USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 9
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hold the dual position. The Lane Construction Corporation is the largest pavement construction organization in the country not building patented pavements. Its business connections cover a wide area, and under the careful guidance of Mr. Smith the business of the corporation has continuously increased. He is a strong and forceful executive whose plans are carefully made and promptly executed and his contribution to the success of the Meri- den organization has been a most important one. He is likewise a director and executive official of the American Road Builders Association.
In Meriden, in 1895, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Bertha Grace Lane, a daughter of John Sherman and Emma Shepard (Plumb) Lane. Their family now numbers two daugh- ters: Sally Lane, the wife of John B. Kirby, Jr .; and Helen Lane Smith. There is one grandchild, Sibyl Smith Kirby.
The family attends the First Congregational Church and Mr. Smith is a past president of the Young Men's Christian Association. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. He has many interesting social and club connections, belonging to the Home Club, the Highland Golf Club of Meriden, the Pine Orchard Country Club, of which he has been president, the Lake County Golf Club of Eustis, Florida, of which he is a director, and the Sons of the American Revolution. The interests and activities of his life are well balanced and he has ever fully met his duties as a citizen as well as a business executive. A New England philosopher has said "an institution is but the lengthened shadow of a man," and the Lane Construction Corpo- ration of Meriden largely stands in that relation to William Rice Smith, a man of broad vision and keen insight who carries for- ward to successful completion whatever he undertakes.
M. J. DALY & SONS, INC.
The Waterbury corporation of M. J. Daly & Sons has been in continuous existence for nearly a half century and occupies a position of leadership among the mechanical and construction engineering concerns of New England. It was organized in the year 1882 by the late M. J. Daly, a native of South Norwalk, Connecticut, who spent the greater part of his life in the heating
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business. He was born in 1850 and when a little lad of five years moved with his parents to a farm at Baltic, this state, where he was reared to agricultural pursuits. Nature endowed him with marked musical talent and soon he had gained more than local renown both as vocalist and instrumentalist. He entered the em- ploy of Cheney Brothers in 1871 and while with them formed the acquaintance of some steamfitters in the service of Pitkin Broth- ers of Hartford who were doing heating work and power piping in the Cheney plant and with whom he determined to associate himself. Thus after two years' service with Cheney Brothers he entered the employ of Pitkin Brothers in Hartford, at that time the leading steamfitters and boiler-makers in Connecticut and in fact in the New England states. Recognition of his ability on the part of his employers soon won him promotion to the posi- tion of foreman of the piping department, but in 1882 he came to Waterbury and embarked in business on his own account. In the old office of the Waterbury Farrel Foundry & Machine Com- pany on Bank street he began the conduct of a heating, power and sanitary plumbing business, also handling automatic sprink- lers, boilers and smoke-stacks. The enterprise steadily grew and about 1890 a removal was made to Nos. 553 and 555 Bank street. There the company erected buildings, the main structure being one hundred by thirty-three feet and three stories in height with basement. To this has been added another building eighty by thirty feet, two stories and basement, together with a pipe shed one hundred by fifty feet. In 1914 the company extended its real estate holdings by the purchose of an additional fifty-five feet frontage and in 1929 purchased sixty-five feet more, making a frontage of one hundred and seventy-five feet. The business de- veloped year by year and in 1902 was incorporated under the name of M. J. Daly & Sons, Inc., with M. J. Daly as president and treasurer, Edmund J. Daly as vice president and Jeremiah M. Daly as secretary. There was no change in the official personnel until January, 1906, when M. J. Daly died as the result of a run- away accident. The remarkable growth and expansion of the business under his direction may be attributed to an unusual com- bination of mechanical skill and splendid executive ability. In January, 1906, his son, Edmund J. Daly, succeeded to the presi- dency and Jeremiah M. Daly became secretary and treasurer, the latter continuing in his dual official capacity until relieved of the
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duties of secretary by M. J. Daly, Jr., in 1916. Since the death of Jeremiah M. Daly in 1923, Edmund J. Daly has been both presi- dent and treasurer. Frank J. Daly, another son of M. J. Daly, the founder, now has charge of the engineering department of the business and specializes on residence heating. The successors of M. J. Daly attribute their success to their honored sire, who laid the strong foundation of the extensive and important in- dustry now under their control. The company is known all over the New England states and in fact throughout the country, having executed contracts as far west as Wisconsin and south to the Carolinas and Virginia. The Canadian firm of M. J. Daly & Sons, Ltd., was organized to supervise extensive operations across the border. Employment is furnished to about two hun- dred people and the business is capitalized for four hundred thousand dollars. It is worthy of note that at the time of the world war the Daly corporation had the greatest percentage of men in the service of any plant in Waterbury. M. J. Daly & Sons are recognized as the leading mechanical engineering and con- tracting firm in New England and are equipped to handle any job of this character for industrial or residence purposes, includ- ing steam, water, oil or gas installations. They also conduct a boiler-making shop and specialize on gas and electric welding.
As indicated above, M. J. Daly possessed a splendid bass voice and this, combined with his skill as an instrumentalist, brought him in great demand as a performer in all the leading amateur plays, operas and other entertainments in Waterbury. He ren- dered effective service to his fellow townsmen on the board of the common council and as a member of the board of public safety, and he withheld his aid from no civic movement which depended upon the cooperation of public-spirited, generous citizens. He was twice wedded, being first united in marriage to Miss Ellen Col- lins of Baltic, Connecticut, by whom he had four children: Ed- mund J., Jeremiah M., Daniel D. and John. To him and his second wife, who in her maidenhood was Julian Mulane of Thomaston, Connecticut, were born six children, namely : Eugene, Mary, one who died in infancy, Joseph, Irene and Frank.
Jeremiah M. Daly, of this family, who was treasurer of the firm of M. J. Daly & Sons, had been continuously identified there- with for a period of thirty-five years when he passed away in 1923. He was born in Manchester, Connecticut, December 25,
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1872, and in the acquirement of an education attended the public schools and the Harrington Business College of Waterbury. It was in 1888, when a youth of sixteen years, that he became asso- ciated with his father in business, drafting and laying out the plans for the shop. He was made secretary of the company at the time of incorporation in 1902 and at his father's death in 1906 became secretary and treasurer but was succeeded in the former official capacity by M. J. Daly, Jr., in 1916. His able work as chief engineer and estimator contributed in substantial measure to the steady growth and success of the business, and his death in 1923 was a great blow to his brother, Edmund J., who has since dis- charged the official duties of both president and treasurer. Jere- miah M. Daly maintained an independent attitude in politics. He held membership in the Waterbury Country Club and fraternally was affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He long figured prominently in musical circles and was through- out life a student of the art. For years he was a well known choir singer, connected with the choirs of Sacred Heart, St. Francis Xavier, St. Patrick's and St. Margaret's Catholic Churches.
On the 19th of September, 1894, Jeremiah M. Daly was mar- ried to Miss Sadie F. Green, of Waterbury, a daughter of William Green, and they were the parents of two children, Helen V. and Marion. Both daughters have received liberal educational train- ing and are accomplished pianists.
Edmund Joseph Daly, a resident of Waterbury for nearly a half century and a leading representative of industrial interests here as president and treasurer of M. J. Daly & Sons, Inc., was born in Baltic, New London county, Connecticut, December 21, 1870. In 1872 his parents established their home in Hartford, where he attended the public schools to the age of about twelve years, when the family came to Waterbury. Here he pursued a high school course and when a youth of fifteen entered the plant of his father and began learning the business under the latter's direction. He thoroughly mastered the various phases of the work and upon the incorporation of the business in 1902 he was made vice president of the company, succeeding to the presidency upon the death of his father in 1906. During the past seven years he has filled the dual position of president and treasurer of M. J. Daly & Sons, Inc., and he is also a director of the Waterbury Trust Company and the West Side Savings Bank. Moreover, he is serv-
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ing most acceptably as a member of the board of park com- missioners. He has membership in the Waterbury Club, is a com- municant of St. Margaret's Catholic Church and fraternally is identified with the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He shares in the musical talent of the family and turns to music for much of his recreation.
In 1890 Edmund J. Daly was married to Miss Catherine E. Guilfoile, of Waterbury, and they are the parents of two sons and two daughters. Lauretta, who was educated in the public schools, in Notre Dame Convent of Waterbury and in the State Normal School of Danbury, Connecticut, is the wife of Richard F. Vickers, of Waterbury, and they have one son, Edmund Daly. M. J. Daly received a thorough grammar and high school educa- tion and afterward took up the study of mechanical and electrical engineering in Villanova College of Villanova, Pennsylvania, where he was graduated. He married Mary Fletcher and is now secretary of M. J. Daly & Sons. Edmund J. Daly, Jr., received his educational training in grade and high schools and in the Waterbury Business College and studied music in Yale Univer- sity. During the period of the World war he was captain of a gun crew in the navy, having charge of a six-inch gun on the battleship Montana. He is now active in his father's business. Grace Daly has also been accorded liberal educational advantages, having supplemented her public school training by study in Notre Dame Convent of Waterbury, the College of New Rochelle in New York and Trinity College of Washington, D. C.
CAPTAIN HENRY J. DONNELLY
No resident of New Haven is better known than Captain Henry J. Donnelly, whose title was won by long and distinguished service as a police officer of the city and who is now at the head of the Donnelly Detective Service, Inc. He was born in Troy, New York, January 4, 1861, a son of Henry and Maria (Colton) Donnelly, who were natives of Ireland, whence they came to America in their youth, settling in Troy. In 1877 they removed to New Haven, where the father was employed as a stone-cutter.
Captain Donnelly completed his high school course in New
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Haven and was next a student in the Cargill Business College. His first position was that of a clerk in the employ of N. A. Fuller- ton, who was the proprietor of the first grocery on Chapel street, the store being located on the present site of the Malley building. There he continued to work until 1891, when he was appointed a supernumerary of the police department of New Haven. In 1892 he became a regular police officer and five years later was made a detective. Steadily working his way upward, he assumed the duties of a detective sergeant in 1903 and in 1913 was pro- moted to the rank of captain. This position he held until March, 1925, when he was retired at his own request, having to his credit a notable record of thirty-three years' service in connection with the police department. The worth of his work was widely recog- nized and at the time of his retirement appreciation of his long, faithful and efficient service to the city was expressed in a set of resolutions by Mayor David E. FitzGerald and the board of com- missioners. A life of idleness, however, was distasteful to Captain Donnelly, who felt that New Haven had need of a clean, reliable detective service bureau, and in October, 1925, he established the Donnelly Detective Service, Inc., of which he has since been the president. This is a private service, supplementary to the police department, and in addition to the handling of civil and criminal investigations the bureau specializes in protecting stores, banks, business buildings, factories, etc. In this venture Captain Don- nelly has met with gratifying success, maintaining a high class organization, whose patrons have the benefit of expert private detective service. His training in the regular service was most thorough, and his promotions were unsolicited. He advanced through merit alone and left the New Haven police department with thirty-six honorable mentions-a record seldom equaled.
Captain Donnelly was married to Miss Elizabeth Kivlan, of Fairhaven Heights, Connecticut, and of the children born to them seven are living, namely: Harry L., who was graduated from Brown University and is engaged in the real estate business in New Jersey; Albert L., a graduate of the Sheffield Scientific School and an engineer in the service of the Connecticut Com- pany; Walter J., who is a commercial attache of the department of commerce and has been assigned to foreign service, being now stationed in Bogota, Colombia ; Lewis A. W., who is attending the University of New York; Urban M., a student in the Georgetown
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School of Foreign Service; Gertrude M., the wife of Gerald Coffee, of Spring Glen, Connecticut; and Madeline A., at home.
Captain Donnelly is a Catholic in religious faith and belongs to the Knights of Columbus, the Colony Historical Society and the St. Aloysius Society. Fearless and determined, he has never fal- tered in the face of danger, and throughout life devotion to duty has been one of his salient traits. Each step in his career has been an upward one, bringing him greater responsibilities and a wider field of usefulness, and the strength and uprightness of his char- acter have established him high in the regard of his fellowmen.
THOMAS F. MITCHELL
On the list of attorneys in New Haven appears the name of Thomas F. Mitchell, a young and able lawyer, who has practiced here for a period of seven years. Born in Thompsonville, Con- necticut, February 4, 1899, he is a son of Michael A. and Mary A. (Callahan) Mitchell, also natives of that town. The father, a retired merchant, is now devoting his attention to public affairs, serving as tax assessor of the town of Enfield, Connecticut.
It was in that town that Thomas F. Mitchell completed his high school course, graduating with the class of 1915, after which he attended the Catholic University at Washington, D. C., where he joined the Students Arms Training Corps during the World war. Subsequently he entered the University of Mary- land, from which he received the degree of LL. B. in 1922, and in the same year was admitted to the Massachusetts bar. Locat- ing in Springfield, Massachusetts, he practiced with his brother, Harold S. Mitchell, for about a year and in 1923 opened an office in New Haven. Here he has since engaged in general practice, and the court records bear testimony of his powers as an advo- cate and counselor, showing that he has successfully handled many important cases. He has a remunerative clientele and is a member of the New Haven County Bar Association.
Mr. Mitchell was married June 25, 1922, to Miss Mary Le Fere Goodlove, of Washington, D. C., and their New Haven resi- dence is at 179 Dwight street, while Mr. Mitchell maintains his office at 195 Church street. Formerly he was a member of the Governor's Foot Guard and is now identified with the Union
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League Club and the Knights of Columbus. His talents, natural and acquired, have well qualified him for the legal profession, and his energy, ambition and close application insure his continued progress therein.
HARRY E. PARSONS
As president of the Waterbury Poster Advertising Company, Harry E. Parsons controls the destiny of the largest organiza- tions of the kind in Connecticut, and he also gained success and prominence as a theatrical manager, devoting the greater part of his life to that business. He was born in Waterbury, Septem- ber 19, 1869, a son of Edwin P. and Jennie (Jones) Parsons, the latter a native of England. The father was born in Connecticut and became well known through his activities as a hotel pro- prietor.
The educational advantages enjoyed by Harry E. Parsons were those afforded by the grammar and high schools of Water- bury. Starting as an usher with Jean & Jacques, owners of the Jacques Theater, he displayed a natural aptitude for the business and soon won promotion. He has been manager of the Jacques, Strand and Poli Theaters and during the thirty-five years of his identification with the business he has had the privilege of meet- ing all of the stage celebrities of the last fifty years. Broad ex- perience has made him familiar with every phase of the theatrical business, and he numbers among his friends many leading mem- bers of the profession.
In 1925 Mr. Parsons entered another field of activity, making his initial venture in the outdoor advertising business, in which he has also become a forceful and influential factor. In 1928 his interests were incorporated under the style of the Waterbury Poster Advertising Company, of which he became president, and Frank Hayes, the present mayor of the city, assumed the duties of treasurer. Mr. Parsons has since remained at the head of the corporation, which has rapidly broadened the scope of its activi- ties and now operates throughout western Connecticut. The com- pany utilizes seven trucks and employs twenty competent men in the maintenance of up-to-date service that meets every need of its patrons. Mr. Parsons owns half of the stock in the Winsted
HARRY E. PARSONS
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Poster Advertising Company, which covers the business terri- tory, and his keen sagacity and well defined plans have also been important factors in the development of this large organization.
On the 26th of April, 1910, Mr. Parsons was married to Miss Julia Bergin, also a representative of one of the old families of Waterbury, and they have one daughter, Mary Louise, who is attending St. Margaret's parochial school.
Mr. Parsons is identified with the Benevolent Protective Or- der of Elks, and his connection with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows covers a period of forty years. For recreation he turns to golf, spending many of his leisure hours on the links. His laudable ambition, his even-paced energy and well developed powers have carried him into important business relations, while his personal characteristics are such as make for strong and en- during regard.
WALTER A. MAIN
Development work in West Haven has received impetus from the efforts of Walter A. Main, a pioneer realtor and prominent business man, who has also made his labors count as effective and beneficial forces in the field of public service. He was born in Orange, Connecticut, August 6, 1854, a son of Elias T. and Jane Elizabeth (Smith) Main, also natives of this state, in which their ancestors settled during the early period of its development. Elias T. Main was born in Willington, Tolland county, and de- voted his life to agricultural pursuits, becoming the owner of a valuable farm in Orange. A man of prominence in his locality, he was appointed town clerk of Orange in 1858, and in the early days all of the town business was transacted in his home. His up- right and useful life was ended in September, 1888. There were seven children in his family, and the sons became farmers.
Walter A. Main was born on his father's farm and acquired his early education in rural schools of the district, later attending the Orange Academy, from which he was graduated about 1870. He assisted his father in the performance of his duties as town clerk and at the latter's death succeeded to the office, which he filled from 1888 until 1891. At that time there was a real estate boom in the Orange and West Haven district and on the 1st of
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January, 1873, the town clerk's office was moved to West Haven and established in Dr. Shepard's drug store. In August, 1874, more commodious quarters were needed and it was deemed ex- pedient to move the town clerk's office and the post office to a build- ing where the two could occupy connecting rooms in the West Haven Bank building. In addition to his duties as town clerk Mr. Main had charge of the West Haven post office, acting as post- master for ten years. Lured by the west, he went to Redlands, California, with his family in 1891 and there remained until 1893, when he returned to West Haven. He was again called upon for public service in the fall of 1894, when he was elected first select- man for the town of Orange, which then included West Haven, and at each succeeding election he was the popular choice for that office, which he occupied until 1913, when he resigned because of the pressure of his private business interests. At that time his son, Walter R., became a partner in the business, which has since been operated under the style of Walter A. Main & Son. They handle real estate, mortgages and investments and also write all forms of insurance. The business is the oldest of the kind in this section of the state, and from the time of its inception Mr. Main has adhered to a high standard of service, thus inspiring public trust and confidence and winning a place of leadership in his par- ticular field.
Mr. Main was married November 5, 1879, to Miss Carrie E. Smith, a native of West Haven and a daughter of Sydney Smith, one of the early settlers of this district, and on November 5, 1929, they celebrated their golden wedding. Of the children in their family two are living, Florence and Walter R. Following his graduation from the West Haven high school the son took a pre- paratory course in Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, and then enrolled as a student in Amherst College, of which he is also a graduate. He next matriculated in the Yale Law School, from which he received the degree of LL. B. in 1913, and was admitted to the bar. However, he did not enter upon the practice of law, for in 1913 he entered into a partnership in the business which his father had established and has aided materially in broadening its scope. For recreation he turns to boating and also enjoys the sport of fishing. He married Miss Greta Bailey, and they have two children, Linda and Bradford, aged respectively nine and eleven years.
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Walter A. Main is a thirty-second degree Mason and is iden- tified with New Haven Commandery, K. T., and with Pyramid Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Union League Club and the New Haven Yacht Club. Long a prominent figure in Connecticut politics, he was elected to the state legisla- ture in 1901, serving for one term, and was made clerk of the committee on cities and boroughs. His has been a well ordered life, directed into those channels which have furthered the general good, while at the same time he has gained the prosperity which is the legitimate reward of intelligently directed effort and honor- able dealing, and at the age of seventy-six years he is alert and active, remaining an influential factor in business affairs.
JOHN JOSEPH EGAN, M. D.
Dr. John Joseph Egan, an active representative of the medical profession in Waterbury during the past twenty-two years, has continually augmented his professional knowledge and skill through postgraduate study and clinical work and has thus kept fully abreast with the most modern and scientific methods in his chosen field of labor. He was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, May 18, 1878, his parents being John and Bridget (Flaherty) Egan, both of whom were natives of County Kerry, Ireland. The father emigrated to the United States prior to the Civil war, taking up his abode in Waterbury, this state, and was here em- ployed as a mechanic in some of the large manufacturing plants of the city, his main connection, however, being with the Scovill Com- pany. He was twice married and by his first wife had one son, Eugene, now deceased, who became a well known athlete, holding the track championship for the state in the one-hundred-yard dash. By his second wife, who bore the maiden name of Bridget Flaherty and who passed away in 1914, John Egan had six chil- dren, two sons and four daughters, of whom Dr. Egan of this re- view was the fourth in order of birth. All are living with the ex- ception of the son Thomas, who was a machinist by trade. He joined the army at the time of the Spanish-American war and died in California just after the war closed and while still in the service.
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