USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > History of Bridgeport and vicinity > Part 27
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JOHN SCHWING.
Jolın Schwing, the president of the Jolin Schwing Corporation of Bridgeport, was born in Germany in 1863 and came to the United States in 1881, when a youth of eighteen years. He had previously learned the tinning trade in his native country and he established busi- ness in Bridgeport in 1882 as a member of the Jobn Schwing Corporation, his associates in the enterprise being his brothers, George and Peter Schwing. The business was first located on Fairfield avenue but later a removal was made to Stratford avenue and in 1907 they built a factory at No. 859 Wood avenue, where they are now located. They manufacture cornices and skylights and do general sheet metal work. They employ ten mechanies and sell to the local trade and in near-by towns. Their factory is a one-story building fifty by one hun- dred feet and the business has steadily grown during the three decades and more of its existence.
In 1886 Mr. Schwing was married to Miss Susan P. Hofherr, who was born in Germany, and they have become parents of six children, as follows: Katherine; Frederick, who is associated in business with his father; Louise; John, who is also in business with his father; Harry, a resident of Newark, New Jersey; and Theodore, who is attending school. Mr. Schwing is a self-made man who owes bis success and advancement entirely to his own efforts and ability. Gradually and persistently he has worked his way upward and his determination and energy have enabled him to conquer all the difficulties and obstacles that have barred his path.
HAROLD EARLE WADHAM.
Harold Earle Wadham, conducting business under the name of the Wadham Ice Cream Company, at 157 John street, in Bridgeport, was born in West Haven, Connecticut, October 18, 1881, a son of Melville and Sarah J. (Bassett) Wadham, who are residents of West Haven. The former is a direet descendant of Governor Leete, one of the distinguished colonial settlers of Connecticut, and is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. Mrs. Wadham
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traces her ancestry back to Governor Bradford of Massachusetts and holds membership with the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is also eligible to membership in the Colonial Dames and the Founders and Patriots of America. It will thus be seen that the ancestry of Harold Earle Wadham has through many generations been distinctively American in both the lineal and collateral lines. He pursued bis education in the public schools of his native city, remaining for a brief period in the high school, after which he put aside his textbooks in order to provide for his own support. He started in the business world as office hoy with the New England Dairy Company, now the New Haven Dairy Company, with which he re- mained for fifteen years, during which period he worked his way steadily upward to the superintendency and also became a large stockholder. On the 11th of February, 1911, be arrived in Bridgeport and after selling his interest in the dairy business entered into partner- ship with his brother, Ernest W., now deceased, in the establishment of the Wadham Ice Cream Company for the manufacture of ice cream. The company has ever maintained the highest standard in its products and Harold E. Wadham has concentrated his energies upon the upbuilding and development of the business of which he is managing owner. During the first year his business amounted to fourteen thousand dollars and something of the rapid development of his trade is indicated in the fact that in 1916 his salés amounted to one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, showing a nine hundred per cent increase. Of the output sixty per cent is sold in Bridgeport, while the remainder is sold over a territory extending one hundred miles in all directions.
In 1902 Mr. Wadham was united in marriage to Miss Mary Keith, of Springfield, Massa- chusetts, a direct descendant of Rev. James Keith of Bridgewater, Massachusetts. She is a member of Mary Silliman Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, and is eligible to membership in the Colonial Dames and the Founders and Patriots of America. He belongs to the Episcopal church and also has membership with the Odd Fellows, the Masons and the Elks and with the Seaside Club. In all matters of citizenship he is public-spirited and progressive, cooperating heartily in all well defined plans for the general good.
EDWARD L. GAYLORD.
Edward L. Gaylord, who gained distinction as an inventor and also as an art con- noisseur, in both connections made valuable contribution to world progress. He was born in Bristol, Connecticut, in 1827, and represented one of the old colonial families of the state. His grandparents were Lot and Sarah (Allen) Gaylord, and his parents were Ransom and Pamila (Alcott) Gaylord, the latter an aunt of Louisa M. Alcott the famous author, whom Edward L. Gaylord was ever proud to claim as his consin. He was but four years of age when his parents removed to central New York, and en route he rode on the first passenger coach operated in this country. The railroad was built from Albany to Schenectady, New York, in 1830 and Mr. Gaylord made the trip in 1831. The engine was a crude machine and carried on its tender the pine wood for the fire and a barrel of water, while stage coaches were used for cars and the signal for starting was given by blowing on a fish horn.
In his youthful days Mr. Gaylord began learning the clock making trade in central New York and when nineteen years of age he returned to Connecticut, entering the employ of the Kirk & Todd Company at Wolcottville. Abandoning clock making after a few years he took up the locksmith's trade in Terryville, where he continued until 1850 when he was sent to Newark, New Jersey, by the James Terry Company to make carpetbag frames after patterns which he had himself designed and for which, at the time, there was a great demand. Later he was called back to Terryville to take charge of the shop of the Eagle Lock Company and his inventive genius brought forth many new designs in locks and labor saving devices. The most notable of these was a device for squaring lock plates and a machine for drilling
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keys, the latter turning out twelve thousand keys daily, while the original machine was operated for fifteen years without repairs. During his superintendency of that plant he took out patents on more than eighty practical inventions which were all turned over to the Eagle Lock Company without compensation. In 1871 he secured a patent on a padlock to be used on mail bags. In the meantime he had become president of the Eagle Lock Company, which did not care to go into that line of manufacture, and upon receiving his contract from the government for padlocks Mr. Gaylord decided to form a new company and was joined by Frank and James Mix under the firm style of Gaylord, Mix & Company. The first lot of padlocks were manufactured in the old shop at Pequabuck, but as the business grew and developed a manufacturing plant was erected in Bridgeport. New designs in cabinet locks were added to the output and the company received large orders from the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine Company, which placed the firm of Gaylord, Mix & Company in competition with the Eagle Lock Company so that the former made arrangements whereby the business of the latter company was purchased. Mr. Gaylord then returned to Terryville as president and superintendent of the Eagle Lock Company but withdrew after a year.
His activities were then directed into an entirely new field. He had taken over an art store in Bridgeport from a man who was his debtor and Mr. Gaylord now directed all his efforts and attention to the development of that business and became a most interested and deep student of art. He spent much time abroad in study of the arts and purchased many choice pictures and statues. While conducting his art store his inventive genius took another form, and he invented a machine for cutting picture mats that is now extensively used throughout the entire country. He was also the inventor of a method of molding amber and died without divulging the secret of his process to any one. It was he who built the Gaylord Hotel, now the Royal, of which he was proprietor for some time, and he was also interested in a raw hide company and in the building of stereotyping and typesetting machines. He also built the block from 905 to 911 Lafayette street, consisting of three houses. His inventions and his labors indeed constituted a valuable contribution to the world's work.
In 1850 Mr. Gaylord was married to Miss Mary R. Miner, of Terryville, and they became the parents of three children, but one son died in infancy and Jesse D. Gaylord has also passed away, leaving Mrs. F. S. Stevens, of Bridgeport, the only survivor of the family. The death of Mr. Gaylord occurred November 2, 1915, when he was eighty-eight years of age. In politics Mr. Gaylord was always an active republican. He held membership in the Baptist church and was a most earnest worker in church and Sunday school for many years. He never sought to figure prominently in any public light. He was a great reader, a close student and a deep thinker, and his activities were always put forth along constructive lines, while his inventions wrought results from which the world is now benefiting.
DANIEL E. JOHNSON.
Daniel E. Johnson, chief of the fire department of Bridgeport, was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, December 22, 1860, a son of Daniel and Ellen (Danahy) Johnson. The father, a native of Kerry, Ireland, became a resident of Lowell, Massachusetts, in young manhood and there learned the machinist's trade. In 1849 he joined the gold rush to California but afterward returned to Lowell, where he was married. Subsequently he became a resident of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, where he engaged in business for seven and a half years, and then removed to Nashua, New Hampshire, where ultimately he retired from business, his death there occurring in 1869. His wife, who was born in Kerry, Ireland, was but four years of age when she became a resident of Lowell, Massachusetts, and she. too, passed away in Nashua.
Daniel E. Johnson attended the public schools of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, to the age
DANIEL E. JOHNSON
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of eight years, when the family removed to Nashua and he continued his studies there. He afterward worked in the cotton mills of that city and subsequently learned the trade of an iron molder, which pursuit he followed in Nashua until 1885, when he removed to Bridgeport and continued as an iron molder until 1889. He then joined the fire department as call man and in 1892 was appointed tiller man of Truck Company No. 1. In April, 1893, he was advanced to the position of driver of Steamer Company No. 3 and on the 1st of April, 1895, he was appointed captain of the fire department, in charge of hydrant inspection, during which period he was stationed at the quarters of Engine Company No. 1. In October, 1908, he was promoted to the position of assistant chief of the department, being the first man appointed to the office after its creation as permanent. On the 1st of August, 1915, he was advanced to the head of the department and since that date has been the chief. When he became connected with the fire department it numbered twenty-four permanent men and was equipped with the old style fire-fighting apparatus. It consisted of Steamer Companies Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 and Truck Company No. 1, making seventy-two men in the entire depart- ment. The department now has ten engine companies, three hook and ladder companies and two chemical companies with two more companies in course of organization to be installed in September, 1917. The entire department has motor equipment. Mr. Johnson has made it his purpose to secure the adoption of motor equipment for the fire department and today Bridgeport has a fire-fighting system of which it has every reason to be proud. He has brought the work up to a high standard of efficiency. He advocates and has drills for the men with that end in view. Moreover, he closely studies modern methods of fire fighting as used in cities throughout the entire country and he has a wonderful knowledge of the best lines of work. which he has gained through study and long practical experience. He has steadily worked his way upward through merit from the position of call man to the head of the department and Bridgeport may well be proud of what he has done for the city in this connection.
On the 2d of October, 1889, in Nashua, New Hampshire, Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Nellie MeSherry, who was born in Nashua, where she spent her entire life until coming to Bridgeport with her husband. She is a daugther of Dennis and Helen McSherry, natives of Dublin, Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have become the parents of eight children: Grace, the wife of Dr. Charles Penny, of Bridgeport; Daniel, traffic manager for the A. W. Burritt Company of Bridgeport: Marion, Nellie, Veronica and Frances, all at home: Lester, deceased; and Edmond, who is also at home.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church. Mr. Johnson holds membership with the Elks and the Eagles and he gives his political allegiance to the democratic party. He is a member of the Bridgeport Fire Department Sick & Relief Associa- tion and also of the Connecticeut state organization. He belongs to the International Association of Fire Engineers, the Connecticut State Association of Fire Chiefs and the Wheeler & Wilson Veteran Firemen's Association. His is a record of splendid publie service and Bridgeport owes to him a debt of gratitude for what he has accomplished in preserving the city against the raids of the fire fiend.
RICHARD BROWN.
Richard Brown, city sheriff of Bridgeport, in whom is found an officer at all times loyal, painstaking and efficient, was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, April 14, 1852. His father, Dr. John William Brown, was a veterinary surgeon and wedded Jane Thomas. They were both natives of England, in which country they were married, and in 1848 they came to the United States, where they remained until called to their final rest.
Richard Brown spent his boyhood in Jersey City, New Jersey, to the age of seventeen
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years, when he came to Bridgeport. He afterward learned the machinists trade and for twenty-three years was in the employ of the Bridgeport Gun Implement Company, which manufactured all kinds of implements for loading and reloading shot guns, and its output also included golf balls. During the last five years of his connection with that business Mr. Brown was foreman in the golf ball department.
He has long been prominent in political circles and a supporter of the republican party, and has now filled the office of city sheriff for twelve years, being elected at six successive elections by popular vote-a fact which stands in incontrovertible evidence of his ability and fidelity in office. His interest in politics dates back to 1864, when as a lad of twelve years be carried a torch, in an Abraham Lincoln parade in the streets of Jersey City. He was trained to patriotism, for his father was a strong Union man and during the Civil war served as veterinary surgeon with the First New Jersey Cavalry, while his brother, John W. Brown, Jr., was a member of the Fifth New Jersey Infantry during the period of hostilities with the south.
At twenty-one years of age Richard Brown was married to Miss Lavinia Clyne, a native of New York city and of German and French descent. They lost a daughter, Jennie Lavinia, who became a well known teacher of Bridgeport but passed away about five years ago, deeply mourned by all who knew her. They have a son, Richard Arthur, an electrician of Bridgeport, where he was born. He married Christina Hallam, and they have five children, Lavinia, Richard Hallam, Jennie Louise, Adaline and Laura Ellen. Mr. Brown is a charter member of Bridgeport Lodge, No. 36, B. P. O. E., with which he has served as exalted ruler, and he also has membership with the Sons of Veterans. He is a most patriotic and public spirited citizen and his influence concerning public affairs is always on the side of progress and improvement.
WILLIAM EDWARD BEDELL.
William E. Bedell, proprietor of the Bedell Shipyard at Stratford, has long been identified with shipbuilding interests and is a recognized leader in his line of business at this point. He was born at Port Jefferson, Long Island, May 15, 1847, a son of Edward and Susan C. (Ketcham) Bedell. The father was born at Brooklyn, New York, in 1818 and was descended from an old English family. The mother's birth occurred in Farmingdale, New York, in 1814.
While spending his youthful days under the parental roof William E. Bedell attended the public schools of Glenwood, Long Island, for ten years and afterward worked in his father's shipyard at Glenwood, thus acquainting himself with the business in principle and detail. He was engaged in that work until thirty years of age, after which he purchased a farm near Colbrook, Connecticut, and theron engaged in agricultural pursuits for a decade. On the expiration of that period he purchased the Peter White shipyards at Stratford, Connecticut, and has since carried on the business under the name of the Bedell Shipyard. He has a well equipped plant and has been accorded a very liberal patronage. It is said that he has huilt enough ships to reach from Stratford to New York if they were placed end to end. In the past thirty years he has built ninety vessels of various kinds propelled by steam, gas and sail. Among the largest of these is the Comanche, a quarantine boat of New York city, and the Governor and the Seba, which are large oyster boats, and the yachts Rose A. and Sarah Vreeland. He also built three boats, the Rhoda Crane, the Sea Gull and the Guess, which are now used in the coastwise trade on the Sound. Captain Bedell las paid out in wages about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars at Stratford in the past thirty years, and his industry has been one of the important enterprises of the town.
Mr. Bedell has been married three times. In 1869 he wedded Jennie W. Smith, who
WILLIAM E. BEDELL
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became the mother of two children; Lydia T .; and Franklin, who died in childhood. Following the death of his first wife Mr. Bedell was married in 1874 to Mary Canniff, by whom he had the following children: Jennie Louisa, now Mrs. George Hoxley; William C. of Stratford; Addie, who died when nine years old; Levinia, now Mrs. Irvin Culver, of Stratford; Susan, who died when about twenty-one years old; George, of Bridgeport; Arthur, who died in 1916, at the age of twenty-seven years, leaving a son, Herbert Arthur, born April 4, 1914; and Floyd M., associated with his father in business. The wife and mother passed away and on the 26th of September, 1899, at Hempstead, Long Island, Mr. Bedell married Mrs. Josephine (Baldwin) Thompson, who still survives. She was born on Seven- teenth street, New York city, June 30, 1854, a daughter of Edward and Sarah (Arnold) Baldwin, who removed to the vicinity of Northport, Long Lsland, where she was reared.
Mr. Bedell holds membership in the Methodist church, which has claimed his interest and activities outside of his business. He has been a boss builder since nineteen years of age, and his life has been indeed a busy and useful one in which there have been few idle hours, and whatever success he has achieved is the direct result of his earnest labors.
C. C. GOODWIN.
C. C. Goodwin, owner and manager of the Arco Theatre at Bridgeport, in which con- nection he is catering to the higher taste by producing the best film productions, is among the most enterprising of the young business men of the city. He was born in Milford, Con- nectieut, in 1896, a son of Clinton W. and Carrie Goodwin, still residents there. After attending the public and high schools of his native city he continued his education in the Union Business College at Bridgeport. He afterward became principal of the bookkeeping department in that school and while attending to the duties of that position he became interested in motion pictures. For a time he was employed in connection with moving picture theatres of the city in the evenings, working for pay if possible and without com- pensation if necessary. In this way he thoroughly mastered the business and on the 1st of April, 1915, he opened the Arco Theatre with his brother as a partner but soon afterward purchased his brother's interest and is now sole proprietor. He has the Bridgeport franchise for the Paramount, Triangle and Art Drama pictures. His theatre is open twelve hours per day, from 10:30 in the morning till 10:30 at night, and his house is most liberally patronized. The equipment is most modern and up-to-date, with good ventilation and commodious seat- ing, and the nature of the attractions which he presents insures for him a liberal patronage.
E. H. LIEFELD.
E. H. Liefeld, senior member of the Model Laundry Company of Bridgeport, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, June 25, 1869, a son of Herman G. and Catherine (Frash) Liefeld. The father, a native of Germany, came to the United States in young manhood and after residing for a number of years in New Haven removed to Bridgeport in 1884. He was a shirt cutter by trade.
E. H. Liefeld acquired a public school education and when a youth of sixteen years, or in 1885, became connected with the laundry business, working for the Pembroke Laundry under O. E. Lindsley. He learned the business and became foreman of that establishment. On the 4th of February. 1902, he embarked in business on his own account as a member of the firm of E. H. and F. W. Liefeld, under the name of the Model Laundry Company. They started at 109 Middle street but in 1911 erected a building to which they made an addition
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in 1913. Their property is seventy-three by one hundred and fifty feet and three stories in height. The laundry is supplied with the most modern equipment and employs twenty-four people, while three wagons are utilized for delivery and collection. They specialize in handling shirts, collars and cuffs and do expert work.
Mr. Liefeld is married and has two sons: Raymond H., now a student in Yale University ; and Horace E .. a high school pupil. In polities Mr. Liefeld is a republican, but while he keeps informed on the questions and issues of the day, he does not seek nor desire office. He is one of the trustees of the First Baptist church, which finds in him a faithful member. He has filled all the chairs in the Knights of Pythias lodge and he is well known in Masonic circles, for he has attained the Knight Templar degree of the York Rite and the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, while with the nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert.
WILLIAM ROBERTS.
William Roberts, president of the Bridgeport Cornice Works, was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, March 24, 1868, and after acquiring a public school education learned the sheet metal trade with R. Kenworthy at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Applying himself closely to this business, he became foreman and eventually superintendent with Schuler Brothers.
The year 1901 witnessed the arrival of Mr. Roberts in Bridgeport and for a short time he was connected with the G. Drouve Company. In June, 1904, he organized the Bridgeport Cornice Works, in which undertaking he was associated with Otto X. Sauer, who sold his interest in the business to Mr. Roberts in June, 1916. The plant was located at No. 227 John Street, but in 1911 they erected a new building at 800 Broad street, where they have a building of mill construction forty by sixty feet. It was in that year that the business was incorporated. The company manufactures skylights and cornices and does sheet metal work for factories, and they are agents for the Evans-Ahmett fire doors and shutters. Their output is largely sold to the home trade and they employ eight or ten skilled mechanics.
On the 21st of September, 1891. Mr. Roberts was married to Miss Rose H. Dixon, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, who died July 14. 1915. Two daughters, Bertha and Anna, were born to this union. Mr. Roberts is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. There have been no unusual or spectacular phases in his life history, but the record of every honorable and successful business man is of substantial worth to the community in which he lives, and Mr. Roberts has proven his right to rank with the respected and loyal business men of the city in which he makes his home.
JOHN B. WYNKOOP.
Among the public officials of Bridgeport John B. Wynkoop is making a creditable record as assistant secretary of the board of education and is accounted one of the representative and esteemed citizens of this place. He was born in Paterson, New Jersey, October 9, 1883, and is of Holland Dutch descent. He is the eldest son of Richard J. Wynkoop, a photographer of Bridgeport, now proprietor of the Wynkoop Studio on Fairfield avenue. He was born in New York city but since 1901 has resided in Bridgeport. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Murphy. is a native of Boonton, New Jersey. The paternal grandfather, John B. Wynkoop, on coming from Holland made his way westward to Michigan and settled in the city of Holland. named in honor of the mother country.
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