USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Meriden > An historic record and pictorial description of the town of Meriden, Connecticut and men who have made it > Part 57
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Photo by Akers & Pigeon.
WM. P. KELLY.
and sure income. During the year 1886 and 1887 he was principal of Coe's Northwood Academy, North- wood, New Hampshire, and for the next three years was principal of the High and graded schools of South Hadley, Mass. On leaving that posi- tion in 1890 he accepted private school work for boys, in St. Louis, Mo. Be-
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
ing somewhat dissatisfied in this school he engaged in business in that city until the fall of 1891 when he was called to Worcester Academy, Wor- ·cester, Mass., a flourishing college pre- paratory school for boys. Here he remained until he was called to the principalship of the union schools of St. Johnsbury, Vt., in 1894. Within a few months from the beginning of this work he was made superinten- dent of all the schools in the town, and during his three years there he gave the schools their present organ- ization, and instituted the series of summer schools for the teachers of the ·county.
In 1897 he accepted the superinten- dency of the schools in Hudson, Mass., and two years later the same office in the town of Attleboro, Mass. After a work of six years in these schools during which the school system was greatly developed he was elected su- perintendent of the schools in Meriden, and began his duties on the first of August, 1905.
Mr. Kelly was married in 1896 to . Miss Lillian M. Lee, of Newport, R. I., and has two sons, David, born in 1899, and William P., Jr., in 1901. He attends the Center Congregational church and is a member of the Colo- nial Club.
WILLIS J. PROUTY.
May 22, 1865. He is the son of Henry J. and Parmelia (Roberts) Prouty, and his family is one of the oldest of the Bay State. He is a descendant of Richard Prouty, who settled in Scituate, Mass., in 1667, and whose great-great-grandson, David, was a soldier in the French and Indian war, also serving as a captain during the Revolution, and later a major of the militia. Adam, son of Isaac Prouty,
Photo by H. T. Shaw.
WILLIS J. PROUTY.
born in Scituate in 1721, removed to Spencer previous to 1750, where the family name has since been a promi- nent one.
Prof. Willis J. Prouty, principal of Willis James Prouty was given an excellent education by his pa- He graduated from the Spen- the Meriden High school, who has taken a prominent part as a public ed- rents. ucator, was born in Spencer, Mass., cer High school in 1883, after-
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SCHOOLS.
wards entering Tufts College, taking the academic course, and graduating therefrom with high honors, with the class of 1887. In 1896 he was con- ferred the degree of A. M. by his Alma Mater. He began his success- ful career as an educator by accepting a position as instructor in mathematics and bookkeeping at the Meriden High school soon after leaving college. Two years later he was made assistant prin- cipal, and in 1899 succeeded Prof. S. T. Frost as master of the school, which position he has since filled. Prof. Prouty's record as an educator of the youth has reflected much credit upon Meriden, and has proven that as a school manager he has few supe- riors. He has ever held not only the regard of the school board but of the pupils with whom he has entered into direct fellowship both in and out of the school room. In addition to his duties at the High school, Prof. Prouty has for two terms had charge of the evening schools of the town, namely 1887-8.
He is a prominent figure socially, being a member of the Zeta Psi of Tufts College, treasurer of the Home Club of Meriden, a member and for one year secretary of the Colonial Club, a member of the Meriden Golf Club and its executive committee, a past regent and collector of Alfred H. Hall Council, Royal Arcanum; a past councillor and collector of Invin- cible Council Loyal Association, li- brarian of the Meriden Scientific As- sociation, member of the executive committee of the Meriden Guild of
the Religious Educational Associa- tion, and member of the Committee on Historic Addresses, Events and Relics of the Meriden Centennial.
He was married in 1890 to Jennie W., daughter of Henry G. Smith, of Meriden, to whom one daughter, Mar- illa, has been born.
JOSEPH GERARD.
Joseph Gerard, A. M., principal of the Church street and also the Central Grammar school, was born at Mount Bethel, N. J. He is the son of William and Susan (Antho- ny) Gerard, also natives of New Jersey. His ancestors on the paternal side came from the Chan- nel Islands and settled near Phila- delphia. His great-grandfather shod Gen. Washington's famous white horse during the Revolution- ary War.
Mr. Gerard prepared for college at Centenary Collegiate Institute, Hackettstown, New Jersey, later entered Wesleyan University Mid- dletown, and after taking the regu- lar college course, was graduated in 1882 with the degree of A. B. This university afterward confer- ed upon him the degree of A. M.
Adopting teaching as his profes- sion, he began his first year as a pedagogue at East Hartford and continued his work as an educator at the public schools in Southing- ton, but in 1884 he was secured by the school committee of Meriden as
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
principal of the Old Road school. After fulfilling the duties of master of that school for five years, he re- signed and accepted an office in the United States custom house in New York City, after having qualified for the same by passing the required civil service examinations. At the end of two years, however, his love for teaching prompted him to relin-
JOSEPH GERARD.
quish his position in the custom house and again enter the educa- tional field. Soon after he was in- stalled in his old position as prin- cipal of the Old Road school, where he remained until appointed the successor of C. M. Williams at the West Main street school. Two years later when A. B. Mather was appointed as superintendent of
schools, Mr. Gerard succeeded him as principal of the Church street school, familiarly known as the Cor- ner school. This, the largest gram- mar school in the city, has ac- commodations for 600 scholars, and contains fourteen rooms all of which are taxed to their utmost and where he is assisted by fourteen teachers.
At the Central Grammar school the higher branches of the grammar grades are taught, and this school has been under his guidance since it Was acquired by the city
Mr. Gerard stands high in his profession and is a member of the State Teachers' Association, the Schoolmasters' Club, and is a trus- tee of the State Teachers' Guild.
He has also taken two courses at. Yale University, one in psychol- ogy and pedagogy and the other, school organization and supervision.
He was married in Middletown to Martha J. Chapman, daughter of Owen Chapman, and to this union have been born two children, Ruth Wilhelmina, not now living, and Owen Stephen Gerard, who gradu- ated at Meriden High School and from there entered Wesleyan Uni- versity.
Mr. Gerard is a member of the Home Club, the Colonial Club and Business Men's Association. In fraternal life he is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the B. P. O. E., No. 35.
In church affairs he and his fam- ily belong to the First Methodist Episcopal Church.
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SCHOOLS.
WILLIAM E. GARDNER.
William Elliott Gardner, principal of the West District School of Meri- den, was born at Lodi, Seneca Coun- ty, N. Y., January 14, 1861. His father was Edwin Forest Gardner, a native of Brooklyn, N. Y., who in his young manhood bought land and en- gaged in agriculture in Lodi where
WILLIAM E. GARDNER.
he married, Jane, daughter of Cor- nelius Compton. Mr. Gardner is also descended from the Catlin fam- ily of Connecticut and his grand- mother, Mary Catlin, lived in Litch- field.
After spending his early life on his father's farm and attending the common schools of the town he 16
graduated at the High School at Trumansburg, N. Y. He fitted for the work of an educator first at the Albany State Normal School, after- wards taking the teachers' course at the University of the City of New York, where he achieved high hon- ors in scholarship and took promi- nent part in literary and debating societies of the college, and later post graduate pedagogical courses at Yale College and the summer school at Martha's Vineyard. While fitting for his profession he taught several terms at country schools in New York State, but after his grad- uation from the Normal School at Albany, he was appointed principal of the Greenfield Hill School, Green- field Hill, Conn. His next school was at New Canaan, Conn., of which he was the principal for a period of six years. During the latter part of his stay in that town he also served as superintendent of schools.
In September, 1895, he was secured as principal of the Prattsville School in this town, where he remained for three years and until transferred to the West Main Street School in 1898 and where he now has ten assistants. Owing to the overcrowded condition of this school, which, at this writing, has an average attendance of 400, a new building now in process of con- struction has become an absolute necessity. Mr. Gardner is a most successful educator of the young, is a deep student of his profession, and enjoys the respect of his pupils and assistant teachers and the full con-
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fidence of the community. At his home he possesses a valuable library included in which are many books treating on educational subjects. Mr. Gardner is a member of the Colonial Club, the Meriden Grange and the First Congregational Church.
He has been twice married: first to Etta Perry of Greenfield Hill, Conn., who died in 1890. To that marriage two children were born. Elliott and Esther. Mr. Gardner was married, second, to Emily Ho- garth Covert of Interlaken, Seneca County, N. Y., and to that union two children, Pauline and Alan, have been born. Mr. Gardner resides with his family on Linsley avenue.
S. WATSON WARDEN.
S. Watson Warden, principal of the North Colony School is a native of Virginia. He was born Septem- ber 7, 1860, near Charleston, West Virginia, which, at the time of his birth, had not been set apart from its mother state.
He is a son of a Methodist clergy- man, and in his boyhood lived in different parts of that commonwealth. He, therefore, gained an extensive acquaintance in his native state which he values highly. He was brought up to fully value educa- tion, and after obtaining a common and normal school training began his college life in the Ohio Wesley- an University, but afterwards en- tered the University of West Vir-
ginia from which he graduated in 1886. He was enabled to receive his full college course by teaching school at intervals, thereby paying his own way.
After the graduation from the University of West Virginia, he was well qualified both by experience and knowledge to become master of a school. Mr. Warden came to
S. WATSON WARDEN.
Meriden in 1888 after having been at the head of a select private school at Goodground, L. I., and when se- lected by the district committee as master of the Hanover School, he made a valuable acquisition to the teaching staff of the Meriden public schools. After remaining in this school for a period of eight years,
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SCHOOLS.
he succeeded Joseph Gerard, in 1896, as principal of the Old Road School, which after the consolidation of the districts was given the name of the North Colony School, where he has since ably presided over the des- tinies of the pupils.
The increase in attendance, at this school, especially within the past year has been somewhat remarkable and has resulted in more than tax- ing the building of eight rooms to its fullest capacity.
The recent growth in attendance is caused by the acquisition of new manufacturing industries in that section of the town, resulting in the arrival in Meriden of a large number of new families, whose children are sent to that school. At the pres- ent writing Principal Warden has nine assistants, and from the pres- ent attendance at the school, 390, which bids fair to prove larger rather than decrease, additional school room seems an absolute nec- essity. At this school all the gram- mar grades but the ninth are taught.
Mr. Warden, in addition to his duties at the Colony School, during last season was master of the Meri- den Evening School, which this year had the largest attendance in the history of the evening schools of the town, or an average of ninety-five for the fifty nights comprising the term.
Mr. Warden is a prominent mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having filled all the chairs at Hancock Lodge in South Meriden, and being twice sent as delegate to the Grand Lodge of Connecticut. In his religious sym- pathies he is a Methodist and, with his family, attends the first Church of that denomination.
He was married to Henrietta M., daughter of Alvin Sweet of South Meriden, and to that mar- riage two girls and two boys have been born : Edna, Raymond, Mildred and Watson.
Photo by Akers & Pigeon.
H. DWIGHT BEEBE.
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BIOGRAPHIES
JERE DEWEY EGGLESTON.
Among her physicians Meriden pos- sesses none more esteemed by his pa- tients and friends than Jere Dewey Eggleston, M. D.
He was born in Longmeadow, Mass., October 28, 1853, his parents being Jere D. and Louisa (Carew) Eggleston and he is descended of a long line of New England ancestry, and in the seventh generation from Bigat Eggleston who was born in 1590 and came from Exeter, England to Dorchester, Mass., in 1630. He was a freeman in 1631, was an original member of Mr. Warham's church and with it moved to Wind- sor, Conn., in 1635, becoming one of the first citizens of that historic place: He died in September, 1674, and his wife, Mary, preceded him December 8, 1657. From his first American an- cestor, Dr. Eggleston's lineage is as follows: James, Nathaniel, Eben, Eli, and Jere D. Eggleston.
Dr. Eggleston is essentially a self- made man in the very best interpreta- tion of that term. His father's death, while he was yet an infant, followed not many years afterwards by that of his mother, threw the boy upon his own resources and developed in him those qualities which have united to
make his career eminently successful.
He began to be self-supporting at the age of thirteen, and, first by working on a farm and afterwards by teaching school, he prepared the way for the education which he had early determined should be his. He grad- uated from Williams College, and later from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City.
He began the practice of his pro- fession in Windsor Locks, Conn., and in about 1880 he removed to Meriden which has been his home ever since. It was not long after his coming to Meriden that he began to be known as one of the leading young physicians of the city. He threw himself heart and soul into the practice of his chosen profession, and his marked abilities, united with a pleasing address and genial personality, soon won for him a firm place in the opinion of all. He has kept abreast of the times in all his works, and his opinions on all subjects connected with his profession are eagerly sought, not only by his patients, but by his fellow practition- ers as well.
Dr. Eggleston's many professional calls have not kept him from other calls and pleasures, political and so- cial. His home is often thrown open for enjoyable events in the social life
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BIOGRAPHIES.
B. D
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
of the city and no one excels him as a host. In politics he is a Repub - lican and, although always a busy man, took the time to serve his city as alderman for several years. He is prominent in both Free Masonry and Odd Fellowship and is a member of local orders. He is also a prominent
zens and manufacturers, Thomas Duncan, who was a native of Scot- land, where he came from distinguished Scotch ancestry. The following children have been born
to them : Robert D., born March 7, 1882 ; Ralph B., born November, 1884, and died March 19, 1886; Jeannette L.,
Photo by R. S. Godfrey.
RESIDENCE OF DR. J. D. EGGLESTON.
member of the Meriden Medical so- ciety and the city hospital staff.
May 18, 1881, Dr. Eggleston was married to Elizabeth C. Duncan, of Poquonnock, Windsor, Conn., a na- tive of Poquonnock and the daughter of one of its former prominent citi-
bern April 18, 1887; Arthur J., born November 19, 1890, and Jere Dudley, born May 29, 1894.
The Eggleston home is a delightful one as many who have enjoyed its hospitality can testify, and an illustra- tion of which is here shown.
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BIOGRAPHIES.
E. T. BRADSTREET.
Edward Thomas Bradstreet, M. D., was born at Thomaston, Conn., Feb. 15, 1852. He is the son of Thomas J. and Amanda (Thomas) Bradstreet, and a descendant of the early colo- nial governors, Simon Bradstreet and Thomas Dudley, Governor Bradstreet having married Anne, daughter of
Photo by Akers & Pigeon. DR. E. T. BRADSTREET.
Dudley, before leaving England. His maternal grandfather was Seth Thom- as, for whom Thomaston was named. The father of Dr. Bradstreet grad- uated from Yale College in 1834, and soon after completing the course at the Andover Theological Seminary, was engaged to preach for six months at the Center Congregational church
at Meriden. Poor health affecting his voice soon after taking a church at Thomaston, he left the ministry. After filling various positions withhis father-in-law, Seth Thomas, in his clock factory, cotton mill and brass mill, including that of traveling sales- man, being probably the pioneer drum- mer of the brass trade, he adopted the more healthful occupation of improv- ing land and doing light farming. He died at the age of ninety years.
Dr. Bradstreet was educated at the Thomaston Academy, afterwards tak- ing the academic course at Yale Col- lege, and graduated in 1874 with the degree of A. B. He studied medicine at the College of Physicians and Sur- geons of Columbia University, from which he was graduated in 1877, and after a brief period, in which he was engaged in further study, he came to Meriden in the same year, and began the practice which he has ever since continued.
Since its organization Dr. Brad- street has been a member of the staff of the Meriden City Hospital, where he is now president of the medical board; and his services have always been highly· valued.
He stands high in his chosen pro- fession. He is a member of the Amer- ican Medical Association, Connecticut State Medical Society, New Haven County Medical Society, President of the Meriden Medical Society, one of the directors of the Gaylord Farm San- atorium, examiner for fourteen of the leading life insurance companies ; president of the Meriden Yale Alumni
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
Association ; since 1901 has served as medical examiner of the town of Mer- iden, and from 1882-1893 was a mem- ber of the New Haven Board of Ex- aminers for Pensions. He is a mem- ber of the First Congregational church, the Home Club, president of the Meriden Golf Club since its or- ganization, member Gov. Thomas Dudley Family Association and of the Sons of the Revolution. He is also one of the General Committee arrang- ing for the Centennial Celebration of the town.
He was married in 1875 to Alice E., daughter of Hiram and Sarah (Beers) Pierce, of Thomaston, Conn., to whom have been born Edward Dudley Brad- street, a graduate of Yale College in 1901, who has adopted painting as a profession ; Mary Thomas Bradstreet, and Alice Pierce Bradstreet, who died at the age of six years.
E. W. SMITH.
Edward Wier Smith, M. D., a rep- resentative physician and surgeon of note, and valued member of the city hospital staff, was born here October 17, 1854, and has for more than five decades been identified with Meriden's educational, social and medical inter- ests. His parents were David and Fi- delia (Parker) Smith, and his ances- tors won considerable distinction in the battles of the American Revolu- tion.
Dr. Smith acquired his early educa- tion in the schools of Meriden. This was followed by a course in the Hop-
kin's grammar school, New Haven, and Yale college, from which institu- tion he graduated in 1878.
During his college life Dr. Smith took considerable interest in athletics. He played on the Yale University baseball team and participated in con- tests with Harvard, Princeton and other educational institutions.
His predilection for a medical ca-
DR. E. W. SMITH.
reer took definite form when he en- tered the medical department at Yale, but like the great majority of pro- fessional men in former years, his col- legiate course was interrupted in his case, and at the end of a year, he turned his attention to teaching as a temporary makeshift. He did not lose sight of his goal, however, for in 1880 he returned to college to pursue
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BIOGRAPHIES.
the course upon which his hopes were centered, at McGill Medical school, in Montreal, Canada, by which institu- tion he was granted his diploma and degree of M. D. in 1882. He lost no time looking about for a suitable open- ing, but returned at once to Meriden and established his office in a desira- ble location that same year.
Dr. Smith's ambition to keep abreast of the times in his profession was further manifested when he pur- sued a post graduate course, in the medical college, New York City, in 1892. Dr. Smith has allied himself with various medical associations, in- cluding the Conn. Medical Society, American Medical Association ; Amer- ican Academy of Medicine and the Meriden Medical Society. He has ever kept in touch with the great strides that have been made in the medical and surgical fields and his success in the latter has won for him the admiration of his brother practitioners.
He was married October 14, 1885, to Helen B. Rice, daughter of Oliver and Abbie C. Rice, of Meriden, and their two children are Marion R. and David Parker Smith.
Dr. Smith is a member of the First Congregational church and is also a member of the Meriden Golf club and the Home club of Meriden, in all of which he takes a deep interest.
E. W. PIERCE.
Elbridge Worthington Pierce, M. D., was born in Northford, Conn.,
June 18, 1862. He is a son of the late Rev. A. C. Pierce, a Congregational clergyman, who removed to Brook- field Center, Conn., in 1870, and there was a pastor until his death in 1888. Dr. Pierce obtained his preliminary education in a private school in Brook- field, the Newtown (Conn.) Acad- emy, and the Sheffield Scientific School, of Yale; his professional edu-
DR. E. W. PIERCE.
cation in the medical department of the University of New York, the New York Postgraduate School and Hos- pital, New York Policlinic, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary and the out- patient department of Bellevue hos- pital.
He came to Meriden in September, 1885, and engaged in general prac- tice in partnership with Dr. E. W.
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
Smith but after seven years this part- nership was dissolved; and since then he has limited his practice to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat.
Dr. Pierce became a member of the medical staff of the Meriden Hospital when it was first organized and was elected secretary of the Medical Board, which position he has held to the pres- ent time.
He is a member of the American Medical Association, Connecticut Medical Society, New Haven County Medical Society and the Meriden Medical Association. He is a mem- ber of the Home Club and Meriden Golf Club.
He was married to Bessie Hubbard November 12, 1895, and to that union one son has been born.
E. A. WILSON.
Edgar Adams Wilson, M. D., ocu- list and aurist, and since its organiza- tion, a member of the hospital staff, is the only son of the late Dr. Grove H. Wilson, a former mayor of Meri- den and for many years a leading prac- titioner of the medical profession. He was born at Conway, Mass., Decem- ber 4, 1853. When he was four years old his parents removed to Meriden ; and he obtained his early education first at private school and later at the Corner school. He fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H., and was later graduated from the academic department of Yale College with the class of 1877. He studied medicine at the University of Penn- sylvania where he took the medical
course and received his diploma in March, 1881, and from the New York Homeopathic College in 1882.
He began his professional career by conducting a general practice at Rockville, Conn., where he remained from 1883 to 1888, afterwards engag- ing in general practice with his father until 1893 ; when he became the clini- cal assistant surgeon at the Manhat-
Photo by Akers & Pigeon.
DR. E. A. WILSON.
tan Eye and Ear Hospital. There he became intensely interested in that spe- cial branch of his profession, and since 1897 he has confined himself to the treatment of those diseases and continued practice in the office made vacant by the death of his father.
He was for five years city health of- ficer, and since 1893 has been health
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BIOGRAPHIES.
officer of the Town of Meriden and since its formation, in December, 1890, he has been secretary of the New Haven County Public Health Associa- tion. Dr. Wilson is a member of the various medical societies, also of the Alumni of the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, the New England As- sociation of Alumni of the University of Pennsylvania. As well as being a member of the city hospital staff, he fulfills similar professional duties at the Connecticut Masonic home at Wallingford. He is a member of Meridian Lodge, 77, A. F. & A. - M .; Alfred Hall Council, Royal Arcanum ; and also of the Home Club of Mer- iden.
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