USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > History of Bridgeport and vicinity > Part 53
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CLIFFORD W. MARSH.
Clifford W. Marsh, secretary of the Bridgeport Land & Title Company, was born in Bridgeport on the 1st of February, 1882, and is a son of Francis W. and Emma C. (Wilson) Marsh, a sketch of whom appears on other pages in this volume. Clifford W. Marsh attended the grammar and high schools of Bridgeport and completed his education at the Bordentown Military Academy at Bordentown, New Jersey. He began his business career as errand boy for the Bridgeport Land & Title Company in 1900 and was advanced to secretary of the company in 1912, in which capacity he is still serving.
In 1907 Mr. Marsh was married in Bridgeport to Miss Edith Campbell, a daughter of Edwin and Martha Campbell. She was born in Jersey City. New Jersey, but was reared and educated in Bridgeport. To Mr. and Mrs. Marsh have been born two children: Francis W. and Edward W. In religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Marsh are Presbyterians and she takes quite an active part in church work. Their home is at No. 1036 Laurel avenue.
Mr. Marsh is a thirty-second degree Mason and is now serving as junior deacon of Corinthian Lodge, A. F. & A. M. He belongs to Jerusalem Chapter, R. A. M .; Jerusalem Council, R. & S. M .; Hamilton Commandery, K. T .: and Pyramid Temple of the Mystic Shrine; and he is also connected with Bridgeport Lodge, No. 36, B. P. O. E. By his ballot he supports the republican party and takes an interest in public affairs.
HORACE A. STAPLES.
The officers of the Bridgeport Brass Company have drawn around them a corps of most efficient men who are in charge of the various departments, each responsible for the activities along his certain line and each contributing in considerable measure to the suc- cess of the whole. Horace A. Staples is well known as superintendent of raw material with this company and stands as a splendid type of the enterprising and progressive young business men of Bridgeport. He was born in Stockton, Maine, in 1880, a son of Horace and Sophia (Clifford) Staples. After attending the public schools in the acquirement of his preliminary education he entered the Pratt Institute of Brooklyn, New York, and was there graduated on the completion of the mechanical engineering course with the class
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of 1902. At the ontset of his business career he spent five years as an employe in the machine shops of the Arthur Company and the Burlee Dry Dock Company of New York. Following his gradnation from Pratt Institute he became assistant foreman machinist with the Fore River Shipbuilding Corporation at Quincy, Massachusetts, and subsequently was appointed to the position of first assistant engineer on the United States destroyer McDonough, thus serving during its trial trips. Subsequently he advanced from the position of third assistant to that of first assistant engineer with the Clyde & Ward Steamship Company. His connection with the Bridgeport Brass Company dates from 1905, when he was appointed to the position of production clerk. Later he was made assistant foreman and those in anthority, recognizing his efficiency, ready adaptability and progres- siveness, called him to the position of superintendent of the raw materials department in January, 1914. He has since acted in that capacity and his work has justified the con- fidence indicated in him in his promotion.
Mr. Staples has membership with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute of Metals and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, while aside from his connections along the line of his chosen life work he shows appre- ciation for the social amenities of life as a member of the Brooklawn Country Club.
JOHN M. MERWIN.
John M. Merwin, auditor of the First Bridgeport National Bank, was born in 1869 in the city which is yet his home, a son of Merritt and Margaret (Spencer) Merwin, the former a native of Oxford, Connecticut, and the latter of Brooklyn, New York. In his boyhood days the father became a resident of Fairfield county, where he devoted his time and energies to the occupation of farming.
Liberal educational advantages were given to John M. Merwin, who pursued a course in the Blair Academy at Blairstown, New Jersey. He made his intial step in the busi- ness world as an employe of the Bridgeport National Bank, with which he became con- nected in April, 1887. He has since been associated with that institution in one capacity or another. It is now the First Bridgeport National Bank, a strong and reliable institu- tion conducting all kinds of banking, with a splendid organization and a most capable personnel. On the 1st of April, 1916, he was called to the position of auditor.
Mr. Merwin was married in 1897 to Miss Frances S. Thompson, of Bridgeport, a daughter of Edmund Thompson. They are members of the Congregational church and Mr. Merwin belongs also to the Seaside Club. He exercises his right of franchise without regard to party ties, considering the capability of a candidate. In matters of citizenship his aid and influence are always given on the side of progress and advancement and many progressive movements have received his earnest support.
CHARLES H. SPRAGUE, M. D.
Dr. Charles H. Sprague, a practitioner of medicine and surgery with office at No. 29 Hanover street, was born at Greenwich, New York, December 27, 1880, a son of Andrews T. and Josephine L. (Mansfield) Spragne, both of whom are natives of New Hampshire and representatives of old New England families of Revolutionary descent. The father of Dr. Sprague is a Civil war veteran and now resides at Winchester, New Hampshire, and the mother is also yet living.
When Dr. Sprague was a youth of fifteen years his parents returned from New York
DR. CHARLES H. SPRAGUE
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to New Hampshire and there the remainder of his youth was passed. He was graduated from the high school at Peterboro with the class of 1899 and the following year was grad- uated from Cushing Academy at Ashburnham, Massachusetts. He then devoted a year to academic studies in Columbia University, at the end of which time he matriculated in the medical department of Columbia and there won his M. D. degree in 1904. Immediately after- ward he came to Bridgeport and spent a year and a half in the Bridgeport Hospital. Since July, 1906, he has been in active practice in this city and is now numbered among its most successful and able physicians, his broad reading and study bringing him to a point of high efficiency in medical practice. Publie confidence in him is attested by the liberal patronage accorded him and in addition to his large general practice he is doing much work in the Bridge- port Hospital, being a member of its medical staff. He has membership with the Bridgeport Medical Society, the Fairfield County Medical Society, the Connecticut State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
On the 14th of August, 1907. Dr. Sprague was married to Miss Emma Bertha White, who was born in New Hampshire and represents an old colonial family that sent its members to the Revolutionary war. Her father, General D. M. White, was a lieutenant in the Civil war with Sheridan's Division, Custer's Corps, and became an inspector general in the Spanish-American war. During President Cleveland's second administration he was American consul at Sherbrooke, Canada. His daughter, Mrs. Sprague, was born at Peterhoro, New Hampshire, and she holds membership with the Daughters of the American Revolution. By her marriage she has become the mother of two sons, Mansfield D. and Charles A., aged respectively six and two years.
Dr. Sprague finds interest in a game of tennis and is also fond of swimming and he belongs to the Young Men's Christian Association Tennis Club. He also enjoys football, baseball and other manly outdoor sports. He is a member of the Bridgeport Oratorial Society, the Seaside Club, the Sons of the American Revolution and the Sons of Veterans and his military experience covers service as a private in the Hospital Corps of the Connecticut National Guard from 1905 until 1908, while at the present time he is a lieutenant in the Ambulance Company. His activities have all been directed along the line of his profession, to which he is devoted, counting no effort or sacrifice on his part too great if it will enhance his knowledge and render his services more effective in checking the ravages of disease.
THOMAS HENRY KENNY.
Thomas Henry Kenny, well known in insurance cireles in Bridgeport and also proprietor of the business which is conducted under the name of the Kenny Motor Car Company at No. 673 Connecticut avenue, is one of Bridgeport's progressive young business men who, alert and energetic, has readily recognized and improved opportunities. He was born December 27, 1895, the only son of the late Michael A. Kenny, who was a prominent citizen of Bridgeport for many years. He was born in County Down, Ireland, and after being reared to manhood in that country spent several years in England, where he was employed on street railways. He later came to the United States, becoming a resident of Bridgeport at the age of twenty- three years. Here he found employment in the old Globe Hotel on Water street, owned by James A. MeGuinness. He had reached this city with a cash capital of but ten dollars and was therefore obliged to accept any employment that presented in order to gain a start. Later he established a retail liquor store, which he conducted at No. 1322 Stratford avenue and afterward at other points. He married Joanna Halligan, of New York city, who was also born in Ireland bnt in early girlhood accompanied her parents to the United States. Their marriage was celebrated in 1894 and they became parents of five children: Thomas Henry, Anna Marie, Margaret Josephine, Agnes Cecelia and Mary Louise. The daughters all
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live with their mother at the family home at No. 432 Seaview avenue. For many years prior to his death Michael A. Kenny was prominently identified with real estate and insurance interests in Bridgeport in addition to the retail liquor business. All of his commercial ventures prospered and he left a comfortable competence to his widow and children when in 1914 he passed away at the age of fifty-two years. He was a democrat and was prominent in both city and state politics. He served as a director of public works under the Buck- ingham administration and was also a member of the democratic city and state committees.
Thomas Henry Kenny, the eldest child and only son of the family, attended the Bridge- port public schools and also Leonard Hall, a preparatory school of southern Maryland, where he pursued his studies for two and one-half years. While there he played on the baseball team in the outfield. He was also a student in Allegheny College for a time. He left Leonard Hall before the time of graduation, however, owing to his father's death, although he had practically completed the three years' course in the two and one-half years which he there spent. He at once took charge of his father's business, managing the real estate and insurance interests as well as the retail liquor store at No. 1322 Stratford avenue. It is located in a three-story frame building which was erected by Michael Kenny in 1908. Thomas H. Kenny assists his mother in the management of the large estate which was left by the father and of which the mother was made administratrix. He has also branched out in independent lines, having in 1917 established the Kenny Motor Car Company of Bridgeport, in connection with which he erected a splendid concrete garage at No. 673 Connecticut avenue, with a capacity of about sixty cars. He has the agency for the American Six, which was designed by Louis Chevrolet and is built by the American Motor Car Company of Plainfield, New Jersey.
On the 8th of December, 1916, Mr. Kenny was married to Miss Epiphany Sorgi, a daughter of Dr. Anthony Sorgi, a well known physician of Stamford, Connecticut. They are members of St. Mary's Roman Catholic church. Mr. Kenny is an active business man and finds his chief diversion in tennis and motoring. He is bent upon the attainment of success through close application and indefatigable energy and is thus laying the foundation for a growing fortune.
DAVID BOUGHTON WASON, M. D.
Dr. David Boughton Wason, physician and surgeon of Bridgeport. his native city, was born July 28, 1878, a son of Captain William J. Wason, a sea captain, who was also a native of Bridgeport and a representative of one of its oldest families. He married Sarah E. O'Conner and both are still residents of this city.
During the infancy of their son David, however, the parents removed to Staten Island. where his boyhood days were passed, and there he pursued his education in the public and high schools. He afterward spent two years in a preparatory school at Haverford, Pennsylvania, and for a year studied in the Pennington Seminary of New Jersey. With broad literary learning to serve as the foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of professional knowledge, he next entered the College of Physicians aud Surgeons of New York. from which he was graduated in 1900. He put his theoretical knowledge to the practical test as interne in the Bridgeport Hospital from 1900 until 1902 and since the latter date has been engaged in active private practice, although he still remains on the staff of the Bridgeport Hospital in connection with the obstetrical department. He has ever been very prompt, capable and conscientious in the performance of his professional duties.
In 1907 Dr. Wason was united in marriage to Miss Agnes S. Roberts, a graduate nurse of the Bridgeport Hospital. She was born in Lucknow, India, the daughter of an English army officer, and they have one son, David Fairchild, born July 29, 1912. Dr. Wason turns
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to literature and to music for recreation and displays discriminating tastes in both art lines. Fraternally he is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. In April, 1917, he was active in the organiza- tion of the Ambulance Corps of the Fourth Regiment, Connecticut Home Guard, in which corps he has the rank of captain. He votes with the republican party and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He was city physician for eleven years and he keeps in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress along professional lines through his connection with the Bridgeport, the Fairfield County and the Connectiont State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association. His professional worth is attested by the liberal practice accorded him, and he has made a place for himself in medical circles that many an older practitioner might well envy.
WILLIAM F. POTTER.
William S. Potter, superintendent of transportation with the Bridgeport Brass Company, thus has charge of interests which contribute in considerable measure to the success of the enterprise. It has always been a recognized fact that satisfied patrons are the best advertise- ment, and there would be no satisfaction were shipments delayed and goods undelivered at a promised time. The transportation department, therefore, is one that has not a little to do with the growth of the undertaking. Mr. Potter, recognizing the responsibility that devolves upon him, has proven himself adequate to the demands of duty.
He was born at Great Neck, Long Island, February 3, 1860, a son of John L. and Mary (Budd Potter. After acquiring a public school education he was employed for eight years in a grocery store at Garden City, Long Island, after which he went to Newark, New Jersey, where nie engaged in the wholesale grocery business. At the age of twenty-two years he began learning the mason's trade and construction work, together with the assembling and equipment of furnaces, and eventually he embarked in business on his own account along those lines. He came to Bridgeport in 1883 and after ten years he again began working for others. but in the meantime he had assisted in building the furnaces for the Bridgeport Malleable Iron Company and also laid out a big mill for the New Haven Rolling Mill Com- pany. For a few years he went upon the road as a traveling salesman, handling fire brick. and on the 27th of February, 1899, be entered the employ of the Bridgeport Brass Company as foreman in the metal department. Later he assisted in organizing the stores department, of which he became general manager, and about 1902 he was also made manager of the traffic department in addition to his duties in the other connection. He now has about one hundred and forty people under him in the two departments and the work is most carefully systematized and wisely directed, so that there is no loss of time. He has a wonderful memory for detail and knows to a nicety what is to be found in the stores department or the best methods of making shipments.
In 1883 Mr. Potter was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary E. Silvernale, of Millerton, New York, by whom he has three children, namely: Hazel C., who is the wife of Lonis Ginand; Certa, who gave her hand in marriage to A. W. Gunn, of Bridgeport: and William Lisle, who is in the service of the telephone company. The parents attend the Methodist church and politically Mr. Potter gives his support to the democratic party at national elections but otherwise casts an independent ballot. His home is one of the historical old spots of New England, once occupied by George Washington, and around it cluster many interesting tales dating back to early colonial days. It is No. 148 among those mentioned by Helen Harrison in the series of. Historie Houses in Bridgeport and vicinity. and in Stratford has always been referred to as the Moses Wheeler place. The land on which it stands was leased to the first Moses Wheeler about the middle of the seventeenth century. This structure was built in the substantial manner of those old houses and a number of the features found in
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that old-time construction have been preserved in its modernization, which includes the introduction of steam heat and electric light. Mr. Potter came into possession of the prop- erty in 1915 and has since resided there.
CHARLES EDWARD EISENMAN.
Charles Edward Eisenman, a prominent contractor of Bridgeport, is one of the younger men who have already made a name for themselves. He is a native son of the city and his "birth occurred on the 16th of April, 1885. His father, Charles Eisenman, was born in Germany in September, 1857, but was brought by his parents to Bridgeport when he was but six months old. He attended the public schools here but at the age of twelve years went to work for the Spring Perch Company. manufacturers of springs, with which concern his father was also connected. Charles Eisenman remained with that company continuously for more than twenty years. or until his death in August, 1891. He married Marie Ramstetter, who was born in Poughkeepsie, New York. on the 21st of June, 1863. a daughter of Lorenz Ramstetter. a native of Germany. He was born in 1821 and was therefore thirty-five years of age when in 1856 be emigrated to the United States. He took up his residence in Rochester; New York, and was employed by the Bartholamay Brewery Company of that city until 1859, when he removed to Poughkeepsie, where he established the Ramstetter Brewery, of which he retained the controlling interest until his demise in 1879. His wife was in her maiden- hood Miss Elizabeth Oberst and was born in Germany in 1832. In 1848 she came to the United States and resided in New York city until her marriage in 1857. Following the death of her husband she removed to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where in 1883 her daughter Marie was united in marriage to Charles Eisenman. Besides our subject three children of this marriage reside in Bridgeport, the others being Leo Cecil, Francis George and Marie Elizabeth.
Charles E. Eisenman received his early education in the graded schools of Bridgeport and also attended for a time the Bridgeport high school and the Bridgeport Training School, but when only fifteen years of age began serving an apprenticeship at the mason's and brick- layer's trade with the firm of Schindler & Noonan, which erected a number of the school buildings and fire houses in Bridgeport. After completing his course as an apprentice he was employed by different contractors throughout the state and when nineteen years of age was made foreman of mason work for the H. Wales Lines Company and in that capacity had charge of the masonry in the construction of such buildings as the Crane Valve Com- pany's galvanizing building, the Yost Typewriter Company's power plant, an addition to the plant of the Locomobile Company, the office building of the Automatic Machine Company, the silver shop for the E. H. H. Smith Company, Horticultural Hall at The Storrs Agricultural College at Storrs, Connecticut. and E. M. Jennings' garage. He remained with the H. Wales Lines Company until March, 1911, when he started in the contracting business independently. His first job was the construction of the office building, power house and mill for The Schwarz Brothers Company and later contracts which he has filled have called for the building of a mill and power house for the Jones Fixture Company. the Sherman block on State street, the Vincent Brothers block, including the Studio Theatre, the Hunt- ington school at Stratford, Logan Brothers' warehouse at Housatonic avenue and Lumber street, said to be the largest and best equipped warehouse and cold storage building of its kind in the state, the Swedish Congregational church on Laurel avenue, the Jennings Bachelor Apartments "The Morehouse" on Pequonnock street. which is the only building of its kind in the city. and the interior work on "The Oaks" for Jonathan Godfrey, of Brooklawn. At the present time (1917) )Ir. Eisenman has under construction the Charles D. Davis residence at Brooklawn, the Everett residence at Fairfield, the Adams residence on Park avenue, the
CHARLES E. EISENMAN
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Kaesmann block on East Main street, the Mendelsohn block on Main street, a large pasteur- izing building for the Mitchell Dairy Company and the Swedish Methodist Episcopal church on Iranistan avenue. The number and importance of the contracts which have been awarded bim is sufficient evidence of his thorough understanding of the technical phases of the business, of his executive ability and his reputation for honest work and straightforward dealing. During the busy season he employs an average of one hundred and thirty men.
Mr. Eisenman was married on the 8th of January, 1908, to Miss Clara Frances Dobry, a daughter of the late John Dobry and Katherine Dobry, a resident of Bridgeport. To this union have been born three children, Charles John, Albert Cecil and Katherine Frances.
Mr. Eisenman is a member of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church, belongs to St. Joseph's Sick Benefit Association and is connected fraternally with the Elks, the Foresters and the Eagles. He is also a member of the Master Builders' Exchange and is a careful student of everything affecting the contracting business. An important element in his success has been his skill in applying the basic principles of all business to the particular problems that have confronted him and at all times he has shown himself alert and resourceful.
ESLEY W. DUNNING.
Esley W. Dunning, superintendent of Bradstreet's Agency in Bridgeport, is a native of Tashua, Fairfield county, his natal day being October 15, 1863. His father, Granville E. Dunning, was born in Tashua, September 16, 1834, and the grandfather, Granville Dun- ning, Sr., was likewise a native of that place. He became a boot manufacturer but at the time of the War of 1812 put aside business considerations to defend American inter- ests. He died at the age of eighty-seven years but his son and namesake, Granville E. Dunning, is still living, hale and hearty at the age of eighty-three years. Throughout his active business life he engaged in the manufacture of boots, taking up the business when boots were made much more commonly than shoes. During the Civil war, however, he made shoes for the Union soldiers. He married Georgiana Sherman, a daughter of Alonzo Sherman, who was a farmer, author and lecturer and was a direct descendant of Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mrs. Dunning was born at Long Hill. Fairfield county, in 1836 and passed away in 1915, at the age of seventy-nine.
Esley W. Dunning was reared on a farm in Tashua and pursued his education under the direction of private tutors but put aside his textbooks when fourteen years of age and found employment in his father's boot and shoe factory, which had previously been established in Bridgeport. The factory was conducted under the name of Couch & Wisner, Granville E. Dunning being a third partner. Later the business was incorporated under the name of the Wisner Shoe Company, with George E. Lounsbury as president and Gran- ville E. Dunning as vice president and general manager, after which the business was removed from its former location on Fairfield avenue to the foot of Wall street. It was during the presidency of Mr. Lounsbury that he also served as governor of Connecticut.
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