USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II > Part 69
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On the 16th of October, 1911, Dr. Mendillo was married in St. Michael's church in New Haven by the Rev. Arusti Allusi to Miss Mary Agnes Murdie, a native of Louisville, New York, and a daughter of William and Mary A. (Finnegan) Murdie, the latter a representa- tive of one of the pioneer families of St. Lawrence county, New York. To the Doctor and his
DR. ANTHONY J. MENDILLO
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wife have been born two children: June Mary, who was born in New Haven, June 3, 1913; and Elizabeth, who was born February 12, 1915.
The parents are members of St. Mary's Roman Catholic church. Dr. Mendillo belongs to the Union League Club of New Haven and he is a member of Alpba Kappa and Sigma Psi. He has a large circle of friends in this city and his sterling qualities of manhood and of citizenship ensure their warm regard. He certainly deserves much credit for what he has accomplished. Starting out in the business world when but a young lad, he never lost sight of his early ambition to become a physician and bent every effort toward that end, so directing bis purposes and his activities that the result was certain, and today he occupies an enviable position among the successful physicians and surgeons of New Haven.
GENNARO DE LUCIA.
Gennaro De Lucia, who is now successfully engaged in the real estate and investment business in New Haven, was born October 18, 1878, at S. Maria Avico, Italy, of which place his father, the late Antonio De Lucia, was also a native. The father followed the occupation of farming as a life work and spent his years in his native land. He married Maria Carmina, who was also born in the place where Gennaro De Lucia's birth occurred. She came to America in 1902, making her way direct to New Haven, where she resided until her demise on the 27th of December, 1911, at which time she had reached the advanced age of eighty years. She was the mother of fifteen children.
Gennaro De Lucia was the fourteenth in that family. He pursued his education in the public schools of his native country and started out to earn his own living at the age of fourteen years. Up to that time he had remained upon the farm and had assisted in every possible way in its cultivation. llis first employment after reaching America, where he arrived in 1896, was with Sargent & Company of New Haven and his services brought him a salary of three dollars per week. He remained with that company for a year and was next employed by Edward F. Thompson, of East Haven, at farm work, devoting more than four years to that task. He had complete charge of the farm and also of the real estate interests, the place comprising one hundred and fifty acres of land. Mr. Thompson treated him as a member of the family and was desirons of adopting him, but Mr. De Lucia preferred to pursue his own career. After leaving Mr. Thompson he took charge as foreman of the business of Upson & Graniss, contractors of New Haven, and remained in their, employ for six months. He then went to work for the New Haven Pulp & Board Company as a machine tender, remaining with that company for a half year. He possesses much practical knowledge along mechanical lines and was given charge of the machinery department of the company. He next entered the insurance field. He became agent at New Haven of the Prudential Life Insurance Company of New York and during his connection with that corporation he reached a position of leadership in writing insurance in the field. His connection with the company covered eighteen months and during that time he was also manager for the North American ,Accident Insurance Company. In the year in which he entered the insurance field. 1902. he also took up real estate and gave much study to the subject, thoroughly qualifying himself for opportunities along that line. From 1908 until 1912 he was more or less closely connected with building operations, doing considerable speculative building, representing an investment of several hundred thousand dollars in New Haven. For the past thirteen years he has concentrated his attention entirely upon real estate, having withdrawn from the insurance field and is today one of the foremost real estate men of New Haven. He has a very extensive clientage and, moreover, he is recognized as an authority upon all questions relating to the real estate market. He is correct in his valuation of property, having studied the business from the standpoint of the purchaser and seller. He has thus been able to please his clients and has built up a business of gratifying proportions.
On the 13th of October, 1901, Mr. De Lucia was married in New Haven to Miss Julia Banks, a native of Italy, who came with her parents, Antonio and Philimina Banks, to the new world when four months old. Nine children have been born of this marriage, Mary,
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Antomo. Nellie. Annie, Joseph. Fannie, Eva. Concetta and Esther, all of whom were born in New Haven.
On coming to the United States Mr. De Lucia made application for naturalization papers and on attaining his majority in 1896 became an American citizen. He is in thorough sympathy with the spirit and ideals of this republic and has ever been most loyal to its interests. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day but does not seek nor desire the honors or emoluments of office. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He also belongs to the Garibaldi Society and to the Circolo, an Italian Society, from which he received a gold medal in August. 1910. for his splendid work in the sale of tickets for charity. At that time he was president of the society and was chairman of its charity work. He belongs to the Calvary Baptist church and his entire life has been actuated by high and honorable principles. From his father he inherited a nice sum and thus came to America with ample means. Starting out in the business world he proved his worth, working his way steadily upward through individual effort, and today he ranks with the most progressive real estate dealers of New Haven. In the conduct of his business he has ever so directed his affairs that his labors have constituted an element in the progress and improvement of the city as well as in the upbuilding of his personal fortune.
WILLIAM J. GARLAND.
William J. Garland has in his business career displayed a marked spirit of initiative. Along lines which he has himself marked out he has put forth his efforts and today as a result he ranks among the most prominent and successful real estate dealers and building operators of New Haven. The city owes much to his efforts, as he took the initial step in the building of a modern apartment here.
Mr. Garland was born in Oswestry, Salop county, England, December 31. 1863. a son of William and Matilda (Bubb) Garland. who were natives of Hereford, England, and were married in the Holmer church there. They never left England, the father becoming a very prominent railroad builder of that country. Ile learned railroad construction under the direction of his wife's father, James Bubb, who was very prominent in connection with railroad building and who at that time was a resident of Aberystwith, England, near the Wales border. Later in life both engaged in carpentering. The death of Mr. Garland occurred in England in 1904. and his wife passed away in 1914. They were the parents of four sous and one daughter. the sous being William J .; George, who in early manhood served for twenty years in the British Navy and is now an officer in the marine service. having been called to the colors in 1914; Harry Garland, a contracting carpenter of Here- tord, England: and Thomas, a well known tailor of Hereford.
In his boyhood days William J. Garland attended the schools of Ilereford. England. after which he served an apprenticeship at the meat trade under Richard Constable. Later he went to London, England, where he was employed in connection with the meat business until 1886, when he crossed the Atlantic to America and established his home in New Haven. He secured employment in the City Market of F. S. Andrews and later was employed by Mr. Sanford on Park and Ehn streets until 1888. He then went to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was connected with the Hotel Ryan Company for six months, and on the expiration of that period he removed to Chicago, Illinois, where he spent about three months. Leaving the west, he returned to New Haven and became a student in the Cargill Business College, from which he was graduated in 1889, thus becoming better equipped for a business career. He was afterward employed by the New York Steam Company for a short time and then again came to New Haven, where he purchased the home of George Spare on Chapel street. This he remodeled and converted it into improved training quarters for the university ath- letie teams. He conducted it until he sold the property to Dr. MacDonaldl. At that time he turned his attention to the oyster business, in which he was connected with Mr. Turkett. They purchased the sloop Stanley Howard, but after a time Mr. Garland disposed of his interest in that business and purchased property on York street. fine old residences which he immediately began to wreck and replace with modern apartment buildings for Yale
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students. On this site he erected what has since been known as The Garland apartment, in 1894. It was at the time of its erection considered to be the finest apartment for the housing of students in the city. Since then he has ereeted a number of other prominent apartment buildings and he has donated The Garland to Christ Episcopal church. It was due to his farsightedness that the first apartment house was built in New Haven and today he is considered an absolute authority on modern apartment erection, its needs and eon veniences. He was the builder of Orleton Court on Park and Edgewood avenue, a modern apartment house, also of Tudor Manor, one of the most attractive modern apartment buildings that can be found not only in New Haven but in any city. It is five stories in height and is built around an open court. In its construction he has studied convenience, comfort. utility and beauty, and all of these qualities have figured in the erection of the building.
Mr. Garland was married on the 1st of May, 1889, to Miss Annie G. Kennedy, in Trinity church of New York. She was born in New Haven, a daughter of Captain Peter Kennedy. who was a brother of Chief Kennedy, of New Haven. She passed away January 21, 1914. For his second wife Mr. Garland chose Miss Elizabeth Adams, of Pine Orchard, whom he wedded on the 5th of December, 1916. She is a daughter of Eugene Edgar and Elizabeth ( Barker) Adams, the former a native of Lowell, Massachusetts, and the latter of Branford, Connecticut.
MIr. Garland is a member of the United Spanish War Veterans, Allan MI. Osborn Camp, No. 1. of New Haven, of which he is past commander. During the Spanish-American war he enlisted with the Naval Reserves and served throughout the entire period of hostilities with Spain. He is connected with the Home Guard as supply sergeant of Company B of the First Line. Mr. Garland joined the Second Company of the Governor's Foot Guard in 1909 and served until 1914. He belongs to the Race Brook Country Club. the Pine Orehard Club and other social organizations and has membership with Christ church. In politics, however, he maintains an independent course but studies closely the questions and issues of the day. He has never sought office but is a most progressive citizen and his aid can always be counted upon to further any plan for New Haven's upbuilding and welfare. He possesses a most philanthropic spirit and his charities are many.
HIORACE LANFAIR CHIDSEY.
Horace Lanfair Chidsey is conducting an extensive business as a contractor and builder and is also one of the prominent real estate dealers of East Haven, his interests in both connections having reached extensive proportions. He was born March 26, 1867, in East Haven, on the old homestead which has been in possession of the family for nearly a century and of which property his present place of residence is a part. He comes of a family of English origin, the ancestral line being traced back to John Chedsey, as the name was originally spelled, who came from England and was deacon of the First church in New Haven and was also a signer of the colony constitution in 1644. In 1681 he removed to Stony River. now East Haven, where the family home has since been maintained. Captain Isaae C'hidsey, one of the ancestors, was the first on the list of the first board of selectmen of the town, having been elected to that position in 1785. The family has been prominently identified with public affairs through all the succeeding generations down to the present. The great-grandfather of Horace L. Chidsey was John Chidsey, the grandfather, Horace Chidsey, and his father. William H. Chidsey. The last named was born on the old home- stead October 24, 1841, and has spent the greater part of his life in connection with the fishing industry although in early manhood he engaged in the milling business. He is now living retired in East Haven and has reached the age of seventy-six years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Anna Rowe, was a native of Illinois but a representative of an old Fairhaven family. Her father was one of the '49ers who went to California following the discovery of gold in that state and died there. When Mrs. Chidsey was eight years old she returned to Connecticut having gone to California with her father and she continued to reside in East Haven until her demise, which oceurred in February. 1882. By her marriage she had become the mother of six children: Emma I. and William S., both deceased;
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Ilorace L .; Mary L., the wife of Leon B. Fowler, of East Haven; George M., who married Grace Walker and resides in East Haven; and Harry A., who died at the age of ten years.
Horace L. Chidsey, after attending the public schools of East Haven, devoted four years to work in a rubber shop in New Haven and subsequently learned the carpenter's trade. In 1889 he and his brother, William S., embarked in the contracting and building business, in which they continued together until the brother's death on the 7th of March, 1917. They carried on their operations under the firm style of Chidsey Brothers and built up a business of large and gratifying proportions. Since the death of his brother. Horace L. Chidsey has continued alone. The firm have also entered the real estate field, in which they have been active for a number of years. They ereeted many buildings for sale and for rent not only in East Haven but also in neighboring towns, and they opened up several new additions, among them being Bradley Park and Green Lawn Park. In 1888 and 1889 the brothers were also engaged in' the iee business and their interests were most carefully con- ducted, close application, diligence and business enterprise winning for them a substantial measure of success.
In East Haven, on the 23d of January, 1890, Mr. Chidsey was united in marriage to Miss Hattie A. Augur, a daughter of Charles Augur, of East Haven, and they have become parents of two children: Irving L., twenty-two years of age, who was formerly associated with his father in business but is now in the United States army, being a member of Com- pany D, One Hundred and First Machine Gun Battalion; and Stanley A., eighteen years of age, now in the ordnance department. The family residenee is at No. 7 Park Place, in East Haven.
In polities Mr. Chidsey is a republican but not an active worker in party ranks. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons, belonging to Adelphi Lodge, and he belongs also to the New England Order of Protection. He likewise has membership in the Old Stone church and is serving as deacon. His entire life has been passed in the town where he resides and his career has reflected credit and honor upon an untarnished family name. He has done much to further the development of this seetion through his building activities and real estate operations. His interests have been conducted not alone with an eye to individual success but with regard to public welfare and he has done much to add to the architectural beauty and improvement of his town.
FRANK C. BUSHNELL.
Frank C. Bushnell, now filling the office of president of the F. C. Bushnell Company, wholesale grocers, and one of New Haven's well known and successful business men, is deseended from an old and distinguished family of the state, being a representative in the ninth generation of the descendants of Francis Bushnell. the immigrant ancestor of the family, who was the third signer of the Guilford covenant in 1639. Deacon William Chapman Bushnell, father of Frank C, Bushnell of this review, was a half-brother of Cornelius Scranton Bushnell, the builder of the famous Monitor, the ironelad that defeated the Merrimac in the Civil war. Deacon Bushnell was a farmer of Madison, Connecticut, where he spent his entire life. He represented that town in the legislature and was a leader in religious work in Madison, serving as leader of the choir in the Congregational church, as superintendent of the Sunday School and as deacon for many years. For his first wife he chose Cynthia Ann Griswold, who died when her son, Frank C. Bushnell was about seven years of age. William C. Bushnell died in 1891.
Frank C. Bushnell was born at Madison, April 16, 1847, the eldest of a family of five children, and in his youthful days worked upon his father's farm, having the opportunity to attend school for only about three months in the year. At the age of seventeen he eame to New Haven and secured a position tallying freight at Bell Dock freight houses. He continued at that work for two years at small wages. He then drove a four horse team for Seott & Shelton for about four years, His wages at first were only three hundred dollars per year and expenses but were increased to fifteen hundred dollars per year and expenses at the time he left their employ. He was next connected with the old grocery firm of Bushnell & Dewell, the senior partner being Nathan Bushnell, his unele, whose interests
FRANK C. BUSHNELL
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were afterward bought by J. D. Dewell. Our subject was subsequently admitted to a partnership and the name changed to J. D. Dewell & Company, this connection being retained until 1896. Frank C. Bushnell withdrew and in 1896 established what is now the F. C. Bushnell Company, of which he has since been president. Not all days in the commercial career of Mr. Bushnell have been equally bright. In fact, he has moved forward in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles. Several times severe losses have come to him and in November. 1916, his plant was destroyed by fire. Immediately after the fire a temporary store was secured and the business went on as usual. Then a large five-story building at 209 Water street was purchased and rearranged to suit the needs of the business, including a new and complete office. The firm was then ready to move into the new quarters on the 16th of April, 1917, and it was on that same day that Mr. Bushnell celebrated the seventieth anniversary of his birth. Although he has now passed the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten, he is still hale and hearty and appears a much younger man. Mr. Bushnell is widely known in trade circles and has served as president of the Executive Association of the New England Wholesale Grocers.
On the 24th of November, 1873. Mr. Bushnell was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Dee, of Madison, a daughter of Erastus and Abigail (Conklin) Dee. They have one daughter, Charlotte Ann, the wife of Charles W. Birely, a well known attorney of New Haven and now clerk of the court of appeals. Mr. and Mrs. Birely have four children: Barbara Bushnell, who was born in 1903; Charlotte Bushnell, who was born in 1906; Francis Bushnell, who was born in December, 1908; and Charles W. Jr., who was born in New Haven, December 21, 1912.
Mr. Bushnell is a stanch supporter of the republican party and is a member of the Young Men's Republican Club. He represented the first ward in the board of aldermen, and was a prime mover in the project that tore down the old state house. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and he is a member of General David Humphrey Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, while along more strictly social lines his connection is with the Union League Club. His strict integrity and business conservatism have made him many friends that have been a great help in his business career.
WILLIAM P. BURKE, M. D.
Since the 27th of February, 1917, Dr. William P. Burke has occupied an attractive resi- dence at No. 464 Dixwell avenue. which he erected. and there he also maintains his office. He was born at Roxbury, Connecticut. February 25, 1868. a son of Patrick and Ann (Cox) Burke, both of whom were natives of Ireland. The father was born in County Tipperary and came to America in 1861, first settling in Connecticut, while later he removed to the state of New York. At a subsequent period he returned to Connecticut, following the close of the Civil war, and remained in this state until April 7, 1868, when he went with his family to Chicago, where he resided until after the great fire of October. 1871, in which he lost everything. He then returned to Torrington. Connecticut, where he remained until his death and was quite successful in his business undertakings, being a brass worker. He was born in 1827 and had therefore reached the age of fifty-three years when death called him in 1880. His wife was born in the city and county of Longford, Ireland, in 1828 and came alone to America when a young lady of sixteen summers. She went first to New York city and afterward removed to Bridgewater, Connecticut, where she was married. She became the mother of five children, but with the exception of Dr. Burke all have passed away, the other four children dying before reaching the age of a year. All were born on the 25th of the month and there were thirteen months between the dates of birth. The mother passed away January 25, 1894, in New Haven, at the age of sixty-six years.
Dr. Burke was educated in the public and high schools of Torrington and of New Haven and following his graduation from high school with the class of 1887 he entered Yale in preparation for the practice of medicine and there pursued the full course. which he com- pleted by graduation with the class of 1890, the degree of M. D. being at that time con- ferred upon him. Following his graduation he was an interne in the Springside Farm Hospital of New Haven for one year. He then entered upon the private practice of medicine
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at Danbury, where he continued for a year, at the end of which time he removed to Newtown, Connectieut, where he remained in practice until March 1, 1893, after which he opened an office in New Haven, where he has since been engaged in practice. He is very conscientious in the performance of his professional duties and his ability has been demonstrated in the successful conduct of many important and difficult cases. He belongs to the New Haven County and Connecticut State Medical Societies and to the American Medical Association and through the proceedings of those societies keeps in close touch with the trend of modern professional thought.
On the 26th of October, 1897, in New Haven, Dr. Burke was married in St. Patrick's church by the Rev. John Russell to Miss Catherine J. Cannon, a native of New Haven and a daughter of Michael and Ellen (Reynolds) Cannon, both of whom were of Irish birth and have now passed away. To Dr. and Mrs. Burke have been born nine children, seven of whom are living: William Reynolds, born July 21, 1898; Anna Loretta, February 3, 1900; Francis Andrew, January 18, 1902; Ellen Florence and Thomas Edwin, twins, born February 17, 1904, but the son died July 4, 1904; Mildred Rose, born April 29, 1905; Joseph Edmond. September 30, 1907; Veronica Mary, May 10, 1910; and Vincent Aloysius, who was born April 20, 1915, and died February 14, 1916. All were born in New Haven.
Dr. Burke has membership in twenty-seven different fraternal and secret organizations. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church, while in polities he maintains an inde- pendent course and has never sought or desired office. He is truly a self-made man. His education was acquired as the result of means which he provided. In his youth he worked during summer vacations. and saving his earnings, was thus able to meet the expenses of his college course. Laudable ambition prompted him at every step in his career and he never lost sight of his ultimate purpose. Determination, energy and courage have been salient points in his life record and have constituted the qualities which have carried him forward to success.
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