USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume IV > Part 20
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tember 30. 1858, and died there December 28, 1911. The paternal grandparents of Ralph Clifton Nickerson, of this review, were George and Mary E. (Chase) Nicker- son, the former of whom was born in South Dennis, where he spent his life and where he died. He was a sea captain in the coastwise trade. His wife was a native of West Har- wich, Massachusetts, and died in South Den- nis. This family of Nickerson is descended from the Nickersons who founded Chatham, Massachusetts. Mrs. Ada E. (Crowell) Nickerson was a daughter of L. Nathan and Eliza (Coddington) Crowell. Her father was born and died in Dennis. He was also a sea captain and made many voyages to foreign lands. His wife, Mrs. Nickerson's mother, was born in Providence, Rhode Is- land, and died in Dennis.
Graduated from the South Dennis High School in 1912, Ralph Clifton Nickerson at- tended Andover Academy for one term, and later took courses in business management and advertising at Burdett Business College, Boston. He was graduated from that insti- tution in 1916, and then became a partner in the automobile business with his brother, Harold Nickerson, in the Nickerson Broth- ers Garage. They handled the Paige and Hupmobile cars up to 1917.
Then came the World War. In the spring of 1917 Mr. Nickerson enlisted in the old Boston Battery A, IoIst Field Artillery, 52d Brigade. 26th Division, and was sent to Boxford. Essex County Class for military training. In September, 1917, after a few months' training, he sailed for France, land- ing at old Napoleon Camp, in southern France. There he remained until February, 1918, when he proceeded to Chemin-Des- Dames. Until April, he was in that district, when he proceeded to the Toul sector, re- maining here three months. then coming to Chateau-Thierry, he stayed there for three
or four weeks, then went to the St. Mihiel sector. For five weeks he remained there. until, on September 26, 1918, he was sent to the hospital with a shrapnel wound in the chest. He spent about three months in the hospital, and while he was there the Armis- tice was signed. After leaving the hospital, however, he returned to his battery, but soon sailed from Brest for the United States, landing in April, 1919, and was honorably discharged at Camp Devens on April 19 with the rank of first-class private.
A few weeks later he became associated with the Firestone Tire and Rubber Com- pany, as a salesman, where he served for two years. While there he met his present busi- ness partner, John B. Nelson, and in the summer of 1921 he and Mr. Nelson went into the automobile business at Bellerica, Massa- chusetts, under the firm name of The Nel- Nick Motors Company, Inc., as Ford agents, the first of its kind in the town. Mr. Nelson was president of the organization and Mr. Nickerson treasurer. After a year, however, they sold the business and came to Lynn, here taking over the Ford agency and form- ing a company under their old name, The Nel-Nick Motors Company, Inc., at No. 220 South Common Street. Here they are still doing business, and have increased their gar- age space and accommodations from a ninety- car capacity to one hundred and sixty-five- car capacity. Their growth in the business has been gradual and successful. Soon after embarking on their enterprise in Lynn, they also opened a downtown showroom at No. 69 Exchange Street, across from the head- quarters of the Lynn Gas and Electric Com- pany. Here they display both new and used Ford cars.
In addition to his extensive business ac- tivities, Mr. Nickerson has taken time to connect himself with many prominent civic and social groups. He is a Republican and
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a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, of his home town. He also belongs to Mount Horeb Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons and all the bodies in the Scottish Rite and Consistory, of which he has at- tained the thirty-second degree. He is also a member of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Boston. A member of the Knights of Pythias, at West Dennis, he is also affiliated, in Lynn, with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He belongs to the Lynn Young Men's Christian Association, the Oxford Club, the Men's Club, all of Lynn ; the Ionic Club, of Swampscott ; and the Colonial Golf Club, of Lynnfield. In the Lynn Chamber of Com- merce he has been active in many progres- sive movements. In his leisure time he en- joys golf, bowling and week-ends spent at the old Nickerson homestead at Cape Cod, West Dennis, Massachusetts.
Mr. Nickerson has three brothers and a sister: Arthur E. Nickerson, Caleb Chase Nickerson and Harold W. Nickerson, and Mrs. Mary L. (Nickerson) Brown.
JOHN BAINE NELSON-The present properties owned and operated by John Baine Nelson in Essex County reveal his suc- cess in the automobile business. In a period spanning a little more than a decade he has risen to become one of the foremost auto- motive executives not only of this section but of New England as a whole, and in this capacity today he directs the activities of the largest sales agency of this territory, which boasts a staff of sixty-four men and a modern and thoroughly equipped garage covering some thirty-three thousand feet of floor space. Though he has attained a repu- tation to be envied as a business man in these parts, he has not limited his efforts solely to this phase of community life, but has also become a leader in the social and civic life of his surroundings and through
his efforts in these fields has gained the whole-hearted esteem and respect of a host of friends and colleagues.
Mr. Nelson was born at Kingsbury, Prov- ince of Quebec, Canada, on July 1, 1894, the son of James A. and Isabella (McClain) Nel- son. His father, a native of Melbourne, Province of Quebec, Canada, is now living in Baldwinsville, Massachusetts, a retired box manufacturer. He is a member of the Congregational Church and a Republican in his political views. His wife, mother of John Baine Nelson, was born in Flodden, Province of Quebec, Canada, and is now living in Baldwinsville, Massachusetts.
In the public schools of Baldwinsville, John Baine Nelson received his early edu- cation. In 1913 he was graduated from the Gardner High School, Gardner, Massachu- setts, and in 1915, from the Fitchburg, Mas- sachusetts, School of Practical Arts. He at once began teaching in the public schools of Haverhill, Massachusetts, thus continu- ing until the spring of 1917, when the United States entered the World War and he en- listed in the army. He was assigned to Camp Rockingham, Salem, New Hampshire, for training, but only remained at this post for three weeks, when he was sent to France as a member of Company D, 14th Engineers. While overseas he was associated with vari- ous branches of the service, including the engineers, the signal corps and the aviation unit, the latter body fostering a great en- thusiasm and love for flying which he still indulges to this day, having been the owner of several planes. He remained in France for twenty-three months and at the end of this period returned to the United States, where he received an honorable discharge from the service at Camp Devens, Ayer, Massachusetts, on June 23, 1919, with the rank of master signal electrician.
Upon resuming civil life he became asso- ciated with the Firestone Rubber Company
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in Boston, and continued with this firm for two years. It was while employed here that he first demonstrated the unique ability he possessed for matters pertaining to business, for in the brief period of two years he rose from a city salesman's position to that of Boston sales director. It was in 1921 that he severed his connection with this concern and determined to inaugurate a business of his own. He secured the agency for Ford cars and started conducting his first auto- mobile business at Billerica, Massachusetts, under the firm name of the Nel-Nick Motor Company, Inc., of which he was president. This concern continued to operate here for about a year, at the end of which time they sold out and removed to their present ad- dress at No. 220 South Common, Lynn. In 1930 business had prospered to such an extent under Mr. Nelson's able direction that the concern opened a branch automo- bile establishment in Swampscott, known as the Surfside Motors, Inc., of which he be- came treasurer. He occupied this position until December 31, 1931, when this firm's operations were discontinued. In 1933 Mr. Nelson opened a downtown salesroom at No. 69 Exchange Street, and a third sales- room for used cars was put into operation at No. 286 Washington Street. Each of these ventures was started in a very small way and has since grown to become some of the most important automotive units in this section. Whereas five men were em- ployed and comprised the staff of this con- cern when it was launched in 1921, today it has an employee roster of sixty-four per- sons. The extent of the business it has done is vividly portrayed in a report for May, 1934, which states that during this period sixty-two cars were sold in twenty days, which is a record for this section in auto- mobile salesmanship. As the sole agency for the Ford automobile in this section, this concern employs more people than any other
of its type in New England and operates in a radius of fifteen miles around the city of Lynn.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Nelson has taken a keen and active interest in the affairs of this organization and is also prominently affiliated with many of the leading social and civic bodies of this community. He is a member of the Charity Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he belongs to all the York Rite bodies, including Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and also all the Scottish Rite bodies, including the Consistory, in which he has taken the thirty- second degree. He is a member of the Lynn Chamber of Commerce and is affiliated with the American Legion, Post No. 57, of Swampscott. All of these bodies have been benefited from his labors, which have been consistently constructive and useful.
John Baine Nelson married on Septem- ber 21, 1921, in Baldwinsville, Massachu- setts, Mildred Harris Richmond, a native of Baldwinsville, daughter of Edward J. and Bessie (Harris) Richmond, of that place, the father a realtor. Mrs. Nelson is a graduate of the public schools of Baldwinsville, as well as of Cushing Academy, Ashburnham, Massachusetts. Both she and her husband are members of the First Congregational Church, where she is active in the church guild. She is also a member of the Swamp- scott Woman's Club, of which she is past recording secretary, and the Order of the Eastern Star. To Mr. and Mrs. Nelson has been born a daughter, Eleanore Mildred, in Billerica, on June 3, 1922.
GEORGE W. HURN-The manager of the Haverhill Electric Company, George W. Hurn is an examplar of the wisdom of finding early in life one's vocation and then permitting nothing to turn one aside from the way chosen. He was born on June 10, 1887, in Haverhill,
George To. Zurn.
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the son of John A. and Hannah Jane (Mer- rill) Hurn, both natives of Massachusetts. John A. Hurn was a Union veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted at the age of thir- teen years in the 58th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and in later years was a letter car- rier. He died in 1925, while Mrs. Hurn lived until 1931.
George W. Hurn attended the public schools and the private Wheeler School. At the age of eighteen, in 1905, he became an office boy in the employ of the Haverhill Electric Com- pany, even then an important supplier of elec- tricity. On November 1, 1906, he was pro- moted to meter reader ; on July 19, 1907, he was made assistant storekeeper, and a week later, storekeeper. He went back into the office as a clerk in February, 1909, in Septem- ber of that year was elevated to assistant cash- ier, and in October, 1909, was made cashier. On July 1, 1913, Mr. Hurn was promoted to office manager; on May 1, 1917, was made assistant manager, and on November 1, 1919, he became manager of the company, a post he had held with success to the time of this writing (1934). Such is the brief outline of nearly thirty years' activities in an outstanding electric company, and of a place won only by abilities well applied and work hard and long.
Not alone in business has Mr. Hurn risen to prominence, for he has always manifested a pride and interest in his native city that has greatly benefited Haverhill. A popular figure in the Chamber of Commerce, he was thrice elected its president, continuing in office for three consecutive years. During the World War period he was to the fore in civilian activi- ties as a member of various boards and com- mittees. In fraternal circles he is well known as a thirty-second degree Mason, member of Merrimack Lodge, Free and Accepted Ma- sons, and of both Scottish and York Rites, and a Master and Captain General. He is a mem- ber of the Pentucket Club, the Haverhill
Country Club, the Kenoza Country Club, the Engineers' Club of Boston, the Haverhill Sportsmen's Club, the Republican Club of Massachusetts and the American Game Asso- ciation. His religious affiliation is with the First Church of Christ, Haverhill.
The Haverhill Electric Company, of which Mr. Hurn is manager, is the largest single cor- poration in the city, and a part of the New England Power Association system. It was founded in 1888, when the supplying of elec- tricity for lighting was still in its infancy. The first officials of the company were: T. Sand- ers, president ; C. W. Morse, treasurer ; B. P. Hale, clerk. President Sanders described the corporation as being equipped with "four arc dynamos having a capacity of 165 lights, two incandescent dynamos, two engines of 250 horsepower, and three boilers of 350 horse- power. The company, at present, furnishes 650 incandescent and 80 arc lights, 35 of the latter being used for street lighting."
When, in 1904, the property was taken over by a group of men headed by Charles H. Tenney, there were 391 customers of the plant. On April 1, 1926, the Newburyport Gas and Electric Company was absorbed, and the Haverhill Electric Company, as now constituted, supplies electricty to Haverhill, Newburyport, Plum Island, and West New- ® bury, and also gas to Newburyport and Newbury. Electricity is sold in bulk to the municipalities of Georgetown, Groveland, Rowley, and to the Exeter and Hampton Electric Company in Plaistow, New Hamp- shire. As of January 1, 1933, the company had a combined generating capacity at New- buryport and Haverhill steam plants of 20,- 100 kilowatts. There were 2,318 gas cus- tomers and 19,563 electric customers. How- ever brief, this summary indicates the growth of the company with which Mr. Hurn was associated from 1905, and to the expansion and service of which he has contributed notably.
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WILLARD DIXEY MARTIN-For many years a leader in the business and civic life of the city of Lynn, Willard Dixey Martin, of this place, was engaged in real estate and insurance work. Eminently successful in his undertakings, he won the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens and co- workers, who appreciated his devotion to worth while principles, and who knew him as a man kindly, sympathetic and sin- cere. His understanding of vital problems, whether in business or civic affairs, was a quality that enabled him to carry on effec- tively much of the work that he performed.
Willard Dixey Martin was born October 19, 1890, in Marblehead, Massachusetts, the place of his birth having been the old Dixey homestead. His parents were Henry S. and Sarah (Dixey) Martin. His father was born at Marblehead and died there. He was a shoe manufacturer in Lynn throughout most of his active career. A Republican and a Unitarian, he was a member of an old fam- ily. His father, Willard Dixey Martin's grandfather, was Samuel Martin, also a native of Marblehead, who died in that place. He owned a wharf in Marblehead and was a boatbuilder by occupation. Mrs. Sarah (Dixey) Martin, mother of Willard D. Martin, was also born in Marblehead and died there. She was a gifted musician, and often conducted concerts in Marblehead. Her parents were Peter and Hannah Dixey, both of whom were born and died in Mar- blehead. Peter Dixey was collector of cus- toms for the District of Marblehead, having been so appointed by President John Quincy Adams on January 9, 1828 ; by President Mar- tin Van Buren, on February 10, 1838; and President James K. Polk, on July 29, 1845. The three certificates, each bearing the sig- nature of one of these three Presidents are today in the possession of Mrs. Alice M. (Brown) Martin, widow of Willard Dixey Martin. Peter Dixey also owned a ship
which was seized by the French Govern- ment during the War of 1812. It was the "Mercury," and was said to have contained a very rich cargo. The Dixey family tried to collect from the French Government, but were never able to do so. The Dixeys were of English origin, and the original spelling of the name was "Dixcy."
In the public and high schools of Marble- head, Willard Dixey Martin received his early education. During his high school years he was captain of the baseball, basket- ball and football teams. In 1909 he gradu- ated from the Burdett Business College, in Lynn. In the fall of 1909 he became asso- ciated with Charles G. Woodbridge, of Lynn, in real estate and insurance work, and he became a partner in the present Charles G. Woodbridge Company when it was formed. In October, 1923, however, Mr. Martin went into the real estate busi- ness for himself, establishing offices in the Security Trust Building, at No. 23 Central Avenue, and conducting the enterprise under his own name-Willard D. Martin.
An important development in the history of the firm took place when his brother-in- law, Gordon L. Brown, became associated with him in the business. Mr. Brown, who was graduated from Swampscott High School just before becoming connected with the insurance and real estate business of Mr. Martin, is directly responsible for the expansion of the business in many of its departments. He is well qualified by expe- rience for the work that he has done, and has given his time and energies untiringly to the firm.
In 1926 the business was removed from No. 23 Central Avenue to larger quarters on the first floor of the Item Building, No. 38 Exchange Street, where it continued to grow until Mr. Martin's death, which oc- curred December 29, 1929. Mr. Brown had been in charge of the business from 1927,
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after which Mr. Martin's condition of health had prevented his active participation in the work. For a year after Mr. Martin's death, his wife carried on the business as her husband's estate. Then it was incorpo- rated as Willard D. Martin, Inc., of which Gordon L. Brown is president ; Mrs. Alice M. (Brown) Martin, treasurer; and George W. Smith, clerk. The firm deals in real estate and insurance, as well as property manage- ment, and does a large amount of contract- ing and development work.
At the time of his death Mr. Martin was also a director of the Essex Trust Company and the Equitable Cooperative Bank, and a trustee of the Lynn Institution for Sav- ings. He was also a member of the Oxford Club, of Lynn; the Tedesco Country Club ; the Corinthian Yacht Club ; the Ionic Club, of Swampscott; the Lynn Chamber of Com- merce; and the North Atlantic Deep Sea Fishing Club. A good sailor and fond of the sea, Mr. Martin had sailed from the time when he was six years old. He liked out- door recreations, notably golf and yachting. In the Free and Accepted Masons he be- longed to Swampscott Blue Lodge and the local council of Royal and Select Masters and Royal Arch Masons, also being a mem- ber of all the Scottish Rite bodies and An- cient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Boston. He also was active in the Massachusetts Real Estate Exchange, and was a Republican in political alignment.
Mrs. Martin is of Scotch-Irish and Eng- lish descent. She was formerly Alice M. Brown, daughter of William H. and Selima H. (Clark) Brown. Her father was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, in August, 1864, and was for a time active in the retail grocery business in Lynn and Swampscott, and is now living in Swampscott. Selima H. (Clark) Brown was born in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, and died in Swamp- scott. Her family were Loyalists during the
American Revolution. They came origi- nally from England. Mrs. Martin's paternal grandparents were James and Elizabeth (McBride) Brown, the former of whom was a native of Scotland and the latter of Newburyport, Massachusetts. The marriage of Willard Dixey Martin and Alice May (Brown) Martin took place on February 14, 1916. Mrs. Martin, who was born in Lynn, was reared in Swampscott, and graduated from Swampscott High School and Burdett Business College in Lynn. She is now a member of the Swampscott Congregational Church, the Tedesco Country Club, the Star Club, the Salem Country Club, the Swamp- scott Women's Club, and the Junior Aid Society. She continues as treasurer of Wil- lard D. Martin, Inc., and devotes practically the whole of her time to selling real estate.
The death of Mr. Martin was an occasion of deep and sincere sorrow among his con- temporaries. He had participated to the full in important civic affairs, and had accom- plished much that made for general better- ment. His friends were many and loyal, and he will long be affectionately remembered by all who knew him. This one tribute phrased the general feeling toward him :
With the passing of the old year there also went from the business life of Lynn one of its most promi- nent and active leaders in the person of Willard D. Martin. For a long time he had devoted his business hours to the development of real estate upon which had been erected homes for men and women of small means. He was always ambitious to make others happy, and found no greater satisfaction than seeing people comfortably situated in homes which he had erected for them, or which they had purchased through his real estate agency.
His untimely end today was a severe shock to his many friends, not only in Lynn, but through Essex County and the Commonwealth. His prominence in the real estate field had brought him into close con- tact with business men in various sections. His fair- ness in dealing with his clients also won for him an enviable reputation among his competitors in that field of endeavor. His place in the business field will
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be hard to fill, for as many of his grieved friends remarked today when told of his death: "He was an honor to the city and his profession."
THOMAS ATTWILL NICHOLS-One of the oldest printing establishments of Lynn, Massachusets, is the Thomas P. Nichols & Son Company, founded in 1850 by Thomas P. Nichols, with which three generations have been or are connected. The first of these, Thomas P. Nichols, son of Nathaniel Nichols, native of Massachu- setts, was born in Malden, August 28, 1830, and died in Lynn, in January, 1915. He was a printer all his life and at the age of twenty started the firm that now bears his name. He married Caroline Smith, who was born in Malden. October 3, 1831, and who died in Lynn, in May, 1915. Of their children was Fred H. Nichols, born November 25, 1861.
Fred H. Nichols is the treasurer of the Thomas P. Nichols & Son Company, and a prominent citizen of Lynn. He was a mem- ber of the City Council at one time, a Re- publican and a member of the Universalist Church. He has served as assistant post- master and became acting postmaster in 1898. Fred H. Nichols married Annie Att- will, daughter of Isaac and Harriet (Sanger) Attwill, both natives of Lynn, and both died there. Isaac Attwill was a shoe manu- facturer.
Thomas Attwill Nichols was born in Lynn, April 22, 1891, son of Fred H. and Annie (Attwill) Nichols. He was gradu- ated from the Lynn Classical High School in 1909, and from Dartmouth College, Han- over, New Hampshire, a Bachelor of Sci- ence, with the class of 1913. From college he returned to Lynn to become associated with his father in business, first as a clerk, and then in 1916 as president, which is his present position. His publishing activities were interrupted, however, by his enlist-
ment on July 25, 1917, for service of the country during the period of the World War. Assigned to the Watervliet Arsenal he remained in training until November, when he was sent overseas with the Ameri- can Expeditionary Forces, as a member of Ordnance Company, No. 3. For eighteen months he was in France, stationed during a large part of the time at the Aviation Field at Tours. In June, 1919, Mr. Nichols re- turned to Camp Meade, Maryland, where he received his honorable discharge.
Civilian life and the direction of affairs of an important business was the next step in Thomas Attwill Nichols' career. The Thomas P. Nichols & Son Company has its plant at No. 113 Market Street, Lynn, and does printing work of various kinds rang- ing from books to job printing. As its president the responsibility for its success has depended upon him, and the rewards as well. Mr. Nichols is a member of Leon Abbott Post, American Legion ; the Chi Phi college fraternity, and is secretary of the Oxford Club, of Lynn. Fraternally he is affiliated with Mt. Carmel Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Sutton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. His religious faith is that of the Universalist Church, and in politics he is a Republican.
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