USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 13
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Harry II. Heminway supplemented his public school training by study in the Cheshire Academy and then became connected with his father's silk manufacturing interests. He was thus engaged from 1887 until 1901, when he removed to Waterbury and became one of the purchasers of the paper box factory which had been established by the firm of R. E. Hitchcock & Company on Canal street many years before. Mr. Hitchcock was succeeded by his partner and son-in-law, Arthur C. Northrop, who greatly increased and developed the business, adding to the output a line of fancy boxes used by leading perfume manufacturers of the country in putting up their goods. Since the business was taken over by Mr. Hemin- way and his associates in 1901 it has more than doubled its capacity. Ground was purchased on South Leonard street and a commodious building was erected to meet the special needs of the business. It is now most convenient in its arrangement and equipment. This building was completed in December, 1905. Today the plant is one of the most completely equipped and comfortable establishments of the kind to be found in the country. The building is three stories in height. Today there is a frontage of three hundred and sixty feet, an addition of sixty feet having been made in 1913 to meet the growing demands of the trade. The building is of mill construction and is equipped with a sprinkler system. Its employes now number two hundred and fifty people who are skilled in their line and their product is sold all over the United States, chiefly to the perfumery trade and to toilet goods and silverware manufacturers. They send out only high grade goods, including fancy boxes used for putting up the different lines mentioned. The plant includes a printing department in which the finest job printing is turned out. One of the elements of success is the careful arrangement by which there is no loss of time in taking the work from one department to another. The latest improved machinery has supplemented the old hand processes and the finest grades of work today are done quickly and easily with machines. During his entire connection with the business Mr. Heminway has closely studied every phase of paper box manufacture and as the executive head he has thoroughly systematized the office work and the trade connections of the house. Realizing ever that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement, he has made it his purpose to please at all times and the fact that the force has increased one hundred and fifty per cent is indicative of his wisely developed plans.
In 1892 Mr. Heminway was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Lewis, of Watertown, a daughter of Robert B. Lewis, and their children are: Merritt and Bartow, both attending
Buell Hemenway
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Yale College. The family attend the Episcopal church and Mr. Heminway also has member- ship in the Masonic fraternity and in the Waterbury Club. In politics he maintains an independent course.
BUELL HEMINWAY.
Buell Heminway, the fourth child of General Merrit and Mary Ann ( Buell) Heminway, attended the public schools of Watertown, while later he was a student in the Watertown Academy, and during vacation periods was employed in his father's store and the silk mill, thus acquiring a thorough knowledge of the business while still quite young. After com- pleting his academie course he was made bookkeeper in his father's office and in the same . year, 1857, although a youth of but nineteen years, he was elected secretary of the company, then known as the M. Heminway & Sons Silk Company. Following the death of his father he became associated with his son, Buell Havens Heminway. and with Mr. Bartlett, former superintendent of the old company, in organizing the Heminway & Bartlett Silk Company in 1888. Of this he became the president and treasurer and from its inception was a most potent factor in its growing success, the gradual and steady development of the trade necessitating the enlargement of the plant from time to time. Recognition of his superior business ability led to his cooperation being sought along various lines of public and private interests. He held many positions of trust and in 1880 was elected vice president of the Dime Savings Bank, while in 1890 he was chosen a dircetor of the Citizens National Bank of Waterbury. He never neglected his publie duties but cooperated in many movements for the general good. He served as a member of the building committee for the new town hall and he did everything in his power to further the cause of public education. For ten years he filled the position of treasurer of the school board in Center district and for many years was chairman of the executive committee and president of the Library Association. He served on its building committee when the beautiful new library was erected and took a helpful interest in promoting its construction. He was also treasurer of the Watertown Water Company. His political endorsement was always given the democratic party and he was a member of the Waterbury Club, of the Home Club and of the New England Society of New York. Hle manifested a special fondness for fine horses and owned many. He also greatly enjoyed travel. making extensive trips in Europe and in America. Various church and charitable institutions received his earnest cooperation and for a quarter of a century he was a vestryman of the Christ Protestant Episcopal church. He was also treasurer of the parish for ten years and for six years acted as trustee of the parish. His wife and daughter were also very active in church and Sunday school work, doing everything in their power to advance the growth of the church and extend its influence. Buell Heminway, coming of ancestry honorable and distinguished, was a worthy scion of his raee and possessed qualities which won for him admiration and regard. His courtesy, his kindness and his publie spirit were everywhere recognized. He was temperate in his habits, ambitious, determined and progressive, and honor and integrity were dominant factors in his entire career.
It was on the 17th of Jannary, 1866, that Buell Heminway wedded Julia M. Havens, of Ogdensburg, New York, only daughter of George F. and Clarinda J. (Welton) Havens, of New York city, the latter daughter of Isaae Welton. The ancestry of the Havens family is traced back to William Havens, of Rhode Island, while in the maternal line Mrs. Heminway is descended from Captain John Allyn, in turn a descendant of Mathew Allyn, who was the founder of the family at Windsor, Connecticut. Peleg Havens was a soldier of the Revolu- tionary war and thus Mrs. Heminway, entitled to membership with the Daughters of the American Revolution, became identified with the local chapter. By her marriage she became the mother of three children: Buell Havens, born November 11. 1866; Mary Julia, born Mareh 2, 1869; and Helen Louise, who was born June 14, 1872, and died on the 10th of November, 1910. Buell Heminway passed away March 6, 1915, and his wife survived him only five days.
B. HAVENS HEMINWAY.
B. Havens Heminway, secretary. treasurer and manager of the Heminway & Bartlett Silk Company, one of the substantial manufacturing enterprises of Watertown which has enjoyed steady growth from the beginning, was born in 1866, in the village which is still his home, his parents being Buell and Julia (Havens) Heminway. The father was a son of
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Merrit Heminway, who was the founder of the silk business in Watertown in 1849. The name has since been associated with the silk industry, covering a period of almost three score years and ten.
B. Havens Heminway, whose name introduces this record, acquired a public school education in Watertown and afterward attended General Russell's Military School at New Haven. He was nineteen years of age when he entered business circles in connection with his father as secretary of the Heminway & Bartlett Silk Company on its organization. He has since continued in that position with the further duties of manager and has been a most active factor in the development of the company and the attainment of its present substanial success, indicated in the fact that while at the outset the employes numbered but fifteen, there are now two hundred and fifty operatives in the factory, with proportionate development and improvement in all lines of the work. While the name of Heminway is inseparably associated with silk manufacturing at Watertown, B. H. Heminway is now the only represen- tative of the family in active connection therewith.
In 1892 Mr. Heminway was married to Miss Maude Willard, of Brooklyn, New York, a daughter of the noted yachtsman, Edward A. Willard. Their children are: Madeline, who is a graduate of the Mount Vernon Seminary at Washington, D. C., and is now at home; Buell H., who was graduated from the Taft School and is now with the naval reserves as ensign, preparing for active service; Caroline Le Baron, a graduate of St. Margaret's School at Waterbury; and Willard Sands, now a publie school pupil.
Mr. and Mrs. Heminway are members of Christ Episcopal church, of which Mr. Heminway has been vestryman for the past twenty years. He belongs to the Waterbury and Waterbury Country Clubs. In polities he maintains an independent course and political office has had little attraction for him. Recognizing his duties of citizenship, however, he has served for ten years as a member of the board of education of Watertown and is now a trustee and a member of the executive committee of the Watertown Library Association and of the Watertown Cemetery Association. He works with those who are endeavoring to uphold high civie ideals and in every practical way promote municipal progress here.
HON. BERNARD E. HIGGINS.
Hon. Bernard E. Higgins, attorney of Torrington, was born in Woodbury, Connecticut, January 31, 1872, his parents being Edward and Mary (Crowley) Higgins, both of whom were natives of Ireland. They became acquainted in New Milford, Connecticut, however, and were there married. It was in 1859 that the father crossed the Atlantic and after remaining for a time in New Milford he established his home near the village of Woodbury, where he engaged in farming until his death. His wife has also passed away. They were parents of three children, a daughter, Catherine Dooley, deceased, and two sons, one of whom, the Hon. Richard T. Higgins, of Winsted, Connecticut, was formerly the democratie leader in the house of representatives and is the present chairman of the public utilities committee of the state, becoming the first incumbent in that office through appointment of Governor Baldwin in 1911, since which time he has occupied the position. He is recognized as a very prominent and influential figure in democratic circles, while his brother, Bernard E. Higgins of this review, is an equally stanch supporter of republican principles, although not a politician in the sense of office holding.
Bernard E. Higgins attended the Parker Academy at Woodbury and at the age of seventeen became a public school teacher, which profession he followed for a year and a half. At nineteen years of age he took up the study of law in the office of Huntington & Warner, attorneys of Woodbury, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1897. On October 20th of that year he entered upon active practice in Torrington, where he has since followed his profession with gratifying success. Since 1898 he has been associated in law practice with Hon. Gideon H. Welch. He is very careful and painstaking in the preparation of his cases and his ability has brought him prominently to the front, much important litigation being entrusted to his care.
On the 11th of May, 1898, Mr. Higgins was married to Miss Rose Beegan, of Woodbury, who had been his schoolinate, the acquaintance continuing from their childhood days. Mr. Higgins is a past exalted ruler of Torrington Lodge, No. 372, B. P. O. E., and he also belongs to St. Francis Roman Catholic church. His political endorsement has always been given to the republican party and he has served as clerk of the borough of Torrington for about five years. He was afterward prosecuting attorney for the town of Torrington for ten consceutive years, and in 1912-13 he served as a member of the state legislature, during
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which time he was on the judiciary committee. He was also states attorney of Litchfield county, filling out the unexpired term of Donald P. Warner from March 17, 1917, to June 4, 1917. He is at present judge of the borough court of Torrington, and in his profession he has made a creditable name and place.
TIMOTHY F. BARRY.
It is a recognized fact that the organizations known as chambers of commerce have been most potent forces in upbuilding cities along industrial, commercial and civic lines in recent years. It is an exposition of the fact that "In union there is strength," or in other words, eooperation and coordination have produced a strength and activity that are far-reaching and effective. As secretary of Waterbury's chamber of commerce Timothy F. Barry is accom- plishing valuable results and has brought to his position wide experience and a thorough knowledge of conditions existing in the business world today. He was born in New Haven, November 13, 1882, a son of Patrick and Mary (Ford) Barry. He was graduated from the public schools in 1895 and from the Hillhouse high school of New Haven in 1899. He then turned his attention to the newspaper business, in which he was engaged for a year, after which he entered Yale University and was graduated with the class of 1904. In the same year he became eity editor of the New Haven Palladium and occupied that position until November, 1905, when he removed to Waterbury. He was made city editor of the Water- bury Republican in January, 1906. He became managing editor of that paper in 1912 and so continued until February 24, 1917, when he resigned to become secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of Waterbury, which position he is now filling. He is splendidly organizing the work of the chamber, planning for its future development and the extension of its interests, and the thoroughness with which he has undertaken his tasks promises well for the future.
In 1909 Mr. Barry was married to Miss Grace E. Williams Tiernan. of New Haven, and they have one daughter, Frances M. Mr. Barry holds membership in the Knights of Columbus and is an active member of St. Margaret's Catholic church. He is a member of the executive committee of Waterbury Chapter, American Red Cross. He also belongs to the Rotary Club and to the Mattatuck Historical Society. He was appointed local director of the committee of food supply, Connecticut State Council of Defense, and is a member of the Waterbury committee of the State Council of Defense. His activities and his interests cover a broad field and he is at all times actuated by a spirit of determination that will not brook failure or defeat, but regards obstacles and difficulties as an impetus for renewed effort.
CHRISTIAN M. P. LUND.
Commercial activity in Seymour finds a worthy representative in Christian M. P. Lund, now closely and prominently associated with its mercantile interests. Moreover, he belongs to that class of foreign-born citizens who have profited by the opportunities of the new world. He is a native of Denmark. His birth occurred in 1880, his parents being Peter and Gertrude Lund, who came to the United States with their family in 1883, establishing their home in Bridgeport, where the father, who was a tailor, worked at his trade. He afterward removed to Thomaston, Connecticut, about 1897, and is now living retired there. enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly merits.
Christian M. P. Lund is indebted to the public school system of Bridgeport for the educational opportunities which he enjoyed. He removed to Thomaston with his father and there learned the watch making trade, while subsequently he was employed by M. E. McNerney, who had a watch making school there. At a later date he worked in Trenton, New Jersey, and afterward in Jersey City, New Jersey, but subsequently returned to Thomaston and eventually came to Seymour. In June, 1911, he opened a retail jewelry store in 'an upstairs room. Later he rented a store room and in 1913 a new business block was built at No. 161 Main street, which he now occupies. Today he has the leading jewelry store in Seymour, carrying a large and well selected line of goods of attractive design. while his reasonable prices, honorable dealing and unfaltering enterprise are salient features in his growing success.
In 1904 Mr. Lund was united in marriage to Miss Jeannette Booth Mance. of Thomaston. Connecticut, and they have become parents of three children: Stanley Mance. Maynard
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Mance and Ralph Mance. Mr. Lund is indentified with the Masonic fraternity as a member of Corinthian Lodge, No. 104, A. F. & A. M., of Bridgeport, and his wife is connected with the Order of the Eastern Star. They are members of the Congregational church and in polities Mr. Lund maintains an independent course. He has never sought office, always preferring to give his time and attention to his business affairs, and aside from his jewelry trade he is active in the field of real estate and fire insurance. All this is indicative of his life of intense energy, which has ever been intelligently directed, and thus he has advanced step by step in the business world, his orderly progression bringing him to an enviable position in the commercial circles of Seymour.
WILLIAM HENRY SCOVILL.
While William Henry Scovill did not enter the manufacturing circles of Waterbury quite as early as his brother, J. M. Lamson Scovill, he nevertheless played a most important part in the development of those interests which have come to the front as one of the largest manufacturing concerns not only of Connecticut but of New England. J. M. L. Scovill had been interested in the manufacture of gilt buttons for only a brief period when his brother joined him, buying out his partners, Messrs. Leavenworth and Hayden. From that time for- ward the brothers were associated in the development and conduct of their business. William H. Scovill was seven years his brother's junior, his birth having occurred at the old family home in Waterbury, July 27, 1796. His youthful experiences were those of the farm bred boy. while his early business training came to him in his father's store. His preliminary education was supplemented by study in Cheshire Academy, then conducted by Rev. Dr. Bronson, and in which he was enrolled as a student during the winter of 1812-13. In 1814 he accepted a clerkship in New Haven and he was twenty years of age when, with capital furnished him by his former employer, Mr. Peck, of New Haven, he opened a store in Water- bury. The undertaking proved unprofitable, however, and was therefore abandoned. Later he spent two years as a clerk with his uncle, William K. Lamson, of Berwick, Pennsylvania, and then removed to North Carolina, where for several years he conducted a general store at Turner's Cross Roads, where he also dealt in cotton With several thousand dollars there accumulated he returned to Waterbury and purchased the interests of Mr. Leavenworth and David Hayden in the firm of Leavenworth, Hayden & Scovill, engaged in metal button manu- facturing. From that time forward he was closely associated with the growth and develop- ment of the business and it reached out along ramifying lines of manufacture and became one of the foremost metal manufacturing enterprises of the country. With him opportunity was ever the call to action and his well-defined plans and purposes were carried forward to successful completion. In Anderson's History it is said: "James M. L. and W. H. Scovill were so intimately associated in the minds of the public that it was hard to consider them apart. They were very different in character but they constituted one of those fortunate combinations in which one supplements another. While William H. Scovill was a man of much energy and very decisive action, it was his intellectual power, his sagacity, foresight, financial ability and sound judgment that did so mich for the prosperity of the firm. He was the planner, the organizer. the builder, the man at home, while his brother represented the busi- ness abroad. Each in his department was supreme and each had unbounded confidence in the other. William H. Scovill possessed a quiet dignity of manner which was sometimes mis- taken for coldness. but he was a very generous man with a warm heart. although in action much less impulsive than his brother. With him the reflective faculties were predominant. lle was in every way a very superior man. His public and private charities were bountiful and his sympathies were ever ready and practical. He took great pride in his native town and was a leader in plans for its growth and development. He was a devoted member of the Episcopal ehrch and a warden of St. John's parish for many years. To his foresight, good judgment and generosity we owe our public streets and there was hardly a public or semi- public improvement from 1830 to 1850 in which he was not foremost and did not make up some deficit at the end."
On the 2d of July. 1827, at Black Lake, near Ogdensburg. New York, Mr. Scovill was united in marriage to Miss Eunice Ruth Davies, who was born March 5, 1807, at Ogdensburg, New York, and died at Waterbury. November 25, 1839. She was a daughter of Thomas J. and Ruth ( Foote) Davies. On the 23d of March, 1841. at New Haven, Mr. Scovill was married to Rebecca Hopkins Smith, who was born December 24. 1804, a daughter of Hon. Nathan and Rebecca (Hopkins) Smith, of New Haven. His children were as follows. Alathea Ruth, born March 21. 1828, married Frederick J. Kingsbury. Mary Ann. born May 30. 1831. be-
ympScoville
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came the wife of William E. Curtis. Thomas John, born .humne 9, 1833. died May 22, 1839. Sarah Hannah, born July 13, 1835, died November 8, 1839. William Henry, born Jannary 7, 1842, married Elizabeth Whiting. James Mitchell Lamson, born June 18, 1843, died February 8, 1846. Nathan Smith, born April 3, 1847, died May 22, 1849.
Mrs. Scovill died August 4, 1854. She had for only a few months survived her husband. whose death occurred March 27, 1854, in Charleston, South Carolina, where he had gone for the benefit of his health. A writer of that period said of him: "He was a sagacious man, of comprehensive views, who assisted his brother in conducting one of the most extensive and prosperous manufacturing establishments in Waterbury. He was a man of intelligence, of gracious sympathies and inflexible purpose. With a free hand he distributed his wealth in the way of both public and private charity. To every good cause he was ready to give material aid. He was emphatically a public benefactor and his loss was a public calamity. He was one of the most active and influential members of St. John's church of Waterbury. was senior warden thereof for many years and was one of the foremost in erecting the beautiful edifice in which the society worshipped at the time of his death. Throughout the state he was known as a liberal patron of the church and its institutions." At the time of his brother's death it was said of these two: "Never were two men better calculated for each other-both were actuated by the highest impulses of integrity and their qualifications, though different, were so happily blended, such was the confidence between them, that in all matters of busi- ness they were only known as one. Both at the time of their death were identified with every kindred establishment in Waterbury and one can hardly turn his eye without being reminded of their joint participation in the progress and advancement of their native city --- the welfare of which formed one of the leading objects of their ambition."
VALENTINE BOHL.
Coming to America unacquainted with the language and customs of the people, Valentine Bohl at once determined to gain a knowledge thereof and to make his interests one with those of the country which he had voluntarily chosen as his place of residence. Utilizing every chance possible to become in spirit and deed an American citizen, he soon mastered the English tongue and, starting upon an independent business career, he was for forty-five years prominently associated with commercial interests at Waterbury, leading to the attainment of a handsome competence that now enables him to live retired from business. He was born in one of the Rhine provinces of Germany in 1847, a son of Valentine and Anna Mary (Seiter) Bohl, who always remained residents of the father- land, although many of the relatives of Valentine Bohl crossed the Atlantic. It was with his uncle that Valentine Bohl came to the new world, the uncle having returned to Germany on a visit. Some years before he had crossed the Atlantic to the United States and was engaged in the conduct of a meat market in New York city. They landed at New York on the 19th of September, 1861. and the next day Valentine Bohl installed as assistant to his uncle, working as a delivery boy. While thus engaged he learned the English language and the ways of the people, studying hard at night and reading newspapers and books at every available opportunity. In a short time he had gained a good knowledge of the English tongue and of American ways and customs.
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