USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 17
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In 1874 Thomas D. Barlow was united in marriage to Miss Emma Miller, a daughter of Rufus Miller, of New Milford, Connecticut. Following her death he was again married in 1899, his second union being with Caroline Bidwell, of Kansas, who, however, was a resident of Waterbury at the time of her marriage. There were three children of his first marriage, of whom the first born died in infancy. The others were: Bessie, the wife of Dr. Crane, of Waterbury; and Howard. There were also two children of the second marriage, Deborah S., and one who died in infancy.
Mr. Barlow is a Mason of high degree, belonging to lodge, chapter, commandery, con- sistory and the Mystic Shrine. Ile is also a past grand in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Hc belongs to All Souls Episcopal church and is a member of the Waterbury Club. He is a director of the Mattatuck Press and of the Odd Fellows Hall Association. His political allegiance is given the republican party and he served as mayor from 1898 until 1899. He has also been a member of the water works board, the board of publie works. the board of finance and alderman from the second ward and has ever exercised his official prerogatives in support of measures for the pubhe good. His work has been highly satisfactory, for he has been most loyal to the trust reposed in him, while he brings to bear in the discharge of his official duties the same thoroughness and exactness which characterizes his business life.
OLIVER R. BARLOW.
Oliver R. Barlow, vice president and assistant treasurer of the Barlow Brothers Com- pany, owes his success in life to the fact that he has always continued in the line in which he embarked as a young tradesman, never dissipating his energies over a broad field but concentrating his efforts along a single line with the result that thoroughness and efficiency were attained. In 1899 he was chosen vice president and assistant treasurer of the Barlow Brothers Company and in this connection is extensively engaged in the plumbing, steam- fitting and heating business, having charge of the construction department.
Mr. Barlow was born in Ridgefield, Connectient, April 1. 1873, a son of Samuel J. and Jennie E. (Smith) Barlow. The father came to Waterbury in April, 1886, and joined his brother, Thomas D., in the hardware and plumbing business, buying out E. R. Lampson in that line. They continued the business under the name of the Barlow Brothers Company, Samuel J. Barlow remaining active in that connection until his death, which occurred November 28, 1899. His first wife passed away in January 1890, and on the 20th of August, 1891, he married Cynthia D. Trowbridge, a daughter of Thomas and Sarah H. (Banks) Trowbridge, natives of Connecticut.
Oliver R. Barlow is indebted to the public school system of Connectient for the educa- tional opportunities which he enjoyed and which fitted him for life's practical duties. He learned the steamfitter's and plumber's trade and has been with the company throughout his active business life, having for eighteen years occupied his present position as vice president and assistant treasurer. He has charge of the construction department of the work, the company taking contracts for all kinds of plumbing, heating and sheet metal work. They had the contract in those lines for the new city hall, for the Hotel Elton and many other prominent buildings of Waterbury.
On the 12th of September, 1895, Mr. Barlow was married to Miss Harriett Kershaw. of
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Waterbury, a daughter of Cornelius Kershaw. They hold membership in St. John's Episcopal church and Mr. Barlow gives his political allegiance to the republican party but does not seek nor desire office, preferring to concentrate his attention and energies upon his business affairs, which, wisely directed, are bringing to him a substantial competence.
FRANK E. CASTLE, M. D.
Dr. Frank E. Castle, who as physician and surgeon has practiced for a longer period than any other member of the profession in Waterbury and who throughout the entire period has maintained a foremost position in the ranks of the profession, was born in Woodbridge, Connecticut, February 25, 1845, and is a representative of one of the old colonial families of the state, his grandfather being Dr. Jehiel Castle and his father Dr. Andrew Castle. Whether inherited tendency, natural predilection or environment had most to do with his choice of the profession it is perhaps impossible to determine, but at all events the choice was wisely made, for the years have demonstrated his ability and resourcefulness in his chosen field. He entered upon the study of medicine on attaining his majority, his reading being at first directed by Drs. Park and Townsend, of New Haven. After preliminary study he entered the Yale Medical School, from which he was graduated in January, 1870. He put his theoretical knowledge to a practical test by serving for a short time in the New Haven Hospital, during which period he gained much valuable experience. In April of the same year, however, he removed to Waterbury and through the succeeding forty-seven years has been in active practice in this city, covering a longer period than any other physician who is still active in the ranks of the profession here. His life work reflects credit and honor upon the profession. He has kept abreast with the trend of modern scientific thought and investigation and thus each year his services have been rendered more effective and resultant. In addition to a large private practice he served as surgeon of the Waterbury Hospital from the date of its founding until 1915, when he voluntarily retired from the position of active surgeon but was made surgeon emeritus.
In the early '90s Dr. Castle erected the Castle block at Nos. 77-81 North Main street. This is a four story office building, substantially built of brick and stone, and is decidedly an architectural ornament to the city. The fourth floor is occupied by the Red Men's hall, while the other floors are devoted to offices, there being eightcen of these, occupied chiefly by dentists, physicians and professional men. The Castle block is centrally located, it being a short block from the Citizens National Bank, the Elton Hotel and Central square.
On the 30th of September, 1875, Dr. Castle was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Merriman, a daughter of C. B. Merriman, and on the 23d of January, 1911, she passed away. She was winning in personality, democratie in friendship and wise in philanthropy There is perhaps no physician in Waterbury who is more widely known than Dr. Castle, whose life work has been of great value to his fellowmen, whose close conformity to the highest standards and ethics of his profession has reflected eredit upon his chosen ealling and who in every relation of life has commanded and received the respect and goodwill of all who have known him. For four decades he has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and enjoys a wide and favorable acquaintance in that organization.
GEORGE E. HAMMANN.
George E. Hammann, secretary and treasurer of the Progressive Manufacturing Company and secretary of the Standard Company, both Torrington corporations featuring largely in the business life of the city, displays the spirit of modern business enterprise and progressive- ness which has led to the rapid industrial development of the Naugatuck valley. He was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia. July 25. 1866, a son of Conrad and Mary (Braiseh) Hammann, who were natives of Germany but were married in Green Springs, Maryland, in 1853. The father came to the United States in 1848 and the mother in 1851. The father was a locomotive engineer for thirty-five years, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, his run being between Martinsburg and Keyser, West Virginia, died in 1910.
George E. Hammann acquired his education in the schools of his native city, completing a high school course at the age of seventeen years, after which he was employed for several years as a clerk in a general store in Martinsburg. At nineteen years, however, he went to
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Kansas, where he learned the printing business in the office of the Wichita Eagle, there remain- ing for eleven years in the employ of the late Marshall M. Murdock, then the owner of the Eagle and the father of the present owner, Hon. Victor Murdock, who is a prominent Progressive and for many years has been congressman from Kansas.
In 1896 Mr. Hammann returned to West Virginia and the following year went to Chicago, where for two years he was connected with the trade paper called the Cycling Life. Later he went to New York city and was secretary of the National Cycle Board of Trade for two years. In the fall of 1899 he came to Torrington and beeame one of the organizers of the Progressive Manufacturing Company in September, 1904. For five years previous he had been connected with the Eagle Bicycle Company of Torrington, which concern was suc- ceeded by the Progressive Manufacturing Company, of which Mr. Hammann has continuously been secretary and treasurer. This company now manufacturers screws, rivets, etc., and is conducting a large and growing business. Mr. Hammann is also the secretary of the Standard Company, which is engaged in the manufacture of spokes for bicycles and automobile wheels. This, too, is one of the important productive industries of Torrington.
On the 10th of January, 1892, Mr. Hammann was married to Miss Rachel La Monte, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and of French Huguenot descent. They have become parents of three children: George La Monte, who was born February 18, 1893, and is a mechanical engineer but at present is serving as first lieutenant of Company M of the 102nd United States Infantry; Katherine Mary, born February 2. 1899; and Robert Tryon, born December 1, 1902.
Mr. Hammann is a democrat in politics but has never been an office seeker. Ilis religious faith is that of the German Lutheran church. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar Mason, having joined the commandery in Wichita, Kansas, when but twenty-one years and seven months of age, and a Mystic Shriner. He is serving on the board of governors of the Torrington Club and is a member of the Greenwoods Country Club, of which he was formerly president. His chief recreation comes in bowling and in golf. Step by step he has advanced in his business career and each forward step has brought him a broader outlook and wider opportunities. His continuous progress has at length bronght him to a position in the fore- most ranks of the representative business men of Torrington.
FRANK DUDLEY HALLETT.
Frank Dudley Hallett, who has been cashier of the First National Bank of Winsted since 1879 or for a period of thirty-eight years, was born January 12, 1852, in the city where he still makes his home, his parents being Charles B. and Aurora A. (Phillips) Hallett. The ancestral line is traced back to 1637, when Andrew Hallett, a native of England, became a member of the Plymouth colony. The line of descent is traced down from Andrew (I) through Andrew (II), Jonathan, Timothy, Isaac, Isaac (II) and Josiah to Charles Bartlett Hallett, who was born on the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts, August 2, 1822. He removed with his parents to East Hartford, Connecticut, when he was but two years of age and was there educated in the public schools. When a youth of sixteen he became associated with his father in the leather business and in 1850 became a resident of Winsted, where he conducted a tannery and a leather store for a period of thirty years, retiring from business in 1905. His remaining days were spent in the enjoyment of well earned rest and he passed away August 6, 1912. His wife, whose maiden name was Aurora A. Phillips, died August 7, 1905. She was born in Manchester, Connecticut, October 9, 1826, and was a daughter of Dudley and Ruby Phillips. The four living children of Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Hallett are: Frank Dudley; Nellie, who was born August 2, 1854, and who on the 21st of October, 1875, became the wife of James A. Smith, an ice and coal merchant of New York city; Jennie L., who was born February 3. 1863, and was married June 3, 1890, to Arthur L. Clark; and Charles P., who was born April 14, 1867, and is assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Winsted.
In the public schools of his native city Frank Dudley Hallett pursued his education and also attended the South Berkshire Institute of New Marlboro, Massachusetts, the Wesleyan Academy of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and the Winchester Institute. After completing his education he took up newspaper work with the Springfield Republican and went from Springfield to Waterbury, where he was editor of the Waterbury Index. Later he was engaged with the Connecticut Trust Company of Hartford and in 1879 he became cashier of the First National Bank of Winsted, a position which he still ereditably fills. Ile has
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continuously served in this capacity for thirty-eight years and is the only cashier the bank has ever had. The success of the institution is due in very substantial measure to his efforts; business ability and sound judgment. In addition to his banking interests he is a director of the Citizen Printing Company of Winsted.
On the 28th of October, 1875, Mr. Hallett was married to Miss Mary J. Olmsted, a daughter of Woodbridge S. and Margaret P. (Sanchez) Olmsted, the former a native of Connecticut, while the latter was born in Florida and was of Spanish descent. The birth of Mrs. Hallet occurred in Hartford, Connecticut, April 3, 1853.
Mr. Hallet has been quite prominent in public affairs. He has served as a burgess of Winsted and he filled the office of representative to the general assembly in 1911 and 1912, during which time he was an active and influential member of the committee on banks. He also gave his influence and support to many progressive measures of value to the state. He belongs to the Winsted Club and he is a member and formerly was a vestryman of St. James Episcopal church-associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and the rules which govern his conduct. His life has been well spent and honorable in every particular, his lines of life being cast in harmony with that of an ancestry long connected with the history of New England and one which in successive generations has stood for all that is progressive and patriotic in citizenship.
WALTER HAMLIN HOLMES, M. D.
Forty-four years of wonderful activity in professional circles and in the field of literature brought the life record of Dr. Walter Hamlin Holmes to a close. It seemed that he should have been spared for many years to come, as his life was one of great usefulness, but even within that brief period he left an indelible impress upon the city and state of his residence and upon all with whom he was associated. Life with him was real and earnest, was purposeful and resultant. Actuated by the highest ideals, he climbed to heights few reach and stood enthroned with those whose capabilities give them intellectual kingship, yet through all he uever lost the common touch and his sympathies reached out to all mankind.
A native of Maine, Dr. Holmes was born in Calais on the 23d of June, 1854, his father being Dr. Job Holmes, a prominent physician in the eastern part of the state. Liberal educational opportunities were accorded to Dr. Walter H. Holmes, of which he eagerly availed himself, for he was ever a man of studious disposition and habits. He was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1875, winning third honors in scholarship, and throughout his life he found his greatest pleasure in that intellectual stimulus which results in clear reasoning, in a wider range of thought and a greater breadth of sympathy and understanding. Natural fondness for literature expressed itself in his study of the classics and the languages and he was able to repeat long quotations from Greek and Latin writers and also from authors who wrote in other languages. After his more specifically literary education was completed Dr. Holmes devoted a year to the study of medicine in the office and under the direction of Dr. C. E. Swan, of Calais, Maine, who had at one time been his father's partner. Whether natural predilection, environment or inherited tendency had most to do with Dr. Holmes' choice it is perhaps impossible to determine, but that the choice was wisely made his entire life demonstrated. He was able to join the sophomore class in the Harvard Medical School when taking up his studies there and in 1879 he won his pro- fessional degree. Prior to this time, however, he was enjoying practical experience, for from 1878 until 1880 he was connected with the Boston City Hospital, serving as medical externe for six months and for one years as surgical interne and house surgeon. He won high honors and secured coveted prizes upon his graduation from Harvard and he located for practice in Waterbury in March. 1880, entering into partnership with Dr. Gideon L. Platt in November of that year. No dreary professional novitiate awaited him. Almost immediately his powers won wide recognition, resulting in the attainment of a large prac- tice, and throughout his remaining days he ranked with the most able and distinguished physicians of Waterbury. He was continually broadening his knowledge along professional lines through wide reading and study and he kept in touch with the trend of modern scientific thought, keeping abreast with the most advanced leaders in his calling. In fact his own position was one of leadership and his judgments were carefully and thoughtfully considered by eminent colleagues, who recognized the worth of his opinions and the depth of his insight.
Dr. Holmes, however, was not merely a student of the science of medicine, but was
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Walter N. Holmes
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a man of most masterly attaininents, finding his keenest joy in literature, and as he thus mingled with the men of master minds gleaned here and there that which was best and which was most clearly set forth. His friends delight to tell an anecdote concerning his taste for literature. He had become the possessor of a valuable volume of Lucian, a cele- brated Greek satirist and humorist, who lived in the second century of the Christian era. This copy was printed with alternate pages of Latin and Greek. Dr. Holmes read Latin as easily as he did English and therefore, wishing to read in the Greek, he would cover the Latin page. At length he came upon a passage which was ambiguous to him. Ile con- sulted several Greek scholars but received no assistance and was referred to a prominent Greek instructor at Yale, who in his response said that a typographical error rendered the passage obscure and gave the correct reading, which was identical with the opinion Dr. Holmes had expressed before he sought assistance. The Yale instructor, however, made inquiries as to whether his correspondent was a young man in search of instruction and was much surprised that he was a most busy physician, who turned to the dead languages for recreation. Association with him meant expansion and elevation. His close friends were found among the men of keen mentality, students, thinkers and clear reasoners, and of any of these he was the peer.
On the 6th of April, 1881, Dr. Holmes was united in marriage to Miss Medora Caroline Platt, only daughter of Dr. Gideon L. Platt, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work, having been a well known physician of Waterbury. Mrs. Holmes is a descendant of one of the oldest and best known families of Connecticut. She is a lady of artistic taste and temperament and she has in her possession many most interesting and valuable heirlooms, which have come down to her through many generations. Her home is adorned with beautiful paintings and other works of art and Mrs. Holmes spends much of her time in travel. While in Waterbury she occupies the old homestead on Grand street, which is a brown- stone mansion known as the Farrel home. Similarity in tastes and interests made the companionship between Dr. and Mrs. Holmes close and ties of unusual strength were severed when Dr. Holmes passed to the land beyond. His health had begun to fail in 1892, causing him to abandon active practice in 1894. This was occasioned by blood poisoning and resulted through infection of a pricked finger during an operation on a patient and death claimed him November 27, 1898. His demise was the occasion of the deepest regret not only in Waterbury but among professional men and scholars everywhere. He had been most generous to the poor and yet his charity was entirely free from ostentation or display. It is said that his office was equipped with just such things as the poor might need in time of illness, and of these he made generous contribution. He belonged to Delta Kappa Epsilon, a Greek letter fraternity, was a member of the Waterbury Club and of various medical societies. He held to the Unitarian faith but was an independent and original thinker on many philosophical and theological subjects. He never lightly skimmed over the surface of things but delved into the mines of deep thought and his life grew richer, fuller and broader as the years went on. To those who knew him, and he had a wide acquaintance, his death brought a sense of personal bereavement and all felt that life was less rich to them when he had passed on, his death occurring in Waterbury, November 27, 1898. A most beautiful and well merited tribute was paid to his memory by his pastor and friend, Dr. Anderson, who said: "Dr. Holmes was a man worth knowing, a man whose friend- ship was well worth cultivating. To those who met him casually, or in the range of his practice as a physician, he may not have seemed so, but he was an exceptional man. His commanding stature represented a man towering above the average in regard to mental characteristics and moral qualities. A man who is large physically challenges the admira- tion of the best people, provided he is large in other ways, and all who knew Dr. Holmes recognized this quality of largeness in him. He was a man of broad and rich nature, through whom the bounty of God and the world flowed easily for nourishment and comfort. He was especially interesting to us as a man of intellect! In these days the successful pursuit of a profession necessitates almost exclusive devotion to professional routine, and this involves a narrowing process-so that the average lawyer is simply a lawyer, the clergyman simply a clergyman, and the physician simply a physician. To be a thorough- going and busy practitioner and at the same time a broad and rounded and cultured man is by no means easy. It indicates early training on a broad basis; it indicates dominating tastes larger than the limits of a profession; it indicates fullness of manhood. It indicated all this in Dr. Holmes. There is nothing to suggest that he was not in love with the profession of medicine; but he seemed to view that profession in its relation to science as a whole, yes, and in its relations to scholarship as a whole. He certainly possessed a scientific east of mind, but he was not in the least conscious of that conflict between science and letters of which some have had so much to say. If he had the mind of a
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scientist, he had the tastes of a scholar. And so, for a few bright years, we had before us (not very common in this busy community) the spectacle of a man who combined in himself the utilitarian and the seholarly qualities, and showed us that it is possible, even yet, to do one's daily work well and earn an honest living, and at the same time be loyal to the intellectual and artistic ideals of carlier days. In thinking of Dr. Holmes, I find that the mental qualities merge into the spiritual, that his tastes were closely allied to virtues. In attempting an estimate of him it would be more difficult than in most cases to contine one's self to any one department of his life. I shrink from processes of analysis on such occasions as this-even as I shrink from being analyzed myself -- but I do wish to say a word concerning these deeper and more central qualities of our friend's nature. I wish to say that he seemed to me a very genuine and sincere person, that lie was exceptionally free from affectation and pretence, that his honesty was not simply commercial, but spiritual. It is not always that a man impresses you with being precisely what he seems to be: but that was true of him. This was not, however, the result of any blunt frankness on his part, such as some men take pride in; it was the product, rather, of a certain transparency of nature, the entire absence of duplicity. The impression of sincerity was not secured by the sacrifice of geniality and sweetness; his kindliness, on the contrary, was a constant and pervasive quality. I have seldom met with a layman more ready to talk npon religious themes than he was, and his outspoken sincerity did not allow a moment's doubt in regard to the position he occupied. He came to us representing a type of Christian belief which is not common in Connecticut, and when, in an early inter- view, he told me that he was a Unitarian, he evidently feared that he might grieve me. But he could not think of holding anything back, and we were at once on terms of mutual consideration and amity. He was prond of his faith, as all Unitarians are, and could not hide his contempt for 'obscure dogmas,' but his attitude was not by any means merely critical; it was receptive and friendly. llis was a deeply religious nature, and whatever nourished his deeper life he welvomed, no matter from what source it came, or in what form it was offered him." After speaking at length in regard to the Doctor's last illness, that tragedy of death in life, Dr. Anderson adds: "To those who were called to look on, whether day by day or at intervals, it must seem a mysterious thing that this noble man- this man of sweetness and charity-should have been led down, as he was, into the 'valley of the shadow of death' more dreadful than Bunyan ever saw in a vision, and held captive there so many years in fierce conflicts with spirits of evil: and it must seem all the more mysterious when we consider that his life-long training had been such as to leave no place in his normal mental processes for any thought of evil spirits, but rather to bring him face to face with divine benevolence. Let us think of him as swiftly emerging on that tempestuous Sunday, from all the gloom and discord of those inexplicable years, into the calmness and peace and felicity of those elect souls who 'after life's fitful fever' sleep well, and then awake with God."
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