USA > Massachusetts > The story of western Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 17
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Mr. Peterson serves on the Board of Trustees of the Springfield Taxpayers Association, and is vice president and a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Federation of Taxpayers As- sociations, with headquarters in Boston. He is one of the trustees of the Hampden County Tuberculosis and Public Health Association and a Trustee of Spring- field College. He has held membership on the finance committee of the town of Longmeadow and mem- bership on the Recreation Commission of that same community. He has also served as president of the Exchange Club of Springfield. Moreover Mr. Peter- son is active in the work of the Springfield Com- munity Chest, Inc. and has served as president for the terms 1945, 1946, and 1947. In politics he is affiliated with the Republican party. By religion he is a Congregationalist, and a communicant of the First Church of Christ of Longmeadow. Mr. Peter- son is a thirty-second degree Mason, belonging to the Longmeadow Blue Lodge and the Springfield Commandery.
At Longmeadow, on September 6, 1919, Magnus F. Peterson was married to Katherine Louise Thayer, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Bodfish Thayer.
WILLIAM ALBERT DEXTER, prominent edu- cator of Easthampton, has a creditable record as superintendent of two schools in the western part of the state. He is at present serving in that capacity at the Union School No. 3 at Easthampton.
Mr. Dexter was born in Warren, January 3, 1906, son of George W. and Anna Dexter. After attending local schools, he entered Clark University at Wor- cester, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1928. In 1936 he was awarded the degree of Master of Arts by the University of Michigan. In 1940 he became superintendent of schools at Stockbridge, serving in this capacity until 1945, from which date his tenure as superintendent of the schools of Easthampton extends.
Not a "joiner," Mr. Dexter does not engage in the club activities of his community. He is, however, ac- tive in the work of the Easthampton Congregational Church.
At Stockbridge, on June 27, 1931, William Albert Dexter married Vinnie E. Matchner, daughter of Horace A. and Vinnie E. Matchner. The Dexters make their home on Wright Street in Easthampton.
LLOYD DODGE FERNALD-An outstanding in- vestment banker of Springfield, Massachusetts, Lloyd Dodge Fernald has done much toward improving and augmenting the banking profession in his city.
Mr. Fernald was born July 26, 1890, at Winchester, the son of George A. and Jessie A. (Dodge) Fernald. Josiah E. Fernald, grandfather of Lloyd Dodge Fer- nald was born in Maine, was a farmer by occupation, and died at East Concord, New Hampshire. An early member of the family had come from England and settled in Maine. George A. Fernald, father of Lloyd Dodge Fernald, was born at Concord, New Hampshire, and died at Winchester, Massachusetts. He was ac- tive in the investment business at Boston, was a Republican by political preference, and attended the Congregational Church. He married Jessie A. Dodge, who was born at Concord, and died at Winchester.
Lloyd Dodge Fernald received his early education at the public schools of Winchester, and attended the Middlesex School at Concord. He also attended Phillips Academy, at Andover, and later, Cornell University.
After having completed his educational training, Mr. Fernald became associated with his father in the in- vestment banking business in Boston, where he re- mained for two years. At the end of this period, Mr. Fernald came to Springfield, where he represented his father in the Springfield office of the enterprise. In 1928, he entered business for himself, establishing the investment banking enterprise of Lloyd D. Fernald and Company, and has continued in this line since as owner and operator of the firm, and which has met with substantial success. Today it is one of the most prosperous and widely known enterprises of its type in the city.
Mr. Fernald is active in the life of his community. . He is one of the incorporators of the Springfield Hos- pital. During World War I, he served as an ensign in the United States Navy, having trained at Newport, Rhode Island. He is a member of the Century Club, the Colony Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Uni- versity Club and the Longmeadow Country Club. During his college days, he was a member of the
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Theta Delta Chi fraternity. In politics he is a Re- publican, and in religious preference is a Congrega- tionalist, attending the South Congregational Church. He is a great sportsman, enjoying horseback riding and sailing.
On December 1I, 1926, Lloyd Dodge Fernald mar- ried Gladys Neff, daughter of John H. and Mary (Sutfun) Neff. Her father was president of the George H. Gilbert Manufacturing Company, of Ware. Mrs. Fernald, who was born at Providence, Rhode Island, was graduated from the Walnut High School and received the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Vassar College, is a former member of the Junior League and the College Club, and with her husband attends the South Congregational Church. Lloyd Dodge and Gladys (Neff) Fernald became the parents of the following children: 1. Winthrop Kent, who was born March 5, 1928, and is a student at the Hotchkiss School. 2. Lloyd Dodge, Jr., who was born Novem- ber 19, 1928, and is also a student at the Hotchkiss School. 3. John Henry Neff, who was born June 29, 1931, and is studying at the Longmeadow Junior High School. 4. Peter Sutcliff, who was born September 15, 1935, and attends primary school at Longmeadow.
FELIX EDWARD BRAWER-Bringing to the textile industry a progressive business acumen, and serving as an official in several of Holyoke's industries, Felix Edward Brawer possesses an enthusiastic inter- est in textiles, probably as the result of early example. His father, Abram Brawer, was a textile jobber and silk manufacturer in Paterson, New Jersey, where Felix Edward was born March 17, 1912. His mother's maiden name was Lillian Oberman.
Mr. Brawer's early schooling was received in the public and high schools of New Jersey, after which he attended Ohio State University, receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in 1934.
As a very young man he showed remarkable or- ganizational capabilities, and in his first year out of college organized, in New Jersey, the Granite Weaving Company, a concern which has since been absorbed by Arbrew Textiles. This corporation, in turn, is now owned by Holyoke Mills, of which Mr. Brawer has been treasurer since 1938. Since changing the location of his activities to Holyoke, Mr. Brawer has added to his executive responsibilities, other official positions. He is president of Holyoke Fabrics, Inc., president of Holyoke Yarns, and vice president of Lyric Fabrics. His time, when not turned to business, is given to such active pursuits as skiing, golf and fishing, and he holds membership in the Mount Tom and Oxford Country clubs. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. His religious affiliation is with the Sons of Zion.
In New York City, August 15, 1941, Felix Edward Brawer married Shirley Fay Pink, the daughter of Dr. J. Welles and Miriam (Baker) Pink. Their son, James Robin, was born December 15, 1944.
LAWRENCE DAVIS-When Lawrence Davis, while still a young man, after a brief experience in mechanical work, entered the field of finance, he was following in the path of his father, Joseph Walter Davis, financier The first American forebear of the Davis family settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the year 1630. He was John Davis who came to this
continent from Wales, and the name proves the family to be of distinguished Welsh ancestry.
Josesph Walter Davis married Mary Perry Sweet, and to them the son they named Lawrence was born at Auburndale, on May 12, 1894. He was educated at public school in Auburndale, at the Allen School in West Newton, at the Newton High School and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science as a member of the class of 1917. In that same year he answered the call to the colors in World War I by enlisting in the United States Army, where, with the rank of a first lieutenant he was attached to the engi- neering division of the Ordnance Department from July, 1917 to December, 1918.
In 1919 Mr. Davis joined the American Optical Company as a Mechanical Superintendent, and this re- inained his occupation until September, 1922. In that year he turned to finance, and organized the Auto- matic Oil Heating Company, of which he became president and treasurer; the Davis and Daggett Com- pany, in which the assumed the same offices; and the Connecticut Oil Heating Company, Inc., of which he is also president and treasurer.
The Automatic Oil Heating Company, a Massa- chusetts corporation, are contract engineers engaged in the manufacture and distribution of domestic and industrial oil burners, refrigeration and air condition- ing equipment. The business of the Connecticut Oil Heating Company, a Connecticut corporation, is similar to that of the Automatic Oil Heating Com- pany. The Davis and Daggett Company, a Massa- chusetts corporation, deals in domestic and industrial fuel oils.
Mr. Davis is a member of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and belongs to the Longmeadow Coun- try Club. He is a Congregationalist in religion, and politically a member of the Republican party. His hobby is sports.
At Brookline, on January 19, 1918, Lawrence Davis was married to Marion Potter Daggett, a daughter of Frederick Kimball and Alice (Gerry) Daggett. Of this union there are two children: I. Barbara, who was born on May 19, 1921, and graduated from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, with the class of 1943, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science. Barbara Davis is now Mrs. W. J. Donahue, Jr. 2. Lawrence Jr., born July 25, 1925. In 1947 he graduated from the United States Coast Guard Acad- emy with the degree of Bachelor of Science, and is now an ensign, attached to the first district.
CHARLES F. NOTSLEY-A leading member of the waterworks industry of Williamstown, Charles F. Notsley has done much toward furthering the progress of this industry in the town. His thorough knowledge of all phases of the plumbing business has given him a sturdy foundation on which to base the valuable work he has been doing as superintendent of the town- operated Williamstown Water Department. His ac- complishments in the civic and social phases of con- munity life have merited the esteem and admiration of his fellow citizens.
Mr. Notsley was born March 18, 1896, at Wil- liamstown, Berkshire County, the son of John and Norah (Donahue) Notsley. His father, a native of Zurich, Switzerland, came to the United States as a
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young man and settled at Fitchburg, where he be- came prominent as a baker. Norah (Donahue) Notsley, mother of Charles Notsley, was born at North Adams.
Charles F. Notsley received his early education in the elementary schools of his home town, and, in 1914, was graduated from Williamstown High School.
Mr. Notsley became connected with the plumbing industry of Williamstown in association with F. H. Sherman, a well known local plumber. Here Mr. Notsley gained valuable experience and gained a wealth of basic information in the trade.
In February, 1918, after nearly four years with Mr. Sherman, Mr. Notsley enlisted in the United States Army, interrupting his career to see duty over- seas. He saw action as a member of the 30Ist In- fantry Regiment in France as a sergeant. Subse- quently he was transferred to the Army Post Office. After many months on foreign soil, he returned to the United States and was discharged in August, 1919.
After returning to civilian life, Mr. Notsley re- turned to his position with Mr. Sherman, and there he continued to render valuable services until 1923. In that year he joined the Williamstown Water Company. Throughout the years with this firm he took on ever-increasing resonsibility and earned important promotions. His efficiency and devotion to duty were rewarded in 1942, after nearly two decades, when he was made superintendent of the company which previously had been taken over by the munici- pal government of Williamstown. He has acted in this position since with fidelity to duty, inaugurating many worthwhile improvements in the town water- works system.
In connection with his business endeavors, Mr. Notsley serves as plumber inspector for the town of Williamstown, a position he has held since 1931. He is a trustee and clerk of the Williamstown Savings Bank, and is a director of the First National Bank of Williamstown. He is also a member of the Williams- town Fire District Prudential Committee. He served as post commander of the American Legion Post No. 152 at Williamstown for one year. He belongs to the Williamstown Fish and Game Club, and fra- ternally holds memberships in the Knights of Co- lumbus and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Mr. Notsley owns a seventy-five-acre dairy farm outside Williamstown, where he spends much of his spare time tending to its operation. His favorite exercise and recreational activities are hunting and fishing.
On January 3, 1942, Charles F. Notsley married, at Bennington, Vermont, Mary Dufresne, daughter of Almond and Maude (Buck) Dufresne, of Bennington. They became the parents of the following children: I. John, who was born October 1, 1942, at Benning- ton. 2. Charles, who was born September 14, 1943, at North Adams.
GUSTAVE BERMAN-The largest mercantile enterprise of its kind in Springfield is operated by Gustave Berman. This is the Yale Clothing Com- pany, occupying its own building at Dwight and Bridge streets. Mr. Berman is known throughout New England in the clothiers' and furnishers' trade and is active in various phases of life in Springfield and at Holyoke, where he resides.
Mr. Berman was born in New Haven, Connecticut,
on April 23, 1895, the son of Cohnan and Hannah Berman. His father, who was a retail merchant in New Haven, died in 1936; the mother died in 1930. Gustave Berman was educated in New Haven's pub- lic schools. He began work at an early age, starting "at the bottom" in the retail clothing business. In time, he became a stock clerk, salesman and finally manager. After ten years of experience in New Haven, he moved to Springfield in 1923.
In Springfield, he opened the small furnishings store which has grown into the tremendous business of today. The store was first located on Dwight Street, near Worthington. Little by little it grew until it came to be the largest in its field in Spring- field. The business expanded to such an extent that it required a building of its own, and this is the struc- ture Mr. Berman acquired for it at Dwight and Bridge streets, known as the Yale Clothing Company.
Mr. Berman is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 61, Mount Tom Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; the Massasoit Council, Princes of Jerusalem; the Evening Star Lodge of Perfection; the Springfield Chapter of Rose Croix; the Connecticut Valley Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and Melha Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the New England Clothiers and Furnishers Association. As a voter he is a Republican. He wor- ships at the Sons of Zion Synagogue in Holyoke.
Mr. Berman married Lillian Merrman, daughter of Samuel and Minnie Merrman, of New Haven, in that city on August 18, 1918. Her father, a restaurateur, was born in 1866. Mrs. Berman was educated in the public and high schools of New Haven, where she was born on June 10, 1898. She and Mr. Berman are the parents of two children: Milton Robert, born November 18, 1922, and Eugene Bruce, born June I, 1928. Milton Robert Berman was educated in the public schools, at Williston Academy and at Yale University. He received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Yale in 1947. He is a veteran of World War II, having served in the United States Army Air Forces in various sectors of the European Theater of Operations. Wounded once, he received the Purple Heart. He attained the rank of captain. Eugene Bruce Berman, a graduate of public schools and Wil- liston Academy, was in 1947 a student at the Univer- sity of Nebraska, Lincoln.
WILLIAM H. SHANDOFF-Among the basic elements of commercial activity in every thriving community is the retailing of stationery and kindred items for both home and industry. William H. Shan- doff is such an enterprise, established at Pittsfield, for practically half a century. Its present proprietor, William H. Shandoff, the second of the name, has been active in the field for more than half the firm's existence and is a personage not only in the mercan- tile life of Pittsfield but also in local civic and social circles.
William H. Shandoff was born November 2, 1902, at Pittsfield, Berkshire County, the son of William H., a native of New York City, and of Bertha M. (Williams) Shandoff, a native of Dalton, Massachu- setts. Both parents are now deceased, having died in the year 1935. The elder Mr. Shandoff founded the stationery business at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in
Benjamini E Perfino &
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1900, and continued as the active head thereof until his death. The younger William H. Shandoff re- ceived his education in the grade and high schools of Burlington, Vermont, and in 1921 entered the busi- ness world in association with his father.
Mr. Shandoff learned all the varied ramifications of the business under his father's guidance and in June, 1935, succeeded to the proprietorship. He now employs some fourteen people and, besides stationery and greeting cards, he deals in gifts and a complete line of office furniture, equipment and supplies.
During World War II, Mr. Shandoff was the Re- gional Director for Civilian Defense with headquarters at Pittsfield. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a director of the Kiwanis Club. He is, also, past exalted ruler of the Pittsfield Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and a member of the Alford Brook Club of Alford, Massachusetts. His chief sources of recreation are fishing and hunting. He is a communicant in the parish of St. Mark's Roman Catholic Church.
William H. Shandoff married, July 2, 1940, at Pittsfield, Margaret M. Ward, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Ward, of Pittsfield. Mr. Ward is now deceased but Mrs. Ward is still living. Mrs. Shandoff is a graduate in physical education of the Sargent School at Cambridge, and formerly served as director of physical education at Pittsfield High School. During World War II, she was a member of the Pittsfield Red Cross Motor Corps and her current interests include the Red Cross and the House of Mercy and St. Luke's hospitals. Mr. and Mrs. Shan- doff are the parents of two children: 1. Margot Ann, born April 19, 1941. 2. Ward Hugh, born February 28, 1943.
WILLIAM EDMOND COYER-It is now nearly half a century since William Edmond came to Spring- field, where he has built up a large and lucrative busi- ness in which he is still active, and earned wide re- spect for his industry and the sound quality of the work which has brought him such notable success.
A native of Canada, Mr. Coyer was born at Rich- mond in the Province of Quebec on February 9, 1874. His father, the late Gideon Coyer, was born at King- sey, Province of Quebec, in 1839, and died in 1915. He was a blacksmith and for many years was con- nected with the Norwood Engineering Company at Florence, Massachusetts. He married Mary Labounte, a native of Danville in the Province of Quebec, who was born in 1844 and who survived her husband until 1928. The young William E. Coyer was educated in the public schools of Haydenville and Leeds.
Mr. Coyer's first employment was with the firm of Shumway and Riley at Florence, Massachusetts, for whom he worked for four years as a sheet metal worker. This beginning set the course of his entire career. From Florence he went to Boston, where he continued in sheet metal work for three years, after which he became an itinerant artisan in the same line of work, in various Massachusetts towns.
It was in 1899 that Mr. Coyer canie to Springfield, where he began the manufacture of carbide machines. For the next thirty years he was a free lance foreman, and during that time he worked on many public buildings and large private contracts. In 1929 he set up in his own business as a sheet metal contractor,
under the name of the Springfield Ventilating Works. This venture prospered and grew into a lucrative busi- ness, and in 1933 Mr. Coyer took John L. Sheehan into partnership. In recent years the Springfield Ven- tilating Works has executed many contracts in school buildings and other municipal structures as well as stores and factories in the Western Massachusetts area adjacent to Springfield, in connection with heat- ing, ventilating and other related forms of installa- tions.
Mr. Coyer is a member of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and of the Building Trades Employers Association of the same city. He is an independent in politics. His hobby is a camp at Chesterfield, which he has had and has greatly enjoyed for some years.
On August 23, 1927, William E. Coyer married in the state of Maine, Ethel C. Lovell, a daughter of William Lovell, of Cavendish, Vermont, who settled in Suffield, Connecticut, some years ago, and of his wife who was a native of the same place, and of the maiden name of Fuller. Mr. Lovell was a tobacco farmer until the time of his death. His wife is also now deceased.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PERKINS, JR .- One of the outstanding young businessmen of Holyoke, Benjamin Franklin Perkins, Jr., is making substantial contributions toward the progress of the paper indus- try of this region as an executive with American Tis- sue Mills here.
Mr. Perkins was born May 14, 1922, at Holyoke, son of Benjamin Franklin Perkins, Sr., and Marion Zeta (Ryan) Perkins. Benjamin Franklin Perkins Sr. is president and general manager of the mills.
Benjamin Franklin Perkins, Jr., received his early education in the Williston School, and was graduated from the Loomis School. He entered Williams Col- lege, and after taking courses there for a period of time, transferred to Yale University, where he was graduated in 1945 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
Upon completion of his formal training, Mr. Perkins entered American Tissue Mills, an enterprise which had been originally founded in 1873 as B. F. Perkins and Son, and which had taken on its present name in 1899. Mr. Perkins represents the fourth generation of the family to take an important part in the affairs of this concern which specializes in various types of paper products including crepe, tissue, gift wrapping, napkins, and waxed paper. Its plant equipment in- cludes two paper mills and three converting plants with a daily capacity of fifty thousand pounds. Upon entering the concern Mr. Perkins learned the manu- facturing processes and personnel problems arising in the day-to-day operation of the business. His work was acclaimed by those in authority, and in 1946 he was promoted to the high positions of vice president and director of the company. He has continued in these capacities since with distinction.
Mr. Perkins takes an interest in the affairs of the community, and is active in Chi Phi fraternity. Politi- cally he adheres to the principles of the Republican party, and in religious affiliation is a Congregationalist, attending the Second Congregational Church of Holy- oke.
On November 10, 1945, at New Haven, Connecticut. Benjamin Franklin Perkins, Jr., married Virginia
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Fobes Blanchard, daughter of Carl Woodman and Violet (Fenell) Blanchard. They became the parents of two children: I. Dianne Woodman Perkins, who was born December 23, 1946. 2. Benjamin Franklin Perkins, III, born on July 13, 1948.
JOSEPH METCALF, II-It occasionally happens, though rarely in these times, that the members of one family, in succeeding generations, pursue successfully one line of endeavor, so that the product becomes a credit to the name, and the name a guarantee of the product. Joseph Metcalf, II, the third generation of his family to head the Farr Alpaca Company is a fine example of this.
Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, August 3, 1903, Joseph Metcalf, II is the son of Howard Farr and Rose Bartlett (Heywood) Metcalf, and grandson of the late Joseph Metcalf who founded the Farr Alpaca Company. Howard Farr Metcalf, the second genera- tion to assume the management of the business, de- voted his entire business life to its advancement. At the time of his death in 1928, he had behind him thirty-two years of loyal service and effective leader- ship in the organization.
Joseph Metcalf, II was not given unwarranted advancement with the company. He learned the busi- ness thoroughly, each separate aspect of it, advancing gradually through positions of lesser to greater re- sponsibility. It had been his sole business connection, for after his graduation from Phillips Exeter Academy, and from Yale University with the degree of Bachelor of Science, he had come directly with this company. He had been successively assistant agent, agent, and finally a director. Upon its dissolution in 1940, he utilized his thorough experience in the textile industry in the founding, with Mr. Donald Green, of a new company, the Holyoke Worsted Company. Of this concern he has been president and treasurer, serving in both capacities at the present time. In addition, he is a director of the Holyoke and Westfield Railroad, and of the Hadley Falls Trust Company. He has also accepted the responsibility of a civic post, having been alderman from Ward Seven of the city of Holyoke in 1934.
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