Biography of Walter L. Fay

Walter L. Fay, who has been prominently identified with manufacturing interests for many years, is a son of Edmund B. Fay, who was born in Fulton, Oswego county, New York, and was finally engaged in the wholesale dry goods business in New York City. Walter L. Fay was born in Auburn, Cayuga county, New York, his mother’s home, February 5, 1859. He was educated in the Pingry School, Elizabeth, New Jersey, from which he was graduated at the age of eighteen years. He immediately entered upon his business career, working for his father for a short time, then, in 1879, … Read more

Ancestors of George Mitchell Hooper of Bridgewater, MA

George Mitchell Hooper

The Hooper family, to which belonged the late George Mitchell Hooper, one of Bridgewater’s well-known citizens, is an old and distinguished one in New England. George Mitchell Hooper, son of Mitchell, was born in the town of Bridgewater Sept. 1, 1838. He received his education in the public schools and Bridgewater Academy, later attending Peirce Academy and the State normal school at Bridgewater, graduating from the latter institution in 1857. After leaving school he engaged in teaching, a profession he followed for one year and then began the manufacture of brick with his father, a business in which he engaged for half a century. He was also a surveyor. He was identified with the banking interests of Bridgewater, having been one of the trustees of the Bridgewater Savings Bank, also filling the office of clerk. He was clerk and treasurer of the Bridgewater Cemetery Association; a member of the Plymouth County Agricultural Association, of which for years he was treasurer, and was secretary; and trustee of the Memorial Public Library. He died July 2, 1909, in his seventy-first year. On Oct. 16, 1861, Mr. Hooper was married to Mary E. Josselyn, who was born at Hanson, Mass., daughter of Hervey and Elizabeth (Howland) Josselyn. She died Jan. 30, 1884, and was buried in Mount Prospect cemetery. Eight children were born of this marriage.

Biography of Abraham Stites

Abraham Stites was a son of Dr. John Stites, and was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, during the Revolutionary war, and with his mother was removed into a cellar to avoid danger resulting from a sharp engagement then going on between the British soldiers and the rebels of that day. A singular coincidence in the life of Mr. Stites is that he died in February, 1864, in Hopkinsville, during a skirmish here between the Confederate and Federal troops. He, with a large family connection of the Ganos and Stiteses, removed from New Jersey to the Ohio Valley in 1808, carrying … Read more

Biographical Sketch of J. I. Ayer

J. I. Ayer, book and music store, Mattoon; was born in Medford, Mass., Feb. 3, 1854. In 1866, the family moved to Elizabeth, N. J.; in addition to his common-school education, he enjoyed the advantages of a boarding-school at Nazareth, Penn.; this school was of a military character, and he here pursued a course in civil engineering; at the age of 15 years he entered the firm of Roberts & Co. (dealers in books and stationery), at Elizabeth, N. J., to take charge of his father’s interest, he being a member of the firm. In the fall of 1870, he … Read more