USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Commemorative biographical record of New Haven county, Connecticut, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families, V. I, Pt 1 > Part 20
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In social life Mr. Dickinson, by his very positiveness, drew to himself many warm and strong friends. His genial qualities, and his love of life and of all that life has 10 offer, made him one whose comradeship was welcome, and whose loss will be felt in no conventional sense. The extent of that loss in depriving the family circle of a de- voted father so closely following that of the wife and mother, appeals- to the sincere sympathy of the community.
Major Arthur M. Dickinson, son of the late Charles Dickinson, was born Dec. 23, 1859, in Wat- erbury, and received his education in the public schools of the city, at the Cheshire Academy, and at Yale College. After his school days were over, he, in 1879, became employed in the office of the Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Co. In July, 1890, he was elected secretary of the corporation. He entered with zeal into the business of that con- cern, and has served it with great fidelity and ef- ficiency. He had a taste for military affairs, and in July, 1889, he was appointed adjutant, with rank of captain, on the staff of Col. J. B. Doherty, of the Second Regiment Connecticut National Guard, and in 1893 was promoted to be major of the regi- ment. -
ALFRED ARLINGTON HOWARTH. a re- spected and prosperous citizen of North Haven. is one of the veterans of the Civil war, and has good cause to remember that conflict, having gone through the horrors of Andersonville and Libby prisons, and he still bears the marks of war on his person.
Mr. Howarth traces his ancestry to England, his first American ancestor, Thomas Howarth, com- ing hither from that country, bringing with him his two-year old son, the latter of whom became the father of our subject. Thomas Howarth located in New Haven, which beautiful city was then in its youth, and there engaged in his trade of shoc- making ; later he opened a store dealing in boots and shoes. His death occurred in New Haven when he was about seventy years old. His chil-
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dren were: Alfred; John, who established the shoe business in New Haven now carried on by his sons, under the name of Howarth Bros., on Chapel street. Thomas, who became the father of James A. Howarth, the popular and efficient post- master of New Haven; William; and James.
Alfred Howarth was born in England, came to America with his parents, and spent his boyhood days in New Haven, where he received his school- ing. Ile early entered the shop of his father, suc- ceeding him later in business. In 1852 he came to the town of North Haven, where he purchased the farm, a part of which his son now occupies, living on that place, but still conducting the business in New Haven. On account of poor health he finally disposed of the latter, and gave his entire time to farming interests, also becoming interested in fruit growing, in which he was quite successful. Mr. Howarth married Elizabeth Bartlett, who was born in 1810 in New Haven, daughter of Nathan and Sarah (Judd) Bartlett, and died in 1891. Mr. Ho- warth died six years previously. They had the following children: Jeremiah, who married Mary Peabody, and lives in Long Meadow, Mass .; Thomas, who resides with his brother ; William, who married Louise Bigelow; Susannah, wife of John Middlebrooks, of New Haven; Alfred A .; Mary, who ( first ) married George Scranton, and subsequently wedded William King, and lives in New York; and Frank, who married Anna Leeds.
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Alfred A. Howarth was born in New Haven Sept. 6, 1839, and attended the district schools and the North Haven academy, leaving school to learn the trade of carriage body making, in New Haven. Mr. Howarth continued at this excellent trade for four and a half years, but when the Civil war broke out he was among the first to respond to the call of his country. In August, 1861, he en- listed for service in Co. F. 6th Conn. V. I., under Capt. Louis C. Allen and Col. Chatfield, and saw hard and exhausting service, taking part in the battles of Hilton Head, Pocotaligo, James Island, Secessionville, Jacksonville, Morris Island, Fort Wagner, Bermuda Hundred, Chester Station and Drury's Bluff. At the latter place he was taken prisoner, and was also badly wounded in the right hand. This injury has been a source of trouble ever since. The bayonet was aimed at his heart, and was intercepted by his hand. The double mis- fortune happened May 16, 1864, and Mr. Howarth was taken to Libby prison, where he was kept ten days before being sent to the terrible pen at Ander- sonville. During his four months of incarceration at the latter place he could scarcely have been more wretched, his experiences being so frightful that his weight was reduced from 162 pounds when 1 captured, to 97 pounds when paroled. Dec. 16, 1864. Many times while at Andersonville he was required : to assist in carrying out dead comrades, and when he and others were discovered in an attempt to tunnel a way to freedom, starving was imposed to
dampen the spirits of the poor victims. From An- dersonville Mr. Howarth was sent, in September, to the prison at Florence, N. C., from which place he was paroled. He reached his home in North Haven soon afterward, sadly wrecked in health, and suffering from his dangerous wound. A long time elapsed before he could use his hand at all, but he finally returned to his trade, and worked for several years in New Haven.
Mr. Ilowarth spent some time in work in Orange and also at Millburn, N. J., but rheumatism settling in his crippled hand prevented a secure grasp of the necessary tools of his trade, and he at last found it necessary to give it up. Returning to North Haven, he assisted his father on the farm until the latter's death, at which time he bought out the other heirs and is now successfully operating the farm, growing fine fruit and carly vegetables.
Mr. Howarth was married Jan. 17, 1869. to Ellen Bradley, who was born Jan. 8, 1841, a native of New Haven, daughter of Asa and Louisa Wales (Stetson ) Bradley: the former was for many years clerk of Yale College. Children as follows have come to this union: Irene, born in 1870, is now the wife of Albert S. Leek, of Hamden; Gertrude, born in 1872, is a trained nurse in Providence. R. I .; Frederick, born in 1874, married Ellen Fitz- morris, and resides in New Haven; Mabel and Raymond, twins, were born in 1878. The family connection is with the Congregational Church, where they are highly esteemed. In politics Mr. Howarth is a Republican, and he is always inter- ested in anything promising success to the party he believes possesses the right principles.
HORACE P. SHARES (deceased) and his father. the late DANIEL W. SHARES, were both na- tives of the town of Hamden and both prominent in that community, the former also in the business cir- cles of New Haven. He was for forty years iden- tified with that city as a prominent brick manufac- turer and there his son, Fred I., is now actively engaged in business. The Shares family, with its allied families through marriage, is of sturdy an- cestry of the Colonial period of New England.
Born May 8, 1836, in Hamden, Conn., near Whitneyville, Horaec P. Shares was the son of Daniel W. and Janette ( Bassett) Shares. The father was an inventor of considerable note, and his inventions, as labor-saving devices, took well and have given him fame. He invented and had! patented horse hoeing and planting machines, which he manufactured, and which now are used with sat- isfactory results: also manufactured other farm- ing implements, among them a colter harrow, which took the highest premium in successive State fairs.
Horace P. Shares received such educational ben- ofits as the neighborhood schools of his youth af- forded-no great advantages, for his attendance was limited to a few months in the winter season. and was not then by any means regular. After a
y6. 8. Shares
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little traveling experience he married and settled in the Quinnipiac Valley, and there engaged in a bus- iness which had long been carried on in that region and with which he was destined to become promi- nently and successfully identified. In fact, there was not another man living whose progressiveness had done as much for an industry as Horace P. Shares accomplished for brick manufacturing in New Haven and the vicinity.
In the middle 'fifties Mr. Shares for a year or more tried farming in North Haven and then be- came interested in the manufacture of brick along with his father-in-law, Alfred Ives. In about 1859 he assumed charge of the yards of the Warner, Mansfield & Stiles Brick Co., of North Haven Cen- ter, and he held that position until 1863. In the meantime he had been prospecting in the Quinnipiac Valley for a suitable quality of brick clay, which he found, and which had not been previously known. In 1863 he became established there in a business in this line of his own, and later on he purchased of his former employers one of their yards, operat- ing both until 1887, with marked success and in- telligence. In the ownership of the newly purchased yard he had a partner, Loyal Ives. The manufac- ture of brick in the valley referred to has been an important industry for generations and has brought much money into the locality, especially through the century just closed. The clay in this locality is of a superior quality and is found in almost inex- haustible quantities. In the development of this industry no name has been more conspicuous than that of Shares. When Horace P. Shares began the business, nearly fifty years ago, one million brick per year was considered a good outptit. Some two years ago at his two yards were made some nine or more million brick, of better quality and superior in every way. Recently the yearly product, by the employment of modern brickmaking machinery, and the use of bituminous coal instead of wood, has reached enormous figures, until now there are made upward of 30,000,000 brick annually. At one time Col. Warner, who was the principal brick manufac- turer of his day in that vicinity, said to Horace P. Shares when the latter asked how many brick he thought would be made that season in that lo- cality, "I wouldn't be surprised if 1,000,000 were inade."
Mr. Shares was the first of the numerous brick manufacturers of the valley to introduce improve- ments. In traveling through the country and by reading and constant observation he became ac- quainted with modern improvements and adopted them. In 1875 and 1876 he was the first to use the Philadelphia repress system, by which the best of the pressed brick of that period were made, and he was the first manufacturer, in 1880, to make use of the pallet system for drying brick, establish- ing this system at his yards at considerable expense. This was so great a success that all the other man- ufacturers in the locality followed his example. In
1885 he introduced the pug-mill and sander, using them in his yards; until that time they were un- known in this locality, but they proved to be great labor-saving machines and have since been in al- most universal use.
Mr. Shares succeeded W. A. Ives as president of the W. A. Ives Manufacturing Co., of Hamden, and later was one of the organizers of the Handen Manufacturing Co., becoming its first president and remaining as such until his health necessitated his absence from New England during the greater part of the year, when he resigned, at the same time sev- ering his connection with other concerns with which he was identified. Ilis enterprise and public spirit were in evidence wherever he was located. He traveled quite extensively in this country and in Mexico and he showed great interest in the devel- opment of Rock Ledge, Fla .. where he spent his win- ters from 1884. It was he who built up the new "Rock Ledge Hotel" at that place, which under his management has been successfully conducted ever since, and many Connecticut people have been guests there from time to time. His progressiveness was shown in many other directions at Rock Ledge. During the warm weather he returned to New England, spending his summers at Short Beach, where he had a very comfortable cottage. His death occurred at Pasadena, Cal., Jan. 23, 1902.
Reading between the lines one can judge the worth of such a man as Mr. Shares to a community. Successful beyond the ordinary he was entirely self- made and deserved the prominent place he occu- pied among the citizens of New Haven county. As a citizen he took part in local affairs and was deeply concerned and interested in the welfare of the com- munity in which he so long lived. For many years he was an efficient church and Sabbath-school worker, was superintendent of the North Haven Sabbath-school and also of the Humphrey street school, in New Haven, and gave cheerfully and lib- erally to deserving charities, having been an all- round useful man, always modest and devoid of show.
On Oct. 9, 1854, Mr. Shares was united in mar- riage with Charlotte Ives. daughter of Alfred Ives, a resident of North Haven. The Ives family, too, is one of New Haven's oldest and most substantial. and the name is still honorably perpetuated in the county. This union of Mr. and Mrs. Shares was blessed with children as follows : Ella J., Mrs. Rob- ert Barnes, of North Haven, has four children, two sons and two daughters. Fred I. is a brick manu- facturer of Hamden, conducting the business estab- lished by his father. John O. resides at Highwood, in the town of Hamden, from which town he has been representative ; he is a manufacturer, having interests in New Haven and Cheshire, Conn. : he married the only daughter of Henry W. Munson, of Highwood. and has one son. Horace R. gradul- ated from Sheffield Scientific School, Yale Univer- sity, class of 1897. Paul is with Horace R. at Rock
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Ledge, Fla., in the hotel business. Sylvia, Mrs. Allen Treadway, of Stockbridge, Mass., has two sons.
HARVEY S. MUNSON, president of The Munson & Co., of New Haven, is one of that city's self-made men-one whose success in life can be directly attributed to his energy, and ability to stic- cessfully grapple with business situations where judgment and foresight are essential. His connec- tion with the folding paper box industry in all its branches dates back to a time when it was in its infancy-in fact he and his older brother, Edward B., were the pioneer manufacturers in that line in New Haven, and have been so closely identified with that branch of industry that they are prob- ably the best known manufacturers of that product in America. The city of New Haven is indebted to them and their untiring efforts for one of its largest employers of labor, as well as the reputa- tion of being one of the very foremost cities in America in that particular line of manufacturing. No longer ago than 1875 their industry was strug- gling along. The Munson brothers, then but little more than boys, not only handicapped by youth, but by lack of capital as well, were laying the foun- dation of a structure, the building of which marked their lives and brought deserved success. These brothers are descendants of the old Munson fam- ily, which is one whose history reaches back to the early colonial period of Connecticut.
The progenitor of the family in America was Thomas Munson, who was born about 1612, and was first known as a resident of Hartford, where he performed military service in the Pequot war in 1637. He came early to the New Haven colony, where he is spoken of in history as being a good and useful citizen, and where he died in 1685. From this Thomas Munson, Harvey S. Munson's line of descent is through , Samuel, Theophilus, Daniel. Kirk, Joseph, Kirk. Charles and Edward Beach Munson, and includes a line of ancestors, all of whom at some time or another lived in New IJa- ven, and were prominent in their lines of business, whether as manufacturers of that period, farmers or professional men.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was Charles Munson, who was born Feb. 14, 1792. in New Haven. He was married April 11, 1815, to Mabel, born Aug. 2. 1792, a daughter of Benajah Beach. She died Feb. 16, 18-8, and he died June 9, 1879. Mr. Munson resided in New Haven, and was for a period engaged in the shoe business in Newbern, N. C. He also resided in the town of Woodbridge, Conn., where he was chosen highway surveyor in 1832, 1843 and 1856, and grand juror in 1835 and 1836. During the war of 1812 Mr. Munson served in the militia under Capt. Joseph A. Bishop. Both he and his wife are members of the Congregational Church.
Edward Beach Munson, son of Charles, and the father of the Munson brothers, Edward B. and
Harvey S., of New Haven, was born Oct. 30, 1817. He became an elector of Woodbridge in 1840. He carly became associated in business as a builder, in partnership with his brothers-in-law, Willis Smith and N. D. Sperry, a business connection that was continued some three years. For years he was largely connected with the building of railroads. He superintended the masonry work and the pur- chase of materials for the Providence & Stonington railroad, and for the New Haven, New London & Stonington railroad, 1857-59. President Giles in a letter on this work said of him: "He not only equalled our expectations, but far exceeded them in ability, energy and mechanical skill." Later Mr. Munson built the Derby railroad. This contract he completed for the bondsmen, after the original con- tractor had defaulted in his contract. Under the same conditions Mr. Munson constructed one of the main sewers of New Haven in an entirely sat- isfactory and profitable manner. Mr. Munson be- came superintendent of the Fair Haven & West- ville Horse railway. His place of residence was at New Haven, and in 1860 he served in the common council. On the breaking out of the Civil war he raised Company K, roth Conn. V. I., and was chosen its captain, his commission dating from Sept. 25, 1861. He was mustered into the United States service Oct. 3, 1861, remaining therein until the 14th of the following December, when, owing to physical disability, he tendered his resignation. Capt. Munson was a man of imposing appearance. He commanded the respect and esteem of his fel- low citizens, and all with whom he came in con- tact, and in his death, which occurred Ang. 15. 1879, the city and county lost one of its valued citizens.
On June 3, 1841, Mr. Munson was married to Amelia C. Sperry, of Woodbridge, born June 13, 1822, daughter of Wyllis and Catherine ( Ranis- dell) Sperry. The children born of this marriage were as follows: (1) Albert Leroy, born in 1842, resides in New York. He was an officer in the 5th N. Y. Heavy Artillery during the Civil war. and arose to the rank of lieutenant colonel of U. S. Vol. (2) Henry Theodore, born in 1844. was for a mimber of years a prominent patent attorney of Washington, D. C., where he married Nellie S. Porter, of that city. He was for some years con- nected as an examiner with the U. S. Patent Office. and later practiced his profession of law in New York, where his death occurred April, 1897, on the day following his wife's death. (3) Mary Gertrude, born in 1846. married, in June, 1867. Richard Henry Greenc, a lawyer of New York. (4) Kate Amelia, born in 1849, married. in 1869. Louis Hartman Todd, who was connected with the jewelry firm of Tiffany & Co .. New York. (5) Sarah Augusta, born in 1852, married, in 1882. Albert Candec. a clerk in the New Haven post office. (6) Edward Benjamin, born June 12, 1854. (7) Harvey Sperry, boru March 3. 1857. (8) Miss Harriet Eliza, born in 1859, lives at New
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Ilaven. (9) Emma M., born in 1864, died ti11- married in 1888.
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Harvey S. Munson was born on West street, New Haven, March 3, 1857. Ile was reared in that city, attended the old Webster school, and later the Hopkins Grammar School. Opportunities for further pursuing his education were offered. but he declined, and left at the age of fourteen to enter upon his business life. While as a clerk for the dry goods firm of J. N. Adam & Co. an incident arose in the form of an affront, or in- dignity, which resulted in his severing his connec- tion with that firm, and taking up another line of business. About this same time his brother, Ed- ward B., retired from employment as a clerk, and he became a partner of his brother, Harvey S., in the sale of office stationery. This business was carried on about a year, during which time they were on the lookout for something better. Their older brother, Henry T., was then an examiner in the U. S. Patent Office at Washington, and con- ing beneath his notice was a patent folding paste- board box. The value of this invention and its future possibilitie, as it seemed to him, were made known to his younger brothers, who almost at once began to look into that line, and if possible to get control of the invention. In this way they learned of a manufacturer. J. W. Osborn, of New ark, N. J., who was then producing a folding box, the New England agency for which they secured. This was in the early part of 1874. At once they began to push their new line, and the first order taken was from C. Cowles & Co., of New Haven, for 50,000 boxes. When this order was sent in the manufacturer could not fill it! The fact that one customer in New Haven could not be supplied showed how very far were these young men from having an adequate supply, when the whole of New England was to be considered. They readily saw the great future for the business, and con- cluded to enter into the industry of manufacturing this article, young as they were-one not yet twen- ty-one, and the other less than eighteen-and they had implicit confidence in the future of the tinder- taking. Their means were quite limited, which difficulty was but one of several necessary to over- come before the enterprise was started. It was in 1875 when Munson & Co. was first established. The handicap of limited means had been tempor- arily overcome by financial assistance from the mother, and not only at the beginning, but later on, as it was several years before the business be- came self-supporting. Their final location was in the top floor of a building off of Artisan street. The room ( 40x50) served as office, factory and all. The first three years was but a struggle, and many times, had those back of the business been less courageous and persistent, it would certainly have been abandoned. It had grown, however, so that in less than two years from its inception larger quarters were necessary, and they occupied the whole top floor of the building, while still later
they occupied the floor directly underneath. It was practically not until 1878 that the business had begun to show encouraging returns. The time prior had been largely spent in introducing their goods, buying up patents that would perfect or protect their business, all of which had not only exhausted their means, but much more as well. In 1879 this firm perfected a die for use in their busi- ness ; the efficiency of this article is attested by its almost universal use throughout the world, without improvements, to the present time. In 1881 it had become necessary again to seek larger quarters, and they purchased the property at the corner of Brad- ley and Williams streets, it being the old plant of the New Haven Organ Co., and the early build- ing thereon was the structure on the corner, being 35x90, and five stories high. In 1888 another building was erected, 40x50, and five stories high, as well as a building of the same height which con- nected the two. Long before this their product had taken a front rank, and was being constantly im- proved by the aid of most careful study of the de- tails of production, as well as the inventive genius of the proprietors, so that it was probably the best known in the country. In 1891 the business was consolidated with others in the formation of The National Folding Box & Paper Co. The property, however, was retained by E. B. and H. S. Munson, and is yet owned by them. In February, 1896. owing to internal dissension, the Munson broth- ers severed their connection with The National Folding Box & Paper Co., and at once made prep- arations to start up in business. The Munson & Co. was incorporated in 1897, with Harvey S. as president and Edward B. as secretary and treas- urer. An unusual coincidence in their career ap- peared at this time. The only available quarters for their business was in the same building on Artisan street, where nearly a quarter of a cen- tury before had been the scene of their modest be- ginning. Conditions had been greatly changed. Instead of inexperienced youths with but little more than their energy as their capital. they were men of experience, familiar with every detail of the business, and favorably known to the trade every- where. Competition was plenty and formidable. but to offset this the field of consumption had been greatly enlarged, the product had come to be used in thousands of different ways. so that the degree of their success was only to be measured by their ability to produce the goods-the character of which was thoroughly suggested by the name of Munson. In March, 1898, they bought their pres- ent quarters on Clinton avenue, which they have transformed into one of the most modern and hest equipped plants of its kind in New England. and certainly the best arranged and most accessible of its kind in New Haven. The success of this firm began with its inception. The peculiar fitness of its proprietors is such as to form a combination of mechanical skill and business acumen from which but little else than success could come; each pos-
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