USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 21
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THURLOW H. BRONSON.
Life is many-sided and there are varied demands made upon the individual for activity along many lines. Meeting every requirement, Thurlow H. Bronson has come to rank with the representative and valued citizens of Winsted, where through his business con- nections he is widely and favorably known, being the vice president and general manager of the Winsted Hardware Manufacturing Company. He was born in Middlebury, Connecti- cut, July 11, 1872, a son of Eli Bronson, a farmer, who has also been prominent in con- nection with public affairs, serving in the state legislature for several ternis as a member of the house of representatives. At the time of the Civil war he put aside business and per- sonal considerations to espouse the cause of the Union and went to the front to defend the stars and stripes. He was born in Middlebury, Connecticut, and is still living at the age of seventy-four years. He is a member of the well known Bronson family which includes Silas Bronson, the founder of the Bronson Library, and others who have left their impress upon the public life of the community in many ways. . His wife, who bore the maiden name of Bessie Andrews Wheaton, is living at the age of seventy-one years. Mrs. Bronson is very active in church, club and similar movements that have to do with the moral and civic progress of the community. She is also a very able business woman. Both are still active and vigorous and have been prominent in the affairs of Middlebury during the past half century and have contributed in time and money to all measures that mean public betterment. Thurlow H. Bronson was the third in a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters. all of whom are living with the exception of the eldest daughter, Mary, who passed away at the age of twenty-one years. The seven surviving younger children are as follows: Wheaton Andrews; Thurlow Hine, of this review; Paul Phillips; Helen Rex, who is the wife of Frank A. Waters of Middlebury; Marshall Emerson of Nau- gatuck, Connecticut; and Hazel Eckford and Howard Eli Bronson, both of Middlebury.
Thurlow H. Bronson is the only representative of his family in Winsted. He was educated in public and private schools of Middlebury and put aside his textbooks when a youth of sixteen. He then went to New Haven, Connecticut, where he served a four years' apprenticeship at the machinist's trade in the machine shop of George M. Griswold. When twenty years of age he went to Niagara Falls, New York, where for three years he was superintendent of the Francis Hook & Eye Company. When twenty-three years of age, or in 1895, he came to Winsted, where he has since made his home and throughout the inter- vening period he has been identified with Winsted's manufacturing . interests. He was first employed as superintendent of the Winsted Metalliform Company and continued as such for four years. That concern occupied the same plant that is now used by the Winsted Hardware Manufacturing Company. From 1899 until 1910 Mr. Bronson was super- intendent of the T. C. Richards Hardware Company, a large manufacturing concern of Winsted, and in 1910, in connection with his brother-in-law, Stuart B. Camp, he pur- chased the factory site and water rights of the present Winsted Hardware Manufacturing Company and at once organized and incorporated the business as it is now. Mr. Bronson became the president, with Mr. Camp as treasurer and A. A. Griffin as secretary. This con- cern manufactures upholstery hardware and bathroom fixtures, brass and nickel plated goods and also makes a specialty of sheet metal and wire products. The undertaking has grown and prospered as the years have gone by and is now one of Winsted's most im- portant industries. Mr. Camp has since sold his interest to J. S. Frazee and E. A. Frazee,
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the former now being the president, while the latter is treasurer. J. S. Frazee is a resi- dent of Brooklyn and is not active in the plant. Mr. Bronson is now vice president and general manager and the interests and direction of the business devolve in large measure upon him.
On the 7th of October, 1904, Mr. Bronson was married to Miss Helen Miranda Camp, a daughter of William L. and Nellie (Brown) Camp, the former deceased. The father was at one time a leading merchant of Winsted and was also selectman and warden of the borough. Mr. Bronson is a stalwart republiean in polities but has never been an aspirant for office. He belongs to the Home Guard, to the Chamber of Commerce and to the Win- sted Club, associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests outside of business. He cooperates in all well defined plans for the welfare of the community and believes in maintaining the highest civic standards.
ULYSSES G. CHURCH.
Ulysses G. Church, practicing law at the Waterbury bar and now serving as a member of the civil service commission of Connecticut, was born at Chaplin, this state, November 22, 1869. His father, the Hon. Julius Church, a farmer by occupation, served in the Con- necticut general assembly. He was born at Mansfield, Connecticut, and was a son of Morris Church, a representative of one of the old New England families whose ancestry is traced back to Richard Church, who came from England in 1630 and, following his trade of carpentering, built the first church at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Ulysses G. Church is also a direct descendant of Abner Church, who was a Minute Man in the Revolutionary war, and he also comes of Revolutionary ancestry in the maternal line. His mother was Marcia Minerva Turner, a direct descendant of Dr. Philip Turner, surgeon general in the army of General Washington. Another of the ancestors in the maternal line was Roger Conant, the founder of Salem, Massachusetts.
Ulysses G. Church attended the publie schools of his native city: to the age of sixteen years and then prepared for college at Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts, from which he was graduated in 1891. He afterward entered Yale and in 1895 was graduated from the academie department with the Bachelor of Arts degree. With broad literary learning to serve as the foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of professional knowledge, he then became a law student and in 1897 was graduated from the Yale Law School. At Mount Hermon School he won the Cambridge prize, awarded for general excellence, and in both the Yale academic and the Yale Law schools he was an honor graduate. Admitted to the bar in 1897, he spent one year in the law office of Arvine & Beers of New Haven. In 1897 he enlisted in the First Division of the Connecticut Naval Reserves of New Haven and his training was received aboard the Maine, the sinking of which ship in Havana harbor has placed its name indelibly upon the pages of American history. During the Spanish-American war he served in the United States navy on patrol duty along the New England coast.
Mr. Church came to Waterbury in 1899 and has here engaged in the practice of law, winning a good clientage of an extensive and important character. He is a member of the Waterbury, Connecticut State and American Bar Associations and holds high rank among his colleagues and contemporaries in the profession.
On the 21st of December, 1899, Mr. Church was married to Miss Mabel Spafford Lincoln, of Chaplin, Connecticut, who had been an acquaintance and schoolmate of his boyhood. They have one son, Richard Lincoln, born December 17, 1912. Mr. Church is well known in various publie and semi-publie connections. He is a member of Camp No. 12, United Spanish War Veterans, and the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Harmony Lodge, No. 42, F. & A. M .. which is the oldest Masonic lodge of the Naugatuck valley and of which he has been secretary for several years. He has also attained the Knight Templar degree in Masonry and he is an Odd Fellow and an Elk. He has been a member of the grievance committee of the New Haven county bar for ten years. He belongs to the First Congregational church and in politics he is a republican, taking a most active and helpful interest in promoting the welfare and suceess of his party. For ten years he was chairman of the republican city eentral committee and for the past eight years lias been a member of the republican state committee. From 1906 until 1914 he served as prosecuting attorney for the district court of Waterbury, or for two terms of four years each, making a most excellent record in that position. He is now a member of the state civil service commission through appointment of Governor Holcomb in 1915. He has
ULYSSES G. CHURCH
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never been a seeker for public office and in fact has never been a candidate for an elective office. His positions have all come to him by; appointment and entirely unsolicited. He is a man of broad interests whose ideas and activities are of a most sane, helpful character, contributing toward progress and improvement along many lines.
JAMES MCALPINE.
James McAlpine was a very prominent business man and citizen of Winsted and in his death the community lost one whose worth was widely acknowledged. He was born in Stirling, Scotland, May 15, 1851, a son of John and Catherine (Dunsmore) McAlpine. The father was a tailor by trade and spent his entire life in Scotland, where he passed away in 1863.
James McAlpine was reared in the land of hills and heather and there learned the tailor's trade in his youthful days. In 1869 he decided to cross the Atlantic to the United States, hoping to have better business opportunities in the new world than he felt he could secure in his native country. He was then but eighteen years of age, but he possessed courage, determination, ambition and industry. Making his way to Winsted, he here spent the remainder of his life and became a prominent factor in the affairs of the community. He was first employed as a journeyman tailor by James A. Bushnell, with whom he re- mained for eight years, his long retention being an indisputable proof of his capability and fidelity. He was desirous, however, of engaging in business on his own account and in 1877 he opened a tailoring establishment, of which he remained the head until his demise. In 1883 he admitted his brother, John McAlpine, to a partnership and under the firm style of McAlpine Brothers they purchased the Young America. Clothing House at No. 410 Main street. The firm then conducted a large clothing and men's furnishing goods business and also engaged in tailoring until 1915, when the partnership was dissolved and James McAlpine retired from active connection with the business. He was also identified with several other Winsted enterprises which contributed to the material prog- ress and upbuilding of this section. He was one of the founders of the Morgan Silver Plate Company, of which he became the vice president, so continuing until his demise. He was also president of the Dowd Printing Company and was financially connected with other business concerns.
Mr. McAlpine was married December 5, 1905, to Miss Fannie Osborne and they be- came the parents of a son and a daughter, John Paul and Catherine Dunsmore. Mr. McAlpine was a prominent and active member of the Methodist Episcopal church and served on its board of stewards. The story of his life is the story of honest endeavor crowned with success. His purposes were always well defined and, with a clear conception of both the difficulties and possibilities presented, he so directed his efforts that he obviated the former and utilized the latter to good advantage. While with him, throughout his life, his family was always first, public interests were also near his heart and he cooperated in many well defined plans and movements for the public good. His demise occurred on the 7th of March. 1917.
HON. EDWARD LEO REIDY.
Hon. Edward Leo Reidy, postmaster of Winsted, is a native-born citizen, his birth having occurred January 27, 1865. His parents were Edward and Bridget (Laffan) Reidy, both of whom were natives of Ireland, the former having been born in County Kerry and the latter in. County Limerick. The natal year of the father was 1837 and of the mother 1832. The parents met in Winsted and were here married on New Year's Day of 1860. Edward Reidy, Sr., was a man of liberal education and taught school in Ireland before coming to the United States. After reaching Winsted he learned the trade of a brick and stone mason and later became a contractor and builder in stone and brick work. He lived to the age of seventy-four years, passing away on the 7th of March, 1912, while his wife reached the age of seventy-six, her demise occurring on the 4th of February, 1908. They were the parents of nine children, seven sons and two daughters, of whom Edward L. of this review was the third. Of this family seven are still living, namely : Michael B .; Edward L., of this review; Ellen, who is the wife of Frederick Barreuther; Jane; Maurice J .;
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Richard A .; and Daniel F. All are residents of Winsted with the exception of Michael B., who lives in Naugatuck, Connecticut.
Edward L. Reidy has spent his entire life in Winsted and was educated in its parochial and public schools. In early life he learned the trade of a stone and brick mason under the direction of his father, having become an excellent workman in that field before he was twenty-one years of age. He continued to follow the trade for a quarter of a century and for several years was foreman for Joseph F. Carey, a well known contractor. In that connection he assisted in building the present Methodist Episcopal church, the Litchfield County Hospital, the new dormitory at the Gilbert Home and many other important brick structures in Winsted. In 1908 in partnership with William L. Canty he formed the firm, known as Canty & Reidy, conducting a fire insurance agency. In January, 1910, Mr. Reidy took over the entire business and conducted it with success until January 1, 1917, when owing to his arduous duties as postmaster he disposed of the same. He carried on this enterprise in addition to his other business and official activities.
From his boyhood Mr. Reidy has been interested in local democratic politics and in May, 1902, he was elected a burgess, in which position he served for a year. In November, 1902, he was chosen a member of the general assembly of Connecticut and was reelected in the fall of 1904 his fellow townsmen thus giving evidence of their appreciation of his first term's service and their recognition of his ability. He served during the sessions of 1903 and 1905 and gave thorough and earnest consideration to all vital questions which came up for settlement. In October, 1909, he was elected selectman and filled that position for one year. In 1912 he was appointed deputy sheriff of Litchfield county, which position he resigned to become postmaster on the 1st of February, 1915, when he was appointed by President Wilson. He is now occupying that position, the duties of which he discharges with promptness and fidelity. The work of the office is methodically and systematically conducted and a high degree of efficiency has been maintained.
Mr. Reidy is a member of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church and fraternally he is connected with the Elks, being a charter member of Winsted Lodge, No. 844, B. P. O. E. He served for five years in the Connecticut National Guard as a member of Company 1, Fourth Connecticut Regiment, being both a private and non-commissioned officer. He has been a member of the town committee of the democratic party for several years and is untiring in support of the party principles, doing all in his power to advance the cause. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce of Winsted and cooperates in all of its well defined plans and measures for the public good. He is likewise a member of the Winsted Club and socially has a wide acquaintance, while his marked characteristics make for personal popularity.
HARLOW A. PEASE.
Harlow A. Pease is president of one of Torrington's well known business concerns, the Torrington Building Company, the operations of which extend not only over Connecticut but over almost the entire New England states and into New Jersey and New York. Mr. Pease was born at Alford, Massachusetts, August 20, 1868, the only son of Henry Pease, a merchant and grist and sawmill owner, who died when his son Harlow was but two years of age. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Emily M. Higgins, still survives and is living at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, at the age of seventy-seven years. Mr. Pease has one living sister, Sarah L., now the wife of Fred De Bell, of Great Barrington, Massa- chusetts.
Harlow A. Pease was reared in Alford and in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, the public schools of those towns affording him his educational opportunities. He left school at the age of eighteen years and in April, 1888, when nineteen years of age, came to Tor- rington, where he entered the employ of the Hotchkiss Brothers Company as an apprentice at the carpenter's trade. He continued with that firm until 1902, in which year he. became one of the organizers and incorporators of the Torrington Building Company, which is today one of the best known contracting firms in the state of Connecticut. Mr. Pease has continuously served as its president and as its directing head has contributed in very marked and substantial measure to its success. They do a general contracting and building business, specializing in heavy construction of brick, stone and steel materials. The business covers all of the New England states save Maine and New Hampshire and the company has also been accorded many large and important contracts in New York and New Jersey. Associated with Mr. Pease as officers of the company are: Howard J.
Harlow A. Pease
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Castle, treasurer; W. B. Waterman, secretary; and C. E. Bloom, vice president. The nature of the work undertaken by the company is indicated by the fact that within the last four years they have erected the American brass casting shop and rod mill, the Torrington high school, the Westmore grammar school, the Elks' clubhouse at Torrington, the office building of the Torrington Manufacturing Company, the isolation building at the Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington, several of the recent additions to the Hendey Machine Company's plant, also of the Union Hardware Company and others. All of these are in Torrington. Outside of Torrington they have done equally important work, building additions to the plant of the Plume & Atwood Company of Thomaston, several additions to the Chase Rolling Mills, also to the plant of the American Pin Company and of the Berbecker & Rowland Company of Waterbury. Mr. Pease is vice president of the Berlin Brick Company of Berlin, Connecticut, and a director of the Torrington Trust Company.
On the 1st of June, 1893, Mr. Pease was united in marriage to Miss Josephine A. Hotchkiss, a daughter of the late Edward Hotchkiss of Torrington, and a sister of Edward H. Hotchkiss. They have two children: Ralph Hotchkiss, who was born February 17, 1895; and Marion Amanda, born April 30, 1902.
Mr. Pease is a member of the Center Congregational church and also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Torrington Club and the Greenwoods Country Club. He is also a member of the transport division of the Connecticut Home Guard. In politics he is a stalwart republican with firm belief in the principles of the party but he does not seek or desire office, preferring that his undivided attention shall be given to his business affairs, which have constantly grown in volume and in importance and which have placed him in the front rank among the leading contractors and builders of Connecticut.
ALBERT W. HUMMEL ..
Albert W. Hummel, who is engaged in the practice of law in Waterbury as a member of the firm of Hummel & Hummel, was born in Austria-Hungary, July 27, 1889, and was the youngest of the children of Wiebert and Theresa (Kaiser) Hummel. Coming with his parents to the United States, the family home was established in Waterbury in 1893, when he was a lad of four years. He became a pupil in the public schools and was gradu- ated from the Crosby high school with the class of 1910. While a student there he played on the football, basket ball and baseball teams and served the football team as captain and coach. In the fall of 1910 he entered the law department of Cornell University at Ithaca and was there graduated with the LL. B. degree in 1913. He then became the law partner of his elder brother, Emil Hummel, under the firm style of Hummel & Hummel, and through the intervening period of four years has been actively engaged in practice.
Mr. Hummel belongs to the Waterbury Bar Association. He is also a member of St. Cecelia's German Catholic church. In polities he is a republican and fraternally an Elk. He belongs to the German Turnverein Vorwaerts and his chief recreation is sought along the line of gymnastics and general athletics.
JOHN MCALPINE.
John McAlpine is a retired merchant of Winsted who for a long period figured as one of the representative and respected business men of the city. He was born in Stirling, Scotland, April 14, 1858, and came to the United States in 1870, when a youth of but twelve years, joining his brother James, who had previously crossed the Atlantic. He lias since remained a resident of Winsted where he learned the tailor's trade in the establishment of J. A. Bushnell and after acquainting himself thoroughly with the business he was admitted to a partnership by his brother under the firm style of McAlpine Brothers, an association that was maintained for nearly a third of a century. They had one of the leading clothing and tailoring establishments of Winsted and their affairs were wisely and carefully managed. Jolin McAlpine was also one of the founders of the Morgan Silver Plate Company and was long one of its directors. He succeeded his brother to the presi- dency of the Dowd Printing Company and remains in that position.
On the 8th of January. 1890, Mr. McAlpine was married to Miss Nellie A. Gage, of
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Winsted, the only daughter of the late George S. Gage. They have one son, James George McAlpine, who was born July 3, 1893. He was graduated from the Wesleyan University of Middletown, Connecticut, in 1916 and is a bacteriologist. He has now enlisted for mili- tary duty in the Bellevue Hospital Unit and is awaiting orders to go with that unit to France.
Mr. McAlpine belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is serving as a trustee, and he is also identified with the Young Men's Christian Association. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason. He has been active in the business life of Winsted for a third of a century but retired in 1915 to enjoy the fruits of his former labor. His course has ever been characterized by strict integrity and commercial honor and his record proves that success and an untarnished naine may be won simultaneously.
HARRY W. PERKINS.
Harry W. Perkins is now living practically retired in Waterbury, although for some years he was actively identified with its manufacturing interests and later with general agricultural pursuits. He was born in Waterbury, March 4, 1883, a son of William H. and Ella L. (Grilley) Perkins. His great grandfather Benonia Perkins, became the founder of the family in New Haven county, establishing his home in Bethany, where he engaged in farming until his death. His son, William Perkins, was but nine months old at the time of the removal from Gilbertsville, Otsego county, New York, where he was born, to New Haven county. He acquired his education in the schools of Bethany and was fifteen years of age when he came to Waterbury, then a small town giving little evidence of its future rapid development. In Waterbury and in Prospect he learned the earpenter's trade and became a prominent contractor and builder of the Naugatuck valley. On attaining his majority he entered into partnership with Archibald and Elisha Rice and received con- tracts for the erection of several prominent buildings of Waterbury, including the Scovill House, the First Congregational church and the Scovill factory. He had the record of erecting nine houses in ten days in Waterville. He also engaged in the manufacture of sash and blinds at City Mills and he became a large landowner, having property at Lakewood, now known as Perkins avenue, and also at Waterville. He was a recognized leader in democratic circles and took a deep interest in all public affairs, political and otherwise. For thirteen years he filled the office of selectman, being elected on both demo- cratic and republican tickets-a fact indicative of his personal popularity and his marked eapability in office. For five years he was first selectman. His influence was ever on the side of progress and contributed much to the material, educational, political and moral welfare of his community. He died in Waterbury in 1875 and was laid to rest in Riverside cemetery, in the second lot bought in this cemetery. He held membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and guided his life according to the teachings of the Episcopal church, of which he was a communicant. In early manhood he wedded Mary Tuttle, daughter of Jolin and Elizabeth (Judd) Tuttle, and following her demise he married Almira Jerome, of Waterbury.
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