Lewis M.. Witherell (my great grandfather) started a carpentry business in Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1883 and in 1911 was joined by his sons Robert and Lewis, Jr., to form L.M. Witherell and Sons, Builders. The firm built many notable buildings in the Taunton area, including the Crocker Building, Court Street; the Newbury Apartments, Church Green; the Winthrop House, corner of Union and Main(?); the Walter N. Smith House, Prospect Street; the Baylies estate, Williams Street (demolished when the new high school was built); Cole Memorial Chapel, on the Wheaton College Campus in Norton; and St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church in the Whittenton section of Taunton.

Lewis married Josephine Seaman of Pugwash, Nova Scotia, on May 5, 1878.

In 1911, L. M. Witherell traveled to Europe with a party led by Rev. and Mrs. Joel H. Metcalf. They departed from Boston on July 1 bound for Naples aboard the S. S. Canopic. On September 2 they boarded the S. S. Arabic in Liverpool for the return trip to Boston. Both steamships belonged to the White Star Line, whose S. S. Titanic sank on her maiden voyage in the following year. The Titanic held twice as many passengers as the Canopic.

My Witherell and Williams ancestry came about through the marriage of my maternal grandfather, Charles R. Williams, and my maternal grandmother, Florence G. Witherell. Interestingly, the two lines are connected.  L. M. Witherell's ancestors include Richard Williams and John Deighton.