USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume IV > Part 11
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carpenter trade and continued in this line of business until 1920, when he established a contracting business of his own, which he maintained until his election to the Board of Aldermen as director of public property and parks, in December, 1930.
To demonstrate the esteem he is held in by the populace of this city we find that he received the largest majority ever accorded any candidate seeking this office and his competence and ability in directing the func- tions of this department during his first term was rewarded in 1932 through reelection to the same post.
He was one of the most successful con- tractors in Lawrence during his career in that business, being responsible for the erec- tion of many sizeable projects and being par- ticularly prominent in the construction of many of the tenement houses in the commu- nity.
While his political life reflects the very active interest he has taken in the life of the city he has also been closely identified with social and fraternal matters. He is a mem- ber of the Washington Club, the Arlington Social Club, the Athletic Club, the Yacht Club and fraternizes with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Loyal Order of Moose, and is a member of the Hermann Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Eberhardt was married (first), in 1910, to Margaret Schirner, who died in 1920. He married (second), in 1922, Wally Lange- metz, a native of Germany. There was one child by the first marriage, Raymond, and two by the second marriage, John and Doro- thy.
REVEREND JAMES A. McDONALD- - For over three decades the Reverend James A. McDonald, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church of Lawrence, has devoted his life to
the welfare and happiness of his fellowmen and in pursuit of this mission has come to win the lasting and profound esteem and affection of all who have sought his worthy advice and followed his spiritual guidance.
Father McDonald was born in Andover, February 8, 1877, the son of James and Cath- erine (Neicon) McDonald. His father, who came to this country with his parents at the age of five years, was a native of Ireland, while his mother came from St. Johns, New- foundland. He received a general education in the public schools of his native commu- nity and after completing his studies here attended the University of Pennsylvania, later entering Villanova College, from where he was graduated in 1896 with a degree of Master of Arts.
In 1901 Father McDonald was ordained a Catholic priest and during the three years that followed taught in St. Augustine's Col- lege in Havana, Cuba, and later acted as assistant pastor at Bryn Mawr, Pennsyl- vania. It was in 1908 that he came to Law- rence as sub-prior and assistant pastor of St. Mary's Church. In his new duties he was in charge of the men's division of the Holy Name Society, which had over one thousand members on its roll and also headed the St. Mary's Cadets, a unit made up of six hundred boys. At this time he was appointed to a mission band and with this body traveled all over the United States. In 1916 he enlisted in the United States Army as a chaplain with a rank of captain and for the next two years was stationed at Fort McPherson, Georgia. In 1919 he went to Detroit and at this point established two parishes, one under the name of St. Augus- tins and the other under the name of St. Clare. He remained in charge of these insti- tutions until 1930, when he returned to Law- rence as pastor of St. Mary's Church, where he has become actively interested in the
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social and civic affairs of the community and heads a school system which is educating over two thousand children.
In the pursuit of his duties here he has become prominently identified with the Knights of Columbus, where he holds the office of chaplain, and is affiliated with the Catholic Daughters, Division No. 8; the An- cient Order of Hibernians, and the Law- rence library board. He also holds the office of chaplain with the American Legion Post, No. 15.
THOMAS A. WELCH-Versatility and diversified interests characterized the whole life of Thomas A. Welch, retired shoe man- ufacturer, sports lover and clubman. He was a native of Lynn, born October 28, 1880, the son of Mrs. Lillian (Whitney) Welch, and Martin E. Welch, pioneer shoe manufacturer of the city and the senior partner in the firm of Welch and Landre- gan, one of the largest makers of women's shoes in the New England trade.
Thomas A. Welch attended the local pub- lic schools and was graduated in 1901 from the Classical High School. Matriculating at Brown University, he received his degree with the class of 1905. While in high school he played baseball, pitching for the team, and continued this sport in college, becom- ing an outstanding ballplayer and acquir- ing fame as a pitcher. He played roller polo in the old armory on Franklin Street with the White Mice, the championship team of those days.
After graduating from college he entered the shoe business of his late father, who was senior partner of the firm of Welch and Landregan. For several years he was sales- man and then became superintendent of what was then one of the largest shoe com- panies in New England, manufacturing women's shoes. Following the dissolution
of the firm, Mr. Welch, with his brother, Edward C. Welch, and Reuben Mitchell, or- ganized the shoe manufacturing firm known as the Mitchell Welch Shoe Company, with a plant in West Lynn. The firm continued to manufacture for several years, and was dissolved a few years ago when Mr. Welch's health forced him to retire from active busi- ness. Since retirement Mr. Welch had de- voted much of his time to the enjoyment of golf, billiards and home life. He was a member of the Oxford Club and Tedesco Club, and Theta Delta Chi Fraternity of Brown University.
In 1910 Thomas A. Welch married Lydia A. Dunwoody, born in Missouri, daughter of J. Francis Dunwoody, of Chester County, Pennsylvania, a mill owner, and Magdalene P. (Werner) Dunwoody. Mr. and Mrs. Welch were the parents of two children: I. Thomas Dunwoody, born March 2, 1912, graduate of Andover Academy and attended Harvard University for three years. 2. Bar- bara, born February 21, 1918, graduate of Miss May's Finishing School.
Mr. Welch died at his Lynn home on June 5, 1934. He was numbered among those rare persons whose contributions to humanity consist not only of additions to industrial and business progress but also to cultural and pleasure pursuits, to sports and the fuller enjoyment of life. His virile per- sonality, the wide scope of his vision and activities, his unconscious altruism and anonymous philanthropies, combined to make him a true benefactor of humanity, and was an example of that seldom recog- nized fact that it is harder but better "to know how to live than to make a living."
REV. JOHN A. SHERIDAN-Under its three pastors, the Sacred Heart Church of West Lynn has made remarkable headway in the more than forty years of its history.
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The story of Catholic Lynn, however, goes back still earlier than their day to 1835, when the Rev. William Wiley, of Salem, offered the first Mass here at the corner of Water- hill and May streets (May Street now being known as Spencer Street), in the house of Lawrence Birney. The large room of this house, which still stands, was large enough to accommodate all the Catholics of the city. Mass was said once a month by the Rev. J. D. Brady, the Rev. James Strain, and the Rev. T. J. Flaherty until 1846, when Catho- lic Lynn was separated from Salem and joined to Chelsea. The service thenceforth was held in different homes, including those of Michael McCann, in Boston Street, and Peter Murphy, in Church Street, until the formal church was established. The piece of furniture used as an altar in the Murphy home is still preserved as a sacred heirloom in the Murphy family. Father Wiley later labored in Boston, New Hampshire, and Providence, Rhode Island, and was pastor of Holy Redeemer Church, of East Boston, at the time of his death in 1855. Sacred Heart Church has been well served since its founding and has been fortunate in its priests, each of whom has accomplished a special service. The task of freeing the church from debt and consolidating its or- ganizations fell to the lot of the Rev. John A. Sheridan, who, from the time of assuming his first pastorate, through his long service in Sacred Heart parish, West Lynn, in 1917, has been effectively serving the spiritual needs of his people and faithfully furthering the influence of the Catholic Church and the cause of Christianity. On April 10, 1935, he was assigned to the Church of Our Lady, Help of Christians, of Newton, as irremova- ble pastor.
Father Sheridan is one of the well-known priests in the archdiocese, and his former church has had an interesting history, both
during the period in which he was in charge of it and in the days before that time. Sacred Heart parish was originally formed from a section of St. Mary's Church, in West Lynn, the residents of this community having too far to go to reach St. Mary's, in Lynn proper. Accordingly, the separation was effected in June, 1894, soon after land had been pur- chased in Boston Street, opposite Cottage Street, in May of that year, by the late Right Rev. Monsignor Arthur J. Teeling, then pas- tor of St. Mary's. On June 19, 1894, the Rev. Dennis F. Sullivan came from Malden to take charge of the new parish as its first resident pastor, celebrating the first Mass on the following Sunday. The service was held in a brick building in Wyman Street, which seated about one thousand people. The room was situated in a cigar factory, and there it was that services were held until the following year, when the basement of the present church was completed. Under Father Sullivan's pastorate the Church of the Most Blessed Sacrament, in Saugus, was completed two years later. The parochial school and chapel of the Holy Family, in Robinson Street, were his next achieve- ments, and they were dedicated in 1902.
Through an arrangement by Father Teel- ing, the mother parish of St. Mary's donated to the young parish a lot of land, costing $3,000, in Boston Street. The first lot, seven- teen thousand square feet in area, was pur- chased in 1893, and the second, containing sixty thousand and fifty square feet, was bought in June, 1894, the two lots together having a frontage of two hundred feet on Boston Street and comprising the home of Sacred Heart parish. At first a wooden structure was used for residence, but after a time came the present fine brick edifice of eighteen rooms built for the pastor.
In 1904 came the celebration of the silver jubilee of the Rev. Father Sullivan's ordina-
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tion as priest. He was given a purse con- taining $1.700 by parishioners on that occa- sion. On July 22, 1905, he died, and he was mourned by members of his own flock and by all the people of Lynn, who recognized the splendid work that he had done in the cause of temperance and reform and appre- ciated his contribution to the moral well- being of his community. In his pastorate he was assisted by the Rev. William J. Mc- Carthy, now pastor in Lexington, and the Rev. William F. Lyons, present pastor of St. Theresa's Church, West Roxbury. An- other curate at that time was the Rev. Henry L. Scott, who remained at Sacred Heart parish only a short time.
The successor of Father Sullivan was the late Rev. James F. Gilfether, who came to Lynn from Newton after having served twenty-two years there as curate. Father Gilfether saw to it that the superstructure of the church was completed, and, as a result of his efforts and those of his parishioners, one of the finest church edifices in the arch- diocese was opened and dedicated on Sun- day, September 29, 1912, by Cardinal O'Con- nell on his first official visit here. Father Gilfether died January 20, 1917, after having built up a reputation for kindness of heart and unfailing courtesy, as well as for a deep interest in the education and welfare of the children of the parish and the betterment of the whole church and its members.
His successor was Father John A. Sheri- dan, who had been pastor at Holbrook. Be- coming pastor of Sacred Heart parish, in West Lynn, he assumed his new position in February, 1917, at once beginning the heavy task of freeing the church properties of debt. Under his pastorate the church was wholly freed from debt by 1926, and soon afterward Father Sheridan began plans for a new con- vent for the nuns of the parish, who taught in the parish school. The new convent,
which is occupied by the Sisters of St. Joseph, was finished in 1931, the year in which the Sisters of St. Joseph succeeded the Sisters of Notre Dame as instructors. Father Sheridan consistently and continu- ously interested himself in charitable and civic problems, and so gained a position of leadership in his city as well as in the parish itself.
The present beautiful Church of the Sac- red Heart in West Lynn is a far cry from those pioneer days in outward appearance, though the same courageous spirit guides its inward destiny. It is Romanesque in de- sign, and cost $80,000. The altar was carved of Carrara marble in Italy by Samuel Kit- son, noted sculptor and maker of marble altars. The statues are replicas of Mr. Kit- son's own marble conceptions of the Re- deemer and the Blessed Virgin. The marble itself is of singularly clear quality and flaw- lessly white. There are but two similar groups in America-one in Richmond, Vir- ginia, and the other in a New York church, and each group cost five hundred dollars each. The Sacred Heart Church is further beautified by its spacious nave, its light- colored pews, and its splendid paneling and fresco work, which set off to very best ad- vantage the glowing beauty of the sanctu- ary. Especially marvelous are the domed ceiling and stained glass windows. The organ was dedicated October 17, 1915, at a ceremony at which Mr. Nichols gave a spe- cial recital, assisted by Mrs. John O'Brien, Joseph Antonelli and J. Edgar Littleton.
Father Sheridan was wisely proceeding with plans to enlarge the parish and further enhance its usefulness to the Catholic com- munity when he was transferred.
HENRY S. BALDWIN-An engineer of long experience and notable record, Henry S. Baldwin occupies a position of recognized
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prominence in his profession. He was a pioneer in the automotive industry and his labors in this and other fields have produced many important technical developments which have won him national distinction. At Lynn, where his activities centered for more than thirty years, and at Swampscott, where he has made his home since 1910, his . interest in public life and his contributions to the cause of civic progress have reën- forced his reputation as one of the first citi- zens of Essex County.
Mr. Baldwin was born in Middletown, Connecticut, September 16, 1874, son of James Garrison and Hannah Arnold (Sill) Baldwin. October 25, 1901, he married Mrs. Lillian E. Gleason. His ancestors were mostly English and Dutch and were early settlers in New England and New Am- sterdam. The Baldwin line commences in Milford, Connecticut, with Richard Bald- win, of Buckinghamshire, England, who arrived in the colonies June 21, 1638. The Sills were a Dorset family. John Sill was the first to come to America, settling in Newtown-Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1637. He was made a "Freeman" of Cambridge on May 2, 1638, and was one of its proprietors. His son, Joseph Sill, served as a lieutenant and captain in King Philip's War, and several of his exploits in expeditions against the Indians are notable. Subsequently, he was three times chosen a Deputy of the General Court of Connecticut. Micah Sill, grandson of the first Joseph Sill, and member of his family in the fourth American generation, was a Revolutionary soldier. At the Lexington Alarm, April 19, 1775, he enlisted with his three brothers in the Connecticut troops which marched to Roxbury for the defense of Boston.
Henry Ward Sill, grandfather of Henry Sill Baldwin, was born in Middletown, Con- necticut, but as a young man removed to
New York City, where he became a success- ful and wealthy merchant. He was a major on the mounted staff of Colonel Nathan D. Graham, 142d Regiment, New York State Infantry, in 1833. The furniture of his home, paintings, silverware and many objects of art, which are still in possession of the family, show him to have been a man of dis- criminating taste and artistic temperament. Among them is a portrait of George Wash- ington in military uniform, which he com- missioned Rembrandt Peale to paint about 1840. Henry Ward Sill married Sophia Matilda Arnold, daughter of Henry and Hannah (Ten Eyck) Arnold, both of whom were descended from old and notable colo- nial families. Henry S. Baldwin has also been especially interested in the Arnold line and for some years has collected material on General Benedict Arnold, which he plans to publish. He has recently cooperated with the writer, Kenneth Roberts, in the prepara- tion of material for the latter's book, "Rab- ble in Arms," an account of Arnold's mili- tary career after the Quebec Campaign and through Saratoga.
Henry S. Baldwin received his prelimi- nary education in public and private schools at Middletown, Norwalk and Hartford, Con- necticut. From earliest childhood he was obsessed with the desire to make things of wood and metal, and as a boy spent much of his leisure in such machine and manufactur- ing plants as he was permitted to enter, taking every opportunity to run marine, sta- tionary and locomotive engines. At the age of sixteen he had so familiarized himself with their construction that he was able to build a working model of a Corliss steam engine alone, using regular machinery and tools. Meanwhile, his natural love for mechanics inspired him to plan to enter the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he shaped his studies to meet the entrance
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requirements of that school. In the fall of 1892, when he was eighteen, he enrolled as a freshman at that institution, and continued there for three years. Because of his pre- vious experience in practical shop work, he was excused from machine, blacksmith and foundry requirements and in his other sub- jects achieved a brilliant record, excelling particularly in drafting and geometry. Dur- ing his three years at Tech, he was popular with his class and associates and active in student affairs. In his freshman year, he was elected vice-president of the Class of 1896, and in his sophomore year became a member of Sigma Tau Chapter, Delta Kappa Epsilon ; a member of the Institute Com- mittee or Senate, the governing body of all classes ; a member of the German Club and other societies. In his third year he served as statistician on the board of the institute annual "Technique," and was a candidate for class president. During the vacation of 1893, he spent part of the summer with a group of civil engineers, making surveys in connection with the Park River, Hartford, intercepting sewer and its branches.
Toward the close of his junior year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mr. Baldwin became restless, dissatisfied with abstract, technical studies. He wished to secure more practical training and began to spend much time visiting actual engineering and manufacturing operations near Boston. He never returned for his senior year, enter- ing instead upon his active career. For a few months in 1895, he was employed as a machinist on the large respiration calori- meter built by the Department of Agricul- ture under the direction of Professor W. O. Atwater at Wesleyan University. He also designed and built a quick-firing gun of one and one-quarter inch bore, complete with mount, doing the machine work in the plant of the W. and B. Douglas Pump Company.
This gun attracted the favorable attention of Edward Parkhurst, superintendent of the gun department of Pratt and Whitney Com- pany, and in 1898 Mr. Baldwin patented the breech and firing mechanism. The type, called an "infantry gun," was used in the World War, and the firing mechanism is still used in some of the latest United States Army ordnance.
During the summer of 1896, Mr. Baldwin was employed by the city of Hartford, Con- necticut, and made a large map of Bushnell and Capitol parks, doing much field plotting. In the same year he obtained his first ex- perience in actual manufacture as an in- spector in the Worcester Cycle Company factory at Middletown, Connecticut, and also worked at mechanical drafting and field surveys for a map of Pope Park with the Hartford firm of Woolcott and Darby, mechanical engineers. His first real job, however, was as a machinist's assistant, making tools for the 3.2-inch Fletcher Naval Field Gun at the plant of the American and British Ordnance Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was employed here for the first month of 1897, but in February re- signed to accept a position as draftsman in the new "Horseless Carriage" industry. He had many cherished plans for the develop- ment of new type ordnance, but relinquished them because the young motor car industry seemed to offer greater opportunity. Accord- ingly, he became a pioneer in the automo- bile field and was in contact with many men whose names later became famous.
The company with which Mr. Baldwin was now associated was known as the Motor Carriage Department of the Pope Manufacturing Company, of Hartford, later the Columbia Automobile Company, and still later the Electric Vehicle Company.
The four years that followed [he has written of this period] were filled with novel and exciting events
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incident to the beginning of a new industry. Every move was de novo. There was little or no precedent on which to base our designs. The earliest models were propelled by gasoline engines. Later the storage battery and electric motor were used. We even built a gasoline electric car in 1898. Throughout these years, experimental efforts were fairly evenly divided between gasoline engines and the storage battery type, although the latter was the principal product of the company.
As a draftsman and engineer, Mr. Bald- win was identified with all activities of the company. In 1898 he volunteered with the 2d Division Naval Battalion of Hartford and for four or five months was absent, serv- ing in the United States Navy during the Spanish-American War, principally as an able-bodied seaman and gunner's mate, first class, aboard the gunboat U. S. S. "Semi- nole." This ship was ordered to join the Havana Blockade, but the Protocol was signed just as preparations were under way for sailing. Later in 1898, on his return to the Pope Manufacturing Company, Mr. Baldwin invented and designed the first re- movable wire wheel for automobiles. He embodied the principle in a number of cars that were used in this country, England, Germany, and France. This invention was so far ahead of its times that it was not even patented, although today it is in almost uni- versal use for motor cars.
In the fall of 1898, Mr. Baldwin made a study of the Fifth Avenue Coach Company, of New York City, its horse-drawn equip- ment and route. As a result, a motor bus was put in service in 1899, and in 1900 he prepared a drawing covering the necessary busses and stations for both Fifth Avenue and Riverside Drive. In 1901 Mr. Baldwin left the Pope Manufacturing Company, along with many of the most active engi- neers. He spent the summer designing a new type gasoline motor and in the fall joined the automobile department of the
General Electric Company at Lynn. Here he remained for more than thirty years. Professor Elihu Thomson was then carry- ing on extensive work with the steam auto- mobile, using flash boilers and high pres- sure, with high steam temperatures, and Mr. Baldwin joined the staff under his direc- tion. It was his privilege to be closely con- nected with Professor Thomson during his entire association with the General Electric Company.
For the next three or four years, he was busily engaged in building high pressure, poppet valve engines, flash boilers and com- plete automobiles, together with a number of gasoline electric trucks and cars. In 1905 he was placed in charge of the Automotive Engineering Department and was also made responsible for the success of this branch of the company's work. His work included the design, manufacture and exploitation of the entire equipment produced by the depart- ment, particularly electric equipment for propelling and controlling storage battery road vehicles of every description. Later he designed and exploited the electric cradle dynamometer for testing gasoline engines and at the time proposed the use of charac- teristic curves similar to those used in the electrical industries. Both dynamometer and curves are now universally employed in the automotive industry. Still later, Mr. Bald- win worked on ignition apparatus, spark coils and magnetos of every description, in- cluding permanent magnets for other manu- facturers. As early as 1904 he first used an electric motor and storage battery for start- ing automobile engines, and in 1910 added a line of lighting generators and small motors for engine starting to the equipment produced by his department. In 1912 he developed a line of light railway motors for battery rail cars, extensively used in New York City and elsewhere, and in 1913 took
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