USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 38
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Having mastered the elementary branches of learning taught in the district schools of Berlin, Paul P. Ives continued his edu- cation in the public schools of New Haven and afterward learned blacksmithing and tool making in East Haven. In 1902 he pur- chased the blacksmith business of John W. Grovener near the East River bridge on Clapboard hill in Guilford, where he con- ducted business for five years. After having spent a similar period as a partner of Mr. Grovener, he purchased the shop, which he conducted until June 1, 1916, when he sold out.
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In 1910, in association with Robert DeForest Bristol, who was postmaster of Guilford for a considerable period, Mr. Ives founded the Ives-Bristol Realty Company, which has since been incorporated as Ives Bristol, Inc., and is now the leading real estate and insurance agency in the southeastern part of the county. In 1917, Mr. Ives was appointed on the staff of the New Haven County Farm Bureau in charge of farm labor during the war, while subsequently he was made county club agent in charge of 4-H Club work for boys and girls in the different towns in the county, thus serving until 1930, when he resigned. More than sixty-five hundred boys and girls received instruction and inspira- tion in live-stock raising, farming and the household arts under his direction and many notable results have accrued from the work. Mr. Ives is nationally known as a breeder and judge of good poultry; some of the greatest prize winners at the annual poultry shows at Madison Square Garden of New York and in the city of Boston were produced on his Clapboard Hill farm at Guilford. He has judged poultry at the greatest shows in the country, presiding at exhibits at Madison Square Garden of New York and in Boston, the Sesquicentennial at Philadelphia, in Baltimore and in Portland, Maine, while smaller shows in all sections of the United States have availed themselves of his judi- cial ability. He was elected New England director of the Amer- ican Poultry Association in 1923 and has been elected for three successive terms with little opposition. He has for twenty years been secretary-treasurer of the Connecticut Poultry Breeders Society, has served as president and secretary of the Connecticut Poultry Association and is now member-at-large of its executive committee.
For three years Mr. Ives was officially identified with the Connecticut State Editorial Association as vice president in New Haven county. He represented his town in the state legislature in the session of 1917. He organized and for ten years was secre- tary-treasurer of the Elm City National Farm Loan Association, the local branch of the Federal Land Bank located at Springfield, Massachusetts. He served as chairman of the board of education in Guilford for five years, was justice of the peace for ten years and was a member of the republican town committee for twenty years. He is a past master of St. Albans Lodge, A. F. & A. M.,
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was made the first secretary of Guilford Grange and has ever been interested in civic and fraternal welfare and organization.
Mr. Ives was married on November 27, 1902, in Wallingford, to Miss Blanche Garfield Hammond, of New Haven, the daugh- ter of Rev. and Mrs. Samuel M. Hammond. Rev. Hammond was a widely known and much loved minister of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, with pastorates in New Haven, Torrington, New Britain and other cities in Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Ives are the parents of three children: Charles Pomeroy (II), associate editor of the New Haven Journal Courier and managing editor of Eugenics, the official organ of the American Eugenics Society; Eugenia Hammond, instructor in English and music appreciation in the Guilford high school; and Francis Howell Ives-Whiteman, office secretary of the United Church in New Haven.
On August 1, 1930, Mr. Ives tendered his resignation to the United States Department of Agriculture, to take effect October 1, to accept the managing editorship of a group of magazines devoted to live stock and outdoor life. These include "Bench and Field," devoted to field trials and dog shows; "Cackle and Crow," in the interest of the poultry industry; "Good Gardens," special- izing in the amateur side of flower and vegetable gardening; "The Orpingtons," a specialty publication for Orpington breeders; and "The Cowbell," covering the field of dairy cattle and their breeders.
CHARLES FRANK ROBERTS
For twenty-three years New Haven has been the scene of the professional activities of Charles F. Roberts, attorney at law, with office at 902 Chapel street. He was born in Simsbury, Con- necticut, September 30, 1861, a son of Charles Lowe and Jane Geraldine (Sanford) Roberts, the former a native of New York city and the latter of Simsbury. On the distaff side he is descended from the Adams family of Massachusetts, so well known in con- nection with the early history of our country, and among his ancestors in the paternal line was Charles Lowe Roberts, of New York, who in his day and generation attained prominence as the head of a large firm engaged in the importation of teas, coffee and spices from China and other oriental countries. The
CHARLES F. ROBERTS
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father of Charles F. Roberts prepared for the profession of a civil engineer but most of his life was spent on a farm near Sims- bury, where he owned a large tract of land. During the Civil war he served as a provost marshal and subsequently filled other public offices of trust and responsibility.
Reared on the home farm, situated north of Simsbury, Charles F. Roberts attended the district school of that locality, the Tariff- ville grammar school and the Waterbury high school. He next entered the Connecticut Literary Institute at Suffield, where he won the B. S. degree in 1883, afterward studying law under the direction of the late William C. Case, and was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1907. He has since practiced in New Haven, accurately applying his knowledge to the points in litigation and successfully handling the legal interests entrusted to his care. For five years he was prosecuting attorney for West Haven and served as counsel for that town during the period of the World war. He is a member of the New Haven County Bar Association and the American Bar Association, and at all times he has been a close follower of the highest ethical standards of his profession.
In January, 1890, Mr. Roberts was married at Winsted, Con- necticut, to Miss Belle F. Pearl, and for many years they have made their home in West Haven.
MICHAEL JOSEPH DARCEY
The notable progress made by The Darcey Transportation Company of Waterbury within a period of ten years is chiefly due to the initiative, enterprise and ability of its founder and president, Michael Joseph Darcey, who has gained a substantial measure of success in the trucking business. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, September 17, 1884, a son of Patrick and Eileen (Reardon) Darcey, who were natives of Ireland. On coming to this country the father settled in Winsted, Connecti- cut, where he engaged in business as a blacksmith and carriage builder. He is now deceased, and the mother has also passed away.
Michael J. Darcey acquired his education in the public schools of Brooklyn, and his first money was earned while working in the Winsted Hosiery Mill. At the end of two years he left the
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mill and entered the shop conducted by his father and uncle, under whom he worked for four years, mastering the blacksmith's trade. During the ensuing period of six years he was employed in the plant of the Edged Tool Company of Winsted, becoming thoroughly proficient in that line of work, and was next with the Collins Company of Collinsville, Connecticut, making carpenter's tools, hatchets, axes, etc., for two years. Returning to Brooklyn, he spent two years with the Clark Company, manufacturers of springs, axles and other hardware for wagons and carriages, and afterward was employed as a plater in Winsted shops for a simi- lar period. This experience qualified him for the position of foreman of the plating room of the International Silver Com- pany of Waterbury, and for several years he remained with the corporation, working in the French grade department. For a time he was connected with the police force of Waterbury as a supernumerary and afterward was a regular patrolman for three years. On the 1st of April, 1920, he started in the hauling busi- ness with a capital of three hundred dollars, purchasing one second-hand truck, which he utilized in moving furniture, unload- ing freight cars, etc., and six months later he invested in another truck. As he prospered he added to his equipment, which now comprises twelve Mack trucks of the Bull Dog type, and with these he maintains a regular freight service. Operating on schedule time, the trucks leave every night for Providence, Rhode Island, Worcester and Boston, Massachusetts, and all intermedi- ate points. All goods are insured in transit and in their handling great care is exercised. Mr. Darcey also maintains a modern garage and terminal with an unloading platform and employs skilled mechanics to service the trucks. Each step in the develop- ment of the business has resulted from deep thought and care- fully matured plans and in the control of his interests Mr. Darcey manifests the wisdom, foresight and decisiveness of the successful executive.
On the 28th of October, 1912, Mr. Darcey was married in Waterbury to Miss Mary C. Dodd, and their children are Edward and Eileen, aged respectively sixteen and twelve years. The son is a high school student and the daughter is attending grammar school.
Formerly Mr. Darcey was a member of Company M of the Connecticut National Guard, and he is now identified with the
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Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus. He adheres to the Catholic faith and in politics is nonpartisan, supporting the men and measures that he deems will best conserve the public weal and further the interests of good government. He is broad in his views, progressive in his ideas and high in his standards-a man whom to know is to esteem and admire.
THOMAS HOOKER, JR.
For a quarter of a century Thomas Hooker, Jr., has been a member of the New Haven bar. A native of Connecticut, he was born in Woodbridge, July 26, 1882, and is a son of the late Thomas and Sarah (Bowles) Hooker. Mr. Hooker's father, a graduate of Yale in 1869 and a life long resident of New Haven, was prominently known in financial circles as president of the First National Bank, and as president of the New Haven Trust Company, before the latter by merger became the present Union & New Haven Trust Company. His ancestral record shows close connection with old and distinguished families of New England, and he is a direct descendant of Thomas Hooker, the founder of the Connecticut colony, of Jonathan Edwards, first president of Princeton, of Timothy Dwight, the first president of Yale of that name, and of Samuel Bowles, the founder and editor of the Springfield Republican. He prepared for college at the Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven and the Taft School in Water- town, was graduated from Yale in 1903 and from the Harvard Law School in 1906. He began the practice of law in the latter year and in 1912 became a member of the firm of White, Daggett & Hooker. The following year this firm merged with Bristol, Stoddard & Fisher, under the name of Bristol & White, which has since remained the name of his firm.
Mr. Hooker was married September 14, 1915, in Rye Beach, New Hampshire, to Miss Emily Malbone Morgan, a daughter of the late Rev. George Brinley Morgan, who was rector of Christ Church, New Haven. They have one son, Thomas Hooker (III), and three daughters, Catharine Putnam, Dorothy Morgan and Anne Dwight Hooker.
Mr. Hooker is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars. His
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college fraternity is Delta Kappa Epsilon. He belongs to the Elihu Club of Yale College, the Graduates Club, Quinnipiack Club, New Haven Lawn Club and New Haven Country Club, of New Haven, the Yale Club of New York and Leamans Hall at Charleston, South Carolina. He is a member of Center Church of New Haven and served as treasurer of that parish from 1911 until 1916. He is a republican and was a member of the board of finance of New Haven for three terms. During the World war he served on the draft board for the city of New Haven and in the Home Guard. He has been much interested in philanthropic work and for some years was president of the Organized Char- ities Association of New Haven, and is a director of various charitable institutions.
BENNET BRONSON
Few residents of Waterbury are better known or occupy a higher place in public esteem than does Bennet Bronson, vice president of the Scovill Manufacturing Company and a business man of marked ability. He was born in this city, December 3, 1887, a son of Juliu's Hobart and Edith (Terry) Bronson, the former now deceased. A history of the family appears elsewhere in this volume in connection with the sketch of the father, who was one of Waterbury's foremost business men and most valuable citizens.
Bennet Bronson was a pupil in the schools of Waterbury and completed a course in the Taft School, afterward matriculating in Yale University, from which he was graduated in 1909 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then became connected with the Oakville Company, working under his father, who at that time was treasurer and business manager. Diligent, adaptable and trustworthy, the son won repeated promotions, mastering every phase of the industry, and he has now been connected with the enterprise for a period of twenty-one years. When the busi- ness was merged with that of the Scovill Manufacturing Com- pany he was elected vice president of that corporation but is still active in the management of the Oakville branch of the business, to which he has given the best efforts of his life. Inheriting the keen discernment and executive capacity of his father, Mr. Bron-
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son has materially furthered the growth and prosperity of one of the large industries of the Naugatuck valley and as a director of the Colonial Trust Company, the Dime Savings Bank and the Morris Plan Bank he also figures prominently in financial circles of Waterbury.
On the 20th of January, 1916, Bennet Bronson married Elea- nor Crosby Lindley, of New York city, and they have three chil- dren: Lindley, David Bennet and Edith Terry. Mr. Bronson maintains his physical and mental vigor by outdoor exercise and is an enthusiastic member of the Appalachian Mountain Club. He also belongs to the Waterbury Club and the Country Club of Waterbury and through these associations his social nature finds expression. He votes with the republican party and is deeply interested in the vital questions and issues of the day but has never been active in politics. Deeply engrossed in his work, he has progressed steadily in usefulness and influence and is one of the outstanding business men of Waterbury. There is also an interesting military chapter in the life record of Mr. Bronson, who was commissioned a captain in the Reserve Corps before the World war in the quartermaster's department and enlisted during the World war period, being assigned to the Quartermasters Corps of the United States Army. As captain he spent ten months over- seas, during which period he was attached to different units and he is still active in Reserves being now a major. In matters of citizenship he is patriotic and public-spirited, being ever ready to serve his community and country when needed.
CHARLES HINE NETTLETON
Charles Hine Nettleton, who during the last quarter century of his life occupied the presidency of the New Haven Gas Light Company and was also president, secretary, treasurer and gen- eral manager of the Derby Gas & Electric Company, was long and prominently identified with the development and conduct of gas interests in this section of the state. He was born in New Haven, June 29, 1850, and was descended from Samuel Nettleton, the founder of the American branch of the family, who came from England about 1640, settling first in Wethersfield, Connecticut. He was afterward one of those who bought Totoket, now Bran-
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ford, in 1644, and to that place he removed the same year. His descendants afterward settled in Milford, Connecticut, and later became residents of Washington, this state. It is from the last named branch of the family that Charles H. Nettleton came. His father, who also bore the name of Charles Nettleton, was a lawyer by profession. He married Ellen Hine, a woman of very strong moral influence.
In his boyhood days Charles H. Nettleton attended the public schools of New York city, where the family home was established, and after completing his studies there he spent one year at the "Gunnery" at Washington, Connecticut. Immediately afterward he entered the College of the City of New York, in which he pur- sued the scientific course, being graduated in 1870 with the B. S. degree. Following his graduation he went to Mount Vernon, New York, to act as manager of the gas plant. In 1873 he was made secretary and continued to fill that position until 1890, when the company sold out. In 1871 he also went to Derby, Connecti- cut, to take charge of the construction of the plant of the Derby Gas Company which was then being built. On the organization of the company he was elected its secretary and treasurer and filled the dual position until 1900, when he was chosen president, retaining also the office of treasurer but retiring from the posi- tion of secretary. From 1900 until his death in 1925 he was also president of the New Haven Gas Light Company, while from 1890 until 1891 he was at the head of the American Gas Com- pany of Philadelphia. He was secretary of the New England Gas Association from 1885 until 1891 and during the years 1893 and 1894 was president of the American Gas Light Association. Mr. Nettleton enjoyed a national reputation as an authority on the manufacture and utilization of gas. A contemporary biog- rapher, writing of Mr. Nettleton when he was still an active factor in the world's work, said: "He has from the outset of his business career been identified with the gas industry and there is no phase of the business with which he is not thoroughly famil- iar, and in every department is most competent, having compre- hensive knowledge of practices of manufacture while displaying equal skill in administration and in the performance of executive duties." He was elected treasurer and general manager of the Birmingham Water Company in 1874 and twenty years later, in 1894, was made president of the Birmingham National Bank of
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Derby. At one time he occupied the presidency of the Derby- Shelton Board of Trade.
On the 11th of November, 1874, Mr. Nettleton was united in marriage to Miss Katharine Arnold, a daughter of the late Joseph Arnold, who for many years was cashier of the Birmingham National Bank of Derby. Mr. and Mrs. Nettleton were the par- ents of two daughters: Katharine Arnold, who resides at 61 Seymour avenue in Derby ; and Ellen Arnold, who in 1913 became the wife of Jay Cooke McClure, of New Haven, Connecticut.
Mr. Nettleton was a republican in his political views. He served as warden of the borough of Shelton during the first two years of its existence but was never a politician in the sense of the office seeker, although always interested in the vital questions and issues of the day. His religious faith was indicated by his mem- bership in St. James Protestant Episcopal Church, of which he was a vestryman and which he served as treasurer from 1885 until his death. He was a Knight Templar Mason who attained the honorary thirty-third degree in the order, and he was also a member of Alpha Delta Phi and Phi Beta Kappa, the latter an honorary scholastic fraternity. His name was likewise on the membership rolls of the Graduates Club, the Quinnipiack Club, the Union League Club, the New Haven Lawn Club, the New Haven Country Club and the Lotus Club of New York. He took many trips to England and other European countries. Mr. Net- tleton was a man of strong character, high ideals and earnest purpose, and cheerfully gave of his efforts and influence in the support of such movements as were calculated to promote the public good. He was strong and loyal in his friendships and his death was deeply regretted throughout the community, for he had won a warm place in the hearts of the people among whom he had lived for so many years.
At a special meeting of the directors of the New Haven Gas Light Company, held November 3, 1925, the following minutes and resolutions were unanimously adopted by a rising vote :
"Charles Hine Nettleton, president of the New Haven Gas Light Company, died at his home October 29, 1925, in his seventy- sixth year.
"In the death of Mr. Nettleton a prominent figure in the gas industry of the country has passed away. He was a member of many national organizations in which he was a pioneer and
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leader, and had been honored with the presidency of the American Gas Light Association, the New England Association of Gas Engineers and the Society of Gas Lighting.
"An officer of the Derby Gas & Electric Company from its organization and its president since 1900, he also in that year became president of the New Haven Gas Light Company. His progressiveness and foresight, his intimate knowledge of details with the ability also to view things broadly, his integrity and sound judgment have all contributed largely to its subsequent development.
"Of charming personality in which courtesy and consideration were pleasantly blended, simple yet dignified in manner, just yet generous, earnest in his convictions yet open-minded, he was be- loved by his associates and respected and esteemed by all who knew him through his many and diversified relationships.
"In his death his community has lost a respected and public- spirited citizen ; his profession, an able and progressive member, and our company, an efficient and honored executive.
"With keen appreciation of his service to this company and with deep regret for his loss, we add this minute to our records.
"Resolved, That the foregoing minute be entered upon the records of this Board and a copy sent to Mrs. Nettleton and the press."
ELIZABETH KIRK
Elizabeth Kirk, well known in educational and art circles, has made valuable contribution to the cultural development of Water- bury, her native city. She is a daughter of Henry and Bethia (Wilson) Kirk and traces her ancestry through five generations of Scotch in both the paternal and maternal lines. Her grand- father, Henry Kirk, Sr., accompanied by his family, left Paisley, Scotland, in 1848 and after crossing the Atlantic settled in Water- bury, Connecticut, where in 1852 he built the residence on Grove street which was his home to the time of his death. As a mill- wright at the East Brass Mill he made patterns for some of the first brass utensils used in this country. Henry Kirk, Jr., the father of Elizabeth Kirk, married Bethia Wilson of Waterbury in 1859 and at that time bought the present Kirk residence at
ELIZABETH KIRK
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141 Grove street, so that the Kirk homesteads have been on Grove street continuously since 1852, or for more than three-quarters of a century. Henry Kirk, Jr., was with the old Holmes, Booth & Hayden Brass Company for many years and afterward spent seventeen years with the Plume & Atwood Manufacturing Com- pany, filling the responsible position of mechanical superintend- ent. He was one of the outstanding citizens of Waterbury, not only widely known through his business connections, but also because of the active part which he took in civic affairs, further- ing all measures which he deemed of vital worth to the com- munity. He was a Congregationalist and a zealous worker in the church. To him and his wife were born five children, one son and four daughters, namely: Henry, who died at the age of eleven years; Margaret, who passed away when fifty-three years of age; Elizabeth; Beth; and Harriett.
After completing a course of study in the Waterbury high school Elizabeth Kirk took up the profession of teaching, which she followed for eight years. She then began studying along another line and in due course of time became a graduate nurse. She devoted twenty-five years to work of that character, most of the time acting as a private nurse. In her leisure hours through- out that period she took great delight in making sketches in water colors and for the past five years since her retirement from the professional field of nursing she has spent her time in travel, visiting many parts of the world. She has long been keenly interested in art and is now a student in the Waterbury Art School. From February until August, 1927, she toured Germany, Austria, Greece, Crete, Sicily, Malta and Italy, and in September and October of the same year visited California and the Hawaiian islands. In 1928 her travels took her to the Pacific coast and she visited Seattle, Vancouver, Alaska and also the Great Lakes region. In 1929 she went to Boston, New York, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Arctic circle and later visited relatives in England and Scotland. She has just returned from a four months' trip to South Africa. Some one has said that travel is the most comprehensive college course and Miss Kirk is constant- ly broadening her knowledge in this way.
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