USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > History of Bridgeport and vicinity > Part 12
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"(I) Richard Warren, the American progenitor, born in England, came to New England from Greenwich, England, in the historic Mayflower company which founded Plymouth, Massachusetts. in 1620, and was one of the nineteen signers of the famous compact who survived the first winter. The register at the end of Bradford's folio manuscript gives him the honorable prefix of Mr. He was mentioned by a contemporary as 'grave Richard Warren, a man of integrity, justice and uprightness, of piety and serious religion;' and also 'as a useful instrument during the short time he lived, bearing a deep share in the difficulties and troubles ot the plantation.' He received land grants in common with his associates and one of these grants was at Warren's Cove. He was one of the influential members of the company and as such was selected with nine others to cruise along the coast from Cape Cod Harbor, in a shallop, for the purpose of deciding on a place of settlement. His death occurred at Plymouth in 1628. His wife Elizabeth, whom he married in England, followed him to America in the 'Ann' in 1623, bringing with her their five daughters. She occupied an important social position in the colony; is usually mentioned in the records as Mistress Elizabeth Warren, a designation by no means common, and is one of the rare instances in an early colony of continued widowhood. Upon the marriage of her daughters, she conveyed to their respective husbands certain lands, variously located at Eel River and Wellingsly. She died in Plymouth, October 2, 1673, aged about ninety years. The children of Richard and Elizabeth Warren were: Mary, who married Robert Bartlett; Ann, who became the wife of Thomas Little; Sarah, who gave her hand in marriage to John Cooke, Jr .; Elizabeth, who wedded Richard Church and was the mother of the famous Benjamin Church, the conqueror of King Philip; Abigail, who married Anthony Snow; Nathaniel, who is again mentioned: and Joseph. The two sons were born in Plymouth.
"The following is a chain of descent from Richard Warren of the first generation to Tracy B. Warren of the ninth generation :
"(II) Nathaniel, son of Richard and Elizabeth (Jonatt) Warren, was born in Plymouth in 1624 and died in 1667.
"(III) Richard (2), eldest child of Nathaniel and Sarah (Walker) Warren, was born in Plymouth in 1646 and died in Middleboro, Massachusetts, January 23, 1697.
"(IV) John, fifth child of Richard (2) and Sarah Warren, was horn in Middleboro in 1690 and died in that town in 1768.
"(V) James, eldest child of John and Naomi (Bates) Warren, was born in Scituate, December 4, 1714.
"(VI) Edward, seventh child of James and Abigail (Thomas) Warren, was born in Woodbridge, September 18, 1761.
"(VII) Alanson, sixth child of Edward and Mary (Steele) Warren, was born in Watertown, May 16, 1796.
"(VIII) David Hard, third child of Alanson and Sarah M. (Hickox) Warren, was born in Watertown. September 3, 1825." He married Louisa Bronson, a descendant of John Bronson, who came over with the London company on the ship "Hercules" in 1628 and with his son, Sergeant Isaac Bronson, served in the Pequot war, and of Asahel Bronson, who, like Edward Warren, served in the Revolutionary war.
Tracy B. Warren was reared to the occupation of farming. His education was acquired in the Collegiate and Commercial Institute of New Haven, from which he was graduated
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with the class of 1865. When his textbooks were put aside he secured employment in a carriage hardware manufactory and was thus identified with manufacturing interests until 1874. From 1876 until 1881 he was actively interested in merchandising and in 1890 became proprietor of the Atlantic Hotel of Bridgeport, which he continuously conducted until 1902, becoming one of the best known hotel men in New England. He has since given his attention to the general insurance business, in which connection he is well known.
In 1874, in Boston, Colonel Warren was united in marriage to Miss Clara A. Mills who took a most active part in charitable and philanthropic work and was also prominent in the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, of which she served for many years as vice regent of the state. She departed this life March 30, 1912. In the family were seven children, four of whom survived the mother, but Bronson M., who was graduated from Yale in 1904, passed away December 17, 1915. Those who still survive are: John M., who completed a course in the Yale Sheffield Scientific School in 1896; Louise B., who was graduated from Bryn Mawr in 1898; and Harvey T., from Yale in 1910. The family residence is at No. 2354 North avenue in Bridgeport.
His love of exercise prompts Colonel Warren's deep interest in baseball and his fondness for outdoor life was manifest in driving. The Episcopal church has long numbered him among its devoted communicants and for almost a third of a century he has been a vestryman of St. John's church of Bridgeport. In club and fraternal circles his name is a familiar one. He belongs to Corinthian Lodge, F. & A. M .; to Hamilton Commandery, K. T., and has also taken the degrees of the Scottish Rite bodies and of the Mystic Shrine. For thirty years he has been identified with the Old Guard of New York City and has long served as its commissary. As a club man he has connection with various organizations, being a charter member of the Seaside, Algonquin, Bridgeport Yacht and Brooklawn Country Clubs, a mem- her of the Army and Navy Club and of the Hoboken Turtle Club. He has ever been deeply interested in the military organization of the state and for four years belonged to the Connectient National Guard, serving for three years as a member of the Second Regiment of the National Guard. also as lieutenant of the New Haven Grays and as adjutant of the Fourth Regiment for several years. He was likewise colonel on the staff of Governor Harri- son for two years. He has membership with the Mayflower Society, with the Patriots and Founders and with the Sons of the American Revolution. Those questions which bear most closely upon the political conditions of the country have awakened his earnest consideration and he has frequently been called upon for service in public office. For two terms, in 1883 and 1884, he was alderman of the city and in 1885 was city treasurer. He has membership in the Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce, in the Manufacturers Association and the Business Men's Association. Between the lines of this review has been shadowed forth his deep interest in everything that pertains to public welfare, progress and improvement and in the present generation, as in the past, the Warren family is recognized as one of the potent forces of public progress and improvement in Connecticut.
HON. WILLIAM WOODWORTH BENT.
Hon. William Woodworth Bent, lawyer and legislator of Bridgeport, whose clear thinking and logical reasoning have had much to do with molding public thought and action in his district, was born in Norwich, Connecticut, April 17, 1883, a son of Martin F. and Harriet P. (Woodworth) Bent, who were natives of Massachusetts and of Connecticut respectively. The father, who followed blacksmithing in his active life, is now living retired at Norwich at the age of eighty-two years, but the mother passed away October 31, 1912, when sixty-six years of age. The ancestry of the family is traced back to John Bent, who came from England at an early period in the colonization of the new world. He settled in Massachusetts,
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while the Woodworth family is of almost equally ancient origin in Connecticut. Both were of English lineage.
William W. Bent was reared in Norwich and was graduated from the Norwich Free Academy in 1902. In preparation for a professional career he matriculated in the Yale Law School, from which he was graduated in 1905. In October of the same year he opened a law office in Bridgeport and while advancement at the bar is proverbially slow he has yet in a comparatively brief space of time won a liberal and distinctively representative clientage. He is now a partner of Edward T. Buckingham, practicing under the firm name of Buckingham & Bent.
In 1908 Mr. Bent was united in marriage to Miss Corinne Ethel Secor, of Bridgeport, and they have two children: Laura Bartlett, born March 2, 1910; and David William, who was born April 17, 1916, on the thirty-third anniversary of his father's birth.
The parents are members of St. George's Episcopal church and Mr. Bent also has membership in the Young Men's Christian Association, the Royal Arcanum, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the New England Order of Protection. His political views are in accord with the principles of the democratic party and in 1911 he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature. From 1910 until 1912 he was chairman of the democratic city committee of Bridgeport and he has done much to further the interests of the political principles in which he believes. He has membership in the Bridgeport Bar Association and his attention is chiefly directed to his law practice, his devotion to his clients' interests being proverbial, yet he recognizes the responsibilities of citizenship and the obligations of the individual to his fellowmen.
JOEL POWELL OMANS.
Joel Powell Omans was for twenty-seven years an active business man of Bridgeport and won substantial success as a dealer in horses and other live stock. He was born in Madison county, New York, May 10, 1828, and before coming to Connecticut he engaged in the live stock business, making a specialty of the handling of sheep. He lived for a time in Earlville, Chenango county, New York, and thence removed to Bridgeport, where he arrived in 1872. Here he began dealing in cattle and horses, which he handled by the carload. He bought stock throughout all the western states and in Canada and made shipments to Bridgeport, where part of the stock was sold. A sales stable was also maintained on Twenty-fourth street, New York. He possessed splendid judgment as to the value of horses and frequently accompanied P. T. Barnum to pick for him horses for his private use. He had a sale stable and later he engaged in the livery business, hecoming a partner in that undertaking in the firm of Gates & Company. At length, however, they disposed of their interest in the livery stable and turned their attention to the carriage manufacturing business, which they developed to exten- sive proportions. They built carriages for the health department and were builders of the Bull's Head wagons for the New York trade, with factory at Broad and John streets. Their product was sold from coast to coast and in foreign countries and their patronage steadily increased. Mr. Omans continued in the business there until his demise.
In 1865, at Earlville, New York, Mr. Omans was married to Miss Sophronia Morgan Lee, of the Empire state. They became parents of two sons but both passed away in New York, and the death of Mr. Omans occurred in 1899, after which his business was sold in 1900. He was a republican in politics and kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day but did not seek nor desire office. He was connected with no fraternities but was a member of the Algonquin Club. He was very charitable and public-spirited, gave generous assistance to those in need and cooperated heartily in movements for the public good. He
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stood for all that was practical and progressive in citizenship and his cooperation was of marked value in bringing about desired results.
Mrs. Omans still makes her home in Bridgeport, where she is most widely and favorably known, having done splendid work along charitable lines. She has been active in the Hall Home since its organization and has served as its president, and for thirty years she was a member of the board of managers of the Bridgeport Protestant Orphan Asylum. She is also president of the children's ward of the Bridgeport Hospital and president of the Needlework Guild of America, connections that indicate the breadth of her interests, her deep sympathy and her humanitarian spirit.
A. H. NILSON.
Working his way upward from a humble position in the business world, A. H. Nilson became the founder and promoter of the A. H. Nilson Machine Company, controlling an important enterprise in Bridgeport, where the hum of industry is continuously heard. Mr. Nilson was born in Sweden, April 2, 1849, and came to the United States in 1880. He had previously learned the machinist's trade in his native country, where he had also been a sailor for five years. He had other business experience as engineer in a sawmill, and all these activities constituted a foundation upon which to build further success.
Landing at the old Castle Garden in New York, without relatives or friends or knowledge of the language of the country, Mr. Nilson was hired by a foreman of the Bridgeport Organ Company as a cabinet maker for one dollar a day. For four months he worked at this trade and then was transferred to a wood turning lathe. Two years later he was sent as an engi- neer to the Cornwall & Patterson Manufacturing Company's plant in Saugatuck, Connecticut. In 1883 Mr. Nilson returned to Bridgeport with this company. For four years he operated all of the automatic machines in the factory and then was placed in charge of the machine department, which position he held for six years.
Desirous, however, of engaging in business on his own account, he carefully saved his earnings until his economy and industry brought him sufficient capital to enable him to embark upon an independent venture. Moreover, he felt that his broad experience justified this step and in 1892 he opened a small machine shop on the second floor of the Hamilton Brass Foundry building at the corner of Golden Hill and Middle streets, under the name of A. H. Nilson & Son. At this time business became dull and the firm of A. H. Nilson & Son sold out to Knapp & Cowles, Mr. Nilson remaining in charge of the business. In three years' time the Cornwall & Patterson Company purchased the Knapp & Cowles Company and Mr. Nilson again started out for himself. He became interested in corset machinery and in- vented several corset machines which were sold to one of the large corset manufacturers. He then organized the Automatic Machine Company, of which he was president for two years. In 1898 the business was divided between the two stockholders and the Automatic Machine Company removed to new quarters. Mr. Nilson then established the A. H. Nilson Machine Company in the Knapp & Cowles building.
In 1904 he erected a building at the corner of Railroad and Bostwiek avenues and since then has built three other buildings. The company now ocenpies over thirty thousand square feet of floor space. Most of the factory is a two story building of tile construction, fireproof and equipped with the sprinkler system. That the business has developed rapidly and in a most substantial manner is indicated in the fact that they now employ one hundred and fifty skilled workmen. They manufacture a special line of machinery, including the Nilson tilting wire reel. This has been developed through a recognition of the fact that lost motion, false motion and unnecessary motion cost money. The tilting wire reel eliminates all lifting labor and one man can do what was formerly hard work for two. The operator trips the
C. H. Wilson.
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lever with his foot and the upper part is gradually lowered until the wire carrying section is within a few inches of the floor. When the reel is lowered it automatically locks, so that it cannot fly back into its former position. Just an easy lift and the counter-balancing weight brings the tilting section to a vertical position, ready to feed the wire into the machine. The output includes the Nilson standard reel for light coils and the clutch reel, also the automatic four-slide wire forming machines for round and flat wire. This machine also shows many improvements upon others formerly in use and is being rapidly introduced. In addi- tion to the products already mentioned the company manufactures hook and eye machines, safety chain machines, paper clip machines, buckle machines, gate hook machines, burner shaft machines. eye feeding machines, stud feeding machines, coat and hat hook machines, piano hardware machines, ceiling hook machines, buckle tongue machines, umbrella machines, tapping machines, special presses, sheet metal straighteners and wire straighteners. Their piano action machines include rail spring machines, jack spring machines, damper machines, regulating rail machines, action rail machines, spring machines, brass flange butt machines, sticker frazing machines, siding off sticker machines, double frazing machines, tongue ma- chines, damper block screw machines and spoon driving machines. Many of the machines sent out are the invention of Mr. Nilson, whose marked mechanical skill and ingenuity have done much to further industrial progress.
In 1875 Mr. Nilson was united in marriage to Miss Augusta L. Peterson of Sweden. They have had three children, Ifvar, who died in his infancy in Sweden; William, who died at the age of thirty-three in 1907; and Jacob, who is associated with his father in business. The parents are members of the First Swedish Baptist church and Mr. Nilson belongs to Phoenicia Council of the Royal Arcanum. Politically, he is a republican where national issues are involved, but at local elections casts an independent ballot. In 1907 and 1908 he served the city of Bridgeport as health commissioner. On April 2, 1917, he was elected vice presi- dent of the Elliott-Cornwall Manufacturing Company of this city. He is also a charter member of the new Westside Bank.
Mr. Nilson has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to America, for here he found the opportunities which he sought and in their utilization has steadily worked his way upward, advancing step by step until he is today at the head of a profitable business that figures prominently among the productive industries of his adopted city.
WILLIAM H. WESSELS.
In the years of his active connection with commercial interests in Bridgeport, William H. Wessels was engaged in the produce business and is yet remembered by many of the citizens as a substantial man of sterling worth and of upright character. He was horn at White Plains, New York, and in 1854 removed to Bridgeport, hoping that a change in residence would benefit his health, which had become impaired. Feeling it necessary to work in the open. he secured a position as driver of a team in connection with a lumberyard until his health improved. He then established a retail grocery store at Noble avenue and Sterling street in East Bridgeport and also engaged in the feed business, there remaining until 1876, when he removed to Bridgeport and established a wholesale produce business under the firm style of Wessels Brothers, being joined by his brother, John L. Wessels. They opened their store on Water and Wall streets and William H. Wessels remained in active and successful connection with the business up to the time of his death, which occurred May 18, 1888. when he was sixty years of age. He was the owner of the property in which the business was carried on and he had also made other investments in realty here.
On September 13, 1850, in the Empire state, Mr. Wessels was married to Miss Martha G. Merritt, of White Plains, New York, who survives him and is yet a resident of Bridgeport.
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Mr. Wessels always had great attachment for this city, enjoying his residence here from the beginning, and he was ever an active and public-spirited man, supporting all those measures and projects which he believed would be of public benefit. During the period of the Civil war he served for three years as a selectman and assisted in building the poor house at that time. His political allegiance was always given to the republican party, for he deemed its principles the most effective factors in good government. His religious faith was that of the First Baptist church and its teachings guided him in all of his life's relations and made him a man whom to know was to respect and honor.
NATHANIEL EUGENE WORDIN, M. D.
In the ranks of the medical profession in New England have been found many illustrious men who have merited the respect and honor of their fellow citizens by reason of their many brilliant achievements, and of these none more justly deserves this meed of praise than Dr. Nathaniel Eugene Wordin, who many years occupied a distinguished position in profes- sional cireles in Connecticut. He ranked with the foremost citizens of Bridgeport and his death, which occurred May 10, 1915, brought profound sorrow to a host of personal friends and to one of the largest clienteles in this section of New England. Dr. Wordin came of a splendid old Connecticut family identified with Bridgeport from its earliest days, the first of the name having probably come from Stratford as early as 1772.
Captain John Wordin, presumably the son of Thomas and Dorcas (Cooke) Wordin, of Stratford, purchased land at what is now the intersection of State and Park avenues. This property remained the homestead of the Wordin family for many years, most of the ancestors of the present generation being born there. On the maternal side also Dr. Wordin was descended from a fine New England house, the Leavenworths, founded here by Thomas Leavenworth, who came to this country shortly after the restoration of King Charles II of England and some time prior to the year 1664, when his name first appears on the records of Woodbury, Connectient. Dr. Wordin's parents were Nathaniel Sherwood and Fannie Augusta (Leavenworth) Wordin, well known residents of Bridgeport, the father being a successful merchant here and conducting a large business as a druggist.
Dr. Nathaniel E. Wordin was born May 26, 1844, on the old homestead in Bridgeport. and with the exception of a comparatively short time during his youth always identified himself and his activities with his native city. The first sixteen years of his life were passed here and during this period he laid the foundation of his unusually liberal education at the excellent local public schools. When he had attained the age of sixteen he was sent south to Petersburg, Virginia, to there attend a school conducted by an uncle, the Rev. Mr. Leaven- worth, a Presbyterian clergyman. This was in 1860 and the following year the Civil war broke out. Young Wordin was involved in a number of exciting adventures and only just managed to get back to the north, taking passage on the steamer Northern Star, which was the last to run the Confederate blockade from Richmond. A year later, feeling the great wave of patriotism that then swept the country, he enlisted in Company I, Sixth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers, although he was but eighteen years of age. His quiekness and coolness were soon marked by his officers and he was detailed as secretary and orderly to Colonel Chatfield, in command of the Sixth Connecticut Regiment, a post that he held for some time, when he was sent south to join his regiment as an orderly and secretary, while later he was a clerk at headquarters. He remained with the regiment until it was mustered out in 1865. During the latter part of the great struggle the Sixth Connecticut Regiment formed a part of the Tenth Army Corps in the extreme southeast during the campaign in that quarter which culminated in the march to Richmond and the close of hostilities. He was one of those who entered Richmond with the victorious federal army and it was his
A. S. Wonline
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hand that drew up the order of General Shepley putting the city under martial law. He also had the distinction of drawing up many of General Grant's orders at the time concerning the disposition of troops, etc.
This long suspension of his normal life having at length ended, Dr. Wordin returned to the north and there resumed his studies, which had been so rudely interrupted. He had already determined upon medicine as a career and now began courses which tended to quality him in that direction. He first prepared for college by attending the Golden Hill Institute at Bridgeport and it was while studying there that he first met the young lady who was afterward to be his wife. Dr. Wordin was by taste and character a student and he devoted himself to the mastery of many literary subjects not necessary in the pursuit of his pro- fessional work merely because of his fondness for such. After his graduation from the Golden Hill Institnte he matriculated at Yale University, where he continued his brilliant career as a student. He was a prominent member of his class and took an active part in the life of the student body, of which he was a popular member. He belonged to the Linonia, Kappa Sigma Epsilon and Alpha Delta Phi fraternities. He was graduated with many honors as a member of the class of 1870. He next turned his attention more particularly to his profes- sion and attended the Yale Medical School for one year, while later he was for two years a student in the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in 1873. Returning to Bridgeport, he at once began the practice of his profession and from the outset was highly successful. He established his home and office at No. 174 Fairfield avenue and there made his headquarters during the twenty-nine years that he remained in practice until his death. His practice was very large, for his fame was not confined to the city where he dwelt or even the state, but spread throughout New England, so that he was soon re- garded as one of the leaders of his profession in this part of the country. He was never content to rest on the achievements of the past, nor was he content with anything less than the latest knowledge of his subject, so that he ever kept well abreast of the times, a course which was comparatively easy to him, for his tastes lay in the direction of study and re- search. In 1879 he pursued a special course in post graduate work at Philadelphia on diseases of the eye and thereafter specialized to a certain extent in that branch of practice. His original intention had been, on taking up that study, to remove to Aintab, in central Turkey, and there take up the practice of his specialty, but this idea was finally abandoned and he remained at home. He did not give up his general practice and indeed rather increased it than otherwise, but he took as much time as possible for his special work.
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