A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II, Part 55

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

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On the 2d of June, 1906, Mr. Hotchkiss was married to Miss Nellie E. Cramer, of Mid- dletown, Connecticut, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Cramer and a descendant of an old Massachusetts family. In the maternal line she is connected with the Strong family which was established at Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1636. Mr. Hotchkiss is a member of the Young Men's Republican Club, belongs to the Yale Alumni Association and frater- nally is connected with the Royal Areanum, while the rules which govern his life are indi- eated in the fact that he holds membership in the Church of the Redeemer. Both he and his wife are connected with very old and prominent New England families and they are well known socially in New Haven.

WALTER H. GOODRICH.

Walter H. Goodrich, engaged in the oil business in New Haven, was born in Spring- field, Massachusetts, July 22, 1875, a son of William C. and Mary Ann ( Belb) Goodrich, the former a native of Connecticut. The latter, a native of Ireland, came to America in her girlhood days. William C. Goodrich removed to Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860 and became a well known contractor there, passing away in that city May 16, 1916, at the age of seventy-two years. In 1862 he enlisted at Hartford, Connecticut, as a member of

Walter N. Goodrich

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Company C, Fourteenth Connecticut Regiment, and took honorable part in winning the cause for the Union. He was severely wounded at Antietam, losing his left hand. He kept in touch with his comrades of the battlefields of the south as a member of E. K. Wilcox Post, G. A. R., of Springfield, Massachusetts. The ancestry of the Goodrich family can be traced back to the ninth century. The first record of one of the name places the family in England. In 1636 two brothers of the name crossed the Atlantic to America and settled in Boston, Massachusetts, one of these becoming the founder of the branch of the family to which Walter H. Goodrich belongs. Many representatives of this family have become well known and some of the number served in the early colonial wars, in the Revolutionary war and in the War of 1812. Mrs. Mary Ann Goodrich is atill living, making her home in Springfield, Massachusetts. By her marriage she became the mother of five children.

Walter H. Goodrich, who was the third in order of birth in that family, attended school in Springfield, passing through consecutive grades until he had mastered the work of the high school of the first two years. His textbooks were then put aside in order that he might earn his living and he secured a position as office hoy at the munificent salary of five dollara per week with the Gilbert and Barker Manufacturing Company. He continued with that firm for three and one-half years, after which he secured a position with the Standard Oil Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, remaining with that company for ten years. He waa for one and one-half years connected with the Springfield (Mass.) branch of that com- pany, then transferred to New Haven and soon afterward was made manager for the local branch and continued to discharge his duties in that connection for six years. Having gained a thorough knowledge of the oil business in all of its branches, he then decided to embark in business on his own account and on the 1st of January, 1906, established himself in the retail oil trade. Through close application and persistent effort he finally gained a foothold and then branched out on a much larger scale, selling to both the wholesale and retail trade. He has established auto service stations in various places in New Haven and hia business has now grown to large and extensive proportions. In fact he is the leading oil man in the city today and has a business that is most gratifying. This is due entirely to his persistency of purpose, his energy and indefatigable effort. His business methods are such as will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny and he deserves great credit for what he has accomplished. His record should serve to inspire and encourage others; showing what may be done by the man of energy and laudable ambition.

On the 22d of March, 1899, Mr. Goodrich was married to Misa Mildred Hindsley, a daughter of George and Martha Hindsley, of New Haven. They have one child, Raymond H., who was born January 27, 1900, and is attending high school, being now in hia senior year. In politics Mr. Goodrich has always maintained an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judgment. He belongs to the State Street Baptist church of Spring- field, Massachusetts. Fraternally he is a Mason and an Elk and he is connected with the Automobile Club and also with the Governor's Foot Guard. He is a self-made man and deserves great credit for what he has accomplished and, moreover, he has those attractive social qualities which render him personally popular.

CUSHING MUDGE, D. D. S.

Dr. Cushing Mudge, actively and successfully engaged in the practice of dentistry in New Haven, was born at Newburyport, Massachusetts, October 30. 1874, a son of William M. and Grace (Wells-Andrews) Mudge. The mother was born and reared in Newburyport. She was left an orphan in early childhood and was legally adopted by three maiden ladies hy the name of Andrews. She there obtained her education and in Newburyport was married to William M. Mudge, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and became identified with the government service as a gauger and weigher. Still later he filled the office of county assessor, occupying that position for twenty-seven years, a fact which indicates most clearly his capability, efficiency and fidelity to duty. During the period of the Civil war he re- sponded to the country's call for troops, enlisting as a private in the First Massachusetts Infantry, with which he served until the close of hostilities, and at his death, which occurred

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May 29, 1916, when he was seventy years of age, he was laid to rest with military honors. He had for many years survived his wife, who passed away in March, 1892, and was buried at Lynn, Massachusetts. In their family were two daughters and a son: Margaret, who died at the age of nine months; Cushing; and Mrs. Mary B. McCoy, now living in Newton, Massachusetts. The ancestry of the family can be traced back as far as 1360 A. D., and through successive generations there have been many distinguished military men. The Mudge family in America was founded by John Mudge, who was killed by the red men in what was known as King Covert's war. The family was represented in the Revolutionary war and E. R. Mudge, the great-grandfather of the Doctor, was one of the signers of the constitution of Massachusetts.

Dr. Mudge was the second of the family. His early educational training was received at Newburyport, Massachusetts, and later he attended school at Providence, Rhode Island. His professional training was received in the dental department of Harvard, from which he was graduated with the class of 1898. The following year he began practice in Hartford, Connecticut, where he successfully followed his profession for three years. He afterward remained in active practice in Boston until 1907, when he came to New Haven, and through the intervening period he has won a reputation as one of the leading dentists of this city, having a large practice of a most important character. His office at 138 Orange street is well equipped with the various kinds of delicate dental instruments and the accessories of the profession, and Dr. Mudge possesses that mechanical skill and ingenuity which constitute so important a part in dental work. He has broad scientific knowledge and through reading and study he keeps abreast with the trend of modern professional thought.

On the 24th of June, 1896, Dr. Mudge was married to Miss Harriet Johnson Allen, of Cambridge. Massachusett, a daughter of Samuel Walton and Sarah H. (Rea) Allen, who were of a prominent Cambridge family. Four children have been born to this marriage. Grace, born in Cambridge, November 10, 1897, is a graduate of the New Haven grammar school. Harold Allen, born in Thompsonville, Connecticut, August 16, 1901. is attending the high school of North Haven. Cushing, born in Arlington, Massachusetts, July 3, 1906, and Robert Gordon, born in Stoughton. Massachusetts, June 17, 1908, are also students in the North Haven schools.

During the Spanish-American war Dr. Mudge was a member of the First Massachusetts Cavalry while the troops were quartered at South Framingham, Massachusetts. He is a member of the Preparedness League and of the Home Guard at the present time. He belongs to St. John's Episcopal church at North Haven and fraternally is connected with Corinthian Lodge, A. F. & A. M. He is also a member of the Harvard Club of Connecticut. His interests are broad and varied. He has never allowed professional activities to so mono- polize his time as to exclude his active participation where the obligations and responsi- bilities of citizenship call for cooperation. He is a man of sterling worth and stands as a high type of American manhood and chivalry.

FREDERICK W. DIETTER.

Frederick W. Dietter, president and treasurer of the New York & Connecticut News Bureau with offices at No. 87 Orange street, in New Haven, was born July 7, 1879, in the city where he still resides, a son of Otto and Margaret Dietter, the former now deceased. The father was the owner of a grocery and meat market in New Haven and thus provided for the support of his family. His wife's father during the period of the Civil war owned and conducted the Seaview Hotel, which was famous as a stopping place for soldiers during that period of conflict. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Dietter were three sons and a daughter: J. H Otto, deceased: Frederick W .; Louis A .; and Catherine, now Mrs. George Reichel, all living in New Haven.

Frederick W. Dietter after attending the grammar schools was a member of the first class that entered the Boardman Manual Training high school after it was opened. His early business experience came to him as the assistant of his father in a store which the latter owned for twenty-three years prior to his death. In 1906 he and his brother, under the firm style of Dietter Brothers, opened a grocery and meat market, corner of Orange and

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Grove streets, which they conducted for seven years, at the end of which time Frederick W. Dietter became interested in his present line of business. This was established April 1, 1901, by John G. Muth and James E. Scott, New York men, as a partnership affair. On the 1st of March, 1906, Mr. Muth sold his interest to Mr. Scott and on the 1st of January, 1913, Mr. Dietter bought out Mr. Scott. The business had been previously incorporated in October, 1907, with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars. Mr. Dietter is the president and treasurer, with Frank J. Bossler as the secretary and Richard S. Law as a director. The company has the fastest direct news service to the public in existence. It can be placed in any home by the simple expedient of using telephone wire already in the house and yet this does not interfere with the free use of the telephone. The company has direct wires to Washington, Baltimore, New York city, Boston and Philadelphia and is affiliated with the Stock Quotation Telegraph Company, No. 26 Beaver street, New York city, receiv- ing all of its quotations and news through that point. The company today has one hundred and thirty-five clients and operates from Port Chester, New York, to Springfield, Massa - chusetts.

On the 22nd of February, 1904, Mr. Dietter was united in marriage to Miss Harriet E. Eisele and they have two children: Frederick Otto, who was born in 1905; and Theodore Edward, born in 1909. Mr. Dietter has wide and varied interests. He belongs to Hamden . Lodge, No. 30, F. & A. M., and to the New Haven Lodge of Elks. He is also a member of the Masonic Lodge. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and is sergeant-at-arms of the Whitneyville Volunteer Fire Department. He was elected deputy judge of the Hamden county court in 1917 and in 1915 had been chosen a member of the school board of Hamden. He is an officer in the Whitneyville Congregational church and has been a teacher in its Sunday school for the past three years. All this indicates the nature and breadth of his interests, his activities heing effectively put forth along those lines which contribute to the material, intellectual and moral progress of his community.

MILTON M. MACHOL.

Milton M. Machol is a leading merchant tailor of New Haven, conducting business under the name of Machol & Machol, although he is sole proprietor. He was born April 30, 1873, in New Ilaven, and is a son of the late Herman Machol, who was a native of Germany and was brought to America by his parents when a youth of eight years, his father being Mayer Machol, who came to the United States in 1855 and settled in Florence, Massachusetts. For some years he was a resident of Florence and of Spring- field, Massachusetts, but eventually the family removed to New Haven. Herman Machol, during the Civil war, elerked in mercantile establishments and thus supported the family. He afterward learned the merchant tailoring trade and in 1866 he established himself in business, conducting his interests in connection with his brother, David Machol, on Grand avenue. He was actively and continuously engaged in the business up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1901, in New Haven, when he had reached the age of fifty-four years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Kahn, is a native of New Haven and a daughter of Mayer and Jeannette (Strouse) Kahn. The mother is now living in New Haven. Mr. and Mrs. Machol hecame the parents of three children, of whom Milton M. is the eldest. The others are: Jennie, now the wife of Malvin Simons, a jeweler of the firm of Buxbaum & Simons of New Haven; and Linda, who is the wife of Maurice Lang- rock, a furrier of the firm of Langrock & Company of New Haven.

Milton M. Machol pursued his education in the Eaton public school and in the high school to the age of seventeen years, when he entered the employ of his father, there learning the merchant tailoring business. He was associated with his father until the latter's death and has since conducted the business at No. 96 College street under the old firm style of Machol & Machol. although he is sole owner. He has one of the leading merchant tailoring establishments of the city and is accorded a large New York patronage, employing a traveling representative to develop the trade.

On the 22d of June, 1909, Mr. Machol was married in New Haven to Miss Alice Hahn, a native of New York and a daughter of Nathan and Anna B. (Rosenberg) Hahn, the former

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a member of a well known New York family, while the Rosenbergs were of a prominent old family of New Haven. Mr. and Mrs. Machol have become parents of a daughter, Natalie Hahn, born December 22, 1911. The family home is at No. 732 Orange street.

In his political views Mr. Machol maintains an independent course. Fraternally he is connected with Hiram Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and also with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He holds membership in the Harmonie Club and the Racebrook Country Club and he is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, heartily interested in its purposes to extend the trade relations of the eity and uphold its civic standards. He therefore cooperates in its movements for the public good and at the same time he gives close attention to his business, in which his discriminating judgment, indefatigable energy and undaunted enter- prise are winning him substantial success.

ALBERT HUNGERFORD PIHELPS.

Albert Hungerford Phelps, a well known representative of insurance interests in New · Haven, was born in Killingworth, Connectieut, November 7, 1866, and is a representative of old and prominent families of the state. the ancestry being traced back through ten genera- tions in the paternal line and through nine generations in the maternal. ITis great-great- grandfather Phelps was a colonel in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war and his commission bore the signature of George Washington. A great-grandfather, Aaron G. Hurd, was a captain in the War of 1812. Alvin P. Phelps, grandfather of our subject, mar- ried Azuba Hungerford, a sister of Hon. William E. Hungerford, the famous Connecticut jurist, the Hungerfords being among the eminent families of this state. John A. Phelps, the father of Albert Hungerford Phelps of this review, was the youngest of nine children, all of whom were six feet tall or more. John A. Phelps, a native of Killingworth, was for many years connected with the Phelps Publishing Company, of Springfield, Massachusetts, as part owner. Disposing of his interests there in 1902 he retired from active business. He resided at Guilford, Connecticut, where he died in January, 1917. He was interested in collecting antique fire arms, particularly the old flint lock rifles, of which type he owned one hundred and sixty-eight at the time of his death. He married Ellen G. Wright, a daughter of Captain Jeremiah Wright, and a descendant of an old and prominent family of Killingworth.

Their son, Albert H. Phelps, was educated in the schools of Clinton and of Guilford, Con- nectieut. He started out in the business world as assistant to his father in newspaper pub- lication at Springfield, Massachusetts, working on the circulation department of the paper for six years. His experience and ability in that line led to his appointment to the position of circulation manager of The Country Gentleman, now one of the three big magazines issued by the Curtis Publishing Company. He remained with The Country Gentleman for sixteen years and did very excellent work in the upbuilding of the circulation department, remain- ing with that publication until it was sold to the Curtis Company. He was asked to continue with the latter company as eirculation manager but preferred to enter the field of life insurance and conduet business on his own account. He had previously taken up the study of life insurance and, removing to Montpelier, Vermont, he also had a year's training and study there in connection with the National Life Insurance Company. At the end of a year he was offered the choice of positions as general agent at three different places. He chose New Haven and located here on the 10th of April, 1913. He has made good, greatly devel- oping the interests of the company through his ageney here, and today he is in control of a large and growing business.

Mr. Phelps has been married twice. On the 3d of September, 1890, he wedded Edith I. Griswold, of Killingworth, the only daughter of Judge Washington E. and Cordelia (Barnum) Griswold, of old Connecticut families. They had one child, Edith Griswold, who was born in 1895 and began her edneation in the same room and under the same teacher in Clinton, Connecticut, as her father. She completed her education in Boston, Massachusetts, and is now a kindergarten teacher of Waterbury, Connecticut. Mrs. Phelps died December 20, 1894. On the 29th of August, 1898, Mr. Phelps was married to Miss Frances H. Burnham, a daugh-

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ter of the late Senator Henry C. Burnham, of Hadlyme, Connecticut. Her grandmother was a member of the Dewey family and a relative of Admiral Dewey.

Mr. Phelps' work on The Country Gentleman has led him to practice what he then preached. He occupies a country place and takes a deep interest in things agricultural. He is an expert judge of horse flesh, being called upon to act as judge at many fairs and horse shows. He enjoys all kinds of farm work and frequently slips away from his office to take active part therein, thus maintaining the normal condition and promoting the normal devel- opment through an even balance of indoor and outdoor life and activities. He belongs to the Grange and to various club and fraternal organizations. He has membership in the Union League and the Manor Clubs, is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and for thirty years has been a Mason, holding membership in Clinton Lodge, No. 95, A. F. & A. M .; and Hallett Chapter, R. A. M. In politics he is a republican and for some years served on the town committee of Guilford. He maintains that interest in all public affairs which shows an even belance in character and a recognition of one's duties and obligations in public life. His entire career has been actuated by the spirit of progress the progress that has been continually an upbuilding force in New England. Correctly judging of his own capacities and powers and of those things which go to make up life's contacts and experiences, his even- paced energy has brought him continually nearer and nearer the goal of success.

OLAF TANGRING.

Olaf Tangring is superintendent at the New Haven works of the American Steel & Wire Company, a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation, that most gigantic enter- prise of the United States, having mammoth plants located in every section of the country. In the New Haven establishment are employed over seven hundred men, the plant covering in its various departments fifteen acres on Fairmont avenue and on the water front of New Haven. This immense industry has for its directing head a most able executive-Mr. Tang- ring, who shows marked capability and resourcefulnesss in superintending the company's great plant and enjoys in the fullest measure the confidence of the officers of the corpora. tion which he thus represents.

Mr. Tangring is a native of Sweden. He was born on the 8th of March, 1865, of the marriage of Olaf and Marie (Hultman) Tangring, both of whom were natives of that country. The father engaged in the iron manufacturing business in Sweden and died while still a young man. The mother also spent her entire life there and reached an advanced age, passing away in 1915. In their family were three children, John, Olaf and Christina, but only the subject of this review has come to the new world.

In his youthful days Olaf Tangring served an apprenticeship in the mechanical depart- ment of a steel plant and continued to work at his trade through its various branches until qualified to take up the master's end of the business. Attracted by the opportunities of the new world, he came to America in 1887, when a young man of twenty-two, making his way first to Worcester, Massachusetts, where he was employed by the Washburn-Moen Manufacturing Company, and later went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was identified with iron manufacturing interests until 1891. He then returned to his native land, where he resided until 1895, in the meantime taking a course in a school of mines, but again he heard and heeded the call of America and after once more reaching her shores took up his abode in Worcester, Massachusetts. There he was employed in the mechanical and later in the drafting department of the American Wire & Steel Company and about 1904 was made superintendent of the wire rope department. In 1914 he was transferred to the New Haven branch in charge of the wire rope department and filled that position until July, 1915, when he was made superintendent of the entire plant, with executive powers over the work, so that he is now directing the efforts of about seven hundred employes. Much of the responsibility for the success of this large industry devolves upon him. Long experience has thoroughly qualified him for his important duties, so that he is able to speak and act in authoritative manner upon every phase of the work.

In 1900 Mr. Tangring was married to Miss Elmira N. Berg, of Worcester, Massachusetts. a daughter of Carl and Mary Berg, and they have become parents of two children: Hilda,

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who was born in Worcester in 1905; and Edward, born in Worcester in 1912. Mr. Tang- ring belongs to Worcester Lodge, A. F. & A. M. He is a fine example of what persistent, conscientious, hard work will do for a man in any line of activity. His career with this company is a refutation of the oft repeated statement: "Oh, it was all right years ago when you could start at the bottom and climb to the top, but you can't do that nowadays." Evidently Mr. Tangring didn't place any faith in that theory. When he became connected with the American Steel & Wire Company he started in to work and work hard, and he has never lost the habit. In business life he is untiring-full of energy and zeal for the success of the enterprise. He has manifold responsibility in his present position and puts forth every effort to measure up to the high standard of service which is the ideal of the company. He has always been more concerned about what he could do for the company than what the company could do for him, and it has been this devotion to the interests of his employers, combined with his expert practical knowledge, that has led to his advance- ment.

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A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II, Part 55

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

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