A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II, Part 110

Author: Hill, Everett Gleason, 1867- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 986


USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II > Part 110


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114


Mr. Rossi is a member of St. Michael's Roman Catholic church. He is also prominent in Italian clubs and Italian charitable organizations of New Haven and he is a member of the Foresters lodge.


ALEXANDER CAPASSO.


While perhaps Italy has not furnished as large a percentage to the citizenship of America as some other European countries, there have always been those of Italian birth who have played a prominent part in the development of American interests. New Haven numbers among its most progressive and successful business men and financiers a number who have come to this city from the sunny land of Italy, including Alexander Capasso, who was born at Alife, Italy, December 24, 1878, a son of the late Salvatore Capasso, also a native of Italy, where he spent his entire life, conducting business as a successful merchant. His widow, who bore the maiden name of Emmanuela Grimaldi, still occupies the old home in Italy


Alexander Capasso, the eldest of their four children, was educated in the schools of his native country to the age of twenty years and then crossed the Atlantic to the new world, making his way direct to New Haven, where he arrived in 1899. Here he entered the employ of his uncle, Santo Capasso, hanker and broker, under whose direction he thoroughly learned the husiness, which was established in 1891. He continued with his uncle for a considerable period and in 1907 turned his attention to cigar manufacturing under the name of the Capasso


ALEXANDER CAPASSO


873


AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY


Cigar Manufacturing Company at 63 Bradley street. His interests were incorporated, Mr. Capasso acting as president of the company, and though the business was established on & small scale, it was developed to one of large proportions, necessitating in order to meet the requirements of the trade the employment of more than one hundred people. Mr. Capasso continned actively in the business until 1913, when on account of the growing business of the bank which had been established by his uncle, he disposed of his cigar manufacturing interests and has since devoted all of his time and attention to the banking and brokerage business, having become his uncle's successor in this field. He also conducts a foreign exchange and steamship ticket business and he has a branch bank and steamship ticket office in Alife, in the province of Caserta, Italy. His business now represents a large investment and has become one of the important financial interests of New Haven.


On the 19th of February, 1905, Mr. Capasso was married in New Haven to Miss Christina Capasso, also a native of Alife. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party and he is identified with many Italian clubs and organizations, including the Sannio Club, the San Carlino Club, the Campania Club, Circolo Italiano, Garibaldi Society, Fratellanza Society, Dante Alighieri Society, Italian-American Club, Piedimonte D'Alife Society and the Sons of Italy Society. He is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce. At the age of twenty years he came to America and from that time has been dependent upon his own resources. Mr. Capasso has steadily worked his way upward. Persistent purpose has been one of the stable features of his business career and he has ever made it his purpose to thoroughly master everything that he has undertaken. He has closely studied questions of finance and gained a comprehensive knowledge of every phase of the banking and broker- age business. The lessons which he has learned in the school of experience have made him one of the most progressive of the business men of his adopted city.


MORRIS WILLIAM GURIAN.


While of Russian birth, Morris William Gurian has resided in America from the age of twelve years. His youth was a period of unremitting toil and from that time forward he has been dependent upon his own resources. He is truly a self-made man and as the archi- tect his own fortune has builded wisely and well, for he now occupies a creditable posi- tion in insurance circles in New Haven, with offices at No. 42 Church street.


He was born in Poland, Russia, June 23, 1879, a son of Herbert and Mary Gurian and attended school in his native land. The family emigrated to the new world when he was twelve years of age, the new home being established in Meriden, Connecticut, on the 22d of November, 1891. Soon afterward his father was killed in an accident and it was theu nec- essary for Morris W. Gurian to start out in the business world to provide for himself and aid in the support of the family, so he only had opportunity to attend school in this country ยท for two weeks. He was first employed in a woolen mill in Meriden at a salary of forty cents per day and in addition he made a dollar and a half per week by carrying papers. About 1893 he obtained an agency in Meriden for all the New York papers and his income mounted to from twenty-five to thirty dollars per week. He was thus engaged until he reached the age of eighteen years, when he turned the paper business over to his younger brother and sought other employment, being ever actuated by a spirit of laudable ambition which prompted him to take a forward step that would bring him a wider outlook and broader opportunities. For about six months he was employed by the International Silver Company and then turned his attention to the grocery business, in which he established himself in Wallingford, at that time a youth of but eighteen years. There he spent five years on the expiration of which period he came to New Haven and in 1906 became manager for the Empire Trading Stamp Company, which position he occupied for two years. He afterward traveled for a large to- bacco house in New York city for eight months and for another tobacco house of Detroit, Michigan, for nine months.


On the 5th of November, 1909, Mr. Gurian made his initial step in the insurance field, which he entered, it may be said, by accident. A friend suggested to him to try the life in- surance field and particularly the line of industrial insurance. Mr. Gurian took the matter under consideration and upon coming to a conclusion decided upon old line insurance as Vol. II -- 40


87-


A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN


-


preferable and as an experiment he entered that field and sold forty thousand dollars worth of old line life insurance in less than a week. He is the representative in New Haven of the New York Life Insurance Company and he made the One Hundred Thousand Dollar Club the first year. He soon won a place in the Two Hundred Thousand Dollar Club and for some time has been in the Five Hundred Thousand Dollar Chib, indicating that he now places in- surance to the amount of over half-million dollars annually. He has had a remarkable busi- ness career. From selling matches and papers on the streets of the city he has steadily ad- vanced step by step until he is at the head of one of the largest insurance agencies not only in New Haven but in New England. His path has been beset with great difficulties and upon him devolved heavy responsibilities. When quite young he furnished the money to bring five of his brothers and sisters from Russia to America and at various periods he has con- tributed to the maintenance of the family. Undeterred by obstacles, however, he has steadily progressed and his thorough study of the insurance business has enabled him to so repre- sent the interests of the company that he has gained a very extensive clientage. At the present be bandles all kinds of insurance, including fire, life, automobile, accident, etc., and his busi- ness is one of most gratifying proportions. He has other important interests, being one of the partners in the Teyrrell-Gurian Decorating Company, conducting an extensive business as decorating contractors. He is also adjuster for the New Amsterdam Casualty Company.


Mr. Gurian's mother died in 1914 and he has one brother and two sisters living, namely, Samuel B., Ester and Sarah Gurian. He was married in 1903 to Miss Elizabeth Wolfson who died in December, 1915. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Fraternal Order of Eagles and is also a member of Connecticut Lodge, I. O. B. A. He he- longs to the Olive Street synagogue. He is an independent voter, but the political field holds no attraction for him. His thought and attention always were and are given to the devel- opment of his business interests, which have reached extensive and gratifying proportions, and be also interests himself in matters of community welfare.


FRANK M. KIBBE.


Frank M. Kibbe, a Meriden druggist, who has been actively identified with the drug trade since 1884, was born in Hampden, Massachusetts, April 28, 1866, a son of Corydon L. and Angeline (Kibbe) Kihbe. The latter was a direct descendant of General Ethan Allen of Revolutionary war fame.


There is much definite knowledge of the Kibbe family to be obtained in the records of Hartford county. The village of Kibbe in Tolland county was named after an ancestor of Frank M. Kibbe. The first representative of the family in the paternal line left England for the colonies in 1619. As this antedated the arrival of the Mayflower, the ancestor must have gone to Virginia or the Carolinas. No definite information was heard of him from that time. The New England family of Kibbe, of whom Corydon L. Kibbe was a descendant, was founded in Massachusetts in 1643 by Edward Kibbe, who came from England and was one of the founders of the town of Braintree, Massachusetts The family prospered as the years passed on and some of its members removed to Connecticut. The first white child born in Enfield. Con- nectient, was a Kibbe and one of the ancestors of Frank M. Kibbe. Members of the family have always been prominent in political and social life of northern Connecticut.


Frank M. Kibbe was educated in the public schools of Kibbe, Connecticut, also Suffield, Connecticut, and of East Windsor in this state. He worked at farm labor both during and after his school days and subsequently he was employed for a time in a rule shop. He be- came identified with the drug business in 1884 at Litchfield, Connecticut, but after two and a half years devoted to the trade in that town he sold out and later was employed in a drug store in Hartford, Connecticut, through the succeeding five years. He then removed to Meriden, where in 1891 be established his first drug store in this city. He was located origin- ally at No. 40 West Main street and later removed to his present place of business at 75 West Main street, where he bas a store twenty-two by one hundred and ten feet. It is sup- plied with the latest fixtures and accessories and his business has reached extensive and gratifying proportions, furnishing employment to three clerks.


On the 2d of October, 1895, Mr. Kibbe was united in marriage to Miss Anna Elizabeth


875


AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY


Webb and although they have no children of their own, they have reared Mr. Kibbe's brother's child, Florence M. Kibbe, since she was five months old and have given her a splendid classical and musical education.


In his political views Mr. Kibbe is a republican but has never been an office seeker. Fraternally he is connected with the Order of United American Mechanics, with the Masons, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Areamm. He is truly a self-made man and one whose life has been a useful and active one. He has always been an earnest worker, putting forth every effort to promote his interests along the legitimate lines of trade, and whatever success he has achieved is attributable to his persistency of purpose and intel- ligently directed labor.


RICHARD FRANCIS DOSSIN.


Richard Francis Dossin, president of the Connecticut Calendar Company, Incorporated, and thus actively associated with manufacturing interests in Meriden, was born in Meerane, Sax- ony, Germany, May 23, 1877, a son of C. Louis and Mary (Kloeber) Dossin. The father was a weaver in his native land and when his son Richard was four years of age came with his fam- ily to Meriden, where he settled in 1881 and spent his remaining days.


Richard Francis Dossin was educated in the public schools and for a short time attended high school, after which he went to work. After a time he joined the job department of the Journal Company, remaining for ten years. He started at a salary of two dollars per week and worked his way to the top, becoming a first class job printer. He afterward engaged in business on his own account, forming a partnership with Henry Otto, at which time they opened a small job printing establishment. They also began the publication of the Evening Times, a daily paper, of which they finally sold the controlling interest to Hall & Rockwell. Mr. Dossin then returned to the Journal Company, for which he again worked for two years. In 1908 he left his position with that company and organized the Connecticut Calendar Com- pany. After conducting business for four years it was incorporated under the present style, with Mr. Dossin as the president and general manager, his brother, C. T. Dossin, treasurer, and E. S. Page, Jr., secretary. The business has constantly inereased, reaching its highest mark in the output in 1917. They have employed as many as sixteen men in the plant and at the outset had but six employes all told. In the season they are represented on the road, by as many as eight salesmen. The plant is equipped in the most modern manner, with the latest improved machinery, and they do all kinds of work except publication of large editions. The work which they turn out is of the highest class and their business has become one of the leading concerns of this character in Meriden.


Mr. Dossin was married in June, 1906, to Miss Emily Marie Diel, of Meriden. To them have been born four children, Marie Emily, Elizabeth Jennie, Richard F. and Viola Catharine. The last are twins.


Mr. Dossin attends the Lutheran church and he has membership with the Masonic lodge, the Moose, the Foresters and the Turners, all of Meriden. He is likewise identified with the Typographical Union. His political indorsement is given to the republican party and he is a stalwart champion of its principles. His entire life has been devoted to the line of work in which he is now engaged, and thoroughness has characterized all his undertakings, leading to increased efficiency, while his laudable ambition has prompted every forward step in his career.


RUSSELL HOLBORN ERSKINE.


Russell Holborn Erskine, proprietor of the Central Garage at Meriden, was born in Toledo, Ohio, March 9, 1889. a son of Harry and Jessie (Snodgrass) Erskine. The father has passed away, while the mother resides at Hamilton, Canada. Her people were from Edin- burgh, Scotland, and settled in Hamilton, Canada, about a half century ago. Harry Erskine passed away when his son Russell was but three or four years of age and the mother after-


876


A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN


ward returned to Hamilton, where Russell H. Erskine attended the public schools. He also pursued a course in the Normal College and afterward learned the machinist's trade in Ham- ilton, gaining expert and comprehensive knowledge concerning work of that character. He also pursued a correspondence course under the direction of the International Correspondence School of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and later he went to Buffalo, New York, where he entered the employ of the E. R. Thomas Motor Company. He became an expert motor mechanic while thus employed and was promoted to the position of road man as factory expert. Later he went to Boston, Massachusetts, where he worked at his trade until he came to the notice of the millionaire, John Duncan, who induced Mr. Erskine to drive for him and take care of his cars, Mr Duncan being a very wealthy and prominent man of Brookline, Massachusetts. Later Mr. Erskine went to Hartford, Connecticut, where he worked at his trade until he came to Meriden in 1910 to drive for and take charge of the ears of the late Walter Hubbard. Upon the death of Mr. Hubbard, Mr. Erskine started in business on his own account in a small place on East Main street and purchased his present ground, on which was a house and barn. This was on the 19th of July, 1915. The barn he at onee remodeled into a large garage and he now conducts an extensive repair and storage business and has a complete vulcanizing plant. He carries a big stock of automobile repair parts and accessories and is agent for the Ajax tires and the Gould batteries and has a service station for the same. He employs four men and is conducting a large, growing and successful business.


On the 15th of August, 1910, Mr. Erskine was married to Miss Elizabeth Donahne, a native of Hartford, Connecticut, and they have one child, Jessie Elizabeth. Mr. Erskine be- longs to the Presbyterian church and guides his life according to its teachings. His political allegiance is given the democratic party, and while he does not seek nor desire office, he is always loyal and progressive in matters of citizenship. He is truly a self-made man, having been both the architect and buildler of his own fortune. He has developed his native powers and talents and his long experience has given him expert knowledge and power along the line toward which he has directed his energies. He is now one of the well-to-do business men of Meriden, prominently connected with the automobile trade, and what he has undertaken and accomplished should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what may be achieved when there is a will to dare and to do.


ANTONIO DE ANGELIS.


Antonio De Angelis, engaged in the banking and real estate business in New Haven since 1907. is of Italian birth and a resident of this country from the age of twenty-three years. He was born in Benevento, Italy, January 30, 1860, a son of John and Marie (Petrelli) De Angelis, who were also natives of that country. The mother died in Italy and late in life the father crossed the Atlantic, spending his last days in the new world. In the family were but two children, Joseph and Antonio, both now residents of New Haven.


The opportunities which Antonio De Angelis received in his youth were extremely limited. He had little chance to attend school and his knowledge has been acquired through self-effort, and the school of experience has afforded him many valuable lessons. Entering the Italian army when in his teens, he served for three years and then at the age of twenty- three came to the United States, hoping to better his financial condition on this side of the Atlantic. He at once made his way to New Haven and entered the employ of the Candee Rubber Company, remaining at that plant for twenty-three years, during which he made steady progress, being advanced from one position to another and therefore taking upon him- self added responsibilities which, however, brought him increases in salary as well. The careful husbanding of his resources enabled him to embark in the banking business in 1907, since which time he has been classed with the leading Italian bankers of the city, and he is also engaged in the real estate business in connection with his sons.


On the 29th of September, 1890, Mr. De Angelis was united in marriage to Miss Angelina Torillo, of this city, who passed away February 2, 1915. They were the parents of six children : Vincent, who is a graduate of the New Haven high school: Rosie, a grammar school graduate; Joseph, a graduate of Yale Business College; Michael, attending New Haven high school; Anna : and Louis. All were born in New Haven.


877


AND EASTERN NEW HAVEN COUNTY


The religious faith of the family is indicated in their membership in St. Michael's church. Mr. De Angelis is identified with various Italian societies and he is one of the best known representatives of the Italian colony of New Haven. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for here he has found the opportunities which he sought and in their utilization has steadily advanced in a business way until he now occupies a prominent position in financial circles.


ROY RUSSELL HOLABIRD.


Roy Russell Holabird, who since 1900 has been connected with Strong, Barnes, Hart & Company of New Haven, was born in North Branford, Connecticut, September 25, 1877, a son of Charles F. Holabird, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work. He acquired his education in the schools of North Brantford and worked upon his father's farm until he reached the age of seventeen years, when he entered the employ of F. S. Platt & Company, seedmen and florists of New Haven. He thus received his initial training and has since been an active factor in business circles in New Haven, his developing powers and his laudable ambition bringing him into prominent connections. In 1900 he entered the service of Strong, Barnes, Hart & Company, wholesale dealers in beef and provisions, and through the intervening period, covering seventeen years, has remained with the company.


Mr. Holabird was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Johnson, of New Haven, and they have become parents of two children, Lovell Johnson and Ruby. In his political views Mr. Holabird is a republican, while fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the United Commercial Travelers. He owns a small farm at Montowese, upon which he makes his home. His entire life has been passed in Connecticut and that his record is a straightforward and commendable one is indicated in the fact that many of his stanchest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood to the present.


REV. EDWARD FRANKLIN GOIN.


Rev. Edward Franklin Goin, pastor of the Dixwell Avenue Congregational church, was born in Florence, Alabama, August 27, 1873, his parents being James G. and Mary J. (Log- wood) Goin. He acquired a public school education in Birmingham, Alabama, and afterward attended the Fisk University of Nashville, where he won his Bachelor of Arts degree with the class of 1898. He then entered Oberlin College of Ohio and pursued a course in theology, gaining the Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1901. He afterward became a student in Yale, which conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree in 1904.


Rev. Goin was ordained to the ministry in New Haven in 1902 and was assigned to his present charge as pastor of the Dixwell Avenue Congregational church, where he has since remained, covering a period of sixteen years. During his pastorate the membership of the church has doubled. He has also been instrumental in securing many improvements on the church property, between ten and fifteen thousand dollars having been expended in that way, which has included the building of the parish house and the installation of a pipe organ. The church work has been thoroughly organized along the lines of social service, including a men's club, a dramatic association, a women's federation, the Camp Fire Girls, the Boy Scouts and lesser organizations. There is also a milk station maintained in the church by the Infant Welfare Association, with which the church cooperates, and a course of lectures and addresses has been continuously given during the past twelve years.


On the 27th of August, 1902, in Oberlin, Ohio, Rev. Goin was married to Miss Viola White, a graduate of Oberlin College in class of 1901 and a daughter of Edward and Caledonia White, of that city. They have become the parents of two children: Edward H., thirteen years of age; and Viola B., a little maiden of five years.


Rev. Goin belongs to the Zeta Boula of the Sigma Pi Phi. He is a member of the board of directors of Organized Charities in New Haven, is a member of the Civic Federation, of the


878


A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN


Boy Scout Council and the court of honor of the Boy Scouts, and he is a thirty-second degree Mason. No activity which touches the interest and welfare of his fellowmen seems foreign to him. He is deeply concerned in all those things which have to do with character develop- ment in the individual and with the upbuilding of civic standards and he has been a most . active worker in social service, while as a minister of the gospel he occupies an enviable posi- tion among the leading divines of this section of the country.


WILLIAM KIPP.


William Kipp is the proprietor of Enterprise Dairy in New Haven. This he has de. veloped from a small beginning, his well defined business principles and unabating energy constituting the foundation of his growing success. He was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, May 15, 1875, and is a son of John and Christina (Hoegen) Kipp, both of whom were also natives of the same province in which occurred the birth of their son William, and there they have spent their entire lives. The father has been a well known and prosperous farmer and is still living at an advanced age, hut the mother passed away in 1915. Their family numbered five sons and one daughter.


William Kipp, who was the second in order of birth, attended school in Germany until he reached the age of fourteen years and then crossed the Atlantic to America, coming alone to this country. He made his way direct to New Haven and entered the employ of his unele, who was a well known grocer on Dixwell avenue. There he was employed for thir- teen years and in the meantime he carefully saved his earnings, being ambitious to engage in business on his own account. At length he felt that his experience and his capital justi- fed the step and on the 1st of February, 1898, he established a small dairy business with a capacity of one hundred and forty quarts of milk per day. From that modest beginning he has steadily developed the business, adding increased facilities from time to time and en- larging his quarters in order to meet the growing demands of his trade. Today he has an extensive and modern sanitary plant and utilizes thirty-two hundred quarts of milk daily, a fact which shows that his business has increased more than twenty-fold.




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.