USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > History of Bridgeport and vicinity > Part 60
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Adolf Sherman was the only son who came to the new world, but two of his sisters now reside in the United States-Mrs. Lydia Helm, of Bridgeport, and Mrs. Hilda Johnson, of Boston. It was in 1893 that Adolf Sherman, then a young man of twenty years, bade adieu to friends and native land and sailed for America. He landed at New York on the 20th of June from the Cunard liner, Campania, and immediately afterward came to Bridge- port, where he has since lived. Here he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for about fifteen years, conducting an extensive business as a contractor and builder during the last twelve years of that period. He was very successful, winning a handsome compe- tence, and for several years past he has now been engaged in the business of buying vacant property, platting it and erecting improvements thereon. He builds medium priced residences for sale and has found this a profitable undertaking, his knowledge of carpentering being of immense value to him in supervising the erection of buildings. In this business he is associated with William J. Nichols, one of the best informed real estate and insurance men of Bridgeport, and the training and experience of the one ably supplements and rounds out the efforts of the other, making this a successful firm.
On the 22d of December, 1899, Mr. Sherman was married to Miss Signe Marie Anderson, of Stratford, and they have one daughter, Alice M., eleven years of age. The parents belong to the Baptist church and Mr. Sherman holds membership with the Odd Fellows. In politics he is a republican and for two years served on the board of apportionment of the eity of Vol. II-25
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Bridgeport. He resides at No. 175 Sixth street, where he is pleasantly located in an attrac- tive home, the hospitality of which is ever freely accorded by Mr. and Mrs. Sherman to their many friends. In his business career he has shown ready adaptability, never fearing to venture where opportunity points ont the way. The salient features of his business have been such as awaken confidence and regard and his work has been the expression of modern day enterprise.
ALBERT G. SKIDMORE.
Albert G. Skidmore, owner of the Elite Theater at No. 2314 Main street in Bridge- port, was born in Huntington, Connecticut, December 14, 1879, a son of William Skid- more, who was the first man to manufacture hairpins in the United States. Years ago he established the Star pin factory at Birmingham, now Derby, and he later opened the first hairpin factory in Bridgeport, where he is now living retired.
Albert G. Skidmore acquired his education in the public schools of Shelton and of Bridgeport, removing to this city in 1886. His first experience in the amusement field was at Pleasure Beach and for nine years he conducted the Imperial Theater, making it an attractive place of entertainment. In January, 1916, he took over the Elite, a new theater, which has a seating capacity of seven hundred and twenty-eight but in which a balcony is now being installed that will bring the seating capacity up to more than one thousand. The theater is splendidly equipped, there is perfect ventilation and eight regu- lar employes courteously attend to the comfort of patrons and perform the necessary service in connection with the conduct of the theater. There are now two simplex machines, a Wagner rotary converter and a mirroroid screen. They use the Paramount, Metro, Fox and Brady productions and give to the public the best that has been put upon the screen. 4 first class orchestra furnishes music during the entertainment and Mr. Skidmore in conducting the theater caters to the best class of people. His house is most liberally patronized and has become a very profitable concern.
On March 7, 1914, Mr. Skidmore married Belle Lowe, daughter of Milton Lowe, of Bridgeport. Mr. Skidmore holds membership in the Sons of St. George and he occupies a creditable position in social and business relations. for practically all who have come in contact with him bear testimony to his sterling worth.
HERVEY E. BURR.
Among the wide-awake, alert and energetic business men of Bridgeport is Hervey E. Burr, the treasurer of the Title Guaranty & Trust Company, whose thorough familiarity with every phase of the business in which he has long been engaged has made him an expert in his line. He was born in Bridgeport, October 4, 1885, a son of Ebenezer and Mary Ham- mond (Nichols) Burr. The father was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, while the mother was born in Vermont and represented a very old colonial family, the great-grandfather of Hervey E. Burr having served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His father was an attorney who practiced for many years in Bridgeport and later became a member of the firm of Burr & Knapp, bankers and brokers. For ten years, however, he lived retired and in August, 1911, was called to his final rest, being still survived by his widow.
Hervey E. Burr was educated in the University School, a private institution, and then entered the employ of Burr & Knapp in a clerical capacity. In 1914 he became an active factor in the management and control of the Title Guaranty & Trust Company, of which he
ALBERT G. SKIDMORE
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had been nominally treasurer since 1908. This company was organized June 13, 1899, as the City Land & Title Guarantee Company, its first incorporators being Lewis F. Curtis, Alexander Leverty, Hugh Stirling and Clarence D. Anderson. The first directors were: Charles J. Knapp, president; Alexander Leverty and Edwin J. Nettleton, secretary and treasurer. Soon after the organization the name was changed to the City Title Guaranty, Trust & Safety Deposit Company and in 1915 the business was reorganized under the present name. In 1899 C. J. Knapp was elected president and in 1902 was succeeded hy George B. Whitney, while on the 23d of September, 1907, John C. Chamberlain was elected to the position. The office of secretary has been filled by Edwin J. Nettleton, who was secretary and treasurer from 1899 until 1901; Charles J. Knapp, who was chosen to the dual position in 1902 and in 1907 became solely secretary, while Hervey E. Burr was elected treasurer. The official personnel of the bank, therefore, is now: John C. Chamberlain, president: Charles .J. Knapp, secretary; Hervey E. Burr, treasurer: H. L. Lewis and H. C. Lovell, directors. The business was conducted at first in the Sturdevant building but later a removal was made to 942 Main street, afterward to 920 Main street, then to 993 Broad street, while the present location is at 886 Main street. They conduct a real estate, investment and insurance business and are northern agents for the Georgia Loan & Trust Company. They have a large title and abstract department, including a complete set of Bridgeport abstracts and also a practically complete set of Fairfield and Stratford. Mr. Burr assumed active con- nection with the business in 1914 and has since been hending hi- energies to administrative direction and executive control.
Mr. Burr is following an independent course politically. He takes active interest in many of the forces which work for the uplift of the individual and the betterment of the community. holding membership in the United Congregational church and in the Young Men's Christian Association. He belongs also to the Bridgeport Automobile Club, the Seaside Club, and the Seaside Onting Club and is widely known through his various social and busi- ness connections.
CHARLES J. KNAPP.
Charles J. Knapp, secretary of the Title Guaranty & Trust Company, is a Yale man whose college training and business experience well qualify him for the responsible duties which devolve npon him in his present connection. He is descended from one of the old families of Connecticut. The Knapps were a seafaring people and the family was established in the new world at a very early period in its colonization. Charles J. Knapp has in his possession an old earmark for cattle which was given to the family by. the crown. The ancestral line is traced down from Roger Knapp, who after residing for a time in Salem, Massachusetts, removed to Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1638. He was the father of Nathaniel and the line comes on down through Daniel, John (I) and John (II), who was an officer of the Revolu- tionary war, and John (III), who was a soldier in the War of 1812. to John Knapp, who was the father of Charles J. Knapp.
Charles J. Knapp in the acquirement of his education attended the old Fairfield Academy, from which he was graduated, and Yale, in which he pursued a scientific course. He afterward turned his attention to the contracting business in Bridgeport and later spent ten years, from 1876 until 1886, upon his father's farm on account of his health. He next turned his attention to the lumber business in Bridgeport and was active along that line from 1891 until 1896. Subsequently he engaged in business with the Title Guaranty & Trust Company. making his initial step in that connection in October, 1898, when he began perfecting his records. He organized the company in 1899 and has since been very active in its management and control. He has associated with him a corps of most able officers
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and assistants and the work of the company is steadily increasing in volume, while its standard of efficiency is of the highest.
On the 24th of November, 1886, Mr. Knapp was married to Miss Sarah Redfield Burr, a daughter of Jonathan and Martha (Eastlack) Burr, both members of old colonial families. Their only child, Ethel Elsie, who was born September 23, 1887, died February 16, 1889. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp are members of the First Presbyterian church, in the work of which they are actively and helpfully interested. Mr. Knapp has held several offices in the church and is now a member of the International Brotherhood. He also holds membership with the Sons of the American Revolution, and he takes the deepest interest in all those forces and activities which work for the uplift of the individual and the betterment of the com- munity. He is a most public-spirited citizen, manifesting the patriote impulses and loyalty which prompted the active military service of his ancestors upon the country's battlefields.
HENRY C. RYLANDS.
Henry C. Rylands, who at the time of his death, which occurred May 6, 1917, was living retired in Bridgeport, for many years figured prominently in connection with one of the largest and most important industrial enterprises of the city and state, having been at the head of the office of the Union Metallic Cartridge Company. He came to Bridgeport in 1861 from New Jersey, his native state. He was born in Allentown in 1851, a son of John Rylands, who was a carriage body maker and spent several years in the factory of the Wood Company, after which he lived retired. He also became a member of the old police force at an early day and twice served as chief of police of Bridgeport. In a word. he was a public-spirited citizen who took an active part in interests, projects and activities having to do with the welfare and upbuilding of his community. His political allegiance was given to the republican party until Horace Greeley became a presidential candidate, after which he voted independently. Fraternally he was connected with the Masons. In early manhood he wedded Louisiana Holdsworth and they became the parents of four children, besides Henry C., of this review, but Mary and Charles died in infancy. Those still living are: Mary E., the wife of James J. Walker; and Thomas H., of Bridge- port. The father of these children passed away in Bridgeport in 1907, when he had reached the advanced age of seventy-eight years.
Henry C. Rylands was a lad of but ten years when the family removed to this state from New Jersey and his education was therefore largely acquired in the schools of Bridgeport. There was nothing spectacular in the history of his business record but it was marked by a steady progression that indicates the wise utilization of his time, talents and opportunities. He entered the employ of the Union Metallic Cartridge Company in the capacity of office boy and he was at the head of the office when he left at the end of forty- five years. retiring on the 1st of January. 1913. He had acquainted himself with every phase of the office management in the intervening period and had progressed with the growth of the business, which now employs three thousand or more operatives. Year by year added responsibilities were given to his charge and at the time of his retirement his position was a most important one. Mr. Rylands was also treasurer of the Bridgeport Savings & Loan Association, having been called to that position when the company was organized.
In Bridgeport in 1894 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Rylands and Miss Martha Jane Tuttle, who was long a resident here but who passed away in 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Rylands attended the Washington Park Methodist Episcopal church and he was a member of the Seaside Club but was never identified with fraternal organizations and never sougl t office. A line of his interest. however, is further indicated in the fact that he was long an active member of the Bridgeport Scientific Society, of which he was for years a director.
HENRY C. RYLANDS
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He was characterized by unostentatious benevolence and was a man of sterling integrity who accomplished what be purposed and whose life in every relation was guided by a spirit of progress and development.
HENRY W. LYON.
Among the enterprises which add a strong note to the hum of industry in Bridgeport, making this city a great commercial eenter, with its ramifying trade interests reaching out to all sections of the country is the Red Star Company, of which Henry W. Lyon is the vice president and manager, and in this connection, although the business was started in a small way, he has built up a trade of large and gratifying proportions.
Connecticut claims him as a native son, his birth having occurred at Fairfield in 1852, his parents being William Harvey and Harriett E. (Sherwood) Lyon, the former a native of Greenwich, Connecticut, and the latter of Greenfield, Connecticut. The father was descended from Thomas Lyon who became a resident of Greenwich in 1643. The mother was a daughter of Abram Banks Sherwood, a representative of an equally old American family. In both the paternal and maternal lines were those who served in the Revolutionary war, while others have in various ways left their impress for good upon the history of the country. William H. Lyon was a carriage maker and eventually engaged in business as a grocer.
Henry W. Lyon, after acquiring a public school education, made bis initial step in the business world as an employe in the Hawley hardware store of Bridgeport following his father's death. He worked during the year 1870 for a wage of fifty dollars and the first ten dollars which he earned was expended for a present for his mother, which she still retains in her possession at the age of eighty-five years. Mr. Lyon's second position was in a hat factory, and subsequently he was connected with the hardware business in Chicago and New York. He afterward came again to Bridgeport and erected some business blocks. In the year 1877 Mr. Lyon accepted the position of shipping clerk with George C. Batcheller and packed the first case for that house, with which he continued until 1880. He then entered upon an independent manufacturing enterprise in the establishment of a corset factory and engaged in that business continuously and successfully for eighteen years. He afterward accepted the position of assistant postmaster for thirteen years and while filling that position he organized the Red Star Company in June. 1906, with A. C. Lyon as presi- dent and treasurer, A. W. Lyon as secretary, and Henry W. Lyon vice president and manager. The business was incorporated in 1907, and the company manufacturers men's garters, hose supporters and kindred goods for the ten cent trade. The capacity of the plant is about thirty thousand gross per year and the products are distributed all over the United States and Canada. The business was started in a very small way but the constant growth in trade now necessitates the employment of one hundred and fifty girls in the factory.
On the 2d of June, 1880, Mr. Lyon was married to Miss Ada Cannon, a native of New York, and they have a daughter, Ada Willis, the wife of Harold C. Rood of Bridgeport, by whom she has two children, Henrietta Lyon and Elizabeth Franklin.
Mr. Lyon is a republican in politics but with independent tendencies for he does not feel himself bound by party ties. He belongs to the Brooklawn Country Club, and is a charter member of the Seaside and Algonquin Clubs, and is not unappreciative of the social amenities of life. His own record has been in harmony with that of an honorable ancestry, and his life history is an exemplification of what may be accomplished through the utilization of opportunities. That there is a chance for every individual is a recognized fact, yet opportunities do not come with their value stamped upon them. Each one must be challenged. A day dawns quite like other days; in it a single hour comes quite like other
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hours; but in that day and in that hour the chances of a life time face us. To face every opportunity of life truthfully and ask its meaning bravely and earnestly is the only way to meet the supreme opportunities when they come, whether open faced or disguised. This is the test of character and it is a test which Mr. Lyon has well met.
HON. ARTHUR JOHNSON HULL.
Hon. Arthur Johnson Hull, who since 1901 has engaged in the practice of law in Bridgeport, was born in Monroe, Connecticut, December 18, 1868. He is a direct descendant of George Hull, who came from England on the ship Mary and John in 1629 or 1630 with Roger Ludlow, Captain John Mason and others, and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, where he served as a selectman and was also a member of the first colonial assembly of that colony. Later he came to Connecticut with Roger Ludlow and others, and located at Windsor, becoming one of the founders of that place, which he surveyed. He was a member of the first general court of Connecticut in May, 1634, and a little later accompanied Roger Ludlow to Fairfield, which he subsequently represented in the colonial assembly. His son, Cornelius Hull, also represented Fairfield in the assembly, and his grandson, Cornelius Hull Il, served as a lieutenant in King Philip's war in 1675. The latter was the owner of Hull's Farm in the town of Fairfield. The line of descent from George Hull is traced down through Cornelius. Cornelius II, Nathaniel, Peter, Moses, Hanford, and Orville Hanford to Arthur Johnson Hull.
Orville Hanford Hull, the father of our subject, was a town official and also served as deputy sheriff and as a member of the state legislature. He married Miss Mary Jane Johnson. a daughter of Albert Johnson of Monroe, Connecticut. The Johnson family, also an old one of New England, is descended from Ebenezer Johnson, who in 1705 went from Stratford, Connecticut, to Newtown, and was the sole white witness of the deed which con- vetved the city of Newtown from the Indians to the whites. It is supposed that he emigrated from England to Connecticut. Four children were born to Orville Hanford and Mary Jane (Johnson) Hull as follows: Arthur Johnson, of this review; Elbert Orville, a lawyer of Bridgeport; Mrs. Mary Lillian Nichols of Easton, Connecticut; and Mrs. Cora L. French, now deceased.
Arthur Johnson Hull acquired his early education in the common schools of his native town and prepared for college at Worcester Academy, from which he was graduated in 1891. He next entered Brown University, in which he completed a course in 1895 under President E. Benjamin Andrews, graduating with the Ph. D. degree. He was graduated from the Yale Law School in 1901 with the degree of LL. B., but prior to this taught school for several years, beginning in Newtown, Connecticut, when seventeen years of age. From 1895 until 1899 he was principal of the grammar schools at Ware, Massachusetts, and Manchester. that state. It was in this manner that he earned the money that enabled him to meet the expense of his college course. While studying in college and law school he taught in the night schools of Providence, New Haven and Bridgeport, and put forth every effort that would enable him to provide for his own professional training. In addition to engaging in the private practice of law he has done considerable official work, much of which has been in the line of his profession. He was a member of the school board at Monroe, Connecticut, from 1899 until 1902: has heen justice of the peace from 1902 to the present time and also prosecuting liquor agent from 1904 to the present. In 1905 and 1907 he was a member of the state legislature from Monroe and was county auditor from 1907 to 1909. Mr. Hull has never changed his residence from Monroe. although practicing his profession in Bridgeport. While a member of the general assembly he was house chairman of the excise committee
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of the legislature in 1907, and as such reported several important reform measures which passed both houses and are now found upon the statutes of the state.
On the 20th of October, 1909, Mr. Hull was married to Miss Ellen Bridle, a repre- sentative of a family of English origin. In 1907 Mr. Hull served as a member of Governor Woodruff's official delegation to the Jamestown Exposition on the celebration of Connecticut day there. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is now past master of Washington Lodge. No. 19, F. & A. M., of Monroe. He is also a member of the Baptist church. His life has been actuated by high and honorable purposes, and he is recognized as a most worthy representative of high standards of manhood and of citizenship.
LUCIEN CALVIN WARNER, M. D.
Dr. Lucien Calvin Warner, a capitalist, whose business interests as president of the Warner Brothers Company closely connect him with Bridgeport, although he makes his home in New York, was born October 26, 1841, in Cuyler. New York, a son of Alonzo Franklin and Lydia Ann (Converse) Warner. His education was interrupted by enlistment for service in the Civil war, at which time he became a member of Company K, One Hundred and Fiftieth Ohio Infantry, and was made sergeant. With the close of hostilities he returned to Ohio and became a student in Oberlin Colleeg, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1865, while in 1870 his alma mater conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. Preparing for the practice of medicine in the University Medical College, now New York University, he won his M. D. degree in 1867 and in 1900 Oberlin College conferred upon him the LL. B degree.
Dr. Warner located for the practice of medicine at McGrawville, New York, and after- ward removed to New York city, devoting his attention to professional interests from 1867 until 1874. In the meantime his attention was directed into other channels and he became president of the Warner Brothers Chemical Company. He also became a factor in the ownership and development of the great corset manufacturing plant conducted under the name of the Warner Brothers Company. This had its inception at MeGrawville, New York, but after a few years was removed to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where it has been expanded into the gigantic manufacturing enterprise that it is today, the plant covering four city blocks and furnishing employment to thirty-two hundred people. From the beginning he took an active part in its management and control and studied every phase of the business with an eye to the further development and improvement of the product. For a considerable period he served as vice president of the company and is now the presi- dent. He is also a director of the Home Insurance Company and has other important and extensive business interests.
On the 12th of April, 1868, Dr. Warner was united in marriage to Miss Keren S. Osborne, of McGrawville, New York, who was also a student at Oberlin College, from which she has received the honorary A. M. degree.
In the midst of his growing business interests Dr. Warner has found time to cooperate in those projects which tend toward the uplift of the individual and the moral progress of the community at large. He has been greatly interested in benevolent and philanthropic work and is a trustee of Oberlin College, to which he gave one hundred thousand dollars for a conservatory of music and also a ninety thousand dollar gymnasium. Moreover. he was chairman of the international committee of the Young Men's Christian Association from 1895 until 1910 and he is president of the Congregational Church Building Society and chairman of the executive committee of the American Missionary Association. He has membership in the University, Adirondack League and the Scarsdale Golf Clubs. The interests of his life are broad and varied. The stand which he took in early manhood
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