USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II > Part 7
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On the 10th of October, 1883, Mr. Bigelow was united in marriage to Miss Anna L. Lewis, a native of New Haven and a daughter of Robert H. and Louise (Shepard, Lewis, both representatives of old and prominent families of New Haven. To Mr. and Mrs. Bigelow were born three children. Louise is now the wife of Donald W. Porter. M. D., of New Haven. Pierpont, treasurer of the Bigelow Company. married Elizabeth MeAfee, of New Haven. Lewis Hobart is at home.
In his political views Mr. Bigelow was a republican and gave stalwart support to the party from the time when age conferred upon him the right of franchise. doing everything in his power to promote its growth and extend its influence. He had great appreciation tor the social amenities of life and was a popular member of various clubs and organiza- tions, including the Quinnipiac. Graduates, the New Haven Country. the New Haven Lawn, the University Club of New York city, the Yale Club of New York city and others. He was atso connected with the Chamber of Commerce and any progressive movement inculcated by that organization for the benefit of the city was sure to receive his endorsement. He was a member of the Church of the Redeemer and his life was ever actuated by the highest and the most honorable principles. Death came to him very suddenly on June 20, 1917, while he was engaged in a game of golf, and in all those channels of activity into which he had directed his interests he has been greatly missed. He was a prominent and active worker in the church, serving on its society committee, and he contributed much to the moral progress of the community in which he lived. He also served as aide-de-camp on the staff of his father during the latter's incumbeney as governor of the state. His concep- tions of duty were high and he faithfully performed every task that devolved upon him. Whatever he did, he did faithfully, conscientiously and honorably. He was a prominent figure in the civic and business life of the city and early became one of the recognized leaders of publie thought and action. His qualities of leadership were pronounced and his endorsement of any plan or measure was sufficient to secure to it a large following because of the recognized wisdom of his judgment and his marked public spirit.
REV. FRANK RANNEY LUCKEY.
Rev. Frank Ranney Luckey, pastor of the Humphrey Street Congregational church of New Haven, was born in Poughkeepsie. New York. November 23. 1858. His father, Charles P. Luckey, was also a native of Poughkeepsie, where he engaged in merchandising throughout the entire period of his business career. He was very successful in his undertakings and founded the largest department store between New York and Albany on the Hudson river It is still in existence under the name of Luckey. Platt & Company. Ile was of Scotch-Irish
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descent, the family coming from Ulster. Ireland, and the paternal grandmother of Rev. Lnekey was a Hoffman. His mother bore the maiden name of Annie Brush and was a member through the maternal line of the Hatfield family, noted as a family of Methodist Episcopal ministers. To Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Luekey were born two children, a son and daughter, the latter, Annie, however, having passed away in childhood.
The son. Frank R. Luckey, pursued his education in the Poughkeepsie schools until graduated from the high school, at which time he received a state scholarship to Cornell. He then entered the university and was graduated with the Bachelor of Science degree in 1882. Determining to devote his life to the ministry, he next became a student in the theological department of Yale in 1885 and was graduated with the class of 1888. Having thus prepared for a holy calling, he was ordained to the ministry and installed as pastor of the Humphrey Street Congregational church on the 17th of May of that year. He preached his first sermon in the church in December, 1887, during the absence of the regular pastor, and continued to fill the pulpit until his ordination, when he was installed as the regular pastor and has since continued to serve, covering a period of over thirty years. The church at that time had been but recently organized and his labors have therefore been the potent element in its growth and progress through three decades. He is an eloquent and convineing speaker, his words carrying weight to the logical thinker, and as pastor as well as preacher he has endeared himself to his people and to the community at large. He has been president of the Congregational Club of New Haven and has been connected with his church for a longer period than any other minister of the city. He has also been active in the organized charities of New Haven and has taken a helpful interest in matters of local improvement and progress. He is a member of the Civic Federation and has done everything in his power to uphold those interests which are a matter of eivic virtue and of civie pride. In Poughkeepsie, New York, Mr. Luckey was united in marriage to Miss Celeste R. Rensley, a daughter of James D. Rensley, of that place, and they have one son, Charles P., who was a Yale student and is now with the Yale Unit of the American Field Ambulance Corps in France. Reverend Mr. Luckey finds recreation in golf and fishing. He belongs to the Adirondack League Club. also to the Yale Club of New York and to the New Haven Country Club. While a deep student, he has never allowed his interest in books to over- shadow that human interest which brings an understanding of man and his problems but with ready sympathy has constantly reached out a helping hand and his labors have wrought for good results in the development of Christian manhood.
THOMAS L. CORNELL.
Thomas L. Cornell, who for twenty-six years has been the first vice president of the National Folding Box & Paper Company and is thus actively and prominently connected with the manufacturing interests of New Haven, was born in New York city. December 13, 1839. Ile has therefore passed the seventy-eighth milestone on life's journey and yet he keeps in close touch with business affairs and displays enterprise and energy equal to that of many a man of much younger years. His father, Sidney Cornell, was a native of New York and represented one of the old and most distinguished families of that state of English lineage, the ancestral line being traced back to 1638, when the first representative of the name came to the new world. Among his descendants were Ezra Cornell. the founder of
Cornell University, and Alonzo Cornell, governor of the state of New York. Sidney Cornell, the father of Thomas L. Cornell, was an importer of New York city and died at his summer home in Newtown, Connecticut, in 1899, at the age of eighty-four years. In early man- hood he had wedded Sarah Ann Nostrand. a native of New York and a member of one of the old families of that state. On the paternal side she was of Dutch and French deseent.
In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Cornell were three children but Thomas L. is the only one now living. He was educated in the polytechnie school of Brooklyn, New York, and at the age of seventeen years crossed the threshold of the business world. He was first connected with his father in the importing business, which had been established by his grandfather in 1802. He continued in that connection until 1862, when the father retired and Thomas L. Cornell then became a member of the firm. He continued in active
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A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN
commection with the business until 1870, when he withdrew from that field. In 1890 was founded the present business conducted under the name of the National Folding Box & Paper Company and he became its first vice president, in which position he has since remained, having been continuously reelected at cach annual election for the past twenty-six years. Thoroughness has ever characterized his business career and enterprise has pointed out the way to success a way which he has not hesitated to follow. guided at all times by sound intelligence and honorable purpose.
In 1863, in Derby. Connecticut, Mr. Cornell was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth E. Shelton, a daughter of the late Edward N. Shelton, at one time state senator of Connecticut, and ot Mary Jane (De Foresti Shelton, who represented an old and prominent family of this state. To Mr. and Mrs. Cornell was born one son, Edward Shelton Cornell of East Orange. New Jersey. He served on the staff of Governor L. B. Morris of Conneetieut, and is now secretary of the National Highways Protective Society, of No. 1 West Thirty-fourth street. New York city. He married Miss Elanor Witherspoon, of Derby, Connecticut, a daughter of Rev. Orlando Witherspoon, and has three sons and one daughter, as follows: Sidney, a captain of ordnance in the United States army; E. Shelton, who is with the divisional headquarters troop of the Twenty-ninth division at Fort MeClellan; Thomas L. 11, who was a member of Company F, One Hundred and Second Connectieut Infantry and prepared at the officers' training camp at Plattsburg, New York; and Elanor.
In his political views Mr. Cornell has long been a stalwart republican, enlisting under the banner of the party upon attaining his majority. He has for an extended period been a member of the Masonic fraternity and he belongs to the Union League Club, to the Sons of the Revolution, to the Colonial Wars Society and to the Episcopal church at Derby. These associations indicate much of the nature of his interests and the rules which have governed his conduet. lle has been closely identified with various measures of uplift, and his entire career has been actuated by a spirit of progress that has placed him among the substantial business men of New England and won for him the confidence and regard of all with whom he has been associated.
ANDREW R. BRADLEY.
Andrew R. Bradley, late president of the Bradley-Smith Company, was one of New Haven's foremost business men and for nearly fifty years was prominently identified with its interests. A native of North Haven, he came from the old family of that name whose anees- tral line can be traced baek to William Bradley, who arrived in America in 1649. Henry M. Bradley, the father of Andrew R. Bradley, resided in North Haven and was a farmer and manufacturer. Throughout his life he was a member of the Congregational ehureh and was highly respected. In politics he was a staneh republican and took an active and help- ful part in promoting those interests which are a matter of eivie virtue and civie pride. He died at North Haven in 1873 at the age of fifty-seven years. His wife, who hore the maiden name of Mary Bolen, was a native of New Jersey and a descendant of an old family of that state, of Scotch lineage. She became the mother of five sons, two of whom passed away in infaney and two at the age of twenty-six years, leaving Andrew R. Bradley as the only surviving member of the family. The mother died at North Haven when sixty-two years of age.
Andrew R. Bradley spent his early youth upon the home farm and in the manner common to country lads of that period. There was plenty of work to do and early in life he received a training upon the value of which he many times reflected in his later years. His boyhood days brought him a better knowledge of the practical side of life than falls to the average boy of his age. Being the eldest son in the family and left fatherless at the age of fifteen years, grave responsibilities devolved upon him. No duty was ever shirked and he measured up to his responsibilities in a manner becoming one of much greater age. Farm work did not seem to promise a glowing future, however, and to fit himself for other active business he supplemented his early training in the schools of North Haven by a course in Cargill's Business College of New Haven.
While yet a pupil there Mr. Bradley determined that he would seek in New Haven some
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commercial vocation whereby he could earn not only a livelihood but one which would constitute an entrance into broader fields of labor. Accordingly one bright morning in the spring of 1870 he made a careful survey and inspection of several wholesale and retail stores in the neighborhood of Congress and George streets and finally made application for a position in the store of Charles H. Reed, a wholesale and retail grocer. He was closely ques- tioned as to what he could do and his experience. Mr. Reed recognized in the lad a spirit of willingness seldom found in boys starting out and consented to give him a week's trial, it being mutually agreed that he would be paid what he was worth and if he was worth nothing he would receive nothing. On those conditions he began his commercial career and when the week was over Mr. Reed paid him seven dollars, which in those days was con- sidered a very high wage for one just making his initial step in the business world. Mr. Bradley made good from the start. He possessed self-reliance and natural ability, was ener- getic and industrions. Long hours and hard work had no terrors for him. He did not have to be told what to do. He could see what there was to be done, was not afraid to do it and performed every task well. His progress is probably best shown by the fact that within two months from the time he started "on trial" and with no stipulated salary his wages had been advanced to fifteen dollars per week. This was at a time when wages generally were low even for those days. He remained with his first employer until the close of the year, when Mr. Bradley told Mr. Reed that he would leave his position in order to continue his education. The later, reluctant to lose him, offered him still higher wages. Mr. Bradley, however, believed that he needed more thorough and extensive educational training as a preparation for life's practical and responsible duties and again entered Cargill's Business College.
On completing his studies he used the sum of money he had saved and which had not been required for tuition to establish a candy business, finding it necessary also to borrow several hundred dollars. The beginning of the enterprise was small but the business proved a success from the start. In fact it demonstrated the young man's ability to manage a business for himself just as well as he had performed the work for an employer. Suc- cessfully conducting this enterprise for several years, Mr. Bradley at length disposed of the business and became associated with B. H. Douglas & Sons, first as a traveling representa- tive and later on a mutual interest basis. He remained with that firm until 1892, when he retired from that connection and established the business from which has grown the Bradley- Smith Company of today, one of the largest candy manufacturing and wholesale houses in New England. The plant is situated at Nos. 102-116 Hill street. Mr. Bradley was president from its organization. He had numerous business interests. He was an extensive stock- holder and one of the directors of the Mechanics Bank and was also identified with various other concerns.
In Wallingford, Connecticut, on the 14th of January, 1878, Mr. Bradley was married to Miss Adelaide Augusta Hall. a daughter of the late William Day and Harriet (Perkins) Hall, of that city.
In politics Mr. Bradley was a stanch republican and he took a keen interest in the success of his party. He belonged to the Chamber of Commerce, also to the Union League Club and manifested a continuous interest in all those forces which work for civic improve- ment. He held membership in the Calvary Baptist church, in which he filled important offices. As a natural result of a long, honorable and successful business connection there came to him an extensive acquaintance in New Haven, where his worth and high standing as a citizen and business man were surpassed by few if any. A man of great energy and a tireless worker, he accomplished at the age of forty what many would have considered a substantial achievement for an entire lifetime. He had not lived to accumulate wealth but had realized that the individual must grasp life's pleasures and recreations as the years roll on and to this end he traveled extensively in America and abroad. He always was con- siderate of the interests and rights of others and there were few careers which show so fine an example of filial devotion as that of Mr. Bradley. From the time when in early boyhood he first became a wage earner it was his great pleasure to contribute to the com- fort of his widowed mother and his younger brothers, whom he assisted in educating. Later in life as his financial resources increased this contribution became more substantial and continued as long as his mother and other members of the family lived. He continually reached out a helping hand where aid was needed and his entire career indicated a marked
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unselfishness and a truc regard for his obligations and responsibilities to his fellow-men. His life record should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what may be accom- plished through determined effort. stimulated by laudable ambition and guided by sound judgment. MIr. Bradley passed away January 3, 1915. his demise causing widespread regret and deep sorrow. His name, however, still lives on as an example of true and noble man- hood.
STEPHEN JOHN MAIER, M. D.
Dr. Stephen John Maher, a New Haven physician who ranks high in those councila where tuberculosis is made a particular subject of study and investigation, was born April 12, 1×60, in the city where he still resides, his parents being Michael and Johanna (Gorman) Maher. Ilis more specifically literary course was pursued in St. Charles College at Ellicott City, Maryland, where he remained as a student from 1875 until 1>81. Hia professional course was pursued at Yale and he was graduated with honors in 1887. He has ever remained a close and discriminating student of his profession, always keeping in close touch with the trend of modern scientifie thought and investigation. He has taken post-graduate work in the hospitals of England and of Ireland and he received the honorary Master of Arts degree from Manhattan College of New York in 1895.
Dr. Maher began the private practice of medicine in New Haven in 1888 and for eleven years was engaged in general practice, since which time he has devoted much time to the study of tuberculosis in laboratories and clinics. At the same time he has been consulting physician to St. Raphael Hospital of New Haven and for two years was a member of the city board of health. Governor Woodruff appointed him a member of the state commission to investigate tuberculosis conditions in Connecticut in 1906, and since 1911 he has been a member of the board of directors of the Gaylord Farm Tuberculosis Sanatorium and a member of the tuberculosis commission in charge of four Connecticut institutions. In 1913 he was elected chairman of the board. a position that he still holds. The following year he was chosen a member of the inner council of the International Tuberculosis Conference and in 1915 he was elected president of the New England Conference on Tuberculosis. The same year he was honored with the presidency of the Connecticut State Medieal Society and he is a member of many local, national and international medical associations and also of several tuberculosis associations. He has frequently contributed valuable articles to med. ical journals and he is the author of a novelette entitled "Told in the Priest's House," which describes loss of life from tuberculosis in Catholic convents and which has been widely quoted.
Dr. Maher belongs to the Catholic Club of New York and he is a member of the American Irish Historical Society. Ilis interests, particularly along scientifie lines, are very broad. IJe undertakes everything in which he engages with great thoroughness and it is this which has led him to make a most comprehensive study of everything relating to tuber- culosis, the spread and the cure of the disease. He has disseminated knowledge of immense value in this particular, and the public and the profession have largely come to recognize him as an authority upon this subject.
HARRY V. WHIPPLE.
From messenger to bank president is a long step and yet the path thereto is clearly marked out. Adaptability, fidelity and close application are the qualities which one must possess and utilize in order to win such a position, and an analyzation of the life record of Ilarry V. Whipple shows that these qualities have been the salient features in his business career, bringing him from the humblest bank position to the presidency of the Merchants National Bank of New Haven. As such he is now active in establishing the policy and controlling the interests of one of the strongest financial institutions of his sec- tion of the state.
Mr. Whipple was born in Meriden, August 21. 1871. a son of llenry J. P. and Victoria
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Fidelia (Couch) Whipple, who were natives of Lowell, Massachusetts, and Meriden, Con- nectient, respectively. On leaving his native state the father established his home at Meriden, where he organized the Parker-Whipple Company for the manufacture of hard- ware. This firm is still in existence, although the father sold out some years ago and removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he again engaged in the hardware business. He afterward returned to Connecticut, establishing his home in New Haven, where he passed away in 1910, at the age of seventy-five years. His widow is now a resident of Meriden. In the family were four children: Frank, living in New Haven; Norman C., a resident of Cleve- land, Ohio; Mrs. George H. Yeamans, of Meriden; and Harry V.
The last named pursued his education in the public and high schools of Meriden and of New Haven, but ere the completion of his course had entered upon his business career as a clerk in the latter city. He next took up the study of law with the firm of Bristol, Stoddard & Bristol, with whom he remained for a year and a half, when he abandoned the idea of becoming a member of the bar and secured the position of messenger in the Merchants National Bank. He has since advanced through various intermediate positions up to the presidency, to which he was elected in 1912. This bank is capitalized for five hundred thousand dollars and has surplus and undivided profits of five hundred thousand dollars, while its deposits amount to about four million dollars. It has a strong directorate, including some of the best known business men of New Haven, and its officers in addition to Mr. Whipple are: L. H. English and H. C. Warren, vice presidents; and J. F. Stannard, cashier. A general banking department is conducted, affording every commercial banking service. The bank through its trust department acts as trustee, depository, registrar of stocks and bonds and transfer agent. A foreign department is also maintained meeting the demands and requirements of their patrons in connection with their foreign business. The business of the bank has been most carefully and thoroughly systematized, every effort being put forth to safeguard the interests of depositors and develop the business of the bank along legitimate lines.
On the 5th of October, 1897, in New Haven, Mr. Whipple was married to Miss Elizabeth Young, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Young, and they have become parents of one child, Oliver Mayhew, who was born in New Haven in 1901 and is now attending Andover Academy of Andover, Massachusetts.
Mr. and Mrs. Whipple are members of St. John's Episcopal church and Mr. Whipple has taken the degrees of Masonry in its various branches and has become a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to all of the more important clubs of New Haven and is a past president of the Quinnipiac Club. He is a vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and is presi- dent of the New Haven Chapter of the American Red Cross. The city ranks him with its leading men, for his ability has brought him prominence and success in business and has placed him in positions of leadership in many other connections. He is always interested in those questions which are to the statesman and the thinking man of the gravest import and his opinions are always thoughtfully considered, for it is recognized that his sagacity is keen and his judgment sound. Like many of the residents of New Haven, he traces his ancestry back through the various generations of an old New England family of English origin, founded in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1638, and he manifests the same quality of patriotism and of public-spirited devotion to the general good that has characterized his forebears.
SAMUEL ANDREW BASSETT.
In the death of Samuel Andrew Bassett, New Haven lost one of its valued citizens and representative business men, yet one whose nature was not centered alone upon commercial interests. He found time for the higher things of life and those interests which have cultural value. He was born in the town of Seymour, in New Haven county, Connecticut, September 1, 1833, and was a descendant of an old and prominent New England family. His father, Samuel Bassett, also a native of Connecticut, was a paper manufacturer of what was then known as Humphreysville, now Seymour, and at that place spent practically his entire life. He wedded Mary Andrew, who was also a resident of Seymour.
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