USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume IV > Part 31
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THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
in the refrigerating business, the sole owner of one of the largest shoe findings concerns in the United States, an illuminating side- light on his enterprise, foresight and courage.
Irving L. Keith was born in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, on October 14, 1874, a son of George F. and Julia A. (Stevens) Keith, the former a native of Easton, Massachu- setts, and the latter of Townsend, Massa- chusetts, and both members of old Colonial families. George F. Keith died in 1905, and his wife in 1917. Family records indicate that the descent can be traced back to James Keith, first minister of Bridgewater, Massa- chusetts, who was a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, born in 1643, and who came to New England in 1662, and was ordained a minister two years later. The American progenitor of the Stevens family settled in Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1638.
Irving L. Keith, after attending the schools of his birthplace, began his business career as a bookkeeper, and soon was with the General Electric Company at Lynn, a con- nection which was not broken until 1894. The shoe industry was then the principal form of manufacturing carried on in Haver- hill, and it was inevitable that the ambitious and able Mr. Keith should himself engage in some form of this business. In 1894 he resigned from the General Electric company to become associated with C. P. Bullen, of Haverhill, manufacturer of shoe findings. In 1901 Mr. Keith started his own business and gradually built up a shoe findings con- cern that was among the largest in America. In 1912 he organized the Parker Company, makers of adhesives, of which he has since been continuously its treasurer. In later years he was elected president of the Haver- hill Trust Company.
It is, to say the least, unusual for a firmly established industrial leader and financier to branch out along lines of manufacturing that are still in the experimental stage and show
few possibilities of becoming commercially profitable. Still, Mr. Keith started what was to be the Icemaster Company, makers of refrigerators of the mechanical type and available in a wide range of sizes. His con- cern is said to have produced the first small refrigerator to be tested and approved by the United States Bureau of Standards. The company ranks among the most important in Haverhill, outside of shoe manufacturing and produces refrigerators that are not only favorites among the institutions of learning in the land, but are widely used by commer- cial organizations, particularly in the East. Mr. Keith carried this business through its crucial period, 1921 to 1927, alone, and when it was incorporated in 1927, accepted the office of treasurer.
Mr. Keith has taken the keenest interest in Haverhill ever since he came to it nearly forty years ago. Believing that diversity in production was as important in manufac- turing as it is in agriculture, he has always advocated the introduction of new industries and has set an example in his own enter- prises. Fraternally he is affiliated with Sag- gahew Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a Past Master, and is a member of all the Scottish Rite bodies of Masonry, including the thirty-second degree and is a member of Aleppo Temple, Boston, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. During the World War period Mr. Keith was a member of numerous boards and committees, doing always more than was expected of his office, and received the certificate of recognition of his valued serv- ices. His church is the Universalist, and he is active in worthy humanitarian and chari- table movements.
In 1914, Irving L. Keith married Zella K. Douglas, of Nova Scotia, Canada, and they are the parents of a daughter, Alice G., born November 7, 1917; and a son, George F. Keith, born on August 2, 1920.
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WALTER EDWIN RICHARDSON- The Richardson Undertaking firm of Lynn is one of the best equipped and most modern funeral establishments in this part of the State, and commands a wide patronage among the leading families of this vicinity. The business was founded by Frank M. Alley in 1871, and was then located on Union Street. Later Mr. Alley formed a partner- ship with Frederick Lamper, and the firm name, Alley and Lamper, was continued until October 1, 1888, when the business was purchased by Earl A. Mower, who con- ducted it under his own name.
In 1900 Mr. Mower took his nephew, Harry Lincoln Richardson, into the firm. Mr. H. L. Richardson was born in Lynn- field, May 15, 1865, and after completing a common school education, assisted his father in the meat and provision business in Lynn- field for a number of years. At the age of eighteen, he went to New York City, and there was employed for four years in the carpet industry. This business did not ap- peal to him and he returned to his native town, and was associated with his father until he accepted the offer of his uncle, Earl A. Mower, to join him in the undertaking business. He continued as his uncle's assist- ant until the death of Mr. Mower, October 23, 1917, when he succeeded to the business and has since conducted it with constantly increasing success. On November 25, 1922, Mr. Richardson purchased the property at No. 48 Lafayette Park and remodeled the building, formerly the residence of Sewell Clarke, who was a member of the shoe manufacturing company of Williams and Clarke, and made the property a beautiful and up-to-date funeral home.
Mr. H. L. Richardson is well known for his fraternal and civic affiliations. He is a member of Richard Drown Lodge, No. 106, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Mt. Carmel Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ;
the Ionic Club of Swampscott; the Lynn Chamber of Commerce; the Oxford Club of Lynn; attends the Central Congregational Church, of which he was treasurer. In poli- tics he is a Republican.
Mr. Richardson does not devote all his time to the business, but his son, Walter Edwin Richardson, is at times manager of its affairs. W. E. Richardson was born at Lynnfield, August 18, 1894. His mother, Jessie I. (Mower) Richardson, was a native of Lynn, where her father, Edwin Mower, was engaged in the shoe industry. She was a niece of Earl A. Mower. Walter Edwin Richardson was graduated from English High School in 1914, and from the Massa- chusetts College of Embalming, in Boston, in 1915, and a year later passed the State board examinations for morticians. He then became associated with the Mower Under- taking Company, and upon Mr. Mower's death, remained with his father as manager of the firm, the affairs of which are now in his capable hands. This firm carries a com- plete stock of equipment and rank among the largest, outside of Boston, in the New England territory.
He is a member of Mt. Carmel Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, has taken an active part in its affairs and served as Mas- ter of the lodge, 1928-29; is a member of Sutton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Ionic Club of Swampscott; the Rotary Club of Lynn ; the Richard Drown Lodge, Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a Republican, and is a member of the Cen- tral Congregational Church, which he served as treasurer for six years.
Mr. Richardson married (first), in August, 1915, Hazel Breed Brown, and they were the parents of three children: I. Charles E., born June 27, 1916. 2. Grace E., born August 9, 1919. 3. George E., born May 14, 1921. Mrs. Hazel Breed (Brown) Richard- son died in May, 1928. Mr. Richardson mar-
1
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Hand Richardson.
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THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
ried (second), September 28, 1931, Beatrice C. Moses, daughter of Stephen and Laura (Campbell) Moses. Her father is deceased and her mother resides at Exeter, New Hampshire.
Associated with their father and their brother in business are: Harry Lester Rich- ardson, a graduate of Lynn High School, class of 1915, and of Dodge's New England College of Embalming, in Boston. During the World War he was in training at Cutty- hunk, Massachusetts. He married Mildred Parrott, of Lynn, and they are the parents of a son, Lester A. Earl A. came into the firm after his graduation from English High School in 1933.
Walter Edwin Richardson has four sis- ters: I. Emma F., dietician at the State College, Pennsylvania. 2. Mrs. Ethel Cook, Marblehead. 3. Mrs. Jessie Vasile, Brook- lyn, New York. 4. Mrs. Adeline Eisenwin- ter, Swampscott.
The Richardsons are descendants of pio- neer stock and trace their ancestry to George Richardson, who with two brothers came from England to America in 1640 and set- tled at Woburn, Massachusetts. The family name has been represented in both civil and military life; the grandfather of Walter Ed- win Richardson having served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
HENRY JOSEPH APRIL-The presi- dent of the Bay State Cutting Die Com- pany, of Lynn, Massachusetts, Henry Jos- eph April traces his ancestry back to that province of Canada which was compara- tively well populated before the Massachu- setts Colony had made much headway. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, July 25, 1899, son of Ernest and Emerilda (Belan- ger) April. The father was born in Canada in 1868 and died in Peabody, Massachu- setts, in 1915, at the age of forty-seven years. During much of his life he was con-
nected with the shoe industry. His wife was also a native of Canada, born in July, 1873, and is now a resident of Danvers. The Belanger name is ancient and honorable in eastern Canada. The grandfather of the subject of this review was Ernest April, Canadian by birth, and a farmer and de- scendant of a long line of farmers.
Henry Joseph April, educated in the grammar and high schools of Peabody, in 1917 became associated with the United Shoe Machinery Company, of Beverly, Massachusetts, and was with it for some six years. He then removed to Lynn, where he was connected with various firms until De- cember, 1932, when he with a group of asso- ciates organized the Bay State Cutting Die Company, of which he was elected the chief executive. The firm is engaged in the pro- duction of cutting dies for shoe factory use. Mr. April is a member of Annunciation Catholic Church, of Danvers, and interested in charitable and welfare activities. He is a Democrat in his political faith, and is a lover of sports.
On June 4, 1924, at Danvers, Massachu- setts, Henry Joseph April married Louise Tinkman, a native of Danvers, daughter of Seth and Mary (Murphy) Tinkman, both of whom are residents of Danvers, where Mrs. April was educated. Mr. and Mrs. April are the parents of three children: I. Cornelius, born March 28, 1925. 2. Francis Chester, born July 12, 1927. 3. Henry Joseph, Jr., born May 5, 1928.
JOHN JEREMIAH SULLIVAN-In 1931 John Jeremiah Sullivan established the pharmacy at Lynn which he has since con- ducted independently under his own name. He has devoted his entire active career to the drug business and as a resident of this city during the past twenty years has ac- quired a personal reputation which is a val-
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uable asset to the enterprise he now con- trols.
Mr. Sullivan was born in Warren, Ver- mont on April 19, 1887, a son of William and Julia (Crane) Sullivan. His father, a native of Ireland, was born on April 2, 1865, son of John Sullivan who was a farmer and spent his whole life in Ireland. William Sullivan came to the United States as a young man and was for many years associated with the Simonds Saw Company at Fitchburg, where he died on July 22, 1927. He was a devout member of St. Ber- nard's Roman Catholic Church in Fitch- burg. Julia (Crane) Sullivan, his wife, was born in Warren, Vermont, March 25, 1866, and died in Fitchburg July 5, 1913. She was a daughter of Jeremiah Crane born in Ireland, who settled at Warren and was a farmer there during his life. He was also a veteran of the Civil War, serving with the Union troops.
John Jeremiah Sullivan removed to Fitch- burg with his parents in early life and ob- taned his education in the public schools of that city, graduating from grammar school in 1899 and from high school in 1903. He obtained his first employment with Henry A. Estabrook, a Fitchburg druggist, with whom he remained for five years, and dur- ing this time received a thorough training in the fundamentals of pharmacy and busi- ness methods. He has always continued in the profession which was his early choice. After leaving his original employer, he was associated for two years with George Dor- man and for an equal period with D. Charles O'Connor, both Fitchburg druggists. For four years he was also associated with W. D. Johnson but at the end of that time, in 1914, he removed to Lynn, where he has since made his home. During the first seven years of his residence in this city he was associated with the J. M. Nelson pharmacy and for two years following worked for the
firm of Burke and Burke, retail druggists. In 1923 he became associated with Shea's Apothecary of Lynn, where he remained until the early months of 1931.
On March 27, 1931, after almost thirty years experience as a pharmacist, Mr. Sulli- van established the Sullivan Pharmacy at No. 173 Union Street, Lynn, where he has since been located. In spite of uncertain business conditions, he has developed his pharmacy on a sound basis, aided by his complete familiarity with all aspects of the drug trade and his knowledge of local trends. While he maintains a soda fountain, cigar counter and other accessories of the modern phar- macy, he devotes himself chiefly to a drug and prescription business and by establish- ing the highest standards of quality and re- liability has built up a successful trade.
Mr. Sullivan is a member of the Massa- chusetts State Pharmaceutical Association, the Lynn Druggists Association, the Na- tional Association of Retail Druggists and the Drug Institute of America. He is a Democrat in politics and a member of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church. Mr. Sullivan has always given his principal at- tention to his business and has had little time for outside interests, although prompt to support all worthy community move- ments. He has found his chief recreation in outdoor sports and fishing, and in his younger days participated actively in many branches of athletics, particularly football. He married, at New York City, Elizabeth D. Bernardine Shea, who was born in Pitts- burgh, daughter of Dennis Shea, deceased and Elizabeth Shea, now a resident of Cin- cinnati. Mrs. Sullivan is a graduate of the Pittsburgh public schools and of a business college in that city. Like her husband, she is a member of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church at Lynn.
Mr. Sullivan is the father of two chil- dren : I. John W., born June 25, 1914, edu-
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cated in the public schools of Lynn. 2. Blanche G., born March 4, 1921, now a student in a convent school at Boston.
MYRON L. WHITCOMB-For a half century identified with shoe manufacturing, banking and civic affairs, Myron L. Whit- comb has long and favorably been known to the citizens of Haverhill and Massachu- setts. He came to the city in 1883, and has been closely identified with the business, financial and civic interests of the munic- ipality since that time. He was born on January 19, 1862, at Berlin, Massachusetts, son of Amasa A. and Lucy H. (Wheeler) Whitcomb, both bearing names old in the annals of the State and both natives of Ber- lin. Amasa A. Whitcomb died in 1903, and Mrs. Whitcomb on August 24, 1874. The father, a native of Bolton, Massachusetts, was a former teacher and instructor in schools who later turned his attention to the shoe industry.
Myron L. Whitcomb attended the public schools and took courses in the famous Bryant and Stratton Commercial College. After trying his hand at various occupations, he made his first important step in a busi- ness career, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, at the age of twenty years. In 1883, he came to Haverhill ; remained for a short time and removed to Boston to become associated with the A. Shuman Wholesale Clothing Company, of that city. In April, 1884, he was back in Haverhill once more, as an asso- ciate of J. H. Winchell. Four years later he was given an interest in the business, and when Mr. Winchell died in 1896, he became the senior partner with Howard L. Clark. Mr. Clark died in 1903, and in 1904, Mr. · Whitcomb incorporated the business, serv- ing as its general manager and treasurer until its liquidation twenty years later.
In 1924, Myron L. Whitcomb, freed from business connections, but not prepared to
retire, turned his attention to banking. In that year he was elected president of the Merrimack National Bank, of Haverhill, of which he had been a director since 1893. This institution is the successor to the Mer- rimack Bank, founded in 1814, with David Howe as president and Leonard White as its first cashier. It is the oldest bank in Haverhill, although the original bank build- ing was destroyed in the great fire of 1882. The roster of the presidents of this vener- able institution include: David Howe, Na- thaniel Hill, David Marsh, James H. Dun- can, Rufus Rongley, E. J. M. Hale, Charles W. Chase, Dudley Porter, Charles W. Arn- old and Myron L. Whitcomb, a long line of. thoroughly American names and men. Mr. Whitcomb is also a trustee of the Pentucket Savings Bank, and financially interested in other local enterprises. Fraternally he is affiliated with Saggahew Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and Haverhill Comman- dery, Knights Templar. He is a member of the Pentucket Club, the Haverhill Coun- try Club, and the Chamber of Commerce, serving as one of its board of directors. During the World War period he was for- tunate enough to have his three sons asso- ciated with him in the J. H. Winchell Com- pany, and they were busily engaged in man- ufacturing shoes for the United States Gov- ernment. In the various drives for Liberty loans and funds for the Red Cross and other humanitarian agencies, all three played prominent rôles. Mr. Whitcomb has always been generous in his support of betterment movements and the charitable projects of the community.
In 1886, Myron L. Whitcomb married (first) Edith B. Winchell, of Haverhill, and they were the parents of four children: I. Paul, married Angelina Houghton. 2. James H., married Gladys Wilde. 3. Myron L., Jr., married Dorothy Barrett. 4. Isabelle, married Howard Parker .. In 1901, Mr. Whit-
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comb married (second) Helen F. Wiggin, and they are the parents of two daughters, Julia F., married Albert F. Howard; and Janet.
WALDO HENRY HEBBARD-The dis- tinction of being at the head of the oldest pharmacy on the North Shore belongs to Waldo H. Hebbard, treasurer and manager of the Hebbard Drug Company, No. 119 Broad Street, Lynn, an establishment that has been in existence for more than one hundred and fifteen years.
This family of Hebbard has been identified with the history of Maine, New Hampshire, and Eastern Massachusetts for a number of generations. His father, James Hebbard, was born in Topsham, Maine, and here he spent his early years. He was engaged in the lumber business and also later had charge of boats plying on the Kennebeck River and still later was foreman of a log- driving crew on the Androscoggin River. During the Civil War he trained men for service and was known as "Captain" Heb- bard. He spent his last years in Shelburne, New Hampshire, and died there at sixty- seven years of age. He married Adeline Green, born in Shelburne, New Hampshire, the daughter of George Green, whose wife was a Miss Lary. George Green was one of the early settlers in Shelburne, where he cleared the land for his farm. He erected a sawmill and made lumber for the construc- tion of buildings. He also conducted a store, which is carried on by Mrs. Adeline Hebbard.
William Henry Hebbard, son of James and Adeline (Green) Hebbard, was born in Shelburne, New Hampshire, November 15, 1857, and died in South Paris, Maine, March 7, 1902. He was a mechanic and was asso- ciated with the Paris Manufacturing Com- pany at the time of his death. Formerly he had been a farmer, a lumberman and a mer-
chant. He was a Republican and a member of the Baptist Church. On July 10, 1857, he married Harriet L. Pingree, born in Bethel, Maine, the daughter of Asa and Matilda (Wheeler) Pingree. Asa Pingree was born in Essex County, this State, died in Albany, Maine. He was a farmer and veteran of the Civil War. His wife Matilda was born in Bethel, Maine, and died in Albany, Maine.
Waldo Henry Hebbard, son of William Henry and Harriet L. (Pingree) Hebbard, was born in Albany, Maine, April 21, 1884, and attended the public schools of South Paris, Maine. He then entered the employ of the Paris Manufacturing Company and learned the trade of a straight moulder, in connection with the production of desks, sleds, etc., and here he was employed for five years. He later studied at Bridgeton Acad- emy, North Bridgeton, Maine, for two years, subsequently going to Boston, where he worked as a checker in the Parker House for six months.
He became associated with the pharmacy business when he joined the staff of the Hebbard Drug Company at No. 119 Broad Street, Lynn. In 1916 he bought the busi- ness and has since continued it under the old style. He is treasurer of the company and his wife is clerk. The names of only two families have been connected with this pharmacy since it was established by Aaron L. Holder in 1818. It was conducted by him until his death in 1857, when he was suc- ceeded by his son, J. W. Holder, who carried on the business until his death in 1865. Thereafter, Mrs. J. W. Holder was the man- ager of the store until 1909, in which year she disposed of the business to the Hebbard Drug Company, which was managed by H. E. Hebbard for seven years, and since that time, 1900, it has been under the manage- ment and treasurership of Waldo H. Heb- bard. On the occasion of the store's one hundredth birthday anniversary in 1918, the
Emmons hamlin
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THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
event was celebrated by a two weeks' "Cen- tennial Sale."
Mr. Hebbard is a Republican in political faith. He is a member of the Lynn Cham- ber of Commerce and affiliates with Damas- cus Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; Sut- ton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Olivet Commandery, Knights Templar; Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Boston; and Hamlin Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of South Paris, Maine. He is in fellowship with the Univer- salist Church.
Waldo Henry Hebbard married, April 27, 1914, in Lynn, Mary Belle Muir, born in this city, the daughter of John R. and Alberta E. (Farnham) Muir. Her father, born at Dig- by, Nova Scotia, March 14, 1866, died in Lynn, June 30, 1905. He was the propri- etor of the Muir Express in Lynn. His wife, born at Belgrade Lakes, Maine, January 21, 1846, died in Lynn, April 7, 1903, the daugh- ter of David and Laura (Sidilinger) Farn- ham, of North Waldoboro, Maine.
EMMONS HAMLIN-Few men in the musical history of America occupy a more prominent place in the art than Emmons Hamlin, whose mastery, technical genius and profound knowledge became synonymous with the finest in music and live today per- petuating his memory. The house of Mason and Hamlin, which was founded about the middle of the nineteenth century, not only established an enviable reputation for its products in this country, but also became recognized as one of the foremost music houses of the world, a status still main- tained.
Mr. Hamlin was born in Rome, New York, November 16, 1821, and received a general education in the public schools of his native community until he embarked on his career, which, in subsequent years, was
to be marked for its distinction and success. Throughout his boyhood he had manifested an unusual musical talent and it was natural, therefore, that among the first concerns he became associated with was that of George A. Prince, manufacturer of organs in Buf- falo, New York. This affiliation gave him a wealth of technical and practical experience in this work which was to qualify him emi- nently for the position he assumed later in life. About 1852 he came to the city of Boston, and formed a partnership with Henry L. Mason, founding a firm to manu- facture organs, and at a later period pianos, the firm to be known throughout the world as Mason and Hamlin. Since that time the products of this concern have been rated among the foremost, and they have become particularly well known for their pianos.
To fully appreciate Mr. Hamlin's position in the music world we review some of the contributions he made to modern music. He made an important invention of the reed organ as we know it today and was also responsible for giving the cabinet organ the voicing time as it exists at present. During the latter part of his life he took up, more as a pastime, the making of violins and com- pleted more than thirty-five instruments, which for quality and craftsmanship com- pared with the products of the famous old masters. Nor were his contributions to the art limited to technical channels, for he was an artist and lover of music, was extremely generous in lending assistance to young people of talent who through force of cir- cumstances were unable to pursue a musical education. It was such accomplishments and beneficences that not only established him as one of the dominant figures of American music, but also one of the most highly esteemed and loved. Throughout his career his main aim was to advance the art in this country and that he succeeded is evi-
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