USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > History of Bridgeport and vicinity > Part 19
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On the 3d of September, 1883, Mr. Gould was united in marriage to Miss Ida Moffett, of Bridgeport, her father being Thomas Moffett, who came to this city from Scotland in boyhood. Mr. and Mrs. Gould have two sons, namely: Harold M., who is in the service of The Connecticut Company; and Chauncey M., who is employed by the Collins Company of Collinsville, Connecticut. Fraternally Mr. Gould is connected with the Knights of Pythias, in which he is a past chancellor, and he has membership with the Odd Fellows, also with the Weatogne Club and with the Automobile Club. He is also a member of the Society of the Founders and Patriots of America. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party.
CHARLES FARNUM GREENE.
Charles Farnum Greene became postmaster of Bridgeport on the 1st of March, 1915, and was called upon to display the spirit of initiative owing to the rapid growth of the city, resulting in a great increase in the business of the office. He was born in Bridgeport, June 17, 1879. His father, William H. Greene, who was of early Rhode Island Quaker stock, was born on the Sound off Whitestone, New York, while his parents were removing from Utica, New York, where his father, Henry Perry Pierce Greene, had been engaged in teaching school. They returned to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and it was there that William H. Greene was reared. He was a grandson of Elnathan Chilson of Smithfield, Rhode Island, who saw service in the Continental army. He responded to President Lincoln's first call for troops in 1861, enlisting in the Second Rhode Island Infantry, and in the first battle of Bull Run he was wounded, after which he was honorably discharged. He held the rank of cor- poral. Returning to his home, he remained in Woonsocket until 1868 and then removed to Bridgeport. He was a marble cutter, cutting figures and statues from designs, or in other words was a commercial sculptor. In 1869, however, he established a dry goods store on Main street in the Sterling Honse block and conducted business until 1879, when he sold out. For two years thereafter he was engaged in the restaurant business at 42 Wall street, Bridgeport. and then went to Danbury, Connecticut, where he engaged in the hotel business for two years. He was the inventor of several soda water fountains in the early develop- ment of the trade. While living in Bridgeport he made several trips to California and the later years of his life were spent on the Pacific coast. He was one of those who founded and laid out the town of Port Angeles, Washington, but he passed away in California in 1898. In politics he was an active supporter of the republican party. He married Sarah J. Tueker, who was born in Bridgeport in 1837 and died in 1912. She was a daughter of John Tucker, a native of Humphreysville, Connecticut, who was one of the first mason contractors to come to Bridgeport and was actively connected with the building of the early stone structures of this city. Her mother was Maritta Peet of Huntington, Con-
CHARLES F. GREENE
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necticut, and her grandmother was a Johnson of Stratford, Connecticut, and both repre- sented early families of the state.
Charles Farnum Greene pursued his education in the public schools of Bridgeport and in a business college, and after starting out for himself as a newsboy he was employed successively in a bakery, a book store and a jewelry store. At the age of seventeen years he took up newspaper work in a reportorial capacity. He became a reporter on the old Union and Telegram, was also connected for a time with the Standard and afterward returned to the Union. He spent two years in New London, Connecticut, on the Daily Tele- graph, and he was city hall and political reporter for the Farmer for ten years and for a time political writer for the Bridgeport Sunday Post and correspondent for the New York Tribune. He was likewise Washington correspondent for the Farmer and several other Con- necticut papers. For two years he was financial reporter for Bradstreet's, and he went to Washington with Hon. Jeremiah Donovan, acting as private secretary and clerk of record during the sixty-third congress. On the 1st of March, 1915, Mr. Greene was commissioned postmaster of Bridgeport by President Wilson for a four years' term. During his incumbency in the office he has increased its working force about thirty per cent in order to keep pace with the growth in the city's population.
In Bridgeport, in 1905, Mr. Greene was married to Miss Louise Klein, a daughter of John Klein, a Civil war veteran. They have a little son, Charles F., Jr., born May 30, 1917. Fraternally Mr. Greene is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World, the Loyal Order of Moose and the Foresters of America, and he belongs to the Seaside Club, while of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick he is a charter member. He served for seven years on the Bridgeport fire department as a member of No. 5 Engine Company and for a considerable period he was financial secretary of the Foreman's Benevolent Association. He is also connected with the Sons of Veterans. In politics he is an active democrat and in 1903 he was a candidate for city clerk of New London but was defeated by one vote for the nomination in the city convention. In 1907 he was a candidate for alderman on the democratic ticket in the ninth ward and has served as a justice of the peace. He is an active factor in all that pertains to the city's benefit and upbuilding and his influence is always on the side of progress and improvement.
JOHN T. LUDELING HUBBARD.
Among the younger representatives of the Bridgeport bar who have already attained a position in legal circles that many an older practitioner might well envy is John T. Ludel- ing Hubbard, who was born in Bridgeport. November 12, 1890. His father, Sherman H. Hubbard, was a patent attorney who died when his son John was but eleven months old. The father was born in Bridgeport about 1855 and passed away in 1891. He was a son of Dr. Robert H. Hubbard, a physician of Middletown, Connecticut, who removed to Bridge- port, where he engaged in active practice for a half century, being widely recognized as one of the leading physicians of the state. At the time of the Civil war he served as a surgeon of the Seventeenth Connecticut Regiment and then, resuming active practice, he devoted his attention to his profession until his death, which resulted from an accidental fall from a balcony in 1896, when he was about seventy years of age. The Hubbard family is an ancient one in Connecticut, having resided within the borders of the state since colonial days. In the maternal line John T. L. Hubbard comes of a distinguished southern family. His mother is Comete Lyndhurst Ludeling, who was born in New Orleans and is now living in New York city. Her father, Judge John T. Ludeling, was chief justice of Louisiana, which position he filled for fifteen years during the reconstruction period,
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from 1860 until 1875. He married Maria Copley, the daughter of John Singleton Copley, the famous portrait painter of Boston, whose father, John Copley, a native of Massachusetts, went to England and received the title of Lord Lyndhurst, later becoming lord chancellor of England-the only American that ever held that position.
John T. Ludeling Hubbard was educated in St. Paul's School at Garden City, Long Island, and at the Yale Law School, from which he was graduated in 1911. Having thus prepared for the bar, he entered upon active practice in Bridgeport and in the intervening period of six years has devoted his attention to his professional interests, making steady progress in a calling where advancement depends entirely upon individual merit and capa- bility.
On the 23d of April, 1912, Mr. Hubbard was married to Miss Gertrude Elizabeth Russell, by whom he has two daughters, Margaret Russell, born April 28, 1915; and Patricia, born May 6, 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard hold membership in the Episcopal church and in his political views he is a republican. He is well known in club circles, holding member- ship with the University, Brooklawn Conntry and Seaside Gun Clubs of Bridgeport and the Yale Club of New York. He is also a director of the Comedy Club of Bridgeport and its present secretary. An enthusiastic golf player, he is also fond of hunting, fishing and motoring and in these finds his recreation from the arduous duties of his profession.
JOSEPH BARTRAM.
Although more than a third of a century has passed since Joseph Bartram was called to his final rest he is yet remembered by many of the oldest citizens of Bridgeport, where he played an important part in the city's development and progress along many lines. A son of Thomas and Sarah (Burr) Bartram he was born November 2, 1800, in the house next to the house in Black Rock which is now the home of Rev. and Mrs. H. C. Woodruff. His education was obtained in the Fairfield Academy, and in early manhood he went to sea, rising to the rank of master mariner and becoming captain of various vessels which were engaged in the seacoast trade between Salem, Massachusetts, and Savannah, Georgia. Soon after his marriage, however, he retired from the sea but always owned a number of vessels and was interested in shipping. In 1841 he was elected a director of the Bridge- port National Bank and thus served for forty years, being at the time of his death one of the oldest bank officers in the state.
On the 2d of September, 1829, Mr. Bartram was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Jane Carpenter, of Harrison, Westchester county, New York. As there were then no rail- roads through this section or other parts of the country they travelled by stage and Erie canal to Niagara Falls on their wedding journey. They became the parents of five children: Sarah Jane, who was deeply interested in all charitable work and served as vice president of the Bridgeport Protestant Orphan Asylum until January 19, 1911; Thomas William, who with his brother Joseph founded the commission company of Bartram Brothers at 62 Pearl street, New York City, and there continned in business until his death on the 1st of November, 1888; Joseph Bnrr, who was a partner in the commission business; Elizabeth Martha, who died October 20, 1902; and Mary Allen, the wife of Rev. Henry Collins Woodruff.
Both parents have now passed away, the mother's death occurring November 25, 1878, while the father died July 27, 1881. He had reached the very venerable age of eighty-one years and his long life had been one of intense activity and of great usefulness, making him a prominent man of his day. In politics he was in early life a whig and he represented his town in the general assembly of Connecticut for a number of years, giving earnest con- sideration to the questions which came up for settlement, and thus aided in shaping the
Moselle Bariam
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policy of the commonwealth. He also contributed to the moral progress of his community and became one of the founders of the Black Rock Congregational church, which has long been an active factor among the moral forces of this district, and to the support of which he was ever a generous contributor.
REV. HENRY COLLINS WOODRUFF.
Rev. Henry Collins Woodruff, who for thirty-six years has been pastor of Black Rock Congregational church of Bridgeport, was born in Brooklyn, New York, February 16, 1845, a son of Albert Woodruff, who was born in 1807 and when twelve years of age accom- panied his parents on their removal from Massachusetts to Hartford, Connecticut. When nineteen years of age he left home and entered commercial cireles in New York in connec- tion with his brother. He remained in active business there for about thirty-five years and in 1861 he retired from business, enjoying well earned rest from that time until his demise which occurred in 1891, when he had reached the venerable age of eighty-four years.
His son, Henry Collins Woodruff, was accorded liberal educational opportunities and in 1868 was graduated from Yale College. He afterward attended the Andover Theological Seminary for two years, completing his course there by graduation in the class of 1871, and for a year previously he had been a student in the Union Theological Seminary, thus most thoroughly qualifying for the ministry. His first charge was at Northport, Long Island. After his ordination as a minister of the Congregational church he was offered and accepted in 1881 the pastorate of the Black Rock Congregational church of Bridgeport, which his father-in-law had assisted in founding, and here he has since lived and labored, his efforts being a direct element in promoting moral progress and raising the standards of life in this city.
On the 15th of October, 1884, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Allen Bartram, a daughter of Joseph Bartram, mentioned elsewhere in this work, and they now occupy the old family home. which has been in the possession of the Bartrams for nearly a century.
CHARLES A. LOVELL.
Charles A. Lovell, who was well known in business circles in Stratford, was a native of Worcester, Massachusetts, born February 13, 1855, the only child of his parents, George and Elizabeth (Stanford) Lovell. The father died in Greeley, Colorado, but was buried in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Charles A. Lovell was but a child when he was taken to Bridgeport by his father, in which city and in Stratford he was reared and received his schooling. He was married in Stratford. September 11, 1878, to Miss Rosella M. Todd, a daughter of Lewis H. and Sarah A. (Fellows) Todd. Mr. Lovell remained a resident of Stratford until his removal to Greeley, Colorado. Returning to his home town, he entered into partnership with his father-in-law, becoming a member of the firm of L. H. Todd & Company in the grocery and hardware business. For a number of years this firm conducted the leading mercantile business and so continued until Mr. Lovell's death on April 16, 1895, when the hardware department was taken over by Mr. Lovell's estate and a separate business established, which has since been carried on, and is now conducted under the firm name of H. C. Lovell & Company.
Mr. Lovell is survived by his widow, two daughters and a son. Ethelyn, the eldest, is the wife of William H. Welsh, residing in Greeley, Colorado, and they have three children:
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William Henry, Jr., born April 25, 1911; Arthur Lovell and Rosella Lovell, twins, born November 16, 1914. Alice W., the second of the family, is the wife of Herbert W. Sniffen, a resident of Stratford, and their children are: Herbert W., Jr., who was born July 15, 1911, and died in infancy; Ethelyn Lovell, born April 3, 1913; and Esther Russell, born May 9, 1915. The son, Harold C. Lovell, is town clerk of Stratford and conducts the hardware and contracting business carried on under the firm name of H. C. Lovell & Com- pany. He was married June 19, 1909, to Miss Eleanor C. Hines, who was born in New York city, and they have two children: Harold C., Jr., born November 22, 1910 and Imogen Juanita, born March 22, 1915.
Mr. Lovell was a man highly honored in the town. He served several years on the board of education, was prominent in Masonic circles, and was allied with all the best interests of the community.
HAZARD LASHER.
Hazard Lasher, president of the Phelps & Lasher Paper Company of Bridgeport, was born at Brooklyn, New York. July 19, 1890, a son of Hazard and Mary (Reed) Lasher, both of whom were natives of Little Falls, New York. The father was born in 1858 and repre- sented one of the old families of the Empire state. Jolin E. Lasher, grandfather of the sub- ject of this review, was born at Marbletown, New York, in 1837 and owned one of the largest of the pioneer hotels in the Catskill mountains. The great-great-grandfather in the Lasher line was commander of an army corps of Washington's army, including independents, fusiliers, artillery and grenadiers. He also commanded the light infantry on the occasion of the celebration in honor of King George in 1759.
Hazard Lasher pursued his education in the schools of his native city until graduated from the high school with the class of 1909, after which he became connected with the paper trade and was thus engaged until 1913. He then removed to Bridgeport, where he established the Phelps & Lasher Paper Company, and at this point has since conducted the new business, his trade growing steadily until he has one of the important enterprises of the kind in the city.
In 1915 Mr. Lasher was united in marriage to Miss Florence Rubey, by whom he has two children, William and Hazard, Jr., twins, born in January, 1916. The religious faith of the family is that of the Episcopal church. There have been no unusual chapters in the life history of Hazard Lasher, but since starting out on his own account his close application and determined purpose have enabled him to overcome difficulties and obstacles and work his way steadily upward, his course being characterized by prompt and ready recogni- tion and utilization of opportunities.
FREDERICK R. SILLIMAN.
Frederick R. Silliman is president of the contracting firm, the Silliman & Godfrey Com- pany, and vice president of the Daivd B. Crockett Company. His life history is largely familiar to Bridgeport's citizens, for he has always made his home here and it has been through the wise utilization of the opportunities here offered that he has advanced to his present position as a substantial and successful business man. A native of Bridegport, he was born March 21, 1887, a son of F. E. and Marietta (Sherwood) Silliman. The father was also born in this city and was a son of Ebenezer Silliman and a representative of one of the oldest colonial families of Connecticut, tracing his ancestry back to Daniel Silli-
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man, of England, who crossed the Atlantic and established his home in Fairfield, Connecti- cut, in 1642. General Silliman, of Revolutionary war fame, was also of this family. The grandfather of Frederick R. Silliman was a farmer, owning land on what is now Fairfield avenue in the west part of Bridgeport.
F. E. Silliman, reared in this city, took up the contracting business on his own account in 1866 and followed it continuously until his death, which occurred in 1907. Not only was he actively associated with building operations in the city but also took a most active part in public affairs. Several times he served as a member of the city council and was also called upon to represent his district in the state legislature. In business his attention was largely directed to paving, to the building of sidewalks and to masonry work. He put down most of the pavements in Bridgeport, including the first asphalt paving on Main strect. Later he put in briek pavements on East Main, on East Washington avenue, on Middle street, Cannon street, Wall street, Bank street and others. He also laid the wood block pavements on Fairfield and East Washington avennes. About 1890 he admitted H. C. Godfrey to a part- nership and in 1900 the business was incorporated as the Silliman & Godfrey Company. Mr. Silliman remained a very prominent and active representative of industrial interests in his native city until his life's labors were ended in death. His widow, a daughter of Albin Bradley Sherwood, of Weston, Connecticut, is still living.
Frederick R. Silliman, the only son of the family, pursued his education in the Park Avenue Institute, private schools, and Yale, which he entered in order to pursue the study of law. He did not take up active practice, however, but entered business with his father, who died the same year. Mr. Silliman afterward became president of the company and in 1912, with H. C. Godfrey, purchased the David B. Crockett Company, of which he is the vice president, while of the contracting company he is the president. The David B. Crockett Company was established in 1858 in New Haven and was incorporated in 1868. It was conducted at New Haven until 1882, when a removal was made to Bridgeport. It is one of the oldest varnish manufacturing concerns in the United States.
On the 1st of January, 1913, Mr. Silliman was married to Miss Dorothy Marie Beach, of Bridgeport, a daughter of Fred F., and Minnie (Northrup) Beach. They have one son, Frederick Beach, born July 16, 1915. Mr. Silliman is a member of the Brooklawn Country Club and the Bridgeport Club, in which organizations his attractive social qualities render him popular. The fact that many of his stanchest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood is an indication that his life has been an active, useful and honorable one.
HUGH J. LAVERY.
Hugh J. Lavery, actively engaged in the practice of law in Bridgeport, his native city, was born ^^tober 15, 1885, and is the eldest of a family of seven children, three sons and four daughters, who are yet residents of Bridgeport. The father, a native of County Armagh, Ireland, passed away in 1903. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Elwood, was born in County Roscommon, Ireland, and they became acquainted in Bridgeport, where their marriage was celebrated in 1882 and where Mrs. Lavery still makes her home.
Hugh J. Lavery was graduated from the commercial department of the Bridgeport high school with honors in 1900 and started out in the business world as bookkeeper for the Sprague Ice & Coal Company, by whom he was employed for several years, and in that connection worked his way upward to the position of assistant manager. While thus engaged he devoted his leisure hours to the study of law and in 1911 he was graduated with honors from the Yale Law School. While a student there he was elected to the board of aldermen from the tenth district of Bridgeport and in the year of his graduation he was president of the board-the youngest to occupy that position of any man who has held the office in this
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city. He thus early became connected with public affairs and at different periods has been called upon for public service, in which connections he has discharged his duties with prompt- ness and fidelity. For one year he was clerk of the board of appraisal of benefits and damages and for two years was clerk of the city court.
Since 1911 Mr. Lavery has continuously practiced law in Bridgeport as a partner ot Lawrence S. Finkelstone, who was his classmate at Yale. The firm of Lavery & Finkel- stone now enjoys a large and growing practice that has connected them with much important litigation heard in the courts of the district.
On the 13th of July, 1914, Mr. Lavery was united in marriage to Miss Catherine M. Smith, by whom he has a daughter, Doris Catherine, born December 21, 1915. In religious faith the parents are Roman Catholics and Mr. Lavery is connected with the Knights of Columbus and also with St. Joseph's Temperance, Literary and Benevolent Association, of which he is a past president. He likewise has membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In politics he is a democrat and is now chairman of the democratic city committee. He stands loyally for the causes which he esponses, defending his position with all the zeal and determination which he manifests in the trial of cases.
SIGMUND LOEWITH.
Sigmund Loewith, treasurer of the Home Brewing Company, was born in Drosaul, Bohemia, in 1854, and was a youth of fourteen years when in 1868 he came to the new world. He learned the leather trade at Newark, New Jersey, and in 1869 removed from that city to Bridgeport. Here he turned his attention to the real estate and insurance business, in which he still continues under the firm style of S. Loewith & Company. This firm was organized in 1883 and is doing business at No. 116 Bank street, where they have eighteen employes. They have developed and improved much property, building many substantial edifices and otherwise contributing to the welfare of the district. Aside from his real estate investments Mr. Loewith became actively connected with the brewing business which is now conducted under the name of the Home Brewing Company, of which he is the treasurer. This business had its inception in 1851 under the name of the Bridgeport Brewing Company. Some years later the business was taken over by Charles H. Hartmann, who conducted it independently for nine years, when on the 10th of April, 1896, he sold out to a company composed of Sigmund Loewith, Louis Kutscher, Jr., of Bridgeport, and John H. Spittler, of New Haven. They continued the business and in 1906 incorporated their interests under the name of the Hartmann Brewing Company with Louis Kutscher as president, Sigmund Loewith as treasurer and John H. Spittler as secretary. The business was capitalized for two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars and the interests were carried on under that management until 1912, when the name was changed to the Home Brewing Company. The plant had a capacity of ten thousand barrels at the time of the purchase and additions have since been made, increasing the capacity to one hundred thousand barrels, while employment is given to fifty-five people. In the meantime improvements have been made in the equipment, horse power heing supplanted by motor power, while modern machinery has been introduced. They have their own electric light plant and their water system and their output is largely sold to local and suburban trade. Mr. Loewith was also an organizer of the American Bank & Trust Company of this city, of which he is now a director.
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