USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 61
USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 61
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
12th, 1862, where he was wounded. He was removed to the hospital, and was discharged the following December in consequence of wounds received in action. Calvin C., the eldest son, resided in New Orleans at the outbreak of the war. He escaped with his wife and infant on the last steamer (the Ohio Belle) that went up the Mississippi river. They were captured, and held prisoners six weeks, and were then paroled. He came East, leaving his family at East Haven, and en- listed in the navy as paymaster's clerk. He was in the campaign of the Potomac and James rivers, on the U. S. steamer "Satellite," cov- ering the retreat of Mcclellan. He was promoted to acting master, but his health failed, and he resigned.
George E. Lindley was born in Ansonia in August, 1853. His father, John Lindley, was born in Oxford in 1816, and came to An- sonia in the "forties." He was a carpenter and builder, and built some of the first houses in Ansonia. In 1858 he founded a furniture house, which he continued until his death, in 1887. This is the oldest furniture establishment in Ansonia. He was the first undertaker in Ansonia. George E. became a partner in 1878, and at the father's death succeeded to the business. Mr. Lindley has been twice mar- ried; first to Frances E., daughter of William Bassett, of Birmingham, in 1874. She died in 1880, leaving two children: William E. and Hattie E. For his second wife he married, in 1882, Nellie C. Whea- ton. of New Milford, Conn.
John L. Lindley, born in Ansonia in 1850, is a son of John Lindley, one of the first settlers of Ansonia. John L. was educated in the pub- lic schools of Ansonia and Cheshire Academy, and engaged as clerk in Waterbury three years. In 1872 he returned to Ansonia and engaged in the insurance business. He represents the leading Hartford, New York and English companies, such as the Hartford Fire, Home, Ger- man American, Phoenix, ÆEtna, Imperial and Traveler's Life. He was appointed postmaster of Ansonia in April, 1885, and served until Feb- ruary, 1890. He was for six years chairman of the board of assessors of the town of Derby and is the present auditor of Ansonia. In 1875 he married Cecile Banks of Birmingham. They have three sons liv- ing: Floyd, born 1876; John L .. Jr., born 1878; and Cecil, born 1889. One son, Victor, died in infancy.
Charles W. Lines was born in New Milford, Conn., and came to Ansonia in 1884. He is president of the Ansonia Flour & Grain Company, dealers in grain, flour, drain tile, baled hay, straw and po- tatoes.
Harvey W. Manville, born in Middlebury, Conn., in 1840, is a son of William Manville, of that town. He learned the trade of carriage painting and followed it three or four years. He came to Ansonia in 1864 and engaged in teaming. In 1880 he was employed by the Farrel Foundry & Machine Company as teamster, and was made foreman of their yard in 1882. He married, in 1866, Nettie J. Hubbell, of Hunt-
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ington, Conn. They have one child living, Harvey Wesley, and have lost one.
George E. May was born in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1852. In 1874 he came to Ansonia, and was clerk for C. R. Smith, grocer, until July, 1889, when he purchased the business. The store is located at the corner of High and Maple streets, West Ansonia. Mr. May married Mary J. Reede, of Bridgeport, in 1871, and has four children. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow.
J. W. Naramore was born in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1827, and came to Birmingham in 1838. In 1840 he began learning the pin trade in Birmingham, and has followed that business ever since. In 1866 he entered the employ of Wallace & Sons, of Ansonia, and has for many years had charge of the pin manufacturing department of their business. He is an expert in the business of pin making, and has in- vented several valuable machines which are used in the business.
Thomas A. Nelson was born in Perth, Scotland, lived several years in the North of Ireland, and came to America in 1849. He first set- tled in Fairfield county, came to Birmingham in 1851, and now resides in Ansonia, on his place called "Forestdale," which occupies a commanding position overlooking the borough and Naugatuck river. His farm is in the borough limits and adjoins the Ansonia reservoir, which furnishes power for the various manufacturing interests here. He settled on this place in 1884. He was engaged with the Downs & Bassett Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of corsets and im- porters of kid gloves, from 1859 to 1884. Since the latter year Mr. Nelson has not engaged in active business, simply devoting his time to his private interests in various parts of the country. In 1865 he married Clara M., youngest daughter of Abram Hubbell, of Ansonia, in the place where they now live. Their children are : Clara H., Wil- liam A. and Susie L. Mr. Nelson is a member of King Hiram Lodge, No. 12, F. & A. M., of Birmingham. He has always been a staunch republican, but takes no active part in politics.
William Paul was born in Greenock, Scotland, in 1830. He early engaged in the machine business as a practical engineer, either build- ing or running engines. He came to America in 1850 and traveled through several of the states, working at his trade. He was five years in Colts' Armory, Hartford, in charge of the gauge department. Dur- ing the war he had charge of the Whitney Armory at New Haven three years. He came to Ansonia in 1866, and has since been in the employ of Wallace & Sons. He has charge of the machine department, manu- facturing and repairing their machinery. He was married in 1855, and has had six children, three of whom are living.
Henry Pettit came to Derby in 1840, aad settled on Kankwood hill, now in the town of Ansonia. He died in 1862. The farm is now oc- cupied by his widow, Mrs. Eleanor Pettit, and her daughter, Mrs. Baldwin. The family was one of the first to settle in Ansonia. When
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
they came to Kankwood hill there was not a house built in Ansonia and only a few in Birmingham.
Joseph G. Redshaw, born in Ansonia August 14th, 1854, is a son of John M. and Sarah Redshaw, who came from Leeds, England, to the town of Derby in 1847. Joseph G. was educated in Ansonia; was in the Ansonia National Bank eight years, afterward was with Andrew B. Hendricks & Co. 13 years, and in 1878 engaged in the clothing business with George H. Besse. The firm continued 15 months, when Mr. Redshaw sold out in December, 1880, and the following March he succeeded V. A. Page in the clothing business, which he has continued since. His store is located at 106 and 108 Main street, Ansonia. Mr. Redshaw was town auditor for Derby 11 years, and when Ansonia became a town was elected to the same office in the new town. He is a member of George Washington Lodge, F. & A. M., Mt. Vernon Chapter, R. A. M., and of the New Haven Commandery, K. T., and is an Odd Fellow. He is a vestryman of Christ church, Ansonia.
David E. Roberts, born in Wales in 1840, came to this country in 1851. He served his time in the Phenix Foundry, New York city, as machinist, remaining there five years, then spent five years in San Francisco, Cal., engaged as machinist for Captain John Ericsson, was with C. H. Delamater, New York city, as foreman five years, and with the Albany Street Iron Works five years. In September, 1868, he came to Ansonia and entered the employ of the Farrel Foundry Company, first as workman, and since 1875 has been foreman of the machine shop. He was married in New York city in 1866, and has four daugh- ters. He is a Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias.
GEORGE O. SCHNELLER was born in Germany, June 14th, 1843. His father, Henry Schneller, of Germany, was a government civil en- gineer and architect, as was also his grandfather. His older brothers, too, are civil engineers, so that he received a home training in a fam- ily of scientific culture. He was educated in private schools and in a gymnasium of his fatherland.
But while his brothers went on through the full university course, George Otto came to America and entered business. He was in the employ, as bookkeeper, of Osborne & Cheesman, of Ansonia, when he resolved, in 1870, to return to Germany. It was a period of great na- tional excitement, for the German people had just entered into the struggle of the Franco-Prussian war. Mr. Schneller passed on to spend the winter in Italy, and arrived in Rome in the week following Victor Emmanuel's occupation of the city. He then visited Naples, spending three months there, and remembers as not the least interesting of his diversions the exploration of the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii.
But the grand review of the German army in Berlin at the close of the war with France was soon to occur, and Mr. Schneller hastened from Italy to the capital city of the German empire. There he saw his victorious countrymen march for several miles between rows of cannon captured from the French.
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
It was in the winter of 1872 that he came again to America and began a manufacturing business in Ansonia. And while thus em- ployed he also surveyed and mapped out Ansonia in detail according to the German systein, to be used as a basis for all public works. But in 1874 he moved to the West. In 1876 he returned again to Ansonia, and purchased a spectacle factory. Not until now did he enter the field where his inventive turn of mind and his thorough training in the engineering schools of Germany might have full opportunity for achievement. He at once improved the construction of the machinery used in the manufacture of spectacles, and was able, after only six months, to sell his recent purchase for a large advance upon the cost price.
He then began the manufacture of eyelets and eyeletting machin- ery and of a variety of small brass goods. And again his inventive ability came into play, for he has invented not only the machinery to make the goods, but also the machinery to use them when made. His eyeletting machinery is in use in nearly all the corset manufactories of this country and of Europe. The construction is simple, and by one stroke of the machine the operator punches the holes in a corset, inserts the eyelets and fastens them. An operator can eyelet more than 300 dozens of corsets in ten hours. The button fastening device manufactured by tlie Scovill Manufacturing Company, of Waterbury, is his invention, as are other appliances in use here and there in the manufacturing world.
In 1882 a company was incorporated with the name of The S. O. & C. Company, for the manufacture especially of eyelets and the eyelet- ting machinery controlled by his patents. The company was organ- ized with a capital of $40,000, the late Mr. G. W. Cheesman, of Birming- ham, being president and Mr. Schneller treasurer, secretary and man- ager. The company's plant is located favorably for manufacture, and extensive buildings have been erected to afford the needed facilities.
Mr. Schneller is a practical manufacturer, not by means of long- continued experiment, but by taking the principles of mechanical en- gineering in which he was thoroughly schooled and applying them to manufacturing uses. Nor does he confine his studies to the realm of mechanics or of physics, but has made himself familiar with other de- partments of knowledge. Led on by the drift of the age, he has been a student of social philosophy.
His townsmen have recognized his ability, and though he does not claim to be a politician, he is yet so well versed in political science as to know what legislative action conserves the well being of the people at large. On the economic question of the tariff, he stands for reform; not for free trade, but for such freedom as allows every man the larg- est return for his labor. For the years 1891-1893 he is the representa- tive of the town of Ansonia in the general assembly of the state. His public spirit is represented in the construction of the street railway
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
between Ansonia and Birmingham, of which he was the most promi- nent promoter.
But Mr. Schneller is preëminently domestic in his tastes. His home is his earthly heaven, and nothing so much delights him as to be there in the midst of his family. On May 1st, 1873, he married Miss Clar- issa Alling, of Ansonia. Six children have been born to them of whom three are now living-Elsie, Otto and Clarissa Bianca. Two died in infancy-Sadie in July, 1883, at four months of age, and Meta in Au- gust, 1886, at 11 months of age. Their eldest, Marea Eloise, was fa- miliarly known at home and in society as " Birdie." She was not only the companion but also the adviser of her mother; and her father en- trusted her with responsibilities in business matters far beyond her years. But so well informed was she and mature of judgment, that carrying them was a pleasant diversion more than labor. She was al- ready in the last year of her high school course, preparing to graduate in a few weeks. Unusually bright and intellectual, she easily carried off the honor of valedictory of her class. Never in the history of the school has a pupil maintained so high a scholarship. Her physique seemed also to be as fine as her mind. But she was seized with ty- phoid fever, which developed into an alarming type, and on the morn- ing of February 17th, 1891, she passed away, beloved by the com- munity in which she lived, and especially by the young people of her acquaintance.
On graduation day the class historian, Miss Flora Elizabeth Billam, wove the following beautiful chaplet to her memory:
"She who easily won first honors in all our studies, is not here to give that farewell address which first honor wins. How empty after all, are earthly honors. The sad experience of that early death will undoubtedly remain with us through life. That Providence which took our brightest member is inscrutable. We who knew her best oftimes recall her pure unselfishness, her winsome, happy disposition, her lofty ambition. Birdie Schneller will always remain in the mem- ory of all who knew her, but with us she will always be our beloved classmate, our brilliant valedictorian."
William A. Shea was born in Seymour, Conn., in 1862, and came to Ansonia in 1879. He learned the roll business with the Farrel Foun- dry & Machine Company, and has been with them since. He married Mary Stott, of Westerly, R. I., in 1887.
Frank E. Steele, born in Seymour in 1847, is a son of John B., grandson of Edmund, and great-grandson of Captain Bradford Steele. Edmund Steele married Annie Tucker, and had two sons, John B. and Albert. They were residents of Humphreysville. Albert represented the town in the legislature. John B. Steele married Emeline A. Stewart, and had two children, Frank E. and Celeste. Frank E. Steele was selectman in Seymour for three years. He married, in 1881, Miss Lillie J., daughter of Clark Chatfield, of Seymour. He is at present a resident of Ansonia.
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
Joseph H. Steinman was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1836, and learned the butcher's trade there. He then enlisted in the navy and went to China in the ship " Minnesota," with Minister Reede, of Phil- adelphia, and was abroad two years. He settled in Waterbury in 1858, and in Ansonia in 1859, and was employed by George Hotchkiss in the meat business. In 1862 he again enlisted in the navy and served until the close of the war. He then reentered the employ of George Hotchkiss, and remained until 1870, when he began business for himself. He ranks as one of the oldest butchers in Ansonia, and does an annual business of $40,000. He is a member of the K. of P., I. O. O. F., G. A. R., and the Naval Veteran Association. He was married, in 1867, to Martha J. Brown, of Ansonia, and has two chil- dren: Ida M. and Frank H.
Joseph A. Trempe, born in Canada in 1845, learned the machinist trade in Sorel, came to the states in 1870, worked five years in Boston, Mass., came to Ansonia in 1875, and engaged with the Ansonia Brass & Copper Company as superintendent. Since 1881 he has worked by contract. He has charge of the No. 7 mill, where standard screw wire for boots and shoes is made under the Mackie patent. He has the supervision of 50 hands. Mr. Trempe married Emma Gilles, of Can- ada. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias.
Albert N. Tryon was born in Middletown, Conn., in 1853. He was employed by the Stiles & Parker Press Company there about 12 years. In 1888 he came to Ansonia and engaged with the Farrel Foundry & Machine Company, taking charge of the light machine department of the roll room. Mr. Tryon married Clara Chamberlain, of Middletown, in 1879, and has two children: Elmer E. and Edith.
Eli H. Wakelee, born in Ansonia in 1829, is a son of Watrous C. and Caroline Wakelee and grandson of Freegift, all born in Ansonia. Wakelee avenue received its name from the family. They are one of the oldest families of the town, and settled in West Ansonia, where they owned a large tract of land. Watrous C. had four sons; two settled in Iowa, and Eli and Albert in Ansonia. Eli first learned the mason trade, and built several houses in both Derby and Ansonia for himself and others. He engaged in the grocery trade in 1883 in West Ansonia He married Eunice A. Chatfield, of Bethany, in 1852. They have one son, Frank W., born in 1854. Eli H. has held several town offices, including selectman, collector, assessor and member of the board of relief. Frank W. married Fannie Platt, of Milford, and has one daughter, Cora A.
WILLIAM WALLACE was born in Manchester, England, March 16th, 1825, and came to the United States in 1832 with his parents, Thomas and Agnes Wallace. Several years passed by before the family found a permanent location, but in 1841 came to Birmingham, Conn., where the father and his three sons entered the employ of the Howe Pin Company. A few years only went by before the father began the
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manufacture of brass and brass wire on his own account, and in 1848 took his three sons, John, William and Thomas, into partnership with himself, forming the firm of Wallace & Sons.
In 1850 the company removed from Birmingham to Ansonia for the purpose of taking water for power from the new canal of Anson G. Phelps, which had recently been builded. It was thought at the time that a single foot of water according to engineering measurement, would furnish sufficient power, a fact not a little curious as looked back upon from the great plant now constructed beside the canal. At this date in all the works two giant steam engines, each of 1,000 horse power, aided by ten other engines only of lesser power, furnish none too much force for the great industry.
In 1853 the company was changed from a partnership to a corpora- tion under the same name of Wallace & Sons, and has so remained until the present time. The corporation now embraces a very large plant of several acres, nor has it ceased to grow in size, for extensive additions are making at this date of writing, 1891.
The product of the factory embraces copper and brass goods in large variety. In the rolling mills brass and copper are wrought into the different forms required in commerce. The principal products are sheet brass and brass wire, sheet copper and copper wire, copper rivets and burs, metal chains, brass escutcheon pins, brass pins, kero- sene burners, lamps and chandeliers.
The officers of the company are: President, William Wallace; treasurer and general manager, Thomas Wallace; secretary, John B. Wallace; superintendent, William O. Wallace.
The present sketch concerns the president of the company, the second son of Thomas Wallace, Sr., now deceased.
The habits of active industry formed in young manhood control the every day life of Mr. Wallace. He is not only president of the company, but chooses to keep under his personal supervision, as he has done from the beginning, the entire mechanical oversight and ex- ecution of the great plant. A genius for mechanics and mechanical industry was the gift of nature to him. The factory of Wallace & Sons has expanded according to his plans in orderly consecutive ar- rangement. He himself has located the new buildings, mapped out their construction, planned their peculiarities and conveniences for doing the work designed. He has invented much of the machinery in use, and determined the manifoldness of the industry on all the grounds.
A visit to the factory is an instructive object lesson upon the growing ideas and energy of a single manufacturing mind. From one room the visitor may be excluded, for it is thought to be more eco- nomical to work the machinery there, devised by Mr. Wallace, in ob- scurity than to defend patent rights. But in full sight, only illustra- tive of another feature of the one expansive, energetic mind, is the
Um Wallace
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
great chimney for the brass foundry, the largest and tallest chimney in the state, 16 feet square at the base, 73 feet square at the top, 202 feet 5 inches high from the surface of the ground, with a foundation of masonry 19 feet deep in the earth. On the the broad side of it, 60 feet high, is a massive clock of the most approved construction, keep- ing time for the establishment.
But a better illustration still of the type of industrial manhood Mr. Wallace is, may be had by a visit to his laboratory, a large room full of costly devices for the control and the practical and diversive uses of electricity. He was one of the pioneers in electrical science. First is noticed the art embellishments of this hall, engravings of in- dustrial exhibitions and portraits of men eminent in science. Here came Thomas A. Edison and other investigators to see what might be seen, and there is shown the visitor an interesting memento of one of those visits of the electrician. He took a goblet and a diamond, lying near by, and engraved the following signature on it in letters so tiny they can be read only by keen sight: " Thomas A. Edison, Sept. 8th, 1878, under the electric light." And in striking contrast is the old trunk which Professor S. F. B. Morse, of telegraphic fame, carried over Europe with him. And not the least of these adornments is an autograph letter of Benjamin Franklin, dated “ Philadelphia, July 5th, 1775," of striking composition, addressed by the noble philosopher and patriot to Mr. Strahan, member of the English parliament.
In this Laboratory Hall are microscopes, monocular and binocular, a fine telescope, an air pump, electrical generators, induction coils, dynamos, electric batteries, and among them one of those used in the first blast of rock from Hell Gate; electric lamps, electric stereop- tican, experimental apparatus for illuminating water in motion, and a multitude of other appliances, curious, ingenious, costly, informing and useful to the informed mind.
Here was constructed the Wallace Farmer Dynamo, and the Wallace Plate Electric Lamp. Mr. Wallace was the first to con- struct dynamos in this country, and the "wizard of Menlo Park" did all of his first experimenting with a dynamo of Mr. Wal- lace's make. Mr. Wallace was the first to run the arc light in se- ries, and his lamp was the first to cast an electric light over the Centennial Exhibition grounds at Philadelphia. His induction coil has produced the longest spark of any coil yet made in America, the spark leaping a distance of 27 inches. The plan of winding was that of Richie, of Boston. There are in the secondary coil 95 miles of No. 36 Birmingham wire-gauge pure copper wire, and the coil, with its condensers, weighs about 1,400 pounds.
Mr. Wallace was the first to burn more than one pair of carbons in a lamp, and has burned 24 pairs in one lamp. He now lights his lab- oratory with a multiple carbon lamp of six pairs. He also made the first round pencil carbon ever constructed for electric lamps. The
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great electro-magnets, as that at the Stevens Institute, Hoboken, N. J., and that at West Point, N. Y., able to raise a weight of 5,000 pounds and more, are his devices and construction. Mr. Wallace was the first manufacturer in this country to apply the dynamo to the industrial uses of electro-plating. He used it extensively in coating steel wire with copper for telegraph circuits.
These items serve to indicate the scientific and mechanical tastes and culture of Mr. Wallace; nor is he lacking in taste and appreciation of fine arts. His home is adorned with the finest products of the pencil and the brush, while his ear is most sharply critical and appreciative of music, orchestral, instrumental and vocal. He is familiar with most of the great masterpieces of music, and takes pains to hear them ren- dered by the noted artists of his time, whether in America or in Europe.
Mr. Wallace's wealth is represented not alone in the great industry over which he presides, but in other corporations, as banks and mines. He has kept aloof from the political entanglements of his town, and steadily pursued his business occupations, yet he has distinct political opinions, is an ardent republican and friend of the veteran soldier. He has traveled extensively in this country and in Europe, and has known how to gather up from every quarter its contribution to the fund of general knowledge.
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