USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > History of Bridgeport and vicinity > Part 47
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Mr. Ford belongs to the Algonquin Club and has gained many friends in that organiza- tion and through business connections. Politically he maintains an independent course and has never been an office seeker, preferring to concentrate his time and energies upon his business affairs, which, wisely directed, are bringing to him a good annual income.
WILLIAM C. HAWLEY.
William C. Hawley is secretary and treasurer of the Davis & Hawley Company, owning one of the well appointed jewelry stores of Bridgeport. He was born here in 1873, a son of Frederick B. Hawley. He passed through consecutive grades in the public schools until he became a high school pupil and he started in the business world as an employe in the jewelry house of Parker & Davis in 1890. There he learned the business, remaining with that firm for six years, and after another year, or in 1897, he bought out Mr. Parker, since which time the store has been conducted under the firm style of the Davis & Hawley Company, with Mr. Davis as the president and Mr. Hawley as the secretary and treasurer. The building which they occupy was ereeted in 1838 and has been continuously used as a jewelry store throughout all the intervening years. They conduct a general jewelry business which is high class in every respect, and in addition to their Bridgeport establishment they have a store in Waterbury, which was opened in April, 1907, under the name of Davis & Hawley,
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Jewelers, Incorporated. The most progressive methods dominate the two establishments, making their business an important factor in the commercial circles of these cities.
In Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1901, Mr. Hawley was united in marriage to Miss Mary Theodosia Burr and they have become the parents of two children, William Burr and Theodosia Burr. Mr. Hawley is treasurer of the Jewelers' Corporation of Bridgeport, is a member of the board of governors of the Seaside Club and belongs to the Brooklawn Country Club. He is also a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the United Congregational church, in the work of which he takes an active and helpful interest, serving now as super- intendent of the Sunday school.
WILLIAM D. NICHOLS.
William D. Nichols, who has built up a trade of large proportions as a plumbing and sheet metal contractor, is indeed a self-made man, for all that he has he has made by his own unaided efforts. His birth occurred in Winona, Minnesota, October 26, 1869, and he is a son of William Horace Nichols, of Holden, Massachusetts, where the grandfather, Horace Nichols, also resided. The homestead is still standing in that town and eight generations of the family have resided in Massachusetts. On his maternal side also MIr. Nichols is a representative of an old American family, his mother being in her maiden- hood Ada Caroline Morrill, a daughter of Daniel W. Morrill. The Morrill family emigrated to America about 1790 from France. One of the ancestors of our subject served as a drummer boy in the Revolutionary war and he is therefore entitled to membership in the Sons of the American Revolution. To Mr. and Mrs. William H. Nichols were born four sons: Albert H., who is living at West Somerville, Massachusetts; Walter Frederick, who served in the Spanish-American war as a member of a Connecticut company and died from disease contracted while in the army; Benjamin, who passed away in 1880; and William D. of this review.
The last named was taken by his parents to New Haven, Connecticut, when a child and attended school there for a time, after which he was for seven years a student in the public schools of Brooklyn, New York. At the age of fourteen years he began to learn his trade with the Richardson-Boynton Stove Works at Brooklyn. He decided to become a sheet metal worker and continued with that company for three years and four months after his textbooks were put aside. Later he was employed by the Simonds Furnace Company and after leaving that place was foreman in a shop owned by J. H. Cort, whose son married a niece of General Benjamin F. Tracy, secretary of the navy under President Harrison. During this time Mr. Nichols installed the ventilation on the double turreted monitor Miantanomah at the Brooklyn Navy-yard. By 1889 he had fully mastered his trade, but instead of at once going into business on his own account he entered the Brad- bury piano factory and for a year was there employed nnder F. G. Smith. However, he did not like the work and again turned his attention to the sheet metal trade. In 1893 he went to Danbury, Connectient, where he was employed by several firms and where he also took up plumbing.
In 1899 Mr. Nichols came to Bridgeport and formed a partnership with H. O. Taylor for the conduct of a plumbing and sheet metal shop. They were first located in a room twelve by twelvo feet on Elm street and subsequently removed in turn to No. 50 Cannon street and to No. 676 Fairfield avenue. At length the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Nichols built at No. 1171 State street a shop which he has since removed to his present quarters at No. 1177 State street. The character of the contracts which he executes indi- cates his high standing in his field of work. Among other important jobs which he has
WILLIAM D. NICHOLS
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handled may be mentioned the West End Theater, in which he installed the heating, plumbing and ventilating systems, the last mentioned providing for a complete change of air every twelve minutes; the Bridgeport Metal Works new factory in which he did the plumbing and fitting work; the Yost Typewriter Company, an especially important con- tract; the Blue Ribbon Body Company; the winter quarters for the Barnum & Bailey circus, in which he has just finished installing the plumbing and steam heating; the Howard Hotel; and the Bannay West End Restaurant. He has given special attention to the needs of moving picture operating rooms and has received seventy-five per cent of such contracts in the city in addition to many outside. He also executes in a year hun- dreds of smaller jobs and employs on an average ten men in the shop and two in the office. In working his way upward to his present enviable position in industrial circles he has relied solely upon fair dealing, a thorough knowledge of all phases of business and strict attention to the matter in hand, realizing that permanent success must be based upon such a foundation.
Mr. Nichols was married November 24, 1889, to Miss Margaret A. Rowe, a daughter of Theodore Smith and Georgenea (Mott) Rowe. Mr. Rowe is a veteran of the Civil war, having served in Company I, Forty-second (Tammany) New York Regiment. Mrs. Nichols is of Revolutionary stock, as ancestors in both families served in the Continental army. She is therefore entitled to membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution and she is a member of the Daughters of Veterans. She has become the mother of two chil- dren. Theodore Horace, who is named for his two grandfathers, was educated in the pub- lie schools of Bridgeport and in the high school at Danbury. He is a skilled metal worker, having learned the trade under his father, and is associated with the latter in business. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married Miss Marie Reynolds, of English descent, and they have two children, Edna May and William Horace. Florence E. attended the public and high schools of Bridgeport and also the Union Business College. She married Charles W. Slattery, of Bridgeport, and has three children, Dorothy Clare, Marjorie and Kenneth.
Mr. Nichols served for four years in the Connecticut Militia and holds membership in the Sons of Veterans. He belongs to the Bridgeport Automobile Association, the Park City Yacht Club, Adelphian Lodge and Nutmeg Encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, St. John's Lodge, No. 3, A. F. & A. M., Jerusalem Commandery, No. 13, K. T., Pyramid Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., and in the Scottish Rite he has attained the thirty- second degree. His keen interest in the welfare of the young men of the city is indi- cated by the fact that he has belonged to the Young Men's Christian Association for many years. Although he has devoted the greater part of his time to his buisness he has also found opportunity to give attention to the other interests of life and is recognized as a man of publie spirit and attractive social qualities.
ALEXANDER BUNKER PINKHAM.
Alexander Bunker Pinkham, manager of the Files Engineering Company, has through his own unaided efforts gained his present important position in industrial cireles and is entitled to the honor that is accorded a self-made man. He was born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, in 1876, a son of Frederick B. C. and Dora A. (Folger) Pinkham. The family were for generations residents of Nantucket Island and Mr. Pinkham of this review has in his possession a boatswain's whistle which belonged to one of his ancestors, indicat- ing that representatives of the name followed a seafaring life. The first member of this branch of the family to bear the name Alexander Bunker Pinkham was so called in honor of Lieutenant Alexander Bunker Pinkham, of the United States Navy, who, however, as far
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as known was not a relative. He lived in an early day in the history of the country and was the officer who recovered the remains of John Paul Jones in France. Henry M. Pinkham, the famous financial editor of the Boston Advertiser and Post, is a cousin of our subject.
When but three years of age Alexander B. Pinkham was taken by his parents to Boston and there he attended the public schools. When but twelve years old he sold news- papers and later worked around at various jobs. Subsequently for three years he was employed in the office of his unele, Alexander Bunker Pinkham, for whom he was named and who was a well known architect. After leaving him Mr. Pinkham of this review entered the mechanical engineering department of the Charles Davis Soap Company of Cambridge, Massachusetts. A year later he accepted a position as assistant to the chief engineer of the North Packing & Provision Company, a subsidiary company of Swift & Company. He remained in that connection for three years and then was for four years in the stationary engineering department of the Boston Edison Company. He was next employed by George K. Hooper, consulting construction engineer of New York city, in the capacity of mechanical engineer, having qualified for such work through varied practical experience. For nine years he had charge of the mechanical engineering department of the above company and during that time that concern erected the Kossuth street building of the Ashcroft Manu- facturing Company of Bridgeport, designed and installed the power plant in the west end and also did important work for Crane Company. Mr. Pinkham had the supervision of the above work and his unusual capability was so apparent that he was asked to take charge of the Bridgeport office of the Files Engineering Company of Providence and in November, 1914, accepted the position of manager of that department and during the inter- vening three years the concern has filled important contracts for the Salts Textile Company, Harvey Hubbell, Inc., the Acme Shear Company, the Bridgeport Projectile Company, the American Graphophone Company, the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, the Bead Chain Manu- facturing Company, the Stamford Rolling Mills, the National Scale Company, the Electric Cable Company, the Bias Narrow Fabric Company, the Burlington Silk Mills, the Con- neeticut Electric Company, the Bridgeport Metal Goods Manufacturing Company, the Austin Company, the Fletcher- Thompson Company, H. O. Canfield, Burns & Bassick and the Bryant Electric Company.
Mr. Pinkham was married in January, 1909, to Miss Louise A. Curtis, of Stratford, who is a daughter of Francis R. and Amanda (Judson) Curtis, both representatives of old families of Stratford. Mr. Pinkham is an independent republican in politics, but while scrupulous in the discharge of his duties as a good citizen he has never taken a very active part in public affairs. He belongs to the Algonquin Club and within and without that organization has many sincere friends. The importance of the work which he has supervised is indis- putable evidence of his high rank in the field of mechanical engineering.
H. J. LEWIS OYSTER COMPANY.
The H. J. Lewis Oyster Company of Bridgeport was incorporated in 1895, although its founder and promoter, H. J. Lewis, had been engaged in the oyster trade since the early '70s. He began operations at Thimble Islands but in 1878 removed to Stratford and later came to Bridgeport and at this point the business has since been conducted. The company has its own oyster beds at various places from Westport to New Haven, and in the conduct of the trade, in planting and in securing the oysters for sale utilizes four steamers and one gas boat. They do not handle any market oysters but sell seed oysters for others to plant for growing and marketing. They sell oysters to customers north and south of here, shipping by water in cargo lots. These customers replant ou ground where the oysters become fat and marketable and resell after six to eighteen months. The company's
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oysters are produced in from fifteen to fifty feet of water and are sold at the age of three years. They employ about fifty people and the oysters are most carefully planted, the com- pany having made a close study of the conditions of the beds and all the other points which must be considered in relation to the propagation and development of the bivalve. They have established a well earned reputation for nice shaped seed.
THEODORE FERGUSON.
Theodore Ferguson, secretary and manager of the H. J. Lewis Oyster Company, was born at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, March 28, 1845, a son of William and Jane (Van De Water) Ferguson, who were also natives of New Jersey. The father, who was born at Wood- bridge, became a boat builder and ultimately engaged in the oyster business.
Theodore Ferguson acquired a publie school education in his youthful days and from a very early age became connected with the oyster trade, assisting his father when a youth of but fifteen. He learned every feature of the business in regard to the propagation and scientific raising and transplanting of oysters and ultimately he bought his father's busi- ness, which he conducted independently until 1871 and then sold out. He next became superintendent for William H. Christy and then embarked in business on his own account as an oyster merchant of New York. Later he sold out and went to South Norwalk, where he established an oyster business for the firm of Thompson & Cole. Returning to New York, he became manager of A. Booth & Company and continued in that position for four years. during which period he shipped in one week six thousand gallons or one million five hundred thousand oysters, which is the largest shipment of the bivalves ever handled in one week. On leaving Booth & Company he returned to South Norwalk, where he became manager for the Standard Oyster Company, and in 1910 he entered into his present busi- ness relation as the secretary and manager of the Lewis Oyster Company at Bridgeport. This firm is doing a good business in the raising of seed oysters, handling none for the market, and Mr. Ferguson's long experience with every phase of the trade well qualifies him for the responsibilities and duties that now devolve upon him.
In 1870 Mr. Ferguson was married to Miss Kate T. Nevius, who was born at North Branch, New Jersey, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Garrett Nevius, who were also natives of that place. In 1910 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who passed away in September of that year, and their only child. Charles Herbert, died at the age of thirty- four years. Mr. Ferguson was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen in New Jersey. Ile concentrates his time and attention, however, almost entirely upon his business affairs and practically throughout his entire life has given his attention to the oyster business in relation to propagation, planting or sale, and there is no feature of the trade with which he is not thoroughly familiar, his long experience and study enabling him to speak with authority.
JOHN A. HURLEY.
John A. Hurley is to some extent engaged in the real estate and insurance business in Bridgeport but is largely living retired. He has, however, at different periods been con- nected with extensive and important manufacturing and industrial interests which have contributed to the upbuilding and progress of the city. He was born in New Haven, Con- necticut, in 1854, a son of William Hurley, who came to America from Ireland in 1848. The father located at New Haven, where he engaged in the carriage business until 1890.
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He then removed to Bridgeport, where he lived retired until his death, which occurred in 1905, when he was seventy-three years of age.
In the attainment of his education Jolin A. Hurley attended the parochial, grammar and high schools of New Haven and in 1872 entered the employ of Edward Malley, with whom he remained for seven years. On January 1, 1879, he removed to Bridgeport and took the position of bookkeeper with McMahon & Wren, becoming a partner in the business in 1885 and so continuing until 1888. In the latter year he removed to Meriden to become manager of the Meriden Brewing Company, which later was merged into the Connecticut Breweries Company, and since 1890 Mr. Hurley has been one of the directors of the latter. He continued a resident of Meriden from 1888 until 1904, when he returned to Bridgeport. For fourteen years he was actively connected with manufacturing interests. In 1903 he built a factory and removed his plant from Southington, where it had been established, to Bridge- port. His interests were conducted under the name of the Hurwood Manufacturing Com- pany, manufacturers of hardware, lanterns, food choppers, etc. They were also the originators and patentees of the Hurwood screw driver. Until 1905 the business was continued under the name of the Hurwood Manufacturing Company, with Mr. Hurley as president and treasurer, and in 1908 a reorganization was effected under the name of John A. Hurley, Incorporated. Following the incorporation the business of manufacturing food choppers and lanterns was continued until 1912, when the latter line was discontinued, and in 1913 Mr. Hurley disposed of the chopper manufacturing interests. He then rented the factory and retired from the business. He was one of three men to build a railroad from Meriden to Southington and Lake Compounce, an electric road fifteen miles in length. Of this he was the secretary and treasurer from 1898 until 1902, when it was sold to the Connecticut Rail- way & Lighting Company. He is now concentrating his efforts upon real estate and insurance and has negotiated a number of important property transfers and still holds considerable valuable realty.
In New Haven, in 1877, Mr. Hurley was married to Miss Margaret A. Byrne, repre- sentative of an old family there, and they have become parents of seven children, of whom three are living: Grace L., the wife of Thomas F. Walsh; Margretta M., a teacher of mathematics in the high school of Bridgeport; and John A., who is manager of the bottling department of the Connecticut Breweries Company at Bridgeport. The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church and Mr. Hurley also has membership with the Knights of Columbus. He is likewise a member of the Algonquin Club and the Meriden Lodge of Elkg. In business he has displayed close application and unremitting energy and has won substantial success.
GEORGE FREDERICK BEARDSLEE.
George Frederick Beardslee, assistant fire chief of Bridgeport, his native city, has been connected with the department since April 1, 1892, and through intermediate posi- tions has worked his way upward to the place that he is now acceptably filling. He was born May 11, 1871, a son of Frederick P. and Frances (Vanstone) Beardslee and a grand- son of Frederick Beardslee, who was descended from another Frederick Beardslee, who became the progenitor of the family in the new world, emigrating from England in the early part of the eighteenth century and settling at Stratford, Connecticut. The father, a native of Bridgeport, was born February 15, 1848, and was a harness maker by trade and at the age of fourteen became a volunteer fireman of this city. He later entered the regular paid fire department upon its organization and held every office in connection therewith up to and including that of chief. After serving for fifteen years as assistant chief he was made chief in 1889 and so continued until 1899, when he retired, his death
GEORGE F. BEARDSLEE
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occurring on November 29, 1900. His wife was born August 20, 1848, in Devonshire, Eng- land, of which shire her parents, John and Frances (Chope) Vanstone, were also natives. They became residents of London, Ontario, Canada, in 1856, when Mrs. Beardslee was eight years of age. A year later the family home was established in Bridgeport, where she now resides. On the 21st of June, 1869, she became the wife of Frederick P. Beards- lee and to them were born four children, George Frederick, Walter Franklin, Clarence Jay and Florence Jessie, the last named the wife of Robert Brooks of Toledo, Ohio. All the sons are residents of Bridgeport.
In the city schools George F. Beardslee obtained his education and after working with his father at the harness business for a time became connected with the fire department, as previously stated, on the 1st of April, 1892, in the position of driver. He had previ- ously been a call man with the department and on the 1st of May, 1896, he was advanced to the position of captain. On the 1st of August, 1915, he was appointed first assistant chief of the department and in his present connection and in his former service he has contributed in marked measure to the development and efficiency of the department. He has a natural liking for the work. His first assignment was to a truck company and he is recognized as an expert on ladder work.
On the 2nd of February, 1893, at Boston, Massachusetts, Mr. Beardslee was married to Miss Annie F. Worton, of that city, where she was born and resided until her marriage. She died in Bridgeport, March 19, 1912, leaving a son, Frederick Worton, born July 30, 1897. On the 11th of June, 1914, Mr. Beardslee wedded Alice Lyon Fitch, formerly of Darien. Connecticut.
In religious faith Mr. Beardslee is a Congregationalist and in politics he maintains an independent course. The name of Beardslee has been identified with fire service in Bridgeport from an early period in the development of its volunteer department and throughout the entire existence of the paid department and splendid work has been done by father and son. George F. Beardslee holds membership with the Connecticut State Fire- mens Association, has been county vice president, then state vice president and later, in 1905, was honored with election to the presidency for a two years' term, making a splen- ‹lid record in that connection.
WILLIAM JAMES A. O'HARA, M. D.
Dr. William James A. O'Hara was born in Hartford, Connecticut, October 8, 1863, and since 1895 has continuously followed his profession in Bridgeport. His father, Francis Henry O'Hara, was a mechanic and gun maker who died when his son William was a little lad of but twelve years. The father was born in County Louth, Ireland, and when nineteen years of age was married there to Anna Conlin, seventeen years of age. Shortly afterward they sailed for the United States and first settled at Holyoke, Massachusetts, where Mr. O'Hara learned his trade-that of a machinist. Subsequently the parents removed to Hart- ford, Connecticut, where he took up his abode in 1848. He died in the year 1875, while his widow survived for more than a third of a century, passing away in the home of her son William in 1909. He was the eighth in her family of twelve children, eight sons and four daughters, of which number four of the sons survive and make their home in Bridgeport. The brothers of Dr. O'Hara are: Francis Henry, a retired tool and gun maker; Thomas Joseph, who is foreman in the tool making department of the Remington Arms Company; and George, who is also foreman of one of the departments with the Remington Arms Company.
Dr. O'Hara was graduated from the Christian Brothers Academy of Hartford in 1881 and later entered the Niagara University of Niagara, New York, where he pursued a classical Vol. II-20
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course covering four years. He next entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, Maryland, and won his professional degree in 1893. For a year thereafter he was assistant to the late Dr. Horace S. Fuller, of Hartford, and in 1895 he removed to Bridge- port, where he has since been actively and successfully engaged in professional work, giving particular attention to surgery. For five years after coming to Bridgeport he was a member of the faculty of the New York Post Graduate School and was associated during that period with Dr. Robert T. Morris, a distinguished surgeon of New York city. He has done post graduate work in operative surgery in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore and also in France. Switzerland, Austria, Germany, England and Ireland. He has likewise studied the methods of Dr. John B. Murphy of Chicago in a post graduate course, and of the Mayo Brothers of Rochester, Minnesota. While he continues the general practice of medicine to some extent, his time and efforts are being more and more largely devoted to surgical work and he is now on the surgical staff of St. Vincent's Hospital. He belongs to the Bridgeport, Fairfield County, Connecticut State and American Medical Associations, also the German National Surgical Society, and of the first named is now vice president.
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