Charles Thomas Derry (1828 - 1919)

Born 1828 in Massachusetts

Husband of Almira Wilds (Murdock) Derry — married 11 Jul 1852 in Quincy, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 1919 at about age 91 in Washington Place, Sharon, Massachusetts

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This profile is part of the Derry Name Study.

Biography

Charles was born in 1828. He passed away in 1919.^[1]

From Congessional Serial Set^[2]Pg. 7:

Contracts in Engineer Department

Contractors. Derry and Edwards, with Brevet Major General H. W. Benham, colonel of engineers.

Date. June 16, 1868

Objects and terms of contracts. For furnishing materials and labor, and constructing sea-wall and jettees, at Lovell's Island, Boston harbor, at $18 87-1/2 per lineal foot for the main wall finished; $2 75 per cubic yard for laying in dry masonry the jettee stone and core of boulders; $4 per cubic yard for making and laying concrete of jettee. Contract expires November 1, 1868.

From Illustrated Boston, Pg. 208:

C. T. Derry & Company, Dealers in Granite, Bridge Abutments, Sea Wall and Wharf Builders, Office, No. 68 Devonshire Street

The leading builders and contractors of Boston in the line of sea walls, wharf walls, stone piers, abutments etc., are Messrs, C. T. Derry & Co., of No. 68 Devonshire Street, and Mechanics Exchange. The business conducted by them is as long established as it is widely extended. It was founded thirty-five years ago by Mr. C. T. Derry, a native of Quincy and a practical master mason, quarry proprietor, and granite contractor, of the highest standing, and widest range of experience. He early developed an active trade, and in the year 1868, took into copartnership, Mr. C. H. Edwards under the name and style of C. T. Derry & Co. In 1890, Mr. Edwards withdrawing, Mr. James Burr^[3]came into the firm under the same style, and the house has since permanently maintained the lead in its line. Its facilities are unrivaled, its resources ample, and its connections most influential. Having had exerience in the performance of the heaviest contracts in the building of sea walls, piers, bridge abutments, etc., the firm is called on to perform the most important engagements in this line. Their first contract was in 1856 for William Evans, contractor with the city of Boston, on Albany Street, it being a wall over a mile in length, of heavy dimensions, thirteen feet wide at bottom, four feet wide at top, and fourteen feet high. They built a portion of the splendid Long Wharf; the substantial wharf and piling for Standard Sugar refinery at South Boston; the wharf for the Franklin Coal Co. at South Boston, owned business is y Francis B. Hayes. In 1883 they built the great sea wall on Beacon Street, 2500 feet long and one of the most substantial of its class. They are now engaged on the heaviest contract of the kind ever let, viz. - for the Boston & Maine Railroad, the wall being 4000 feet long, of the most durable and substantial character. This contract is the largest of the kind ever accomplished in the same length of time, (from June 1, to December 1,) it being thirty feet wide at the base, three feet wide at top, and twenty feet high, built in seven feet of water at low tide , and requiring about one hundred thousand tons of stone. To give some idea of the magnitude of their business, we may state that they paid out for labor and stone from eighteen to twenty thousand dollars per month last summer, employing a large number of men and vessels in freighting and laying stone. Among their customers are the United States Government, for which they handled all the twenty-five ton guns with their appertenances, during the war, landing them at all the different forts from New York Harbor north; leading railroads, such as the Fitchburg, for which the Hoosac Tunnel Dock and Elevator was built, at which three of the largest foreign steamship lines running into Boston discharge; they also furnished the foundation for the large freight house of the Boston & Providence Railroad, and a new bridge at Dedham and the one at Hyde Park for them; Manufacturing corporations - the Boston Gas Light Co., for whom they built about 1700 feet of heavy sea wall and foundation for their works at Connecticut Point , and the Bradley Fertilizing Works at Weymouth, where they furnished about 500 feet of sea wall. They have filled many contracts in public competition and in the most satisfactory manner, and are thoroughly responsible, honorable contractors. Their stone is supplied from the quarries at Rockport and Quincy, and they employ as many as twenty vessels in the work of transporting it from there to Boston. The removal and rebuilding of old sea walls and wharves is a specialty and in this line they challenge competition. They are also owners of strongly built, able, and seaworthy lighters of large capacity, specially adapted for the transportation of heavy merchandise, granite, etc., to all parts of the harbor: builders, S.S. Agents, and others should apply to them when in need of superior lighterage facilities. Mr. Derry is one of the oldest members of the Mechanics' Exchange, having been connected therewith for fully thirty-five years past, and has ever accorded a hearty support to all measures best calculated to advance its permanent welfare and prosperity and that of the trade. Mr. James Burr is also a practical man, for eight years past connected with the house, a native of Quincy; he also is a popular and active member of tha Mechanics' Exchange. In conclusion we would state, that Captain C. T. Derry, is one of the prominent citizens of Sharon, Mass., being a large real estate owner, and takes an active interest in all improvements tending to the benefits of this most healthful town. He bought the property and formed the company that constructed Massapoiag Hotel, situated on the border of Massapoiag Lake, well known to all Boston people who are in the habit of residing in the country during the summer months. Mr. Burr is also a prominent man in Quincy, and, so far as his standing there is concerned, need only state, that the people have chosen him as a representative of their new city government.

Residence, 1898: 12 Trowbridge Street, Cambridge, Mass., ^[4]

This profile is a collaborative work-in-progress. Can you contribute information or sources?

Sources

• Illustrated Boston, The Metropolis of New England: American Publishing and Engraving Co., New York, 1889. C. T. Derry & Company, Pg. 208.
• 1850 US Census: Quincy, Norfolk County, MA, 28 Aug 1850^[5]
• 1870 US Census: Sharon, Norfolk County, MA, 25 Jun 1870, Pg. 34.^[6]
• 1880 US Census: Sharon, Norfolk County, MA, 22 Jun 1880, Enumeration Disrict 503, Pg. 24^[7]
• Publications of the Sharon Historical Society of Sharon, Massachusetts, Issue No. 1, Press of H.M. Hight, Sharon, Massachusetts, 1904. Membership of the Sharon Historical Society, 1904; Charles T. Derry, and Almira W. Derry, South Main Street, Pg. 35.
• 1910 US Census: Sharon, Norfolk County, MA, 19 Apr 1910, Enumeration District 1154, Sheet 3B^[8]
• Find A Grave: Memorial #113594785; Charles T. Derry, Knollwood Cemetery, Canton MA

See also:

• Facts and Incidents in the Life of Capt. Charles T. Derry, by Charles T. Derry, compiled by Nellie H. Derry, Press of Orlando H. Duren, 36 Boylston St., Boston, Mass., 1898^[9]
• CHARLES T. DERRY & others vs. J. HENRY FLITNER & others. 118 Mass. 131, March 18-19, 1875 - June 25, 1875, Suffolk County^[10]
• Mass. Memories Roadshow: Sharon, June 12, 2011^[11]
• Ship Registers and Enrollments of Newport, Rhode Island, 1790-1939, Volumes 1-2, Pg. 129. #413 "Dauntless", sloop, of Newport. Built in Georgetown, Maine, 1874. 28.29 tons; 53.6 ft. x 17.8 ft. x 3.8 ft. One deck. one mast, no figure-head. Previously enrolled July 28, 1884 at Bath. Charles T. Derry; half owner, 1889; managing owner, 1894.^[12]

• Add sources here.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Information from Sharon, Massachusetts genealogy and history researcher, Nick Dann, 12 May 2018.
2. ↑ Index to the Senate Executive Documents for the Third Session of the Fouteenth Congress of the United States, 1868, -69, Goverment Printing Office, 1869.
3. ↑ Possibly James A. Burr.
4. ↑ Clark's Boston Blue Book, 1898, Pg. 387
5. ↑ Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Roll: M432_331; Page: 248B; Image: 456
6. ↑ Ninth Census of the United States, NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.; Roll: M593_636; Page: 242B; FHL microfilm: 552135
7. ↑ Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Roll: 547; Page: 230D; Enumeration District 503
8. ↑ Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Roll: T624_610; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 1154; FHL microfilm: 1374623
9. ↑ No eBook available; see books.Google.com
10. ↑ Mass. Cases: Charles T. Derry, et al vs. J, Henry Flitner, et al
11. ↑ Mass. Memories Roadshow: Index See: Dwight Derry video
12. ↑ Ship Registers: "Dauntless"