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 71
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and still later was associated in a like capacity with W. F. Graham, on the Meriden Republican, remaining with this latter journal until December, 1885, when he went to the New Ha- ven Register. He was that paper's legislative reporter during the session of 1886. In April, 1886, with Fran- cis Atwater, F. E. Sands and Lew Al- len, he formed The Journal Publish- ing company, and was made secre- tary of the company and city editor of the paper, with which he has been ever since connected.
An active Democrat, he has been one of the leaders in his party in Mer- iden, and in the presidential campaign of 1900 he was elected chairman of the Town committee, and the Republican majority was reduced from 1,447 in 1896 to 54 in 1900.
Mr. Reilly has taken an active part in all progressive movements in Meri- den; is clerk of the school board, a director of the Curtis Memorial public library, and prominent in social and fraternal organizations, being a mem- ber of Meriden lodge, No. 35, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, in which he filled the office of exalted ruler for two terms; of the Ama- ranth club, in which he has filled the office of president for three years ; a charter member and organizer of Sil- ver City council, No. 2, Knights of Columbus ; a member of the Royal Ar- canum and the Maccabees. Much is due to Mr. Reilly for the stand he has taken in regard to sports in Meriden.
In 1884, in Blackstone, Mass., he was married to Marie E. Rowen, a
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THOMAS L. REILLY.
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school teacher of that town. To this union have been born seven children, Robert, Katherine, Mary, Louis, Ar- thur, Rose and Agnes.
HERMAN HESS.
Herman Hess, the present town and city clerk of Meriden, and who has he'd these offices for a longer period than any other man in the history of the town, was born in Meriden, April 4, 1861. He is of German parentage and the son of Frederick and Johan- na (Yooke) Hess. His father, whose death occurred in 1898, from his early manhood was a respected and indus- trious citizen of Meriden and was one of the first of his nationality to settle in this part of the state. He was for eighteen years employed in the mechanical department of the Mer- iden Britannia Company and pursued the calling of a burnisher until his death. He was a veteran of the Civil war, an honored member of Merriam Post, G. A. R., and both he and his wife were devoted members of the German Lutheran church of Meriden.
Herman Hess, than whom the res- idents believe there is none better fitted by ability and disposition to keep the records of both the town and the city, is a man liberally educated but his knowledge has been acquired largely outside of that limited educa- tion which his parents were able to give him. He attended the public schools only until he was eleven years 29
of age, when he left to become a cash boy in the store of W. H. Babb. He began on a salary of $2.50 a - week and remained in the store five years, during which time he spent his even- ings in home study thereby depriving himself the pleasures enjoyed by oth- er boys.
In 1877 he obtained a clerkship in the employ of the N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R., and served in the freight offices of that company both in Meriden and New Haven, and one year in the tick- et department. In 1882, he became a bookkeeper at the office of the Mer- iden Malleable Iron Co., where he re- mained for five years more, and added to his reputation as a skillful and ac- curate accountant.
He began his public career as city auditor in 1883, when he was elected . to fill a vacancy. In 1886, he was elected town clerk and registrar of vital statistics. In the following city election, of the same year, he was also chosen city clerk and has been re-elected each subsequent year to the present writing and since 1892, al- though a Democrat, has been honored with the nomination of both parties. His incumbency of the offices has been especially pleasing to the citizens of the town, for not only has he fulfilled the complicated duties in a manner most satisfactory to the public, but he has familiarized himself so thor- oughly with the town and city rec- ords that his services in his official capacity have become almost inval- table. Mr. Hess, from his promi-
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Hermantiens
. 45I
BIOGRAPHIES.
nence in public affairs, has natur- ally become one of the leading citi- zens of the town and no resident en- joys perhaps a larger personal popu- larity. Through his industry he has become somewhat endowed with earthly goods.
He is a trustee of the Meriden Sav- ings Bank and since 1900 he has been one of the directors of the Meriden National Bank, of which institution he is also the vice president. He is also a director of the Meriden Perma- nent Building & Loan Association. He is |prominent as well in the Ma- sonic fraternity, being at this writing, eminent commander of St. Elmo Com- mandery, K. T., and affiliated with Pyramid Temple, A. A. O. N., Mystic Shrine! He is also a member of Meri- den Center Lodge, No. 97, F. & A. M .; Keystone Chapter, No. 27, R. A. M .; Hamilton Council, No. 22, R. & S. M .; Meriden Center Lodge, 68, I. O. O. F. ; Myrtle Lodge, Knights of Py- thias ; is a member of the Elks and the American Order of Foresters, Meriden Turn Verein, Home Club and Colonial Club, and one of the di- rectors of the Meriden Board of Trade
On May 28, 1883, he was married to Eugenia DeCrosby, daughter of Norman W. and Ruth Ann (Nor- wood) Pomeroy. Their children have been Raymond Pomeroy and Ruth Imogene; the latter died in 1887. In his religious sympathies, he is with his family, an attendant of St. Paul's Universalist church.
IRVING L. HOLT.
Irving Lucius Holt, one of the leading business men of Meriden and tax collector of the town since 1893, was born in Somers, Conn., Septem- ber 5, 1851. He is a worthy descen- dant of one of the oldest families in Connecticut and is a son of Elijah and Nancy L. (Harwood) Holt. He traces his ancestry directly back to Nicholas Holt, born in England about 1602, who was one of the passengers on the ship "James," of London, which sailed from Southampton and arrived after two months' passage in Boston in 1635. He became one of the first settlers of Newbury, Mass., and in 1644 removed from there to become one of the first settlers of An- dover, Mass. Among his later fore- fathers was Caleb Holt, an early set- tler of Willington, Conn., one of the ratifiers of the constitution; Royal Holt, of Willington, married Lavina Lamb, a native of Vermont, whose father served in the Revolutionary war from the age of sixteen as a waiter boy for George Washington and continued in that capacity until the close of the war.
I. L. Holt obtained his early educa- tion in the district schools of Rock- ville, Conn., which was interrupted for a brief period by a service at the Glas- gow thread mills, but continued his education at Hall's boarding school at Ellington, Conn., and Williston seminary at Easthampton, Mass. The family removing to Meriden
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IL fox
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in 1870, he went to South Man- chester to teach his first school but soon after was engaged as a teach- er at the State School for Boys in Meriden, where he remained for two and a half years. He afterwards took a course at the Sheffield Scientific school at Yale, class of 1874; after which he became principal of the Prattsville school, Meriden, which po- sition he held for one year and re- signed to take up the insurance bus- iness in the office of the Meriden Fire Insurance Co., where he was assist- ant secretary, continuing with that company nineteen years until the hon- orable closing of its business, but March 1, 1892, with Frank A. Stev- ens, formed the firm of Holt & Stev- ens, which has ever since been a lead- ing insurance and real estate concern and whose business has grown to large proportions.
Mr. Holt has always been a staunch Republican and for many years has been a prominent worker in the ranks of that party. He has served as chair- man of the Republican Town com- mittee, registrar of voters and since 1893 has served continuously in his present office as collector of town taxes, and during which time he has collected over a million and a half dollars for the town. He is promi- nent in social circles, being an influ- ential member of the Home Club, is also connected with Meridian Lodge, 77, A. F. & A. M., and St. Elmo Com- mandery, 9, K. T., of Meriden.
He was married August 11, 1875, to Ella M. Rice, who died January 17,
1903, and who was a descendant of one of the oldest families of Connec- ticut and for many generations iden- tified with this locality. The children to this marriage are: Harry H., born May 28, 1878, a graduate of the Mer- iden High school, who for several years has been associated with his father in business ; and Ralph G., who died in infancy.
WILLIAM LEWIS.
William Lewis, a prominent resi- dent and financier of Meriden, now deceased, although a native of Queens county, Ireland, lived in Meriden nearly all his useful life. He was born in 1832 and as a child came to this country with his parents. He was given a good common school educa tion and he began business life it Meriden in a modest way by open- ing a confectionery and toy store on Main street. In 1882 he retired from mercantile business, having acquired some little property, including the his toric brick block situated at the cor ner of High School avenue and West Main street. This block he purchased from the late Levi Bradley, of Chesh- ire, and comprised the first brick block of its class in Meriden. A Democrat in politics, he became a candidate for town and city treasurer, his well known integrity secured him the elec- tion, although the town has ever been Republican, and he held the office con- tinuously for several years. He was once a second selectman and served as a member of the Corner school com-
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ervis
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mittee. As one of the incorporators, directors and trustees of the City Sav- ings bank Mr. Lewis was highly hon- ored in banking circles and his suc- cess in real estate ventures made him an important factor in business life.
For many years he resided in the brick block which he owned on West Main street but in 1895 he erected a fine residence on Platt avenue where he spent the last few years of his life and which since his death has been occupied by his three daughters and grandson, William Lewis Dorsey.
He was married to Margaret Flynn who died in Meriden in 1880 and to whom the following children were born : John T., May L. (Mrs. M. L. Dorsey, of the dry goods firm of Dor- sey & Harrison), Harriet A., Augusta J. and Catherine T., all of Meriden. Although a few years past the alloted three score and ten, Mr. Lewis was a man of strong, or wiry, physique and none supposed him to be in any other than the best of health. On the morn- ing of the day of his death, June 18, 1905, he was up and about his home but died from a violent hemorrhage of the stomach, before medical aid, which was hastily summoned, could reach him. His three daughters, all of whom are young women of rare personal accomplishments, and well- known in the social circles in which they are prominent figures, were the recipients of the fullest sympathy of the community as was evidenced in many ways.
The funeral services of Mr. Lewis were held at St. Joseph's Roman
Catholic church, of which he was an influential member. A solemn high mass of requiem was celebrated, of which the following clergymen par- ticipated : Rev. J. T. Lynch, celebrant ; Rev. P. Skelly, of Litchfield, deacon, and Rev. William Judge, master of ceremonies. The burial was in the Lewis plot at St. Patrick's Cemetery.
FREDERICK P. LOOMIS.
Frederick Porter Loomis, station agent of the N. Y., N. H. & H. Rail- road at Meriden, and a young man of marked executive ability, was born in Meriden May 4, 1871. He is the son of William C. Loomis, a veteran of the Civil war, who served as chief bugler in the First Connecticut Cav- alry, and who was for some years an officer of the State Reform school. His mother was Mary A. Porter, daughter of John B. Porter, a for- mer resident of Chestnut street, who was also one of the officers of the State Reform school.
Frederick Loomis is a descendant of Joseph Loomis, one of the original settlers of Braintree, Mass., who was born in Essex, England, in 1590, and became one of the proprietors of Windsor, Conn., in 1640. Daniel Loomis, the great, great grandfather of Frederick, showed his patriotism as a Revolutionary soldier by melting the weights of his clock for bullets.
When he was quite young the pa- rents of Frederick Loomis removed with him to Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended school, but he finished his
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Photo by Akers & Pigeon.
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BIOGRAPHIES.
education at the Meriden High school, his parents having taken up their res- idence in Yalesville where his father died in 1896 and where his mother still resides with the subject of this sketch.
In 1891 he entered the freight of- fice of the N. Y., N. H. & H. railroad as a clerk and worked up through the various clerical positions until he was entrusted with his present responsi- bility as station agent to which he was appointed by the company in 1901 and in which capacity he has since served with efficiency to the railroad and satisfaction of the pub- lic. Mr. Loomis' responsibility includes the charge of all prop- erty of the steam railroad inter- ests within the bounds of Meriden and the general oversight of nearly all the company's vast operations at this point. Under his charge is a force of eighty railroad employes. Since the discontinuance of the Cen- ter street station, the entire freight business has been handled at the Main freight station, the sheds of which are 300 feet long, and about 100 freight cars are emptied and filled daily. All of this calls for much executive abil- ity on the part of the present agent who, in dispatching his duties, has ever been accorded the name of serv- ing the public conscientiously and the railroad with equal efficiency.
Mr. Loomis, while not a member of any social organization, is a member of the Yalesville M. E. church where he is organist and musical director, succeeding his father.
He was married May 4, 1896, to Avaline E. Brown, daughter of A. J. Brown, superintendent of the Chas. Parker Company factory at Yalesville and to that union have been born two boys and two girls, as follows: Wil- liam Erwin, Frederick Brown, Mary Elizabeth and Emily Avaline.
GEO. E. BICKNELL.
George Edward Bicknell, first mem- ber of the Connecticut State Sen-
GEORGE E. BICKNELL.
ate from the new thirteenth (Meri- den) district, was born in Belfast, Me., November 25, 1861. A son of James M. and Sarah (Stevens) Bick- nell, he traces his ancestry in this country back to Zachary Bicknell of
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Norman extraction, who settled in Weymouth, Mass., coming from Lon- don, in 1635. He obtained his edu- cation and remained in his native town until he came to Meriden in 1880, since when he has become active in public affairs and a staunch member of the Republican party and several social and fraternal organizations by which he has been much honored. His public record is as follows: Member Meriden Common Council, 1896-7; one of the police commissioners of Meriden in 1900, 1901 and 1902 ; four years a member of the state legisla- ture from Meriden from 1901 to 1905 ; member state Senate 1905 and 1906. He is well versed in matters of finance and since 1903 has served as president of the Meriden Permanent Building and Loan association. Senator Bick- nell enjoys the confidence and respect of the community and is prominently identified with the following social and fraternal organizations : Meridian Lodge 77, A. F. & A. M., of which he was master in 1899; Keystone Chapter, R. A. M .; Pacific Lodge 87, I. O. O. F., and noble grand of which in 1893 and 1906; Meriden Camp, 771I, M. W. of A .; Silver City Lodge 3, A. O. U. W. and Colonial club of Meriden.
He was married in 1886 to Eleanor D. Stanley and their children are: Charles, Roscoe and Corinna.
EDGAR J. PERKINS.
Edgar J. Perkins, superintendent of the Charles Parker Company Spoon
Shop, was born in Meriden, November 20, 1852, and is the son of James Mon- roe Perkins, for several years a cele- brated engineer on the New York & Erie Railroad, but who spent the last portion of his life in Meriden, where he had become superintendent of the Charles Parker Spoon Shop, former- ly conducted by Parker & Perkins, which position he held at the time of
Photo by Akers & Pigeon.
EDGAR J. PERKINS.
his death, August 2, 1898. Edgar J. Perkins is the great-grandson of Elisha Perkins, a soldier in the Rev- olutionary War and one of the heroes of Bunker Hill.
Edgar J. Perkins, who since 1898 has been superintendent of the manu- facturing plant where his father, grandfather and uncle were engaged
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before him, entered the spoon shop to learn the trade of a tool maker, at the age of eighteen. Previous to this he had been thrown upon his own re- sources and had a varied experience. After attending school he had worked on neighboring farms and served as a coal passer on the Old Dominion Steamship Line, which plied between New York and Norfolk and Ports-
J. M. PERKINS.
mouth, Va. His mechanical ability at the spoon shop was soon demon- strated ; for he had ambition and de- termination to succeed. He finally entered the die-sinking shop in which he continued until he was appointed to the present position which he has since filled. The plant furnishes em- ployment to about 100 hands and un-
der his superintendency has continued to be an important branch of the great industry of Meriden, controlled by the Charles Parker Company. His abil- ity to manage the work and the large number of employes, of whom he has charge, has been significantly demon- strated.
He has for many years been an ac- tive Republican, has served as grand juror, tax collector and a member of the school board. He is a member of Center Lodge, 97, A. F. & A. M., and is extremely liberal in his religious views.
He was married in Meriden to Miss Ellie M. Smith and to them have the following children been born: Belle, Mrs. Leon Brainard, Hartford; Daisy, Mrs. George Farrow, Middle- town, and Howard, employed at the Charles Parker Spoon Shop as a tool maker. In 1900 from plans of his own, he had erected for him on Mid- dletown Road, one of the most com- fortable and comely residences of the town, where, with his family, he has dispensed genuine hospitality to a large circle of friends.
WALLACE A. MILES.
Wallace A. Miles, deceased, mayor of the city of Meriden in 1889, was a man of the people and was born in Southington in 1841. His parents, Almeron and Caroline (Lawrence) Miles, resided at the place of his birth but temporarily. Removing to Mer- iden when six months of age, he con-
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tinued to live here until the time of his death, December 16, 1904.
He was educated under a private tutor and finished his schooling at the Meriden academy and his first em- ployment was as a clerk in the Meri- den post office where he continued un- der postmasters Yale and Ashahel H. Curtis. After faithful service there he entered the factory of the Charles
WALLACE A. MILES.
Parker Co., where he held the posi- tion of shipper, afterwards engaging in the hardware aand crockery busi- ness with Eli C. Birdsey under the firm name of Birdsey & Miles. Dur- ing his connection with the firm they manufactured stationer's hardware. In 1876 the partnership was dissolved,
and Mr. Miles took the manufactur- ing business which he continued un- til 1888 when he gave up his business, having been elected mayor of the city.
Mr. Miles was a man who enjoyed the fullest confidence of his fellow townsmen and was honored at various times by election to public office, the duties of which he dispatched with a conscientious regard for the taxpayers and the citizens. He was collector of taxes in 1875-76-77, and in the last year became one of the board of as- sessors, serving for a number of years in that capacity. In 1886 he was chosen a member of the board of ed- ucation and he was from 1875-1877, a period comprising three terms, a rep- resentative from Meriden in the state legislature. In politics he was a Dem- ocrat and when he was chosen mayor of the city in December, 1888, his ad- ministration, conducted in the inter- est of the people, was highly gratify- ing to the city.
Mr. Miles was a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted in the 27th Conn. Vols. in April, 1862, serving until Au- gust, 1863. When Merriam Post was formed he was one of the first to be- come one of its comrades and as such continued until he was called by the Almighty to his reward. Of this post it was his intention to publish a his- tory of its members, but his life was not spared to complete the work he had well in hand, and after his death a large amount of manuscript which he had gathered was turned over to others. His death caused a severe
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loss to Meriden and he is survived by a widow, residing on Broad street, in his late residence.
SIDNEY D. TUFTS.
The death of Sidney D. Tufts on November II, 1891, at the age of 46, marked the passing away of an upright man and public-spirited citi- zen. For twenty-three years, Mr. Tufts was a contractor at the Wil- cox Silver Plate Company (now Fac- tory N, International Silver Com- pany ).
Meriden is proud of men who have done their duty as they have seen it, putting forth their best efforts in their daily work, even when that work brought no high rewards. Such a man was Mr. Tufts. He had a wide circle of acquaintances and friends who were attracted to him because of his sterling qualities.
Mr. Tufts was a quiet, domestic man, one who found pleasure in his own cheerful home. He was a firm believer in fraternal life also and was affiliated with many of the orders prominent in the city. He was a leading member of Meriden Center Lodge, I. O. O. F., Columbia Coun- cil, O. U. A. M., Electric Lodge, N. E. O. P., and for a time a member of Dasis Encampment. The friendships Formed in these organizations were many and congenial and his death caused sorrow that was deep and genuine.
He was held in high regard by the officers of the Wilcox Silver Plate Co.
and by the men who worked under him. In his business relations he was strictly honest and just and the many years he held the contract in the rouge buffing department is an indication of the satisfactory quality of his work.
Mr. Tufts' home at 9 Gladwin place was a most hospitable one and there he and Mrs. Tufts were wont to find comfort and contentment. They
SIDNEY D. TUFTS.
were ever ready to receive their friends and the latter were able to gain an insight into what might well be termed a model household. Mr. Tufts' wife survives him. He left no children.
It is such men as Sidney D. Tufts who constitute the backbone of Meri- den or any other progressive commun- ity. A manufacturing city needs
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more than "Captains of Industry." It requires that the men at the bench and those set over them shall be faith- ful in the performance of their duty, that they shall ever be alive to the best interests of the institution for which they labor, that they shall be alert in the endeavor to bring about improve- ments. Added to this is the broad- minded and intelligent interest in the affairs of the city and country. In the enumeration of these qualities Mr. Tufts' character is described.
W. E. BENHAM.
Welcome E. Benham, founder of the Young Men's Christian Association, of Meriden, the first to construct its own building in New England, and one whose life was devoted to relig- ious labor, was born in Cheshire, Sep- tember 9, 1820, and died at Meriden August 23, 1898. He was educated in the Cheshire common schools and Southington academy. After
his graduation from the latter, he taught district school for three winters, and afterwards concluded his education at the Oberlin, O., Collegiate Institute, where he was a student from 1837- 1841, but on account of ill health was compelled to give up his studies.
In 1847, having regained his health, he became a traveling bookseller, cov- ering a territory in central Connecti- cut, for over a period of thirty years, his sales during that time, a portion of which were Bibles, aggregated $200,000. In 1850 he made a tour abroad, visiting England, Ireland,
France and Italy, and in 1854 he mar- ried Martha Street, daughter of James Street and Betsey Scott, and settled permanently in Meriden and thereaf- ter devoted much of his useful life to the educational and spiritual welfare and comfort of its people.
From sixteen years of age his life was that of a most devout and exem- plary Christian. Through his efforts
W. E. BENHAM.
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