USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > History of Bridgeport and vicinity > Part 18
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WILLIAM VAUGHN DEE.
William Vaughn Dee, secretary and manager for the G. Drouve Company of Bridgeport, was born in Philadelphia, July 21, 1882, a son of Fred and Anna Dee. The father helped establish the Union News Company. He was for a long time engaged in newspaper publi- cation and established the first illustrated magazine, the American Traveler and Tourist, which became well known all over the United States, and also the City Hall Record at Chicago. He manifested the spirit of the pioneer in his activities, venturing into new
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and untried fields, but his sound judgment and sagacity enabled him to recognize the hour of opportunity. He has now passed away.
William Vaughn Dee pursued a public school education and also attended the Chicago Business College. He then entered the newspaper business and was with the Wilson Pub- lishing Company, publishers of the Railway Age, the Electric Railway Review and the Construction News. He remained with that company for twelve years, his knowledge of the business constantly broadening. In 1907 he came to Bridgeport as secretary of the G. Drouvé Company and was also made general manager, in which connection he has been most active in the further development and upbuilding of the business.
Mr. Dee was united in marriage to Miss Maude E. Garrison, of Paris, and they have one son, Vaughn. Fraternally Mr. Dee is connected with the Masons and he is a very prominent factor in club eireles, bolding membership in the Algonquin Club of Bridgeport, the Bridgeport Club, the Machinery Club and the Friars Club of New York, the Detroit Athletic Club and the Aero Club of Connecticut. His life has been actuated by a spirit of modern enterprise, leading to the development of his own powers and productive of substantial results for the business interests with which he has been connected.
EDWARD WILLIAMS MARSH.
The long chain of cities through which one passes in traveling over the north shore of Long Island Sound and which, though separated by stretches of charming rural scenery for which the region is famous, is yet sufficiently continuous to form connecting links of human industry, endeavor and prosperity, certainly constitutes a wonderful monument to the enterprise of the New Englanders. In this populous region all the activities of civilization are to he found in the most concentrated form and at the highest level of efficiency. Of all the cities that form the links in this continuous chain there is not one that does not have a long list of men whose efforts for their own success and for the betterment of mankind have been responsible for the striking results that may be seen. Bridgeport can boast of any number of talented and most efficient people identified with its progress, to whom the general gratitude and honor of the community are due. Among these no name in recent years stands out as a synonym of sterling morality and worth in a more pronounced way than that of Edward Williams Marsh, soldier, financier, churchman and philanthropist, in whose death not only Bridgeport but the entire surrounding region lost a prominent citizen and a conspicuous figure in its activities.
Edward W. Marsh was descended from sturdy New England stock. He was born in New Milford, Connecticut, January 24, 1836, a son of Daniel and Charlotte (Bliss) Marsh, old and highly respected residents of that town. Endowed with natural ability and varied talents, the training that he received as a lad was of a kind well fitted to give his abilities that firm basis of self-control and reserve strength so important in the carrying out of a serious project in life. This training, so generally received by country lads of that period, consisted of an admixture of school and farm activities with such healthy outdoor sports as could be crowded into the intervals between study and labor. His schooling, indeed, was rather superior to that enjoyed by the majority of his companions and in addition to the regular courses taught in the public institutions, included a course at the new Milford Academy and two years' study at the excellent Alger school at South Cornwall, Connecticut. After the completion of his studies at that institution the young man began his active career in the humble position of an employe of the Housatonic Railroad Company. After a short period he was given a position in the freight office at New Haven, where his alert mind and industrious habits recommended him to his superiors. In 1854 he was transferred to a similar position in Bridgeport. which remained his home thereafter until his death. He
Odwand WMarsh
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quickly interested himself in the affairs of the city and formed associations which were later of great value to him. He did not remain in the employ of the railroad company for more than a year in Bridgeport, leaving his position to accept a much better place with the T. Hawley Hardware Company. He had been with this company for a few years when the outbreak of the Civil war temporarily altered his course of life, as it did in the case of so many others. In 1862 he enlisted as a private in the Nineteenth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, which was recruited from his native Litchfield county and was afterward converted into the Second Conneetient Heavy Artillery. The regiment was quickly sent to the front and saw hard service throughout the war. The quickness and ability of Mr. Marsh to grasp a situation singled him out from among his companions and by the time active service was begun he had been made quartermaster sergeant. Not long afterward he was promoted to the second lieutenaney for gallantry on the field of battle. With that rank he continued actively engaged for some time and was then sent back to Connectieut to do recruiting work. Upon his return to the front he was given a commission as captain by Governor W. A. Buckingham and placed in command of Company M, of which he had charge throughout the remainder of the war. With his regiment he was in Grant's army through some of the most difficult campaigns, taking part in the action at Cold Harbor and the fighting around Petersburg. He was also with Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley. In spite of the engagements in which he took part Captain Marsh was not wounded, the only injury which he sustained being inflicted upon him accidentally by a brother officer while at target practice, though even from this nothing serious resulted.
Little more than three years had elapsed since Captain Marsh's enlistment when the war was brought to a close by the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox. an event which was speedily followed by the mustering out of the volunteer troops. Immediately thereafter Captain Marsh returned to the north and resumed his peaceful mode of living, finding , employment once more with the T. Hawley Hardware Company. His position was a responsible one and he soon became well known in the business eireles of Bridgeport. He associated himself with its banking interests and in 1887 was elected treasurer of the Peoples Savings Bank of Bridgeport, holding that office for a term of twenty-six years, or until his death. After severing his connection with the Hawley Company he later became a partner of F. B. Hawley in the Spring Perch Company, in which successful undertaking he continued until the end of his life, holding the office of secretary for a long period. He was also connected closely with a number of other important concerns, having been president of the State Savings Bank Association and a director of the First National Bank of Bridgeport.
Beside his business interests, which were extensive, Mr. Marsh was conspicuously connected with the general fife of the community as a participant in many movements of importance and as a liberal supporter of charitable institutions of all kinds. He was especially interested in the proper care of the siek and was one of the most active directors of the Bridgeport Hospital, of which he served as president for a number of years. He was also greatly interested in the Young Men's Christian Association and founded the Bridgeport branch. retaining his zeal for its welfare to the end, serving as vice president at the time of his death. At the time of the erection of the present handsome home of the association in Bridgeport he was the treasurer of the building committee.
Mr. Marsh was a strong republican in his political belief and it was characteristie of him that, feeling so, he should take an active part in politics although his other activities, which have been enumerated, might well have taxed the powers of the average man. He entered polities and soon became a leader of his party in the city. He was elected to several offices and in 1895 was sent as Bridgeport's representative to the general assembly of Connecticut. In 1900 he was one of the presidential eleetors of the state. Mr. Marsh was a man of very strong religious beliefs and in this matter gave his allegiance to the Congregational church. As early as 1858 he joined the Second Congregational church of
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Bridgeport, more popularly known as the South church, and from that time until his death was active in its affairs. He served as superintendent of the Sunday school for twenty-five years and in 1870 was chosen a life deacon. Among his multitudinous activities were those in connection with the city's social life. He was particularly conspicuous in fraternal circles and was a member of Elias Howe Post, G. A. R., the New York Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion and other organizations. He was numbered with the membership of several important clubs, including the Army and Navy club of Connecticut and the Seaside Club.
Mr. Marsh was twice married. By his first wife, who was Amanda Blandon, of Burlington, New York, he had one child, Charlotte Bliss, who died when but four years of age, while the father was with his regiment in the south during the Civil war. The mother passed away in 1886 and in 1888 Mr. Marsh married Fannie Forrester Hawley, of Bridgeport, a daughter of Munson Hawley, a prominent resident of that city.
The death of Mr. Marsh brought with it a sense of severe loss over a wide district. Not only those who were intimately acquainted with him personally, although they of course felt it most keenly, but all his more casual associates in business and other relations of life recognized the gap left in the community by the withdrawal of one who formed a large factor in the sum total of Bridgeport's life. From every hand came expressions of affection and of sorrow and each vied with the other to do his memory the utmost honor. The Peoples Savings Bank, which he had served so faithfully and well as treasurer for many years, closed its doors on the afternoon of the funeral and many other tokens of respect were accorded him. The press over a wide territory devoted space to the record of his life. The Bridgeport Daily Standard in a long article said: "In the passing of Mr. Marsh, Bridgeport suffers the loss of a citizen who was always closely identified with the philanthropic, banking, business, civic and religious interests of the city, and the county sustains the loss of another of those heroes of the great struggle between the north and the south. He was a self-made man who reached his position through tenacity of purpose, faithfulness and exceptional ability, and was a shining example of the efficacy of determined purpose."
GEORGE G. GOULDEN.
George G. Goulden through his unusual business acumen and his marked force of personality has arrived at his present important position as vice president and general manager of The D. M. Read Company, an old and famous mercantile house-one of the best known in New England.
Mr. Goulden was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, on the 4th of October, 1857, a son of William and Harriet Louisa (Sturgess). Goulden. His father was born in England but in young manhood came to Bridgeport and later located in Fairfield, where he engaged in contracting and building, erecting many of the best homes of the town. He died in 1863 at the early age of thirty-eight years. His wife, who was born in Fairfield in 1827, was a member of one of the old families of that town and passed away in 1882.
Mr. Goulden attended school in Fairfield and also in New Canaan, Connecticut, and when a boy went to work in a dry goods store in that town, thus entering the mercantile business at an early age. He served a rugged apprenticeship and obtained a practical knowl- edge of buying and selling which has served him well and aided in his advancement. In 1876 he secured a position in a dry goods store in Hartford, Connecticut, where he remained until 1880, when he went to Boston, where he was similarly employed. He was next con- nected with the dry goods trade in Stamford as an employe of The C. O. Miller Company and remained in that connection until 1892, when he formed a partnership under the name of Hendrie & Goulden and engaged in merchandising on his own account at Stamford until
GEORGE G. GOULDEN
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1895. He then came to Bridgeport and entered the silk department of The D. M. Read Company. His value was recognized, so that in a short time afterwards he was placed in charge of the linen, flannel and cotton goods departments, being made manager and buyer. His signal efficiency as head of those departments led to his being placed in charge of the house furnishings, china and glassware departments also, and in 1913, when the former president of The D. M. Read Company died, Mr. Goulden was advanced to the position of secretary of the company and later in the same year became vice president and general manager, which offices he is now filling. He is the active head of the entire business and therefore one of the foremost men in mercantile circles in Bridgeport, for the store con- ducted by The D. M. Read Company is one of the largest department stores in Fairfield county or western Connecticut. The business was established in 1857 and during the inter- vening years has maintained a position of leadership, due to the policy of carrying the best merchandise obtainable and giving customers the greatest possible measure of service.
In 1880 Mr. Goulden was married to Miss Nettie E. Cooley. He is a republican in politics but has confined his activity in public affairs to the exercise of his right of franchise. He is a charter member of Puritan Lodge, No. 43 I. O. O. F., at Stamford, Connecticut, has served as noble grand in that lodge and has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge of the state. He is an active member of the First Baptist church in Bridgeport and a member of the Weatogue Country Club. The intense application which he has given to the manage- ment of his large business interests has not lessened his capacity for warm friendship or his interest in the general welfare, and he is not only respected for his ability but is also held in warm regard for his public spirit and his devotion to his friends.
FRANK J. HUGHES.
Frank J. Hughes, attorney and ex-president of the board of assessors at Bridgeport, was born June 1, 1849, in Massachusetts, his parents being Andrew and Margaret M. (Tim- mons| Hughes. The father, a Welshman by birth, came from Wales in 1838, while the mother was a native of Dublin, Ireland. They were married in Massachusetts, in 1848, and the father died during the infancy of bis son, Frank, while the mother passed away in Bridgeport a few years ago.
Frank J. Hughes prepared for college at Atkinson Academy of Atkinson, New Hamp- shire. He came to Bridgeport in 1872 and here studied law, being admitted to the bar in 1881. He has since practiced in Bridgeport save for the period when he held publie office. In early life he had learned the drug business in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and later he went to sea on the ship Moonlight, sailing for California by way of Cape Horn. He started as an apprentice and on arriving at San Francisco was third mate. It generally took from one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty days to make the trip from Boston, from which point the vessel had sailed, but owing to severe storms off Cape Horn, the Moonlight was carried farther south than any vessel had yet gone since the time of Cap- tain Cook. The ship was buffeted about by the storms for sixty days and most of the time used only a small tarpaulin sail, to allow the vessel to be steered. When the storm ceased and observations could be taken it was found that they were at sixty-nine degrees south latitude and one hundred and nineteen degrees west longitude. From that time on, however, they had smooth sailing to San Francisco, where they arrived after one hundred and fifty-five days ont from Boston. Their provisions became largely exhausted and at one time their main diet was raw salt mackerel. The cargo was discharged at San Fran- cisco and Mr. Hughes then shipped as second mate on the same vessel, which made its way around Cape Horn to Montevideo, Uruguay. There Mr. Hughes left the vessel and remained in Uruguay for three years, visiting every part of that country in the employ Vol II-8
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of a large firm. Later he visited Paraguay, the Argentine and Patagonia and in fact almost every part of South America, including Brazil and Chili. While on the southern continent in 1868 he saw service on the United States gunboats Kansas and Huron off the coast of Uruguay and later was brought home on the Huron, being honorably discharged at the Brooklyn navy yard. It was after these varied experiences that he came to Bridgeport and prepared for the practice of law, to which be is now giving his attention.
On the 7th of June, 1881, Mr. Hughes was married to Miss Anne J. Wilson, a daughter of the Rev. John S. Wilson, an Episcopal minister formerly well known in Bridgeport. They have three living children: Margaret L., John G. and George F. The sons are gradu- ates of the Yale-Sheffield Scientific School and both are married. John G. Hughes wedded Marion L. Hubbell and has a son, John H. Hughes. George F. Hughes wedded Miss Ethel Buchanan, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In his political views Frank J. Hughes is a republican and for two years served as a member of the common council of Bridgeport, while for seventeen years he has been a member of the city board of assessors, of which he was the president for a number of years. He was assistant secretary and later secretary of the Bridgeport Board of Trade for a num- ber of years. He was formerly a Red Man and established the first tribe of Red Men in Bridgeport, becoming its first sachem. He is a Royal Arch Mason and is a life director of the Masonic Temple Association of Bridgeport. There have been many exciting and interesting experiences in his life record, but through all he has maintained high standards of citizenship and of living and his course has ever commended him to the confidence and respect of all with whom he has been associated.
REV. FRANK SAMUEL CHILD.
Rev. Frank Samuel Child, clergyman, author, lecturer and magazine writer, residing at Fairfield, is a native of Exeter, New York. He is a son of Henry H. and Betsey (Brand) Child and traces his ancestry back through eight generations to Boston and then to England. He became a student in Whitestown Seminary of New York and afterward attended Ham- ilton College of Clinton, New York, from which he was graduated with the class of 1875. He completed a course in the Union Theological Seminary in New York city as a member of the class of 1878. Hamilton College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, while Jater the degree of Doctor of Literature was received by him. His life has been of varied activity, making him widely known as newspaper correspondent, literary editor, maga- zine writer, clergyman and lecturer on literary and historical subjects before many col- Jeges and patriotic societies. He is also the author of a dozen books on historical and religious themes and of numerous pamphlets and he is frequently called upon as speaker on public occasions before many associations. The nature and breadth of his interests is further indicated in the fact that he is president of the Fairfield Historical Society, vice president of the Memorial Library, president of the Fairfield Fresh Air Home, president of the Gould Vacation Home for Working Women, corresponding secretary of the Palmer Education Fund, trustee of the Palmer Institute, trustee of the Aged Christian Ministers' Home of New York, trustee of Tougaloo College of Mississippi, trustee of Rollins College of Florida and a corporate member of the American Board of Foreign Missions in Boston. He has been abroad several times, traveling extensively in Europe, Asia and Africa. All these activi- ties are carried on in connection with his pastorate of twenty-nine years in the First Con- gregational church of Fairfield with its manifold and complex duties. His political endorse- ment is given to the republican party and he does not lightly consider the obligations of citizenship.
On the 21st of October, 1880, Dr. Child was married to Miss Lizzie J. Lilly, a daugh-
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ter of General John Lilly. of Lafayette, Indiana. Their children are: Dr. Frank S. Child, Jr., a surgeon in the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States army; Arthur H., a min- ing engineer at Mexico City: Bessie L .; Theodora, the wife of Warland Wight, of Boston; Grace the wife of Alder Ellis, of Los Angeles, California; Ruth; Amy; and Roger Sherman, a naval reserve serving in the United States Radio Station at San Juan, Porto Rico.
It would be tautological in this connection to enter into any series of statements as showing Dr. Child to be a man of broad scholarly attainments and of equally broad human sympathies, for these have been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. That he has been called upon for much official public service in connection with various societies is an indication of the effectiveness of his labors. In all that he does he combines most practical methods with high ideality.
IRVING F. HILL.
Irving F. Hill, manager at Bridgeport for the United Cigar Stores Company, was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1884. His father, Samuel F. Hill, has now passed away, but his mother is still living in Poughkeepsie, as does his only brother, Arthur. The Hill family is one of the oldest of New England, the first representative of the name settling at Springfield, Massachusetts, about 1642.
Irving F. Hill obtained a public school education at Ponghkeepsie and at Newburgh, New York, but his textbooks were put aside when he reached the age of fifteen years that he might provide for his own support. He was variously employed for three years and in 1901 he went to Hartford, Connecticut. for the Underwood Typewriter Company. He spent five years there and in 1907 came to Bridgeport to enter the employ of the United Cigar Stores Company. His capability won almost immediate recognition and after six months he was made Bridgeport manager, which position he still fills.
In 1903, at Hartford, Mr. Hill was united in marriage to Miss Alice Folger Irwin, by whom he has a daughter. Ruth, who was born on the 7th of November, 1913. Mr. Hill is a member of the Christian Science church. In the ten years of his residence in Bridgeport he has become widely and favorably known, making for himself a creditable place in both social and business circles.
W. W. GOULD.
A most complex but complete organization is the mammoth industry condneted under the name of the Warner Brothers Company, of which W. W. Gould is the manager of the corset department. He seems to be in touch with every phase of the business and its careful systemization is attributable in no small measure to the business discernment and control of W. W. Gould, who was born in Bridgeport. July 22, 1858, a son of Henry B. and Mary E. (White) Gould, representatives of an early Connectient family. The father during his active business career was connected with various factories of Bridgeport and at one time filled the office of alderman, while on another occasion he was collector of revenue. He was born in Easton, Connecticut, and was a son of Bradley Gould, who in the '30s removed with his family to Bridgeport, becoming actively identified with the early development of the city. The mother of W. W. Gould died in 1897. She was a grand- daughter of Stephen White, a captain of the Ninth New York Militia in the Revolutionary war. Henry B. Gould had one hrother. James L .. who for many years was with the Bridge-
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port Farmer, becoming connected therewith during the '60s. He was also judge of probate and was one of the prominent Masons of the state.
W. W. Gould acquired a public school education and he made his initial step in con- nection with the present business in 1877 in the humble capacity of errand boy. He seems to have early become acquainted with the eternal principle that industry wins and industry became the beacon light of his life. Faithfulness and diligence brought him promotion and he became foreman of the cutting room. Later he was assistant superintendent and after- ward was superintendent and eventually reached the position of manager. He has been in nearly every department of the business and is today manager of the corset department, with a knowledge of every phase of the work that is necessary for the completed gar- ment. He is one of the oldest employes of the house having been associated therewith for forty years.
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