Prominent Land & Business Owners

On February 4, 1807, Peter Bent Brigham was born in Bakersfield, Vermont. Despite being unable to complete formal education, Mr. Brigham moved to South Boston at 17 to find work as a grocer. After a while, he got promoted to Faneuil Hall, where he worked at a stand. Only a year after his promotion, Mr. Brigham opened an oyster shop on Hanover Street in 1828 and made a small fortune of $15,000. This small fortune allowed Mr. Brigham to purchase a restaurant and take over the lease of the Concert Hall Hotel in 1836. Mr. Brigham worked tirelessly with the Concert Hall for over 40 years and had great success gaining a large fortune which Mr. Brigham invested back into real estate. Mr. Brigham was a savvy real estate investor who frequently was consulted by the city of Boston on real estate matters. Some of the real estate that Mr. Brigham had purchased included; 61-63 Blackstone Street, 148-150 Hanover Street, and 93-97 North Street. Mr. Brigham also had a great interest in the railroad, serving as the Director of the Fitchburg Railroad and the President of the Nashua, Acton and Boston Railroad. Mr. Brigham was never married but spent a great deal of time with his nieces and nephews and was seen as a positive light by the community who was always ready to give advice when needed. Mr. Brigham's greatest legacy, however, was his will. He donated $30,000 to fund Brigham Academy in his hometown so that others could have the formal education he never received as a boy, and left the rest to the creation of the Brigham Hospital. 

 Leonard Baker Shearer was born in 1915 in Palmer and opened up a furniture store on 77 Blackstone St in 1935 when he was just 20 years old. Much of the furniture sold was made by farm workshops in; New Hampshire, Vermont, and Western Massachusetts. Mr. Shearer would arrange for a two-horse hitch to drive to these farms to pick up the furniture after they were built in the winter months and gained the reputation for having well-made pieces at low costs. Not only were these pieces well made, but they also allowed those that otherwise would struggle in the winter when farmwork slowed down to have a second income. With the early expansion of his business, Shearer selected his brother-in-law, John S. Paine, as a partner working as Shearer and Paine. After Leonard's untimely death, his brother-in-law made the executive decision to change their name to Paine's Furniture Company. Leonard's son and grandson would eventually help with the business and keep it in the family for over 120 years, making it one of the oldest generationally kept businesses in the country.