USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > History of Fairfield County, Connecticut, 1639-1928 > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 03687 4987
Go 974.601 F16w v. 3 Wilson, Lynn Winfield. History of Fairfield County, Connecticut, 1639-1928
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019
https://archive.org/details/historyoffairfie03wils
HISTORY OF
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FAIRFIELD COUNTY CONNECTICUT
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1639-1928
Volume III
ILLUSTRATED
NOTE: Photograph pages between 38 & 41 are missing.]
CHICAGO-HARTFORD THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING CO. 1929
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Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
Marcus C. Hawley
Yarak A. Hawley.
BIOGRAPHICAL
MARCUS C. HAWLEY
The story of the life record of Marcus C. Hawley is so closely interwoven with business activity and development in both the east and the west as to have become an integral part in the history of both sections of the country. Moreover, his life story is one of notable achievement. His ready recognition of oppor- tunity pointed to him the way to success and he proceeded steadily along a well defined course until the results were most gratifying. His vision was particularly broad and his insight keen and thus it was that his judgment in business affairs was rarely, if ever, at fault. He was a member of one of the oldest families of New England and was in the eighth generation in descent from Joseph Hawley, who came from England to America in 1629-30 and in 1650 purchased property at Stratford. The line of descent from Joseph is through Samuel of Stratford, Deacon Thomas, Captain Ezra, Thomas, Captain Abijah and Thomas, all of Stratfield, afterward called Bridgeport. Captain Abijah Hawley, grand- father of Marcus C., was head of the firm of Abijah Hawley & Company, engaged in the Boston coasting grain business and West Indies trade. Thomas Hawley, his youngest son and the father of the subject of this review, early in life became identi- fied with mercantile interests in Bridgeport. He became one of the leading business men of the city, operating a highly success- ful hardware establishment. Following the discovery of gold in California in 1849 he founded a business in San Francisco, with which his son, Marcus C., was prominently connected. Thomas Hawley died in 1875 and had been in the hardware trade prob- ably longer than any other man in the state, his identification covering a period of forty-nine years. He was first a member
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of the South Congregational church but later became one of the founders of the First Presbyterian church, in which he was an elder. He was married in 1832 to Jane Maria Nichols, daughter of David Nichols, Jr., and Polly (Booth) Nichols.
Their eldest son, Marcus C. Hawley, was born at Bridgeport, Connecticut, on the 9th of January, 1834, and his last days were passed in Newtown, where his memory is revered and honored. His education was acquired in private schools of his native city and when he was a youth of sixteen years his father, who was a hardware merchant, decided that the boy Marcus should enter the counting rooms of the father's store. His preliminary bus- iness training was thus received. In 1849 his father established a hardware and implement business in San Francisco under the name of Hawley & Company, and though the beginning was small, like the proverbial acorn which grows into the great oak, the establishment in time became one of the largest of the kind in the country. The business constantly developed in scope and importance until its ramifying trade connections reached out over the length and breadth of the land. The original enterprise, founded by the father in Bridgeport, dated from 1829 and the passing years chronicled the steady advance and development of the undertaking. In 1882 the business was incorporated under the firm name of Hawley Brothers Hardware Company, Marcus C. becoming president of the company and his brother, George T., vice president and treasurer. For some years the parent house had branches at Los Angeles, known as Hawley, King & Com- pany, and at San Diego as Todd & Hawley. Marcus C. Hawley thoroughly mastered every phase and branch of the business and constantly enlarged its scope, studying and meeting the demands of the trade and anticipating its future requirements. The firm's agricultural interests were a large part of their business, and in these lines it was a common occurrence for them to ship out train loads of agricultural goods. At one time, it was said, the house virtually controlled the California market on nails, being the only jobbers having large stocks in San Francisco and en route by sea. It was not alone in the hardware and implement field, however, that Marcus C. Hawley became known as an outstanding figure in business circles. He saw the trend of western development and became identified with various business interests which led to the
Thomas Nawley
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Mary & Hawley
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rapid utilization of the resources of the northwest and in fact of the entire Pacific coast. Until a short time before his death Mr. Hawley was president of the Shreveport & Houston Railroad, in which corporation he was also a director. He was a director of the water works both at Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Houston, Texas, and vice president of the Bridgeport Steamboat Company, with all of which interests he was prominently identified for a number of years. He became one of the large stockholders in the Oregon Improvement Company, in the Oregon Railway & Navi- gation Company, the Oregon Short Line Company and the North- ern Pacific Railroad Company, together with the Union Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroads. As a railway builder he and his associates opened up vast sections of the coun- try to settlement and improvement and the extent and worth of his labors in this connection can scarcely be overestimated. Mr. Hawley during all those years made his home in Connecticut and looked after the eastern interests of the California business. His office was in New York, to which he went almost every day, mak- ing him perhaps the most frequent commuter on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. An extensive traveler, he crossed the American continent from ocean to ocean ninety-eight times and also made frequent trips to Europe and Mexico.
In 1856 Mr. Hawley married Miss Sarah A. Booth, a daughter of Dr. Cyrenius H. and Sarah (Edmond) Booth and grand- daughter of Judge William Edmond of Newtown. Mrs. Hawley died January 17, 1920. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hawley, as follows: William B., who died in 1864 at the age of four years; William E., who died in 1880 at the age of fifteen years; Harry C., whose death occurred in 1870, when he was two years of age; and Mary E. The last named resides at Newtown and finds her greatest happiness in spending the wealth acquired by her father for the benefit of the town. She gave one hundred and fifty-five thousand dollars for the erection of the Hawley school and an additional hundred thousand for its maintenance. She was also the donor of a half million dollars to be used in the erection of Edmond Town Hall, which is now (1929) under course of construction, this gift being in memory of her maternal great-grandfather, Judge William Edmond. Many other gifts, including the beautiful memorial receiving vault, the two memor-
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ial gates and the landscaping of the Newtown Village Cemetery, show her generous spirit and her keen interest in the welfare and adornment of the town in which the family home was maintained and in which her father spent his last years. His life was one of notable achievement. He possessed marked ability to plan and to perform, and obstacles and difficulties in his path seemed to serve as an impetus for renewed effort on his part. He exper- ienced keen joy in finding the solution for intricate and involved business problems and such was the regard entertained for his judgment that other business men hesitated not to follow his example. Mr. Hawley died January 15, 1899.
PETER M. DAVEY
Business development in Bridgeport and other cities of Con- necticut has been greatly stimulated by Peter M. Davey, James H. Davey and their associates in the firm of Davey Brothers, Inc., of which the first named is president. In this connection he has charge of the operations of a chain of grocery stores extending throughout the state and is a conspicuous member of that select company of enterprising business men who are capable of con- trolling the forces of trade and commerce and directing them for the benefit of the majority.
Mr. Davey was born in the town of Collooney, in the county of Sligo, Ireland, and is one of the eleven children of John and Ann (Conroy) Davey, who were the parents of nine sons and two daughters. When the sons arrived at the age when they were ready to begin their business training they were sent to the large general store conducted by Mrs. Mary Henry in the city of Sligo. She was a relative of Mrs. John Davey, and the establishment, which had been in her family since 1798, had a well deserved reputation for thorough methods. At intervals during a period of sixteen years, eight of the brothers served their apprentice- ship there, becoming thoroughly disciplined in the business of purveying foodstuffs.
Two of the brothers, Thomas and Stephen Davey, supple- mented this training by further work for the famous London firm of Sir Thomas Lipton, who was then beginning to cover the
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HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
British Isles with chain grocery stores. In 1906 the two brothers above mentioned sailed for America and found employment with Andrew Davey, who was also a Sligo man but not of the same family. A few years later they were joined by James and Peter, who were followed by Michael. Frank and Joseph Davey. Within a short time after their arrival in this country all were either managers or superintendents of the Andrew Davey stores in New York city. This rapid advancement was due to certain character- istics which all had in common. They were religious young men, rigidly practicing the precepts of their church. They were hard working, giving their employer full measure, heaped up and run- ning over. Well trained in their line of work, they were full of ambition, energy and determination to serve America and them- selves to the utmost.
After a few years of experience, Peter and James Davey one Sunday afternoon in 1914, just about the time the World war started, visited Bridgeport to see the home of the Barnum and Bailey circus. The city proved so interesting that they decided to return, this time taking a day off to survey it, with the object of opening a grocery store on their own account. Looking for a site, they walked out State street and saw at the corner of Iranstan avenue a block of eight newly erected stores, all of them vacant. The famous red sign of the Bridgeport Land and Title Company stood out boldly on the window, and going back to these agents, the prospective tenants went in to strike a bargain in rent. They obtained one of the stores for thirty dollars a month and their first lease that same day. This store was opened six weeks later and the gross sales for the first Saturday's business were thirty-seven dollars and forty cents. Afterward the daily sales for quite a while amounted in gross to from seven to ten dol- lars a day. Of course no store could survive on that amount, but Peter and James Davey hung grimly on to the job and after about six months the trade increased to such an extent that the store was on a paying basis and a second one was opened. Orders were then delivered by bicycle or by horse and wagon.
After this as the business was being established and Davey Brothers' methods became favorably known in Bridgeport and the surrounding towns, then booming as they never did before, stores were opened at the rate of seven or eight a year, and this
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program was followed until the chain consisted of twenty stores. By this time Andrew Davey, who had reached the age of seventy- five years, was ready to retire from business and wished to dis- pose of his Connecticut stores. These were twenty in number, six being located in Danbury and all convenient to the territory already served by Davey Brothers. The latter firm acquired these stores, each with its own manager, and all are now directed from the Davey headquarters at No. 357 Water street in Bridge- port, where the general offices and warehouses are situated.
The firm of Davey Brothers, Inc., now has a chain of one hundred and ten grocery stores, established in twenty-seven Con- necticut cities and towns. The latest acquisition to the chain is the store at No. 25 Main street, Danbury, conducted by J. E. Small for fifty years. A few facts will convey an idea of what is involved in operating these red-front stores. The members of the firm buy almost everything by the carload. During the year they use three hundred carloads of potatoes, each car holding from forty to forty-five thousand pounds. The weekly consump- tion of sugar amounts to one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, and each week they sell one hundred and forty thousand eggs. Butter, cheese, tea and coffee run into millions of pounds monthly. The stores are served from the central warehouse by large trucks. They are supervised by several superintendents, who see that everything is kept in perfect order.
The policy of Davey Brothers, Inc., is to supply its customers with nothing but the highest grade of well known products and serve them courteously and promptly. Canned and bottled goods in a Davey Brothers store are submitted to severe tests. Only the best are offered to the trade. Most of such goods in these stores may be called "fancy." They are better than good. The firm handles the nationally advertised brands that the housewife knows about. This is an assurance that low prices do not mean low quality. The goods are standard. The quality fixed. The lower price is a real advantage. The Davey Brothers butter has been the talk of southern New England for years. It must con- form to the highest standards. The firm gives to its customers the benefit of every saving available through the economies of abundant capital, skillful management, wide distribution and large buying power. Business in all of the Davey Brothers stores
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is conducted on the cash-and-carry basis and the gross annual sales of the firm are now more than three million dollars.
This is the story of the growth of the business of Davey Brothers, Inc. Of the nine brothers, two did not come to America. John remained to conduct the farm at Collooney and Bartholo- mew settled in Auckland, New Zealand. The Bridgeport firm originally consisted of seven brothers, but Thomas and Stephen have been claimed by death. Davey Brothers, Inc., is a closed corporation and the present officers are: Peter M. Davey, presi- dent and treasurer; James H. Davey, vice president; Michael A. Davey, secretary; and Frank M. and Joseph B. Davey, directors. Their triumph has been summed up in these words of Peter M. Davey, who says: "America gives you what you want, but you have to work for it." All of the brothers are tireless workers who know perfectly the tasks which they have to do. They have weathered one or two financial panics since they have been in business and theirs is now regarded as among the most stable of Connecticut commercial organizations. Their success is not due to a fortunate combination of circumstances, but is the direct result of knowledge, efficiency, unremitting industry and strict adherence to the highest standard of commercial ethics. In the control of this vast undertaking Peter M. Davey brings to bear an unlimited capacity for detail, combined with unerring judg- ment and executive ability of a high order. He is also secretary and treasurer of the newly organized Guaranty Bank and Trust Company. He is a prominent member of the Lions Club of Bridgeport and donated ten acres of valuable land on which that organization erected a fine home for convalescent children in Nichols, Connecticut.
KENNETH A. SCHACK
Kenneth A. Schack, a veteran of the World war, is endowed with the qualities essential to progress in business affairs and fills a responsible position in the office of the Ideal Hat Company of Danbury. He was born in Orange, New Jersey, in 1900, a son of George and Mary Elizabeth (Langdon) Schack, and attended the public schools of Danbury. In preparation for a commercial
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career he took a course in Eastman's Business College of Pough- keepsie, New York. After completing his education Mr. Schack became an employe of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which he left to enter the service of his country, enlisting in the United States Navy in June, 1918, and in October, 1919, was honorably dis- charged. Since 1919 he has been bookkeeper for the Ideal Hat Company, controlled by his brother, George M. Schack, and Wil- liam O. G. Popke, and is devoted to their interests. He is pains- taking, efficient and dependable, giving to the firm expert service.
In 1924 Mr. Schack was married in Danbury to Miss Clara E. Hancock, and they now have a daughter, Mary Lenore. The future undoubtedly holds much in store for Mr. Schack, who is a young man of enterprise and ability, and his personal popu- larity is attested by a wide circle of loyal friends.
THOMAS F. WHITE
As general registrar of voters Thomas F. White is intimately associated with political affairs of Bridgeport and throughout the many years of his connection with the work of this office he has followed a course which has won for him the highest commenda- tion. He was born in this city June 15, 1862, and his parents, Peter and Catherine (Casey) White, were natives of Ireland. In 1869 the father was one of the first patrolmen appointed in Bridgeport and his demise occurred in this city in 1878.
The public schools of Bridgeport afforded Thomas F. White his educational privileges and his start in business life was gained in the local plant of the Union Metallic Cartridge Company, with which he remained for several years, working in the press depart- ment. Early in his career he became interested in politics and was made registrar of voters in the fifth ward, thus serving for nine years. For some time he was a member of the board of relief and in 1898, when the system was changed, he was appointed deputy registrar of voters. He acted in that capacity until the death of Mr. Rooney in 1918, when he was chosen to succeed him as general registrar of voters, and has since been retained in the office, discharging his duties with marked efficiency and rare fidelity.
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In 1889 Mr. White married Miss Mary Tate, of Bridgeport, and they have become the parents of four children: Francis T., who is a musician; Rose, a clerk in the employ of the Singer Manufacturing Company; Charles J., who is connected with the Carp Oil Company; and Thomas F., Jr., a pupil in the Harding high school. Mr. White is a stanch democrat and adheres to the Catholic faith. He is a member of St. Joseph's Temperance Benevolent & Literary Association and the Emmet Club. His public spirit has been expressed by word and deed and an exemplary life has won for him a high place in the esteem of his fellowmen.
DAVID D. WILSON
With efficiency as his watchword, David D. Wilson has steadily progressed, demonstrating his ability to successfully con- duct important commercial interests, and is now a prominent laundryman of Danbury. He was born in Orange, New Jersey, in 1885, a son of William K. Wilson, who is a manufacturer of fine hats for women and the head of the Wilson-Sartian Company of Norwalk, Connecticut.
David D. Wilson attended the public schools of Danbury and completed a course in the Stillman Business College. He was thoroughly trained in the hat business and merit won him the position of superintendent with the National Hat Company. Later he was superintendent of the Danbury and New Milford plants of the Bates Company, manufacturers of men's soft and stiff hats, and remained with the corporation for ten years. On severing his connection with the firm he made his first independ- ent venture, organizing the Wilson Hat Company, and for two years was engaged in the manufacture of men's soft hats. At the end of that time he sold the business and in 1922 opened a laundry in Danbury. The business is operated under the name of the Danbury Wet Wash Laundry Company, of which he is president, and its rapid growth is proof of his executive capacity and high standards of service. The company has a large plant, which is situated at No. 21 Delay street and contains the most
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improved appliances for facilitating the work, which is first class in every particular.
In 1912 Mr. Wilson was married in Danbury to Miss Louise G. Burr, a daughter of J. Howard Burr, a well known clothier, whose store is at No. 199 Main street, and they have become the parents of one child, Francis B., aged thirteen years. A lover of clean sport, Mr. Wilson particularly enjoys boating and is com- modore of the Milford Yacht Club, while he also belongs to the Ridgewood Country Club. He leads a healthful, well balanced life and is a business man of high standing and a good citizen.
ARTHUR TREAT NETTLETON
Early thrown on his own resources, Arthur Treat Nettleton has attained high standing in business circles of Fairfield county, displaying those attributes which make for progress and effi- ciency. Since November 1, 1898, he has continuously served as treasurer of the Newtown Savings Bank and likewise fills the offices of secretary and vice president of that institution, which has been built up to an enviable position among the savings banks of Connecticut.
Mr. Nettleton was born in Bridgewater, Connecticut, July 29, 1862, a son of Joseph Stone and Gertrude Amanda (Treat) Net- tleton, seventh in descent from Samuel Nettleton, settler in Con- necticut in 1639. He is also descended on both sides from Richard Treat, one of the charterers of 1662, under King Charles II, and Governor Robert Treat. Also in his ancestral line were Deputy Governor Nathan Gold, another Royal Charterer; Governor Thomas Welles; Rev. Thomas Hooker, first clergyman in Connec- ticut; Rev. Roger Newton; Rev. Samuel Andrew, third clergy- man in Milford and rector of Yale College; and John Stone, son of Rev. Samuel Stone, a Puritan divine of Hertfordshire, England. In direct line Mr. Nettleton is descended from two Revolutionary patriots. His great-great-grandfather, Thaddeus Nettleton, served in Major General Wooster's command, First Regiment. The regiment was raised on the first call for troops by the legis- lature in April and May, 1775, and marched to the Northern Department. Thaddeus Nettleton took part in the operations
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along Lake George and Lake Champlain and assisted in the re- duction of St. Johns. His great-great-grandfather, Captain Bethuel Treat, of Milford, (Yale 1759) was a captain in the militia when they were called out at the alarm at Horse Neck, where General Putnam rode down the steps in the town of Green- wich, assisted to drive the British from Danbury, and in 1779 marched with his company to New Haven to repel the enemy. .
Arthur Treat Nettleton acquired a public school education in Bridgewater and New Milford, completing his studies in 1880. His father died January 25, 1869, and on December 31, 1873, his mother married George Beers. In 1875 the family moved to a farm in New Milford.
At the age of eighteen Mr. Nettleton began working as a clerk in a dry goods store in New Milford, where he was employed two years. On the 4th of March, 1885, he was married in Hartford to Miss Jennie E. Morris and in that year removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, where his wife passed away April 5, 1886. For sev- eral years he was with the firm of Smith & Taylor, real estate and loan brokers of St. Paul, but returned to Connecticut in 1895. In 1898 he was examiner for the department of building and loan associations of the state of Connecticut, resigning October 25, 1898, and on that date was elected treasurer of the Newtown Savings Bank, the duties of which position he has ever since dis- charged with thoroughness and efficiency. He has labored dili- gently and consistently for the upbuilding of the bank and the promotion of its interests. Untiring and unremitting industry and perseverance have ever characterized his business career, and he manifests a masterful grasp of every situation that claims his attention.
That Mr. Nettleton enjoys the confidence and warm regard of his fellow financiers in the state is shown by the fact that he was chosen the first secretary of The Savings Banks' Associa- tion of Connecticut and so continued in office from 1902 until 1916, when he resigned. In the year ending September 24, 1926, he was president of the association. He is a member of the Con- necticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution; the Silliman Chapter of that society in Bridgeport; and the Connecticut So- ciety of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, of which he was treasurer from May, 1925, to April, 1928. He is a direc-
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