USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > History of Bridgeport and vicinity > Part 35
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On the 14th of February, 1903, in Bridgeport, Mr. Lund was married to Miss Alberta L. Woodhull, daughter of Henry and Mary A. (Hulse) Woodhull, and to this union have been born two children: Gladys, who was born in 1905 and died when seven years old; and Harold Woodhull, born March 10, 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Lund hold membership in the Lutheran
NELSON C. LUND
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church and he belongs to St. John's Lodge, A. F. & A. M. and Arcanum lodge, I. O. O. F. He became the youngest member of Dewey Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America, and he belongs to the National Fraternal League, which draws its membership only from those who are connected with the Masonic fraternity, and is a charter member of the Kiwanis Club, which was organized in 1917. He is one of the most progressive and enterprising busi- ness men of Bridgeport, keeping in touch with and directing taste in moving picture produe- tions, and today bas the leading house of this kind in the city.
CHARLES PHILLIPS.
Charles Phillips, general superintendent of the Bridgeport Metal Goods Company and well known as a sportsman, especially in yachting circles, was born in Plymouth, England, August 5, 1864, a son of James and Mary (Jewell) Phillips, who in 1869 left England and came with their family to the United States, settling at Stratford, Connecticut, where the father followed the carpenter's trade, which he had previously learned in his native land.
Charles Phillips acquired a public and high school education in this state, having been but five years of age at the time of the emigration to the new world. He entered upon bis business career as an employe of the Bridgeport Brass Company and became acquainted with all the various labors performed in the general factory. Working his way steadily upward, he served as department superintendent of electroplating and finishing, having himself attained expert skill in that field. In 1909 he became connected with the Bridgeport Metal Goods Company as general superintendent and his marked efficiency is indicated by the fact that he has since been retained in the position, covering eight years.
Mr. Phillips was united in marriage to Miss Annie Trautmann, of New York, and their children are: Edith, now the wife of Edward Dailey, of Bridgeport; Robert, a machinist with the Locomobile Company, of Bridgeport, who is now married and has one child; Mabel, the wife of Edward Winton, of Bridgeport, by whom she has one child; and Charles, now of Florida, who is married and has one child.
Mr. Phillips is well known in fraternal circles. He holds membership in St. John's Lodge, No. 8, A. F. & A. M .; in Bridgeport Chapter, No. 15, R. A. M .; and Jerusalem Council, No. 16, R. & S. M. He is also connected with the Modern Woodmen and with the Brotherhood of America. The nature of his recreation is largely indicated in the fact that he has been timer for most of the boat races held in Bridgeport. He holds membership in the East End Yacht Club and for three years he has been commodore of the Park City Yacht Club. It has been said that the well balanced man knows not only how to work well but also how to play well, and while Mr. Phillips neglects no interest connected with the important position which he occupies, he realizes the value of recreation and finds not only an upbuilding force but also keen pleasure in yachting.
WILLIAM ELMER SEELEY.
As secretary and treasurer of the Blue Ribbon Garage William Elmer Seeley is at the head of one of the largest business enterprises of this character in New England and has made for himself a creditable record as a most progressive, alert and energetic business man. He was born in Bridgeport in 1863 and is indebted to its public school system for the educational privileges wbich he enjoyed. His father, William Elmer Seeley, Sr., passed away August 25, 1905, after having for many years been an active factor in financial circles and in the political circles of the state. He was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, September 19,
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1840, a son of Seth and Charity (Wilson) Seeley, the former a farmer by occupation, through whom the ancestral line was traced back to Robert Seeley, who came from England in 1630 and settled at Salem, Massachusetts. He afterward became a resident of Water- town, Massachusetts, where he lived for six years and then removed to Wethersfield, Connecti- cut. Later representatives of the family defended American interests in the Revolutionary war.
William E. Seeley, Sr., started upon his banking career in early manhood in connection with the Farmers Bank of Bridgeport and from that time forward his career was one of steady progress. In 1864 he became one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Bridgeport, was chosen its first cashier and in 1892 was elected to the presidency, occupying that position until his demise. He was also for many years president of the Peoples Savings Bank of Bridgeport. occupying that office to the time of his death, and he was president of the Connecticut Bankers' Association, which indicated the regard entertained for him by his colleagues and contemporaries in business. His opinions were recognized as authority on matters of banking and finance. His name was also prominently known in connection with military, civie and political interests. He served for a number of years in the State Militia and resigned while holding the rank of lieutenant colonel. In the same year he was elected state senator and while serving in the upper house was made a member of the committee on finance. From 1903 until 1905 he filled the office of state comptroller and enjoyed an enviable record in that position. He was prominent in the councils of the republican party and at various times was called to office in Bridgeport, serving as fire commissioner for eight years, as police commissioner for three years, as councilman, city treasurer and manager of the sinking fund. He was very prominent in Masonry and was a past grand commander of the Knights Templar of Connecticut. He was also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. of the Society of Colonial Wars, of the Union League Club, of the Transportation Club of New York and of the Seaside, Algonquin, Brooklawn, Yacht and Outing Clubs of Bridgeport. He held membership in the Congregational church and for a half century was one of the most respected and influential residents of Bridgeport. In October, 1861, he married Jane Elizabeth Sterling and they became the parents of five sons, William E., Frederick Sterling, Henry Sterling, Robert Clinton and Frank Earle.
The eldest son, William E. Seeley, early in his business career became a representative of the Electric Vehicle Company of Hartford, Connecticut, in New York and for a few years also had charge of a branch of that establishment at Washington, D. C. In 1907 he became a salesman with the Blue Ribbon Horse & Carriage Company of Bridgeport, a firm carrying everything for the horse and stable, including all kinds of harness, blankets, robes, whips and carriages. They conducted as well a livery, boarding and sales stable and made a specialty of selling fine carriage horses. As the automobile, however, came more and more largely into general favor the nature of the business changed somewhat and in October, 1908, the Blue Ribbon Garage was incorporated with J. Schiott as the president and W. E. Seeley secretary and treasurer. They handled automobile supplies, accessories and parts and became exclusive agents at Bridgeport for the Packard car and also agents for the Dodge car. At that date they had one car salesman and six men in the repair department. Something of the growth of the business is indicated in the fact that they now have twelve salesmen and eighty men in the repair department, while one hundred and four men altogether are employed in their main building at No. 283 Fairfield street. They erected a three-story building containing ten thousand, two hundred square feet ot floor space and in 1910 added another story, giving them sixty-four hundred more square feet. In 1914 they took over the building of the auto and carriage company in the rear, adding sixty-four thousand square feet, and taking over the Blue Ribbon Auto and Carriage garage, secured an additional sixty-four thousand square feet. In 1916 they bought adjoining property with an eighty foot frontage, on which they have recently erected a new steel and concrete building three stories in height, giving them twenty-two thousand square feet in addition to
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what they already have. They will occupy all of this space. Theirs is the largest garage in New England. In 1910 they built a garage at Meriden, Connecticut, as a branch of their business and in 1916 erected a building for a sales room and service station at Waterbury which is the best in that city. They also put up a garage at New Haven. They are operating all of these branches, where they handle the same cars that they do in Bridgeport, and their business at each point is steadily growing. They have storage for more than four hundred cars in Bridgeport. In 1915 they added to their business a painting, trimming and upholster- ing department with competent people in charge. In addition to the one hundred and four men employed in Bridgeport they have twelve men at Meriden, fourteen men in New Haven and fourteen in Waterbury. Their business has assumed extensive proportions, becoming one of the most prominent and profitable undertakings of this kind not only in Bridgeport but in New England.
In 1889 Mr. Seeley was married to Miss Maude D. Parker, of Bridgeport, a daughter of Edwin M. Parker, a jeweler, and they have one son, W. Parker. Mr. Seeley is a thirty- second degree Mason and a Mystic Shriner, is a member of the Algonquin Club, of which he was one of the corporators, and is also a member of the Brooklawn Country Club and of the Home Club of Meriden. In politics he takes a very active interest as a republican, is chairman of the first district and has been treasurer of the republican town committee for a number of years. He is now serving as president of the board of apportionment of Bridgeport, which position he has occupied for several years. To his public duties he brings the same keen discernment and unfaltering enterprise that he displays in the conduct of his business affairs. In his vocabulary there is no such word as fail. What he undertakes he accomplishes and legitimate purpose has ever actuated him, while indefatigable energy has brought him to the desired goal.
WILLIAM BOYD SPENCER.
Among the leading industries of Bridgeport. which ranks high in order of importance among the manufacturing cities of the east. is the Bridgeport Elastic Fabric Company, a branch of The Everlastik Company, Inc., of Boston, and the growth of the business is in large measure due to the efficiency and enterprise of William Boyd Spencer, vice president and general manager of The Everlastik Company, Inc. He is a native of New York city and was born on the 5th of November, 1872. His father, Theodore P. Spencer, was a son of Stephen G. Spencer and the family has been identified with New York state since the old Knickerbocker days. On his mother's side as well William B. Spencer is descended from an old New York family, for she was in her maidenhood Josephine Boyd and is a daughter of W. A. Boyd.
When six months old Mr. Spencer of this review was taken by his parents to northern Connecticut. The family resided upon a farm near Somerville, town of Somers, and during his boyhood he divided his time between assisting in the farm work and attending a typical old-time district school. In 1883, however, he entered the Bridgeport schools and finished the work of the grades and took one year of the high school course. In 1891 he secured a position with the Bridgeport Elastic Web Company and while in their employ attended business college for a year. While with that company he was chiefly engaged in clerical work. About 1902 the business was sold and he became connected with the Union Metallic Cartridge Company, having charge of a part of the shipping department, but in the following year was asked to become a stockholder and president and treasurer of the Bridgeport Elastic Fabric Company. which had been formed in 1902 by several former employes of the Bridge- port Elastic Web Company. During the intervening fourteen years Mr. Spencer has been an officer of the Bridgeport Elastic Fabric Company, which now does an annual business amount-
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ing to three hundred thousand dollars although its business for the first year of its existence did not exceed thirty thousand dollars. This record of an increase of about a thousand per cent in fifteen years is the best possible evidence of the ability of the officers of the concern. In 1914 it was sold to The Everlastik Company, Inc., of Boston, of which it is now a branch, although the original name has been retained. Since 1914 Mr. Spencer has been vice president and general manager of The Everlastik Company, Inc., and he has direct supervision over seven plants of the company located in various parts of the east and to some extent direets the operation of other plants as far west as Ohio. The sales offices of the company are in New York city and the executive office is in Boston and he is kept very busy going from plant to plant and from office to office in the performance of his work of administrative control. Although all connected with the company recognize his unusual knowledge of all its details, his thorough understanding of the business in principle and detail, his executive force and his almost unerring judgment, he himself gives much of the credit for the success of the concern to his loyal associates.
Mr. Spencer was married in 1901 to Miss Anna C. Benediet, of Bridgeport, daughter 01 William C. and Margaret Benedict, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. Benedict was a descendant of an old New England family and for many years was engaged in mercantile pursuits. Mr. Spencer votes independently at local elections, but where national issues are at stake usually supports the republican party. He belongs to the First Methodist church and is keenly interested in all movements calculated to promote the moral welfare of his city. He is well known in club circles, belonging to the Brooklawn Country Club and the City Club of Boston, and is as highly esteemed for his social qualities as for his business ability. Through hard work and the prompt utilization of opportunities he has advanced from a humble position in the business world to one of prominence.
GEORGE HOWELL WARNER, M. D.
This is preeminently an age of specialization and Dr. George Howell Warner is an exponent of the spirit of the age, for after preparing for medical practice he concentrated his efforts along the line of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat and in that particular field has gained much more than local distinction. His efforts have thus not been dissipated over a broad field but have been concentrated along a single line, thus bringing to bear a force and capability that could not otherwise be obtained. Dr. Warner was born on Long Island. in the village of Baiting Hollow, April 17, 1870, a son of Allen M. and Achsah (Howell) Warner. The father, a farmer by occupation, is still living at Baiting Hollow, where he was born in 1842. The mother, whose birth occurred at East Moricbes, Long Island, passed away June 10, 1876, at the age of thirty-seven years. After the death of his first wife the father was twice married.
Dr. Warner was reared at Baiting Hollow and acquired his education in the public schools there and in the Norwich Free Academy of Connecticut. In early manhood he taught school to some extent, but regarded this merely as an initial step to other professional labor and eagerly embraced the opportunity to take up the study of medicine. Matriculating at Yale, he was there graduated in 1897 with the M. D. degree, but previous to this he had been engaged in business pursuits at Baltimore, Maryland, and Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After completing a course in Yale he served as interne for a year and a half in the Bridgeport Hospital and thus put his theoretical knowledge to a practical test and gained that broad and valuable experience which only hospital practice can give. He afterward spent a year in the Rocky mountain states and in 1900 he entered upon the general practice of medicine in Bridgeport. He was thus successfully engaged for a time, and becoming deeply interested in the eye, ear, nose and throat. he at length abandoned
DR. GEORGE H. WARNER
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general practice to concentrate his efforts entirely upon the designated lines. This he has done since 1912. He has taken post graduate work in the Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital of New York and he puts forth every effort possible to advance his efficiency in his chosen field. He has membership in the Bridgeport, the Fairfield County and the Connecticut State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association and of the first named he is now the president.
Dr. Warner served for five years in the Connecticut State Military and Coast Artillery and was a member of the Hospital Corps during much of that time. He has membership in the Seaside and the Brooklawn Clubs. He has traveled extensively in the United States and in 1911 visited Europe. He enjoys manly sports and various phases of outdoor life, is fond of motoring, golfing, skating, and among the arts his greatest love is for music.
S. T. HEWLETT.
S. T. Hewlett, treasurer of the T. J. Pardy Construction Company of Bridgeport, is numbered among Connecticut's native sons, his birth having occurred in West Haven on the 6th of August, 1887, his parents being G. T. and Nettie (Wilson) Hewlett, natives of New Haven and representatives of old families of that city. Mr. Hewlett's father still resides there and is secretary of the board of education.
At the usual age S. T. Hewlett entered the public schools of New Haven and passed through consecutive grades to the high school. On starting out to provide for his own sup- port he entered the employ of the Torrington Building Company and remained with them, receiving thorough training, until the T. J. Pardy Construction Company was organized in 1913, at which time he became treasurer, with T. J. Pardy as president and G. T. Hewlett as secretary. This company engages in the erection of buildings of all kinds and a full account of its activities will be found in the sketch of T. J. Pardy. They have erected theatres at Springfield and Worcester, Massachusetts, and factories, residences and office buildings in various localities. They have their own designing department, and something of the vast amount of business executed by the company each year is indicated in the fact that they have from four hundred to five hundred people in their employ. Mr. Hewlett has devoted his entire life to work of this character, gaining broad and valuable experience and knowledge which have enabled him to carefully direct the labors of those now in his service.
On the 4th of October, 1913, Mr. Hewlett was married to Miss Marjorie A. Hall, of Long Hill, Connecticut, and they have one child, George Tyler. Mr. Hewlett is identified with the Masonic fraternity, also is a member of the Algonquin Club and is connected with the Mutual Investors' Association, of which he is the secretary. His political allegiance is usually given to the republican party. His life has been fraught with strong purpose and guided by honorable principles and the results which he has achieved are enviable.
JOHN WINTHROP WRIGHT, M. D.
Dr. John Winthrop Wright, a surgeon, who is president of the Galen Hospital Association of Bridgeport, holds high rank in professional circles. He was born in Cromwell, Connecticut, June 8, 1852, a son of Leveret and Lucy Stowe (Smith) Wright, both natives of this state but now deceased. In the paternal line Dr. Wright is descended from ancestry represented in the Revolutionary war, his great-great-grandfather having served under Washington.
In the attainment of his more specifically literary education Dr. Wright became a student at Amherst College, where he won his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1877. Later he entered Vol. II-15
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the University of New York as a medical student and received his professional degree in 1880. In the same year he located in Bridgeport, where he has since engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery. In 1900 he founded Galen Hospital at Nos. 808-12 Myrtle avenue in Bridgeport and has since conducted that hospital with marked success. It is devoted chiefly to surgical cases and associated with him in the ownership and conduct of the hospital is Dr. W. Lee Weadon and Dr. Robert D. Roller. For twenty years Dr. Wright was surgeon of Bridgeport Hospital. He is a member of the Bridgeport and the Fairfield County Medical Societies, of both of which he has been president, and he also belongs to the Connecticut State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He has practiced successfully for thirty-seven years, his ability being attested by the liberal patronage accorded him, and he has been a frequent and valued contributor to medical journals.
On the 8th of December, 1886, Dr. Wright was married to Miss Elizabeth Curtis Knapp, of Fairfield, and they have three children, Elizabeth Curtis, William Winthrop and Marion Trnbee. The elder daughter is a graduate of Smith College and the younger is a graduate of the Sargent School of Physical Education at Cambridge, Massachusetts. The son is vice president and manager of the Artistic Bronze Company of Bridgeport.
Dr. Wright holds membership in the Presbyterian church, is a Master Mason and belongs to the Brooklawn and Seaside Clubs. During the Spanish-American war he served as acting assistant surgeon of the United States Army, remaining for three months, from July until Sep- tember, 1898, in Porto Rico. He has traveled extensively over the United States and also in Europe and was in Carlsbad, Austria, in 1914 when the present great international war was declared. He is a man of broad and liberal culture and scholarly attainments aside from bis profession, while in his chosen line of work his conscientious performance of duty has gained for him the confidence and high regard of colleagues and contemporaries.
JOSEPH H. STAGG.
Joseph H. Stagg is president of the Hawley Hardware Company and is giving his personal attention to the wholesale department which has developed from a small beginning to its present position of leadership in its field. He has also had a part in the general business development of the city. He was born in New York city, September 10, 1863, a son of Henry P. and Mary (King) Stagg, a sketch of whose lives appears elsewhere in this work. He received his education in the public schools and in Sedgewick Academy at Stratford, . Connecticut, and in 1880, when seventeen years old, came to Bridgeport and entered the employ of the hardware firm of Plumb & Hawley as accountant. Subsequently C. W. Hawley bought the interest of his partner, Mr. Plumb, and continued the business under his own name until 1907, when Mr. Stagg organized and incorporated the Hawley Hardware Company, of which he has since been the president. The new corporation took over the business of C. W. Hawley and its trade has now reached large proportions, employment being given to a large number of men. Mr. Stagg gives most of his time to the wholesale end of the business, in which connection he travels all over New England. He is personally acquainted with practically all of the large manufacturers of the state and his house furnishes them with a good share of their hardware supplies. He is a man of seemingly tireless energy and is also pleasant and courteous in his manner, a combination which always makes for the greatest efficiency. He has not only been markedly successful in gaining and holding the custom of
Mr. Stagg was married on the 19th of November, 1890, to Miss Emily Treganowan, a native of Dover, New Jersey, and a daughter of Thomas and Margaret Treganowan, who the leading manufacturers and dealers of Connecticut but has also gained the enthusiastic cooperation of his brother officials in the company and of the employes. The concern owns and occupies a three-story building at No. 1120 Main street and Middle street.
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were born respectively in England and in Dover, New Jersey. The father owned land in his native country and remained there until he was twenty-five years old, when he crossed the Atlantic and located in Dover, where he engaged in the mining business. He passed away there, but his wife still survives and makes her home with a son at Dover. Mr. and Mrs. Stagg have three children: Helen Treganowan, at home; Joseph H., Jr., who is a senior in the Boston Institute of Technology, and Dwight Elliott, who is a student in the Wesleyan University at Middletown, Connecticut. All of the children are natives of Bridgeport. Mr. Stagg is a firm believer in the value of a thorough and liberal education and takes great satisfaction in the knowledge that he is giving his children every possible educational advantage.
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