USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 4 > Part 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
Republican ticket. In 1904 he was the candidate on both Republican and Demo- cratic tickets, such unanimity of opinion indicating that while in office, Mr. Thompson had done well by the city, and when the town and city governments were consolidated in 1906, Mr. Thompson was a candidate against the then town clerk, Mr. Penfield, who defeated him by only a small margin. However, his services in the office were needed, and Mr. Penfield appointed him deputy, which capacity he held in the city administra- tion until the resignation of Mr. Pen- field in the spring of 1913, when he was elected to fill the vacancy. He has since held the office, and is now so strong a personality in the city that he will prob- ably remain identified with the city ad- ministration until he himself elects to retire from all public work. Mr. Thomp- son stood once for the mayoralty, and although unsuccessful, the margin was slight.
City Clerk Thompson is entitled to the military designation of colonel; he at- tained that rank during his long connec- tion, (which began in 1877) with the Connecticut National Guard ; he was cap- tain of Company E, of the First Regiment of the Connecticut National Guard from 1884 to 1890. In that year he was elected lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, and held that rank until 1898, when he re- signed.
In functions of fraternal orders, Mr. Thompson has been particularly active, and has been honored by election to high executive office in many of the principal organizations, among them the follow- ing: Chief Templar of Lincoln Lodge, No. 14, Independent Order of Good Templars, in 1872; W. C. T., Phoenix Temple, T. of H. and Templars, in 1876; G. W. T., Grand Temple of Connecticut, T. of H. and T., in 1882 and 1887; B.
Conn-4-14
209
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Councillor, New Britain Council, No. 8, Order of United American Mechanics, in 1886; State Councillor of Connecticut, Order of United American Mechanics, in 1896 to fall of 1899; B. C. of Lady Put- nam Council, No. 4, L. of L., in 1888; Noble Grand, Phoenix Lodge, No. 52, In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, in 1893; C. C. of St. Elms Lodge, No. 21, Knights of Pythias, in 1892 ; M. W., A. W. Harvey Lodge, No. 49, Ancient Order United Workmen, in 1892; Governor of Trumbull Council, No. 49, P. F., in 1895; F. C., of New Britain Council, No. 10, C. F., in 1895; B. A. of New Britain Con- clave, No. 138, I. O. H., in 1896; S. S., in St. John's Lodge, K. A. E. O., in 1895; J. D. in Centennial Lodge, No. 118, Free and Accepted Masons, in 1897; P. P., of New Britain Council, A. B. A., in 1897 ; adjutant-general L. L., of Order United American Mechanics, in 1896-97.
Alfred Loomis Thompson married, on June 11, 1873, at New Britain, Connecti- cut, Mary S. Packard, daughter of David Packard, of Amherst, Massachusetts. She died without issue on June 11, 1884. During her residence in New Britain she and her husband were regular attendants at the Baptist Church of New Britain, of which they were both members. Mr. Thompson married, November 27, 1913, for his second wife, Lillian Mae Twing, a nurse of great ability, daughter of James and Katherine (Johnson) Twing, of Winsted, Connecticut. She died on March 5, 1917.
RADEL, Andrew,
Business Man.
Bridgeport, Connecticut, is unques- tionably one of the most typical of Amer- ican industrial centers, and it is undoubt- edly true that the major portion of the immense manufacturing interests which
are centered there have been developed through the enterprise of her native sons. In the case of the late Andrew Radel, however, we have one who, while most closely identified with the industries of the great Connecticut city, came himself from another industrial center-Newark, New Jersey, and made Bridgeport his adopted home.
Andrew Radel was born in the city of Newark, New Jersey, March 2, 1862, a son of John and Katharine Radel. An- drew Radel passed the years of his child- hood and early youth in his native city and had made a name for himself in the business world before he transferred his activities from one center to another, having been associated with his father in building and operating the principal street railway lines in Newark and su- burbs. In 1895 he took up his residence in Bridgeport, and at once took a keen interest in the project of electrifying the street railways, which up to that time had used horses as their motive power. He became associated with the corpora- tion known as the Bridgeport Traction Company and later the Connecticut Rail- way and Lighting Company, and was very active in promoting the Bridgeport division of that corporation.
The most characteristic of all Mr. Radel's enterprises, however, and the one in connection with which he is probably last best known, is the great oyster busi- ness built up by him from very humble beginnings, and which eventually became the largest of its kind in the world. Upon first coming to Bridgeport he was im- pressed with the opportunity lying in this direction, and saw a great future in the sale of this succulent bivalve, which was taken in large quantities from the waters immediately surrounding Bridgeport. With this end in view he engaged in the business, at first in a small way, but
210
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
gradually increased his operations, ab- sorbing one after another the other small oyster concerns in the States of Connec- ticut and New York. In 1903 the Andrew Radel Oyster Company was organized, and occupied a dominating position among industries of the kind in the East. The headquarters of the company were located in South Norwalk, Connecticut, and its name became well-nigh synony- mous with the oyster fisheries on the Atlantic coast, and later extended even to the Pacific coast. In the year 1915, at the time of Mr. Radel's death, the company owned oyster beds all the way from Cris- field, Maryland, up into the waters of Massachusetts, and Mr. Radel individu- ally was known as the largest oyster bed owner in the United States. He owned and operated a fleet of thirty oyster boats, and employed hundreds of men who were engaged in opening and packing the oysters alone. The oysters were shipped to all parts of the United States, but found their largest markets in the Middle West where great quantities of them are consumed. Some also were shipped to England and Ireland. Mr. Radel occupied the double office of president and treas- urer of the corporation which he had built up, and controlled and managed the en- tire company.
In addition to his enormous oyster interests, Mr. Radel was financially con- nected with many other large corpora- tions throughout the State of Connecticut, and held the office of director in the First- Bridgeport National Bank and the Bridgeport Trust Company. He was also an interesting figure in financial circles in the State of Rhode Island, having owned the Narragansett Pier Electric Light and Power Company; the Seaview Railroad Company, operating electric cars between Narragansett Pier and Providence; and "The Gladstone," a large modern sum-
mer hotel at Narragansett Pier. With these varied interests, singularly he re- tained large real estate holdings in his native State, New Jersey, and was promi- nently identified with the social and busi- ness life of Newark. Mr. Radel, through his devotion to his ideals made a success of every task he undertook and was con- sidered by his fellow citizens as one of the ablest and most public-spirited busi- ness men of Bridgeport.
In December, 1892, Andrew Radel mar- ried Bena J., daughter of Adam and Mar- garet T. Berg, and they were the parents of six children: Andrew, Jr., J. Louis, Edward (deceased), Margaret, Mary, and Lora.
Mr. Radel's death, which occurred Oc- tober 15, 1915, was felt as a severe loss by a wide circle of friends and business associates. He was very fond of the so- ciety of young folk, entered into their plans and proposals with remarkable spontaneity, and rejoiced if he could render them assistance; and we have it on the testimony of those who knew him best that he never seemed to grow old himself. In spite of the many cares under which he labored in connection with his business interests, he never carried them about with him, and never obtruded them upon the notice of others, either abroad among his associates, or in the bosom of his family at home. To the very end of his life he retained the bouyancy of youth, the outward expression of an in- ward good cheer which never deserted him. In the midst of all the many tasks with which his broad and willing should- ers were burdened, Mr. Radel's feelings and affections all drove him to his home and the intercourse of his own family for rest and relaxation. Here he experienced more real happiness than he could extract from any other form of occupation, and every hour of which he felt free to dis-
21I
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
pose at his own pleasure was thus spent among those he loved best. Thus did he round out his life, and to his splendid record, good citizenship and business success, he added that highest praise of a true and worthy manhood.
FINN, Edward J., Jr., Educator, Lawyer.
In the early part of the nineteenth cen- tury, Patrick Finn left County Kings, Ire- land, where he was born, and emigrated to America, where he settled in Water- bury, Connecticut. Shortly afterward he married Ann FitzPatrick, a native of County Queens, and they made Water- bury their home until they died. They were the parents of ten children, of whom four are living and still reside in Water- bury, namely : Edward J. Finn, Sr., Kath- erine and Sarah Finn, and Mary E. Real, wife of Patrick H. Real.
Edward J. Finn, Sr., was born in Water- bury, on January 1, 1856, and has resided there continuously since. For thirty years he conducted a retail shoe business under the firm name of E. J. Finn, and since his retiring from the shoe business he has been superintendent of the Catho- lic cemeteries of Waterbury. In early manhood he became interested in city government, and ever since he has been prominently identified with practically every movement that had for its purpose the welfare of the city or the interests of its people. For over twenty-five years he gave unstintingly of his time and energy to the service of his native city, serving as a member of the various municipal boards and engaging vigorously in every activity of a civic nature. In politics he is a Democrat, and until the last few years was a recognized leader in party circles. On January 3, 1883, he married Rose Frances McGivney, a daughter of Pat-
rick and Mary Lynch McGivney, natives of County Cavan, Ireland. Rose Frances McGivney was born in Waterbury, May 29, 1856. She is one of thirteen children. The eldest, Rev. Michael J. McGivney, best known as founder of the Knights of Columbus, died at Thomaston, Connecti- cut, on August 14, 1890. Six of the chil- dren are now living, namely: Rev. Pat- rick J., rector of St. Charles Borromeo's Church at Bridgeport, Connecticut ; Rev. John J., rector of St. Joseph's Church at Westville, Connecticut ; Mary A. ( McGiv- ney) Lawlor, widow of Michael J. Law- lor ; Rose F. (McGivney) Finn ; Margaret J. (McGivney) Dwyer, wife of James J. Dwyer ; and Annie A. McGivney, all resi- dents of Waterbury.
Edward J. Finn. Sr., and Rose F. (Mc- Givney) Finn are the parents of fourteen children, five of whom died in infancy. There are living seven sons and two daughters, as follows: 1. Joseph P., a mechanic, of New Haven, Connecticut. 2. John W., a tea and coffee merchant of Waterbury. 3. Edward J., Jr., of whom further. 4. Rev. Leo M., a graduate of Holy Cross College in 1914. ordained to the Catholic priesthood at the American College, Louvain, Belgium, in July, 1914, now a curate at St. Peter's Church, Dan- bury, Connecticut. 5. Francis J., a gradu- ate of Holy Cross College, 1914; now a seminarian at St. Bernard's Seminary, Rochester, New York. 6. Alfred J .. a graduate of Holy Cross College. 1916; now a medical student at Fordham. Uni- versity Medical School. 7. Vincent E., a student at Holy Cross College. class of 1920. 8. Anna C., a teacher in the Ma- loney School, Waterbury. 9. Zita M., a student at the Crosby High School, class of 1918. The names of the deceased chil- dren are Patrick and Mary, twins; Rose, Mary and Charles.
Edward J. Finn, Jr., was born in Water-
212
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
bury, Connecticut, April 24, 1887. He attended the local public schools, being graduated from the Crosby Grammar School in 1900 and the Crosby High School in the college preparatory course in 1904. He entered Holy Cross College at Worcester in the fall of 1904. During his college career he won the affection and esteem of his classmates and professors. He was elected president of his class in his junior and senior years, and was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1908. In the fall of 1908 he was appointed to the Crosby High School faculty, and entered immediately upon his duties as a teacher. In February, 1909, he began the study of law under the in- struction of Attorney Frank P. McEvoy, of Waterbury. In addition to his duties as a teacher and a law student, he acted for a time as coach of the High School football eleven, moderator of the Sopho- more Debating Society, and taught in the public evening schools.
He was admitted to the Connecticut bar in June, 1912, and in the early part of 1913 became associated with Judge M. J. Byrne in the practice of law. Holy Cross Col- lege conferred the degree of Master of Arts upon him in June, 1913. At the close of the school year in 1914 Mr. Finn re- signed from the teaching staff of the Crosby High School, and since that time has devoted himself exclusively to the practice of law. He has been in the pro- fession too short a time to have made a very wide reputation as a lawyer, but he is already regarded as one of the most able of the younger lawyers of his native city.
Mr. Finn is a Democrat in politics. He is a keen student of history and econom- ics, but has not yet taken an active part in political life. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church. His tastes are serious, his ambitions and purposes high,
and his sincerity, perseverance and indus- try give every promise of a brilliant career of noteworthy achievement and valuable service to his fellows.
He married, June 26, 1917, Miss Chris- tine H. Kenney, daughter of Francis M. and Mary E. (Quinlan) Kenney, all of Waterbury, Connecticut.
TATE, Frederic William,
Business Man.
Frederic William Tate, a native born son of the State of Connecticut, his birth occurring at Westville, New Haven coun- ty, May II, 1854, and at the present time (1916) a resident of Waterbury, is a de- scendant of an English ancestry. His par- ents, William and Mary (Cowap) Tate, were natives of England, the former named born in Newcastle, and the latter named in Manchester, a daughter of William Cowap, whose birth and death occurred in England. William Tate served an ap- prenticeship at the trade of engineer, which line of work he followed the greater part of his life in Newcastle, and also worked at the same during his residence of about two years in Westville, Connec- ticut. His marriage occurred in England, and shortly afterward he and his wife came to the United States, but this coun- try not proving to his liking they re- turned to England, his death occurring in Newcastle in 1861, and that of his wife in Manchester in 1862.
Frederic William Tate returned to this country in 1866 and grew up to manhood in his native State, attending the Hop- kins Grammar School at New Haven until he was thirteen years old. He then se- cured employment in a match factory at Westville. In 1873 he took up his resi- dence in Waterbury, Connecticut, which has remained his home from that time to the present. His first association there
213
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
was with the crockery store of H. N. Whittlesey & Company, where he re- mained only a short time. He then en- tered the employ of the Wonder Store, and continued his association there for three years, and in the autumn of 1876 he became connected with the Miller & Peck Company. Mr. Tate attends the serv- ices of the First Methodist Church of Waterbury, and he holds membership in the Order of Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Country Club of Waterbury.
Mr. Tate was united in marriage at Waterbury, Connecticut, May 28, 1880, with Jennie Mitchell, a native of Water- bury, a daughter of Lampson Preston and Dotha J. (Woodward) Mitchell, of Waterbury. Mr. Mitchell was born at Bethlehem, Connecticut, but during the greater part of his life resided at Water- bury, where he was connected with the Scovill Manufacturing Company of that city for many years, and his death oc- curred in Waterbury. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Tate: Mary Dotha, born July 27, 1882, and Willis Mitchell, born June 12, 1887.
GUILFOILE, Francis Patrick, Lawyer, Public Official.
The peculiar talent of the Irish people fits them especially for the practice of the professions in which a combination of im- personal abstraction, with a keen grasp of the realities of human existence, are required for success-a combination which distinguishes the members of this remarkable people in the highest degree. Certainly the truth of this proposition has been and still is most markedly displayed in the careers of the many Irishmen who have come to the United States and in those of their children which have been born here. Unquestionably we can find
among the members of no other race a larger proportion of men who have been eminently successful in these honorable callings, and who have left their names as examples of virtue and capability therein. The family of Guilfoile, which came from Ireland in the past generation in the person of Michael Guilfoile, and most of the members of which have made Waterbury, Connecticut, their home, well illustrates the truth of this contention, and especially is this so in the case of Francis Patrick Guilfoile, the distin- guished gentleman whose name heads this brief sketch and who, despite the fact that he is a young man, has already raised himself into prominence in the pro- fession of the law, the best traditions of which he is well maintaining, and has served and is serving his fellow-citizens in official capacities of the highest respon- sibility and trust.
The Guilfoiles came originally from the town of Mountrath, which is situated in a most picturesque portion of County Queens, Ireland, on the southeast slope of the Slieve Bloom mountains, where the beauties of nature and the romantic tra- ditions of man have combined to render charming the scene. Here the grand- father of the present Mr. Guilfoile lived during the first half of the century just past, and there took a prominent part in the affairs of the community and carried on a very successful business. He was engaged in farming, and with characteris- tic enterprise took upon himself the mar- keting of his neighbors' produce as well as his own. building up thus a large com- mission brokerage business.
His son. Michael Guilfoile, the father of the Mr. Guilfoile of this sketch, was born in Mountrath about 1840, and was brought up in that neighborhood, receiv- ing an early and thorough mercantile training in his father's commission house.
214
Francis Liveforle
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
He was of an enterprising nature, and in 1862, when about twenty-two years of age, came to the United States, and after spending short periods in Norwalk and Hartford respectively, settled in Water- bury, where practically his entire life in this country has been passed. In Nor- walk he had been employed in a woolen house, and in Hartford had a position with the great Colt manufactory, but upon coming to Waterbury he engaged in busi- ness on his own account. His experience with the produce market in his native land naturally turned his attention in that direction, and it was in the beef and pro- visions line that he established himself in his adopted home. He was married in Waterbury to Miss Kate Lawlor, like himself a native of Ireland, where she had been born in 1847, and who had come to the United States with her parents when she was but one year of age. Her parents were Peter and Mary (Little) Lawlor, who were married in Ireland, and came to this country about 1848 and set- tled in Waterbury, where Mr. Lawlor en- gaged successfully in the manufacture of woolens until his death. Eleven chil- dren were born to Michael and Kate (Lawlor) Guilfoile, eight of whom sur- vive as follows: Francis Patrick, the sub- ject of this sketch; Louis Peter, now a resident of Dayton, Ohio; Mary Frances and Sarah Louise, who reside in Water- bury ; Margaret Cecilia, now Sister Mary Catherine in the Notre Dame Convent at Staten Island ; Gertrude, now Mrs. Frank P. McEvoy, of Waterbury ; Joseph Clem- ent, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work; and Vincent G.
Francis Patrick Guilfoile was born Feb- ruary 4, 1875, in Waterbury, Connecti- cut, and has made that city his home up to the present. For the preliminary por- tion of his education he attended the pub- lic schools of his native city and there
prepared for the college course which it was his ambition to take. He then went to Emmitsburg, Maryland, where the Col- lege of Mt. St. Mary's is situated, and at- tended that institution four years and graduated with the class of 1895. As he grew into young manhood, his ambition had been crystallizing and it was during his course at Mt. St. Mary's that he finally determined to follow the law for his career in life. Accordingly, after completing his general studies, he entered the Law School of the Catholic University of America at Washington, D. C., where he studied, in addition to law, literature and philosophy, and graduated therefrom in the year 1898. The following year he passed his bar examinations and was ad- mitted to the Connecticut bar. This was in the month of January, 1899, and imme- diately Mr. Guilfoile began active practice in the office of Judge George Cowell, a prominent member of the profession in that region, with whom Mr. Guilfoile continued to be associated until his death in 1910. Since that time Mr. Guilfoile has continued to practice alone, although the major part of his time has been de- voted to the public service, and is now re- garded as one of the leaders of the bar in that part of the State.
That part of Mr. Guilfoile's career, in- deed, which is best known to his fellow- citizens, is the part connected with the various public offices he has held, and held in a uniformly satisfactory man- ner. Considering his present youth, his career has been a remarkable one. In 1901, when he was but twenty-six years of age, he served his city as its repre- sentative in the State General Assembly, and the following year was sent by Waterbury as a delegate to the Connecti- cut Constitutional Convention. From July 1, 1909, to July 1, 1911, he served the community as city attorney, and he
215
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
was then elected corporation counsel for Waterbury, his term commencing Janu- ary 1, 1912, and expiring December 31, 1917. He is therefore actively engaged in the duties of this important post at the present time and is doing his city an invaluable service in the capable manner in which he handles the public legal busi- ness. He was the candidate of the Demo- cratic party for Lieutenant-Governor of Connecticut in the campaign of 1916.
It is, of course, his official duties that occupy the time and attention of Mr. Guil- foile to the greatest extent, but he is not one to confine his interests entirely within the sphere of his professional work. To do this invariably narrows a man, and Mr. Guilfoile is far too normal and healthy-minded to permit himself what is all too prevalent a habit among Americans to-day. He is a conspicuous figure in the general life of the region, and is well known in connection with many move- ments in various departments of activity. He is a staunch member of the Catholic church, and is active in its cause in the city. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, of the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians, as well as of several clubs, among which should be numbered the Country Club of Waterbury, the Elks Club, and the Eagles Club. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Mt. St. Mary's College on the occa- sion of its one hundredth anniversary in 1909, and is now one of five men com- prising the advisory board of said col- lege.
On the 30th day of June, 1908, Mr. Guil- foile was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Mary McDonald, a native of Waterbury, and a daughter of Dr. Ed- ward W. and Sarah (Callghan) McDon- ald, of that place. Dr. McDonald was a very well known physician and surgeon
in Waterbury, where he practiced for many years, and was prominent in medi- cal circles and in the general life of the city. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Guilfoile, a daughter, Margaret Frances, born December 19, 1911.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.