USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 3 > Part 14
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ness world of Waterbury does not depend alone upon his connection with this con- cern. He has become associated with a number of the most important financial institutions in the neighborhood and is now a director in the Citizens' National Bank and the West Side Savings Bank of Waterbury. He has been a director of St. Mary's Hospital since its organization.
Mr. Jackson's influence is not confined to the realm of business and finance, how- ever, and he is a well known figure in many other departments of the city's life. His service in the conduct of public affairs, for instance, has been consider- able and he has held several appointive positions in Waterbury. He was a mem- ber of the Board of Public Works during the administration of Mayor Elton, and on Mayor Hotchkiss taking office he was appointed to the Board of Finance and has continued on that board with Mayors Reeves and Scully. In the social world Mr. Jackson is a member of the Water- bury and Country clubs. The faith of Mr. Jackson is that of the Catholic church and he attends St. Margaret's Church, Waterbury.
Mr. Jackson married, June 9, 1885, Mary Elizabeth Balfe, of Waterbury, a daughter of Michael A. and Catherine (Gallagher) Balfe, both deceased. Mrs. Jackson died December 29, 1909, at the age of forty-six years, after having borne her husband six children, as follows: 1. Charles Balfe, a graduate of Yale University in 1907, and now vice-president and assistant treasurer of the Thomas F. Jackson Company. 2. Andrew Jerome, attended the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University, and now secretary and superintendent of the Thomas F. Jackson Company. 3. Kath- arine Alice, a graduate of Trinity College, Washington, D. C., in 1915. 4. Cecelia Elizabeth, now a student at Trinity Col- lege, Washington, D. C., class of 1918. 5.
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Wilfrid Anthony, now a student in the Crosby High School at Waterbury. 6. Pauline Agnes, now at the Convent of Notre Dame.
GUILFOILE, Joseph Clement, Lawyer.
There is always something of interest in the phenomenon of a family in which, from generation to generation, there is handed down certain virtues and abilities, so that the qualities that distinguish the father reappear in the sons and but few of its members do not win places for them- selves in the community. It is interesting for one reason because it throws so much light upon the reasons that must have induced our ancestors to establish and perpetuate some of the institutions of aristocracy such as the descent of titles and estates, believing as they felt they had good reason to that the chief's son would inherit the strength and talent of the chief. But although it was doubtless from some such cause as this that these institutions arose, it is only in the midst of a democracy that the thing may be seen to the best advantage, when men of talent, without respect to what their ancestors may have been, rise to just the height that their abilities warrant and no more. A better example of such a family it would be difficult to find than that furnished by the Guilfoiles of Mount- rath, Ireland, and Waterbury, Connecticut. The beginning of this capable line of men was in that charming district of "Erin" to the southeast of the Slieve Bloom Mountains in Queens county. Here Mountrath lies and here during the first half of the nineteenth century William Guilfoile lived and prospered. He was engaged in farming and was sufficiently enterprising to undertake the marketing of his fellow farmers' produce as well as
his own and in course of time built up a large commission business. It was in the person of his son, Michael Guilfoile, that the family found its way to the "New World" and the United States.
Michael Guilfoile, the father of Joseph Clement Guilfoile, with whose career this sketch is chiefly concerned, was born at Mountrath about the year 1840 and re- ceived the training of the average boy of the better class whose father is possessed of means. There was one factor in his training, however, that was not enjoyed by most of his comrades and that was the experience gained by him while still a mere youth in his father's commission brokerage house which stood him in good stead when a few years later he left the parental roof and sought his fortune in the great republic across the sea. Mr. Guilfoile, Sr., was two and twenty years of age when he took his momentous step in 1862, a step which he never had cause to regret. He came at once to the State of Connecticut and made his way first to Norwalk, from there to Hartford and finally to Waterbury, which became his permanent home thenceforth. He had found employment in a woolen house in Norwalk and in the great plant of the Colt people in Hartford. His arrival in Waterbury, however, was marked by his engaging in business on his own account, a business for which his training in his native land had well prepared him. This was in the line of beef and provisions in which he was highly successful and in which he continued until about 1915 when he withdrew altogether from active life. His wife, Kate (Lawlor) Guilfoile, was like himself a native of Ireland, born in that country in 1847. She was a daughter of Peter and Mary (Little) Lawlor, and with them came to this country in 1848, when but a year old. Her father engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods in Water-
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bury during the remainder of his life here and was highly successful. To Mr. and Mrs. Guilfoile eleven children were born, and of this large family eight are now alive as follows: Francis Patrick, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work; Louis Peter, now a resident of Dayton, Ohio; Mary Frances and Sarah Louise, who reside in Waterbury; Margaret Ce- celia, now Sister Mary Catherine, in con- vent at Providence, Rhode Island; Ger- trude, now Mrs. McEvoy; Joseph Clem- ent, the subject of this sketch; and Vin- cent G.
Joseph Clement Guilfoile, son of Michael and Kate (Lawlor) Guilfoile, was born November 22, 1885, at Waterbury, Con- necticut, where with the exception of brief periods spent away at various institutions of learning, he has made his home ever since. For the early portion of his edu- cation he attended the public schools of Waterbury and he then matriculated at St. Louis College in Montreal, Canada, where he graduated with the class of 1907. It had been Mr. Guilfoile's intention to follow the law as a profession and in pur- ,nance of this purpose he entered the law school in connection with Georgetown University, Washington, D. C. In 1910 he was admitted to the bar of the District of Columbia. He graduated from the uni- versity in 1911, passed his bar examina- tions and was admitted to the Connecti- cut bar in the same year. He now has a law office in the Guilfoile Building, Water- bury, and has, in spite of his youth, al- ready established a practice to say nothing of a reputation as one of the most capable of the rising young lawyers in that city. In religious faith Mr. Guilfoile is, like his ancestors before him, a Catholic. He at- tends the Church of the Blessed Sacra - ment in Waterbury and is an active worker for the advancement of the in- terests of the parish. He is a member of
the Order of Eagles and the Order of Moose and is prominent in the social life of the city generally.
On April 15, 1915, in New York City, Mr. Guilfoile was united in marriage with Louise Peloso, a native of that city, born August 5, 1892, a daughter of Dominick and Mary (Leroy) Peloso, both natives of Italy. Mr. Peloso is a successful con- tractor in New York.
BOBBIN, Edward Gregory, Lawyer.
A member of the Connecticut bar since 1907, coming to Waterbury from his na- tive State, Pennsylvania, Mr. Bobbin has won honorable standing as a lawyer, firm- ly established himself as a citizen and formed many warm friendships. He is of Polish parentage, his father, John J. Bob- bin, having come to the United States from that far-away land, a youth of eighteen years, unaccompanied and friend- less, trusting to his own powers of body and mind to win a livelihood. That he did not overrate his own abilities nor the opportunities America offers to the in- telligent worthy emigrant, the result has amply proved. The friendless boy of eighteen is now the honored prosperous banker and merchant, the extensive land- owner, the trusted bank director and prominent citizen of the town of Shenan- doah, Pennsylvania, his seven children young men and women of education and good standing in their communities.
On coming to the United States, John J. Bobbin went to the coal inines at Ma- hanoy Plane, Schuylkill county, Pennsyl- vania, where he worked as a miner for several years. He was both industrious and thrifty, careful in his expenditures, ambitious to rise and willing to make any personal sacrifice in order to sooner reach his goal. In course of time he accumu-
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lated sufficient capital to engage in mer- cantile business, his first venture being made at Shenandoah, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where he had moved some time before. His first start as a grocer was a modest but successful one and as business increased he enlarged his quar- ters and extended his lines. The years brought richly deserved and earned pros- perity and to-day he is one of the honored men of Shenandoah, still in business as a banker and grocer but with other large interests. He brought to the United States all the foreigners' love of land ownership and in the investment of sur- plus revenue always sought out a piece of land to purchase, in that way finally ac- quiring a large real estate holding. He is also a stockholder and a director of the Merchant's National Bank of Shenandoah, is interested in civic affairs and one of the public-spirited men of his town.
John J. Bobbin married Mary Jane Janasky, born in Shamokin, Pennsylva- nia, and to them nine children have been born : Edward Gregory, of further men- tion ; Blanche B., wife of Maximilian J. Spotanski, a druggist, residing in Nanti- coke, Pennsylvania ; Adolph C., a hard- ware merchant, located at New Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania ; Clara M., wife of An- thony Rogers, a bank cashier of Shenan- doah ; Isabel H., residing at home ; Clay- ton, deceased ; Raymond D., a student at Lehigh University; Alberta, deceased ; Mary V., residing at home.
Edward Gregory Bobbin, eldest son of John J. and Mary Jane (Janasky) Bobbin. was born at Shenandoah, Schuylkill coun- ty. Pennsylvania, March 12, 1882. He passed through all grades of the Shenan- doah public schools and after graduation from high school, class of 1899, entered the famous Wyoming Valley institution of learning at Kingston, Wyoming Semi- nary, there completing his classical studies
and graduating, class of 1901. He had now arrived at that critical point in a young man's life when he must decide upon a career. He was then nineteen years of age, and had he elected a busi- ness career could have at once associated with his honored father in his prosperons mercantile enterprise. But the young man decided upon a professional career, choos- ing the law. He entered the law depart- ment of the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, there pursued a full course and was graduated LL. B., class of 1906. He spent nine months in Phila- delphia after graduation, during which time he was employed by the city of Phil- adelphia doing special investigating for one of the important departments in the city government. In August, 1907, he located in Waterbury, Connecticut, where he has practiced without a partner and most successfully until the present time. Mr. Bobbin is a member of the New Haven County and Connecticut State Bar associations, is a past grand knight of the Knights of Columbus, member of the Be- nevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He is a member of St. Thomas' Roman Catholic Church, belonging to the Holy Name So- ciety. He is also a member of a number of church and beneficial societies through- out the city.
Mr. Bobbin married, in Waterbury, April 25, 1911. Mary Cruse Fay, born in Waterbury, a graduate of the Convent of Notre Dame, daughter of the late John S. Fay, who was a prosperous tea merchant in this city, and his wife, Catherine Louise (Cruse) Fay. John S. Fay was born in Pawling, New York., while Mrs. Fay was born in New York City. Mrs. Fay now resides in Waterbury.
Mr. Bobbin is highly regarded in his adopted city. his business as a lawyer at- testing the approval of the public he
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serves. If the progress made in the few years he has practiced at the Connecticut bar is indicative of his future, coming years have in store for him nothing but success. Temperamentally he is well fitted for the profession he has chosen, while his manly personality assures him a wide circle of friends.
SMITH, Rev. Terence Bernard, Clergyman.
It is a mistaken corollary from the great and true proposition that the world is growing more virtuous, to suppose that therefore of any two epochs the later must be the better. It is true that we are moving, however slowly, towards what we believe shall prove to be the Millen- nium, but we move as do the waves of the sea and trough must follow crest as well as the contrary. It would probably be a difficult matter, however, to persuade anyone that the present time occupies any such ignominious position as that of trough between two crests of develop- ment, and doubtless most men would point indignantly to the marvelous me- chanical achievements of to-day and ask when the world has approached them in the past. But there are other and surer ways of judging of the worth of a period than by its mechanical inventions, nota- bly by the amount of religious enthusi- asm existing, and it is a fact that to call a period in history at once the "Dark Ages" and the "Ages of Faith" is a contradiction in terms. That to-day there is less of re- ligious belief than in the times that have preceded it is hardly susceptible of denial and this, according to the above criterion, marks it as in some degree a retrogres- sion. To carry us through such times of disbelief, however, there are several great factors to which men of more faithful in- stincts may turn for support and refuge.
Conn-3 -- 7
One of the greatest of these is undeniably the Roman Catholic church, in the shelter of whose institutions so many find secur- ity. It is among the priests and more de- voted members of the church that we shall still find something that approxi- mates the simple faith of those old times, a faith which approached the moving of mountains. Typical of those who thus seem to perpetuate in their own persons the splendid tradition of the past is Father Terence Bernard Smith, rector of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Waterbury, Connecticut, he having estab- lished and built up the parish to its pres- ent size and importance and made it the factor that it is in the religious life of the community. Father Smith comes of a family such as he might have been ex- pected to have been a scion of, his fore- bears having been members of the simple, yet capable Irish country folk. County Cavan, Ireland, was their home from the time that the records of them extend, and although Father Smith was himself born in New Haven, Connecticut, he inherits the simple, sterling qualities of his ances- try.
County Cavan during the early part of the past century was the home of Terence Smith, the grandfather of Father Smith, who was himself a man of parts and a well-known figure in the community. To him and his wife, who was Nancy Tor- mey, also of that region, were born ten children, now all deceased. Their par- ents came to America rather late in life and their deaths occurred in New Haven. One of the children, Bernard Peter Smith, was the father of Father Smith, and was one of the most enterprising members of his family. He was born March 31, 1836, in County Cavan, Ireland, but came to this country alone at the age of thirteen. In spite of the terrible handi- cap of his extreme youth and the strange
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environment, he made his way onward and upward until he found a very con- siderable business success and a high place in the regard of his fellow citizens. He was a surveyor of lumber for above thirty-five years, and he also was elected as a councilman of his ward in New Haven. His death occurred August 5, 1912, he being the last to die of his nine brothers and sisters. He married Cath- erine E. McGinn, a native of the city of Poughkeepsie, New York, and she sur- vives him, still residing in New Haven at the age of seventy-five years. Eleven children were born to them and of these seven are still living as follows: Terence Bernard, with whose career this sketch is particularly concerned: James, a resi- dent of New Haven, where he is en- ployed as a foreman in the great Win- chester Arms Company; Edward, who is employed in the New York office of the New York Central Railroad Company ; Walter, who resides in Des Moines, Iowa, where he represents the Atlas Cement Company ; Mary, now the wife of John T. Smith, of New York City ; Lucy, who lives with her mother in New Haven; Sister Mary, of St. Bernard's Convent of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.
Terence Bernard Smith was born April 25, 1863, at New Haven, and it was there in his native town that the years of his childhood were spent. At a very early age he showed a keen religious nature, his thoughts turning spontaneously to re- ligious things, and he also showed him- self an intelligent and industrious student and one with a strong ambition to excel. His first studies were pursued at the ex- cellent public schools of New Haven and in 1880, having completed his studies there, although he was only seventeen years of age, he matriculated at St. Charles' College at Ellicott City, Mary- land. Here amid the traditions of piety
and learning which form so marked an atmosphere at this venerable institution, he remained a couple of years, his re- ligious feelings crystallizing and becom- ing definite and his half formed desire to enter the priesthood taking shape until it had become a firm conviction of his call. He then went to St. Bonaventure College at Allegany. New York, and there spent eight years in pursuance of the arduous studies that the Catholic church pre- scribes for her votaries. On June 20, 1889, Father Smith was ordained to the priest- hood by Bishop Ryan, of Buffalo. He was ordained for the Hartford diocese. His first appointment was as assistant to St. Joseph's Church at Bristol, Connecticut. Here his ministry began, but here he did not remain more than two years, and he was then transferred to Bridgeport, East Hartford and Newtown, Connecticut, suc- cessively. In each of these he was assist- ant, but in 1905 he was given his first pastorate in the parish of St. Bernard, at Sharon, Connecticut, and here he re- mained six years until 1911, greatly im- proving the general condition of the par- ish there. His organizing and managing ability being very obvious, he was chosen to be the priest to take charge of the for- mation of a new parish in Waterbury, and it was thus that he first became associ- ated with the parish of the Blessed Sacra- ment in Waterbury. He was exceptiona- bly successful in doing the difficult work attendant upon the bringing into being of the new parish and from that time to this has tended and developed it in every way possible and made himself very well be- loved by his congregation. Among his parishioners his work has been most note- worthy and of such a character in reliev- ing distress and comforting sorrow that few men in the city are equally beloved. The condition of the parish itself has always been prosperous and besides the
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handsome church structure a new paro- chial residence is now in process of erec- tion.
Besides his immediate priestly duties, Father Smith takes an active part in the lives of his parishioners and especially interests himself in the affairs of the young men. He is a member of the Be- nevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of the Knights of Columbus and of the An- cient Order of Hibernians.
Father Smith has had two assistants since he entered upon the duties of this parish, the first being Father Thomas Molloy, who came there in September, 1914, and died there January 1, 1916. Eighteen days afterwards the present as- sistant, Father John H. Landry, was as- signed to the post. Father Landry was born at Bristol, Connecticut, a son of Joseph N. and Annie Agnes Landry, the former born in Canada and the latter in Bristol, where they both reside at present.
THOMPSON, John Henry, Insurance Officer.
wick, in the capacity of head master. In the year 1876 he became pastor of the Knox Memorial Church, in New York City, and held that important post until his death in 1886. He married Anna Westfall, a daughter of Simon Van Etten Westfall, a native of New York State, born in the neighborhood of Schenectady. They were the parents of four sons, as follows: Maurice J., deceased; James Westfall, A. M., Ph. D., now professor of history at the University of Chicago; John Henry, with whose career this sketch is particularly concerned; and Wayne H., who makes his home in Chi- cago.
Mr. Thompson's grandfather was Judge Joseph Thompson, of Readington, New Jersey, a prominent man in the commu- nity, where he was occupied as a farmer, a staunch Republican and judge of the County Court of Hunterdon county. His wife before her marriage was Ann Post, a native of the same region in New Jer- sey. Judge Thompson's grandfather was possibly the original John Thompson, who came from the North of Ireland some time early in the eighteenth century and settled in this country. Although of this fact we cannot be positive, the balance of evidence seems to be in favor thereof.
John Henry Thompson, the capable and successful general agent of the Con- necticut Mutual Life Insurance Company at Hartford, is a member of an old New Jersey family, but was himself born in John Henry Thompson did not remain in his native town or State for many years, but accompanied his parents to New Jersey when the Rev. Mr. Thomp- son became head master of the Rutgers Preparatory School at New Brunswick in that State. Here it was that the lad received his education, and after prepar- ing for college he matriculated at Rutgers College in 1890. Here he took the custo- mary academic courses and was gradul- ated therefrom in 1894 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. It was Mr. Thomp- son's intention at that time to follow in his father's footsteps and enter the minis- the west, at Pella, Iowa, February 20, 1873. He is a son of the Rev. Abraham and Anna (Westfall) Thompson, his father having been a native of Reading- ton, New Jersey, born in December, 1833. The Rev. Mr. Thompson was graduated from Rutgers College, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and then from the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. He was ordained as a preacher of the gospel, and in his young manhood went west to Iowa, where he was pastor of a church in Pella for a few years. He then returned to the east and took charge of the Rut- gers Preparatory School at New Bruns- try, and with this end in view he entered
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the Union Theological Seminary of New York City, from which he was graduated. He did not, however, enter the ministry, his taste impelling him to a business career, and upon graduation he at once became identified with the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, being employed in New York City as a solicitor for three years. On January 1, 1901, how- ever, he was appointed general agent of the company for the city of New Haven and remained in that post for nearly four years. In 1904 he went to Detroit, Michi- gan, as agent for the same company, being later made general agent for Western Michigan. On January 1, 1909, however, he returned to the east and received the appointment to the general agency for Southern and Western Connecticut. On January 1, 1913, he came to Hartford and entered upon the duties of his present position, in which he has met with the highest degree of success. Mr. Thomp- son is at the present time regarded as one of the conspicuous figures in the insur- ance world of Hartford, and is a man well known in business circles generally throughout the region. He is also promi- nent in other aspects of the city's life, is a member of the University Club, Hartford Golf Club of Hartford, and of the Grad- uate Club of New Haven.
John Henry Thompson was united in marriage with Katharine E. Stone, a daughter of M. H. and Mary (Gilmour) Stone, of Burlington, Vermont. To Mr. and Mrs. Thompson one child has been born, a son, Hayward S., March 1, 1902. Mr. Thompson and his family are mem- bers of the Center Congregational Church of Hartford.
TWITCHELL, Walter Henry, Business Man.
Robert Twitchell, of ancient Connecti- cut family, came to Naugatuck, Connec-
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