USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66
The other member of the family is William W. Mertz, who was a pupil in the public schools of Bennington and of Hartford. His early education also included a thorough con- m a Hartland business college, in which he completed his studies at the age of eighteen. satisfactory position not being then in sight, he was retained in the business college for : vear as one of the instructors, and later he went to Bellows Falls, Vermont, where for two ani
momenty
109
WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
a half years he was in the service of a manufacturing concern known as the Vermont Farm Machine Company. From Bellows Falls he removed to Torrington in 1884, and for four years he was general office man for the Turner & Seymour Manufacturing Company, manu- facturers of brass goods, iron castings, etc.
On the 4th of December, 1888, Mr. Mertz was married to Miss Lizzie W. Lewis, only daughter of the late Walter S. Lewis, a prominent and well known dry goods merchant of Torrington and the founder of the business now conducted by Mr. Mertz, a record of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. He established the store more than fifty years ago, conducting it under his own name. In 1889 Mr. Mertz entered the store as general assistant and manager of the business. Mr. Lewis died in 1898, but even before that time Mr. Mertz had become a stockholder in the concern, which had been incorporated under the name of the W. S. Lewis Company. Upon the death of the founder the business was inherited by his two children, Mrs. Mertz and her brother, Charles W. Lewis. Later Albert Steiger, a well known merchant of Springfield, Massachusetts, purchased the half interest of Charles W. Lewis, at which time the name was changed from the W. S. Lewis Company to the Steiger-Mertz Company. Three years afterward Mr. Mertz purchased the interest of Mr. Steiger and thus became practically the sole owner, only a small block of stock being owned by others. At that time the firm style of the W. W. Mertz Company was assumed. Since Mr. Mertz has been in control he has extended and widened the business until he now has one of the best department stores in the Naugatuck valley and without doubt the best outside of the city of Waterbury. The most progressive methods are manifest in the conduct of the business, while the strictest regard is maintained for the highest standards of commercial ethics. In addition to this business Mr. Mertz is vice president and a director in the Torrington Trust Company.
Mrs. Mertz, who passed away August 6, 1917, was a member of the Center Congregational church, to which Mr. Mertz also belongs. It politics he is a republican and has served for four years on the borough board of burgesses. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine and he also has membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In club circles he is widely known, being a member of the Torrington, Waterbury Country, Greenwoods Country and the Litchfield County Automobile Clubs and also the Automobile Club of America. He finds his chief recreation in motoring and golf and turns to this largely for entertainment when leisure permits. He is ruled by a spirit of modern progressiveness in all that he does. His affairs are carefully managed and he dis- plays sound judgment and wisdom in the conduct of his interests. He therefore ranks with the leading business men of his city and his progress has brought to him gratifying and deserved success.
CHARLES WESLEY WINSLOW.
Charles Wesley Winslow, clerk of the town of Winchester, in Litchfield county, Con- necticut, was born in Winsted, December 23, 1888. His father, William F. Winslow, was born in Ontario in 1858 and in 1887 he became a resident of Winsted. He was formerly superintendent of the William L. Gilbert Clock Company of Winsted but now resides in Danville, Kentucky, where he is engaged in the jewelry business, being proprietor of an attractive store there. His wife bore the maiden name of Mary E. Kinney, was of Revolu- tionary stoek and was born in Dansville, New York. To Mr. and Mrs. Winslow were born two children, Millie Belle and Charles Wesley. The daughter is an optometrist by pro- fession and is now serving as one of the vice presidents of the National Association of
Opticians and is also secretary and treasurer of the Kentucky Optical Association. Jeremiah Gibbs Winslow, the paternal grandfather of Charles W. Winslow, was a Methodist minister and his birth occurred in Canboro, Ontario, Canada, in 1828. He was formerly a carpenter and then entered the ministry. The Winslows are of Mayflower stock and direct descendants of Governor Winslow, of Massachusetts. The Winslows first settled in Massachusetts and members of this branch of the family later removed to Canada.
In the public schools of Winsted, Charles Wesley Winslow began his education and later attended the Gilbert school of Winsted, being there graduated with the class of 1906. He began preparation for the bar at Yale and was graduated in 1910 with the degree of LL. B. He then entered upon the private practice of his profession but his fellow townsinen, recognizing his worth and ability, have kept him almost continuously in public office. He has always given his political allegiance to the republican party and is a stalwart advocate of its principles. He has served as prosecuting attorney of the
110
WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
town court of Winchester since January, 1914, and is also assistant clerk of the superior court for Litchfield county, to which position he was called in March, 1915. He has been clerk of the town of Winchester since January 1, 1916, and holds all three positions at the present time. He is prompt and faithful in the discharge of his public duties and his official record is a most creditable one. He is deeply interested in all affairs relating to general progress and improvement and his cooperation can be counted upon to further any movement for the general good. He is now captain of Union Hose Company, No. 1, of the Winsted Fire Department and he is a member of the Home Guard and a member of the town committee of the Connecticut State Council of Defense.
On the 8th of July, 1915, Mr. Winslow was united in marriage to Miss Stella Jeanne Liotard. Her father was Edward S. Liotard, who was descended from the ancient French families of Bourbon and de la Rogere. He was born in Rogere in western France, his birthplace being now a scene of battle in the great world war. The name of Liotard is found several times in the official dictionary of history in France. In the maternal line Mrs. Winslow is descended from one of the old Connecticut families which was founded here in colonial days and was represented in the Revolutionary war and her grandfather participated in the Civil war. Her mother bore the maiden name of Clara C. Lynn. Mrs. Winslow is a graduate of the New Haven Normal School and for five years was a teacher.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Winslow hold membership in the Second Congregational church. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has taken the council degrees. He is also an Odd Fellow and an Elk and a member of the Improved Order of Red Men. He likewise has membership in the Winsted Club, while along strictly professional lines he is connected with the Litchfield County and Connecticut State Bar Associations.
CHARLES HENRY LOUNSBURY.
The Lounsbury family has been represented in Seymour since 1877, but in early colonial days the name has figured in connection with the history of New England. Linus Lounsbury was one of the first settlers in the western part of Bethany, now Beacon Falls, Connecticut, and served as a soldier of the Revolutionary war. The old family homestead in Beacon Falls is still in the possession of some of his descendants. His son, Josiah Louns- bury, married Sally Lines, whose father held a commission under Governor Jonathan Trumbull in the Revolutionary war. Charles Henry Lounsbury, Sr., son of Ransom Lounsbury and the father of Charles Henry Lounsbury, Jr., was born in what is now Beacon Falls, September 18, 1848. When Beacon Falls was organized in 1871 he became one of its first officials and was prominently identified with its public interests for many years. In 1877 he represented his district in the state legislature. It was also in the same year that he removed to Seymour and in 1881 he established business on the corner of Maple and Pearl streets. He was the first selectman, was also township agent from October, 1885, until October, 1890, and again from 1892 until 1895. While acting in that capacity he was instrumental in promoting many public improvements and later served on the board of assessors. He was also the first president of the chamber of commerce of Seymour. He served on the board of directors of the Seymour Trust Company, also the water company, and in 1911 was elected to represent his district in the state senate. He gave thoughtful and earnest consideration to all the vital questions which came up for settlement and his loyalty and progressiveness in citizenship contributed much to the upbuilding of the borough. He died April 20, 1913, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he had long been a devoted member, serving as one of its trustees and its treasurer. He was also patron of Olive Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and was a very prominent and well known Mason. He belonged also to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
It was in 1877 that Charles Henry Lounsbury, Sr., was united in marriage to Miss Jane Titley, of Beacon Falls, a daughter of John Titley, a native of Wales, who in 1854 took his family to New York and located in Oneida county, whence he afterward removed to Beacon Falls. To this marriage were born seven children: Jessie, who died at the age of twenty- one years; twin boys who died in infancy; a daughter who died in infancy; Mary E., at home; Charles H., of this review; and John T., who was born November 13, 1890, and is now in Ansonia with the Coe Brass Company.
Charles Henry Lounsbury, whose name introduces this review, worked for his father in the store and in 1906 became a partner in the business, which he has conducted since his father's death. He is one of the representative merchants of Seymour, active and
CHARLES H. LOUNSBURY, SR.
113
WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
energetic, and has ever recognized the fact that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement. He has worked diligently and persistently, putting forth every effort to please his cus- tomers, and his reasonable prices and honorable dealings feature in his success.
On the 16th of April, 1907, Mr. Lounsbury was married to Miss Minnie Elizabeth Sim- monds, of Leadville, Colorado, and their children are: Thelma Elizabeth, born June 3, 1909; Charles Humphries, born June 17, 1911; and Jane Margaret, who was born February 3, 1914, and died in January, 1915.
Mr. Lounsbury is identified with the Elks, with the Red Men, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Temple of Honor and has many friends in these different fraternal societies. He has held all of the chairs in the Red Men camp. Politically he is a republican, while his religious faith is that of the Methodist church, in which he was reared and to the teachings of which he has ever been most loyal. His course reflects credit and honor upon a name which has figured prominently in connection with the history of Seymour for four decades.
JOHN M. CURRIE.
John M. Currie, engaged in pattern making as a partner in the firm of Reynolds & Currie, is highly skilled in this particular field. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, January 29, 1873, and is a son of John and Margaret Currie, who in 1887 came to the United States, settling in Waterbury. The father was a baker by trade but became connected with the Waterbury Buckle Company, with which he was associated for many years, thus figuring in the manufacturing interests of the city. He died in 1913, having for two years survived his wife, who passed away in 1911.
In the land of hills and heather John M. Currie obtained a public school education to the age of fourteen years and then accompanied his parents to the new world. In his youthful days he was employed by the Waterbury Buckle Company and at the age of eighteen entered the employ of George B. Scovill, with whom he learned the pattern- making trade. He was afterward with the Waterbury Farrel Foundry & Machine Company for twenty-three years and in that connection steadily worked his way upward, serving as assistant foreman during the last six years. He became associated with Henry J. Reynolds in organizing the present firm of Reynolds & Currie in 1916 and in the intervening period, covering a little more than a year, they have developed a very substantial pattern- making business.
On the 12th of May, 1897, Mr. Currie was married to Miss Ruby Wilmot of Nauga- tuck, a daughter of Lucius Wilmot, engaged in the concrete business. Mr. and Mrs. Currie have three daughters, Muriel, Ruth and Eleanor. The parents hold membership in the Second Congregational church and Mr. Currie votes with the republican party. He is also identified with Clan MeAlpine, O. S. C., and with the Foresters. He has many of the sterling characteristics of the Scotch race, including the determination and thoroughness which lead to the development of business ability, and with these qualities as a firin basis he is winning success.
JAMES P. DAVIDSON.
Alert and energetic, James P. Davidson has made for himself an enviable position in the commercial circles of Winsted, being the senior partner in the firm of James P. Davidson & Son, proprietors of the Boston Store at No. 434 Main street. His plans are always well defined and carefully executed and his energy has been a forceful factor in accomplishing desired results. He was born in Scotland, January 13, 1845. His father, John Davidson, was a farmer. In early manhood he wedded Susan Copeland and they remained residents of Scotland throughout their remaining days. Their son James P. is the only member of the family to come to America. He has one brother, William, who is living in Adelaide, South Australia, while two sisters have remained in Scotland.
James P. Davidson was reared upon a farm in his native country and received his education in the schools there. He came to the United States in January, 1867, when a young man of twenty-two years. He had previously learned the dry goods business in Aberdeen, Scotland, serving a four years' apprenticeship there. On reaching the new world he secured a clerkship in Boston, where he remained for two and a half years, and later Vol. III-3
114
WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
spent three years in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1873 he embarked in the dry goods business on his own account at Westerly, Rhode Island, as a member of the firm of Davidson & Rich, their store there being known as the Boston Store. In 1882 Mr. Davidson sold his interest to his partner and removed to Winsted, where he has since conducted a dry goods store. He opened his establishment on the 15th of September, 1883, and called it the Boston Store. For more than a third of a century he has thus been closely associated with the commercial activities of Winsted and has long occupied a most prominent position in mercantile circles. Since 1888 the Boston Store has occupied its present location at No. 434 Main street and through all the intervening years has been one of the popular mercantile establishments of the city, drawing its patronage from a wide territory, covering a radius of from twenty-five to forty miles. In 1913 Mr. Davidson admitted his son, William P., to a partnership under the firm style of James P. Davidson & Son. The senior partner is today the second oldest dry goods merchant in Winsted. The policy which he has ever followed is one which will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny and his course at all times has constituted an example well worthy of emulation.
In December, 1870, Mr. Davidson was married in Boston, Massachusetts, to Miss Mary L. Gunn, who is also of Scotch birth, a native of Glasgow. She came to the United States in 1870 to become the bride of Mr. Davidson, with whom she had been acquainted for a number of years. Two children have been born to them: Isabelle Susan, who is now the wife of Alexander Davidson, of Aberdeen, Scotland, who although of the same name was not a relative; and William Pirie, who was born in Winsted, January 6, 1884, and is now his father's partner in business. The daughter's husband is cashier of the Northern Assurance Company of Aberdeen and to Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Davidson has been born a son, Ian Winsted Davidson.
Mr. and Mrs. James P. Davidson have long figured prominently in the social circles of the city in which they reside. They are members of the Second Congregational church and their aid and influence are always given on the side of progress and improvement. As a business man he has displayed those qualities which produce substantial results. Far- sighted and sagacious, he has closely watched every detail of the business and at the same time has given due prominence to its major points, keeping to the highest business methods and demanding of his sales people that every courtesy shall be extended patrons. His entire life commands for him the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been associated and such is his success that he has never had occasion to regret his determination to try his fortune on this side the Atlantic.
DANIEL COLT.
Business enterprise finds a progressive exponent in Daniel Colt, the president and treasurer of the large mercantile house of Colt & Company, Inc., doing business at No. 581 Main street, in Winsted, and through the steps of an orderly progression Mr. Colt has reached his present enviable position in commercial circles. He was born in Brookfield, Vermont, June 7, 1872, and is a representative of the well known Colt family that has figured prominently in connection with New England's history and development. His grandfather, Daniel Colt, was an own cousin of Samuel Colt, the inventor of the Colt pistol. Henry Colt, the father of Daniel Colt of this review, was born in Brooklyn, New York, and became a farmer. He was but four years of age when he removed with his parents to Vermont and in that state he devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits, thus providing for the support of his family. He married Jane L. Bigelow, of Brookfield, Vermont, who passed away about twenty years ago, but Mr. Colt is still living and yet makes his home in Brookfield. The children of that marriage were: Daniel, of this review ; Wallace P., of Brookfield; and Ella, who is the wife of John M. Benham, also of Brookfield, Vermont.
Daniel Colt was reared on the old homestead farm, early becoming familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. He acquired a good grammar school education and at the age of eighteen years taught school for one term. He afterward went to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he entered the clothing store of Besse, Carpenter & Company, proprietors of one of the largest stores of that place. A year later he went to Derby, Connecticut, and accepted a clerkship with the clothing store of Allis & Company. Later he managed a clothing store at Athol, Massachusetts, for a year, and in 1898 he came to Winsted, where he established the present large dry goods and clothing store which he is now conducting under the style of Colt & Company, Inc. He is president,
115
WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
treasurer and manager of this company, which is doing business at No. 581 Main street and which has one of the largest mercantile establishments of Winsted. They carry a large line of clothing and men's furnishings, also dry goods and ladies' and misses' ready- to-wear garments. It is the only store in Winsted that combines dry goods with men's furnishings. They have a large establishment, splendidly equipped, and the business is steadily growing. This is a close corporation, all of the stock being owned by the Colt family. Mr. Colt personally is the owner of the four-story brick block in which the busi- ness is carried on. The building is sixty-six by seventy feet, having a frontage of seventy feet on Main street. The first and second floors are used for the business and the third and fourth floors are used as offices and as halls.
On the 26th of June, 1896, Mr. Colt was married to Miss Maude Linden Welles, of Meriden, Connecticut, and they have become the parents of five children, Stanley W., Spencer H., Evelyn J., Marion E. and Anna L. The eldest son was graduated from Yale College in 1917 and is now in the Plattsburg training camp. The second son, Spencer H., is a senior in the Gilbert school.
Mr. Colt is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Winsted and the family is very prominent socially, for his business position ranks him with the most prominent merchants of the city.
WILBUR GRANT MANCHESTER.
Public opinion places Wilbur Grant Manchester among the able lawyers of Winsted and his section of the state. He is also a prominent and active member of the prohibition party in Connecticut and his services in behalf of temperance have been far reaching and resultant. He was born in Winsted, where he still resides, on the 29th of July, 1860, a son of the late Edward Manchester, farmer, grain merchant, ice cream manufacturer and active business man of Winsted, who was highly regarded by reason of his personal worth, his prominence and his many substantial qualities. He passed away November 22, 1911, and is survived by his widow, who bore the maiden name of Mary Jennie Grant. She yet makes her home in Winsted. She is a representative of the distinguished Grant family, her father, Harry McGill Grant, whose home was at Norfolk, Connecticut, being a distant relative of General Ulysses S. Grant.
Wilbur Grant Manchester was reared in Winsted and was educated in the public and high schools of that place, while later he attended Riverside Institute at Lyons, Iowa, and Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Massachusetts. He later entered Yale Law School, as he had determined upon the practice of law for his life work, and was there graduated witli the class of 1896. From 1886 until 1894 he was a resident of the state of Florida, where he was engaged in orange growing and also in buying and shipping of oranges. His father at that time owned several orange groves in Putnam county, Florida, and in the vicinity of Palatka. During his stay in the south Wilbur G. Manchester superintended the orange groves and marketed the fruit. The big "freeze" of 1895 destroyed the industry completely and the disaster to the groves ended his career in Florida. He then took up the study of law and since 1896 has practiced his profession in Winsted, his offices being located at No. 510 Main street, where he occupies a commodious suite of rooms adorned with one of the best law libraries in Litchfield county. He has never had a partner but has developed his practice, which has reached splendid proportions, independently. In fact, his clientage has become of such extent that it is difficult for him to care for it alone. He is a member of the Litchfield County and the Connecticut State Bar Associa- tions and is recognized by his colleagues and contemporaries in the profession as one of its ablest representatives in Winsted and Connecticut. The trend of his mind is naturally analytical, and he prepares his cases with thoroughness and care, while his reasoning is most clear and his presentation of a cause concise and convincing.
Mr. Manchester is a prohibitionist in politics and is one of the most prominent and active members of the party in New England. His father was a leader of the party before him and was at one time the prohibition candidate for governor of Connecticut and was also a delegate to several of the state and national conventions. Wilbur G. Manchester has been the recipient of practically all the honors that his party could bestow in his home state of Connecticut. He has frequently been nominated at its conventions for high office and has several times accepted such nominations and made the race for official position when he knew that there was no possible chance of election. He thus, however, supported his principles and has devoted his time and money to the cause, which is steadily
116
WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
growing and which no one doubts will win triumphantly in the near future. His labors have been put forth at a great saerifiee of his personal interests, but he has never faltered in his purpose and has been an active force in producing mueh of the strong temperance sentiment that today prevails. He has lived to see his labors bear fruit, for the list of prohibition states is steadily being augmented and the temperanee sentiment is steadily growing, so that he expects to see the day when the country will be largely liberated from the evils of intemperance.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.