USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 4 > Part 34
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Waterbury, and the Waterbury Club. In the matter of his religious belief, Mr. Bavin is a Catholic, and faithfully at- tends the Church of the Blessed Sacra- ment in the city, and is very active in the work of the parish.
Mr. Bavin was married, in St. Patrick's Church, Waterbury, on the 19th day of April, 1902, to Miss Eliza Meaney, a na- tive of Portland, Connecticut, and a daughter of Morris and Mary Meaney, both of whom were born in Ireland. The father's death occurred in his native land, but Mrs. Meaney and her daughter came to this country, the former dying here in Waterbury.
Mr. Bavin is a man of the world, a suc- cessful business man, progressive, keep- ing abreast with the quickly moving times in which he lives, yet possessed in the fullest measure of those sterling virtues which are perhaps more usually associ- ated with an age that is passing than that now in its zenith-the virtue of the strict- est business integrity, an integrity that would rather suffer personal reverses than fail one jot of its ideal, and of a courtesy that is justly regarded as one of the most characteristic expressions of civilized life. Although deeply interested in business pursuits and public issues, he had both the time and inclination to give much of his attention to his home and family life, enjoying nothing more than the intimate intercourse which is only to be had in these relations. He is a man of long and strong friendships, and one whose example is leaving an impress for good upon the community at large.
COONEY, Rev. Thomas, Clergyman.
If it is true that Catholic parents deem it a great honor to have a son enter the priesthood, then Thomas and Rose (Raf-
ferty) Cooney were doubly honored, as two of their sons long and faithfully served the church,-one 110w deceased, and one of them, Rev. Thomas Cooney, yet serves St. Francis parish, Naugatuck, Connecticut, a parish now celebrating its golden jubilee. Thomas and Rose Cooney, long since gone to their reward, were lifelong residents of Ireland, where their son, John Cooney, was born in 1841. He was educated for the priesthood of the Roman Catholic church, and after taking holy orders came to the United States in 1869, a pioneer mission priest. He was pastor of churches in Thompsonville, New Haven, Colchester, Rockville and Meri- den, Connecticut, his death occuring in Meriden, December 13, 1913, he being at the time pastor of St. Rose parish of that city.
Rev. Thomas Cooney, son of Thomas and Rose (Rafferty) Cooney, was born in Ireland, He attended the county na- tional school, then entered St. Patrick's College, whence he was graduated with the class of 1875. He then entered the University of Lowain, Belgium, continued a student of divinity there until 1879, and was ordained a priest of the Roman Cath- olic church, January I of that year, com- ing to the United States in October, 1879. His first pastorate was St. Peter's, in Hartford, where he remained from Octo- ber, 1879, until February, 1880, going thence to St. Mary's at Putnam, until Feb- ruary, 1883, then to St. Joseph's, at Gros- venordale, there continuing until July, 1910. He was then appointed pastor of St. Francis parish, Naugatuck, where he yet remains.
Father Cooney has been very success- ful in his various pastorates and missions, and wherever he has gone a quickened re- ligious fervor has followed and churches and schools have been built or enlarged. In Naugatuck, St. Francis has wonder-
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fully prospered under his care, and in this, the golden jubilee of the parish, the church is being enlarged, the cemetery im- proved, and the spiritual life of the parish quickened. While at Grosvenordale, an outlying mission church at Quinnebaug was built, and St. Stephen's Church and schools enlarged. In Naugatuck, St. Fran- cis Convent, Sisters of Mercy, has been erected, and many improvements have been made. Father Cooney is greatly be- loved by his parish, and holds the respect of the entire community in which the up- lift of his people is carried on. He is a polished public speaker, and while de- voted to the church he so efficiently serves, recognizes the value of all Chris- tian work, and aids in all movements to further the cause of Christianity, temper- ance and better living.
JONES, William Samuel, Business Man, Public Official.
William Samuel Jones, who is serving in the capacity of treasurer of Jones, Mor- gan & Company, Inc., outfitters to men and boys, of Waterbury, is of English de- scent, his father, Samuel Jones, having been born in England, in the year 1837. He attended the schools of his native place, and in 1850, when thirteen years of age, came to the United States, and short- ly afterward entered the employ of the Wheeler-Wilson Company, the great sew- ing machine manufacturing concern, with which he was employed as a polisher at the time of his early death in the year 1867, aged thirty years. He married, in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1856, Mar- garet McGrath, a native of Ireland, daugh- ter of Dennis and Margaret McGrath, the former of whom died in 1855 and the latter in 1873. The second child of this marriage was William Samuel Jones, of this review.
William Samuel Jones was born in Meriden, Connecticut, June 28, 1859. At the age of eight years he accompanied his parents to Waterbury, Connecticut, and there attended the local public schools. proving an apt scholar and entering the high school at an early age. He did not graduate from this institution, however, giving up his studies at the age of thirteen years and securing employment in the humble capacity of delivery boy in a mar- ket in Waterbury, remaining four years, during which time he gained experience of a practical sort. He was a lad of quick, alert intelligence and a very pleasing man- ner, and in 1877 he secured a position in the clothing store of J. H. Dudley, of Waterbury, where he won the confidence of his superiors and was advanced in posi- tion. He continued his connection with Mr. Dudley for nine years, in the mean- time working hard and practicing the strictest economy in order to carry out his ambition of engaging in business on his own account. In 1885 he felt himself in a position to gratify this ambition, and associated himself with two partners under the style of Jones, Morgan & Com- pany, and from that time to the present, a period of over three decades, has con- ducted a most successful business. In 1906 the company was incorporated under the name of Jones, Morgan & Company, Inc., and it has now attained large pro- portions and is still growing rapidly. It is one of the most popular outfitting estab- lishments for men and boys in the region, having a splendidly equipped stock of goods which are shown to advantage in their store located at Nos. 96 to 108 Bank street, Waterbury, and they enjoy a repu- tation for probity and sound business methods second to none. Mr. Jones has always held the office of treasurer in the concern, and he has been an active factor in the success and development of the
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business. In addition to this extensive undertaking, Mr. Jones is deeply inter- ested in general financial and business conditions in Waterbury, and is a direc- tor and stockholder in the Manufacturers' National Bank of that city.
Mr. Jones has also taken an active in- terest in politics, casting his vote and giv- ing his allegiance to the candidates of the Democratic party. He has served in sev- eral public capacities, for two years on the board of health, to which he was ap- pointed by Mayor Elton, and a similar period on the board of charities, to which he was appointed by Mayor Hotchkiss, and in both these important offices he rendered the community valuable service. Mr. Jones is a Roman Catholic in religion, and a staunch adherent of the old faith which has been that of his ancestors from the beginning. He and his family attend the Church of St. Margaret in Waterbury, and he is a prominent figure in the work of the parish.
Mr. Jones married, at Hartford, Con- necticut, February 12, 1889, Elizabeth R. McGowan, a native of that city, daughter of Patrick and Margaret (Roberts) Mc- Gowan, old residents of Hartford, both of whom died there, Mr. McGowan in 1887, at the age of sixty years, and Mrs. Mc- Gowan in 1910, at the age of seventy years. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Jones, all of whom are liv- ing at the present time (1916) as follows : Marguerite E., born October 10, 1890, now secretary to the president of the Crosby High School in Waterbury ; Wil- liam H., born November 4, 1892, now a student in Yale University, class of 1916; Samuel J., born October 17, 1894, now a student at Andover Theological Semi- nary, class of 1916; Oswald R., born Oc- tober 29, 1896, now a student at Yale Uni- versity, class of 1919; and Edwin, born November 24, 1898, now a student in the Waterbury High School, class of 1917.
BELL, Frank Daniel, Head of Important Business.
Among the names of Bridgeport's suc- cessful business men, that of Frank Daniel Bell, the proprietor and active head of Meigs & Company, the largest depart- ment store of Bridgeport, deserves to be mentioned prominently.
Frank Daniel Bell is a native of Chester, New Hampshire, in which town he was born March 13, 1864. He is a member of a family which has dwelt many years in that part of New Hampshire, and his grandfather, Daniel MacMaster Bell, was a resident there in the early part of the nineteenth century. He was a successful farmer and died in the year 1868. He married a Miss Knowles, of one of the earliest families of Chester, New Hamp- shire. Three children were born to him, of whom but one, Sarah, the widow of Harris L. Gilson, still survives; she is now a resident of Wakefield, Massachu- setts, where she is living at the advanced age of eighty-three years. One of his sons was George Henry Bell, the father of the Mr. Bell, of this sketch, and this gentleman was born at Chester, in the year 1838. Like his father, he was a farmer, and lived all his life in his native place, his death occurring there in 1913, at the age of seventy-five years. He was married to Elizabeth J. Lovett, a daughter of John Thorndyke Lovett and Elizabeth Jane (Wood) Lovett. Mr. Lovett was a native of Beverly, Massachusetts, and died at Derry, New Hampshire, where he had been engaged in business as a contrac- tor and builder. His wife died in the same place, at the age of ninety-six years. Mrs. Bell, Sr., was the eldest of three children, the others being Maria Pickett and John T. To Mr. and Mrs. George Henry Bell four children were born, of whom Frank Daniel Bell is the only one now living. They were as fol-
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lows: Arthur, died in childhood; Frank Daniel, the subject of this sketch ; Albert, died at the age of nine years ; and Harris, who was a traveling salesman, and served in the Spanish-American War with the Seventy-first Regiment, New York Volun- teers. He died at the age of forty-two years.
Frank Daniel Bell attended the public schools of his native town for his educa- tion, and later went to the Pinkerton Academy at Derry, New Hampshire. After completing his studies in the latter institution he remained at Derry, and there entered the grocery business with a position in a local store. Later he went to Haverhill, Massachusetts, to learn the clothing business, and at the age of twen- ty-two started in business on his own ac- count. The place that he chose for this venture was Newburyport, Massachu- setts, and he remained in this business successfully for a period of about two years. He then identified himself with Meigs & Company, in Bridgeport, and was elected vice-president, an office which he holds at the present time. The growth of Meigs & Company has been a remark- able one, considering its comparative youth. It was started on the corner of Main and Bank streets in the year 1888, the store has been located in its present quarters on Main street and Fairfield ave- nue since the year 1902. Its specialty is ready made apparel of all kinds.
Mr. Bell takes an active part in the gen- eral life of the community, and is inter- ested in all the city's affairs. He is a member of the local lodges of the Ma- sonic order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Algonquin and Brooklawn Country clubs of Bridgeport, and is prominent as a director of the Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce, the Bridgeport Business Men's Association. and other organizations. Besides his in-
terests in the concern of Meigs & Com- pany, Mr. Bell is a director of the City National Bank and of the City Savings Bank, both of Bridgeport. In his religious affiliations, Mr. Bell is a member of the United Congregational Church of Bridge- port.
Mr. Bell was married, at Bridgeport, on the third day of December, 1906, to Miss Marion Moody Patterson, a native of this city, and a daughter of Silas Hoyt and Georgianna (Moody) Patterson. Mr. Patterson, who was a native of Bridge- port and lived in that city all his life, was associated with the Bridgeport Patent Leather Company of that city, which had been founded by his father, Silas Hoyt, Sr., many years before. His wife, Mrs. Patterson, is still residing in Bridgeport, at the age of seventy-two years. To Mr. and Mrs. Bell two children have been born as follows: Stephen Patterson. March 4, 1908; and Francis Patterson. May 4, 1911.
WILLIAMS, Edwin H., Light Company Superintendent.
A native son of New Jersey, Mr. Wil- liams since 1883 has been a resident of Waterbury, Connecticut, coming as an expert in matters pertaining to the dis- tribution of gas as an illuminant. He has made the problems of gas manufacture and supply the study of his life, and per- haps no man engaged in the business has so thoroughly mastered those problems. As superintendent of the entire local busi- ness of the Waterbury Gas Light Com- pany, he is brought into intimate touch with every detail with a business which is vital to public convenience. yet one in which maker and consumer in the past have seemingly delighted to each an- tagonize the other. It must be said of Mr. Williams that his tact, diplomacy and
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wisdom has caused his feeling largely to disappear, with a resulting benefit to company and consumer. His slogan is "good service" and to achieve that end he has bent all his energies. He is highly regarded in his adopted city, of which he has so long been a resident, and has a wealth of business and personal friends.
Edwin H. Williams was born at East Orange, New Jersey, January 31, 1859. He was educated in the public schools, and began his long connection with the gas industry in 1874, in Paterson, New Jersey, where most of his early life was spent. He was then but fifteen years of age, and from that age he has been con- tinuously in the business. He was pro- moted to higher position as years and experience justified, and in time his knowledge of every detail of the business classed him as an expert.
In 1883, the needs of the Waterbury Gas Light Company caused him to be sent from Paterson to reorganize and re- construct the system of lighting that city, and there he has ever remained. The perfection of plant and system of distri- bution is largely the result of his energy and efficiency, and no where have better results been secured than is shown in the district over which he is general super- intendent.
HUGHES, John Rawson,
Manager of Important Business.
The Hughes family, worthily repre- sented in the present generation by the late George Francis Hughes and his son, John Rawson Hughes, extensive and suc- cessful dry goods merchants, is descended from pure English stock, England having been the home of the ancestors of the family for many generations, they per- forming well their part in the various callings and professions they followed,
ever advancing the interests of the com- munities in which they resided.
John Biggs Hughes, the earliest known ancestor of the branch of the family here- in followed, was a Lancastrian, and a cap- tain in the British army. He and his wife were the parents of seventeen children, of whom three are living at the present time (1916) two of them in New York City, namely : Charles and Margaret, the latter named being the wife of William C. Barnes, of New York.
George Francis Hughes, son of John Biggs Hughes, was born in Lancashire, England, May 10, 1843, died in Norwich, Connecticut. Brought up in that great industrial district, Lancashire, where per- haps is the greatest concentration of manufacturing interests in the world, and employed in his youth, after completing his studies in the district schools, as a clerk in a dry goods store, Mr. Hughes was well trained in the ways and methods of mercantile business while still a young man. In 1866, when only twenty-three years of age, being of an enterprising nature and realizing that opportunities in his overcrowded native region were not many, he decided to come to the United States in search of more promising condi- tions, and accordingly made the journey, locating at first in Boston, Massachusetts. He gave his attention to the same line of business in this country, his first employ- ment being as buyer in a dry goods estab- lishment. His expectations in regard to the opportunities to be found in the New World were realized and he came to the conclusion that by close application to work and the practice of economy he would be able eventually to bring about his great ambition of embarking upon an enterprise of his own. This he did, thir- teen years later, in 1879, in the city of Norwich, Connecticut, where he entered into partnership with a Mr. Reid, estab-
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lishing the firm of Reid & Hughes, and the success which attended their efforts was so great that in 1890, eleven years later, they opened a branch store in Waterbury, Connecticut, which has since become the larger establishment of the two and is the largest in the city. The business was incorporated in 1903, and the corporation now operates in addition to the original store in Norwich and the branch store in Waterbury, a new one in Lawrence, Massachusetts, all of which are in the highest degree successful. To Mr. Hughes is given the greater part of the credit for the success achieved, as he was a man of remarkable foresight and wisdom, quick to grasp opportunities, progressive and enterprising, and withal prudent and careful, a thorough business man in the best sense of the word. Mr. Hughes married Lou R. Rawson, a native of Massachusetts, who survives her hus- band, and now resides in Waterbury, Connecticut.
John Rawson Hughes, only child of George Francis and Lou R. (Rawson) Hughes, was born in Worcester, Massa- chusetts, March 11, 1875. Only the very earliest associations of childhood, how- ever, are with that city, for at the age of four his parents took him to Norwich, Connecticut, and there the lad lived until he was thirteen years old, his prelimi- nary education being obtained in the local schools, and was then sent to the Norwalk Military Institute. During his attendance at that institution his parents removed to Waterbury, Connecticut, and in 1891, when his studies were completed, he returned home and secured employ- ment in the branch store established by his father in Waterbury, and thus it may be said that he grew up with the business in that city, his talent and ability being active factors in the steady growth and expansion of the business, which has as- sumed great proportions. His first asso-
ciation with the business was in the humble capacity of clerk, but he thus gained an intimate knowledge of the de- tail of every department that was possible in no other way, and from this position he was advanced to others of more impor- tance and trust. After the reorganization of the business in 1903, he having then had two years' service, he was appointed treasurer, and has filled that responsible office ever since with the utmost effi- ciency. In 1915 he was elected president of the concern, after the death of his father, and since that time has held the dual office, the control of the business being entirely in his hands. He is a prom- inent figure in the commercial world of that section of the State, and in addition to the management of his own vast inter- ests is a stockholder and director in the Morris Bank in Waterbury, and in many ways influential in the business affairs of the community. He is also a prominent figure in the general life of Waterbury, especially in club and fraternity circles. He is a very active Mason, having taken the thirty-third degree and being a mem- ber of all the local bodies, and he is a member of the Waterbury Club and Country Club of Waterbury. He is an Episcopalian in religious belief, and at- tends St. John's Church of that denomi- nation in Waterbury, contributing liber- ally to the work of the parish.
Mr. Hughes married, in Brooklyn, New York, October 10, 1899, Katheryn W. Walker, a native of that city, and daugh- ter of Edwin and -- (Keyser) Walk- er. Mr. Walker died before the marriage of his daughter to Mr. Hughes, but Mrs. Walker is living at the present time (1916) in Baltimore, Maryland, of which city she is a native, her people having been Southerners. One child, Mildred Frances, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, now a student at St. Margaret's School, Waterbury.
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NOONAN, Michael John,
Lawyer, Public Official.
One of the rising young lawyers of Waterbury, Connecticut, is Michael John Noonan, a member of a highly respected Irish family which takes its rise in Coun- ty Tipperary, where his ancestors were farmers from time immemorial. His grandfather, Michael Noonan, followed his calling there all his life and finally died in the old family home, as did also his wife, who was a Miss Ellen Power be- fore her marriage. This couple were the parents of twelve children, all of whom are still living, six of them in America, and of these three in the city of Water- bury. The father of Mr. Noonan, Daniel Power Noonan, was born in Tipperary, Ireland, May 10, 1859, a son of Michael and Ellen (Power) Noonan, and there passed the years of his childhood and early youth. He came while still a young man to the United States, and here set- tled in Ansonia, Connecticut, making his home in that flourishing town for a short period. He then came directly to Water- bury, where he entered the employ of the Waterbury-Farrell Foundry and Ma- chine Company. To this day he is still in their employ, having served them in various positions for more than forty-six years. He was married in the month of May, 1877, to Miss Margaret McGrath, who was, like himself, a native of Ire- land, having been born in County Lim- erick. Like so many of her heroic fel- low-countrymen, Mrs. Noonan, Sr., came to this country as a young girl, quite by herself, and braved the perils and loneli- ness of a strange land at an age when girls most instinctively seek protection. She came to Waterbury almost at once upon her arrival, and there met Mr. Noonan, whom she married shortly after- wards. They are the parents of five chil-
dren, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest, the others being as follows : Nellie, who resides with her parents at Waterbury ; Annie, now the wife of George J. Carroll, of Los Angeles, Cali- fornia ; Mollie A., now the wife of George E. Storm, of Waterbury; and Edward Daniel, a resident of Pensacola, Florida, where he is engaged in the profession of civil engineering.
Michael John Noonan, the subject of this sketch, was born in Waterbury, Con- necticut, March 7, 1879, and has made the city of his birth his home from that time to this. For his education he at- tended during his childhood the excel- lent public schools of Waterbury, and graduated from the high school there with the class of 1897, at the age of eighteen years. Having thus completed his education, Mr. Noonan at once en- tered the employ of the Waterbury-Far- rell Foundry and Machine Company, where his father had already been em- ployed for a number of years, and he has there remained a valued employee ever since, rising steadily in rank, al- though of recent years he has given less and less time to this work. For Mr. Noonan has always been of an extremely ambitious nature, and from the first has sought a way to better his position more rapidly than is possible through mere advancement as an employee of the com- pany. In the year 1910 this determina- tion bore fruit in his taking up the study of law at night, and attending the law school. He was admitted to the Con- necticut bar in the year 1911, and at once opened law offices at No. 36 North Main street, Waterbury. In spite of his youth and the comparatively short time that he has been engaged in practice, Mr. Noon- an has already made his personality felt in legal circles, and his practice is de- veloping rapidly.
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