USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > History of Bridgeport and vicinity > Part 71
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JUDGE BACON WAKEMAN.
Judge Bacon Wakeman, attorney at law and judge of the probate court of Fairfield, was born on the old Wakeman homestead in the town of Fairfield and is descended from one of the oldest and best known families of western Connecticut. His father, Andrew P. Wake- man, who is still living at the advanced age of eighty years, was born on the Wakeman homestead January 17, 1838, and was a son of Joseph and Sarah Ann (Bulkley) Wakeman and a grandson of Captain Andrew and Hannah (Allen) Wakeman. Captain Wakeman served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war and was one of the Minute Men who took their place on Lexington Green and contested the advance of the British troops, thus firing the first shots in that struggle which won independence for the nation. The ancestry, how- ever, is traced still fartber back to the Rev. Samuel Wakeman, who in early colonial days was a well known minister of the Congregational church in Fairfield.
Andrew P. Wakeman, the father of Judge Wakeman, was educated in the public schools and in the Fairfield Academy and started out in the business world as a clerk in the store of James W. Beach, of Bridgeport, who conducted business on Wall street. Later, however, he settled down to farming on the old homestead, where he has since remained. This farm has been in possession of the Wakeman family for many generations and the first house upon it was destroyed by the British in the Revolutionary war. The present residence was built soon after the war and is now occupied by J. Howard Wakeman, a brother of Judge Wake- man. After retiring from the active work of the farm Andrew P. Wakeman erected a small dwelling upon the farm which he and his wife still occupy. He has done not a little in shaping public thought and action in regard to affairs of vital moment, filled the office of selectman for four years and served as a member of the state legislature in the sessions of 1881, 1884 and 1885. He has also left the impress of his individuality upon the moral progress of the community through his efforts in promoting the growth and extending the influence of the Congregational church, of which he has long been an active and devoted member, serving as one of its deacons for twenty years.
On the 15th of May, 1861, he married Cornelia K. Burr, a daughter of Eben and Hannah Burr. and they have become parents of nine children: Jennie L., the deceased wife of William Aiken, of Putnam, New York; Samuel B., residing in Fairfield; Andrew S .. a farmer of Fairfield; Bacon, of this review; J. Howard, who occupies the old homestead;
ANDREW P. WAKEMAN
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Florence, the wife of Harold C. Bullard; Emma F., who is librarian in charge of the Fair- field public library and resides at home; and Carrie P. and Bessie O., who died in childhood.
Judge Bacon Wakeman. after attending the public schools of Fairfield, continued his education in the Fairfield Academy and later entered Yale University, in which he pursued a law course and was graduated with the class of 1888. Following his admission to the Connecticut bar he took up the active practice of his chosen profession in Bridgeport, where he maintained his office until 1906, when he moved to Fairfield, where he has since been located. Advancement at the bar is proverbially slow, but his clientage has steadily increased in volume and importance and he now ranks high among the members of the profession in the state, being widely known for his legal ability. In the trial of cases before the court he has always been very strong in argument, logical in his conclusions and clear in his reasoning, and the strength of his position has been based upon his thorough preparation before entering the court. He is now serving for the second term as judge of probate of Fairfield, which oflice he is filling with honor and distinction to himself and satisfaction to the public.
Judge Wakeman was united in marriage to Miss Helen Sturges, a daughter of Joseph H. and Mary (Whiting) Sturges, and they have become the parents of eight children. namely : Mildred Sturges, Joseph Allen, Andrew Eliot, Ruth Whiting, Esther Burr, Robert Samuel, Henry Osborn and Stanley Bulkley. The family residence is in Fairfield, the Judge's native town, where his entire life has been passed and where he has so direeted his efforts that success and prominence have come as the logical reward of his labors.
HENRY BERTRAM LAMBERT, M. D.
Entering the general practice of medicine at Bridgeport in 1909, Dr. Henry Bertram Lambert has sinee made steady progress in his chosen calling and is most deeply interested in the science of medicine and surgery. He was born in Bridgeport, March 6, 1884, a son of Henry A. and Cornelia (Rikeman) Lambert. The latter, of Holland Duteh descent, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and died during the early boyhood of her son Henry. The father, a native of Bridgeport, spent practically his entire life in this city and was an architect by profession. He died in 1916, when seventy-six years of age. Both the father and mother of Dr. Lambert were descended from Revolutionary war heroes and the ancestral line in the Lambert family can be traced back to Jesse Lambert, who came from England in 1658 and settled at Milford, Connecticut.
Dr. Lambert of this review was prepared for college in the University School of Bridge- port and in 1905 entered Yale as a medical student, there remaining for two years. In 1907 he was enrolled at the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, where he devoted two more years to preparation for his professional career. Following his graduation with the M. D. degree in 1909 he returned home and spent two and a half years in the Bridgeport Hospital. He then again went to Philadelphia, where for a year and a half he was connected with the Pennsylvania Hospital, and thus he had nearly four years' experience as an interne and eight years of continuous preparation for the private practice of medicine and surgery. In 1913 he opened an office in Bridgeport and while he continues in general practice he makes a specialty of surgery, in which he has shown marked skill. He is now serving on the surgical staff of the Bridgeport Hospital. Hle belongs to the Bridgeport Medical Society, to the Fairfield County Medical Society, of which he is the treasurer, the Connecticut Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the American Association of Anestheti-ts. He is also connected with the Connecticut Naval Militia as assistant surgeon.
On the 7th of December, 1912, Dr. Lambert was married to Miss Esther Hassett, of Wallingford, Connecticut. He is a Master Mason and in politics is a republican. keeping
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well informed on the questions and issues of the day but never seeking nor desiring office. His profession claims practically his entire thought and attention and in his chosen field he is making steady progress.
THEODORE F. WALES.
Theodore F. Wales, promoter. of the Simplex Manufacturing Company, is a repre- sentative of that industrial activity which is fast making Bridgeport not only the indus- trial capital of Connectient but of New England as well. It seems there is no expression of mechanical ingenuity that cannot be found in the diversified factories of Bridgeport. The Simplex menu printer, which is produced by the company of which Mr. Wales is the leading spirit, is one of the examples of Bridgeport's varied industries. The device con- sisters of a small printing press and the necessary equipment, enabling the catering trade to print the menus used on their tables instead of sending to the job printer for them. It was invented and patented by Mr. Wales several years ago and the business of making and selling these printing outfits is meeting with much success. ' In conceiv- ing the idea of a menn printer for popular nse, the objective point of the inventor was to simplify the processes of printing so that the amateur, the unskilled operator, could produce acceptable results. This has been accomplished in each detail of the work. For instance, the composition was simplified hy substituting word-setting for the usual dif- ficult single-letter typesetting. These menn printers are shipped to all parts of the United States and Canada and are in use in Japan and the Hawaiian islands. The sum- mer resorts, as a class, are large purchasers of the printers, and they have been installed in the leading hotels, restaurants and clubs in Bridgeport, where they are producing good work and saving money for the owners. The printer is made in fonr sizes and ranges in price from one hundred and twenty-five to two hundred dollars. The Simplex Company's new York office is at No. 23 West Thirty-first street. Arrangements are made for estab- fishing selling branches in London, England; Paris, France; Milan, Italy; and Berne, Switzerland, to be started as soon as peace in Europe is declared.
Another invention of Mr. Wales manufactured by 'this company is the Simplex lace staple, a crocheting device used by ladies for making Maltese face, which enters largely into the embellishment of all sorts of feminine apparel. These face staples are sold direct to consumers, through the mail, also to dry goods jobbers and department stores every- where.
Mr. Wales is one of Bridgeport's native sons and represents an old New England family. His great-grandfather in the maternal line served in the Revolutionary war. The writer of this article was shown in Mr. Wales' office a copy of the Boston Gazette, published March 12, 1770, five years before the Revolutionary war began, which was handed down to him from his ancestors. His father, Henry Wales, was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, and married Caroline M. Harding, a native of Brunswick. New Jersey. In the '50s they removed to Bridgeport and Mr. Wales engaged in the wholesale coffee and spice business on State street. He was not only an active factor in commercial circles but was also a bank director and prominent in the public life of the community, serving many terms in the Bridgeport common council.
Theodore F. Wales attended the private school of E. F. Strong, from which he gradu- ated. He and his brother, H. A. Wales, established the Wales Wheel Company, buying out the Olds Wheel Company, and conducted that business for a number of years, after which he turned his attention to the grain and cereal business along wholesale lines. The Simplex menu printer was invented by Mr. Wales prior to the year 1907 and was pat- ented by him in that year, although many improvements and changes in construction have
THEODORE F. WALES
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developed since. The success of the business is because the device appeals to hotels, restaurants, steamships, club, etc., as a money-saver and a convenience. The process of printing with this device is so simple that ordinary inexperienced help are able to pro- duce creditable results in their spare time without extra expense to the proprietor. Therefore the saving effected in printing bills soon offsets the first expense of the menu printer. Aside from the usual results of a successful business, there is to Mr. Wales a realization of having created. something worth while, when these menu printers are being shipped to all parts of the world.
JAMES MATTHEW MOONEY.
James Matthew Mooney, president of James Mooney & Son's Company, landscape contractors, has in this connection developed a business of extensive proportions, for his efforts embody the most practical phases of work with the highest ideals of beauty in landscape gardening. His labors have indeed been a contributing element to the improvement of the most attractive residential sections of Bridgeport and surrounding cities. A native of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, he was born March 3, 1855. His father and grandfather both bore the name of Patrick Mooney and in the year 1853 the father came from Ireland to the United States. He wedded Margaret Finn, a daughter of James and Margaret Finn. and they became the parents of seven children: James Matthew and Peter, who were born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts: and Patrick, Katherine, Elizabeth. Mary and Thomas, all natives of Bridgeport. Connecticut. Patrick Mooney removed with his family to Bridgeport in 1861 and he was one of the organizers of the Hibernian> in Bridgeport and also of St. Patrick's Beneficial Society. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party.
James M. Mooney was a little lad of but six years when brought by his parents to Bridgeport and here he attended the public schools to the age of eleven, when he began earning his own living. Ile was first employed by the Bridgeport Brass Company, being one of the first six children who obtained work in that establishment. In his youthful days he played ball and killed quail on the present site of the plant of the Bridgeport Brass Company. He continued with that company for three years and then entered the employ of the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine Company, working in the needle room for two years or until the department was destroyed by fire. He afterward spent two years in another department of the same company, on the expiration of which period he entered the employ of the Union Metallic Cartridge Company, with which he continued until 1877. It was then that he turned his attention to landscape work and today he is the oldest con- tractor in his line in Bridgeport. While he began business on a small scale, his patronage has steadily increased. The peculiar formation of Bridgeport. with its hills, its deep ents and other topographieal features, makes it necessary to do most exact and mathematical figuring to plan out a lawn and also utilize the most artistic skill in its cultivation and adornment. Mr. Mooney and his associates do all kinds of landscape work, including sod. shrubbery. trees, plants and the building of cement walks. He has had the contract for most of the work on Golden Hill and at Seaside Park and in the residential district in and about this park. In fact his services have been in great demand throughout Bridgeport. When starting the business forty years ago his equipment consisted of one or two wheel- barrows and he did all of the work himself. Today he utilize- many scrapers, carts and trucks and at times has as high as one hundred and fifty men in his employ. In 1883, while he was doing contract work on Golden Hill, he uncovered at a depth of twelve and one-half feet one of the largest Indian burial grounds ever discovered. it being used by the Mohawk and Copperhead tribes. The masonry work was remarkable and ton after ton of it was removed at great expense.
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Mr. Mooney was married in St. Mary's church at Bridgeport, to Miss Mary Braden, by whom he has four children, namely: Ellen, the wife of H. J. Paetsch; William, who has been his father's partner and assistant since the age of twenty; Grace; and Zeta. The eldest daughter was educated in the public schools and the other three children are convent graduates. Five of the family have passed away, namely: Mary, Charles, two who were named James, and Lucy.
Mr. Mooney and his family are members of St. Peter's Roman Catholic church and in polities he has followed in his father's political footsteps. His is the record of a strennous life-the record of a strong individuality. sure of itself, stable in purpose, quick in perception, swift in decision, energetic and persistent in action. He started out empty handed, but when determination, perseverance and talent are arrayed against drawbacks, poverty and trials, the result is almost absolutely certain. The former are invincible-they know no defeat.
EDWARD T. ABBOTT.
Edward T. Abbott, an honored veteran of the Civil war, has for thirty years been one of the most trusted employes of the International Silver Company, now serving as super- intendent of grounds, buildings and upkeep. A native of Connecticut, he was born in New Haven on the 20th of March, 1842, and is a worthy representative of an old and highly esteemed family of this state, his ancestors having originally settled at Branford. His paternal grandfather, Alvin Abbott, was born however in Middlebury, Connecticut, which was also the birthplace of his father, Laramon W. Abbott. The latter became a member of the firm of Scranton & Abbott, machinery manufacturers of New Haven and they made the machinery for the Yale College laboratory. In 1843 Laramon W. Abbott removed to Waterbury. Connecticut, hecoming master mechanie at the Benedict & Burn- ham rolling mills, engaged in the manufacture of brass goods. This business is now con- ducted under the name of the American Brass Company. During the twelve years Mr. Abbott was with that firm he also served as local preacher for various Methodist Episeo- pal churches and later went to Watertown, Connecticut, where he organized a church, built a house of worship and parsonage and was a minister there for several years. After his retirement from the ministry he made his home in Ridgefield, Connecticut, for twenty- two years, and there died, his remains being interred in the Waterbury cemetery. During the free-soil movement he was elected to the state legislature on that ticket. represent- ing the district in which Waterbury is located, and he served on the temperance commit- tee while a member of the house. In early manhood he married Miss Altha M. Todd, who was born in Stratford and also belonged to an old Connecticut family. She died in Waterbury at the age of twenty-eight years.
Edward T. Abbott, a son of this worthy couple, spent the first two years of his life in New Haven and the following sixteen years in Waterbury and Watertown and returned to New Haven in 1860. The country having become engaged in civil war, he enlisted in 1862 as a member of Company H. Twentieth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, which became a part of the Army of the Potomac and at different times was under the command of Generals MeClellan. Hooker, Meade and Burnsides. After the battle of Gettysburg the Twentieth Connecticut regiment was sent to reinforce the Western Army. Mr. Abbott was wounded during the battle of Chancellorsville and lay on the battlefield for ten days. He was made prisoner but later paroled and was in the hospital and convalescent camp from the 3d of May until September, 1863. During the Atlanta campaign he was again captured July 23, 1864, and was confined in Andersonville prison for some time before being exchanged, Sep- tember 20, 1864. He participated in many important engagements, including the battles of Savannah, Stone Mountain and Peach Tree Creek, and when hostilities ceased and his
EDWARD T. ABBOTT
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servires were no longer needed he was mustered out at New Ilaven in June, 1865. At that time he was serving as corporal.
Returning to Waterbury, Mr. Abbott entered the employ of Holmes, Booth & Hayden. manufacturers of brass and copper tubing, shecting, etc., and was later with the Waterbury Plated Ware Company, silverware manufacturers, first as tool maker and later as foreman and superintendent of the spoonmaking department, being connected with the company for twenty-two years. In July, 1887, he began work for the firm of Holmes & Edwards at Bridgeport. now the International Silver Company, and was first in charge of the tool making department, drafting, etc., but subsequently served as superintendent of all manu- facturing for many years. He is now superintendent of grounds. buildings and upkeep and has been one of the most trusted employes of the company for thirty years.
In New Haven, October 24, 1866, Mr. Abbott married Miss Emily A. Doolittle, a native of Wallingford, Connectient. She had five brothers in the Civil war. To Mr. and Mrs. Abbott were born three children, namely: Wilhelmina Bushnell, now the wife of Frederick Rhodes, who is secretary of the Salts Textile Company of Bridgeport and is represented on another page of this work; Laramon Winthrop, who was graduated from the Yale Medical School and became a physician but is now deceased; and Edward R., who is a graduate of the Worcester Technical School and is now connected with the New York office of Taft, Pierce & Company of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
Mr. Abbott now makes his home at No. 857 Noble avenue. He has been called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who passed away in July, 1906, in the faith of the Methodlist Episcopal church, of which she was an active member. Mr. Abbott is one of the prominent members of the Washington Park Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has filled the offices of steward, trustee and assistant superintendent of the Sunday school, and his life has ever been in harmony with his professions. He is junior vice commander of Elias Howe Post, No. 3, G. A. R .. and is an ardent supporter of the republican party.
REV. ALLEN EVERETT BEEMAN.
Rev. Allen Everett Beeman for thirty-six years was an active representative of the Protestant Episcopal ministry and is now president of the library board of Fairfield. He was born August 4. 1835. in Litchfield, Connecticut, a son of Frederie Dan and Maria Hall (Brisbane| Beeman. After attending Sedgwick's Academy at Stratford, Connecticut. he entered Yale University as an academic student and was there graduated with the class of 1877. He then went abroad to enter Oxford University of England, pursuing his studies in Oriel College, where he remained for two year -. Through the scholastic year 1879-80 he was a student in the Berkeley Divinity School at Middletown. Connectieut. and in 1841 was ordained to the priesthood of the Protestant Episcopal church. In that year he was appointed rector of Christ church at Unionville, Connecticut, where he continued until 1885. He was rector of Christ church at Gardiner. Maine, from 1888 until 1893 and of St. Paul's eburch in Fairfield from 1897 until 1917. or for a period of two decades. He has been archdeacon of Fairfield county since 1907 and his labors in the ministry have not been denied the full harvest nor the aftermath. His liberal university training. his zeal, his keen insight, his ready tact and his sympathy have all been potent factors in promoting the growth of the church and assisting his fellowmen in that character development which makes for honorable manhood and citizenship.
In 1872 Rev. Beeman received from W. IT. Barnum. member of congress, appointment as eadet to West Point from the fourth congressional district upon competitive examination at Bridgeport, but nearsightedness prevented his acceptance in the military school. lle ha- always been deeply interested in community affairs, supporting many projects for the public
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good and many well devised plans which have resulted in civic improvement. From 1599 to the present he has been secretary of the town sehool committee and is also secretary of the Fairfield Memorial Library, while since 1902 he has been secretary of the Fairfield Historical Society.
On the 11th of June, 1885, in Farmington, Connecticut, Rev. Beeman was married to Miss Sarah Cowles Carrington, a daughter of Dr. Charles Carrington, and they now have one son, Charles Carrington Beeman, born in Farmington, August 16, 1886.
In his political views Rev. Beeman has always been a stalwart republican and while not an active party worker has given faithful consideration and study to the vital and sig- mificant problems of the age, recognizing the duties and obligations as well as the priv- ileges of citizenship. He is also prominent in Masonry. Since 1892 he has been a Knight Templar and for two terms served as senior warden in Maine Commandery. He has found in his church work and public activities that power grows through the exercise of effort and he has been constantly reaching out along broadening lines of helpfulness. It were tautological in this connection to enter into any series of statements showing him to be a man of great scholarly attainments, for this has been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. It is just to say, however, in a record that will descend to future generations that he is a man of wide sympathies and in all of his work has followed those constructive practices and teachings which ever point the individual to higher and better things.
WILLIAM J. BARTLEY.
William J. Bartley. president of the Bridgeport Engineering Company, was born at Vergennes, Vermont. the third oldest town in New England. His father, Jeremiah Bartley, was of Seotch descent, tracing his ancestry back through seven generations. The American aneestor in the maternal line came to the new world as a colonel on the staff of General La Fayette at the time of the Revolutionary war. Jeremiah Bartley enlisted three times for service in the Civil war and three times was honorable discharged.
William J. Bartley was one of eight children. His educational opportunities were some- what limited yet through his own efforts he manaegd to make his way through the high school. When a youth of but fifteen years he began working and aided in the support of his mother and other members of the family. His first task was that of pointing nails, for which he received fifty cents per week, and when seventeen years of age he began learning the tailor's trade, which he mastered in two years. However, his natural trend was along mechanical lines and this led him to abandon tailoring. In the early days he drove a baker's wagon and did other odd jobs in order to support himself and his mother and he then followed out his natural inclination by learning the machinist's trade. borrowing the money with which to meet his expenses while thus engaged. His landable and commendable ambition was also indicated in the faet that he worked his way through night school and completed a four years' course in mechanics in three years, winning his diploma. He then obtained his first position along that line, working at die sinking and tool making. From the first he showed expert -kill and advancement came to him rapidly. In 1898-9 he was experimental engineer with the Corliss Steam Engine Company, having in the meantime become recognized as an expert in the construction of combustion motors of all kinds. He also perfected valveless engines and did consultation work with Dr. Diesel, inventor of the Diesel oil engine, now used on all submarines. He likewise assisted in perfecting the first gasoline eleetrie tractor engine, which tractors were built for the 20-Mule Team Borax Com- pany and proved a great success. Mr. Bartley devoted the years 1904 and 1905 to perfecting the combustion motors in inereasing the economy and power and in 1906 and 1907 he was mechanical superintendent of the Moore Automobile Company. During the succeeding two
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