USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II > Part 42
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HARRY A. DAY.
Harry A. Day, the seeretary of the H. T. Smith Company, was born in Enfield, Massa- chusetts, October 24, 1878, a son of John A. and Sarah Day. He attended the public schools in Ballard Vale and Conway, Massachusetts, and was graduated from the high school of the latter place in 1895. He afterward attended the academy at Wilbraham, Massachusetts, for a
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year and later engaged in bookkeeping in a grocery store until 1899. He then went to West- field, Massachusetts, where he conducted a bicycle business, and later he engaged in the same line of business in New York city and afterward in New Haven. In 1904 he came to Meri- den and has since been associated with the H. T. Smith Company, first in the capacity of bookkeeper, while now he is the secretary and office manager.
Mr. Day was married in May, 1906, to Miss Minnie A. Porter, of New Haven, and they have one child, Donald A .. born in September, 1907. Mr. Day belongs to Meridian Lodge, No. 77, F. & A. M .; Keystone Chapter, No. 27, R. A. M., of which he is now high priest; to Ham- ยท ilton Council, R. & S. M .; St. Elmo Commandery, K. T .; Lafayette Consistory, S. P. R. S .; and Sphinx Temple of the Mystie Shrine. Mr. Day is a progressive young business man and, cooperating with his fellow officers in the company, is doing much to further the growth of the business of which he is now the secretary.
HON. OSWIN HART DOOLITTLE FOWLER.
Hon. Oswin Hart Doolittle Fowler, a well known attorney and jurist of Wallingford, was born in North Haven, Connecticut, January 17, 1857. a son of Henry Baldwin and Lucy Eloise (Doolittle) Fowler.
He is a lineal descendant in the sixth generation of Abraham Fowler, of Guilford, Con- necticut, who was a son of John Fowler, who settled in Guilford in 1649 as one of the original planters and became prominent in public affairs there. He owned a large estate at Guil- ford. John Fowler was a son of William Fowler, who came from London in 1637 and took up his abode in Boston. William Fowler removed to New Haven in 1638 and at the settle- ment of Milford in 1639 he was the first of the trustees who held the deed of the town. He built the first gristmill in New Haven colony and the millstone that he used is incorporated in the memorial arch erected by the people of Milford upon the old site. Thus the Fowlers have been prominently identified with the county since its earliest settlement. This branch of the Fowler family came from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, and are descended from Sir Richard Fowler de Foxley, the crusader, 1192, knighted at the siege of Acre by Richard Coeur de Lion. Abraham Fowler of Guilford was a member of the general court for twenty-three consecutive years and of the house of assistants, or governor's council, from 1712 until his death in 1720.
In the maternal line Judge Fowler is a lineal descendant in the sixth generation of Abraham Doolittle, who was marshal of the New Haven colony from 1662 until 1667 and was prominently identified with the settlement of Wallingford in 1670. All of the ancestors of Judge Fowler since early colonial days were horn and bred in New Haven county and six of the number were soldiers of the Revolutionary war. His father, Henry B. Fowler, was one of the argonauts who went to California in 1849 in search of the golden fleece. With a party of six he traveled from North Haven and after several months devoted to successful mining, and merchandising at Sacramento City he returned by way of the Isthmus of Pan- ama. In 1851 he made a second trip to California but the climate did not agree with him and he again came to New England in 1852.
Five years later Judge Fowler entered upon the scene of earthly activities and after mastering the elementary branches of learning taught in the public schools he entered the Yale Scientific School, from which he was graduated with the class of 1878. He determined upon the practice of law as a life work and pursued his law studies in Yale as a member of the class of 1881. In the meantime, when seventeen years of age, he began teaching in the district school and devoted three years to that profession before and during his college days. He was principal of a grammar school at Fairhaven during the last year in which he was a law student at Yale. Admitted to the bar in June, 1881, he became a resident of Wallingford in September of that year and opened his law office. Through the intervening period he ha- enjoyed a practice that has steadily grown in volume and importance and he has long been numbered among the ablest representatives of the har in this section of the state. In 1893 and 1894 he filled the position of judge of probate for the district of Wallingford and in 1902 was chosen prosecuting attorney for the borough court of Wallingford, in which capacity he served for several years. Since the 3d of April, 1911, he has been judge of
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the borough court of Wallingford, and was reappointed by the general assembly of 1917 for a term of two years beginning on the 4th of June. He has been counsel for the town and borough, is now town counsel, is attorney for the First National Bank and for the Dime Savings Bank and for the past ten years has been one of the directors of the last named institution. In his law practice he has been identified with many prominent cases and has had much important corporation practice. He has specialized to a considerable extent in cor- poration law, is thoroughly informed concerning that branch of jurisprudence, and is re- tained as counsel of various manufacturing corporations of Wallingford. He has been active in local real estate circles, has erected a number of houses in Wallingford and has been chosen to administer many estates. In all municipal affairs he has taken a deep inter- est. He was one of the leading advocates of the establishment of the municipal electric light plant and drafted all the resolutions authorizing its establishment and the by-laws for operating the plant. In 1902 Judge Fowler compiled a revision of the charter and by-laws of the borough that is still in use.
On the 4th of September, 1884, Judge Fowler was united in marriage to Carrie Belle Parmelee, a daughter of Samuel B. and Lavinia (Cook) Parmelee, of Wallingford, and a grand- daughter of Leander Parmelee, of Wallingford, who was high sheriff of New Haven county from 1845 until 1857. Mrs. Fowler is also a lineal descendant of Colonel Thaddeus Cook, of Revolutionary fame. Judge and Mrs. Fowler have three danghters: Mabel E., who was married May 12, 1908, to John W. Leavenworth, of Wallingford; Ethel B .; and Helen P., who on the 28th of April, 1917, became the wife of David Tomlinson, Jr., of Yonkers, New York.
Judge and Mrs. Fowler attend St. Paul's Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Fowler is a devoted communicant. He has been a member of the Wallingford Club since its organiza- tion. Along strictly professional lines he is identified with the New Haven County Bar Association and the Connecticut State Bar Association. His success is based upon a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, with ability to accurately apply those principles, and while an able lawyer and jurist, he has also made an enviable record as a public-spirited citizen devoted to the general good.
HON. ROBERT J. WOODRUFF.
Hon. Robert J. Woodruff, whose name is well known in connection with legal and financial interesta, is actively associated with banking at Orange and with law practice in New Haven. He was born in the former city July 6, 1874, a aon of Stilea D. and Elizabeth M. (Clark) Woodruff, who were also natives of Orange. The father was a prominent seed merchant and farmer and passed away in thia state April 10, 1906, at the age of aixty- seven years. His wife died March 8, 1906, at the age of sixty-aix years.
In the family were four children, of whom Robert J. Woodruff was the third. Follow- ing his graduation from the high achool of New Haven with the class of 1892 he then entered Yale University, in which he pursued his academic course, winning his degree in 1896. Three years were then devoted to the study of law at Yale and in 1899 he was licensed to practice at the Connecticut bar. He has since become widely known as a representative of that field of labor and from April, 1901, until October, 1915, he was prosecuting attorney of New Haven county. In the same year in which he was called to that office he was elected to represent his town in the general assembly of Connectieut and served for two yeara. He has been tax collector of his town, a member of the school board and the ineumbent in other local offices, and his duties have ever been discharged with promptness and fidelity above question. His father waa alao at one time a member of the state legislature from Orange and, more- over, manifested his loyal citizenship by active service in the Civil war with the Twenty- seventh Connecticut Regiment.
On the 12th of November, 1902, Mr. Woodruff waa married in Orange to Mise Bertha Clark, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clark, of Milford. They have become parenta of three children, Dorothy W., Elizabeth C. and Robert J., Jr., all born in Orange. The family home is maintained in Orange and the parents occupy a prominent position in the social circles of that town, while the hospitality of their own home is greatly enjoyed by their many friends.
HON. ROBERT J. WOODRUFF
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Mr. Woodruff is prominently associated with the business intereata of the town, and la a director of the Orange Bank & Trust Company. He is secretary and director of the Crom- well Water Company and is a director of The Orange Water Company. He was a member of Troop A of the National Guard Cavalry, maintained at New Haven from 1901 to 1910, advancing from private to second lieutenant. On May 1, 1917, he was commissioned captain of Company I, Second Regiment, Connecticut Home Guard, located at Orange and still holds that position.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Woodruff is a well known Mason. He haa advanced to the Knight Templar degree in the York Rite and to the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite. He also has membership with the Sons of Veterans, while along strictly professional lines his connection is with the New Haven, the New Haven County, the Connecticut State and the American Bar Associations. Closely applying himself to the work of the profession, he has manifested such ability as advocate and counselor as to be ranked with the leading attorneys of this section.
MERVIN J. GIBBUD.
Among the auccessful business men of New Haven who have risen to prominence from a humble start in the business world is numbered Mervin J. Gibbud, now the president and treasurer of the M. J. Gibbud Company, Incorporated, manufacturers of builders' supplies, and also conducting a contracting building business.
Mr. Gibbud was born January 5, 1874, in Naugatuck, a aon of Timothy Curtis Gibbud, who was born in Naugatuck and was a representative of an old Connecticut family. The great-grandfather was Captain Mervin Gibbud, a soldier of the Revolutionary war and of Scotch descent. He was born in Connecticut, as was his son, Mervin Gibbud, Jr., the grand- father of Mervin J. Gibbud of this review. The father, who was a successful farmer, died December 19, 1917, at the age of eighty-three years. He married Charlotte A. Marsland, a native of Ossining, New York, and a representative of an old English family. Her parents were Joshua and Charlotte Marsland, both of whom were of English birth and on coming to the United States settled in New York. Her grandfather, Fasset, installed the engines on the Clermont, which was the first steamboat that plied the waters of America and also made the trip with Robert Fulton. Five of his sons took part in the Civil war on the Union side as engineers and were well known and prominent men of their day. Their sister, Mrs. Charlotte Gibbud, died in 1887, at the age of fifty years. She was the mother of two children, the elder being Jennie M., who became the wife of Frank Arendholz, and is now deceased.
The only son, Mervin J. Gibbud, attended the Pond Hill school in Naugatuck. This was a country school, but he utilized his advantages in a way that gave him a good foundation for his success in business. His youth to the age of seventeen years was spent upon the home farm, with the usual training and experiences of the farmbred boy. He then went to Water- bury and engaged in the woodworking business, being employed in the plant of W. M. Hurl- burt, in that city under whom he learned all branches of mill work. From an apprentice he rose to the position of general superintendent and remained for eight years in that estab- lishment. He was afterward with the David H. Clark Company of New Haven in the posi- tion of foreman for eight years and resigned his position in 1906 to establish his present busi- ness.
The business was incorporated January 2, 1911, since which time Mr. Gibbud has been president. The firm employs on an average of fifty people and theirs is one of the leading establishments of the kind in New Haven. They have gained a good clientage throughout the state and are conducting an extensive wholesale and retail lumber business in addition to manufacturing all kinds of building supplies. Their plant has an area of sixty-five thousand square feet of floor space and the factory is equipped with the latest and most improved modern machinery for carrying on work of that kind. In addition they do a general con- tracting business, which constitutes an important branch of their interests, and the company is now enjoying a very gratifying measure of success. Mr. Gibbud has closely studied every phase of the trade and has developed his business along well defined lines, forming his plans carefully and carrying them forward to successful completion.
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On the 1st of July, 1902, Mr. Gibbud was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Rice, a native of Waterbury, born April 2, 1877, and a daughter of Anson and Luey Rice. They were of a very old family and were related to the Barnes family, well known and prominent in Waterbury. Her father is now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Gibbud have been born three children : Eloise Marie, born September 29, 1905; Mervin J., Jr., born September 4, 1907; and Virginia, born October 31, 1913. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Gibbud taught school in the Webster school, Waterbury, acting also as assistant principal for six years. She is a lady of liberal culture and of marked intellectual development and she is a valued member of the Society of Colonial Dames and also of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mr. Gibbud holds membership with the National Association of Manufacturers of the United States and with the Connecticut State Association of Manufacturers. He belongs to the New Haven Chamber of Commerce and is interested in all those forces which are work- ing for the development and upbuilding of the city, the extension of its trade relations and the development of civie welfare. He holds to high standards both of manhood and of citizen- ship and commands the respect and confidence of all with whom he has come in contact, while his business policy, forceful and resourceful, has brought him out of humble surroundings into important manufacturing associations. -
HENRY BOLDEN ARMSTRONG.
Among New Haven's successful business men of the past third of a century was the late H. Bolden Armstrong, whose sudden death on July 20, 1917, removed a citizen whose activities and influence ever counted for the advancement of the city's best interests. Mr. Armstrong was born in New Haven, October 1, 1855, a son of Philando and Catherine (Brad- ley) Armstrong, and grandson of John Armstrong, who was a native of Nova Scotia and eame to West Haven, Connecticut, when a young man and engaged in farming the remainder of his life. He died in 1840. His wife, Polly Smith, was a native of West Haven, and she died in 1865. Philando Armstrong was born at West Haven, June 21, 1825, and in the carly '40s became associated with his brothers, Lorenzo and William, in the grocery business on Long Wharf in New Haven. Later the firm became shipping merchants in the South American and West Indies trade, continuing until 1875. Mr. Armstrong then became asso- ciated with his son, H. Bolden, in the furniture business under the name of H. B. Armstrong & Company and so continued until he finally retired from active business. He died in New Haven in 1907 at the age of eighty-two years, his wife passing away the following year. Their four surviving children were: H. Bolden, Philando S., Ricardo F. and Miss Maud S. Armstrong.
H. Bolden Armstrong attended the Hopkins grammar school of New Haven and contin- ued his education in Captain Stiles French's private school. His initial business experience was in a clerical capacity with the Judson Packing Company of New Haven, with which con- cern he remained for several years. In 1876 he organized, with his father, the retail furni- ture business of H. B. Armstrong & Company, which conducted one of the leading stores of New Haven, and of which he was the directing head. This firm continued very successful for over twenty-five years. On the expiration of that period he organized Benton, Armstrong & Company, manufacturers of folding boxes, on Orange street, thus entering the manufacturing field in which he continued operations for seven years, again meeting with success in his undertakings. He then disposed of his interests therein, and retiring from active business he devoted his attention to the management of his private affairs and so continued until his death.
On the 15th of October, 1881, Mr. Armstrong was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Clark, a daughter of Henry W. and Jennie (Williamson) Clark. The father was a direct de- seendant of George Clark, an early settler of Milford, Connecticut, and through his mother was descended from Benjamin Fenn, also an early settler of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Arm- strong became the parents of three children. Delora, a graduate of Dixon College, is now the wife of Dr. Frank W. Pitman, of Yale, and is the mother of two children, Frank Arm- strong and Delora Armstrong Pitman. H. Bolden, Jr., who was graduated from Yale in
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1913, is connected with Sargent & Company. He married Miss Mabel Finley, of New Haven. Lillian Clark is now attending Wellesley College.
Mr. Armstrong was an earnest Christian gentleman, holding membership with the United Congregational church, and he also belonged to the New Haven Colony Historical Society and the Country Club.
FREDERICK L. WOOD.
Frederick L. Wood, superintendent of the Aeolian Company at Meriden, has under his direction important interests and has proved fully equal to all the demands made upon his ad- ministrative ability and business acumen.
He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, February 1, 1869, a son of Lucius and Ellen Wood. As a boy and youth he attended the public schools of his native city but when only fourteen years put aside his textbooks and turned his attention to earning a living. For two years he was employed by the Hammond Reed Organ Company and then became con- nected with the New Britain Hardware Company at New Britain, Connecticut. After he had been with that concern for three years he was made foreman of its tool making department, which position of responsibility he filled ably for two years. He then returned to Worcester, Massachusetts, and accepted a position with the Aeolian Company, then known as the Vocalion Organ Company. For three years he was master mechanic but at the end of that time was promoted to superintendent, in which capacity he has since served. In the mean- time the plant has been removed to Meriden and has become one of the leading factories in the industrial expansion of the city. Employment is furnished to a large number of skilled workmen and the annual volume of sales has reached a large figure. the products of the company being sold throughout the United States and in many other countries as well. The plant at Meriden is devoted to the manufacture of music rolls, piano and organ hardware, talking machine motors and parts and talking machine records. The rapid increase in the business of the record department has made necessary the erection of new buildings to give additional space to that department and this will necessitate taking on a large number of new employes. At present the employes of the plant number four hundred and the company's pay roll is one of the largest in the city. In addition to the plant at Meriden the Aeolian Company has plants in a number of other cities and its offices are found in all parts of the country. Its name is everywhere throughout the civilized world recognized as standing for the highest type of musical instruments and no further guarantee for the quality is needed. The officers of the company all reside in New York and are as follows: H. B. Tremaine, pres- ident; E. S. Votey, vice president and secretary ; W. E. Wheelock, treasurer; and J. F. Meade, assistant treasurer.
Mr. Wood was married June 5, 1889, to Miss Annie Myra Eddy and they have two children: Mildred, now Mrs. Charles H. Cuno, of Meriden; and Nellie Myra, a trained nurse.
Mr. Wood is a republican in his political belief but has not been active in public affairs. He belongs to Center Lodge, A. F. & A. M., at Meriden; to Keystone Chapter, R. A. M., and to Hamilton Council, R. & S. M. Along social and recreative lines his affiliations are with the Colonial Club and with the Highland Country Club He is highly respected in busi- ness and industrial circles because of his marked force of character and his ability to go at once to the root of a matter and he is also popular in the social and club life of the con- munity.
CHARLES HENRY WILFORD.
Charles Henry Wilford has retired from business and makes his home in Branford, his native city, where he was born March 3, 1842. The family has long been represented in Branford, where occurred the birth of his grandfather, John Augustus Wilford, and of the father, John Wilford. It was in honor of this family that Wilford avenue of Branford was named. John Wilford, Jr., wedded Lucretia Goodenough who was born in Chatham, New
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York, but died in Branford. Throughout his entire life John Wilford followed the occupa- tion of farming and thus provided for the support of his family.
Charles Henry Wilford acquired his education in the town schools and in the old Bran- ford Academy and when not busy with his textbooks assisted his father in the work of the farm. In young manhood he entered the employ of the Branford Lock Works and there learned the moulder's trade. In 1875 he established a retail meat market at Branford and was very successful in the conduct of the business, in which he actively continued for thirty- five years or until 1910, when he retired from commercial pursuits, selling his store. He has since made his home in Branford, enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly de- serves.
On the 26th of December, 1866, Mr. Wilford was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Cook Granniss, of Branford, who was there born, and passed away October 27, 1903. Her parents were John and Sally (Griffing) Granniss, who were likewise natives of Branford, where several generations of the family have resided. To Mr. and Mrs. Wilford were born eight children, all natives of Branford, and five of the number are yet living. These are: Grace, the wife of Frank E. Holcomb, of Akron, Ohio; Bernard S., a resident farmer of Corn- wall Bridge, Connecticut; Sarah, the wife of William E. Hitchcock, who is president of the Atlantic Wire Company of Branford, Connecticut; Eugenia, the widow of Dr. Samuel Glenn, of Warren, Ohio, but now a resident of Branford; and Marjory, at home.
Mr. Wilford has always given his political allegiance to the republican party. He has served as selectman of the town of Branford and also as town treasurer and he was ap- pointed by the Branford board of selectmen to fill out an unexpired term. Fraternally he is connected with Woodland Lodge, K. P. He is rated as one of the substantial and valued citizens of Branford, where as a business man he was widely known for his indisputable integrity, while in all matters relating to the public welfare he has stood for progress and improvement. The most envious cannot grudge him his success. so worthily has it been won and so wisely used.
REV. TIMOTHY DWIGHT.
Few families in the annals of Massachusetts and Connecticut, from the early Colonial period to the present, have been more conspicuous than the one whose name is represented by the venerable Rev. Timothy Dwight, D. D., of New Haven, late president of Yale University, and the immediate family of the first Rev. Timothy Dwight, S. T. D., LL. D., also president of Yale.
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