USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > History of Bridgeport and vicinity > Part 37
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ROBERT R. FERRETT.
Although a young man Robert R. Ferrett is occupying an important position, being manager of the Bridgeport Towing Line located at No. 2 Stratford avenue. He is a native of Bridgeport and was born April 13, 1888, of the marriage of John W. and Mary J. (South- wick) Ferrett. His paternal grandfather, William Ferrett, was a resident of Bridgeport, but his maternal grandfather, Charles Southwick, lived in Hartford, where the family had settled in the early days. It is said that on his mother's side a great-grandmother of our subject
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did all within her power to protect women accused of witchcraft during the persecution of witches at Salem, Massachusetts.
Robert R. Ferrett was graduated from the high school in Bridgeport in 1908 and in the fall of that year went abroad. On returning to this country he entered the law school of Yale University, from which he was graduated in 1911 with the degree of LL. B. He at once returned to Bridgeport and was admitted to the bar in the same year, but a short time after beginning the practice of law was compelled to give it up on account of his father's illness, which made it necessary for him to take his father's place as manager of the Bridgeport Towing Line. He has since served in that capacity and has proved an ener- getic and capable business man. His legal training has stood him in good stead in the management of his business affairs and his continued success in the commercial field seems assured. The company employes fifteen men and operates from New Haven to the Jersey coast. It owns three hig powerful steamer tugs and although at present it leases a dock it intends to buy a dock in the near future. The liberal policy of the company to its employes is indicated in the fact that they remain with the concern for many years. Captain Joseph Green has been in the employ of the company for a half century and Henry Schulthies has heen in the company's service for a quarter of a century.
Mr. Ferrett is a republican in politics and is keenly alive to public questions and issues and is serving as justice of the peace. He holds membership in the First Presbyterian church, in which he has served as treasurer for a year, and he is identified with the Masonic order, belonging to St. John's Lodge, No. 3, A. F. & A. M., and the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Seaside Club. His ability is conceded by all who have had dealings with him and his personal qualities are such that his friends are many.
FRANCIS WANZER MARSH.
Francis Wanzer Marsh, a retired banker of Bridgeport, figured for many years as a prominent factor in the business and financial circles of this city, where he and his associate, Orange Merwin, organized two of the leading moneyed institutions. He was born in New Milford, Litchfield county, Connecticut, December 18, 1846, the youngest of the ten children of John B. and Laura (Hine) Marsh. He is descended on the father's side from William Marsh, of the Boston Commissary in the Indian war of 1636. William was a brother of James Marsh, of Kent, England, captain in the Royal Army. On the mother's side Mr. Marsh is a descendant of Daniel and Mary (Bronson) Hine of Waterbury, founders of the Hine family in America. He was reared on the homestead farm in Litchfield county and in his boyhood divided his time between the work of the fields and the acquirement of an education in the district schools and in the high school of New Milford.
Mr. Marsh came to Bridgeport in 1866 and entered the employ of Hall & Read, the predecessors of the D. M. Read Company. In the year 1867 he went with Sherman Marsh & Company, who conducted the insurance business and also had the management of the Peoples Savings Bank, where he remained until 1886. Commencing as an office boy, he was promoted from time to time until he became treasurer of the bank and a partner in the insurance business. In 1886 he resigned as treasurer of the savings bank and a new partnership was formed taking over the insurance business and adding private banking, safe deposit and real estate under the firm name of Marsh, Merwin & Lemmon, which was continued under that name until 1901, when Mr. Marsh and Mr. Merwin, the surviving partners, organized the Bridgeport Trust Company, which took over the banking and safe deposit business, and the Bridgeport Land & Title Company, which took over the real estate and insurance busi- ness. Mr. Marsh became president of the Trust Company and Mr. Merwin president of the Land & Title Company. Mr. Marsh continued to be president of the Trust Company until
FRANCIS W. MARSH
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1913. when he disposed of his interest and retired from active business. In the natural process of developing business interests these institutions under his management grew to be two of the most prominent financial institutions of the city and as such contributed in a substantial measure to the development and upbuilding of its business activities.
On the 17th of May, 1871, Mr. Marsh was married to Miss Emma Clifford Wilson, a native of Bridgeport and a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Shepard) Wilson. Mr. Wilson was a descendant of the old Wilson family of Leeds, England, upon whose land the city was built. Mrs. Wilson was a direct descendant of William Bradford, colonial governor of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Marsh became the parents of four children, Egbert Shepard, Violet Shepard, Clifford Wanzer and Mable Rhoades.
Politically Mr. Marsh is a republican but has never held or wished for a public office. He is a prohibitionist and is on the board of the State Temperance Society. Outside of his business life Mr. Marsh's greatest interest has been his church life. He is a Presbyterian and his activities have been in the work of that church and have taken much of his time. He was an elder, superintendent of the Sunday school, trustee, and a member of different committees for many years. He was director and treasurer of the city Young Men's Chris- tian Association and was also on the state board. He was much interested in the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor which he helped to organize in his own church, was several times its president, also served as president of the local union and on the state board. He is also interested in and one of the vice presidents of the American Sunday School Union. He has now passed the Psalmist's span of three score years and ten. He stands today a strong man, strong in his honor and his good name, strong in his ability to plan and perform. The interests of his life have been evenly balanced, making his a well rounded character. At no time has he allowed business affairs to so monopolize his attention as to preclude the possibility of cooperation in those forces which work for moral uplift but on the con- trary as his success has increased he has given more and more liberally of his time and means to the furtherance of those interests which are effective forces in moral progress.
C. SYDNEY EAMES.
C. Sydney Eames, of the firm of C. S. Eames & Company, having a complete plumbing and heating plant and sheet metal works at No. 246 Middle street, in Bridgeport, has always resided in New England and is a representative of one of the oldest families of this section of the country, tracing his ancestry back to Thomas Eames, who came from England in 1634. The family was represented in the Revolutionary war by those who patriotically defended the interests of the colonies, nine of the family being at Concord, ready to enlist at the out- break of hostilities with the mother country. Luther Eames, the father of C. Sydney Eames, was a farmer and shoe manufacturer who lived for a time in New Hampshire but later removed to the old family home in Framingham, Massachusetts, which was erected in 1721 on land that has been in the possession of the family since 1677. Luther Eames was buried at Framingham. His wife bore the maiden name of Eliza Woodbury.
Their son, C. Sydney Eames, was born in New Hampshire, November 8, 1851, but his boyhood was passed in Framingham, Massachusetts. After acquiring a high school education he removed to Bridgeport, where he entered upon an apprenticeship to the plumbing and heat- ing business, learning the trade in principle and detail. For twelve years he was connected with the firm of Bradbury & Goodsell, but, ambitious to engage in business on his own account, he carefully saved his earnings until his industry and economy enabled him to open a plumbing and heating establishment in 1882 on Water street at the northwest corner of Fairfield avenue. He remained at the original location for many years, but about 1906 removed to No. 246 Middle street, where he has a complete plumbing and heating plant
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and sheet metal works. About 1905 he admitted S. A. Meeker to a partnership in the business, which now employs about thirty people. They do a large amount of contract work and sustain an enviable reputation for thorough reliability and efficiency.
In 1875 Mr. Eames was married to Miss Carrie B. Stillman, a daughter of John J. and Carrie S. (Childs) Stillman, of Bridgeport. They had one son, Harry, who died at the age of ten years. Mr. and Mrs. Eames attend the Park Street Congregational church and guide their lives according to its teachings. In politics he usually votes with the republican party but does not consider himself bound by party ties and often casts an independent ballot. He has many substantial qualities which render him popular and which have won for him the respect and goodwill of all with whom he has been brought in contact.
JOHN McDONALD CRONIN.
John McDonald Cronin, secretary of the Feeney Tool Company of Bridgeport, was born in Portland, Connecticut, on the 17th of July, 1890, and after acquiring a public school education attended a commercial college. In his youthful days he learned the machinist's trade and in the fall of 1911, soon after attaining his majority, he came to Bridgeport. For a year and a half after his arrival in this city he was employed by the Locomobile Company and later spent three years with the Baird Machinery Company as production manager, the business being conducted under the Taylor system. He was afterward with the engineering department of the Remington Arms Company, in charge of the control division, and in June, 1916, he became associated with others in organizing the Feeney Tool Company, which was incorporated in August of that year with John M. Feeney as the president and treasurer and John McDonald Cronin as secretary. The plant is located at No. 252 Middle street and the factory has four thousand square feet of floor space. They do fine tool work and die work and make gauges of all kinds and they do light metal manufacturing by contract. The shop is well equipped, being supplied with modern machinery. The company is incorporated for forty thousand dollars, of which the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars has been paid in. They employed fifty-four skilled mechanics in 1916. They follow the policy of taking work from many firms rather than one with the result that they now have many places to draw business from. From the beginning the business has steadily grown and their success is most gratifying.
Mr. Cronin is a Catholic in religious belief and is identified with the Knights of Columbus. He has lived in Bridgeport for about six years and has become well known in its trade circles as a young man of indefatigable enterprise and determination.
CHARLES PICKHARDT HALLER, M. D.
Dr Charles Pickhardt Haller, practicing medicine in Bridgeport since 1903, was born in West Cornwall, Connecticut, July 13, 1870, a son of Henry and Dorothea (Dieffenbach) Haller
Dr. Haller spent his early childhood at West Cornwall, but much of his youth was passed at Yalesville, Connecticut, and he there attended the public schools. When nineteen years of age he became assistant secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association at Meriden, Connecticut, and was identified with work of that character as assistant secretary and as secretary for seven years. In 1898 he entered upon the study of medicine and after four years spent in the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia was graduated with the class of 1902. His initial practical experience came to him as interne in the Buffalo
DR. CHARLES P. HALLER
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Homeopathic Hospital, in which he remained for a year, and in 1903 he came to Bridgeport, where he has since been actively and successfully engaged in the general practice of medicine.
On the 16th of May, 1905, Dr. Haller was married to Miss Julia Rose Scofield, who was born and reared at Stamford, Connecticut, and is descended from old colonial families repre- sented in the Revolutionary war in both the paternal and maternal lines, while Dr. Haller's father was a soldier of the Civil war, going to the front as a private of the Fifth Connecticut Regiment of Volunteers. Mrs. Haller is a daughter of George E. and Emma (Rose) Scofield, the former a representative of the old Scofield family of Stamford and the latter of the old Rose family of Suffield, Connecticut. Mrs. Haller comes of a long line of patriotic ancestors who lived in New England and her father manifested the same spirit of loyalty to the country, joining the Union army as a member of the Twenty-eighth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war. Mrs. Haller now holds membership with the Daughters of the American Revolution, while both the Doctor and Mrs. Haller are members of the Parish of the First Universalist church of Bridgeport. He is likewise a Knight Templar and thirty-second degree Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine and in fact has taken all of the degrees of the order save the honorary thirty-third. His foundation connection with Masonry comes through Corinthian Lodge, No. 104, A. F. & A. M., of Bridge- port. He belongs to the Seaside Club and is fond of witnessing outdoor sports. He also enjoys country life and turns to it for rest and recreation. He owns and occupies a beautiful and commodious residence at No. 320 West avenue which he has recently purchased. In the line of his profession Dr. Haller is connected with the Connecticut State Homeopathic Medical Society, the American Institute of Homeopathy and a Fellow of the American Medical Association.
ISAAC WASHINGTON BIRDSEYE.
Isaac Washington Birdseye is classed with those who have contributed toward making Bridgeport a great industrial center, with its ramifying trade interests reaching out to all sections of the country and even to foreign lands. While he is now retired, his work has been of the utmost benefit to the city, having always been directed along lines that have led to substantial publie progress and prosperity as well as to individual success. He ever displayed excellent business enterprise and unusual executive ability and his administrative powers have brought him success in his various business enterprises.
Mr. Birdseye is a native of Huntington, Connecticut, and a son of Joseph and Caroline (Hubbell) Birdseye. He is descended from one of the oldest Connecticut families, his ancestors having come from Berkshire, England, and settled at Stratford in 1636. Patriotism has ever been a dominant quality among them and various representatives of the name defended public interests in the Indian and colonial wars. Isaac W. Birdseye was educated in the public schools and on attaining his majority began business as a manufacturer in his native town. He afterward removed to Shelton, Connecticut, where he continued business until 1880 and then came to Bridgeport in order to secure broader scope for his activities and interests. Enlarging his facilities by the removal, he soon added another factory to his plant and later the entire business was removed to Bridgeport, where the firm of Birdseye & Somers conducted one of the largest corset factories of the United States, maintaining sales- rooms in Boston, New York. Chicago and San Francisco. In all that he undertook Mr. Birdseye succeeded. He was watchful of every detail pointing to success and his powers of organization were most effective and resultant. After winning a handsome and well merited fortune failing health caused him to retire from active business and he is now enjoying the rest to which his former labor well entitles him. He is a director of the First Bridgeport National Bank, the Bridgeport Savings Bank, and the Bankers Loan & Trust Company of
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New York. He was one of the organizers of the Bridgeport Trust Company and its first president. He has long been identified with the Bridgeport Board of Trade and was its president in 1902 and 1903.
Mr. Birdseye was married to Miss Lizzie Josephine Sherwood, only daughter of the late Aaron Banks and Elizabeth (Curtis) Sherwood, of Bridgeport. They have one daughter, Elizabeth Josephine, now Mrs. Ralph Milo Sperry.
In politics Mr. Birdseye is a republican but has never been an office secker. He has taken an active part in the social and club interests of the city and is a member of the Brooklawn Country Club, also of the Lotus Club of New York city, and served for several years on the governor's staff of the former. He was one of the presidential electors of 1904 and in the same year was a commissioner from the state of Connecticut to the St. Louis Exposition. He is a member of the Order of Barons of Runnymede, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Military Order of Foreign Wars, the Sons of the Revolution and the Sons of the American Revolution and of the last named was for several years national treasurer general. He has held membership in the South Congregational church for more than thirty years. He was one of the organizers of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association of Bridgeport and was an active member of the building committee, having in charge the erection of the present association building. He was also for more than thirteen years chairman of the finance committee. He is a trustee of the Bridgeport Orphan Asylum and has been helpfully interested in various charities and movements which seek the amelioration of hard conditions of life for the unfortunate. In a word, he has ever truly recognized his responsibilities and obligations and, prompted not by a sense of duty but by a real interest in his fellowmen, has extended a helping hand.
JAMES EDWIN HAIR, M. D.
Dr. James Edwin Hair, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Bridgeport, was horn in Worcestershire, England, January 9, 1863, his parents being Charles W. and Emma (Thomas) Hair, the former a merchant of England. In his native country the son was reared and there obtained an academic education. He was graduated from the King Edward grammar school at Halesowen, England, and in 1880 came to the United States, making his home in Bridgeport since 1882. For several years he was engaged in the drug business here at the corner of Main and Elm streets, during which period he devoted his leisure hours to the study of medicine, his experience in the drug trade having awakened his interest in the practice of the profession. He further qualified as a student in the Eclectic Medical College of New York, from which he was graduated in 1897, and later he spent two terms in the Post Graduate Medical College of New York, while at the same time he was pur- suing the private practice of medicine in Bridgeport. He opened an office in this city in 1897 and while he has continued in general practice he has specialized to a great extent in sur- gery. For seven years, or from 1897 to 1904, he was chief surgeon at the Bridgeport Emerg- eney Hospital and he probably does as much surgical work today as anyone in Bridgeport. His ability is pronounced. He is cool and collected in emergencies and he has a compre- hensive knowledge of anatomy and the component parts of the human body. Moreover. he keeps in touch with the latest scientific research and investigation and is familiar with the most modern methods of surgical work as exemplified in this country and in Europe. He is now president of the Connecticut State Eclectic Medical Society and is a member of the National Eclectic Medical Society. He is also a member of the Connecticut Eclectic Medical Examining Board, the New England Eclectic Medical Association, and of the Connecticut State Board of Examiners of Midwifery. For five years he was honored with the presidency
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of the Connecticut State Eclectic Medical Society. He was given the degree of C. M., M. D. by the Kansas City College of Medicine & Surgery in 1915.
On the 28th of September, 1882. Dr. Hair was married to Miss Hattie Wyoming Learn. of Laporte, Indiana, and they have a daughter, Bessie Dilwyn, now a young lady at home. They also lost a daughter, Jennie Emma, who was a graduate of the Bridgeport high school and passed away at the age of twenty-three years. Mrs. Hair was born in Laporte, Indiana. a daughter of Heller and Katherine (Stoecker) Learn, both of Dutch descent.
Dr. Hair belongs to St. John's Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Bridgeport, and he also has membership in the Seaside Club, is fond of fishing and hunting and loves good dogs. He is well known as a breeder of English setters and members of his private kennels have won many blue ribbons at the New York and Boston hench shows and in fact have gained cham- pionships for him at various bench shows throughout the entire country. His dogs are his chief interest aside from his profession, but no interest is ever allowed to interfere with the faithful performance of the work that devolves upon him as a physician and surgeon.
RICHARD B. COGSWELL.
Richard B. Cogswell, connected with the freight department of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, was born January 6, 1848, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Throughout the greater part of his life his attention has been devoted to railway service. He was for a time agent for the company at New Milford and in 1880 he removed to Bridge- port, where he has since made his home. However, this was not the first period of his residence in Bridgeport, for he had previously been in the city for a time. In railway circles he has gradually worked his way upward through merit and ability and is now occupying a responsible position in the freight department, in which connection he discharges his duties with promptness and fidelity. His long connection with the company stands in incontrovertible proof of his loyalty and capability.
In Lee, Massachusetts, in 1869, Mr. Cogswell was united in marriage to Miss Luey MI. Alexander, of that place, and they became the parents of four children, of whom two are living: Richard W., mentioned elsewhere in this work, and Mrs. Grace C. Marr, of Bridgeport. For thirty-seven consecutive years Richard B. Cogswell has been a member of the Congre- gational church of this city, guiding his life by its teachings. He is therefore a man whom to know is to respect and honor, for his entire career has been such as has won for him the warm regard of those whom he has met socially and the full confidence of those whom he represents in a business way.
MICHAEL JOHN FLANAGAN.
Michael John Flanagan, of Bridgeport, has been very successful as an attorney and in addition to looking after his private interests he is now serving as assistant clerk of the superior court. His birth occurred in Bridgeport, November 5, 1873, and he is a son of Christopher and Ann (Rogerson) Flanagan. Both his paternal grandfather, Michael Flanagan, and his maternal grandfather, Michael Rogerson, were highly esteemed residents of West- meath, Ireland, and there both of his parents were born. In 1865 Christopher and Ann Flanagan came to America and not long afterward took up their residence in Bridgeport. To them were born two sons and five daughters, those besides our subject being: George, who was educated in the Bridgeport graded and high schools and is now a resident of Dover, New Jersey: Minnie, a resident of Bridgeport; Katherine, a graduate of the Bridgeport
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high school and a teacher by profession; Eleanor, a resident of Bridgeport; Bessie, who married E. G. Bagley, of Hartford, Connecticut; and Rose, who is also a graduate of the Bridgeport high school and is engaged in teaching.
Michael John Flanagan in his boyhood attended at different times both the public and parochial schools, including the St. Mary's Jane Barnum and Congress Street schools. In 1896 he entered Yale University and completed the first three years of the law course, leaving college in 1899. In that year he was admitted to the bar of Bridgeport and has since been active in the practice of his profession. In 1900 he was elected an alderman and made so creditable a record in that capacity that he was reelected for a second term. For four years he was clerk of the board of appraisers and in 1907 was a candidate for judge of the probate court, but went down to defeat together with almost his entire ticket. For the next three years his entire attention was given to his practice, but since 1910 he has been assistant clerk of the superior court. Every duty devolving upon him is fully discharged and his work is characterized by system and accuracy.
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