History of Bridgeport and vicinity, Part 62

Author: Waldo, George Curtis, Jr., ed
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: New York, Chicago, S. J. Clarke Publishing
Number of Pages: 872

USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > History of Bridgeport and vicinity > Part 62

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ROBERT SPENCER.

The insurance interests of Connecticut have enlisted the activities of many men of marked business enterprise and progressiveness who have built up some of the most sub- tantial insurance companies of the entire country. In this field the name of Robert Spencer is well known. for he occupies the position of superintendent at Bridgeport for the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company. He was born in Manchester, England, June 8, 1851, a son of Robert Spencer, Sr .. who was a bloek printer by trade but later became identi- fied with a bleachery of Manchester. where he spent his entire life, there passing away in 1875. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Ellen Connell, died in Manchester in 1883.

Robert Spencer of Bridgeport. their only living child, was reared in his native city, where he acquired a common school education but put aside his textbooks at the age of fourteen years and became a wage earner, securing the position of shipping elerk in a ware- house. Ere leaving his native city he was married at the age of twenty-seven years, on the 8th of September, 1878. to Miss Jane Smith, who was also born and reared in Man- chester. They were friends from early childhood, living in the same section of the city. In 1881 Mr. Spencer and his bride sailed for the new world, first settling in Passaic, New Jersey, where he secured employment in a "bleachery and dyeing establishment in which his elder brother, Paul Spencer, now deceased, was then foreman. Six months afterward Robert Spencer removed to Providence, Rhode Island, where he resided until 1884. and during that period he made his initial step in connection with the insurance business as an agent of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, which in 1884 transferred him to Taunton, Massachusetts. During his residence there he became assistant superintendent for both Taunton and Fall River, Massachusetts. In 1887 he removed to Lowell, Massachusetts, where he accepted the agency of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company of Boston and thus entered upon a business relation that has now continued for thirty years and bids fair to extend over a much longer period. In 1891 he was transferred to Lawrence. Massa- chusetts, as assistant superintendent and in 1894 was advanced to the position of superin- tendent of the Lawrence district, in which capacity he served until Mareb, 1897, when he was made superintendent at Bridgeport, succeeding Wilson F. Green. He has now occupied this position for twenty years. directing the interests of the business in his territory in such a way that it has steadily increased and at all times displaying marked administra- tive and executive ability.

ROBERT SPENCER

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Mr. and Mrs. Spencer have become the parents of three children who are yet living: Jessie, the wife of Harold Hawkins, of Milford, Connecticut: Elizabeth, who is connected with the American Church Mission at Anking, China, whither she went in August, 1916, to be gone for five years; and Mabel, who is at home. Mr. and Mrs. Spencer have several times · visited England since coming to the new world, Mrs. Spencer having made the trip five times back to her native land, three times alone and twice with her husband. It was in 1900 and again in 1914 that they visited their native city of Manchester together, but they are always glad to return to their American home, and while they still feel a love for the land of their birth, their deepest attachment is for the land of their adoption, where they have now resided for thirty-six years. They are both members of the Episcopal church.

Many years ago Mr. Spencer took out his naturalization papers and where questions of national importance are involved votes the republican ticket but at local elections casts an independent ballot. . He is an enthusiastic baseball fan and he is well known as a loyal member of the Masonie and Odd Fellows societies, holding membership in Adelphian Lodge, No. 80, I. O. O. F., while in Masonry he has attained the Knight Templar degree in the York Rite and the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite and with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine has erossed the sands of the desert. He has ever exemplified in his life the beneficent spirit of the eraft, being in hearty sympathy with its basic principles concerning the brother- hood of mankind and the mutual obligation thereby imposed. He has never regretted his determination to come to the new world, for through his utilization of business opportunities here offered he has steadily worked his way upward and his career, honorable and upright at all times, has won for him the enduring regard and friendship of many with whom he has been brought in contaet.

GEORGE F. MARA.

The bar of Bridgeport has various well trained and capable representatives-men qualified to eross swords in forensic combat with the ablest of the country. In the field of general active law practice George F. Mara has attained more than local distinction and his success is based upon his comprehensive knowledge of the law and ability to correctly apply its principles. He was born in Bridgeport, May 22, 1886, a son of Charles B. and Mary E. (Frazier) Mara and a grandson of William Mara, a native of Ireland. The father was at one time deputy sheriff of Fairfield county. The mother passed away in 1902.

George F. Mara, their only child, completed his preliminary education by graduation from the Bridgeport high school with the class of 1903 and from the Yale Law School in 1907, and in each class he was the youngest representative. He could have completed the work in the law school in 1906, but the ruling made it necessary that he wait until he attained his majority before being admitted to the bar. At the age of twenty-one, therefore, he entered upon active practice in Bridgeport and is now a member of the well known law firm of Canfield, Beecher & Mara. He has already won a well deserved reputa- tion as a criminal lawyer, and has acted as assistant states attorney for Fairfield county. He seems to lose sight of no possible point that will have any bearing upon his case and at the same time gives due prominence to the important point upon which the decision of every case finally turns. In his youthful days he served as a page in the Bridgeport city council two nights a month and thus earned the money that enabled him to partially pay his way through the law school. He also waited on table at Yale during his first year in order to minimize expenses and he made his way entirely unaided in the attainment of his professional training. That the worth of his character and ability was manifest 1- indicated in the fact that during his University course he was at different periods secretary. vice president and in his senior year president of the Wayland Debating Club. He en-

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joys various manly sports and frequently matches up his ability against that of his friends in present day games. He is a skilled player of billiards and a contestant who must be reekoned with at all times, no matter what the ability of the opponent.

On the 24th of July, 1913, Mr. Mara was married to Miss Eula Rebecca Gould, formerly of Montpelier, Vermont, but at that time a resident of Bridgeport. Mr. Mara holds membership in the Church of the Blessed Saerament, also with the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Bridgeport Club. For ten years he has been quite active in local and state politics and has been a delegate to every im- portant democratie convention in the city and state. He is widely and favorably known in the city in which his entire life has been passed. The way in which he managed to secure an education indicated his native strength of character, his determination and his laudable ambition, and these qualities are rapidly bringing him to the front in professional connections.

HIRAM D. GATES.

With the business activities and development of Bridgeport Hiram D. Gates was long connected, although in his last years he lived retired. He was born in Guilford. New York, in 1834 and was a son of Newman and Sarah (Davis) Gates. He had reached young man- hood when he removed from Guilford to Norwich, New York, and there at an early day lie became interested in horses and was widely known for his expert judgment concerning the value of horses. About 1870 he formed a partnership with J. P. Omans for the conduet of a livery business and snecess attended the undertaking from the beginning. They built up an extensive business, importing their horses from Canada, and they maintained sales stables both in New York city and in Bridgeport. They also bought all through the west. Mr. Omans having charge of that branch of the business, while Mr. Gates remained in the east and attended to the sales. They were the owners of the Middle Street stables, where they did a large share of the local business. They also established a blacksmithing and carriage repairing shop on Housatonie avenue in order to take care of their own work along those lines and from that humble beginning developed a large carriage manufacturing business on Broad street. Their sales became very extensive and they manufactured carriages and coaches for New York city and the surrounding territory. Such was the growth of their patronage in that direction that eventually they discontinued the livery business and also dealing in horses and concentrated their efforts upon carriage manufacturing. In 1885 he went to Los Angeles, where he remained for a period of seven years and where he kept a carriage repository and introduced all the new makes of carriages. He still retained his interest in the Bridgeport coneern and remained an active factor in the management and control as well as the ownership of the business until 1892, when he sold out to his partner on account of ill health.

It was in Bridgeport that Mr. Gates was united in marriage to Miss Catharine Avis Lane, a daughter of David B. Lane, who came to Bridgeport in early life from Monroe. His wife, who in her maidenhood was Miss Phoebe Judson, was from White Hills and her mother belonged to the Shelton family. Mr. Lane was a mineralogist and gold and silver refiner and gave instruction in that work to various chemists. When his health beeame impaired he returned to Monroe, where his last days were, spent. He was one of the first oil diseoverers of Pennsylvania and owned oil property in that state. To Mr. and Mrs. Gates was born but one child, Harry Davis.

The death of the husband and father occurred on the 25th of April, 1895, when he was sixty-one years of age, and was the occasion of deep and widespread regret. He was a member of the Methodist church and his life was ever an honorable and upright one, winning

HIRAM D. GATES

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for him the confidence and goodwill of those with whom he was associated. He was a member of the Old Driving Club, which eventually became the Seaside Club, but he preferred home life to club activities and found his greatest happiness at his own fireside. He was devoted to the welfare of his wife and son and was also a faithful and devoted friend and his many admirable qualities won for him the esteem, confidence and goodwill of all.

SIMON LAKE.

Simon Lake, naval architect and engineer, and inventor of the submarine, is now president of the Lake Torpedo Boat Company of Bridgeport. He was born in Pleasantville, New Jersey, September 4, 1866, his parents being John C. and Miriam M. (Adams) Lake. His education was pursued at Clinton Liberal Institute at Fort Plain, New York, and in the Franklin Institute at Philadelphia. All through his life he has studied and experimented * along mechanical lines, concentrating his efforts and attention upon naval architecture and engineering, and his expert knowledge has been of great value to this and other countries. He is the inventor of the even keel type of submarine torpedo boat. He built the first experimental boat in 1894 and in 1897 built the Argonaut, which was the first submarine to operate successfully in the open sea. He has since designed and built many submarine boats for the United States and for foreign countries, having spent several years in Russia, Germany and England in designing and building such craft and acting in an advisory capacity on the construction of submarine torpedo boats. He is likewise the inventor of the submarine apparatus used in locating and recovering sunken vessels and their cargoes and also submarine apparatus for pearl and sponge fishing. His inventions include a heavy oil internal combustion engine for marine purposes. In a word his contribution to the world's submarine craft has been most valuable, based upon expert knowledge and long experience. He became the organizer and is now the president of the Lake Torpedo Boat Company of Bridgeport, and his business is one of the most important enterprises of the kind in the country. His acknowledged ability is manifest in the fact that he now holds membership with the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers of America, the Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society of Naval Engineers, the Society of Naval Architects at London and the Schiffsbautechnische Gessellschaft of Berlin.

On the 9th of June, 1890, Mr. Lake was married to Miss Margaret Vogel of Baltimore. He is a Mason and belongs to the Engineers Club of New York and to the Algonquin Club of Bridgeport.

FRED WILLIAM NETTLETON.

Fred William Nettleton, a selectman of Stratford and a dealer in contractors' supplies. was born in New Haven, November 1, 1873, and from one of New England's oldest families he is descended, tracing back his lineage to Samuel Nettleton, who came from England in 1640. The father, Letson Ellsworth Nettleton, was an early resident of Milford, Connecticut, and married Eliza Vance, who was of French descent, her ancestors in France bearing the name of La Vance.

Fred W. Nettleton was but two years of age when the family removed to Fort Kearney, Kansas, and there he resided for ten years, when his parents returned to Meriden, Con- necticut. in the year 1885. His early education, pursued in the schools of the west, was continued in Meriden, and there he made his initial step in the business world by entering the employ of the Ed Miller Company. Following this he entered the employ of the Vol. II-26

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Meriden Britannia Company, where he applied himself closely to the mastery of the busi- ness and worked in every department up to 1903, when he removed to Stratford and became one of the organizers of the E. H. H. Smith Silver Company, of which he was made a depart- ment manager. Thus he continued actively in business until 1907, when he resigned and purchased his present business of trucking, furniture and piano moving. He also handles mason's supplies, cement, brick, tile pipe, sand and gravel, and does excavating and grading. He has built up a good trade, his patronage having reached proportions that make the busi- ness a profitable one. He follows progressive business methods and his unfaltering enterprise and close application have been salient features in his growing success.

In 1904 Mr. Nettleton was married to Miss Grace Beach Phillips, a descendant of an old Cheshire family, a cousin of Mayor Rice and a daughter of Addison Phillips, who was one of the old-time stagecoach drivers in Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Nettleton hold membership In the Baptist church, and fraternally he is connected with the Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Junior Order of Red Men. He also belongs to the Cupheag Club. His political endorsement is given to the republican party, of which he is one of the prominent members in Stratford and where his activity in public affairs has given him a leading position among the town's best known men. For two years he filled the office of justice of the peace, render- ing decisions that were strictly fair and impartial. In 1909 he was elected a selectman of Stratford and served for two terms at that time. He then retired from the office but was again elected in 1913 and is still the incumbent in that position. He is actuated by a spirit of progress in all that he undertakes, whether in relation to the city or promoting his private interests, and in his vocabulary there is no such word as fail.

WILLIAM HENRY CURLEY, M. D.

Dr. William Henry Curley is numbered among the younger representatives of the medical profession in Bridgeport but already he has attained a position that many an older physician might well envy. He was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, September 17, 1886, a son of Patrick H. Curley, a woolen manufacturer who wedded Mary O'Donnell, and they are still residents of Pittsfield. James F. Curley, an elder brother of Dr. Curley, is an honor graduate of West Point and after serving for a time in the army he resigned and is now general manager of the Concrete Steel Company of New York city. In the family were two daughters: Mrs. Loretta K. O'Brien, who is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music and now resides in Boston; and Sarah M., who is a graduate of the Mills Training School of Bridgeport and is now a kindergarten teacher in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Dr. Curley spent his youthful days under the parental roof and in the acquirement of his education attended the common schools until graduated from the high school with the class of 1905. During his senior year he was president of the class and was manager of its basket hall team. He also played on the high school football team. Not long after leaving the high school he entered the medical department of Cornell University in New York city and was graduated therefrom in 1909. When his textbooks were put aside he became interne in the Bellevue Hospital. where he remained for two years, and after- ward was resident surgeon in St. Mary's Children's Hospital of New York city.

Dr. Curley located for practice in Bridgeport in 1912 and in the intervening period has been very successful, now enjoying a fine practice. He is also serving on the staffs of both the Bridgeport and the St. Vincent Hospitals.

On the 15th of April. 1913. Dr. Curley was married to Miss Johanna M. Curran, of Gambo, Newfoundland. They have become the parents of two sons. William H. and Robert James. The family occupies a splendid home at No. 725 Park avenue and warm-hearted

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hospitality is extended them by many of Bridgeport's leading citizens. Their religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church and they are communicants of the Church of the Sacred Heart. Dr. Curley holds membership in the Bridgeport, the Fairfiekl County, the Connecticut State and the American Medical Associations and thus keeps in touch with the trend of modern professional thought and progress.

C. W. BROOKS.

(. W. Brooks, vice president of the Porcupine Boiler Company, a Bridgeport enterprise which was established in this city less than a decade ago and which has become an important industrial concern, was born in New Hampshire, December 2, 1866, a son of Charles S. and Lizzie B. (Page) Brooks. The father. a furniture manufacturer of Antrim. New Hampshire, was descended from a family of English origin that was established in Massa- chusetts at a very early period in the settlement of the new world.

C. W. Brook- began his education in the public schools and afterward attended an academy and then entered Pratt Institute of Brooklyn, New York. Returning home, he became connected with his father in the furniture manufacturing business, which association was maintained until 1892, when they sold out. Mr. Brooks then went to Brooklyn with the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, occupying a position in the engineering department, and there remained until 1909. He was also with the Stamford Gas & Electric Company, and the Meriden Electric Light Company for a time. In 1909 he became connected with the Porcupine Boiler Company of Bridgeport and was elected the vice president upon the incor- poration of the business in 1911. . He is actively connected with the engineering department. his thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the great scientific principles underlying the work, combined with his practical experience, well qualifying him for the onerons and responsible duties that devolve upon him in this connection.

On the 17th of September. 1889, Mr. Brook- was united in marriage to Miss Mabel C. Downs, of Francestown, New Hampshire, and they have two children: Arthur C., who is with the Manning- Bowman Company of Meriden, Connecticut, in the stock department: and Philip D .. who is with the Locomobile Company of Bridgeport.

Mr. Brooks and his family are members of the Congregational church and his political allegiance is given to the republican party. Close application and indefatigable energy have been the basis on which he has builded his success, and his advancement to his present position of responsibility is the acknowledgment of his merit.

WILLIAM POPE.

William Pope. general manager of the Crown Paper Box Company. has through close application and indefatigable energy worked his way steadily upward in business. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, September 14, 1859, a son of Maximilian Pope. a native of Germany. The father engaged in the paper box manufacturing business and the attention of the son was therefore early turned in that direction.

William Pope acquired a public school education and when his textbooks were put aside entered the employ of the New Haven Paper Box Company, where he gained his early acquaintance with and knowledge of the business. He became superintendent of the E. T. Hart Box Company of Newark, New Jersey, and was also financially interested in the undertaking, of which he became a director. In 1898 he removed to Bridgeport and established business on his own account under the name of the Pope Paper Box Company

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but sold out in December, 1899. He was afterward in Newark, New Jersey, with the Specialty Box Company until 1905, when he organized the Crown Paper Box Company, of which he became general manager, with George C. Batcheller as president and E. W. Russell as secretary and treasurer. Mr. Batcheller died in 1915, when Mr. Russell succeeded to the presidency, while Mr. Pope is now secretary, treasurer and general manager, with Irving R. Blood as assistant manager. The company manufactures paper boxes of various sizes, kinds and grades and their output is sold to the manufacturers of Bridgeport. Much of their output is of very high class and they employ from forty-five to sixty-five people, mostly skilled labor. Their factory is a three story and basement building, fifty by one hundred feet, of mill construction and furnished with a sprinkler system, together with all the latest improvements in the way of machinery and equipment.

Mr. Pope was married in 1883 in Ansonia, Connecticut, to Miss Nettie L. Hotchkiss of that place, and they have one daughter, Augusta F., now the wife of Irving R. Blood of Bridgeport.

Mr. Pope is a member of the Order of American Mechanics. He takes an active and helpful interest in community affairs and while at Milford, Connecticut, served for three years on the board of finance. He was also a member of the democratic town committee for ten years and for a few months was chairman of that committee. He ever keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day and "closely studies those issues and problems which affect the general welfare and have to do with state and national relations. At the same time he is an alert and progressive business man whose close application and indefatigable energy constitute substantial factors of growing success.

MICHAEL J. JORDAN.

Michael J. Jordan is widely known as a successful operator in the field of real estate in the firm of Miller & Jordan, of which he is the active member, his partner being Frank Miller, one of the leading financiers of Bridgeport and now president of the City National Bank. For almost twenty years Mr. Jordan has figured prominently in real estate circles and has negotiated some of the most important realty transfers and developed some of the leading subdivisions of this city and vicinity.

Mr. Jordan is of Irish birth but was a little lad of only about eleven years when brought to America by his parents. Patrick J. and Anna ( Wallace) Jordan, who settled at Terry- ville, Connecticut. The parents, however, are both now deceased. Michael J. Jordan, born August 15. 1858. spent the latter half of his youth in Terryville and there served an apprenticeship in the factory of the Eagle Lock Company, learning the machinist's trade. At that time the president of the company was Nathan G. Miller, brother of Frank Miller, the present partner of Mr. Jordan. At a subsequent period Mr. Jordan spent nine years in Waterbury. where he worked as a machinist for the Farrel Foundry & Machine Company. leaving there to become a mechanical engineer for the Waterbury Watch Company, and afterward went to London, England, where he made an extended stay. He then returned to the United States and spent nine years in Newark, New Jersey, at the machinist's trade, in the capacity of master mechanic for Sloan, Chase & Company, builders of watch making machinery and tools. His eyesight became greatly impaired and acting on the advice of doctors he sought an outdoor occupation, so he entered the real estate field. Returning to Waterbury he promoted the tract of land known as Benmohr on the town plat. In 1898 Mr. Jordan came to Bridgeport and here he has since heen prominently identified with the real estate business of the city. securing a large clientage that has connected him with some of the most important real estate deals of Fairfield county. . He platted the sub- division known as Hollister Heights in Stratford in 1898.

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History of Bridgeport and vicinity, Part 62

Author: Waldo, George Curtis, Jr., ed Publication date: 1917 Publisher: New York, Chicago, S. J. Clarke Publishing Number of Pages: 872

Author: Waldo, George Curtis, Jr., ed
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: New York, Chicago, S. J. Clarke Publishing
Number of Pages: 872