James Cashman, was born in the townland of Pluckanes North in County Cork, Ireland, on February 2, 1820. He married Catherine Long in 1844 and on March 26, 1850, the couple departed from the Port of Liverpool as steerage passengers on the Barque Adonis. They arrived in the port of Boston on May 14, 1850. 

[Adults, L to R: James Cashman, Julia Long, Catherine Cashman; Children, L to R: John, Johanna, James T., Mary P., Dennis J., Catherine and Julia Cashman]

Upon arriving in America, James Cashman and family took up residence in the town of Hanover, Massachusetts. Early on he found work as a brick maker, farm laborer and shoemaker. Later, he became an independent contractor and was involved in town projects such as road and sidewalk construction, bridge building, and laying of drainpipe. He surveyed for the town of Hanover and was elected Road Commissioner. By 1875, he was a wealthy landowner and Hanover’s most prosperous immigrant. At the time of his death, James Cashman had an estate worth $20,000, a huge success for anyone at this time but particularly an immigrant with a wife and family. 

James Timothy Cashman (1856-1894), third son of immigrant James Cashman, became a stone contractor in the decade after his father's death. His company, Cashman Brothers, furnished stone for foundations and breakwaters on the Cape and Islands. In 1887, James invented a dump scow with an inclined endless apron intended for use in discharging stone into the water for the purposes of building breakwaters or making foundations. The photograph displays the first of many patents received by the Cashman family, starting a tradition of Thinking Impossible™.

John Cashman (1849-1913), eldest son of immigrant James Cashman, moved to Quincy from Hanover, MA, in his early twenties. For over forty years, John Cashman was one of Quincy’s most active and energetic businessmen. He started a teaming business in 1874 and before long had expanded his company, which would later be known as John Cashman & Sons Co., into excavating, road building, and stone work. In the late 1890s he turned his attention to bridge building and built many bridges for the Old Colony and New Haven railroads. He built deep-sea walls up and down the Massachusetts coast and was involved in the building of the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown. He built the local water-works and contributed the granite used in the construction of his parish church, Saint Mary’s in West Quincy. Cashman was exceedingly vigorous and in addition to his contracting work, served as Road Commissioner for the City of Quincy, President of the Quincy Electric Light and Power Company, and Superintendent of the Quincy Quarries. He owned a large quarry in West Quincy and the dredging company he purchased in 1911, Bay State Dredging Ltd., was responsible for dredging waterways all along the New England coast. The companies he founded continued to be active long after his death, under the guidance of his sons James E., William J. and John J. Cashman.

John Cashman displays his fine team of horses in a parade on Hancock Street in Quincy. Parades of the era often featured a grand procession of the trades and industries of the city. The team pulls a float bearing a canvas sign which advertises John's business, "JOHN CASHMAN, Contractor & Teamster, Calcined Plaster, Lime, Brick, Cement, Sand and Akron Drain Pipe."

In the late 1890s, John Cashman turned his attention to bridge building and built many bridges for the Old Colony and New Haven railroads. His first contract from the Old Colony Railroad was so well done that he did not have to bid for any more work. When the company wanted a job done, they hired John Cashman to do it and abided by his word. He had the contracts at Readville in connection with the abolition of the grade crossings and also at Attleboro and Brockton and the Stony Brook Parkway in Boston and the bridge over the Furnace Brook Parkway, in West Quincy. This train trestle, on the Greenbush line, was built by John Cashman and replaced by Jay M. Cashman over a century later.

Click here to learn more about the Cashman family connection to Greenbush.

In 1882, John Cashman purchased a piece of land in West Quincy that would become the home of a successful contracting and bridge-building business and a large accomplished family. The 1.75 acre-lot, located at 49 Cross Street, boasted a residence, two very large stables and a large storehouse near the tracks of the Old Colony Railroad’s Granite Branch. Next door lived Jay's great grandfather, William Cashman, who initially worked for John Cashman. The two brothers are buried next to each other in Quincy, MA.

The construction of the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown, MA began on June 18, 1908, where the first piece of stone weighing over 4,000 lbs. was swung into place without ceremony. "John Cashman [Jay M. Cashman’s great-granduncle], a well known contractor, was the man on the job. He dismantled the equipment of his large quarry in West Quincy and lightered it across the bay to Provincetown on the tip end of Cape Cod," quotes Rock Products: Volumes 6-7. On August 5, 1910, President William Howard Taft dedicated the finished tower. 

A century later, Jay M. Cashman attended and spoke at the Pilgrim Monument's 100th Anniversary Celebration to represent the builders and workers. Click to learn more.

In January of 1911, John Cashman purchased the Bay State Dredging Company of Maine. He ran the company out of offices at 247 Atlantic Ave., Boston, under the name Bay State Dredging Co. Ltd., until his death in March of 1913 at age 63. John’s eldest son, James E. Cashman, replaced his late father as treasurer and continued to run the company until his own premature death in 1931. With his loss, running of the company fell to the remaining directors, Gorham H. Whitney, David J. White and William J. Cashman, the second son of John Cashman. The offices of the company moved from their downtown Boston location to 62 Condor Street, which Jay later bought from Perini. By the time Bay State Dredging & Contracting Co. merged with Perini Corporation in 1957, William had retired and been replaced by John S. Rowntree. 

Click here to learn more about the Cashman family connection to dredging.

Fort Heath was built in 1898 as a Coast Artillery fort, located on Grover’s Cliff in Winthrop, Massachusetts, and was part of the defenses of Boston Harbor. The three 12-inch guns of Battery Winthrop at Fort Heath, along with the sixteen 12-inch coast defense mortars of nearby Fort Banks, made Fort Heath the most heavily armed part of the harbor defenses. In 1913, John Cashman, Jay M. Cashman’s great-granduncle, and his contracting company John Cashman & Sons won the bid to repair the seawall at Fort Heath. Today, all traces of earlier military activity are gone. By the late 1990s, the fort's military structures had been replaced by a residential complex and recreation facilities of Small Park, which has both a commemorative wall and an historical marker for Fort Heath.

[Front row, 2nd from left: James W. Rollins, Jr., president, Holbrook, Cabot & Rollins Corp., wharf subcontractor; 3rd from left: Lieut. Col. Charles R. Gow, constructing quartermaster; 4th from left: William F. Kearns, general contractor; Back row, 1st from left: Gorham H. Whitney president, Bay State Dredging, dredging subcontractor; 4th from left: David J. White, director, Bay State Dredging, dredging subcontractor] 

In 1918, Bay State Dredging & Contracting Co. was selected as the dredging subcontractor for the $20,000,000 Boston Army Supply Depot in South Boston, a facility built to equip naval ships with supplies during World War I. Ten thousand men were employed around the clock to complete the project in eight months. The dredging portion of the contract was valued at $1 million.

Steam screw tug – 79 gross tons – 77.6ft x 21.7ft x 9.5ft

This tug, built in 1903 in South Portland, ME, was purchased by the Bay State Dredging & Contracting Co. in 1920-21 from the United States Navy. Formerly known as the Charles Mann, it had been commissioned by the Navy in June of 1917 and used on scout patrol in WWI. In 1923, it was christened the John Cashman in honor of the company’s late owner and treasurer.

In 1921, the Bay State Dredging & Contracting Co. was contracted by H.L. Colbeth, the general manager of the Cape Cod Canal, to remove a large shoal in the area adjacent to the present-day Massachusetts Maritime Academy. In 1937, the company was contracted by the Corps of Engineers to remove the old Sandwich dock, to allow for the widening and deepening of the Canal. In this photo, a Bay State Dredging vessel is shown conducting dredging operations near the old fish pier in Sandwich, MA.

Bay State Dredging & Contracting Co. used this autoclave in the 1920s for their work with railroad companies. The autoclave creates a high pressured vacuum to impregante, or treat, the wood with whichever chemical or substance needed, such as creosote (the treatment of choice for railroad ties).

Over the course of its 46-year history, Bay State Dredging operated a large fleet of dipper dredges, bucket dredges, drill boats, tugs, lighters and scows that were used to fulfill over a hundred contracts from the US Army Corps of Engineers, Mass. Department of Public Works, and Mass. Harbor and Land Commissioners. Bay State dredged numerous harbors and rivers in Massachusetts and Maine; enlarged breakwaters at Vineyard Haven and Hull; built a sea wall in Gloucester; and extended jetties at Hyannisport, Yarmouth and Falmouth, MA.

The yards of the outfit were located between Nay and Condor Streets in East Boston (shown in the lower half of photo). 

As fate would have it, Jay M. Cashman purchased this same East Boston boatyard in 1999, not knowing until he reviewed the closing documents that the property had once been owned by his great-granduncle, John Cashman.

Click to learn more about the Cashman family connection to the East Boston boatyard.

William Cashman (1859-1918), fourth son of immigrant James Cashman, and great-grandfather of Jay M. Cashman, moved to Quincy from Hanover, MA, at age 29, to live and work with his brother, John, as superintendent of John’s contracting business. A few years later, he went to Scituate, MA, to build a seawall at the mouth of the harbor for the Corps of Engineers. By coincidence, this same seawall was rebuilt by William's great-grandchildren Jay and Jamie Cashman, almost 80 years later. While in Scituate, William stayed at the Merrymount House Hotel on the corner of Beaver Dam Road and Front Street. It was there that he met Jay M. Cashman's great-grandmother, Mary F. Murphy, whom he married in 1891.

Click here to learn more about the Cashman family connection to seawall repair.

Around the turn of the century, William went into business for himself, selling coal and wood in the winter and ice in the summer. The company was nothing but successful in an era when coal was the primary source of heating homes. The large yard of William Cashman & Sons was situated at the corner of Furnace and Willard Streets in West Quincy. Built in 1914, the coal supply was known as “Quincy’s only modern equipped coal pocket.”  More than 60 years later, Jay M. Cashman was awarded a project to demolish one of Boston’s coal pockets at Burroughs Wharf.

Click here to learn more about the Cashman family coal connection.

William F. Cashman (1901-1954), Jay M. Cashman’s paternal grandfather, was the younger son of William Cashman and Mary F. Murphy. He was born and raised in Quincy, MA, and when he was only 16 years old, suffered the death of his father. William’s 22-year-old brother, Edward, stepped in to run William Cashman & Sons, the coal and ice company that their father had founded eighteen years earlier. By age 23, William F. had joined his brother in the running of the family business on Furnace Street and continued as its president until 1931. After the Great Depression, William F. moved to Scituate, MA, and became a successful realtor specializing in "Seashore and Country Properties."

Following the Great Depression and his presidency at William Cashman & Sons coal and ice company, William F. moved to Scituate, MA in 1931, and became a realtor specializing in "Seashore and Country Properties." In just one year, William sold over 50 properties and businesses across the South Shore, making him a well-known and successful realtor. In the photograph stands William’s wife Alice in front of the real estate office, circa 1948.

John Cashman, Jay M. Cashman’s father, was also involved in the family tradition of construction. From the early 1950s until his death, John Cashman was a prominent contractor, winning contracts across Massachusetts. Some of his work included the Cape Cod Canal breakwater extensions, graving docks at the Quincy Shipyard, seawall repairs in Winthrop, Route 5 roadway repairs in Agawam, and the construction of a reinforced-concrete box culvert at the bridge over Tannery Brook in Holyoke. He later opened a successful engineering firm and advised Jay against going into the very risky industry that is construction. Before his untimely death, he was proud to see the beginning of his son's success in construction.

In 1957, John Cashman was hired by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation to perform dredging and a major excavation for the new drydock at the Fore River shipyard. This work was part of a $14 million expansion program aimed at making the shipyard more competitive and enlarging the building basin so that it could accommodate three to six ships.

In 1962, John Cashman was selected by the US Army Corps of Engineers to repair the north jetty at the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal. The seaward 925 feet of the jetty was raised to a level of 18 feet above mean low water by the addition of over 20,000 tons of stone. The job, which was completed in October 1963, was valued at $330,000.

When Jay M. Cashman was 12 years old he founded Humpty Dumpty Construction, a snow-removal company in Quincy, MA, with his ten-year-old brother Jamie.

While students at Thayer Academy, Jay M. Cashman and his brother Jamie founded J. C. Construction Company. This flyer was printed by the hundreds and hand delivered, door to door, by Jay M. and Jamie in Quincy, Weymouth, and throughout towns and cities on the South Shore. One of their first jobs was a $450 retaining wall.

In 1974, Jay M. Cashman, a junior at Boston University, incorporated J. M. Cashman, Inc. and operated it out of a modest office on Copeland Street in Quincy, MA, next door to the triple decker where he rented a floor. Jamie Cashman joined the firm when he graduated from college in 1977.  When the Blizzard of ‘78 hit Massachusetts, the brothers were ideally positioned to win federal contracts to repair seawalls and piers damaged by the historic storm – precisely the sort of work they specialized in. This shingle hung outside the office building and was hand painted by Linda Cashman, his wife until 1985.

In the mid-1970s, Jay and Jamie developed the Highland Park "Survival Garden," a project that allowed the senior citizens of Roxbury's Highland Park neighborhood to plant summer vegetable gardens on vacant city property. 

The construction yard of J. M. Cashman, Inc. was moved to Bridge Street in North Weymouth.  During that time, the company, which was run out of a trailer, had over $25 million in contracts with the Commonwealth. J.M. Cashman Inc. repaired bridges and waterfront facilities, and participated in some of the largest construction projects in Massachusetts, including the Third Harbor Tunnel and Massachusetts Water Resource Authority Treatment Plant at Deer Island.

Jay graduated from Boston University with a degree in Business Management in 1975. Throughout college, Jay worked in a few different industries to fund his education. Aside from his construction company, Jay leased dorm room refrigerators to Boston area college students. Within one year, Jay had 200 refrigerators out for rent, providing him with his entire college tuition for the year and more than $4,000 in spending money. This was in addition to the $31,000 in net worth from his construction company he had saved since he was a teenager. He created handwritten advertisements with tear-off phone number tabs and hung them on campuses around Boston.

In 2004, Jay was awarded the Boston University Alumni Award for Distinguished Service.

In 1977, J.M. Cashman purchased their first crane and barge to complete their work on the Galen Street Bridge. The crane was a 1954 Koehring 405 Crawler. From 1977 to 1979, the company rented a tugboat for their work until they purchased the “Big Whizzer”. Cashman purchased the tugboat, built in 1963 by J.F. White, in 1979.

J.M. Cashman Inc.’s first large-scale job was the repair of the Scituate seawall. The Blizzard of ’78 wreaked havoc across the Massachusetts shoreline and the 76-year-old seawall that protected the Scituate community could not handle the immense waves that hurled boulders into the wall. Because of the extensive damage, Scituate was designated one of eight federal disaster communities in Massachusetts. J.M. Cashman was awarded the contract to restore three portions of the wall throughout the town. In the First Cliff section, Cashman removed the remnants of an old wall and built a new one. At Sand Hills, a new concrete face was added to the existing wall, while crack-sealing and guniting took place at Humarock. By coincidence, this was the same seawall that Jay and Jamie Cashman’s great-grandfather had built, almost 80 years prior.

Click here to learn more about the Cashman family connection to seawall repair.

In January of 1982, a World Airways DC-10 aircraft touched down but was unable to stop on the ice-covered runway at Logan Airport. The plane, carrying 212 people, skidded in the freezing cold, shallow waters at the edge of Boston Harbor. Only 210 of the passengers and crew aboard survived.

The nose of the plane split off from the body and sank deeper into the Harbor. Cashman was hired to recover the plane from Boston Harbor. Using their cranes and barges, Cashman pulled the body out of the drink and pulled the plane’s nose out of the harbor.

Sterling Equipment Inc., an East Coast rental company incorporated in 1995, provides equipment rentals to the construction industry. They have specialized in marine equipment for over 20 years and continue to fill the changing needs of their customers by constantly updating and expanding their heavy civil and marine rental divisions.

Sterling provides cranes, excavators, and buckets through its Heavy Division and barges, dredges, scows and tugs through its Marine Division. The equipment is not only in top-notch condition, but it is provided at reasonable rates and from various locations up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

As a member of the CASHMAN Family of Companies, Sterling Equipment, Inc. owns and maintains a fleet of over 100 pieces of specialized equipment, allowing CASHMAN to act as a single-source provider on complex marine and heavy civil projects that would otherwise require multiple subcontractors.

In 1999, Jay M. Cashman purchased the East Boston Boatyard between Nay and Condor Streets in East Boston – not knowing until he reviewed the closing documents, that the property had once been owned by his great-granduncle, John Cashman, and was the home of John’s dredging company, Bay State Dredging. After Jay's purchase, the East Boston boatyard served as the Sterling Equipment headquarters. Catering to the Boston Harbor, Sterling ran its barge rental company out of the yard and housed a repair shop to work on equipment that was run down, damaged or needed updating. The boatyard was also the center for mobilization and demobilization for many projects in the Boston Harbor. In 2015, Jay sold the boatyard to the Capitol Waste Company.

Click here to learn more about the Cashman family connection to the East Boston Boatyard.

In 2003, CASHMAN DREDGING & MARINE CONTRACTING COMPANY, LLC, a member of the CASHMAN Family of Companies, was formed to focus more closely on the dredging industry. Over the last decade, CASHMAN DREDGING has emerged as an industry pacemaker in navigational and maintenance dredging projects. CASHMAN DREDGING provides deeper and cleaner waterways through innovative dredging, capping, and processing techniques developed for major East and Gulf Coast / Caribbean customers.

CASHMAN DREDGING has undertaken some of the largest dredging projects in U.S. history. Providing an array of integrated solutions ranging from environmental and navigational dredging to pond and industrial dredging, CASHMAN DREDGING has earned a reputation for precision and quality.

To learn more, visit: www.CashmanDredging.com

Click here to learn more about the Cashman family connection to dredging.

Jay M. Cashman received the Alumni Award for Distinguished Service from the School of Management at the Reunion and Alumni Awards dinner on May 14, 2004. The Alumni Award for Distinguished Service was awarded to those whose work within their profession has brought them national recognition or whose work has contributed significantly to the advancement of their chosen industry. Jay's success in the construction industry has put the CASHMAN Companies at the top, earning awards and recognition throughout the world. 

The Fore River Shipyard, now known as the Quincy Shipyard, has had many uses since its operations began in 1883, including shipbuilding (both military and civilian), docking stations, a staging area for the Deer Island project, and a port for commuter boats. The Shipyard was held by the MWRA until the early 2000s when it purchased by CASHMAN in three phases. In 2004, the first 11 acres was acquired and is now home to Sterling Equipment’s facilities. The area that holds the CASHMAN office and the building leased to General Dynamics and the New England Aquarium, was purchased around 2008. The final piece by the rotary leading to the Fore River Bridge was purchased in 2015.

Preload International, a member of the CASHMAN Family of Companies, has developed a creative and innovative approach to the research, development, design, and construction of prestressed, precast, sliding base concrete tanks. Preload International is the pioneer of prestressed concrete tank design. Wire-wound, prestressed concrete tanks are the ideal storage solution for water, storm water, wastewater treatment, biofuels, and thermal energy storage. Preload Middle East, part of Preload International, designs and constructs tanks for large- and small-scale storage tanks outside of the United States and is based in Boston and Doha, Qatar. 

Preload’s precast, concrete storage tanks have been operating reliably around the world for more than 50 years. These tanks perform as well as conventional tanks and offer a unique cost- and schedule-effective alternative. Precast concrete tanks provide single-, double- and full-containment storage (as well as membrane storage) for refrigerated and cryogenic liquids, such as LNG, liquid oxygen, liquefied petroleum gas, ethylene, ammonia, etc., for a wide range of storage volumes — 2,000 to 300,000 cubic meters. 

To learn more, visit: www.PreloadInternational.com

Solar Design Associates, teamed with Cape Wind, Energy Management, and Jay Cashman, Inc. to design, engineer and install the first state-owned wind turbine in Massachusetts. It was CASHMAN's first wind turbine construction project. The project is owned and operated by the Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA).

With its campus at the western mouth of the Cape Cod Canal, MMA enjoys the abundant endowment of wind resources available along the southeastern Massachusetts coast. Standing 248 feet tall, the MMA Vestas wind turbine has significantly reduced the need to purchase grid power energy by 27%. The turbine produces up to 660 kilowatts per hour and over its lifetime, the turbine will produce more than $7 million worth of electricity for the Academy. In addition to its significant cash contribution, the turbine will also make an important contribution to the Academy's curriculum by serving as a real-time teaching tool for the school's engineering cadets who make up more than 50% of the school's student body. The turbine has been used extensively as an educational tool for students and other professionals interested in renewable energy.

Patriot Renewables, a member of the CASHMAN Family of Companies, was founded in 2006. Patriot Renewables, LLC is a developer, owner, and operator of commercial-scale wind energy projects. Patriot currently owns and manages five operating projects. The Patriot team is made up of skilled individuals with proven abilities in project development, renewable energy, and environmental stewardship. Through Patriot Renewables, CASHMAN permitted, built, owns and operates more renewable wind energy than anyone in New England.


To learn more, visit: www.PatriotRenewables.com

On August 5, 2010, a 100^th Anniversary celebration and parade was held in Provincetown, Massachusetts to commemorate the dedication of the Pilgrim Monument, a tower built to mark the first landing place of the Pilgrims. A weeklong celebration began on July 31^st and ended in a rededication ceremony attended by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, and other state and national dignitaries, a closing party concert with entertainment by both local and well known national entertainers, a parade, and a grand finale fireworks display. 

Jay M. Cashman was a guest speaker representing the builders to celebrate the work of his great-granduncle, 100 years prior. Click to learn more.

In recent years, Jay M. Cashman has held two family reunions: one in 2012 and another in 2016, at the Jay Cashman, Inc. headquarters in Quincy, MA. The 2012 reunion held a discussion of exciting developments and discoveries, a presentation by Professor Ruth Harris of Boston College, and photos and discussion of Paul Labys’ trip to Ireland. The topic of Professor Harris’ lecture was “the life of an Irish tenant farmer in the mid-1800s.” During the 2016 reunion, a 14-foot wall-chart was hung on the back wall of the conference room, while Richard Reid of the Friends of Irish Research presented a lecture about the Irish as they landed at Deer Island and then onto Long Wharf, then where they migrated to in the area, and the economic and social biases they suffered as they settled in the new world.

In November 2019, the Cashman Family Reunion was held at Kilkea Castle with over 100 family members attending. The five-day retreat included presentations on Irish history, musical entertainment, and a motorcoach tour of Cashman heritage sites in County Cork. The event concluded with a Medieval Gala Banquet in the Baronial Hall.

In June 2013, The Lydon Company was acquired by CASHMAN and its operations were merged with Industrial Power Contractors (IPC) to create a new company: IPC Lydon. The merger of these two industry leaders has formed a more prominent company to better serve the market through an increase in depth, scope of expertise, and project experience. IPC Lydon, a member of the CASHMAN Family of Companies, is a leading provider of maintenance, repair and upgrade services for mechanical systems and process equipment used in airports, distribution centers, power plants, co-generation plants, and wastewater treatment facilities. As a full-service industrial and power generation construction and maintenance contractor, IPC Lydon focuses on providing best-in-class services.

To learn more, visit: www.IPCLydon.com

In 2013, Jay M. and Christy Scott Cashman purchased Kilkea Castle, which had been abandoned for years. In 2017, after years of restoration work that redefines luxury, the Cashmans were delighted to reopen the Kilkea Castle doors and welcome guests.

As one of the oldest inhabited Castles in Ireland, Kilkea Castle, a CASHMAN Family Hotel, captures the charm of a 12th Century majestic Castle with the overwhelming allure of timeless sophistication and style.

Kilkea Castle Estate and Golf Resort boasts 140 Bedrooms with several accommodation options to appeal to all tastes and budgets. Guests can choose from a luxurious Castle Bedroom, a Carriage Bedroom, a Self-Catering Lodge, or a Lodge Bedroom. The 11 Bedroom Castle is also available for Exclusive Hire. 

The Golf Course has been developed in a magnificent setting, beneath the shadows of the 12^th century Castle. It allows the splendor of the Castle to be viewed from every fairway. In constructing this championship course, the designers have cleverly used the River Griese as a natural hazard flowing through the Castle grounds and estate. The combination of this water and a variety of other hazards and interesting greens ensures the golfer playing the course has a considered challenge on his or her hands. You will encounter the River at almost every hole. Two lakes have also been included in the course design, adding to the overall difficulty of the challenge of this royal and ancient game.

In November 2019, the Cashman Family Reunion was held at Kilkea Castle with over 100 family members attending.

To learn more, visit: www.KilkeaCastle.ie

In 2012, JAY CASHMAN INC. and CASHMAN DREDGING had the idea to dredge for gold in Alaska. After Sterling Equipment found a cost-effective means to transport the equipment, CASHMAN and its crew took off for a remote part of the Bering Sea, Nome, Alaska. The conditions were harsh and unrelenting causing some operational problems but CASHMAN pushed through and fixed the problem areas in their wash plants. Although it was a challenge with many lessons learned, CASHMAN built the largest barge-mounted gold dredge in North America, successfully mobilized it over 11,000 miles to remote Alaska (a place no one had ever been to, much less worked in), and labored extreme hours without any major safety issues with countless stories to come home with. 

Looking ahead, the Cashman Family will continue to be a family of creators and innovators. They are born with an innate passion for bigger and better things and a natural drive to succeed in both life and work. Taking their inherited expertise and ambitious visions for the future, the Cashmans are laying the foundation for tomorrow.

The next generation of Cashmans are following in their family traditions of seeking out new opportunities. Using the skills and knowledge passed down from their ancestors, they are beginning to take over the helm of the family businesses through operations and business development prospects abroad and throughout the US. 

The Cashman Family Foundation was founded to utilize the skills and resources of the Cashman Family of Companies for philanthropic projects. The Foundation’s mission is to facilitate economic development through infrastructure improvements, particularly in rural areas. The town of Perches, located in North-East Haiti, is an agricultural area that can only be reached by crossing a river. It is home to over 20,000 people and the area’s largest weekly market. Residents and vendors access the town via an unpaved road, and simply drive or walk through the river but during the 3-4 months of the rainy season, the road frequently becomes impassable. The town has gained a reputation as a place not worth moving to or visiting because it was just too hard to get to.

After the completion of the dismantling of the Fore River Bridge, Jay M. Cashman needed a use for the dismantled acrow bridge panels and was encouraged to donate them. Having previously worked in Haiti for years on pedestrian bridges, he saw first-hand the need for infrastructure improvements in the country. Together with the Haitian government, the Cashman Family Foundation assessed potential locations and decided Perches had a critical need for a bridge.

In addition to the bridge components, the Cashman Family Foundation donated construction, materials, equipment, and construction supervision while Tighe & Bond donated their engineering services. The Haitian Ministry of Public Works, Transportation, and Communications (TPTC) provided all necessary authorizations for the project, provided customs clearing, and is building the approaches to the bridge. The Mayor of Perches, Belijean Noel, mustered community support for the project and negotiated the donation of land for the bridge and secured right-of-way access for the approaches. Engineers Without Borders Portland, Maine Professional Chapter also donated some geotechnical and engineering services.

Erica Shevlin grew up alongside her sister Jaclyn watching their father, Jay Cashman, build his business. Jay never missed an opportunity to teach his girls valuable life lessons. From a young age, Jay taught them that if you want something you have to work hard for it. This lesson was driven home by having Erica doing anything from picking up trash, pumping gas, managing and operating an ice cream truck in downtown Boston, and working in the accounting department at JCI. All the various jobs Jay tasked his girls with built character, a strong work ethic, and a fearlessness to believe that anything is possible.

After graduating from Boston College in 2000, Erica moved to Manhattan to pursue her dreams in fashion and later music. She held a sales position at Intermix, a high-end women’s boutique on Madison Avenue, and a position at Henri Bendel in the buying department. During her music career, she performed in famous Manhattan venues like the Bitter End and opened for Jordon Knight, thanks to Jaclyn who occasionally acted as her booking agent. She recorded two records one of which can be still found on iTunes under her maiden name, Erica Cashman.

After years of pounding the pavement in the music industry, she decided to move home and work for her father in the real estate department. Erica worked alongside Alan Perrault and others while assisting in all aspects of real estate. She worked on locating, acquiring, and developing commercial retail property up and down the east coast along with developing industrial property in Elizabeth, NJ. She worked on residential projects such as Ridgewood Crossing, a 31-unit single-family condominium development in Hingham, and permitting and developing a 12-estate lot subdivision in South Carolina.

After Jay purchased a large property at the Quincy Shipyard, Erica assisted in securing long term leases with the New England Aquarium and Bluefin Robotics, and others. Today Erica and Chase Davis manage the Quincy Shipyard and continue to grow and develop it with her father and siblings.

Erica lives in Hingham with her husband Matt Shevlin, her twin 9-year-old boys Rhett and Cole, and their dog Wilson (who can be found at lunchtime going office to office sniffing for treats).

Jaclyn started working for her father at a young age alongside her older sister, Erica. Jay made a big effort to instill a work ethic in his daughters and had them working on the weekends as well as summer breaks. One of her first jobs was picking up trash in the East Boston Shipyard, where she got paid per bag. Her favorite job at the Shipyard was pumping gas at the marina. Jaclyn spent several summers working at his office on Federal Avenue in Quincy and then in Dorchester. She also worked in the field as a cement finisher for a summer.

After graduating Magna Cum Laude from Boston College, Jaclyn worked as a TV news anchor for many years but always remained involved in her family’s company. Today, she is a contributing political columnist for the Boston Herald.

As she grew older, she took an interest in marketing and started running the summer parties for the company, the websites, and the newsletter. She has found ways to work with her father, so his employees know how valuable they are to the business and him. Over time she has added different programs to the company like "Employee of the Month" and ski house rentals for employees and their friends and families to enjoy.

When Jay purchased and renovated Kilkea Castle in Ireland Jaclyn took on a bigger role in the company and assisted him in all marketing efforts and general management of the Castle. Today she continues her work in Ireland but also works closely to market all divisions of Cashman.

Jaclyn is married and lives in Boston with her husband, Trevor, and two young boys, Hudson and Tucker.

Jay Michael graduated from Tilton Academy in 2019; since then, his inherited Cashman entrepreneurial spirit has consumed him as he is the now founder & CEO of Cashman Claims, LLC. Jay Michael is elated with the success that has already become and is looking forward to future success.

Jay Michael is an expert fisherman outside of running his business, spending much of his free time on the water.

Quinn Cashman is a junior at Thayer Academy where he is active on the varsity wrestling team. In his spare time and during school breaks, he works in Business Development and Analytics at Jay Cashman, Inc. He is currently involved in a comprehensive study of the hopper dredge business to support our expansion in the marine industry as it evolves. Quinn also serves as a company representative at DCA meetings.