USA > Connecticut > Connecticut yesterday and today : 1635-1935 : celebrating three hundred years of progress in the Constitution state > Part 30
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General Vieco of Seymour Mfg. Co., Seymour, Conu.
4244}%
The SEYMOUR MANUFACTURING COMPANY
Naugatuck Valley Company, and the Chicago-Naugatuck Crucible Company, both of Shelton.
Offices in other corporations held by Mr. Jerome are as follows: American Copper Products Company, president and director; Anglo-South American Trust Company, director; Eastern Building Corporation, president, treas- urer and director; Eisemann Magneto Corporation, treas- urer and director; Habirshaw Cable and Wire Corpora- tion, treasurer and director; Margay Oil Corporation, assistant treasurer and director; New York Postal Service Station, Inc., treasurer and director; Santa Maria Ranch Company, treasurer and director.
October 16, 1894, Mr. Jerome married Katherme S. D. Douglas, daughter of Frank D. and Anna (Campbell) Douglas, to whom was born one daughter, Louise Doug- las Jerome, who married Donald C. McMillan of Darien, Connecticut, in 1932. Mr. Jerome resides in Orange and Norfolk. His clubs are Bankers (New York), Quinnipiack, Race Brook, New Haven, and the Doolittle Club and Norfolk Country Club, Norfolk.
BERNHARD H. MATTHIES
Bernard H. Matthies, treasurer of the Seymour Manu- facturing Company, son of the former president of the company, George E. Matthies, and grandson of its founder, W. H. H. Wooster, was born in Seymour.
In June, 1918, he entered the service of the United States Army and was honorably discharged from Camp Devens in February, 1919. He was active in the forma- tion of the American Legion, participating extensively in the formation of Legion posts in Connecticut. In Octo- ber, 1920, he wrote and published the first history of the American Legion in Connecticut.
In July, 1919, Mr. Matthies became assistant to his father in the office of the Seymour Manufacturing Com- pany, was made a director, January 15, 1920, assistant treasurer in 1922 and treasurer in 1933. In 1920 he was
made treasurer and a director of the American Copper Products Corporation which was organized by his father with a capital of three million dollars, and he occupies these offices at present.
In August, 1924, he became interested in the formation of the Colonial Air Transport, Inc., and became secre- tary of that corporation, resigning when the air mail con- tract was awarded. Mr. Matthies holds the following offices: Seymour Manufacturing Company, treasurer and director; American Copper Products Company, New York, treasurer and director; H. A. Matthews Alfg. Co., ass stant treasurer and director; Margay Oil Corporation, Tulsa, Okla., director; Naugatuck Valley Company, Shel- ton, director; the Seymour Corporation of Delaware, sec- retary and director; Seymour Trust Company, trustec; Seymour Water Company, director; Union Estates Cor- poration, New York, director.
Mr. Matthies has always been active in civic affairs and in politics, having represented the town of Seymour in the General Assembly for five consecutive sessions, 1925 to 1933. He is a member of the Counecticut State Cham- ber of Commerce, the National Geographic Society, the American Legion, La Societe des 40 Hommes et 8 Che- vaux and National Conventionaires Association.
On September 22, 1920, Mr. Matthies married Ethel Clark, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Clark of Bea- con Falls. They had five children, George Clark, Wil- liam Wooster, Roberta, Richard Lloyd and Franklyn Ber- nard Matthies.
Although Nickel Silver and Phosphor Bronze have been commercially produced for several generations, their use has grown with such marked rapidity in recent years that fabricators quite frequently regard them as virtual prob- lem solvers in the production of new items. Our engi- neering department is always at the disposal of Connecti- cut and other manufacturers in the development of their products.
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1857
WATERBURY CLOCK COMPANY Makers of Ingersoll Watches since 1892
1935
JAMES R. SHELDON President
O the Waterbury Clock Company of Wa- terbury belongs the distinction of being the first in that famous old Connecticut industry to convert the clock movement into watch form - what might be termed pocket clocks-an innovation which resulted in the estab- lishment of a tremendous business extending all over the world and supplying millions with dependable pocket time pieces at a great saving.
The Waterbury Clock Company was incorporated in 1857 by its parent concern, Benedict & Burnham Mfg. Co., one of the pioneer and leading brass roll- ing mills of the state, which began the manufacture of clocks in that year, incorporating the business as a separate company as soon as the project proved successful. Up to this time clock movements had been of wood. The substitution of brass as a superior material for such construction led the Benedict &
Burnham Mfg. Co. into the field of clock making and the advent of the Waterbury Clock Company into an industry which it was destined to largely dominate.
The first clocks manufactured were of the pendu- lum type, but after a short period lever movements were perfected and eclipsed the older type in quan- tity and output. Some attempt was made by various clock makers at this time to assemble small clock movements in cases but it was not until the Water- bury Clock Company contracted to manufacture such clock watches for the Ingersoll brothers that success was attained.
This was in 1892 when Robert H. Ingersoll and his brother, Charles H., desiring to market a watch which could be sold for a dollar, placed an order for 1,000 watches with the Waterbury concern. The introduction of the Ingersoll watch met with in- stantaneous success and the Ingersoll brothers con- tracted for the entire output of the Waterbury Clock Company in this product. In 1922, the Waterbury Clock Company took over all the assets of Robert H. Ingersoll & Bro., and in 1930 estab- lished a selling organization known as the Inger- soll-Waterbury Company marketing Ingersoll Watches and Waterbury Clocks.
In the production of watches the Waterbury Clock Company leads the world, having manufactured over one hundred and fifty million Ingersolls in the past forty years. Today the plant has facilities for the daily production of 20,000 watches, and 10,000 clocks.
The present officers of the Waterbury Clock Com- pany are James R. Sheldon, president; C. H. Gran- ger, vice-president and general manager; George H1. Close, treasurer; Carl Kraft, secretary; M. M. Ab- bott, ass't treas .; Earl M. Barnum, ass't sec'y.
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5
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8
1892 INGERSOLL MODEL-FIRST TYPE
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TYPICAL INGERSOLL WRIST AND POCKET MODELS OF 1935
[246}*
THE TWENTY-THREE TOWNS OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
IN THE ORDER OF THEIR ESTABLISHMENT TOGETHER WITH THEIR PRESENT ACREAGE AND POPULATION.
ESTABLISHED
TOWN
MILES FROM HARTFORD
ACRES
POPULATION
1639
Stratford
52
12,321
19,212
16395
Fairfield
60
20,560
17,218
1651
Norwalk
70
15,777
3.6,019
1656a
Greenwich
80
27,346
33,112
I662s
Stamford
75
24,430
56,765
1685
Danbury.
60
29,047
26,955
I 709
Ridgefield
71
22,399
3,580
III
Newtown
50
38,664
2,635
1740
New Fairfield
65
14,045
434
1767
Redding
63
20,507
1,599
1787
Weston
70
12,327
670
-
1788
Brookfield
58
12,749
926
1789
Shelton
49
19,978
10,113
I797
Trumbull
60
15,237
3,624
1801
New Canaan
73
13,114
5,456
1802
Sherman
58
15,013
391
1802
Wilton
70
17,602
2,133
1820
Darien
73
9,526
6,951
1821
Bridgeport
55
11,785
146,716
1823
Monroe
63
15,50T
1,221
1835
Westport
66
13,622
6,073
1845
Easton
65
16,279
1,O13
1855
Bethel
59
9,918
3,886
1247
STAMFORD ADVOCATE
WEEKLY FOUNDED 1829 DAILY ESTABLISHED 1892
WILLIAM HENRY HOLLY Founder of Stamford's First Newspaper in 1829
HILE Connecticut celebrates its tercentenary, and the town of Stamford its 296th year, Stamford's oldest business institution, its daily newspaper, commemorates its 106th birthday anniversary. The Stamford Advocate was founded in 1829 by William Henry Holly, the financial backer and inspiration of a printer named Albert Han- ford. First called The Stamford Intelligencer, it soon be- came evident that Mr. Holly would have to assume the mechanical responsibilities as well as the financial and edi- torial ones, if the new enterprise was to survive. This he did shortly after the first issue. After a precarious existence of nearly a year, the name of the paper was changed to The Sentinel and the first issue under the new name con- tained the assurance that the paper would now make its regular weekly appearance "without being subject to the caprice of the demon which haunted the Intelligencer from the day of its birth to its final downfall."
After eight years as The Sentinel, the publisher in 1838 prefixed the adjective "Democratic", for the purpose of having the name of his paper more clearly reflect his political views, which he was in the habit of expressing with great vigour and directness. In 1840 proprietor Holly changed again the name of his paper, calling it The Farmers' Advocate, explaining as he did so that he was anticipating the insertion of more material that would be of interest to the agricultural community. Two years later he further enlarged the title to Farmers' and M .- #248]>
chanics' Advocate, which would seem to indicate a new shift in Mr. Holly's interests, probably caused by the grow- ing industrial population of the town. The name, how- ever, must have proven rather cumbersome and finally, in 1843, the paper took the name the Stamford Advocate, which name it still bears.
After carrying on for nineteen years, experiencing two fires which, on both occasions, completely destroyed the plant, Editor Holly, in 1848, sold the business to Edgar Hoyt who published the paper continuously until 1860, when the property was again sold, this time to W. S. Camp- bell, who occupied the comprehensive position of editor, publisher and owner until his death in 1867. At Mr. Campbell's death, William W. Gillespie, who had en- tered the employ of the paper in 1860, became publisher and shortly thereafter he formed a partnership with Rev. J. J. Woolsey. The partnership lasted but a short time. Mr. Woolsey retired in 1868 and the publishing firm be- came W. W. Gillespie & Co. until April, 1883, when W. W. Gillespie retired, the enterprise having been pur- chased by his two brothers, E. T. W. and R. H. Gillespie, who had for several years previously been connected with the business.
After experimenting for a few weeks with a twice-a-
Chr Stamford Intelligenter.
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Vol. I, No. I, of Stamford's first newspaper, of which the Stamford Advocate is the direct descendant.
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1829
STAMFORD ADVOCATE
1935
week edition, the Advocate was established as a daily in 1892 with E. T. W. Gillespie taking the post as editor and R. H. Gillespie becoming publisher. Coincident with the first daily issue Robert Whittaker was engaged as city edi- tor of the Advocate, continuing in that capacity until 1921. In 1895 the newspaper moved from quarters in Advocate Place which it had occupied for nearly thirty years to its present location on Atlantic Street. This plant has been many times enlarged and modernized in the intervening years and is today a model of mechanical efficiency. The brothers Gillespie who had done business together as part-
. STAMFORD · ADVOC
7
The Advocate Building in 1935
RICHARD H. GILLESPIE Editor and Publisher of the Stamford Advocate
ners since 1883, incorporated the business in 1906 under the name of The Gillespie Bros. Inc. R. H. Gillespie died in 1911 and his son by the same name, who had be- come connected with the business in 1895, became treas- urer of the corporation, general manager of the publish- ing business and editor of the newspaper, which positions he still holds. Another son of R. H. Gillespie, Schuyler, who became identified with the business in 1903, is presi- dent of the corporation which is now owned exclusively by the children of the late R. H. Gillespie. In addition to those mentioned, Kingsley Gillespie is vice-president and Edna Gillespie is secretary of the publishing corporation. Martin 'T. Kane, connected with the paper for more than thirty years, is managing editor and Edmund R. Cullough is city editor.
During a large part of its career the Advocate has been, as it is now, the only newspaper published in Stamford, though during the more than one hundred years of its existence, it has had more than a score of local contem- poraries and competitors, most of whom have been short- lived. Though independently Republican in politics, the publishers have recognized their responsibility to the whole community and have endeavored to maintain a daily chronicle of the day's news that would best serve its clien- tele without regard to political or other differences, and to build and maintain a newspaper that would adequately supply the needs of a growing and thriving New England industrial city.
[249)*
SCHICK DRY SHAVER, Incorporated
. Founded 1930 .
OFFICERS
JACOB SCHICK, President F. L. SCHICK, Treasurer C. E. BURNS, Vice-President (Sales )
A. E. O'HARA, Vice-President (Mfg.)
LEONARD MARSHALL, Secretary and Asst. Treas.
: :
DIRECTORS
JACOB SCHICK, Chairman C. E. BURNS A. E. O'HARA
LEONARD MARSHALL
ANDREW FERGUSON
-- - --
COL. JACOB SCHICK Founder and Inventor
Connecticut's Newest Important Industry
UT of the cataclysmal depression which fol- lowed the "bursting of the bubble" in 1929 has grown up a new industry in Connecticut, which bids fair to revolutionize the shaving habits of the civilized world and to take its place among the leading in- dustries of our times-the Schick Dry Shaver.
Over twenty years ago, Jacob Schick, then a Private in the United States Army, was serving in the frozen wastes of Alaska. Shaving by the only decent meth- ods then known ( straight or safety razors, lather, brushes, hot water, etc.) was at best generally un- satisfactory. Imagine what a problem it was in the rigors of the Alaskan climate and under
the adverse conditions existing there! Jacob Schick turned his mind to the task of solving the problem and so the seed of the idea which later gave the world the Schick Dry Shaver was planted. True, it was then but a twinkle in its father's eye.
Years of active service in the United States Army in various parts of the world from Alaska
4250}*
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT
to China saw the rise of Jacob Schick to the rank of Lieutenant- Colonel, after brilliant service from early 1918 to the end of the World War as Provost-Marshal in England, attached to the Em- bassy. It is interesting to recall that as Embarkation Commission- er and Adviser to the British Commissioner of Movements dur- ing that period, Colonel Schick (as he is known to all his friends ) moved the complete contingent of American troops through the Port of Liverpool in England. He was commended for his expedition in this important work and was subsequently honorably mentioned in writings on the World War for his accomplishments.
In 1919, due to temporary ill-health and his desire to fur- ther his engineering research, he retired from the Army. Thenceforth, his prin- cipal efforts were de- voted to the fields of invention, research and technical manufacturing. His was the guiding hand in the invention and manufacture of intricate machinery for the establishment of industries both in England and in this country for several years after his retirement from the Army and in 1921 he perfected various new types of safety razors, including the Magazine Repeat- ing Razor, which still bears his
name. He was actively connected with the Magazine Repeating Razor Company, principally in a technical capacity, from 1921 to 1928, when he sold out his inter- est to provide capital to finance the development of the idea that took root many years ago in Alaska --- a Dry Shaver.
And so we have the Schick Dry Shaver -- an electrically operated machine that works on both al- ternating and direct current and can be adapted to any desired voltage - a shaving instrument
120
V
SHAVER
SCHICK DRY SHAVER
that shaves dry, without the use of soap, lather, water, or any other accessories. It has no blades to get dull or sharpen. It is im- possible to cut the skin or to irritate the face. Just plug it in any electric outlet and you can have a perfect shave in a few minutes. And moreover, the Schick Dry Shaver, with reason- able care, should last many years
without further cost.
Colonel Schick is the sole in- ventor of the Schick Dry Shaver and its accessories and in 1930 he formed Schick Dry Shaver, Inc., in Stamford, Connecticut, to manufacture and distribute these products. The business was start- ed at a low ebb of one of the worst economic periods in history and from a business of a few thousand dollars in 1930, sales have risen so that they will nearly reach the two million dollar mark in 1935.
It is a significant tribute to Colonel Schick's management that the Company has been built up dur- ing its life literally out of its earnings and is virtually owned by the Colonel personal- ly. Colonel Schick has built up the business and managed it single- handedly from its in- ception and this has been conceded as an amazing feat in these times.
Incidentally, the Colonel is the owner of many other pat- ented inventions, ranging in scope from small per- sonal devices to Diesel engines, which he plans to develop later on, as time permits.
Schick Dry Shaver, Inc., now is one of Connecticut's "baby" industries, hardly out of its swad- dling clothes, but when the next chapter of our State's history is written, Schick Dry Shaver, Inc., hopes to have added to the glory which already is Connecticut's,
PITNEY-BOWES POSTAGE METER CO.
Founded 1920
HE Pitney-Bowes Postage Meter Company was es- tablished in Stamford in 1920, the result of over ten years of untiring ef- forts on the part of Walter H. Bowes to find a solution to the ever increas- ing problem of congestion in the metropolitan Post Offices.
During these years he was presi- dent of the Universal Stamping Machine Company, and consequently was in close touch with the situation at all times. Shortly before 1920 he came in contact with Arthur Pitney who had invented a device called a postage meter for printing postage and postmarking mail. This device could be set by the Postmaster and was built to lock out of service when the last impression paid for had been used.
Mr. Pitney had already organized the American Postage Meter Com- pany in Chicago, and had applied for patents on this metering device when Mr. Bowes combined with him to form the Pitney-Bowes Postage Meter Company, the name by which the parent producing company is still known. Although the cancelling equip- ment for Post Offices was still inan- ufactured and sold under the "Universal" trademark, Mr. Bowes' chief concern was to secure the au- thorization and approval of the Post- age Meter and of the new system of mailing, destined to be commonly
OFFICERS OF THE PITNEY-BOWES POSTAGE METER COMPANY
WALTER H. BOWES, President W. H. WHEELER, JR., Vice-President
A. K. VIELE, Secretary
W. R. GREENWOOD, General Sales Manager
HAROLD CAMP, Treasurer
known as "Metered Mail". In 1920 their efforts met with success, Con- gress passing the necessary legislation and the Post Office Department ap- proving the meters and setting up Regulations providing for the use of Metered Mail for first class matter.
The first Postage Meter to be set, was for the use of the Pitney-Bowes Postage Meter Company itself, in Stamford on September 16, 1920, while the second was set for the Com- mercial Travelers Mutual Accident Association of Utica, N. Y., in Octo- ber of that same year.
Soon a sales subsidiary was organ- ized as The Postage Meter Company which opened its first sales office in New York City followed by offices in Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco. Today, the Company is
represented by branches in twenty- five key cities throughout the United States and Canada, and has affiliations in England and on the continent.
The thoroughness of this Com- pany's missionary work is revealed in the increasing revenues and number of pieces of Metered Mail handled by the Post Office Department. From less than 200 million, pieces mailed by business houses in 64 cities in 1922, it leaped to 1 billion, 156 million pieces mailed in 274 cities (a postal revenue of $22 million) in 1927. In 1932, a depression year, the number of pieces mailed reached a total of 2 billion, 21 million, 723 thousand, a postal revenue of $41 million, 640 thousand, from 667 cities. All of which is no small accomplishment over a short ro year period for something as revolutionary as the Metered Mail system.
The nation wide acceptance, and ever-increasing popularity of Metered Mail is not only revealed in the numerical and postage volume counts, but by the tremendous growth of the Company's factory and office facilities in Stamford, where a large new mod- ern plant several times the size of the combined former floor space produces an ever increasing number of machines each year.
Metered Mail is a fitting climax to the Romance of the American Postal System.
Home of the Pitney-Boxes Postage Meter Company
252}
DANBURY-The Home of the Hat Industry
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Settled 1684 -
N the year 1684 a party of eight men came up from the original Nor- walk colony over an old Indian trail which is now the Dan- bury-Norwalk turnpike and bought the land about what is now Danbury from the Indians. This section of land was eight miles long by about six miles wide. The first houses were built shortly thereafter on the south end of Main Street, which was then called Town Street. The following year the families of these men fol- lowed, and the new colony became a permanent settlement. The Indian name for the town had been Pah- quioque, and it was under this name that Danbury was made a town in 1696. Its present name seems to have been the result of a gradual change.
The new settlement suffered few inconveniences at the hands of the In- dians, but during the Revolutionary War it was the scene of some little action. Danbury was used by the American Army Commissioners as a place to store military supplies and food. Hearing of these stores, the British sent General Tryon with two thousand men to destroy them; this force marched into the town in April, 1777, destroyed the food and military stores. and then proceeded to burn the town. Meantime, however, enough citizens had been mobilized by Gen- erals Arnold, Sillman, and Wooster to harass Tryon severely as he left the burning town. At Ridgefield there was a considerable skirmish and in this engagement General Wooster was mortally wounded.
Danbury grew and flourished. In 1835 the first railroad here was char- tered and consisted mostly of large freight wagons drawn by horses who walked in a plank road bed. It is in-
teresting to note that the rails were made of timbers in these early days, and to these timbers iron straps were nailed; quite often the end of one of these straps or "snake heads" would become loose and work its way through the floor of the car, occa- sionally injuring a passenger.
In speaking of the growth of Dan- bury, we must of necessity speak of the hat industry. Other industries have settled in Danbury from time
ORIGINAL SETTLERS OF DANBURY
THOMAS TAYLOR
FRANCIS BUSHNEL
THOMAS BARNUM
JOHN HOYT
JAMES BENEDICT
SAMUEL BENEDICT
JAMES BEEBE
JUDAHI GREGORY
All from Norwalk except Beebe,
who came from Stratford
to time, such as footwear and comb- making, but it has been in hatting that Danbury has achieved her present out- standing position. Some say that one of the first eight settlers was a hatter, but, while this is not proven, we do know that Danbury is credited with manufacturing the first hat made in the United States.
The first shop of which we have any record was kept by Zadoc Bene- dict, who had a small place employing
three men where the post office is now. That was in 1780, and Benedict could turn out eighteen hats a week. In 1808 there were over fifty shops oper- ating, each one having about four hatters. Up until 1850 these men re- ceived no cash for their work; it was the custom to pay off with orders that could be used at some store for food and clothing. The storekeeper would then trade his orders to the shop for hats, which he would sell in New York. In 1880, one hundred years after Zadoc Benedict had his small factory on Main Street, turning out seventy-five dozen hats per year, there were eighteen hundred people work- ing in the hatting industry in Dan- bury and turning out close to half a million dozen hats every year.
The hat industry in Danbury is represented today by a number of or- ganizations. The Mallory Hat Com- pany has manufactured fine hats since 1823, while the Frank H. Lee Com- pany has been engaged in the hat business since 1893. The Tweedy Silk Mills, Inc., have established the domestic manufacture of silk hat bands and Doran Brothers are paten- tees and builders of the most highly- developed automatic fur hat making machinery used in the hat industry.
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