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 4 > Part 69
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In June, 1864, Mr. Lawior married Catherine Hickey, who was born in Waterbury, Conn., and who at her death left four children, Frederick W., George H., Charles J. and Mary E., all of whom are living at home. In 1886 Mr. Lawlor married Maggie Collins, who died without issue. In 1893 he wedded Josephine Keefe, who was born in Perry- ville, Conn. Mr. and Mrs. Lawlor are members of the Catholic Church. Mr. Lawlor is politically a Republican, and fraternally is associated with the Knights of Columbus and the New England Order of Protection. He has made his own success in
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life, totally unaided, having commenced with liter- ally "not a cent" in the world, and working at first for $IS per month. He possesses the requisite at- tributes for a successful hotel man, having besides a genial personality and tactful manner, a wide knowledge of human nature in all its workings.
WILLIAM THOMAS WOOLLEY, a prosper- ous dealer in furniture, carpets, curtains, stoves and ranges, on Center street, Meriden, and one of the en- terprising and progressive citizens of the town, owes his present high position in the financial world to his own untiring energy, and to the devotion and encouragement of a noble wife. A native of the County of Kent, England, he was born April 3, 1844, and is the sole survivor of the six children born to William and Louisa (Lawrence) Woolley. William Woolley, Sr., removed from Dover to Shef- field, England, and engaged in manufacturing there until his death. His wife also died in Sheffield. They were faithful and consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and were highly re- spected by those who knew them.
in the commercial world, so that, in .. comparatively short time, patrons came not only from Meriden, but from Wallingford and other neighboring towns. Three years passed, and then, as if to teach by ad- versity the blessings of prosperity, his store was burned. Nothing daunted, Mr. Woolley built his present fine three-story building, 100x140 feet, in ground dimensions, costing over $10,000, where he has a complete house furnishing establishment, and in connection therewith a large warehouse. Twelve hands are employed and kept constantly busy, and a liberal patronage has rewarded increasing toil. Having so keen a sense of honesty himself, Mr. Woolley insists that his clerks be absolutely truthful 1 in the representations of stock, and he himself is : always the same courteous gentleman, profoundly considerate of all with whom he has to deal. With an education gained in the school of experience and by his own reading and observation, he is broad- minded and well-posted on general topics, a fine conversationalist and very popular socially.
Mr. Woolley was wedded in England, Feb. 28, 1864, to Ellen Winter, a native of Sheffield, and daughter of Edward Winter. Their living children are: William E., a clerk in his father's store, mar- ried Lizzie Folkson; Louisa is the wife of Robert Brandt, of Bridgeport; Thomas, employed by his father, married Cora Bailis; Henrietta is a book- keeper in her father's establishment; Joseph is also employed by his father ; George is a student in the Business College at Hartford. Mrs. Woolley is a re- fined and cultured woman, a devoted wife and mother, to whose sympathy and help her husband owes much of his success in life. In religious
In his infancy William T. Woolley was brought by his parents to Sheffield. His opportunities for obtaining an education were meagre in the extreme, as when but a child he was put to work in a rope walk, and then in a brass works, where he engaged in chandelier making. At the age of fourteen he was bound out to serve in a cork factory, his salary of three shillings a week for the first year increas- ing one shilling a week for each year until his ap- prenticeship expired, at twenty-one. After finish- ing his trade he continued with the cork factory for six years, but the outlook seemed so discouraging : connection the family is identified with the Meth- to his progressive spirit that he determined to strike . odist Church. Politically Mr. Woolley is a Repub- lican, but can by no means be called an office seeker. Socially he belongs to Pacific Lodge, No. 87, I. O. O. F., the Montowese Tribe of Red Men, and the Foresters of America. He is also identified with Centre Lodge, A. F. & A. M. out for himself. Having married before he was twenty years of age, in September, 1864, he took his bride of a few months, and, embarking in the sailing vessel "Atmosphere," at Liverpool, came to America. From New York he came to Nauga- tuck, where he obtained employment in a cutlery factory, and spent six years at knife making. The F. B. BRILL. One of the most substantial re- tail drug enterprises in New Haven has been con- ducted since 1883 by F. B. Brill, born in that city 1 Jan. 13, 1857, of rugged Teutonic ancestry. His father, John Brill, was a native of Saxony, Ger -. many, and after coming to New Haven, about 1856, engaged as a carriage draughtsman until retiring in 1886, his death occurring in 1891. His wife, form- erly Ida Amelia Tischendorf, a native of Saxony, and whose ancestors were jewelers by trade, died in 1896, leaving six children: Annie, who married Edward Lohse, of New Haven; Otto, a carriage 1 maker in New Haven; George, formerly a drug- gist, now a mechanic, of this city ; William, a drug- gist ; Theresa ; and Frederick B., our subject, who is the eldest child of the family. ambition to better his condition inspired him to leave this factory for one in the same line at Goshen, Litchfield Co., Conn., where he remained two years, and be then returned to Naugatuck, remain- ing until 1873. In that year he assumed a position in the knife making department of the Miller Bros. Cutlery Co., at Meriden, but after a few years re- moved to Southington, Conn., and spent ten years in the same business. In 1887 he determined to risk the savings of years in a business of his own, and accordingly started in the furniture business. Not ! meeting with anticipated success, he removed after three years to Meriden, where his natural ability came to the rescue, and in the midst of advantageous surroundings built up a good business in a store on Center street. His bright and genial manners won The education of Mr. Brill, at the Eaton school, New Haven, was interrupted, at the age of fourteen, by his entering the employ of A. S. Blackman, friends and customers from the start, and honor- able business methods gained substantial footing
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druggist, with whom he remained for five years. This training, though practical and thorough, was supplemented by a course in the New York College of Pharmacy, from which he graduated in 1876. Immediately thereafter he entered a drug store in Brooklyn, where for eight years he applied and added to his already extensive knowledge of drugs. Arriving here, in 1883, a thorough, practiced and competent pharmacist, he made a bid for the confi- dence of the people and their extended and liberal
patronage, and the wisdom of his selection has been repeatedly demonstrated in the meantime. Having purchased the store and business of Charles R. Con- verse, on Grand avenue, and also opened a branch store at No. 1320 State street, he, in 1894, re- moved to 258 Oak street, on the corner of Asylum, and in Aug. 1901, located at 245 Dixwell avenue.
On March 15, 1885, Mr. Brill married Catherine Bloss, born in Hessen, Germany a daughter of George Bloss, who is a resident of New Haven. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brill, Alfred B. and Clara T. In politics Mr. Brill is a Democrat, and in 1899 as elected alderman of the Second ward, a singular mark of honor, as he is the only Democrat elected from the ward in the past sixteen years.
Mr. Brill is interested in civic affairs and is one of the directors of the New Haven Free Library. Fraternally he is a member of Hiram Lodge, No. 1, A. F. & A. M. ; Humboldt Lodge, No. 91, and the Encampment, I. O. O. F .; Hammonasset Tribe of Red Men; and the New England Order of Protection. With his wife he is a consistent member of the Ger- man Lutheran Church, and contributes generously toward its charities and support.
ABRAHAM SANFORD ( deceased). Among the men whose activity, prudence and business acu- men left a lasting impress upon the financial and commercial life of New Haven, Abraham Sanford must occupy a leading position. A native of this city, he was a son of Elihu Sanford, a native of Bethany, Connecticut.
Abraham Sanford grew to manhood in New Haven, attending the schools of his native city, and also the Lancasterian school. When a young man he engaged in the lumber trade, and from it branched into the shipping business, success attend- ing. all of his enterprises. As increasing infirmities pressed upon him he retired from active life, and died Sept. 26, 1879, deeply mourned by his large circle of acquaintances and friends. In 1847 he married Mary Baker, who was born in Ridgefield, Conn., a daughter of Amos Baker, of Ridgefield, the latter of whom was a son of Dr. Amos Baker. the well-known and highly esteemed physician of that locality. Dr. Baker was a son of John Baker, a lieutenant in the Revolution, while Dr. Baker acted as assistant surgeon in the same memorable conflict.
Amos Baker, the father of Mrs. Sanford, mar- | 93
ried Mary Gilbert, who was born in New Haven, a daughter of Isaac Gilbert, also of New Haven. Seven children were born of this union: Benjamin ; William; Grace; Isaac G., now retired, and living at St. Louis, Mo .; Mary ( Mirs. Sanford) ; Sarah, died in infancy; and George A., president of the Continental Bank of St. Louis, Mo. Amos Baker was a Whig in politics, and a Methodist in religious belief. By occupation a merchant, he conducted stores in Ridgefield and New Haven, in which latter town himself and wife completed their long and useful lives.
Abraham Sanford spent his entire life in New Haven, and was prominently identified with the leading enterprises of his day. A public-spirited man, he believed in advocating all measures tending towards the betterment of existing conditions, and generously gave his time and money for the further- ance of the same. No children were born . of his second union, and the two born of a former union are now deceased. Frederick Sanford Atwater, the son of Mr. Sanford's daughter. Mrs. Atwater, oc- cupied a warm place in the hearts of Mr. Sanford and his wife, and the young man was a special favorite of Mrs. Sanford, who lavished upon him the wealth of her maternal love. This esti- mable young man died in the spring of 1901, of typhoid fever, and his death was a sad shock to his loving relatives. He was unmarried and was a member of the Colonial Historical society.
In politics, Mr. Sanford was a Republican, and he and his family attended the Center Church in New Haven. Mrs. Sanford is a lady of intelligence and culture, and in her pleasant home is surrounded by the comforts her beloved husband furnished her. She is doubly bereaved, yet her optimistic nature looks forward rather than at the past, and she has many friends to enjoy the benefit of her kindly and helpful personality.
JOSEPH KEGELMEYER, Fire Commission- er. of New Haven, and connected with the Win- chester Repeating Arms Co., of international fame, is a native son and well-known resident of this city. The family ancestry is German, the father, Joseph, and the mother, Eva (Bregth) Kegelmeyer, being natives of Germany, and the former born in Bavaria. Mr. Kegelmeyer came to New Haven, in 1845, where he met and married his wife, and a family of five children were born to them: Carrie, who mar- ried Henry Snyder; Frances, who married George L. Hyde ; Charles, a resident of New Haven; and Joseph.
The elder Kegelmeyer was well educated in his own country, and after locating in New Haven, be- came a member of the police force. During the Civil war he was first a recruiting officer, and later he enlisted in the service. He became ser- yeint of Company G, 15th Conn. V. I., and was killed at the battle of Kinston, North Carolina. May 4, 1865. He was survived by his wife until 1876.
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Joseph Kegelmeyer was born Feb. 5, 1857, and spent his early boyhood in this city. When he was but nine years old the death of his father threw him on his own resources, and he therefore left school and went to Wilkesbarre, Penn., and for two years engaged as a coal miner. With the ex- ception of this temporary absence, he has spent his entire life in this city. Mr. Kegelmeyer fol- lowed his mining experience by learning the trade of cigar maker, but in 1875 became connected with the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., and this amicable and satisfactory connection has continued ever since, his present line of work being in the cartridge department.
On Nov. 16, 1881, Mr. Kegelmeyer married Hat- tie Gladwin, of Clinton, Conn., daughter of William Gladwin, member of an old and representative fam- ily. Socially Mr. Kegelmeyer is connected with Trumbull Lodge, No. 22, F. & A. M .; Franklin Chapter, No. 2; Harmony Council, No. 8; New Haven Commandery, No. 2; E. G. Storer Lodge of Perfection ; Scottish Rite, Rose Croix ; Lafayette Consistory ; and Pyramid Temple of the Mystic Shrine, Bridgeport ; 32d degree ; Knights of Pythias ; American Mechanics ; and Ancient Order of United Workmen. In all of these organizations he is prom- inent and active.
As a stanch Republican Mr. Kegelmeyer has filled many offices of trust and responsibility, and gained an especial advantage in 1897, when he was elected to the Board of Public Works in the Demo- cratic strong-hold of New Haven. The same year he was appointed Fire Commissioner, by Mayor Farnsworth, and has efficiently served in this im- portant capacity ever since. Although Mr. Kegel- meyer is not formally connected with any religious body, his inclinations lead him to the teachings of the Universalist Church, to which his parents be- longed. Thoroughly alive to the needs of a great city, he has, with characteristic courage and honesty ·of purpose, dealt with public interests as became an honored citizen of sterling worth and great good sense.
W. S. R. WAKE, senior member of the Boston Furniture Co., proprietors of the Boston Furniture Store, and the leading house furnishers in Water- bury, was born in Smithtown, Long Island, June 1, 1861.
Richard Wake, his grandfather, came from Eng- land to Long Island, where he was for many years a local preacher. He was the father of five chil- dren: Sarah, William ( father of our subject), Richard, Charles and George. Sarah ( deceased) married Henry Beare, a gardener in Hempstead, L. I. Richard is now a Methodist minister in Salt Lake City, Utah. Charles is a banker and a prom- inent man in 'Nebraska ; he is a Republican. George died when a young man.
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lowed in the footsteps of his father, and is a retired minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife, Maria (Squires), was born in Goodground, Long Island, daughter of Nicholas Squires, and died about 1890, the mother of two children: Emma and W. S. R. Emma married Ira E. Manvel, and has her home in Massachusetts. The Squires came into the section after the Indians retired and for five generations have lived in the same part of Long Island.
W. S. R. Wake spent his boyhood in various places, as his father was a traveling minister and subject to orders. He attended high school in Hart- ford, and in 1879 graduated from the Glastonbury Academy. After leaving school he was a clerk in the grocery store of H. J. Case & Co., and later had a similar position in Waterbury. Mr. Manvel, his brother-in-law, joined him in the establishment of a general store at Lenoxdale, Mass., and the business was conducted successfully for about a year and a half, when they was burned out. Mr. Wake then came back to Waterbury and resumed his place as clerk in the grocery, which he had given up to go to Lenoxdale. On July 28, 1883, he associated himself with Hunt & York, who were conducting a furniture and undertaking business, and spent a year and a half in their employ. He clerked for Smith & Twitchell, at Meriden, about the same length of time, and then was in the furniture busi- ness for himself a year at Westfield, Mass. Again returning to Waterbury, he formed a partnership with C. W. Elkins, and for six years they conducted an extensive business in furniture and house furn- ishings. When this firm dissolved the Boston Furniture Co. was formed by W. S. R. Wake and W. W. Wallace, who have rapidly built up an ex- tensive trade, and in a comparatively brief time have come straight to the front.
Mr. Wake and Miss Lela M. Benton were mar- ried Feb. 2, 1887. Mrs. Wake was born in Lee, Mass., daughter of Charles C. Benton, of that place. The Benton family has long been known in Massa- chusetts, and comes of old English stock. Mr. and Mrs. Wake have two children, Meta and Edna. Mr. Wake is a Republican, and belongs to the Grange. He is a member of the First Congrega- tional Church, and his wife is a Methodist.
JEROME B. FULLER, chief engineer of the Naugatuck Fire Department, and one of the leading citizens of that place, is a native of Connecticut, born in Scantic, Hartford county, Aug. 27, 1839, and is a son of Jehial Fuller, who was one of a large family of children, all farmers and residents of this State. The father of our subject, however, worked as a laborer and also engaged in the trucking busi- ness. He died in April, 1851, at the age of fifty-five years. By his wife, Elizabeth, also a native of Con- necticut, he became the father of nine children, namiely : Jane, who married a Mr. Nye, of Spring-
William Wake, the father of W. S. R., was born in England in 1820, and is still living. He fol- | field, Mass., and both are now deceased; James, a
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retired machinist of Springfield, who died in 1897; Henry, who died in infancy ; Jennette, wife of Will- iam Hutchinson, of New Ilaven; Jerusha, wife of Samuel Pease, who is now living retired in Spring- field ; Cornelia, who died unmarried in 1876; Mary, wife of Erastus Hillman, of North Carolina ; Jerome B., our subject ; and Rose, wife of Andrew Hyde, a violin manufacturer of Northampton, Massachu- setts.
The early life of Jerome B. Fuller was passed in Rockville, Conn., where he continued to make his home until 1856, when he went to Springfield, Mass., to learn the machinist's trade. He subsequently returned to Rockville, .where he worked at his trade until coming to Naugatuck Oct. 5, 1869. Here he entered the employ of the Dunham Hosiery Com- pany ( then known as the Thomas Lewis Company ), and is still a machinist with that concern.
On Sept. 23, 1859, Mr. Fuller was united in marriage with Miss Augusta Bidwell, who was born in Lee, Mass., and is a daughter of Henry and Sarah (Scovel) Bidwell, the former also a native of Lee, Mass., the latter of Connecticut, and both of English descent. Her grandfathers were Eleazer Bidwell and Julius Scovel. Two children were born to our subject and his wife, namely: Maud, who died at the age of five months; and Asa L., at home.
Mr. Fuller is president of the Naugatuck Elec- tric Time Co .; is chief of the Naugatuck Fire De- partment, which office he has filled uninterruptedly since 1893; and is also superintendent of the fire alarm system and fire marshal. He became a mem- ber and was appointed first assistant engineer on the organization of the department in 1890, and has al- ways taken a most active and prominent part in its affairs. He is a stanch supporter of the Republican party and its principles, and is a member of Fayette Lodge, F. & A. M., of Rockville, and Allerton Chap- ter, R. A. M., of Naugatuck. Religiously he was reared in the Congregational Church, to which his ancestors belonged. His wife is quite an active and prominent temperance worker; has been district superintendent of the Juvenile Temperance Society through this valley ; and vice-president of the Good Templars Society of the State. She is also a mem- ber of the Golden Cross, and is a most estimable lady.
FRANK H. WOODRUFF, a well-known resi- dent of Milford, was born July 15 1849 in the town of Orange, New Haven county, where his family has been prominent for several generations. One of our subject's ancestors came over in the "Mayflower."
Nehemiah Woodruff, grandfather of Frank H., was born in Orange, and passed his life there en- gaged in farming. He married Hannah Jones, and they had five children, of whom Jeremiah, our subject's father, was the youngest. John was a carpenter and builder in New Haven, where he |
died. Diantha married Aaron Fenn, a physician, who was born in Milford and practiced in Rox- bury, Conn. Harriet married Samuel Smith, a farmer and contractor in Orange. Mary married Arnold Hine, a farmer in Orange.
Jeremiah Woodruff was born in Orange, and remained there, becoming known as the most suc- cessful farmer in the town, perhaps in the State. Politically he was a Republican, and in religious faith he and his estimable wife were Congrega- tionalists. He married Miss Charlotte Nettleton, daughter of David Nettleton, a farmer in Orange, and they had five children, as follows: Styles D., a seed grower and dealer of Orange; George E., retired, of Bayonne, N. J .; Charlotte E., wife of Everett B. Clark, of Orange; Mary E., deceased ; and Frank H., our subject. The mother died in 1888, and the father did not long survive her, dying in December, 1890.
Frank H. Woodruff spent his youth at the old homestead, and until reaching the age of sixteen he attended the local district school. Later he at- tended the high school at Orange Center, and after a year of further study at Suffield, Conn., he re- turned to his father's farm, of which he took charge in early manhood. He makes a specialty of mar- ket gardening and raising garden seeds. His farm in Milford contains 130 acres, and he owns much more in the town of Orange, having inherited a part of the family estate there. On Sept. 15, 1870. Mr. Woodruff married Miss Susan G. Furman, of Milford, daughter of Henry Furman, who removed to that town from Cayuga County, N. Y., and en- gaged in contracting, building sewers, bridges and similar works. Mrs. Susan G. Woodruff died June 16, 1882, and on Aug. 15, 1883, our subject mar- ried Miss Ella J. Platt, of Milford, a daughter of David B. Platt of the same town. By his first marriage he had two children: Carrie L., born Nov. 5, 1872, wife of Charles W. Lindley, of West Haven, Conn .; and William H., born Oct. 24, 1875, who assists his father in the management of the farm. By the second marriage he has also two children: Florence E., born June 21, 1884; and Harold F., born July 15, 1885. Mr. Woodruff is a stanch Republican, and although he has fre- quently declined to accept nomination for local of -. fice he is now serving as representative in the State Legislature. Fraternally he belongs to the Royal Arcanum, and is one of the leading members of the Plymouth Congregational Church of Milford, in which he has held the office of deacon for over twenty years ; he is also chairman of the society's committee of the church.
JAMES P. DAVIDSON, the foreman of the blacksmith department of the Farrell Foundry in Ansonia, was born in Scotland July 3, 1836, where his ancestors for many generations had lived and died.
James Davidson, his grandfather, was born in
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Paisley, near Glasgow. He was a harnessmaker by trade, and followed that avocation all his life; his wife, who lived to the very old, was also a native of Scotland, and they had a family of twelve children.
John Davidson, the father of James P., was reared a harnessmaker, and followed that trade until his coming to America in 1862. His first lo- cation was made in Pittsburg, and from there he moved to Hamilton, Ohio. In 1873 he came to Ansonia, where he led a retired life until his death in 1881, when he was seventy-two years old. Jane Pollock, his wife, was born near Glasgow, in 1818, and had a family of thirteen children. Four of this family are now living: James P .; Archibald, of Hamilton, Ohio; Margaret, who married George Sloss, and lives in Ansonia; and Eliabeth, who is the wife of George Malkam, of Ansonia. The mother died in 1878 at the age of sixty years. The parents were both members of the Presbyterian Church.
James P. Davidson established himself in An- sonia in 1860. He had been educated in the thor- ough and solid manner customary in Scotland, and had learned the blacksmith trade, beginning when he was fifteen years old, and when he had mastered it, following the trade some years at New- castle, England. On his arrival in the United States Mr. Davidson came directly to Connecticut. where he secured a position with the Farrell Com- pany at Waterbury, and in October of that year (1860) came to Ansonia, to take a similar position in the foundry of the same firm in this city. Since that time Mr. Davidson has remained continuously in their employ, and is noted as the oldest man in the works in point of service. Mr. Davidson has seen the foundry increased many times in extent, and when he came he found a house three blocks away from it. Now he lives eight, and the inter- vening space is closely filled. He is the oldest fore- man in the works, and one of the most trusted workmen in the factory. There are comparatively very few living in Ansonia who were here in 1860.
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