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 3 > Part 86
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Mrs. Powe was born in Ansonia, in the house now occupied by her brother Arthur. Her father. the late J. H. Bartholomew, was a prominent eiti- zen of Ansonia, and an account of his life appears elsewhere. In 1833 he married Polly H. Root, who . was born in 18II in Plymouth, Conn., and died in 1881. She was the daughter of Truman Root. a suc- cessful farmer whose last years were spent in An- sonia. He married Lewina Hemingway, of Plym- outh, Conn., who lived to the age of eighty, and they had thirteen children, two of whom are living. Mrs. Powe is one of a family of six children, of whom four survive, namely: Mrs. P. T. Terry, Mrs.
Frances E. Bristol, Arthur and Mrs. Powe. Dana died recently. All reside in Cliff street, Ansonia, where the parents also resided, and Mrs. Powe's home, at No. 134. is the center of a refined hos- pitality. She is well read, especially in historical lines, and extensive travel in the United States and abroad has added to her store of information upon general subjects. As recording secretary of the D. A. R. she is influential in the local branch, and she is also an active worker in the Congregational Church, to which her parents belonged, and of which her daughter and son-in-law are also mem- bers.
WILLIAM C. KLEINECKE is one of those hustling and energetic characters who give Watcr- bury quite a distinctive character among cities of its class in New England. Push and determination mark all his actions, and he is widely known as an honorable and upright man.
Mr. Kleinecke was born in Hartford, Conn., Nov. 3. 1854. son of Henry Kleinecke, who was born in Brunswick, Germany, in 1812, and died in 1865. He married Johanna Kutscher, who was. born in 1820 and died in 1886. She was a native of Prussia, where her father was a locksmith. Henry Kleinecke was a soldier in his native land, and served in the Ducal army. Having partici- pated in the German Revolutionary movements in 1848, he came to the United States the following year, settling in Hartford, Conn .. and learning the- tailor trade. During the Civil war he made sol- diers' overcoats, on a subcontract. He was the fa- ther of five children: Hermine. Louise, Augusta, William C. and Albert H. Augusta is deceased. Albert H. is an assistant superintendent at Lincoln Park, Chicago, and an ex-alderman of that city. Henry Kleinecke was a Democrat politically. He and his family belonged to the Lutheran Church.
William C. Kleinecke spent the first eleven years of his life in Hartford, where he received all his schooling. For three years he worked on a farm near Hartford, and then learned the trade of a barber, which he followed until about three years ago. Taking his fortunes into his own hands so early in life, he had a rather limited education, and as he grew older he felt a lack which he partially corrected by attendance at night schools. and close and . systematic reading. On Aug. 10, 1877, Mr. Kleinecke came to Waterbury, which has since been his home. For the last three years he has been connected with the New York Life Insurance Co. Ilis name is enrolled among the members of the A. O. U. W .. the Woodmen of the World and the Foresters of America, and he is now holding the position of Grand Secretary of the Grand Court of Connecticut, Foresters of America, a salaried posi- tion. his work covering the State of Connecticut.
Mr. Kleinecke and Miss Catherine E. Burke were married in November, 1878, and to this union have been born two children: August Edward,
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who is at home ; and William Frederick. deceased. Mrs. Kleinecke was born in Waterbury, and is a daughter of John Burke, of Queens County, Ire- land. Mr. Kleinecke is a Democrat, and has taken an active part in political affairs. At the present time he is a member of the board of public safety. With all his family he attends the Catholic Church.
HOWARD P. TREAT is one of the popular, public-spirited citizens of Orange, where he was born Jan. 20, 1857. He is a descendant from the first Colonial governor of Connecticut, and well maintains the traditional reputation of the family for courage, energy and probity. His grandfather was named Isaac, and his father Isaac P'. Some uncertainty exists as to whether the town of Orange or that of Milford was the birthplace of his grand- father, but, however that may be, he is known to have been an early resident of the last named town, and to have been an extensive land owner both there and in Derby, presenting three of his sons with a farm, and setting the fourth up in business in New York. He was a farmer, and a man of prominence and influence in the community, dying at the age . of sixty-six years and six months. His wife, Martha Platt, of Milford, survived hin, passing away in her seventy-fourth year. They were earn- est members of the Congregational Church and two of their seven children are yet living.
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Isaac P. Treat, the father of Howard P. Treat, was born in Orange, and passed his youth after the fashion of most farmers' sons of his day. He en- joyed such educational advantages as were afforded by the district schools of the time, and on reaching manhood established himself upon the farm given him by his father. For many years he managed this property with such skill that he was recognized as one of the township's most successful farmers. As he grew older, however, he abandoned active toil and surrendered the control of his farm to his son Howard, and retired to a home in Orange village, where lie still lives. He is a Republican in politics, and has always taken an active part in public af- fairs, having served as selectman and a member of the school board, and for thirty years as. acting school visitor. His religious creed is that of the Congregational Church. He married Mary J., a daughter of Capt. Merritt Barnes, who passed his life of ninety-four years as a farmer in Water- town, loved by his friends and respected by all who knew him. He was noted for his untiring activity. Whether bound on an errand of business or pleasure he always drove two fleet horses. He was a man of broad, enlightened public spirit, and inherited a martial disposition from an ancestor, Jonathan Barnes, who was a soldier in the war of the Revo- lution. He was for many years a captain in the militia, and was always recognized as a capable, ef- ficient officer. He was the father of eleven chil- dren, of whom Mary J., the wife of Isaac P. Treat, and the mother of the well-known citizen of Orange
whose life is under review, was the ninth. To Isaac P. and his wife three children were born, all of whom are yet living: Emma married Henry Beers, of New Haven ; Arthur is a prosperous ma- son and builder, and a member of the firm of Sperry & Treat; and Howard P. is our subject. The mother of this family died before she was thirty years of age, leaving her youngest born, Howard P., bereft of a mother's care when but ten days old. After her death her husband married again, taking for a second wife Sarah Booth, of Woodbury. She bore him one child, Flora Bell, who married Well- ington Andrew, of Orange, who owns and success- fully manages a large farm. The second wife of Mr. Isaac P. Treat is also deceased.
Howard P. Treat was a pupil in the common schools and the Orange high school. At the age of nineteen he went to the city of New York, intend- ing to learn the trade of a plumber ; not finding that pursuit to his taste, he returned to the farm within a few months. where he continued to remain as his father's assistant and lieutenant for many years. Since he has succeeded to its sole manage- ment he has carried on general farming.
On Dec. 2, 1880, Mr. Treat was married to Isabelle Rogers, who was born in New Haven, an adopted daughter of John Rogers, a Milford farmer. Four daughters and two sons have blessed this union : Lottie B., a high school graduate; Arthur P., an electrician in Newark, N. J., in the employ of the Crocker Wheeler Co. : Laura, a pupil in the high school; Howard B .; Helen, who died in in- fancy ; and Alice.
Mr. Treat's disposition is genial, generous and wholesouled ; yet his character does not partake of frivolity. He wins friends readily through affa- bility, and retains them through his moral force. He is a consistent member of the Congregational Church of Orange. Politically he is a Republican, and though he can not be called an active partisan, he has been honored by election to important local offices through the suffrages of his fellow towns- men. For three years he was registrar of voters, and in 1896 was chosen selectman, to which office he was re-elected in 1897 and 1898. He became a member of Harmony Lodge, I. O. O. F., of New Haven, in 1878, and of the Grange, as well as a member of the Orange Agricultural Society.
GUSTAVE CORNELIS is one of the import- ant factors in the business circles of Wolcott, and his life is an exemplification of the term "the dignity of labor." He has utilized the possibilities that America offers to her citizens, for coming to Amer- ica in limited circumstances he has steadily and perseveringly worked his way upward, leaving the ranks of the many to stand among the successful few. He is now engaged in the silver plating busi- ness, and is also interested in the breeding of fine trotting horses.
Mr. Cornelis was born near Brussels, Belgium,
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April 27, 1849. a son of Charles Louis and Celleta ( Poppe ) Cornelis, lite-long residents of that coun- try. The father, who was a merchant, died at the age of forty-nine years. Only two of the eight children reside in America, viz .: Gustave, our sub- ject ; and Clement, a merchant of Woodtick, town of Wolcott, New Haven county. Religiously the family were all members of the Catholic Church.
During his boyhood Gustave Cornelis attended the schools of his native land, was quite a student, and became an expert in arithmetic. After his fa- ther's death, which occurred when he was quite young, he was thrown upon his own resources, and worked for an uncle for a time. At the age of eleven he obtained a position as bookkeeper with a grain dealer, and soon became quite proficient in that line, although he had previously no knowledge of the business. He went to Paris, France, at the age of eighteen years, and found employment at a railroad depot. where he remained until 1872. He then resolved to try his fortune in America, where he believed better opportunities were afforded am- bitious and industrious young men. He sailed from Liverpool, England, and landed in New York with- out money or friends, but he possessed a stout heart, willing hands and a determination to succeed. Go- ing to Winchester, Conn., he found employment at cutting wood and making charcoal, for which he re- ceived $40 per month, and from there came to Waterbury, where he learned the silver-plating busi- ness. He continued to work for others until 1881, when he embarked in the same business on his own account at Woodtick. and in the undertaking has met with well-deserved success, although his factory was destroyed by fire in 1890. With characteristic energy he at once rebuilt, and now has a fine plant. He is also engaged in the breeding of horses and owns some fine blooded stock, including a trotting stallion, "True Roseman." His place is known as the Applewood Stock Farm.
In 1875, in Waterbury, Mr. Cornelis married Miss Julia Bernier, a native of Quebec, Canada, who died in May, 1898, and was buried in St. Joseph's cemetery. Waterbury. She was a member of the Catholic Church. To that union were born two daughters, Laura M. and Emily, young ladies of culture and refinement : they are still at home with their father. Although Mr. Cornelis takes a deep interest in local affairs he has never been an office seeker and is not identified with any particular party. He is strictly a business man, and the pros- perity that has crowned his efforts is certainly wall merited, as it is due entirely to his own un- aided efforts.
WILLIAM C. SHARPE, well known as an historian and as publisher and editor of the Sey- mour Record, is one of the representative men of Seymour, and a descendant of an old Connecticut family, his line of descent being traced from Thomas Sharpe, who was one of the original thir-
ty-eight grantees of the town of Newtown, in 1708. Mr. Sharpe received a good education in the public schools of Seymour, completing his studies at Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Mass. After leaving school he engaged for some time in teach- ing, his last experience being as principal of the school at East Derby. In 1868 he opened a print- ing office in Seymour, and three years later estab- lished the Record, which was enlarged in 1887 to its present size-eight six-column pages-and is one of the best weekly papers in the State. His work as an historian has been crowned with suc- cess. "The History of Seymour," in two volumes, is from his untiring pen, as well as "The Annals of the Seymour M. E. Church" and "South Britain Records and Sketches," and he has also compiled several genealogical works. In all the affairs of the town Mr. Sharpe takes an active interest, especi- ally in educational matters, and for nine years he was a member of the board of education, during which time he served as secretary and as acting school visitor. In religious connection he is a mem- ber of the Congregational Church, of which he has been clerk for about ten years. He is also a mem- ber of New Haven Commandery, Knights Templar, of the Connecticut Historical Society, and of the following orders: Odd Fellows, Knights of Pyth- ias, Red Men, New England Order of Protection and the Temple of Honor.
FREDERICK J. WOOSTER, whose business ability, mechanical skill, and executive force are at- tested by the facts of his personal history well- known to many of his Waterbury fellow towns- men, was born in Naugatuck July 8, 1854, a son of Horace B. Wooster, who was also born in that town in 1827, and who died in Seymour, Conn., in 1883. Albert Wooster, his father, a native of Connecticut, married Miss Mitty Chatfield, and reared a family of four children: Horace B., Let- some T., Emma E. and William H. H. Letsome T. is superintendent of the Seymour Mfg. Co.'s brass and German silver mills, and is mentioned elsewhere ; Emma E. is unmarried ; and William H. H. is a member of the Seymour Brass Co. Albert Wooster was a farmer, and died many years ago. His widow died April 24, 1898, at the age of ninety- two years.
Horace B. Wooster, the father of Frederick J., grew up in Naugatuck, and was a millwright by trade. For many years he filled the position of superintendent of the Brass Works at Seymour. The brass mills there were built by him, and it was in them that he was accidentally killed. Miss Nancy E. Riggs, who became his wife, was born in Ox- ford. Conn., a daughter of Stephen Riggs. a farm- er. The death of this excellent lady left Frederick J. motherless at the tender age of two and a half years. To Mr. and Mrs. Horace B. Wooster were horn three children: Martha. Mary and Frederick J. Martha married W. A. Church, of Derby, Conn.,
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and Mary became the wife of C. J. Wallace. of Waterbury, Conn. Horace B. was a strong Re- publican, and belonged to the Methodist Church.
Frederick J. Wooster spent the greater part of his early youth in Waterbury, whither his parents had come when he was very young. In the public schools of this city he laid the foundations of his education, and acquired a very good preparation for practical life. As a young man he worked a year on a farm, and then came back to Waterbury, where he and his father were in the concrete busi- ness, and the two worked together for some eight years. Then Frederick J. betook himself to An- sonia, Conn., where he learned the brass rolling trade of his uncle, L. T. Wooster, of the Osborne- Cheeseman Co. Having mastered this trade. he joined his father in building the Seymour Com- pany's plant, and remained in that enterprise about two years. Mr. Wooster learned much about the business, and liked it so well that after keeping books for a year in a grocery in Waterbury he took a position as roller for the Waterbury Brass Co. His promotion was rapid, and he was soon put in charge of the shipping departinent. The charge of the mill was given him July 8, 1886. and he is now general superintendent of the rolling, red and wire mills.
Mr. Wooster and Miss Carrie M. Buckland, a daughter of A. J. Buckland, formerly of Springfield, Mass., were married July 8. 1875. To this union were born seven children: Mabel B .; Henry M .; Edward H., deceased: Jennie M., now deceased ; Horace B .: Frederick J., Jr .; and Florence E. Mabel B. married Dr. George A. Faber. and lives in Waterbury. Mr. Wooster is a Republican, and belongs to Nosahogan Lodge, I. O. O. F .. and the A. O. U. W. Mr. and Mrs. Wooster attend the Methodist Church.
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FREDERICK N. SPERRY, M. D. Among the young professional men of the city of New Haven none have brighter prospects of attaining an exalted rank in medicine and surgery than Dr. Fred- erick N. Sperry.
As far back as Mansfield Sperry, his great- grandfather, we find an honorable family record of industrious and energetic citizens bearing the fam- ily name. Mansfield Sperry was a stone mason, a trade which he had learned from his own father, and passed on to his son Lewis, who was also born in the family homestead. in Woodbridge. Conn. Lewis Sperry reared a family of several children, one of whom was Alfred, the father of our subject, born in Westville, in 1843. who still survives, hav- ing for twenty-five years been connected with a large factory in New Haven, as a contractor. Dr. Sperry's mother, Lois E. ( Ryerson) Sperry, who was born in Abbington, Mass., was a daughter of William and Rhoena ( Whitmarsh ) Ryerson, na- tives of Sumner, Maine, and Dighton. Ma --.. re- spectively. Mrs. Sperry still survives. She was
the mother of Mfred William, who is a civil engi- neer in New Haven : and Frederick N.
Dr. Frederick N. Sperry was born Dec. 29, 1872, and attended the public schools of his native city, graduating from the high school in 1891, and from Yale Medical School in 1804. For the fol- lowing year and a half he was an interne at the New Haven General Hospital, and in October. 1895, began his career as a practitioner. Dr. Sperry has been well received by his brother physicians, and is a member of the city, county and State medi- cal societies, and of the American Medical Asso- ciation. In the Yale Medical School he has been an assistant in the clinics, and at present operates in the ear and throat clinics, and is demonstrator of anatomy. Dr. Sperry is a valued member of the Masonie fraternity, being a thirty-second-degree Mason, Knight Templar, and a member of the Mystic Shrine. Socially he is a member of the Greek letter college society, D. E. I .: and in his- religious belief he is a Congregationalist. On ac- count of his pleasing personality, the Doctor is popular in New Haven, and is successful in his chosen profession.
REV. JAMES LAWRENCE WILLARD, D. D. (deceased), for over thirty-eight years the be- loved pastor of the Westville Congregational Church, needs no eulogy at our hands. His con- secrated Christian life bore the evidences of high character, firm faith, unfaltering purpose. eulti- vated intelligence, knit and strengthened by a spirit of tolerance and unmistakable kindliness of disposi- tion which won him friends on every side, in every walk of life. For a minister to occupy one pulpit continuously and satisfactorily for over thirty- eight years implies continued energy, as well as development and progress not possible to every mind. That Dr. Willard possessed these traits in large measure was apparent to all who came within the sphere of his influence.
James L. Willard was born Oct. 11, 1825, in Madison, Conn., where the family has long been settled. His father, James Willard, was also born in Madison. The latter married Susan Chan- ning, who was born at Newport, R. I., of Scottish ancestry, and seven children blessed this union ... namely: Sophia W. : John A. ; William B. : James L., our subject ; Capt. Samuel, who was killed in the Civil war, at the battle of Antietam; Amelia : and Edward N .. a former judge of the supreme court at Scranton, Pennsylvania.
In 1852 Dr. Willard married Miss Victorine E. Hopson, who was born in Madison, Conn., daugh- ter of Nathan W. and Lucy ( Hand) Hopson, and their union was blessed with one child, Katharine, now the widow of S. Arthur Marsden. Their only child, Arthur W., born Sept. 16, 1880, is a law student in Columbia College.
James L. Willard grew to manhood on the paternal farin in Madison, and prepared for college
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in the local schools. Entering Yale College, he was graduated from the Academic Department in 1849. and immediately thereafter took his three years' theological course at the Yale Seminary, complet- ing same in 1852. His classmates included many men who later became famous in the various pro- fessions. He was in the seminary when Dr. Tay- lor, though past his prime, was still the ruling spirit, and the impress of that noble life was a last- ing influence in the life of Dr. Willard. Our sub- . ject had gained renown as a preacher before his preparatory days were over. and immediately after their close he preached in tlie Congregational Church at Seymour, Conn., remaining there nearly three years. He then received a unanimous call to the Congregational Church at Westville, where he was ordained pastor on Oct. 17, 1855, and he continued in that charge until his death, Jan. 7. 1894. Several times during the latter part of this long pastorate, realizing that his strength was fail- ing, he had thought of laying aside the heavy burden of pastoral work, though reluctant to give up the labors so dear to him, and he had decided to hand in his resignation the very Sunday on which the bond between him and his congregation was severed by a higher power. As preacher, as pas- tor, as friend, he ministered lovingly to the many with whom he came in contact in all those years, and though not an ostentatious man under any cir- cumstances his influence for good was widespread and deep, a quiet but potent force among a wide circle of parishioners, friends and acquaintances. Dr. Willard received several calls to fields wider and affording greater opportunity for one of his am- bitious nature, but he could never . bring himself to sunder relations which had become so dear to him, or to shirk responsibilities exacting, though often self-imposed. The Doctor was sociable and friendly to all ; kind and considerate to the bereaved and distressed: benevolent to the needy: tolerant to the weak; and possessed a tact in his relations with everybody which made his presence an ever- welcome one. However, with all his desire to give offense to no man, he was positive in his. convic- tions of right, and never yielded an inch to ex- pedieney or popularity in defense of a righteous cause or when attacking an evil. The Doctor was an ardent patriot, and his political views were those of the Republican party. He was public- 'spirited to the last degree, and, believing that the material, moral and intellectual welfare of a com- munity throve side by side, strove ever to uphold advancement in one line with due reference to its effect on the other. His love for literature was among his most prominent intellectual traits, and was manifested in his conversation and sermons. The Doctor's degree, conferred upon him by Mary- ville (Tenn.) College, was never more worthily bestowed. Dr. Willard never neglected his pastor- al duties to prepare himself for ornate pulpit ora- tory; lie never indulged his tastes for literature at
the expense of the studies and research necessary for his effective work as a preacher ; but he never- theless succeeded in keeping fully abreast of the times, both as theologian and a thinker en all up- to-date subjects, and it is this fact which accounts for his continued success, over so long a period, in one pastorate, conditions which cause many an able- bodied man to rust. That he never fell into a rut, that he could appreciate and adopt the best in both the old and new, without inconstancy to the one or an eager desire for the other. was recognized especially by his brethren in the ministry, all of whom loved and revered him. Many a home and many a friendly circle were sorely bereaved by his death, and his remains were followed to their last resting-place in Westville cemetery by a large con- course of people besides those of his congregation. The ministers of the various local churches of all denominations vied with each other in tributes of respect and love.
CHARLES YOUNG WOODRUFF, a well- known resident of Ansonia, is one of the leading contractors and builders of that locality, many of the largest and most important buildings of the city having been constructed by him. Among these we may mention the Gardner block ; the Foresters Hall block, occupied by the Foresters and Ansonia Fur- niture Co. ; front on the Lindley block and Fellows clothing store ; the Episcopal parsonage : the addi- tions to the Farrell foundry ; all the buildings of the Schneller, Osborne & Cheeseman Co., one being 325 feet long and three stories high ; the Stillson House blocks, across the river ; and several additions for the Ansonia Electrical Co., including one 40x90 feet, and 40 feet high, with an office forty feet square.
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