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Full text of "A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County"

A MODERN HISTORY 

OF 

NEW HAVEN 

AND 

EASTERN NEW HAVEN 
COUNTY 



ILLUSTRATED 



VOLUME II 



NEW YORK -:- CHICAGO 

THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1918 



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BIOGRAPHICAL 



CORNELIUS SCRANTON BIJSHNELI.. 

Cornelius Scranton Bushnell, one of Connecticut's most distinguished men, was born in 
Madison, Connecticut, July 18, 1828, and died in New York city, ilay 6, 1896. He made 
for himself a place in the country's history by most valuable services rendered to both his 
state and to the nation. He was a descendant of a prominent old Connecticut family, 
being of the eighth generation of Francis Bushnell, who came from England and settled in 
Guilford, Connecticut, where he was the third signer of the Guilford Agreement in 1639. 
The line comes on down through Lieutenant William Bushnell, Samuel Bushnell, Jonathan 
Bushnell, Jonathan Bushnell II, Nathan Bushnell and Nathan Bushnell II, who was his 
father. 

He spent his youthful days in his father's home and largely assisted in farm work 
and in the operation of his father's stone quarry. He made good use of the opportunities 
offered in the village school, which he attended during the winter months. When fifteen 
years of age he shipped on a coasting vessel, and before a j'car had passed was master 
of a sixty-ton schooner. He practiced close economy during the succeeding five years and 
saved the sum of twenty-seven hundred dollars, which he invested in a house in New 
Haven, making this city his home throughout his remaining days. On attaining his 
majority he formed a partnership witli his brother, Nathan Townsend Bushnell, for the 
conduct of a wholesale and retail grocery business in New Haven, and developed the 
largest enterprise of the kind in the state. Readily discerning opportunities, he utilized 
these to the best possible advantage and thus his activities constantly broadened in 
scope and importance. In 1858 he became interested in the New Haven and New London 
Railroad Company, which was struggling to weather a financial crisis. It seemed that train 
service must be abandoned unless a larger earning capacity could be secured. This it was 
calculated could be done if the road was extended to Stonington, Connecticut. At a con- 
ference of the stockholders this course was adopted and Mr. Bushnell was chosen president 
of the road. He immediately set himself to the task of procuring funds with which to 
build the extension. He not only used his own credit freely but secured the cooperation 
of progressive financiers and executed the proposed plan, which included ferryboat trans- 
fers at New London. In 1860 trains began to run through from Stonington to New York. 
The road met great opposition on the part of the New Y'ork & New Haven Railroad Com- 
pany, which refused to sell through tickets or to check baggage to the New Haven & New 
London road (as it was then called), owing to a previous contract with the Hartford & 
Springfield road. Mr. Bushnell appealed to the state legislature and, assisted by Hon. 
Charles R. Ingersoll, then representative from New Haven and afterward governor of the 
state, he secured the passage of a bill compelling the rival road to afford this Shore Line 
railroad equal facilities with those granted other lines. Even then the rival road would 
not comply until the supreme court issued mandatory orders after long litigation. It was 
also necessary to engage in a long and persistent effort before the postoffice authorities would 
recognize the road by sending mail over the line. In this contest Mr. Bushnell was obliged 
to spend much time at Washington and became well acquainted with the heads of various 
government departments. Writing of this period of his life, a contemporary biographer has 
■laid: "The Civil war was seen to be inevitable. Washington was full of disloyal con- 

5 



6 A MODERX HISTORY OF NEW HAVEX 

spirators and the city was practically without defense. When Fort Sumter was bom- 
barded, on April 13 to 13, 1861, Mr. Bushnell was in the capital on business connected with 
the road, when he with others enlisted as a jirivate soldier in the Hay Battalion for the 
purpose of guarding the public buildings and residences of officials until troops arrived. 
He performed service from April LS to May 4, 1861, being 'mustered in' April 18 and hon- 
orably discharged May 4. His discharge paper bears the signature of President Lincoln 
and of Simon Cameron, the secretary of war, with an expression of the thanks of the gov- 
ernment for his most valuable services rendered at tliat critical time. Tliis service made 
Mr. Bushnell eligible to membership in the Grand Army of the Republic and he was duly 
'mustered' as a member of Admiral Foote Post, No. 17, Department of Connecticut, June 
5, 1886, and was buried with Grand Army honors. He was one of the active organizers 
of the Union Pacific Railroad Company and a potent factor in pushing this great enterprise to 
completion, and was the only one of the original organizers who remained with the road 
from its inception to the beginning of its operation. He was one of the largest Subscribers 
to the underwriting of securities issued by the Union Pacific Railroad Company. In dis- 
tributing tliese securities in Europe he employed Andrew Carnegie as selling agent, whose 
commissions for disposing of these stocks and bonds in Europe amounted to several hun- 
dred thousand dollars. When Mr. Carnegie was asked by Mr. Bushnell what use he pro- 
posed to make of these funds, the answer was, 'I am going to put this money into the steel 
business in Pittsburgh.' This employment of young Carnegie really laid the foundation 
for the now great United States Steel Company and Mr. Carnegie's great wealth. 

"Before the Civil war actually began, Mr. Bushnell had been impressed with the need of 
better naval forces. He seemed to have been providentially selected to give the country 
most timely and dramatic assistance in this respect. He foresaw the necessity of armored 
vessels and the requirements of the navy in the war of a stronger tj'pe of vessel than we 
then possessed. He established a shipyard at Fair Haven, Connecticut, and built many steam 
vessels and other craft for the Federal government under the supervision of Samuel H. 
Pook, a naval constructor, of Boston. With the assistance of Mr. Pook he developed the 
plans for the ironclad war vessel which he named the Galena, for the building of which he 
received a contract from the government, under the provisions of a law secured by Hon. 
James E. English, the representative at tliat time in congress from New Haven district, 
authorizing the secretary of the navy to appoint three naval experts to examine all plans 
for armored vessels and adopt whatever might be approved. But some naval officers and 
others doubted the stability of the Galena under the weight of armor proposed, and it was 
while Mr. Bushnell was consulting mechanical engineers as to the probable stability of the 
Galena that the most momentous incident in his life occurred, and this was his meeting 
with Captain John Ericsson, of New York, from whose drawings the Monitor was built. 
Not only was this meeting a most fortunate event for the United States, but it also marked 
the step in the cliange from wooden to armored war vessels. Mr. Bushnell thus describes 
his historic interview with Ericsson: 'C. H. Delaniater, of New York, advised me to consult 
with the engineer. Captain John Ericsson, on the question of the stability of the Galena; 
this I proceeded at once to do, and on supplying him with the data necessary for his cal- 
culations promptly gained the answer, "She will easily carry the load you propose and also 
stand a six-inch shot if fired from a respectable distance." At the close of^the interview, 
Captain Ericsson asked if I had time just then to examine the plan of a floating battery 
absolutely impregnable to the heaviest shot or shell. I replied that this problem had been 
occupying me for the last three months, and that considering tlio time required for the 
construction, the Galena Avas the best result I had been able to obtain. He then placed 
before me the plan of this ironclad, shot-proof steam battery, subsequently called the 
Monitor. He explained how quickly she could be built, and exhibited with characteristic 
pride a medal and letter of thanks received from Napoleon IH, for it appears that Ericsson 
had submitted his drawings of this peculiar craft when France and Russia were at war, 
and out of hostility to Russia had presented it to France, hoping thereby to aid the defeat 
of Sweden's hereditary foe. The plans, however, were submitted tix) late to be of service 
In that war.' 

"Mr. Bushnell was entrusted with the Monitor model and plans by Captain Ericsson, 
with which he was delighted and at once sought the secretary of the navy. Hon. Gideon 
Welles, who was then temporarily at his home in Hartford, where he explained the possi- 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 7 

bilities of this strange looking craft to Secretary Welles. The secretary advised Mr. 
Busbnell to present the plans immediately to the naval board, and accordingly he went to 
Washington, after securing the cooperation of Hon. .John A. Griswokl, of New York, and 
John F. Winslow, of the Troy Iron Works, of Troy, New York, both friends of Governor 
Seward, and also large manufacturers of iron plates. Governor Seward furnished them with 
a strong letter of introduction to President Lincoln, who was at once greatly pleased with 
the simplicity of the plans and agreed to accompany them to the navy department at 
eleven o'clock next day and advise earnest consideration of the plans of this entirely new 
design for a battleship. 'President Lincoln was on hand i)romptly,' writes Mr. Bushnell 
in his letter to Secretary Welles. 'Captain Fox was also present, with part of the naval 
board. All were surprised at the novelty of the plan. Some advised trying it; others ridi- 
culed it. The conference was finally closed for that day by Mr. Lincoln's remarking: ''All 
I have to say is what the girl said when she put her foot into tlie stocking, 'It strikes nie 
there is something in it.' " The following day Admiral Smith convened the full board, when 
I presented the drawings and model as best I could, carefully noting the remarks of each 
member of the board. I then went to my hotel, quite sanguine of success, but only to be 
disappointed the following day, for during the hours following the last session I found 
that the air had been thick with croakings that the department was about to father another 
Ericsson failure. Never was 1 more active than now in the clfort to prove that Ericsson 
had never made a failure, that on the contrary he had built for the government the first 
steam propelled war vessel ever made; that the bursting of the gun on the Princeton was 
no fault of his, but of the shell. » » * j succeeded at length in getting Admirals Smith 
and Paulding to promise to sign a report advising the building of one trial battery, pro- 
vided Captain Davis would join them. On going to him I was informed that I might "take 
the little thing home and worship it, as it would not be idolatory because it was made in 
the image of nothing in the heaven above, or the earth below, or in the waters under the 
earth." One thing yet remained which it was possible to do. This was to get Ericsson to 
come to "Washington and plead the case himself.' Mr. Bushnell returned to New York and 
had to use some clever diplomacy to induce Ericsson to go to Washington, for the reason 
that Ericsson believed himself so unjustly treated in the Princeton affair that he had 
repeatedly declared that he would never set foot in Washington again. Mr. Bushnell told 
him that Admiral Smith said it was worthy of the genius of an Ericsson (how well liistory 
justified Mr. Bushnell's tact and power of persuasion), and that Paulding said it was just 
the thing to clear the 'Rebs' out of Charleston, but that Captain Davis wanted two or 
thr-ee explanations in detail which Mr. Bushnell could not give, and so Secretary Welles 
proposed that he should get Ericsson to come to Washington to explain to the entire board 
in his room next day. Ericsson went. 'You remember,' wrote Mr. Bushnell to Secretary 
Welles, 'how he thrilled every person present in your room with his compreliensive descrip- 
tion of what the little floating battery would be and what she could do; that in ninety 
days' time she could be built, although the Rebels had already been four montli> at work 
on the ironclad Merrimac at the Norfolk navy yard, with all the appliames of the yard 
to help them.' The board ultimately recommended the contract, and on tlie next day most 
of the material for construction was bought. After the work of construction had begun, 
at the Continental Iron Works at Greenpoint, Long Island, under verbal contract made at 
the time with Thomas F. Rowland, agent, formally executed October 25, 1861, and before 
the formal contract was signed by the Government, October 6, 1861, a surprising demand 
was made that the inventor and his associates should be compelled to give a bond to refund 
the money advanced by the Government during construction, in case of the vessel's failure 
to fulfill tlie conditions of tlie contract. As one of tlie sureties to the Government for 
the satisfactory contract performance of the Monitor, together with Hon. N. D. Sperry, 
of New Haven, and Daniel Drew, of New Y'ork, Mr. Bushnell risked all his i)roperty on his 
faith in the success of the undertaking. Secretary Welles wrote to Mr. Bushnell on March 
19, 1877, that 'Next, after Ericsson himself, you are entitled to the credit of bringing his 
invention to the knowledge of the department.' What the Monitor that Mr. Bushnell and 
his associates built did for the Union is one of the most tlirilliiig and important cliapters 
of the Civil war, for it was the beginning of the final ending of that great history of our 
Union of States in the war of 1861-65." 

Hon. J. Rice Winchell, of New Haven, in his memorial to Mr. Bushnell, wrote: "Had 



8 A :\I()I)KK.\ HISTORY OF NEW IIAVEX 

it not been for Mr. Bushnell's intuitive and instant perception of the masterful complete- 
ness of Ericsson's drawings of the vessel; had he wavered a moment in doubt, or had he been 
for an instant iiifhunui'd by the seltish and sordid tlioii^^lit that liis interests in the Galena 
might be jeopardized by his advocacy of the merits of the Jlonitor, all would have been 
lost — there would have been no Monitor, there would have been no consummate flower of 
triumph at Hampton Roads — there would have been no Ericsson honored and sung by every 
civilized nation. Also there might have been no magnificent Union stretching from shore 
to shore under one starry flag over all, from the lakes to the gulf.'' 

It should be borne in mind, too, that the Monitor was still the property of its build- 
ers to the extent of $08,750 when she defeated the Merrimac, and this was not paid until 
March 14, 1862, or five days after the Monitor and Merrimac's battle. A quarter interest 
each was owned by Mr. Bushnell, Captain Ericsson, Mr. Griswold and Mr. Winslow. After- 
wards eight more Monitor batteries were constructed by Mr. Bushnell and associates, and 
operated largely at the siege of Charleston in 1865, and other historic battles. The Puritan 
and Dictator, improved and larger types of such vessels, were built, either of which at that 
time could have contended successfully with the navy of any other nation in the world. 

Business in connection with the execution of his contracts for those vessels took Mr. 
Bushnell often to Washington. He gave the closest attention to the business of the Pacific 
Railroad after Senator Dixon, of Hartford, placed his name in the original Pacific Rail- 
road bill, and in 1863, on attending the meeting for the organization of the railroad at 
Chicago, he was appointed a member of the committee to secure subscriptions to the stock 
for the many millions of dollars required, while twenty per cent, must be paid in before 
business could be begun. Mr. Bushnell secured more than three-fourths of the required 
two millions and was the largest subscriber to the capital stock. He was also largely 
instrumental in securing the congi-essional amendment of 1864, which made it possible to 
complete the road. He was the only corporator who remained with the company until the 
road was completed and in successful operation. He then turned his attention to other 
railroad projects, unfortunately becoming interested in the Atlantic end of the Southern 
Pacific Railroad Company. Then came the widespread financial panic of 1873 with the re- 
pudiation by Louisiana of its state bonds, and the company from which Mr. Bushnell was 
to have received millions of dollars on contracts failed, and so embarrassed him financially 
that he was compelled to suspend, thus witnessing the destruction of a fortune which he 
had been twenty years in accumulating. Then followed a period in which he suff'ered greatly 
from ill health, largely caused from anxiety and disappointment, and yet his resolute 
spirit pressed on in the face of almost insurmountable dilficulties. In 1864 he purchased 
an extensive iron property called Iron Ridge, in Wisconsin, built a blast furnace, >ising char- 
coal for fuel, and manufactured pig iron at a lower price per ton than any other furnace 
in the country. He later sold the business at a large profit to the Byron Kilbirn Rolling 
Mill Company. Associated with others, he purchased the Winnemuck, a large lead and sil- 
ver mine in Bingham, Utah, which was later sold at a profit of more than three hundred 
thousand dollars to English capitalists. In 1871-2 Mr. Bushnell erected the Masonic Temple 
in New Haven at a cost of more than two hundred thousand dollars, and he also built the 
horse railroad bridge between Cincinnati and Covington, Kentucky, a great wire bridge ox- 
tending for several miles into the latter city. 

On July 19, 1849, Mr. Bushnell married Emilie Fowler Clark, who was born at New 
Haven in 1829 and died January 10, 1869. On March 15, 1870, he married Mrs. Caroline Mary 
(Paddock) Hughston, the widow of Hon. J. A. Hughston and a daughter of Hon. Joseph W. 
and Mary (Welles) Paddock, the former a New York lawyer and member of congress and 
also consul to China. Mrs, Bushnell was born in 1833 and died July 4, 1887. On June 2."). 
1889, Mr. Bushnell was married to Mrs. Ford, a widow, who survives him. His children 
were all born of his first marriage. Sereno Scranton, born August 12, 1850; Rev. Samuel 
Clark, born March 8. 1852; Charlotte Beecher, born August 25, 1853, was married April 9, 
1884, to Gilbert L. Watson, residence, Parkersburg, West Virginia; Cornelius Judson, born 
September 20, 1855; Nathan, born July 22, 1857; Henry Northrop, born March 13, 1859, dieil 
in Baldwinsville, New York, in 1875; Ericsson Foote, born December 10, 1862; Winthrop 
Grant, born March 20, 1864, is mentioned elsewhere in this work; Edward William, born 
December 25, 1866, died in Lima. West Virginia, October 29, 1916; Levi Ives, born December 
26, 1868, was drowned in Long Island sound August 8, 1890. 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 11 

His religious faith was that of the Congregational church and he was prominently iden- 
tified with the Howe Street and later with the Dwight Place church of New Haven. In 
politics he was a republican. He was an extraordinary man, a typical example of American 
pertinacity and versatile ability. Larger in stature and physical development than ordinary 
men, he excelled them also in activity and the power of comprehending great things. . His 
youth was such as to develop an inherited strong body, and the influence of his home life 
instilled into his mind the foundation of a sterling character. His fellow townsmen, appre- 
ciating the prominence of Mr. Bushnell and the important part which he had played in the 
life of his state and the nation, organized the Cornelius S. Bushnell National Memorial As- 
sociation and with the aid of five thousand dollars, appropriated by the Connecticut general 
assembly, erected to his memory a fitting monument, which was unveiled May 30, 1906, in 
New Haven, in Monitor Park. It was designed by Herbert Adams; and Charles N. Pratt, 
landscape architect, designed the pedestal. The monument is an artistic and substantial 
granite structure, surmounted with a beautiful bronze American eagle on the defensive 
with wings uplifted, and an inscription to the honor and greatful remembrance of the services 
to the country of John Ericsson and Cornelius S. Bushnell. As historian of the Cornelius S. 
Bushnell National Memorial Association, William S. Wells, of New Haven, Second Assistant 
Engineer (Late), United States Navy, wrote "The Story of the Monitor," which he compiled 
for the fii'st time in book form from original records. Mr. Wells also delivered an eloquent 
address at the unveiling of the memorial of Mr. Bushnell in New Haven, May 30, 1906. 
His address, together with a tribute to the memory of Cornelius S. Bushnell by the Hon. J. 
Rice Winchell, collector of the port of New Haven, was printed in a later edition of "The 
Story of the Monitor," and will be generally found in public libraries. At the time of Mr. 
Bushnell's demise editorials of the New Haven papers and others concerning him appeared 
laudatory of the beneficent services his untiring life gave to our country and to the world. 



WINTHROP GRANT BUSHNELL. 

It was a favorite little joke of the late Cornelius S. Bushnell that he had "over fifty 
feet of boys, or nine sons, and a sister for eacli." The answer, of course, was one sister — 
Charlotte. The only son now residing in Connecticut, Winthrop Grant, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in New Haven. Marcli 20, 1864. He fitted for college at Hillhouse high 
school, class of 1884, and graduated from Yale in the class of 1888. In college he was a 
member of his class crew and football team, and he won the Cleveland cup in a hotly con- 
tested single scull race. He was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity. Without pre- 
tending t(i be even an oi-dinarily good singer, utilizing the reimtation of liis brothers Ericsson 
and Jiidson, both fine singers, he managed to hold the position of solo bass in the quartet 
of St. Paul's church, New Haven, for four years, and in his senior year was a member of the 
Yale Glee Club; thus he almost literally sang and worked his way through college. Intend- 
ing to make journalism his life work, he won a place in sophomore year as editor of the 
Vale Daily News, and as busines.'i manager of that journal in senior year earned a con- 
siderable sum of money and valuable experience, which led to his engagement just after 
graduation as night editor of the New Haven Journal and Courier, whose "chair of journalism 
for half a century had been filled at the rate of fifteen dollars per week," so he was told 
on taking the job, by Editor Pratt, "and any application for an increase in compensation 
above that salary would be considered the same as a resignation." With this cheerless 
prospect for advancement, he remained in that position nine months, long enough, however, 
to convince himself that routine newspaper work had little promise for him. He thereupon 
secured a position in the sales department of the Edison Company of New York city, as 
Connecticut representative, and after close study qualified himself as commercial engineer 
for the practical applications of electricity for lighting, power transmission and traction. He 
equipped a majority of the. public service corporations in Connecticut with suitable electrical 
apparatus, and continued with the Edison Company and its successor, the General Electric 
Company, seventeen years, until January 1, 1906, when he resigned to care for and develop 
public utilities which he owned or controlled. Among them was the New Milford Power 
Company, a ten thousand horse power hydro-electric plant nearly completed, in 1904, on 



12 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

the Houaatonic river, with transmission lines to Waterbury and New Britain, Connecticut, 
and a thirty year contract to sell its entire output, wholesale, in those cities, on terms 
which would within two years show a net profit per annum of at least fifty thousand dollars, 
after deducting all charges. But there were certain unsolved problems about this enter- 
prise and nobody seemed to care to tackle them or to appreciate the value of this property 
until some months after Mr. Bushnell had purchased seventy-five per cent, of its capital 
stock, subject to an outstanding mortgage indebtedness of one million dollars, and a con- 
siderable floating indebtedness. By wise constructive and financial methods he developed this 
property and within a year sold it to the Connecticut Railway & Lighting Company for use 
as its main source of electricity for lighting and power in central Connecticut. With Mr. 
Samuel C. Morehouse, of New Haven, as partner and attorney, he developed and sold an 
electric lighting property in Camaguey, the largest inland city of Cuba. Associated with the 
late A. M. Young and others, he built street railway and lighting properties in southern New 
England and the middle west, but disposed of all his street railway interests several years 
ago, retaining his interest in certain electric lighting and power properties, of which the 
largest is the Connecticut Power Company, of which company he is the vice president. This 
company has developed and is operating a twelve thousand horse power hydroelectric plant 
at Falls Village, Connecticut, and transmits its power to various public utilities located 
at Torrington, Thomaston, Bristol, New Britain, Hartford and Middletown. In the latter 
city the same company owns and operates the entire ligliting and power property, as also 
that at New London, Connecticut, and elsewhere in northwestein Connecticut, under the 
control and management of Stone & Webster, whom ilr. Bushnell selected as partners in thig 
particular enterprise in 1912. 

Mr. Bushnell is a member of the Union League Club and the Railroad Club of New 
York city; the Quinnipiac, Graduates', Lawn and Country Clubs of New Haven; the Hart- 
ford Club; the Waterbury Country Club; and the Pine Orchard Club, of Pine Orchard, where 
he resides in the summer. In politics Mr. Bushnell is an independent republican. He is 
a member of the Center church. New Haven. In June, 1911, he married Harriet Elizabeth, 
daughter of the late Captain Levi T. Scofield, a prominent architect of Cleveland, Ohio, and 
he has two daughters, Elizabeth, born April 22, 1912, and Ann Cornelia, born January 6, 1918. 

During 1917 Mr. Bushnell was state chairman of the executive committee of the Young 
Men's Christian Association, which undertook to raise in Connecticut one million dollars 
of the thirty-five million dollars national budget for war work. In this campaign Con- 
necticut was the first state to raise its quota, lifting it finally to one million four hundred 
thousand dollars. Mi'. Bushnell was also chairman of the executive committee in the June 
campaign, same year. New Haven American Red Cross, which accepted a budget of two 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and raised four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, for 
war work. He is a director of the Young Men's Christian Association of New Haven, and 
member of the executive committee. New Haven Chapter, American Red Cross. With due 
appreciation of out-of-door life he is an ardent lover of golf, and in 1916 and 1917 was 
captain of the New Haven Country Club golf team. He has won some personal trophies, 
the best being the club championship in March, 1917, of the Ormond Beach Country Club, 
Ormond, Florida. In winning this open competition among one hundred entries without 
handicap, Mr. Bushnell modestly admitted that he had more "nerve" than "science." Some 
say this victory marked the zenith of his prowess as a golfer. If true, he never will admit it. 



HENRY LUCIUS HOTCHKISS. 

The name of Henry Lucius Hotchkiss has long figured prominently in connection with 
manufacturing and financial interests of New Haven, his native city. He is identified with 
various corporations, including The L. Candee & Company, of which he is the president. He 
represents a family that has been connected with the development of New Haven for more 
than two hundred and fifty years. It was in 1641 that Samuel Hotchkiss, a native of Essex 
county, England, crossed the Atlantic and became a resident of New Haven. 

In a review of the commercial development of the city it is found that .Justus Hotchkiss, 
who died in 1813, was a prominent lumber merchant on Long Wharf in the nineteenth century 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 13 

and there the lumber business was continued until 1850 by Henry and Lucius Hotchkiss, who 
were sons of Justus Hotchkiss. On the 7th of September, 1843, these two entered into a 
partnership with L. Candee to undertake the manufacture of rubber boots and shoes under the 
Goodyear patent, and in 1852 the business was incorporated under the already well known firm 
of L. Candee & Company. In February, 1863, Henry Hotchkiss was elected president and 
treasurer of this company and in the development of the business displayed marked executive 
ability. He possessed the qualities of leadership in business and financial affairs and was 
gifted with exceptional capacity for controlling large enterprises. He displayed notable sa- 
gacity and keen insight into business situations, together with the power of coordinating 
seemingly adverse interests into a complex and unified whole. He figured not only as one 
of the foremost manufacturers of the state but also as a prominent factor in many other 
business lines, being called to the presidency of various corporations, while in financial 
circles he was widely known as the president of the New Haven County Bank for twenty- 
one years. He died on December 14, 1871. He married Elizabeth Daggett Prescott, a daughter 
of the senior member of the well known shipping firm of Prescott & Sherman and a descend- 
of John Prescott, who came from England in 1640, settling in Boston. Among his descend- 
ant.s were Colonel William Prescott, one of the heroic commanders at Bunker Hill, and the 
historian, William H. Prescott. 

Henry L. Hotchkiss was born in New Haven, December 18, 1842, and became actively in- 
terested with his father in his various business interests in 1860. For three years thereafter 
he was paymaster on the New London Railroad, of which his father was a trustee, and he 
also assisted his father in the management of the United States Pin Company, of which the 
senior Hotchkiss was president. In February, 1863, Henry L. Hotchkiss became the secre- 
tary of The L. Candee & Company and soon afterward was elected treasurer as the suc- 
cessor of his father, who resigned that position. He continued in the dual office until Decem- 
ber, 1871, when upon his father's death, he was elected to the presidency and continued to 
serve as treasurer also for a number of years. On the 19th of November, 1877, when the 
business was at its height, the entire plant was destroyed by fire. Quick in action and at all 
times resourceful, Mr. Hotchkiss at once leased temporary factories and immediately began 
rebuilding on a much larger and finer scale. 

No New Haven enterprise has done more for the city and none has made its name more 
widely known abroad. Realizing the value of centralization in industrial management. The 
L. Candee & Company in 1892 merged their interests with those of other prominent rubber 
corporations of America in forming the group which is now known as the United States 
Rubber Company of New Jersey, in which llr. Hotchkiss has continuously been a director. 
For the first seven years of its existence he also actively served on the executive committee 
but retiring from that position in 1899 he spent some time in travel abroad. After the death 
of his father he became the president of the Union Trust Company of New Haven and 
since its consolidation with the New Haven Trust Company under the name of. the 
Union & New Haven Trust Company he has been a vice president of the more recently cre- 
ated organization. Since 1874 he has been a director of the New Haven Bank. It has been 
largely under his direction and control that The L. Candee & Company has been developed to 
its present mammoth proportions, giving employment to nearly two thousand hands and 
occupying, in the conduct of the business, twelve substantial brick buildings. 

In February, 1875, Mr. Hotchkiss was married to Miss Jane Trowbridge, a daughter of 
Henry and Mary Webster (Southgate) Trowbridge. She was a lineal descendant of Governor 
William Bradford of ^Mayflower fame and a great-granddaughter of Noah Webster, the lex- 
icographer. She died April 20, 1902, leaving three children. Henry Stuart, a graduate of 
the Yale Scientific School in the class of 1900 is the present vice president of The L. Candee & 
Company. In September, 1917, he became chief of supplies. Inspection Equipment Division, 
Signal Corps, with rank of captain, in the United States army, and is stationed at Washing- 
ton, D. C. Helen Southgate, the wife of Elisha Ely Garrison, is a graduate of Yale, class of 
1897. Elizabeth Trowbridge, the wife of Carl Brandes Ely, was graduated from the Yale 
Scientific School in 1900. 

Such, in brief, is the life history of Henry L. Hotchkiss, whose ability in manufacturing 
lines has brought him prominence and leadership. Although patriotic and public-spirited, he 
has always avoided public oflice, preferring to do his public service as a private citizen. He 



14 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

has given loyal support to manj' progressive projects for the general good and as a factor 
in the business life of New Haven has contributed in substantial measure to its develop- 
ment. 



RUTHERFORD TROWBRIDGE. 

Since 1639 the name of Trowbridge has figured in connection with the history of New 
Haven and probably no other family has had a more continuous or prominent identification 
with the progress and development of the colony and later the town and city. The first 
of the family to settle in New Haven was Thomas Trowbridge (H), who was born in Taunton, 
England, where the history of the family dates back to the time of William the Conqueror. 
Thomas Trowbridge (H) brought his family to America in 1636 and settled at Dorchester, 
Massachusetts. In 1639 he removed to New Haven and was engaged in the foreign shipping 
business, with extensive trade connections with England and the West Indies. 

His son, Thomas Trowbridge (HI), was baptized in Exeter, Devonshire, England, Decem- 
ber 11. 1631 and was but a child when his parents emigrated to America and settled in 
New Haven. He became one of New Haven's successful merchants and ship owners and 
was also active in politics. On the 1st of October, 1653, he Avas chosen watch sentry; 
in 1667 became county treasurer; and was made a freeman of Connecticut, May 20, 1668. 
He was confirmed a lieutenant of the New Haven Troop, May 20, 1675, and doubtless saw 
service in King Philip's war. He was treasurer of the town in 1679, justice of the peace 
in 1687 and acted as agent for the town in the purchase of much land from the Indians. He 
was commissioner of New Haven from 1690 to 1693 and he was also actively interested 
in educational matters. He died August 22, 1702, and his grave is now included in the 
crypt of Center church. He was married June 24, 1657, in New Haven, and his first wife, 
Sarah Rutherford, daughter of Henry and Sarah Rutherford, was born in this city July 31, 
1641, and died January 5, 1687. Their son, Thomas Trowbridge (IV), was born February 
14, 1663, in New Haven, was graduated from Hopkins grammar school and later learned the 
cooper's trade. He also became interested in trade with the West Indies. He served as a 
trustee of the New Haven grammar scliool from 1695 until his death, which occurred Septem- 
ber 15, 1711, and he was its treasurer from 1703. On the 16th of October, 1685, in New 
Haven, he wedded Mary, daughter of John Winston, of New Haven. She was born June 
24, 1667, and died September 16, 1742. 

Their son, Daniel Trowbridge, the direct ancestor of Rutherford Trowbridge in the fifth 
generation, was born in New Haven, October 25, 1703, and after attending the Hopkins 
grammar school was graduated from Yale College in 1725. For a number of years he com- 
manded vessels and afterward became a merchant. On the 8th of April, 1731, in New 
Haven, he married Mchitable Brown, a daughter of Francis and Hannah (Ailing) Brown. 
She was born April 9, 1711, and died October 1, 1797, having for forty-five years survived her 
husband, whose death occurred August 4, 1752. 

Their son, Rutherford Trowbridge, was born February 3, 1744, in New Haven, and 
here spent his entire life. He early learned the mason's trade and after the Revolutionary 
war began he petitioned the government to allow him to manufacture saltpetre and re- 
ceived the first bounty for that commodity. He was an earnest patriot and fought with 
the volunteers of New Haven in repulsing the British. He was married July 9, 1760, to 
Dorcas Hitchcock, a daughter of Captain Amos and Dorcas (Foote) Hitchcock. She was born 
in Woodbridge, Connecticut, November 10, 1746, and died February 12, 1788. The death 
of Rutherford Trowbridge occurred April 6, 1825. 

Henry Trowbridge, son of Rutherford and Dorcas (Hitchcock) Trowbridge, was born 
July 30, 1781, in New Haven, and became a sailor on the ship Betsy, sailing for Pacific 
waters and China. September 17, 1799. On his return to this country he became first officer 
of the West Indiaman. He later embarked in the West India trade and subsequently or- 
ganized the firm of Henry Trowbridge & Son, being joined in this undertaking by his eldest 
son, Thomas R. This firm was more extensively engaged in the West Indies trade than 
any other house in Connecticut. In 1837 the second son, Henry Trowbridge, became a part- 
ner iu the firm. Subsequently the yo\inger sons, Ezekiel H. and Winston 0., entered the 




THOMAS R. TROWBRIDGE 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 17 

firm. After the father's death in 1849 the four brothers established the firm of Henry 
Trowbridge's Sons, in which all were active until their deaths save Ezekiel H., who retired 
in 1885. Henry Trowbridge was married January 1, 1806, in New Haven, to Harriet, 
daughter of Ezekiel and Mary (Hemingway) Hayes. She was born March 1, 1789, and died 
November 21, 1851, having for two years survived her husband, who died October 7, 1849. 
Their eldest son was Thomas Rutherford Trowbridge, who was born July 17, 1810, in New 
Haven, and in its schools received his early scliolastic training, completing his education, 
however, in Partridge's Military Academy, at Middletown. After his school days were over 
he entered the counting house of his father, and from that year (1826) until his death, 
May 26, 1887, he was, with the exception of occasional absences in the West Indies and 
elsewhere, always at his office in the unpretentious Trowbridge counting room on Long 
Wharf. Through his long, active business life of upwards of sixty years in New Haven he 
was a man of upright character and integrity, and held in the greatest degree the confidence 
of his fellow citizens, of all who knew him, and with whom he had business dealings. He 
was broad, liberal and just. He was fitted for positions of high trust and responsibility 
in city and state, and was often obliged to decline them owing to numerous family trusts 
and his own large business affairs. During the Civil war he made a record that was envi- 
able, having shown himself a true and generous friend to the soldiers and their families, 
responding liberally to constant calls upon his purse and sympathies. From 1847 until 
his death he was a valued director of the Mechanics Bank, and it was at his suggestion that 
the bank tendered the use of fifty thousand dollars to Governor Buckingham in the dark 
days of the Rebellion. Among the various other financial and industrial interests on whose 
directorates he served were those of the New Haven Bank, the Hartford & New Haven Rail- 
road Company until its consolidation with the New York & New Haven in 1872. the Security 
Insurance Company of New Haven, while for many years he was secretary and treasurer of 
the Long Wharf Company and secretary of the Tomlinson Bridge Company. He was em- 
phatically a merchant of farseeing and wide views. 

Mr. Trowbridge was the choice of the republican committee as candidate for lieutenant 
governor of Connecticut, with Hon. William A. Buckingham for governor, in 1858, an honor 
which he positively and persistently declined. At the breaking out of the Civil war he 
threw his whole soul into tlie cause of liberty, and although too far advanced in life to 
enter the field actively, aided in sustaining the government in every possible way by his 
influence and wealth. When the Tenth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry broke camp, with 
orders to proceed to their rendezvous, a beautiful state flag was presented to them by Mr. 
Trowbridge, made expressly for the regiment by his wife and daughter. He afterward 
presented flags to several Connectfcut regiments, and swords to numerous officers, and was 
the first to provide a flag which was raised and kept flying on the steeple of the Center 
church. He was one of the most active citizens in New Haven in the formation of the 
Sanitary Commission, and contributed greatly to its success by pecuniary assistance, as 
well as by personal service. At one time in order to raise New Haven's quota of men 
without a draft, he paid fifteen dollars each for thirty enlistments. He was a friend of the 
soldiers and the soldiers' families, always ready to respond to the constant call upon his purse 
and sympathies. Mr. Trowbridge had a taste of historical research, was one of the founders and 
a life member of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, and was instrumental in having 
prepared and published the history of the Trowbridge family. He served for some time 
as president of the New Haven Chamber of Commerce. "In his business relation Mr. Trow- 
bridge showed a breadth of mind which joined with farseeing prudence and a high standard 
of commercial honor brought him well deserved wealth." 

On September 11, 1834, Mr. Trowbridge was married to Caroline Hoadley, who was 
born in New Haven, April 30, 1818, and was a daughter of Captain Simeon and Polly (Harri- 
son) Hoadley. Their children were: Henry, Thomas Rutherford, William R. H., Caroline H., 
Rutherford and Emily. E 

Rutherford Trowbridge, the second youngest son of Thomas Rutherford Trowbridge, 
was born in New Haven, December 1, 1851, and now ranks with the honored citizens and' 
the capitalists of this section. In his youthful days he attended the popular school con- 
ducted by Stiles French in New Haven and there prepared for Yale, but instead of entering 
college he was induced, in 1868, to accept a position in the West Indies branch of the house 
of Henry Trowbridge's Sons in the island of Barbados. In 1885 he was admitted to a 



IS A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

full partnership in the business with his father and brothers and so continued until the 
firm was dissolved by mutual consent. He is now engaged in the care of numerous family 
trusts and in the management of a number of important corporations with which he is 
identified. He is a director of the National New Haven Bank and the Carrington Publish- 
ing Company, proprietors of the Morning Journal-Courier, the oldest newspaper in Con- 
necticut. 

On the 8th of January, 1891, Mr. Trowbridge was married to Miss May Wells, a daughter 
of Franklin and Julia Lockwood (Smith) Farrel, of Ansonia. They are members of Trinity 
Episcopal church of New Haven. In Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where they have spent many 
summers, Mr. Trowbridge is a director of the Golf Club and of the Casino Club. He also 
belongs to the Quinnipiac Club of New Haven, the Union League, the Country Club, the 
Yale Archaeological Society, the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a life 
member and director of the New Haven Colony Historical Society. He is also a member of 
the Union League Club and the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts of New York city, 
of the National Geographical Society of Washington, D. C, of the Connecticut Society of the 
Sons of the American Revolution and is an associate member of the New Hampshire Society 
of the Cincinnati. 

Mr. Trowbridge has long been deeply and helpfully interested in matters of public 
weal and has taken active part in promoting civic welfare and in supporting and advancing 
educational and charitable institutions. He was the founder of the Tliomas R. Trowbridge 
course of lectures on architecture in the Yale School of Fine Arts, which he established 
in 1889. As a memorial to his father he placed a window in Center church illustrating the 
arrival of the first settlers in New Haven in 1638. As a memorial to his father he also 
founded the Rutherford Institute in the Young Men's Christian Association of New Haven, 
which is designed to give a technical education to poor boys, and he also founded the Ruth- 
erford Trowbridge, Jr., scholarship in the Hopkins grammar scliool. Mr. Trowbridge is vice 
president of the New Haven park commission and a director of the New Haven Hospital, 
the New Haven board of associated charities and the Connecticut Humane Society. His inter- 
ests are broad and varied and his activities do not arise from a mere sense of duty but from 
the keenest interest in the welfare and progress of his fellowmen. He has back of him 
an ancestry honorable and distinguished and has shaped his life in harmony therewith. 
In person, in talent and in character he is a worthy scion of his race and his activities have 
continued the name of Trowbridge as a synonym for all that is most worth while to the 
individual and to the communitv. 



HAR\'EY BALDWIN, JI. D. 



Dr. Harvey Baldwin was a native of Connecticut, born in Norfolk, October 12, 1818, 
and there spent the period of his boyhood and youtli. After acquiring a public school 
education he determined to prepare himself for a professional career and decided upon the 
practice of medicine as a life work. He then went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where 
he entered a medical college. I'pon his return to Connecticut he located in the town of 
Goshen, where he entered upon the practice of medicine and surgery. At length he removed 
his family* to New Haven and gave up professional work to enter upon manufacturing, 
forming a partnership with a Mr. Goodman. They began the manufacture of musical 
instruments, giving their attention largely to melodeons and cabinet organs, and with that 
undertaking Mr. Baldwin was associated for several years. Preferring outdoor life, how- 
ever, he witiidrew from manufacturing circles and removed with his family to Watertown, 
where he purchased a small farm tliat he continued to cultivate and improve until his 
death. 

At Go.shen, in Litchfield county. Dr. Baldwin was united in marriage to Miss Esther 
Starr, w-ho was born in Goshen and by her marriage became the mother of a daughter, 
Mary Eliza, who is now living in New Haven. An older daughter, Lucy Starr, passed away 
in childhood. The death of the husband and father occurred on the home farm at Water- 
town. February 26, 1859, when he was forty years of age. and his remains were interred 
in Oak Grove cenieterv. For a few vears after his demise Mrs. Baldwin remained in 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 19 

Watertown and tiieii returned with her daughter to Xew Haven, where she continued to 
reside until she passed away on the 31st of ilarch, 1886, when her remains were interred 
by tlie side of her husband in Oak Grove cemetery. Mrs. Baldwin was a Christian woman, 
holdina membership in the Center Congregational church of New Haven. Her daughter, 
Miss Marv E. Baldwin, is living on St. Ronan street in New Haven. 



THOMAS HOOKER. 



For all that the name of Hooker stood in the early and later history of Connecticut, 
the name of Thomas Hooker has stood for more than a quarter-century in the financial 
and business life of New Haven. Though boni in the city of Macon, Georgia, September 
3, 1849, he is a direct descendant of the Rev. Thomas Hooker, who in 1636 led his congrega- 
tion to the founding of Hartford. His father was the Rev. Richard Hooker, a native of 
Massachusetts, who entered the Presbyterian ministry, and was for many years pastor 
at Macon, Georgia, and other southern points. Richard Hooker was a graduate of Yale 
in the class of 1827. After a long service as a pastor, he passed away at New Haven in 
1857. aged forty-nine years. His wife, whose maiden name was Aurelia Dwight, a native 
of Connecticut and a descendant of .John Dwight, one of the historic settlers of the state. 
survived him to 1874, dying at the age of fifty-seven years. 

Thomas Hooker was the only child of these parents. He received his early education 
at the Hopkins giammar school, and was graduated from Yale College with the class of 
1869, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He won his Master of Arts degree in 1872, 
and later spent five years completing and liberalizing his education by study and travel 
abroad and in this country. He returned to New Haven in 1877 and entered upon a business 
and financial career. In 1895 he became connected with the First National Bank, and in 
1902 he was elected its vice president. In 1909 he was chosen president, which position he 
has since filled. From 1895 to 1902 ilr. Hooker was vice president of the New Haven 
Trust Company and afterward became its president, remaining in that position until 1909. 
Since the merger into the Union & New Haven Trust Company, he has been one of its vice 
presidents. 

On June 30, 1874, Mr. Hooker was married to Miss Sarah A, Bowles of Springfield, 
Massachusetts, daughter of Samuel Bowles, founder of the Springfield Republican, and 
Mary D. (Schermerhorn) Bowles, the former from a representative old Massachusetts family 
and the latter from one of the old families of Netv York. Two sons have been born to them: 
Richard, who is editor and general manager of the Springfield Republican; and Thomas, 
a graduate of Yale Academic and Yale Law Schools and a member of the law firm of Bristol 
& White. 

Mr. Hooker is a member of Center church and belongs to the Graduates Club, the New 
Haven 'Yacht Club, the New Haven Country Club and the New Haven Lawn Club. In 
politics he is an independent republican, always vitally interested in political and civic 
affairs but above the limitations of narrow party ties. For ten years, from 1894 to 1904, 
he was a member of the New Haven Board of Education, 



REV. ROBERT CHARLES DENISON. 

Rev. Robert Charles Denison, pastor of the United church at New Haven, was born 
in St. Louis, Missouri, July 22, 1868, a son of George and Emma (Webster) Denison. The 
father, who was an attorney, has passed away but the mother is still living. She is a native 
of New Hampshire, while the birth of George Denison occurred in Vermont. In young man- 
hood he went to the west, becoming a resident of St. Louis, Missouri, and died there in 
1899, at the age of sixty-six years. He was a member of the Connecticut Denison family 
of the Stonington line, descended from Captain George Denison, who removed from Massa- 
chusetts to Stonington, Connecticut, before the settlement of New Haven and was a promi- 



20 A MODEKN IIISTOKV OK NEW IIAVEX 

iK-i.t man there. The mother of Rev. Denison is a representative of the Webster family 
of New Hampshire, to which Daniel Webster belonged. 

Born and reared in St. Louis, Rev. Robert C. Denison prepared for college in Smith 
Academy of his native city and afterward entered Amherst College, where he took his 
Bachelor of Arts degree in 1889. He then became a student in the Andover (Mass.) Theolo- 
uMcal Seminarv and was graduated with the class of 1892. For nearly two years he engaged 
in settlement work at Andover House in Boston. In 1896 he was ordained to the 
ministry and for about three years occupied a pastorate in Little Rock, Arkansas. Later 
he spent over ten years as pastor of a church at Janesville, Wisconsin, and in September, 
1909. came to New Haven as pastor of the United church (Congregational), which is the 
second oldest church in this city, it having been formed by a group who withdrew for the 
purpose from Center diurch in 1742. For eight years Rev. Denison has continued as pastor 
of this cliurch and his labors have been attended with excellent results in the upbuilding 
of the membership, in the extension of the work and in the deepening of spiritual significance 
to its representatives. For many years he has been one of tlie directors of tlie Young 
Men's Christian Association and a most active worker in behalf of that organization, realizing 
fully how strong a safeguard it throws around the youth of the present day. Rev. Denison 
is also a member of the executive committee of the Red Cross, a member of the Boy Scouts 
Council, chairman of the Civic Federation Council on industrial and social conditions and 
otherwise connected with the work which is looking to the uplift of the individual and the 
betterment of the community at large. 

On the 3l8t of October, 1894, in Alton. Illinois, Rev. Denison was married to Miss 
Martha Kendrick, a daughter of A. A. Kendrick, president of Shurtleff College of Alton. 
Tliev have tw<i children. George and Lucia. Rev. Denison belongs to the Graduates Club of 
New Haven and is also a member of the Chi Psi fraternity. He has confined his activities 
to the churches with which he has been connected and to community interests and his 
efforts liave been of constantly broadening effect. His words of wisdom have borne fruit 
in the lives of many who have come under his instruction. He is an earnest speaker, un- 
tiring in zeal, strong in pur|)ose and with a ready sympathy that enables him to under- 
stand the frailties of men but also to believe in their possibilities. To reduce to a minimum 
the former and to develop to the maximum the latter has been his life work and he has not 
been denied the full harvest of his labors. 



.JOHN HKOWN. 



John Brown, president and treasurer of John Brown, Inc., has built up an extensive 
business in leather goods and is recognized as a factor of importance in the commercial 
development of New Haven. A native of Scotland, lie was born in St. Andrews, April l.>, 
184o, and is a son of Robert and Ann (Greive) Urown. the former a native of Fifeshire. 
The father was a fanner and also engaged in jobbing farm products, especially potatoes. 
He was tiiiite a prominent Mason and was a loyal and active member of the Presbyterian 
churcli. 

Jolin Brown attended the schools of Cupar and Glasgow, Scotland, but when sixteen 
years old began learning the harness maker's trade in Glasgow. After serving a six years' 
apprenticesliip he foHowed that trade in Scotland until 1870, when he came to America. 
He at oiue opencil a sliop on George street in New Haven and during the past forty-seven 
years has engaged in business there. His trade lias grown and he has been very success- 
ful in adapting his work to changing conditions and now has a fine store extending from 
No. 15.1 to 157 George street. He not only makes and .sells harness but also carries a large 
and well .selected line of trunks, bags, suit cases, automobile supplies and fine leather 
novelties. He is also a stockholder in the West Haven Ice Company and although engaged 
in business in New Haven maintains his residence in West Haven. 

Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Stevenson, who died, leaving a 
daughter. Mattie B.. now tlie wife of L. S. Richards, of Brooklyn, by whom she lias two 
children. Lee Sumner, Jr., and Jean Harriet. 

Mr. Brown is one of the most prominent citizens of West Haven, of which he served 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 21 

as burgess from 1900 to 1905, during wliic-h pt-riod many of the present day improvements 
were instituted, including the erection of an engine house, the laying of sidewalks, curbs 
and paving. For the past twenty-one years he has been a member of the board of educa- 
tion of the Union district and is now chairman of the purchasing board. In 1907 and 
again in 1915 he represented the town of Orange in the state legislature and proved as 
discriminating and public-spirited in considering questions concerning the entire state 
as he has in dealing witli matters affecting only his community. He is a leading member 
of the village improvement association of West Haven and also belongs to the Chamber 
(jf Commerce. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he has done 
effective work in bringing about its success at the polls. Fraternally he belongs to the 
Masons and the Odd Fellows, and he is also identified with the Caledonian Club and Clan 
McLeod, of both of which he is a charter member. His religious faith is indicated by 
his membership in< tlic Congregational churcli and lie is prominent in the work of the 
Men's Oub. 



WILSON H. LEE. 



Wilson H. Lee is actively identified with printing and publishing interests in New 
Haven, in which channel he has directed his labors since his initial step in the business world 
was made on attaining his majority. This constitutes but one phase of his very active and 
purposeful life, however, for he figures prominently as well in financial circles and standi 
as a leading representative of modern scientific agriculture. He was born in Hardwick, 
Massachusetts, May 3, 1852, a son of Joseph and Sarah Adele Lee. The ancestral history 
of the family can be traced back to John Lee, who settled at Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 
1634. Hie public school education acquired at Athol, Massachussetts, Wilson H. Lee entered 
upon a term's study in tlie New Salem Academy and when twenty-one years of age became 
an employe of a Boston company engaged in the publication of directories. His identifi- 
cation with the publishing business as a proprietor dates from 1876 and with the printing 
business from 1884, and tliat he has largely concentrated his attention upon this branch 
of industrial activity is indicated in the fact that he is now president and treasurer of the 
Price & Lee Company, directory publishers of Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey, 
and also president and treasurer of the book and job printing and bindery business con- 
ducted under the name of the Wilson H. Lee Company. However, other activities have 
furnished a field for the expansion of his business powers and such is his force of char- 
acter and persistency of purpose that he carries forward to successful completion whatever 
he undertakes. In 1902 he turned his attention to the dairy business as proprietor of the 
Fairlea Farm at Orange, Connecticut, and he is also the secretary and treasurer of the 
Connecticut Hassam Paving Company, while in financial circles he is widely known as a 
director of the Yale National Bank ami as a trustee of the Connecticut Savings Bank and 
the Orange Bank & Trust Company. He is likewise a director of the New Haven Morris 
Plan Company. His keen discrimination enables him to readily understand the possibili- 
ties of a business and to correctly balance its opportunities for success against its chances 
of failure. While there has been nothing spectacular in his career, it has been equally 
free from those erractic movements which frequently result in unwarranted risks. In a 
word, his has been the steady progression of one sure of himself and stable in his purposes. 

On the 1st of February. 1875, Mr. Lee was married to Miss Orrianna I^, Lewis, of 
Athol, Massachusetts, and they have a daughter. Prudence Adele, the wife of John R. 
Demarest of New Haven. Mr. Lee is identified with many organized interests formed for 
the benefit of business conditions, for tlie advancement of tlie public welfare or for the 
enjoyment of the social amenities of life. In 1917 he was appointed chairman of the 
New Haven County Auxiliary of the Connecticut State Council of Defense and discharges 
his important duties in this connection with the utmost faithfulness and fidelity. In club 
circles his name appears on the membership rolls of the Union League and the Quinnipiac 
Clubs of New Haven, the Pequoig Club of Athol, Massachusetts, and the Essex Club of 
Newark, New Jersey. He is an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity and 
is prominent in the Sons of the American Revolution, having been chosen president of 



22 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

tlR. state organization of Connecticut f.ir the year 1913-14. He belongs to the American 
Directory Publishers Association, of wliich he was president from 1905 until 1908, and 
he is connected with the United Typotheta. of America, of which he was president in 1910 
and 1911 and a member and chairman of its executive committee for many years. He like- 
wise has membership in the Connecticut Typotheta;, of which he was president from 1899 
until 1908. He has also been president of the Worcester Northwestern Agricultural Society 
and in 1909 and 1910 was president of the Connecticut Dairymen's Association and for three 
years was vice president of the Connecticut state board of agriculture. In 1916 and 1917 
iie was also president of the Certified Milk Producers' Association of America. He has been 
honored with the presidency of the New Haven County Improvement League and with the 
vice presidency of the Civic Association of New Haven. He was president of the New 
Haven Chamber of Commerce in 1903-04 and was police commissioner of New Haven for 
four years. His co-operation can be secured along all those lines which result in usefulness 
and progress. Advancement has ever been his watchword and the passing years have 
marked improvement in every line of business or every organization in which he has been 
an active worker. 



HON. JAMES EDWARD ENGLISH. 

Hon. James Edward English, member of congress, governor of Connecticut, and United 
States senator, whose death occurred at his home in New Haven, March 2, 1890, full of 
years and honors, was preeminently a self-made man; more so than any other of New Haven's 
citizens unless it be the late Hon. Roger Sherman. 

Mr. English was born March 13, 1812, in New Haven, son of James and Nancy (Griswold) 
English, the father a citizen highly respected for his personal worth, who intelligently dis- 
charged several public trusts with fidelity. The mother was a woman of singular sagacity; 
slie was descended from a family greatly distinguished in the history of Connecticut, hav- 
ing given to it two governors. Our subject's paternal grandfather was the commander of 
vessels engaged in the West India trade and his great-grandfather fell pierced by a bayonet 
in the hands of a British soldier, at the time of the invasion of New Haven during the War 
of the Revolution. James E. English was a descendant in the sixth generation from Clem- 
ent English, of Salem, Massachusetts, his line being through three successive Benjamins to 
James English, his father. The first Benjamin English, son of Clement, born in 1676, 
married Rebecca Brown, in 1699, and in 1700 settled in New Haven, where for two hundred 
years his descendants have been identified with the town. 

James E. English in boyhood exhibited singular self-reliance, a trait of character that 
ever remained with him. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to the trade of a car- 
penter, and began his first work June 27, 1827, on the old Lancastrian school house. His 
apprenticeship closed on his twenty-first birthday. He never worked as a journeyman at his 
trade but at once became a contractor, and followed this occupation until twenty-three years 
of age, by which time he became the possessor of a moderate capital. Having natural 
architectural tastes, he designed and erected in this short experience a number of creditable 
buildings in New Haven; and for the next twenty years he was engaged in the lumber 
business, covering a period when commercial enterprises of every kind were subject to 
great fluctuations — a period of general financial embarrassment, when many men found it 
Jiflicult and often impossible tq avoid commercial disaster. Far-seeing and always looking 
beyond the present, he avoided speculation, never being sanguine nor despondent. He 
branched out in his lumber business, buying and building vessels, engaged in shipping clocks 
to Philadelphia, and Returning with coal and general merchandise to New Haven and other 
ports, and in this way was successful. Next he became identified with the manufacture of 
clocks, having successfully reorganized the former Chauncey Jerome works under the name of 
the New Haven Clock Company. In this enterprise he was associated with Harmanus M. 
Welch, afterward president of the First National Bank, and for several years a partner with 
him in the lumber business; also with Hiram Camp, these three purchasing the clock plant. 
In a few years they made this company not only a success, but one of the largest clock 
manufacturing concerns in existence. Mr. English, about this time, became prominently 




HON. JAMES E. ENGLISH 



ANT) EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 25 

identified with the First National Bank of New Haven, and also with the Connecticut Sav- 
ings Bank, having been at the head of the latter institution from its organization in 1857. 
He was largely interested in various manufacturing and commercial industries in this and 
other states, being also associated with the management of the Adams Express Company. 
Eminently successful in accumulating property, by judicious investments in real estate he 
finally became the owner of probably more business buildings than any other individual in 
New Haven. He was a man of the strictest integrity, taking no advantages of the great 
opportunities that arose during the war by changes in the financial policy of the govern- 
ment, which greatly afi"ected commercial values, of which some men of high station availed 
themselves. Not a dollar of his large fortune came from speculation. His business sagacity 
made it all. "If I have been successful as a business man, it is because I have been con- 
tent with reasonable profits, for I know that enormous gains soon invite ruinous competition." 

Politically Mr. English was reared a democrat and "ever remained faithful to the con- 
viction of a lifetime, that only by adherance to the principles and policy of genuine Jeffer- 
sonian Democracy could the state reach the full proportions of a free prosperous commun- 
ity." He held many public trusts, covering a period of forty-one years — 1836-1877. He 
was selectman of his town from 1836 to 1848; a member of the common council in 1848-49; 
representative in the state legislature in 1855-56; state senator from 1856 to 1859; mem- 
ber of congress from 1861 to 1865; governor of Connecticut from 1867 to 1869, and again 
in 1870; and United States senator by appointment from 1875 to 1877. "The municipal trusts 
of his early manhood were those imposed upon him by the general conviction of his fellow 
citizens, irrespective of party, that their interests might be safely confided to his recognized 
integrity, capacity and public spirit." 

"His services in both branches of the legislature were generally marked by attention 
to the business rather than to the political aspects of the legislation in which he was 
called to act. When, subsequently, he became governor of the state, the practical cast of his 
mind was conspicuously manifested in the emphasis which he gave in his messages to the 
cause of free public school education, and in the advocacy of which he was ultimately suc- 
cessful. 

"But that which specially and honorably marks Mr. English's public career is the course 
he pursued while a representative in congress. His term of service, extending from 1861 
to 1865, covered that period in our history during which slavery ceased to disgrace the 
Nation, and the constitutional amendment prohibiting involuntary servitude became the 
supreme law of the land. Mr. English went to Washington a pronounced war democrat, be- 
lieving that the great national exigency demanded every sacrifice to prevent our great republic 
from being divided into perpetually contending and contemptible fragments. 

"While as a democrat he fully recognized the constitutional right of the southern 
states to the possession of their slaves, he also felt that slavery was a monstrous injustice, 
and therefore had no regret when as a war measure, he found liimself at liberty to record 
alike his abhorrence of slavery and his sense of justice toward the owners of slaves in the 
District of Columbia, by voting for the bill which united the emancipation of the slave 
with compensation to the master. 

"Long before the close of the war it became evident to all thoughtful observers that 
the question of general emancipation must be met sooner or later, and Mr. English made up 
his mind to take the hazard and incur the odium of voting with his political opponents when- 
ever, in his view, it became a political necessity. More than a year before the final passage 
of the bill providing for the necessary constitutional amendment, the position of Mr. Eng- 
lish was well understood in Washington. When the bill was first introduced in the house by 
Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, he was assured of Mr. English's support in case it was needed. But 
when it was found that the administration party were not united on the measure, Mr, Ashley 
advised Mr. English not to vote in its favor, as it was sure not to pass. With a very prac- 
tical conviction of the folly of striking when there is a certainty that nothing will be hit, 
Mr. English acted upon this advice, but with the emphatic assurance to Mr. Ashlej' that 
whenever it was necessary he might rely upon his vote. When informed a year later that 
the bill would be put to vote the next day, Mr. English was in New Haven in attendance upon 
his sick wife. Traveling all night, he reached Washington in time to listen to a part of the 
exciting debate, and to hear his name called among the first of the ten war democrats who, 
as it was hoped, would vote for the bill, and whose votes were necessary for its passage. 
Vol. n — 2 



26 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

When his ringing 'Ves' was heard in the crowded gathering there was general applause. 
To a New Haven friend who was in Washington a day or two afterward he said, 'I suppose 
1- am politically ruined, but that day was the happiest day of my life.' 

"Mr. English's position at this time was a very exceptional one. The number of war 
democrats in congress was small, and most of them were very timid. But there was never 
any doubt from the first where Mr. English stood or how he would vote vfhen the final 
crisis came. 

"While thousands of men in our country have been examples of conspicuous success in 
business, in political life, and in generous benefactions, few have had the opportunity, and 
fewer still the sagacity and the courage, to appreciate a great political emergency, where 
duty calls for a sacrifice of the ties which ordinarily bind a man in public life to act in 
harmony with the party to which he is attached. It is sometimes a great thing to have 
the courage of one's convictions, and the favorable mention of his name at one time as a. 
candidate for the presidency of the United States was an honorable recognition of the public 
appreciation of his vote, as having been dictated by conscience and a sense of duty." 

Blessed with abundant means Mr. English gave liberally to many institutions and ob- 
jects. Several years ago he gave ten thousand dollars to the Law School of Yale College to 
establish a library fund, and also twenty thousand dollars to the Sheffield Scientific School 
to found a chair in mathematics. He later contributed the sum of twenty-one thousand 
dollars to build the English Drive in East Rock Park, and also made numerous generous 
donations to the General Hospital and to various other charities. St. Paul's Episcopal 
church, where he regularly attended for over forty years, bears him in grateful remem- 
brance. 

On January 25, 1837, Mr. English was married to Caroline Augusta Fowler, of New 
Haven, and of their four children, the youngest, Henry F., survives. Mrs. English died 
October 23, 1874, at the age of sixty-two years, and on October 7, 1885, Mr. English was 
married to Miss Anna R Morris, of New York, daughter of Lucius S. and Letitia C. Morris. 
Mr. English died March 2, 1890. 



CHARLES WELLS BLAKESLEE. 

The name of Blakeslee has for years held an honored place in the business world of 
New Haven, and the family of that name have had prominent representative citizens in each 
generation since the early days of Connecticut. Those of whom we write are the son and 
grandsons of Matthew Gilbert and Rhoda (Dornian) Blakeslee. the former of New Haven 
and the latter of Hamden. 

Cliarles Wells Blakeslee, son of Matthiw. was born in Westfield. Massachusetts, August 
11. 1824. At the age of ten years he was brought to Connecticut and for a time resided in 
Hamden with his brother, Matthew. He attended school during tlie winters and engaged in 
farm work in the summers for several seasons, but while yet a mere boy he began teaming 
and shortly after began taking small contracts in the city of New Haven. In 1844 he bought 
his home property of the English family. George street was then but a cow path, and most 
of the neighboring land was used for pasture, and Mr. Blakeslee engaged in farming on 
th,. land now oicui)ied by Grace Hospital. In 1872 he began taking contracts for street 
paving and the building of street railways. This he continued to follow, and his business 
assumed mammoth proportions. His sons became asociated witli him in the business under 
the firm name of C. W. Blakeslee & Sons and in later years took the greater part of the 
responsibility from the father's shoulders. 

Mr. Blakeslee was married in New Haven to Miss Eliza tiark. a native of Milford. who 
died in New Haven, the mother of seven children, of whom two died in infancy, and one, 
Albert, died when three and a half years old. The otliers were Charles W.. Jr.: " Jeannette: 
Isabella and Mary. For his second wife. Mr. Blakeslee married Mrs. Martha Jane Blair, of 
New Haven. By her first marriage she had two children: William H. Blair, a superintendent 
with the Cliarles W. Blakeslee & Company; and Jane, who became Mrs. Coplev and died 
m 1900. By his second marriage Mr. Blakeslee became the father of six children: Dennis 
A.; Dwight W.: Phebe; Clarence; Martha, wlio married Lvman Uw: and Theodore R 



AND EASTERN NEW IIAVEX COrxrV 27 

]ii liis political views in early life. Mr. Blakeslee was a wiiiy. but from 1«37 lie was a 
firm supporter of republican principles. He was a Methodist in his religious belief and a 
member of the church of that denomination on George street in Xew- Haven. Mr. Blakeslee 
passed away in January. lOlfi. 



FRANK IVKS THOMPSON. 



Frank Ives Thompson, deceased, who for many years was an active factor in business 
circles in New Haven, well known as senior member of the firm of Thompson & Belden, 
dealers in ])aints and oils, was born September 18. 1851. in New Haven, and was a repre- 
sentative of one of the best known families of this section of Connecticut. His father, 
Abraham Thompson, was born in East Haven, his natal year being 1815. He was a son 
of James and Lydia (Chidsey) Thompson and w^hile spending his boyhood days in East 
Haven he attended school, supplementing his early training by attendance at the schools 
of Branford. When fifteen years of age he took up a seafaring life, which he followed for 
a number of years, sailing both on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as well as in South 
American and West Indian waters. After giving up the sea he took up his abode in 
Sacramento. California, where he became engaged in merchandising, continuing active in 
that field for many years and meeting with a fair degree of success. Coming again to 
Connecticut, he settled in New Haven, where he turned his attention to carriage making, 
following that business until 1860, when he retired with a substantial competence that 
had come to him as the reward of his persistent, earnest and intelligently directed labors. 
He spent his remaining days in New Haven, passing away in 1870. 

On the 5th of September, 1844, Abraham Thompson had wedded Lydia Ives, who 
was born April 12, 1824, a daughter of Elihu and Lucy (Whittemore) Ives and a grand- 
daughter of Dr. Eli Ives, who was a prominent physician of New Haven at an early day. 
Mrs. Thompson died at the home of her son at 719 Orange street in New Haven, August 
16, 1911. and her remains were interred in Evergreen cemetery. She was a member of 
St. Paul's Episcopal church and was miich loved by all who knew her. By her marriage 
she became the mother of four children: James E., who makes his home in New Jersey; 
Frank Ives; Frederick A., who became a resident of .\ri/oria: and Charles P.. still li\ ing 
in New Haven. 

Frank Ives Thompson was educated in the public schools and in Russell's Military 
Academy of New Haven and when seventeen years of age became a clerk in the store of 
n. S. (ilenny. who was a dealer in paints and glass. There he spent sixteen years in 
a clerical capacity and during that period gained intimate knowledge of commercial methods. 
In 1884 he embarked in business on his own account, forming a partnership with F. H. 
Belden under the firm style of Thompson & Belden. They began dealing in paints, oils 
and glass in a store on State street, where they built up one of the largest business enter- 
prises of the kind in Connecticut. By good management and strict attention they grad- 
ually increased their patronage and Mr. Thompson contiiuied an active factor in the 
successful conduct of the business until his demise which occurred on the 5th of July, 1911. 

Mr. Thompson is survived by his wife and two children. On the 11th of October, 1882. 
he wedded Mary H. Hubbell, who wan born at Bridgeport. Connecticut, a daughter of 
Albert and Sarah Jane (Wilson) Hubbell and a granddaughter of Elisha Hubbell, who was 
a well known malleable iron manufacturer of Bridgeport. Mrs. Thompson spent her entire 
married life in New Haven and by her marriage became the mother of two sons. Fred- 
erick Abraham, who was born July 5, 1883. in New Haven, pursued a public and high school 
education and afterward engaged in business with his father. He is now treasurer of the 
Oriental Emery Company of New Haven. He married Elsie Roehm Gilbert. The younger 
son, Harold Wilson, born December 7, 1888, attended the public and high schools and 
(he Sheffield Scientific School and is now a chemist with the I>u Pont Company at Barksdale, 
Wisconsin. 

Mrs, Thompson is a member of Mary Clapp Chapter of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution and of St. Paul's Episcopal church. She is a faithful Christian and has been a 
most devoted wife and mother. Mr. Thompson also held membership in St. Paul's Episcopal 



28 A MODERX HISTORY OF NEW IIAVEX 

church and his fraternal relations were with Hiram Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M.. Sterling 
Lodge, A. 0. U. W., and the Red Men. In polities he was independent, voting according to 
the dictates of his judgment rather than according to party ties. He served for a number 
of years as a member of tlic city council of New Haven and exercised liis official pregroga- 
tives in support of many plans for the benefit of the city. He was a successful business 
man, noted for liis executive ability and good judgment, and. moreover, was most higlily 
esteemed as a man of sterling character, being most honored where best known. 



REV. .JAMES J. SMITH. 



Eev. James .1. Smitli, pastor of St. Francis Catholic church, 397 Ferry street. New Haven, 
was born in County Cavan, Ireland, March 17, 1854, a son of Hugh and Mary (Lynch) 
Smith both of wlxom were natives of Ireland, where lliey spent their entire lives. They 
had a family of seven children. Tliey were devout members of the Roman Catholic church 
and reared their family in that faith. Their son, Rev. .James .1. Smith, attended the national 
schools of Ireland and afterward became a student in Holy Cross College at Worcester, 
Massachusetts, from which he was graduated in 1876. He was ordained to the priesthood 
May 22, 1880, by Bishop McMahon and after taking holy orders became assistant pastor to 
the Rev. M. F. Kelly of Windsor Locks, Connecticut, where he spent four years. He was 
afterward for four years at St. Augustine's in Bridgeport and later was assigned to pastoral 
duties in Guilford, Connecticut, where lie remained for five years. Later he became officiating 
priest at .St. Lawrence churcli in Hartford, where he continued for four years, and then spent 
fourteen years at St. Mary's Catholic churcli in Norwich. His next assignment made him 
pastor of St. Francis church of New Haven, of which he took charge on the 1st of May, 
1911. Since then he has been active in this place, doing splendid work in the upbuilding of 
the cause. While in Norwich in 1902 he was instrumental in building the convent, the 
parochial school and the rectory. He has also built the convent in connection with St. 
Francis churcli. which is the finest convent in the state. 

Father Smitli is a member of the Knights of Columbus and is taking an active interest 
in all civic matters and is helping his people in many relations, being interested in their 
material growtli ami moral welfare, and liis etTorts on tlicir behalf are far-rcacliing and 
beneficial. 



NOAH PORTER, D. D., LL. D. 

Fortunate is the man who has back of him an ancestry honorable and distinguished 
and happy is he if his lines of life are cast in harmony therewith. In person, in talent and 
in character Dr. Noah Porter was the scion of a distinguished race and his own life record 
added new laurels to an honored name. He ranked with the eminent scholars that America 
has produced and as the eleventh president of Yale he promoted the standards of an insti- 
tution which has been the pride of America since its foundation. 

A native of Connecticut, Dr. Porter was born at Farmington, in Hartford county, 
December 14, 1811. His father, Rev. Noah Porter, D. D., was also a native of Farmington, 
his natal year being 1781. He was graduated from Yale University with the highest honors 
as a member of the class of 1803 and in 1806 he was ordained pastor of the Congregational 
church in Farmington, administering that charge until his demise in 1866. He was a man 
of exalted Cliristian cliaracter, zealous and devout, and a theologian of rare learning. It was 
in his study at Farmington on the 5th of September, 1810, that the American Board of Com- 
missioners for Foreign Missions was organized and held its first meeting. For more than a 
generation he was a member of the Corporation of Yale College and during the greater 
part of the time served upon its most important committees. He married Mehitable Meigs, 
who also passed away in Farmington, where both were laid to rest. Their children included 
Samuel Porter, who was a well known educator, winning world-wide fame in connection 
with his professorship in the National Deaf Mute College at Washington, D. C. Another 



\'^ 




AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 31 

member of the family, Miss Sarah Porter, was the founder of the Porter School of Farm- 
ington, Connecticut. 

Dr. Noah Porter, also of this family, received his early training under Simeon Hart, who 
was principal of the Farmington Academy, and for a short period was under the instruc- 
tion of John H. Lathrop, who was afterward chancellor of the University of Wisconsin. Dr. 
Porter likewise studied under the direction of Elisha N. Sill. In 1824 an arrangement was 
made with his uncle. Dr. Humphrey, president of Amherst College, whereby he was received 
into the family of Dr. Humphrey, one of whose sons took the place of Noah Porter in the 
home at Farmington. This was an arrangement common among New England families at 
that period. While at the home of his uncle Dr. Porter studied under the direction of Eb- 
enezer Snell, who afterward became professor of natural philosophy in Amherst College. 
He also spent a term or two in the school at Middletown, Connecticut, and when sixteen 
years of age he became a freshman in Yale College, matriculating as a member of the class 
of 1831, which possessed an unusual number of students of marked ability. He took high 
rank as a scholar and his course during his college days won him the high esteem of the 
authorities of the university, while at the same time he had the confidence and friendship 
of his classmates, among whom he formed many warm attachments that proved lifelong. 

Following his graduation Dr. Porter became the rector of the Amiciit Latin school in 
New Haven, which had been founded in 1660 and which is known as the Hopkins grammar 
school. There he won an enviable record for his ability as an instructor and especially for 
his success in administering discipline in a school which was proverbially unruly. In 1833 
he was elected tutor in Yale and served in that capacity for two years as the Greek instructor 
of the somewhat famous class of 1837. While tutoring there he pursued the regular course 
in theology in the Yale Divinity School under Dr. Nathaniel W. Taylor and in April, 1836, 
was ordained to the ministry, after which he became pastor of the Congregational church 
in New Milford, Connecticut, one of the largest churches in the state. For nearly seven 
years he remained as its pastor and became recognized as one of the eminent divines of New 
England. It was while settled in the country parish that he began his writings, which were 
published so extensively in the leading |)eriodieals of the day and which attracted to him 
wide attention as an original and vigorous thinker on theological and philosophical sub- 
jects. 

In the same year in which he accepted his pastorate at New Milford, Dr. Porter was 
married in New Haven to Miss Mary Taylor, a daughter of the Rev. Nathaniel W. Taylor, 
D. D., of that city. They became the parents of four children: Martha Day, who resides at 
the old family home on Hillhou.se avenue; Rebecca Taylor, deceased; Nathaniel Taylor, who 
died in early childhood; and Sarah, who died just before reaching womanhood. 

In 1843 Dr. Porter left New Milford to become pastor of the South Congregational 
church at Springfield, Massachusetts, where he remained for four years. In 1846 he waa 
called to the professorship of mental and moral philosophy in Y'ale and after occupying 
that chair for twenty-five years, on the resignation of Professor Woolsey in 1871, Dr. 
Porter was elected president and entered upon his duties as the head of the institution. 
It was considered at that time a very fortunate circumstance that a president was secured 
who was acquainted with all the traditions of the college and was in thorough sympathy 
with them. His views on the subject of collegiate education were set forth in his inaugural 
address and in his writing on American colleges. His ideas were conservative although he 
was by no means indisposed to seek for improvements on the past, as is shown by the 
fact that during his administration very important changes were made in the methods of 
instruction. During his presidency the college prospered exceedingly, several costlv build- 
ings were erected and the corps of instructors was much enlarged. The department of 
philosophy and the arts was reconstructed so as to include instruction for graduate students 
and the different departments of the college were officially recognized by the corporation, 
having "attained to the form of an university." Dr. Porter continued as president of Yale 
until 1886, when he was succeeded by Dr. Dwight. However, he retained his professor- 
ship of philosophy and maintained his active interest in the university up to the time of 
his death. 

He was a most clear and virile thinker and as a writer was indefatigable. His work 
covered the widest range and a complete bibliography includes at least one hundred and 
twenty-seven separate volumes, essays, reports and lectures, including his works on "The 



32 A .MODERN IIISTOKY OF NEW HAVEN 

Human Jntellecf; "Books and Reading"; "Science and Sentiment''; "Elements of Moral 
Science"; "Life of Bishop Berkeley"; and "Kant's Ethics," a critical exposition. He also 
edited the successive editions of Webster's Dictionary from 1847 until his death. His repu- 
tation as a philosopher and theologian was world-wide, while his knowledge of the classics, 
of New England history and of English etymology was exceptionally deep. He alao 
published in 1840 a "Historical Discourse in Commemoration of the Two Hundredth 
Anniversary of the Settlement of Farmington," and he was the author of the "Educational 
System of the Puritans and the Jesuits," published in 1851, and a "Review of the Philosophy 
of Herbert Spencer" and "Evangeline,'' published in 1882. 

Dr. Porter was undeniably one of America's most scholarly metaphysicians. His labors 
as a lexicographer in connection witli the revision of tlie second and later editions of 
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary of the English language were very arduous and brought 
him great fame as well as universal recognition of his scholarly attainments. The degree 
of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the University of the City of New 
York in 1858 and that of Doctor of Laws by the Western Reserve College in 1870, by 
Trinity College of Connecticut in 1871 and by the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, in 
1886. After coming to New Haven, Dr. Porter located with his family on Hillhouse 
avenue, where his wife passed away April 14, 1888, while his death occurred on the 4th of 
March, 1892, their remains being interred in the Taylor family lot in the Grove Street 
cemetery. His record reflected the utmost credit upon the city of his residence and the 
state of liis nativity and "When the weary wheels of life at length stood still" he left 
to his state a priceless legacy in his contribution to the literature of the world and in 
the eti'ectivc work which he had done for the upbuilding of one of America's greatest 
educational institutions. There was nothing spectacular in sucli a career, but the seeds 
of thought which germinated through the stimulus of his eft'orts, becoming a living thing, 
will have tlicir influence upon the world's liistory tlirougli all the cycles of the centuries. 



BEN.TAMIN F. ENGLISH. 



'llie iii.story of real estate activity of New Haven county would be incomplete were 
there failure to make prominent reference to Benjamin F. English, one of the largest in 
dividual operators in the field of real estate in New Haven. Moreover, he is connected with 
some of the oldest and most honored families of the city and is happy in that his lines of 
life have been cast in harmony therewith. Born in New Haven on the 25th of June, 1873, 
lie is a son of Benjamin R. and Teresa (Farren) English, natives of New Haven and Fair- 
haven respectively, and connected in lineal and collateral branches with a number of the 
nu>st prominent families of this section of the state. His father, Benjamin R. English, 
became one of the leading factors in the business life of the city, being prominently identi- 
fied with real estate dealings and banking and financially interested in various commercial 
undertakings. So wisely and carefully did he direct his activities and investments that 
he came to rank with the men of wealth of New Haven. He was also numbered wdth those 
public-spirited men who seek ever the welfare of the community, and at one time he served 
as postmaster at New Haven. The city lost one of its most substantial and respected 
citizens when in 1915 lie passed away. He is survived by his \vi<iow and one son. 

Benjamin F. English, the second in order of birth, supplemented his public school 
education by a course in the Hopkins grammar school of New Haven and then started out 
Ml the business world as an employe of the Merchants National Bank of New Haven. He 
was afterward witli the First National Bank of this city and later was associated with 
I'eck Brothers, while subsequently he spent some time in Utah and California, where he 
was engaged in mining. He then returned to the middle west and did clerical work for the 
I nion Pacific Railroad Company in Kansas City, Missouri, for four years. On the expira- 
tion of that ])eriod he came to New Haven, where he entered the field of real estate, estab- 
lishing a business which has grown to be one of the largest, conducted individually, in this 
city. Mr. English has comprehensive and accurate knowledge of realty values, and his 
investments have been most wisely and judiciously ma,lc. resulting in the acquirement of 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 33 

substantial and well merited success. He became one of the organizers of the New Haven 
real estate board and was elected its second president. 

In October, 1904. Mr. English was married to Miss Augusta A. Moeller, a daughter of 
Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Moeller of New Haven, and they now have two children, Augusta T., who 
was born in Kansas City in 1905; and Benjamin F., born in Kansas City in 1906. Both are 
now attending the schools of New Haven. 

Mr. and Mrs. English are members of St. Paul's church and Mr. English holds mem- 
bership in the Quinnipiac and Pine Orchard Country Clubs. He is also identified with the 
New Haven Historical Society, the Sons of the American Revolution, his eligibility to mem- 
bership in the latter coming through both paternal and maternal ancestral lines. He is now 
secretary of the New Haven County Auxiliary of the Connecticut State Council of Defense; 
secretary of the New Haven Chapter of the American National Red Cross; and is a member 
of Company F, Home Ouard. He is identified with the Chamber of Commerce of New 
Haven and is in sympatliy with all of its carefully organized and directed efforts for the 
upbuilding of the city. In fact he stands for progress and improvement along the lines of 
material, intellectual, social and moral development and the force of his example constitutes 
a weight of influence that has far reaching effect. 



LEONARD SHERMAN HORNER. 

Leonard Sherman Horner, vice president and manager of the Acme Wire Company of 
New Haven, was born in Marshall, Virginia, March 26, 1876, his parents being' Dr. Frederick 
and Elizabeth (Sherman) Horner. The father was also a native of Virginia, where the 
family was represented through many generations. Three of tlie family were signers of 
the Declaration of Independence and various representatives of the name fought in the early 
colonial and Revolutionary wars. The name is also prominently associated with educa- 
tional interests, as one of the ancestors of Leonard S. Horner was among the founders of 
William and Mary College. His father. Dr. Horner, was a distinguished physician and 
surgeon of Virginia and during the Civil war he was a post assistant surgeon of the United 
States Navy. After tlie war lie engaged in the practice of medicine in Marshall, Virginia. 
He made valuable contribution to the literature of the profession, being the author of 
several volumes which have been widely read and largely accepted as authority concerning 
the subjects of which they treat. He met an accidental death at Marshall, Virginia, in 
1903, when sixty-seven years of age. His widow, a native of Brighton, England, comes of 
a prominent family of that country and is a lady of culture and refinement, still making her 
home in Marsliall. They were the parents of four children: Mrs. John S. Bunting, of St. 
Louis, Missouri; Mrs. P. F. du Pont, of Wilmington, Delaware; First Lieutenant F. C. 
Horner, Signal Corps, United States Army, Baltimore, Maryland; and Leonard S., who is the 
eldest. 

In his boyhood days Leonard S. Horner attended the Bethel Military Academy of 
Warrenton, Virginia, and afterward entered Lehigh University in South Bethlehem, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he completed a course in electrical engineering by graduation with the class of 
1898. He joined Squadron A, New York Cavalry, as private in June, 1898, Spanish-American 
War; accompanied them to Porto Rico; was present with General Miles at the signing of 
the Protocol at Coamo; returned to New York in September, 1898: mustered out of the 
service. United States Army, in December, 1898. He joined Squadron A Cavalry, New York 
National Guard, and served five years all but a few months. 

In 1899 Mr. Horner entered upon the practice of his profession with the New York 
Telephone & Telegraph Company and later with the American Telephone & Telegraph Com- 
pany, New York city, with wliich company he remained in the electrical engineering con- 
struction department for a time. He then secured a position with the Crocker- Wheeler 
Company, of Ampere, New Jersey, becoming later one of the directors of that company. 
He moved to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1902 as manager of sales for Connecticut and in 
1909 became one of the partners of the Acme Wire Company. Since then he has filled many 
important positions in the various departments of the business and step by step through 
an orderly progression has advanced to his present position as sales manager and vice 



34 A MODERN" HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

president of the company. He is thus active in the management of one of the most 
important industrial enterprises of Xew Haven, and his powers have proved adequate to the 
demands made upon them. One of his marked characteristics has ever been indefatigable 
industry, while thoroughness has also been a feature in his advancement. 

In November, 1902, Mr. Horner was united in marriage to Miss Julia Stuyvesant Barry, 
of VVarrenton, Virginia, a daughter of Major and Mrs. Robert P. Barry, the former a retired 
army officer, who won distinction and honorable mention for gallantry at the battle of 
Shiloh and also upon other southern battlefields. Mr. and Mrs. Horner have two children: 
Horace Mansfield, who was born in New Haven in 1903 and was graduated from the grammar 
school in 1917; and Helen Neilson, born in Warrenton, Virginia, in 1913. 

In community affairs Mr. Horner has taken the deepest interest since becoming a citizen 
of New Haven. He has been a cooperant factor in the Chamber of Commerce, has served 
on its e.\ecutive committee and has done much to further its progress and aid in the 
upbuilding of the city. He is a member of the American Society of Electrical Engineers, 
Society of Automotive Engineers, United States ( jiamber of Commerce, and the (ieographie 
Society. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and has attained the Knight Templar degree. 
He is a vestryman of St. Paul's church and is a member of the managerial council of the 
Neighborhood House of New Haven. His political allegiance is given to the republican party 
and he has membership in the Young Men's Republican Club. He also belongs to the New 
Haven Country Club, the New Haven Lawn Club, the Graduates Club and the Quinnipiac 
Club, showing that he is appreciative of the social amenities of life. He is approachable 
and genial, kindly in spirit and readily recognizes true worth in others. Worth and not 
wealth is the standard by which he judges his fellowmen. His own traits are pronounced 
sterling by those who know him and his business ability has brought him to the front 
among the leading manufacturers of New Haven. 

In July, 1017, Mr. lliinicr was appointed as manager of one of the production divisions 
of the Aircraft Production Board, under Colonel E. A. Deeds and Colonel S. D. Waldron, and 
is actively engaged in .securing the necessary output of airplanes and their accessories. In 
August, 1917, he was appointed as major in the Signal Corps, United States Array; later to 
chief of technical staff to Colonel E. A. Deeds, commanding officer of the Equipment Division, 
Signal Corps. He moved to Chevy Chase and joined the Army and Navy Club, Columbia 
Country Club, and Chevv Chase Country Club. 



HON. HENRV GLEASON NEWTON. 

Hon. Henry Gleason Newton passed away on the 3l3t of March, 1U14, but his memory 
remains as a blessed benediction to those who knew him and of him it may well be said that 
he has joined "the choir invisible of those immortal dead who live again in lives made 
better by their presence." He ranked with the most distinguished lawyers of Connecticut, 
but marked as was his professional ability, it was but one phase of a many-sided character. 
There was no period in his life at which he did not recognize his obligations to his Maker 
and to his fellowmen and he was constantly putting forth resultant activity for the benefit 
of those with whom he came in contact. A native of iliddlesex county, Connecticut, he was 
born at Durham, .June 5. 1843, and was descended from one of the oldest and best known 
families of the state. Among his ancestors of the colonial period were the Rev. Roger 
Newton, the first minister of Farmington and the second minister of Milford, the Rev. Thomas 
Hooker, the first minister of Hartford; Major Matthew .Mitchell; Captain John Taylor; 
Cornet Joseph Parsons; Elder John Strong; Elder William Brewster; Rev. John Lathropi 
Major John Freeman; Lieutenant-Colonel John Talcott; Captain Samuel Newton; Lieuten- 
ant Miles Merwin, and many others. His grandparents were Abner and Abigail (Fairchild) 
Newton. His father, Deacon Gaylord Newton, was born in Durham, Connecticut, July 31 
1804, and there spent his entire life. For a long period he engaged in teaching school and 
was for thirty-five winter terms connected with public or select schools in or near Durham 
For forty years he was a deacon in the Congregational church and he also served as assessor 
and selectman of his native town. He married Nancy M. Merwin, who was also a descendent 
of old Connecticut families and was a successful teacher. Thev spent their lives in Durham 







^t^'^'L^-i^ X 



AND p:asterx new haven county 37 

^^nd were there laid to rest. They had a family of three children: Ellen Maria, wlio was 
born June 24, 1841, and died October 7, 1863; Henry Gleason, who was born June 5, 1843; 
and Caroline Gaylord, who was born January 21, 1845, and became the wife of Henry Hunt- 
ington Newton. 

Henr^ Gleason Newton was named in memory of the Rev. Henry Gleason, who had 
united his parents in marriage and who during his short ministry, ended by his deatli in 1839, 
doubled the membership of the First church in Durham. When but fourteen years of age 
Henry G. Newton united with that church and remained a member thereof until his death. 
During the last fourteen years of his life he served as one of its deacons, as had his 
father and grandfather before him. Thus early he made choice of the principles which 
became the guiding spirit of his life, leading to the adoption of the highest standards of 
manhood. Liberal educational opportunities were accorded him. After attending Durham 
Academy he entered the Wesleyan University at Middletown in 1861 but during his first 
year's study failing health compelled him to put aside his textbooks. He again became a 
student in that institution in 1867 and was graduated therefrom with the class of 1870. 
During his college days he became a member of the Eclectic fraternity and also of the Phi 
Beta Kappa. In preparation for the profession of law he entered Yale and was graduated 
from the Law School with the class of 1873. He won two essay prizes on civil and on 
common law and by vote of the class became valedictorian. Following his admission to 
the bar he began the pi-actice of law in New Haven and continued one of the distinguished 
members of the bar of that city until his demise. In 1899 he became senior partner in 
the law firm of Newton, Church & Hewitt and so continued throughout his remaining days. 
He enjoyed a most extensive practice and was notable among lawyers for the provident 
care with which he prepared his cases and for the correct manner in which he cited principle or 
precedent. He was one of the best read lawyers of the state and became a recognized 
authority on many branches of jurisprudence, particularly probate and bankruptcy law. 
He tried many important cases before all of the courts of the state and the United States 
district court and the circuit court of appeals. One of the most important in which he 
appeared was the appeal of William Jennings Br3'an, formerly secretary of state under 
President Woodrow Wilson, from the action of the probate court in regard to the will of 
Philo S. Bennett. When Judge William K. Townsend was called to the bench of the United 
States circuit court Mr. Newton was prominently mentioned for appointment as judge of 
the United States district court for his district and received the support of prominent law- 
yers throughout the state. On May 4. 1903, he was admitted to practice in the United 
States Supreme Court. He represented in his professional capacity a number of leading 
corporations. He was attorney for the Yale National Bank of New Haven and one of its 
directors. Outside the strict path of his profession he had various important business con- 
nections. For five years he was a director and for two years president of the People's 
Bank & Trust Company of New Haven, after which he resigned. In 1886 he became a 
trustee of the Farmers' & Mechanics' Savings Bank of Middletown and was senior mem- 
ber of its board at the time of his death. He became a director and member of the executive 
committee of C. Cowles & Company and was a director and the treasurer of the Merriam 
Manufacturing Company of Durham. 

On the 11th of September, 1885, Mr. Newton was married to Sarah Allen Baldwin, who 
was born in Norwich, New Y'ork, a daughter of Isaac and Alva (Merwin) Baldwin, who 
removed from the empire state to Cromwell, Middlesex county, Connecticut, during the early 
childhood of their daughter, who there acquired her education, attending the public and 
high schools, after which she became a teacher. Having a strong desire to enter the medical 
profession, she became a student in the New Y^ork Medical College for Women, from which 
institution she was graduated in the class of 1885. 

Although a member of the Durham church, Mr. Newton was a most earnest worker 
in the Plymouth Congregational church and bible school of New Haven for more than thirty 
years and he took the keenest and most helpful interest in many lines of work pertaining to 
the uplift of the individual and the benefit of public interests. He was a director of Grace 
Hospital Society, was chairman of the board of directors of the City Missionary Associa- 
tion from its organization until his death and for many years was a director of the Youn<» 
Men's Christian Association where he served on the board of trustees. The nature and 
breadth of his interests was further indicated by the fact that he was a member of the 



38 A .MODKK'X lllSTOin' OK NKW IIANEX 

Sons of till- Anierit-aii Revolution, of the Society of Colonial Wars, of the Society of Sons of 
Founders and Patriots of America, of the Union League Club and of tlie Graduates Club of 
New Haven. He was also a number of the Congregational Club of Xew Haven, of which 
he served as president in 188U, and he belonged to the American Bar Association. For 
ten years he was acting school visitor of Durham and throughout almost the entire period 
of his connection with the bar was attorney for the town. In 1885 he was elected to the 
general assembly from Durham and became chairman of the judiciary committee of the 
house, where he was the recognized republican leader. In 1895 he was elected to the general 
assembly from Xew Haven and was made chairman of the committee on humane institu 
tions. For si.\ years he served as a member of the state board of healtli. In the midst 
of all of his other activities he found time for authorship. He wrote the article on probate 
law in the Civil OfTicer, on bankruptcy in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, on New Haven blue 
laws in the Yale Law .Journal, also a sketch of Professor Hadley and an essay on civil law 
in the Civil Law Journal, and the History of Durham in the History of Middlesex County, 
published by J. H. Beers & Company. He ever took the deejicst interest in the city of his 
adoption, its people and its institutions, yet lie never forgot the home of his birth and never 
regarded its growth and progress as something foreign to his interests and his life. In 
fact be cooperated in many movements that led to its upbuilding and invested largely in 
some of its business enterprises. His home life was largely an ideal one of happiness and 
contentment and his death was the occasion of deepest and most widepread regret not only 
in New Haven, and Durham, where he was laid to rest, but also throughout the entire 
state where he was so widely and honorably known. At the funeral services held in 
Plymouth church in New Haven, the Rev. Orville A. Petty said in part: "Henry G. Newton 
would not desire a eulogy over his dust. Not desiring it he deserves it; deserving it he does 
not need it. Yet in simple appreciation all must say that he was companion, churchman, 
citizen, pliilanthropist, man. He often thought on the hilltops all alone, but he also ren- 
dered service every day in the valleys where men, women and children needed a princely 
guide; lie was at once a superb individualist and a rare social servant. Brilliant and broad- 
minded in his thinking, eminent in his profession, loyal in sacrificing social service, a glad 
friend and a trusted counselor, a public servant and a benefactor of the unfortunate, 
patron of moral and religious values. Mr. Newton completed a remarkable career. He had 
such a hold on the heart and life of this community that we all felt a shock when he let 
go. A many-sided man, he served nobly in several fields — always a leader everywhere. 
He always found time to help the men who needed him most. Only two days before his 
promotion he made an address at the City Mission, where he was so well known and so 
largely loved; his closing words were — 'Have a good time in a Clirist-likc way.' This 
plirase uncovered his heart — he aimed to make others glad in the noblest sense."' 

At the burial service Rev. Joseph Hooper read tlie following poem, written by Williaiu 
( roswcll Doane, bishop of Albany, New York. 

It must be very near; that other land 

Upon whose very edge we stand, 
And they pass in at some command 

We hear not, but their quick ears understand. 

It nuist be very fair; that other shore 

To win, from what they held so dear. 
From us who fain would hold them here 

Our best: to leave us and come back no more. 

It must be very full; that other world 

Into whose calm and sheltered ports 
Ships rich with freight of various sorts 

.Sail in, from stormy seas, with sails all furled. 

Ye make it nearer, beloved friends. 

Whose very dcarncss draws our hearts 
To build, across the gulf that parts, 

Some bridge to pass to where the parting ends. 



AXD EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 39 

Ye make it fairer; as your presence here 

Made tliis world fair, so Paradise 
Gains added beauty to our eyes 

Tliat strain to see you, filled with many a tear. 

Ye make it fuller; God has willed it so, 

Ye are our treasures stored there 
And — He Himself hath said it. "AVhere 

The treasure is the heart'' will surely go. 

Nearer, and fuller; and more fair to me, 

Dear land, calm shore, fair world, thou art. 
Let thy sweet charm draw us apart 

From earth and time and sin. to dwell in thee. 

And he. my friend; tlie last to enter in. 
With whom I took sweet counsel here. 
Tender and true, without a peer, 

Wise, fearless, faithful, gone his crown to win. 

Grant him, dear Lord; this added sense of peace. 

That life's long loneliness finds rest 
In thouglit of him among the blest, 

And hope of meeting him where sorrows cease. 

William Croswell Doane, 

Bishop of Albany, New Y'ork. 

The New Haven County Bar Association held a meeting April 24, 1914, in memory of 
Henry G. Newton, on which occasion Governor Simeon E. Baldwin said: "My first acquaint- 
ance with Henry G. Newton was as one of the faculty of the Yale Law School when he was 
a student there. He was one of the older men in his class; serious, thoughtful and scholarly. 
Roman law was one of the branches in which he took a special interest. It was then taught 
by Profesor James Hadley, a sketch of whose life work Mr. Newton subsequently con- 
tributed to the Civil Law .lournal. He practiced at this bar from 1872 until his death, 
a period of over forty years. The community therefore had time to know well the character 
of the man. He had its respect as a well read, high-minded lawyer, sound in counsel, and 
faithful to any and every interest put under his charge. Unquestioned honesty, an ardent 
love of justice, undaunted courage, originality of thought, keen and accurate analj'zing and 
unwearied industry were characteristics which brought him the respect of fellow members 
of the bar, as well as of his clients. His kindliness of heart, his loyalty to his friends 
and to whatever causes he felt were right, and his willingness to give himself unreservedly 
in their service gained him their affection." 

On the same occasion .Tudg3 Livingston W. Cleaveland spoke as follows: "Early in my 
professional life I discovered that Mr. Newton was not only one of the ablest advisers among 
my friends, but that he was always ready to generously give to a younger member of the 
profession the benefit of his wide experience and extensive legal knowledge. To his clients 
lie not only gave all that his resourceful mind could suggest of wise counsel and loyal serv- 
ices, but he showed them that he felt a genuine interest in their cause, introducing into the 
situation the personal element, the value of which to any client is beyond computation or 
compensation. Henry G. Newton, as known to those of us who knew him best, was in 
many respects a remarkable man. The acuteness of mind which signalized his college 
career, qualifying him to carry off mathematical prizes and to distinguish himself in the 
languages in his academic course at Wesleyan, and essay prizes in both civil and common 
law in the Yale Law School, stood him in good stead when a knotty problem of law or 
fact was submitted to his searching anaylsis. He was a dangerous antagonist as many 
found to their sorrow when a case perhaps lost by him in the court below, became so often 
a victory in the supreme court of errors, for Mr. Newton was resourceful, original and per- 



40 A .MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

6istent No ease to him was really lost until the court of last resort had shut the door of 
hope No task assumed by him was hopeless until every effort had been made to accom- 
plish the desired result. He did not hesitate to advocate any to him righteous cause how- 
ever unpopular, and he inspired courage in his fellows by the spirit of optimism with which 
he ai-proached even disagreeable tasks. Hi.s ethical standards, ahvay high, made, to him, the 
electors oath and the oath taken on admission to our bar very sacred obligations." 

Judge Cleaveland quoted from a letter, written by William Jennings Bryan in regard 
to Mr. Newton, as follows: "He was a most lovable man as well as a man of great ability, 
and I have always deemed myself fortunate in coming in contact with him. The lives of all 
sueb men are to my mind a conclusive answer to those who argue against immortality, for 
I cannot conceive of the annihilation of so generous a spirit." 

It was also at a meeting of the bar association that Harrison Hewitt said: "I cannot 
remember when 1 did not know Mr. Newton. While I was in the law school I studied in his 
office. As soon as I was admitted to the bar I became his partner and remained so until 
his death. At the beginning of this association, I felt for Mr. Newton reverence and respect 
This reverence and respect increased as the years went by and the association became more 
intimate, and to them was added an affection which ever deepened to the end. I wish I 
might, in the few words I have to say this morning, picture to you, as I see him, the man 
who evoked these feelings in me as well as in many others of the bar and of the public. 
In analyzing liis characteristics on this occasion, prominence should, of course, be given to 
those which won for him the eminent position at the bar which he enjoyed. His services 
to the state, to his church, to charity and to his fellowmen in this community, great though 
they were, cannot be here considered, except in so far as they shed light on his career as 
a lawyer. Law is the crystallization of the common sense and common morality of a com- 
munity, and a man is successful as a lawyer in so far as he is able to apprehend that 
common sense and common morality and apply it to concrete problems of life. This requires 
a sort of instinct, born of an attunenient to the standards of the community, which must 
come in large part from native character, but may be helped by a study of the application of 
that standard to problems which have arisen in the past. This instinct was born in Mr. 
Newton with a love for our state, its history and institutions, which his fathers had helped 
to shape and which they had served. To this equipment was added the knowledge arising 
from a careful unremitting study of our jurisprudence. To these qualities is due his value 
as an adviser. In dealing with the actual problems of a lawyer's life, Mr. Newton's course 
was marked with honor, honesty, courage and perseverance. Once convinced of the justice of a 
cause lie was unabashed by any odds against him and undaunted by any adverse decision. He 
never knew when he was beaten and, at what would have seemed the end, would have just be- 
gun the light. In his work as an advocate, the other characteristics which seemed to me most 
pronounced were quickness and keenness of thought, originality and whole-heartedness. He 
saw into the heart of things almost intuitively. When attacking a problem in pleading, in the 
(■.\aiiiiiuiticin of witnesses, or in the aijiunient of a question of law or fact, his idc.is were never 
hackneyed, but were always his own. This originality, combined with a rare power of clear and 
succinct statement, and a farseeing shrewdness, made him a pleader to be feared. He 
never followed the beaten path in eross-e.xamination, and this very fact frequently enabled 
hira to obtain dangerous admissions from witnesses who were biased or untruthful. His 
arguments were effective because of their originality and force. He never essayed oratory 
but, when convinced of the justice of his case, he threw his whole personality into what 
he was saying; and the intense conviction he so manifested went a long way towards 
producing conviction in others. This same intensity of conviction made Mr. Newton 
tenacious of a position once taken and gave him a serene reliance on himself, so that 
adverse rulings never daunted him, and he was always eager to test them to the last 
resort. He well exemplified the truth of Emerson's saying: 'Trust thyself. Every heart 
vibrates to that iron strength.' Yet he had no pride of opinion and on questions which 
he had to decide, kept an open mind until all considerations had been weighed. In his 
personal relations he was frank kindly and extremely generous of his time, his strength 
and his money. His loyalty to his friends and to the causes in which he believed, knew 
no bounds short of all his skill and wisdom, all his time and strength and substance. We 
who came in closest contact with him will always miss this tower of strength. 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 41 

"While we think of him as a successful and eminent lawyer, as a citizen who served 
his state, as a man among men, to us he will always be that dearest of all things, a friend." 

In editorial comment, the New Haven Register of March 21st said of Henry Gleason 
Newton: "Yesterda}', Judge Newton was engaged, with 410 apparent abatement of the 
natural force which for seventy years has characterized liim, in those varied activities 
which made up his busy and useful life. Today lawyers seek counsel, clients seek guidance, 
philanthropists seek a fellow worker, friends seek the hand of a friend, but in his place they 
find only a spirit and a memory. That spirit and that memory, the remaining earthly 
manifestations of a very unusual man, must abide. He was one of the ablest lawyers 
New Haven has ever known, thorough in learning and reliable in counsel, acknowledged as 
one of the leaders of the Connecticut bar. He was a public man witli a broad understanding 
of the progress of his times, with strong but fair opinions, with pronounced but sane 
tendencies. He was a philanthropist in the finest, highest sense. Crown of all, he was 
one of the sincerest, most faithful of Christians. There were many other sides of this 
remarkable man, known only to those privileged to come into the inner circle of his 
acquaintance. To tell of these would not only rasp nerves strained by the parting, but 
would take long in the telling. His was a personality which must long leave his benedic- 
tion upon all whom it touched. To have known him even a little is to have known a man 
to honor, to admire, to respect. To have known him closely is to be better for life and 
better for eternity." 



(iEOKliK JIARTIN WALLACE. B. A., LL. 1). 

George JIartin Wallace, deceased, was for many years a well known citizen of New 
Haven, a deep student, a leading lawyer and a man prominent in public affairs. Of Scotch 
and English origin, he was born in North Haven. Connecticut. April 11, 1855, a son of Robert 
and Harriet Louise (Moulthrop) Wallace. He attended the public schools of Wallingford. 
also the Hopkins grammar school of New Haven and the Hudson River Institute at 
Claverack, New York. He entered Y'ale University in 1877 and was graduated in the class 
of 1881, one of its leading members. Following the advice of President Noah Porter, he then 
took a year of travel and study abroad, matriculating after a summer's tour, at the I'ni- 
versity of Berlin for a course in philosophy. L'pon his return to this country he entered 
the Yale Law School, from which he graduated in 1884. 

Mr. Wallace was actively engaged in the practice of law both in New Haven and 
Wallingford, where he made his home, until 1891, serving during this time as prosecuting 
attorney for the borough of Wallingford and as member of tlie state legislature. He then 
gave up the practice of law for a brief period and in January, 1891, became manager of the 
Chicago office of the R. Wallace & Son's Manufacturing Company, silversmiths, owned and 
operated by his father. He continued his residence in the west fm- four years. He tiien 
returned to New England and made New Haven his home. Resuming his law, he became one 
of the best known attorneys in the state, remaining in active practice until his death on 
the 20th of June, 1916, at Flushing, Long Island. 

Mr. Wallace married Miss Annie Jane Lee, a daughter of Julm and Margaret (Jackson) 
Lee. There were five children born of this marriage; Robert Lee, who* was born January 
10, 1884, and died July 6th of the same year; Margaret Lee, born June 15, 1888; Katharine 
Lee and Malcolm Lee, both born August 10, 1892; and Donald Lee, born August 28, 1897. 
The older son, Malcolm, was graduated from Yale University in 1915. and Donald is a 
member of the present sophomore class. 

Mr. W^allace was devoted to his home and family and was a man of sterling character 
both in private and public life. He was by nature a student. Philosupliy was his favorite 
study and many unfamiliar with his constant and deep reading liave been surprised at his 
mastery of abstruse subjects. His membership in the Connecticut Academy of Arts and 
Sciences and in the American Economic Society gives evidence of his continued activity in 
academic pursuits. This did not interfere, however, with his interest and work in his 
profession nor did it prevent him from constantly working to promote civic reform and 
to obtain better economic conditions. He was an acknowledged authority upon municipal 



42 A MODKRX IIISTOKV OF NEW HAVEN 

,,uo.tions a.ul was frequently cn.ulte.I by writers npun these subjects throughout the 

'"""!,? his younger days Mr. AVallace ^yas a republiean but became a supporter of Grover 
(loveland of whom he' was a stanch admirer, and from tliat time forward he contmued to 
Sive his alle-iance to the democratic party. In 1906 he was its nominee as a candidate for 
conCT-ess. and in this republican stronghold came very close to winning the election. He was 
■, nfcmber of the Xew Haven Chamber of Commerce, belonged to tlie Center Congregational 
church and was for many years a member of its men's bible class. He also attended every 
reunion of his class at Yale. He was fon.l of travel and visited many places of interest both 
on the European and American continents, including ilexico. Cuba. Central America and 



Canada 



DEXTER ALDEN. 



Dexter Alden, deceased, in his lifetime a prominent merchant and manufacturer of 
New Haven, was of the seventh generation in direct descent from John and Priscilla 
(Mullens) Alden. 

The history of the family in America begins with the coming of John Alden to 
Massachusetts. He was born in England in 1599, was married in 1621 and died at Duxbury 
September 12, 1687. His wife's parents came over with him in the Mayflower, to die in 
the February succeeding their landing. John Alden and his wife had eleven children, of 
whom (II) Joseph, the second child, was born in 1624 and died in 1697. He was admitted 
a freeman in 1659. Of his five children, (HI) Joseph, born in 1667, is in the ancestral line. 
(Ill) Joseph Alden became a deacon in the Congregational church. He lived in what is 
now South Bridgewater, was a noted character in the history of his times and died in 
1747. In 1690 he was married to Hannah Denham, of Plymouth, a daughter of Daniel 
Dcnham, and they became the parents of ten children. (IV) Samuel Alden, eighth child 
of Joseph, was born in 1705 and died in 1785. In 1728 he married Abiah Edson, a daughter 
of Capt. Joseph Edson, and they were the parents of nine children of whom (V) Josiah 
Alden, the fifth in order of birth, born in 1738, was the ancestor of Dexter Alden. Josiah 
Alden, born in Ludlow, Mass., settled in Bridgewater. In 1761 he married Bathsheba Jones 
and he became the father of nine children, of whom Benjamin, the youngest son, was the 
father of Dexter Alden. 

(VI) Benjamin Alden was born in 1781 and died in 1841. Mary Hodges, called "Polly," 
who became his wife, was bom in 1783 and died in 1865. They had seven children: Mary, 
Jefferson, Caroline, David, Dexter, Lucinda and Eliza. 

Dexter Alden was born in Ludlow, Massachusetts, October 13, 1812. He was married 
twice, first time to Eliza, daughter of Leverite and Esther Griswold, of New Haven. Their 
daughter, Anna Griswold Alden, married William L. Fields, president of the National 
Tradesmen's Bank, in New Haven. On Dec. 30, 1857, Mr. Alden married Margaret E. Feeter, 
daughter of John and Nancy (Failing) Feeter, of Little Falls. New York. The Feeters 
constitute an old and honored familj' in the Mohawk Valley section of New York, and 
Mrs. Alden's grandfather. Col. William Feeter, was one of the bravest patriots in his 
section during the- Revolutionary war and in the stirring scenes that led up to it. He 
belonged to the corps of forty picked men known as the "Tryon County Bulldogs." Col. 
William Feeter died at the age of eighty-eight years, in 1844. He reared fourteen children 
of his own to maturity and took into his own home, and cared for as he did his own, six 
children belonging to poor families in his neighborhood. 

.John Feeter, the father of Jlrs. Alden. was reared at the old Feeter homestead on Top 
Notch, which is now known as the Goodell and Pickett farms, in the town of Little Falls, 
where he was born November 30, 1804. On September 17, 1829, he was married, at St. 
Johnsville, to Nancy Failing. For many years they followed farming and in 1847 removed 
to Little Falls, where Mr. Feeter did considerable contracting. His brother, Adam Feeter, 
was the first post rider between Newport and Albany, and for three years his father. 
Col. Feeter, who was a close friend of Gen. Herkimer, maintained the expenses of this 
ancient mail service. John and Nancy Feeter had children as follows: Jacob, a prominent 




DEXTER ALDEN 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 45 

lawyer of New York city; Margaret E., Mrs. Alden; Parmelia, Mrs. French, of Buffalo; 
Gertrude, Mrs. Cruttenden; Cynthia, Mrs. Walker, of Utica; and Mary C, Mrs. Easterbrook. 
The descendants comprise seventeen grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. 

Dexter Aldcn came to New Haven when a young lad, and became associated with a 
Mr. Allis, proprietor of the leading hotel in New Haven, as his steward. In early manhood 
Mr. Alden went to Painesville, Ohio, with a party of settlers, but while there contracted the 
fever and was obliged to return East. He stopped at Little Falls, where he went into a 
joint stock company, composed of Gordon Trumbull, Washington Van Dreesen, James 
Aldrich and himself, and organized for the manufacture of carpets and rugs. He was also 
interested with Mr. Aldrich In a dry goods store at Little Falls, which they sold out after 
several years' successful management. Mr. Alden disposed of his interest in the factory about 
the same time and returned to New Haven, where he established a dry goods store in com- 
pany with a Mr. Huntington, continuing with him until 1862. He then engaged in manu- 
facturing, forming the Elm City Ruffle Company. He was one of the originators in the 
formation of the American Fish Hook & Needle Company, the first industry of the kind 
whose work was done by machinery. Mr. Alden also had an interest in a hide and tallow- 
rendering establishment, which was very successful, and became a member of the United 
States Dairy Company, of New York city, individually purchasing the patent rights for 
Connecticut for the new process of making oleomargarine. In this business he was emin- 
ently successful, his profits from this interest in the month of March, 1883, being over 
fifty thousand dollars and during that year over two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. 
The ruffler business proved quite as satisfactory in its way. Mr. Alden also erected many fine 
residences that were an improvement and ornament to the city. 

Mr. Alden was an upright and conscientious man, and during his residence in Little 
Falls was a deacon in the Presbyterian church. In New Haven he associated himself with 
the old Center Congregational church, and his daily living was in accord with his religious 
professions. 

To Dexter and Margaret (Feeter) Alden were born the following children: Mary Eliza- 
beth is the wife of Charles Kingsbury Billings, of New York city, and they have six children, 
Charles Kingsbury, Margaret Louise, Mabel Frances, Julia Holmes, Mary Elizabeth and 
John Alden. Louise Gertrude is the wife of Lieutenant William L. Howard. U. S. Navy, 
who was at the battle of Manila, when the Spanish fleet was destroyed, being on the 
"Boston." In October, 1900, he was put in charge of the gunboat "Bancroft," as executive 
officer and navigator, was later at Colon, and lated on the "Illinois," which was the flagship 
to meet Prince Henry of Prussia on his visit. She was sent to England, to represent the 
United States at the coronation of King Edward VII. Mrs. Alden survived her husband 
some vears. She is now deceased. 



HON. HARRY A. LEONARD. 

Hon. Hairy A. Leonard, president and treasurer of .1. X. Leonard ,S: Company, well 
known contractors and builders of New Haven, is one of the city's progressive, wide-awake 
business men, whose activities in both civic and public life have been valuable factors in 
New Haven's growth and development. Mr. Leonard was born August 30, 1870, in West- 
ville. a son of .lohn N. and JIartha K. (Pardee) Leonard, the former also a native of West- 
ville, while the latter was born in Oxford. Connecticut. John N. Leonard became widely and 
favorably known through his activity in contracting and buildin<; lines in New Haven, where 
he erected many of the prominent structures which now beautify the city's business district 
and which stand as monuments to his ability as a craftsman. He learned his trade with 
the well known firm of Smith & Spcrry and afterward established himself in the building 
and contracting business. He was with the Smith & Sperry Company at the time of the out- 
break of the Civil war and, severing his apprenticeship relations with that firm, he joined 
the army, becoming a member of the Fiftenth Connecticut Regiment, with which he remained 
for four years, being promoted to the rank of sergeant. He long continued an active and 
honored business man of New Haven, where he passed away in 1914 at the age of seventy- 
two years. His widow is still living i„ this city and their three cliildren. Harrv A.. Susie 51. 



46 A .MODKK'X IIlSTOlfV OK .\P:W IIAVKX 

ami (;iace A., tin- w'liv of llaiiy M. liowinan. survive, tliu last two being residents of 
Westville. 

Harry A. Leonard pursued his eduiation in publie and private schools of his native town 
and when about fifteen years began to learn the mason's trade, serving a regular apprentice- 
ship. He afterward worked for his father and subsequently took over his father's business, 
wliich was incorporated in 1914 as J. N. Leonard & Company, with H. A. Leonard as presi- 
dent and treasurer. He has contributed much to the improvement and upbuilding of New- 
Haven, erecting a number of its most substantial and attractive buildings in recent years, 
including the Bijou Theatre, the Chestniit Street and other school buildings and a number 
of the fine business blocks and beautiful homes of Xew Haven. He is also connected with 
otlier important business projects, being secretary and treasurer of the Griest-Leonard 
Realty Company. Mr. Leonard deals extensively in real estate and has handled some very 
high class property. 

On the .30th of .January. 18!)'.). Harry A. Leonard was married to Miss Bertha (Jorham, 
of New Haven, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick R. (Jorlmni. .lanice W.. the only child 
of Mr. and .Mrs. Leonard, is now a student at Dana Hall. 

.Mr. and Mrs. Leonard attend tlie Methodist Episcopal church and fraternally he is con- 
nected with the Masons and the Elks. He is a well known menil)er of the Quinnipiac, the 
New Haven Country, tlie Rock Brook and the Edge«ood Clubs. In public affairs he has 
taken an active part and is one of the prominent republicans of the city. He served for six 
years as alderman from the thirteenth ward and did valuable service as chairman of the com- 
mittee on railroads and bridges and a member of the board of finance. He also served for 
three years as a member of the Westville Board of Education, In the session of 1917 he was 
a member of the state senate, representing the nintli district in that body, and served as 
chairman of the committee on railroads and a member of the committee on banks. He gives 
careful and earnest consideration to all vital questions which come up for settlement and 
his support of a measure is the expression of his belief in its eflicacy as a factor in good 
government or the protection of the interests of the commonwealth. In his business career 
Mr. T>eonard has been successful, not because he has worked solely for that result, but 
because of his good judgment, business ability and. too. because of the cmirse he has fol- 
lowed, which has won him the reputation for clean bvisiness methods. 



HON' KRASTCS CLARK SCRANTON. 

Whether the individual will or no. he leaves his impress indelibly for good or ill upon 
his day and generation. Time gives the perspective of all things and proves the right of tho 
individual to a place in the memory of his fellowmen. If he has contributed to the world's 
work, if his course has been honorable, his actions manly and sincere, and the results of 
his labors beneficial to mankind, his memory is cherished and revered and his life work 
becomes an integral part of the history of his community. Such was the record of Erastus 
Clark Scranton, and though a half century has come and gone since he was an active factor 
in the business life of New Haven and this section of the state, he is yet remembered by 
reason of his genuine worth and his valuable contribution to the material, political, social, 
intellectual and moral upbuilding of his state. He contributed to material progress through 
his establishment and conduct of various important business interests and promoted the 
welfare of the commonwealth through active service as a member of botli houses of the 
Connecticut legislature. 

Mr. Scranton was born in East Guilford, now Madison. New Haven county, November 
16, 1807, his parents being .Jonathan and Roxanna (Crampton) Scranton, who were also of 
Madison. The ancestral line is traced back through several generations to Captain John 
Scranton. In October, 1G39. about twenty-five heads of families made a settlement at 
Guilford, Connecticut, coming from Kent and Surrey, England. Most of tliem were farm- 
ers and they were a pious, intelligent and industrio\is class. To this number Ix-longcd Cap- 
tain ilohn Scranton, who concentrated his attention upon agricultural pursuits and also 
served as a member of the general court in 1069 and 1670. He was married twice, the first 
time probably in Enghind. and this wife, .loanna. died in 1661. In 1666 he married .\da 




ERASTUS C. SCRAXTOX 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 49 

(or Adaline) Hill, the widow of Robert Hill, and her death occurred in 1685. Captain Scran- 
ton passed away in 1671. His son, also Captain John Scranton, was born as early as 1641 and 
became the first of the name in East Guilford, now Madison, Connecticut. On the 13th of 
March, 1674, he wedded Mary Seward, who was born February 38, 1652, and was a daughter 
of William Seward. On the 10th of December, 1691, he was married to Mrs. Elizabeth 
Clark, a widow and a daughter of John Bishop. The death of Captain John Scranton (II) 
occurred September 2, 1703. The line of descent comes down through a third Captain John 
Scranton, who was born in Hammonassett about 1676 and resided in what is now the town 
of JIadison through the greater part of his life, there devoting his time and energies to the 
occupation of farming until his death, which occurred March 21, 1758. On the 12th of 
December, 1699. he had wedded Mary Norton and his second wife was Mary or Sarah Everts, 
a daughter of John Everts. She died in October, 1749, after which Captain John Scranton 
(III) married Miss Mary Bushnell, a daughter of Deacon Francis Bushnell. The line of 
descent comes down through Captain Ichabod Scranton, who was born February 19, 1717, 
and who married Chloe Fowler, whose birth occurred March 3, 1723, and who was a daugh- 
ter of Abraham Fowler, of Guilford. Through active participation in the French and Indian 
war, including the battles of Louisbourg and Ticonderoga, Captain Ichabod Scranton won 
his military title. He was noted for his bravery and for his loyalty to his country and 
while returning Iiome after his military service passed away December 1, 1760. His wife 
long survived him, her death occurring December 3, 1791. 

Theophilus Scranton, son of Captain Ichabod Scranton and grandfather of Erastus C. 
Scranton, was born December 1, 1751, and having attained his majority was married to 
Abigail Lee, whose birth occurred July 11, 1754, her father being .Jonathan Lee, of Madison. 
Like his forebears, Theophilus Scranton followed farming in Madison, where he passed away 
February 16, 1827, while his wife survived until December 23, 1840. Their son, Jonathan 
Scranton, was born October 10, 1781. and on the 27th of January, 1805, married Roxanna 
Crampton, who was born May 30, 1789, a daughter of Aslibel Crampton, of Madison. Her 
death occurred on the 27th of December, 1833, and in 1844 Mr. Scranton wedded Jemima 
Piatt, a daughter of Daniel Piatt. In addition to following the occupation of farming, which 
had engaged the attention of his ancestors, Jonathan Scranton became a contractor in the 
building of breakwaters and wharfs. He was also a prominent member of the church at 
Madison and passed away July 37, 1847. 

Looking through the long perspective of the years, one sees Erastus Clark Scranton as 
a cabin boy. in which position he was found after completing a common school education 
in his native town. Tlirough much of his life, however, he was identified with commercial 
and banking interests. He first became connected with mercantile pursuits in Georgetown, 
D. C, where he remained, however, for but a brief period. Almost from the beginning of 
his business career he prospered and soon became tlie owner and master of a vessel. In 
1835 in company with Daniel M. Hand he established a wholesale grocery house at Augusta, 
Georgia, where he built up an extensive business which he conducted with success until 1842. 
He afterward became identified with banking at Apalaehicola, Florida, and about 1844 
returned to Connecticut with a very substantial fortune, which he had won through the 
capable conduct of his business interests in the south. He then became associated with 
several New York gentlemen in South American trade and figured prominently in commer- 
cial circles tor a number of years, having an extensive coasting trade as far south as Florida. 
He was also interested to a considerable extent in a line of packets running between New 
York and Liverpool, England, and in ships making voyages to other ports. Strong and 
resourceful, his fellowmen recognized his marked business ability and sought his coopera- 
tion in other lines. He became one of the factors in railroad building and operation in this 
section of the country and was one of the active promoters of the Shore Line Rail- 
road. In 1854 he severed his busines connections with New York interests and in 1855 
was elected to the presidency of the Elm City Bank, now the Second National Bank of 
New Haven, which had recently been organized. He largely formulated its policy and shaped 
its destiny. His plans were well defined and carefully executed and the soundness of his 
jiulgment was manifest in the success which attended the institution. In 1864 he took up 
his permanent abode in New Haven, with tlie business interests of which he had been iden- 
tified for a number of years previous, and in 1865 he was elected to the presidency of the 
New York & New Haven Railroad. To the problems of railroad management he brought 



50 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

to bear the same sound judgment wliicli had made him a successful merchant and a pros- 
perous financier. Obstacles and difficulties in his path seemed to serve but as an impetus 
tor renewed eftort and concentration on his part. His ideas and plans were always well 
defined and his progrcssiveness had as a foundation the most practical methods. 

On the 4th of November. 1829, Mr. Scranton was united in marriage to Miss Lydia 
Stannard, who was born October 8, 1808, a daughter of Job Stannard, of Westbrook. 
They became the parents of the following named: Ezra Erastus, who was born Septem- 
ber 3, 1831, and died May 19, 1855; Mary Eliza, who was born September 27, 1837, and 
died December 16, 1839; iNIary Eliza (II), who was born September 23, 1840; and Francis 
Kathbone. wlio was born ilarch 14, 1851, and died November 7, 1853. 

The death of ilr. Scranton was accidental. Attempting to step onto a moving train at 
South Norwalk, he was killed in so doing, December 29, 1866. The community had occasion 
for deep regret at his passing because of the important part which he had played not only 
in the business life but in public affairs. Throughout the period of the Civil war he was one 
of the stanch supporters of the national government and was very generous and active 
in the work of organizations that made contributions to the Union cause. In 1845, again 
in 184G and in 1850 he was elected to represent Ids district in the state legislature on the 
democratic ticket. In 1856 he was reelected on the American ticket and in 1862 his name 
was placed on the republican ticket as the candidate for the state senate and he was sent 
to the upper house of the legislature. He was ever deeply interested in the welfare and 
jnogress of Madison, of New Haven and, in fact, of the entire state and in 1865 he was 
elected mayor of New Haven. His daughter. Miss Mary E. Scranton, has always mani- 
fested a deep interest in Madison and she ga\e to that city a public library as a memorial 
to her honored father. His life record is indeed one which any individual may stop to con- 
sider. He was a man of well balanced capabilities and powers and long occupied a central 
place on the stage of action. He never allowed personal interests or ambition to dwarf his 
public spirit or activities. His breadth of view not only saw- possibilities for his own 
advancement but for his city's development and his lofty patriotism prompted him to 
utilize tlie latter as quickly and as effectively as the former. 



WALTER C. SKIFF, il. D. 



Dr. Walter C. Skiff, a prominent homeopathic physician of New Haven, was born on 
the 22d of September, 1857, in Kent. Litchfield county, Connecticut, of which place his 
father, Peter Skiff, is also a native. He belongs to an old and honored Connecticut family 
of English origin, which was founded in America by James Skiff, who came to this country 
prior to the Revolutionary war, and in tliat struggle some of his descendants took part with 
the colonial troops. He was an agriculturist by occupation, and Peter Skiff, the Doctor's 
father, also followed farming with good success throughout his active life but he is now- 
living retired in Cheshire, Connecticut, at the age of ninety-two years, having been born on 
the 24th of June, 1825. He still enjoys good health however, and seems to have the vitality 
of an average man of fifty years, being able to take hunting trips and similar recreation. 
In early life he was a democrat but now supports the republican party and in 1866 repre- 
sented his district in the state legislature. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Phoebe 
Jane Tanner, was born in Dutchess county. New York, February 11, 1825, and belonged to 
an old Virginia family that early settled in New York state. Her mother's people, the 
Duncans, were quite prominent in the Old Dominion. Mrs. Skiff died in 1912 at the a<»e of 
eighty-seven years, and two of her six children have also passed away, tho.^e living bein" 
Walter C, Charles, Henrietta, and Gertrude, the wife of Reno Swdft. 

Dr. Skiff began his education in the public schools of Kent, and later attended the Fort 
Edward Institute at Fort Edward, New York. Having decided to enter the medical fra- 
ternity he matriculated at the New- York Homeopathic Medical College, from which he was 
graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1883. After his graduation he began practice with 
his uncle. Dr. Paul C. Skiff, who was one of the leading physicians of New Haven for fiftv- 
three years, and our subject has since remained in active practice in this city. He stands 
high in the esteem of his professional brethren and is an honored member of the New 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY ll 

Haven County Homeopathic Medical Society, tlie Connecticut Homeopathic Medical Society 
and the American Institute of Homeopathy. The Doctor is also a director and charter 
member of the Grace Hospital of New Haven and is one of the most prominent physicians 
of the city. He is identified with tlie Masonic fraternity and is a member of the Congre- 
gational church. Politically he is not bound by party ties but votes an independent ticket, 
supporting tlie men wliom lie believes best qualified for office. 



FRANK LEWIS BIGELOW. 



Tlie news uf the demise of Frank Lewis Bigelow brought a sense of personal bereave- 
ment into the homes of many of New Haven's citizens. He was equally widely known and 
honored throughout the state, for he belonged to one of its oldest and most prominent 
families and his entire life record was cast in harmony with that of a most distinguished 
ancestry. The ancestral line was traced back to John Bigelow, who was the founder of the 
family in the new world and who passed away at Watertown, July 19, 1703, at the age of 
eighty-six years. His son, Samuel Bigelow, was born in Watertown, October 28, 1653. He 
married Mary Flagg and their son, Samuel Bigelow, Jr., was born at Watertown, September 
18, 1679. The latter wedded Ruth Warren and their son, Cornelius Bigelow, was born at 
Marlboro. Massachusetts, November 34, 1710. He served as a sergeant in the French and 
Indian war, and he wedded Mary Giaves. The next in the line of direct descent was their 
son, Paul Bigelow, who was born at Westboro, Massachusetts, January 21, 1741. He is 
said to have been with General Wolfe at the capture of Quebec. He served in the American 
army throughout the period of the Revolutionary war and was a drummer at Cambridge on 
the 19th of April, 1775, with the Westboro Company of Minute Men. Paul Bigelow married 
Hannah Ober and on the 30th of January, 1780, they became parents of a son, Elisha 
Bigelow, who was the great-grandfather of Frank. Lewis Bigelow of this review. He married 
Elizabeth Clieney and they had a son, Levi L., who was born December 13, 1802. He married 
Belinda Pierpont, of North Haven, Connecticut, who was a descendant of the Rev. James 
Pierpont, the second minister of New Haven and one of the founders of Yale College. 

Hobart Baldwin Bigelow, son of Levi L. and Belinda (Pierpont) Bigelow, was born in 
North Haven, Connecticut, May 16, 1834, and removed to South Egremont. Massachusetts, 
in 1844. He was educated in the district schools and in the South Egremont Academy. 
In 1851 he left there and afterward learned the machinisfs trade at Guilford, Connecticut, 
with the Guilford Manufacturing Company, and also with the New Haven Manufacturing 
Company of New Haven. Later he was foreman with Ives & Smith until 1861, when he 
purchased the business that was later conducted under the name of the Bigelow Manu- 
facturing Company, The business was then conducted for a time under his own name 
and later became H. B. Bigelow & Company, while in 1883 the interests weie incorporated 
under the name of The Bigelow Company, of which Hobart Baldwin Bigelow remained the 
president until his demise. This company engaged in the manufacture of boilers and 
plate steel work and also of heavy special machinery, and the extent and importance of 
their business ranked the company with the leaders in this line in the state. Mr. Bigelow 
was not only a very capable successful and prominent business man but was also a 
recognized leader of public thought and action and left the impress of his individuality 
indelibly upon the history of his state. He served as councilman of New Haven from 1863 
until 1864 and in the latter year entered upon a year's service as alderman. He was super- 
visor from 1871 until 1874 and was fire commissioner during the two succeeding years. In 
1875 he was called upon to represent his district in the Connecticut general assemblv and 
in 1879 he was elected to the office of mayor of New Haven, serving as its chief executive 
for two years. In 1881 he was chosen governor of Connecticut and filled that office for two 
years, most wisely and capably directing the welfare of the state. Over his record there 
falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. Few men were so long continued in public 
life and the career of none has been more faultless in honor, fearless in conduct or stainless 
in reputation than was that of Governor Bigelow. Before he retired from the office of chief 
executive he was elected to the presidency of the Merchants National Bank of New Haven in 
1883 and continued at the head of that institution until 1889. It was in 1857 that Governor 



52 A :\IODEK.\ HISTORY OF NEW IIAVEX 

Bigelow weildod Kk-aiior Lewis, a ilauglitcr of I'liilo Lewis, of Xew Haven. His death 
occurred October 12, 1891. To Mr. and Mrs. Hobart B. Bigelow were born four children: 
Frank L.; Eleanor JL; Walter P.; and Pliilo. All have now departed this life. 

Frank Lewis Bigelow, born Se])teniber 21, 1862, in Xew Haven, began his education in 
the schools of New Haven, pursuing a course in the Hopkins grammar school, while later 
he became a student in the Sheffield Scientific School, completing his course at Yale in 1881, 
at whicli time the Bachelor of Philosophy degj-ee was conferred upon him. He made his 
initial step in business in connection with his father, entering the plant and acquainting 
himself with every feature of the trade in all of its departments. In 1883 he was chosen 
secretarj' of the company and continued in that position until 1891, when he assumed the 
duties of the president and remained in the office until his demise. He was thus active 
in the control of one of the most extensive and important productive industries of New 
Haven, for under the guidance of his father and later of Frank Lewis Bigelow the business 
developed to extensive proportions. In addition to his management of the boiler manu- 
facturing interests Frank L. Bigelow was president of the National Pipe Bending Company 
of New Haven, was vice president of the Vale Publishing Company, was a director of the 
Merchants National Bank, a trustee of the National Savings Bank and a director of the 
New Haven Water Company. He was a forceful and resourceful business man. ready to 
meet any emergency and discriminating with notable promptness between the essential and 
the non-essential in all business affairs. 

On the 10th of October, 1883, Mr. Bigelow was united in marriage to Miss Anna L. 
Lewis, a native of New Haven and a daughter of Robert H. and Louise (Shcpardi Lewis, 
both representatives of old and prominent families of New Haven. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Bigelow were born three children. Louise is now the wife of Donald W. Porter. M. D., of 
New Haven. Pierpont, treasurer of the Bigelow Company, married Elizabeth McAfee, of 
New Haven. Lewis Hobart is at home. 

In his political views Mr. Bigelow was a republican and gave stalwart support to the 
party from the time when ago conferred upon him the right of tranchisc. doing everything 
in his power to promote its growth and extend its inlluence. He had great appreciation 
for the social amenities of life and was a popular member of various clubs and organiza- 
tions, including the Quinnipiac, Graduates, the New Haven Country, the New Haven Lawn, 
the I'niversity Club of New York city, the Yale Club of New Y'ork city and others. He 
was also connected with the Chamber of Commerce and any progressive movement inculcated 
by that organization for the benefit of the city was sure to receive his endorsement. He 
was a member of the Church of the Redeemer and his life was ever actuated by the highest 
and the most honorable principles. Death came to him very suddenly on June 20, 1917, 
while he was engaged in a game of golf, and in all those channels of activity into which 
he had directed his interests he has been greatly missed. He was a prominent and active 
worker in the church, serving on its society committee, and he contributed much to the 
moral progress of the eomnuinity in which he lived. He also served as aide-de-camp on 
tlie staff of his father during the hitter's incumbency as governor of the state. His concep- 
tions of duty were high and he faithfully performed everj- task that devolved upon him. 
Whatever he did, he did faithfully, conscientiously and honorably. He was a prominent 
figure in the civic and business life of the city and early became one of the recognized 
leaders of jjublic thought and action. His qualities of leadership were pronounced and his 
endor.sement of any plan or measure was sufficient to secure to it a large following" because 
of the recognized wisdom of his judgment and his marked public spirit. 



REV. FRANK RANNEY LUClvEY. 

Rev. Frank Ranney Luckey, pastor of the Humphrey Street Congregational church of 
New Haven, was born in Poughkeepsic. New Y'ork, November 23, 1858. His father. C liarles 
P. Luckey. was also a native of Pougiikeepsie, where he engaged in merchandising throughout 
the entire period of his business career. He was very successful in his undertakings and 
founded the largest department store between New York and Albany on the Hudson river. 
It is still in existence under the name of Luckey, Piatt & Company. He was of Scotch-Irish 



AND EASTEKX NEW HAVEN COUNTY 53 

descent, tlie family coming from Ulster, Ireland, and the paternal grandmother of Rev. 
Luckey was a Hoffman. His mother bore the maiden name of Annie Brush and was a 
member through the maternal line of the Hatfield family, noted as a family of Methodist 
Episcopal ministers. To Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Luckey were born two children, a son 
and daughter, the latter, Annie, however, having passed away in childliood. 

The son, Frank R. Luckey, pursued his education in the Poughkeepsie schools until 
graduated from the liigli school, at which time lie received a state scholarship to Cornell. 
He then entered the imiversity and was graduated with the Bachelor of Science degree in 
1882. Determining to devote his life to the ministry, he next became a student in the 
theological department of Yale in 1885 and was graduated with the class of 1888. Having 
thus prepared for a holy calling, he was ordained to the ministry and installed as pastor 
of the Humphrey Street Congregational church on the 17th of May of that year. He 
preached his first sermon in the church in December, 1887, during the absence of the regular 
pastor, and continued to fill the pulpit until his ordination, when he was installed as the 
regular pastor and has since continued to serve, covering a period of over thirty years. 
The church at that time had been but recently organized and his labors have therefore been 
the potent element in its growth and progress through three decades. He is an eloquent 
and convincing speaker, his words carrying weigiit to the logical thinker, and as pastpr as 
well as preacher he has endeared himself to his people and to the community at large. He 
has been president of the Congregational Club of New Haven and has been connected with 
his church for a longer period than any other minister of the city. He has also been active 
in the organized charities of New Haven and has taken a iielpful interest in matters of local 
improvement and progress. He is a member of the Civic Federation and has done everything 
in his power to uphold those interests which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride. 

In Poughkeepsie, New York, Sir, Luckey was united in marriage to Miss Celeste R. 
Rensley, a daughter of .lames D. Rensley, of that place, and they have one son, Charles P., 
who was a Yale student and is now with the Yale Unit of the American Field Ambulance 
Corps in France. Reverend Mi", Luckey finds recreation in golf and fishing. He belongs to 
the Adirondack League Club, also to the Yale Club of New York and to the New Haven 
Country Club. ^Yhile a deep student, he has never allowed his interest in books to over- 
shadow that human interest which brings an xinderstanding of man and his problems but 
with ready sympathy has constantly reached out a helping hand and his labors have wrought 
for good results in the development of Cliristian manhood. 



THOMAS L. CORNELL, 



Thomas L. Cornell, who for twenty-six years has been the first vice president of the 
National Folding Box & Paper Company and is thus actively and prominently connected 
with the manufacturing interests of New Haven, was born in New York city, December 13, 
1839, He has therefore passed tiie seventy-eighth jnilestone on life's journey and yet he 
keeps in close touch with business affairs and displays enterprise and energy equal to that 
of many a man of much younger years. His father, Sidney Cornell, was a native of New 
York and represented one of the old and most distinguished families of that state of English 
lineage, the ancestral line being traced back to 1638, when the first representative of the 
name came to the new world. Among his descendants were Ezra Cornell, the founder of 
Cornell University, and Alonzo Cornell, governor of the state of New York. Sidney Cornell, 
the father of Thomas L. Cornell, was an importer of New York city and died at his summer 
home in Newtown, Connecticut, in 1899, at the age of eighty-four years. In early man- 
hood he had wedded Sarah Ann Nostrand. a native of New York and a member of one of 
the old families of that state. On the paternal side she was of Dutch and French descent. 

In the family of Mr. and Mrs, Sidney Cornell were three children but Thomas L. is 
the only one now living. He was educated in the polytechnic school of Brooklyn, New 
York, and at the age of seventeen years crossed the threshold of the business world. He 
was first connected with his father in the importing business, which had been established 
by his grandfather in 1802. He continued in that connection until 1862, when the father 
retired and Thomas L. Cornell then became a member of the firm. He continued in active 



54 A .MODKKN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

coniurtion witli tlie busiiu'ss until 1870, wlicn lie witliilrew from tliat field. In 1890 was 
founded the present business conducted under the name of the National Folding Box & 
I'aper lompany and he became its first vice president, in which position he has since remained, 
having been continuously reelected at each annual election for the past twenty-six years. 
Thoroughness has ever characterized his business career and enterprise has pointed out the 
way to success— a way which he has not hesitated to follow, guided at all times by sound 
intelligence and honorable purpose. 

In 1863. ill Derby. Connecticut, Mr. Cornell was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth E. 
Shelton, a daugliter of tlie late Edward X. Shelton, at one time state senator of Connecticut, 
and ot Mary .lane (De Forest) Shelton, who represented an old and prominent family of 
this state. To Mr. and Mrs. Cornell was born one son, Edward Shelton Cornell of East 
Orange. New Jersey. He served on the staff of Governor L. B. Morris of Connecticut, and is 
now secretary of the National Highways Protective Society, of No. 1 West Thirty-fourth 
street. New York city. He married Miss Elanor Witherspoon, of Derby, Connecticut, a 
daughter of Rev. Orlando Witherspoon, and has three sons and one daughter, as follows: 
Sidney, a captain of ordnance in the United States army; E. Shelton, who is with the 
divisional headquarters troop of the Twenty-ninth division at Fort McClellan; Thomas L. 
II, who was a member of Company F, One Hundred and Second Connecticut Infantry and 
jirepared at the officers' training camp at Plattsburg, New York; and Elanor. 

In his political views Mr. Cornell has long been a stalwart republican, enlisting under 
the banner of the party upon attaining his majority. He has for an extended period been 
a member of the Masonic fraternity and he belongs to the Union League Club, to the Sons 
of the Revolution, to the Colonial Wars Society and to the Episcopal church at Derby. These 
associations indicate much of the nature of his interests and the ;'ules which have governed 
his conduct. He has been closely identified with various measures of uplift, and his entire 
career has been actuated by a s|iirit (if prciiiress that lias placed him among the substantial 
business men of New England anil wan fur him tlie conlidcnce and regard of all wifli whom 
he has been associated. 



ANDREW R. BRADLEY. 



Andrew R. Bradley, late president of the Bradley-Smith Company, was one of New Haven's 
foremost business men and for nearly fifty years was prominently identified with its 
interests. A native of North Haven, he came from the old family of that name whose ances- 
tral line can be traced back to William Bradley, who arrived in America in 1649. Henry 
M. Bradley, the father of Andrew R. Bradley, resided in North Haven and was a farmer 
and manufacturer. Tliroughout his life he was a member of the Congregational church and 
was highly respected. In politics he was a stanch republican and took an active and help- 
ful part in promoting those interests which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride. He 
died at North Haven in 1873 at the age of fifty-seven years. His wife, who bore the maiden 
name of Mary Bolen, was a native of New Jersey and a descendant of an old family of that 
state, of Scotch lineage. She became the mother of five sons, two of whom passed away in 
infancy and two at the age of twenty-six years, leaving Andrew R. Bradley as the only 
surviving member of the family. The mother died at North Haven when sixty-two years 
of age. 

Andrew K. Bradley spent his early youth upon the home farm and in the manner 
common to country lads of that period. There was plenty of work to do and early in life he 
received a training upon the value of which he many times reflected in his later years. His 
boyhood days brought him a better knowledge of the practical side of life than falls to the 
average boy of his age. Being the eldest son in the family and left fatherless at the age 
of fifteen years, grave responsibilities devolved upon him. No duty was ever shirked and 
he measured up to his responsibilities in a manner becoming one of much greater age. Farm 
work did not seem to promise a glowing future, however, and to fit himself for other active 
business he supplemented his early training in the schools of North Haven by a course in 
Cargill's Business College of New Haven. 

While yet a pupil there Mr. Bradley determined that he would seek in New Haven some 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 57 

commercial vocation whereby he could earn not only a livelihood but one which would 
constitute an entrance into broader fields of labor. Accordingly one bright morning in the 
spring of 1870 he made a careful survey and inspection of several wholesale and retail stores 
in the neighborhood of Congress and George streets and finally made application for a 
position in the store of Charles H. Reed, a wholesale and retail grocer. He was closely ques- 
tioned as to what he could do and his experience. Mr. Reed recognized in the lad a spirit 
of willingness seldom found in boys starting out and consented to give him a week's trial, 
it being mutually agreed that he would be paid what he was worth and if he was worth 
nothing he would receive nothing. On those conditions he began his commercial career and 
when the week was over Mr. Reed paid him seven dollars, which in those days was con- 
sidered a very high wage for one just making his initial step in the business world. Mr. 
Bradley made good from the start. He possessed self-reliance and natural ability, was ener- 
getic and industrious. Long hours and hard work had no terrors for him. He did not have 
to be told what to do. He could see what there was to be done, was not afraid to do it and 
performed every task well. His progress is probably best shown by the fact that within 
two months from the time he started "on trial" and with no stipulated salary his wages had 
been advanced to fifteen dollars per week. This was at a time when wages generally were 
low even for those days. He remained with his first employer until the close of the year, 
when Mr. Bradley told Mr. Reed that he would leave his position in order to continue his 
education. The later, reluctant to lose him, offered him still higher wages. Mr. Bradley, 
however, believed that he needed more thorough and extensive educational training as a 
preparation for life's practical and responsible duties and again entered Cargill's Business 
College. 

On completing his studies he used the sum of money he had saved and which had not 
been required for tuition to establish a candy business, finding it necessary also to borrow 
several hundred dollars. The beginning of the enterprise was small but the business 
proved a success from the start. In fact it demonstrated the young man's ability to manage 
a business for himself just as well as he had performed the work for an employer. Suc- 
cessfully conducting this enterprise for several years, Mr. Bradley at length disposed of the 
business and became associated with B. H. Douglas & Sons, first as a traveling representa- 
tive and later on a mutual interest basis. He remained with that firm until 1892, when he 
retired from that connection and established the business from which has grown the Bradley- 
Smith Company of today, one of the largest candy manufacturing and wholesale houses in 
New England. The plant is ^iituated at Nos. 102-116 Hill street. Mr. Bradley was president 
from its organization. He had numerous business interests. He was an e.xtensive stock- 
holder and one of the directors of the Mechanics Bank and was also identified with various 
other concerns. 

In Wallingford, Connecticut, on the 14th of January, 1878, Mr. Bradley was married to 
Miss Adelaide Augusta Hall, a daughter of the late William Day and Harriet (Perkins) 
Hall, of that city. 

In politics Mr. Bradley was a stanch republican and he took a keen interest in the 
success of his party. He belonged to the Chamber of Commerce, also to the Union League 
Club and manifested a continuous interest in all those forces which work for civic improve- 
ment. He held membership in the Calvary Baptist church, in which he filled important 
ofiices. As a natural result of a long, honorable and successful business connection there 
came to him an extensive acquaintance in New Haven, where his worth and high standing 
as a citizen and business man were surpassed by few if any. A man of great energy and a 
tireless worker, he accomplished at the age of forty what many would have considered 
a substantial achievement for an entire lifetime. He had not lived to accumulate wealth but 
had realized that the individual must grasp life's pleasures and recreations as the years roll 
on and to tliis end he traveled extensively in America and abroad. He always was con- 
siderate of the interests and rights of others and there were few careers which show so 
fine an example of filial devotion as that of Mr. Bradley. From the time when in early 
boyhood he first became a wage earner it was his great pleasure to contribute to the com- 
fort of his widowed mother and his younger brothers, whom he assisted in educating. Later 
in life as his financial resources increased this contribution became more substantial and 
continued as long as his mother and other members of the family lived. He continually 
reache<l out a helping hand where aid was needed and his entire career indicated a marked 



58 A MUDEKX IIISTOKY OF NEW HAVEN 

unselfishness and a true regard for his obligatioas and responsibilities to bis fellow-men. 
His life record should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what may be accom- 
plished tlirougli determined effort, stimulated by laudable ambition and guided by sound 
judgment. Mr. Bradley passed away January 5, 1918, his demise causing widespread regret 
and deep sorrow. His name, however, still lives on as an example of true and noble man- 
hood. 



STEPHEN JOHN MAHER, M. D. 

Dr. Steplien John Maher, a New Haven physician who ranks high in those councils 
where tuberculosis is made a particular subject of study and investigation, was born April 
12, 18G0, in the city where he still resides, his parents being Michael and Johanna (Gorman) 
Maher. His more specifically literary course was pursued in St. Charles College at Ellicott 
City, Maryland, where he remained as a student from 1875 until 1881. His professional 
course was pursued at Yale and he was graduated with honors in 1887. He has ever 
remained a close and di-scriniinating student of liis profession, always keeping in close touch 
with the trend of modern scientific thouglit and investigation. He has taken post-graduate 
work in the hospitals of England and of Ireland and he received the honorary Master of 
Arts degree from Manhattan College of New York in 1895. 

Dr. Maher began the private practice of medicine in New Haven in 1888 and for eleven 
years was engaged in general practice, since which time he has devoted much time to the 
study of tuberculosis in laboratories and clinics. At the same time he has been consulting 
physician to St. Raphael Hospital of New Haven and for two years was a member of the 
city board of health. Governor Woodruff appointed liim a member of the state commission 
to investigate tuberculosis conditions in Connecticut in 1906, and since 1911 he has been a 
member of the board of directors of the Gaylord Farm Tuberculosis Sanatorium and a 
member of tlie tuberculosis commission in charge of four Connecticut institutions. In 1913 
he was elected chairman of the board, a position that he still liolds. The following year he 
was chosen a member of the inner council of the International Tuberculosis Conference and 
in 1915 he was elected president of the New England Conference on Tuberculosis. The same 
year he was honored with the presidency of the Connecticut State Medical Society and he 
is a member of many local, national and international medical associations and also of 
several tuberculosis associations. He has frequently contributed valuable articles to med- 
ical journals and he is the author of a novelette entitled "Told in the Priest's House," which 
describes loss of life from tuberculosis in Catliolic convents and which has been widely quoted. 

Dr. Maher belongs to the Catholic Club of New York and he is a member of the 
American Irish Historical Society. His interests, particularly along scientific lines, are very 
broad. He undertakes everything in which he engages with great thoroughness and it is 
this which has led him to make a most comprehensive study of everything relating to tuber- 
culosis, the spread and the cure of the disease. He has disseminated knowledge of immense 
value in this particular, and the public and the pr(pfes>ion have largely lonu' to recogni/e liini 
ae an authority upon this subject. 



HARRY V. WHIPPLE. 

From messenger to bank jpresident is a long step and yet the path thereto is clearly 
marked out. Adaptability, fidelity and close application are the qualities which one must 
possess and utilize in order to win such a position, and an analyzation of the life record 
of Harry V. Wliipple shows that these qualities have been the salient features in his 
business career, bringing him from the humblest bank position to the presidency of the 
Merchants National Bank of New Haven. As such he is now active in establishing the 
policy and controlling the interests of one of the strongest financial institutions of his sec- 
tion of the state. 

Mr. Whipple was born in Meriden, August 21. 1S71. a son of Henry J. P. and Victoria 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 59 

Fidelia (Couch) Whipple, who were natives of Lowell, Massachusetts, and Meriden, Con- 
necticut, respectively. On leaving his native state the father established his home at 
Meriden, where he organized the Parker-Whipple Company for the manufacture of hard- 
ware. This firm is still in existence, although the father sold out some years ago and 
removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he again engaged in the hardware business. He afterward 
returned to Connecticut, establishing his home in New Haven, where he passed away in 
1910, at the age of seventy-five years. His widow is now a resident of Meriden. In the 
family were four children: Frank, living in New Haven; Norman C, a resident of Cleve- 
land, Ohio: JIi's. George H. Yeamans, of Meriden; and Harry V. 

The last named pursued his education in the public and high schools of Meriden and of 
New Haven, but ere the completion of his course had entered upon his business career as a 
clerk in the latter city. He next took up the study of law with the firm of Bristol, Stoddard 
& Bristol, with whom he remained for a year and a half, when he abandoned the idea of 
becoming a member of the bar and secured the position of messenger in the Merchants 
National Bank. He has since advanced through various intermediate positions up to the 
presidency, to which he was elected in 1912. This bank is capitalized for five hundred 
thousand dollars and has surplus and undivided profits of five hundred thousand dollars, 
while its deposits amount to about four million dollars. It has a strong directorate, 
including some of the best known business men of New Haven, and its officers in addition 
to Mr. Whipple are: L. H. English and H. C. Warren, vice presidents; and J. F. Stannard, 
cashier. A general banking department is conducted, affording every commercial banking 
service. The bank through its trust department acts as trustee, depository, registrar of 
stocks and bonds and transfer agent. A foreign department is also maintained meeting 
the demands and requirements of their patrons in connection with their foreign business. 
The business of the bank has been most carefully and thoroughly systematized, every effort 
being put forth to safeguard the interests of depositors and develop the business of the bank 
along legitimate lines. 

On the 5th of October, 1897, in New Haven, Mr. Whipple was married to Miss Elizabeth 
Young, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Young, and tliey have become parents of one 
child, Oliver Mayhew, who was born in New Haven in 1901 and is now attending Andover 
Academy of Andover, Massachusetts. 

Mr. and Mrs. Whipple are members of St. John's Episcopal church and Mr. Whipple has 
taken the degrees of Masonry in its various branches and has become a Noble of the Mystic 
Shrine. He belongs to all of the more important clubs of New Haven and is a past president 
of the Quinnipiac Club. He is a vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and is presi- 
dent of the New Haven Chapter of the American Red Cross. The city ranks him with its 
leading men, for his ability has brought him prominence and success in business and has 
placed him in positions of leadership in many other connections. He is alwaj'S interested 
in those questions which are to the statesman and the thinking man of the gravest import 
and his opinions are always thoughtfully considered, for it is recognized that his sagacity 
is keen and his judgment sound. Like many of the residents of New Haven, he traces his 
ancestry back tlirough the various generations of an old New England family of English 
origin, founded in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1638, and he manifests the same quality of 
patriotism and of public-spirited devotion to the general good that has characterized his 
forebears. 



SAMUEL ANDREW BASSETT. 

In the death of Samuel Andrew Bassett, New Haven lost one of its valued citizens and 
representative business men, yet one whose nature was not centered alone upon commercial 
interests. He found time for the higher things of life and those interests which have 
cultural value. He was born in the town of Seymour, in New Haven county, Connecticut, 
September 1, 1833, and was a descendant of an old and prominent New England family. 
His father, Samuel Bassett. also a native of Connecticut, was a paper manufacturer of 
what was then known as Humphreysville, now Seymour, and at that place spent practically 
his entire life. He wedded Mary Andrew, who was also a resident of Seymour. 



60 A MODEHX IllSTOKV OK NEW IIAVEX 

Samuel Andrew Bassett acquired his early education in the Glendenning Academy at 
Seymour and afterward attended the William H. Russell Military School at New Haven, 
from which he was graduated. He was first employed in his father's paper factory and 
after working there for a few years went to Xew Milford, where he became a clerk in the 
store of A. VV. llygatt. After a brief period he removed to New Haven and found a position 
in the shoe store of Bristol & Hall, shoe manufacturers and dealers. When the business 
was sold out to W'. B. Fenn, Mr. Bassett remained with the house and when it became 
known as the New Haven Shoe Company, he became one of the stockholders and was quite 
active in the management of the business. He was associated with the shoe trade for over 
a half century and was very active in the control and direction of the store with which he 
was connected. He was a thoroughgoing business man, noted for his honorable dealings and 
his spirit of enterprise. No one ever questioned the reliability of his methods, for integrity 
was synonj'mous with his name. 

Mr. Bassett was much devoted to his home and family. In Christ church, on the 24th 
dav of January, 1865, the Rev. Joseph Brewster performed the wedding ceremony that 
united the destinies of Samuel Andrew Bassett and Miss Sophia Phillips, of New Haven, a 
daughter of Thomas and Sophia (Humphrey) Phillips, the former a well known resident 
of this city. Mrs. Bassett is now residing on Edgewood avenue and has many friends in 
New Haven, who know her as a lady of culture and refined taste, a devoted wife and 
mother. She was a member of Christ Episcopal church for a number of years, later trans- 
ferring her membership to Trinity Episcopal church. By the marriage there were two 
children. The daughter, Mary Elizabeth, became the wife of Joseph Leon Langbank and 
now resides with her mother. Thomas Andrew was married October 30, 1895. to Natalie 
Wilson, of Bridgeport, and they became the parents of two children. John Humphrey Phillips 
and Sophie Louise Bassett. but the latter died young. Thomas Andrew Bassett passed away 
October 6, 1905. 

The death of Samuel A. Bassett occurred at his home on High street in New Haven, 
August 1. 1906, when he was approaching the seventy-third milestone on life's journey. He 
was a citizen of the highest type, a man of sterling character and actuated in all that he 
did by a stalwart Christian spirit. He held membership, first, in Christ Episcopal church 
and, later, in Trinity church, of which he was a communicant for many years, and he also 
belonged to Brooks Club of Trinity church, which was named in honor of Bishop Phillip 
Brooks. He belonged to Wooster Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of New Haven, and also to the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Seymour. In politics he was an ardent republican 
but not an office seeker. He was on the contrary a man of domestic taste, devoted to his 
home and family and finding his greatest happiness at his own fireside. He was also a lover 
of nature and fond of things beautiful. He enjoyed yachting and fishing, and was a great lover 
of the arts. He was also much interested in music, possessed a splendid voice and for many 
years was a member of Qirist Church Choir. He also belonged to the Mendelssohn and 
Goimod Societies, excellent choral organizations of New Haven, and he was one of the 
organizers of the Apollo Club, a well known musical male club of New Haven. He thus did 
much to further the interests which remove man from the sordidness that entire concentra- 
tion upon business often brings and he did much to further an interest in those lines which 
uplift the individual and bring a breadth of thought, interest and purpose. He stood as a 
high type of American manhood and cliivalrv. and his was the nobility of a refined nature 
and of Christian character. 



HON. JAMES DUDLEY DEWELL. 

For forty-four years a resident of New Haven, James Dudley Dewell was closely 
Identified with business and social interests there. He traced his lineage from good 
ancestral stock on both sides. His paternal ancestors: — 

(I) \\~illiam Devill, the first of this line in America, was in Duxbury in 1640; Brain- 
tree, 1643; Rehoboth, 1645-1651; Newport, 1653-1680. His descendants have various 
spellings of the name — Devol, Deval, Duel, Ueuel, Dewell, Duval, etc. 




HON. JAMES D. DEWELL 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 63 

(11) Jonathan, son of William, wag in Newport, Little Compton and Dartmouth. He 
died between 1737 and 1742. He married Hannah Audley. 

(HI) Jonathan, Jr., son of Jonathan, was a resident of Dartmouth and died in 1709. 
He married Mary Clark, who survived him, and they are known to have had children, 
as follows: William, who is mentioned below; Hannah, born January 29, 1699; Jonathan, 
bom May 1, 1702; Alfyah; Meribeth, born October 21, 1707; and Mary, born February 
26, 1710. 

(IV) William, son of Jonathan, born in Dartmouth April 16, 1698, died in 1760. He 
married Elizabeth Whitehead, who died before April 21, 1759, the date of his will, which 
is recorded in Taunton. Their children were: Apphia, born March 6, 1718; Jonathan, who 
is mentioned below; and William, born March 4, 1728, who died June 22, 1814. 

(V) Jonathan, born January 16, 1721, died 1781-84. He resided in Dartmouth, 
Massachusetts, in Tiverton, Rhode Island and in Nine Partners, New York. In the Dart 
mouth town records the intention of marriage of Jonathan and Mary Lawton was entered 
September 3, 1745, and they were married that year. Of their children we have record of 
John, Patience, Robert, Peaceable, Mary, Lydia. Deborah, Elizabeth, Barjona and .Jonathan. 

(VI) Jonathan Duel born March 20, 1765, died in 1831. He resided in Tiverton, Rhode 
Island, Nine Partners and Pine Plains, New York. He married Sarah Rider, who died in 
1841, aged seventy-five years, and we have mention of their eleven children, Ruth, Lydia, 
Mary, Deborah, Eleanor, Charlotte, Sally, Hannah, .James, Jonathan, Jr., and John. Jonathan 
and Sarah (Rider) Duel are buried in the Knickerbocker cemetery some three miles east 
of the village of Pine Plains. 

(VJI) John Dewell, eldest son of above named Jonathan and Sarah, and the father of 
James D. Dewell, was born in Pine Plains September 3, 1795, married January 1, 1826, at 
Norfolk, Connecticut, Mary Humplirey, daughter of Dudley and Mary (Phelps) Humphrey, 
born October 7, 1803. John Dewell was a merchant and manufacturer in Norfolk, where 
he died October 2, 1871, a respected and highly esteemed citizen of the community. His 
wife survived many years, dying April 24, 1891. To their union came children, as follows: 
John H., born in 1827 was married (first) in 1848 to Cynthia Hitchcock; for his second 
wife he married Harriet Austin; he was a merchant in the town of Norfolk, Connecticut, 
and died at Plymouth, Connecticut, in 1896. He served as a captain in the Civil war. Mary 
E., born in 1829, was married in 1856 to Robert C. Peck, who became a merchant in New 
Haven, where he died in 1869. Sarah was born in 1832. James Dudley is mentioned below 
Mattie A., born in 1842, was married in 1869 to Theron S. Swain, who is a merchant In 
Boston. Charles G., born in 1844, died in 1846. 

Mrs. Mary (Humphrey) Dewell, noted above as the mother of James D., is a descendant 
in the seventh generation from (I) Michael Humphrey, the emigrant ancestor of the family, 
who was at Windsor, Connecticut, prior to 1643, when he and Sergt. John Griffin were 
engaged in making turpentine in what is now Slmsbury. Priscilla, daughter of Matthew 
Grant, of Windsor, became his wife in 1647. Her father was the ancestor of Gen. U. S. 
Grant. From Michael Humphrey Mrs. Dewell's descent is traced through Sergeant .lohn, Dea- 
con .John, Deacon Michael, Asahel and Dudley Humphrey. Dudley Hum])hrey, son of Asahel, 
born in 1775 at Norfolk, was married October 16, 1798, to Mary Phelps, daughter of Darius and 
Mary (Aiken) Phelps, born in Norfolk. April 4, 1780. They settled at Norfolk, where their 
children were born: Harriet, John, Mary (Mrs. John Dewell), Griswold, Merrill, James and 
Caroline. 

.James Dudley Dewell eighth in line from William Devill, was born September 3, 1837, 
in Norfolk Connecticut. In 1858, after some experience as a clerk in a country store, he 
left his home and came to New Haven to take a position as salesman for Bushnell & Corn- 
many, wholesale grocers. His services soon commended him to the house, and in 1860 he was 
admitted to the firm, the name becoming Bushnell & Dewell. In 1879 it became J. D. Dewell 
& Company. The enterprise, public spirit and force of character of Mr. Dewell soon became 
manifest, and as the years passed pushed him to the front rank of the business men and 
citizens of the community. He held close to his heart the best interests of New Haven, and 
all measures for the good of the community found in him a hearty supporter. Mr. Dewell 
was one of the principle movers in organizing the state board of trade in 1890, becoming its 
first president. For many years Mr. Dewell was president of the chamber of commerce 
of New Haven, and he was at the head of the movement for good roads throughout the 



64 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

state. For twenty years or more he was a director and contributor to the needs of the 
Young Men's Institute in New Haven. Mr. Dewell was a director in the Evergreen 
Cemetery Association, vice president of the Security Insurance Co., a director of the New 
Haven Water Co., a director of tlie City Bank, of New Haven, a director of the New 
Haven Trust Company, and vice president of the National Savings Bank. He was owner 
and manager of the Sutton fleet, embracing six large three, four and five masted vessels, 
plying between southern ports and New England. He was a member of the New Haven 
Colony Historical Society and of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Society of 
Founders and Patriots. Fraternally he belonged to Hiram Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M.. of 
which he was worshipful master in 1869. In religious connection he was a member of the 
Church of the Redeemer, Congregational. 

In politics Mr. Dewell was a stanch republican. Among the charter members of the 
Republican League, now the L'nion League, he maintained a lively interest in its welfare 
and served several terms as its president. In 1896 he consented to become a candidate for 
the position of lieutenant-governor, to which he was trimphantly elected. The duties of 
this ollice were discharged by him with ability, dignity and grace. Socially Mr. IKvell was 
genial and affable, and popular wherever known. Mr. Dewell was first lieutenant of the 
New Haven Grays from 1865 to 1867. 

On July 2, 1860, Mr. Dewell was married to Mary E., daughter of Aaron and Mary 
A. (Winch) Keyes, of Norfolk, Connecticut, and to this union were born six children: 
Jessie K., who graduated from Vassar in 1883; Charles K.; James D., Jr.; Robert P.; and 
Franklin W. and Edward H., twins born in 1877, the latter of whom died in 1878. Mr. 
Dewell died April 19, 1906. 



GEOUCK A. r.OUTH. 



George A, Booth is proprietor of the liooth Preparatory Scliool of New Haven, which 
since .Tune, 1917. has been located at its present quarters and which from the standijoint of 
convenience and modern ada])tability is the best e(|uipi)ed school of the kind in the city. 
Mr. Booth is a native of Peacedale, Rhode Island, born February 11, 1855. His father, 
George A. Booth, now deceased, was a native of ^lancliester. England, and in his boyhood 
came to America in the "408. He took up the business of manufacturing woolen goods and 
was quite successful. His death occurred in 1907 when he had reached the age of eighty-six years. 
His wife bore the maiden name of Jlary Hudson and she, too, was a native of England, her 
birth having occurred in Loudon. She came to America with her parents during her child- 
hood days and she passed away in 1912. at the advanced age of eighty-five years. 

In the family were six children, of whom George A. Booth was the second in order of 
birth. He pursue"d his education in the public schools and in Russell's Military School of New- 
Haven, which he attended for five years. He was also a student at the BcUevue College at 
Bellevuc, Nebraska, where he was graduated with the Ph. B. degree, and later he entered 
Yale. After completing his education he became connected with large textile manufacturing 
interests as superintendent and designer and devoted eleven years of his life to such inter- 
ests. 

During that period he was located inuili of the time in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, 
and in New Jersey. From 1892 until 1897 he was connected with educational work as a 
teacher in the high school of New Haven and then established the Booth Preparatory School, 
which was originally located at the corner of Church and Chapel streets, where he contin- 
ued for twelve years. He then removed to No. 124 High street, where the school wa.s con- 
ducted for six years, and later his location was for two years at No. 134 High street. Each 
removal was necessitated by a sale of the property. The Booth Preparatory School is now 
located in its new quarters at No. 584 Cliapel street, where there is class room for fifty 
students. This is a splendidly equipped school supplied with every convenience necessary 
for instruction of that character. The school began with an enrollment of six pupils and 
today it is ta.\cd to the limit, having an enndlment of fifty pupil-. The school gives special 
work in preparing students for any college in the country, ior i ivil service positions or for 
cntran<-e to the Annapolis and \\'est Point academies. 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 65 

On the 8th of June, 1880, Mr. Booth was united in marriage to Miss Anna Dixon, a 
native of Khod* Island and a daughter of Anthony Dixon, a Civil war veteran. They have 
become parents of three children, two sons and a daughter; Ethol, who is the wife of Ed- 
mund Greacen, of New York city; George, who resides at Vancouver, British Columbia, and 
is an electrical engineer with the \'ancouver Electric Company; and Ellsworth, who is a 
civil engineer witli the American Telephone & Telegraph Company of New York. 

Mr. and Mrs. Booth are members of the United church and Mr. Booth is a Knight Tem- 
plar Mason, exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit which underlies the craft. In poli- 
tics he is a republican, well versed in the questions and issues of the day, but does not seek 
nor desire office, preferring to concentrate his undivided attention upon the upbuilding of the 
school, the high standards of which have made it one of the leading institutions of tliis 
character in New England. 



FRANK AUGUSTUS MONSON. 

In the passing of Frank Augustus Monson in New Haven on the 30th of June, 1908, 
the city mourned the loss of one who in every relation of life had conducted himself with 
such dignity and honor as to win a most enviable position in public regard. His life re- 
flected credit upon a distinguished ancestry whose name has been handed down untarnished 
through generation after generation. Frank A. Monson was a representative of tlie 
descendants of Thomas Monson, of Stratford and of New Haven. He was born about 1612 
and was in Hartford in 1637, in which year he participated in the Pequot war with the rank 
of captain. About 1640 he was in New Haven. He followed the carpenter's trade, filled 
various public offices and took an active and helpful part in the work of the Congregational 
church, passing away in that faith May 7, 1685, while his wife, Joanna, died on the 13th of 
December, 1678. Their son, Samuel Monson, was baptized August 7, 1643, and on the 26th 
of October, 1665, married Martha, daughter of William and Alice (Pritchard) Bradley. Mr. 
Monson was a shoemaker and tanner by trade and resided at different periods in New Haven 
and Wallingford. He, too, was of the Congregationalist faith and his death occurred in 1693. 
His son, Theophilus Monson, was born September 1, 1675, and married Esther Mix. He was 
a locksmith by trade and he held to the religious faith of the family. He also occupied 
various positions of public trust in New Haven and he passed away November 28, 1747, 
while his wife died September 16, 1746. Benjamin Monson, son of Theophilus Monson, was 
born March 28, 1711, and in June, 1732, married Abigail Punderson, a daughter of John and 
Abigail (Ailing) Punderson. Benjamin Monson engaged in school teaching and resided in 
New Haven and in Branford, Connecticut. His son, Eneas Monson, born .January 13, 1734, 
was married March 15, 1761, to Susannah, daugliter of Stephen and Susannah Howell. She 
died April 21, 1803, and on the 24th of November, 1804, Eneas Monson wedded Sarah Perit, 
a widow. Eneas Monson was a Yale graduate of 1753 and became a minister, while later 
he engaged in the practice of medicine. He served as chaplain to Lord Gardner in the French 
and Indian war and in 1756 he located for the practice of medicine in Bedford, New York. 
He was a Congregationalist in religious faith and a whig in his political views, and during 
the period of the Revolutionary war he was seven times chosen to represent New Haven in 
the legislature. His death occurred in New Haven, June 16, 1826. 

Dr. Eneas Monson, son of Eneas Monson, Sr., was born September 11, 1763, and on the 
6th of May, 1794, married Mary Shepherd, who was born April 28, 1772, a daughter of Levi 
Shepherd, of Northampton, Massachusetts. Eneas Monson was graduated from Yale and in 
1780 was commissioned surgeon's mate in Colonel Swift's Seventh Connecticut Continental 
Line. The following winter the regiment was on the Hudson, opposite West Point, and in 
.June, 1781, was detached to assist Surgeon Thatcher, of the Massachusetts Line, in Colonel 
Soammell's Light Infantry Corps. Later the command to which Dr. Monson belonged went to 
Yorktown, Virginia, participating in the siege of that city. Dr. Monson afterward re- 
turned to the north and rejoined his regiment, which in 1781-83 was the Fourth Connecticut, 
under Colonel Butler, thus serving until the command was disbanded in June, 1783, follow- 
ing the close of hostilities. He afterward became a prominent physician and leader in 
fublie affairs in New Haven and after practicing medicine for a number of years he en- 



66 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

gaged in merchandising and banking. His wife died February 6, 1848, while his death 
occurred August 22, 1852. His son, Alfred S. Monson, was born September 23, 1795, was 
also a Yale graduate, of 1815 and in 1819 was graduated from the University of Pennsyl- 
vania with the M. D. degree. He practiced medicine for a time in Kew Haven but retired 
from the profession many years prior to his death. He made extensive and judicious in- 
vestments in real estate and left valuable property holdings to his family. He was offered 
the professorship of botany in Vale College and also a professorship in the Yale Medical 
School but declined both. He was married May 22, 1822, to Mary Ann Patten, a daughter 
of Nathaniel Patten, of Hartford. They were members of the Congregational church. Dr. 
Alfred S. Monson passed away May 22, 1870, while his wife died in April, 1887. 

Frank Augustus Monson, one of a family of six children born to Dr. Monson, received 
hi.< early cdui'ation in the Russell Preparatory School of Xow Haven and afterward studied 
in the Brown Academy of West Haven. He was still pursuing his studies there when the 
Civil war was inaugurated and he put aside his textbooks in order to aid in the preserva- 
tion of the Union. Writing of this period of his life work, a contemporary biographer said: 
"With six of his schoolmates he left West Haven and, making his way to New Y'ork, en- 
listed his services in the United States government. He was about eighteen years old at the 
time and not only was his heart in the cause of the Union which he had espoused, but he 
possessed a talent in military matters and a personal bravery that augured well for rapid 
advancement. Xor was the augury unfulfilled, the gallantry he displayed in many engage- 
ments marking him out for promotion. Captain Frank A. Monson entered service as private 
in Company B, First New Y'ork Lincoln Cavalry, July 19, 1861; attached to defenses of 
Washington, to October, 1861; Franklin's Division, Army of the Potomac, tu March, 1862; 
First Division, First Corps, Department of Rappahannock, to May, 1862; First Division, 
Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac, to August, 1862; service duty in defenses of Wash- 
ington, D. C, Avigust, 1861, to March, 1862; actions at Falls Church, Virginia, September 8 
and December 15, 1861; Fairfax Court House, September 29 and November 27, 1861; ex- 
pressed to Fredericksburg, April 3-19, 1862; detached as courier at headquarters of General 
McDowell, commanding Department of the Rappahannock, until .June; rejoined regiment on 
the Peninsula, Virginia; seven days" battles before Richmond; battle of Mechanicsville, 
.lune 26; battle of Gaines' Mill, .June 27; June 30, Malvern Hill; July 1. commissioned second 
lieutenant. Company L, Fifth New Y'ork Volunteer Cavalry, First Ira Harris Guard, to date 
from May 3, 1862; first lieutenant, October 24, 1862; and captain, September 14, 1863; 
attached to cavalry command. Department of Washington, to June, 1863; First Brigade, 
Third Division Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac, to July, 1864; participated in the 
battle of Warrenton Junction, Virginia. May 3, 1863, where he wag wounded in the shoulder; 
absent with wound until September 10, 1863; took part in battle of Brand}' Station, Vir- 
ginia. October 11. 1863: battle of Biickland's Mills, October 19-20, 1863; battle of Stevens- 
burg. Virginia, November 8, 1863; Mine Run campaign, November 26 to December 2, 1863; 
battle of Raccoon Ford. Virginia, November 26-27, 1863; Kilpatrick's raid on Richmond, 
Virginia. February 28 to March 4, 1864; fortifications of Richmond, Virginia. March 1, 1864; 
detached on staff of General Kilpatrick during spring of 1864; Rapidan campaign, May-June, 
1864; battle of Parker's Store, Virginia, Jlay 5; Todd's Tavern, May 5-6; the Wilderness, 
May 6-9; Mattapony River, May 15; Milford Station, May 21; Ashland, May 30; White Oak 
Swamp. ,Iune 13; ilalvern Hill. June 14; White House Landing, .June 19, and took part in 
fiffy-eight other engagements; disabled by reopening of wounds and sent to hospital at 
Annapolis, Maryland, June 20, 1864; resigned July 12, 1864, on account of disability from 
woimds received in action and honorably discharged from service." 

After his military service was over Mr. Monson became a resident at Paterson, New 
.Jersey, and was prominently identified with the silk industry of that place, there remain- 
ing until 1870. when on account of the death of his father he disposed of his business in- 
terests in Paterson and returned to New Haven. He afterward concentrated his energies 
upon the real estate and insurance business and operated most extensively along those 
lines. His business affairs were at all times wisely and carefully conducted and substantial 
results accordingly accrued. 

On the 15th of May, 1873, Captain Monson was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte M. 
Bishop, also a native of New Haven and a daughter of Elias Bradley and Grace (Atwaterl 
Bishop and a descendant of some of the most prominent families of the state. Mr. and Mrs. 



AND EASTEKN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 67 

Monson became the parents of a daughter. Nellie Bishop, who became the wife of Roger Ells- 
worth Ailing, of New Haven. 

The death of Captain Jlonson occurred in New Haven. June 30, 1908, and he was laid to 
rest in the Evergreen cemetery. His widow still makes her home in this city, residing at 
No. 317 St. Ronan street. The death of Captain Monson was deeply deplored not only by 
his immediate family but by many friends, for he had figured prominently in connection with 
public interests and with social activities of his city. He was identified with various vet- 
eran ynd military organizations, including Admiral Foote Post, No. 17, G. A. R.; the New 
York Commandery of the Loyal Legion of the United States; the Societies of the Army of the 
Potomac, of the Fifth New York Cavalry and the First New Y'ork Lincoln Cavalry; the 
Army and Navy Club of Connecticut; and David Humplueys' Chapter of the Sons of the 
American Revolution. He was also well known in Masonic circles and he became one of the 
organizers of tlie Quinnipiac Club of New Haven. His religious faith was that of the Epis- 
copal church and he was long identified with Trinity parish. He gave most generously to 
the supix)rt of tlie church in its various activities and was a man of philantliropic spirit whose 
broad humanitarianism reached out in helpfulness to all mankind. His life ever measured 
up to the highest standards. He was patriotic and loyal in citizenship, valorous in military 
service, honorable and upright in every relation. In business affairs he displayed initiative 
as well as enterprise and never stopped short of tlie successful accomplishment of his 
purpose. While he won success in business, he also found time for the finer things which 
many men are prone to overlook — aid in money and personal attention to schools and 
churches, collection of rare objects of beauty and the artistic adornment of his city and of 
his home. His life and his character were as clear as the sunlight. No man came in con- 
tact with him but speedily appreciated him at his true worth and knew he was a man who 
cherislicd not only a liigh ideal of duty but who lived up to it. 



REV. CHARLES 0. SCOVILLE. 

Rev. (Hiarles C). Scoville, rector of Trinity Episcopal churcli, .situated on the (Jreen in 
New Haven, well known as one of New England's prominent ministers and orators, was 
born at Montpelier, Vermont, December 1, 1862, a son of James B. and Mary (Foster) Sco- 
ville. The fatlier was born in Karmington and was a descendant of Rev. Thomas Hooker, 
one of the founders of the city of Hartford. He spent his early life in this state but after- 
ward removed to Montpelier. Vermont, where he took up agricultural pursuits, following 
farming to the time of his death, which occurred in 1883. His wife was born in North 
Conway. New Hanipsliirc. and dieil in Cliicago in 1S94. In their family were nine children, 
seven of whom are still living: Mrs. John R. King, now a resident of Ohio; Mrs. Hattie Ram- 
dall, living in Chicago; Miss Julia Scoville, also of Chicago; James B., who is in Troy, New 
York; and Alice and Harry D., also of Cliicago. 

Of this family the Rev. Charles 0. Scoville was the seventh in order of birth. In his 
boyhood he attended school in Montpelier, Vermont, and passed through consecutive grades 
to the high school. He afterward entered Yale University, where he pursued an academic 
course and won his degree in 1887. He then entered the Berkeley Divinity School at Middle- 
town, Connecticut, and was graduated therefrom in 1890. His first charge was the pastor- 
ate at Westville, Connecticut, where he presided over the Episcopal church of St. James from 
1890 until 1892. He then accepted the position of curate of the Trinity Episcopal church 
on the Green in New Haven, acting in that position until 1908, when he wag made rector. 
He has since had charge of the parish, covering a period of nine years, and under his direction 
the church has done splendid work in advancing the moral progress of the community. The 
different lines of work are thoroughly organized and its radiating force is proving a very 
strong element in moral progress. 

Rev. Scoville is a member of the Graduates Club of New Haven. He has social qualities 
which are most valuable in his pastoral work and in all of his efforts he is ably assisted by 
his wife, who in her maidenhood was Miss Lena May Isbell, a daughter of Willis B. and 
Ida (Hotchkiss) Isbell, of Westville, Connecticut. He was married June 1, 1892, and they 
have one child, Helen, who was born in New Haven and is a graduate of the Hillhouse higli 



68 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

school and also of Wellesley College in the class of 1915. She is now in her sophomore 
year in the Yale Medical School. 

It would be almost tautological in tliis connection to enter into any series of statements 
as showing Rev. Scoville to be a man of broad scholarly attainments for this has been 
shadowed "forth between the lines of this review. He is well known as a writer of many 
interesting articles and is a historian of no mean ability. A public-spirited citizen, he 
stands for progress and improvement in all things that relate to the uplift of the indi- 
vidual and the upbuilding of the community. He possesses marked oratorical powers and 
his ability in that direction has won him the reputation of being one of the strongest 
representatives of the Episcopal ministry. His reasoning is always clear, he thinks deeply 
and his deductions are logical. He calls upon literature and experience for an apt illustration 
that carries his point home and he quickly reaches the hearts of his listeners. 



HON. ROLLIX SIMMONS WOODRUFF. 

Rollin Simmons Woodruff, since his youth a resident of New Haven, has groAvn up 
with the city's life and business progress, and by his admirable record in public and 
business life has gained the respect and honor of all his fellow citizens. His industry and 
integrity have placed his name in the front rank of the makers of New Haven, and a 
most distinguished service as governor of the state, crowning an honorable career in polities', 
has given him an enviable place on the roster of servants of the commonwealth. Though 
a native of New York state (he was born in Rocliester, July 14, 1854) he came to New- 
Haven at the age of fifteen, and he has caught fully the spirit and has always been loyal 
to the traditions of the state of his adoption. 

(iovernor Woodruff's father was the Rev. Jeremiah Woodruff and his mother Mrs. 
Clarissa Thompson, and lie received his early education in the common schools of New 
York state, supplemented by a brief period in a school at Lansing, Iowa. Soon after 
coming to New Haven, he began his business career as an errand boy in a hardware store. 
He had the merit of industry and ambition which did not escape the attention of his employers, 
and his upward progress was steady. He went from one position to another, always im- 
proving his condition and prospects, until he was able to make investment for himself, 
which was in the C. S. Mersick Company, then one of the most promising wholesale dealers 
in iron and steel in New Haven, now one of the most extensive in New England. Mr. 
Woodruff's progress and that of the firm had such connected significance that when the 
business was incorporated in 1905 he was elected its president, which position he still 
holds. His sound business plan and foresight, his sterling business principles, have been 
much of the cause of the advance of The C. S. Mersick & Company, as the name of the 
firm now is, to a position of national prominence among the concerns dealing in a wide 
range of plumbers' supplies and house fittings. 

Governor Woodiuff has other important business connections, being a director of the 
Mechanics Bank of New Haven, the American Hardware Company of New Britain and the 
Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company of New Y'ork. He has been active in many 
public business enterprises, among which should be counted his valuable service on the 
New Haven permanent paving commission. He has long been a member of the Chamber 
of Commerce and was at one time its president. 

Always deeply interested in political affairsl Governor Woodruff nevertheless resisted 
the temptations of office until 1898, when Governor George E. Lounsbury named him an 
aide de camp on his staff, with the rank of colonel. In 1902 he was elected a state senator 
and made so good a record at Hartford that his nomination and election, two years 
later, as lieutenant governor seemed a natural promotion and was welcomed by the senate 
over which he presided. Again his election, two years after that, as governor was in the 
line of that natural, steady progress which has been characteristic of his career. He 
carried his ideas of business sense and business integrity to the governor's office — not 
altogether to the liking of some of the politicians. He enforced them upon the legislature, 
and though a veto power that was only nominal kept him from effecting his purpose in all 
lo«;islation, his acts had a moral influence which the state still feels. His administration 




ALJ^ J. Arr^l 



AXD eastern new HAVEX county 71 

was an effort for reform against obstacles; it was a healthy protest. His standing in 
the state is well summed up by the expression of one leading newspaper, which said: 
'■Popular, honest, honorable, spotless in character, a plain man of the people, a devoted 
citizen of the state, unostentatious but true blue always — that is RoUin S. Woodruff." 

In January, 1885, Mr. Woodruff was married to Miss Kaomeo E. Perkins, who was 
born in Xew Haven, .July 25, 1856, daughter of Nathaniel Perkins. Two children were 
born to them, both of whom died in early years. 

Governor. Woodruff has been prominent in JIasonry, having membership in Hiram 
Lodge. No. 1, F. & A. M.; Franklin Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M. ; Harmony Council, No. 8, R. 
& S. M.; New Haven Comniandery, No. 2, K. T.; and Lafayette Consistory, S. P. R. S. 
He is a member of the Union League Club, the Quinnipiac Club and the Young Men's 
Republican Club. Since 1896 he has been a member of the Second Companj', Governor's 
Foot Guard, and served as lieutenant for about two years. In 1908 Wesleyan University 
conferred on him the degree of LI^.D, 



WILLIAM WOOSTER BUCKINtiHAM. 

William Wooster Buckingham, who occupies a place in the front ranks among the 
wholesale merchants of New Haven, is now vice president of the F. E. Fowler Company, 
wholesale dealers in wooden ware and glassware. Commercial enterprise finds expression 
in his life, for he has made rapid advancement, rising to a most creditable position, and the 
course which he has followed and the policy which he has pursued are such that New Haven 
is proud to number him among her native sons. 

Mr. Buckingham was born April 4, 1863, and represents one of the old Connecticut 
families, his great-grandparents being Nathan and Silcna (Lewisi Buckingham. Their son. 
Nathan Lewis Buckingham, was born about 1792 and married Clarissa Wooster. Henry 
Buckingham, who was one of their six children, was born February 29, 1828, in Oxford, 
Connecticut, and acquired his education in the public schools there. He was a youth of 
seventeen when he came to New Haven, where for several years he was employed by D. W. 
Buckingham and later by Jeremiah Atwater. He afterward engaged in the retail butcher- 
ing business in Derby. Connecticut, but soon returned to New Haven, where he established a 
grocery store. At the time of the Civil war he went to the south as sutler with a Rhode 
Island regiment and after the close of hostilities turned his attention to the real estate busi- 
ness in New Haven, where he resided for more than forty years, and spent the last six 
years in retirement from active business. He married Abbie Ogden (Phillips) Curtis, the 
widow of Reuben Curtis. She was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, July 16, 1830. and died 
wliile visiting in Boston, .January 28, 1901. For several years she had survived ilr. Buck- 
ingham, whose death occurred November 7, 1893. They were the parents of four sons. 

William Wooster Buckingham, the third in order of birth, acquired a public school 
education and in early manhood went to Georgia, being engaged in manganese mining at 
Cartersville for two years. He afterward returned to New Haven and became connected with 
F. .S. Bradley, a wholesale hardware merchant. In time the business became that of Buck- 
ingham. Clark & Jackson and eventually tlie Buckingham Hardware Company, the two for- 
mations dating from 1900, at which time William W. Buckingham became the treasurer 
and general manager. He continued to act in that capacity until 1903, when the businesa 
was sold to the Bronson & Townsend Company of New Haven. Mr. Buckingham afterward 
went upon the road as a traveling salesman, representing a New York house for two years. 
He was afterward with the William Filene's Sons Company of Boston in an executive posi- 
tion for three years and in 1910 he became one of the incorporators and the vice president 
of the F. E. Fowler Company, wholesale dealers in wooden ware and glassware in New 
Haven. Through the intervening period a business of considerable magnitude has been de- 
veloped and the methods employed rank the institution with the leading commercial inter- 
ests of New Haven. Well defined plans and purposes underlie the gradual development of 
the business and intelligent direction of effort has brought forth gratifying results. The 
proprietors have ever been careful to conform their interests to the highest standards of 
commercial ethics, have thoroughly studied general trade conditions as well as conditions 
Vol. II — 4 



72 A .MUDKK-X HISTORY OF .\E\V IIAVEX 

bearing directly upon their personal interests and by their enterprising methods and cloBo 
application have developed one of the leading wholesale activities of the city. 

Mr. Buckingham was married on the 24th of September, 1888, to Mrs. Laura Stevens 
Morev, of Mayville, New York, and they have become the parents of three children, Len- 
ora Bishop, Charles Wooster and Waitstill William. 

Mr. Buckingham has long taken an active interest in military affairs and was a member 
of the Xew Haven Grays from 1885 until 1890 and of the Second Company of the Gover- 
nor's Foot Guard from 189:5 until 1900. He is now a member of the Second Ragiment of the 
Reserve Company of the Home Guard of Xew Haven with the rank of captain. He belongs to 
the Sons of the American Revolution and to the Grays' Veteran Association. His political 
endorsement is given to the republican party. His interests thus cover a wide range and his 
activities have always been ilirci-tcil in clianm-ls tlno\igli which Hows the greatest good to the 
greatest number. 



HERRICK PAYNE J-ROST. 



Herrick I'aync Frost, late of New Haven, where for many years he was one of the useful 
citizens and substantial business men of that city — first as a wholesale grocer, and then as 
a telephone projector, as well as manager — was descended from tlie Frost family, of Wolcott, 
Connecticut. 

Mr. Frost was born .January 16, 1835, in the town of Wolcott, a son of Sylvester and 
Philanda (Tuttle) Frost, and was in the fourth generation from David Frost, of the same 
town. David Fiost was born September 5. 1742. and liis wife, Mary, was born December 22, 
1740. They had their home three miles ea.st of Waterbury. on the Southington road, at what 
is now called East Farms. His death occurred December 15. 1812. and that of liis wife, Febru- 
ary 6, 1819, when she was aged seventy-nine years. From tliis David Frost. Herrick P. Frost's 
lineage is through David Frost (2) and Sylvester. 

David Frost (2) was born March 1, 1767, and was married .Tune 14, 1790, to Mary Ann. 
a daughter of David Hitchcock, of Southington. Mr. Frost settled on Southington Mountain, 
north of Capt. N. Lewis, and became a man of influence an& responsibility in the town. He 
died iLirch 18. 1850, and his wife. November 24, 1832. Sylvester Frost, his son. was the father 
of Herrick I-'rost. and was born Jfay 8, 1807. He married Philanda Tuttle. and was engaged 
in farming in Wolcott. His death occurred in Southington, Connecticut. 

Herrick P. Frost passed his boyhood for the greater part at the home of his uncle, 
Herrick Payne, and was educated at the academy. In his seventeenth year he secured a team 
and wagon and went on the road selling goods of various kinds through a number of states 
and in this manner soon became self-reliant and confident, as well as experienced. For a 
number of years he was engaged in this line, and in 1856 made his home in New Haven, 
where after several experiments in various enterprises, in 1858 he formed a partnership 
with Julius Tyler, Jr., establishing the wliolesale grocery house of Tyler & Frost, on State 
street. This b\isiness Mr. Frost prosecuted with great energy and varied success for nearly 
twenty years, the partnership being dissolved in 1876, at about the time the telephone was 
just coming into public notice. The attention of Mr. Frost was turned to it, and after a 
careful examination of its merits, its practical character was quickly revealed to him. 
Associated with (icorge W. Coy, an electrician and at one time a telegraph manager, Mr. 
Frost and his partner, in January, 1877, projected the first telephone company ever formed 
for a general exchange business in New Haven, under the name of the New Haven Telephone 
Company, and the (irst telc|)lione exchange, it is said, that tlie world ever saw, was estab- 
lished. The new enterprise attracted general attention, and in less than three months after 
its inauguration it had one hundred and fifty subscribers, and within a year over four hun- 
dred. Mr. Frost and his partner were thus instrumental in giving to New Haven the credit 
of leading the world in this imiiortant line. By 1880 capital had become interested in the 
further development of the system, and the New Haven Telephone Company was merged into 
Ihe Connecticut Telephone Company, with the late Marshall .lewell. of Hartford, as president, 
and Hon. Charles L. Mitchell and Morris F. Tyler as directors. This company in 1884 under- 
went another change, becoming the Southern New England Telephone Company, with a 



AN]) P: ASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 73 

capital of one luid a lialf million dollars. Tlirough tlie foresight, energy and ability of Mr. 
Frost, to whom was committed the general management of this great and growing corpora- 
tion, the lines of the company were carried into nearly every town, hamlet and school district, 
within the territory in which they operated, and until a very few years ago there was no 
district in the world with so many telephones in use, in pro])ortion to its population, as 
Connecticut. 

The Boston Electric Light Co., of Boston, was also ])rojected by Mr. Frost. The New 
Haven Electric Liglit Co. and tlie New Haven Steam Heat Co. were also iirojects of liis. and 
he was interested in the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Co., Washington. D. C; and he 
was director and stockholder in thirty-four electric light and teleiihone companies. He was 
also one of the organizers of the opposition line of steamboats. 

Mr. Frost commanded the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens. He had been con- 
nected with the city government in various relations — as a councilman, alderman, police com- 
missioner, as well as in other capacities. For a number of years he was chairman of the city 
board of finance, and in all official relations acquitted himself with credit. 

Mr. Frost was married April 23, 1858, to Miss Olive Amelia, a daughter of Ashbel Mix, 
a liighly respected citizen of the town of Bristol, and to this union were born: Louie Herrick, 
who married Clara Drake; Helen Louise, who died when five years old; Pauline Amelia, who 
married Archibald Ward Ives, of Boston; and Dwight S. .M. Mr. Frost died Xov. 3, 1S88, 
and was interred in Evergreen cemeterv. New Haven. 



EDGAR BEADLE 



Edgar Beadle, a wagon manufacturer of Cheshire, has been engaged in that line of busi- 
ness for many years and his shop has always enjoyed the reputation of turning out excel- 
lent work. He was born in Cheshire, September 36, 1848, a son of Benajah Beadle, also i. 
native of Cheshire, who likewise devoted his life to carriage and wagon making. He was a 
democrat in his early manhood but later became an adherent of the republican party. He 
held several offices and was at all times faithful to the trust reposed in him by his fellow 
citizens. His father. Alfred Beadle, was the son of John Beadle, whose father. Nathaniel 
Beadle, settled in Walliiigford in the early days. .John Beadle served as ca]itain of a Iiorse 
company in the Rev(dutionary war and during the dark days of that conflict was unswerv- 
ingly loyal to the cause of the newly formed Union. The family first located at Salem, 
Massachusetts, and tlie name has been held in high honor. Benajah Beadle was united 
in marriage to Miss Julia Ann Hitchcock, a daughter of Gains Hitchcock and a grand- 
daughter of Captain David Hitchcock, who was in the army during the entire eight years 
of the Revolutionary war. Captain Hitchcock was a son of Peter Hitclicock, whose father 
was John Hitchcock, the first of the name to settle at Cheshire. He removed here from 
Wallingford and previous to living at that place had been a resident of Morris Cove. 
I'eter Hitchcock erected the old family residence in which four generations of the family 
had lived. Benajah Beadle passed away about eight months after the death of his wife, 
wlio (lied in .Xiiril, 1890. Both had reached the age of seventy-five years. To them were 
born three children: William, who served in the Civil war and died shortly after his 
discharge from the army; Henry, deceased, who was for many years deputy sheriff of New 
Haven count}-; and Edgar. 

As a boy Edgar Beadle attended the public schools of Cheshire and later was a student 
in an academy conducted by Dr. Horton, after which he entered his father's carriage and 
wagon shop. Father and son conducted the business in partnership for a number of years 
but at length the older man retired and left the entire management of the business to our 
subject. It is one of the oldest commercial enterprises of Cheshire, having been established in 
1836, and it has always been conducted in accordance with the highest standards of business 
ethics. Before the advent of the automobile the business of the shop covered a wide territory 
but with the general adoption of motor cars for both commercial use and for pleasure the 
ilemand for wagons and carriages has declined, but such is the high reputation of the Beadle 
shop that it is accorded a large share of the remaining patronage along that line. The owner 
has throughout the years managed his affairs well and has accumulated a competence. 



74 A MODEKX HISTORY OF NEW IIAVEX 

Oii thp 3(1 i)f December. 1891. in Cheshire, Mr. Beadle was married to Miss Cora A. Som- 
mers. Her father, Charles Sommers, was a native of Woodbury and removed first to 
Windsor Locks and later to Chesliire. ilrs. Beadle passed away February 16, 1914, leaving 
a daughter, Cora Eloise 

Since attaining his majority Mr. Beadle has been a stanch supporter of the republican 
party and has been called to ofTice a number of times, having served as assessor, as member 
of the board of relief and in other positions of trust. Fraternally he is a Mason, and his 
manv excellent qualities have gained for bim a large circle of friends within and without 
the order. 



.MiHX B.XKinVlX KENNEDY. 

.lolin Baldwin Kennedy, coming from u stock wlio.se excellence New Haven frankly 
honors, has by his own record in the community abundantly approved his ancestry. As 
head of an old but progressive manufacturing institution, as president of one of the young 
but successful banks of the city, as a public official whose record of unselfish service for the 
public good is unchallenged, as comander of a historic military organization which under 
him has renewed and strengthened the traditions of its fine old past, as citizens foremost 
in cvoiy cause that calls for uplifting influence and earnest work, he has won an enviable 
place in the city of his adoption. 

Mr. Kennedy Is descended on his father's side from the Galloway Scottish clan of 
Kennedy; on his mother's from the Baldwins of Milford, his father having been John 
Kennedy, born in Cockermoutli, in the north of England, but coming directly from Galloway 
that is northwest across the border of Scotland. His mother was Cornelia Baldwin, a 
descendant in the eighth generation of John Baldwin, one of the original settlers of 
Milford, whose name is on that town's Memorial bridge. John Kennedy, who came to 
this country in 1847, married Miss Baldwin in Connecticut. 

John Baldwin Kennedy was born at White Plains, New York, February 24. 1S64. and 
was named for his mother's ancestor. His parents removed to New Haven when he was 
quite young, and he was educated in the public schools of New Haven, completing his 
grammar school course with the class of 1880 in Duight school. He entered the office of 
English & Mersick, of which firm he is now president, as a clerk soon after leaving school. 
His rise has been due chiefly to intelligent application and hard, consistent work. It was in 
1895, following the death of James G. English, its senior partner, that he was admitted to 
the firm. Three years later, at the death of Edwin F. Mersick, he was made president. 
Jn his administration great opportunities have come to the firm, and that they have been 
improved its present prosperity and its standing among the manufacturing institutions 
of New Haven and the country abundantly show. 

-Major Kennedy was one of those who. in 1913 and the years preceding, most clearly 
saw the needs of the growing business interests of the northern part of the city for a 
bank in their vicinity. He was one of the leading organizers of the Broadway Bank & 
Trust Company and was chosen its president. Under him it has become a strong institu- 
tion, more than fulfilling the purpose for which it was organized. Major Kennedy's other 
business interests are with the New Haven Trap Rock Company, of which he is a director, 
and with a number of other manufacturing and commercial concerns. 

On October 3, 1888, in New Haven, Mr. Kennedy was married to Miss Katherine C 
Clark, daughter of Joseph W. and Jane (Hine) Clark, of Orange, Connecticut. Mrs. Kennedy 
is of old Connecticut stock and is following in the footsteps of her ancestors by her activity 
in the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Daughters of Founders and Patriots, and 
the Daughters of the Society of the War of 1812. Major Kennedy is a member of the 
General David Il>im|)hrcys branch of the Sons of the American Revolution and has mem- 
bership in the Liiion league, the Quinnipiac, the Racebrook Country and the New Haven 
Country Clubs, and is connected with Wooster Lodge, F. & A. M. His church membership 
is with Dwight Place Congregational. 

In 1904 he enlisted in the Second Company. Governor's Foot Guard, and rose rapidly 
tluough the grades until in 1915 he was made major and commander. His enthusiasm for 





^. 




AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 77 

tlie company has been earnest from the first, and under him it has had a splendid record 
of service and progress. He is a republican but has not participated in politics in the 
ordinary sense. His keen interest in public and civic affairs has, however, brought to him 
responsibilities. He was a member of the New Haven civil service commission from 1910 
to 1912 inclusive, after which he was made a member and then president of the board of 
police commissioners, which position he had filled with honor for five years. 



HOWARD ELLSWORTH A1>T. 

Howard Ellswortli Adt, identified with various corporations tliat figure prominently as 
assets in the business development of Xew Haven, has thus contributed in large measure to 
the progress and upbuilding of the city. He is a forceful and resourceful business man, ready 
to meet any emergency and at all times directing circumstances and shaping conditions to 
the benefit of not only his individual or company interests but to the welfare of the com- 
munity. He is perhaps best known as the secretary, treasurer and general manager of the 
Geometric Tool Company. Massachusetts claims him as a native son, his birth having 
jccurred in Haydenville, June 18, 1863, his parents being Ferdinand F. and Catherine (Kar- 
niann) Adt. The father was born in (iermany and came to America with his father when 
late in his teens, crossing the Atlantic in 1844, at which time he became a resident of Tor- 
rington, Connecticut. His education was completed on this side the water and he became a 
[)apier-machS manufacturer, establishing an American plant at Torrington and later at 
Haydenville, where he afterward took up the business of manufacturing gold pens, becoming 
tlic pioneer in that field in the United States. He afterward removed to New York city and 
established business on JIaiden Lane, where he began the manufacture of gold pens on a 
much larger scale. He originated the diamond point and placed upon the market a product 
of great value, and success attended the undertaking from the beginning. During the last 
twenty years of his life Mr. Adt lived retired and passed away in New Haven in 1913 at the 
age of eighty-five years. He possessed inventive ingenuity, was a thorovighgoing business 
man, and with a spirit of unfaltering determination he accomplished whatever he undertook. 
The papier-mach^ plant which he founded was the first established on this side of the 
water, although his ancestors for several generations had been active in the same line of 
business in Bavaria. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Karmann, was born 
in New Haven and was a daughter of Sebastian and Elizabeth (Winter) Karmann, who were 
of German and of French descent, the Winters being among the old French families established 
on American soil. Mrs. Adt passed away in Torrington. Connecticut, at the age of seventy- 
si.\ years. By her marriage she had become the mother of three children, of whom two are 
living, while one son, Frank C, luts passed away. The others are Evie W. and Howard E., 
the foimcr a resident of Torrington. 

Howard E. Adt was educated in the public schools of Torrington. It was said that his 
mother wished him to be a clergyman, while his father wanted him to be a musician and his 
own wish was to become a physician. At the age of fourteen he took up the study of 
medicine with the idea of specializing in surgery and at seventeen years of age he took the 
examinations for entering upon a nu'dical course. However, his purpose was diverted through 
the intluence of his uncle, John Adt, who persuaded him to enter the business field, and at 
the age of eighteen years Howard E. Adt was designing special wire working machinery. His 
ready adaptability soon made him proficient in that field and he continued as designer and 
superintendent of construction for fourteen years, after which he was made manager of the 
business. Five years later, or in 1899, he organized the Geometric Drill Company, now the 
Geometric Tool Company, of which he is the secretary, treasurer and general manager and, 
in fact, is the only acti\e stockholder or director. He continues the directing head of this 
business, which is now a very important one, ranking with the leading productive industries 
of the city. This does not cover the scope of his interests and activities, however, for he 
is also the secretary and one of the directors of the New Haven Dairy Company. He is a 
director of the New England Machinery Company, a director of the Yale National Bank; a 
director of the New Haven Morris Plan Bank, and a member of the New Haven Jurv Com- 
mission, all of which indicates something of the natiire and breadth of his interests. Alert 



78 A .MODKHX HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

and energetic, he accom|iIislies wliat lie undertakes, never stopping sliort of suecessfiil com- 
pletion, and the methods which he has pursued should serve as a stimulus to others. 

.Mr. Adt was married in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Miss Henrietta Billings, a native 
of Putnam, that state, tracing her ancestry back in a direct line to the Mayflower. Mr. and 
Mrs. Adt have become the parents of two children: Frank, who has passed away; and Ruth 
Marion. 

In politics Mr. Adt has taken an active and helpful part as a supporter of the republican 
party. He is deeply interested in civic questions and heartily supports and promotes all 
plans which tend to advance the welfare of city, state and nation. He belongs to the indus- 
trial committee of New Haven, has been a member of the city council and of the Second 
Companv of the (Jovernor's Foot Guard. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, to the 
New Haven Young Alen's Christian Association and to the Cavalry Baptist church. He also 
has membership with the N'ew Haven Country Club and the Quinnipiac Club and when leisure 
peiniits he turns to the wilds for recreation, his friends bearing testimony to the fact that 
there are few ■'better huntsmen, better fishermen or better story tellers." He recognizes the 
fact that if the even balance which nature demands is maintained one must play well and 
work well. or. in other words, that the upbuilding of one's business powers depends also upon 
one's ability to take needed rest and recreation with its consequent relaxation. One of the 
secrets of his success is his power to concentrate. The matter in hand receives his entire 
attention. This has ever been oni of liis distinguishing characteristics and one of the basic 
elements in his success. 



RE(.IX.\L1) \V. MILLARD. 



W hilc ihcro li;i- i.l iici cssity been nuicli change in tlie personnel of the company conduct- 
ing bu.'^intss under tlic name ol Foster, ilerriam & Company, there ha» been no lowering of 
the high standaids which have always characterized the business from its inception, and with 
the passing years the business has been developed in its scope and has reached out in its 
ramifying trade interests luitil it covers a very wide territory. The president at this writing, 
in 1917, is Reginald \V. Jlillard. whose plans are well formulated and whose energy enables 
liim to carry forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. 

Reginald \V. .Millard w.is born in Hamilton. Ontario. Canada, March 13, 1886, a son of 
.lames \V. and Christina .Millard. He acquired a public and high school education and after- 
ward entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, from which he was gradu- 
ated with the class of 11)04 with the S. B. degree. He then returned to Canada and became 
engineer for the Hydro l';iectric Development Company at Ragged Rapids, Ontario. He has 
been identified with tlie interests of Meriden since 1910, when he became engineer for the 
International .Silver Company, a position which he acceptably filled until .lanuary 1, 1913, 
when he became associated with the Koster-Merriam Compan_y as general manager. He thus 
contiiuud until .September 14. 11114. when he was appointed president upon the death of Mr. 
Rutherford, and in that ca])acity lie has since continued. The firm manufactures various 
kinds of castings and sometliinj; or tlie volume of the business transacted is indicated in the 
fact that their employes now number about five hundred and fifty. The company of which 
he is the president is one of the oldest in Meriden. The business is divided into three 
departments: factory manufacturing; "cabinet hardware and casters; and a brass and iron 
foundry. There is also an extensive iron fovindry at Rocky Hill. 

Tlie product of the company is sold throughout the United States and is exported in 
considerable measure to f(U'eign countries. The plant covers a ground space of about one 
hundred and five thousand square feet and the Hoor space altogether is about three hundred 
and fifteen thousand square feet. Many of the buildings are four and five stories in height. 
The company maintains a New York ollice at Xo. 225 Canal street for the care of tlie metro- 
politan and the export trade and the house is represented ujion the road by seven traveling 
salesmen. 

In November, 1914. .Mr. Millard was united in marriage to Miss .leannette Crantliam. of 
Hamilton. Ontario, and tlicy have become parents of one child. .lames William. 

.Mr. .Millard is identified with various Masonic bodies. He belongs to .Meriden Lodge. 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 79 

No. 77, F. & A. M.: to Keystone Chapter, R. A. M.; and to St. Elmo Commandery, K. T. He 
is prominent as a member of Greek letter fraternities, including Sigma Alpha Epsilon and 
Theta Nu Epsilon. He is a member of the Highland Country Club, of the Home Club of 
Meriden, of tlie Technology Club of New York city and the American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and, like a true 
American citizen, he studies the questions and issues of the day, giving intelligent support 
to the measures and principles which lie deems of greatest worth to the country. His religious 
faith is that of the Episcopal church and constitutes the guiding force of his life, character- 
izing liis relations to tlic public, and exerting influence upon his business connections and in 
matters of friendship. 



CHARLES HINE NETTLETON. 

Charles Hine Nettleton is president of the New Haven Gas Light Company and president 
and treasurer of the Derby Gas Company. He has long been identified with the development 
and conduct of gas interests in this section of the state and his business ability has brought 
him to a prominent position. He is alert, energetic and determined and well defined plans 
have been carefully executed, so that he has along the line of steady progression advanced 
toward success. 

He was born in New Haven. .June 29, 1850, and is descended from Samuel Nettleton, the 
founder of the American branch of the family, who came from England about 1640, settling 
first in Wethersfield, Connecticut. He was afterward one of those who bought Totoket, now 
Bran ford, in the year 1644, and to that place he removed the same year. His descendants 
afterward settled in Milford, Connecticut, and later became residents of Washington, Con- 
necticut. It is from the last named branch of the family that Charles H. Nettleton comes. 
His father, who also bore tlie name of Charles Nettleton, was a lawyer by profession. He 
married Ellen Hine, a woman of verj' strong moral influence. 

In his boyhood days Charles Hine Nettleton attended the public schools of New York 
city, where the family home was established, and after completing his studies there he spent 
line year at the "Gunnery" at Washington, Connecticut. Immediately afterward he entered 
the College of the City of New Y'ork, in which he pursued the scientific course, being graduated 
in 1870 with the B. S. degree. Following his graduation he went to Mount Vernon, New York, 
to act as manager of the gas plant. In 187.3 he was made secretary and continued to fill 
that position until 1890, when the company sold out. In 1871 he also_went to Derby, Con- 
necticut, to take charge of the construction of the plant of the Derby Gas Company which 
was then being built. On the organization of the company he was elected its secretary and 
treasurer and filled the dual position until 1900, when he was chosen president, retaining also 
the ofRce of treasurer but retiring from the position of secretary. Since 1900 he has also 
been president of the New Haven Gas Light Company. He has from the outset of his busi- 
ness career been identified with the gas industry and there is no phase of the business with 
which he is not thoroughly familiar, and in every department is most competent, having 
comprehensive knowledge of practices of manufacture while displaying equal skill in admin- 
istration and in the performance of executive duties. 

Mr. Nettleton has served as president of the Birmingham Bank of Derby and as general 
manager of the Birmingham Water Company of Derby, occupying the latter position con- 
tinuously since 1874 or for a period of forty-four years. His business affairs have always 
been of a character that have had much to do with public welfare and comfort and it has 
ever been his purpose to extend the best service possible — an excellent service thoroughly 
adequate to the demand. 

On the 11th of November, 1874, Mr. Nettleton was united in marriage to Miss Katherine 
Arnold, a daughter of the late .Joseph Arnold, who for many years was cashier of the Birming- 
ham National Bank of Derby. Two children have been born of this marriage, Katherine 
Arnold and Ellen Arnold. 

Mr. Nettleton is a republican in his political views. He served as warden of the bor- 
ough of Shelton during the first two years of its existence but he has never been a politician 
in the sense of the office seeker, although always interested in the vital questions and issues 



80 A .MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

of the dav His religious faith is that of the Protestant Episcopal church. He is a member 
of the 4Ipha Delta Phi and of the Phi Beta Kappa. He also belongs to the Graduates' Club, 
the Quinnipiac Club and the I'nion League Club, all of Xew Haven, and the Lotos and Alpha 
Delta Phi Clubs of New York. In Masonry he has attained high rank, having reached the 
Kni"ht Templar degree of the York Kite and the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, 
wliiU. in his life he e.veniplili.s the beneficent si>irit of the craft. He tiu-ns for diversion to 
fishin.' and "olf and when business cares permit greatly enjoys those sports. The steps in 
his orderly ,rrogression are easily di.scernible. At the outset of his career he applied himself 
with thoroughness to the mastery of the duties assigned him and gained such an intimate 
and aco.rate knowledge of the business that promotion logically followed. Thus step by 
step he has advanced and in a position where he is subject to public censure or to public 
endorsement he has rendered such service as to win the latter in notable degree. 



HOADLEY BRAY IVES. 



Ives is one of the old historic names of New England, and has been represented in 
Connecticut since the settlement of William Ives, the American ancestor of the family, 
in the colony as early as 1642. The various descendants of this man have played a part in 
the making of a great nation, and Hoadley Bray Ives was no unworthy representative of the 

name. 

Hoadley B. Ives was born in North Haven, in 1814. a son of William Ives, Jr., and a grand- 
son of William Ives, Sr., the latter a farmer of North Haven, where he spent his entire life. 
William Ives, Jr., was born in North Haven, and followed farming as an occupation. He 
died when about seventy-five years old. His wife was born in East Haven, and died at the 
age of sixty-five. She became the mother of five children. 

Hoadley B. Ives was reared in North Haven, and was early set to learn the tinner's 
trade, but he ran away from his employer, and found a position as a clerk in a grocery 
in New Haven in which connection he remained until he was nineteen. At that age he 
set up in the grocery business on State street, and after a few years moved to Church 
street, and there purchased two buildings. He was quite successful, and was so engaged for 
a number of years. Mr. Ives was one of the originators of the National Savings Bank, 
and filled a position in it as treasurer as long as he lived, his period of active work as 
treasurer and director covering some twenty-five years. He was president of the Fair 
Haven & Westville Street Railroad Company, and saw that enterprise grow in 
importance until it has become one of the important lines of this part of the state. 

In his politics he was a republican, and for three years was an alderman; eight years 
a member of the common council, and he always took an active part in all the aflairs of the 
city. He was a director of the Yale National Bank and at one time owned nearly half its 
capital stock, being intimately associated with all its important transactions. 

On May 25, 1853, Mr. Ives was married to Mary E. Fisher, a native of the city of 
New York, and a daughter of Daniel M. and Mary (Watrous) Fisher, prominent in old 
New York circles. Daniel M. Fisher was well known in business for many years in the 
metropolis, and died at the age of eighty years. Mary (Watrous) Fisher was born in New 
Y'ork of French Huguenot e.xtraction, and became the mother of four children, one of 
whom was Mrs. Mary E. Ives. Mrs. Fisher died at the age of forty-one. Both she and 
her husband attended the Methodist church and Mrs. Ives attended Christ church. The 
death of Mr. Ives occurred March 19, 1894, his demise causing deep regret to his many 
friends who greatly appreciated him for his many fine traits of character. 

Mrs. Ives began a tour of the world February 6, 1895, and was away from home two 
and a half years. She spent one month in Ceylon, three months in India, three months in 
Japan, and made a prolonged stay in Italy, where her health was much improved. In 
1895 Mrs. Ives gave ten thousand dollars to build the chancel of Christ church, and in 
1899, gave two thousand dollars for the furnishing of the new Maternity Hospital. In 
August, 1901, she made a donation of ten thousand dollars to the Y. M. C. A. for the 
library, and the interest on five thousand dollars with which to buy books for the library. 




HOADLEY BRAY IVES 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 83 

this money to be given them at her death. She left in addition to these gifts many 
others of a most substantial character. She was a woman of high character and generous 
spirit, and possessed a host of friends in the community who appreciated her good qualities. 



EUGEXE MAURICE BLAKE. M. D. 

Comprehensive post graduate study abroad has splendidly qualified Dr. Eugene Maurice 
lilake for the active practice of medicine and surgery. He is now specializing in treatment 
of diseases of the eye and has gained more than local distinction in this connection. 

He was born in Bridgeport. Connecticut, December 31. 1882, and is a son of Frederick E. 
Blake, a native of New Haven, representing one of the old families of the state, of English 
lineage. The founder of the American branch of the family was Reuben Blake, who came 
to the new world about 1725. Among the ancestors of Dr. Blake were those who participated 
in the Revolutionary war. including this Reuben Blake, who enlisted from Danburj' and 
served as a private. Frederick E. Blako became a successful dry goods merchant of Bridge- 
port. He was a son of another Reuben Blake, also a native of New Haven, who served as a 
soldier of the Civil war witli a Connecticut regiment and was wounded and taken iirisoncr, 
after which he was confined in Libby prison until exchanged. He then reentered the service 
and continued to give active aid to the government until at last victory crowned the Union 
arms. The mother of Dr. Blake, Mrs. Corabel (Cottrell) Blake, was a native of Sharon, 
Connecticut, and a daughter of George Wesley and Julia (Rowley) Cottrell. The Cottrells 
came from New York and were of French descent, the family being established in Connecticut 
at an early period. Mrs. Blake is still living. 

Dr. HIake was an only child and was reared and educated in Bridgeport and in Wurcester. 
Massachusetts, afterward entering Yale in 1902. He there pursued the full course in medicine 
and was graduated in 1906 with the M. D. degree. Afterward he was interne at Hartford 
Hospital, where he remained for seven months, and then entered practice with Dr. A. N. 
Ailing, of New Haven, with whom he was associated for six years. On the expiration of that 
jieriod he began practice alone, specializing in the treatment of diseases of the eye, in which 
field he has attained marked distinction. He is the author of many articles which have been 
published in the leading medical journals, especially of those treating of the eye. He has 
'been lecturer on the eye in the Yale Medical School and staff officer in the New Haven 
Dispensary. He was formerly a member of the medical staff as ophthalmologist at St. 
Raphael's Hospital and he is now serving on the staff of the New Haven Hospital. In 1909 
he took post graduate work in Vienna. Paris and Heidelberg and remained five months abroad, 
iluring which time lie came iinder tlio instruction of sonio of the most eminent oculists of the 
uM world. 

On the 17th of October Htio in ( harleston. West Virginia, Dr. Blake was united in 
marriage to Miss ilary Capertou. a native of West X'irginia and a daughter of George Heniy 
and Anna (Chambliss) Capertou, both of whom are still living. The only daughter born to 
Ilr. and Mrs. Blake died in infancy. 

Dr. and ilrs. Blake are members of Trinity Episcu])al church He belongs to the Gradu- 
ates' Club, also to Nu Sigma Nu, a medical fraternity, and to Sigma I'si. He is a first 
lieutenant of the Medical Reserve Corps. U. S. A. Dr. Blake holds membership in the New 
Haven, New Haven County and Connecticut State Medical Societies, the American Medical 
-•Association, the American Ophthalmological .Society, and the New Y'ork Academy of Medicine. 



LEONARD MAYHEW DAGGETT. 

Prominent among the leading members of the Connecticut bar is Leonard Mayhew 
Daggett, of New Haven, who for thirty years has been an active representative of the bar. 
He was born November 23. 1863, in the city in which he makes his home, his parents being 
David Lewis and Margaret Donaldson (Gibbons) Daggett. The ancestry in the paternal line 
is traced back to .John Daggett, who came to the new world with (Jovernor John Winthrop 



84 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

in 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. His son, Thomas Daggett, married a 
daughter of Tliomas Mayhew, who was governor of Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and the 
Elizabeth islands. David Daggett, a representative of the family in the fifth generation iu 
America, came to New Haven from Attleboro, Massachusetts, was graduated from Yale in 
1783 and at once entered upon the practice of law in New Haven. Many times he was 
elected to the general assembly of the state and for one term he served in the United States 
senate. In 1826 he was appointed Kent professor of law in Yale and for a brief period he 
.served upon the supreme bench of Connecticut as chief justice. His son, Leonard Augustus 
Daggett, was graduated from Yale in 1807, and liis son, David Lewis Daggett, was graduated 
in 1839. The last named was born in 1820 and following his graduation from the medical 
department of Yale entered upon active practice in New Haven, remaining for fifty-three 
years a member of the medical profession of this city. In 1854 he wedded Margaret Don- 
aldson Gibbons and they became the parents of three sons; David, who was born April 3, 
1858, and died July 3, 1916; William G.. who was born January 8, 1860, and died September 
18, 1910; and Leonard Mayhew. The father passed away in February, 1896, at the age of 
seventy-six years, and in his passing New Haven lost one of its distinguished and repre- 
sentative citizens. 

Leonard M. Daggett pursued his preparatory studies in the Hopkins grammar school 
and in his college days he became a member of the Kappa Sigma Epsilon and the Psi Upsilon. 
Following his graduation he taught for a year in the Hopkins grammar school and subse- 
quently studied in the Yale Law School, from which he was graduated with the class of 
1887. After a year's clerkship in the law office of Townsend & Watrous in New Haven he 
entered upon the private practice of law but soon became associated with Henry C. White, 
under the firm style of White & Daggett. He is now a member of the firm of Bristol & 
White. From 1894 until 1910 he was instructor on the law of wills in the Yale Law School. 
In 191.") he succeeded William Waldo Hyde of Hartford as one of the board of five trustees 
appointed by the United States court to hold and operate the Connecticut Company, the 
trolley system formerly owned by the New Haven Railroad. In 1917 he was appointed 
a member of the district exemption board for the second district, of which he served as 
chairman. He is a director of the Second National Bank. 

On the 17th of February. 1906, Mr. Daggett was married in New Haven to Miss Eleanor 
Evelyn Cutler, a daughter of the late Evarts Cutler, formerly of this city. Mr Daggett 
has always given his political allegiance to the republican party and in 1890 was elected 
a member of the board of councilmen of New Haven. In 1894 he became judge advocate 
general on the staff of Governor Coffin and filled that position for two years, while in 1901 he 
bi'came corporation counsel of New Haven, a position which he admirably filled until 1908. 



WILLIAM RUSSELL (m.BERT. 

William Russell Gilbert, deceased, was well known in journalistic circles in Wallingford, 
whrir lie made his home from 1869 until his death. He was born at Waldens Ridge, Tennes- 
see, October 23, 1853, a son of Raphael and Angelica (Freeborn) Gilbert, The father spent 
the greater part of his life in New York, where he was engaged in the silverware manufac- 
turing business. He afterward removed to Meriden and later went to Springfield, while his 
last days were spent at Northampton. His wife also passed away in Northampton. 

It was during the infancy of William Russell Gilbert that his parents removed to New 
York city, where he practically acquired his education. He began to learn his trade with his 
father and in 1869 took up his abode in Wallingford, where he entered the employ of the 
Simpson, Hall & Miller Company, with whom he continued tor twenty-two years or until 1891. 
In the meantime he had become interested in newspaper work, having in the early '70s as- 
sumed the position of correspondent of the Sunday Union, representing its interests in 
Wallingford. He still continued to work in the shop, doing his newspaper work evenings. 
In 1890 he entered into business relations with the Journal of Meriden, at which time that 
paper was in its infancy. In 1891 the circulation had so increased that he was offered in- 
ducements to give up work at the factory and devote his entire attention to building up the 
circulation, the advertising and the job printing departments. He accepted the offer which 



i 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 85 

was made liim and contimied in active connection with the Journal up to the time of his 
(ieatli. being business manager for the paper at VVallingford and by his enterprise and ability 
contributing much to its growth and success. 

On the 20th of September. 1877, at the home of the bride at 335 North Main street in 
Wallingford, Mr. Gilbert was married to Miss Minnie E. Loomis, a daughter of Milton and 
Mary (Beaumont) Loomis. Her grandfather, Elijah Beaumont, was one of the early settlers 
iif Wallingford and became one of the first school master* and surveyors. Mrs. Gilbert's 
present home is a part of the old Beaumont homestead, established by her great-grandfather, 
Deodate Beaumont, who kept a tavern at the present corner of Main and Christian streets. 
The Beaumonts are descended from one of two brothers who came from England about the 
time that the Mayflower crossed the Atlantic. The family were of the English nobility and 
Mrs. Gilbert has the Beaumont coat of arms and is in possession of many articles which have 
been handed down from early periods and are now cherished heirlooms. To Mr. and Mrs. Gil- 
bert were born three children: Leonard Russell, of New Haven; Grace S., at home, a public 
school teacher of Wallingford; and Clarence Beaumont, also of Wallingford. 

In his political views Mr. Gilbert was a democrat, giving stalwart allegiance to the party 
but never desiring nor seeking office. Fraternally he was connected with the Masons, the 
Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias and was a loyal adherent of those diflferent organiza- 
tions. He possessed many sterling traits of character which won him high regard and he 
had a circle of friends in Wallingford almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintance. 



CHARLES LLEWELLYN CHAPLAIN. 

For many years New Haven numbered Charles Llewellyn Chaplain among its well known 
ami worthy citizens. He was a native of Maryland, born at Cambridge, on the eastern shore, 
in 1816, and was a son of .Tames and Elizabeth (Davis) Chaplain. In his native state Charles 
L. Chaplain pursued his education and. coming to New Haven, he entered the Yale Law School, 
from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1838. He then returned home and 
remained for a short period in Maryland, engaging in law practice in Baltimore, but on the 
expiration of that time he again came to New Haven, where he ever afterward resided. He 
did not continue in the practice of his profession, however, but turned his attention to a 
business life instead and became engaged in manufacturing in Newark, New .Jersey, where 
lie carried on business for some years, although he still resided in New Haven and when 
necessary made trips to Newark to look after his interests there. After retiring from busi- 
ness he spent his remaining days in a quiet manner but took the utmost interest in New 
Haven and its welfare. 

Mr. Chaplain was married in New Haven in 1842 to Frances Edwards Whitney, who was 
born in this city November 23, 1817, a daughter of Eli and Henrietta Frances (Edwards) 
Whitney and a granddaughter of Hon. Pierpont Edwards, who graduated from Princeton Col- 
lege in 1768, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, a member of the Continental Congress 
and a judge of the United States court of Connecticut. Eli Whitney, the father of Mrs., 
Chaplain, Avas the celebrated inventor of the cotton gin. Six children were born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Chaplain : Henrietta Whitney, deceased ; William Richard Thomas, who died in New 
York in 1912; Frances Edwards and Elizabeth Stoddard, both of whom reside in New Haven; 
Alice Llewellyn, who died in infancy; and Charles Francis, who died at the age of thirty-six 
years. Mrs. Chaplain passed awaj' at her home in New Haven, May 5, 18.59, and was laid 
(o rest in the Whitney lot in the Grove street cemetery. The death of Mr. Chaplain occurred 
February 7, 1892. His home for many years was on Elm street in the old Eli Whitney 
homestead, which he occu])ied until 1861, but for many years before his death his residence 
was on Church street. 

In the death of Mr. Chaplain. New Haven lost a valued and representative citizen. Quiet 
and unassuming in manner, he was devoted to the city of his adoption, its people and its 
institutions, and was most public spirited in every way, being always ready and willing to 
lend his aid to any worthy cause. He was the prime mover in forming a committee to collect 
funds for the erection of a monument to Mayor Skinner, of New Haven, and took a deep 
interest. in that work, doing everything in his power to make it a success. He was noted for 



S6 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

liis sterling character, liis ilevotiun to liis liome and his family and other admirable traits. In 
politics he was a stanch democrat and a firm believer in the principles advocated by Thomas 
.Jeflferson but was opposed to the stand taken by the southern states during the Civil war 
and was one of the committee sent to Virginia to oppose secession. 

At the time of his death a New Haven newspaper spoke of him as follows: "One rarely 
meets a more gentlemanly or courteous person than was Mr. Chaplain. He had all that grace 
and politeness which characterize gentlemen born and bred in the south, for whose customs 
and institutions he always retained a hearty sympathy and partiality, and during the war 
of the rebellion lie was rather pronounced in his remarks on the conduct of the war, but 
personally he was a most genial and companionable man, sensitively careful of the feelings 
of others. He had an extensive acquaintance among the prominent politicians and business 
men of the country and formerly made frequent trips to Washington. He several times was 
strongly talked of as a candidate for congress from this district. He was a gifted conver- 
sationalist and always had an ample fund of anecdotes and was always ready to entertain 
his friends with reminiscences of public men. many of which were exceedingly interesting 
and admirably told. He was keen-witted and in discussion most al>ly carried his ])oint. He 
was an extensive reader and possessed a wonderful fund of general information. He had a 
philosophy of his own and although some of his friends did not always agree with his belief 
they respected him for his faith in his own ideas. For many years his tall, slender and 
graceful figure was one of the most familiar features of our streets and he was always ready 
for a pleasant chat with his friends. He hesitated a little in his speech at times while 
selecting the most fitting phraseology but usually his thoughts came much faster than he 
could express them." 



JULIUS TWISS. 



Julius Twiss, well known in financial circles in New Haven, where he was for twenty - 
two years secretary and treasurer of the National Savings Bank, has been prominently identi- 
lied with financial and professional interests in this city for many years, being now comp 
troller and a trustee of that institution. He is a representative of one of Connecticut's old 
colonial families, which originated in England and traces the ancestral line back to a very 
remote period. The name has been variously spelled as Twiss, Twisse and Twist. The 
family possesses a coat of arms which has been described as: gules, a chevron between three 
bucks trippant, or; erest, a demi-griffin proper. The Twiss family of Kerry is descended 
from Richard Twiss, who settled in Ireland in the reign of Charles I and became a magis- 
trate of County Kerry. 

In tracing the ancestral line on this side the Atlantic it is found that Thomas Twiss 
settled in Connecticut about the same time that Peter Twiss took up his abode in Marble - 
head, Massachusetts, where he was married on the 26th of October, 1680, to Anna Kellum. 
Peter Twiss was doubtless the progenitor of the family as represented in Beverly, Marbh - 
head and elsewhere in Essex county. Massachusetts, and at Auburn and in other towns of 
New Hampshire. Both Peter and Thomas Twiss are thought to be descended from Dr. 
William Twiss, who lived in England from 1575 until 1640, according to the Biographical 
Dictionary, Vol. 30, published by Dr. Chalmers. His father was a successful clothier at New- 
bury in County Berks, England, and his grandfather was, according to Woods "Oxeniesis," 
of German nativity. The pioneer of the family in Connecticut was Thomas Twiss, who wns 
born about 1675 and departed this life in 1750. He was believed to have been the grandson 
of one of three brothers, Daniel, Nathan and Robert Twiss, who came from England and 
settled at Salem, Marblehead or at Boston between 1650 and 1660. Thomas Twiss on be- 
coming a resident of Connecticut remained for a time in Farmington. On the 2d of Decem- 
ber, 1702, he wedded Abigail Howe, a daughter of Nathaniel Howe, of Wallingford. Their 
children were: Benjamin Daniel, who was born in 1705; Abigail, born in June, 1707; Cath 
erine, June 14, 1709; Thomas, July 1, 1712; Mehitabel, January 4, 1714; John, August 15. 
1716; and Joseph, born April 1, 1718. As far as is known all were born in Cheshire. Ben 
jamin Twiss, a representative of the Connecticut branch of the family in the second genera 
tion, a son of Thomas and Abigail (Howe) Twiss, was born about 1703 and died in Wallinr'- 




Tt^i-M^^o; q) (Vir-T^^-^up 



V/if /ifj.ctf//i/(c/n yctrfj" 



i 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COl'NTY 89 

ford, Connecticut, in April, 1743. His second wife, Ruth Kern, whom he wedded in 1728, bore 
him one son, Joseph. 

Joseph Twi.ss, of the tliird generation, was in the direct line of the ancestors of Julius 
Twiss, whose father was Russell Twiss. Russell Twiss learned the trade of clock maker in 
Connecticut. He afterward went to Canada to promote the manufacture of American clocks 
there. He bought the parts from American manufacturers and assembled them in Canada, 
where he spent his remaining days, his death occurring at La Guerre in 1851. He married 
Permelia Preston, who was born in Merideh, Connecticut, and died in New Haven in 1880. 
They became the parents of six children, of whom three are still living, Gustave, Julius and 
Nelson. 

Julius Twiss was born in Joliette, in the province of Quebec, Canada, April 18, 1838, and 
while there spending his boyhood and youth attended school until he reached the age of 
sixteen years. After his father's death he accompanied his mother to Meriden, Connecticut, 
and was first employed as a clerk in the postoffice, of which his uncle, Hiram Hall, was 
postmaster. He was not in good health during his boyhood days but he persevered in his 
efforts to obtain an education and succeeded in spite of many handicaps. He was especially 
well versed in history, in religious works and in the best English fiction. He prepared for 
college at the Hopkins grammar school in New Haven and afterward entered Yale, from which 
he won his Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation with the class of 1863. He then con- 
tinued his studies in the Yale Law School and received the LL. B. degree in 1865. In Sep- 
tember of that year he opened an office on Church street in New Haven, where he continued 
in general practice with gratifying success for almost thirty years, or until 1894. In the 
meantime he had become an active factor in public affairs. In 1886 he was elected to the 
common council of the city of New Haven and served as a member of that body for eight 
years. From 1869 until 1872 he was clerk of the city court and in the latter year was ap- 
pointed a member of the first tax commission that ever officiated in New Haven. He be- 
came a candidate for the office of probate .judge but ran when the party was in the min- 
ority. From June, 1872, until February, 1882, there were brought before him as justice of 
the peace eighteen hundred and thirty civil suits. He declined to serve longer as justice 
although his fellow townsmen would have continued him in that position, for his decisions 
were strictly fair and impartial and he "won golden opinions from all sorts of people." 
His political views were independent with sympathies leaning toward the republican party. 
He did not ally himself with either party but cast his ballot according to the dictates of his 
judgment. From 1866 until 1869 he was an active member of the New Haven Grays and is 
now a member of the Veteran Grays. 

Mr. Twiss has also been very prominent in Masonic circles. He holds membership in 
Hiram Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M.. of which he was treasurer for three years, was master for 
one year and has been trustee since 1880. He was also a director of the Masonic Mutual 
Benefit Association of Connecticut for several years and he has done everything in his power 
to promote the interests of Masonry. Advancing through the York Rite of the order, he 
became a member of New Haven Commandery, K. T. In religious and philanthropic work 
he has also taken a most active and helpful interest and since 1880 has been a member of the 
society committee of the Calvary Baptist Ecclesiastical Society and a member of the ex- 
ecutive committee of the New Haven Baptist Union since 1893. He was also its president 
for a number of years. He has been a director of the organized charities since 1898 and a 
member of the board of managers of the Calvary Industrial Home from its organization 
until it passed out of existence. The nature of his interests is further indicated in the 
fact that he retains his membership with the Young Men's Republican Club, the New Haven 
Colony Historical Society, the New Haven Chamber of Comnierce. the Vale (Graduates t lub, 
and the Kn'glits Templar C'lub. Since July 3. 1873, he has been connected with the 
National Savings Bank of New Haven, and from that time until the present his connection 
has been continued, first as trustee, then secretary and treasurer. To the last named posi- 
tion he was elected in March, 1894. Soon afterward he gave up the practice of law and has 
since devoted his attention to the interests of the financial institution In 1916 he became 
comptroller of the bank, and under his guidance the business of the bank has greatly in- 
creased. He is a man of sound and discriminating judgment who readily discerns the essen- 
tial features in every business project and so directs his efforts that fruition is certain. 
Mr. Twiss is now in the eightieth year of his age but the burdens of years rest lightly 



90 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

upon him. In spirit and interests he seems yet in his prime, for he keeps in close touch with 
the trend of modern thought and progress. Old age need not necessarily suggest idleness 
nor want of occupation. Indeed there is an old age which grows mentally brighter as the 
years go on and gives out of its rich stores of wisdom and experience for the benefit of 
iithers. Such is tlie record of .Julius Twiss, a man who has long been honored as a promin- 
ent factor in professional and financial circles and in connection with the public life of the 
community. 



CHARLES W. WHITTLESEY. 

Business enterprise finds a worthy exponent in Charles W. ^\'hittlesey, now the president 
of the Charles W. Whittlesey Company, wholesale druggists of New Haven. He has been 
continuously connected with this business for thirty-eight years and since 1882 has been its 
e.xecutive head. His plans are always well defined and promptly executed, and difficulties and 
obstacles in liis path have seemed but to serve as an impetus for renewed eflfort on his part. 

Mr. Whittlesey was born on the 18th of December, 1860, in New Haven, and comes of 
English ancestry, the family having been founded in America by John Whittlesey, who was 
a native of England and after crossing the Atlantic became a resident of Saybrook, Con- 
necticut. He established a ferry between Saybrook and Old Lyme, which remained in pos- 
session of the family until 1839. It was at New Britain that Dr. Charles B. Whittlesey, 
father of Charles W. Whittlesey, was born and later upon the death of liis father, spent 
most of his youth in Southington under the guidance of his grandfather, Roger Whittlesey, a 
graduate of Yale class of 1787. He became a physician by profession, having been graduated 
from the medical department of Y'ale in 1843. He entered the drug business in 1845, estab- 
lishing the house which is now carried on under the name of the Charles W. Whittlesey 
Company, and in which he remained active up to the time of his death in 1878, when he was 
fifty-seven years of age. He was much interested in civic matters and in religious work as 
well, holilmg membership in the Center church. For many years he was very prominent in 
its affairs and long served as its treasurer. His aid and influence were always given on the 
side of progi'ess and improvement and he held to high standards of manhood and citizenship. 
He married Esther Antoinette Wilcoxson, who was born at Milan, Ohio, but represented an 
old Connecticut family that removed to the Western Reserve about 1820 and which was of 
Scotcli and English lineage. The Whittlesey family was founded in America during an early 
period in the colonization of the new world and representatives of the name participated in 
the struggle for independence. Mrs. Whittlesey passed away in 1908 at the advanced age 
of eighty years. She was the mother of six children of whom three are living: Mabel H., 
of New Haven; Mrs. Ellis Mendell, of Brookline, Massachusetts; and Charles W. 

The last named attended the public schools of New Haven until he completed the high 
school course, and afterward entered the Slieffield Scientific School, from which he was gradu- 
ated in 1879 with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. Prior to his graduation he entered 
into active connection with the business left by his father, at 744 Chapel street, near State 
street, and there he thoroughly acquainted himself with the wholesale drug trade in all its 
departments. Later, in 1882, he assumed the management of the business for his mother 
and won success in the careful direction of her interests. In 1887 he purchased the business 
from the family and incorporated it in 1898, since which time he has been the president. The 
firm employs on an average of thirty-five people and the business occupies three stories of a 
four story building, having ajiproximately twenty thousand square feet of floor space. The 
trade covers western Connecticut and Massachusetts and the undertaking is one of the most 
itnportant commercial interests in New Haven. Mr. Whittlesey is also a director of the New 
Haven Bank and of the Morris Plan Bank. He displays keen discernment in business and 
his enterprise is the expression of laudable ambition and careful consideration of the ques- 
tions relating to the trade. 

On the 25th of November. 1891. Mr. Whittlesey was married in New Haven to Miss 
Delia Barnes Bradley, a native of this city and a daughter of the late Robert and Cornelia 
(Minor) Bradley. Mrs. Whittlesey passed away September 25. 1902, at the age of thirty-one 
years. There were three children of that marriage. Ethid was born in New Haven March 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 91 

25, 1894, and is now in the university secretary's oHice in charge of war records. Robert 
Bradley, born October 11, 1895, left Yale in his junior year in May, 1917, to enlist in the 
service of his country and is now acting quartermaster on board the U. S. S. Narada. Charles 
B., who was born June 30, 1898, died March 32, 1900. On the 5th of January, 1910, Mr. 
Whittlesey was married to Miss Marj' Reed Eastman, of Albany, New York, a daughter of 
the Rev. William R. Eastman, a retired clergyman, and Laura (Barnes) Eastman of Plants- 
ville, Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Wliittlesey have one child, Margaret, born in New Haven 
February 20, 1911. 

Mr. Wliittlesey is a member of the Connecticut Home Guard. His political indorsement 
is given to the republican party and in 1891 he served as a member of the city council. He 
holds membership in the Graduates' Club, the Country Club of New Haven, and the Drug 
and Clieniical Club of New York. He belongs to the Center church of New Haven and is 
serving on its financial committee. His entire life has been spent in the city where he yet 
makes his home and throughout the entire period he has been connected with the drug trade. 
His is a record of a strenuous life — a record of a strong individuality, sure of itself, 
stable in purpose, quick in perception, swift in ded\iction, energetic and persistent in action. 



ALLEN MAXCY HILLER. 



Allen Maxcy Hiller, wlio for twenty years has engaged in the practice of law in New 
Haven, his native city, is a son of Jonathan and Abigail M. (Allen) Hiller, both of whom 
came of English and Scotch ancestry. The latter was a daughter of Samuel Allen, who 
was an officer in Captain Asa Fairbanks' Company in the Revolutionary war. The former 
was a nephew of Captain Hiller, a commander in the United States navy, who was lost at 
sea when his vessel went down off Cape Hatteras about 1812. .Jonathan Hiller was one of 
the old residents of New Haven, where for many years he engaged in the banking, brokerage 
and real estate business. He was a friend and contemporary of Gerald Hallock, Philip 
Marett, Stephen Whitney, Professor Gibbs and others of the old time residents of the city. 
His wife was educated at Edward Herrick'a famous boarding school, located where Woolsey 
Hall now stands. They were married at the home of her relative, the late James Brewster, 
who was the pioneer carriage builder of New Haven. 

In the acquirement of his education Allen M. Hiller attended the Hopkins grammar 
school of New Haven and was successively a student in the Edward L. Hart Classical School 
of Farmington, the Cheshire Military Academy, the Pennsylvania State Military Academy 
and Yale University. He received the degree of Master of Arts from Yale in 1893 and, enter 
ing upon preparation for the bar, he won his LL. B. degree upon graduation from Yale witli 
the class of 1897. In early manhood he had been engaged in journalism and literary work in 
New York. Following his admission to the Connecticut bar as attorney in 1897, he entered 
upon practice in New Haven, where he has since remained. His practice has been general and 
of an important character, connecting him with many prominent litigated interests. He is 
financially interested in various institutions in New Haven. 

On the 28th of September, 1892, in Hatfield, Massachusetts Mr. Hiller was married to 
Miss Clara Louise Thayer, of West Medway, Massachusetts, a daughter of .Judge Addison 
Thayer of that place. She is a daughter and granddaughter of Massachusetts jurists and is 
a direct descendant on botli her niotlier's and father's sides from colonial families. To ^Ir. 
and Mrs. Hiller have been born three children, Helen Thayer, Constance Lane and Celia 
Farnam. 

Mr. Miller lias been connected witli Trinity cluircli and (enter chun-li of New Haven. 
He belongs to the Young Men's Republican Club and has always been a stanch supporter of 
the republican party from the time when age conferred upon him the right of franchise. 
For a number of years he was a member of the New Haven republican town committee 
and assisted in the founding of the Young Men's Republican Club. He became a director of 
the Young Men's Republican Club Company and also of the New Haven Free Public Library. 
He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the University Club. 

Mr. Hiller has done much important public service. He was a member of the board of 
aldermen from 1888 until 1894, was a member of the board of compensation from 1895 until 



92 



A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW IIAVEX 



1898 and in the latter year served as its president. He aided in the establishment and in 
the work of securing a charter for tlie New Haven Free Public Library in 1886, was president 
of its board of directors for three years and a member of that board for sixteen years. He 
also became president of the New Haven University Extension Center upon its incorporation 
in 1S90 and has so continued to the present time. 

The military record of Mr. Hiller covers service with the Union army during the latter 
part of the Civil war. In September. 1864, he became a private soldier of Company G, 
One Hundred and Ninety-ninth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, at which 
time he was a youth of sixteen years. He served as a volunteer cadet in repelling Morgan's 
raid in Kentucky in 1864 and on the 1st of October of that year he was promoted to the 
rank of second lieutenant. Subsequently he received promotion to the rank of first lieutenant 
and acting adjutant of the regiment and was discharged as brevet captain from the military 
service of the United States on the 28th of June, 1865. 

A spirit of patriotism has characterized his entire career and his loyalty to his country 
lias ever been as marked as when he followed the stars and stripes on the battlefields of 
the south. His activities in behalf of his city have been farreaching and resultant and his 
course reflects credit and honor upon a name that has figured prominently in connection with 
tlie ilcvclopmcnt anil substantial upbuilding of Connecticut from colonial days. 



E. HERMANN ARNOLD, M. D. 

Trained under some of the most eminent teachers of medicine and surgery in Europe, 
Dr. E. Hermann Arnold has largely specialized in orthopedic work and as instructor and 
practitioner in that field has gained high rank. 

He was born at Erfurt, the famous city of flowers, in Thuringia, Germany, on February 
11, 1865, a son of Bruno and Ernestine (Orzakowska) Arnold. The father was a master 
mechanic in connection with a railroad company and was very active in political affairs, 
holding strongly to democratic principles and policies. 

Dr. Arnold was educated in the "Real-Gymnasium" at Halle (Saalc), Germany. He 
was a youth of eighteen when in 1883 he came to America and located in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
where he engaged in iron construction work, being thus employed for two years. He also 
acted, as newspaper correspondent for eighteen months and on the expiration of that period 
removed to the northwest, settling in Dakota territory. He there became a cowboy, riding 
the range, and he says that he enjoyed the free, open life of that country better than any 
other. However, he left Dakota to enter the Normal School of Gymnastics at Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin, from which he was graduated with the class of 1888. He afterward taught phys- 
ical training at Trenton, New Jersey, for three years, on the expiration of which period he 
took a trip to Europe for the study of orthopedics. He spent one semester at Leipzig, 
Germany, and then returned to America, taking up his abode in New Haven, where he entered 
the Yale Medical School, from which he was graduated in 1894 with the M. D. degree. Im- 
mediately afterward he entered upon the active practice of hia profession, in which he 
has since continued with success. In 1895 he returned to Europe for the further study 
of orthopedic surgery and spent some time in the universities of Halle and of Leipzig. Upon 
his return he instituted the first orthopedic service in the city of New Haven, establishing 
himself in the New Haven Dispensary and also becoming an instructor in orthopedic surgery 
in the medical department of Yale. He continued in both lines until the 1st of March, 1917, 
when he resigned both positions and for the New Haven Normal School of Gymnastics 
opened a dispensary, known as the New Haven Orthopedic Dispensary, at 256 State street. 
This is thoroughly fitted up with all the modern appliances and facilities found in an insti- 
tute of this kind and the most expert work along that line is being done there. Dr. Arnold's 
greatest work has been in connection with the New Haven Normal School of Gymnastics, an 
institution whose growth and development has been remarkable. He is now the president 
of the school and has been the managing director since 1896. 

This school was founded in 1886 in Brooklyn and in 1892 was removed to New Haven 
In that year Dr. Arnold became an instructor in the institution and continued in that capacitv 
until 1896, when he assumed the management and has since directed his energies and 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 95 

efforts to its control, developing and upbuilding. The original quarters of the school in 
New Haven consisted of two rooms in the Insurance building and the first enrollment was 
seventeen pupils. Today the home of the school comprises a campus of three acres, on 
which are seven buildings, at Chapel street and Sherman avenue, together with an athletic 
field in East Haven and a farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres on which are found ten 
buildings. All this equipment is utilized in the training of the one hundred and seventy- 
five students and the increase in the school property is indicative also of the improved meth- 
ods of work which have been introduced. Dr. Arnold holds to the highest standards in these 
things and his labors have been attended with most satisfactory and beneficial results. He 
ie chairman of the recreation section of the Civic Federation and Chamber of Commerce and 
as such is director of playgrounds of the city of New Haven. 

In 1889, at Trenton, New Jersey, Dr. Arnold was married to Miss Marie Nagel, a native 
of Germany and a daughter of John and Mary Nagel, now deceased. They had two chil- 
dren, Marie Ernestine and Hermann Bruno, both born in New Haven. 

Dr. Arnold belongs to the Yale Club of New York and the Racebrook Country Club of 
New Haven. In politics he maintains an independent policy. Almost his entire thought 
and attention are given to his profession. He is orthopedist at the Grace Hospital of New 
Haven, and also the Griffin Hospital at Derby, was associate editor of Mind and Body, and 
he is a member of the New Haven, the New Haven County, the Connecticut State and the 
American Medical Associations. He also belongs to the New York Academy of Medicine — 
and is president of the orthopedic section of that body — to the Connecticut Academy of Arts 
and Sciences, the American Academy for the Advancement of Science and the national coun- 
cil of the American Physical Education Association, of which he was president in 1916. 

Dr. Arnold has made valuable contribution to scientific literature along his specific 
line, being the author of Elementary Apparatus Work, published in 1896; a Manual of 
School Gymnastics, published in 1898; Gymnastic Tactics, in 1899; and Gymnastic Games, in 
1900. He enjoys a national reputation in his profession and has done much for the restora- 
tion of health and happiness to many unfortunates who have been placed in his care. More- 
over, through his teaching his methods have been carried far and wide and thus the influ- 
ence of his efforts is constantly broadening. 



XAVIER PFAFF. 



Xavicr PfaiT, who is the proprietor of an up-to-date and well patronized grocery and 
meat market in West Haven, was born in HohenzoUern-Sigmaringen, Germany, December 3, 
1866, the son of Euseb and Rosalie PfafI, the former a baker by trade. He took quite an 
active part in public affairs in his home town in Germany, and served for a time as tax 
collector. In 1891 he came to the United States and followed his trade in New Haven until 
he retired from active life. He now makes his home with his son, Xavier. 

The latter received a public school education in Germany and learned the baker's trade 
under the direction of his father. When only sixteen years of age, or in 1882, he decided to try 
his fortune in the new world and came to the United States. He first located in New Haven 
but for a number of years has been a resident of West Haven. Until 1897 he worked at the 
baker's trade and then became connected with the grocery business in the capacity of clerk. 
In 1901 he opened a grocery and meat market of his own at No. 106 Center street, and in 
the intervening sixteen years has built up one of the best businesses in those lines in the 
borough. He has shown unusual good judgment in the seclection of his stock, and has fol- 
lowed a liberal policy in his dealings with his customers that has commended him to their 
continued patronage. He is a director of the Orange Bank & Trust Company and in the West 
Haven Publishing Company. He also belongs to the Merchants' Provision Company, an 
organization of merchants. 

Mr. Pfaff was married on September 15, 1890, in New Haven to Miss Josephine Durr, a 
daughter of Nicholas Durr, a farmer of New Haven county. Eight children have been born 
to this union, namelj': Florence, the wife of W. F. Wolff, a baker of West Haven; Alfred, who 
is with his father in business; Alice; Josephine; William; Arthur; Paul; and Eleanor. 

Mr. Pfaff belongs to the Cecilus Society and to St. Lawrence Roman Catholic church. 
Vol. II — 5 



96 A MODERN HISTORY OP NEW HAVEN 

In politics he is a stand, republican but has never been an office seeker. As a private citi- 
zen, however, he has accomplished a great deal toward the advancement of the best interests 
of his community and has always been among the first to advocate civic and social improve'- 
ments. He has given a great deal of his time and work to the promotion of good roads and 
is a member of the Good Roads Association and the Good Koads Committee and the New 
Haven Automobile Club. He is identified with both the New Haven and the West Haven 
Chambers of Commerce and is a working member of both organizations. He possesses far 
more than the usual energy and initiative and has turned those characteristics to account for 
the benefit of the community as well as in the upbuilding of his own business. 



ROBERT JAMES MERRIAM. 



Robert James Merriam, who since 1904 has been the treasurer of Foster, Merriam & Com- 
pany, has contributed in marked measure to the success of the extensive iron industry with 
which he is identified. He was born in Meriden, January 14, 1879, a son of Nelson C. and 
Rose (Kingsley) Merriam. After acquiring a public school education he attended the Ger- 
man-American Preparatory School. He then spent three years as a student in the Meriden 
high school and completed the four years' course in that time by doing extra work. He grad- 
uated from Wesleyan University, of Middletown, Connecticut, in 1901 with the Ph. B. degree. 
Throughout his entire business career he has been connected with Foster, Merriam & Company, 
his father being the president and treasurer at the time when Robert J. Merriam entered the 
company. He started in a humble capacity and learned to do the different kinds of work in the 
shops, thus thoroughly acquainting himself with every practical phase of the business. He 
afterward went upon the road, selling in western territory, and was working for the company 
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when notified of his father's death. Since that time he has 
been the treasurer of the company and as one of its chief executive officers has largely 
directed the policy of the concern and contributed in marked measure to its development. 

It is one of the oldest established interests of Meriden, having figured in industrial 
circles here for more than eighty years. From the beginning its interests have been guided 
by men of marked business capacity and enterprise. The beginning was small, the business 
being established in what was then known as Crow Hollow, in a little shop thirty by twenty- 
five feet. The original founders of the business were Albert and Hiram Foster, Julius Way, 
Asaph Merriam and Nelson Merriam, all of Meriden. and a Mr. Belden, of New Britain. 
Business was begun under the firm style of Foster, Belden & Company and a plant was 
established for the manufacture of casters only, with a capital stock of but twenty-five hun- 
dred dollars. The castings were made by other firms and one of the partners would carry 
these in a buggy to the shop every day and return with the finished product in the same way. 
The daily output consumed probably less than two hundred pounds of castings. Horse pow-er 
was used in operating the machinery and the luembers of the firm did all of the work them- 
selves. In 1835 ilr. Belden witlidrew. selling his interests to Asaph and Nelson Merriam, at 
which time the firm name was changed to Foster, Merriam & Company. In the panic of 1837 
the firm was forced to suspend business for six months but managed to pay every creditor 
dollar for dollar and at the end of that time resumed operations. In 1840 Julius Way sold his 
interest iji the business to John Sutliff and in 1843 the interest of Asaph Merriam was pur- 
chased by liis partners. In 1850 the site of the present plant was purchased and in 1853 Alan- 
son Watrous became a member of the company and established an iron foundry business. 
which was conducted under the style of A. Watrous & Company. This branch was 
continued until the death of Mr. Watrous in 1863, when the surviving members of the 
firm purchased his interest in the business, which was incorporated in 1866 as a joint stock 
company with a capital of eighty thousand dollars. 

In 1869 the firm began the manufacture of drop handles and this branch has since 
grown to large proportions. Later all sorts of furniture trimmings were added to the output 
until aliudst anything in the lianUvare line required by manufacturers of furniture can be 
found among the products of the plant. Following the death of Nelson Merriam, the presi- 
dent, in 1880, he was succeeded by John Sutliff, who held that office until his demise June 23, 
1897, when James R. Sutliff, who had previously been vice president, succeeded to the presi- 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 1)7 

(lency, and so continued until his life's labors were ended January 18, 1903. On the 7th of 
March of that year George C. Merriam, who liad been secretary and treasurer, was chosen 
president and also retained the ofEce of treasurer, while J. L. Rutherford was elected secre- 
tary and William Zerfass became superintendent. With the death of Mr. Merriam on the 
33d of March, 1904, William Zerfass was elected to the presidency and also retained the 
oflTice of superintejident, wliile Robert J. Merriam became the treasurer and has since filled 
that position. The business of the company has greatly increased since Robert J. Merriam 
first became connected with it. At that time the employes numbered about two hundred and 
today there are five hundred and fifty, while the sales are probably three times as great 
as they were at the beginning of his connection with the undertaking. He is in charge of 
the financial interests of one of the important manufacturing concerns not only of Meriden 
but of this part of the state and is bending his efforts to administrative direction and execu- 
tive control with splendid results. 

;Mr. ilerriiun belongs to Meridian Lodge, F. & A. M.; also to Keystone Chapter, R. A. M., 
St. Elmo Commandery, K. T., and to Pyramid Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S. He exemplifies in 
his life tlie beneficent spirit of the craft and is most loyal to its teachings He also has 
membership in the Home Club and in his political views is an earnest republican. His time 
and energies, however, are concentrated upon his important business interests and his 
course has made the name of Merriam, as it has always been, a most honored one in the busi- 
ness circles of Meriden. 



NELSON CAMP JOHNSON. 



Nelson Camp Johnson, who is the secretary of Foster, Merriam & Company, was born in 
Portsmouth, Ohio, December 12, 1879. a son of Sherman J. and Emily .Johnson, the former 
deceased. The family came to Meriden in February, 1880, when the son. Nelson, was 
about three months old. He acquired a public school education and after completing the 
work of the grades spent three years in the high school. He afterward attended Yale, being 
matriculated in the Sheffield Scientific School, from which he was graduated in 1901 with 
the Ph. B. degree. He made liis initial step in the business world in connection with Foster, 
Merriam & Com])any as foreman and from that point has made steady progress, advancing 
step by step until he is now secretary of the company with voice in the management of its 
affairs. 

Mr. Johnson is an active member of the Masonic fraternity, lielonging to ileridian 
Lodge, No. 77, F. & A. M., Keystone Chapter, E. A. M., St. Elmo Commandery, K. T., and 
to Pyramid Temple of the Mystic Shriue. He likewise has membership in the Home Club 
and his religious faith is evidenced in his membership in the Congregational church. He 
belongs to the Country Club and to the Yale Engineering Society and also to the American 
Society of Mechanical Engineers. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and 
he is neglectful of none of the duties of citizenship, but gives his aid and influence on the 
side of progress, reform and improvement, actua-ted in all things by high civic ideals. 



RAYNHAM TOWNSHEND, M. D. 

Dr. Raynham Townshend, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in New 
Haven, his native city, was born July 10, 1878, a son of Captain Charles Hervey and Mary 
Ann (Hotchkiss) Townshend. The ancestral line is traced back to Thomas Townsend, or 
Townshend, who settled in the Lynn colony of Massachusetts in 1638. Captain Charles H. 
Townshend was born at Raynham, in East Haven, now New Haven, November 26, 1833, 
attended a private school of New Haven and afterward continued his education at Farmington, 
Connecticut. From early boyhood his inclination was toward a nautical life and at a very 
early age he made coasting voyages in sloops and schooners and he rose to prominence in 
connection with navigation interests. He is mentioned at length on another page of this work 



98 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

in connection with the sketch of his son, Henry Hotchkiss Townshend, who is now assistant 
corporation counsel of the city of New Haven. 

In the family were but two chiklren, the younger being Dr. Eaynham Townshend, who 
pursued his preparatory education in the Hopkins grammar school at New Haven and 
afterward continued his studies in the Taft School at Watertown, Connecticut, later 
matriculating in the Sheffield Scientific School, from which he was graduated with the class 
of 1900. He then spent one year in travel, during which he visited fourteen different coun- 
tries, including the Central American republics. Upon his return home he entered the College 
of Physicians & Surgeons, the medical department of Columbia University, from which he 
was graduated in 1905. He next became connected with the Roosevelt Hospital of New 
York city, with which he was associated until 1907, and then entered Sloan Hospital. In 
1908 he returned to New Haven and has since built up a large practice, winning place 
among the leading physicians of the city. He is assistant attending surgeon of the New 
Haven Hospital and is secretary of the Elm City Private Hospital. He is a member of 
tlie Yale faculty, lecturing in the Yale School of Fine Arts on anatomy. He belongs to 
the New Haven Medical Society, the Connecticut State Medical Societ}- and the American 
Medical Association and he also has membership with the Roosevelt and Sloan Maternity 
Hospitals Alumni Associations. 

On the 3d of June, 1908, Dr. Townshend was married to Miss Juliet S. Adee, of 
Westchester, New York, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George A. Adee, of a prominent family 
of the Empire state. They have two children: Raynham, who was born in New Haven, 
June n, 1912; and Juliet, born April 30, 1917. 

Dr. Townshend holds membership in the Congregational church and in his political 
connection he is an independent republican. He is identified with several fraternal and 
social organizations, belonging to the Delta Psi of Yale, to the Delta Psi Club of New York, 
also to the Yale Club, the Graduates' Club, the Country Club, the New Haven Lawn Club and 
others. He is connected with the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States Navy as 
assistant surgeon and is commander of the medical department, section 1, of the third 
naval district of the United States. The call of duty has ever been to him a paramount 
one, to which he has never hesitated to respond, and in the present crisis of the country's 
history he stands ready to do his full duty, his record thus being in harmony with that of 
an honored ancestry, which through many generations has loyally stood for the best interests 
of Connecticut. 



ALDEN JUDSON HILL. 



Alden Judson Hill, a prominent figure in agricultural circles in New Haven county, his 
home being in North Branford, where he was born August 13, 1886, is a son of Alden Hopson 
and Sarah E. (Page) Hill. 

The father was born in Killingworth, Middlesex county, Connecticut, September 4, 1831, 
a son of Ai-den and Flora (Davis) Hill, who were also natives of that locality. The grand- 
father devoted his life to farming, his labors being ended by death when he had reached 
the age of sixty-four years. His family numbered nine children, two sons and seven 
daughters. During his boyhood days Alden Hopson Hill had the advantage of attending the 
district schools for only three months during the winter season. While still quite a young 
lad he aided in the work of the home farm and when a youth of fifteen he began assisting 
in the support of the family. At the age of seventeen he began shop work and on attaining 
his majority removed to North Branford, where lie was employed in a saw and feed mill. 
In 1865 he purchased land and lumber and embarked in the shipbuilding trade, in which 
he continued for fifteen years, also becoming an extensive shipowner. He operated a saw- 
mill on his property in North Branford and manufactured various kinds of lumber, which 
his ships carried as far south as Galveston, Texas, while others of his vessels were engaged 
in the coasting trade between New Haven, Norfolk, Charleston and Mexican and South 
American ports. As he prospered in his undertakings he also added to his laud possessions 
until he was the owner of three hundred acres of farm and timber land. 

Alden Hopson Hill was married November 18, 1879, to Miss Sarah E. Page, who had 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 99 

been a capable school teacher in her native town for several years. To Mr. and Mrs. Hill 
were born two children: Raymond T., who was born January 11, 1883, and is professor of 
modern languages at Yale; and Alden J., of this review. Mr. Hill was a consistent member 
of the Congregational church and prominent in its work. His political allegiance was given 
to the republican party and in 1877 he served as a member of the state legislature and was 
made a member of the fishery committee. For a number of years he served as selectman 
and at various times acted as appraiser of lands for water and insurance companies and 
railroad corporations. While he was still an active factor in the world's work a contemporary 
biographer wrote of him as follows: "Honored and respected by all, there is no man in North 
Branlord who occupies a more enviable position in business circles than Alden H. Hill, not 
alone on account of the wonderful success that he has achieved, but also on account of the 
honorable, straightforward business policy he has ever followed. He possesses untiring 
energy, is quick of perception, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution ; 
and his close application to business and his excellent management have brought to him the 
prosperity which is today his." He died in the year 1908 but his widow survives and is 
still living in North Branford. 

Alden J. Hill, of this review, acquired his education in the schools of North Branford, in 
the Clinton high school and in the Williston Seminary of Massachusetts. He then began 
the cultivation of the old home place and has one of the finest farms in North Branford. 
It is splendidly improved with excellent buildings and all modern equipments, and in its 
conduct ilr. Hill follows the most progressive mctliods. hi connection Avith his agricultural 
interests Mr. Hill is engaged in the native timber and sawmill business, specializing on 
telephone poles, railroad ties and other such timber. He operates all over the eastern 
part of New Haven county. He is a very active and progressive business man, energetic and 
determined, and he carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. 

On the 18th of March, 1916, Mr. Hill was united in marriage to Miss Hazel Amelia 
Stevens, who was born in North Guilford. Connecticut, a daughter of Frederick and Lois 
(Ward) Stevens, of North Branford. Mr. and Mrs. Hill have become the parents of one child, 
Lois Jeanette, who was born in the same house as her father. 

Ill politics Mr. Hill is a republican. He was elected the first selectman of the town of 
North Branford in 1913 and has been reelected at each succeeding election since that time, 
so that he is now serving for the fifth term. He was chosen to the office when but twenty- 
six years of age and the excellence of his service is indicated by the fact that he has been 
continuously reelected to the position. His religious faith is that of the Congregational 
church and he is loyal to its teachings. His life is actuated by high and manly purposes 
and in the conduct of his interests he displays sound business judgment and indefatigable 
industry, qualities that result in the attainment of very substantial and gratifying success. 
He is widely and favorably known, everyone speaking of him in terms of high regard, and in 
his home locality the circle of his friends is coextensive with the circle of his acquaintances. 



LUCIUS SEYMOUR STORRS. 

Lucius Seymour Storrs, financier and railway othcial, who has advanced in orderly pro- 
gression to a place of prominence in the business circles of New England, holding important 
relations with organized interests that have much to do with the upbuilding and development 
of this section of the country, was born in Bufl'alo, New York, on the 4th of .January, 1869, and 
is a son of Origon Seymour and Janet (Rankin) Storrs. 

On the paternal side he is descended from an old Mansfield, Connecticut, family of 
English lineage, while on the distaff side he traces the lint back to Scotch ancestors who 
early settled in New England. His father was a Civil war veteran, serving as a non-com- 
missioned officer in a New York regiment until physically disabled by wounds which he 
sustained on the battlefield. He was then honorably discharged and returned to his native 
state. 

An eminent American statesman has said that the most forceful men of the country 
are those who have back of them the New England ancestry and have received the training of 
the virile west. Such is the record of Lucius Seymour Storrs, who completed his education 



100 



A MODERN HISTORY OP NEW HAVEN 



in the University of Nebraska, wliich in 1890 conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor 
of Science, and fourteen years later honored him with the Master of Arts degree. Through- 
out almost his entire life he has been actively connected with railway operation and manage- 
ment. He held technical positions with the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and for a time 
was connected with the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company. Since coming to New England he has 
been a prominent factor in railway and financial circles and he was president of the New 
England Investment & Security Company which held electric railways acquired by the New 
York, New Haven & Hartford Street Railway Company from 1907 until 1911. On the 1st of 
July, 1912, he was elected to the vice presidency of the New York, New Haven & Hartford 
Railroad and he is also president of the Connecticut Company and a director of the Union 
Trust Company of Springfield, Massachusetts. 

On the 24th of June, 1894, Mr. Storrs was united in marriage to Miss Mary L. Cooper, a 
daughter of Governor J. A. Cooper of Denver, Colorado. His religious faith is that of the 
Coiigregatioiuil cliiircli and he holds menlber^llip witli the Sigma Psi. with the American 
Academy for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute of Mining Engineers. 
The wise utilization of his time and talents has led to the development of his powers which 
have, in the natural course of events, brought him to the position which he now occupies. 



HON. FRANK J. RICE. 



New Haven had, in the second decade of the twentieth century, a demonstration of 
the possibilities of citizenship which was at once pathetic and inspiring, an example of 
public service which was both thrilling and tragic. The city charter adopted in 1900 gave 
great opportunities to the mayor, and there were those who feared for the misuse of its 
powers. They were forced to admit, in the course of the unprecedented term of service of 
Frank J. Rice, that the charter's opportunities for a man of high ideals outweighed all 
other considerations. New Haven is a democratic city, but the office of mayor usually has 
gone to some man of well recognized prominence either in public affairs or in politics. 
When Frank J. Rice was named for the office in 1909 he was known merely as a popular 
president of the Young Men's Republican Club, a manager of some large central properties 
for a prominent real estate owner, a former member for several terms of the board of 
couMcilraen. Back of that he had been a trolley conductor. He was highly trusted by those 
who did business with him, highly popular with those who knew him in politics or social 
affaii.s, but he was not, in the superior sense, a prominent citizen of New Haven. Many 
exacting citizens looked puzzled, and some of his political opponents looked pleased. 

Tliere was a confident eff'ort to defeat him in 1909, but he won the election by a 
plurality of four hundred and two. Three months later he came to the chair of the mayor, 
a plain, simple, sincere citizen, with the desire to serve the city he loved uppermost in his 
mind. He made no promises except the comprehensive one to do his best. He did, however, 
outline a few of his plans. One of them was to give New Haven some better sidewalks, 
and that, though one of the less important of his achievements, is characteristic of his 
administration of city aflairs. He found the sidewalks of New Haven of ancient and 
billowy brick, of cracked and crumbling asphalt, of unfinished gravel. In less than six 
years he had, against indiflerence, prejudice and selfish opposition, given New Haven more 
than two hundred miles of modern concrete sidewalk and accomplished this simply by 
keeping at it. 

For almost seven years Frank J. Rice gave of his best to serve the city of New Haven. 
It should have been eight full years, but he wore out before the end of his time. In the 
truest, highest sense he spared not himself. He took his office and his opportunities 
seriously— too seriously, perhaps. He was careful and anxious about many things. He was 
never satisfied unless a problem was solved in the best possible way, unless the very best 
appointment was made, unless he could give his most intense attention to every subject. 
He responded to every call the people made upon him. He listened to every man's troubles 
and spent as much time with the humblest as with the most important citizen. He 
grew, perforce, into the hearts of the people. They reelected him in 1911 by a plurality of 
two thousand and twenty-nine. He gave them another term of unselfish service. In 1913, 




HUX. FRANK J. RICE 



AND EASTERN NEW IIAVEN COUNTY 103 

a definitely democratic year, he was again elected, by a plurality of one thousand two 
hundred and one. In 1915 tne city broke all records by reelecting a mayor to a fourth 
term, and tlie mayor was PYank J. Rice, tliis time by a plurality of two thousand and 
thirteen. 

By the time New Haven had really come to know and begun truly to appreciate Mayor 
Rice it lost him. How he served himself out, how he gave up his life to keep true to his 
ideals, is a tragedy that will long leave its impress on New Haven. Too late his friends 
found they had been asking too much of him. Too late his political critics hushed their 
clamor when tliey found tliey had worried his sensitive spirit to the breaking point. Midway 
In the first year of his fourth term he broke under the strain, and though for several 
months more he made a brave attempt to rally to tlie task, tliough he conducted some of 
the more important of his official duties, he came back no more to the desk in city hall, 
where he liad so faithfully done the greatest of his life's work, and on Januarj- 18, 1917, 
his brave spirit rose to the land of his eternal ideals. 

Sincerely New Haven bowed its liead in sorrow. By tens of thousands his fellow 
citizens passed before his bier, or stood by the way as the sad procession wended its 
way to Woolsey Hall, or thronged tlie city of the dead where earth received his ashes. 
The proudest of his fellow citizens were humbly glad to pay their best respects in the 
solemn service in Woolsey Hall. It was such a funeral as New Haven had not seen in 
many a decade, and its demonstration was true to the core. 

It was five days later, in the course of an address before an association of Yale alumni 
in another state, that President Hadley went out of his way to pay to Mayor Rice wliat, 
taken in its setting, must be considered a remarkable tribute. He was speaking on the 
ideals of public service which Yale teaches, and he had mentioned the union of New Haven 
and Yale in the great anniversary pageant of the previous fall, when he said: 

"The mayor of New Haven did not participate in this celebration. He had done much 
to help in the early stages, but at the time wlien it came he was on his deathbed — dying 
in office after having lionorably served the city for several terms. He was not a Yale 
man. but with each successive year of his office he understood Yale better and worked more 
acrtively with us. With the announcement of liis death came a message from the city 
asking if tlie funeral might be held in Y'ale University. On Sunday last thirty thousand 
citizens of New Haven, of every nationality, lined the streets to see the body of 
the chief magistrate borne from tlie city hall to Woolsey Hall, and then to its last resting 
place. Thus was celebrated the last scene in tlie drama which commemorated the coming 
of Yale to New Haven. The pageant had a wortfiier epilogue than human hand could have 
written." , 

Such is the great and central chapter in tlie forty-eight years of Frank J. Rice. Tlie 
rest is but the setting. He was born in Nortli Adams, Massachusetts, February 5, 1869, 
of a family whose new world progenitors settled in Vermont about 1790. His father 
was Jesse H. Rice. Frank .J. Rice came to Cheshire, Connecticut, when quite young and 
was educated in the schools of that town and New Haven. At eighteen he left his Ijooks 
for the grocer}' business in the town of Cheshire. After three years he was employed by 
the firm of H. P. Ives & Company and afterward became its superintendent. When he first 
came to New Haven he was a conductor for the New Haven Street Railway Company for 
five years. Then he entered the employ of Frank Benedict, and when elected mayor was 
manager of some important real estate interests. 

He was married in Clinton, Connecticut, to Miss Charlotte A. Watrous. a native of 
Clinton, this state, daughter of .Spencer and Clarissa (Dowd) Watrous. representatives of old 
colonial families. Two children were born of this marriage, Russell L., July 8, 1894, has 
been since, as he was before his father's death, manager of the real estate business which the 
mayor established in anticipation of his retirement from public life. He was married 
September 12. 1916, to Miss Mildred Hall, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hall, of an old 
Banbury family. The younger son, Mancel W. Rice, was born in New Haven. March 17, 
1S9T, and enlisted in the One Hundred and Second I'nited States Infantry, formerly the 
Second Connecticut Regiment. 

Frank .1. Rice belonged to many fraternal organizations, including the Masons, the Odd 
Fellows, the Elks, the Red Men, the Heptasophs, the Eagles, the Woodmen of the World, the 
Kniglits of Pvthias, the Arvan Crotto and the Haru Gari. He was also identified with the 



104 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

Young Men's Christian Association and tlie Sons of Veterans, and was an honorary member 
of the Second Corapanv, Governor's Foot Guard. He was a member of the Cliamber of Com- 
merce and the Connecticut Association of Mayors, of the Connecticut Fish and Game Pro- 
tective Association, the Xew England Business Men's Association, the New Haven Real 
Estate Board and the Xew Haven Board of Fire Underwriters. He was a consistent mem- 
ber of the First Methodist Episcopal church, of which also he was a trustee, and a director 
and trustee of the National Savings Bank and a trustee of the New Haven Hospital Society. 



EMORY .T. WALKER. IVL D. 



Dr. Emory J. Walker, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in New Haven, 
was born in Brooklyn, Michigan, November 2, 1844. His ancestry is traced back to a very 
early period in the settlement of New England, for in 1643 the name of "Widow Walker" 
appears on the list of those who gave in the value of their estates at Rehoboth, Massachusetts, 
for a pro rata division of the lands. She had formerly resided at Weymouth, in the Plymouth 
colony, and under the leadership of Rev. Samuel Newman went with the company to Reho- 
both She had two sons: James, of Taunton; and Philip, of Rehoboth. The latter was a 
weaver and a deed was given by him at Rehoboth in 1653. He held various positions of 
public trust and at the time of King Philip's war he contributed twenty-six pounds to aid 
in the prosecution of the conflict with the Indians. He married Jane Butterworth and the 
oldest of their six children was Samuel Walker, who in 1681 married Martha Ide, who was 
born in 1654 and passed away in 1700. Samuel Walker was admitted a freeman in 1682 
and in King Philip's war he rendered active service, first as lieutenant and afterward as 
captain. The fourth of his eight children was Peter Walker, who was born in 1689 and died 
in 1760. In 1713 he married Mary Styles, whose birth occurred in 1691 and who passed 
away about 1732. They liad twelve children, the ninth being Lieutenant Moses Walker, 
who enlisted at Rehoboth with minute men, following the "Lexington Alarm,"' and aided 
in the prosecution of the war for independence. On the 15th of March, 1753, he wedded 
Sarah Bowen, who was born January 3, 1735, and died March 3, 1768. The fifth and the 
youngest of their children was Ethel Walker, who was born August 29, 1767, and passed 
away September 23, 1844. In 1795 he married Susannah Carpenter, whose birth occurred 
in 1778 and who died in 1857. They were the grandparents of Dr. Emory J. Walker, whose 
father, Amos Walker, was the seventh of a family of ten children. 

Amos Walker was born in Savoy, Massachusetts, March 6. 1811, and received his pro- 
fessional training in the medical department of Williams College, from which he was 
graduated in 1834. On the 37th of August of that year, in North Adams, Massachusetts, 
he wedded Mary Bliss, a daughter of Ephraim Bliss. She was born March 20, 1811. Almost 
immediately after their marriage they started westward, traveling with ox team and wagon 
to Michigan, establishing their home in Brooklyn. Dr. Walker there devoted his remaining 
days to the practice of medicine and he became one of the well known and prominent 
physicians of that locality. His death occurred in Owosso, Michigan, January 22, 1879. 
He had for several years survived his wife, who passed away February 2, 1866. They had 
a family of seven children: Mary Ellen, who was born in 1837 and died in 1869; Abel W., 
who was born April 5, 1839, and died in Pontiac, Michigan, November 29, 1865; Lawson 
Ethel, who was born in March, 1842, and died August 3, 1843; Emory Judson, of this 
review; George R.. who was born November 3, 1848, and resides at Judsonia, Arkansas; 
Frank Bliss, born October 15, 1850; and Wealthy Evelyn, who was born August 9, 1854, 
and died on the 8th of September of that year. 

In his youthful days Dr. Emory J. Walker was a pupil in the public schools of Pontiac, 
Michigan, and afterward attended Kalamazoo College at Kalamazoo, that state. Whether 
inherited tendency, environment or natural predilection had most to do with his choice 
of a career it is impossible perhaps to determine, but that the choice was wisely made 
has been proven by his subsequent success. He pursued his early reading under the direction 
of his father and later entered Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago, from which he was 
graduated with the class of 1868. He then located for practice in Pontiac. Michigan, where 
he remained until 1875, when he came to New Haven and opened an office. He is today one 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 105 

of the older practicing physicians in years of continuous connection with the profession !n 
Xew Haven and is most highly respected not only by the general public but by his pro- 
fessional colleagues and contemporaries as well. For forty-two years Dr. Walker has 
figured in the professional circles of New Haven and has done splendid work for the benefit 
of his fellowmen. He was one of tlie organizers and foimders of Grace Hospital, now one of 
the largest and best equipped institutions of the kind in the state. The first meeting of its 
board of directors was held in his office and plans were formulated resulting in the develop- 
ment of a most splendidly organized hospital, of which he has' been a director and the 
secretary from the beginning and also a member of the hospital staif of practicing physicians 
and surgeons, being the obstetrician of the hospital since 1903. Throughout his entire 
professional career he has been actuated by a spirit of progress, keeping him in close touch 
with the most advanced thought and scientific research and investigation. In the per- 
formance of his professional duties he is most conscientious and his marked ability lias 
ever kept him in a position of leadership in professional circles in Connecticut. 

On the 23d of February, 1870, Dr. Walker was married to Jliss Martha Pittman. of 
Pontiac, Michigan, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Pittman, of a well known and 
prominent family there. They are the parents of two sons and two daughters. Abel W., 
born in Pontiac, Michigan, is now with the C. S. Mersick Company of New Haven. He is 
married and has tvro children, Bradford (3. and Harriet M. Charles P. Walker, born in 
Pontiac, is a leading merchant tailor of New Haven and is married and has four sons. 
Mary Evelyn is the wife of Professor J. Glover Eldredge, dean of the University of Idaho, 
at Lewiston, and they have four children, Robert, Frances, Grace and Hugh. Grace Elizabeth 
is the wife of Professor George E. Nichols, of the department of botany in Yale University, 
and they have three children, Marion. Grace Elizabeth and George Emory. Dr. and Jlrs. 
Walker also lost one child, Emorj' Judson, who was born March 21, 1888, and died on the 
10th ot February, 1889. 

Dr. Walker holds membership in Hiram Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M., of New Haven, and 
has ever been a loyal exemplar of the teachings of the craft. Along professional lines he 
has association with the County and State Homeopathic Medical Societies and the New 
Haven Clinical Society and his colleagues vie in doing him honor not only as tlie nestor of 
the medical profession in Connecticut, but as one who throughout the entire period of his 
professional practice has held to the highest standards, making his work of great worth 
to the district in which he lives. Dr. Walker is a member of Calvary Baptist church, taking 
an active part in its affairs serving in various official capacities and being identified with 
Bible school work in both, city and state, for many years. While he has never been active 
as a club man, he holds membership in the Automobile Club. His personal qualities and 
characteristics are such as have ever commanded for him the confidence, warm regard and 
lasting friendship of those with whom he has been brought in contact. 



FRANK E. FOWLER. 



Frank E. Fowler, president of the F. E. Fowler Company, one of the well known 
mercantile houses of New Haven, was born in Guilford, Connecticut, July 21, 1860. He is 
a son of Reuben L. and Sarah M. (Munson) Fowler, who were natives of Guilford and came 
of early New England families, the ancestral line being traced back as far as 1639. 

Frank E. Fowler was the sixth in order of birth in a family of eight children and after 
attending the public schools of Guilford he pursued a business course in New Haven. He 
then joined his father in the fish oil industry and after three years spent in that connection 
secured a clerical position with C. G. Kimberly. of whom he remained a trusted emploj-e for 
thirteen years. On the expiration of that period he purcliased a half interest in the business 
and following the death of Mr. Kimberly it was continued by his son Frank H. and Mr. 
Fowler for four years. The latter then purchased the interest of his partner and continued 
alone for several years. Gradually he developed his business to large proportions, and in 
January, 1909, the P. E. Fowler Company was incorporated, Mr. Fowler becoming president, 
the other members of the firm consisting ot W. W. Buckingham, vice president; Frank H. 



106 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

Kimberly, secretary ; ami Geo. C. Freelaiul. treasurer. The firn. handles all kinds of wooden- 
ware, crockery, paper and twine. ,.,,,„ ^- ^ 

In May, 1886, Mr. Fowler was married to Miss Martha Davis, of Guilford, Connecticut, 
a daughter of Edwin and Martha Davis. 

The family attend the Congregational church, of which they are members, and Mr. 
Fowler is also a member of the Masonic fraternity. He has continuously worked to up- 
build his interests, and by his straightforward and honorable course has won the confidence 
of patrons and contemporaries alike. 



MASSENA CLARK. 



The death of Massena Clark on the 5th of June, 1890, marked the passing of one of 
New Haven's foremost citizens, whose long identification with her business interests had 
contributed materially to her progress and development. He was born May 28, 1811, in Delhi, 
New York, and was descended from a family that has figured in Connecticut's history from 
early colonial days. The grandfather of Massena Clark was Deacon Lazarus Clark, who 
in his time was one of the prominent men of Woodbridge, where his residence still stands, 
being one of the old historic places of the town. His son. Dr. Jeremiah Clark, familiarly 
known as Dr. "Jerry" Clark, was one of the old-time botanic physicians who followed his 
profession in New York for a con.siderable period and afterward practiced in Stockbridge, 
Massachusetts, and in West Haven, Connecticut. 

Massena Clark was but a boy when his father. Dr. Jeremiah Clark, removed to Stock- 
bridge, Massachusetts, in 1830. There he received instructions from the Rev. David Dudley 
Field, assisted by the famous Mark Hopkins as monitor. His preceptor's sons, Cyrus Field, 
the layer of the Atlantic cable, David Dudley Field, afterward an eminent lawyer, and 
Stephen Johnson Field, at one time a United States judge of the district of California, were 
among his classmates in the village school. In 1826 the parents removed to West Haven, 
Connecticut. 

Massena Clark was first employed with Matthew G. Elliott, on Custom House Square, 
and then as chief salesman in the hardware store of Smith & Sherman, where he remained 
until 1837, when the widespread financial depression of that year caused the failure of the 
firm, which at the time was Mr. Clark's debtor to the sum of three thousand dollars. The 
firm olfered him carriages and hardware for the amount, in payment of the debt, and Mr. 
Clark accepted the offer and thus entered upon his first mercantile venture. Although lack- 
ing the price of the freight, he determined to take these goods to the south and arrived 
in Mobile, Alabama, with his stock. In that city he had a brother Lafayette, wlio was 
cashier in a bank. On arriving there, however, Mr. Clark learned that his brother had died 
a few days before of yellow fever. The banker, a Mr. Gindraw. on learning the identity 
of Mr. Clark, desired him to accept his brother's place as cashier of the bank, but he de- 
clined the offer, not having had banking experience. Like many southern bankers of that 
time, Mr. Gindraw owned a cotton yard and desired Mr. Clark to act as superintendent 
thereof, but the latter again modestly declined, pleading inexperience, until the southerner 
cut him short by saying: "Y'ou are a Y'ankee and a Yankee can make a success of anything 
he undertakes." Mr. Clark then took charge of the business and after three years, during 
which he managed Mr. Gindraw's affairs to the entire satisfaction of his employer and dis- 
posed of his own carriages to a good advantage, he decided to return to New Haven, where 
lie arrived in 1840. One of his experiences in the south came through the sale of a carriage 
which a planter, who was richer in slaves than in money, wished to buy. In exchange for 
the carriage he offered a strong, fine looking, well built negro, valued at twelve hundred 
dollars. When the day of Mr. Clark's departure arrived the negro begged so piteously not to 
be sold that he w^as brought north by Mr. Clark and remained a faithful porter, becoming one 
of the fixtures of Mr. Clark's store on Custom House Square. In 1841 the Massena Clark 
block, on what was then Fleet but is now State street, was built and in this building he 
carried on business for many years, importing sugar, molasses, rum and other commodities, 
conducting his interests sucessfuUy until during the Civil war, when the government confis- 
cated his ships, which they used for the storage of flour and other provisions. 




MASSENA CLARK 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 109 

Mr. Clark gradually acquired interests and holdings in other lines of business until in 
1865, when he retired from the wholesale trade. His investments while varied, were princi- 
pally in real estate. The management, development and successful handling of real estate 
really represented his business activity during the last twenty-five years of his life. He 
built and owned at different times over three hundred houses in New Haven. He was 
probably the best judge in the city of realty values and undoubtedly the most successful 
man in that business during the period of his activity therein. 

In 1840 ilr. Clark was married in Xew Haven to Miss Julia A. Cliatterton of this city, a 
daughter of Samuel Chatterton, whose ancestors came from England with the early settlers of 
Connecticut. They had two sons, Edward Massena, who is referred to on another page of 
this volume; and Frank Pierce, who died in January, 1914. 

Mr. Clark's early associations and native rugged force of character attached him to the 
democratic party, and in every movement which concerned the upbuilding of the city he was 
a recognized leader. The religious faith of Mr. and Mrs. Clark was that of the Episcopal 
church, and in the work of the church Mrs. Clark took a most active and helpful part. Mr. 
Clark had his pleasures and his recreations, among them being his fondness for a good 
horse. His death occurred six years before that of his wife, whose remains are interred by 
his side in Evergreen cemetery. Their life work was well done and the world is better for 
their having lived. Mr. Clark's magnificent home on Whitney avenue was one of Xew Haven's 
finest residences. 



.JAMES T. MORAN. 



Various corporate interests profit by the cooperation and benefit by the sound judg- 
ment of .lames T. .MoraTi, and among tlic more leicntly aiM(uire(l of liis dllicial honors is the 
presidency of tire Southern New England Telephone Company. He is prominent as a man 
whose constantly expanding powers have taken him from comparatively humble surroundings 
to the field of large enterprise and constantly broadening opportunity. To everything he 
has undertaken he has brought a clear understanding that readily solves complex problems 
and quickly discriminates between the essential and the non-essential. 

A native son of North Haven he was born September 19, 1864, and in the public 
schools of New Haven laid the foundation for later success by the thoroughness with which 
he mastered his tasks. While a senior in the high school he also matriculated as a fresh- 
man in the Yale Law School, and when he had completed his course in the Hillhouse high 
school as a member of the class of 1883, he had already mastered a year's work in law. 

Ho won his LL. B. degree in 1884, and the following year the Yale Law School con- 
fcireil upon liini the master's degree. On attaining his majority lie was admitted to the 
bar and entered upon the active practice of law as assistani; to Morris F. Tyler, who in the 
previous year, 1883, had become president of the Southern New England Telephone Com- 
pany. Naturally the attention of the younger man was directed toward the telephone 
business, while at the same time he was continuing his labors in the field of law practice. 
The ability which he manifested led to the offer of partnership relations with Mr. Tyler, 
and he became as well his active associate in conducting other business affairs, covering a 
period of twenty-three years, extending from 1884 until 1907. He was learning more and 
more of the telephone business and the management of the Southern New England Telephone 
Company, serving as its general attorney from his early connection with it. In 1907 he was 
elected one of its directors and has since had active voice in its management and control. 
In January, 1908, he was chosen its vice president and in May, 1911, became general manager 
of the business, while on the 6th of February, 1917, he was elected to the presidency. In 
the meantime liis eft'orts have extended into many other fields. His cooperation has been 
sought along varied lines of business activity, and the soundness of his judgment has 
enabled him to make correct investments. He is a trustee of the Connecticut Savings Bank, 
a director of the Merchants' National Bank, of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, 
the National Folding Box Company, the Acme Wire Company, the Security Insurance 
Company, the New Haven Gas Light Company and the Connecticut Railway and Lighting 
Company. He has been president of the New Haven Union Company since 1891 and he is 



no A JIODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

connected with various other interests of a public and semi-public character in an official 
and executive capacity. It is said of Mr. Moran that he "Always has a whole-souled 
entluisiasm for his work, and his unfailing vigor and interest promises well for the future 
prosperity and success of any corporation with which he becomes associated." 

On the 27th of April, 1898, Mr. Moran was married to Miss Mary E. McKenzie, and 
they have a child, Helen, fifteen years of age. While Mr. Moran's duties have assumed 
mammoth proportions in connection with his growing business affairs, he has yet found 
time and made the opportunity for active work along lines that feature as factors in the 
public life of the community. He is a director of the Gaylord Farm Sanitarium and the 
New Haven Dispensary, and is a trustee of St. Francis Orphan Asylum. Since 1887 he 
has figured prominently in connection with the public life of the city and is interested in 
all those things whicli are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride. His capability for 
managing important and extensive interests concerning public welfare has led to his selec- 
tion for various offices. In 1887 he became a member of the board of couucilmen and continued 
for three years and in 1888 served as its president. He was also a member of the board of 
finance in 1887 and from 1890 until 1892 he served as a director of the public library. In 
1897 he became a police commissioner at New Haven and during his second year in that 
office acted as president of the board. For sixteen years, beginning in 1893, he served as a 
member of the board of education. He is a member of the City Plan Commission, interested 
in all those vital projects which are being put forth to meet the demands of the growing 
city and further its interest along the line of utility and beauty. To this end he further 
acts with the chamber of commerce, of which he is one of the directors. In 1917 he became 
a member of the New Haven county auxiliary of the National Council of Defense. 

The time, energy and talent that he has devoted to public service has made him a most 
valued factor in tne life of his city and state. A modern philosopher has said: "Not the 
good that comes to us, but the good that comes to the world through us, is the measure 
of our success," and judged by that standard, as well as by the standard of material 
achievement, Mr. Moran is a most successful man. 



CHARLES G. MORRIS. 



Charles G. Morris, accorded a liberal clientage whicli establishes his position as an able 
and leading lawyer of New Haven, is also well known in business circles, being connected 
with various corporations and financial interests. He readily recognizes an opportunity, 
which is ever to him a call to action, and, forceful and resourceful, he is leaving the 
impress of his individuality upon the legal and commercial history of his state. Mr. Morris 
uas born in Westville, Connecticut, February 4, 1871. a son of Luzon B. and Eugenia L. 
(Tuttle) Morris. The father was born at Newtown. Connecticut, and the mother's birth 
occurred at Wolcott, this state. Both represented old families founded in New England 
during an early period in the colonization of America. Luzon B. Morris won a notably 
prominent position as a leader in the public life of the commonwealth and represented his 
state as governor, serving with honor and distinction. Prior to that time he had filled many 
other positions of public trust and responsibility and aided in no inconsiderable measure in 
shaping the policy and formulating the destiny of Connecticut. For many years he was 
a distiguished lawyer of New Haven and his name has been inscribed high on the roll of 
eminent citizens here. He passed away in 1895, at the age of sixty-eight years, survived 
for many years by his wife, who died in November, 1916, at the advanced age of cighty- 
tive years. 

Charles G. Morris was the fifth in order of birth in their family of six children. In his 
youtliful days lie attended the public .'^chuols and the Hopkins grammar school, of New Haven, 
before entering Yale, in which he completed the academic course with the class of 1895. He 
then won his professional degree upon graduation from Yale with the class of 1897. He at 
once located for practice in New Haven in his father's office. He displays the same qualities 
that led to the success of Governor Morris in the field of law practice. He has a mind 
naturally logical and inductive and his reasoning is sound, his deductions clear and his argu- 
ments strong and convincing. His clientage, extensive and of a most important character, is 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 111 

tlie incontrovertible evidence of his professional worth. He is also identified witli various 
business enterprises, being now president of the New Haven Dairy Company, which is one 
of the largest distributors of dairy products in New England. He is likewise vice president 
of the Broadway Bank & Trust Company. 

In September, 1899, Mr. Morris was married to Miss Elisabeth Woodbridge, a daughter 
of Charles L. Woodbridge, of Brooklyn, New York, and they have six children: Laura W., 
Woodbridge E., Martha C, Daniel L., Charles L. and Elisabeth. The third and fourth mem- 
bers of the family were born at Newtown, Connecticut, and the others in New Haven. 

Mr. and Mrs. Morris hold membership in Center chuich, of which he is one of the 
deacons. His political endorsement is given to the democratic party and his study of the 
vita) questions and problems of the country is far removed from that of a partisan stand- 
point. He was president of the State Civil Service Commission and he stands for progressive- 
ness in public affairs at all times. For six years he was a member of the militia. For two 
and one-half months he served during the Spanisli-American war with the naval troops as 
acting boatswain's mate. His interest in community affairs is indicated by his member- 
ship in the Chamber of Commerce and the Publicity Club and he is in hearty sympathy 
with the purposes of those organizations. Along social lines he has connection with the 
Graduates and the Lawn Clubs, while fraternally he is a Chapter Mason and professionally 
he is connected with the New Haven, the New Haven County and the Connecticut State Bar 
AsaociationB. 



WILLIAM E. FOSTER LANDERS, Jr., D. D. S. 

Dr. William E. Foster Landers, Jr., who for eighteen years has engaged in the practice 
of dentistry in Meriden, was born in Mystic, Connecticut, December 33, 1875, a son of 
William E. Foster and Louise Landers, both of whom are still living. With the removal of 
the family William E. F. Landers, of this review, pursued his education in the public 
schools of Mystic and of New London, Connecticut, completing a high school course in the 
latter place. He then entered a dentist's office, in which he spent eighteen months, and 
later he went to Philadelphia, where he became a student in the Philadelphia Dental 
College, from which he was graduated in 1898 with the D. D. S. degree. In the same year 
he located for practice in New Haven, where he remained for a year, and in August, 1899, 
removed to Meriden. were he has since continued. He has occupied his present large offices 
since 1901 and he has the latest equipment and accessories for furthering his professional 
work. He has comprehensive knowledge of the broad scientific principles which underlie 
his work and his practice is a successful and growing one. He occupies a prominent posi- 
tion among the leading dentists of the state and he ever keeps in touch with the trend of 
advanced thought bearing upon dental surgery. 

On the 14th of June, 1905, Dr. Landers was married to Miss Mary Louise Parker, of 
Meriden, and they occupy a fine home on Washington street. In politics Dr. Landers is 
a republican and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He belongs 
to the Home Club and the Highland Country Club, and is appreciative of the social amenities 
of life. He is a member of the First Congregational church and in its teachings are found 
the rules which have at all times governed his conduct. 



EDWARD AVERY HARRIMAN. 

In the field of law practice, where advancement depends entirely upon individual merit, 
learning and ability, Edward Avery Harriman of New Haven has won for himself a prominent 
position and his contributions to the literature of the profession are regarded as very 
valuable. 

A native of Massachusetts, he was born in Framingham, December 31, 1869, the eldest of 
a family of five children. His father, Charles Franklin Harriman, came from Weare, New 
H;\mpshire, and his mother, Mary Wliite (Conant) Harriman. from Worcester, Massachusetts. 



112 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

Charles FrankUu Hairimau, after being actively connected with manufacturing interests in 
Boston for years, there passed away in 1876, and his widow, surviving him for almost four 
decades, departed this life in Framingliani in 1915. 

Liberal educational opportunities were accorded Edward Avery Harriman. He pursued 
a literary course in Harvard, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude in 1888, 
and he afterward studied in the University of Virginia and in the Cincinnati Law School 
before entering Boston University, in which he completed his preparation for the bar in 
1891, receivin" the LL. B. degree in 1894. He was admitted to practice at the Massachusetts 
bar in January, 1891, and through the following year was actively connected with the pro- 
fession in Kansas. In 1892 he became professor of law in the Northwestern University, so 
continuing until 1901 and at the same time engaging in active practice at the Chicago bar. 
He then returned to New England and has since followed his profession as a general 
practitioner in New Haven, having been a partner of Judge William H. Williams until the 
latter's election to the bench. His ability was demonstrated in the fact that he was chosen 
a lecturer of the Yale Law School in 1906 and was a member of its teaching staff until 1913. 
His practice has long been extensive and important. His legal learning, his analytical mind, 
the readiness with which he grasps the points of an argument have gained him high standing 
among lawyers known for their ability. He is the author of a volume entilled "Law of 
Contracts," which was issued in its first edition in 1896, while a second edition was brought 
out in 1901. He is also the author of "Greenleaf on Evidence," volumes II and III, as 
published in the sixteenth edition. He is prominent in many organizations which draw 
their membership from the legal profession, including the American Bar Association, the 
International Law Association, the American Political Science Association, the American 
.ludicature Society, the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology and the Ameri- 
can Society for the Judicial Settlement of International Disputes. 

On the 31st of August, 1897, in Hartford, Connecticut, Mr. Harriman was married to 
Miss Bertha Cornwall Ray. of Chicago. They hold membership in Trinity church of New 
Haven, of which Mr. Harriman is a vestryman, and he is president of the Church Club of 
the Diocese of Connecticut. He is prominently known in various social organizations. He 
has membership in Harvard Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa, was the first president of the 
Harvard Club of Connecticut, holding that ollice in 1908-09, and was president of the New 
England Federation of Harvard Clubs in 1912-13, while in 1915-16 he acted as vice president 
of the Associated Harvard Clubs. He belongs to the C4raduates' and Quinnipiac Clubs of New- 
Haven and also to the Harvard Club and University Club of New York. His political endorse- 
ment is given to the republican party. He has been a close and discriminating student 
of those questions which most largely afl'ect the welfare and progress of his country and is 
always to be found in those gatherings where intelligent men are met in the discussion of 
vital and farreaching subjects. With him every day must mark oil' a full-faithed attempt 
to know more and to grow more, and he has long swayed men with the force of his example. 



JOHN JOSEPH BROSNAN, D. D. S. 

Dr. John Joseph Brosnan, a practicing dentist of Wallingford, whose ability in his 
profession is the direct outcome of thorough preparation, close study and long experience, 
was born in Wallingford, January 31, 1884. His father, John Brosnan", is a native of Ireland 
and came to America with his parents, John and Ellen Brosnan, when but four months old, 
the family home being established in Springfield, Massachusetts, where John Brosnan, Jr., 
remained until fourteen years of age. He then came to Wallingford and entered the employ 
of the Simpson, Hall & Miller Company, with which he has been identified for the past forty- 
six years, being the oldest employe of that company. He wedded Mary Ann Curran, a 
daugliter of James Curran, of Wallingford, and her death occurred in 1899. In their family 
were two children who survive: John J., of this review; and William T., who is engaged in 
the insurance business in Wallingford. 

John Joseph Brosnan pursued his education in the public schools of Wallingford and 
afterward entered the University of Pennsylvania for the purpose of preparing for the 
practice of dentistry. He won his professional degree there in 1906. He also pursued a 



AXD EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 113 

special covirse in oral surgery in tlie Philadelphia Hospital under Dr. M. H. Cryer and by 
broad reading he has kept in close touch with the onward march of the profession. Since 
his graduation he has continuously practiced in Wallingford and has been accorded a liberal 
patronage. He is an expert operator, displaying marlced mechanical skill and ingenuity, and 
combining these with a thorough understanding of the scientific principles which underlie 
dental surgery, his work is highly satisfactory. In addition to his practice he is a director 
of the Wallingford Trust Company. 

On the 30th of October, 1912, Dr. Brosnan was married in Cohoes, New York, to Miss 
Katherine V. Burke, a daughter of Thomas J. Burke of that place, and they have two 
children: Katherine. born August 5, 1913; and John, born April 14, 1917. 

The family residence is at No. 397 North Main street in Wallingford, while Dr. Brosnan 
has his office at 235 Center street. He and his wife are communicants of Holy Trinity church, 
of which he is one of the trustees. He also has membership with the Knights of Columbus. 
His political allegiance is given to the democratic party but he has no time nor desire for 
political office, serves, however as a member of the board of education and contributing in 
this connection toward bettering school facilities and standards in his community. He 
belongs to the Wallingford Club and to the chamber of commerce and is in hearty sympathy 
with all of the plans and eflforts of the latter organization to advance the welfare of the 
city, to upb\uld its trade relations and to uphold its civic standards. 



FRANK B. FRISBIE. 



Frank B. Frisbie is occupviiig a notaI)le place in financial circles for one of his years, 
being the president of the Mechanics Bank of New Haven. Moreover, he has advanced to 
this position of responsibility from the position of bank messenger, passing through suc- 
cessive grades in bank service until he was called to the highest executive position. 

A native of New Haven, he was born March 2, 1876, a son of George E. and Elizabeth 
J. Frisbie. After acquiring a public school education in New Haven he attended the high 
school for a brief period and then entered the emplo5' of the New York, New Haven & 
Hartford Railroad Company at a salary of five dollars per week, thus making his initial step 
in the business world. He afterward became identified with the National I'radcsmen's Bank 
and has occupied every position, from that of messenger to assistant cashier, with that bank. 
On the 1st of July, 1911, he was appointed cashier of the Mechanics Bank and treasurer of 
the Mercantile Safe Deposit Company and so continued until July 1, 1916, when he was 
elected to the presidency of the Mechanic's Bank. The bank had at that time deposits 
amounting to one million, two hundred thousand dollars. During his incumbency as chief 
executive he has increased the deposits of the bank to fo'.ir million, one hundred thousand 
dollars. He is recognized as a man of very keen business discernment and notable sagacity, 
readily discriminating as to the worth of every business situation or opportunity. 

In religious belief Mr. Frisbie is a Congregationalist and fraternally he is connected 
with the Masons. He also belongs to the Quinnipiac Club and to the New Haven Country 
Club. In politics he maintains an independent course, nor does he seek the honors and 
emoluments of office. He started upon his business career without inlieritance of any kind U> 
assist him and, depending upon the substantial qualities of determination, energy and 
insight, he has advanced step by step, his orderly progression bringing him at length to the 
responsible position wliich he occupies as one of the foremost figures in financial circles in 
New Haven. 



BENJAMIN HOLBROOK CARTER, D. D. S. 

Dr. Benjamin Holbrook Carter has one of the best equipped dental offices in Meriden 
and ranks with the most skillful and prominent members of the profession there. He was 
born in Freedom, Maine, October 10, 1877, a son of .lohn and Annetta Carter. He acquired 
a district school education in his native town and continued his studies in Maiden, Massachu- 



114 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

Bett« to which place the family removed about 1889. when he was a youth of twelve years. 
He determined upon the practice of dentistry as a life work and with that end in view 
began study in the office and under the direction of Dr. George L. Putnam, with is-hom he 
remained for four years. He then began working as operator with other prominent dentists 
and in 1901 passed his examination before the Connecticut State Dental Board and opened 
an office on his own account in Meriden, pmchasing the established business of Dr. Flanagan. 
He has made rapid and continuous progress in his profession since that date and in the 
seventeen years of his practice in Meriden has made for himself a most creditable position 
in professional circles. He has a very spacious and splendidly equipped office, which includes 
two operating rooms, a reception room and a laboratory. He has the latest improved 
facilities and appliances for carrying on his work, which has given general satisfaction to 
his patrons, and thereby his practice has steadily increased, for it is a well recognized fact 
that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement. 

On the 3d of June, 1903, Dr. Carter was married to Miss Clara B. Terpp, of Norwich, 
Connecticut. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he is identified 
with various fraternal organizations. He is a very prominent Mason, belonging to Meridian 
Lodge, No. 77, F. & A. M.; Keystone Cliapter, No. 27, R. A. M.; Hamilton Council, R. & S. 
M.; St. Elmo Commandery, No. 9, K. T.; Lafayette Consistory, S. P. R. S.; and Pyramid 
Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is a past master of the lodge and a past eminent com- 
mander of the commandery. He also has membership in the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and his life exemplifies the teachings 
of these fraternities, which are based upon a recognition of the brotherhood of mankind. 
His is a well spent life. He has always remained a resident of New England and in the 
years of his connection witli Meriden he has made for liimself an enviable place in professional 
and in social circles. 



EDWARD MASSENA CLARK. 

Edward Massena Clark, the eldest son of Massena and Julia A. (Chatterton) Clark and 
the only surviving member of their family, was born June 26, 1847, in New Haven, where he 
was reared and acquired his early education, as a pupil in the private school of John E. 
Lovell. A business rather than a professional career appealed to him at that time, so he 
became connected with his father in the real estate business. In 1877 he went to New York 
and was engaged in the real estate business there. 

In 1882 Mr. Clark was married to Miss Jane Louisa Hughes, a daughter of Arthur 
Hughes of New York. Early in the 'SOs he located in Arizona territory, *here he was 
prominently identified with mining interests in the district near Prescott and served as 
school trustee. Mr. Clark did a considerable amount of development work as well as mine 
operation. Realizing the advantage of a scientific knowledge of this line of business, he 
entered Columbia College of New York, where he pursued a course in jnetallurgy under Dr. 
Ricketts, one of the most noted mining experts and metallurgists of his time. His residence 
in Arizona extended through a period of seven years and brought him experiences that will 
always remain a most pleasant part of his life and such as only fall to those living in a 
new country. The esteem in which Mr. Clark was held in Arizona is evidenced by an 
event that took place twenty-five years after he left that district, when he was appointed by 
Governor Hunt of Arizona, a member of the commission to represent the state at the 
christening of the battleship Arizona, in the United States navv vard at Brooklyn on the 
19th of June, 1915. 

Upon the death of his father in 1890, Mr. Clark returned to New Haven to assume the 
management of the large estate left by his parent and has since resided here. During the 
intervening years he has been more or less engaged in the real estate business and has 
capably handled and directed large interests. He is chairman of the real estate committee 
of the Chamber of Commerce. 

Mr. Clark's military experience covers a period of nearly fifty years. He became a 
member of the New Haven Grays in 1868. He also served as" quartermaster of the Second 
Connecticut Regiment from 1873 to 1876. He is a member of the Second Company Gover- 




JJWamUiM/.(14^ . 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 117 

nor's Foot Guard and held the rank of major for three years after 1899, during which 
time, and under his command, the most brilliant military event of Connecticut, — Foot 
Guard Day — was established, and the ceremony of demanding the Keys of the Powder House, 
followed. It was also under Major Clark's command that the Foot Guard took part in the 
famous reception to Admiral Dewey, on his return from the Philippines and Manila Bay, to 
New York. This company also escorted United States Senator George P. McLean, then 
governor of Connecticut, to Buffalo, to observe Connecticut Day at the Pan-American 
Exposition. 

In politics Mr. Clark is a republican, yet in local affairs he is a strict non-partisan, 
selecting the man best fitted for the office. Mr. Clark holds membership in the Union 
League Club and the Civic Federation. Horseback riding is his favorite e.xercise and recre- 
ation. He has traveled a great deal, and for twenty years spent his summers abroad, 
visiting practically all the large European cities. He has many warm friends in New Haven 
who respect him tor his true democratic manner and genuine worth. 



LEVI TRACY SXOW. 



Levi Tracy Snow, president and general manager of the Snow & Petrelli Manufacturing 
Company, possesses notable executive power combined with inventive ingenuity that has 
found expression in the production of various original devices that have constituted factors 
in the continuous growth of his business. The progressive steps in his busines career are 
easily discernible and indicate wise use of his time and opportunities. 

He was born May 30, 1860, at Prospect Ferry, Maine, a son of Odbrey Miles and Ruth 
Ridley (Ginn) Snow. The ancestral line is traced back to Nicholas Snow, who founded 
the family in the new world. He arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the ship Ann in 
1623 and had a share in the division of the land there in 1624. He afterward resided at 
Eastham, on Cape Cod, and there filled several offices. He was an associate of Governor 
Prence and exerted a strong influence in public affairs. At Plymouth he married Constance 
Hopkins, a daughter of Stephen Hopkins, with whom she came to the new world on the 
Mayflower. Mark Snow, the son of Nicholas and Constance Snow, w-as born at Plymouth in 
1628 and he, too, held many oftices, including that of magistrate of the court. He married 
Jane Prence, daughter of Governor Prence. The ancestral line is traced down through 
Thomas Snow I and Thomas Snow II to Thomas Snow III, who removed from Eastham, 
Massachusetts, with his family and settled in Gorham, Maine. He was the father of Aaron 
Snow, who married Eunice Philbrick and removed to Monroe, Maine. Their son, Levi Snow, 
represented the family in the seventh generation and was the father of Odbrey Miles Snow, 
who came to Connecticut from Maine and settled in Thomaston in 1869. Three years later 
he removed to Norfolk, where he resided until his death, when he had reached the advanced 
age of eighty -one years. 

Levi T. Snow, the son, attended the district schools of Maine and Connecticut and In 
1883 received a diploma from the Pratt & Whitney Company of Hartford as a journeyman 
machinist upon completing a three years' apprenticeship in their employ. This was by no 
means, however, his initial work, for in his boyhood he had assisted in the work on the farm 
and in a granite quarry and at the age of sixteen left home, after which he engaged in 
clerking in general stores for three years. It was then that he went to Hartford and was 
apprenticed to the machinist's trade, serving the regular three years' term of indenture. 
In 1884 he came to New Haven to accept the superintendency of the plant of the Strong 
Firearms Company, making shotguns, rifles and cannon. When the firm closed out that 
business he purchased the cannon department, which he conducted under his own name, 
and from time to time added other lines. In 1906 he organized the Snow & Petrelli Manu- 
facturing Company, of which he is the president and general manager. He has taken out 
several patents on inventions, the most important being known as the Universal Food 
Chopper. This device was patented in 1897 and since that time millions of the choppers 
have been made and sold by the Landers. Frary & Clark Company of New Britain, Connecti- 
cut, and the demand therefor still remains undiminished. 

On the 29th of March, 1897, Mr. Snow was united in marriage to Miss Sila Harrison 
Vol. II — 6 



118 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

Pierpont, a daughter of Cornelius Pierpont, a prominent merchant, manufacturer and street 
railway man, and a direct descendant of the Rev. James Pierpont, an early minister of 
Center church of New Haven and one of the founders of Yale College. After losing his 
first wife Mr. Snow was married June 3, 1916, to Mrs. Caroline B. Terrell, iiee Skinner, a 
representative of an old Connecticut family. Mr. Snow has three daughters: Ruth Canfield, 
who became the wife of Arthur T. Nabstedt, a Yale graduate of 1910; Helen Pierpont; and 
Jlarion Pierpont. who became the wife of Clarence L. Sibley, also a Yale ^iraduate. Tlie 
two sons of the family, Cornelius and Pierpont, both died in boyhood. 

Mr. Snow is a believer in republican principles and usually votes with the party, yet 
does not hesitate to pursue an independent course and has protested against boss rule 
through the Non-partisan League and the progressive party. He has held but one political 
office,°namely that of civil service commissioner, about 1910. For two years he was president 
of the New Haven Business Men's Association and is now a director of the Business Men's 
brancli of the New Haven Chamber of Commerce. For many years lie held membership in the 
Union League and at the present time he is a member of the New Haven Country Club, 
the Sons of the American Revolution, the Founders and Patriots of America and the Chamber 
of Commerce. He is likewise a member of Center church, of the Congregational Club and the 
Young Men's Christian Association. His interests and activities have always been centered 
upon and directed through those channels which flow the greatest good to the greatest 
number and his cooperation and support of progressive measures have in a considerable 
degree furthered the public welfare. 



GEORGE CLAIRE ST. JOHN. 

George Claire St. John, head master of the Choate School at Wallingford, Connecticut, 
was born in Simsbury, Connecticut, September 29, 1877. His father, Edward Francis St. John, 
a native of this state, devoted his life to farming. He was a member of the Connecticut legis- 
lature for a number of years and a man of prominence in public afl'airs, exercising consider- 
able influence over public thought and action. He was the third in descent in a family that 
lived on an old estate at Simsbury which was purchased by the great-grandfather. Elijah St. 
John, who came to Simsbury from Norwalk. 

The mother of George Claire St. John was Charlotte Cushman, a daughter of Thomas 
Cushman, of East Granby, Connecticut. Her father was a son of Elisha Cushman, a Bap- 
tist minister, who was born in Philadelphia and devoted his life to the work of the ministry, 
becoming pastor of the Hartford Baptist church, where he remained for thirteen years. He was, 
as it were, to the manner born, being a descendant of the Rev, Robert C\ishman, who came from 
England as a member of the Mayflower band and preached the first sermon at Plymouth. 
He was the first considered in the first distribution of land that was made. He later re- 
turned to England, where he died, leaving his son Thomas in charge of Governor Bradford, 
by whom he was reared. George Claire St. .John was the youngest in a family of three chil- 
dren: Harmon St. John, who is farming the old homestead; Nellie Louisa, the wife of Lucius 
Seymour, a farmer of East Granby; and George Claire. 

In the public schools of Hartford, George Claire St. John pursued his studies and was 
graduated from the Hartford high school with the class of 1898. He then entered Harvard 
and won his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1902. Taking up the profession of teaching, he has 
devoted his life to the work and has made a splendid record, contributing largely to educa- 
tional progress in Connecticut. He was a teacher of English in the Hill school at Pottstown, 
Pennsylvania, in 1902 and 1903 and a teacher in the Adirondack (Fla.) school at Rainbow 
Lake from 1903 until 1907. He was head of the English department in the Hackley school 
at Tarrytown, New York, in 1907 and 1908, after which he became head master in the Choate 
School at \Yallingford. in September, 1908, remaining in this position to the present time and 
giving entire satisfaction by the thoroughness and efficiency of his work, which is the ex- 
pression of high ideals in teaching. 

His phenomenal success in the administration of the school has won him distinction as an 
educator. Since 1908 he has huilt up the institution from a small school with an attendance 
of forty to a large and magnificent establishment with an enrollment of one hundred and 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 119 

eighty boys. It is now recognized as one of the leading preparatory schools of New Englaml. 
One familiar with his work has said that two things are responsible for his success — first, 
his power of organization and the character of the group of men with whom he has sur- 
rounded himself: and second, his unique influence in bringing out all that is best in the boys 
and in the men associated with him in his work. He is a member of the Head Masters' 
Association and of the National Institute of Social Sciences. 

On the 23d of June, 1906, in New Haven, Mr. St. John was united in marriage to Clara 
Hitchcock, a daughter of the late Thomas Day Seymour, of Yale University. The marriage 
was celebrated by President Dwight of Yale and has been blessed with four children: Eliza- 
beth Seymour, born August 5, 1908; George Claire, Jr., born December 4, 1910; Seymoup> 
February 28, 1912; and Francis Cushman, July 31, 1916. 

In the social circles of the city Mr. and Mrs. St. John occupy an enviable position and 
enjoy the warm regard of all with whom they have been brought in contact. Mr. St. John 
is recognized as one of the prominent ediicators not only of Wallingford but of Connecticut 
and in the Choate School has introduced many improved methods which are the expression of his 
own ideals in educational work. 



THE CHOATE SCHOOL. 



The Choate School of Wallingford was founded in 1896 by Hon. William G. Choate and 
Mark Pittman. the latter becoming its first head master. 

At the beginning the school was a small preparatory school for boys. ])atr()nize(l by a 
few of the best families of the community, but it has enjoyed a steady and consistent growth 
until today it numbers one hundred and eighty boys and ranks as one of the foremost pre- 
paratory schools of New England. The school has a tract of one hundred and fifty acres of 
land and in tlie last six years there have been erected thereon buildings at an expense 
iif about one Imndred and fifty thousand dollars. The grounds and buildings constitute one of 
the most splendid school equipments in America. The buildings are chiefly the gifts of 
friends of the school who appreciate the work that is being done. 

The school has reached its highest point during the last seven years under the capable 
administration of George C. St. John, who for six years previous was a successful teacher 
in Pennsylvania and in New York. Mr. St. John brought to his work rare enthusiasm, keen 
judgment and ready sympathy and has impressed on the school many of his high ideals. He 
has been successful in the attainment of his purpose to keep that homelike atmosphere which 
endears the institution to the pupils. The patronage represents no particular social set or 
geographical section and there is no one-college influence, the faculty representing many 
universities. Instead of being confined to a rigid system of form, each boy is given the work 
which he individually needs. 

The school has become a suitable memorial to the great name it bears and to its founder, 
Judge William G. Choate, who still lives here at the age of eighty-five years, enjoying the 
gratifying development of the work he thus instituted. Judge Oioate is a brother of the 
late Hon. Joseph H. Choate and is himself a distinguished member of the New York bar. 



THOMAS PATRICK DL^NNE. 



Thomas Patrick Dunne, who is filling the office of police judge of Meriden, was born in 
Wethersfield. Connecticut, March 17, 1877, a son of Edward and Ellen Dunne, who emigrated 
from Ireland to the new world, settling in Wethersfield in 1854. They had a family of seven 
children, of whom fom- are still living in Meriden, namely: Thomas Patrick; Katharine J.; 
Elizabeth K.; and Edwin. 

Judge Dunne pursued his early education in the public schools of his native city until 
1884, when the family home was established in Meriden, where he continued his studies, pass- 
ing through consecutive grades until he graduated from the high school with the class of 1896. 
He afterward attended a commeicial college, pursuing a business course, and subsequently 



120 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

entered the law office of Judge Fay, being at that time about nineteen years of age. After a 
thorough preliminary course of reading he was admitted to the bar on the 26th of June, 1900. 
and at once entered upon active practice. He was assistant prosecuting attorney, has also 
filled the office of city attorney since 1907, save for a period of about eighteen months, and 
in 1917 he was elected police judge, assuming the duties of that position on the 1st of July. 
He has made a most excellent record in public office, fully upholding the high standards of 
the profession and at the same time doing splendid work for his constituents. 

On the 10th of .September. 1908. Judge Dunne was united in marriage to iliss Katharine 
A. lIcKeough, of Meriden, and they have two children: Thomas, who was born in 1912: and 
Alice, born in 1915. 

.Judge and Jlrs. Dunne attend St. Rose's Roman Catholic church and he holds membership 
with the Elks, the T. A. B. Society and is otherwise prominent socially. His political allegiance 
is given to the republican party and he served as councilman from the second ward of Meri- 
den for two terms. His public service has been characterized by marked devotion to the gen- 
eral good and in his profession he has made for himself a creditable place, studying closely the 
principles of jurisprudence, and actuated at all times by the highest professional standards. 
From the age of seven years he has made his home in ileriilen. where high regard is enter- 
tained for him by reason of his possession of those qualities which in every land and clime 
win respect and confidence. 



ROBKRT BF.ARDSLFA' GOODYEAR. M. D. 

Dr. Robert Beardsley Goodyear, of Xorth Haven, has always looked upon his pro- 
fession as an opportunity for service and has been in a marked degree not only the 
trusted physician but also the personal friend and counselor of his patients. He is quiet 
and unassuming but his personality is such as to make him a leader and he has twice 
been honored with election to the presidency of the Xew Haven county Medical Society. 

Dr. Goodyear was born in Xorth Haven, Xovember 6, 1835, a son of Bela H. and 
Delia A. (Gill) Goodyear. The father was born in Hamden in 1798 and died in 1885, while 
the mother's birth occurred in North Haven in 1S25 and her death in 1884. The Goodyear 
family has been represented in America for many generations as in 1646 one Stephen 
Goodyear, a London merchant, crossed the Atlantic and located in New Haven. He gained 
prominence in the colony, of which he became lieutenant governor. In the present day 
the family name is associated in the minds of most people with the manufacture of rubber 
products and the Goodyear who first made rubber shoes and other articles is a cousin 
of our subject. The father was prominent in his community and was characterized by 
strong patriotism and at the time of the Civil war cheerfully gave si.\ of his seven sons 
for service in the army, the seventh son being too young to be accepted. One of them was 
General E. D. S. Goodyear. Bela H. Goodyear, the father of our subject, engaged in 
farming in Hamden and met with gratifying success in that connection. 

Robert B. Goodyear attended the local schools and also the schools of Wallingford 
and in his early manhood taught for a time in Oxford, North Haven and Windsor in this 
state. In 1862, although he had begun to prepare for the medical profession, which he 
hoped to make his life work, he put aside his personal plans and ambitions and joined 
the Union army as a member of Company B, Twenty-seventh Regiment of Connecticut 
Volunteers, which he entered with the rank of sergeant. He took part in the battle of 
Fredericksburg. December 13, 1S62, and in that of Cliancellorsville, May 1-3, 1863. He was 
captured by the enemy and held a prisoner at Richmond for some time but in the latter 
part of 1863 was honorably discharged from the army by reason of expiration of his term 
of enlistment. The following year he entered the Yale Medical School and in 1865. while 
still a student, was appointed resident physician at the State Hospital at New Haven. In 
1866 he became a physician at the Hartford Hospital and the following year worked under 
the eminent alienist. Dr. J. S. Butler, at the Retreat for the Insane at Hartford. In 186S 
he received tlie degree of M. D. from Yale and at once began the independent practice 
of his profession at North Haven. He has since remained here and for almost a half 
century has been the loved and honored family physician of almost the entire community 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 123 

and in many homes in the surrounding towns. He has conscientiously kept in touch with 
the change in methods of treatment and is recognized by his colleagues as an up-to-date 
anil very successful practitioner. To liis patients he stands in tlie relation of friend as 
well as physician and his life has exemplified the older ideals of the profession. To him 
the practice of medicine has never been a business or even a cold science but it has always 
been an opportunity to minister to the needs of others. For twenty-five years and more 
he has been medical examiner and health phj-sician for North Haven and he has twice 
been elected president of the New Haven County Medical Society. He has always taken 
a great deal of interest in the work of that body as well as of the New Haven County 
Health Association of which he was a charter member and a member of the executive board 
since its organization. He is now retired to a great extent but still practices somewhat 
as many of his old patients insist on his attending them. 

Dr. Goodyear was married May 19, 1869, to Miss Jane Lyman, who died in March, 1878. 
To them were born two children: Anna Lyman, at home; and Robert W., deceased. On 
the 26tli of June, 1884, Dr. Goodyear was united in marriage to Miss Ellen M. Hotchkiss, 
1 daughter of Stephen and Maria (Goodyear) Hotchkiss, of New Haven. Her father was 
a ship chandler and rope manufacturer, as was his father before him, and the family has 
heeh well known and highly esteemed in eastern Connecticut for many years. Mrs. Good- 
year takes a prominent part in the social life of her community and is a woman of many 
Pne qualities. 

Dr. Goodyear is a republican but has never sought political office. For more than 
fifty years he has served on the school board of North Haven and for more than thirty 
years has been school visitor and secretary of the board. There is no man who has done 
more or as much for the advancement of the schools as he. He has also been active in 
the work of the Grange, believing that sound agricultural development is the basis of all 
other prosperity in a section, and he has filled the offices of lecturer and chaplain of the 
Grange. Through his membership in Admiral Foote Post, No. 17, G. A. R., in which he 
has served as patriotic instructor, he keeps in touch with other veterans of the Civil war. 
He belongs to Corinthian Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and to the Foresters, of which organization 
he is medical examiner. In religious faith he is a Congregationalist and the work of the 
church as well as of other movements calculated to upbuild the community has profited by 
his continued and earnest support. Throughout his life he has remained a student and his 
personality is the expression of the old ideal of a scholar and gentleman marked by a 
strength of character unmarred by ostentation. 



COLONEL ISAAC MORRIS ULLMAN. 

In New Haven, wlicn it was no more tlian a thriving county seat of fortv thousand 
people, just beginning to put out a few shoots of what lias become its great manufacturing 
tree, Isaac M. Ullman was born. In that intimate community he grew up. With all his 
early struggles he had time to study his city. Of its life and development and progress he 
has been very much a part. Of it he has been called by those who without prejudice have 
observed his vigorous, earnest, far-seeing efforts for its progress and true prosperity, one 
of its very fgremost citizens. He is regarded as one of New Haven's most successful cit- 
izens as well, but witli him success has meant some things larger than the word usually 
involves, whicli only a careful study of his career will reveal. 

Mr. I'llman was born August 29, 1863, of Morris and Mina (Fleischner) Ullman, his 
father being a native of Berlin, Germany, and his mother of Marienbad, Austria. The 
schools of his early days were good, but not to be compared with their successors which 
he in his time has seen. He made the most of them as far as he went, but circumstances re- 
quired that he should enter business rather early, which he did as office boy with Mayer, 
Strouse & Company. He has the enviable record of having, in a service of less than forty 
years, risen from that position to be the head of what is practically the same firm, whose 
products are known in every land where women wear stays, which has offices and ware- 
rooms in New York, Chicago, San Francisco. Boston and Philadelphia, being, as Strouse 
Adler & Company, known as one of New Haven's foremost and largest manufacturin ' 



124 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

industries. Colonel Ullman's denionstrateil abilitiy. not only in this but other Ijusiness 
affairs, has earned for him by riyht as well as investment a directorship in the Merchants 
National Bank. 

It is as president of New Haven's Chamber of Commerce that Colonel Ullman has 
best demonstrated his love for his city and his ■.villingness to sacrifice his time and effort 
in its service, as well as his breadth of vision of the New Haven that was to be. WTien 
he came to its piesidencj' in 1909, he found a fine old organization with one hundred and 
fifteen years of checkered history and a membership of five hundred and twenty-eight, with 
a long record for banquets but a short one on achievement for New Haven. He put into 
it a dynamic force, an Intelligent direction, which in five years had given it a member- 
ship of one thousand two hundred, an efficient organization, a fine home and a list of deeds 
done for the effective progress of New Haven. 

Colonel Ullman has been a force in the politics of New Haven and of his state. He 
has been called a "boss." H "boss" means a citizen with a keen zest for affairs of gov- 
ernment, a clear conception of the things that need to be done, the ability and willing- 
ness to go on and direct and do the things which somebody must do but often nobody is 
willing to do, he is a boss. But he never has sought public office for himself, and has not 
held paying public office, though a man with his ability could not escape positions of 
honor. He has twice served on the staff of a governor of Connecticut, as aide to Governor 
George E. Loun.sbury in 1899, with the rank of colonel, and as quartermaster general for 
his close friend, Governor Roilin S. Woodruff in 1907. He is on the retired list of the 
Connecticut National Guard. For some time he was a member of the New Haven Board of 
Kducation. He is a member and director of Mishkan Israel congregation, and has a club 
and fraternity membership exceeded by few men in the state. In New Haven he belongs 
to tlie Union League, the Young Jlen's Ke])ublican and the Harmonie Clubs, hi'ing president 
111' tlic latter. He is a member of tlie Second Company, Governor's Foot (iuard, of tlu' 
New Haven Colony Historical Society and is a director of the New Haven County Anti- 
Tuberculosis Association. He also belongs to Hiram Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M. ; Franklin 
Chajiter, R. A. il.; Harmony Council. R. & S. M.; Horeb Lodge, I. 0. B. B.: the Ancient 
Order of United Workmen and the Red Men. He is president of the National Corset Man- 
ufacturers' Association of the United States, and in New York his name is on the list of the 
Lotus, Army & Navy, Republican, Wool, City and Aldine Clubs. He belongs to the Moose- 
head Lake Y'acht Club, the Pea Island Gunning Club and the Aero Club. He is a member 
of the Hartford Club, of the Norwalk Country Club, the Old Colony Club of New York, 
the Tuna Club and the Elks Club, and an honorary member of tlie Adelplii Literary Asso- 
ciation of New Haven. 

Colonel Ullman was married in New Haven, on the 3d of February, 1892, to Miss 
Flora Veronica Adler. To them has been born one child. Marion B., who uuirried S. Fred 
Wetzler. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1916. 



MILTON W. HALL. 



Milton W. Hall, who hag charge of the office of the Ball & Socket Manufacturing Com- 
pany, Inc., of Cheshire, has been connected with that concern for many years and has worked 
his way up to his present important position solely on his own merits. 

He was born in Clieshire, November 10, 1872, and is a son of Charles H. and Betsey A. 
(Judson) Hall, who were born respectively in Cheshire and in Washington, Connecticut. The 
father passed away in 1911, when sixty-five years old, but the mother survives at the 
age of seventy-one, making her home in Cheshire. The father farmed in young manhood 
but later turned his attention to the coal business in Cheshire, in which he was engaged 
for a quarter of a century. He served as second selectman of his town and was an active 
factor in public affairs. His political allegiance was given to the republican party. In 
religious faith he was a Congregationalist and the work of that organization profited by 
his support. He was a very enthusiastic member of the Grange and his opinion on any 
point in connection with farming was listened to with great respect, for he was recognized 
as one of the best and most successful farmers of the town. 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 125 

Milton W. Hall, who is the oldest of a family of five children, attended the public 
schools and also Cheshire Academy, a well known Protestant Episcopal school, from 
which he was graduated in 1890. In that year he took a business course in the Yale 
Business College and in 1891 entered the employ of the Ball & Socket Manufacturing 
Company, Inc., with which he has since remained. The company manufactures sheet metal 
and wire specialties and has a large and well equipped plant and does a business of 
gratifying proportions. From the beginning Mr. Hall proved himself trustworthy and effi- 
cient and as the years have passed more and more responsibility has been given to him and 
he is now in charge of the office. The work done there is carefully systematized and a 
high standard of efficiency is maintained. 

Mr. Hall was married in 1893 to Miss Viola L. Clark, of Meriden, and following her 
demise, to Miss Florence H. Hanks, of New York, a daughter of Wilbur F. and Jessie 
(Leigh) Hanks, the former a well known publisher and at one time one of the men in charge 
of the Horseless Age, the first periodical of its kind. To Mr. and Mrs. Hall have been born 
two children: Jessie M., August 15, 1904; and Stewart H., whose birth occurred September 
4, 1907. 

Mr. Hall is a republican and although active in public affairs his interest therein is 
not that of the office seeker but of the disinterested citizen. He has served, however, as 
town treasurer since 1905, his long connection with the office indicating the high esteem 
in which he is held. He has served as treasurer of the Congregational church since 1910 
and does all in his power to extend its influence. He is well known in lodge circles, belong- 
ing to Temple Lodge, No. 16, F. & A. M., of which he is master; Triune Chapter, No. 40, 
R. A. M., at Southington; Trinity Council, No. 30, R. & S. M., at Southington; St. Elmo 
Commandery, No. 9, K. T., at Meriden; Sphinx Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Hartford; 
and Lafayette Consistory at Bridgeport. He is very loyal to the craft and its teachings 
as to helpfulness find expression in his life. His record has ever been that of an efficient 
business man, a public-spirited citizen and a loyal friend, and the high esteem in which 
he is generally held is well deserved. 



MARVIN M. SCARBKOUGH, M. D. 

Dr. Marvin M. Scarbrough, whose high professional standing is indicated in the fact 
that from 1913 until 1917 he was annually elected secretary of the Connecticut State Med- 
ical Association, received thorough and comprehensive training for his professional activ- 
ities and since 1910 has successfully practiced in New Haven. His life record reverses the 
usual order, for he did not follow the star of empire westward but left the Pacific coast 
to Ijeoome a resident of the east. 

He was born in Creswell, Oregon, September 10, 1878, a son of Lemuel Duncan and Emma 
(Bedford) Scarbrough. The father was a native of Alabama and when a young man moved 
westward to Oregon. In the meantime he had entered the University of Tennesee and it 
was subsequent to his graduation that he went to the northwest. He settled first in Cres- 
well, Oregon, where he later became a well known medical practitioner, winning prom- 
inence as a physician and surgeon of that place. He married Emma Bedford, who was 
born in Oregon. Her father was one of the early gold seekers in California, making his 
way to that state in 1852, while later he became a resident of Oregon. His daughter, 
.Mr.s. Scarbrouoh. passed away in early womanhood, leaving four children, all (if wliom 
have departed this life with the exception of Di'. Scarbrough of this review. 

In early boyhood Marvin M. Scarbrough became a pupil in the schools of Creswell, 
Oregon. He next became a student in the University of Oregon, where he pursued his literary 
course and won his Bachelor of Arts degree as a member of the class of 1902. He after- 
ward did post graduate work in the department of biology of the Oregon University and 
acted as instructor. He came to New England for the purpose of augmenting his freneral 
knowledge and of taking up tlie study of medicine and entered Yale, wliere he pursued a 
two years' course, winning the Master of Arts degree in 1905. He then continued as a 
medical student at Yale and gained his professional degree in 1907. He has practiced 
continuously in New Haven since 1908 and since 1910 has been medical examiner for the 



126 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

town of New Haven. From 1908 until 1912 he was instructor in pharmacology and from 

1912 to the present has been instructor in therapeutics in Yale. He was clinical assistant 
in surgery from 1912 to 1916. He served an interneship in the New Haven Hospital in 
1907 and 1908 and then began the private practice of applied medicine. His recognized 
ability was attested by his election to the secretaryship of the State Medical Society in 

1913 and by his reelection until 1917. He wks also the secretary of the Yale Medical 
Alumni Association, a position which he filled for four years. He belongs as well to the 
New Haven, the New Haven County, the Con)iectieut State and the American Medical 
Associations' and he is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of 
Science. He belongs to the Sigma XI and the AEI Chapter of Nu Sigma Nu. He is now 
pathologist of Grace Hospital and there is continuous demand made upon his professional 
service, so that he has little leisure time. 

On the 6th of September, 1913, Dr. Scarbrough was married to Miss Mabel G. Sher- 
wood, of Bridgeport, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry G. Sherwood. Dr. and Mrs. Scar- 
l)roii{;li have one cliiM, Marvin MoRae. .Jr., who was born June 35, 1914, in New Haven. 

That the doctor is not unappreciative of the social amenities of life is indicated in 
his membership in the Graduates Club and in the Lawn Club. He ranks as one of the 
leading physicians of New Haven and stands very high in public regard. 



SEYMOUR C. LOOMIS. 



Lawyer and writer of note, an art connoisseur, a scientist and a statesman in his grasp 
of affairs, yet without desire for public office, Seymour C. Loomis has exerted marked influ- 
ence over public opinion along many lines. He was born in SufReld, Connecticut, November 
12, 1861, a son of George Wells and Mary Ellen (Norton) Loomis, and is a lineal descendant of 
Joseph Loomis who came from Braiutree, England, to Boston in 1638 and to Windsor, Con- 
necticut, in 1639, an original settler of this state. 

Mr. Loomis graduated from the Connecticut Literary Institute with valedictorian honors 
in the class of 1878 and on the completion of liis preparatory course entered Yale, receiving the 
Bachelor of Arts degree in 1882. He remained through the succeeding two years as a law- 
student at Yale and, after winning the LL. B. degree cum laude in 1884, was admitted to 
practice. He at once opened an office in New Haven. No dreary novitiate awaited him. 
Almost immediately he came into prominence and his law practice today exceeds that of al- 
most any other attorney of the city. His is a natural discrimination as to legal ethics and 
being grounded in logic and accuracy he is so well read in the law and his preparation of the 
facts is so thorough that he is able to base his arguments upon knowledge of precedents and 
to present a case upon its merits, never failing to recognize the main point at issue. The year 
after beginning practice in New Haven he was chosen assistant city clerk and filled that 
position for two years, and at the same time was editor of the City Y^ear Book. He also 
acted as city clerk in 1885 during the illness and after the death of the (then) city clerk. 

Jlr. Loomis was married on the 22nd of April, 1892, to Miss Catlinrine Canfipld Nortlirop, 
of New Milford, Connecticut. 

He was executive sccretarj' of Connecticut in 1893-1895 and performed for several of 
the state departments during those years the duties now done by the attorney general. He is 
chairman of the committee on new business of the Connecticut Bar Association and a mem- 
ber of the council for Connecticut of the American Bar Association. He is one of the board of 
managers of the Sons of the American Revolution and in club circles of New Haven is well 
known, belonging to the Graduates', Country and Congregational Clubs, and to the Y'ale Club 
of New York city. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church and he is actively 
identified with many organized charities. He is not learned in the law alone, for he has 
studied long and carefully the subjects that are to the statesman and the man of affairs 
of the greatest import — the questions of civil government, finance, political economy and so- 
ciology — and has kept abreast with the best thinking men of the age. In fact, he is a recog- 
nized leader of public thought and opinion. Prominent in the New Haven Chamber of Com- 
merce, he is serving a.s chairman of its public health and sanitation committee. He belongs to 
the American Association for the Advancement of Science and for five years has been and 




SEYMOUR ('. LOOMIS 



AND EASTERN NET\* HAVEN COUNTY 129 

Btill is secretary of the section on economic and social science. He is historian of the Gov- 
ernor's Staff Association of Connecticut. He is the representative of the provost marshal 
general in the fifth New Haven division in connection with the draft for the war against 
(ienuany. A su[jpiirtcr of the principles which underlie representative j;overnment, lie was 
from the beginning of the war in Europe in 1914. a stanch advocate of preparedness on the 
part of the United States in maintaining its ov.u rights and those of its citizens and in 
preventing the overthrow generallj' of government by the people. 

ilr. Loomis has won national recognition through his writings, which cover various 
legal subjects, the tariff and many matters of governmental concern. He is likewise often 
called upon to speak upon the questions of the day. In his leisure hours he finds interest in 
liis prints, paintings, curios, pamphlets and books, and his collection is large and valuable. 



WILLIAM HENRY GODDARD. 

Prominent among the energetic, enterprising and successful business men of Walling- 
ford is William Henry Goddard, the president and treasurer of the Wallingford Lumber 
Company. He was born at West Granby, Connecticut, February 23, 1861, and represents 
one of the old families of the state. His father, Henry M. Goddard, was also a native of 
Granby and was a wheelwright by trade. He removed to South Hadley Falls in 1862 and 
came to Wallingford in 1871, in the employ of the Wallingford Wheel Company, which was 
sold to the Naugatuck Wheel Company in 1874. Mr. Goddard accompanied the business on 
the removal and in 1879 he returned to Wallingford, when the business became the Walling- 
ford Wheel Companj'. He was active along that line to the time of his death, which oc- 
curred in 1881 when he had reached the age of fifty-one years. He married Josephine A. 
Converse, a daughter of Enoch Converse, of South Hadley Falls, Massachusetts. She 
passed away in 1883 at the age of forty-one years. 

William H. Goddard spent his boyhood to the age of ten years in South Hadley Falls 
and acquired his early education in the public schools there, while later he continued his 
studies in Wallingford. At fourteen years of age he removed to Naugatuck and entered 
the wheel shop, thus starting out in the business world, but in the winter of 1883-3 he 
took a course in a business college at Poughkeepsie, New York, and in the fall of the 
latter year he joined the office force of the Wheel Company during tlic absence of Mr. 
Hill. He afterward spent four years in North Carolina, operating a mill and buying timber 
for the firm. While there he was offered the position of bookkeeper by H. B. Todd & 
Son, lumber dealers of Wallingford. Accepting, he entered upon the work and four years 
later, when Mr. Todd died and the business was reorganized in 1895, he was made the 
treasurer. In 1903 he became the president and treasurer and the name was changed to the 
Wallingford Lumber Company. This business has continuoush' claimed the attention and 
energy of Mr. Goddard and its success is attributable in substantial measure to his enter- 
prise, his progressiveness and his thorough understanding of every feature of the lumber trade. 

It was on the 30th of July, 1890, that Mr. Goddard was married in Southington, Con- 
necticut, to Miss Mary E. Hart, a daughter of diaries C. Hart of that town, and they 
have become the parents of four children: Marjorie A., twenty-four years of age; Stanton 
Hart, twenty-one; Wendell C, fifteen; and Oeanne !M., twelve. The family resides at 
No. 17 Beaumont avenue. 

In his political views Mr. Goddard is a stalwart republican and he has represented 
Wallingford in the general assembly of 1909, of 1911 and of 1917. In 1909 and 1911 he 
was one of the committee on education and in 1917 he was made a member of the committee 
on incorporations and the commitee on joint rule. He gave very careful consideration to 
all the questions which came up for settlement and his support of a measure was the 
expression of his belief in its worth to the commonwealth. He studies closely the ques- 
tions and issues of the day and keeps well informed on all the vital points which come up for 
settlement in connection with political affairs. 

Fraternally Mr. Goddard is a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows. He has passed through all of the offices of lodge and encampment and has con- 
tributed in substantial measure to the upbuilding of the organization. In Masonry, too. 



ino A MODERN HISTORY OP NEW HAVEN 

he is well known, being a past master of Compass Lodge, No. 9, A. ¥. & A. M. He has 
also filled the chairs in Lockwood Chapter, No. 48, R. A. M., of Wallingford. Five years 
ago a tract was purchased and a Masonic building erected thereon. Mr. Goddard became 
one of the leaders in that movement and was elected the president of the Masonic Temple 
Corporation, in which position he served for three years and since that time he has been 
one of its directors. He is a member of the First Congregational churcli and has been 
most active and earnest in promoting its welfare. He held the office of deacon for twenty- 
four years or for eight terms, and for ten years was clerk of the cluirch, while for the 
past two years he has been on its board of trustees. 

Mr. Goddard is deeply interested in everything that pertains to the material, intel- 
lectual, social, political and moral progress of his community and his worth as a man and 
citizen is widely acknowledged. Starting out in life for himself at the early age of four- 
teen years, he has since been dependent upon his own resources and whatever success he 
has achieved is the direct reward of his labors. His sterling worth is acknowledged by 
all and Wallingford numbers him among its best citizens. 



LEONI WARREN ROBINSON. 

Leoni Warren Robinson, an architect of New Haven, was born September 26, 1851, in 
the city where he still resides, his parents being Warren and Sarah Howard (Woodard) 
Robinson, the former a native of Mansfield, Connecticut, and tlic latter of Jefferson, New 
Hampshire. 

After attending the Hillhouse high school of New Haven he continued his studies in 
French's Preparatory School and afterward entered the office of R. G. Hatfield, a well known 
and prominent architect of New York city, with whom he remained for a number of years, 
or from 1870 until 1874. He was then in the supervising architect's office in Washing- 
ton, D. C, until 1877. He traveled abroad in 1877 and 1878 and has since practiced his 
profession in New Haven. He specializes in public buildings and structural engineering. 
He was the architect of the public school buildings of New Haven between 1878 and 1894. 

From 1903 to 1913 he was a member of the commission to erect the Connecticut 
State Ldbrary and Supreme Court building and during this period was secretary of the 
commission. 

He is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects; past president of the Con- 
necticut chapter of said institute; a member of the Architectural League of New York 
and of the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers. 

On the 4th of October, 1883, Mr. Robinson was united in marriage to Miss Mina J. 
De Moss, of Coshocton, Ohio, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis De Moss. Three children 
have been born of this marriage: Lois De Moss, who is a graduate of the Hillhouse high 
school and of Smith College; Mrs. Margaret Osborn, who is a gi'aduate of Hillhouse 
high school and also of Dana Hall, Wellcsley, Massachusetts; and Faitli De Moss. 

Mr. Robinson is a republican and member of the Young Men's Republican Club. He 
was a member of the board of education of New Haven for two years and after serving for 
that length of time, resigned. He belongs to the chamber of commerce and cooperates heartily 
in its well organized plans for the upbuilding of the city. He is also a member of the Quin- 
nipiac Club and his religious faith is evidenced by his membership in the Congregational 
church. 



MICHAEL V. HARDING. 



Michael P. Harding, deceased, was for many years prominently identified with Bran- 
ford's commercial interests and in his death the community lost an honored and valued 
citizen. He was born in that village, April 15, 1850. a son of Francis and Ellen (Farley) 
Harding, both of whom were natives of Ireland. When a young man the father came to 
America and was one of the first Irishmen to locate in Branford, where lie was engaged 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 131 

in the grocery business for several years, o])ening a store on Jlontowese street in 1856. 
He was a genial, pleasant gentleman, extremely charitable and a leader among the Irish 
of his time in Branford. He gave the land for the first Roman Catholic church erected 
in the village and contributed liberally to its support. Three of his daughters are now 
Sisters in a convent. Michael P. Harding was the oldest of the family of seven children 
and the first child born of Irish parents in Branford, where the parents were married and 
continued to make their home until death. 

ilichael P. Harding began his education in the public schools of Branford and later 
attended the Branford Academy and the Yale Business College in New Haven. He was 
only twenty-one years of age when his father died, leaving his mother, four sisters and 
one brother dependent upon him, and there were also debts to be paid, as his father had 
endorsed notes for parties who never paid them. Mr. Harding took charge of the grocery 
store and in its management met with most e.xcellent success, so that it was not long 
before he was able to pay oS" all indebtedness. In 1903 he retired from business, selling 
the store to his head clerk, but when the latter died a few years later lie again took 
control and remained in active business until he, too, passed away on the 18th of April, 
1917. He was also a director and vice president of the Branford Savings Bank from 
the time of its organization until his death. 

At Wailingforil. Connecticut, Jul}' 1, 1896, Mr. Harding was united in marriage to Miss 
Sarah Ann Harland, who was born at that place and was educated at the Convent de 
Xotre Dame, of Waterbury, Connecticut. Her parents, Matthew and Mary (McCabe) Har- 
land, were natives of Ireland, and her father was related to the Harlands, famous ship- 
builders of Ireland. He was educated at the University of Dublin and shortly after his 
graduation came to America, locating at Wallingford, Connecticut, where he engaged in 
contracting for the manufacture of silverware in the factory of R. Wallace & Company, 
and became one of the prominent citizens of that place. He was honored with several 
town offices and was a director of a bank in Wallingford, being prominently identified 
with both the public and business interests of the town. His wife had come from Ireland 
with her parents during girlhood and settled in Wallingford. Both Mr. and Mrs. Harland 
are now deceased. Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Harding, Mary Eleanor (1st) 
passed away in infancy. The living daughters are Frances Margaret, Sarah Irene and Mary 
Eleanor. 

The family still occupy the Harding home on ilontowese street, which is over two 
hundred years old, but was entirely remodeled and made up-to-date by Mr. Harding. He 
was a member of the Holy Name Society and a very devout Catholic, doing all within his 
power to promote the interests of the church. He was also a very charitable man, giving 
liberally of his means to the ]ioor and needy, although his gifts were unostentatiously 
made and few knew of his many acts of kindness. For many years he was one of Bran- 
ford's most prominent business men and his death was widely and deeply mourned, for 
he left many friends as well as his immediate family, and all who knew him held him 
in the highest regard. 



JOHN F. FENDERS. 



Since taking up his duties as postmaster of Meriden, John F. Fenders has instituted 
many improvements in the administration of the office, and his work has received the hearty 
commendation of the business men of the city. 

He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, but when six months old was taken by his 
parents to Meriden, where his father, Edward Fenders, is still living. The mother, who ' 
bore the maiden name of Mary Lyons, passed away in 1913. The other living members of 
tlie family are: .James, a resident of Hartford; and Andrew J., Mrs. .Julia Ivenney, Mollie 
and Helen, all residents of Meriden. 

John F. Fenders received his education in the public schools of Meriden. While vet 
in school he sold newspapers and thus earned his way in part, and his life has been one 
of continual efi'ort, so that the success which he has gained is attributable entirely to 
his own industry and good management. During school vacations he worked as a clerk 



132 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

in a grocery store but later took up tlie study of telegrapliy. Hu became a good operator, 
but not linding conditions to his liking, he entered the employ of the Meriden Britannia 
Company, with which he remained for about ten years. He then became connected with 
the Journal Publishing Company and after traveling for a time in the interests of the 
job department became identified with the circulation department and later with the ad- 
vertising department. He advanced until he became the head of both the advertising and 
circulation departments, which indicates the high estimate placed upon his business ability 
by tlie officers of the company. For a decade or more he was identified with the business 
management of the Journal but on the 6th of July, 1914, was appointed postmaster of 
Meriden and severed his connection with the Journal Company and on the 1st of August took 
charn-e of the postoffice. He has in many ways improved the service since taking office 
and has applied business principles to the handling of the mails. There are now fifty-six 
employes in the postoffice, not counting the sixteen substitutes, and there are in addition 
to the main office eight substations and one classified station. To successfully supervise 
the work of those under him and to keep in touch with the various departments and 
substations demands of the postmaster a high order of executive ability and this Mr. 
Fenders has manifested to a marked degree. The same qualities which enabled him to 
win rapid promotion in the management of his private business interests have made him 
more than usually efficient in the discharge of his official duties. 

On the 20th of October, 1914, Jfr. Fenders was married to Miss Agnes A. Conway, 
of New Haven, and they have two sons, John F., .Jr., born December 6, 191.5, and Edmond, 
born November 14, 1918. 

In politics ilr. Fenders is a democrat but has ever been nonpartisan in spirit, placing 
first the welfare of his community. It is well known that all forward movements receive 
his heartiest support and he has cheerfully given much of his time to work for the benefit 
of the city. He is a director of the public library and is active in the work of the cham- 
ber of commerce. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in St. Joseph's Roman 
Catholic church and for niije terms he was president of the Young Men's T. A. B. Society, of 
which he is now a trustee. His fraternal connections include membership in Silver City 
Council, No. 3, K. of C, of which he is chancellor, and in the Benevolent Protective Order 
of Elks. Along strictly social lines he is connected with the Colonial Chili, one of the lead- 
ing organizations of the kind in the city. 



EDGAR S. DOWE. 



One of New Haven's valued citizens, president of the New Haven Towing Company and 
a widely known airthority on maritime afi'airs, was the late Edgar S. Dowe, whose death on 
February 7, 1912, after a residence of thirty-three years in the city of New Haven, removed 
from that place one of the most conspicuous figures connected with its shipping and harbor 
interests. 

Mr. Dowe's family is southern in its origin, his grandfather, William Dowe, being the 
owner of very valuable property on Roanoke island. North Carolina. He was one of the best 
kimwn and most prosperous planters in that whole region and lived his entire life on his 
estate, which he managed in a most successful manner. Like all large landowners of thit 
time and place he owned many slaves, and it speaks well for the mildness and inherent jus- 
tice of the man that, after the Civil war, they all returned to their old master. A son of 
William Dowe and the father of Edgar S. Dowe, was Walter Dowe, who set an example to 
his son by becoming a sailor and eventually became captain of a vessel trading with the West 
Indies. After the war, however, he retired from this life and once more made his abode on 
Roanoke island, in due time inheriting his father's estate. To his wife, who had been Miss 
Margaret Meekins of that place, and him, were born three children: Blanche, who became 
Mrs. William Forbes; Edgar S.; and Thomas A. 

Edgar S. Dowe was born on Roanoke island, December 13, 1858, and there passed his 
childhood and youth up to the age of twenty years, gaining, in the meantime, an excellent 
education at the local schools. In 1879 he removed from his early home to New Haven, 
where he resided during the remainder of his life. The following year he began the loii" 




EDGAK S. DOWE 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 135 

association with the New Haven Towing Company, whicli was to close only witli his death. 
After a few years service as an employe lie bought a half interest in the company and in 
course of time was made its president, an office he held until his death. The affairs of the 
concern were never so prosperous as under the long and able management of Mr. Dowe, who 
interested himself not only with its immediate business but with the improvement of docking 
and harbor conditions generally, and doing most valuable w'ork for the maritime interests 
and the port generally. 

It was not only as president of tlie great coni|iany that ilr. Dowe devoted liimself to 
tliis work. As time went on he became a prominent tigure in many departments of activity in 
New Haven. Especially was this the case in local politics, which he entered while still a 
very young man, allying himself with the city organization of the democratic party, of 
whose principles and policies he was an ardent supporter. Later lie was made harbor 
master, acting with so much vigor and sense in that office that he was appointed by the gov 
ernor of Connecticut a member of the board of harbor commissioners. Here again he proved 
himself extremely energetic and effective, doing much for the cause of harbormen generally 
and proving himself so greatly interested in the subject that his fellow- members of the board 
elected him lu\rbor inspector. In tliis most important and responsible position Mr. Dowe 
proved himself more valuable than ever, and gained the approval of the community gener- 
ally, and especially of those whose business made them interested in tlie harbor facilities. 
But it was not, by any means, only tl(at aspect of city affairs connected with his own busi- 
ness that Mr. Dowe concerned himself with. On tlie contrary public affairs generally inter- 
ested him and he gave a large amount of his time and attention to tlie welfare of the com- 
munity from a general point of view. In 1890 he was elected to the New Haven city coun- 
cil, serving on that body until 1898, and was then twice consecutively elected an alderman. 
In these several offices Mr. Dowe displayed his customary good sense and energy, and was 
appointed the aldermanic member of the board of finance, one of the most ditiicult and re- 
sponsible positions in tlie whole city government. 

Besides these public and private activities, Mr. Dowe was conspicuous in social and fra- 
ternal circles in New Haven and was a member of many important organizations. Mr. Dowe 
took great interest in Masonic circles; he was a thirty-second degree Mason, member of 
Wooster Lodge, No. 79, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Franklin Cliapter, No. 2, Royal 
Arch Masons; Harmony Council, No. 8, Royal and Select Masters; and New Haven Com- 
mandery. No. 2, Knights Templar. In the Scottish Rite he affiliated with E. G. Storer Lodge 
of Perfection, Elm City Council, Princes of Jerusalem, New Haven Cliapter Rose Croix, and 
Lafayette Consistory, Sovereign Princes of the Royal Secret, the latter of Bridgeport; he 
was a Noble of Pyramid Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of 
Bridgeport. He was a member of the American Economic Association, the New Haven 
Chamber of Commerce, the New Haven Masonic Club, the New Haven Knights Templar 
Club, the New Haven Publicity Club and the New England Order of Protection. 

He and his wife were members of the Congregational church at East Haven and were 
very active in its work, at one time being connected with the Christian Endeavor Society, 
and he was a supporter of the cliurcli interests, giving generously alike of liis effort and 
money. 

Mr. Dowe married -lune 29, 18S1. at New Britain, Connecticut. Editli Augusta Church, 
a native of East Haven, Connecticut, a daughter of Daniel M. and Sarah Eliza (Hill) Church, 
both of whom are deceased. Mr. Church was a avcU known builder of steeples in his time, 
liaving erected as many a.* fourteen in various parts of tlu' state. Mrs. Dowe resides on 
Sherman avenue in New Haven. 

The influence of such a life as Mr. Dowe's does not cease with deatli and is often 
not adequately felt until some time after that sad event. The results of his efforts are 
cumulative, at it were, and will doubtless in the future be enjoyed by many wlio are un- 
aware of its source. He was a practical man of the world who sought diligently his own 
interests, but in that search he never for an instant forgot the rights of his fellows nor 
the pertinent fact that the interests of all men are in the highest sense inseparable. His 
duties as a citizen and a neighbor he discharged, not merely well, but in a manner that dis- 
played an unusually keen sense of the social obligations existing between man and man and 
a highly altruistic impulse to aid in furthering the welfare of the community. It was not 
alone in his conduct in public office that this was shown, although this well exemplified it. 



136 A MODERN HISTORY OP NEW IIAVEiN 

but quite as much in his personal relations with men wherein he acted with a charity and 
tolerance born of the true democracy of his spirit. It was doubtless this attitude to his 
fellows that gave him the widespread popularity which he enjoyed and made him one of 
the best known figures in New Haven. It was this also that made the sense of loss occa- 
sioned bv his death seem so personal a one to such large numbers of his fellow citizens. 



HENKY JOHNSON PRUDDEN. 

Henry Johnson Prudden was identified with the business interests of the city of New 
Haven through his connection with the Bowditch and Prudden Company, which at one time 
held a leading position in the furniture trade of the state, having branch stores at Mer- 
iden and Waterbury. 

Mr. Prudden was born in Medina, Orleans county. New York, but was a lineal de- 
scendant of the Rev. Peter Prudden. one of the original members of the New Haven colony. 
Henry J. Prudden's father, the Reverend George Peter Prudden, graduated from Yale in 
the class of 1835, and three years later from the Yale Theological Seminary. Except for 
a few years in Medina, New Y'ork, his pastorates were all in western Connecticut, at 
Middlebury, Southbury and Watertown. Ill health compelled him to relinquish active 
service in the ministry during his later years, which were largely spent in New Haven. 
The wife of Rev. George Prudden was Eliza Johnson, of Southbury, Connecticut, and 
beside Henry, four other children were born to them. One died in infancy, leaving Henry as 
the oldest son. One brother, Theodore P. Prudden, D. D., maintained the family traditions 
as a Congregational clergyman with lionor and ability. Another. Dr. T. ilitchell Prud- 
den, distinguished for his studies in medical science and prominently identified with tlie 
health interests of both the city and state of New York, resides there. Miss Lillian E. 
Prudden, the only sister, still lives in New Haven. 

There was high thinking but very simple living in the country parsonages where 
Henry Johnson Prudden spent his boyhood days. The father of the family was a strong 
anti-slaverj' partisan when to be so meant unpopularity. Henry was more than once a 
helper in the midnight harnessing of the horse for service in the underground railway. 
At one time the family lived on a farm for two years for the sake of the father's health. 
Farm life was varied for Henry by teaching in the district school in the winter, but a 
capacity for hard work and a love of outdoor life revealed themselves as a part of his equip- 
ment for life. Save for a year at the preparatory department of Oberlin and a shorter 
time at Fort Edward Institute, he fitted for college in Connecticut schools, as up to the 
age of eighteen his hope was to become a lawyer. 

With this ambition, the influence of the home on this tlioughtful and conscientious 
boy had developed other ideals that were fundamental. One was that he, as the oldest 
son, must be the mainstay and dependence of his mother, and another was that whatever 
might be a man's occupation, the best use he could make of life was to serve his fellowmen. 
To fulfill the first of these ideals he sought the immediate financial returns of a business 
career rather than the profession that would have been more congenial and for which he 
was intellectually adapted. Having made this decision, it was characteristic of him to take 
the best business college course available. It was equally characteristic that he began his 
life in New Haven by holding the position of bookkeeper in two concerns, one taking 
his time by day and tlie otlier in the evening. 

However, he soon entered the employ of Bowditch and Son. a long established furniture 
firm. His conscientious devotion to his employers' interests made him an untiring worker. 
He gave many evening hours voluntarily to the business, and rapidly developed a rare 
business ability which soon brought him advancement. He was but twenty-four years 
of age when he became a member of the firm. After the retirement of E. B. Bowditch, 
the firm was reorganized as a joijit stock company under the name of the Bowditch and 
Prudden Company, of which Mr. Prudden was president until his death. Absolute integrity. 
good judgment and hard work won his business success, but his friendly spirit, his keen 
■ipusc of humor and liis progressive interest in everything that concerned the interests of 
New Haven won the respect and affection of all his associates. 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 137 

On September 18, 1889, Mr. Prudden married iliss Mary Jennett Bassett, daughter of 
Aaron and Adeline (Blalceslee) Bassett of North Haven, descendant of another prominent 
old New England family. In July, 1890, Mr. Prudden died at his home soon after his return 
from an extensive trip abroad. 

While pursuing his business career with fidelity Mr. Prudden never forgot the higher 
values of culture and usefulness to others. His minutes of leisure were always utilized 
for good reading. A well selected library was one of the few indulgences of a man who 
spent little upon himself. He early connected himself with the Chapel Street Congregational 
church which later became the Church of the Redeemer. He gave enthusiastic service to its 
Sunday school for fifteen years, putting himself in touch with all the advanced and im- 
proved methods of Sunday school work in order to increase its efficiency. He also served 
the church as deacon for many years. There was nothing sajictimonious or conventional 
about the religion he lived and taught, but it was vital. His Sunday school work brought 
him into active connection with the State Sunday School Association which soon felt the 
influence of his earnest spirit and business mind. He was the president of that association 
from 1886 until his death and gave personal attention to every detail of the position. He 
made large sacrifices of time, money and strength in going about the state, where the 
"thoughtfulness, suggestiveness and value of his addresses" gave impetus to Bible study. 
A practical outcome of this Sunday school interest was the planting of a Sunday school 
at his own expense in a part of the city where he had found a large number of children 
untouched by any church influence. This experience led him to a farreaching plan for com- 
niunity betterment which he presented to the church so enthusiastically that "Welcome 
Hall" was established the following spring. His plans for it embodied the best ideals of 
practical Christianity and were so wise that they are still the underlying principles of the 
enterprise. Mr. Prudden's widow resides in New Haven and has always held the place of 
her honored husband as the leading spirit of the Welcome Hall work. 

Mr. Prudden's numerous and varied legacies showed his keen interest in whatever helps 
men to better living and his desire to make even his business life count for the good of 
others. 



FRANK A. WALLACE 



Frank A. Wallace, president of the R. Wallace & Sons Manufacturing Company of Wal- 
lingford, was born September 23, 1857, in the city where he still resides, and after attending 
its public schools he became the associate of his father in business, the father having estab- 
lished the enterprise which, under the name of the R. Wallace & Sons Manufacturing Com- 
pany, has developed into one of the most important interests of the kind in the world. 
Under his father's direction Frank A. Wallace learned the business. His promotion came 
to him not through the exercise of parental influence or authority but was won by merit. 
He in time became superintendent of the plant and later was elected secretary and eventually 
became the president of the company. He was admitted to the firm in 1874 and succeeded 
his father in the presidency in 1893. He also became president of the Wallace Purchas- 
ing Companj' in 1894 and so continued until the business was closed out. Moreover, lie 
figures prominently in financial circles as the president of the F'irst National Bank of 
Wallingford and he is a director of the Wallingford Company. His plans are well formulated 
and carefully executed. He thoroughly understands every phase of the business with 
which he is associated and the development of the trade relations of the house is attribut- 
able in no small measure to his efforts and understanding. 

Mr. Wallace has been married tw-ice. On the 14th of January, 1884, he wedded Zi^lii 
Curtis and they became the parents of two children: Robert, who passed away: and Floyd 
Wallace. For his second wife Mr. Wallace chose Sarah Rose Manning, whom he wedded De- 
cember 7, 1898, and they have become parents of two daughters, Barbara Manning and 
Jean Atwater, The family residence is at No. 68 South Main street, in Wallingford. 

Mr. Wallace belongs to the Union League Club of New Haven and is a member of 
the New Haven Anti-Tuberculosis Society. He belongs to the Congregational church and 
in matters of citizenship he is deeply and helpfully interested. Recognizing the duties 



138 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

as well as the obligations that devolve upon him in a public relation, he stanchly advocates 
every cause or movement that he believes will be lielpful to the community. In politics he 
is a republican and in 1908 he was a member of the Connecticut house of representatives. 
He finds his chief recreations in fiy fishing and in motoring. His activities are those which 
touch tlie general interests of society and work for public improvement and progress, and 
in all matters of general concern he keeps abreast with tlic bust thinking men of the age. 



( HARLES WELLS BLAKESLEE, Jr. 

Seldom do we find a more conspicuous case of tlie inheritance of virtues and abilities 
from one generation to another than that of the well known Blakeslee family of New 
Haven, Connecticut, the record of which for two generations, both in business and the 
general life of the community, is such as to place the name high among those which are 
honored for services done to the city. One of the most conspicuous for talent and merit 
among the members of this most able family was the late Charles Wells Blakeslee, Jr., 
whose career deserves long to be remembered by his fellow citizens for the example that 
he set for business probity and the maintenance of the highest standards of life. His 
death, which occurred April 28, 1915, was considered untimely despite the fact that he was 
approacliing the completion of his seventieth year, for his faculties and power for usefulness 
were entirely unimpaired, and was mourned as a |)ublic loss by a large proportion of the 
community. 

Charles Wells Blakeslee, Jr., was born June 9, 1844. in New Haven, Connecticut, the 
city that was to remain his home and the scene of his notable activities throughout his 
life, the oldest son of Charles and Eliza (Clark) Blakeslee, both of whom are deceased. On 
both sides of the house he was descended from splendid old Connecticut stock, although his 
father was born in Massachusetts. His mother was a native of Milford, Connecticut. 

Charles W. Blakeslee, Jr., gained his education in his native city, attending the 
excellent public schools there and proving himself an apt and intelligent scholar. His 
father, a man of unusual business ability, had engaged in the contracting business in New 
Haven at about the time of the birth of our subject and had succeeded admirably in build- 
ing up a large establishment. Charles W. Blakeslee, Jr., was not a member of the firm 
but was associated with the firm and had charge of the quarries. From the time of its 
foundation by the elder Blakeslee the firm had earned an enviable reputation for the 
completeness and ability with which it carried out its contracts, abiding by the spirit as 
well as the letter of them, a reputation that, combined with the masterly policy of the 
father and sons, was the foundation of the immense business that developed. The 
character of this business was as satisfactory as its size and included the construction of ' 
many ol the largest and most important edifices in and about New Haven and many 
other parts of the state. Much of their work was through public contract and often 
involved the expenditure of millions of dollars. As an example of the magnitude and 
importance of their work it should be mentioned that they were among the contractors 
to whom the city of New York awarded the building of the huge Ashokan aqueduct which 
conveys the great new water supply of the city from its origin among the Catskill moun- 
tains. A section of this monumental work, four miles in length, was awarded to C. W. 
Blakeslee & Sons on the east side of the Hudson river which, according to the contract, 
they were to comjjlete in four years' time. So energetic were they, however, in carrying 
oul tl'e work that they were able to finish it some ten months before the agreed period, 
while the character of the material and workmanship were such as to win for them the 
unreserved comnKMiaation of the city government and the admiration of even tlieir rival 
contractors. 

Mr. Blakeslee was active in many other departments of the city's life besides the 
business referred to above, and in every movement in which he took part earned the 
approbation of his fellows. As a young man he had enlisted on the 1st of April, 1862, 
m Company (4. 1st Regiment of Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery, at the outbreak 
of the Civil war, but, through no lack of willingness on his part, his participation in that 
momentous struggle was very brief. He was mustered in in the early part of the year 




i^Tm/iA^J yi./o£al^AAJLi 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 141 

1S62, saw active service at once, but a few months later was seized with typhoid fever, 
which incapacitated him for further service, and he was honorablj' discharged on the 15th 
of .August following. He became later a private in the Second Company, Governor's Horse 
Cnard. and served in that celebrated body twelve years, rising in that time to the rank 
of major. A stanch republican, he took an active part in local politics and served a number 
of terms both as councilman and alderman in New Haven, doing efficient service for the 
community in both capacities. He was also extremely prominent in social and club circles 
in the city and belonged to many important organizations, in all of which he was active. 
Among these should be mentioned the New Haven Cliamber of Commerce, the New Haven 
Colony Historical Society, the Grand Army of the Republic, the Citizens Corps, .the 
Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Founders and Patriots 
Society. H,e was an Episcopalian in religious belief and was a conspicuous member of 
Clnist church, New Haven, and a vestryman for a number of years, or until his death. 

On October 14, 1868, Mr. Blakeslee was united in marriage with Grace Caroline 
Fowler, also a native of New Haven, born October 18, 1845, a daughter of Timothy and 
Mary Eliza (Stevens) Fowler, old and highly esteemed residents of that city. Mrs. 
Blakeslee survives her husband one of their four children also survives. Edith May, now 
Mrs. George Clarence Razee, of New Haven, Connecticut. 



JUDGE EARNEST C. SIMPSON. 

•Judge Earnest C. Simpson, who has served since September, 1908, as judge of the court of 
common pleas of New Haven under appointment of three governors, bears the reputation of 
being well grounded in the principles of law, while his decisions upon the bench have been 
notably fair and impartial. Before attaining his majority he had decided upon the practice 
of law as a life work. He was born in Jefferson City, Tennessee, April 28, 1872, a son of 
George and Frances Virginia (She waiter) Simpson. The father, who was born in Balti- 
more, Maryland, was a mechanical engineer who resided for many years in Tennessee and 
there passed away in May, 1899. His wife, a native of Virginia, was born in 1841 and sur- 
vived her husband for more than a decade, being called to her final rest on Christmas day of 
1909. Their family numbered ten children, of whom the Judge was the fifth in order of birth. 

After attending the public schools of .Jefferson City, Tennessee, Earnest C. Simpson con- 
tinued his education in the Carson Newman College of that place and was graduated with the 
class of 1893. He matriculated in the Yale Law School and won his professional diploma in 
June, 1899, on the completion of a three years' course. Before beginning his law studies, 
however, he had learned the printer's trade, which he followed in various print shops and 
newspaper offices while attending college, his labor during vacation periods enabling him to 
continue his studies. Having qualified for the bar, he entered at once upon active practice 
in New Haven and has won recognition as one of the most successful of the young lawyers of 
the state, ^^'hen the New Haven paving commission was created in 1901 he became its 
clerk and served until 1905. In 1905 he was appointed city attorney of New Haven and 
served in that position for over three years. In 1907 he was appointed by Governor Rollin 
S. Woodruff judge of the court of common pleas for New Haven count}' for a four-year term 
beginning the 8th of September, 1908. When Governor Baldwin became chief executive of the 
state he was again called to the position and was reappointed by Governor Holcomb in 1915, 
so that he has served under three of the chief magistrates of the commonwealth. His political 
endorsement has always been given to the republican party but when in office or upon the 
bench he never allows political opinion to influence his performance of duty. 

On the 17th of August, 1912, Judge Simpson was married at Bethlehem, New Hampshire, 
to ;Miss Mae E. Hodson, a daughter of ilr. and Mrs. George E. Hodson, of New Haven. They 
now have two children: Katherine Frances, born June 3, 1913; and George Hodson, born 
August 10, 1914. 

.Judge Simpson has had some military training as a member of Company F of the Second 
Infantry Regiment of the Connecticut National Guard, with which he served from 1904 until 
July, 1911, attaining the rank of sergeant. In July, 1911, he was appointed battalion quar- 
termaster, with the rank of second lieutenant, on the staff of Major Tilson, serving until 
Vol. II — 7 



142 A ilODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

JIarcli, 1912. when he resigned, having qualified and been recommended for first lieutenant. 
In 1906, at Seagirt, New Jersey, he won the military championship of the United States with 
a rifle, winning what was known as the President's Match. At present he is inspector of 
small arms practice of the Second Military District, Connecticut Home Guard. He is a mem- 
ber of the New Haven and Connecticut State Bar Associations, the Connecticut Society of 
Sons of the American Revolution, the Young Men's Republican Club and various fraternal 
and social organizations. He is a past ma.ster of Hiram Lodge, No. 1, A. F. & A. M., and has 
attained the Knight Templar degree in the commandery. He also belongs to the Benevolent 
Protective Order of Elks and he is connected with the Graduates and the Country Clubs, while 
the rules which govern his conduct in all life's relations are indicated in the fact that he is a 
loyal member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His ideals of life are high and he embraces 
every opportunity that enables him to reach their level. 



HON. CHARLES F. HOLABIRD. 

Hon. Charles F. Holabird is one of the prominent farmers of Noith Hranford and, more- 
over, is identified with all the progressive and public-spirited movements which have con- 
tributed to the upbuilding and development of the community and of the commonwealth. 
His fellow townsmen, appreciative of his worth, have on various occasions called him to pub- 
lic office, in which he has demonstrated his marked fidelity to the best interests of town and 
.state. He was born in Slietlield. Massachusetts, March 5, 1856, and is a son of Hiram and 
Mariette (Vosburgh) Holabird. He is a representative of one of the old Connecticut families, 
tracing his lineage from John and Mary (Belden) Holabird, of Litchfield county, Connecticut. 
They were the parents of Charles H. Holabird, who wedded Sarah Butler, and both were 
natives of Canaan, Connecticut. Their son, Hiram Holabird. was born in Canaan, July 21, 
1832, and followed the occupation of farming as a life work. He was identified with agri- 
cultural pursuits at Canaan for a considerable period and afterward removed to Sheffield, 
Massachusetts, where he also followed farming. Later he became a resident of North Bran- 
ford, Connecticut, where his last days were passed. 

Charles F. Holabird acquired his education in the schools of Sheffield, Massachusetts, 
pursuing his studies to the age of seventeen years, when he accompanied his parents to North 
Branford. He there took up farm work and has since given his attention to general farm- 
ing and stock raising. In addition to the cultivation of his own land he operates the old 
Russell farm and he is regarded as one of the most enterprising and progressive agricul- 
turists of this section of New Haven county. He has closely studied modern scientific meth- 
ods and his labors are wisely and carefully directed, so that his eft'orts arc attended by the 
utmost measure of success possible. 

On the 25th of December. 1877. at North Branford, Connecticut. Mr. Holabird was united 
in marriage to Miss Bertha Russell, who was born at North Branford, where she has spent 
her entire life, acquiring her education in its public scliools and in Miss Emeline Harrison's 
private school at No. 110 Howe street in New Haven, while for a time she was also a student 
in a private school at Peoria, Illinois. She is a daughter of Alfred and Caroline Russell. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Holabird have been born seven children. Roy Russell, born April 25. 1879, 
is manager for the Strongheart-Barnes Company of New Haven and married Lillian John- 
son, of New Haven. Charles Lovell, born October 19, 1883, is a musician of New York city. 
Douglas Butler, born January 6, 1886, married Leila Byington, of North Guilford and follows 
farming at North Branford. Ralph Harrison, born May 23, 1888, married Carrie Thorpe, of 
Philadelphia, and is connected with the Winchester Arms Company of New Haven. Lucy 
Russell, born October 27, 1892, is engaged in teaching. Mary Vo.sburgh. born July 8, 1897, 
and Elfie Rose, born November 23, 1900, are still at home. All were born in North Branford. 

Mr. Holabird gives his political endorsement to the republican party and has been a 
prominent and active worker in its ranks. He was the first selectman of North Branford. 
which office he held for eight years, and his administration was characterized by marked devo- 
tion to the general good. He practiced close economy yet did not hamper this by useless 
retrenchment. However, he kept the town out of debt and largely furthered its interests 
in manv ways. In 1913 he was chosen to represent his district in the state legislature and 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 143 

lie served on the excise committee. Both Mr. and Mrs. Holabird attend the Congieyational 
(lunch and lie belongs to Totocket Grange, of which he is a past master. Jlrs. Holabird is 
recognized as the chief authority upon the history of North Branford and has in her pos- 
session valuable historical data and records covering the period of early settlement and on 
down to the present. 



FREDERICK HENRY ROLF. 



Frederick Henry Rolf, who is leaving the impress of his individuality upon the political 
and commercial history of the state, makes his home in Guilford, where he was born Jaii- 
nuary 29, 1876, his parents being George P. and Mary S. (Storer) Rolf. The father was born 
ill England and in his boyhood days came to America with his parents, who settled in Guil- 
ford, where he was reared and educated. There he learned the stonemason's trade, which he 
followed for many years, and later he engaged in the livery business, conducting a livery and 
-ales barn. At the present time he is carrying on a large live stock sales business at 
Xo. 190 Grand avenue, in New Haven but continues to make bis home in Guilford, 
where he has taken a prominent part in public affairs, tilling various positions of honor and 
trust, including the offices of burgess, selectman, mayor and member of the finance board. 
His wife, who was born in Le Roy, New York, is also living. 

Fredei-ick H. Rolf, their only child, passed through consecutive grades in the Guilforil 
schools to the high school and later became a student in the Y'ale Business College, after 
which he turned his attention to the drug business, in which he engaged for a short time in 
New Haven. He did not find that pursuit congenial and for a brief period engaged in oflice 
railroad work. In 1897, at the age of twenty-one, he purchased the Sachems Head Canning 
Company of Guilford and also a grain, feed and coal business. The canning company was 
established in 1874 by D. N. Benton and at the time of Mr. Rolf's purchase was a small con- 
cern but had a well established reputation for the quality of its products. Mr. Rolf built 
up the business from that point until the plant today has a capacity of a half million cans of 
tomatoes per year and also packs apples, squash, pumpkins and other lines. The Guilford 
brand of canned tomatoes has the reputation of being the highest quality of canned toma- 
toes on the market. The factory is equipped with all modern devices for the sanitary 
liandling of the vegetables, everything is done with the utmost care and after the prelim- 
inary stages the vegetables are not handled by any person but through machinery processes 
the packing is completed. During the canning season the plant employs from seventy-five to 
one hundred operatives. Mr. Rolf owns an extensive farm and grows his own tomatoes, also 
buying from other growers in this vicinity. The canning factory is only operated during 
the season when the vegetables are upon the market iiut the feed, grain and coal business 
is conducted throughout the year and in that line Mr. Rolf enjoys an extensive, gratifying 
and growing patronage. He is a man of resourceful ability, alert and enterjnising. and he is 
a trustee of the Eagle Hose Company of Guilford and is secretary and treasurer of the (!uil- 
ford Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which he aided in organizing. 

In June, 1907, Mr. Rolf was married to Miss Mabel Carpenter Hubbard, of Guilford, where 
she was born. She is a daughter of .John B. and Eva (Goldsmith) Hubbard, who were natives 
of Guilford, where her father passed away, but her mother is still living. Both were repre- 
sentatives of old and prominent families of Guilford. 

In politics Mr. Rolf is a stalwart republican and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his 
worth and ability, have frequently called upon him to serve in public offices. He has been 
borough clerk, burgess and auditor and in 1904, when twenty-eight years of age, he was 
elected to represent his district in the state legislature, being the youngest member of the 
house during the session of 190.5. In the fall of 1916 he was elected state senator and is 
now chairman of the labor committee and a member of the finance committee. As chair- 
man of the former he has made an exhaustive study of labor conditions in the state and put 
forth effective work in this connection for the benefit of all classes. He belongs to the Third 
C.ongregational church, for many years has been superintendent of its Sunday school and is 
very active in other departments of the church work. He likewise belongs to St. Albans 
Lodge, F. & A. M., and to the Royal Arch Chapter of Guilford and is a member of Menunca- 



144 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

tuck Lodge, I. 0. 0. F., and was the youngest incumbent in tlie office of noble grand in that 
organization. He likewise belongs to Hollis Encampment, No. 34, and he is a member of the 
New Haven Chamber of Commerce. He cooperates in all of its well defined plans for tho 
upbuilding and development of his city and he keeps in touch with all of those broad ques- 
tions which afl'eet the general interests of society. He is a broadminded man, the spirit of 
progi-ess dominating him in his connection with commercial interests, municipal affairs and 
the welfare of the commonwealth. 



WALTER IRVING RUSSELL. M. D. 

Dr. Walter Irving Russell, actively engaged in the practice of medicine and sjrrgery in 
New Haven, with office at No. 116 Whalley avenue, was born in Mystic, Connecticut, 
March 11, 1886, a son of John Russell, a native of Rhode Island and a grandson of John 
Russell who was a native of England and became the founder of the family in the new world. 
John Russell was a boss dyer of woolen goods, following that line of business for twenty- 
eight years, but is now living retired. He was also a Civil war veteran, having served for 
three years in a Rhode Island regiment, after which he was honorably discharged. About 
1878 he removed from Rhode Island to Mystic, Connecticut, where he still makes his home 
and he holds membership in the Grand Army of the Republic there, thus maintaining pleasant 
relations with his old military comrades. He wedded ilary Ann France, a native of England, 
who came to the United States with her parents when three years of age and settled at 
Fall River, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Russell were married at Potter Hill, May 25. 1867 
and in May, 1917, celebrated their golden wedding. They became the parents of two children, 
the brother of Dr. Russell being Bernard A. Russell, who was born in 1872 and now resides in 
Mystic. 

Dr. Russell was educated in the public schools of Jlystic and in the Bulkeley school of 
New London, a private school in which he studied for two years. In preparation for his pro- 
fessional career he entered the medical department of Yale and was graduated in 1009. 
Following his graduation he received his first appointment in the New Haven Hospital, where 
he remained for eighteen months and then took up special work in the Lying-in Hospital 
of New York. In the fall of 1910 he began the private practice of medicine at No. 98 Shel- 
ton avenue, New Haven, and has continued in general practice in this city since that date. 
He has made steady progress for his efficiency has been promoted through experience, wide 
reading and close study. 

On the 8th of October, 1913, in New Haven, Dr. Russell was married to i\Iiss Lillie Wolfe, 
a native of Branford, Connecticut, and a daughter of Mr. and !Mrs. Jonas Wolfe. The latter, 
now deceased, belonged to an old English family at one time very prominent and wealthy, 
living in the suburbs of London, where they had a country home and large estate, but they 
lost the greater part of their fortune. Dr. and Mi'S. Russell have become the parents of a 
daughter, Charlotte France, born July 10, 1914. 

Dr. Russell exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the 
lepublican party. He belongs to the Alpha Kappa Kappa, a college fraternity; also to 
Wooster Lodge, No. 79, F. & A. M. ; to American Lodge, No. 53, K. P.; to the Loyal Order 
of Moose, and to Manchester Unity Lodge, I. 0. O. F. Aside from his professional in- 
terests his position is one which indicates his popularity among his fellowmen. for he 
has a large circle of friends in this section of the state. He holds to high ideals in his 
chosen life work and is ever careful to conform his practice to advanced professional ethics. 



WILLIAil SPENCER MURRAY. 

William Spencer Murray was born in Annapolis, Maryland, at the United States Naval 
Academy, August 4, 1873, a son of the late James D. Murray, pay director. United States 
navy, who was a native of Annapolis and a descendant of one of the old families of Maryland 
of Scotch descent, the ancestral line being traced back to William Murray, who came to the 



AND EASTERN NE\Y HAVEN COUNTY 145 

new world in the early part of the seventeenth century and settled at Chestertown, on the 
eastern shore of Maryland. Representatives of the family- participated in the Revolutionary 
■war and James D. Hurray was a soldier of the Civil war, prominently connected with the navy. 
He died December 11, 1906, at the age of seventy-six years, his birth having occurred in 1830. 
His wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth II. Spencer, was a native of Jlarylaml, 
born on the eastern shore, and was a descendant of an old English family. She belonged 
to the Carmichel family of Maryland. Her death occurred April 11, 1906, at the age of 
sixty-six years. 

William S. Murray, who was the youngest of a family of five children, began his 
education in the schools of his native state. He attended St. John's College at Annapolis 
and. afterward attended Lehigh University of Pennsylvania, in which he completed the elec- 
trical engineering course with the class of 1895. He then accepted a position in the shops of 
the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, where he served as an apprentice for 
two years and from that position was graduated to the testing department, whence he passed 
on to the construction department and was later placed in charge of engineering and construc- 
tion for the New England district of his company. Later he was chosen among many for the 
work on the first high tension transmission plants in the east, the economic feature of W'hich 
suggested to Mr. Murray at that time the application of the high voltage overhead system to 
railroad electrification, which several years later he had the pleasure of installing on the New 
York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. This system has now been adopted as standard on 
all the Swiss government railroads and is also standard with the Pennsylvania system. Mr. 
Murray was directly connected with the Xew York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Com- 
pany as their electrical engineer for eight years and on the 1st of January, 1917, accepted 
the office of assistant to the president of the Housatonic Power Company and was later 
elected to its presidency. 

Prior to Mr. Murray's association with the Housatonic Power Compan3\ in 191.S. lie 
resigned his position as electrical engineer with the New Haven road to form the firm of 
JIcHenry & Murray, engineers, of New Haven, Connecticut, Mr. McHenry resigning his office 
as engineering vice president of the New Haven road at the same time. This firm took over 
all the electrical engineering and construction of the New Haven road and finished the 
electrifications between New York and New Haven in 1914. This firm also actively took up the 
nuitter of the development of the Housatonic river for the purpose of supplying the New 
Haven road with the additional electric power necessary to operating all trains electrically 
on its New Y'ork division. Mr. Murray's and Mr. McHenry's interest in this proposed Housa- 
tonic river develoiiment has led to their association with the Connecticut Light & Power 
Company of Waterbury, Connecticut, of which Mr. Murray is now chief engineer, in charge of 
engineering construction and power production, and in which company Mr. McHenry is a 
director. The Connecticut Light & Power Company is now developing the powers in which 
Mr. ilurray and Mr. McHenry have been interested and at Stevenson, Connecticut, on the 
Hoiisatonic river, there is being constructed a hydro-electric plant capable of developing 
thirty-six thousand horse power of electrical energy. 

It might be asked why, after twelve years of development work in the electric traction 
field, ilr. Murray was willing to divorce himself from this, the most interesting branch of 
all the electrical engineering- arts. However, the answer is simple. The eft'ort to establish 
and standardize the most economic system of triuik line electric train propulsion was com- 
pleted when the New Haven single phase system was accepted and installed on the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad for this country and by the Swiss government for the roads abroad. It 
has been apparent also, since the war began, that the electrification for trunk line roads will 
be held in abeyance for the present. In the interim he has become gTeatly interested, both 
professionally and financially, in the develojiment of a power system by means of which the 
great industrial centers of Connecticut may be supplied with reliable and economical electrical 
energy. The recent abnormal growth in power demand in these districts must be met by the 
construction of steam-electric and hydro-electric plants with their complement of intercon-. 
necting transmission systems; all of which will furnish Mr. Murray with plenty to think 
about and do while his headquarters are at Waterbury. 

On the 23d of December, 1905, at Catskill, New Yerk, Mr. Murray was married to iliss 
Ella Day Rush, a daughter of Richard and Ella (Day) Rush and a descendant of Benjamin 
Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and surgeon of the Continental 



146 A MODERN IILSTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

anny iiniler (ieiieral Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Murray lia\i' beconio tlif parents of tlircv 
sons: Rifliaril Rush, John Manailier an<l William Spencor, all born in New Haven. 

Mr. Murraj- is a member of the New York Engineers Club, the Graduates Club of New 
Haven, the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, the New Haven Country Club, the Quinnipiae 
Club and other organizations. His religious faith is that of the Episcopal church. His liiglt 
professional standing is indicated in the fact that he was honored with the vice presidenij- 
of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, of which he is a fellow. Outside of his 
achievements in construction and development work, he has written and contributed many 
scientific articles to publications of the day, preparing papers presented before the American 
Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia. He prepared 
"The log of the New Haven electrification," the American and European discussions of which 
are in the transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. He has written on 
■'Conditions affecting the success of main line electrification," also "Electrification analyze<l 
and its practical application to trunk line roads, inclusive of freight and passenger opera- 
tion." Mr. Murray is a man of verj- modest demeanor and quiet tastes. His career has been 
characterized by great thoroughness in everything that he has undertaken, setting the science 
of his profession and the accomplishment of the purposes which he has sought far in ad- 
vance of material gains. Throughout his entire career, from the initial point of his appnn- 
ticesliip to the luiistcry of liis profession, he has made sacrifices in order that lie might 
take u)) various other branches of electrical engineering. To this end he has accepted in- 
ferior positions and remuneration to those that he was already holding in order that lie 
might acquaint himself with other branches of the work, having but the one idea in mind — 
that of complete knowledge and efficiency in all departments. The results that Ire lias 
attained show that in this course he chose wisely and well, and though through the periods 
in which he has been a student of diil'ercnt branches of the work, he has been called upon 
to make sacrifices, he has accomplished as a whole results that place him in the highest 
rank of the profession because of the extent and breadth of his knowledge and the al)ility 
to apply it. 



(1IARLES W. VISHNO, M. 1). 

The name of \ islmo has ligurcd prominently in medical circles in New Haven through 
many decades and the record of Charles W. Vishno adds new laurels thereto, for he is most 
careful to conform iiis practice to a high standard of professional ethics and, moreover, 
broad reading and study keep him in touch with the latest scientific researches and dis- 
coveries. He was born in Townsend, Massachusetts, February 23|, 1861, a son of Charles 
and Deliiia (Osborn) Vishno, the latter a native of West Suffield, Connecticut, and both 
descended from early New England ancestors who lived in Massachusetts and in this 
state. The Vishno family came from France at an early period in the colonization of the 
new world and the old family homestead was established in Massachusetts. The grand- 
father of Dr. Charles W. Vishno was a railroad contractor and was active in the con- 
struction of many of the railroads of Massachusetts, being accidentally killed while engaged 
in such work. Dr. Charles Vishno, Sr., was then but a child. He was reared by friends 
of his father in a home where he was surrounded by the tender care and attention .which 
would have been given him by his own parents. After completing a preparatory course 
at the Suffield Literary Institute at Suffield, Connecticut, he became a student in the 
Homeopathic Medical College of New York city and following his graduation entered at 
once upon active practice, in which he is still engaged, being today the oldest practitioner 
of the city of New Haven and one of the most highly respected. He still follows his 
chosen calling, although he has reached the venerable age of eighty-three years. Old age, 
however, need not necessarily suggest idleness nor want of occupation. There is an old 
age which grows stronger and brighter mentally and morally as the years go on and gives 
out of its rich stores of wisdom and experience for the benefit of others, and such has 
been the record of Dr. Vishno. In. West Suffield, Connecticut, he wedded Delina Osborn, 
daughter of .James and Harriett (Pease) Osborn, and she has now reached the age of 
seventy-eight years. In their family are two daughters and a son: Hattie, now Mrs. 




DR. CHARLES W. VISHNO 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 149 

George Hubble, living in Springfield, Massachusetts; Charles W.; and Carrie L., now Mrs. 
Fred Stanley, a resident of Dorchester. Massachusetts. 

In his boyhood days the son attended Hopkins grammar school of New Haven and, 
electing to follow in his father's professional footsteps, he then entered the medical depart- 
ment of Yale University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1885. Immediately 
afterward he entered upon active practice in New Haven, where he has built up a business 
scarcely second to any in the city. His knowledge, skill and ability have long been widely 
recognized, as he has proven his power to cope with the intricate problems that continually 
confront the physician. In addition to a large private practice lie renders active service 
as a member of the staiT of the Grace Hospital of New Haven. He enjoys in large measure 
the legard of his professional brethren and he has membership in the New Haven Medical 
Society, the Connecticut State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. 

On the 25th of June, 1890, Dr. Vishno was married to Miss Jessamine Whittemore 
Spock, of New Haven, a daughter of William H. and Annie E. Spock. The father was at 
one time well known in journalistic circles, being connected with the New Haven Register. 
He passed away in 1907 and is still survived by his widow. Dr. and Mrs. Vishno had 
two children but lost tlieir elder daugliter, Ruth Osborn, who passed away in 1910, at the 
age of eighteen years, while a student in the high school. The younger daughter, Eleanor 
Erskine, born in New Haven in July, 1899, is now attending Bradford Academy in Massa- 
chusetts The family occupies a prominent position in the social life of the city and 
Dr. Vishno is also widely and prominently known in musical circles, being a member of 
the New Haven String Orchestra, of which he is the president, and he was also one 
of the founders of the New Haven Orchestral Club. The String Orchestra has become one 
of the well known musical organizations of the state and through his activities Dr. Vishno 
has done much to raise the standard of musical taste in his citj'. Fraternally he is con- 
nected with Sterling Lodge, A. 0. U. W., and is a charter member of the Royal Arcanum, 
while his religious faith is indicated in his membership in the United church. Practically 
his entire life has been passed in New Haven and his sterling qualities of manhood and 
citizenship, his professional skill and his public spirit have made him one of the valued 
and honored residents here. 



CHARLES DAUENHAUER. 



Charles Dauenhauer. wlio is meeting with success as a contractor and is also coimccted 
with other business interests of West Haven, was born in the kingdom of Bavaria, Ger- 
many, April 16, 1860, a son of Fred and Louise (Sattler) Dauenhauer, the former born in 
Bavaria and the latter in Alsace. The father was well educated and came from an ex- 
cellent family. By occupation he was a builder and interior worker on fine buildings. 

Charles Dauenliauer attended school in Bavaria and as a boy learned the cabinet maker's 
trade. In 1880 he came to the United States, landing in New York on the 20th of July. 
He was employed in a chair factory there for two years but at the end of that time came to 
New Haven, where he found work in a piano factory. When he arrived in the United States 
he had hardly enough money to pay his expenses for a week and was further handicapped 
by the fact that he could speak no English. In order to live he worked for a time at common 
labor for one dollar a day but at length secured employment in his own line, and from that 
time his advancement has been continuous. In 1884 he removed from New Haven to Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania, but after remaining in that city for a year returned to New Haven. 
For many years he has engaged in contracting and has erected many important buildings 
not only in West Haven but in neighboring cities as well. He is also interested in the West 
Haven Hardware Company, the West Haven Publisliing Company and in tlie All Rail Coal 
Company, in which he is a director. 

Mr. Dauenhauer was married in 1883 to Jliss Katherine Danth, of Orange, Connecticut, a 
(laughter of Fred Dantli. who engaged in business in the metropolis for some time and later 
turned his attention to farming. To Mr. and Mrs. Dauenhauer have been born three children: 
William L.. a resident of West Hartford, who is associated with his father in the contracting 
business and who is married and has a daughter, Gertrude; Carl F., also with his father in 



150 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

business, who is married and has a son, Cliarles Otto; and Otto C, who is managing tlie 
West Haven Hardware Company. 

Mr. Dauenhauer is a republican but places citizenship above partisanship. For some 
time he served on the board of burgesses and he has always been keenly interested in public 
affairs. He is a charter member of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he is now vice 
president, and has been instrumental in carrying to successful completion many of the well 
advised projects of that body. In 1917 he was appointed building inspector for the town of 
Orange, in which capacity he is now serving. He can always be counted upon to help in 
every way possible in bringing about the advancement of his community, and among his other 
public services may be mentioned his activity in developing land in various parts of the city 
even if at a personal loss. He belongs to the German order of the Harugari and erected the 
building of tliat society. He has never cared for club life, preferring to spend his leisure time 
at home, and he finds his greatest pleasure in the society of his family. For more than twenty- 
five years he has been a total abstainer from both alcohol and tobacco and to his temperate 
habits he attributes much of his good health. He belongs to the C4erman Methodist church 
and its work has profited largely from his cooperation. He is president of the board of trus- 
tees and for fifteen years has been Sunday school superintendent. It is tlirough such men as he 
that the civic advancement of the community has come, and he is justly held in high esteem 
by all who know him. 



HERMAN HESS. 



It miglit well be said that tlie success of Herman Hess should be measured by his friends 
rather than by his wealth, although in business affairs he has made for himself a creditable 
position and now occupies an enviable place in financial circles in Meriden, being the presi- 
dent of the Meriden National Bank. He has become even more widely known, however, as 
a public official and one over whose record there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. 
He has long filled the office of city clerk and his record has throughout the entire period 
been most creditable. Meriden is proud to number him among her native sons. He was 
here born April 4, 1861, his parents being Frederick and Johanna (Yobke) Hess. His father 
was one of the first citizens of German birth to settle in this part of Connecticut and for 
eighteen years he was employed in connection with the mechanical department of the 
Meriden Britannia Company, working as a burnisher until his death. His life, honorable 
and upright at all times, gained for him the respect and goodwill of those with whom he 
came in contact. At the time of the Civil war he proved his loyalty to his adopted coun- 
try by joining the Union army and participating in many hotly contested battles in the 
south. He was afterward an honored member of ^Meriden Post, G. A. R., and both he and 
his wife were consistent followers of the German Lutheran church, in which they held 
membership. The death of Frederick Hess occurred in the year 1898. 

Herman Hess attended the public schools of Meriden only until he readied the age 
of eleven years, when he felt it necessary to provide for his own support and secured the 
position of cash boy in the store of W. H. Babb. That he was faithful, capable and loyal 
is indicated in the fact that he remained in that store for five years, winning various pro- 
motions in the meantime and displa3'ing the elemental strength of his character through 
devoting his evening hours to study at home in order that he might better qualify for 
greater responsibilities in life. In the course of years he has become a most well in- 
formed man, adding to his knowledge through reading, study and experience. In 1877 he 
secured a clerical position with the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, serving 
in the freight offices of the company both in Meriden and in New Haven, while for one 
year he was connected with the ticket department. In 1882 he was made bookkeeper for 
the Meriden Malleable Iron Company and for five years was associated with that con- 
cern, winning a well merited reputation as a skillful and accurate accountant. In later 
years he has figured prominently in financial circles. He became a director of the Meriden 
Savings Bank and was elected to the directorate of the Meriden National Bank, of which 
he afterward became the vice president and is now tlie president and as such is directing 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 151 

the affairs of the iustitutiou. He has acquired intimate and accurate knowledge of the 
banking business and is actuated in all that he does by a most progressive spirit. 

111'. Hess is perhaps even more widely known because of his public service, which began 
in 1883, when he was elected to fill a vacancy in the office of city auditor. In 1886 he was 
chosen town clerk and registrar of vital statistics, and at the following city election in 
the same year he was called by popular ballot to the office of city clerk and has been 
reelected each subsequent year to date. Such is his personal popularity and the con- 
fidence reposed in him' that he was nominated by both parties in 1892, although it was 
well known that he received his first nomination from the democratic party. He has ever 
labored untiringly for the interests of the city and in office carefully systematized the 
duties devolving upon him, his work being most thoroughly done. In fact, his efforts have 
come to be regarded as invaluable and a contemporary biogiapher spoke of him as one 
who "has naturally become one of the leading citizens of the town and no resident enjoys 
perhaps a larger personal popularity." 

On the 28th of May, 1883, Jlr. Hess was united in marriage to Miss Eugenia De Crosby 
Pomeroy, a daughter of Norman W. and Ruth Ann (Norwood) Pomeroy. They have 
become parents of two children, but the younger, Kuth Imogene, died in 1887, the surviving 
son being Raymond Pomeroy. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hess attend St. Paul's Universalist church. He is prominently known 
as a Mason, his membership being in ileriden Center Lodge, No. 97, F. & A. M.; Key- 
stone Chapter, No. 37, R. A. M.; Hamilton Council, No. 23, R. & S. M.; Pyramid Temple, 
A. A. 0. N. M. S.; and is a thirtj'-second degree Mason, being a member of the New Haven 
and Bridgeport bodies of the Scottish Rite. He is a past commander of St. Elmo Coni- 
mandery and he belongs to Meriden Center Lodge, No. 68, I. O. 0. F., and to Myrtle Lodge 
of the Knights of Pythias. He is also connected with the Elks, with the American Order 
of Foresters, with the Meriden Turn Verein, with the Home Clvib and the Colonial Club. 
In fact, his interests are broad and varied and at all times his influence is on the side of 
progress and improvement. There is perhaps no citizen of Jleriden who has for a longer 
period filled public office and the record of none has been more fearless in conduct, honor- 
able in p>u'[iose and stainless in reputation. 



HON. ALFRED DAGGETT ROSE. 

Hon. Alfred Daggett Rose is identified with agricultural interests in New Haven county 
and in large measure has left the impress of his individuality upon the legislative records 
of the state. He was reelected to the state legislature in 1916, so that he is now a mem- 
ber of the house, in which he is doing important committee work as well as active work 
in connection with much constructive legislation on the floor of the house. Mr. Rose has 
spent his entire life on the farm in North Branford on which he still makes his home and 
he was born in the house that he yet occupies on the 19th of November, 1855, his parents 
being Stephen J. and Rebecca (Buel) Rose. The father was a son of Alfred Rose, who in 
turn was a son of Nathan Rose, a Revolutionary war soldier. The father of Nathan Rose 
was Jonathan Rose and each in turn, through the successive generations, was born upon 
the farm now occupied by the Hon. Alfred D. Rose. The father of Jonathan Rose was 
born in England and was one of the original settlers of New Haven county. Stephen J. 
Rose devoted his entire life to the occupation of farming on the old homestead, where 
both he and his wife passed away. 

Alfred D. Rose acquired a district school education and since that time has concen- 
trated his attention and energies upon the further development and improvement of his 
farm, his labors bringing about marked transformation in its appearance. He has a large 
dairj- business, which he successfully carries on in addition to the cultivation of his fields. 
His place is equipped with substantial buildings, including large silos and all of the acces- 
sories and conveniences of a model farm of the twentieth century. He raises grain, stock, 
fruit and vegetables, and every branch of his business is carefully and systematically con- 
ducted, bringing him a substantial measure of success. He Ls now razing the old dwelling which 



152 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

liis giandfather built on the farm more than a century ago and is erecting in its place 
a fine modern residence. 

Mr. Rose was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Chipman at Fairhaven, Connecticut. 
Slie was born, reared and educated at Fairhaven and is a graduate of the Hillhouse high 
school. She taught school at North Haven and at Bethany and is a lady of broad and 
liberal education and culture. Her father was Joseph Cliipman, a native of Fairhaven, and 
her mother, who bore the maiden name of Pierpont, was born at Mount Carmel. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Kose have been born two children: Olive E., who is tlie wife of Bert L. Barker, 
of Branford, and has one child. Harold; and Stephen .Joseph, who is largely relieving his 
father of the care and cultivation of the old home farm. 

In his political views Mr. Rose is a stalwart republican, long recognized as one of the 
leaders of the party in New Haven county. He is serving as chairman of the republican town 
committee of the town of North Branford, a position which he has occupied for the past 
eighteen years. He has filled the office of tax collector and in 1908 he was elected to represent 
his district in the state legislature, serving during the sessions of 1909 and 1910. He 
was a member of the finance committee, in which connection he did important work for 
the commonwealth. In 1916 he was elected again to the state legislature for a term ex- 
tending to J.918. He is now serving on the excise committee. In 1917 he was largely 
instrumental in securing the passage of a bill to reimburse the farmers of the state whose 
lands were damaged by having ditches dug upon them in order to fight and exterminate 
mosquitoes. For more than a quarter of a century he has been a prominent figure in re- 
publican politics in North Branford and his opinions carry weight among party leaders. 
His religious faith is that of the Congregational church, of which his wife is a member, 
taking an active part in its work. Fraternally he is connected with Corinthian Lodge, 
\o. 103, F. & A. M., and he belongs to the New England Order of Protection and to Totocket 
Grange. A big, broad-minded man. he is alive to all the topics of the day and keeps in 
touch with the trend of modern tliought not only regarding political matters but upon 
all questions that affect the general welfare. 



HARRY WEBSTER HITCHCOCK. 

Harry W. Hitchcock is a wholesale coal dealer of New Haven who was born in Balti- 
more, Maryland, February 11, 18T2. While born in the south, he is a representative of one 
of the old Connecticut families which was founded in America by Robert Hitchcock, who 
came to the new world at an early period in its development. Henry W. Hitchcock, father 
of our subject, was a native of Fairhaven, Connecticut, and was engaged in the oyster 
and fruit packing business. About 1867 lie located in Baltimore, Maryland, where he spent 
the greater part of his life, but his death occurred in New Haven in 1911, when he was 
sixty-seven years of age. His wife bore the maiden name of Katherine Candee and was a 
native of Oxford, Connecticut, Iier father being Enos Candee, while her mother was Elizabeth 
(Perkins) Candee, both being representative old Connecticut families. The ancestral line 
is traced back to .Job Candee. who was born in West Haven, Connecticut, in 1759 and died 
in Oxford, December 3, 1845. He was married in Southbury, Connecticut, October 3. 1784. 
He had eight brothers: Caleb, who was born in 1743 and died at the age of eighty-six 
years; David, who was born in 1747 and passed away at the age of ninety-four; Gideon, 
who was born in 1749 and died at the age of seventy; Timothy, who was born in 1751, 
removed to Pompey and died at tlie age of eighty-three; Samuel, born about 1754, who 
died at the age of eighty-seven : .Justus, born February 17. 1756, who died when eighty-five 
years of age; Nehemiah, born March 14, 1758, who reached the age of seventy-six years, and 
Daniel, born February 19, 176.J. who was si.xty-nine years of age when called to his final 
rest. It is said that all nine sons fought in the Revolutionary war. There was one other 
child of the family who died in early life. Job Candee was only seventeen years of age 
when m July, 1776, he enlisted as a musician under Colonel Jabez Thompson. The next 
year he joined the ranks as a private and served under different enlistments until the 
close ot the war. He enlisted February 9. 1779, in Captain Phineas Bradley's company 




^/'^^^^ }Y ^(f-^ '^6^^-^ 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 155 

of Matrosses Artillery. This company was raised for the defense of New Haven and was 
stationed parth' in the town and partly at East Haven and West Haven at the time of 
Trvon's invasion. On the 3d of April, 1780, Job Candee enlisted in Canfield's Militia 
Regiment at West Point. He is mentioned in the Connecticut Men of the Revolution as 
a pensioner in 1840, when eighty years of age. That he continued his military service 
is indicated in the fact that he was a lieutenant in 1792 and a captain in 1802. He was 
also prominent in other ways, serving as a member of the Connecticut legislature. He was 
married in Southbury, Connecticut, October 3, 1784, and his cliildren were: Laura, who 
was baptized December 34, 1788, and who became the wife of Daniel Tucker; Horace, who 
was baptized December 24, 1788, and married Caroline Judson; Esther, who was baptized 
August 16, 1789, and became the wife of Charles Tomlinson; Enos, who was born April 
9, 1793, and married Elizabeth Perkins; Leverett, who was born in June, 1795, and married 
Jane Tomlinson and was the founder of the L. Candee Rubber Company, of New Haven; 
Roxa, who was baptized May 9, 1803, and married Charles Booth; Sarah, who was born 
June 15, 1807, and married Ebenezer Fairchild. The Candee family is of French origin and 
the first of whom we have record was Caleb Candee, the father of Captain Job Candee. 
The latter was the father of Enos Candee, who in turn was the father of Mrs. Henry W. 
Hitchcock. By her marriage Mrs. Hitchcock had two children; Harry W., whose name 
introduces this review; and Bessie, the wife of Charles H. Kinney, of Waterbury. 

In the public schools Harry W. Hitchcock pursued his education, attending school in 
New Haven and also becoming a student in the Baltimore City College, from which he 
was graduated in 1888. His first position after leaving college was that of bookkeeper 
in the employ of Samuel R. Boyd & Company of Baltimore, who were wholesale lumber 
merchants of that city. After a short time, however, he returned to New Haven and 
secured a position with Williams, Wells & Company, wholesale coal dealers, continuing with 
that firm for about twenty years. He was next sales agent with C. H. Sprague & Son 
of Boston, with headquarters at No. 938 Chapel street in New Haven, where he continued 
for about six years. He was next with the New England Coal & Coke Company of Boston, 
with headquarters in the Chamber of Commerce building, and in .January, 1914, he 
established business on his own account as a wholesale coal dealer in New Haven. Here 
he lia? since remained and has built up a business of large and gratifying proportions, 
having an extensive trade which brings to him a gratifying annual income. He confines 
liis attention to the wholesale business and the methods which he employs are those 
which bring the most desired results. 

On the 3d of March, 1897, Mr. Hitchcock was married in Dwight Place church of New 
Haven by the Rev. Dr. J. E. Twitchell, to Miss Elizabeth Klock, a native of New Haven 
and a gTa<hiate of the Hillhouse high school. Her parents were Irving Berknian and 
Juliette (Mosher) Klock, both deceased. They were representatives of old New England 
families prominent in the history of this section. Mr. Klock was for many years actively 
engaged in the drug business. To Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock have been born three children: 
Wooster K.. wlio was born in New Haven. August 4, 1899; Elizabeth Aldcn. liorn in New 
Haven, June 1, 1903: and Harry Brainard, born September 17, 1910. 

In his political views Mr. Hitchcock is a republican. He has served on the board of 
linance and on the building lines commission for the past five years. He is also a member 
uf the commission on the revision of the building code and he is alderman of the tenth ward, 
liaving been reelected at the last election. He has always taken an active part in political 
and civil matters and stands for progress and improvement long all those lines which lead 
to public benefit. He was appointed on the building lines commission by Mayor Rice and 
was reappointed by Mayor Campner, his present term expiring on the 1st of February, 1932. 
Fraternally Mr. Hitchcock is connected with Trumbull Lodge, No. 23, A. F. & A. M. He 
belongs also to the Union League Club, to the Young Men's Republican Club, to the 
Congregational Club, to the Chamber of Commerce and the Civic Federation — associations 
which indicate much of the nature of his interests and the rules that govern his conduct. 
His military experience has covered service with the Governor's Foot Guard. His religious 
laith is indicated in the fact that he is a member of the Dwight Place Congregational church 
and was superintendent of its Sunday school for a long period. He is also a member of the 
societies committee of that church and he has done everything in his power to promote its 
growth and extend its influence. He deserves much credit for what he has accomplished 



156 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

in lite, for he started out in the business world as an office boy, working at a salary of 
three dollars per week, and his success is due to his own efforts. He is indeed a self-made 
man and deserves all the praise which that term implies. 



NATHAN HARRISON. 



No history of North Branford would be complete without reference to Nathan Har- 
rison, who spent his entire life within its borders, living alwaj'S in the same house. He was 
born .June 27, 1830, and his life record covered the intervening period to the 33d of No- 
vember, 1911, when he was called to his linal rest. His parents were Albert and Annie 
Hall (Footc) Harrison. The father was born in North Branford, where he followed farm- 
ing throughout his entire life, passing away at the age of forty-six years. He was a son 
of Nathan Harrison, also a native of North Branford. The mother was born in North- 
ford and passed away in North Branford. In their family were six children, only one of 
whom is now living, Charles A. Harrison, who is an attorne_y eit law with offices in Walliiig- 
ford, but who lives in North Branford. 

Nathan Harrison acquired his education in the district schools of North Branford and 
in the academy at Newtown, New York. Starting out in the business world he became 
connected with the native timber and lumber business, operating a sawmill as well as 
engaging in the sale of lumber. He made a specialty of cutting timber in the woods and 
making ties and poles for railroads, supplying all the ties and poles for the trolley lines 
in East Haven and in part for New Haven when the road was built. He also had the 
contract for furnishing supplies to the Shore Line Electric Railroad. He dealt extensively 
in native timber an<l lumber, building up a big busines in this connection. At the same 
time he continued the management of his large farm in the northern part of North Bran- 
ford. He had an extensive tract of land and continued its cultivation according to the 
most progressive methods. As a business man he was active and prominent, allowing no 
obstacle or difficulty to bar his path if it could be overcome by persistent, earnest effort, 
and thus he remained an active factor in the material develoinnent of his county until 
death ended his labors. 

Mr. Harrison was an honored veteran of the Civil wai-. In response to the country's 
call for troops he enlisted as a member of Company B, Twenty-seventh Connecticut Volun- 
teer Infantry, in 1863, many Branford and North Branford men joining that company. He 
participated in the engagements at Fredericksbuig, at Gettysburg and in other important 
battles of the war and became deaf from the heavy cannonading at Gettysburg, so that his 
hearing was greatly impaired throughout his remaining days. 

Just before going to the front Mr. Harrison w'as married in New Haven on the 24th 
of September, 1863, to Miss Anna Louise Strickland, who was born at the corner of High 
and Chapel streets in New Haven, in which city she was reared, her parents being Royal 
Nelson and Mary Louise (Hayden) Strickland, the former a native of Salem, Connecticut, 
and the latter of Essex, Connecticut. The father was a confectioner and fruit merchant and 
conducted a store at the corner of Church and Chapel streets in New Haven for many years. 
Both he and his wife, however, are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Harrison were born 
six children, of whom one has ])assed away. Lewis Irving married Ida Gaylord, of Mer- 
iden, Connecticut, and they have two cliildren, Nathan Louis and Floyd Gaylord. Albert 
Eugene, a farmer of North Branford. married Emma Isabel Rose and to them were born 
nine children, of whom the second, Emma Louise, died in infancy. The others are Earle 
Vincent, Emma Louise, second of the name; Nathan Albert, Jennie Benton, Marion Rose, 
Frederick Eugene, Isabel Alberta and Clifford Ellsworth. Louis Strickland, a farmer of 
North Guilford, married Leola Josephine Rossiter, of North Guilford, and their childri?n 
are Ruth Leola and Emily Louise. Royal Nelson, who cultivates the old home farm and 
is also engaged in the native lumber business, married Anna Augusta Rose and thej- have 
three children, Herbert Rose, Nelson Irving and Lcland Wilford. Frederick, the next of 
the family, died in infancy. John Rose, a lumberman and mill owner of North Branford, 
married Anna Jackson Harrison, of North Branford, and they have five children. John 
Ellsworth, Donald Linslev, Anna Elizabeth. William Reginald and Elsie C. 



AND EASTERN" NEW HAVEN COrXTV 157 

>Ir. Hiirrison ({uvc his political allcgiainx to tlie rcpublieaii party aixl In- wm an active 
nu'nibiT of the Congregational church of Xortli liraiiford, in which Mrs. Harrisun liat« been 
a Sunday school teacher for thirty years. Mr. Harrison also belonged to Admiral Foote 
Post, G. A. R., of Xew Haven, and to Corinthian Lodge, F. 4 A. M., exemplifying in jiis 
life the beneliccnt spirit of the craft an<l at nil times guiding his activities by the highest 
principles. He was a very progressive citizen and public-spirited man and did much for 
the improvement and welfare of the community in which he lived. He labored most 
earnestly to have the telephone company put in lines in the rural district of North Bran- 
ford and did much to kindle an interest in this project and keep it alive. He was also 
greatly interested in the project of building the Shore Line Klectric Kailmail through 
N'ortli Rranford and offered to donate a mile of ties, poles, etc., if the line would be built, 
lie also olTereil pol.- eipiipment to the teleplmne company in order to gi-t them to establish a 
telephone line in N'ortli Ilranford. At all times he stooil for public progress and improve- 
ment and cooperated heartily in every movement which he believed would benefit the 
community in any way. He woubl never accept public ofliee on account of his defective 
hearing, but there are few men who have done such valuable public service in the com- 
munity as did Mr. Harrison. His worth was widely acknowledged and all who knew him 
entertaineil for him the warmest regard. The Harrison farm home, which be oeoipieil anil 
on which liis widow still lives, is one of the best equippeil farms in New Haven county, 
for the house and barns are supplied with spring water piped through the buihliiigs. there 
is a private gas plant upon the place and all of the comforts of city life have there been 
secured. Mr. Harrison followed the most progressive methods and the same spirit of progress 
is manifest in Mrs. Harrison's management of her property interests. 



HKKIJKKT CLAYTON NICKKRSON. 

Herbert Clayton Nickerson. chief engineer of the pumping stations of tin' New Haven 
Water Company, and a resident of Fast Haven, was born in New Canaan, fVmnectieut, 
Mari-h .'), 1874. He belongs to one of the old New Kngland families, the Nickersons hav- 
ing Clime to America about lli.'iO, at which time settlement was made of the town of 
Cliatham, Massachusetts. Through his grandfather Nickerson, Herbert C. Nickerson is 
relateil to the family of Harvey C. Ilircb, who figured as the spy in •!. Kenimoro Cooper's 
work of that name and whose real name was Knoeh Crosby. Kicbard (1. Nickerson, 
father of Herbert I'. Nickerson, was iMirn in the state of New York and in his iMiyhiHid 
became a resident of Norwalk, Connecticut. He was with a railroad company, in charge 
of the mechanical department at New Canaan for a numlH-r of years, and afterward re- 
moved to New Haven, where he entered into business relations with the New Haven Water 
Company, taking charge of their Saltonstall station in 1S8U. He remained in charge there 
until .luly, I'Jlfi, and is now living retired at the age of seventy-three years, enjoying a 
rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves His wife, who bore the maiden name 
of Aralx'lla T. .Seymour, is a daughter of Tlmm.is Seymour, of North Wilton, and is now 
sixty nine years of age. Their family immbereil four children, of whom Herbert ('. is the 
youngest, the others being: Clara, the wife of W. .S. Coker; .Jessie, the wife of William 
(t. Newton, superintendent with the firm of I'eck Brothers; and Irving, who died Decem- 
ber 13, 1891, when twenty-one years of age. 

In the aci|iiirenient of his education Herl)ert C. Nickerson attended the public 
schools of East Haven and the Giles school, a private school of New Haven. He pursued 
an engineering course in correspondence schools and after his education was completed 
he entered the employ of the X. T. Bushnell Company, hardware dealers, as a clerk. He 
afterward spent a short time in the bicycle business in Norwalk and in December, 1891, 
on the death of his brother, became his suceessor as assistant engineer at Saltonstall. He 
was afterward tr.msferred to Whitneyville in 1896 and in 1904 was made chief engineer 
in charge of all pumping stations, in whicli position he also superintends all new installa- 
tion and improvement work in the pumping stations. His position is therefore one of 
importance and responsibility but his powers are proving adequate to the tasks that de- 



158 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

volvo upon him. He is also tlie secrrtary and treasurer of tlic Kast Haven Telephone &, 
Electric Company, of whicli he was one of the organizers in 1899. 

On the 25th of October, 1899, Mr. Niekersou was married, in Kast Haven, to iliss 
May Ktta Forbes, a daughter of Willett B. and Marietta (Bradley) Forbes. They now 
have one child, Eunice Isabel, who was born April 30, 1909, and is with her parents in 
an attractive home at No. 369 Main street, in East Haven. 

Jlr. Niekersou has long taken an active part in public affairs, in fact has figured prom- 
inently in this way since attaining his majority and has been especially active during 
the past fifteen years. For many years he has been a member of the East Haven fire 
department and was chairman of the committee which Installed the first auto engine truck 
in 1917, it being a rebuilt Cadillac combination hose, chemical and ladder truck, which was se- 
emed at a cost of eleven hundred dollars. In 1911 Mr. Nickerson served as second select- 
nnin and in 1913 was chosen to represent his town in the state legislature. Endorsement 
of his first term's service came in his reelection in 1915 and he was made clerk of the 
committee on cities and boroughs, in which capacity he served through both sessions. In 
1915 he introduced a bill in Hartford creating a board of finance for the town of East 
Haven, putting the finances of the town on a budget basis, and of the board having this 
work in charge Mr. Nickerson has since been a member. This act also increases the powers 
of the selectmen and at the same time guards against any abuse of power. For many 
years Mr. Nickerson has been a member of the Old Stone church, of which he is a deacon, 
and he was chairman of the committee which secured the funds for the installation of a 
new town clock in the church tower, replacing the one which had been in position there 
since 1798. Mr. Nickerson has taken all the degiees of Masonry save the honorary thirty- 
third degi'ee and he belongs to the Knights Templar Club and to the Quinnipiac Club, in 
which organizations he is popular, his sterling personal worth, his genial manner, his 
unfailing courtesy and his progressive spirit combining to win for him the friendship and 
regard of those with whom he is brought in contact. He has ever been most faithful to 
all trusts reposed in him and the public has never had occasion to regret that he has 
been chosen for high public oflices. 



JOHN B. CARRINGTON. 



The name Carrington is synonymous with modern journalism in New Haven and in 
this connection has been known through several generations. '"To the manner born," 
John B. Carrington is now president and treasurer of the Carrington Publishing Company, 
publishers of the Journal-Courier. He follows the traditions and precepts of his ancestors 
in his chosen life work and at the same time has displayed that spirit of initiative which 
has kept him in touch with the spirit of advancement as manifest in newspaper publica- 
tion of the present day. 

A native son of New Haven, Mr. Carrington was born in April. 1849, his parents 
being John B. and Harriet H. (Trowbridge) Carrington. The father's birth occurred in 
the town of Bethany, a suburb of New Haven, where his parents and his early ancestors 
had lived for many generations. John B. Carrington, Sr., became identified with the 
Journal-Courier, advancing to the position of editor, and for many years he occupied a 
very important and prominent place in connection with journalism in Connecticut. It was he 
who laid the foundation for the paper as it is today — one of the leading sheets in the New 
England states. His name is also inseparably interwoven with the city's development along 
many lines of progress and improvement. He was ever the champion of those projects and 
movements which have been matters of civic virtue and of civic pride and his high ideals 
in matters of citizenship in large measure took tangible form as the result of his inspiration 
and liis leadership. New Haven therefore lost one of its most helpful and valuable cit- 
izens when in 1882 he passed away at the age of sixty-nine years. His wife was born in 
New Haven, a member of the Trowbridge family, one of the best known and most aristocratic 
in New England. She was carefully reared and her educational training was not merely 
that which brings knowledge but was (.f that character which calls forth innate culture 
and refinement. Her presence and her influence largely directed the social interests of 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 159 

the community along the lines of intellectual progress and culture. She passed away iu 
New Haven in 1885, when in the seventieth year of her age. Of the eight children of 
her family, fovir of the number passed away in early life. 

John B. Carrington, Jr., who was the sixth in order of birth, supplemented his early 
public school training by study in Russell's Military Academy, where his instruction was 
of that thorough and practical character that well qualifies one for growing responsibilities 
and duties. Given the choice of entering Yale or taking up a business career on the com- 
pletion of his preparatory course, he decided upon the latter and entered the lield of 
newspaper publication, which for generations had issued its irresistible call to the fam- 
ily. He became connected with the journal of which his father was the head. Parental 
authority, however, was not exercised to secure him an advanced position. In fact, ho 
preferred to start at the bottom and work his way upward, mastering every phase of the 
business. He therefore began learning typesetting and then assumed in turn other posi- 
tions calling more and more largely for e.xecutive ability and administrative direction. 
Thus through the steps of an orderly progression he has advanced to the presidency of 
the Carrington Publishing Company, of which he is also the treasurer. Moreover, he takes 
an active part in promoting business and financial affairs in the city of his birth and is 
now the president of the National Savings Bank of New Haven, one of the leading financial 
institutions of the city, and is also a director of the New Haven Bank. He is interested 
in many of the more prominent business projects of the city. At one time he was a director 
and later vice president and a large stockholder in the Fairhaven & Westville Railroad 
Company before its absorption into other lines, and in his business affairs he has always 
looked forth with broad vision that has enabled him to understand not only the exigencies 
of the moment but the opportunities and the possibilities of the future. 

In June, 1884, Mr. Carrington was married in Hartford, Connecticut, to Miss Annie 
Lawton, and they have become parents of four children: Mrs. Burnside Winslow. who is 
a graduate of the famous Porter school at Farmington, Connecticut, resides in New Haven 
and has one daughter, Anne. Leila G. is a giaduate of Briar Cliff and Anita L. is a graduate 
of Rosemary. John B., Jr., born in March, 1898, was a student at Westminster Academy 
ill yimsbury, Connecticut, until June. 1917. when he voluntarily joined and now serves in a 
Vale unit of ambulance drivers in the war in France. 

Mr. and Mrs. Carrington hold membership in Center church and in fraternal relations 
lie is a Mason and a Red Man. He is a member of the Country Club, the Lawn Club, the 
Quinnipiac Club and other social organizations. He usually votes for the best man with- 
out regard to party affiliation. He has had opoprtunity to enter actively upon political 
affairs many times, being tendered various offices, but these he has steadfastly declined, 
preferring that his public service should be done as a private citizen. No one questions 
his loyalty to the public good or fails to recognize the effectiveness of his service in behalf 
of those interests which arc factors in the material development, the moral advancement 
and the civic progress of New Haven. 



FRANK BENJAJHN BISHOP. 

Frank Benjamin Bishop is president of the Guilford Agricultural Society, of which 
he has been a member for forty-five years. He has long been numbered among the pro- 
gressive agriculturists of Guilford and while engaged in general farming makes a specialty 
of raising fine seed corn. He was born in North Madison. Connecticut, November 28, 1854, 
a son of Curtis Benton and Catherine (Coan) Bishop. The father was born on Race Hill 
in the west side district in North Madison, Connecticut, March 18, 1818, and was a son of 
(Justus and Polly (Walkley) Bishop, who were also natives of North Madison. Gustns 
Bishop was a son of Abner and Thankful (Buel) Bishop, the former born in North Bristol, 
Connecticut. The old Bishop homestead is on .Summer Hill in North Madison. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Curtis Benton Bishop were born seven children: William, whose birth occurred Sep- 
tember 6. 1842, and who follows farming in the Nut Plains district of Guilford, Connecticut; 
BUa, who was born January 10, 1845, and is the wife of William H. Davis, of Fairhaven, 
Connecticut; Leonard Randolph, born Augu.st 30, 1846; Cliarles Edward, born April 24, 



160 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

18-18; Isabel Coan, who was born July 4, 1850, and is the wife of Fred Davis; Clara Walkley, 
who was born December 23, 1853, and is the wife of Ralph L. Parker; and Frank Benjamin 
of this review. 

The last named acquired his education in the Nut Plains district school of Guilford 
and in a select school. Reared to the occupation of farming, he took up that pursuit as 
a life work and owned a fine farm in North Madison, Connecticut, wliere lie carried on 
tlie work of tilling the soil from 1876 until 1909. He then sold that property and pur- 
cliascd a splendid farm in the eastern part of the town of Guilford, upon which he has 
since made excellent improvements, erecting new buildings and otherwise adding all of 
the accessories and conveniences of a model farm of the twentieth century. He is con- 
ducting creneral farming along progressive lines and is one of the prominent agi-iculturists 
of the eastern part of New Haven county. He is a great admirer of fine oxen and has 
scjiiie of t!ie best teams of oxen in tlie state. Moreover, he is an expert ox yoke maker. 
He raises splendid farm products and liis seed corn is in constant demand. That he keeps 
in touch with the most progressive methods of agriculture is indicated in the fact that 
he has been an active member of the Guilford Agricultural Society for forty-five years 
and has been honored with its vice presidency, while at tlie present time he is serving 
as president. 

In 187.) Mr. Bisliop was united in marriage with iliss Lillian Josepliine Norton, 
at North Madison, Connecticut, where she was born, a daughter of Newell Atwood and 
Josepliine (Hill) Norton, who were natives of North Madison and representatives of one 
of tlie old and prominent families of New Haven county. Mrs. Bishop was educated in the 
Morgan Academy at Clinton, Connecticut, and by her marriage has become the mother of 
three children: Robert Merton, who was born in North Madison, December 21, 1875, and 
married Belle Rogerson, of Stratford, Connecticut; Maude Josephine, born in North Madison, 
November 27, 1878, who is the wife of Fred W. Hull, of Guilford, and they have one child, 
Reginald; and Cliarles William, who was born July 27, 1885, and married Frances Soule, 
of Kent, Connecticut, by whom he has two daughters, Cora and Ada. 

In his political views Mr. Bishop has always been a stalwart republican since age con- 
ferred upon him the right of franchise. He served as tax assessor and as a member of 
the board of relief of Madison and was selectman of the town of Madison from 1894 until 
1899. In 1904 he was elected to represent Madison in the state legislature, serving dur- 
ing the session of 1905 as a member of the committees on new towns and probate district. 
He has also been registrar of the town of Guilford and in the discharge of his public dvities 
has ever been prompt, faithful, accurate and reliable, making a most excellent record as 
a public official. He belongs to St. Albans Lodge, No. .38, F. & A. M., of Guilford, and 
both he and his wife are active and helpful members of the Congregational church, Mr. 
Bishop serving as superintendent of the Sunday school at North Madison for many years. 
His entire life has been passed in New Haven county, where he has a very wide and favor- 
able acquaintance. His sterling traits of character are many and in all things he measures 
up to high standards of manhood and of citizenship. 



REV. SYLVANUS P. MARVIN. 

Rev. Sylvanus P. Marvin, for nearly forty years the beloved pastor of the Woodbridge 
Congregational church and a prominent figure in his denomination in Connecticut, was a 
descendant of an old Connecticut family. He traced his ancestry to Reinold Marvin, who 
was baptized in 1593 in St. Mary's church, on the Great Bentley Green in England, and came 
to America in 1638 and settled first at Hartford and later at Farmington, from which place 
he removed to Lyme, where he spent the greater part of his life. His descendants have been 
prominent in that locality to the present day. 

Dan Marvin (II), one of his great-great-grandsons, married the second daughter of .lohn 
Mather, a relative of Cotton and Increase Mather, Colonial celebrities, whose second son was 
Deacon John Marvin, the father of our subject. Deacon John Marvin married Lydia Hull 
Pratt, daughter of Captain Samuel Pratt, a prominent man of Essex. Connecticut. He was 
for twenty-five years a teacher in the public schools, and was clerk of the town of Say- 




JOHN M. MARVIN 



AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY 163 

brook for nearly twenty years, judge of probate, and at one time member of the state 
legislature, a man honored and beloved for his Christian integrity, his urbanity and his 
high ideals of life. 

.Sylvanus P. Marvin, second son of Deacon John, was born in Lyme, March 17, 1832, and 
at the age of fourteen years removed with the family to Deep River, Connecticut. He 
early attended Essex Academy, and was graduated from Yale in 1847, and from Yale The- 
ological Seminary in 1850. In recounting some of his school day associates we note the 
following: Henry Hadley, uncle of the president of Y'ale, valedictorian of his class; Rev. 
N. A. Hyde, D. D., the nestor of Congregationalism in Indiana and founder of the First 
Congregational cluirch in Indianapolis, Indiana; Rev. \Villiam T. Reynolds, the beloved pastor 
of the Congregational church at North Haven for some twenty-five years; Rev. James L. 
Willard, D. D., for some forty years pastor of the Westville church of Xew Haven; H. G. 
Jessup, professor of botany in Dartmouth College: Rev. .James B. Cleaveland, who married 
Miss Elizabeth Jocelyn, the poetess, author of '"No Sects in Heaven"; and E. I. Sanford, 
superior court judge of Connecticut. While connected with the Tlieological Seminary he 
taught three years in the celebrated General William H. Russell ililitary School of New 
Haven. 

In 1851 Mr. Marvin received a call and was ordained and installed pastor of the Congre- 
gational church at .Jamestown, Cliautauqua county. New York, where he remained six years, 
doing much to strengthen the Congregational churches in that section of the state, and re- 
signed his pastorate much to the regret of the church. After he left .Jamestown he received 
a unanimous call to the First Congregational church of Franklin, Delaware county, New Y'ork. 
He declined the call, but continued to labor with them without installation for some three 
ye. rs. during which time tliere was an extensive revival in the church and sixty united with 
the churcli at one time. He was also instrumental in the formation of the Delaware Asso- 
ciation of Congregational Churches in that and the adjoining counties. After leaving Frank- 
lin he spent between two and three years with the First Congregational church of Torring- 
ton, Connecticut, which he served during the later years of the Civil war as an emergency 
charge, the congregation thinking that without a loader (there being no little dissension 
among them) they could not hold together. 

In 1865 Mr. Marvin received a unanimous call and was installed over tlic Woodbridge 
Congregational church, of which lie was pastor until his death, at which time lie was one of 
the oldest pastors in the state. Many improvements were made in the church property 
during Mr. Marvin's pastorate. The house of worship is surrounded by beautiful grounds, 
which were originally some five acres in extent, and on the Sunday preceding the first election 
that took place after he entered upon the duties of his charge our subject requested that 
each man plant a tree on tlie church green before casting his ballot. As a result some 
ninety trees were broiight, and handsome trees now adorn the grounds, which he had already 
caused to be enclosed with a neat fence. To the church itself a lecture room and ladies' 
parlor have been added, at a cost of some two thousand dollars, and a pipe organ, the gift of 
Mrs. Mary Clark Treat, has been put in. Mr. Marvin was a member of the school board 
and superintendent of schools for some ten or fifteen years, securing a library and a 
Johnson's Cyclopedia for each district. 

On May 37, 1851, Mr. Marvin married Miss Sylvina Buell, daughter of Miles and Lucinda 
(Plum) Buell, of Clinton, Connecticut. She passed away on January 30, 1903. Two sons were 
born of this union. .John Miles is senior partner and general manager of the Globe Silk 
Works, New Haven. He married Adella M. Smith, daughter of Isaac T. and Lucretia 
(Sperry) Smitli, of New Haven, and they have one daughter, Grace Edna. He is deacon of 
the Dwight Place Congregational church of New Haven. A more complete sketch of John 
M. Marvin is found elsewhere in this work. Edward Reynold, the younger son died when 
ten years of age. 

On May 27, 1901, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin celebrated the golden anniversary of their 
wedding at tlie parsonage. There were many guests from the surrounding towns, from New 
Haven, New York city and Springfield, as well as the parishioners; and many handsome gifts 
besides between three and four hundred dollars in gold, testified to the love and esteem in 
which the pastor and his wife were held by his parishioners and other friends. A poetical 
tribute from one of their old Franklin parishioners, Mrs. Whitney, and also one from Mrs. 
E. Jocelyn Cleaveland, added to the interest of the occasion, whicli was also enlivened with 
Vol. II — 8 



164 A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN 

excellent music by a string orchestra from New Haven. Mr. Marvin had a fine gold-headed 
cane, presented by the young men of the church on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 
bcinning of his pastorate. There was also a great gathering on his seventy-sixth birth- 
day, when a beautiful crayon portrait of him, presented by tlie young ladies' society, was 
hung in the lecture room of the church, and on numerous other occasions the members of the 
parish showed liigh appreciation of his services and a personal esteem, warm and genuine, 
for their pastor and his wife. 

The family have always adhered to republican ideas. On attaining his majority Mr. 
Marvin became a whig, and at the birth of the republican party he joined its ranks. He 
took "reat interest in gathering historical data, and from time to time delivered interesting 
papers and published articles on the progress of events in church and state. He published, by 
request, a memorial sermon delivered before the Redshaw Post of the Grand Army, Ansonia, 
Connecticut, twenty-fifth anniversary of his settlement in Woodbridge, one hundred and 
fiftieth anniversary of the church, funeral sermon of Rev. J. L. Willard, D. D., o