USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II > Part 61
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CHARLES A. DREISBACH
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forks of the Delaware to the Wyoming valley. It was a heroic life these men must lead. They were naturally constructive, not destructive, builders rather than destroyers. How wisely and how well they builded we know today and we reverence their memory as we pray, 'God give us men, tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the clouds in public duty and in private thinking.'"
It was from such an ancestry as this that Charles A. Dreisbach sprung. His father came to New Haven in 1877 and has since resided in this city, being still active at the age of sixty-nine years as proprietor of the New Haven Pattern & Model Works. He was for thirty years designer with the New Haven Clock Company and while there produced many of their present and past models. He is an expert in hand wood carving, his ability ranking him with the most efficient in that line. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and his religious faith is manifest by his membership in the Epworth church, in the work of which he has been most active and helpful. He also became a charter member of the Patriotic Order Sons of America and was one of the founders of the local order. He married Sarah Moyer, a native of Pennsylvania and a representative of one of its old families of German lineage, the ancestral line in America, however, dating back through several generations. Mrs. Dreisbach is also living. She became the mother of five children: Laura, the wife of Louis Bradley, of New Haven; Edwin J., who is living in Whitneyville; Charles A., of this review; Maude E., the wife of William Lutz, a resident of New Haven; and William F., who is an architect of New Haven.
Charles A. Dreisbach became a pupil in the public schools of New Haven and after finishing the grammar school course he spent two years in the New Haven night school to obtain a knowledge of mechanical drawing and kindred lines. At the age of seventeen years he started out to provide for his own support and was first employed for eight months with Sargeant & Company, while later he became connected with the MacLagon Foundry Company, there serving an apprenticeship at pattern making. He continued with the company after he had completed his apprenticeship until his connection therewith had covered fourteen years, a fact indicative of his faithful service and his capability. He next entered the foundry business on his own account and established what was then known as the C. A. Dreisbach Foundry & Machine Company, under which name he con- ducted business for three years. He then sold that business and organized the New Haven Sand Blast Company in 1910. This company is engaged in the manufacture and sale of sand-blast machinery, of which Mr. Dreisbach is also the patentee, and the output is sold throughout the United States and Canada and also to a large extent in Europe. Mr. Dreisbach is also proprietor of the Standard Equipment Company, manufacturing and selling machines for reclaiming metal from cinders, etc. He is likewise owner of the business con- ducted under the name of the New Haven Pattern & Model Works. His interests are thus extensive and important and constitute a substantial element in the industrial activity and development of this city. He also figures in financial circles as a director of the American Bank & Trust Company of Fairhaven.
Mr. Dreisbach is well known in Masonic circles, holding membership in Hiram Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M., and exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit of the organization. He is a member of the city and town improvement committee and he gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He stands at all times for progress and improvement in community affairs and his aid has been an effective force in bringing about develop- ment along various lines. He is a member of the Calvary Baptist church and at all times his influence is on the side of material, intellectual, social, political and moral progress.
GEORGE RICHARD JAMES, M. D.
Dr. George Richard James, physician and surgeon of New Haven, was born in Norwich, Connecticut, December 9, 1885, a son of Charles D. James, also born in Norwich and a grand- son of Charles James, who was likewise born in Connecticut and was a representative of an old family of this state of English lineage. Charles D James was for some time proprietor of a meat market, which he successfully conducted. He married Katherine Kelley, a native
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of Taftville, Connecticut, and a danghter of Thomas Kelley, of Irish lineage. She now occu- pies the old home at Norwich, but the father passed away March 12, 1903, at the age of fifty-one years. In their family were nine children, of whom two died in infancy.
Dr. James, the second in order of birth, after leaving the high school of Norwich, pur- sued post-graduate work in the Norwich Academy and thus gained broad literary knowl- edge to serve as a foundation upon which to build his professional learning. He prepared for the practice of medicine and surgery as a student at Yale, which he entered in 1906, completing his course with the gradnating class of 1910, the degree of M. D. being then con- ferred upon him. During his last two years at Yale he was an interne in St. Raphael's Hospital of New Haven and following his gradnation was appointed and served for a year as house physician in the state prison. He afterward entered upon private practice in New Haven and has since followed his profession as a general practitioner. He is also school med- ical inspector under appointment of the school board and the board of health.
On the 28th of June, 1916, Dr. James was married in New Haven to Miss Josephine M. O'Connell, a native of this city and a daughter of John F. and Lonise (Otell) O'Connell, who formerly lived at Bristol, Connecticut, but are now in New Haven. Dr. James holds mem- bership in St. Mary's Catholic church and in the local organization of the Knights of Columbus. In politics he is a democrat where national issues are involved but casts an independent local ballot. He belongs to the New Haven, the New Haven County, the Connecticut State and the American Medical Associations and thus keeps in tonch with the trend of modern professional thought, investigation and research. That he early dis- played marked strength of character is indicated in the fact that he worked his own way through Yale. He has ever been most conscientious in the performance of his professional duties, is most careful in the diagnosis of his cases and conforms his practice to a high standard of professional ethics.
HARRY B. GRIFFIN.
Harry B. Griffin, vice president and secretary of H. M. Bullard & Company at Nos. 91 to 97 Orange street, was born October 27, 1885, in New Haven, a son of Charles Griffin, who was also born in this city and was a son of Harry and Martha Griffin, who were representa- tives of old Connectient families of English and Irish descent. Charles Griffin was a button manufacturer and was quite successful in his business interests but died at the age of forty- five years. His wife hore the maiden name of Carrie E. Hatch and was born in Hartford, being a representative of one of the old families of that city. She died in 1908, in New Haven, when forty-four years of age. In the family were but two children, the daughter being Viola, the wife of W. B. Arvine, a resident of Watertown.
In the public schools of New Haven, Harry B. Griffin pursued his education and after leaving the high school spent two and one-half years at Yale in the study of medicine. He later entered the employ of H. M. Bullard & Company, of which he is now vice president and secretary. They have a very extensive and attractive establishment, carrying a large line of furnishings for homes, including the most attractive products sent out by the fur- niture manufacturing houses of the country. He has made a close study of public taste and at all times his business methods have measured up to the highest standards of com- mercial ethics.
On the 4th of June, 1913, Mr. Griffin was married in Mount Vernon, New York, to Miss Mary Dorcas Greene, a native of the Empire state, although the family was originally from Rhode Island. She is a descendant of General Nathaniel Greene and also a direct descendant of Roger Williams. By her marriage she has become the mother of one son, Dana Bruce, who was born January 5, 1915.
In his political views Mr. Griffin is a stalwart republican, earnestly advocating the principles of the party because of his belief in their efficacy as factors in good government. He belongs to Hiram Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M. He also has membership in the Racebrook Country Club and in the Union League of New Haven, and his religions faith is indicated by his membership in the Westville Episcopal church. At one time he was a member of Troop A of the Connecticut National Guard, serving for three years as a private. In
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matters of citizenship he has always stood for that which is most progressive and his loyalty has never been called into question. He cooperates in all that tends to upbuild and benefit city and state and the worth of his character is widely acknowledged by all with whom he has come in contact.
HENRY W. B. MANSON.
Henry W. B. Manson, president and treasurer of the Best Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of advertising specialties, including calendars and various kinds of advertising novelties, was born in New Haven in 1877 and is a son of Captain Magnus and Margaret (Mowett) Manson. After attending the schools of his native city he continued his educa - tion in Andover Academy, from which he was graduated in 1895, and later became a student in Yale University. He became the head of the Best Manufacturing Company in 1912. This business was established in 1887 in New Haven at the present location at No. 24 Will- iams street by E. P. Best, its founder and promoter. He was associated with the business as president for a period of six years, after which W. L. Lines conducted the business for more than twenty years. On the 1st of October, 1912, Mr. Manson became the head of the business, which was begun in a comparatively small way and has shown marked increase with the passing years. It is today the largest business of its kind in the state and com- pares favorably with the leading enterprises of this character in the country. The com. pany employ- on an average of twenty-five people inchiding a field force that covers the entire United States, and during the busy season the force is largely increased. The factory is equipped with the latest machinery for carrying on work of that character and many of the lines of goods sold by the company are manufactured by the firm.
MORTIMER J. NEWMAN.
Throughout almost his entire life Mortimer J. Newman has been connected with the cap trade, either as representative of wholesale or retail lines or as manufacturer. He is now the president and treasurer of the Mortimer J. Newman Company, Incorporated, extensively engaged in cap manufacture in New Haven. He was born in New York city, June 20, 1876. His father, Moses Newman, now deceased, was a native of Newark, New Jersey, and was of German descent. He followed mercantile lines throughout his active business career and was quite successful. He married Sarah Plonsky, a native of New York city and of German and Polish lineage. She departed this life in 1911 and of her six children two are yet living, Mortimer J. and Arthur Newman, the latter a traveling salesman residing in New York.
Mortimer J. Newman was educated in the schools of Denver, Colorado, for in 1882, when he was about six years of age, his family removed to that western city. When he was a youth of fifteen he started out to make his own way in the world and has since been de- pendent entirely upon his own resources. He is indeed a self-made man and his record is thoroughly creditable. He was first employed by the well known May Company of Denver, prominent clothiers of that city, with whom he continued for five years, his long connection with the house indicating most elearly his capability and fidelity. During the greater part of that period he was in the cap department and thus received the initial experience which has led him step by step to his present manufacturing interests. On leaving the May Com- pany he took charge of a store called the Golden Rule at Breckenridge, Colorado, for Joseph Oppenheimer, there remaining for three years. He then returned to the east, making his way to New York city, where he accepted the position of traveling salesman for Ezekiel Plonsky. manufacturer of neckwear. He traveled for that house in the New England states for three years and then entered into partnership with the firm of Frankenberger & Sons of New Haven, cap manufacturers. This was in 1906 and since that year he has been actively and continuously engaged in cap manufacturing. He is now the president and treasurer of the Mortimer J. Newman Company, Incorporated, which is engaged exclusively in the manufac- ture of golf caps, its output being sixty dozen per day, in which connection forty people are
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employed. The factory is well equipped and the business is continually growing, having already become one of the profitable productive industries of New Haven.
On the 29th of August, 1906, Mr. Newman was united in marriage to Miss Emma Sugenheimer, a native of New Haven and a daughter of Jacob and Eva Sugenheimer, the former now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Newman have one child. Lee, born January 29, 1912, in New Haven.
Mr. and Mrs. Newman are members of Mishkan Israel synagogue of New Haven and Mr. Newman is well known in club eireles as a member of the Harmonie Club and the New Haven Automobile Club. He also belongs to B'nai B'rith and is identified with the Benevo- lent Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. He is also an active and help- ful member of the Chamber of Commerce, being in hearty sympathy with its plans and measures to promote the welfare of his city. His political endorsement is given to the republican party. He has been a very successful man and his prosperity is evidenced in his attractive home at No. 94 Linden street, which he erected, and by his factory and office at 119 Meadow street. He certainly deserves much credit for the progress that he has made. He has allowed no obstacles or difficulties to bar his path if they could be overcome by persistent, earnest and honorable effort and step by step he has progressed until his posi- tion in business circles is an enviable one.
LUCY C. PECKHAM, M. D.
Dr. Lucy C. Peckham is accounted one of the foremost physicians of New Haven, where her ability has caused her to be considered an authority upon many branches of the profession for a long period. She is now gradually retiring from active professional work, but there are many who are loath to give up her services. She was born in Milford, Connecticut, Mareh 27, 1842, a daughter of Joshua and Mary Gore. Her father was a well known carriage builder and mechanic and throughout his life conducted business along those lines at Milford, at Hamden and at New Haven, passing away in New Haven on the 2d of October, 1863. At the time of the Civil war he enlisted with the Seventh United States Volunteer Regiment and participated in a number of hotly contested engagements, being wounded in the battle of James Island. His wife was born and reared in Milford, Connecticut, and was descended from several of the most prominent families in the state. She, too, passed away in New Haven, the date of her death being 1879, at which time she had reached the age of seventy-eight years. In the family were four children, Mrs. John H. Howarth, of New Haven, and Dr. Peckham, however, being the only ones now living.
In her girlhood days Lucy C. Gore attended the old Lancastrian school of New Haven and later entered the Eaton school. Not long after her textbooks were put aside she became the wife of Charles Creemer, whom she married in New Haven in 1865. He was a son of William H. Creemer, of New York city, and became a well known broker of New Haven, where he passed away in 1878. Following the death of her husband, Mrs. Creemer entered the Nurses Training School at New Haven Hospital and became a graduate nurse. She followed the profession for three and a half years and then decided to take up the study of medicine, with which end in view she entered the Woman's College of Medicine at Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, from which she was graduated with the class of 1885. She then re- turned to New Haven and began practice, in which she has since been actively engaged, and her pronounced ability has won her rank with the leading physicians of the state.
On the 31st of August, 1889, Mrs. Creemer became the wife of John A. Peckham, of New Haven, a son of Mr. and Mrs. John Peckham. He was born, reared and educated in New Haven and on reaching adult age turned his attention to mechanical lines, in which he continued until his death in 1905. He had reached the age of seventy-three years, his birth having occurred in New Haven in 1832. During the period of the Civil war he enlisted as a member of the First Connecticut Cavalry and was made a corporal. He did active duty at the front and was always loyal in citizenship.
Dr. Peckham has not only written along professional lines but has published a volume of verses, and has made contributions to religious papers as well. For a number of years she has been an active member of the Church of The Messiah. She is now gradually retiring
DR. LUCY C. PECKHAM
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from active practice. She has met with excellent success in her chosen profession and has become the owner of valuable real estate in New Haven, from which she derives a gratifying annual income. She is at home to her many friends in a well appointed residence on Green street, New Haven, and there is perhaps no lady in all the city who has a wider acquaintance or is held in higher esteem, the warm regard extended her being the recognition of her personal a- well as her profe -- ional worth.
DAVID B. BLOOMFIELD.
David B. Bloomfield, an architect, ha- gained a high standing in hi- profession and has designed many of the most important bu-ine -- - tructures and the best residence- of Meri- den. He was born in Cromwell, Connecticut. on the 6th of November. 1-51, a son of Nathan and Elizabeth (Butler Bloomfield. who came from New Jersey to Connecticut about 1846. When our subject wa- one and a half years old the family removed to Middle Haddam and there he attended the public schools until he wa- sixteen years old. For a few months after leaving school he worked at odd job- but April 19, 1569, he began to learn the carpenter's trade, which he followed for seventeen years. During that time he had charge as foreman of many big and little job -. In 1-56 he opened an office as architect in the Wilcox block in Meriden and has ever since devoted his time and attention to profe -- ional work. in which connection he has met with a gratifying measure of success. Among the important build- ing- which he has designed have been the Odd Fellows building-hi- fir-t important contract. the Meriden Journal building. the Meriden Record building. two buildings for the Young Men's Christian Association, St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church and the Baptist church, and he ha- remodeled the Silver City Realty Company building. the Fox block and the Beuchler block. He was the architect of the Congregational parsonage and the residence- erected by William F. Rockwell. A. >. Thoma -. I. B. Miller. Mr -. Ni -- en, MIr =. Minnie Wilson and Ed Collins and had charge of the remodeling of the fine re-idence owned by George Rockwell. The character of the contract- awarded him is evidence of hi- ability and the high e-trem in which he i- held profe -- ionally.
On the 14th of June, 15-4. Mr. Bloomfield wa, married to Miss Clara R. Richard -. of Bristol, Connecticut. In politic- he i- a stanch republican and has fillel a number of offices with credit to his efficiency and hi- tru-tworthine .-. For seventeen years he was fire mar- -hal. for fifteen years plumbing inspector and for two years a member of the common coun- ril. The -ucce -- which he has gained i- doubly gratifying to him in that it is the direct result. of his own indu-try. enterprise. natural aptitude for his cho-en work and. thorough reli- ability. During the many years of his residence in Meriden he has also gained many friend- who hold him in warm regard.
PHILIP SELLERS.
Philip Sellers, an architect and civil engineer, thoroughly trained and efficient, has been continuously identified with the business interests of New Haven since 1906. He was born in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, September 1, 1874, a son of Edward and Mary Elizabeth (Taylor) Sellers, who were likewise natives of the Keystone state. Both came of ancestry of noble birth represented in the colonists that came with William Penn to the new world Edward Sellers was engaged in manufacturing interests in the early period of his business career but afterward became identified with the banking business in Philadelphia and other parts of the state, winning a prominent place in financial circles. He passed away at Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, in 1913, having for eleven years survived his wife, who died in Swarthmore in 1902.
In their family were four children. Philip Se ler -. the youngest. attending the school- of Philadelphia. He afterward became a student in Swarthmore College and, concentrating his attention upon civil engineering, was graduated on the completion of that course with the class of 1994. In the same year Connecticut gained him as a citizen. He made his
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way to Hartford, where he engaged in civil engineering and architectural work with the Hartford Street Railroad Company, remaining with that system for two years. He after- ward followed his chosen profession at various places before coming to New Haven. He was connected for a time with the firm of Bogart & Sperry, in civil engineering work at New Haven, Connecticut. Later he entered into partnership with A. William Sperry, forming the firm of Sperry & Sellers in 1906, which connection continued until 1909. In the inter- vening period they did much important work along engineering and architectural lines in New Haven and the state, having been identified with various large projects. Since 1909 Mr. Sellers has been alone.
In May, 1902, Mr. Sellers was united in marriage to Miss Susanna Garrett, of Swarth- more. a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester Garrett of that place. and they have one child, Florence Garrett, born in Meriden in 1906 and now attending school at Westville, Connecticut.
Mr. and Mrs. Sellers hold membership with the Society of Friends. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, but while he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day he does not seek nor desire public office. He has membership with the Architects Club of New Haven and with the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers. His reputation in professional lines has been worthily won, for he has worked his way upward entirely on his own account and is, indeed, a self-made man. Since leaving college he has continued his study along the lines of his chosen profession, continually reading and thinking in order to promote his efficiency, his ability bringing him high rank and well deserved success.
FREDERICK S. BAKER.
Frederick S. Baker, the highly efficient superintendent and general manager of the North Eastern Forestry Company at Cheshire, is fortunate in combining the enterprise and initiative of a young man with varied experience in the line of work to which he is devoting his energies. He was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, September 20, 1884, a son of Nathan and Laura (Colby) Baker, natives of Lynn, Massachusetts. For a long period the father engaged in the manufacture of shoes in Lynn but at length was obliged to retire from active business on account of poor health and removed to Amherst, where he passed away in 1886.
Frederick S. Baker was educated in the public schools of Amherst but in 1900, when sixteen years old, hecame a clerk in the employ of the Springfield Gas Light Company. Within the next four years he worked up to the position of assistant to the general manager but in 1904 his health became so impaired that he was obliged to sever his connection with that company. During the following two years he was agent in the forestry department of the state of Massachusetts and gathered statistical data which appeared in a volume issued by that department, covering the subject of white pine in an exhaustive manner. Mr. Baker was also given charge of the state nursery, which was established under the direction of R. C. Howley, the assistant state forester of Massachusetts. Later our subject was associated with Professor Alfred Akerman of the University of Georgia in forestry and nursery work in that state. In the latter part of 1906 he entered the employ of the Munson-Whittaker Company of New York and was given charge of large gangs of men doing tree surgery all over New England. Since 1909, however, he has been connected with the North Eastern Forestry Company, which was at first located in East Haven but in 1910 removed to Cheshire. The company deals in forest nursery stock and has the largest business of its kind in the United States. In addition to their plant in Cheshire they have a large seed house in Willsboro, New York, on Lake Champlain, from which points seeds of forest trees indigenous to the northern climate are shipped all over the world. As the value of forestry has come to be more widely understood and effort is being made to repair in part the damage done by the thoughtless destruction of timber, such work as that which engages the attention of the North Eastern Forestry Company becomes of national importance. Under the manage-
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