USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 2
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GEORGE L. FANCHER.
George L. Fancher is proprietor of the Apothecaries Hall, the oldest drug store of Winsted. The business was established in 1847, has had a continuous existence and has been the property of Mr. Fancher since 1907. It is located at 667 Main street and Mr. Fancher's identification with it as clerk and proprietor covers almost forty years. A native of New York, he was born at Camillus, October, 8, 1852, a son of Harry and Harriet (Phillips) Fancher, both of whom are now deceased. The father was a farmer by occupa- tion, devoting his entire life to the work of tilling the soil. He was born in Saratoga county, New York, and passed away in Syracuse, that state, at the venerable age of eighty-eight years, while his wife departed this life when but sixty-three years of age. The only surviving members of the family are George L. and his sister, Delotia A., who is now the wife of Clarence F. Safford, of Camillus, New York.
George L. Fancher was reared in the city of his nativity and acquired a public school education, but when still comparatively young his textbooks were put aside and he began working in a local drug store. He was employed nights and mornings in the drug store before leaving school and after reaching the age of eighteen he concentrated his entire attention upon business activity. He then went to New York city, where he served a three years' apprenticeship in a drug store which was situated at the corner of Eighth avenue and Forty-third street. He remained there from 1871 until 1873 inclusive, after which he removed to Plantsville, Connecticut, and managed a drug store for about three years. In 1875 he became a resident of Waterbury, Connecticut, where he clerked in the drug store of R. S. Woodruff on Bank street for nearly two years. Late in the year 1877 he went to Woodbury, Connecticut, where he spent several months closing out a drug stock. In May, 1878, he came to Winsted, where he entered the Apothecaries Hall as a clerk. The business had been established in 1847 and in 1876 George W. Lee became the owner. For a time he was associated with a partner, W. L. Mix, under the firm style of Lee & Mix, but that association was discontinued when Mr. Fancher entered the store in 1878. He continued to serve as a clerk until Mr. Lec's death more than twenty years later. He afterward conducted the store for Mr. Lee's widow until her demise a few years subse- quent to her husband's death. At that time Mr. Fancher purchased the store from the son of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Lee and has been sole proprietor since 1907.
On the 3d of December, 1874, Mr. Fancher was united in marriage to Miss Emma J. Fergus, of Camillus, New York, who was a schoolmate of his boyhood. She passed away' leaving two children, namely: Grace L., of Hartford, Connecticut; and William D., who is connected with the Hurlbut National Bank of Winsted. Mr. Fancher belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men, also to the Winsted Club and the Winsted Chamber of Commerce. He likewise has membership with the Connecticut Retail Druggists Associa-
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tion. In politics he has ever maintained an independent course, nor would he ever consent to become a candidate for office, but in all matters of citizenship he stands for improve- ment and progressiveness.
IRVING B. HOLLEY.
Irving B. Holley, of Torrington, is a member of the firm of Mascetti & Holley, general contractors, whose business extends throughout the state and has become one of large and important proportions. Mr. Holley is a member of one of the old families of Torring- ton. His father, the late Edward Hotchkiss Holley, was also born in Torrington, where he was favorably known. A record of Francis Newman Holley, the grandfather, and Edward H. Holley, the father, appears elsewhere in this volume.
Irving B. Holley was born June 3, 1883, in Torrington, and passed through consecu- tive grades in the public schools until graduated from the local high school. Still later he attended the Hotchkiss school at Lakeville, Connecticut. In 1908 he made a trip abroad with his brother Horace, visiting England and Scotland, and after his return home he devoted two years to the development of Holley Place. This is a complete street in Tor- rington of which he was the promoter and which was named in honor of the family. Since 1910 Mr. Holley has been the partner of Joseph Mascetti, conducting business under the firm name of Mascetti & Holley, general contractors and also owners of the Torrington Garage and Service Station at No. 561 South Main street. As general contractors the firm is today. known all over the New England states. They accept and execute contracts for the building of modern streets and public roads, which are mainly of concrete construction, and no firmn is better known in this connection in the state of Connecticut, while its patronage comes from various other states as well. Its construction equipment consists of the most modern machinery now used in road building, including a portable steam dinkey railroad with five miles of track. Aside from his connection with the contracting business and the garage busi- ness he is a director of the Torrington Trust Company and is likewise a director at large of the Litchfield County Farm Bureau.
On the 24th of November, 1913, Mr. Holley was united in marriage to Miss Mary Lewis Sharp, of Norfolk, Virginia, a member of an old family of that state and a daughter of Walter Sharp, who was a Confederate veteran. To Mr. and Mrs. Holley has been born a daughter, Mary Sharp, whose birth occurred January 24, 1915. Mr. Holley is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Torrington Club. He represents old Connecticut families, is descended from Revolutionary war ancestry in both the paternal and maternal lines, and the spirit of loyalty in citizenship is a feature of his own career.
MARCENE BREVET DUNBAR.
Marcene Brevet Dunbar, who is now engaged in the real estate business in Winsted, was formerly also associated with the manufacturing interests of both Torrington and Winsted. In a word he is a business man of enterprise whose plans are well formulated and promptly executed, with the result that public prosperity as well as individual success is promoted. Mr. Dunbar was born in Torrington, April 17, 1850, a son of Lyman and Minerva (King) Dunbar, both of whom have passed away. The father, who was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, was a contractor and builder and died at the age of sixty-five years. His wife, a native of Massachusetts, passed away at the very early age of twenty-three. Mr. Dunbar afterward wedded Catherine King, a sister of his first wife.
Marcene B. Dunbar resided in Torrington until 1895, when he removed to Winsted. Hc was associated with the Union Hardware Company of Torrington for twenty-two years and was treasurer of the company for several years. Upon taking up his abode in Win- sted in 1895 he became secretary and treasurer of the L. M. Jones Company, a manu- facturing concern, with which he so continued until business was suspended. For the past fifteen years he has been dealing in real estate, mortgage loans and investment se- curities, with office at No. 677 Main street in Winsted. He has built up a large clientage in this connection and has made himself thoroughly familiar not only with realty values but also with the worth of commercial paper, so that he can wisely advise his clients as to investments.
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Mr. Dunbar was married at the age of twenty-four years to Miss Helen Diana Smith, of Torrington, who, however, is a native of Milton, Connecticut. They have beeome the parents of three children" Clarenee Smith, now of Fairfield, Connecticut; Helena Minerva; and Gladys Catherine, who is a teacher in the Winsted publie schools. The son is a graduate of Yale of the elass of 1896 and the daughters are graduates of the Gilbert school of Winsted, while Gladys is also a graduate of the New Britain Normal School. Mr. Dunbar has given his children excellent educational opportunities, which they have wisely improved. He stands as a champion of education and of all things that relate to public welfare and progress. He belongs to the Winsted Club and is the treasurer of the Clifton Club. He is likewise a member and one of the vestrymen of St. James Episeo- pal church. Fraternally he is a Master Mason and an Odd Fellow and in the latter organization is a past noble grand. He likewise belongs to the Sons of the American Revo- lution. His political allegiance is given to the democratie party and for several years he served on the Torrington board of relief and was also auditor of the town of Torring- ton. In the Royal Arcanum he is prominent and is a past grand regent of the order in the state of Connectieut. He likewise belongs to the Independent Order of Heptasophs and to the New England Order of Protection and he stands ever for the high ideals which are back of these organizations. His life has been actuated by high and honorable prin- ciples and in business affairs his efforts have been directed along lines that have brought to him honorable success.
ISABELLA COWAN, M. D.
Dr. Isabella Cowan, physician and surgeon of Waterbury, with office at 79 North Main street, was born at Irvington on the Hudson, New York, November 17, 1865. She was the fourth of ten children (two sons and eight daughters), of William and Jane (English) Cowan, both of whom were of Scotch-Irish ancestry. The family removed to Connecticut in 1877, has resided in Waterbury sinee 1892, and has been prominent in the educational system of the city since 1885, all of the sisters having been teaeliers in our public schools.
Dr. Cowan enjoyed the educational opportunities accorded by the public sehools and was graduated from the Waterbury high school with the class of 1883. For several years thereafter she successfully taught in the public schools of the city, becoming principal of the Long Hill school, but abandoned that profession in 1892 to take up the study of medicine, and was graduated from the Woman's Medical College of the New York In- firmary in 1895. She afterward spent a year in the Johns Hopkins Hospital of Baltimore and served as interne in the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia. In 1896, she entered upon the active practice of medicine and surgery with office in the Castle block on North Main street, in Waterbury, where she has since remained. She belongs to the Waterbury, the New Haven County, the Connecticut State, and the American Medical Associations and is a non-resident member of the Woman's Medical Association of New York City. She also has membership in the First Methodist Episcopal church.
THEODORE ARNOLD RACHETER.
Theodore Arnold Racheter is the junior partner in the firm of Kirsch & Racheter, prominent architects and builders of Torrington. He was born in Switzerland, July 28, 1873, a son of Jean and Elizabeth (Maurer) Racheter. The father, who was a rope manufacturer, died in Switzerland when his son Theodore was but five years of age. The mother afterward came to the United States in 1889 and has since lived in Torrington, where she yet makes her home.
Theodore Arnold Racheter was the eleventh in order of birth in a family of thirteen children, ten of whom are yet living, eight being residents of the United States, while two are still in Switzerland. It was in 1890 that he erossed the Atlantie to the new world, being then a youth of seventeen years. He had already served a four years' apprenticeship to the earpenter's and builder's trade in the land of the Alps, beginning work along that line when a youth of thirteen. He had not completed his apprenticeship when his mother crossed the Atlantic and thus he remained until the following year. On reaching New York city he at once started for Torrington, where the family home had been estab- lished, and here he has sinee resided, although while still acting as a journeyman he
THEODORE A. RACHETER
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occasionally did work in the west and in the south. In those earlier years he worked hard and studied hard, his studies including architecture and designing. He is now not only a master carpenter and builder but is also most capable in the field of architecture and designing and has made the plans for many of the finest buildings in Torrington, including the new Chamber of Commerce, the T. M. Burns residence and the home of W. A. Gleeson. About twenty years ago he formed a partnership with Charles P. Kirsch and since then the firm of Kirsch & Racheter has operated extensively not only in Tor- rington but in many other towns in Connecticut, so that the firm's name is widely known throughout the state. They have erected several hundred buildings in Torrington and surrounding towns and give employment to forty workmen. Their activities measure up to the highest standards in connection with building operations and the nature of the buildings which they have designed and erected is proof of their marked efficiency and capability in their chosen field.
In 1906 Mr. Racheter was married to Miss May Gangell, who is of Welsh descent but was born in Southfield, Massachusetts. By her marriage she has become the mother of two children: George Richard, born November 13, 1907; and Merle Ruth, born June. 25, 1915. Mr. Racheter is a man of liberal education who fluently speaks English, French and German. In his fraternal relations Mr. Racheter is an Elk and is also connected with the Foresters of America. He is a director of the Torrington Trust Company and has led a most busy life. Close application, indefatigable energy and unfaltering effort have been crowning points in his career. His life has been one of intense business activity which, intelligently directed, has brought to him a gratifying measure of prosperity.
GEORGE E. BOYD.
George E. Boyd is a member of the insurance firm of Root & Boyd, with offices at No. 110 Bank street. This is the oldest insurance agency of Waterbury, having been es- tablished in 1853, and while Mr. Root has passed away the old firm style is still main- tained, Mr. Boyd carrying on the business under that name. He was born in Bangor, Maine, a son of Archibald L. and Martha J. (Eustis) Boyd. He came to Waterbury in 1885 as a clerk for Smith & Root and was admitted to the firm of Root & Boyd on the 1st of June, 1895. Mr. Smith having retired from active connection with the firm of Smith & Root in 1894. This well known agency was established under the firm style of Hall & Smith in 1853. It became Smith & Root in 1878 and was changed to Root & Boyd in 1895. The history of the agency is quite unique in insurance annals in Connecticut. In 1853 Samuel W. Hall and John W. Smith were appointed agents for the Aetna Fire and many other insurance companies under the name of Hall & Smith. Mr. Hall retired on the 1st of January, 1863, after which the business was carried on alone by John W. Smith until January 1, 1878, when he admitted Edward T. Root to a partnership under the firm style of Smith & Root, the latter having been in Mr. Smith's employ from January 31, 1859. After the retirement of Mr. Smith in 1894 Mr. Root continued alone until George E. Boyd joined Mr. Root under the firm style of Root & Boyd. Mr. Boyd came to Waterbury in October, 1885, after severing his connection with the leading insurance agency of Bangor, Maine, where he had been employed for nearly three years. His active experience in the business therefore covers about thirty-six years. The agency has ever enjoyed an exten- sive clientage and that the methods and principles of the firm are such as will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny is indicated in the fact that the business has con- tinuously and substantially grown. They are always just to competitors, fair and honor- able in their treatment of clients and a great volume of business is annually transacted over their counters. Aside from being the head of this important insurance agency at the present time Mr. Boyd is also a director of the Waterbury National Bank, auditor of the Waterbury Savings Bank and secretary of the Waterbury Hotel Corporation, which owns the Elton hotel. The death of Mr. Root occurred October 7, 1910, and the responsibilities of the business devolve entirely upon Mr. Boyd, who has since been alone.
It was on the 17th of September, 1890, that Mr. Boyd was united in marriage to Miss Mercy Middlebrook, of Wilton, Connecticut, a graduate of St. Margaret's School of the class of 1887. They have one daughter, Mercy, who attended St. Margaret's School and the Westover School and is not at home. Their only son, Frederic, is a student in The Taft School, at Watertown, Connecticut.
The parents are members of Trinity Episcopal church and Mr. Boyd is a thirty-second degree and a Knight Templar Mason, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine be has
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crossed the sands of the desert. He belongs to the Waterbury Club and to the Waterbury Country Club and is prominent and popular socially as well as in a business way. His life has been characterized by a persistency of purpose that has constituted the basis of steady progress and his interests are now extensive and important .. Representing one of the oldest insurance agencies in the state, he fully maintains the irreproachable reputa- tion ever borne by the firm.
OLIVER G. CAMP.
Oliver G. Camp, of Waterbury, is now living retired but was for many years a prominent figure in the industrial circles of the city, being one of the two owners of the Platt Milling Company, which had a storage capacity of sixty thousand bushels and did the largest business in its line in the city. A native of Connecticut, he was born in Roxbury, August 24, 1839, and is a son of Sheldon and Lucy (Gaylord) Camp, both descended from fine old Connecticut families.
The early education of Oliver G. Camp was received in Roxbury, but he later attended high school at South Britain. He was reared upon the home farm and received an excellent New England training, with its strong emphasis upon industry, thrift and strict honesty. In 1872 he became a resident of Waterbury and in that year became connected with the Platt Milling Company, a stock company. Eventually he and Alfred S. Platt purchased all the stock of the concern but continued to operate under the old name. The business of the company showed a steady growth and the volume of its trade was larger that than of any of its competitors. Its plant was erected on Benedict street and the capacity of its warehouses was sixty thousand bushels. In 1906 the building was destroyed by fire and Mr. Camp then retired from active life after almost thirty-five years' connection with the milling business. He won recognition as an authority upon milling and as a business man of unusual acumen and enterprise and gained financial independence.
Mr. Camp was united in marriage on the 10th of October, 1871, to Miss Laura E. Warner, who is a daughter of J. Z. Warner, of Roxbury. Mr. and Mrs. Camp have become the parents of four children, as follows: George E. was born September 21, 1876, and is now general manager of the Waterbury Castings Company. He married Laura M. Mitchell and they have two children, Merwin and Nelson. Mabel O., who was born August, 4, 1883, is the wife of Aaron A. Benedict, of Waterbury. Ruth E., who was born January 6, 1888, and Olive G., whose birth occurred March 11, 1890, are both at home with their parents.
In matters of citizenship Mr. Camp has always been progressive, actuated by a spirit of loyalty and patriotism. In 1862 he enlisted at Naugatuck in the Fifteenth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and while in training at Washington was stricken with typhoid fever. Upon his recovery he was detailed to the hospital department and served throughout the war. He participated in the battle of Fredericksburg and at the close of hostilities received an honorable discharge at Newbern, North Carolina. Mr. Camp votes the republican ticket but has never taken any other part in public affairs. He holds membership in the First Congregational church and gives his financial and moral support to its work. His life has been guided by the highest moral standards and his gennine worth has gained him a high place in the regard of all who have been intimately associated with him.
HENRY J. PIERRE.
Henry J. Pierre, who has been a resident of Winsted since 1882, was born in New Britain, Connecticut, November 2, 1855, and is the only child of Henry B. and Sarah J. (Parmalee) Pierre, both of whom were natives of Connecticut but have now passed away. The father was born in New Britain, February 4, 1834, and was a mechanic. During the Civil war he was a gun manufacturer at Manchester, New Hampshire, making guns for the use of the Union army. He died in Harwinton, Connecticut, April 3, 1916, in the eighty- third year of his age. He was a son of Paul and Maria Jeannette (Jacobus) Pierre, both of whom were of Holland Dutch descent. The former spelled the surname Peer. He was a native of Paterson, New Jersey, and was a son of Bernard and Jane (Rutan) Peer. The latter was a daughter of Paul Rutan, who was a noted scout of the Revolutionary war, serv- ing for several years with the Colonial army, and at the end of his military experience carried seven bullets in his body. He, too, was of Holland Dutch descent. The family
OLIVER G. CAMP
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has ever been characterized by patriotic devotion to the welfare of the country. In every generation representatives of the name have stood stanchly for what they believed to be the best interests of the nation and the government.
When the Civil war broke out Henry B. Pierre was a toolmaker in the Providence (R. I.) Tool Works. A master mechanic of much skill, he was placed in charge of the Amoskeag Gun Works at Manchester, New Hampshire, and with two hundred men under him manu- factured guns for the Union troops. After the war ended he went to New Britain, Con- necticut, where for many years he was employed as a mechanic. He was twice married, Sarah Jane Parmalee becoming his second wife, while his first wife was Mariette Parmalee, the two being sisters. No children were born of the first marriage and Henry J. Pierre is the only child of the second marriage. The sisters were descended from Abraham Pierson, who came from England in 1640. Among the representatives of the family in America was Abram Pierson, the first president of Yale College.
It will thus be seen that Henry J. Pierre is a representative of two of the oldest New England families-families that have had much to do with shaping the history and develop- ment of this seetion of the country. He was graduated from the New Britain high school with the class of 1872, after which he took up the profession of teaching, to which he devoted five years. Prior to this time, however, he had spent one year at sea. In 1882 he came to Winsted and for four years he was a member of the Dowd Printing Company. Dis- posing of his interest in that business in 1886, he has since conducted one of the most im- portant fire insurance agencies in Winsted. Throughout the intervening period, cover- ing thirty-one years, he has occupied his present office in the Baird block at No. 72 Main street. There is no feature of fire insurance with which he is not thoroughly familiar and he has built up a business of extensive proportions, his clientage being now very large and gratifying. He is also one of the incorporators of the Mechanics Savings Bank.
On the 22d of February, 1883, Mr. Pierre was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude Estella Roberts and they have become parents of a son and a daughter: Nina Minette, who for many years has been a successful teacher in the public schools of Montelair, New Jersey, and Reid Vernon Peer, who has restored the original spelling of the name. He is now battalion sergeant-major of the Three Hundred and Fourth United States Infantry, at present at Camp Devens, Ayer, Massachusetts, and a staff officer to Major Elihu Root, Jr., of the same regiment. He was born in January, 1895, and is a graduate of the Gilbert School Business College, while the daughter is a graduate of the Willimantic Normal School.
In politics Mr. Pierre is a republican but has always declined to become a candidate for office. However, he served for twelve years on the school committee for the first dis- trict of the town of Winehester. He belongs to the Royal Arcanum and to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and he is also a member of the Winsted Club of the Chamber of Commerce, associations that indicate much of the nature of his activities and interests outside of business. He is very fond of hunting and fishing and devotes much time to these sports when opportunity offers. For several years he has made it a rule to spend a vacation in the Catskill mountains, fishing for trout. He also does much bird hunting in the open seasons and keeps a fine setter dog. He is authority on game and fish in this section of the country and is never happier than when with rod and gun he can spend some time in the open. His friends, and they are many, speak of him in terms of warin regard, and while there has been nothing spectacular in his career, he has made for himself a sub- stantial and ereditable position in business circles.
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