USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 35
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His sound judgment is recognized as of value in the success- ful control of these various enterprises and his cooperation has also been sought in the management of several educational insti- tutions. He is president of the Westover School of Middlebury; a trustee of the Berkeley Divinity School of New Haven; a mem- ber of the board of agents of the Silas Bronson Library of Water- bury; member of the corporation of Trinity College, Hartford; trustee of the Hotchkiss School of Lakeville; director of the Con- necticut State Reformatory.
At Geneva, New York, on the 9th of July, 1902, Mr. Elton was united in marriage to Deborah Steele, daughter of Charles A.
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Steele. They are the parents of two children, Deborah Richmond and Charlotte, who are students at Vassar College.
Mr. Elton gives his political support to the republican party and withholds his aid from no movement or measure calculated to promote public welfare. He was elected mayor of Waterbury in 1903 and during his two years' incumbency (1904-06) gave the city a most progressive and businesslike administration char- acterized by many measures of reform and improvement. During the period of America's participation in the world conflict, in 1917 and 1918, he rendered effective service to the government on the war industries board at Washington. He is a consistent member of the Episcopal Church, while his appreciation for the social amenities of life is manifest in his membership connections with the Waterbury Club, the University Club of New York, St. Anthony Club of New York, the New York Yacht Club of New York city, the Graduates Club of New Haven and the Home Club of Waterbury. While he has attained notable success in business, this has been but one phase of his life's activities, as he has ever recognized his obligations and utilized his opportunities for the benefit and upbuilding of his city and state.
SETH W. BALDWIN
The late Seth W. Baldwin, attorney for the Connecticut Com- pany and a prominent member of the New Haven bar for nearly a quarter of a century, was born in Naugatuck, New Haven county, December 7, 1880, a son of Henry C. and Millicent A. (Bingham) Baldwin, the former also a native of Naugatuck, while the latter was born in Westfield, Connecticut. The Baldwin family was established in Naugatuck in pioneer times and the grandfather of Seth W. Baldwin was engaged in preaching the gospel as a minister of the Methodist Church for a number of years. His son, Henry C. Baldwin, was graduated from the Yale Law School in 1872, was admitted to the bar and began his career as an attorney in Naugatuck, where he soon gained prominence and success. He also exerted a widely felt influence in public affairs and in the early '80s was a candidate for governor of the state on the greenback ticket. He filled various local offices with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents and
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he had a military record covering service with Company H of the Fifteenth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers during the Civil war. He joined the army as a private and was mustered out as a sergeant. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Millicent A. Bald- win, and by his two daughters, Mrs. Robert Saunders, of Bethany, and Mrs. Thomas Saunders, of Naugatuck.
Reared in his native city, Seth W. Baldwin there pursued his studies until the completion of his high school course in 1900 and then entered Yale University, from which he was graduated in 1904. For two years thereafter he attended the Yale Law School, which awarded him the degree of LL. B. in 1906, and in the same year he was admitted to practice at the Connecticut bar. He then entered the New Haven law office of the firm of Watrous & Day and in the fall of 1907 he became associated with the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad as claims attorney in New Haven, maintaining an office in New York city as well as in Hartford from 1909 until 1914. In the latter year he became identified with the Connecticut Company as assistant attorney and in 1919 was made attorney for the corporation, which posi- tion he filled until stricken with the illness which resulted in his death May 14, 1930, when in his fiftieth year. He rendered valu- able service as head of the legal department of the Connecticut Company and ranked among the best known lawyers in New Haven. He was deeply interested in safety devices of all sorts, in connection with his railroad and trolley interests, and in recog- nition of his knowledge and services in this field he was awarded the Anthony M. Brady silver medal.
Mr. Baldwin was married October 11, 1911, to Jessie Wells Thayer, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and they had one son, Thayer, who was born July 10, 1912, and is a student in the Taft School. Fraternally Mr. Baldwin was identified with the Masonic order and with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, while along social lines he had membership in the University Club of Hartford, the University Club of Bridgeport, the New Haven Yacht Club, the New Haven Country Club, the New Haven Lawn Club Association and the Graduate Club Association. During the World war he was a member of a machine gun company of the Connecticut National Guard and he became chairman of the New Haven Air Board under the late Mayor John B. Tower. His inter- ests and activities were broad and varied and he ever kept in
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close touch with the trend of the times along the lines of substan- tial progress and improvement. He readily supported every pro- ject for the public good, while at the same time he did important work in the field of corporation practice. In his passing the New Haven bar sustained the loss of one of its most able representa- tives, and in the home circle his memory will ever be cherished, for he was a most devoted husband and father.
GUNTHER E. H. MATHES
Yielding to the lure of the new world when a young man of nineteen, Gunther E. H. Mathes has found the opportunities which he sought and through their wise utilization he has steadily progressed toward the goal of success, becoming the leading com- mercial photographer in Waterbury, and is the pioneer in this field. A native of Germany, he was born in September, 1882, a son of Edmund and Katinka (Jaeger) Mathes. The father en- gaged in varied lines of business, conducting a hotel, an opera house and a brewery, and was a lifelong resident of Germany.
In the acquirement of an education Gunther E. H. Mathes attended the grammar and high schools of his native land, also taking a course in a German seminary. Severing home ties in 1901, he sailed for America and on arriving in this country he made his way to Thomaston, Connecticut, where he secured work in a factory. During his spare time he taught music and also played the pipe organ in a church, thus participating in the cul- tural as well as the industrial life of the community. He found the calling of a musician more profitable than factory work and spent some time in the Catskill mountains, playing the piano in leading hotels during the summer season.
In 1905 Mr. Mathes came to Waterbury and started in busi- ness as a photographer. His ability soon won recognition and the Morning Republican and Evening Democrat entrusted him with all of their work in the line of photography and photo- engraving. After a year, however, he found that he had more work than he could attend to and decided to confine his efforts to his private business, which was growing by leaps and bounds. He was the first commercial photographer in Waterbury; is also its oldest photo-engraver and makes his own copper plates. For
GUNTHER E. H. MATHES
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many years he has been the local photographer for the New York Times, and he does all of the photographic work for the city of Waterbury. In the lines in which he specializes he is unsurpassed and is widely known as the inventor of a photo-engraving process which was sold to the Waterbury Clock Company.
Mr. Mathes was married November 27, 1924, in Thomaston to Miss Clara Schinzel, whose ancestors settled in Connecticut in 1840. Mr. Mathes is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and in 1910 was made chief patriarch of Columbia Encampment. He belongs to a number of local German societies and has never lost interest in the fatherland but has a deep affec- tion for the country of his adoption, being thoroughly American in spirit and sympathies. While he has neither sought nor held public office, he is ever ready to cooperate in movements for the growth and betterment of his community and is an upright, patriotic and useful citizen whose life has been replete with un- recorded deeds of kindness and charity and marked by the accom- plishment of something worth while.
FRED A. WEBSTER
Fred A. Webster has contributed not a little to Waterbury's adornment in that his skill as an architect has enabled him to give to the city some of its fine structures. He has here practiced his profession continuously since 1918. His birth occurred in Providence, Rhode Island, on the 10th of July, 1880, and his par- ents, S. Stanton and Harriet (Matthewson) Webster, were also natives of that state.
Fred A. Webster pursued his education in the public schools, Bates Tutoring School and the Rhode Island School of Design at Providence, from which he was graduated in 1900. It was five years later that he became a resident of Waterbury, where he was a draftsman for W. E. Griggs, a well known architect, who died in 1918. Following the death of his former employer, Mr. Webster took over the business, which he has since continued. The general public acknowledges his high standing in profes- sional circles, and he has been the architect for a considerable number of the leading buildings of the city, including schools, women's clubs, churches, hospitals and fine residences. He was
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also the architect for Professor W. H. Bristol's motion picture studio, arranged for both moving and talking pictures, which is one of the interesting places in this section. He does not specialize along a particular line but continues in general practice and has a large clientele.
In 1905 Mr. Webster was married to Miss Mary A. Thompson, whose demise occurred in December, 1922. She had become the mother of a son, Stanton, who was graduated from Augusta Academy in Virginia; studied architecture at the University of Virginia and spent two years in the New York city offices of Polhemus & Coffin, architects. He is now associated in business with his father. Mr. Webster was married in Boston, Massa- chusetts, July 30, 1927 to Miss Florence Bonney.
He belongs to fraternal organizations, clubs, church and archi- tectural societies, but his professional duties and interests demand the greater part of his time.
FREDERICK STARKWEATHER CHASE
Frederick Starkweather Chase, a leading brass manufacturer of Waterbury, Connecticut, where as president he heads the ac- tivities of the Chase Companies, Inc., was born in Waterbury, July 2, 1862, a son of Augustus Sabin and Martha (Stark- weather) Chase. His father was of the sturdy stock that lays deep permanent foundations in manufacturing. He had been president of Holmes, Booth & Hayden and later president of the Benedict & Burnham Company brass rolling mill that later be- came part of the present American Brass Company. He left these companies in 1876 when a company that had originally, been known as Hitchcocks and later as the United States Button Company passed into his hands and was incorporated under the name of the Waterbury Manufacturing Company.
Two or three years after the father had bought and reorgan- ized the new brass company, Harry S. Chase, older brother of Frederick S. Chase, joined the father, assumed direct manage- ment and bought out entire control of the company. He then became president of the company and was joined a little later by his brother, Frederick S. Under their cooperative management, the plant, which manufactured brass goods exclusively, grew
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rapidly. To meet the needs of the factory, which was consuming metal in cast and rolled form in ever increasing quantities, in 1900 a mill was built and set in operation under the name of the Chase Rolling Mill Company. It was soon supplying not only the needs of the first Chase plant but was producing rod and sheet brass and wire for the open market. The business continued to prosper until, in 1911, a second brass mill known as Chase Metal Works, was founded. In preparation for this plant ground along the Naugatuck river was filled three to ten feet above the highest known water mark of the river. A greater plant was needed and an enlargement of the Chase Metal Works was decided upon in 1914 when the then bed of the Naugatuck river was changed to make available the necessary ground.
In 1917 all the Chase brass companies were merged into the Chase Companies, Inc. On the death of his brother, H. S. Chase, in 1918, Frederick S. Chase became president and successfully conducted the companies through the post war period of read- justment into a still greater growth. One of the most beautiful structures in Waterbury, an imposing granite office building begun in 1918, stands as an evidence of the success of these manu- facturing enterprises.
In 1921 the Chase Brass and Copper warehouses for distribu- tion of products of the companies were set up. In 1927 were acquired the business and warehouses of the U. T. Hungerford Brass & Copper Company, one of the most important companies in distribution of brass and copper products. In 1928 was bought the Ohio Brass & Copper Company and a large branch plant of the Waterbury corporation put under construction in Cleveland, Ohio.
In the spring of 1929 the Chase Companies were merged with the Kennecott Copper Corporation, which brought together the largest producer of copper and the largest independent unit brass industry of the country in one organization. Mr. Chase still stays as active head of the brass end of this combine and with his Waterbury organization as previously runs the plants of the Chase Companies. Mr. Chase is a member of the board of di- rectors, executive committee and finance committee of the Ken- necott Copper Corporation.
Mr. Chase was educated at Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, where he was graduated in 1883, and at Yale,
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where he was given the B. A. degree in 1887. He married Elsie Rowland of New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1890. They have six children, four daughters and two sons: Ethel Rowland, who married Robert L. Coe of Waterbury; Helen Starkweather, who married Rufus R. Rand of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Augustus Sabin, now consul at Tsingtao, China; Edmund Rowland, now with the Chase Companies; Fredrika, who married J. D. K. Brent, Jr., of Baltimore, Maryland; and Justine Whittemore.
Mr. Chase is president of the Noera Manufacturing Company and the Consolidated Safety Pin Company. He is a director of the Waterbury National Bank, Citizens and Manufacturers Na- tional Bank, Hope and What-Cheer Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany, Factory Mutual Liability Insurance Company, Automobile Mutual Insurance Company of America and the Waterbury Clock Company. He has long been interested in philanthropic work and enterprises of civic welfare. He is president of the Boys Club and president of the Waterbury Hospital Corporation. With other members of his family he has been the donator of parks, fine highways, and beauty spots to Waterbury, where the Chase Dispensary and many other noteworthy gifts bear evidence of Chase generosity.
He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engi- neers, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Scroll and Key, the Rotary Club, University Club of Waterbury, Yale Club of the Naugatuck Val- ley, the Waterbury Country Club, the Graduates Club and Eliza- bethan Club of New Haven and the Yale Club of New York. He is an Episcopalian. In politics he is a republican.
(This brings up to date the history of F. S. Chase as recorded in "Connecticut History Makers" by Stevenson.)
EDWARD COHEN
Thrown upon his own resources at an early age, Edward Cohen has placed his dependence upon the indispensable qualities of industry, determination and perseverance, which have enabled him to overcome many obstacles and difficulties. Never losing sight of his objective, he has steadily advanced and is now promi- nently associated with business interests of Waterbury as a cer- tified public accountant.
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Born in Waterbury October 8, 1897, Mr. Cohen lost his parents, Abraham and Ella Alice Cohen, in infancy and was reared by sympathetic, kind-hearted strangers. While attending school he earned money by selling papers and running errands, thus con- tributing toward his support, and in 1912 was graduated from the Margaret Croft school as valedictorian of his class. His first real position was that of office boy with the Connecticut Light & Power Company and due to the kindly interest of Charles L. Campbell, its secretary and treasurer, his progress was rapid. While in the employ of the company he attended evening high school and in 1914 completed his fundamental academic educa- tion. In the meantime his studiousness, diligence and depend- ability won him repeated promotions with the lighting company. During the World war he did electrical engineering and construc- tion work. In 1919 he rejoined the lighting company as traveling auditor and was connected with the installation and statistical analysis of rate systems for public utilities. During the period of his service with the Connecticut Light & Power Company he gained valuable experience which has constituted the basis of his success in later years.
It was in January, 1920, that Mr. Cohen decided to engage in business for himself and established the Audit Service System, of which he was the sole owner and general manager. In May, 1929, he passed the examination before the state board of ac- countancy at Hartford and on July 31st of that year became a certified public accountant. With the attainment of his degree he discontinued the style of the Audit Service System and has since conducted the business under the name of Edward Cohen, Certified Public Accountant. Since 1920, through constant study, he has gained an expert knowledge of finance and accounting, and in addition to his regular practice throughout Connecticut, his numerous assignments have taken him through Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York and Long Island. He keeps experienced accountants constantly busy, adding to the force as occasion requires, and derives much of his business from a large clientele outside of Waterbury.
On the 14th of June, 1924, Mr. Cohen was married to Miss Edna Louise Braverman, of New York city, and they have two children, Allyne Zeena and Andrew Stuart. Mrs. Cohen has be- come well known as a talented writer of short stories and reserves
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a portion of her time for dramatic and philanthropic work. Mr. Cohen is a member of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants, American Society of Certified Public Accountants, and American Gas Association. Throughout his career he has been a conscientious worker and an earnest student, ever striving to enlarge his field of usefulness. He has demonstrated that in the individual and not in his environment lies the secret of his success, and his life, much as it holds of accomplishment, is still rich in promise, for he has not yet reached the zenith of his powers.
VERNAL W. BATES
The business which his father established more than a half century ago has been successfully carried forward by Vernal W. Bates, who is widely and favorably known as president of The L. C. Bates Company, located at 46-52 George street, New Haven. He was born in this city, June 23, 1879, a son of Lewis C. and Ella M. (Warner) Bates, who were natives of Paris, Maine. They settled in New Haven in 1873 and six years later the father started the business which in 1894 was incorporated under the present style of The L. C. Bates Company. He began on George street near the store now occupied by the company and at first handled only butter, eggs and cheese. With the incorporation of the business a cold storage plant was built, which was the first in the city and with the second building, which was erected in 1904, is the largest in the city. The cold storage plant increased the scope of activities, coming in time to include poultry, frozen fruits, frozen eggs and the largest fur and garment cold storage facilities, together with a general cold storage service for the needs of the city. The undertaking prospered from the begin- ning and continued to grow from year to year under the wise guidance of the founder of the business, who was active in its control until 1901, when he retired. He was one of the early merchants of the city and had a wide acquaintance throughout the surrounding country. While his business ability and enter- prise made him a prominent figure in commercial circles of New Haven, he was equally well known as a philanthropist and made liberal donations to many public institutions in this city and else-
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where, among them the Goodwill Home at Hinckley, Maine, to which he was the second largest contributor. His rare qualities of heart and mind endeared him to all with whom he came in contact, and his death in June, 1929, at the ripe age of eighty- six years, was deeply mourned.
The public schools of New Haven afforded the educational advantages enjoyed by Vernal W. Bates, who went to work in his father's store at the age of seventeen years and diligently applied himself to the tasks assigned him, rapidly assimilating the de- tails of the business, to which he has devoted the best energies of his life. Having passed through the various departments, he was entrusted with the responsibilities of an executive, acting for a time as assistant treasurer, next as treasurer, then as vice president, and at his father's death succeeded him in the office of president and treasurer. However, long before that time he had taken over the burden of management and for more than twenty years has been the active head of the business, which is the largest and oldest concern of its kind in New Haven. In its control he brings to bear the administrative capacity and clear vision which characterized his father's commercial career and has always adhered to the principles of honor and integrity upon which the success of this pioneer mercantile institution was founded. His cooperation has also been of benefit to other corporate interests, including the Judge Publishing Company, of which he is the treasurer and controlling stockholder, and the First National Bank & Trust Company and the Morris Plan Bank of New Haven, which number him among their directors.
Mr. Bates was married August 16, 1923, in New Haven to Miss Florence Hermina Longstean, who in addition to her pri- vate charities is keenly interested in children's work, being vice president of the Crippled Children's Aid Society and very active in the work of the children's camp at William Wirt Winchester Hospital.
Outdoor life appeals to Mr. Bates, who has a summer camp at Lockes Mills in Maine, where forty-five thousand pine trees have been planted, and a summer home at Pawson Park, a suburb of Branford, Connecticut. He enjoys the sport of fishing and also plays golf. During the World war period he was president of the Quinnipiack Club, filling the office for two years, and served as president of the New Haven Country Club for four
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years. He is also identified with the New Haven Colony His- torical Society and has attained the thirty-second degree in the Masonic order, belonging to New Haven Commandery, No. 2, K. T., to Bridgeport Consistory of the Scottish Rite, and is a life member of several Masonic bodies. He has been active in behalf of the Community Chest of New Haven and was its vice presi- dent for some time. A thorough believer in the Boy Scouts of America, he served for seven years as president of the local council and financed their present summer camp. Mr. Bates has furthered many movements for civic growth and betterment and projects seeking the benefit of the individual, and his work along those lines has been just as effective and resultant as his efficient efforts in the field of business.
THEODORE LILLEY
Theodore Lilley, a native son and prominent citizen of Water- bury, is successfully engaged in business as president of the Citi- zens Coal Company here. He was born December 1, 1888, his parents being Hon. George Leavens and Anna E. H. (Steele) Lilley, who were married in Waterbury, June 17, 1884. His father, born in Oxford, Massachusetts, August 3, 1859, died sud- denly on the 21st of April, 1909, at the beginning of his term of office as governor of Connecticut. He became one of the largest holders of real estate in the Naugatuck valley and indeed in the state, owning extensive property in the heart of Torrington, Waterbury, Winsted and Naugatuck. His career in Waterbury's city politics was followed by election to the legislature and then by three elections to congress, in which he served from '1903 until 1909. He was chosen governor in 1908 but died in the executive residence at Hartford in the fourth month of the following year, leaving a widow and three sons: John, Frederick and Theodore.
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