USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II > Part 65
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portions and the factory is now being conducted by Messrs. Ullman under the Strouse-Adler trademark. Isaae Strouse passed away in New Haven in 1902, at the age of seventy-four years, and is still survived by his widow. At the outbreak of the Civil war he was a member of the City Guard of New Haven and was later appointed a drill master. He also held several of the more important eity offices, including that of alderman, and he was a member of the school board. Ile stood loyally for every interest which he believed would prove of benefit to his community and at the same time he carefully and wisely directed his business interests, which rapidly developed, becoming more and more important as factors in the commercial progress and prosperity of New Haven. His widow still survives, as do their five children: Benjamin, who is secretary and treasurer of the Strouse Corset Company; Leopold, who is vice president of the same company; Charles, who is a resident of New York: J. Edward; and Mrs. Ike Koch, living in New Haven.
In his boyhood days J. Edward Strouse was a pupil in the New Haven schools and on leaving the high school entered the employ of his father and mastered various branches of the corset manufacturing business. Following his father's death he assumed control of the plant and in 1902 the name was changed to the Strouse Corset Company, of which J. Edward Strouse became the president and active head. They are manufacturing La Fleur, the Majesty and the Princess makes of corsets, which are very popular and enjoy a wide sale. Mr. Strouse is also a director of the Princess Corset Company of New York city.
On the 25th of December. 1903, Mr. Stronse was united in marriage to Miss Jeannette Karlsruher, of Brooklyn, New York, and they have become parents of two daughters: Leonore, who was born in New Haven in 1904; and Jeannette. in 1910.
Mr. Strouse votes independently, considering the capability of the candidate rather than his party affiliation. He belongs to the Elks lodge, the Racebrook Country Club and the Harmonie Society. The interests and activities of his life are well balanced. He has never allowed business to so monopolize his attention that he has had no time for other interests or duties, yet such has been his concentration upon his manufacturing concerns that he has most successfully controlled, developed and enlarged a business which today ranks with the foremost interests of the kind in New England. At the time he took charge of his father's immense business he was the youngest corset manufacturer of the United States, but he proved adequate to the demands made upon him and his course shows that he has ever been a man of well balanced capacities and powers, while for some years he has occupied a central place on the stage of action as a New Haven manufacturer.
DAVID GIBBS.
David Gibbs, a prominent educator, now superintendent of schools of Meriden, has won a wide and well deserved reputation not only in this country but also in the Philippines through his effective work in developing the school system and in preparing many of the textbooks now in use there. He was born in Kingwood. New Jersey, July 23, 1870, a son of Charles Slocum and Mary Jane (Sandy) Gibbs. The father passed away a few years ago but the mother is still living in Frenchtown, New Jersey.
David Gibbs was a pupil in the schools of his native town and later of the New Jersey State Model and Normal School at Trenton, from which he was graduated in 1892. At the age of seventeen he became a teacher in his home town, and after leaving the normal school he was principal of a grammar school in Long Branch, New Jersey. In 1894 he entered Harvard University and was graduated with honors in 1898, winning the Bachelor of Science degree. He also took post-graduate work in Harvard in 1899, preparing himself for administrative work in education. While in college he also taught in various capacities-as sub-master in elementary and high schools in Boston, and as assistant in geology and geography in the university.
On leaving the university in 1899, Dr. Gibbs became superintendent of schools in Groton and Hudson, Massachusetts, where he remained two years. He was then appointed division superintendent of sehools in the Philippines, which position he filled until 1903. The seetion in his charge included the provinces of Luzon immediately north of Manila, having sixty- five cities and a total population of three hundred thousand. In this district he appointed
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boards of education, boards of health, furnished plans and specifications for the construc- tion of school buildings, supervised the expenditure of all school moneys, established ele- mentary schools, high schools and three normal schools, and teachers' institutes, appointed nearly four hundred native teachers, being assisted by eighty-five American teachers and three assistant superintendents. This work greatly appealed to Dr. Gibbs but ill health forced bim to return to the United States.
While in the islands he was a member of a committee to plan the courses of study for the schools and to secure proper textbooks adapted to the conditions there. Soon after his return he began the work of editing and writing a complete set of textbooks for use in the Philippine schools. These books were published for the government by the American Book Company and inelude in all fifteen textbooks, several of which have been in use more than ten years. The books were planned to meet the needs of a people just learning the English language, to give them the best in ideals and methods the world had to give, to stimulate intellectual and industrial effort, and to prepare them to become capable and worthy of self-government. His work received favorable comment by eminent educators both here and in the Philippines, and the government awarded him a diploma and medal for his educational services for the islands.
In 1905 and 1906 Dr. Gibbs was a student in Clark University. Worcester, Massa- chusetts, doing research work in education, and in June, 1906, received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. In 1907 and 1908 be was superintendent of schools at Irvington-on-Hudson. New York. While here, on request of the government he again went to the Philippines to inspect schools and make such changes in the textbooks and methods as seemed best. Soon after returning from a four months' stay in the islands, in order to meet the urgent need in the schools there, he prepared the textbooks in English Grammar and Composition which have been exclusively in use since that time. An unusual thing happened to the first ten thousand copies of this textbook which had been shipped to the islands. The ship caught fire at sea, hastened to the harbor of Singapore, and was sunk in shallow water by gun-fire from a British fort in order to save the ship. A duplicate shipment was made at once. This textbook and some of the others are also being used on various islands of the Pacific Ocean.
After leaving Irvington-on-Hudson, Dr. Gibbs was superintendent of the Oswego Normal and Training School. Oswego, New York, until 1911, when he accepted the superintendency at Meriden, Connecticut, where he is now located. The same efficiency characterizes his work in this place. He keeps in close touch with the trend of modern progress and modern thought along educational lines and holds to the highest standards, while in his work he has dis- played much of the spirit of progress and initiative which reaches out along new lines and carves out new paths for others to follow.
On the 23d of June, 1899, Dr. Gibbs was married in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Miss Eloise Adeline Barstow, and they have become parents of two children: Norman Eliot, born November 20, 1903; and Leigh Hale, born February 2, 1915.
Dr. Gibbs is an honorary member of the Spanish War Veterans, and a member of the Home Guard, having enlisted in the Motor Transport Division. He is identified with the Masonic fraternity and the Patriotic Order of the Sons of America. His interests in the community are broad, varied and for the general good. He was president of the Scientific Society until it disbanded. He was for several years a director of the Public Health Asso- ciation. a director of the Young Men's Christian Association and of the Chamber of Com- merce. He is now a member of the garden committee of the Chamber of Commerce, of the executive committee of the Meriden War Bureau, being chairman of the department of edu- cation, and of the executive committee of the Boy Scouts. He is also identified with a number of educational and scientific societies-the School Superintendents' Associations of Connecticut and of New England, the National Educational Association, the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education, the National Society for the Advancement of Science, the National Geographic Society, the American Authors' Association, and is a fellow of the American Geographical Society.
Dr. Gibbs has long been a close student of the important political, economic and soci- ological problems and along these lines keeps in close touch with the best thinking men of the age. For two years he was a member of the executive committee of the State Conference of Charities and Corrections. He was the author of a number of bills which were passed by the last two legislatures, and has taken an active interest in securing the passage of
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measures in congress relating to universal military service, the conscription of aliens, in- dustrial education, child labor and the restriction of immigration. He is a member of the committee on education of the State Council of Defense. It would be tautological in this connection to enter into any series of statements showing him to be a man of broad schol- arly attainments and interests. for this has been shadowed forth between the lines in this re- view. Association with him means expansion and elevation. Moreover, he possesses a ready sympathy that enables him to understand those with whom he comes in contact, a trait that is particularly helpful in his work as educator.
THEODORE SMITH RUST, D. D. S.
Dr. Theodore Smith Rust, a dentist of Meriden, has won an enviable position in professional eireles and personally is held in high esteem. One factor in his success has been his mechanical ability, as dentistry, unlike other professions, requires such skill. He has carried his interest in mechanical affairs, however, beyond the practice of his profession and has devoted a large part of his spare time to work in a fully equipped machine shop, which he has installed in the basement of his home. He was born in Northampton, Massa- chusetts, April 14, 1844, a son of Daniel Rust, whose father was Jonathan Rust. The family has been represented in New England for many generations and representatives of the name played well their part in advancing the interests of their respective communities. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Ann Haskell and was descended from a family long resident of Peru, Massachusetts.
Theodore S. Rust attended public school in Easthampton and then was a student in a private institution at Williston, Massachusetts. During these years he also aided his father in the work of the farm and at the age of eleven years entered a cotton factory at Williston. In order to make ends meet it was necessary to practice the strictest economy, for he received only eight dollars per month and had to board himself. Later he was employed by the Glendale Rubber Company, and received ten dollars per month and also had to provide his own board. Subsequently he was connected with the Clement Hawkes & Company, a Massachusetts concern manufacturing guns, and while with that concern he acquired a good fundamental knowledge of mechanics and developed an interest in such work that has remained with him throughout life. Although for many years be has engaged in the practice of dentistry he has continued to do a great deal of mechanical work. He has a machine shop in the basement of his residence and every shafting, every lathe and all of the tools used by him he has made himself. The shop is completely equipped for all kinds of light work and he has found his greatest pleasure in working out mechanical problems. He has been granted a number of patents but has never sold but one. He has made clocks, tools of various kinds and dynamos for his own pleasure and also made and installed the vacuum cleaning system in use in his residence. When only fourteen years of age he built a small steam engine, which he still has and which still runs perfectly.
In 1862 Dr. Rust came to Meriden and for two years worked for John Thomas, a contractor, during which time he also helped his brother in his dental office, and there he learned the profession. In October, 1864, he opened an office of his own and has since practiced with gratifying success, having built up a large and representative practice. He has kept in touch with the change of methods that the years have brought about and his work has always given satisfaction.
Dr. Rust was married in June, 1864, to Miss Fannie Marinda Colton, by whom he has two children: Theodora Frances, who was eduacted in Meriden and passed away in 1915; and Ann Marinda, whose birth occurred September 5, 1872. Mrs. Rust is a highly educated woman, having been a student in Smith College, in the Yale Art School and other art schools of New York city, and her gracious personality has won her many warm friends.
Dr. Rust is a republican but has never cared to hold office. Fraternally be belongs to the Masonic blue lodge and Royal Arch chapter and to the Knights of Pythias, and the teachings of these orders find exemplification in his life. He attends the Congregational church and belongs to the Wheel Club, of which he is an enthusiastic member, while along strictly professional lines he is identified with the Connecticut and New England Dental
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DR. THEODORE S. RUST
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Societies. For four years he was a member of the state board of dental examiners and is recognized by his colleagues as an able representative of the profession. For more than a half century he has resided in Meriden and during that entire time he has been recognized as a public-spirited citizen.
CLAUDE A. MAGILL.
Claude A. Magill, general manager and one of the officers of the Connecticut Hassam Paving Company, has in this connection been active in the upbuilding of a business that is scarcely second to that of any contracting paving company of the state. He was born in New Haven, July 11, 1871, a son of Professor William A. and Matilda (Smith) Magill. The father was born in Georgia and in young manhood came to New Haven to enter Yale Uni- versity, from which he was graduated with the class of 1858. He then decided to remain in this city and take up educational work. He opened a boarding school for boys, which he conducted successfully up to the time of the Civil war, when he enlisted and saw active service for a year and a half. He then returned to New Haven, where he resumed his educational work, in which he continued until 1878, when his health began to fail and on the advice of his physician he removed to Amherst, Massachusetts, where he led a retired life until death called him in 1899, when he was sixty-seven years of age. He was an own cousin of the Hon. Arthur Hadley, the present head of Yale University. In early manhood Professor Magill wedded Matilda Smith, who was born in Maine but in her maidenhood came to New Haven. She died in Amherst in 1908, when seventy-two years of age. In the family were three sons and a daughter: Dr. William S. Magill, who prior to the present international war was director of laboratories for the state of New York and served as general with the Third Army of Russia, serving on the medical staff; Arthur Edward, who was at one time a well known patent attorney of Washington, D. C., and died in 1906; Maude Helen, still living in Amherst; and Claude A.
The last named began his education under the instruction of his father and afterward at- tended high school in Amherst, Massachusetts, and the Agricultural College of Massachusetts, being graduated on the completion of the civil engineering course in 1891. He then secured a position in the engineering department of the Boston & Maine Railroad, with which he re- mained for a year and a half, while subsequently he was in the employ of the Boston & Albany Railroad and later of the New York Central Lines in a similar capacity. He dis- continued railroad service in 1900 to accept a position as city engineer at Lynn, Massa- chusetts, continuing in that connection until 1905, when he resigned. In 1907 he became general manager of the Connectieut Hassam Paving Company, a large corporation of the state, which position he now fills. His broad scientific knowledge and engineering skill are of the utmost benefit in this connection and his efforts have been a valuable contributing force to the success of the company.
On the 23d of October, 1894, Mr. Magill was married to Miss Louise Shelton, of Malden, Massachusetts, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert F. Shelton. and they now have two child- ren : Claude S., who was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, in 1897 and attended the New York Military Academy and is now a corporal in the Fourteenth Regiment, Railway Engi- neers, American expeditionary force in France; and Ruth, who was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, in 1901 and is a high school pupil in New Haven.
Mr. and Mrs. Magill are members of the Church of the Redeemer, and Mr. Magill is president of the Men's Club of that church. Politically his position is an independent one as he prefers to hold himself free to vote according to the dictates of his judgment. He has worked his way upward almost entirely unaided. While his father paid his tuition and also provided for his clothing when in college, in order to have any spending money he worked at various odd jobs. His father was always a strict disciplinarian and while he pro- vided excellent educational opportunities and looked after the welfare of his children, he felt that all should learn the strict lesson of economy. At the time of his marriage his father gave to him the equivalent of all the money which he had earned during his college days, appreciating his efforts in that direction. He had learned his lesson, which was a valuable one. such as every boy should have. and the habits of thoronglines- and systematic effort Vol. II-24
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which he early developed have continued as strong forces in his later career. Step by step he has worked his way upward, winning advancement through individual effort and ability, and now he occupies a prominent and responsible position as general manager of the Connecti- eut Hassam Paving Company, in which he has control of extensive and important engineering projects throughout the state.
EDWIN ROYS BROWN.
Edwin Roys Brown, merchant, legislator, author, but now living retired in Cheshire, was born on the 24th of July, 1837, in the city where he still resides. His ancestry is traced back to Francis Brown, who came to America from England at a very carly day and was one of the company who spent the winter of 1637-8 in a hut which they erected at the corner of College and George streets. His son, Samuel Brown, was one of the first settlers of Walling- ford and took up his abode on what is now known as the Moses Y. Beach place. Another son of Francis Brown was Eleazer Brown, from whom is descended the Cheshire branch of the family, the line being traced down from Francis through Eleazer, Gershom, Nathaniel, Captain Robert, Captain William and William Andrew Brown to Edwin Roys Brown of this review.
Captain Robert Brown, son of Nathaniel and Olive Brown, married Miss Mary Law of Milford. He served in the Revolutionary war and thus gained the title whereby he was com- monly known. Another Robert Brown of this family was the treasurer of the New Haven Savings Bank. William Andrew Brown, father of Edwin Roys Brown and a native of New Haven, came to Cheshire when a youth of twelve years in 1812. His father, William Brown, had just been lost at sea. He spent his life at Cheshire on the farm of his grandfather, Andrew Hull, Esq., upon whose death he inherited a part of the old homestead, the other in- heritor being his sister, Mrs. Doolittle. His remaining days were devoted to general agricul- tural pursuits. He wedded Martha Louisa Roys, a daughter of Reuben Welcome Roys, the latter a son of Colonel Renben Roys, who in turn was the son of Samuel Roys, the first representative of the family in Cheshire, where he took up his abode in 1710. He was a son of Deacon Samuel Roys, of Meriden, Connecticut. Mrs. Martha Louisa (Roys) Brown passed away in the year 1900, at the very advanced age of ninety years, having long survived her husband, who died August 22, 1871, at the age of sixty-five years. William Andrew Brown had been previously married, his first union being with Cornelia Ives, a daughter of the Rev. Reuben Ives, by whom he had two children: Mary Cornelia, who became the wife of George B. Finch and died February 4. 1898; and William Edward, who married Eliza Hotchkiss and died November 15, 1873, at the age of forty-three years. By his second marriage William Andrew Brown had two sons: Alfred A., who wedded Mary E. Stone and died in August, 1907, at the age of seventy-two years; and Edwin R., whose name introduces this review.
The younger son spent his boyhood days upon the home farm until he reached the age of seventeen years and during that period acquired a public school education in Cheshire, and in the Episcopal Academy he was also a student for a time. When about eighteen years of age he entered the employ of F. Spencer & Company of Naugatuck, who were proprietors of a general store. He spent two years with them, thoroughly learning the business, and after- ward clerked for A. S. Baldwin of Cheshire for a year. In 1859 he removed to Southington, where he accepted the position of bookkeeper with William J. Clark & Company. In 1862 he returned to Cheshire, where he engaged in merchandising on his own account in connection with William J. Baldwin, with whom he continued for two years. He also bought out John A. Hitchcock, proprietor of a general store, and conducted the business for forty-seven years, retiring only three years ago. He thus ranked for almost a half century as a leading merchant of Cheshire and one who contributed in marked measure to its commercial develop- ment.
On the 30th of October, 1860, at Cheshire, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Laura Ann Hickox, a daughter of Samuel and Mary Hickox, of Cheshire. She passed away November 20, 1916. A daughter, Lillian C., who was born June 9. 1872, died on the 16th of September of the same year. The daughter, Mary Louisa, born August 14, 1866, is the wife of Edward J. Stoddard. of Cheshire, whom she married on the 6th of September, 1888.
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Mr. Brown resides on Maple avenue in Cheshire. He is deeply interested in public affairs and has taken a very active and helpful part in promoting publie progress along many lines. He served as postmaster for twenty years and as town treasurer for about a quarter of a century. He was also a trustee of the Cheshire cemetery for forty years. His political allegi- ance has ever been given to the republican party and in 1887-8 ho represented his district in the state legislature and was made chairman of the temperance committee. He holds member- ship in the Congregational church, of which he was clerk between forty-five and forty-six years. He was also clerk of the First Ecclesiastical Society for a half century but resigned both positions two years ago. He served in the church as deacon for nine years and his father was deacon of the church for forty-one years, while his maternal grandfather was deacon and the first Sunday school superintendent.
Mr. Brown is well known through his authorship. He wrote the Early Schools in Cheshire: Historie Homes of Cheshire: History of the Early Families of Cheshire in the History of New Haven, published in 1892; the History of Cheshire published in the Meriden Centennial Work of 1906; and the History of Cheshire in the volume entitled Cheshire of the Present, published in 1880. There is perhaps no one who has better knowledge of Cheshire and its history from pioneer times down to the present than Mr. Brown. Inter- ested in all matters of historic worth, he has kept in close touch with the trend of thought and progress from the earliest days and his broad studies enable him to speak with experience upon any matters pertaining to the history of Cheshire and its development.
JOHN BENJAMIN TOWER.
Jolin Benjamin Tower, treasurer of the John R. Rembert Company of New Haven, dealers in stationery and office equipment. is in his present connection active in the management of a business which in its volume o'ertops that of any other enterprise of similar character in the state. Mr. Tower was born in Chicago, Illinois, March 15, 1877. His father, the late John K. Tower, was a native of Rhode Island and a representative of an old Massachusetts family of English descent. The founder of the family in the new world settled at King- ham, Massachusetts, and successive generations have been found in that state. John K. Tower, the father, was engaged in manufacturing lines but at the time of the Civil war put aside all business and personal considerations in order to join the army, in which he held the rank of lieutenant. He died in 1879, at the age of forty-four years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Wealthy Burdick Burdett, was born in Rhode Island and belonged to one of the old families of that state of French lineage. She survived her husband for a few years and passed away in 1883. at the age of forty-one.
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