USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II > Part 90
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AMASA L. DOOLITTLE.
Among the leading nurserymen and florists of New Haven, none has made more progress than Amasa L. Doolittle, who now receives an extensive patronage from many of the best families of Connecticut. He has held to the highest standards in his work and entering upon his present business well qualified by broad experience, he has developed his interests until as a florist and horticulturist he ranks very high.
Mr. Doolittle was born in Cheshire, Connecticut, December 14, 1873, and is a son of William H. and Ruth A. (Warren) Doolittle, who were natives of Cheshire and of East Haven respectively. In early life the father operated a stage line between the down-town district of New Haven and East Rock. This was before the establishment of the street car lines. After street cars were installed he turned his attention to the nursery business and subsequently conducted a feed and grain business. His death occurred in Cheshire in 1907. His wife was reared, educated and married in East Haven and passed away in Cheshire in 1882. In their family were four sons: William II., George E., Edwin H. and Amasa L.
The last named was a pupil in Giles private school and in Moody's school at Mount Hermon, Connecticut, from which he was graduated in 1894. He then went to work for Frank S. Platt, a flower and seed merchant of New Haven, in whose employ he continued from 1894 until 1911, gaining most accurate and comprehensive knowledge of the business during his seventeen years connection therewith. Ambitious to engage in business on his own account, he carefully saved his earnings and in the latter year started out independently as a florist and nurseryman with a down-town store on Court and Orange streets, and a nursery on Sherman avenue. He raises and handles all kinds of flowers. trees, shrubbery and plants and is today numbered with New Haven's foremost florists and seed merchants, conducting a large and profitable business under the name of the Doolittle Floral Company, which was incorporated in September, 1911, with a capital stock
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of twenty-five thousand dollars, Mr. Doolittle becoming the president and treasurer, with Henry H. Kelsey as the secretary. He studies closely every phase of the business, the kind and condition of the soils required, the needed temperature and all of the questions relating to the propagation of fine trees and shrubbery and beautiful flowers. His experience has been long and varied and enables him to speak with authority upon tree and plant propagation.
On the 11th of September, 1906, Mr. Doolittle was married in New Haven to Miss Jessie Terhune, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Terhune, and they now have one child, Esther, who was born in New Haven in 1910 and is a public school pupil.
Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle are members of the Dwight Place church, and fraternally Mr. Doolittle is also connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a most progressive young business man who has worked his way upward entirely unassisted, hils life record standing in refutation of the too often heard assertion that advancement is today only won through influence or fortunate circumstances. He has placed his reliance upon industry, determination and efficiency in his chosen calling and his present position is an enviable one.
EUGENE F. FARLEY.
Eugene F. Farley, a well known lawyer of New Haven, was recently appointed assistant city attorney. His birth occurred on the 6th of July, 1878, in Naugatuck, New Haven county, Connecticut, his parents being James and Mary (Kelley) Farley, in whose family are five children, of whom Eugene is the third in order of birth. The mother is a native of Norwich, Connecticut, and a daughter of Richard Kelley, who was of Irish birth. The father of our subject was born in the old Bay state and is descended from an old Massachusetts family of Irish origin, several generations of the family having resided in this country. During his active business life James Farley was connected with the manufacture of pianos and for a long period of thirty-six years was in charge of a department for the Sterling Piano Company but is now living retired in Derby, Connecticut, enjoying the fruits of former toil. He came to this state about 1872. In religious faith he is a Roman Catholic and in polities is a republican. He is a man of high ideals, is quiet and unassuming and very devoted to his family.
Eugene F. Farley received his literary education at Yale College from which he was graduated in 1900 with the degree of B. A. At the age of seventeen years he began earning his own livelihood and while in college engaged in tutoring. Later he was employed as teacher of English in the Bridgeport high school for four years and in this way provided the means for his legal education. He was graduated from the Yale Law School in 1911 and at once entered upon the practice of his chosen profession at New Haven and has met with most excellent success, now having a large and representative clientage. On July 1, 1917, he was appointed assistant city attorney and is now ably serving in that capacity.
On the 31st of January, 1914, Mr. Farley was married in Norwich, Connecticut, to Miss Nelly A. Lyons, a native of that place. They are communicants of the Roman Catholic church, and Mr. Farley is also a member of the Knights of Columbus. In the line of his profession he is connected with the New Haven Bar Association, the Connecticut State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. The republican party finds in him a stanch supporter of its principles.
WILLIAM EDWARD DAVIS. JR.
William Edward Davis, Jr., engaged in the bonds and investment business in New Haven, was born February 1, 1879, in Hamden, Connecticut. His ancestors had lived in this state through several generations. He is a descendant of Avery Davis, who founded the American branch of the family. The great-grandfather of William E. Davis also bore
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the name of Avery Davis and the grandfather was Edward Davis, a native of Stafford, while the father, William Edward Davis, Sr., was born in Hamden. He became a successful brick manufacturer of New Haven, where the family has long been prominent. His political allegiance was given to the republican party and he took active interest in the moral de- velopment of the community, serving as a trustee in the Whitneyville church, in which he held membership. He died January 5, 1917, while his wife, who bore the maiden name of Sophia M. Tamblingson and was a native of England, passed away March 30, 1906. Their family numbered four children: Jessie Lee Dodridge, a resident of Hamden; William E .; Harold Minot, a brick manufacturer of New Haven; and Howard Sherman, now deceased.
William Edward Davis, after attending the public schools of Whitneyville, and the Hopkins grammar school of New Haven, became a student in the Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, from which he was graduated in 1897. He then entered Yale and won the Bachelor of Arts degree as a member of the class of 1902. Following his gradua- tion he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, and was employed in clerical capacities by the Northern Pacific Railway Company for two years. Returning to New York, he there entered the office of a private banker and thus received his initiation into the brokerage business. He continued with the New York house for seven years and then entered the bond business on his own account, establishing an office at No. 61 Broadway, New York. Later he opened an office at No. 902 Chapel street in New Haven. He is the author of a book on the subject of investments and has made many contributions to various magazines on questions of finance and investment.
On the 18th of November, 1915, Mr. Davis was married at Horseheads, New York, to Miss Caroline L. Eisenhart, daughter of Richard Gilbert and Alice (Clarke) Eisenhart. and a repre- sentative of an old Pennsylvania family. Mrs. Davis is a graduate of Elmira College of Elmira, New York. Mr. Davis gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has membership in the Quinnipiac and New Haven Country Clubs.
PRENTICE W. CHASE.
Prentice W. Chase, lawyer and author of New Haven, was born November 27, 1859, at Mystic, New London county, Connecticut, a son of Emery Edmond and Fannie (Babcock) Chase, both of whom were representatives of early New England families. The Chase family, of English origin, was founded in America by three brothers who, crossing the Atlantic when the work of colonization was scarcely begun in the new world, lived among the Indians of Massachusetts. The ancestral line of Prentice W. Chase is traced back directly to William, one of these brothers. Representatives of the name became residents of Chase Hill, Wind- ham county, Connecticut, and members of the family participated in the Revolutionary war.
Emery E. Chase was a blacksmith by trade and won a substantial measure of success in that field and at wagon manufacturing, which was a business of considerable importance in that section in his day. While his educational opportunities were somewhat limited, he was a man of marked native ability and held high position not only in business circles bnt in the regard of his fellowmen. His religious faith was that of the Baptist church. He passed away May 25, 1887, at the age of sixty-six years. His wife, Fannie Babcock, was a native of Connectient and a daughter of Jonathan Babcock, whose ancestors were early residents of Rhode Island. They came from England and at one time the family owned the greater part of the western section of Rhode Island. The ancestral history contains the names of many who were prominent in public office and in other connections. The death of Mrs. Chase ocenrred in 1893, when she had reached the age of sixty-nine years. Her family numbered eleven children.
Prentice W. Chase, who was the eighth in order of birth, acquired his early education in the public schools of Mystic and afterward entered Yale for the study of law, winning his professional degree by graduation with the class of 1887. Immediately afterward he entered upon active general practice, in which he has since continued and has made for himself a notable position at the Connectieut bar. A student by nature, his reading and research have covered a wide field and the results of his investigations have been given in part to the world through published volumes on economic and sociological questions.
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On the 6th of March, 1889, Mr. Chase was married in New Haven to Miss Nellie F. Sproat, a native of Massachusetts and a daughter of Thomas A. and Margaret (Sproat) Sproat, both of whom have now passed away. They were descended from an old Massachusetts family of Scotch extraction and the father died in August, 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Chase have but one ebild, Prentice T., who was graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School with the Ph. G. degree in 1912 and in June, 1917, the LL. B. degree was conferred upon bim.
The military record of Mr. Chase covers twelve years' service with the Governor's Foot Guard of New Haven and he was a member of Company A of the Third Regiment of the National Guard of Connecticut at New London. In politics he maintains an independent course, supporting men and measures rather than party and delving deep into the political problems of the day, so that his position is at all times based upon a thorough under- standing of vital questions in their farreaching influences. In 1898 he entered upon a two years' term as a member of the New Haven council. He holds membership with the Ancient Order of United Workmen in New Haven and with the Union League, while along strictly professional lines his connection is with the Connecticut Bar Association and the New Haven Bar Association.
EDWIN C. SMITH.
Edwin C. Smith is a director, stockholder and the manager of the Meigs Company, Incorporated, of New Haven, dealers in clothing and men's furnishings, theirs being one of the leading commercial establishments of the city. He started in the business workl in a humble capacity, and the steps in his orderly progression to his present position of importance are easily discernible. He is numbered among the native sons of Massachusetts. his birth having occurred at Hadley, March 29, 1873.
His father, Henry E. Smith, now deceased, was also a native of Hadley and a repre- sentative of one of the old families of Massachusetts, where they were residents for many generations. In fact the family was founded in America in colonial days, and some of the ancestors of Edwin C. Smith participated in the Revolutionary war. His father successfully followed farming at Hadley, Massachusetts, where he passed away in 1912 at the age of sixty years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Carrie Louise Cook, was also a native of Hadley. She passed away in 1894 at the age of forty-eight years, leaving two sons and a daughter; Herbert, a merchant and farmer of Hatfield, Massachusetts; Carrie Alice, the widow of F. Bixby and a resident of Springfield, Massachusetts; and Edwin C., of this review.
The last named. after attending the public schools, became a student in Hopkins Academy, an endowed school of Hadley, Massachusetts, and started out to earn his own living at the age of twenty years, being first employed as a conductor by the street railway company of Holyoke, Massachusetts, where he remained for six years. He spent the succeeding six years as an employe of Meigs & Company at Springfield, Massachusetts, serving in the capacity of salesman. He was then transferred, in 1901, to New Haven to become manager of the New Haven store, which position he has since continuously and successfully filled. He is also a director and stockholder of the Meigs Company, which was established in New Haven and incorporated May 12, 1878, with a capitalization of ninety-nine thousand dollars, an amount that has since been greatly increased. The original incorporators and officers were: William H. Rothwell of Brookline, Massachusetts, presi- dent; James E. Rothwell, of Brookline, treasurer; Frank D. Bell, vice president; and Edwin C. Smith, manager of the New Haven store. The Meigs Company also conducts a branch store at Bridgeport, having the leading establishment in that city engaged in the sale of men's clothing, hats, shoes and haberdashery. A large sales force is there employed, while the New Haven store employs on an average of twenty-three sales people. The New Haven business utilizes three floors of a building twenty-six by two hundred feet in the sale of clothing, furnishings, hats and shoes, and in point of trade theirs is one of the largest establishments in New Haven.
Mr. Smith also has other important interests. He has been quite an important factor in building operations, and with Judge C. J. Martin has developed a beautiful residence
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district known as Washington Manor avenue, on which they have erected a score or more substantial and attractive homes. This property is situated in West Haven and has added very materially to the city's growth and development. Individually Mr. Smith has also developed a traet on Hall street in West Haven, upon which he has erected eighteen residences that have been sold, and has also built several houses in Westville.
On the 6th of December, 1910. Mr. Smith was married in Thompsonville, Connecticut, to Miss Mabel Parsons, a native of that place and a daughter of Mrs. M. E. Parsons, a representative of an old Connecticut family. They have two children, Doris Louise, born January 3, 1912; and Marion Parsons, born December 8. 1915. Mr. Smith is devoted to the welfare of his family and he has never sought to figure prominently in any public connection, preferring to spend his leisure hours at his own fireside. He has, however, never neglected the duties of citizenship, and has done some important public work in his relation with organized interests. Politically he is a republican. For the past four years he has been a member of the town and city improvement committee and he is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Business Men's Association. He belongs to the Young Men's Republican Club, to the Masonie Club and to the Union League Club, and he is identified with the Masons and with the Odd Fellows. His military experience covers service with the Governor's Foot Guard. In social intercourse he is genial, kindly and sympathetic, and in business is the personifieation of the highest ethics and most rigid integrity.
WILLIAM WHITNEY HAWKES, M. D.
Dr. William Whitney Hawkes, long recognized as a distinguished physieian and surgeon of New Haven and now consulting surgeon to the New Haven Hospital, while at the same time he cares for an extensive private practice, was born in Davenport, lowa. June 7, 1857. Ilis father, Charles Morrill Hawkes, was a native of Maine and was a representative of an old Massachusetts family, tracing its lineage back to Adam Hawkes, who with his brother John came to America in 1630, settling in Saugus, Massachusetts. They were of the Quaker faith, to which many of their descendants adhered. On the maternal side Dr. Hawkes is a repre- sentative of the old Whitney family. being a descendant in the ninth generation of John Whitney, who came from England and settled at Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635. Cap- tain Benjamin Whitney, the great-grandfather of Dr. Hawkes, served in the Revolutionary war. in the Petersham Company. with the rank of second lieutenant, and later was under General Lee and finally was commissioned captain. It was in the early '50s that Charles M. Hawkes removed to the west, spending considerable time in Kansas. where he was engaged in the land and brokerage business. He also resided for a time in Davenport. Iowa. but in 1858 left that city with his family and returned to New England, settling in Portland, Maine. There he entered the sugar refining business, in which he became extensively engaged as a member of the firm of Lynch, Barker & Company. In 1875 he brought his family, consisting of his wife, four sons and a daughter, to New Haven. The sons are all graduates of the academic department of Yale and three of them are law graduates, one of the brothers re- ceiving also the degree of Master of Laws, while Dr. Hawkes won the M. D. degree. The daughter was graduated from Wellesley College with the Bachelor of Arts degree. The tather resided in New Haven for a number of years. He passed away in Denver, Colorado, in 1904. when he had reached the age of seventy-three years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Susanna Whitney, was a daughter of Newhall Whitney and a representative of one of the prominent New England families. Her grandmother was a daughter of Sir Thomas Whitehead, who was on Wellington's staff at Waterloo and afterwards became the first postmaster general of Canada. Mrs. Hawkes died in New York city in 1906 and, like her husband, is buried in Evergreen cemetery, New Haven.
Dr. Hawkes pursued his edneation in the public and high schools of Portland, Maine, and in Yale University, where he completed the academic course with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1879. lle then became a medical student at Yale and won his professional degree upon graduation with the class of 1881. He afterward spent one year as interne in the New Haven Hospital and then entered into partnership with Dr. Charles W. Gaylord, of Branford. Con- nectient, conducting offices in Branford and at Stony Creek. in New Haven county. In 1884
DR. WILLIAM W. HAWKES
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this partnership was discontinued and Dr. Hawkes removed to New Haven. He was inti- mately associated with Dr. Francis Bacon, at whose instigation he came to New Haven. This intimacy continued up to the time of Dr. Bacon's death. Since 1886 Dr. Hawkes has prac- ticed alone and has long occupied a prominent place in the front ranks of the medical fraternity in New Haven. His name is well known in connection with contributions to the leading medical journals of the country, his articles always commanding wide attention. He is an active member of the New Haven, the New Haven Connty, the Connecticut State and the American Medical Associations and is at times a valuable contributor to discussions in the meetings of those societies. While pursuing his medical course he taught gymnastics at Yale, succeeding Dr. Dudley A. Sargent as director of physical culture. Dr. Hawkes was offered the headship of a department of physical culture at Yale but preferred to begin the practice of his profession. From 1888 until 1913 he was attending surgeon in the New Haven Hospital. For the past quarter of a century he has been a director of that hospital and at the present time is consulting surgeon. He was also medical examiner for Branford and for North Branford for many years and at this writing is acting surgeon for the New Haven Yacht Club, which office he has filled for fifteen years. He was one of the founders of the Connecticut Naval Militia and its surgeon after the formation of the battalion. When the latter was ordered into camp at the opening of the Spanish-American war he examined the recruits and was ordered by the commandant in charge of the second line of Coast Defense to be ready with hospital corps and equipment to establish a coast hospital station some- where on the Atlantic border, but the emergency of the service quickly passed and the sta- tion was not required. He had been recommended and approved by the navy department for appointment as surgeon for temporary service but by reason of the early termination of hostilities and the exigencies of the service not requiring further appointments the depart- ment was unable to accept his serviees. He has been very active and prominent in pro- fessional connections, and colleagues and contemporaries speak of him in terms of highest regard in recognition of his ability and his close conformity to the highest standards of pro- fessional ethics.
On the 4th of June, 1890, in New Haven, at the residence of his wife's parents, Dr. Hawkes was united in marriage by the Rev. Henry L. Nichols, rector of Trinity church, to Miss Jennie Welton Pettis, a native of New Britain, Connecticut, and a daughter of George C. and Emily Nancy (Welton) Pettis, both of whom have now passed away.
Dr. Hawkes is fond of athletics and outdoor sports. While in college he was a member of the committee appointed to establish a summer athletic association and was awarded the first two prizes given by that organization. He was also a member of the Dunham Boating Club and rowed in some of its races. More than thirty years ago he began taking annual vacations, since which time he and Mrs. Hawkes have traveled extensively over the United States. Europe and South America. Their trips for a number of years have taken them to the fishing and hunting grounds of Maine and eastern Canada, and the Doctor's home contains some very fine trophies of big game that he has secured on these trips.
While Dr. Hawkes was a student in the Portland high school he wrote the libretto of an operetta, the proceedings of which production were used in starting the school library. He has written some verse for his own pleasure and entertainment and the work "Poets of America Listed" contains some of his writings. Dr. Hawkes belongs to Hiram Lodge, No. 1. F. & A. M .. of New Haven, having been identified with the Masonic order since 1888. HIe is a communicant in Trinity church and his interest in community affairs and public wel- fare is evidenced in his membership in the Chamber of Commerce. That he is appreciative of the social amenities of life is indicated by his identification with the New Haven Automobile ('lub, the New Haven Yacht Club, the Quinnipiac Club and the Graduates Club.
CHARLES T. LINCOLN.
Charles T. Lincoln, proprietor of the Lincoln Advertising Service of New Haven, was born February 15, 1874, in the city where he still makes his home, his parents being William A. and Fannie Eliza (Sperry) Lincoln. His father was a major of the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery during the Civil war. The son pursued his education in the Dwight school Vol. II-33
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of New flaven and entered upon his business career with the firm of English & Mersick, wholesale dealers and manufacturers of carriage hardware and supplies. He was after- ward for two years with the New Haven Rolling Mill Company and for two years with Cham- berlain Furniture & Mantel Company. Subsequently he spent seventeen and a half years with the Winchester Repeating Arms Company and. has been one year with the Frederick M. Ward Company. For several years he was a director and the auditor of the New Haven Progressive Building & Loan Association. His activities have thus been broad and varied and from each experience in life he has learned the lesson therein contained. Thus steadily advancing step by step, he has come to the position which he now occupies in the business eireles of New Haven as a representative and progressive man, conducting important interests as proprietor of the Lincoln Advertising Service.
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