USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume III > Part 24
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After receiving his education in the public schools of Salem, Mr. Whipple entered the Naumkeag Bank, as a clerk, and continued in this association ten years. In 1912 he fol- lowed in the business of his father as a coal dealer and continued until his retirement in I934.
In 1927 he became the third consecutive member of the Whipple family to serve in the city council and he was reelected in 1929, 1931 and 1933. In this public trust he has
added lustre to an honored name. He has for many years been a member of the Now and Then Club and served as president of this organization in 1918. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is a member and a gov- ernor of the Company of Massachusetts Bay Colony, which is a historical society com- posed of direct Freemen of Massachusetts Bay. All organizations and institutions ad- vancing the welfare of the community re- ceive his generous support.
On June 17, 1931, Stephen A. Whipple married Helen I. Peabody, of Salem. Mrs. Whipple also comes of a prominent family and actively supports her husband in com- munity work.
FRANK LEONARD FLOYD-A well- known figure in the life of Manchester, Frank Leonard Floyd has many important interests here both in business and civic affairs. He is a member of an old Massa- chusetts family and continues the tradition of community leadership so long associated with his name.
Mr. Floyd was born at Manchester, in the building in which he now conducts his busi- ness, on October 17, 1893. He is a son of Lyman W. and Lizzie A. (Smith) Floyd and a grandson of Lyman Floyd, who died in an engagement with Confederate troops at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during the Civil War. Philip Flood, the progenitor of this branch of the family, came from the Isle of Guernsey, one of Great Britain's channel islands, to America in 1680, and located first at East Jersey, now New Jersey. Later he moved to Newbury, Massachusetts. Subse- quent generations of the family changed the spelling of the name from Flood to Floyd.
Lyman W. Floyd was born in Newbury, Byfield Parish, and was at one time a school mate of the Hon. Charles O. Bailey. He was a merchant in Manchester for many years
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and was prominent in all local activities, serving as selectman, town clerk and for twenty years as a member of the school board. He was a man of fine public spirit and at his death, in February, 1930, was widely mourned. Lizzie A. (Smith) Floyd, his wife, was descended from the first set- tlers of Manchester.
Frank Leonard Floyd was educated in Manchester public schools, where he com- pleted the high school course. He has been engaged in the mercantile business in Man- chester all his life, succeeding his father upon the latter's death. Mr. Floyd also con- ducts an insurance agency, representing twenty well known companies. Since he was in his teens, he has been prominent in Manchester life and has filled many offices of public responsibility and trust. In his younger days, Mr. Floyd was chief of the Manchester Fire Department. He has served for a number of years as a member of the town planning board, was formerly town clerk and in 1929 was elected representative to the General Court. In 1932 he became a member of the committee on power and light. To all his public duties he has brought the same close attention and soundness of judgment which have distinguished his busi- ness career and his services in these connec- tions have been of consistent value to the community.
Mr. Floyd is an active Mason, being a member of all higher bodies of the Scottish Rite, including the thirty-second degree of the Consistory. He is also affiliated with both the Lodge and Encampment of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, the An- cient Order of United Workmen and the Sons of Union Veterans, is a member of sev- eral fire chiefs' organizations, the Horticul- tural Society, the Historical Society, and the Manchester Club.
On October 25, 1913, he married Edna West and they are the parents of one daugh-
ter, Alice Elaine, born June 8, 1915, now attending Lasell Junior College, where she is taking the course in journalism and dietetics.
HOWARD NOTT DOUGHTY-Fol- lowing an active and varied business ca- reer, Howard Nott Doughty purchased the Ipswich "Chronicle" at Ipswich, Massachu- setts, in 1931 and has since been its pub- lisher. Mr. Doughty first came to this city in 1910 and is thoroughly familiar with local conditions and problems.
He was born in Englewood, New Jersey, on August 16, 1875, a son of William Stew- art and Maria (Nott) Doughty. His father was a broker and bank official. After the completion of his education in the Engle- wood public schools, Mr. Doughty became connected with the J. W. Wilson Company, New York export and import commission merchants, in 1893. He remained with this company until 1897. From 1897 to 1904 he was employed by the Mexican International Railway Company in New York and Mex- ico and from 1904 to 1910 was associated with the Interborough Rapid Transit Com- pany of New York in the purchasing de- partment. In the latter year he came to Ipswich, Massachusetts, forming a connec- tion with the Ipswich Mills which he con- tinued for eighteen years. In 1928, Mr. Doughty joined the New York real estate firm of Kenneth Ives and Company but in 1931 he returned to Ipswich and purchased the Ipswich "Chronicle." He has been presi- dent and treasurer of the Chronicle Pub- lishing Company, Inc., since February I, 1931. Although without previous publish- ing experience, the "Chronicle," under his guidance, has made an excellent record, exerting an important influence in the life of the community.
In addition to his connection with the Ipswich "Chronicle," Mr. Doughty is also a director of the Ipswich Cooperative Bank.
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He served on the Ipswich School Commit- tee from 1912 to 1920 and has been other- wise active in civic affairs. Mr. Doughty is a member of the Labor in Vain Country Club and of the Episcopal Church.
On November 14, 1901, at Englewood, New Jersey, he married Ellen Appleton Smith Flichtner, daughter of the Rev. George Frederick and Julia . (Appleton) Flichtner. They are the parents of three children : I. Howard N. Doughty, Jr., born February 2, 1904, a graduate of Harvard University in 1926, and has been a tutor in English at Harvard for several years. 2. Julia Flichtner, wife of Pierpont Stackpole of Milton, Massachusetts. 3. James Apple- ton Doughty, who is attending Phillips Exeter Academy.
PERLEY LESLIE-A monument to the memory and to the merchandising and organ- izing ability of the late Perley Leslie is the Haverhill establishment bearing his name, the Leslie Dry Goods Company. This store, one of the largest of its kind in this part of the State, outside the city of Boston, was devel- oped by the founder from small and humble beginnings to a commanding place in the mer- cantile field. Mr. Leslie was also officially as- sociated with two Haverhill banks, and was prominent in civic and religious activities, had traveled extensively in foreign countries, and aided many private and organized philan- thropies.
Mr. Leslie was born in Waterville, Maine, April 5, 1858, the son of William L. and Sarah Leslie, and received his education at the Co- burn Classical Institute in that city and at Comer's Commercial College, Boston. Upon the completion of his business course, he went to Colorado, where he engaged in a retail busi- ness for four years. In 1888 he came to Ha- verhill and opened a retail dry goods store at No. 5 Water Street. So small was the busi- ness at the time that the force consisted of
himself and one clerk. Steady growth and business expansion favored the industry and close application of the energetic proprietor, and in 1892 the first enlargement was made by the addition of space at No. 7 Water Street. Soon afterward the establishment moved from Water Street to No. 32 Merri- mack Street, occupying its first store on this thoroughfare in 1893. In 1894 the store at No. 28 Merrimack Street was taken, and thereafter expansion followed in rapid succes- sion. The next enlargement, made in 1900, brought in additional space from No. 40 Mer- rimack Street, and in 1901 the store at No. 34 Merrimack Street was added to the Leslie establishment.
Another forward step was taken in 1903 when the four Merrimack Street stores, Nos. 28 to 40, were thoroughly remodeled, an entire new front was installed and an upper floor added. These alterations provided a total floor space of about 35,000 square feet. In Octo- ber, 1903, a charter under the laws of Mas- sachusetts was obtained for the incorporation of the Leslie Dry Goods Company, with Mr. Leslie, president and treasurer; George W. Deacon, vice-president, and the officers and William A. Savage composed the board of directors. The modernized store, having be- come one of the most important department stores in its territory outside the Massachu- setts metropolis, had its official opening on November 10, 1903. The capital stock at the time was $75,000, and more than one hundred persons on an average are given employment at the store, which both in equipment and in sales personnel is recognized as one of the foremost in this section. Later the official board, in addition to Mr. Leslie, who was the active head of the company at the time of his death, included Charles H. Rogers, vice-presi- dent and general manager, and John R. Whit- tier, assistant treasurer.
Mr. Leslie was among the first of the retail merchants of the State to attain success in
Perley Leslie
ammie Gs. Leslie
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THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
employee organization. He maintained a genu- ine interest in his employees and made ex- periments in store organization his principal hobby. The Leslie Employees' Mutual Bene- fit Association has for years been an outstand- ing exponent of the happy relations that may and ought always to subsist between employer and employees. One of the outstanding con- tributions by Mr. Leslie to his employees is York Grove, a tract of fourteen acres at Georgetown on the shore of Lake Pentucket. This is the fruit of one of his personal experi- ments in employee organization, and was not the conception of the Leslie Company. In 1919 he converted the York Grove tract into a recreation center for his employees. A large pavilion was erected and facilities installed for making the resort an attractive amusement place.
In 1914 the final addition was made to the Leslie establishment with the addition of a floor in the rear of the store, making four entire floors and basement available for bus- iness operations.
Mr. Leslie held affiliation with a large num- ber of the banking institutions of Haverhill. He was vice-president of the Essex National Bank and a trustee of the Haverhill Five Cents Savings Bank. He was always ready to accept civic responsibilities in worthy causes. He was treasurer of the Haverhill branch of the American Red Cross Society, president and trustee of the Linwood Cemetery Corporation, president of the board of trustees of the Haverhill Young Men's Christian As- sociation, and a member of the Chamber of . Commerce of Haverhill, the Haverhill His- torical Society and the Whittier Club. His religious fellowship was with the First Bap- tist Church, Haverhill, for whose edifice he gave, in 1921, a large memorial pipe organ at a cost of fourteen thousand dollars. During the World War period he served as a member of numerous boards and committees for the government and on war relief work.
Among his fraternal affiliations were: Sagga- hew Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; Pen- tucket Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Haver- hill Commandery, Knights Templar; Merri- mack Valley Lodge of Perfection; Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Boston; Junior Order United American Mechanics, and the Im- proved Order of Red Men. His club connec- tions included the Pentucket Club, Haverhill Country Club, Boston City Club, Old Colony Club of Boston, the Whittier Club of Haver- hill, and he was a member of the National Retail Dry Goods Association. His travels covered many parts of this country and for- eign lands. He returned in July, 1925, from an extended tour of Europe, and while in Nor- way in the summer of that year he was seized with the illness that resulted fatally.
Mr. Leslie married (first), about 1890, Catherine Boardman, of Haverhill. She died in 1906. He married (second), in 1909, Annie G. Morse, daughter of A. Francis and Eliza- beth M. (Robinson) Morse, of Haverhill.
The death of Mr. Leslie, which occurred on March 1I, 1926, removed from Haverhill and the State of Massachusetts an outstanding business man, whose progressive leadership and many fine qualities of character gave him an excellent name and an enduring memory to be prized by all who knew him best. The executive staff of the Leslie Dry Goods Com- pany was reorganized after his decease and now is composed of the following officers : President and treasurer, Mrs. Leslie, who is also general manager; vice-president, Charles H. Rogers ; assistant treasurer, John R. Whit- tier, and clerk and member of board of direc- tors, Ira C. Titcomb. Mrs. Leslie is both a capable business executive and a leader in women's organizations and civic affairs. She is treasurer of the Woman's City Club of Ha- verhill, a trustee of the Haverhill Auditorium Fund, a trustee and a former treasurer of the Young Women's Christian Association of Ha-
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verhill, treasurer of the Haverhill branch of the American Red Cross, and a member of the North Congregational Church of Haverhill.
At the largely attended funeral services for Mr. Leslie in the First Baptist Church, Rev. Clark T. Brownell, D. D., pastor, who de- livered the eulogy, said in part: "I shall like to recall this good man in his place of business. I shall like to recall him as he has been accus- tomed to sit in this congregation, and I shall like to think of him in his home, where he gathered about him the comforts and refine- ments of life because his own heart was of a refined nature. It was a home consecrated by prayer. Here it was his delight to welcome his friends. Here also he had perferred to remain after all his travels in distant lands. Valuing his home above any other place to which he might journey, he had been prepar- ing his heart for the heavenly home through whose portals he has passed. . ... Thank God for such a friend as Perley Leslie."
From an editorial tribute in a Haverhill newspaper the following is taken as voicing also the esteem in which Mr. Leslie was held by the people of his city :
Those who have labored with him longest loved him best in the nature of things; but all, no matter how brief their period of contact, felt the inspiration of his influence. At all times he was a distinctly outstand- ing figure in their lives and the sense of his loss comes with all the greater shock now that the influence has been removed permanently. He was the soul of busi- ness honor and he reflected the highest credit upon the great body of public-spirited citizens of which he was a member.
He was one of those finely balanced personalities that men love and respect. The standards of his char- acter and of his business were nobly high-a monu- ment to his years of achievement and a challenge to emulation everywhere.
HARRY FOWLER MARDEN -- As sec- retary and assistant treasurer of the Hol- yoke Mutual Fire Insurance Company at Salem, Harry Fowler Marden is active in the business life of Essex County. He has
risen to his present position after long ex- perience in banking and insurance work.
Mr. Marden was born at Salem, Massa- chusetts, on December 17, 1892, a son of Lewis W. and Caroline T. (Fowler) Mar- den, both natives of this State. His father, who is now retired, was formerly ticket agent for many years at Salem for the Bos- ton and Maine Railroad.
Harry Fowler Marden was educated in Salem schools, completing the high school course in 1911. As a boy he entered the Merchants' National Bank and was grad- ually promoted until he reached the posi- tion of paying teller. In 1917, when the United States entered the World War, he enlisted as a yeoman in the navy and served for the duration of the war on special shore duty at Boston. After receiving his dis- charge, he returned to Salem and became associated with the Holyoke Mutual Fire Insurance Company as a clerk. This is a representative company of Essex County. A few years later he was elected assistant secretary and subsequently secretary and assistant treasurer, holding these offices until the present time. He has become an important member of his company's organi- zation and the value of his services is well recognized by all his associates.
Apart from his personal business connec- tions, Mr. Marden is a member of the local Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Now and Then Association.
He married, on December 1, 1917, Mar- guerite M. Nichols of Salem and they are the parents of one son, Harry Fowler, Jr., born on April 6, 1920. He is now attend- ing high school.
DeWITT SCOVILLE CLARK, M. D .-- In the professional coterie of Salem, Massa- chusetts, the DeWitt Scoville Clarks, father and son, have been popular figures, and among the leaders in their different profes-
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sions. Dewitt Scoville Clark, the elder, was a Congregational minister who, for thirty- seven years, from 1879 to 1916, was pastor of the Tabernacle Congregational Church of Salem. He was one of the best known men in this section of Massachusetts, and among the most influential in humanitarian and religious circles. He married Emma T. Wood, and they were the parents of De- Witt Scoville Clark, Jr., M. D. Both par- ents are now deceased.
DeWitt Scoville Clark, M. D., was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on November 25, 1887, and at the time of this writing resides in the house in which he was born. After being graduated from the Salem High School he matriculated at Yale University, from which he was graduated in 1909, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Four years later he received his medical degree from the Harvard Medical School, with the class of 1913. After serving in the General Hos- pital of Massachusetts for two years and the Boston Lying-in Hospital one year, he returned to Salem where he has since en- gaged in the general practice of his profes- sion. He was, however, a member of the United States Army Medical Corps during the World War, serving from June, 1917, to July, 1919. For a time he was assigned to Base Hospital No. 6, in Boston, and was sent overseas with General Hospital No. 6, his work consisting mainly of being one of a group of surgeons operating in various field hospitals. After the signing of the Armistice, he went to Macedonia, where he labored among the thousands of refugees in that country. With the rank of first lieu- tenant he was mustered out of his coun- try's service, and came back to Salem where he resumed his practice.
Dr. Clark is a member of the medical staff of the Salem Hospital, and the Ips- wich Hospital. He is a member of the Mas-
sachusetts State Medical Association, of the Salem Country Club, the Salem Billiard Club, and the Chamber of Commerce. He is a director of the Old Ladies' Home and the Bertram Home for aged men.
JOHN GIRDLER COMPANY-The John Girdler Company of Beverly, dealers in coal and wood, is the oldest individually owned business establishment of its kind in Essex County. It was established in 1861 by John Girdler, and the controlling inter- est continues to be held in the family. On another page of this publication may be found an extended account of the life of the founder. This review is intended to give the more detailed history of the business.
John Girdler came to Beverly from Man- chester in the year previously stated, bring- ing with him the traditions of business success in another town and, possessing strength and determination of character, his venture seemed destined for prosperity. He purchased property including a wharf on Water Street, and began his business with one horse and wagon. The business grew vigorously from the start and later other properties were purchased and improve- ments made from time to time as the busi- ness continued to increase and to demand more space. The firm from its early days adopted as its motto, "Quality, preparation, service and a square deal," and the princi- ples therein indicated governed the conduct of the business, both for customers and employees. Several men now in the employ of the company have been with it for from twenty-five to forty-seven years. Such loy- alty on the part of employees bears strong testimony to the integrity and uprightness of the company.
John Girdler was the first to erect a coal elevator in this section and he was always alert to new improvements or innovations.
Essex-13
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THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
He was joined in the late 'seventies by his only son, John H. Girdler, and a rare com- radeship existed between them, the talents of the two men making for continued suc- cess and progress. With mental faculties undimmed, John Girdler continued actively in the business up to and beyond his one hundredth birthday. After his death in February, 1915, the family carried on the business as The John Girdler Company, with his son, John H. Girdler, as manager until his death in August, 1927.
With the incorporation of the firm on June 1, 1929, the personnel of the firm was little changed. Miss Elizabeth L. Girdler is president and treasurer ; Charles A. Pea- body, a grand nephew of John Girdler, Sr., is vice-president and manager; Harold W. Foster, who has been with the concern since 1914, is secretary ; and Frank W. Fos- ter is auditor. All of the foregoing con- stitute the board of directors. It has always been the policy of this highly regarded firm to maintain the plant at a high point of efficiency through improvements in meth- ods of handling coal, etc. From the one horse and wagon used by the founder, the business today requires seven modern trucks with a daily moving capacity of over one hundred tons of coal, working on a basis of eight hours a day.
Charles A. Peabody, the vice-president and manager, is a native of Danvers and for some years was associated with his father, George Morris Peabody, in the building trade. He joined the John Gird- ler Company as manager in January, 1928, and was made vice-president upon its in- corporation. He has been active in military affairs, joining the Ist Massachusetts Field Artillery. In 1916 he saw service along the Mexican Border with the Ist Field Ar- tillery, Massachusetts National Guard (M. V. M.). In 1917 he attended the Army and Navy Preparatory School in Washington,
District of Columbia, and later enlisted in the Motor Transport Corps, United States Army, near the close of the war but did not see active service. From 1920 to 1925 he was a lieutenant in the 102d Field Artillery, Massachusetts National Guard, transferring to the 389th Field Artillery, United States Army Reserves, in September, 1925. He was later commissioned a captain of Field Artillery which rank he now holds. He is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Kiwanis Club of Beverly. He is married and resides in Danvers.
JOHN GIRDLER-No compilation of the history of Essex County or compendium of its leaders would be complete without reviews of the lives of John Girdler, his son, John Hazen Girdler, and the company of which the elder man was the founder, the oldest of its kind in the county. The span of John Girdler's life encompassed a century, and his contributions to the development of Beverly and other New England towns was as full and great as his years. A pioneer in his business and civic activities, he was a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who arrived from England in 1634. In the ancient rec- ords of the Marblehead part of Salem, Fran- cis Girdler (Godler) was enjoying the bene- fits of a freeman in 1678. Of a later genera- tion of this family was Captain George Gird- ler, grandfather of John Girdler, of this re- view, who, with his brother John, both ship- masters, removed in 1765 from Marblehead to Manchester. George Girdler was on sev- eral privateers during the War of the Revo- lution.
John Girdler was born at Manchester on November II, 1814, son of Captain William and Peggy (Hilton) Girdler, the father a sea captain. This boy, at the age of thirteen, left school, went to sea, and before he was twenty-one was himself captain of a fishing
John Girdles
John H. Geraler
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THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
vessel. He early achieved success and owned his own wharf at Tuck's Point, where he owned and outfitted vessels.
The business career of John Girdler has been related in an accompanying review of the John Girdler Company, and needs no repetition here. Until 1861 he was a citizen of Manchester and was honored with elec- tion to nearly every office that is within the gift of his fellow-residents, including elec- tion to the State Legislature. His activities as a public servant were in line with those of his commercial and financial career, and all based on high ideals and practices of stern integrity, unremitting enterprise, fair deal- ings with clients and competitors, courage, generosity, and calm strength. The rebate and the alteration of bills of lading system, then in full flower in the business world, could not tempt him to deviate from a path that was straight. The excuse most often given was that such things could not be found out, but his answer was, "But I would know it." At one period of his experience, strikes were rife, and tremendous pressure was brought to bear upon him, but he would not be persuaded from a course which he be- lieved to be just and, in the end, best for all concerned.
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