USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume III > Part 36
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The name Gregory was borne by pioneer families of Marblehead, and most of Lafay- ette Gregory's ancestors followed the sea. He was born August 12, 1863, the son of Joseph and Hannah (Hooper) Gregory, of Marblehead. The father, who died in 1916, served in the United States Navy as a mid- shipman from 1861 to 1865. When the Civil War was over, he was employed in the shoe manufacturing business in Marblehead, and later was in the United States Customs service at Boston for many years until his death. Lafayette Gregory attended the Marblehead schools, but, as a boy, left to become an employee of Joseph M. Herman to receive three dollars a week. His first week's work brought him an immediate raise of wages to five dollars, and at the end of the first year he was placed in charge of the stock. By 1887 Mr. Gregory was earning one hundred dollars a month, a large salary at the time, and was asked to go out on the road as salesman. He agreed on the condition that should he not like the new work, or should fail, he might have his former position. He began selling at Trini- dad, Colorado, a town with a bad name, and went from there by horseback and stage coach to other western settlements, some of even worse character. This first trip ended with orders amounting to $49,000, which far exceeded the expectations of Mr. Herman. Instead of returning to the stock depart-
Frank 9. Por
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ment, Mr. Gregory spent twenty-three years as a traveling salesman. As has been mentioned, he became a partner in 1910, and an executive of the Joseph M. Herman Company when it was incorporated. It was in the shops of this company that the fa- mous Munson last was perfected and intro- duced into the American military forces for universal use. Mr. Gregory retired from the company in 1932 to devote himself to his personal interests in Marblehead. He is a trustee of the Marblehead Savings Bank, and of the Benjamin Abbott Fund. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons and formerly was a mem- ber of a large number of clubs and organi- zations, and was one of the oldest members of the Corinthian Yacht Club. Business made it impossible for him to devote much time to public affairs, but none have been more ready to further any worth while movement for the benefit of the community or the care of its needy and suffering.
In 1890 Lafayette Gregory married Car- rie Mason Goldthwaite, daughter of Wil- liam J. and Mary (Pitman) Goldthwaite, and a graduate of Mt. Holyoke College. Mr. and Mrs. Gregory are the parents of a son, Ernest Gregory, who is a graduate of Am- herst College. During the period of the World War he enlisted in the United States Navy and was sent to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. Upon graduation he was placed in charge of seven submarine chasers with full rank of lieutenant. After the war he tendered his resignation, but it was not accepted and he was made com- mander of twenty-four boats which he took through the Panama Canal to Santiago and other ports. His resignation was accepted after this feat, and he became associated with the Rumford Press at Washington, District of Columbia, later being placed in charge of their New York office. Ernest Gregory married Helen M. Washburn.
FRANK A. POOR-Closely linked with the progress and success of Hygrade Syl- vania Corporation, of Salem, is the person- ality of Frank A. Poor, its treasurer and the founder of its predecessor, the Hygrade Lamp Company. He has the distinction of now being the treasurer of one of the larg- est and most important companies in its field, the manufacturer of superior electric lamps and radio tubes.
Born in Salem, September 9, 1879, Mr. Poor is a son of Joseph H. and Margaret J. (Linehan) Poor, the former a native of Pea- body, Essex County, and the latter of Ire- land. His father was one of those farsighted and enterprising men who brought fame to Salem as a center of the leather manufac- turing industry in the days following the Civil War. Frank A. Poor had the benefit of a common school education, but his chief training in his boyhood was received in the hard school of experience while at work in the factory. In those days honest toil at some desirable trade was supposed to be superior to a college course-it fitted one better to enter on a business career. So he gave himself to mastery of the initial processes of tanning. This line was not especially to his liking, however, and he made a trial of the hay and grain business for a time.
At the age of twenty-one, a kindly fate directed him in the way of the industry that was destined to be his lifework. Possessing a capital of only about $3,500, he added to it an abundance of energy and an indomitable courage, and with this combination he took over a lamp renewing business that was having difficulty in remaining alive. Thus he started out for himself, and his native "stick-to-itiveness" carried him over many a hill of severe trial that mere capital could not have conquered.
His brothers, Edward J. Poor and Walter E. Poor, soon joined forces with him, and
Essex-18
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under the solid alignment of mental and physical resources of these three men, the business took on a successful stride that has accelerated during the years that have passed. The original capital has increased to the point where millions are now in- vested, and from an employed personnel of fifteen, the force has grown to forty-five hundred. So it can be truly said that Mr. Poor, through his gifts of foresight, genius, and high spirit, not only laid the foundation of one of the largest businesses in Essex County, but has since continued to be one of its chief figures in the management. "Hygrade" lamps are now in use through- out the country, having won for themselves a reputation for quality in harmony with the most approved traditions of New Eng- land. More recently Hygrade Sylvania Corporation has gone into the production of radio tubes, in which department the three brothers Poor have improved another op- portunity to exercise the energy and enter- prising spirit for which they are so well known. It should be emphasized at this point that remarkable as has been his suc- cess in the industrial world, this has not turned the head of the founder, for Frank A. Poor continues to be in as ardent love with hard work as ever. Nor has there been any slackening in his resolution to main- tain at the highest Poor and New England standards all the products of Hygrade Syl- vania Corporation.
The community interests of the city of Salem command much of his best thought and active participation. For many years he had his residence in Danvers, where he served on the town Finance Committee. He is a member of the Salem Chamber of Com- merce, the Associated Industries of Mas- sachusetts, and of other organizations. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Salem. In the building of the Hawthorne Hotel, the leading hostelry of Salem, he was a
prominent figure, and was active in the campaign for the raising of funds for its construction. He was elected the first pres- ident of the hotel corporation and has since retained his place on the board of directors. Among his fraternal affiliations is the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has gone in both the ways of the York and Scottish Rites, and is a member of Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Boston. His social organizations include the Salem Country Club, and the Corinthian and Boston Yacht clubs.
Frank A. Poor married, February 21, 1907, Margaret J. Linehan, of Danvers, and they are the parents of five children: I. Dorothy H. 2. Joseph F., who is a member of the class of 1934, Pennsylvania Military Academy, Chester, Pennsylvania. He was captain of the college polo team in 1933 and 1934, which made an outstanding record in that game. 3. Louise A., who is a student at Wellesley College. 4. and 5. Robert H. and William F., who are students at Phil- lips Academy, Andover. The family home is in Swampscott.
WALTER E. POOR-Among the busi- ness men of Salem, Massachusetts, Walter E. Poor is prominent not only as the vice- president of Hygrade Sylvania Corporation, but also because of his civic and club activi- ties. He is the son of Joseph H. and Mar- garet J. (Linehan) Poor, born on Novem- ber 23, 1885, in Peabody, Massachusetts. His father, a native of Massachusetts, was for many years a manufacturer of leather in both Salem and Peabody.
After attending the local grade and high schools, Walter E. Poor enrolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, from which he was graduated in 1908, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. By way of post-graduate work he went with the Boston Elevated Railroad
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for about a year, and was in the employ of the Hugh Nawn Contracting Company, of Boston, for another year. Late in 1910, Mr. Poor became associated with his brother, Frank A. Poor, who was then op- erating the Hygrade Incandescent Lamp Company, a rather small and struggling concern. His abilities and technical train- ing were put to a severe test in this indus- trial company, but proved amply sufficient. He has proven one of the constructive fac- tors in the making of Hygrade Sylvania Corporation. Walter E. Poor was elected vice-president of the corporation in 1931, an office which has been his since that time.
Mr. Poor is a trustee of the Salem Five Cents Savings Bank, a member of the Amer- ican Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Radio Engineers. Among his clubs are the Eastern Yacht Club, the Corinthian Yacht Club, of Marblehead, and the Salem Country clubs.
On October 12, 1912, Walter E. Poor married Elizabeth R. Phippen, of Salem, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of two children: George R., and Arthur P. Poor.
EDWARD J. POOR-In the capacity of chairman of the board of Hygrade Sylvania Corporation, Edward J. Poor is one of the three brothers Poor whose name is a syno- nym for the remarkable strides made by this organization and its predecessor, the Hygrade Lamp Company, of Salem.
Edward J. Poor was born in Peabody, July 15, 1882, a son of Joseph H. and Mar- garet J. (Linehan) Poor, his father a native of that town, and the mother of Ireland. From the high school of Salem he entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where, as a student for three years, he obtained a technical knowledge that fitted him for the duties in which he was destined to engage in the electrical field.
In 1909 he associated himself with the Bay State Lamp Company, founded by his brother, Frank A. Poor. This concern was incorporated in 1917, taking the title Hy- grade Lamp Company. Of this new organi- zation he eventually was made president. When a merger was made by this company with the Sylvania Products Company, of Pennsylvania, in 1931, and the expanded style of Hygrade Sylvania Corporation was assumed, he became chairman of the board of the combination. This corporation is now one of the large manufacturers in the country of incandescent lamps, radio tubes and electronic devices. Interesting reviews of Frank A. Poor, founder of the business and treasurer of Hygrade Sylvania Cor- poration ; Walter E. Poor, vice-president of the corporation, and a history of Hygrade Sylvania Corporation itself are also to be found in this work on Essex County.
Mr. Poor is a past president of the Salem Country Club, and a past president of the Lake Sunapee Country Club. He is deeply interested in golf, and has participated ac- tively in the management and construction of golf courses. This may be said to be his principal diversion. He, with others, had charge of the building of the Salem Country Club course and club house, which cost half a million dollars in construction.
Edward J. Poor married, in 1915, at Salem, Louise Fuller, who was born in this city. Their children are: I. David E., born in 1917. 2. Marie L., born in 1919. 3. Leon- ard F., born in 1920. 4. Raymond J., born in 1924.
HYGRADE SYLVANIA CORPORA- TION is a combination of two very aggres- sive and very successful concerns manu- facturing incandescent lamps and radio tubes-the Hygrade Lamp Company of Salem, Massachusetts, and Sylvania Prod- ucts Company of Emporium, Pennsylvania.
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But as this merger was brought about only in 1931, Essex County's interest is largely in the Hygrade Lamp Company, which was founded in 1901 by Frank A. Poor, and has maintained itself ever since as a growing manufactury typical of the best traditions of New England.
In 1901 Frank A. Poor, twenty-one-year- old son of a prominent leather manufacturer, Joseph H. Poor, bought out an infant in- dustry in Middleton, renewing incandescent lamps, and moved it to Danvers where, un- der the name of the Bay State Lamp Com- pany, he started on the road to success.
It was an adventurous undertaking be- cause he had a capital of only $3,500, fifteen employees, and a very uncertain market. He had to learn the business from all angles -manufacturing, finance, selling-and not only was forced to combine in himself the executive work of all three, but also on oc- casion was called to perform actual physical labor, such as, for example, replacing worn out boiler pipes on a bitterly cold winter day.
But as the company grew, this general experience proved of inestimable value, for the man at the head of it knew what his employees' problems were and could work with them.
It was a struggle, but business slowly increased, and in 1904 a brother, Edward J., joined the company. First he, too, worked in the factory at all sorts of jobs, until he began to take an interest in sales, the man- agement of which was turned over to him.
There was more progress, production was constantly increasing, and in 1911 the youngest of the three brothers, Walter E., recently graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and with some subsequent engineering work in Boston, threw his lot with Frank A. and Edward J.
Naturally he was assigned to engineering and from this moment the triumvirate
began to make history. Here were three brothers, of three distinct personalities and possessed of different talent-three men who could work independently and yet to- gether for the common good of the com- pany.
In this practical example of team work is probably the great secret of the company's success, for now it began to be successful and to expand.
Renewed lamps were hard to sell, and dependent on an uncertain supply of raw material. So, with the advent of the tung- sten filament the concern began to make new lamps. About this time also it changed its name from Bay State Lamp Company to Hygrade Incandescent Lamp Company and later to Hygrade Lamp Company.
It is significant of the care and thorough- ness with which everything was done that it took four years of experimenting before the first Hygrade tungsten lamp was put on the market. But once offered to the' public, it won acceptance because of its quality and from this time Hygrade has enjoyed a steady and very sound progress.
The increase in business made impera- tive larger quarters than the old wooden factory in Danvers, even though it had been enlarged. So in 1916 a brick factory was erected at the corner of Boston and Bridge streets, Salem, directly opposite the spot where the great Salem fire of 1914 started. The production was now 11,000 lamps a day and the company considered that it was made.
But so sound had been the foundations in carefulness of manufacture, energy, and logic of selling, that it seemed as if nothing could stop Hygrade growth. The war in- creased the demand for incandescent lamps. Government business was secured ; sales all over the country expanded ; and before any- one realized it, the original brick factory was inadequate and first one and then an-
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other factory was added, until today there are in Salem alone five main structures with a combined floor space of four and one-half acres.
In 1927 and 1928 came the question of expansion. Due to the terms of the license from the General Electric Company, under which Hygrade operated, increase in lamp sales was contingent on increase in General Electric sales. So a widened scope for the energy of the young men in the organiza- tion was sought in other products. And since radio tubes had basically the same type of construction as incandescent lamps, Hygrade started their manufacture.
This new development progressed slowly and soundly. But it opened up a wonderful new field, which called for new methods of manufacture, and a new type of selling and a wonderful impetus to new thinking.
The depression in 1929 temporarily les- sened the demand for radio tubes, but for- tunately the company did not depend on the profit from tube sales for its income and so was able to keep steadily on its program of research and development.
In 1931 a very important change took place. Relations had always been friendly with Sylvania Products Company of Em- porium, Pennsylvania, likewise a manufac- turer of incandescent lamps and radio tubes, and it was finally decided that a merger of the two companies would add to the strength of both, and result in the forma- tion of a company of great strength and un- limited potentialities for growth. So in 1931 Hygrade Sylvania Corporation was founded.
This was a merger in strength. Both concerns were profitable enterprises, with ample financial reserves. The products of both had acceptance in the trade and with the general public. Both had well equipped factories and well organized forces. Each had qualities valuable to the other.
In the interests of economy, product names were combined. Sylvania lamps gave way to Hygrade Lamps and Hygrade radio tubes became Sylvania radio tubes.
The combination functioned harmoni- ously from the start. In 1933, to provide a common focal point for executive control an executive sales office was opened at No. 500 Fifth Avenue, New York City.
This same year a third enterprise was established-an Electronics Department- in a modern factory in Clifton, New Jersey. This completed the line of radio tubes by making possible the manufacture of high power tubes for broadcasting stations, po- lice radio sets and all the other devices grouped under the term electronics. And since a remarkably able organization was acquired ready made, the new department was an immediate success.
There are certain basic reasons for the success of Hygrade Sylvania Corporation. First, probably comes teamwork. The three Poor brothers, however they might differ in their opinions, worked as a unit, and each one was willing to defer his personal opin- ions to the opinions of the majority. This team work has been carried all through the organization.
There is the willingness to employ spe- cialists and experts in particular lines, a policy of always using the most improved machinery and methods, a policy of equable treatment of employees, a very definite in- sistence on quality ; and a sound sales policy which led one investigator to report "You have nothing to live down !"
The year 1934 sees the corporation, in its four plants, possessed of twenty-seven acres of land, 9.7 acres of floor space, a capacity of 100,000 incandescent lamps and 100,000 radio tubes a day, and forty-five hundred employees ; with a capital and surplus of
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$4,500,000 ; no notes payable and no bonded debt.
This is a far cry from $3,500 capital and fifteen employees of thirty-five years ago. It has been earned by grit, persistence, and good management.
FREDERICK SARGENT GAGE-As a member of an old and distinguished Ameri- can family whose representatives played an important part in the history and develop- ment of their surroundings, Frederick Sar- gent Gage upheld the illustrious traditions of his forebears and during a long and dis- tinguished career rose to become one of the foremost figures in the textile industry of the United States. Through his accom- plishments and achievements, both as a business man and citizen, he won the esteem, respect and admiration of a host of friends and colleagues.
The Gage family, from all accounts, sprang from the time of the Conquest when Sire De Gaugi of Gaugy, near Rouen, Nor- mandy, accompanied William The Con- queror to England in 1066 and participated in the battle of Hastings. In the line in the seventh generation from the above is Sir John Gage, and his grandson was Sir John Gage, K. G., Keeper of the Tower of Lon- don, under Henry VIII and Queen Mary. His son, Sir Edward, was knighted by Queen Mary, and the son of Sir Edward was Sir John, created baronet in 1622. The latter's son, John Gage, born in 1604, died in 1673, came to Salem in 1630 in the fleet with Governor Winthrop. He resided in Brad- ford, later removing to Ipswich in 1633, where he was the first settler. The follow- ing year he was of record at Rowley. He was one of the organizers of the First Church at Boston. From this John Gage, the emigrant, and his wife, Ann, Frederick Sargent Gage, the subject of this memoir,
traced his ancestry through Daniel, who married Sarah Kimball; John, who mar- ried Susanna Ross; Aaron, who moved to Merrimack, New Hampshire, in 1773 and served in a company which marched to Fort Ticonderoga, New York. He married Han- nah Stevens of Andover, and their son, Aaron, married Martha Stevens and became the parents of Benjamin Stevens Gage, the grandfather of the subject of this review. Benjamin Stevens Gage resided at Bed- ford, New Hampshire. His first wife was Sally Nichols of Amesbury, Massachusetts, and their son, Aaron, born in 1804, married Marion Couthouy of Boston, where they resided.
Frederick Sargent Gage was born in Bos- ton, Massachusetts, December 2, 1853, the son of Aaron and Marion (Couthouy) Gage. He received a general education in the pub- lic schools of his native city, graduating from the English High School there. Shortly after completing his studies at the above institution he entered the textile trade and acquired varied experience in numerous departments of this business. His aptitude for business and commerce frequently led to his being consulted by some of the leading enterprises of the Nation and in this connection he came to serve as a mem- ber of the board of directors of many lead- ing concerns. In addition he became the directing head of one of the foremost textile organizations of the country and in the pur- suit of his duties established himself as a man of unique administrative talents. He contributed many articles on the textile industry to leading trade journals of the country. In his social and civic activities he took a definite interest in the affairs of his surroundings and was prominently affili- ated with many of the larger clubs in New York City and Boston. Throughout his life he manifested a great interest in geneal-
Johnof Slane.
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ogy, having been a descendant of the same family as General Thomas Gage of Revolu- tionary fame. During his leisure hours he indulged this hobby. In his political con- victions he adhered to the principles of the Republican party.
On May 13, 1880, Mr. Gage married Ellah Florence Drake, born March 30, 1856, daughter of Nathan and Clara Hilton (Frith) Drake of Watertown, Massachu- setts, and a direct descendant of Sir Francis Drake. Nathan Drake was a successful con- tractor of Boston, building many blocks and houses, and at one time was a large real estate owner in the business section. He spent the later years of his life at Water- town. To them were born two daughters : I. Barbara M., who for over seventeen years was one of the leaders in community and settlement work in New York City, and is now residing in Hamilton, Massachusetts. 2. Dorothy C., who married Raymond G. Noble. She passed away on March 26, 1934.
Mr. Gage died at his home in Mount Ver- non, New York, on November 10, 1930, at the age of seventy-six years. His memory will continue in the hearts and minds of business circles of Essex County and New York City, where his activities had played such a dominant part. His passing was particularly felt by those many friends and associates who esteem him for his abilities and for the sterling characteristics he mani- fested in every department of life.
JOHN PHILIP KANE-Engaged in the practice of law at Lawrence, his birthplace, John Philip Kane has been actively associ- ated, throughout his entire career, with the professional life of this region of New Eng- land. Since 1895 he has been continuously carrying on his legal work in Lawrence and in Essex County.
Mr. Kane was born on April 16, 1869, at Lawrence, Essex County, Massachusetts, son
of Patrick and Mary (Harvey) Kane, both natives of Ireland. His father came to Amer- ica in 1837, stopping first in New Jersey. That State was the home of the Kanes for some years, but after a time, Patrick Kane came to live in Lawrence, Massachusetts. His wife, mother of the man whose name heads this review, Mrs. Mary (Harvey) Kane, came to the United States in 1847. She and her husband were married in Hart- ford, Connecticut. Patrick Kane served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
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