takes a keen and constructive interest in all forms of economic, social and civic activities, and has manifested a readiness to lead, or to follow, in the promotion of enterprises which make for the benefit of the com- munity. Mr. Fenton was born in Concord, New Hampshire, on August 28, 1898, the son of Eugene and Margaret (Holden) Fen- ton, his mother a native of Ireland and the father of New Hampshire. Eugene Fen- ton, after two decades as overseer in the Arlington Textile Mills, is now connected with the Thomas Oakes Company, of Bloomfield, New Jersey.
John E. Fenton, after being graduated from high school, in 1916, entered Holy Cross College, from which he received four years later, his degree of Bachelor of Arts. From 1920 to 1923 he taught in the Law- rence Continuation School, and from 1923 to 1929 was a teacher in the Lawrence High School, where he was also director of ath- letics. Meanwhile he studied in the Suffolk School of Law, receiving in 1924 the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and was admitted to the bar in 1926. Elected Register of Deeds in the fall of 1928, Mr. Fenton was installed in office in January, 1929, and has since continued to fill this post to the satisfaction of all concerned. He is a member of the Lawrence Bar Association and of its execu- tive committee.
While Mr. Fenton was a student in Holy Cross College, the United States entered the World War and he entered the service of the country. As a soldier in the infan- try he was assigned to Worcester, Massa- chusetts, where he remained for most of the war period. He is a past judge advocate of Post No. 15, of the American Legion. Fra- ternally Mr. Fenton affiliates with Law- rence Council, No. 67, Knights of Colum- bus, of which he is a past Grand Knight; Lodge, No. 65, Benevolent and Protective
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Order of Elks, of which he is a past exalted ruler, and he is a past president of the Essex County, Ancient Order of Hiberni- ans, and State president and national vice- president of this order. He is vice-presi- dent of St. Mary's Holy Name Society, is the Lawrence representative of the Massa- chusetts Legal Aid Society, member of the executive committee, North Essex Boy Scouts' Council; and has been general chairman of five Lawrence Community Chest drives, and a member of the super- visory committee.
On June 26, 1929, John E. Fenton mar- ried Elizabeth McMahon, of Lawrence, and they have a son, John E. Fenton, Jr., born October 28, 1930.
FRED H. SARGENT-There are few more popular or better known men in the Lawrence section of Massachusetts, than Fred H. Sargent, president of the Lawrence Gas and Electric Company. He is a native of the city, born August 19, 1871, and since young manhood has been connected in va- rious capacities with the corporation he now represents. His parents are Charles H. and Georgiana Abigail (Littlefield) Sar- gent, both natives of Essex County, and on the maternal side he is descended from the John Alden of fame and story. The elder Mr. Sargent was in the grocery business in Lawrence over a very long period, and is recalled by many for his remarkable tenor voice and the pleasure his singing gave.
Fred H. Sargent completed his public school education after two years of high school work at the age of fifteen. About a year later he went to work with the old Lawrence Gas Company as a clerk in the gas works. Having ability, ambition, and the willingness to do more than was re- quired of him, Mr. Sargent was kept busy in nearly all of the departments of the con- cern and filled a wide variety of official po-
sitions before he was made president in 1927. From 1904 to 1919, he was assistant agent, then was vice-president and agent, and in 1927, president and agent. The Law- rence Gas and Electric Company, as it is now called, supplies a district that is bounded on the west by Tewksbury ; on the north by the New Hampshire State line ; on the east by the Haverhill-Topsfield line; and on the south by Wilmington and North Reading. Some four hundred employees are under this administration. Mr. Sar- gent is known as the "Dean" of the gas in- dustry and is the oldest executive in point of length of service in the same company.
A busy life has not prevented Fred H. Sargent from entering spiritedly into many phases of communal life and of the organ- ized activities of his profession. He is a member of the Society of Gas Lighting of New York City; the Gas Guild, the Ameri- can and the New England Gas associations. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, being a thirty-second degree Mason, member of Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and with Monadnock Lodge, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, Lawrence Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Among his clubs are the Home, Methuen, and the Engineers' Club, of Boston. He is a member of the North Andover Board of Trade, the Lawrence Chamber of Com- merce, and the Methuen Board of Trade. Mr. Sargent is a trustee of the Essex Sav- ings Bank, and a member of the Board of Investments, and is also a director and member of the finance committee of the Lawrence Cooperative Bank, a director of the Morris Plan Bank, and a director of the Lawrence Acceptance Corporation.
On January 26, 1901, Fred H. Sargent married (first), Laura E. Tefft, of Brewer, Maine, who died in 1910. He married (sec-
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ond), on January 1, 1923, Anna K. Christen- sen, of North Andover, Massachusetts. Mr. Sargent is a lover of the out-of-doors life and sports and enjoys these at his summer home on Haggetts Pond, West Andover, Massachusetts.
SAMUEL MOODY EMERY-The rich heritage New England enjoys can be at- tributed to the sturdy and righteous stock that throughout history has played such an important part in its development. From the outset the clergy have been a dominant influence and throughout the ranks of this profession can be found representatives who have done much to shape the destinies of their surroundings. They were men of vision and courage who applied the highest Christian principles to the daily life of their communities and thereby were of immeas- urable importance in maintaining the wel- fare and happiness of their fellow-citizens. In this we find Samuel Moody Emery one of the foremost exponents. For many years he preached the gospel throughout the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut and by his efforts won the deep esteem and affection of a host of friends and associates. His life's mission was dedicated to public service, a characteristic which for early youth manifested itself.
Samuel Moody Emery was born in New- bury, Massachusetts, in 1804, in that part of the town which since 1819 has been Known as West Newbury, the son of Moody and Abigail (Prescott) Emery. His father was a direct descendant of John Emery, Jr., who was one of the earliest settlers of this town, having come here in 1635. These early representatives of the Emery family in this section became large landed proprie- tors, owning considerable property in West Newbury and Haverhill, where John Emery, Sr., had been one of the original grantees of land. In the early history of this section
of the State we find them taking an impor- tant part in the affairs of their surround- ings, being prominently identified with the social, civic and business life.
During his early youth, Samuel Moody Emery was of a delicate physical constitu- tion and suffered a severe illness which compelled him to acquire the early part of his general education in a very primitive school, presided over by a lady known to her pupils as Ma'am Jewett. He remained here for some years and then attended the district schools of his native community. Completing his studies here he entered Phillips-Exeter Academy where he prepared for college. He matriculated at Harvard in 1826 and four years later was graduated from that institution. The impress he made on his fellow-students during his collegiate days is clearly revealed by the fact that he was among those to play a prominent part during commencement exercises and was also the recipient of a tribute from one of his classmates which read as follows: "So early as college life he developed his high- toned character and stainless reputation."
After finishing his academic education he devoted several years to the teaching pro- fession, embarking on his educational ca- reer on March 8, 1831, as a master of the classical department of the academy at Northfield, Massachusetts, where he re- mained for two terms. He then became an instructor in the "High School for Young Ladies" at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and served here between October, 1831, and August, 1833. It was shortly after this that he determined to follow a religious career.
On September 2, 1832, in St. John's Church, he was baptized by Dr. Burroughs and confirmed the following Sunday in the same place, by the Right Rev. A. V. Gris- wold, bishop of the Eastern Diocese. It was after departing from Portsmouth that he went to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to
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take up the study of theology. Here he career here there were numerous places of came under the tutelage of the Rev. Dr. worship and the Berkeley Divinity School had been established in Middletown, an in- stitution the Rev. Mr. Emery was to serve for some time as trustee. Fond of youth he devoted much time toward the development of Sunday school activities and during his residence in Portland he also served as a member of the Board of School Visitors for the public school system of the town. In this connection he devoted much time to aiding young people in educational pursuits and was responsible for preparing a number of youth for college. Colt. During his period of study here Sam- uel Moody Emery continued to instruct pupils, and in the winter of 1835 he was employed by a gentleman from Lancaster to teach a group of Harvard students. In July of that year Mr. Emery returned to Cambridge and on the twenty-eighth day of that month was admitted to the holy order of deacons, by the Right Rev. Bishop Griswold at the old Trinity Church in Bos- ton. According to old family records he was presented by the Rev. William Cros- well, then rector of Christ Church in Bos- ton, the church where the newly ordained deacon preached his first sermon.
For several months following his ordina- tion he officiated occasionally in Boston and the neighboring vicinity and maintained this practice until December, 1835, when he was called to assist the rector of Trinity Church at Chatham, a community now known as Portland, Connecticut. He was elected to the rectorship of this church in April, 1837, and on the fourteenth day of the following month was advanced to the Holy Order of Priests in the same institu- tion by the Right Rev. T. C. Brownell, bishop of Connecticut.
His career as officiating head of this in- stitution was marked. For the next twenty years the Rev. Mr. Emery was to be one of the foremost figures in the life of Portland and the surrounding country. During this period his conscientious and diligent labors on behalf of his church and community won the richly merited praise and esteem of the populace. In his work he grew with the town which was rapidly developing into one of the most beautiful towns in the State of Connecticut, and one of the most ad- vanced from a cultural standpoint. Whereas religious facilities were exceedingly limited when he first arrived, by the middle of his
As a spiritual advisor he was sought fre- quently by people in all walks of life for counsel. To this end he inaugurated a mis- sion in the eastern part of town with the approval of the bishop and was assisted in administering the affairs of this place by a Berkeley student, who was the son of the bishop of Mississippi and later became the Rev. Stephen H. Greene of St. Louis, Mis- souri. Before departing from Portland, the Rev. Mr. Emery had the satisfaction of see- ing the corner stone for the "Chapel of St. John the Baptist" laid by Bishop Williams. The following year he returned to be pres- ent at its consecration.
On Easter Monday, 1870, the Rev. Sam- uel Moody Emery resigned the rectorship of Trinity Church and preached his fare- well sermon the first Sunday after Trinity, June 19. With his family he settled on the old John Emery farm on the Merrimack and Artichoke rivers at West Newbury, where he usually held services for his immediate neighbors on Sunday evenings, and occu- pied the position of superintendent of schools from 1871 to 1874. During the month of November, 1873, he brought his family to Newburyport, where at one time he had the pastoral care of St. Paul's Church while the rector was visiting in Europe. It was also during his residence at this place
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that he occupied the pulpit at St. James' Church of Amesbury, a post he maintained for about two years. The family returned to West Newbury in 1882, where the Rev. Mr. Emery resided until his death.
On November 17, 1841, the Rev. Samuel Moody Emery was united in marriage by the Rev. Dr. Morss, rector of St. Paul's Church of Newburyport, to Mary Hale, daughter of Eliphalet Emery, Esq. (q. v.), and Sarah (Hale) Emery. The fathers of the bride and groom were cousins. Rev. and Mrs. Emery were the parents of seven chil- dren, six of whom survived their lamented parents. Their children were: I. Sarah Noyes. 2. Mary Elizabeth. 3. Louisa Jane. 4. Samuel Eliphalet, who was a dentist and practiced at Newburyport. 5. Abbie Pres- cott, died in childhood. 6. Frances Jarvis. 7. Georgiana. The two surviving members of the family are the Misses Louisa J. and Georgiana Emery, who occupy the home- stead in West Newbury.
The Rev. Mr. Emery died at his home in West Newbury on August 16, 1883. His death occasioned deep sorrow throughout this section of New England and deprived the church of one of its most able repre- sentatives. Throughout his life he con- tributed substantially to the advancement and progress of his surroundings with the true spirit of Christian unselfishness. Com- menting on his demise the bishop said: "In times of necessity he has rendered good service since, notably in his long term of care of St. James, Amesbury, at a time of complete business prostration in that vil- lage. Devout, wise, humble, charitable, strong in faith, Dr. Emery was a man to make friends with all who knew him."
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