USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 8
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On the 24th of June, 1905, Mr. Campbell was married to Miss Ruth Mayhew Miller, of Roland Park, Baltimore, Maryland, a daughter of Mayhew and Ruth Elizabeth (Shumway) Miller, the latter a sister of Judge Shumway of Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have become the parents of a son and a daughter: James Gardner, born in November, 1908; and Ruth Elizabeth, in May, 1910.
In politics Mr. Campbell maintains an independent course, voting according to the dietates of his judgment. He and his wife are members of St. John's Episcopal church and he belongs also to the Waterbury Club and the Waterbury Country Club, while along business lines he has connection with the National Electric Light Association. His entire career is a creditable one. His puposes have at all times been commendable and by persistent effort and ability he has worked his way upward until he is now an active factor in the control and management of one of the important corporate interests of Waterbury and the state.
PETER DUFF.
Peter Duff has long been well known in connection with the mercantile interests of Thomaston and also in connection with its public affairs. He stands for progress and improvement in all matters relating to the general welfare and has cooperated in many inovements for the public good. At the same time he has carefully and wisely directed his business interests as a grocer. He was born in Scotland in 1852 and is a son of Peter and Elizabeth Duff. He obtained a public school education and in 1872, when a young man of twenty years, came to Thomaston, where he was employed in a brickyard for a year. He then entered the employ of the Seth Thomas Clock Company, with which he was connected for about twelve years, but was ambitious to engage in business on his own account and carefully saved his earnings until he felt that his capital was sufficient to justify his embarka- tion in business for himself. In connection with William Gilbert he then purchased the grocery store of Hugh Lawton and after six months he bought out his partner's interest in
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the business, which he has since conducted under his own name, being sole proprietor through- out the intervening period. He is the third oldest retail merchant in years of continuous connection with the commercial interests of Thomaston. He has high standards of commercial honor and he has always recognized the faet that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement.
In March, 1877, Mr. Duff was married to Miss Margaret Band, a native of Scotland. He returned to that country for his bride and then brought her to the new world, where he had prepared a home for her. To Mr. and Mrs. Duff have been born two children, Elizabeth and George, both at home. Mr. Duff is well known in fraternal eireles. IIe belongs to Union Lodge, F. & A. M .; to Gasceon Lodge, No. 20, K. P .; and to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He has served as master of the exchequer for the past twenty-one years in the Knights of Pythias lodge. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church and in politics he is a republican. He has been called upon to fill several loeal offices by his fellow townsmen, who recognize his worth and ability and his public-spirited citizenship. For nine years he filled the position of second selectman and is now on the board of relief, in which connection he has made an excellent record. He is always loyal to the trust reposed in him and well deserves mention among the prominent residents of Thomaston.
HERMAN W. HUKE.
Herman W. Huke, who is one of the most highly respected men of Torrington and who has been identified with important interests in an influential capacity, has gained the promi- nent position which he now occupies through the exercise of his own powers, for he is in the fullest sense a self-made man. He was born in Torrington, October 2, 1854, a son of John and Amelia (Mattison) Hnke, the former a native of Germany. Both parents passed away while our subject was a boy and his education was that afforded by the public schools, which he attended until he was eleven years old. He then went to work, entering the employ of Turner, Seymour & Jndd. Some time later Mr. Judd retired from the firm and established a business in New Haven, taking Mr. Huke with him.
After remaining in New Haven for seventeen months Mr. Huke returned to Torrington and secured a position with the Excelsior Needle Company as an inspector. He had come to realize the need for further education and for several years he studied at night school and still later he took a course in the Yale Business College at New Haven. During this time he was steadily working his way upward in the employ of the Excelsior Needle Com- pany, with which he was connected for over thirty years. When only twenty-one years of age he was promoted to the important position of assistant superintendent and for twenty- two years he filled that office and in that connection demonstrated such ability that in 1898 he was made general superintendent of all the factories operated by the main company at Torrington and also by all the subsidiary companies. In January, 1902, he severed his connection with the Excelsior Needle Company and in June, 1903, he became identified with Kidder-Peabody & Company of Boston in the capacity of corporation expert. He was also for several years general manager of the Rockland & Rockport Lime Company of Rockland, Maine, and in March, 1911, he was elected president of that company and remained at its head for more than six years, a period of noteworthy expansion in the trade of the company. On the 1st of October, 1917, he resigned the presidency and was elected to the position of chairman of the board of directors. His connection with big business also includes his work as one of the organizers of the Torrington Cooperative Company, of which he was secretary for a time and president for fifteen years. During that period the building known as the Cooperative block was erected.
Mr. Huke was married in Torrington to Miss Nellie H. Allen, who was born in New Britain, Connecticut, December 14, 1857. She was brought to Torrington in her infancy by her parents. Henry J. and Ellen (Robinson) Allen, an account of whose lives appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Huke have two children. Allen Johnson, who is assistant manager of the New York office of the Rockland & Rockport Lime Company, married Evaline Fostel and they became the parents of two children, Aline and Barbara Allen. For his second wife he chose Miss Marie Moritz. Earl Robinson, the second son, was educated in the Andover Academy and is now a private in the United States army, stationed at Douglas, Arizona, where he is preparing for active service in France.
Mr. Huke is a republican in politics and in 1888 and 1889 was a member of the Connecticut general assembly. He also served as assessor for one year, but on the whole has not taken a very active part in politics as his extensive business interests have left him little time for outside interests. He belongs to the Torrington Club and to Seneca Lodge,
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No. 55, A. F. & A. M., of Torrington, and also belongs to the Congregational church. His career is worthy of emulation in that without any special advantages he has gained a large measure of material prosperity and has contributed much to the development of this section of the country and at the same time has been scrupulous in his observance of business as well as personal honor and has gained and held the warm friendship of those who have come in close contact with him.
HENRY LAWTON WADE.
Henry Lawton Wade, who through the steps of an orderly progression reached the presidency of the Waterbury Clock Company and thus figured prominently in the business circles of the city, was born in Harrisville, Rhode Island, on the 24th of May, 1842, his parents being Lawton and Aleph Abby (Handel) Wade. He pursued his education in the district school of Williamsville, near Danielson, Connecticut, also attended school in Killingly and later pursued a business course in Eastman's Business College of Poughkeepsie, New York, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1866. He then started out to devote his entire time to business affairs and from that time forward was dependent entirely upon his own resources. He was before this time in Williamsville, which was a manufacturing village, there working in all departments of the cotton mill. He afterward became a clerk in a general store of the Williamsville Manufacturing Company at Killingly, Connecticut, and there continued until August 8, 1862, when in response to the country's call for troops his patriotic spirit was aroused and he joined the Eighteenth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, with which he served as a private until mustered out at Harper's Ferry on the 27th of June, 1865, having for almost three years faithfully defended the interests of the Union on the battlefields of the south.
In May, 1866, Mr. Wade removed to Waterbury at the suggestion of the late A. S. Chase and became bookkeeper in the Waterbury National Bank, of which Mr. Chase was the president. There he remained until 1871, when in the month of May he was elected secretary of the Waterbury Clock Company and took charge of the manufacturing department. In January, 1884, he suceeded the late Manasseh Bailey as treasurer and continued to act as secretary and treasurer with marked ability and to the satisfaction of all the officers and stockholders. In 1885. upon the death of Gordon W. Burnham, he succeeded to the presi- dency of the corporation and continued to act in that position of trust and responsibility until his death. In addition to his connection with the Waterbury Clock Company, the success of which was attributable in large measure to his enterprise, business sagacity and unremitting diligence, he was largely interested in other business concerns of Waterbury and of Connecticut. He became a member of the board of directors of the Meriden Branch Railroad, which was organized in 1887. He was also a director of the Connecticut Rubber Manufacturing Company, which afterward removed to Norwich, Connecticut, and he was president of the Steam Boiler Insurance Company until 1891 and again in 1894. In 1878 he became the secretary and treasurer of the Waterbury Automatic Signal Telegraph Com- pany, the predecessor of the present telephone company, and in 1895 he was president of the Standard Electric Time Company. In 1893 he was made a member of the committee for securing an additional water supply for the city. He served as vice president of the Con- necticut Indemnity Association and became a director of the Benedict & Burnham Manu- facturing Company, of the New England Watch Company and of the Waterbury National Bank. He was likewise president and a director of the Mattatuck Manufacturing Company and his sound judgment was at all times a matter of value in the successful conduct of these different concerns.
On the 20th of September, 1877, Mr. Wade was married to Miss Martha Chase Stark- weather. They became the parents of two daughters: Mrs. William Henry White, of Water- bury ; and Mrs. John Sinclair Dye, of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Mrs. Wade still resides at the old home in Waterbury on Prospect street, where the death of her husband occurred October 31, 1912. He was laid to rest in Riverside cemetery and in his passing Waterbury lost one of its valued and honored citizens, his associates a faithful friend and his family a devoted husband and father. His worth in every relation was widely acknowledged. While his business activities contributed much to the material progress of the community, he in many other ways aided in advancing the public welfare. He was president of the Waterbury Board of Trade in 1895, served also as a member of the board of public works and was a member of the executive committee that supervised the construction of the Waterbury Hospital and did mnuch toward securing the funds with which it was built. He was greatly interested in the Young Men's Christian Association and served on its building committee
Kenny & Wade
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in 1891. The following year he was made a member of the building committee of the Second Congregational church. He also served on the advisory board of the Waterbury Institute of Craft and Industry and he was a member of the board of directors of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall Association. At one time he was a member of the Arcadian Club, which was organized in November, 1875, for the development and encouragement of amateur theatrical talent. Ile was fond of outdoor life, was a great lover of nature and took much enjoyment in hunting and other outdoor sports. He held membership in the Laurentian Club of Canada and he had a shooting camp in South Carolina. He likewise belonged to the Army and Navy Club of Connecticut and at one time was its vice president. He also belonged to the Waterbury Club, was a charter member of the Farmington Country Club, which was founded in Waterbury, and was a prominent member of Wadhams Post, G. A. R., thus maintaining pleasant relations with his old army comrades. He was fond of travel and frequently visited interesting points on the American continent and also went abroad to Europe. In a word his was the normal development of the man of ability and of culture whose entire career is one of expansion and growth. His resourcefulness enabled him to become actively connected with various business enterprises which brought him substantial success and at the same time constituted contributing factors to the general development and progress.
E. H. PLUMB.
E. H. Plumb, junior partner in the firm of Plumb Brothers, hardware and agricultural implement dealers of Waterbury, was born in Prospect, Connecticut, on the 1st of April, 1884, his parents being D. M. and Florence (Payne) Plumb. mentioned in connection with the sketch of their son, F. S. Plumb, elsewhere in this work. Good educational opportunities were accorded him. He attended the Crosby high school at Waterbury and when not busy with his textbooks hc assisted his father in the cultivation of the home farm until he attained his majority. He afterward worked for Hotchkiss & Templeton and ultimately opened a hardware store in connection with his brother. The business has since been wisely, carefully and profitably managed in the sale of hardware, agricultural implements and automobile tires and accessories, and the methods employed by the firm measure up to the highest commercial standards. Mr. Plumb exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican party and he turns from business cares to outdoor life for rest and change and is a member of the Recreation Rod and Gun Club.
JOHN HOWARD WHITTEMORE.
John Howard Whittemore, deceased, was one of the best known citizens and business men of the Naugatuck valley, contributing in substantial measure to its progress and upbuilding. He was a native of Southbury, New Haven county, born October 3, 1837, and was descended from one of the oldest and best known New England families. His father, the Rev. William Howe Whittemore, was a minister of the Congregational church, devoting his life to that calling following his graduation from the Yale Divinity School. He married Maria Clarke and they became the parents of four children.
John Howard Whittemore was educated in the local schools, supplemented by a three year's course in General Russell's school at New Haven. His first employment was with Shepard & Morgan of New York city in the capacity of clerk, but after spending a short period in the metropolis he returned to New Haven and entered the employ of E. C. Tuttle, of Naugatuck, to straighten out the books of the firm, which was then contemplating retire- ment from business. Mr. Whittemore afterward entered into partnership with Mr. Tuttle's son. B. B. Tuttle, under the firm style of Tuttle & Whittemore, which firm undertook to develop the malleable iron industry. The undertaking proved a successful one and in 1886 the business was reorganized as a joint stock company under the style of the Naugatuck Malleable Iron Company, Mr. Whittemore being elected president of the corporation. He continued as its chief executive nead until he retired from active business, when he was succeeded by his son, Harris. In addition to his interests in Naugatuck, Mr. Whittemore was also extensively interested in other enterprises, including the iron industry and also the real estate business, making investments in various sections of New England as well as in Chicago, in Cleveland, and other sections of the great west. He was likewise a large stock-
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holder in the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, of which he became one of the directors, and he further extended the scope of his activities by becoming one of the organizers of the Colonial Trust Company of Waterbury, of which he was elected a director and the first vice president. His business enterprise found expression in the successful management and control of various interests, in which he had voice.
Mr. Whittemore took the keenest interest in the town of his adoption and spared neither time nor expense in promoting its interests and developing its beauty. He added to its public buildings the Howard Whittemore Memorial Library, which he gave in memory of his son Howard. He also built the fine stone wall around the Hillside cemetery. His notable publie spirit was again demonstrated in his mueh prized gift of Buckingham Hall in Waterbury, a gift which brought joy to the hearts of all the music loving people of the city. It was also Mr. Whittemore who built the fine high school building at Naugatuck. The cause of education found indeed in him a stalwart champion and supporter, for he took the greatest pride in education and in art. A lover of nature, he had the keenest appreciation for the beautiful and his success enabled him to indulge his taste for art-a taste which expressed high culture. He personally owned a splendid collection of paintings, including various notable canvases by Whistler. Laurel Beach, a most attractive summer resort, owed its development in large measure to his efforts. He was ever willing to aid and assist in any measure that had for its object the benefit of the people and there continually opened before him avenues in which he might aid or promote public interests. He never neglected such an opportunity and the worth of his work was widely acknowledged.
On the political history of the state Mr. Whittemore also left the impress of his individuality. He was a stanch republican and was chosen to represent the town of Naugatuck in the constitutional convention which met at Hartford in 1908 and framed the present organie law of the state.
On the 10th of June, 1863, Mr. Whittemore was married to Miss Julia Spencer, a lady of high attainments and liberal eulture, who was much devoted to her home and its interests. Her parents were Harris and Thirza (Buckingham) Spencer, of Naugatuck. To Mr. and Mrs. Whittemore were born four children. Harris, whose birth occurred November 24, 1864, married Justine Morgan, of Brockway, New York. Gertrude Buckingham is a resident of Naugatuek. Julia died in infancy, while John Howard passed away at the age of sixteen years. The death of the husband and father occurred May 28, 1910, when he was in the seventy-third year of his age. A man of well balanced capacities and powers which were ever exercised for the benefit of the public as well as for individual interests, he made valuable contribution to movements which have resulted largely to the benefit of the Naugatuck valley in its upbuilding and improvement and in the promotion of its standards.
REV. LUKE FITZSIMONS.
Rev. Luke Fitzsimons, pastor of the Immaculate Conception Catholic church of Waterbury, was born in the village of Virginia, in County Cavan, Ireland, May 12, 1853, and was there reared to the age of sixteen years, when he came to the United States, arriving in the new world in 1869. He at once made his way to New Britain, Con- necticut, where his uncle, Rev. Luke Daly, was pastor of St. Mary's Catholic church, with which he was thus connected for thirty-one years prior to his death in 1878. It was for this unele that the Rev. Luke Fitzsimons was named. Rev. Daly sent the young lad to Holy Cross College at Woreester, Massachusetts, meeting the expenses of his college training. There he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1873, at which time he was twenty years of age. His uncle then sent him to St. Joseph's Provincial Seminary at Troy, New York, where he spent three years in the study of theology. He was ordained to the priesthood in Troy, New York, by Bishop McQuade, of Rochester, on the 10th of June, 1876, and was curate for one year at the Sacred Heart church in New Haven. For four years he was curate at St. Patrick's church in Collinsville, Con- necticut, and in August, 1881, he was made parish priest of the Immaculate Conception church in New Hartford, there remaining for nineteen years. While there his work included the paying off of the church debt and the building of a school, convent and rectory. In order to obtain teachers for the school he brought Sisters from Chambery, France, owing to the fact that New Hartford's population is largely French. From 1900 until 1910 he served St. Bernard's Roman Catholic church at Rockville, Connecticut, where he paid off an indebtedness of thirty-three thousand dollars and built a handsome new
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church. He also enlarged the convent, the total cost of these improvements reaching about seventy-five thousand dollars, of which sum he had paid off fifty-three thousand dollars ere he severed his connection with that parish. Since August, 1910, he has been parish priest at the Immaculate Conception church in Waterbury. In every town and city in which he has served churches he has always been the ardent friend of the Grand Army men and his kindness to them has made him a favorite with the gallant old heroes every- ·where.
In fact, Father Fitzsimons has always been popular in the different communities to which his labors have called him and he is widely and favorably known in Waterbury. He is thoroughly public-spirited, is social and genial by nature and these qualities have made him a favorite with all classes. This trait of his character has enabled him to do much good in a financial way, for his congregations everywhere have readily and generously responded to his ealls. It has never been difficult for him to get any sum of money for which he has asked in the support of a good cause. He celebrated his silver jubilee in 1901 and his forty-first anniversary as priest on the 10th of June, 1917. Several times he has visited his native Ireland and on one of his trips abroad, in 1898, he visited England, Scotland and the European continental countries, including Italy, and had a brief audience with Pope Lco.
THOMAS MARCUS BULL. M. D.
Beyond doubt one of the most remarkable and characteristic changes wrought in this epoch of change and progress has been that which has occurred in the general attitude of the learned professions towards their own subject matters and scientific knowledge generally. In the past they were considered the conservators of old knowledge and those who have been their most authoritative spokesmen have multiplied proofs indefinitely that new theories. and even new facts. however well substantiated, were unwelcome and need expect no recogni- tion by the learned confraternities. The hardships and persecutions of the pioneers in the realm of thought and knowledge in days gone by bear ample witness to this intolerance, an intolerance so universally associated with formal learning as to have often called down upon it no little popular ridicule and to have converted such a word as pedant into a term of reproach. But at the present time all this is changed and it might even be urged that in some quarters there is even a too ready acceptance of hypotheses unconfirmed and statements of what may prove to be pseudo facts. But this is only in certain irresponsible quarters and the professions in general now occupy a most praiseworthy attitude towards knowledge, new or old, subjecting both to the searching scrutiny of modern scientific methods and retain- ing or rejecting each impartially as it endures this test. Take, for example, the profession of medicine and note the leaders and recognized authorities therein. They are in nine cases out of ten the very pioneers who might have suffered for their progressive views if the old intolerance had remained. It may with truth be said that in two senses evolution has had to do with this great change. In the first sense it has played the same role in the develop- ment of scientific thought as it does with all living, growing things, bringing it into closer correspondence with its environment; and in the second sense the doctrine of evolution has made a direct alteration in our attitude towards all knowledge, destroying the old notion that it was a thing that had been revealed once and for all from a supernatural source and supply- ing the more rational idea that it is something that we achieve for ourselves with painstaking
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