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 86
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PART OF MAIN QUARRY.
CRUSHER SHED AND STORAGE BINS.
MERIDEN PLANT OF THE CONNECTICUT TRAP ROCK QUARRIES, INCORPORATED.
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MANUFACTORIES.
miles or less from Meriden, had been established, notably those of B. D. Pierce, Jr., Co., at Middlefield ; The Cooke Stone & Ice Co., at Plainville, and The Rocky Hill Stone Co., at Rocky Hill.
In 1902 a consolidation of these companies was effected under the name of The Connecticut Trap Rock Quarries, Incorporated; and this company now operates the crushing plants at the several points named, supplying the trade offered by the cities and towns reached by the N. Y., N. H. & H. system.
Since Mr. Lane's original venture in 1890 the use of concrete has come into almost universal practice for foundation and similar work. The several states have taken up the ques- tion of improved highways and an- nually build miles of stone roads, and there is scarcely a town or city which has not its system of macadam roads. The value of rock ballast on the rail- roads, too, has been fully demonstrat- ed, and its necessity on roads of im- portance is admitted both for econom- ical maintenance and comfort of the traveling public. These several in- fluences have brought about a steady and healthy growth of the business.
All of the former managers of the independent quarries retain their in- terests in the Connecticut Trap Rock Quarries, Inc., and form its executive staff, as follows:
President-Bradford D. Pierce, Jr. Treasurer-Arthur S. Lane.
Secretary-Irving S. Tinker.
General Superintendent-James H. Cooke.
The general office of the company is at IOI Meadow street, New Haven, Conn.
KELSEY PRESS CO.
This manufacturing concerns adds fame to Meriden where it has always existed ; for in its works are made, among other printing utilities, the cel- ebrated Excelsior printing presses, which have been on the market for over thirty years and are used all over the world. The company also pos- sesses and operates the only type foun- dry in the Nutmeg state, casting in large quantities the celebrated nickel alloy type. At the factory on South Colony street, where a large number of hands are given constant and re- munerative employment, are also made the Combination cabinet, the Excelsior type case, an improved and patented style which saves a vast amount of la- bor to the compositor ; card and paper cutters, small binding machines, and other articles used by both the expe- rienced and inexperienced printer to great advantage.
The now extensive business of the Kelsey Press Co. is the outcome of the small start made by William A. Kelsey in 1872 and whose quarters first comprised one room in the Morse & Cook block. The first product of his industry was one small sized press which, from its practicability, soon came into general use for home, of- fice and store printing. These presses,
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
known as the Excelsior, are now more than a toy ; for gradually other patterns and styles have been added to keep pace with the growth of the business, until the Excelsior press is now made in all sizes from the small
Photo by Akers & Pigeon. WILLIAM A. KELSEY.
portable card press to the flat-bed cyl- inder machine suitable for country newspaper work. In 1876 Mr. Kelsey built the present factory which has since been occupied, and the business has continued to grow and prosper, the variety of the product becoming greater every year.
In September, 1905, the concern be- came incorporated under the state laws of Connecticut and the capital stock of $75,000 has since been held by the following officers : William A. Kelsey,
president ; F. C. Edgerton, vice-pres- ident, secretary and general manager ; F. L. Huntington, treasurer and su- perintendent, all of whom are well known and influential residents of Meriden. The first named has re- mained the head of the business from. the start; Mr. Edgerton became asso- ciated with the business in 1881, com- ing from the Home National Bank, where he had been previously em- ployed ; and Mr. Huntington, a pres- ent member of the state legislature and! Meriden board of aldermen, has been
Photo by Akers & Pigeon.
F. C. EDGERTON.
connected with the establishment con -- tinuously from 1885.
The Kelsey Press Co. has brought distinction to Meriden in no slight de- gree ; for in putting upon the market:
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MANUFACTORIES.
outfits for home and mercantile print- ing, they have done much toward ed- ucating the general public in the greatest of all arts, the art preserva- tive. While a large mail order bus- iness is done direct with the consum- er, the daily mail of this company; cov- ering a far wider field than that of any other concern in this locality, reach- ing every civilized nation on earth, the business of supplying regular print-
Photo by Akers.
F. L HUNTINGTON.
ing offices with all supplies known to this age is not only extensive but growing steadily and rapidly. The product of this concern has now for many years been recognized by the printing trade as of standard excel- lence, a result attained by conscien- tious effort in every detail.
FRANK WHEELER & SON.
Frank Wheeler, senior member of the firm of Frank Wheeler & Son, who conduct an extensive manufactur- ing business on Stone street, in their own building, was born September 8. 1837, at Cromwell, Conn. A few months after his birth his parents re- moved to Moodus where he spent his boyhood and learned the trade of a machinist, after having been previous- ly employed in a cotton mill in that town.
Late in the 50s he came to Meriden, where he has been located ever since, and became employed by Parker, Snow, Brooks & Co. and later by N. C. Stiles, who conducted a machine shop in a wooden building on the site of the present Journal building. Mr. Stiles, about that time, began the man- ufacture of power presses ; and Mr. Wheeler worked on the first one pro- duced. About 1860 Mr. Wheeler abandoned the machinist trade and engaged in photography, for some years thereafter conducting a studio at the corner of Main and Hanover streets, in which building he also resided. He soon built up a high reputation as an artist in portrait photography, but during the last por- tion of the time he was engaged in conducting a studio, he branched out into commercial photography, in which he became justly celebrated. In 1890 he engaged in the machinist business, first in a small way, his orig- inal location being on the second floor of the building on South Colony
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street, now owned by the Meriden Grain & Feed Co., and there the nu- cleus for the present large business was established.
During the intervening years, his son, Alfred Pelton Wheeler, who was born September 24, 1871, in the build- ing where his father then conducted
In 1898 the demands upon the shop had increased to such an extent that the industry demanded more room, and the present four-story brick fac- tory, fronting on Stone street, was erected by them. To the original product of the factory, which com- prised power presses of all descrip-
FACTORY OF FRANK WHEELER & SON.
the photograph business, was growing to manhood. After receiving an early education in the Meriden public schools and graduating from the Shef- field Scientific school of Yale Univer- sity in June, 1892, the following month he entered his father's shop and in 1895 was admitted to partnership.
tions, for cutting, drawing, stamping sheet metal, was added the business of machinery, dies, tools and special ma- chines for various purposes. In re- cent years has been added the man- ufacture of special hardware, includ- ing an extensive line used in the con- struction of piano players. There are
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also made at this busy factory the hardware parts for some of the varied systems of loose-leaf ledgers, lamp parts, etc. The factory which now
FRANK WHEELER.
furnishes employment to forty-five hands, many of whom are skilled workmen. is equipped with all mod-
ALFRED P. WHEELER.
ern machinery necessary for turning out its varied output and all facilities are at hand for the economical prose- 45
cution of the work, from the 8,000 pound crane for handling heavy cast- ings to the most modern appliance for polishing, buffing and plating of the hardware specialties made.
BRADLEY & HUBBARD MFG. CO.
An industry which has for many years been one of the largest in its line in the world, and an important factor in the growth and business rep- utation of Meriden, is that of Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Co., organized Jan- uary I, 1875, succeeding Nathaniel L. Bradley and Walter Hubbard, who founded the business in 1854. Their works consisted of a small two-story frame building located at the corner of Hanover and Butler streets. The company's present buildings cover an area of more than six acres, with sev- eral hundred thousand feet of floor space. When the company was in- corporated the officers were Walter Hubbard, president; Nathaniel L. Bradley, treasurer, and Charles F. Linsley, secretary, who with Clarence P. Bradley, have always composed the board of directors, as well as the stockholders of the company. At the date of its incorporation the company employed about 150 people; to-day there are nearly 1,000, which indicates the growth of a business started in 1854 with not more than twenty-five employes.
The products of the company con- sist of gas and electric light fixtures of all kinds, of the most elaborate and artistic designs, for residences,
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churches and other public buildings ; also the celebrated "B & H" lamps, fire place furniture, and a large varie- ty of miscellaneous goods in metal, in- cluding bronze, brass and iron grille work, bronze doors, railings, stairs, etc., all of which have attained a rep- utation, not only throughout the United States but all over the world, for beauty of design, mechanical work and finish. The factories are equipped . on a farm. with the most modern machinery and facilities for the manufacture of their products, enabling their employes, many of whom are skilled workmen, to produce the best possible results.
Salesrooms, where samples of their products can be seen are maintained in New York City, Boston and Chicago, also at the factory.
WALTER HUBBARD.
Walter Hubbard, president of the Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Co., whose gift to the people. of Meriden of the park bearing his name, has awakened a desire in many people of the state and country who have visited Meriden and Hubbard park, to know some- thing more of the city's benefactor be- yond the fact that he is a gentleman of culture and means. For nearly a half century he has been one of its leading citizens. Politics and public station have never attracted him.
He was born Sept. 23, 1828, in Middletown, Conn., is a descendant of George Hubbard, who came from England in 1633, and was one of the
original settlers of Middletown in 1650. His ancestors have lived in this region for 250 years and the Hub- bards furnished a remarkable record in the war of the Revolution. Cap- tain Jeremiah Hubbard, grandfather of Walter Hubbard, was one of the number.
Like the majority of the youth of his day, Walter Hubbard was reared
He was educated in the public schools and also attended the Chase preparatory school of Middletown. At the age of eighteen years he se- cured a position as clerk in a Meri- den store, and with aid of self denial, a clear head and energy, he was en- abled to accumulate enough capital to embark in business for himself. This he did in 1851, opening a dry-goods and clothing store in Meriden and continuing it successfully until 1860. In 1852 he was married to Abby Ann, daughter of Levi Bradley, of Chesh- ire ; she died a few months after their marriage, and Mr. Hubbard has never again married.
In 1854, in company with his broth- er-in-law, N. L. Bradley, Mr. Hub- bard founded the business which in 1875 became incorporated under the name of the Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Co. and devoted himself entirely to its interests. Since its incorporation he has been president of this great indus- try. Mr. Hubbard is actively con- nected with many important concerns of Meriden. He is president of the Meriden Gas Light Company, the Meriden Electric Light Company and
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
Photo by R. S. Godfrey.
RESIDENCE OF WALTER HUBBARD.
-1
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the Meriden Trust & Safe Deposit Company. He is also interested in lo- cal banks and other companies as a stockholder and director. In 1882-3 Mr. Hubbard built the Winthrop ho- tel, which is one of the finest in New England. In this he was actuated to confer a benefit upon the city rather than as an investment. His gifts to various charities have been numerous. He has always made liberal donations to public charities and has given free- ly of his means to the cause of educa- tion. His interest in the Meriden hospital has been of great benefit and in keeping with his gifts to other in- stitutions. In 1883-84, Mr. Hubbard went around the world and he has fre- quently visited Europe and the prin- cipal portions of this country.
Mr. Hubbard is a member of the Union League Club of New York, the New England society, of New York, the American Geographical society, and a number of state and city organ- izations. He makes his home in a mansion on Washington place, a most desirable section of the city.
NATHANIEL L. BRADLEY.
Nathaniel Lyman Bradley, treasur- er of the Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Company, is a man who bears the high- est reputation for business ability not only in his own city of Meriden, but also in all the business centers. The firm of which he is treasurer and one of the chief stockholders, is first in the world in its line of goods and a proportionate share of its success
has come through his grasp of busi- ness situations.
Mr. Bradley was born in Cheshire, Connecticut, December 27, 1829. His parents were Levi and Abigail Ann (Atwater) Bradley, upright and unassuming farming people who came of the good sturdy New England stock. Daniel Bradley, father of Levi, was a farmer in Vermont and was driven from his home by the mil- itary operations of the British during the Revolution. He moved to Ham- den, Connecticut, and thence to Chesh- ire. His son, Levi, was born in Cheshire November II, 1792, and died in Meriden March 18, 1877. Levi Bradley was a man of great energy and keen business discernment. He was not content to be merely a farmer, he strove to be the best farmer in his section. His success characterized his whole career and his three sons, Samuel, William L. and Nathaniel L.,. inherited much of his business ability. The subject of this sketch has also had two sisters ; Emeline Amelia Bradley, married the late Alfred P. Curtis, and was the mother of Mrs. George A. Fay; and Abby Ann Bradley, died in 1852, who married Walter Hubbard, president of the Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Co.
Nathaniel Bradley received his early schooling in the Cheshire schools and graduated from the old Meriden Academy where so many of his fellow citizens finished their education. He left school, however, at the early age of fifteen and at once went to work as clerk for E. B. M. Hughes, a
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J
Photo, 1906, by Akers & Pigeon.
L. Bradley
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hardware merchant in New Haven, Connecticut, in the store now occupied by John E. Bassett & Co. After a year his father felt that he must have his aid on the farm, and so he returned home, great- ly to the regret of Mr. Hughes, who had already recognized the apti- tude of the lad. He continued to work for his father until he was twenty- one; but the life of a farmer did not satisfy his growing ambition to be- come of some note in this world and, accordingly, when the opportunity came of embarking in a little business venture in Southington, Conn., he readily accepted the offer to become one of the stockholders. His business was the making of clocks and after six months' experience in the factory he was offered the contract of making three hundred clocks a day and gladly took the responsibility. It was during his connection with this small concern that he was given his first opportunity to show his skill as a salesman. Owing to the overproduction of the factory, Mr. Bradley was sent to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington to sell some of the sur- plus stock. The result of his first trip was such that he not only sold all the goods on hand but continued to keep the factory busy with other orders that taxed the factory to its fullest capacity. His success in sell- ing goods was appreciated to such an extent that he was made the head salesman and a director in the company. Here he continued un- til 1854 when, in company with oth-
ers, he started that great industry with which his name has ever since been associated in Meriden, the popu- lation of which was then but 2,500.
Mr. Bradley holds many important positions besides that of treasurer of the above company. He was a stock- holder and one of the directors of the first street railway com- pany in Meriden. He is a director of the First National Bank; the City Savings Bank ; the Meriden Trust & Safe Deposit Co .; the Mer- iden Republican Publishing Com- pany, J. D. Bergen Co., and other financial enterprises in Meriden and elsewhere. In politics he is a Re- publican and, although never seeking office, he has been alderman and acting mayor.
In his religious affiliations Mr. Brad- ley is a Congregationalist, and is a member of the First Congregational church, having been chairman of the society's committee twenty-eight years. He has always contributed very gen- erously to its support, and gave a princely sum toward the construction of the present stone edifice. Oth- er great works have also been greatly benefited by his aid from time to time. He was one of the first to give large- ly to the work of the Y. M. C. A., and he contributed toward the building owned by that association and also to the proposed new building of the Y. W. C. A. When the Curtis Me- morial Public Library was built, Mr. Bradley gave $1,000 to that institu- tion for books, and a bronze tablet has been placed in one of the alcoves in
RESIDENCE OF NATHANIEL L. BRADLEY.
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recognition of his generosity. Since its foundation he has also been a liberal friend of the Meriden Boys' Club. Mr. Bradley is a large owner of local real estate and was the first to build tenements fitted with all modern improvements, in which he was followed by other prop- erty owners. He has for many years been a large owner of this class of houses and has deservedly been ac- corded the reputation of being a fair minded and liberal landlord. For the past fourteen years he has been one of the trustees of the Connecticut School for Boys and in July, 1899, was unanimously elected president of the board. On account of other du- ties making more urgent demands on his time he resigned the honor in fa- vor of Francis W. Parker, of Hart- ford, one of the trustees. During the administration of Superintendent Howe Mr. Bradley made the State School a present of a complete set of brass musical instruments, and as a result of this one instance of his heartfelt interest in the institution there has ever since been a well or- ganized band there.
Mr. Bradley is also vice president of the Meriden Fire Ins. Co .; a di- rector in the Walnut Grove Ceme- tery Association and president of the Meriden hospital, which office he has held since its organization, and contributed liberally toward the cost of the building. He is also pres- ident of the Meriden Trotting Park Association. He is a member of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the
American Revolution. His interest in public affairs has always been widely felt and all improvements in streets, parks, cemeteries, etc., have always met with his hearty support and have been benefited by his wise judgment, while he also gave with Walter Hubbard in 1905, several acres of land to the city for park purposes.
Mr. Bradley has been quite a trav- eler, not only in his own country but in foreign lands as well. He has crossed the Atlantic several times.
In October 25, 1859, Mr. Bradley was married to Harriet E., daughter of Selden and Lucy Hooker (Hart) Peck, of Kensington, Connecticut. Mrs. Bradley is a woman of rare per- sonal charm and presides with grace over her beautiful home, which is al- ways .pointed out as one of the most imposing in Meriden. One son, Clar- ence Peck Bradley, one of the direct- ors and stockholders of the Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Co., resides with his parents and is also private secretary and treasurer for his father.
CHARLES F. LINSLEY.
Charles F. Linsley, secretary and one of the directors of Bradley & Hub- bard Mfg. Co., who has for many years been a leading spirit in the af- fairs of that large corporation, was born at Branford, Conn., in the year 1843. father was Frederick Linsley. His mother (who is now living) was Harriet Foote. He is a descendant on the paternal side from John Linsley, who came from Eng-
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MANUFACTORIES.
Cohan F. Limaley
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land and settled in Branford in 1646; and on the maternal side from Na- thaniel Foote, who came from Eng- land and settled in Wethersfield, Conn., early in the seventeenth cen- tury ; also from Rev. Samuel Russell, of Branford, Conn., in whose house the ten ministers met and donated forty books for the "founding of a college in this colony," viz: Yale Col- lege.
In his youth he was taught at home and in the common district school that to work was honorable. At the age of seventeen years he left the farm and came to Meriden to accept a position offered him by the late Charles H. Collins in his grocery store, where he remained about two and one-half years, until August, 1862, when he enlisted for three years as private in Company F, Fifteenth Connecticut Volunteers. He was appointed by Col. Charles L. Upham quartermaster sergeant of the regiment, in which ca- pacity he served until the close of the war. After returning to Meriden he entered the office of the Wilcox Sil- ver Plate Co., where he remained un- til 1869, when he was offered and ac- cepted a position with Bradley & Hub- bard. As Mr. Bradley in those days was away from home much of the time, and Mr. Hubbard in New York nearly all the time, he had an unusual opportunity of developing business ability, which was appreciated to the fullest extent by Mr. Bradley and Mr. Hubbard. He gradually became each year a more important factor in the fast growing business, having been
given an opportunity of taking an im- portant part in advancing the interests of the firm. The Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Co.'s works, occupying over six acres, employing about 1,000 people, is one of the largest manufacturers in its lines in the world. Mr. Linsley's connection with the company covers a period of thirty-seven years. Ever since the incorporation he has been one of the three original stockholders and directors, also the secretary of the company. He is a man of broad ideas and excellent business capacity. He is a director in the following Meriden institutions : First National Bank, City Savings Bank, Meriden Trust & Safe Deposit Co., Meriden Gas Light Co. and Meriden Electric Light Co. He has never held any public office ex- cept as a member of the Board of Ap- portionment and Taxation. He was married in 1871 to Georgiana E. Gay, who is a prominent member of Susan Carrington Clarke Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. They have one child, a daughter-Mrs. James H. Hinsdale.
CLARENCE P. BRADLEY.
Clarence Peck Bradley, the young- est of the four directors and stock- holders of the Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Co., is the only son of Nathan- iel L. Bradley, one of the founders and treasurer of the large corporation which bears his name. He was born in Meriden, and as stated elsewhere in the sketch of his father, he comes from early New England ancestry. His
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MANUFACTORIES.
-
b. P. Bravely.
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early education was obtained in the schools of Meriden, and he finished at the Russell Military School at New Haven, also known as the Collegiate and Commercial Institute, where he prepared to enter Yale College. Having his choice between a college education and extensive foreign travel, he chose the latter, where, by observa- tion and study of people and their cus- toms in the various quarters of the globe, he became possessed of knowl- edge which has been of inestimable value to him since starting upon his business career. Upon his first return from abroad, he was given an oppor- tunity by a fond and indulgent father, of proving his business worth, by be- ing placed in charge of his interests. His success in familiarizing himself with and afterwards managing these affairs, which called for a display of good judgment and business ability, soon secured for him the confidence of his father, to the extent that he was made his secretary and treasurer, and within the past few years, has man- aged practically all of his father's pri- vate interests. In 1885, he was elect- ed one of the directors of the Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Co., in which he has been ever since a factor in its affairs. His success in matters of finance has won him the confidence also of other manufacturing concerns where his counsel and judgment are appreciated. He is also one of the directors of the City Savings Bank.
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