For thirty years the Pepin family has maintained in Easthampton, Massachusetts, one of the largest and most energetic lumber businesses in that section of the State, a business now incorporated and under the able management of Delos Thomas Pepin, president, treasurer and general manager of the D. T. Pepin Lumber Company, Inc. The company has done much to build up the town of Easthampton, inspired always by the ideal of service and beauty. Some of the largest and most attractive public and private buildings in town were erected by Mr. Pepin and his associates.
The father and grandfather of Delos T. Pepin were born in Canada, his great-grandfather in France, where the family line is traced to Charlemagne, an early ancestor known as “Pepin the Short.” The great-grandfather left an honorable position and comfortable home in his native country td migrate to Canada, then a territory belonging to France. He settled in the Province of Quebec, where his son, Dominique Pepin, was born, and where he resided until 1863, when he came to the United States and located in Easthampton. Dominique Pepin was a farm worker. He married, in 1840, Chepheld Wassur Deiltelete, and their children were : John, father of the subject of this record, of whom further; Rose, who married Anthony Cummings; Joseph; Louis, deceased; and Mary, who married Dr. Peter Ayers.
John Pepin was born in St. Jean Baptiste, Rueville County, Quebec, Canada, in 1845, and died in Easthampton, Massachusetts, July 8, 1905. He was well educated in the Canadian schools, and came with his parents to Easthampton at the age of eighteen. Employed in the Williston Mills for a time, he then learned the cabinetmakers’ trade, which, together with carpentry, became his life work For some years he was journeyman carpenter in the employ of Bartlett Brothers, being foreman of the carpenters who built the Easthampton Library. John Pepin engaged in business for himself in 1896 as contractor and builder, operating with considerable success until his death. He was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and a highly respected citizen of the town. He married Melvina Tetrault, of Swanton, Vermont, born August 7, 1847. Children: Eugene, deceased; Delos Thomas, of further mention; Helen, who married Fred Sinkel; Josephine, deceased; Agnes, who married Joseph Peloquin.
Delos Thomas Pepin, son of John and Melvina (Tetrault) Pepin, was born in Easthampton, Massachusetts, on August 27, 1868. He attended public schools and graduated in 1892 from Williston Seminary. For a time thereafter he was employed in the office of Joseph Hebert, of Northampton, as bookkeeper, but later he learned the carpenter’s trade from his father, with whom he worked for four years. Thence he went to New Haven, Connecticut, to join the forces of J. E. Todd and Son, builders. His five years with that concern gave him the necessary insight into the lumber and building industry on a large scale and enabled him to succeed in the independent business in which he and his father engaged in 1896. The firm was called-John Pepin & Son. A vigorous business in contracting and building developed both before 1907 and since that date, when the name of the firm changed to Delos T. Pepin, becoming later D. T. Pepin & Son, and still later adopting its present form of the D. T. Pepin Lumber Company, Inc. The firm has done a great deal of repair work, for which it puts in special bids, maintains a well-stocked and splendidly equipped retail lumber yard, and operates a planing mill. Besides erecting many fine private residences in Easthampton, Mr. Pepin built the French Church, the passenger station, the high school, the Helping Hand Home, and other structures.
His varied activities have not prevented his serving the community for fifteen years as a member of the Board of Assessors. Mr. Pepin is affiliated with the Royal Arcanum, the Franco Foresters of America, the Pascommuck Club, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 997, at Northampton, as well as the Society of St. Jean Baptiste. His political affiliations are with the Republican leaders.
On September 19, 1899, Delos T. Pepin married Marie E. Demers, of Sherbrooke, Canada. A son and a daughter were born to them: 1. Herve Amedie, who was born July 6, 1900, was educated in the local public schools and at Williston Seminary. He joined his father in the lumber business as soon as his education was complete, and was soon made a partner. When the company was incorporated, he was elected vice-president. He is a member of the Order of Foresters, and of the Pascommuck Club. He married, in August, 1924, Dorothy K Clapp, of Easthampton, daughter of Ralph H. and Rose A. (Koenig) Clapp, descendants of an old Massachusetts family founded by Captain Roger Clapp, who came to this country from England in 1630, and including a Revolutionary War hero, Charles Clapp. Mr. and Mrs. Herve A. Pepin have a son, Ronald Clapp Pepin, born August 9, 1925. 2. Jeannette Anita, born February 2, 1912.