Pevear & Co's Morocco Factories, Salesroom 83 High St., Boston. Lynn, Mass. Established 1847.

Abstract

Henry Augustus Pevear, born on 12 September 1828, was a leader in the morocco manufacturing business. Pevear and his brother George were manufacturing morocco from an early age; Henry was nineteen when he started with the business. Originally based in Lynn, their business became so successful that they took an office in Boston and eventually opened both a manufacturing house and a store in Peru. After a long and financially rewarding career in morocco manufacturing, Pevear retired from the business, only to devote his time to a new business endeavor: the electric light. For the next decade, Pevear was the president of the Electric Light Company of Lynn, which he grew into a powerful company. When he eventually retired from this business, he had merged it with the Edison Standard Electric Company, creating the industrial giant, General Electric. After his official retirement, Pevear focused on humanitarian work. He worked with a group of men to found the Stetson Home for boys. He also gave his summer home to the Boston Baptist Social Union to use as the Mary Anna Home, a place for “weary mothers and their children.” Pevear died in 1909.