USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II > Part 71
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In 1896 Mr. Thompson was united in marriage to Miss Edna Chapman and they have become parents of two sons: Raymond, born February 28, 1899, who has joined the United States navy; and John, born February 3, 1909. By a former marriage Mr Thompson had a daughter, Bertba L., whose natal day is July 12, 1890.
In religious faith Mr. Thompson is a Baptist and fraternally is connected with the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Order of United American Mechanics, the Sons of America, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Foresters. He belongs also to the Colonial Club of which he serves at present as first vice president. His political allegiance is given to the republican party but being a total abstainer he has a strong leaning toward temperance principles. He has served as alderman for ten years from the third ward, being a member of the con- mittees on water and sewers and the lamp committee. He is interested in all that has to do with the progress and welfare of Meriden and its upbuilding, and for twenty-five years he has been a director of the Meriden Building & Loan Association. He also belongs to the Home Guard, identified with the motor transport service.
In analyzing his career it is evident that his success is due in no small measure to the fact that he has always continued in the line in which he embarked as a young tradesman and in which he gained thorough and expert knowledge and skill. There is no phase of the printing business with which he is not thoroughly familiar and his practical experience enables him to wisely direct the activities of the sixty employes of the plant. He is now bending his efforts to administrative direction and the enterprise has reached a high measure of suc- cess.
REV. JOHN NEALE.
In the various pastorates in which he has served the Rev. John Neale has uniformly met with more than ordinary success, building up both the spiritual and temporal interests of his parishes. He combines unusual zeal with a clear understanding of the needs of the modern world and has ministered wisely to his people. He is now rector of St. Rose's Roman Catholic church of Meriden and priest of the parochial school of the same name. He was born near Middletown, Connectieut, June 24, 1864, a son of Patrick and Elizabeth (Con- nelly) Neale, who were born in Ireland but about 1830 emigrated to Connecticut, where both passed away. There are three daughters in the family: Julia, who is keeping house for her brother, Rev. John Neale; Mrs. Mary McGann, of Brooklyn, New York; and Mrs. James Curran, of Hartford, Connecticut, the mother of Father Edward Curran, of Hartford.
Rev. John Neale received his early education in the public schools and his preparatory work in St. Charles College, from which he was graduated in 1883. He then pursued his phil- osophical studies in St. Mary's Seminary of Baltimore and in 1884 was granted the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from that institution. He subsequently entered St. Bonaventure's College, matriculating there to take his theological course. As he was still
REV. JOHN NEALE
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too young to be ordained he devoted a year to study in St. John's Seminary at Brighton, Massachusetts, and on the 21st of June, 1888, was ordained to the priesthood by Arch- bishop Williams. He was at once made assistant in St. Augustine's Roman Catholic church in Bridgeport and was given charge of the work of the parochial school. Later he was transferred to St. Patrick's church at Norwich, where he was likewise assistant and also principal of the school there. He remained at Norwich for eleven years but at the end of that time was given charge of the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Terryville, Con- necticut. The parish was new and to him fell the labor of organizing the church and estab- lishing its work on a sound hasis. He remained in the parish for ten years, during which the church membership increased from three hundred members to eight hundred, and in addi- tion seven hundred were transferred to another parish. He built a well appointed rectory, also erected a lyceum, which was a popular recreation center, being provided with gymnasium, bowling alleys, lodge rooms, auditorium and attractive parlors. In August, 1910, Father Neale was given charge of St. Michael's church at Westerly, succeeding the late Father James Cunningham. He remained there until January, 1914, and although he had charge of that church for less than four years he greatly extended its work and largely improved the church property. He left it free of debt.
Since the 28th of January, 1914, Father Neale has been the rector of St. Rose's Roman Catholic church at Meriden and has been appointed permanent pastor. His work in this community has gained him the respect and admiration of not only those of his own faith but also of non-Catholics, and his duties are so heavy that he has been assigned two assist- ants, Father Francis Keough and Father John McGrath. The church has a membership of thirty-three hundred. There is a Holy Name Society with a membership of seven hundred men and an organization known as the Holy Name Scouts with a membership of one hun- dred and five boys. He has established and personally financed an athletic field open to all boys of all creeds which is in use practically all the time and provides a suitable place for basketball, football and baseball games according to the season of the year. The church has been remodeled and enlarged and now seats fourteen hundred people. During Father Neale's pastorate three marble altars, a new pipe organ and stained glass windows have been installed in the church, new pews and other furniture have been provided and the total improvements have cost ninety thousand dollars. The church is said to have the finest and richest interior of any in the diocese and the congregation justly takes great pride in its beautiful house of worship. The school has also been remodeled and there are now aix hundred pupils taught by twelve Sisters. Father Neale is principal of this institution and gives careful supervision to its work. The rectory has been redecorated and refurnished and a fine veranda has been added, thus enhancing its attractiveness. The total church prop- erty is now worth almost two hundred thousand dollars and the material prosperity of the parish is but a reflection of the splendid condition of the spiritual work of the church. Father Neale is now giving his attention to the enlarging and beautifying of the cemetery.
He votes independently, believing the qualifications of a candidate rather than hia party alignment should be considered by a good citizen. In serving well hia church he has also been the servant of the community and it is generally recognized that conditions in Meriden are better because of his labors here. Father Neale is one of the six permanent rec- tors of the diocese of Hartford and the degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by St. Bonaventure's College. his alma mater. He is vice president of the Connecticut State Conference of Charities and Corrections and is also a director of the Connecticut Mental & Hygiene Association. For two years he also served as a director of the Chamber of Com- merce of Meriden.
FREDERICK WILLIAM ARLT, M. D.
Dr. Frederick William Arlt, a Yale man who has supplemented his university training by later study in New York, was born August 1. 1876. in New York city. a son of Gustave and Caroline (Prelle) Arlt, who were native- of Germany. The mother came to America in the early '50s, while the father crossed the Atlantic in the '60s. He embarked in merchandis- ing in New York city and there remained until 1897. when he came to New Haven, where Vol. II-26
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he again engaged in merchandising to the time of his death, which occurred in 1907, when he had reached the age of sixty-three years. His widow resides with Dr. Arlt, wo was the elder of two children, the other being Charles Arlt, who died in New Haven in 1909.
Dr. Arlt attended school in Rockville, Connecticut, also continued his education in the Williston Seminary at Williston, Massachusetts, and was there graduated with the class of 1897. He next entered Yale College, graduating in 1901 and receiving the degree of B. A. Afterward he became a student in the Bellevue Hospital of New York city, where he continued until 1905, when he again came to New Haven and opened an office. Here he has built up a large practice which has steadily grown. He did post-graduate work in 1905, in 1906 and 1907 and he has always remained a close and discriminating student of the pro- fession, putting forth every effort that will broaden his knowledge and advance his efficiency. His duties are discharged with a most conscientious sense of obligation and a recognition of the responsibilities that devolve upon him. He is a member of the New Haven, the New Haven County. the Connecticut State and the American Medical Associations.
On the 2d of August, 1905. at Rockville, Connecticut, Dr. Arlt was married to Miss Agnes K. Nill, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Nill, of that place. Dr. Arlt is well known in fraternal circles. He holds membership with the Masons, also with the Sons of Herman, with the Harugari and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically he maintains an independent course, not caring to affiliate with any party. He is an ardent sportsman, fond of hunting and fishing, and to these he turns for recreation when leisure permits. His has been a most active life and he has worked his way upward entirely on his own account. He clerked in the Yale Cooperative Store for six years and with the money thus earned he paid his tuition in the medical school. He deserves much credit as a self-made man and one whose ability has brought him prominently to the front in professional circles, for he now ranks with New Haven's representative physicians.
CARL H. HEMMING.
Almost every line of manufacture and industrial activity has contributed to the upbuild- ing of Connecticut as a great commercial center. Prominent among the interests of New Haven is that conducted under the name of The Hemming Brothers Company, of which Carl H. Hemming is the president and treasurer. This company manufactures automatic cutlery and grinding and polishing machinery at Nos. 205-209 River street and theirs is the only establishment of the kind in the United States.
Carl H. Hemming, the president, was horn December 12, 1882, in Buenos Aires, in the Argentine Republic, a son of the late Benjamin C. Flemming, a native of Germany, who emi- grated to South America, where he resided until 1885 and then came to New Haven, Connecti- cut. He was a mechanic and gun maker by trade and was one of the founders and members of the firm of Hemming Brothers, which was incorporated after some years. There were three brothers who originally established the business, which was organized in 1904. The father was connected with this as a partner up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1909, when he had reached the age of seventy years. It was in 1910 that the business was incor- porated under its present name.
Carl H. Hemming was but three years of age when brought by his parents to the United States and during all the intervening years he has been a resident of New Haven. His educa- tion was acquired in the public schools and after his textbooks were put aside he joined his father in the business with which he is now connected. In addition to his thorough me- chanical skill he has displayed marked ability in administration, combined with executive force. The other officers of the company are: Frank P. Hemming, vice president and assist- ant treasurer; and Gustave F. Hemming, who is the secretary, and all are directors of the company. They have an area of thirty thousand square feet and their plant covers eleven thousand square feet. The firm employs on an average of thirty skilled workmen and their sales extend to all parts of the United States. Theirs is the only manufacturing concern of the kind in the country making this kind of machinery, and possibly in the world. They have representatives in Sheffield, England, and in Solingen, Germany, which are the two largest cutlery centers of the world, necessitating the Hemming interests being there repre-
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sented. All of the machinery manufactured by the company is covered by patents, having been the invention of the members of the family, all of the brothers working upon the per- fection of these devices.
On the 11th of June. 1912, Carl II. Hemming was united in marriage to Miss Helen Wartman, of New Haven, a daughter of Robert and Anna (Lang) Wartman, who were repre sentatives of an old New Haven family of German lineage. Mr. and Mrs. Hemming have two sons: Carleton Robert, who was born in New Haven, April 24. 1915; and Howard Gus- tave, born April 10, 1917.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Lutheran church. In polities Mr. Hem- ming is a republican. The company of which he is the head has membership in the Manufactur- ers' Association and the members who constitute the firm are very active and prominent in the business cireles of the eity. Efficiency and thoroughness characterize the work that is being carried on in their establishment. They have held to the highhest standards in mann- facture and thus their products have received the highest endorsement wherever they have been sent.
MICHAEL J. LEONARD.
Michael J. Leonard, superintendent of the Prudential Insurance Company at New Haven. was born in Adams, Massachusetts, December 3, 1869. He belongs to an old Massachusetts family of English descent. His father, David W. Leonard, a native of the Bay state, was a mechanic who in his business eareer won a substantial measure of success, although he passed away in Adams, Massachusetts, in 1884, when but forty years of age. His wife, who hore the maiden name of Catherine Feely, was a native of Ireland. With her parents she came to America, the family home being established in Massachusetts, where she was reared. In Pittsfield, that state, she became the wife of David W. Leonard and to them were born nine children, of whom five are living. The mother passed away in 1884 and was also forty years of age at the time of her demise.
Michael J. Leonard, second of the family. was educated in the public schools of Albany. Later in life he took a course in the Albany Business College. being graduated in 1896. He then entered the employ of the Prudential Insurance Company at Glenns Falls, New York, as an agent and after a year was promoted to the position of assistant superintendent at Ithaca, New York. He served in that capacity for two years, on the expiration of which period, or on the 1st of January, 1899, he was made superintendent for the company at New Haven. Here be has since remained and has made a most capable official in his present posi- tion. The business of the company at New Haven was a very small one when he took charge. but under his able direction has steadily grown until the agency force of fifteen has developed into a sales foree of fifty-two with a proportionate increase in the volume of business annually done. Mr. Leonard is thoroughly familiar with every phase of insurance and his efforts have brought excellent results.
On the 15th of May, 1903, Mr. Leonard was married to Miss Anna Brady, a native of New Haven and a daughter of Bernard and Anna Brady. They have one child, Marion, born October 28, 1904. The parents are members of St. Brendan's parish. being communicants of the Catholie faith. In politics Mr. Leonard is a democrat and he belongs to the chamber of eommeree, eooperating heartily in the work of that organization for the upbuilding and devel- opment of the eity.
HARRY W. RILEY.
Advaneing step by step, thoroughly mastering every task assigned him and increasing his power through the exercise of effort, Harry W. Riley is well known as the proprietor of the Ornamental Iron Works of Meriden, in which connection he has developed a business of grati- fying proportions. He was born in Wilmington, Delaware, October 11, 1865, his parents being Joseph and Keziah (Pounder) Riley, both of wbom have passed away. The mother was
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a granddaughter of Dr. Joseph Pounder, the famous physician and surgeon of Pennsylvania, whose ancestors were among the earliest settlers of that state.
Harry W. Riley was educated in the public schools of his native city and was employed at farm labor until he reached his majority. His people removed from Delaware to Maryland and he had to shift for himself. He worked at blacksmithing and other odd jobs and, removing to New Haven, be secured employment there at the blacksmith's trade, spending four years in that way. By that time he had become a good workman on wagon and machine blacksmithing and he was employed in New Haven altogether for ten years. At Southington he had charge of a big shop and finally he came to Meriden, where he entered the employ of the Bradley- Hubbard Company, with which he continued for ten years, taking up his present line of work in that plant. He became proficient in all iron work except structural iron and he also pursued a course in the International Correspondence School of Scranton, Pennsylvania, thus acquainting himself with the scientific and theoretical phases of the business as well as gaining broad practical knowledge and experience with the Bradley-Hubbard Company. On the 1st of September, 1910, he established his present business on a small scale. Today he has twenty hundred and fifty-two square feet of floor space and sixteen employes. He makes inside stairways, fire escapes and does all kinds of ornamental iron work and his output is sold all over Connecticut.
On the 16th of July, 1891, Mr. Riley was united in marriage to Miss Emma Magnusson, by whom he has four children, as follows: Mabel, the wife of Joseph Caggiano, of Hartford, by whom she has a daughter, Frances Mary; Bertha; Walter; and Harry. All of these chil- dren were educated in Meriden. Mr. and Mrs. Riley also lost one child, Olive, who passed away in 1900.
In politics Mr. Riley is a stalwart republican. He belongs to the Patriotic Order of Sons of America, to the Order of United American Mechanics, in which he has passed through all of the chairs of the local lodge, and he is also prominently known in Masonic circles, be- longing to the lodge, chapter and council and to the Eastern Star, in which he is a past patron. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, to the teachings of which he is loyal. His life has been guided by high and honorable principles and his friends, who are many, speak of him in high terms.
HARRY ALBERT CONTE, M. D.
Although one of the younger physicians and surgeons of New Haven, Dr. Harry Albert Conte has already made for himself an enviable place in professional circles and has won considerable prominence as a specialist in the treatment of children's diseases. He was born in New Haven, August 3, 1889, a son of Louis Conte, who was born in Italy and came to America about 1872. For many years he followed a seafaring life. being thus engaged until 1885, when he took up his abode permanently in New Haven, where for many years he was in the employ of the Redfield Company, contractors. He is now living retired, enjoying the fruits of a well spent life. He has always taken an active part in affairs affecting the Italian people and has been a very prominent member in Italian societies. He married Marie Pietropaolo, a native of Italy, who came to New Haven in 1885 with her husband. She has a family of nine living children and has lost three.
Dr. Conte was the tenth in order of birth. He was educated in the public and high schools of New Haven and was graduated from the high school with the class of 1907. He then entered Yale, where he spent three years, and later he became a student in the Long Island Hospital Medical College of Brooklyn, from which he was graduated in 1912. He after- ward spent one year as interne in St. Barnabas Hospital at Newark, New Jersey, and then entered upon the private practice of medicine in New Haven, where he has since remained. While engaged in general practice, he specializes in the treatment of diseases of children and has shown marked skill in that branch of professional work. He is the present clinical assistant in the pediatric department of the New Haven Dispensary and he belongs to the New Haven, the New Haven County, the Connecticut State and the American Medical Associations. through the proceedings of which he keeps thoroughly informed concerning the progress that is being made by the medical fraternity.
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Dr. Conte is a member of St. Michael's Roman Catholic church and he belongs also to the Sons of Italy. In politics he maintains an independent course. He deserves much credit for what he has accomplished. During his vacation periods he worked in order to earn the money that would enable him to continue his education. The same spirit of determination has characterized him at every point in his career and, actuated by a laudable ambition, he is putting forth every effort to render his labors more effective in checking the ravages of disease.
EZRA CROWELL TERRY.
Ezra Crowell Terry, attorney at law of New Haven, was born in Exeter, Rhode Island, March 19, 1876, and traces his ancestry back to the year 1638, when the family, which is of English origin, was founded on American soil. Settlement was made at New Bedford, Massa- chusetts, by three brothers, one of whom invented the first "wooden" clock. Representatives of the family in various generations participated in the early colonial and Revolutionary wars. The grandfather of Ezra Crowell Terry was Seth W. Terry, a successful agriculturist of Rhode Island. His son, William H. Terry, who was born at Exeter, Rhode Island, became a stove molder by trade and later for many years followed agricultural pursuits at Lebanon, Connecticut, winning a substantial measure of prosperity in his chosen work. At the out- break of the Civil war, when a youth of fourteen, he ran away from home to become a drummer boy, but did not obtain the consent of his father, who upon hearing of his enlistment had him released. After attaining adult age William H. Terry wedded Adeline G. Rounds, a native of Rhode Island and a daughter of Phil J. and Adeline G. (Remington) Rounds, repre- sentatives of old Rhode Island families of English lineage. Mr. Rounds was a Civil war vet- eran, serving for three years in the First Rhode Island Cavalry under General Burnside. He was captured and sent to Libby prison. from which he effected his escape. Later he reenlisted but the effects of confinement at Libby were such that he soon afterward passed away.
Ezra C. Terry was the third in a family of ten children, eight of whom are yet living. His youth was largely passed upon the home farm at Lebanon, Connecticut, where he attended the district schools, while later he spent a year as a student in the State Normal School at Willimantic. He had just arrived at a stage of educational training to make him desirous for more knowledge and throughout his life he has embraced eagerly every opportunity for study, his efforts leading him to a position among New Haven's citizens of intellectual force. When seventeen years of age he began learning telegraphy with the New York & New Eng- land Railroad Company and was employed as an operator for eighteen years. He became imbued with the landable ambition of entering a still broader field of labor, however, and while working as an operator at New Haven he entered the Yale Law School in September, 1903, and was graduated with the class of June, 1908. He successfully passed the required state bar examination on the 23d of that month and was admitted to practice in the Connecti- cut courts. Immediately afterward he entered upon the active work of his profession, in which he has since continned. His success in a professional way affords the best evidence of his capabilities in this line. An excellent presence, an earnest, dignified manner, marked strength of character, a thorough grasp of the law and the ability to correctly apply its principles are factors in his effectiveness as an advocate. He was appointed special attorney for investigation in matters of state aid and deportations July 1, 1908, and is still acting in that capacity. He also has a large and satisfactory private practice covering all branches of the law.
On the 1st of June, 1916, Mr. Terry was married in New York city to Miss Daisy L. Ben- nett, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, and a daughter of Walter and Dora F. (Monk) Bennett, both deceased. They were pioneers of Nebraska and the father was descended from an old Connecticut family, while the mother came of a Massachusetts family early established there. Mr. Bennett was at one time a very prominent lawyer of Willimantic and also took an active part in republican politics.
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