An historic record and pictorial description of the town of Meriden, Connecticut and men who have made it, Part 87

Author: Gillespie, Charles Bancroft, 1865-1915; Curtis, George Munson
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Meriden, Conn. Journal publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1252

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 87

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

He is a prominent figure in social life, and in 1905 served as president of the Home Club, one of the many social

organizations with which he is affil- iated. Of this club he was one of the prime movers in the construction of the present handsome building on Col- ony street and served the organization as a member of the building commit- tee. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. His inter- est in the Curtis Memorial Library is indicated by a bronze tablet in one of the alcoves.

Mr. Bradley is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity and his membership in that order includes all of the several branches in Connecticut. He is a member of Meridian Lodge, 77, A. F. & A. M. ; Keystone Chapter, 27, R. A. M .; Hamilton Council, 22, R. & S. M .; St. Elmo Commandery, 9, K. T .; also of the Scottish Rite bodies of New Haven, and of Lafay- ette Consistory of Bridgeport where he received his thirty-second degree. He is also a member of Pyramid Tem- ple, Mystic Shrine, of Bridgeport.

Mr. Bradley has spent much time in travel; he has visited Europe sev- eral times, and studied the life and customs of nearly every civilized na- tion, as well as having circumnavi- gated the globe.

A Republican in politics, he never has accepted any public office what- soever. He is, however, like his father, possessed of a vast amount of public spirit and regard for the town of his birth. During the preparations for the Centennial celebration, he has served with efficiency and value as a member of the general committee of citizens appointed to arrange and

MANUFACTORIES.

carry out the extensive plans for that historic occasion.

THE HANDEL COMPANY.

This Meriden manufacturing con- cern, incorporated in 1904 with a cap- ital of $50,000, occupies an enviable position in the trade; for its goods, so original in design and artistic in creation, make it independent of either American or foreign competition. Its product, "Handel Ware," appeals to all high class and celebrated interior decorators and jewelers, and the rep- utation the concern has gained is the result of the artistic abilities of the man whose name it bears, and the history of the business, therefore, is that of its president, treasurer and founder, who is a native of Meriden.

Philip J. Handel is one of four chil- dren, and his parents were Jacob and Catherine (Wuterich) Handel. His grandfather, Philip Adam Handel, was an industrious farmer of Witten- berg, Germany, who emigrated to this country and settled in East Hartford, after having learned of the advantages to be availed of in America through his daughter, Fredericka, who had gone before. His maternal grand- father, Frederick Wuterich, was also a native of Wittenberg, Germany ; he was the proprietor of large machine works there, but died when quite a young man. Jacob Handel, father of Philip J., settled in Meriden many years ago and married here, in the early sixties, Catherine Wuterich, who

was also born in Wittenberg. He was a worthy and respected citizen of Meriden, and died by accident in .1875, after having been employed as a fore- man for many years at the works of the Charles Parker Co.

His children were George and Fred, now large dealers in cattle and general merchandise at Musselshell, Mont .;. Emma, who married Dr. Franklin: Drake, a leading practicing physician of Webster City, Iowa; and the sub- ject of this sketch. He married in; 1890 Caroline Sutterlin, who died in 1904, after a lingering illness of two years.

Like his brothers, Philip J. Handel is rugged in physique, and when nine years old, his father having died, he was possessed with that sense of responsibility that he began to take- part in the maintenance of the house- hold. As a boy he showed a talent for drawing, which was heartily en- couraged by his fond parents, and he- studied, with a laudable aim and am- bition, books of art. To assist him: in attaining his ambition he bought a printing outfit, and, in the play hours. of the ordinary boy, did job printing on a small scale. At the age of four- teen he left school and secured em- ployment at the factory of the Mer- iden Britannia Co., but a month later he entered the works of the old Mer- iden Flint Glass Company. In the. latter factory he was given an oppor- tunity to show his capability and to. develop a talent for designing and decorating, which in late years has proved invaluable to him. At the age

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

Philip Mandel.

MANUFACTORIES.

of nineteen, in 1885, Mr. Handel with Adolph Eydam as a partner, began his career as a Meriden manufacturer in his present line. Afterwards, he con- tinued alone in the present factory un- til 1904 he incorporated the business of which he has ever since been the main stockholder of the close corpora- tion, and leading spirit in the fast growing enterprise, as president and treasurer. During the past five years the business has more than trebled,

mentioned A. M. Parlow, who has charge of the decorative glass de- partment, and Anton Teich of the metal and art glass department, both of whom are men of established repu- tations in their particular kind of work.

Owing to the increased demand for the high class product the company recently opened a branch factory in New York where the most skilled ar- tisans could be procured to assist in

P.J.HANDELT¿LAMPS SHADES

MERIDEN FACTORY OF THE HANDEL COMPANY.

and the factory is equipped with every facility for the execution of the work there carried on. The power plant (electric) recently constructed anew, is fitted with a one-hundred horse power boiler, 85 horse power engine and fifty K. W. generator, making a most modern and efficient equipment.

Associated with Mr. Handel at the factory are many skilled artisans and mechanics. Among them may be 46

supplying the demand for their goods. Mr. Handel is known as one of the public spirited men of the town, which this year celebrates its centennial, and the ware he has put on the market during the past score of years, has well earned him an honored place in its history, although he is but one of the youngest, yet successful, manufac- turers of the town. ' He is a member of Center Lodge, 97, A. F. & A. M .;

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

the Home Club and the Cosmopolitan Club and several fraternal organiza- tions in which he is deservedly popu- lar. He also serves as a member of the Centennial committee, on the sub- committee of Decorations and Street Fair.

FOSTER. MERRIAM & CO.

This time honored concern has add- ed to the prosperity and fame of Mer- iden as a manufacturing center for over seventy years ; and from the start have been associated with it many men who have taken an important part in the history of the town. Foster, Mer- riam & Co. at the present day conduct a large factory fronting on Cross street and extending several hundred feet along the tracks of the N. Y., N. H. & H. railroad, in the very heart of Meri- den. They are extensive manufactur- ers of casters, drop handles, furniture trimmings, cabinet hardware and bath room fittings.

The business of the present day con- trasts strongly with the small start made in the western part of Meriden, at what was then known as Crow Hol- low, and the small shop thirty by twen- ty-five feet, first utilized, has long since been destroyed by fire ; but its location is marked by the foundation which still remains.

The original founders of the busi- ness were Albert Foster, Hiram Fos- ter, Julius Way, Asaph Merriam, Nel- son Merriam, all of Meriden, and a Mr. Belden, of New Britain, who formed the first partnership under the

name of Foster, Belden & Co., for the making of casters only. The capital was then but about $2,500. The firm did not make its own castings; they were cast at a foundry in the town, and one of the firm used to carry the cast- ings in his buggy to the shop every day, and bring them back to the depot when finished and packed, in the same vehicle. There were probably less than 200 pounds of castings used daily by the little shop. The firm simply finished the work and shipped it. Horse power was used in turning the machinery, and the members of the firm were at first the only workmen employed. The firm as organized in 1835, was short lived, for the follow- ing year, Mr. Belden sold his interest to Asaph and Nelson Merriam. With the withdrawal of Mr. Belden, the name was changed to Foster, Mer- riam & Co. At this time the product of the business did not exceed fifty sets of casters per day. The panic of '37 nearly swept the firm out of existence ; as it was, the company was obliged to suspend operations for six months. Although every credit customer on the company's books failed and did not pay over fifty per cent. of their obliga- tions, the little firm of Foster, Merriam & Co. paid every dollar of its indebt- edness. Five years after the organi- zation of the company, in 1840, Julius Way sold out his interest to John Sut- liff. Asaph Merriam sold out in 1843 to the remaining partners.

The company had been gradually growing too large for its diminutive quarters in Crow Hollow, and in 1850,

MANUFACTORIES.

Geo. C. Merriam. Hiram Foster.

Nelson Merriam.

Albert Foster.

James R. Sutliff.

John Sutliff.

Nelson C. Merriam.

FOUNDERS AND FORMER OFFICERS OF FOSTER, MERRIAM & CO.

Doug

FACTORY OF FOSTER, MERRIAM & CO.

MANUFACTORIES.

the land on which the factory now stands was purchased of Lauren Mer- riam. Three years later Alanson Watrous became interested with the company in the iron foundry business and a foundry was built on the land of

Photo by Akers & Pigeon. WILLIAM ZERFASS.

the company. The business in this de- partment was conducted separately un- der the firm name of A. Watrous & Co. This branch continued until the death of Mr. Watrous in 1862, when his interest was bought out by the sur- viving members. In 1866 the firm was incorporated as a joint stock com- pany with a capital of $80,000, but has always been conducted under the old firm name. In 1869 the manufacture of drop handles was added to the bus-

iness, and has grown to large propor- tions. Also, as demanded by the trade, various kinds of furniture trim- mings have been added, until almost anything in the hardware line required by manufacturers of furniture can be found among the product of this firm. From its establishment until 1880, none of the members of the firm had died while a member ; but in Febru- ary of that year, Nelson Merriam, the president, was stricken suddenly of heart disease, and the late John Sut-

Photo by Akers & Pigeon.

J. L. RUTHERFORD.

liff, who had for many years been one of the directors, succeeded him as president.

Mr. Sutliff held that office until his death, June 22, 1897, when James R.

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

Sutliff, who had, since 1887, been vice- president, and previous to that the su- perintendent of the factory, was elect- ed president and held that office until his death January 18, 1902.

Nelson C. Merriam, son of Nelson Merriam, was for many years a prom- inent factor in the concern and upon his death was succeeded as western representative by William Zerfass.

Photo by Akers & Pigeon. ROBERT J. MERRIAM.

On March 7, 1902, George C. Mer- riam, who since 1880 had filled the of- fices of secretary and treasurer, was elected president ; also retaining the of- fice of treasurer. On that date J. L. Rutherford was elected secretary, and William Zerfass superintendent. Shortly after the decease of Mr. Mer-

riam who died suddenly March 23, 1904, William Zerfass was elected president, also retaining the office of superintendent. Robert J. Merriam was then elected to his present office as treasurer.

The present directors of the com- pany are as follows: William Zer- fass, J. L. Rutherford, Robert J. Mer- riam, George E. Savage and Dr. O. A. Parker. ,

The business of the company has in- creased largely within the past decade and several noticeable enlargements and additions have been made to the plant, which now covers a large area, as is shown in the accompanying en- graving. Over 350 hands are given steady employment and the product of the factory is shipped all over the world. The goods are made from the raw material and every portion of the work of producing their large output is conducted within the several build- ings now occupied. The business adds greatly to the prosperity of Meriden ; and the product of the factory is both creditable to the city and a source of pride to its citizens.

The trade embraces a large terri- tory, and there is no state in the Union in which cannot be found those who t'se some of the articles manufactured by this concern; and the trade with Canada and other foreign countries is no small item. The company has been . burned out three times partially and once wholly ; but the pluck and push that always characterized the corpora- tion was not disheartened by these ca- lamities.

MANUFACTORIES.

The company has always been con- servative, and changes in help are rare occurrences. The employes respect their employers ; for they are well treated and do faithful work; and no company in the city stands higher in the estimation of the public, the em- ployes and the trade than Foster, Mer- riam & Co.

THE MERIDEN FIRE ARMS CO.

The Meriden Fire Arms Co. bids fair to become Meriden's largest man- ufacturing concern. Its owners, Sears, Roebuck & Co., of Chicago, noted for their splendid achievements, liberal business enterprise and world- wide trade, are bending their energies toward that goal.

In January of 1905, the nucleus of the present company moved to this city from Hopkinton, Mass., reorgan- izing under the name of The Meriden Fire Arms Co., in the old Malleable Iron Company's plant in the northern part of the city.

The advent of the new company was a happy day for Meriden. The Mallea- ble Iron Works had been closed for several years and the buildings were fast falling into decay. Houses were either vacant in the neighborhood of the works, or were renting for but a poor return on the money invested. In the brief space of a year and a half this has all been changed. The fac- tory buildings were overhauled at large expense with a view to house in them hundreds of busy men and a

thousand flying wheels for the manu- facture of guns and revolvers of div- ers patterns. It is very difficult to get a rent in North Meriden to-day. and it is said that the price of real estate and the value of rents have increased twenty per cent.

The formation of the Meriden Fire Arms Co. was made possible by the immense business in guns and pistols and the vast capital of Sears, Roe- buck & Co. For years past the con- cern has found it difficult to get the quantity or character of fire arms de- manded by a constantly growing and exacting trade. The location of the works in Meriden is mainly due to its vice-president and general manager, A. J. Aubrey, an old Meriden boy, who, though many years away from Meriden, had neither forgotten the business advantages of nor the love which he had for the old town.

Mr. Sears, president of the Chica- go firm, and Mr. Aubrey came to Mer- iden to look the ground over. It had been decided that Hopkinton was too far removed from the gun-making centers to be advantageous in building up an extensive gun factory. With large gun concerns in Hartford, New Haven, Springfield and Norwich, any one of a number of towns hereabout would make it easy to get in touch with gun sentiment and gun workers, so essential to the smooth working of a large gun enterprise. It was by no means settled that Meriden was to be selected as the site for the new works. Plants in Middletown and other places were available.

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

PENNA ENG. (6 PHILA.

FACTORY OF THE MERIDEN FIRE ARMS COMPANY:

MANUFACTORIES.

The condition of the factory build- ings in the old Malleable Iron works was so bad that an immediate hitch in negotiations for its purchase was oc- casioned. The owners receded some from their original asking, but thirty thousand dollars with the necessary large expenditures for repairs to re- habilitate the old buildings was still considered by Messrs. Sears and Au- brey as far above a taking figure. For a time it seemed unlikely that the new company would locate in Meriden. Good sites had been found in New Ha- ven and Middletown with a likelihood of their selection far above that of the Meriden location.

At this juncture Mr. Aubrey, anx- ious to bring the big works to Meri- den if it were possible, returned to this city, determined to make another try for the North Meriden plant. The owners would not budge from their re- duced asking price. It then became a question if the people of Meriden would permit another city to get a concern that would bring several hun- dred thousand dollars in annual wages to tradespeople and householders and a vast prestige to the city as a manu- facturing center. Several leading business men of the city were asked by Mr. Aubrey if the town would aid the company to secure the plant.

A hasty meeting of the local board of trade was called. Mr. Aubrey talked the matter over with it, explain- ing the position of Sears, Roebuck & Co. in the premises, their expectations as to output of guns and ultimate ex- tension of the works till they should

be the largest and most distinctive in the United States. Mr. Aubrey's earnestness and tact caught the board. His proposition was not to be passed by as was indicated by an immediate subscription of more than half the amount needed to bring the Sears, Roebuck & Co. offer up to that de- manded by the owners of the desired property. The remainder of ten thousand dollars asked of the board of trade was subscribed the day after the memorable meeting with the re- sult that the Malleable Iron works were turned over to the new owners to become again the scene of great ac- tivity but in a new business.

The owners of the concern met in Meriden to rechristen their new works. Naturally the name became the Meri- den Fire Arms Co. The Chicago peo- ple were as well pleased over the turn in affairs as were the citizens of Mer- iden. With keen outlook they sized up the many advantages of their new location. Big as the plant was, it was but the beginning of a great gun con- cern. Acting on that thought, the abutting vacant property, running nearly two thousand feet along the railroad, was purchased, some day to be covered by the company's factory buildings.

On the Ioth of January, 1905, the "trek" of the works from Hopkinton to Meriden began. Just twenty days later the old whistle over the power house broke the silence of years with its call to work ; steam and smoke cir- cled again over the buildings and the wheels in the long unused shops be-

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

gan to turn for a long career of use- fulness and profit, let us hope.

It is well to record the foregoing bit of history, parts of which we be- lieve to be prophetic of a future of large enterprise.

The Meriden Fire Arms Co. is op- erated under a charter obtained in the state of Illinois which entitles it to capitalize at one hundred and seventy- five thousand dollars. The stock is held by Sears, Roebuck & Co., the only partners being A. J. Aubrey, the gen- eral manager and F. A. Stephani, the treasurer of the local concern.

Its way of doing business has led the company to equip the factory with every labor-saving device known to the trade. No machinery has been be- yond the reach of the concern. The factory buildings are filled with mod- ern machines that, like magic, trans- form the rough drop forgings, made of the best quality of steel, into a part- ly completed product, as smoothly and apparently as easily as the modeler shapes his wax.

A large element in the cost of run- ning a plant on such lines is that for machinery, good at the time, but later superseded, which goes to the junk man, having outlived the day of its usefulness.

Mr. Aubrey has been connected with the company, either as a member of the present company. or as vice-presi- dent of the Hopkinton concern, a year and a half. In that short period he has been fortunate in securing the Meri- den location with all of its promises for the future, at the same time the

output of the works has been nearly doubled. In the short space of a year new guns have been invented by him and are now on the market.

The A. J. Aubrey single barrel, hammer shot gun is being turned out at the rate of over two hundred guns a day. The A. J. Aubrey double gun is now on the market, superseding the old Fryberg gun made at Hopkinton. This new sporting fire arm is equal to any made in this country or England. It is a handsome specimen of the gun- makers' art. The lines are beautiful in proportion and drop. In that re- gard it is perhaps the highest devel- opment attained in sporting guns. The mechanism of this gun is simple, strong and perfect, insuring an easy working and reliable arm. It is of the popular hammerless kind and is made with or without the automatic shell ejecting device.

Another gun bearing Mr. Aubrey's name nearly ready for the market is the single hammerless. This gun is said to be without an equal among its kind. Like the double hammerless it is fine in its lines and simple and strong in its construction. It has sev- eral new features that will commend it to that class of sportsman who want a light gun of the single barrel kind which at the same time is high grade.

In addition to the guns mentioned above as brought out in the year past may be mentioned the small Atlas sporting rifle. This rifle takes its place with a number of similar guns popular with young sportsmen.

MANUFACTORIES.

A. J. AUBREY,

F A. STEPHANI.

Photos by Akers & Pigeon.

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

A well equipped pistol factory is connected with the business. Twen- ty varieties of hammer and hammer- less pistols are manufactured with an output in January, 1906, of a hundred pistols a day.

Everything points to a wide open future for the company. Meriden is to be congratulated that it is here. It is a matter of the largest concern to the city that its full ambitions shall be reached.

Albert James Aubrey, vice presi- dent and general manager of the Mer- iden Fire Arms Co., was born in Hart- ford, Conn., February 23, 1863. His parents, John and Mary Aubrey, re- moved to Meriden when he was three years of age. Here he grew to man- hood, living in Meriden continuously until he was twenty-one years of age. His early education was obtained in the public schools, the first school he attended being the East district, locat- ed on the Middletown road, near the Parker spoon factory. When Mr. Aubrey was eight years old his pa- rents purchased the old Yale farm sit- uated on East Main street. He then attended the Center school on Parker avenue. After graduating from this school he entered the employ of the Parker Gun Co. and has been identi- fied with the gun business up to the present time, being associated with several of the largest gun concerns in the United States.

On July 1, 1904, Mr. Aubrey en- gaged as general manager with Sears, Roebuck & Company, in Hopkinton, Mass.

Mr. Aubrey is a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity. His immediate fam- ily consists of his wife, née Blanche E. Boomer, whom he married in Ful- ton, N. Y., November 25, 1891, and a daughter, Clara May Aubrey. Others of his family now residing in Meriden, are a brother, Alfred John Aubrey, formerly a clergyman of the Unversalist denomination, now super- intendent of the pistol department of the Meriden Fire Arms Co .; two sis- ters, Mrs. F. W. Stiles and Mrs. A. W. Proudman. His father, John Au- brey, who is over eighty years of age, makes his home with him. He has also a brother, W. H. Aubrey, a steel engraver, residing in Syracuse, N. Y.

MANNING, BOWMAN & CO.

The history of the present large manufacturing concern of Manning, Bowman & Co., which has for many years added to the importance of Mer- iden as an industrial center, dates back over forty years to Middletown, Conn., where the company was organized and the first goods bearing its name were made. The company requiring in- creased capital for the successful con- duct of its business, interested such public spirited Meriden citizens as Horace C. Wilcox, Isaac C. Lewis and George R. Curtis, with the result that in 1872 the concern removed to its present location in Meriden. After becoming a Meriden enterprise the board of directors was, organized by the election of Messrs. Wilcox, Lew-

MANUFACTORIES.

is, and Curtis, with the addition of Jos. H. Parsons, Edward B. Manning, Robert Bowman and Edward Furniss. The officers elected were: Edward B. Manning, president ; Robert Bowman, secretary and treasurer. Other large stockholders at that time were W. W. Lyman and Lemuel J. Curtis.

iden, covered but a small portion of the large triangular area, formed by Pratt, Miller and Catlin streets, the whole of which is now occupied by the factory of the company. At first only fifty hands were employed. From this small start has developed the present imposing plant which has

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

An historic record and pictorial description of the town of Meriden, Connecticut and men who have made it, Part 87

Author: Gillespie, Charles Bancroft, 1865-1915; Curtis, George Munson Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Meriden, Conn. Journal publishing co. Number of Pages: 1252

Author: Gillespie, Charles Bancroft, 1865-1915; Curtis, George Munson
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Meriden, Conn. Journal publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1252