USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Part II > Part 20
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He came to Bridgeport about 1826 to learn the saddle and harness business with Lyon, Wright and Company. His health failing somewhat he was sent by the firm to
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Charleston, S. C., with Lemuel Coleman to assist in the store. In 1833-4, he returned to Bridgeport and became assistant to Hanford Lyon in the saddlery business, with an interest in the profits of the establishment, which relation continued until 1838, when the firm of Lyon, Calhoun and Company was formed. In 1843, another change was made to Harral and Calhoun, which continued ten years, Mr. Harral having been at the head of the house in Charleston. In 1853, the firm be- came Harral, Calhoun and Company by the addition of Mr. R. B. Lacey. In 1858, a change to Calhoun, Lacey and Com- pany occurred, which lasted until 1863. In the mean time Mr. Calhoun had largely withdrawn from the details of the business and devoted himself to the management of the Con- necticut National Bank, of which institution he became Presi- dent in March, 1847. He continued in this position until 1864, when he resigned and accepted the Vice-Presidency of the Fourth National Bank of New York City, organized that year, Morris Ketcham being President, and in the same year he was elected President. Upon his taking control, the deposits of the bank quadrupled in a short time, and it was owing largely to his management that this became one of the largest deposit banks in the country. In 1875, upon the dissolution of the firm of Hoover, Calhoun and Company, Mr. Calhoun established in Newark, N. J., a stock company for the manu- facture of saddlery, in which he owned a controlling interest at the time of his death.
During his Presidency in New York the bank was en- gaged in several large transactions, among which were the. purchase of United States bonds, the bank taking $5,000,000 worth at a time. One of his greatest efforts was during the panic of 1873, when in a little over two days more than $13,- 000,000 in cash were paid out through the Paying Teller's window.
In Bridgeport Mr. Calhoun held many prominent offices. He entered the Common Council in the year 1845, and con- tinued in that body during that and five successive years. In 1852, he was elected Alderman, and in October, 1855, was elected Mayor, which office he held for three years afterward. He was one of the originators of the town and sinking funds, and the manager of them for a number of years. He was one
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of the original stockholders of the Bridgeport Gas Light Com- pany ; also one of the first to subscribe liberally towards the public library, and was very prominent in the Common Council when the water question was under consideration, being of great aid in furthering the enterprise. He repre- sented the town in the Legislature and also the 10th district in the Senate. But very few men have exerted more influ- ence in official circles that Mr. Calhoun. He was originally a Whig, but when that party broke up he united with the Democrats, and as such was elected to the various offices which he held.
He was a straight-forward business man, not afraid to take responsibility, always true to his engagements, and hence his character was beyond reproach. A prominent feature of his character was the interest he took in young men, whom he was always ready to assist. He was at the time of his death President of the Fourth National Bank of New York, and director of the Connecticut United Bank, a director in the Farragut Fire Insurance Company, treasurer of the New Central Coal Company, and trustee of the mort- gages of several railroad companies. He also held member- ship in the Union League and Union Clubs. Socially he was very genial, and all who came in contact with him, whether of high or low degree, loved him and delighted to be his friends.
He had a most remarkable memory, being able to repeat on the spur of the moment long pieces of poetry. His memory was even more retentive in regard to matters of im- portance. On financial, mercantile or political questions, he was ever ready with the item, and page of the book which sustained his proposition.
Mr. Calhoun, after a short illness with pneumonia, died March 14, 1882, leaving a widow and five adult children. His wife, Caroline, was the daughter of Jesse Sterling, who was a prominent dry goods merchant here many years and Post- master of Bridgeport during four administrations. His son, Edward S. Calhoun, married Alice Hersey, and his son Charles M. is unmarried. His daughter, Louisa C., married G. W. Latham of Lynchburg, Va., now deceased; Julia E. married W. B. Cragin of New York City, and Mamie S. mar- ried J. S. Burke of Brooklyn, N. Y.
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The following lines were written by a citizen of Bridge- port on the decease of Mr. Calhoun :
I saw him, as he lay in state, And, with abated breath, I noted with what courage great, He had confronted death.
Old statues were recalled to me Of heroes passed away. And in those features I could see A masterpiece of clay.
Three score and ten of active years Were represented there, With all their hopes, achievements, fears, And lines of thought and care.
But ; over and encircling all, A grandeur was expressed Which change of worlds could ne'er appal, As there he lay at rest.
This cannot be the whole of life ; There must be broader sphere, Where chieftains in this mortal strife, With vision sure and clear. May act some nobler, higher part, In enterprise above, And satisfy the yearning heart With stores of endless love.
Peter Foland, a native of Scoharie County, N. Y., established a grocery store with Riley Peck in the city of Albany in the year 1850. In 1852 he sold his interest in this store and rented the Peck Hotel in Albany, which interest he sold in 1857 and went to Burlington, Iowa, where, with a Mr. Brown, he opened a wholesale stove store. This he continued two years when he sold it in 1859, returned to Albany, and with Mr. Van Dewerken bought the Frisby livery. In 1860 he sold this and bought the lease and furniture of the Gallup Hotel in Albany. In 1864 he leased the Beardsley Hotel of Albany, and in 1867 he bought the lease and furniture of the Mansion House, on Broadway, Albany. Having sold this interest he went on his farm, one mile from the capital, and in the fall of the same year returned to Albany and bought the lease and furniture of the City Hotel, which he sold in 1876 and removed to Poughkeepsie, where he leased the Nelson House. This he sold in 1880, came to Bridgeport,
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and bought the lease and furniture of the Atlantic Hotel. This is a first class hotel and is illustrated on page 818 of this book, where there is some further account of Mr. Foland and his family.
Hon. Civilion Fones, the present mayor of the city of Bridgeport, is a descendant of two French Huguenot families. His paternal great-grandfather, Daniel Fones, was one of the exiles to England during the reign of Louis the XIV, and afterward became an officer in the English navy, and when retired was given a tract of land embracing 1,500 acres in the State of Rhode Island, where the old town of Wickford now stands and on which he located. His son Daniel the grand- father, and Christopher the father of Civilion, were born on the ancestral acres, and the latter married Sarah A. Marigold, of South Carolina, who was also a descendant of French Huguenots. While his father was temporarily residing in Toronto, Canada, superintending work in the line of his occu- pation as architect and builder, Civilion was born October I, 1836, the year of the incorporation of the city of which he is now the mayor. He resided during his youth in Canada and the State of New York, and came from New York City to Bridgeport in the year 1858, where he has since resided.
He was educated to the occupation of his father and engaged in it for a short time, but then became identified with the pioneer dental manufacturing establishment of the late Doctor D. H. Porter, whose works and residence were located on the corner of Park and Fairfield avenues, the present site of St. John's Church, where he commenced to learn his profession as dentist, but subsequently graduated from the Maryland College of Dentistry, and also the Balti- more Dental College. He has been engaged in the practice of his profession on the northwest corner of Main and Bank streets for about twenty-five years, and the appreciation of his professional brethren has been expressed by electing him president of the Connecticut Valley Dental Association for an annual term.
He has been identified with the republican party since its organization, but never held political office until the year 1884, when he was elected to represent his ward as council- man. The following year he was elected alderman, and at
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the April election in 1886 was elected mayor of the city, overcoming an opposition party majority of about 800, and hence received an unusual support from both political parties.
He married, October 21, 1863, Phebe E., daughter of Alfred S. Wright, of New York City, and they have had three children : George, who died in early childhood ; Grace, and Alfred C., who are now living with their parents.
Jacob Kiefer was born in a small town of Rhenish Bavaria, near the border of France, in the year 1829. His father, Jacob Kiefer, was the master builder and cabinet maker of the place. His mother died when he was about one year old. In 1833 his father concluded to go to America, taking young Jacob with him, arriving in New York after a two months passage by a sailing vessel, and settled at first in Maryland, then coming to New York City where he carried on the business of cabinet making until his death in 1849. Young Jacob received his education at public school No. 7, in Christie street, New York City. At the age of ten years he entered the service of Benjamin Mooney and Company, wholesale hardware merchants at 82 Pine street, as an ap- prentice, where he remained about four years, when, having more mechanical than mercantile ideas, he commenced the manufacture of guitars in his father's cabinet shop, under the direction of Signor Bini, the finest guitarist then in this country. The superiority of workmanship and tone of his instruments attracted the attention of the musical public, and at the American Institute fair held at Castle Garden in 1846, he received the first premium, his competitors being the best makers in the United States. His father consenting, he came to Bridgeport at the solicitation of Mr. Fenelon Hubbell, to work as a journeyman cabinet maker, where, after a time, con- ceiving the idea of manufacturing furniture by the aid of ma- chinery, he, in 1850, commenced business on his own account in a small building, and by the aid of steam power manufactured furniture for his old employers. In 1852, in connection with several business men of Bridgeport, he organized the Furni- ture Manufacturing Company, and for several years he acted as superintendent and built up the largest furniture business in the eastern States, employing over four hundred hands. Since 1868 he has been the president and treasurer of this
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immense establishment, the goods produced being known throughout the country as the standard of excellence.
Mr. Kiefer is a public spirited and enterprising citizen. Having been a member of the old volunteer fire department for about fifteen years, he was one of the first to suggest the use of steam and the organization of the present efficient paid fire department, but which at the time made him many ene- mies in the old department. He was one of the first sub- scribers to a fund for laying out Seaside Park, and for several years one of the park commissioners. For a number of years successively he was a member of the common council, and in April, 1886, was elected president of the board of aldermen of this city. In politics he is republican in practice, and was raised in the old Dutch Reformed Church.
In 1850 he married Effie Jane, daughter of Gabriel Decker, of Pompton Plains, N. J., and they have three children : Emma Louisa, who married W. Henry Wilson; Hattie J., who married W. E. Burnham ; and Frank W., who married Leota Saladee, daughter of George L. Weed of Stamford.
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David Benjamin Lockwood was born at Weston, Conn., January 7, 1827. His father, David Lockwood, was born at Weston, Conn., April 27, 1791, and his mother, Abi- gail (Gray) Lockwood, was born at Westport, Conn., January 2, 1802. His grandfather, Reuben Lockwood (son of John), was born April 17, 1762, at Fairfield, Conn., and served in the Revolutionary war. The family is descended from Robert Lockwood, who settled in Fairfield in 1649. David B. has one sister, Rhoda Ann Lockwood, and one brother, Wakeman D. Lockwood. He prepared for college at Staples' Academy in Easton, Conn., and entered the Wesleyan Uni- versity at Middletown, Conn., in 1844, and was graduated there in 1849. He received the degree of B.A. upon his grad- uation, and three years later the degree of M.A. He com- menced the study of law with Hon. Thomas B. Osborne, of Fairfield, and concluded it in the office of Hon. Sidney B. Beardsley, of Bridgeport. He was admitted to practice in 1851 and opened an office at Bridgeport where he continued in his profession until 1856, when he removed to New York City. He continued his practice there until the breaking out of the war of the rebellion, when he returned to Bridgeport.
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In 1862 he enlisted in the 2d Connecticut Light Battery and served as first sergeant until the close of the war, participat- ing in the battle of Gettysburg, the siege of Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan, and the battle of Blakeley in the war at Mobile. After the close of the war he was for a while local editor of the " Daily Standard," and in 1866 was assistant editor of the Waterbury "Daily American." In 1867 he resumed the practice of his profession in Bridgeport which he has contin- ued until the present time. From 1869 to 1871 he was judge of the City Court of Bridgeport. In 1875 and 1883 he was representative in the General Assembly. He was city attor- ney of the city of Bridgeport in 1880 and 1885. He drew the act conferring upon the city court criminal jurisdiction and was the first judge of that court after its jurisdiction extended to the trial of criminal cases. He was president of the Bridge- port Library Association in 1880 and 1881 and was largely instrumental in reorganizing that institution into the present Bridgeport Public Library and Reading Room, under the act of the General Assembly of 1881. He was appointed one of the directors of the library and has been continued until the present time. He drew the act of incorporation of the Mechanics' and Farmers' Savings Bank of Bridgeport and procured its passage through the General Assembly in 1871, and has since been one of its directors. He drew the amend- ment to the city charter dividing the common council into two separate boards. He drew the act relating to county law libraries and organized the Fairfield County Law Library Association and has been a member of its library committee from its organization to the present time. When he took hold of this library it consisted only of a few books given by Roger M. Sherman and Judge Butler, but it now contains the reports of twelve States complete, besides the United States Supreme Court and English common law.
He married Caroline Amelia Redfield, of Clinton, Conn., January 11, 1856, by whom he had two children : Alice Red- field, born October 2, 1856, and Lester Burchard, born Sep- tember 25, 1860. His wife, Caroline A., died November 5, 1865. He married Lydia Ellen Nelson October 1, 1868, and their children are: Harriet Eugenia, born August 8, 1869, Lucy Bettie Josephine, born November 19, 1870, and Sidney Nelson, born November 14, 1872.
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RESIDENCE OF MR. FREDERICK J. LOCKWOOD, ERECTED IN 1884-5.
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Judge Lockwood is of commanding presence, being six feet three inches in height and weighing nearly three hundred pounds. He is ranked as one of the leading members of the Fairfield county bar. Hon. Alfred B. Beers studied law with him and upon his admission to the bar in 1871 entered into copartnership with his instructor, the name of the firm being Lockwood and Beers, which has continued to the present time.
Frederick J. Lockwood is the owner of one of the model residences in the city of Bridgeport, and has granted the use of the accompanying cut as a representation of it. It is located on West avenue, one of the finest in the city. Mr. Lockwood is a young man, a native of Bridgeport, and has been connected with the Bridgeport Savings Bank for a num- ber of years, being a successful business man. He is the son of Mr. Frederick Lockwood, who was in former years engaged in the furniture business with Nicholas Northrop and later with Nathan Buckingham.
Frederick J. Lockwood is a descendant, through his mother, of Robert McEwen, who came to Stratford, from Dundee, Scotland, in 1686, and whose descendants have occu- pied very honorable positions in this country. He married in 1884 Miss Elizabeth C., daughter of Thomas Cook Warden, Jr. They have occupied their residence since it was com- pleted in 1885.
David M. Read, merchant and manufacturer in Bridge- port, was born at Hoosac Falls, N. Y., and soon after removed with his parents to North Adams, Mass., where he was edu- cated. His father, Moses Farnam Read, was born in Smith- field, R. I., and his ancestors in this country in a direct line were as follows: i. Col. Thomas Read, from Hertfordshire, England, came to America in 1630 with Winthrop and settled at Salem, Mass .; ii. Thomas, son of Col. Thomas, lived in Salem, was a captain of the militia; iii. Jacob, son of Capt. Thomas, born September 7, 1663, married Elizabeth Green, and lived in Salem ; iv. Jonathan, the second son of Jacob and Elizabeth, was born in Salem, January 12, 1701, and married a Hanson; v. John, son of Jonathan, married also a Hanson ; vi. David, son of John, settled in Smithfield, R. I., where his son, vii. Moses Farrand Read, was born and where he resided until he removed to Hoosac Falls, and from that place soon
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after he removed to North Adams, Mass. He married Sally Hopkins and their children were: Charles A., Caroline M., Rhoda A. and David M.
David M. Read became a merchant and manufacturer, as described on pages 752 and 53 of this book, having attained as a merchant, as well as a manufacturer, the position of the first class as to the extent and success of his business. Besides the public positions filled by him as indicated on page 753, he was a member of the Legislature in 1882 and is vice-president of the City Savings Bank and a director in the Bridgeport National Bank. His residence is on Park avenue and his store, occupying the first floors and basement of two buildings in the Wheeler block, corner of Fairfield avenue and Main street.
Mr. James Staples, son of Capt. Hezekiah and Eliza- beth Staples, was born in Swanville, Maine, January 19, 1824. He worked on his father's farm until seventeen years of age, when he commenced teaching school, and continued in the same much of the time until he came to Bridgeport in 1854. He engaged first as a lumber merchant, which he pursued until 1858, when he changed to the Real Estate business ; beginning at first in a small way, but with a steady purpose of successful work. Soon he added to this Insurance, and in 1874 the Banking business. He has been a very active officer of the Board of Trade from its organization and done much in securing and locating many of the manufacturing concerns in this city. He has been for many years an active and useful member of the Board of Education, giving his time and atten- tion freely to the public interests in this important department. He is a very busy man, but as such is not an exceptional character in the city of Bridgeport, where nearly all, how- ever much favored with earthly goods, even in advanced years, attend to business and public interest with much faithful attention and perseverance. Hence Bridgeport is not an old fogy city.
Mr. Staples married Harriet H. daughter of Hugh Shirley, January 19, 1851, who died April 2, 1852. He married 2d, on September 21, 1858, Sarah E. only daughter of Andrew and Sarah (Turney) Truby of Bridgeport. They have one child, Frank T. Staples, who, with his wife and son, lives in the house with his parents, and where his mother was born.
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Hon. Daniel H. Sterling was born July 10, 1819, and departed this life March 1, 1877." He belonged to one of the families most thoroughly identified with Bridgeport and the surrounding communities. Jacob Sterling, the first of the name in this country, came from England, not far from the beginning of the eighteenth century, and located at Haver- hill, Mass. That settlement suffered a terrible experience by massacre from the French and Indians on the night of the 29th of August, 1708, by which all but a thirteenth part of the population were slaughtered and their village burned. From that desolated village young Jacob removed to Lyme, Conn., and thence to Stratford, bringing all his worldly wealth with him-his axe-upon his shoulder.
He was the son of Daniel and Hannah (Judson) Sterling. His mother was the daughter of Col. Agur Judson, of Hunt- ington. He was descended from Jacob Sterling, through Stephen, Abijah and Daniel. He was fitted for college in the school of Rev. Birdsey G. Noble and entered Yale in the class of 1839, but changed to Union College, at Schenectady, N. Y., and was honorably graduated in 1840. Soon after he entered the firm of P. C. Wheeler and Company, wholesale grocers, consisting of Mr. Wheeler and Woolsey G. Sterling. In this house Daniel H. became a partner, and upon the decease of Mr. Wheeler, in May, 1841, the firm became D. H. Sterling and Company. The place of business was on Water at the foot of Wall street. It was at the time the leading grocery house of the place. In 1849 his brother retired and D. H. Sterling, left alone, engaged in the flour trade. On September 7, 1854, he was elected a director of the Connecticut Bank and continued such until June 5, 1875, when he was elected presi- dent of that institution, which position he held at his decease. He was also a corporator of the City Savings Bank and one of its vice-presidents.
He was elected mayor of Bridgeport in 1860, and reelected in 1861 and 1862, and during that time was a thorough Union man, sustaining the efforts of the model war governor-Buck- ingham, by whom he was highly appreciated. The first steam
18 Selections from a funeral discourse by the Rev. Charles R. Palmer, deliv- ered March 11, 1877.
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fire engine was introduced during his administration, and is yet doing good service, bearing his name-The D. H. Sterling, No. I. He was also vice-president of the Board of Education and chairman of the finance committee. In the years 1848-51, in 1853, 1858, 1870 and 1871, he was in the common council, and in 1855 and 1859 in the board of aldermen.
He was a valued member of the First Congregational Society, acting as committeeman and treasurer for a number of years. As a public citizen he was a model man in all the walks of life.
In 1842 he married Miss Maria M. Beck, granddaughter of Paul Beck, Jr., of Philadelphia, who still survives him.
Colonel William H. Stevenson was born in Bridge- port in 1847. He is the son of William G. and Lucy T. Stevenson. In 1869 he married Mary H., daughter of Wm. J. and Mary H. Shelton, and their children are, William Shelton, Henry Cogswell, Louis Shelton, and Mary Bell.
Colonel Stevenson received a good education and was fitted for college but did not enter, going into business instead. He graduated at Eastman's National Business Col- lege, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., with the degree Master of Ac- counts, and entered in 1864 the Housatonic Railroad office at Bridgeport, where he remained several years, and in 1872 was appointed Special Agent of the New York and New Haven Railroad, remaining until 1874, when he was appointed Pay- master of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroads. Here he served for a portion of the year, and in July, 1874, he received the appointment of Superintendent of the Shore Line Road, one of the leased lines of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Road. This road he continued to man- age, bringing it to a high state of efficiency and popularity till October, 1882, at which time he was appointed Superin- tendent of the New York Division of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. This position he now holds. This road is one of the best for its length in the United States, and the traffic over it has immensely increased in the last quarter of a century. In April, 1875, he was elected a member of the Common Council and served upon the Finance Commit- tee ; in 1876 he was elected Alderman from his ward and served as chairman of the Finance Committee and the Committee of
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