USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > History of Bridgeport and vicinity > Part 33
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Mr. Roth was united in marriage to Miss Rosa Poilie and they now have five children, Julius, Helen, Anna, Ernest and Michael. Mr. Roth is a member of the Hungarian church, while his wife is of the Roman Catholic faith. He belongs to the Rakgore Lodge, to the Hungarian Business Men's Association and to various church societies. His position as a progressive and prosperous business man is due to his own efforts. He has worked steadily and persistently along lines that have brought forth success, and he is constantly striving to improve in the business methods followed in his establishment, knowing that satisfied cus- tomers are the best advertisement. The Adams-Roth Baking Company is today a name that is accepted as a synonym for excellence in bakery goods.
WILBUR ALBERT SMITH.
No contractor of Bridgeport has for a longer period been identified with the building interests of the city than Wilbur Albert Smith, who is still an active factor in building operations here as senior partner in the firm of W. A. Smith & Son. He was born in Strat- ford, Connecticut, in 1855. a son of Albert Curtis and Mary Ann (Green) Smith, who were natives of Stratford and Bridgeport respectively. The father was a son of John and Abigail
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(Vose) Smith and they, too, were born in Stratford. Several representatives of the Smith family participated in the Revolutionary war, and during that conflict the British burned the mill of John Smith, who was both a farmer and sawmill owner. Albert Curtis Smith became an early building contractor of Bridgeport but afterward returned to Stratford, where he turned his attention to manufacturing interests. One of his sons, Franklin Curtis Smith, was city editor of the Bridgeport Standard for many years. At the time of his death he was secretary of the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company. He married Jennie Stewart and they had one son, Charles Albert, who became an Episcopal minister but is now general agent for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company at Hammond, Indiana, and one daughter, Grace Stewart, who died at four years of age. Charles A. Smith is married and has two sons, Stewart and Paul.
Wilbur Albert Smith acquired a public school education and for a short time was in business with his father but in 1880 came to Bridgeport and organized the firm of Savage & Smith, contractors, in 1882. He is today the oldest building contractor in Bridgeport who has been continuously identified with building interests. He carries on general contract work, and to him were awarded the contracts for the erection of the Connecticut Bank building, the Young Men's Christian Association building, the buildings of the Read Carpet Company, the Public Market and many of the finest residences of the city. In fact he is recognized as one of Bridgeport's leading contractors and has also done much work elsewhere at points up the Hudson on Long Island, in New York city, in New Jersey and throughout this state. Something of the volume of his business is indicated in the fact that he employs from one hundred to two hundred workmen. He carries his own lumber stock and does manufacturing for his own use, but does not retail to the trade. His son, Albert W., is now his associate, the business being carried on under the firm name of W. A. Smith & Son.
In 1882 Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Emily Seaman, who was born on Long Island and is a daughter of Samuel A. and Annie (Byrne) Seaman. Samuel A. Seaman was descended from one of the three crown commissioners whose deed of conveyance for the eastern part of Long Island made possible its sale to present property holders. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born two children, Albert Wilbur and Grace Stewart, the latter of whom died at the age of sixteen years. Mr. Smith is an active member of the Seaside Club, having served as president and having been for three years a member of the board of governors, and has contributed much to its development.
Albert W. Smith, associated with his father in the contracting business, is a graduate of the public schools of Bridgeport and further pursued his education in private schools and under tutors. In young manhood he became associated with his father in the contracting business and in erecting his first building he demolished a building that his grandfather had built and which his father had rebuilt. Thoroughness has characterized all that he has undertaken and the firm name has ever been a synonym of a high standard of work.
On the 5th of October, 1907, Albert W. Smith was married to Miss Alice Ida Carson, a native of London, England, and they have one child, Alice Edith. Mr. Smith bas not only followed in his father's business footsteps but like him is a well known member of the Seaside Club, serving three years on the board of governors,
GEORGE HENRY LEE.
George Henry Lee, of Bridgeport, was connected with various navigation and com- mercial interests of the city. He was born in Sharon, Connecticut, May 29, 1851, a son of George H. Lee, who in 1854 removed with his family to Bridgeport and was proprietor of the York House until 1861 as a member of the firm of Lee & Ingham. He afterward conducted, the Staples House for a short time and subsequently removed to State street,
GEORGE HENRY LEE
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where he was proprietor of a hotel until his death, which occurred in 1880, when he was seventy-one years of age. He was born in Salisbury, Connecticut, and while there residing served as captain of a militia company. He was also at one time a member of the police force of Bridgeport for about two years and was ever a public-spirited citizen, doing all in his power to further the general welfare. His political allegiance was ever given to the republican party from the time of its organization.
George H. Lee, Sr., was married in Salisbury, Connecticut, to Miss Mary C. Chamberlain, who died in 1892. In the family were three children: George Henry; Jennie E., who became the wife of Dr Stratton, of San Francisco, California, and died in 1912; and Fannie, who passed away in 1865.
The only son pursued his education in the schools of Bridgeport, supplementing his public school training byt study in the private school of Emery F. Strong. In the mean- time, however, he went to work to earn a living and with the money he saved paid his tuition in the private school. For two years he was employed as bookkeeper in the City Bakery and was afterward with a steamboat company as freight clerk on the old steamship "Bridgeport" and was on the "Laura" as purser. He was also employed in a similar capacity for a time on the "Crystal Wave," these boats making trips between Bridgeport and New York city. While thus engaged he carefully saved his earnings until the sum was sufficient to enable him to establish a grocery store. With the passing years he developed a business of considerable proportions and success attended his efforts up to the time of his retire- ment, when on the 1st of August, 1910, he sold out. For a time he was engaged in the mer- cantile business. He spent his last days in the enjoyment of well earned rest and derived a substantial income from stores which he erected on State street and other property, for as he prospered in his undertakings he made judicious investments in realty. He passed away May 31, 1917, after a brief illness and was laid to rest in Mountain Grove cemetery.
In 1881 Mr. Lee was united in marriage to Miss Esther Nelson, of Connecticut, who was brought to Bridgeport by her parents during her early girlhood. She died May 28, 1910, and in October, 1913, Mr. Lee wedded Mrs. Nancy F. Stevenson. Fraternally he was connected with the Red Men and he belonged also to the Seaside Club. He never sought to figure prominently in public life as an office seeker but was always loyal in matters of citizenship and in business he exemplified the strength of his character, working his way steadily upward along the well defined lines of labor until enterprise and industry placed him among the prosperous residents of his city.
FRARAY HALE, M. D.
Dr. Fraray Hale, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Bridgeport, was born in Wallingford, Connectient, July 28, 1882, and is the elder of the two sons of Fraray and Effie C. (Ives) Hale, who are still residents of Wallingford. The family is an old one in this state, dating back to the early part of the seventeenth century. The immigrant ancestor was Samuel Hale, who came from Wales, and the line of descent is traced down through Samuel (II), Thomas, Timothy, Isaac and three Frarays to Dr. Fraray Hale of this review, who represents the family in the ninth generation. It was Thomas Hale in the above line who married Sarah Frary and thus the frequency of the name among their descendants. Isaac Hale, the great-great-grandson of Samuel Hale, the founder, and the great-great-grandfather of Dr. Hale of this review, was a Revolutionary war soldier.
Dr. Hale was graduated from the St. John's Military Academy at Manlius, New York, with the class of 1901 and received his Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation from Amherst College in 1905. He then determined upon the practice of medicine as a life work and entered the medical department of Columbia University of New York, from which he Vol. II-14
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received his M. D. degree in 1909. He spent a year and a half thereafter in the City Hospital of New York and has been actively engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Bridgeport since 1913. In the intervening period he has made steady progress, the publie recognizing his growing skill and ability to cope with intricate and involved problems of health. He keeps in touch with the trend of modern advancement in the line of his profession through his membership in the Bridgeport Medical Society, the Fairfield County Medical Society, the Connecticut State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He also belongs to the New York City Hospital Alumni Association.
Dr. Hale gives his political allegiance to the republican party but has never consented to become a candidate for office. He turns for recreation to the golf links and is also a member of the Seaside and the Brooklawn Clubs, while the rules that govern his conduct are indicated in the fact that he has membership in the Episcopal church. In a word, his has been an active, useful, honorable and well spent life and he has made for himself a creditable position in professional circles.
GEORGE KIPPEN BIRDSEYE.
Along the path of an orderly progression George Kippen Birdseye reached the goal of success and his life record in its well defined purposes and carefully executed plans may well serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what may be accomplished when there is a will to dare and to do. The attainment of success, however, was not the sole end and aim of his life. He was interested in all those things which have to do with public progress and which further the welfare of the community and by reason of his sterling worth there are many who yet cherish his memory. Bridgeport numbered him among her native sons, his birth having here occurred May 15, 1838. His parents were Ezekiel and Mary E. (Kippen) Birdseye, the former a direct descendant of John Birdseye, who came from England in 1636, accompanied by his brother Eben, who settled at Middletown, while John Birdseye took up his abode at Stratford, Connecticut. Ezekiel Birdseye was born near Bridgeport and at one time lived in New York, but returned to this city, where his last days were passed, his death occurring in his home on Fairfield avenue. He was the first dry goods merchant on Main street, in Bridgeport, and for forty years conducted business where the crockery store of F. E. Beach now stands.
After reaching adult age George K. Birdseye joined his father in the firm of Birdseye & Company and in that connection received his initial commercial training, which well qualified him for the duties and responsibilities that he later assumed and constituted the initial step toward the attainment of the substantial success which ultimately came to him. Upon severing his connection with his father's business he entered into partnership with Archibald McNeil for the conduct of a fruit business and afterward he became proprietor of a wholesale grocery house, in which he specialized in spices for many years. He was thus prominently associated with commercial interests of Bridgeport and carefully managed and conducted his affairs, ever recognizing the fact that satisfied patrons are the best advertise- ment. Moreover, the integrity of his business methods was never called in question and thus as the years passed his patronage steadily increased. At length, having acquired a handsome competence, he retired from active business life. His death occurred November 13, 1906.
In 1857 Mr. Birdseye was united in marriage to Miss Martha W. Hatch, a daughter of Horace F. and Mary Ann (Tyson) Hatch, the latter a native of New Jersey and daughter of John Tyson, a Revolutionary soldier. The former was born in Bridgeport and was a son of Daniel Hatch, a seafaring man, who was active in the coast service and spent his life in this locality. Horace F. Hatch did not follow marine interests but turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, conducting a retail store on Water street for the sale of hats, caps and
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furs. He remained in active business for a long period but retired a few years prior to his death. He was a trustee of the City Savings Bank in 1886. He was prominent in com- munity affairs and for several years served as a member of the city council, exercising his official prerogatives in support of many measures for the public good. His political allegiance was given to the whig party and upon its dissolution he joined the ranks of the new republican party. Both he and his wife were members of the North church. Her death occurred when she was fifty-nine years of age, while Mr. Hatch survived until 1900 and . reached the venerable age of eighty six years. In their family were four children, two of whom have passed away, the others being Mrs. Birdseye and Mrs. Alida F. Goodsell. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Birdseye were horn two sons and a daughter, Herbert, Frank H. and Mary.
After retiring from active business life Mr. Birdseye was elected a member of the board of aldermen of Bridgeport and at one time he was a member of the board of supervisors. He took a most active and helpful interest in everything that pertained to the city's welfare and cooperated heartily in every movement for the general good. He belonged to the Business Men's Association, of which he was at one time secretary, and he delivered many interesting lectures upon historical themes at the Bridgeport Public Library, being familiar with many of the events which have had most to do with shaping the history of the city.
ABRAHAM BERNSTEIN, M. D.
Dr. Abraham Bernstein, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Bridgeport, was born in Poland, December 20, 1884, and in 1895 was brought to the United States by his parents, the family home being established in Ansonia, Connecticut. There he continued his education until graduated from the high school with the class of 1904. He studied medicine at Yale, where he completed his course in 1908, winning his professional degree. He was afterward an interne in the Bridgeport Hospital for a year and a half and thus gained the broad practical and valuable experience which only hospital work can give. He entered upon the private practice of medicine on the 1st of January, 1910, and has since been very successful, his practice growing year by year. He is located at No. 472 State street, where ho owns an attractive home. He belongs to the Fairfield County Medical Society, the Connecticut State Medical Society and the American Medical Association and thus he keeps in touch with the trend of modern professional thought.
On the 21st of September, 1913, Dr. Bernstein was married to Miss Theresa Scher, a daughter of Jacob Scher, a jeweler carrying on business on Main street in Bridgeport. Dr. Bernstein holds membership with the Society of B'nai B'rith and is also a Knight of Pythias. He has a wide acquaintance and he is constantly advancing in the profession to which he is devoting his life.
SIDNEY R. ADAMS.
Sidney R. Adams, president of the Adams-Roth Baking Company, has a splendidly equipped plant and one of the largest and most important business enterprises of this character not only in Bridgeport but in Connecticut. He has been a lifelong resident of this state, his birth having occurred at Norwalk, January 8, 1857, and when he was but six months old, his parents, Rufus and Mary E. (Lockwood) Adams removed with their family to Wilton, Connecticut, settling on a small farm there.
Spending his youthful days under the parental roof, Sidney R. Adams attended district
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school No. 6 and afterward spent a short term in a private school. He was, however, obliged to put aside his textbooks and enter the business world in order to provide for his own support. On attaining his majority he removed to Bethel, Connecticut, where he worked at various periods at the hat trade, at the butcher business and in the bakery business and in the latter connection laid the foundation for his later success. In May, 1888, he removed to Bridgeport, where he started work as a baker, and he soon had an interest in the Adams & ยท Burr retail bakery on Main street. Later he sold his interest to his partner and then began business for himself at East Main and Steuben streets, there remaining for three years. At the end of that time Mr. Adams purchased the ground and built the block across the street at Seymour and East Main streets and at that point embarked in the wholesale bakery business. At the time he felt that his establishment was large enough to supply Bridgeport and vicinity for years to come but by April, 1916, his business had outgrown its quarters and conditions demanded enlarged facilities. The Adams-Roth Baking Company was then formed and incorporated with a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars. Today their plant covers a ground plot two hundred by two hundred and ninety feet and contains eight big ovens. In his bakery goods Mr. Adams has always maintained the highest standard of excellence and his output has found a ready sale, leading to the continued growth of his trade.
In Wilton, Connecticut, Mr. Adams was united in marriage to Miss Cornelia S. Dickerson, of Succasunna, New Jersey, and they bave two children: Sylvia Esther, the wife of William A. Nothnagle, of Stratford, Connecticut, by whom she has two children, Esther Cornelia and William Alfred, Jr .; and Anna Gertrude, the wife of William C. Gerbich, by whom she bas one child, Sidney Adams, named in honor of his grandfather.
Mr. Adams belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also has membership with the National Association of Master Bakers. He came to Bridgeport with only two hundred and fifty dollars and with that capital as a foundation he has built up the super- structure of his success through hard labor, close application and sound discrimination. With his developing powers he has gradually extended his trade connections and is today at the head of one of the foremost business enterprises of Bridgeport.
FELIX ROMETSCH.
Felix Rometsch, a well known business man of Bridgeport, was born in the kingdom of Wurttemberg, Germany, on the 22d of September, 1847, and is a son of Louis and Ottilie Rometsch. also natives of Wurttemberg. For many years the father was engaged in the manufacture of dolls' heads in the city of Stuttgart but in 1869 came to America after the death of his wife. Locating in New York city he became a manufacturer of molds for making fancy candy by confectioners. In 1883 he removed to New Haven, Connecticut, but later returned to New York, where his death occurred.
In the land of his nativity Felix Rometsch was reared and educated but having decided to try his fortune in the new world he crossed the Atlantic in 1865, four years before his father came to the United States. This was immediately after the Civil war, when farm labor was very scarce in the south, and southern plantation owners had agents in New York city hiring all such help as was available. Thus it came about that Mr. Rometsch was hired and went to Alabama, where for two years he was employed on a cotton plantation. He was four years in Tennessee, where he was similarly employed, and then went to southern Indiana, where he worked on tobacco plantations for six years. It was about 1877, when Mr. Rometsch returned to New York city, where his father then resided, he having emigrated from Germany about 1869. In New York city he learned the making of display forms for corsets and devoted several years to that business before he established a business of his own for making plaster casts and molds for the making of fancy candy and fancy candy
FELIX ROMETSCH
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boxes, known as French candy boxes. In 1883 he became a resident of New Haven, Con- necticut, where he was in the employ of the Union Form Company for several years, making corset display forms, and when that company was dissolved all the employes went to .New York. Subsequently Mr. Rometseb removed to Norwich, Connecticut, and took charge of the form making department of the Norwich Niekle and Brass Company. In 1889, however, he came to Bridgeport as manager of the display form department for Warner Brothers Corset Company and remained with them five years. Having decided to discontinue that branch of their business Mr. Rometsch persuaded that company to promise that they would give him all their orders for display forms, which they have ever since continued to do. He not only has the patronage of Warner Brothers but also makes all the forms for a number of other corset companies, including the La Resista, the Batcheller and the Crown. He has met with success in this undertaking and now furnishes employment to about twelve hands. For the past eight years his shop has been located at 1027 Housatonic avenue.
In New York city, November 1, 1884, Mr. Rometsch was united in marriage to Miss Anna Linek, also a native of Germany, who came to America in childhood and died in Bridgeport in June, 1916. By this union were born two children, namely: Ottilie, now the wife of August Chambelis, inspector for the Yost Typewriter Company; and William H., who is with Warner Brothers Corset Company at Bridgeport.
Mr. Rometsch makes his home at No. 30 Randall avenue. He is a member of the Universalist church and is a believer in the principles of the democratic party but at the polls votes an independent ticket, supporting the men whom he believes best qualified to fill the offices regardless of party ties. In business affairs he has always been found thoroughly reliable and he well merits the high esteem in which he is held.
CLARENCE E. C. ATKINS, D. D. S.
Dr. Clarence E. C. Atkins, engaged in the practice of dentistry in Bridgeport with office in the Security building, was born in Nova Scotia, October 8, 1880, a son of Charles Edward and Marguerite Augusta (Schutz) Atkins, who were natives of Nova Scotia and of Buffalo, New York, respectively. The father was for many years actively engaged in the manufacture of cigars, and is now living in Orlando, Florida, but the mother passed away in 1914.
During his childhood the parents of Dr. Atkins removed to Bridgeport. Here he grew to manhood, acquiring his education in the public schools. While still in his teens, Dr. Atkins put aside his textbooks and for several years traveled extensively through the south and west, also visiting Mexico and British Columbia and returning in 1900 to become associated with his father in the cigar manufacturing business, Charles E. Atkins, Sr., being at that time the proprietor of three different stores in Bridgeport. He carried on both a retail and wholesale business and in the manufacture of cigars employed a considerable number of workmen. At length Dr. Atkins determined to turn his attention from commercial to professional interests and in 1905 became a student in the Philadelphia Dental College, from which he was graduated in 1908. He began the practice of dentistry in Bridgeport. For a short time he was associated with Dr. Frederick Hindsley and since that time he has con- tinnously followed his profession in his own office in this city. He is president of the Bridgeport Dental Society, a fact which indicates his popularity among his fellow practitioners. He was previously secretary of the society for three terms. He also belongs to the State and National Dental Societies, and he enjoys the full confidence and regard of his colleagues and contemporaries.
On the 16th of August, 1915. Dr. Atkins was married to Miss Lillian Robie Spencer, a native of Bridgeport, where she is widely known socially. The doctor gives his political support to the republican party and fraternally is connected with the Improved Order of Red
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