The Historical Commission recently accepted a donation of eight photographs depicting members of three Cambridge families in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The photographs were donated by a descendant of these families. Scroll down to read snapshots of these people and their connections to 19th century Cambridge industries.
Coleman Family: Police and Coal
This family collection’s story begins with a tintype of John Coleman, likely from the 1850s.
Coleman was born in Birmingham, England, in 1827. Around 1847, he and his wife Elizabeth Harper Whitehouse immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Cambridge, where John became a well-known policeman. In 1878, John and his son Walter started a coal and wood business at the corner of Broadway and Sixth Street in Cambridge; in 1881 son James also became part of the firm. After John’s death in 1883, Walter and James took over the firm, naming it Coleman Brothers. Their company did business at 428 Massachusetts Avenue until a merger with the Massachusetts Wharf Coal Company in 1923.
Cutting Family: Firemen and Markets
John Coleman’s daughter, Fannie Coleman, married Charles H. Cutting. Charles was born in Boston but, like Fannie, grew up in Cambridge.
The Cuttings had four children: Elizabeth Swanton, Henry Arthur, Herbert Harper, and Ida May. Sadly, Fannie died from complications of childbirth in 1889.
Charles Cutting’s occupation was originally listed as an iron molder, but he was later listed as a fish dealer and eventually owned his own provisions store at 885 Main Street (now on Mass Ave near Harvard Square). Charles may have taken over ownership of this store from E.A. Burroughs, proprietor of The Old Rockport Market, selling fish, oysters, and canned goods.
Charles would also serve as a volunteer fireman with the Cambridge Fire Department for 37 years, retiring in 1915.
The three eldest Cutting children seem to have helped with the family store, especially son Henry, who later took over running the store after Charles died in 1920. Henry also worked for the Cambridge Fire Department at River Street from 1920-1942.
Kemp and Nowell Family: Soap
Charles Cutting’s daughter Elizabeth Cutting married Bowman Nowell, the son of Lucy Ann Kemp and Charles Nowell. Lucy Ann was the daughter of Lysander Kemp, owner of a Cambridge soap manufacturing company and brother-in-law to Curtis Davis of the Curtis Davis Company (a large soap manufacturer that was later bought by Lever Brothers).
Lysander’s original company, which manufactured laundry soap, was Kemp & Sargent, later Lysander Kemp & Sons.
To see these photographs or to learn more about any of the industries mentioned here, make a research appointment with us at histcomm@cambridgema.gov. If you are interested in donating photographs or materials on your Cambridge ancestors, please feel free to contact Emily, egonzalez@cambridgema.gov.
The Cambridge Historical Commission has a rich collection of both family photographs and historical materials on Cambridge business and industry, and we are always excited to add more to the collection.
Do you have any information about the ancestors of John Coleman in Birmingham England? He is my 2X great grandfather. James Whitehouse Coleman was my great grandfather. My grandfather and father were both David Robertson Coleman. I would like to know more about the British ancestors if possible. Kathleen Coleman Nelson