Photos from Hall Brothers and the Beach Family

Recently, we came across a collection of pictures that were found in the attic of a house on Kinsley Road, evidently once the home of members of the Beach family.  Thumbtack holes in the mats show that they had been displayed on a wall, indicating that they were all of family members or close friends.

Among the pictures were several of men in a work setting.  Two were labelled “Hall Bros,” a West Acton manufacturer of wooden ware that was an important employer in the village for many years.  Two were duplicates of photos already in our collection for which some Hall Brothers employees had been identified:

Our duplicate copy of this picture says on the back: "Back Row / 4th from Right Ernie Banks / First man Ben Coolige / fifth from right Archie Beach".

This duplicate of a Hall Brothers photo had no identification, but our other copy did:

Our duplicate gave the following identifications:

Back Row, standing:

1. Ben Coolidge
   
2. Unknown
3. "Pop" French
4. Starky
5. Otis Mott

Front Row (2 young boys not included):

1. Bill Charter
2. Archie Beach
3. ?
4. Lee Coolidge
5. ?
6. ?
7. Reuben Morgan
8. Charlie Wood
9. Duncan Kennedy

Given this identification, Ben Coolidge must the man standing in the back right of the previous picture, where he would be the "first man" from the right.

The next photo featured tubs, pails, churns and other wooden products, so we easily accepted the Hall Brothers identification written on its back.  However, after we scanned and enlarged the photo, we were surprised to see that a large churn was painted with the slogan “Get the Best The Blanchard Churn”, and a box said “The Blanchard Print Butter Carrier.”  Now we were confused.  Was our picture labelled incorrectly?  Did someone assume that wooden ware must have been Hall Brothers’?  Was this perhaps another company associated with West Acton’s Blanchard family?

Fortunately, knowledgeable members of the Society often can save us a lot of research time.  One told us that Hall Brothers bought the Blanchard churn patent.  Blanchard churns were actually a well-known New Hampshire product.  A Biennial Report from New Hampshire’s Bureau of Labor (dated 1902) reported that “In December, 1900, Nashua lost the Blanchard Churn company, whose entire plant was purchased by parties from West Acton, Mass., and removed to that town.”  The Boston Herald (Dec. 28, 1900, p. 10) reported that Blanchard’s stock and machinery had been purchased by Hall Brothers to enlarge their business.  Searching our collection of items related to Hall Brothers’ operation, we found a piece of Hall Brothers letterhead; their logo by that time featured a list of products sold by the company including “Improved Cylinder, Blanchard and Lightning Churns,” butter molds, carriers, tubs and pails.  Our picture seems to have been a good representation of the company’s business.  One mystery solved.  But who are the men in the picture?  Given the identifications above, we believe that Ben Coolidge is on the left and Archie Beach is on the right.  Can anyone help us with our identification?

Our next picture had no identification, but at least two of the young men are also in the churn and pail picture.  Were they all Hall Brothers employees?  Were they relatives?  Is the one on the left Archie J. Beach or someone else?

The photo collection also included a wonderful interior picture of workers at a mill, many of them barefoot.  We think it may be the upstairs level of the South Acton Woolen Mill.  We do not know the identities of the men in the photo.  We would appreciate any clues.

Finally, there were family photos.  The first two appear to be nearly the same group of women:

We have no clues about the women in white blouses below:

For reference, at different times and from different descendants, we have received two copies of the following photo of the Beach family around 1905.  The woman in the chair is apparently Georgiana (Munroe) Beach who was born c. 1823, in Granville, Nova Scotia, married George William Beach, lived at the end of her life in West Acton with her daughter Estella (Mrs. Ernest) Morse, and died in Acton in December, 1909.  According to an unsourced/undated obituary, she had sixteen children, eighty-seven grandchildren, seventy-two great-grandchildren, and five great-great grandchildren at the time of her death, leaving plenty of room for confusion about identification of family members.  Based on the pictures’ donors’ information and suggestions from other family members, we have some identifications for this picture and a number of remaining questions.  Can you confirm/correct these identifications or identify others?

Tentative Identifications:
Back Row, from Left to Right:

1. Woman, unknown
2. _____ Beach
3. Man, unknown
4. George William Beach
5. Anna (Gade) Beach
6. Archie/Archibald Joseph Beach (brother of George William)
7. Woman, unknown
8. Man, unknown
9. Woman, unknown
10. Man, unknown
11. Man, unknown

Front Row, Left to Right:
Seated -

1. Theresa Wamboldt
2. Genevieve Wamboldt
3. Georgiana (Munroe) Beach
4. Addie (Wamboldt) Briggs (girl with flowers)
5. Woman seated in dark dress

People Standing in front -

1. Is this Archie J. Beach (son of Edward & Frances), Nelson Wamboldt, or someone else?
   
2. Woman standing
3. Amelia Beach holding John Beach

We would be grateful for any help that you can give us in identifying these pictures.  Please contact us.