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 83
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H. K. White spent his boyhood days on the home farm and obtained such education as he could secure at the district school in winter and reading instructive books at home. He showed a love for music when a boy of tender years ; this developed as he grew older into an unusual talent. Long before the age of twenty he became a teacher in the singing school and leader of choruses and was a fa- miliar figure in musical circles throughout the state.
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MANUFACTORIES.
In 1841, having learned scientific tuning of pianos and organs he went west and engaged in that calling, traveling somewhat extensively for some four years. In 1845 he located in Colchester and in the employ of
factory being at New London, Conn.
In 1853 he moved the then modest industry to Washington, N. J., where he continued until the breaking out of the Civil War, when like many oth- ers he suspended business to await de-
MUSIC ROOM, THE WILCOX & WHITE CO.
Denison Smith first began his career in the manufacture of musical instru- ments. Two years later through in- dustry, perseverance and strict econ- omy he was enabled to engage in the manufacture of melodeons, his first 42
velopments, remaining in Philadelphia and vicinity until 1865, when he was called to Brattleboro, Vt., by the Estey Organ Company to take charge of their tuning and action department, taking with him his family, and where
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
his sons also obtained positions where they also rose rapidly.
It was in 1876 that Mr. White and his sons succeeded in interesting Mer- iden capital to such an extent that with the co-operation of the late Hor- ace C. Wilcox in 1877, the Wilcox & White Organ Company was organized. The industry was welcomed by Meri- den people, and has been a success from the start and until recent years, when he has earned a rest from the cares of business, he was actively en- gaged at the factory.
Not a little of the great success that has been achieved by the company is due to his genius and the encourage- ment of his sons and his grandsons, whose ambition to leave the world. a class of musical instruments that has made the name famous, has been fully realized.
Mr. White has served both the town and city of Meriden in public office. He has been a member of the Board of Aldermen, being chosen to represent the Fifth ward and in the discharge of his duties as a member of the city government he won the gratitude of his constituents and the city at large. For many years he was re-elected a member of the school committee and was the first chairman of his district. The interest that Mr. White has taken in the education of the young in Meriden never failed to be shown in his every act as a member of the school board.
Mr. White has been twice married, first to Lucy Cornwell, daughter of William and Julia (Roberts) Corn-
well, of Middletown, Conn., and af- ter her death, which occurred Febru- ary 18, 1867, to Mrs. Betsy Herrick, daughter of Benjamin Stickney, of Dummerston, Vt. By his first mar- riage he had four children as follows: James H., president and treasurer of the Wilcox & White Company ; Ed- ward H. and Howard (both deceased), and Julia Cornwell, now Mrs. Silas Donovan, of Meriden.
Mr. White is a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity, being a Knight Tem- plar.
Not long since an octogenarian, and although he has suffered a paralytic shock, he is still clear of eye and keen of intellect, and distinguished from the fact that he is probably the oldest liv- ing manufacturer of musical instru- ments in New England.
James Henry White, president and treasurer of the Wilcox & White Company and eldest son of H. K. White, was born in Westfield, Conn., September 26, 1847. He obtained his education in Somerville, Washington and Phillipsburg, N. J. When the family moved to Philadelphia -during the Civil War he entered the famous mercantile establishment of John Wanamaker, where he embraced the opportunity and obtained a thoroughly practical business training.
When his father removed to Brat- tleboro, Vt., however, and assumed charge of the tuning and action de- partment of the Estey Organ Com- pany, young White rapidly adapted himself to the work of assisting his father in the tuning of the instruments.
Its,
4
Henry K. White.
FOUR GENERATIONS OF THE WHITE FAMILY. Frank C. White. H. Foster White.
James H. White.
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
By close application to his work and a studious performance of his duties and with his father's guidance, he advanced rapidly and in a few years obtained a position fully as responsi- ble and important as that held by his father.
After remaining in Brattleboro for a period of thirteen yeears, his ability together with that of his father and brothers, was recognized by the late H. C. Wilcox to such an extent that he was induced to come to Meriden and in the formation of the present company of which for so many years he has been the practical head, he took the leading part.
The history of the company is but a creditable reflection upon his able management for in past adversity and later successes he has been the same able financier, kind employer and val- ued citizen. Although a man upon whom his business has made urgent calls, he has never shirked his duty to his fellow citizens in matters where public interest and local pride were concerned. He has represented the Fifth ward in the city council but has never sought nor accepted any other public office. He is on the board of directors of the Home Na- tional Bank, one of the trustees of the First Congregational Church and a prominent member of the Home Club of Meriden.
He was married December 1, 1868, to Kate, daughter of Samuel T. R. and Martha (Brown) Cheney, of Brattle- boro, Vt., and they have three chil- dren : Frank Cornwell, one of the of-
ficers of the Wilcox & White Com- pany, and who has invented many val- uable improvements to the Angelus ; Grace Louise and Florence May (Mrs. Harry Smith). During the prepara- tion for the Centennial celebration by the citizens of Meriden Mr. White has taken a most important part, be- ing a member of the general commit- tee and chairman of the committee on finance.
The late Edward H. White, from the first inception of the industry to the time of his death, with his fath- er and brothers in the Wilcox & White Company, was born in Washington, N. J., on April 5, 1855. His early busi- ness training and his experience in the manufacture of musical instru- ments were at the works of the Estey Organ Company, at Brattleboro, Vt. When the Wilcox & White Company began the manufacture of organs he supervised from the beginning the tun- ing and voicing of the instruments. His name will ever be famous in his- tory from the fact that he conceived the idea of a practical device for play- ing the piano mechanically by means of music rolls which invention was first produced by the Wilcox & White Company in 1895 and which was the original Angelus but since largely im- proved upon by the company and which leads the world in its class.
Mr. White's original invention cre- ated a marvelous sensation in the mu- sical world immediately ; and it is now used in every country on the globe and although some time after other inventions for the same purpose were
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MANUFACTORIES.
created by imitators, the patent taken out by Mr. White and the company in which he was interested have pro- tected the Angelus from the damaging infringement of others.
During the lifetime of Mr. White he served as secretary and superinten- dent of the Wilcox & White Company from its re-organization. He was "a man possessed of a very lovable dis- position and was kind and considerate to his fellow men and exceedingly de- voted to his family.
When very young he was married to Mary Carter, a daughter of the late Bela Carter, and upon his death left besides his widow, one son, Allan White, a prom- ising young man of somewhat deli- cate health. His widow resides at the corner of Britannia and Griswold streets, Meriden, and is much beloved in the community. Her simple life is spent in a great measure carrying out the same charitable benevolence that characterized their daily life before the death of her husband.
Howard White, who until his death on December 9, 1897, was superinten- dent of the Wilcox & White Com- pany, was born in Somerville, N. J., September 9, 1856. He was the youngest son of H. K. White and was possessed of much mechanical genius and musical talent, both of which he inherited from his father. Like his brother, J. H. White, he obtained his first insight in the manufacturing of musical instruments at the works of the Estey Organ Company, in Brat- tleboro, Vt., previously from sixteen
to eighteen years of age, having as- sisted his father in tuning pianos in Philadelphia.
From the organization of the Wil- cox & White Company up to the time of his regretted decease, he took a most important part in the growth and development of the concern. During his life his fertile brain did its full part toward making inventions and im- provements to the Symphony and An- gelus and his watchful eye was ever on the alert in keeping the different departments of the large industry up to the highest standard. He was not only one of the best known manufac- turers in Meriden but a valued citizen whose death caused a great loss to the community. He was a social favor- ite and a member of the Home Club of Meriden and was generous to a fault in alleviating the deserving cases of necessity among his fellow men. He was married in 1880 to Flora A., daughter of Russell J. Ives, of Meri- den. Upon Mr. White's decease he left a widow and two boys, Russell Ives and Stanley White, who reside in Meriden.
Frank C. White, son of J. H. White and grandson of H. K. White, was born on October 28, 1870, obtained a good school education, entered the employ of the Wilcox & White Com- pany in 1887, and has from early boyhood been of a very inventive and mechanical turn of mind; his whole time is now devoted to the experi- mental department ; has produced and patented numerous ingenious devices for the still further improvement of
22
A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
the instruments manufactured by The Wilcox & White Company, which stand foremost in the musical world. He is also a director of the company.
Robert W. Carter, secretary of the Wilcox & White Company, and one
ROBERT W. CARTER.
of the Board of Police Commissioners of Meriden, is a son of the late Bela Carter. He was born in Meriden Au- gust 29, 1871, and graduated from the Meriden High school in 1888. Af- ter associating himself with his fath- er's business for a few years, he en- tered the office of the Meriden Bri- tannia Company where he remained for five years in the invoicing depart- ment. He afterwards efficiently filled the position of cashier. in the office of W. J. Kingsland in New York City, an extensive manufacturers' export agent.
.
In 1900 he succeeded his brother- in-law, the late Edward H. White, as secretary of the Wilcox & White
Company, in which large concern he is also one of the directors. He is a Republican in politics and at the age of twenty-four was elected a member of the Common Council from the Scc- ond ward. In 1905 he was appointed a member of the Board of Police Com- missioners by Mayor Seeley. He is prominent in social life, being a mem- ber of the Home Club, the Meriden Golf Club and the Colonial Club of Meriden. He is also a member of Al- fred H. Hall Council, Royal Arcanum.
Fred E. Bemis, who since 1899, has been superintendent of the Wilcox &
6
FRED E. BEMIS.
White Company, was born in Boston February 6, 1863, a son of Orlando and Frances (Cheney) Bemis. . His father is engaged in the meat business in Oakland, California. He traces his
1
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MANUFACTORIES.
ancestry on the maternal side back to the Revolutionary War period when his great-grandfather was a soldier in the Continental army.
Mr. Bemis was educated in Brattle- boro, Vt., and Oakland, Cal., and has been connected with the Wilcox & White Company ever since its organ- ization. He attained the office of su- perintendent entirely on his own mer- its and his almost unlimited capacity for work coupled with his great ex- ecutive ability make him a most valua- ble officer of the company.
He is a member of Meridian Lodge, F. and A. M., Keystone Chapter, and Hamilton Council, R. & S. M., Alfred H. Hall Council, Royal Arcanum. He married Miss Bertha S. Carter, daugh- ter of the late Bela Carter, and they have two sons, Leslie Carter Bemis and Robert Cheney Bemis.
MERIDEN CUTLERY CO.
Among the many business enter- prises that unite to give to Meriden a world-wide reputation as a manufac- turing center, one of the oldest and most prosperous is the Meriden Cut- lery Company. Although not one of the largest concerns in the city, this company, through the able and con- servative management of its officers, has been enabled to sustain, during the seventy-three years of its existence, a reputation for offering to the public the very best that can possibly be pro- duced in its line of goods.
In 1832 David Ropes commenced the manufacture of table cutlery at
Saccarappa, Maine, and was the first to attempt the production of this class of goods in America. As he pur- chased his ivory handles of Julius Pratt & Co., who made ivory combs in Meriden, in 1846, he came to South Meriden to manufacture cutlery, there being an excellent water privilege there which is still the only motive power, and a company was formed called Pratt, Ropes, Webb & Com- pany. In 1855 the company was in- corporated under the name of Meriden Cutlery Company, which name it has ever since borne. Julius Pratt was the first president, and J. B. Beadle, secretary and treasurer ; Mr. Beadle was later made general manager which office he held at the time of his death in 1877; while Randolph Linsley was traveling salesman. The capital was at first $75,000, which has been in- creased to $400,000.
In 1878 the offices of the company, which had been situated in New York, were moved to Meriden. In 1879 came a change in the list of officers, Aaron L. Collins being chosen presi- dent, Homer A. Curtiss secretary, and George M. Howell, treasurer.
The early sixties were especially prosperous for the company, a patent on a hard rubber handle giving them a very large trade in that particular line of goods. Through wise and conservative management, Mr. Collins kept the concern on a firm basis as long as he lived. At his death, which occurred in 1903 Homer A. Curtiss was chosen president. The present officers are as follows: President and
FACTORY OF MERIDEN CUTLERY COMPANY.
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MANUFACTORIES.
Treasurer, Homer A. Curtiss ; Secre- tary, Thomas A. Benham; Assistant Treasurer, J. P. Grosvenor ; Superin- tendent, R. W. Hallam; Directors, Walter Hubbard, John L. Billard, C. L. Rockwell, A. Chamberlain, F. B. Wilcox, J. M. Gildersleeve, R. W. Hallam, B. W. Collins and H. A. Curtiss.
When the company was first start- ed, the production was limited to
HOMER A. CURTISS.
ivory-handled knives and forks, but the line has gradually increased until it has embraced everything that would naturally come under the head of ta- ble cutlery. These include table knives and forks, carving sets, butcher, bread, cook's, kitchen and shoe knives, putty knives, spatulas, cork screws, pie knives, orange knives, berry
spoons, orange spoons, cream ladles, sugar shells, oyster forks, pickle forks, cheese scoops, etc., their specialty be- ing the famous Anvil brand carvers.
For the handles of these various ar- ticles the ends of the earth have been required to yield their bounty. The depths of the mines give forth their ore for steel and silver; the moun- tain heights their stag horn; the bot- tom of the Indian Ocean its pearl ; Madagascar its ebony; the African jungle its ivory ; the South Ameican forest its rubber and cocobola wood. All this material, collected as it is, from every corner of the globe, the Meriden Cutlery Company gives back to the world a finished product, the quality and workmanship of which cannot be surpassed either in this or foreign countries.
THE C. F. MONROE COMPANY.
A concern which for some years has added much fame to Meriden as a manufacturing center and which within recent years has experienced a most remarkable growth is the C. F. Monroe Company. The business was established by Charles F. Monroe in 1886, and has been carried on by him with remarkable success. The history of the business, therefore, for the past twenty years, is a history of its president and treasurer ; for by his own indefatigable energy and ex- ercise of talent coupled with an ex- hibition of rare executive ability has the success of the now large factory been attained.
FACTORY OF THE C. F. MONROE COMPANY.
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MANUFACTORIES.
Mr. Monroe is a native of Provi- dence, R. I., where he obtained his early education. When the old Flint Glass Company was started in Meriden by the late Horace C. Wilcox, Mr. Monroe was engaged as a design- er by that company. After giving the glass company the benefit of his much appreciated services for some years, he went to Europe. Upon his return
the manufacture of decorated glass ware, his first location being on the second floor of the Carter building which adjoined the works of the Mer- iden Britannia Company,' on State street, and where he soon made his name famous in the manufacturing world by putting upon the market a line of decorated goods, most origi- nal and attractive, known as "Wave
OFFICE, C. F. MONROE COMPANY.
From abroad Mr. Monroe opened an art store, the location of which was n the Guy building. In addition to onducting that commendable business le was called upon to do designing by utside parties. The demands made pon him finally became so great that t the end of three or four years he pened a factory of his own and began
Crest" ware. These goods have ever since been eagerly sought for by buy- ers in all parts of the United States.
Upon the advice of H. C. Wilcox, in whom he had a most valued friend, Mr. Monroe erected a building on the present site which comprised a two and a half story wooden structure 30 by 62 feet in dimensions.
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
In 1891 a building three stories in height, 62 by 32 feet, was added to the factory ; and the same year the roof of the original building was raised another story, making more than double the original capacity for the busy industry.
moved to a position nearer Main street, making a building 125 feet long, the whole of which was raised to five stories in height on the old foundations. At this time another but entirely new building 125 by 30 feet, of three stories, was erected on
CHARLES F. MONROE.
In 1900 Mr. Monroe purchased the land next the factory extending as far as Main street, which he caused to be filled in by his concern at a great expense. Again the factory was still further and more noticeably enlarged. The old buildings were separated and
an angle with the main building. The factory has recently become possessed of an entirely new power plant, with its imposing and stately chimney, which was completed in July, 1905. After the old power house was torn out the plant was equipped with a
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MANUFACTORIES.
large enough engine and boiler and also a generator of sufficient voltage capacity to supply the entire factory not only with electric lights but with motor power for all the different de- partments.
It was but a few years after Mr. Monroe removed to the present loca- tion that glass cutting was added to his output of decorated goods.
A short time after the addition of the cut glass department came that of metal goods. The latest de- parture of the Monroe Company is the sterling silver department which turns out ware unsurpassed either in design or make in this country or Europe.
The factory of the C. F. Monroe Company gives. employment to 200 hands, many of whom are accomp- lished artists, engravers and design- ers-necessarily a class of workmen who call for a large weekly pay-roll on the part of the company. The fac- tory adds more than a little to the prosperity of Meriden and is not only healthfully located, but has been im- proved to such an extent, both in its artistic interior and attractive grounds, that it is known to the trade as one of the best and neatest kept manu- facturing plants in all New England. Its office and show rooms are fitted up artistically and the goods dis- played are of such excellence of mechanism and beauty of pattern that the place furnishes a most interesting sight for visitors to frequent. In fact, even the people of Meriden and vicin- ity are attracted there frequently and seem to take a pardonable pride in
showing their friends the dainty arti- cles made there which are so suitable for wedding and other gifts.
Both the show rooms and office's are more than ordinarily attractive and they have been fitted up and arranged by Mr. Monroe's artistic eye.
Mr. Monroe conducted the business alone until 1892 when, on account of the large increase of business, he found it necessary to form a corporation re- taining a large portion of the stock himself and continuing as the active head and holding the offices of both president and treasurer to the present writing. The company is capitalized at $40,000 and the value of the plant represents to-day an investment of over $200,000.
Mr. Monroe is a member of the Board of Trade and of the general committee of the Meriden Centennial celebration. He is si- lently interested in several other en- terprises besides the concern which bears his name. His efforts in the for- mation of the Home Club resulted in securing the present club house ; and in raising the funds for which he as- sumed the burden of a great responsi- bility. Mr. Monroe has been presi- dent of the Home Club, of which he is a most valued member ; and he is prominent in both social and yachting circles.
He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and was one of the founders of the New Bedford Yacht Club, of which he now holds the distinction of being one of the three honorary members. He is also
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
a member of the New York Yacht Club and an ex-commodore of the Pequot Yacht Club of New Haven. Until recently Mr. Monroe owned and sailed the "Sylph," one of the finest schooner yachts on the Atlantic coast.
THE E. A. BLISS COMPANY.
Meriden, at the close of its first century, is possessed of many manu- factories in which it takes pardonable pride ; and among its many thriving concerns is the E. A. Bliss Company. This company has experienced re- markable growth and its output, com- prising novelties for personal adorn- ment made in nickel, silver, gold and silver plate, combined with enamel, leather and comb-making material, is of a character particularly creditable to Meriden and the progress of hu- man handiwork of the present ad- vanced age ..
The company, known as the "Tif- fany" of the plated novelty trade, has justly and fairly earned that sobri- quet ; for it leads the whole United States in its line-a position which the E. A. Bliss Company has long since been most happily accorded.
The company began business in North Attleboro in 1875 and after fifteen years of unabated success were obliged to seek larger quarters for the manufacture of their goods; and, fortunately for Meriden, found a fac- tory here well suited to their needs and which they occupied in July, 1890. To this several enlargements have been made from time to time, the
most important of which was in 1903 when sixty-five feet were added to the three-story brick structure, making the main factory building 200 feet in length. In 1905 the basement was excavated the whole length of the fac- tory, giving still more space. The en- tire building is now being utilized to its fullest extent and the plant is ad- mirably lighted and equipped with every modern improvement; and the machinery, the latest and most practi- cal, comprises several labor-saving de- vices gotten up and adopted by the concern for their sole use.
By continuously keeping up the quality of their goods to the highest possible standard, for the company ยท cater only to the highest class of trade, the business has grown rapidly and with such strides that at this writing it has reached large propor- tions, being the largest of its kind in the Union, its fame extending to every state from Maine to California. Em- ployment is furnished to 300 hands, many of whom are required to be not merely skilled, but talented artisans.
The interior of the large and busy factory is a model of neatness and the working hours of the employees are occupied amid healthy, clean and cheerful surroundings; so with fair and even liberal treatment from the concern it is that the best results are obtained.
There is no part of the large fac- tory but is blessed with an abundance of daylight ; and the plant is lighted when necessary with its own incandes- cent electric lighting plant, the equip-
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