USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II > Part 62
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ment of Mr. Baker its affairs are systematically and scientifically directed. and it is generally recognized that he has unusual qualifications for the office which he fills.
On the 19th of November, 1913, at Centerville, Mr. Baker was married to Miss Rose Baechle, of New Haven, and they have a son, Richard Colby, who was born December 19. 1914. Although not interested in the political game Mr. Baker has always been more than willing to aid in any way possible the advancement of the civic interests of his community and has been a prime mover in many projects that have worked out to the advantage of his town. He is an enthusiastic Mason and belongs to Temple Lodge, No. 16, A. F. & A. M., at Cheshire; Triune Chapter, R. A. M .; and Temple Council, R. & S. M., of Southington. He is also connected with the Grange and believes firmly in the value of its work in hringing about better conditions of farmlife. He is a man of genuine worth and possesses the courage of his convictions, his position on any subject being clear-cut and positive. Since removing to Cheshire he has gained a wide acquaintance here and is universally respected.
J. FREDERICK JACKSON.
J. Frederick Jackson, whose high professional attainments have gained him prominence and power in his chosen field of labor, has been identified with many important civil engineering projects of this state. He was born July 4, 1871, in the city where he yet makes his home, and is a son of George Jackson, a native of Ireland, who came to the United States in the early '40s. He was connected with the operating department of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad for over forty years and is now living retired, enjoying the fruits of a well spent life. He married Elizabeth Gallagher, who has passed away. In their family were six children, of whom J. Frederick is the youngest.
He attended the public and high schools of New Haven and then entered the Sheffield Scientific School, from which he graduated in 1895 with the Ph. B. degree. In 1890 he made application to the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company and secured the position of rodman and chainman in connection with the building of a four-track system of the main line between South Norwalk and Bridgeport and the rebuilding of a number of bridges in connection therewith. He was on the double tracking and cut-off work of the Shore Line division between Leete Island and New Haven, including the tunneling of the Fair Haven heights. In that work he continued until 1895, when, having pursued a pro- fessional course, he hecame structural draftsman for the Union Bridge Company on the work connected with the building of the elevated railroads in New York city. From 1896 until 1909 he was assistant engineer of the city of New Haven, during which period he was connected with all the important sewer, bridge and pavement work, incident with the transi- tion of New Haven from a thriving New England town to a full grown city. From 1909 until 1913 he was engaged on the construction of the Shore Line Electric Railway from Saybrook to New Haven; and supervision of many municipal improvements for the towns of Hamden, West Haven and East Haven as well as engineering development propositions for private individuals. He was retained by the city of Bridgeport as expert in the con- demnation proceedings of land for Seaside Park. In private practice his work has included the investigation and report on the pollution of its watershed of one hundred and sixty-five square miles for the city of Willimantic and designs for several important buildings in New Haven. He was engineer for the Savin Rock Park commission on the design for the reclama- tion of two and one-half miles of shore at an estimated cost of one million dollars; was engineer member of the Connecticut state board of health in charge of the investigation of stream pollution and made the report to the general assembly covering conditions on every stream of appreciable size in the state of Connecticut. He has made examinations of and reports upon all proposed systems of water supply and sewerage in the state. In June, 1917. he was appointed a member of the public health council of the new state department of health.
In 1897 Mr. Jackson was married in New Haven to Miss Agnes L. Spencer, a native of this city and a daughter of John and Mary Spencer. They are members of the Roman Catholic church and Mr. Jackson belongs to the Graduates Club. In politics he is a dem-
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ocrat and is at present director of the bureau of sanitary engineering of the state depart- ment of health, a position for which his comprehensive knowledge of engineering in its hroadest phase well qualifies him. He has membership with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and with many professional societies, including the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers, of which he is the secretary and treasurer, the New England Water Works Association and the American Public Health Asso- ciation. His life work has indeed been of a most important character. He has been asso- ciated with many of the most prominent engineering projects put forth in this state- projects which have to do much with material development and in their farreaching effect have most important influence over many conditions, especially those which affect public travel, through the building of railroads and streets, and public health through super- vision of engineering work having to do with sewerage and water systems. Contemporaries and colleagues in the profession accord him rank as one of the eminent civil engineers of Connecticut.
HENRY HERBERT SMITH, M. D.
History records the arrival of the Rev. John Smith at Barnstable, Massachusetts, in 1630. He afterward removed to Sandwich, that state, and was pastor of the Sandwich church for many years, there passing away in 1710. His son, Thomas Smith, was town treasurer of Sandwich, where he died in the year 1700. ITis son, Samuel Smith, married Bethia Chipman and passed away at Sandwich in 1730. They were the parents of Stephen Smith, who in 1762 wedded Deborah Ellis, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and in 1772 removed to Machias, Maine. He was known as Captain Smith and in 1776 was appointed truck master to the Indians by the provincial congress. John Smith, a son of Stephen and the grand- father of Dr. Henry H. Smith, married Love Scott, whose ancestors removed from Scarboro, Maine, to Machias, that state, in 1763. Their son, William Otis Smith, wedded Susan C. Hoyt, and they were parents of Henry Herbert Smith of this review. Mrs. Smith was a granddaughter of Daniel Hoyt, whose eldest son, also named Daniel, married Eleanor Haws and had seven children, of whom Susan was the fifth. Dr. Smith is a descendant of May- flower stock, four of his ancestors, John Tilley and his wife Elizabeth, and their daughter Elizabeth, who married John Howland in Plymouth, being the four passengers on the Mayflower. Their daughter, Hope Howland, married Elder John Chipman in 1646 and their son, Hon. John Chipman was the father of Bethia, who married Samuel Smith, as mentioned above.
Dr. Henry Herbert Smith was born in Machias, Maine, January 9, 1855, and acquired his early education in the common schools there, while later he attended Washington Academy in East Machias and next entered Bowdoin College, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1877. In the same year he was graduated as a physician and surgeon from Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and at once entered upon the active practice of his profession in his native city, where he remained until 1896, when he removed to New Haven, where he has for twenty-one years been en- gaged in active and continuous practice. For years he held membership in the Maine Academy of Medicine and in the Maine Medical Association. He is a member of the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Medicine. He has served as secretary of the board of United States examining surgeons for pensions. He now belongs to the New Haven Medical Association, the New Haven County Medical Association and the Connecticut State Medical Association, and thus he keeps in close touch with the trend of modern professional thought, research and investigation and he quickly utilizes the scientific discoveries which promise to become valuable factors in the treatment of disease. In a word, he is very progressive and his labors have been attended with a most substantial measure of success. While he has won prominence in his profession, he has also become known in business circles as one of the promoters and directors of the Peoples Bank & Trust Company of New Haven.
On the 24th of December, 1877. Dr. Smith was married to Miss Mary Elizabeth Long- fellow, a daughter of Edwin and Agnes B. (Brown) Longfellow, of Machias, Maine. She
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died April 15, 1884, leaving two children, Agnes Longfellow and Philip Seabury. The daughter became the wife of Caleb W. O'Connor, a lawyer of Washington, D. C., and died April 20, 1915, at the age of thirty-two years, leaving one child, Caleb Henry O'Connor, who was born March 30, 1911, in New Haven, Connecticut, and is now making his home with his grandfather, Dr. Smith. Philip S. Smith was graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School with the Electrical Engineer degree in the class of 1907 and he married Lenore Lambert, a native of Louisville, Kentucky. He is special examiner for the United States bureau of foreign and domestic commerce and for the past year has been in South America, making observations and reports for the United States government. Prior to this he was in charge of the foreign sales department for the General Electric Company of Schenectady, New York, having charge of the South American, Canadian and Mexican trades. In applying for his present position he was ebosen out of ninety four applicants, a fact which indicates his superior ability and high standing. He is a remarkably intelligent and progressive young man and undoubtedly bas before him a brilliant future.
Dr. Smith is a very prominent Mason and is one of the valued and active members of the order. He was made a Mason in 1884 and is now identified with all the different Masonic bodies of New Haven, being a past master of Harwood Lodge of Machias, Maine. He is like- wise a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity. He belongs to the Graduates Club, the Union League and the New Haven Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, is a member of the United church and of the Congregational Club. In politics he has been a lifelong republi- can. Ile is widely known as a man of many pleasing characteristics and kindly disposition. He is devoted to his family and to his profession and safeguards the former with the same fidelity which he displays in performing the duties that devolve upon him in a professional connection. He recognizes fully the obligations that devolve upon him as a physician and surgeon and he puts forth every possible effort to render his lahors in that connection more efficient.
DAVID S. GAMBLE.
A city does not depend so much upon its machinery of government, or even upon the men who fill its public offices, as upon those who control its business affairs and shape its trade relations. In this connection David S. Gamble is well known, being president of the Gamble-Desmond Company, Incorporated, which owns and controls a large and well appointed department store of New Haven. Step by step he has advanced to his present position in commercial circles.
Mr. Gamble was born in New York city, June 24, 1873, a son of the late David S. Gamble, who was one of the founders of the business now being carried on by his son. He was a native of Ireland and after coming to America successfully engaged in the dry goods business in New York city. In 1898 he became associated with John D. Desmond and Edward E. Field in establishing a department store in New Haven, which in size and volume of trade is the leading dry goods emporium of the city, giving employment to more than three hundred people and having an established trade which extends all over the state. The force and brains of Mr. Gamble have largely made this store, and will remain in it, along with his name, such a memorial as he would have wished, the best any man might possibly have. His integrity and ideal business methods have given to this store the confidence of all the discerning in New Haven, and that confidence will continue as a tribute to the founder. The death of Mr. Gamble occurred in New Haven, November 12, 1913, when he had reached the age of seventy-four years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary A. G. Conlan, was born in Killingworth, Connecticut, and was a representative of an old Connecticut family. She died in 1879, leaving two children, and by a subsequent marriage Mr. Gamble had two other children.
The public school system of New Haven afforded to David S. Gamble his educational op- portunities and when a youth of eighteen years he entered his father's store. He thoroughly learned the business in all of its departments, becoming proficient to an extent that in 1914, a few months after his father's death, led to his election to the presidency of the company. He has proven his fitness for the position, which demands administrative direction
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and executive ability of a high order. His years of previous close application and study of the business with its many intricate problems now insures the wise management of the im- portant interests under his care.
On the 17th of January, 1906, in Savannah, Georgia, Mr. Gamble was married to Miss Frances J. Bannon, a native of that state and a daughter of Edward and A. M. Bannon, representatives of old and prominent families of Savannah, Georgia. Mrs. Bannon is yet living but the father has passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Gamble have become parents of four children : Frances, David S., John Edward and Jane.
Mr. and Mrs. Gamble are members of the Roman Catholic church. Mr. Gamble is a man of domestic tastes, taking no active part in club life or fraternities. He prefers to concentrate his thought and attention upon his business, his family and his country and is at all times a most patriotic citizen.
SAMUEL A. LEWIS.
Samuel A. Lewis, proprietor of the Orange Street Garage and well known in New Haven for many years as the head of the leading storage and transfer business of the city, has through determined and honorable effort accomplished his purposes and has won a sub- stantial measure of success. He was born in Naugatuck, April 4, 1846, and is a son of Lucien F. and Susan (Hitchcock) Lewis. The father, who was born in Naugatuck, spent his youth in Naugatuck and in early life followed farming but afterward engaged in the manu- facture of brick at Southington and Cheshire. He also operated a sawmill and was a pioneer in that field and in brick manufacturing in Southington. His wife was born in Southington and both have long since passed away, the former having died in 1887, at the age of seventy- eight years, while Mrs. Lewis was called to her final rest in 1882, at the age of sixty-five years. They were the parents of five children: Henry D., who is living in New Haven; Samuel A .; Edward M., a foundryman of Anniston, Alabama; Elliott L., who became superintendent of a wire mill at Troy, New York; and one who has passed away. The parents were con- sistent members of the Congregational church, in the work which they took an active and helpful part, the father serving as deacon. while both he and his wife were helpful members of the Sunday school.
Samuel A. Lewis spent his early youth in Naugatuck and in 1853 the family removed to West Haven, where they remained for nine years, Samuel Lewis continuing his education there in Brown College. His early business training was in farm work, yet when early in his teens he was working at other work, too. When fourteen years old, young Lewis took his first contract, this was to rip rap the south side of Kimberly avenue, which work was then done for the town of Orange. At the age of eighteen years he began learning the brickmaker's trade. to which he devoted about six years, being associated with his father m brick manufacturing in Cheshire. They were then interested in business in Southington for four years and from 1872 until 1874 Samuel A. Lewis was sole proprietor of the busi- ness there, having bought out his father. In 1875 he began manufacturing brick at North Haven and afterward conducted a trucking business at Naugatuck until 1881, when he transferred his interests to North Haven, where he was again engaged in brick manufac- turing until 1884. That year witnessed his arrival in New Haven, where he conducted an extensive trucking business until 1890. In 1893 he finished his present warehouse on Olive street, one hundred and two by one hundred and sixty-eight feet and four stories in height. He also established a storage warehouse on Brewery street and another on East street, in addition to which he owns the Orange Street Garage. He developed a most ex- tensive storage and trucking business and then broadened the scope of his activities to in- clude the garage business. He started the stage line running out Orange street, being one of the pioneers in the stage coach business on Orange street. He is a man of unfaltering energy, watchful of opportunities pointing to advancement in business and carrying forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. He has a remarkable memory for details and is familiar with every minor point as well as every major part of his business affairs.
In November, 1870, Mr. Lewis was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Jane Pardee, of Cheshire, a daughter of George F. Pardee and a representative of one of the old Connecticut
SAMUEL A. LEWIS
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families. About 1900 Mr. Lewis built a handsome residence at No. 262 Whalley avenue and has since made his home there. Politically he maintains an independent course. He holds membership in the Dwight Place church and is interested in all those forces which work for the uplift of the individual and the betterment of the community. Free from ostentation and display, his genuine worth has brought him the high regard of all with whom he has come in contact. It ia well known that his influence can be counted upon to further every plan and measure for the general good. His ideals of life are high, his purposea hon- orable and what he has accomplished represents the fit utilization of the innate powers which are his.
VERNON H. HODGES.
For almost a half century the wholesale and retail paint, wall paper and picture busi- ness conducted under the name of H. M. Hodges & Brothers has been in existence, and active in its management at the present time is Vernon H. Hodges. The business was established by the firm of Brazos & Hulse at No. 5 Broadway and today is the second oldest business of the kind in New Haven and is the only concern in the city supplying painters and decor- ators with a complete line of the goods used by them. In conducting this business Vernon H. Hodges laeks none of the enterprise of the kind that leads to great accomplishments. He never hesitates to take a forward step when the way is open and his progressive spirit has prompted him to maintain his establishment at a standard that keeps it in the front rank of the business interests of the city. He was born in Gloucestershire, England, January 18, 1876, and is a son of William Henry Hodges, a native of that country, where he spent his entire life. He owned a large iron foundry and was a very successful manufacturer. He married Sarah Drew, also a native of England, and they became the parents of seven child- ren, two sons and five daughters, of whom Vernon H. was the fifth. The mother passed away in 1882 at the age of thirty-five years and Mr. Hodges survived until 1886, being called to his final rest at the age of fifty.
Vernon H. Hodges attended a private school of his native city, but when a youth of fourteen started out to earn his living, being first employed in a printing office in Westfield, Massachusetts, having in 1886 come to America. Two of the children of the family had died in infancy and after the father's death, the mother having already passed away, the other children of the family crossed the Atlantic to the new world. For two years Vernon H. Hodges continued to work at the printer's trade in Westfield but in 1892 removed to New Haven, where he entered the employ of the John E. Bassett Company, hardware dealers, with whom he remained for seven years. He thus received his initial training along mercantile lines. On leaving the Bassett Company he entered into business with H. M. Hodges, who four years before had purchased the paint and wall paper business of Brazos & Hulse. Through the intervening period, covering twenty-two years he has been actively engaged in the business, which has grown from a small retail paint store to the leading establish- ment of its kind in the state. When he became connected with it there were but two em- ployes and today there are twenty-eight. In 1910, owing to the growth of the trade, a braneh was opened at No. 952 Chapel street and in 1912, having outgrown the Broadway store, the firm purchased ground at Nos. 290-292 York street and erected thereon a modern fireproof brick building four stories and basement, fifty by ninety feet. Today the firm carries the largest stock in their line in New England. They have a very extensive patron- age throughout Connectieut and western Massachusetts and their mail order business has also reached large proportions, bringing them business from all points in New England. They sell to both the wholesale and retail trades and their sales now reach a large figure annually.
On the 18th of April, 1899, Mr. Hodges was married to Miss Theresa Peek, a native of Connecticut and a daughter of William H. and Rosa (De Largo) Peck, the former a mem- ber of an old Connectieut family and a direct descendant of Governor Carver, who was of English and Spanish lineage. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hodges: Dorie, who was born March 22. 1902, and died at the age of five and a half years; and Sarah Ver- non, who was born in New Haven, August 1, 1904.
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Politically Mr. Hodges gives his support to the republican party. He is a member of Trumbull Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and is a member and treasurer of the Calvary Baptist church. He is secretary of the New Haven Grays Veterans Association, is a member of the Automobile Club and a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a veteran member of the New Haven Grays, with which he was connected for eleven years and was in active service on the border of Mexico. His life has been one of untiring activity intelligently directed and with the passing of years he has advanced not only along business lines but in public regard as well and is today ranked with the valued and honored citizens of New Haven.
CHARLES GARDNER CHAMBERLIN.
Charles Gardner Chamberlin, the secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of West Haven, has proved his fitness for a position requiring initiative, resourcefulness, sound busi- ness judgment and executive ability. He is also directly connected with business interests as the treasurer of the West Haven Publishing Company, which he aided in organizing. He was born September 4, 1884, in West Haven and is a son of Leroy and Ann E. (Walker) Chamberlin. The father devoted his entire life to contracting and teaming and met with gratifying success in the management of his affairs. He was very retiring in disposition but possessed sterling qualities that commanded the respect of all who knew him intimately.
Charles Gardner Chamberlin received his education in the Hopkins grammar school and in Trinity College at Hartford, Connecticut, from which he was graduated in 1907. In that year he located in New Haven and there engaged in the real estate and insurance business for a year. At the end of that time he returned to West Haven, where he has since resided, and for some time he had various business interests. He published for a time the West Haven Advertiser, out of which has grown the West Haven Publishing Company, which he, with others, organized, and of which he is treasurer. The greater part of his time and attention, however, is given to the promotion of the business and civic interests of West Haven through the means of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he is secretary. From the beginning he has been an important factor in the work of that body and was one of its founders and its first secretary. Under his direction the organization has accomplished much for the upbuilding of the community along a number of lines of activity.
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