USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 10
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On the 17th of July, 1913, Mr. Molans was married to Miss Ruth Deady, of Seymour, a daughter of James and Mary Jane Deady. They now have one child, Marguerite Louise, two years of age. The parents are members of St. Augustine's Catholic church and Mr. Molans is identified with the Knights of Columbus, belonging to Aurora Couneil. He also has membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Derby and with the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. He is also a member of the Hibernians and the Foresters and in the Knights of Columbus he has filled all of the chairs. He has become widely known through his fraternal relations and also through his public service, and all who know him speak of him in terms of warm regard.
JONATHAN TEMPLE.
Jonathan Temple, who for more than twenty years was a well known business man and highly respected citizen of Torrington, was one of the proprietors of a clothing store, in which his family are still interested and his name still figures in the firm style. He was born in Reading, Massachusetts, in 1849 and was a son of William T. and Lucinda (Pratt) Temple. His cdueation was acquired in his native town and he there remained until he reached the age of seventeen years, when he went to Boston and became a salesman in a
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elothing house, being thus employed when the great Boston fire of 1872 occurred. The firm for which Mr. Temple worked lost their business in that conflagration, but he continued in Boston until 1875, when he removed to Buckland, Massachusetts, where he became engaged in general merchandising. He remained aetive in that field for six years, during which time he also served as postmaster of Buckland. In 1881, however, he sold out his business there and removed to Connectieut, establishing his home in Thomaston, Litchfield county, where he opened a clothing store. Six years later he established a similar store in Torrington and condueted that enterprise with much success. In 1890 he took up his abode in Torrington, where he ever after made his home. In 1896 he opened up a branch store in Winsted and the same progressive spirit characterized that undertaking and was followed by equal success. After several years, however, he discontinued the business there and gave his entire time and attention to the store in Torrington. A few years later he gave an interest in the business to his manager, Frank II. Joyce, and the firm style of the Temple-Joyce Company was then assumed. The business was incorporated under that name September 12, 1902, and since the death of Mr. Temple the business has been continued under the same name. Mr. Joyce became president and treasurer, while Mrs. Fannie E. Temple was vice president and Miss Ethel Temple the secretary of the company. The store is located on Main street in Torrington and is now merged in the Foster system with a chain of twenty- seven stores.
Mr. Temple was united in marriage to Miss Fannie E. Shaw, a lady of innate culture and refinement, who passed away March 23, 1917, at her home on Prospect street and was laid to rest in Reading, Massachusetts, by the side of her husband, who had passed away June 18, 1907. The children of this marriage are two daughters, Ethel G. and Bertha G., both of whom are connected with the Temple-Joyce Clothing Company. They occupy the family residence on Prospect street, and well descended and well bred, enjoy an envi- able position in the social circles of the city, while in business affairs they manifest keen sagacity and sound judgment.
Mr. Temple was a most highly respected citizen, enterprising and progressive in business affairs, loyal and patriotic in his devotion to the general welfare, devoted to his family and at all times holding friendship inviolable. In a word he displayed many sterling characteristics which gained him the warm regard of all with whom he came in contact. Mrs. Temple shared in the high respect accorded her husband. She was an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, being identified with Marina Norton Brooks Chapter of Torrington. She was a noted singer, possessing a high, clear and sweet soprano voice, and she sang in some of the Boston churches and in the National and Inter-national Peace Jubilee at Boston. Mr. and Mrs. Temple were both members of the Center Congregational church of Torrington, and were very strong workers in the various church activities.
JUDGE WALTER DUNHAM MAKEPEACE.
Judge Walter Dunham Makepeace, of Waterbury, who was appointed deputy judge of the district court by Governor Holcomb in 1916 and is now concentrating his energies and attention upon his judicial duties, was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, April 27, 1875, a son of the Rev. Frank Barrows and Helen (Viets) Makepeace. The father was born in Grafton, Massachusetts, and the mother in East Granby, Connecticut. The paternal grand- father, Lysander Otis Makepeace, was a shoe manufacturer of Lynn, Massachusetts, and the ancestry in America is traced back to the year 1630, when Thomas Makepeace settled in Boston. The Rev. Frank B. Makepeace is a Congregational minister and has been pastor of churches in Andover, Gloucester and Springfield, Massachusetts, in New York, and is now in Tryon, North Carolina.
Liberal educational opportunities were accorded Judge Makepeace, who attended the high school of Springfield. Massachusetts, the Phillips Academy at Andover and was graduated from Williston Seminary before entering Yale. He became a member of the class of 1897 and after completing his course in that year he returned for post graduate work as a fellow in philosophy. His law course was completed at Yale as a member of the class of 1900 but in the meantime he had rendered active military service to his country as a member of the United States navy in the Spanish-American war.
Judge Makepeace located for practice in New York city, where he remained from 1900 until 1907 and then came to Waterbury, where he has since lived. In that year he was appointed deputy coroner aud so served nntil 1916. He has always been actively interested in political questions and issues of the day and in 1916 he served as chairman of the republican
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town committee. It was also in that year that he was appointed deputy judge of the district court by Governor Holcomb, since which time he has retired from active practice and is giving his undivided time and attention to the duties of his office.
On the 19th of June, 1906, Judge Makepeace was married to Miss Ethel M. Sperry, of Waterbury, a daughter of Mark L. Sperry. Their children are: Roger Sherman, born June 14, 1907; Melicent Porter, born July 31, 1911; and LeRoy McKim, born September 5, 1914.
The Judge holds membership in the Congregational church and he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with various clubs and fraternities. He belongs to the Waterbury Club, the Waterbury Country Club and the Graduates Club of New Haven and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, the Chi Delta Theta and the Phi Delta Phi. His political endorsement has always been given to the republican party and he has been an active worker in its ranks. It is said that every man has a hobby. Judge Makepeace has turned his attention to the collection of old Connecticut books, his ambition being to acquire every book and pamphlet published in Connecticut before 1800. This is to himn a matter of interest in leisure hours. He can in no sense, however, be termed an antiquarian. for he is thoroughly alive to the interests and activities of the day, keeping in touch with the trend of modern, progressive thought and doing not a little to shape public opinion. He is now first lieutenant in Company H, Connecticut Home Guard.
THE WOODRUFF FAMILY.
With the professional and public interests of Plymouth the name of Woodruff has long been prominently associated. Dr. William Woodruff, a son of Dr. Gideon and Sarah (Heaton) Woodruff, is a native of New Haven, where his birth occurred July 17, 1804. During his early boyhood his parents removed with their family to Plymouth, where the father, who was also a physician, engaged in the active practice of medicine for a con- siderable period. His son William attended the public schools and was a pupil of the Rev. Luther Hart. Whether inherited tendency, environment or natural predilection had most to do with his choice of a profession it is perhaps impossible to determine, but at all events the choice was wisely made, for in the practice of medicine Dr. William Woodruff won distinction. He began preparation for a professional career under the preceptorship of Dr. Jonathan Knight and later he continued reading in the office and under the direction of Dr. Nathan Smith, who became a prominent physician of Plymouth. At a subsequent date he entered the medical department of Yale and was graduated with the class of 1826, at which time his M. D. degree was conferred upon him. He then located for practice in Waterbury, where he remained for a brief period, after which he returned to Plymouth at the request of the townspeople, who were loth to lose him as a eitizen. He continued thereafter a resident of Plymouth until the time of his death and was in active practice for an extended period, but at length retired some years prior to his demise. He ever kept in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress along professional lines, read broadly, thought deeply and from his study and experience gained valuable knowledge which made his professional service of great worth. He held to the highest professional ideals, was conscientious in the performance of all of his duties and in the diagnosis of his cases was most accurate. After his retirement Dr. Woodruff spent much time in travel both in Europe and in America, visiting the Pacific coast, Canada and the south, as well as many points on the other side of the water. He lived to the very advanced age of eighty-nine years and passed away at his home in Plymouth in July, 1893, his remains being there interred. Those who knew him spoke of him in terms of the highest regard. He had a wide acquaintance and enjoyed the respect of all with whom he came in contact not only because of his professional skill but also because of his sterling personal qualities. He was honorable and trustworthy in all things and possessed many sterling traits of heart and mind. His political allegiance was given to the republican party, which found in him a stanch advocate, and his religious faith was that of the Congregational church. His life was fraught with many good deeds and brings to mind the words of a modern philosopher, who has said: "Not the good that comes to us, but the good that comes to the world through us is the measure of our success." Judged by this standard Dr. Woodruff was a most successful man.
In 1838 was celebrated the marriage of Dr. William Woodruff and Miss Martha Thomas, a daughter of Seth and Laura (Andrews) Thomas. They became the parents of three
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children: William Thomas; Howard Heaton, deceased, who was a well known druggist of Hartford; and Sarah, now deceased.
William Thomas Woodruff, the eldest son, was born in the town of Plymouth, now Thomaston, July 11, 1840, and after attending the public schools of his native place became a student in the Williston Seminary of Easthampton, Massachusetts, while still later he attended the Hudson River Institute of New York. After leaving school he entered the employ of the Seth Thomas Clock Company, of Thomaston, which was founded by his grandfather, Seth Thomas. He acquainted himself with every detail of the business and advanced step by step as his knowledge, skill and efficiency increased. He was thus called to various offices of trust and responsibility in connection with the business and in 1890 he was elected to the presidency of the Seth Thomas Clock Company, a position which he has filled for the past twenty-seven years, bending his energies largely to administrative direction and executive control. His comprehensive knowledge of the business in every department well qualified him to assume its active management and his efforts have kept it at the head as one of the leading productive industries of the Naugatuck valley. Mr. Woodruff has also been active in connection with other important enterprises. He has been & director of the Thomaston National Bank, of which he has served as vice president; also a director of the Waterbury Trust Company and of the Eagle Lock Company of Terryville, Connecticut.
On the 22d January, 1868, William Thomas Woodruff was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude Slade, of Ansonia, Connecticut, a daughter of William Slade. In club and fraternal circles he is well known. He holds membership with the Sons of the American Revolution and with the Masonie fraternity of Thomaston and is also identified with the Country Club of Farmington and the Union League Club of New York city, together with the Country Club of Waterbury and the Waterbury Club. He chose as a life work business interests entirely unlike those in which his father engaged, but like his father, he manifested the same sterling qualities of industry, energy, close application and thoroughness and upon this foundation he has builded the success which is his. Thus the name has continued through the third generation and is one of the most honored of the state. Mr. Woodruff is now in his seventy-eighth year and his are "the blest accompaniments of age-honor, riches, troops of friends."
JOHN W. BROOKS.
The name of Brooks has long been a most honored one in the annals of Connecticut and the record of John W. Brooks was in harmony with that of an ancestry honorable and distinguished. The founder of the Brooks family in America was Thomas Brooks, who came from England in the seventeenth century, and through the colonial period in the early days of the republic and through a later epoch in American history representatives of the Brooks family have figured prominently in connection with shaping the industrial, financial, civic, political and moral development of the state. ITis great-grandfather, Joseph Brooks, a native of Durham. Middlesex county, removed to Goshen, where the family homestead was long maintained.
John W. Brooks was a sou of Watts H. and Mary (Wadhams) Brooks. The father devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and was also prominent in community and state affairs, filling various local offices and also representing his district in the general assembly of Connecticut for three terms. His father was Hervey Brooks, who was prominent in the pottery industry. The business was continued for many years thereafter by Watts H. Brooks on the old farm. John W. Brooks was reared on the homestead and in early youth divided his time between the acquirement of a public school education and the duties assigned him by a parental authority. Early in his business career he became identified with general merchandising in Goshen and for eleven years conducted business in partnership with his brother, Isaac W. Brooks, under the firm style of Brooks Brothers. In 1872 he became connected with the business interests of Torrington and in partnership with his brother organized the banking firm of Brooks Brothers and opened a private bank. The undertaking prospered from the beginning and for twenty-seven years this bank cared for all the business in its line in Torrington notwithstanding the rapid industrial growth and expansion of the town. The policy of the bank merited the highest confidence and won the generous support of the public. After twenty-seven years, or in 1899, the bank was reorganized as the Brooks National Bank, becoming the first National Bank established in Torrington, with John W. Brooks in the position of vice president. He remained in active
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connection with the business until his death, which occurred on the 17th of October, 1901, just fifteen years before the death of his brother, with whom he always maintained the closest business relations. He was a financier of the highest ability, becoming widely known throughout the state. He possessed sound judgment and keen discrimination and readily recognized and utilized the essential in all business transactions.
On November 20, 1860, Mr. Brooks was married to Miss Maranna Norton, who was a daughter of Louis Mills and Laura Norton, of Goshen, Connecticut, and who died January 27, 1905. There were three children of this marriage: Charles Louis, who was born October 3, 1861, and died August 6, 1862; Mary E., who was born November 19, 1863, and died October 16, 1913; and Major John N. Brooks, mentioned at length on another page.
In public affairs John W. Brooks was ever deeply and helpfully interested, his cooperation constituting a forceful factor in the promotion of public interests. He became a leading figure in insurance circles and for some time most creditably filled the position of insurance commissioner of Connecticut, serving from 1880 until 1883. In the latter year he was elected to the presidency of the Orient Insurance Company and thus served until 1886. He largely concentrated his efforts and attention, however, upon banking and became a most prominent figure in the financial circles of Connecticut, honored and respected for his probity, which found expression in most creditable success.
RALPH SCHUYLER GOODWIN, M. D.
The history of the medical profession in the Naugatuck valley would be incomplete without mention of Dr. Ralph Schuyler Goodwin, of Thomaston, and his honored father, who bore the same name. For many years they have been closely associated with professional activity in this section, always maintaining the highest standards in their service and con- forming their practice to the most advanced ethics of the profession. Ralph S. Goodwin was born in Thomaston, September 19, 1868, and is a representative of one of the oldest Connecticut families, tracing his ancestry back to Ozias Goodwin, who was with the pioneer settlers that accompanied Rev. Thomas Hooker to Hartford and in fact were the founders of the city. They removed to this state from Boston, and at Hartford land was granted to Ozias Goodwin in February, 1639. Dr. Ralph Schuyler Goodwin, Sr., was born in Morris, Connecticut, June 24, 1839, and was a son of Charles Goodwin, who was a tanner and currier. The latter married Jane Guilford. In 1846 Charles Goodwin removed with his family to Watertown and in 1856 became a resident of Binghamton, New York, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in August, 1870.
His son, Ralph S. Goodwin, acquired his early education in the academies of Watertown and Waterbury, Connecticut, and afterward continued his education in Binghaniton, New York, and in the New York State Normal School, of which he was an alumnus of 1863. Through the two succeeding years he taught in the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute. He began the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. Burr of Binghamton, New York, and in 1866 completed a course in the College of Physicians and Surgcons of New York. In February, 1867, he married Miss Jeanie Edith Irwin, a native of New York city, and they established their home in Plymouth Hollow. Connecticut. a little village which was the predecessor of Thomaston. With its growth the practice of the Doctor increased, for his ability well qualified him to successfully solve the complex problems that continually confront the physician. A contemporary writer has said of him: "He came to have a strong hold upon the people of his town. In season and out of season, for pay and simply from the higher motive of love, in exposure and risk, for years he ministered unto them. He grew to be the leading physician in his county. And not only this, but he was known throughout the state. In 1884 Dr. C. A. Lindsley was elected secretary of the state board of health in place of Dr. Chamberlain, who died. Dr. Lindsley was a regular member of the board and a vacancy thus arising, Dr. Goodwin was chosen to fill it. This position he held until failing health induced him to retire at the expiration of his term in 1903. He became also a member of the American Public Health Association, a body of distinguished sanitarians, whose meetings were always a notable event in the cities where they were held. Dr. Goodwin always attended these and besides keeping in touch with the leading questions in sanitation, gained much experience in travel. The annual reports of the state board contain his resume of those meetings. In 1897 he was elected president of the Connecticut Medical Society. Dr. Orlando Brown of Washington, was the only living member in the county who had attained to that honor conferred by the fellow physicians of his own state. His work in that society from the time of his joining it has
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been collated by the secretary in his annual report and is on page 96 of this issue of the proceedings. Nor was his life limited to his profession, broad as it might thus have been. For ten years he was school visitor of the town. As member of the board of education, he kept his finger on the educational pulse. He had scholarly tastes and intellectual gifts, a kindly sympathetic nature, prudence and skill in the management of his own affairs, per- forming the ordinary duties of the citizen with faithfulness and intelligence. He had traveled extensively and gave to others the benefits of his observation and experience in letters which he wrote to the local press."
Ralph S. and Jeanie Edith (Irwin) Goodwin had but two children, the son being the Doctor's successor and namesake. The daughter, Grace Goodwin, was graduated from Vassar, became the wife of Frank J. Wolfe and passed away seventeen months later.
In the acquirement of his education Dr. Ralph S. Goodwin, Jr., attended the publie sehools of Thomaston and afterward was graduated from the Cherry Street private school of Elizabeth, New Jersey, with the class of 1887. He then entered Yale as a student in the Sheffield Scientific School, in which he completed his course in 1890. Having determined to make the practice of medicine his life work and thus follow in the footsteps of his honored father, he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York and completed his course as a member of the class of 1893. His early professional experience came to him through two years' connection with the New Haven General Hospital and in July, 1895, he came to Thomaston, where he took up his father's practice, for which he cared while his father was abroad for a year. He then went to New Haven, where he remained from 1896 until 1903. During the first year of his residence he went abroad with a patient, making a trip around the world, and was absent six months. He then returned and continued his residence in New Haven until 1903, when he removed to Thomaston, where he has since remained, taking up the practice of his father, who died in March, 1904, and who was survived for four years by his widow, who passed away in 1908.
Dr. Goodwin has fully sustained the well earned reputation of his father as an eminent physician and surgeon. He has kept abreast with the trend of modern scientific thought and investigation and his ability is attested not only by the general public but also by colleagues and contemporaries. He was at one time assistant instructor in pediatrics in the Yale Medical School and while in New Haven he conducted a clinic for children's diseases in connection with the Yale Medical School. He was formerly secretary of the New Haven Medical Society, was at one time president of the Litchfield County Medical Society and holds membership in the Connecticut State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In the State Medical Society he is now serving on the committee on public policy and on legislation. He was made chairman of the exemption board in district No. 20 of Litchfield county in 1917.
On the 11th of November, 1903, Dr. Goodwin was married to Miss Carolyn Newton Hooker, of New Haven, a daughter of Albert Hooker, a carriage manufacturer of that place. Their children are two in number, Ralph Schuyler ( III) and Albert Hooker.
In community affairs Dr. Goodwin has always manifested an active and helpful interest and has served on the school board. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Episcopal church. He has served as vice president of the Litchfield County University Club and he has membership in the Waterbury Country Club of Waterbury and in the Graduates Club of New Haven. His entire record is in harmony with that of a distinguished and honorable ancestry. He chose as a life work a profession in which advancement must depend upon individual merit and ability. It cannot rest upon the laurels of predecessors but must be the outcome of sound judgment, keen sagacity and a comprehensive knowledge of scientific principles. Well versed in his profession, Dr. Goodwin has made steady progress in this line and is today a successful general practitioner, his ability being attested by the liberal support that is given him.
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