USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 49
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Mr. Hoadley has long been a prominent member of the Ancient Order of United Work- men and has held various offices in the lodge, including the responsible position of financier. He is a devoted member of the First Congregational church and has been annually elected forty-seven times to the office of treasurer of benevolent contributions. He is also con- nected with the Young Men's Christian Association of Waterbury, which he joined in 1861. and he has served as both its treasurer and its president. He is deeply interested in all that concerns the moral progress as well as the material development of his community and his worth as a man and citizen has been widely acknowledged. He made for himself a creditable place in business circles and well deserves the rest which has come to him-a rest which is the legitimate reward of long years of honorable activity.
HENRY A. HOADLEY.
Henry A. Hoadley, cashier of the Citizens National Bank of Waterbury, was born in this city on the 20th of March, 1874, a son of Frederic B. and Elizabeth C. (Cowles) Hoadley. who were natives of Sheffield, Massachusetts. The former was a son of Henry H. Hoadley, of Naugatuck, Connecticut, and a representative of one of the old colonial families that was founded in America during the early part of the seventeenth century. Long active in business, Frederic B. Hoadley was for many years connected with the American Pin Company and later he became associated with the firm of Plume & Atwood, with which he was identified for a very extended period also. He is now living retired, enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves.
Henry A. Hoadley, with a high school education to serve as the foundation on which to build his success, started out in the business world as an employe of the Fourth National Bank of Waterbury in December, 1890, and there continued until January, 1906, when he entered the Citizens National Bank as assistant cashier. He occupied that position until May, 1906, when upon the death of Mr. Curtis, the cashier, he was called to fill the vacant position and has since acted in that capacity. He has proven himself a most capable official, obliging and competent, and his efforts have constituted a valuable contributing force to the success of the bank.
On the 11th of August, 1900, Mr. Hoadley was married to Miss Violet E. Ells, of Nor- walk, Connecticut, and they have one son, Henry A., Jr., who was born in 1904. The parents are members of the First Congregational church and Mr. Hoadley belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he has served for two years as city treasurer under the Hotchkiss administration. He is inter- ested in all phases of city life as it bears upon the material, intellectual, social and political progress of the people and throughout his entire career he has utilized practical methods in working toward high ideals.
JOHN McGUINNESS.
John McGuinness is a well known grocer and substantial citizen of Torrington, where he has made his home since 1880. He was born in County Leitrim, Ireland, March 21, 1857, and came to the United States in 1880, settling in Torrington. His parents were Patrick and Elizabeth (Keveney) McGuinness. The father was a stone cutter by trade and came to the United States during the period of the Civil war, leaving his family, consisting of wife. eight sons and one daughter, in Ireland. For two years he worked at his trade in New York city and assisted in building the present city hall there. He then re-
JOHN McGUINNESS
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turned to Ireland for the purpose of selling his home and farm, intending to bring his family to the United States. Failing to dispose of his property, he decided to remain in Ireland and there passed away in 1912, having for two years survived his wife, who died on the Emerald isle in 1910. Five of their children came to the United States but only two are here now, these being John, of Torrington, and Thomas McGuinness, who is living in New York city and is a railroad man.
John McGuinness was employed for several years by the Turner & Seymour Manu- facturing Company but gave up his position there twenty-four years ago, or in July, 1893, at which time he established his present grocery store, opening business at the corner of Field and Clark streets, in which vicinity he has lived continuously since 1885. He built a two-story frame house near that corner in that year and took up his abode therein. It remained his home for many years and is still his property but is now rented, while he occupies a splendid, modern residence at No. 88 Clark street, which he erected in 1916 and which is one door east of the home built in 1885. To the west of the old home stands a substantial two-story business block, twenty-two by fifty-five feet, with basement under all, which he erected in 1893. Here he has conducted a prosperous grocery business con- tinuously since. His eldest son, James L. McGuinness, assists him in the management of the store. Mr. McGuinness owns much other valuable improved property in the vicinity of his store besides the two residences mentioned. In all he owns five residences and his new home, built in 1916, is one of the handsome buildings of Torrington. It contains thirteen rooms, is modern in every respect and there is an artesian well in the basement furnishing an unlimited supply of fine water, pumped from a depth of one hundred and fifty feet by electric motor.
Mr. McGuinness has been married twice. He first wedded Miss Catherine Maroney in 1884. She passed away three years later, leaving two sons, James L. and Patrick F., both well known young men of Torrington. In October, 1892, Mr. McGuinness wedded Mary A. Lynch and they became parents of two children: John Christopher, who died in infancy; and Mary A., who was recently graduated from Laurington Hall in Milford, Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. McGuinness are members of St. Francis Roman Catholic church and the former is connected with the Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. The spirit of enterprise has actuated him at every point in his career. He early embraced the eternal principle that "industry wins" and industry became the beacon light of his life. He has been persistent and energetic in all that he has undertaken and his sagacity- manifest in his judicious investments-has brought to him a gratifying measure of prosperity.
GEORGE E. TRACY.
George E. Tracy is secretary of The Tracy Brothers Company, prominently known in contracting and building circles and also as lumber dealers of Waterbury. Their business covers a wide field, for they are called into various sections of the state in the execution of important contracts. The name has long been associated with building operations through- out Connecticut. George E. Tracy was born July 30, 1873, and is a son of George and Sarah (Dady) Tracy, the father having been one of the founders of The Tracy Brothers Company. The family is of English lineage, descended from Lieutenant Thomas Tracy, who was born at Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England, in 1610, a grandson of Richard Tracy, of Stanway. Lieutenant Tracy in early manhood became a member of the Salem colony in Massachusetts, there remaining until February, 1637, when he removed to Wethers- field, Connecticut. In 1652 he went to Saybrook, where he spent two years, and in 1666 he became one of the proprietors of the town of Norwich, Connecticut, where he established his family. The same year he was appointed ensign there and he served in the colonial legislature from Norwich and afterward from Preston. He was a member of the colonial assembly for more than twenty sessions and was a man of prominence whose high char- acter, business ability and progressive citizenship made him a leader of public thought and action. He died in Norwich in 1685. He was married three times and had seven children. Jonathan, son of Lieutenant Thomas and Mary (Mason) Tracy, was born in Saybrook in 1646 and in 1672 wedded Mary Griswold, who passed away. He afterward married Mary Richards and died about 1711, his grave being made at Preston, Connecticut. David Tracy, son of Jonathan and Mary (Griswold) Tracy, was born in 1687 and was married in 1709 to Sarah Parish. Their son David was born in 1721 at Preston and was married in 1744 to Eunice Elliott. Their son, Captain Silas Tracy, was born March 27, 1745, and became a hotel
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proprietor at New Preston, Connecticut. He died about 1825. He was married three times. His son, Francis Tracy, born in New Preston about 1793, there passed away in 1823. He married Clarissa Clemmons, who was born in Litchfield about 1793, and they had five chil- dren. Of these Abel C. Tracy was the grandfather of George E. Tracy and was born in Washington, Connecticut, January 14, 1820. He followed farming as a life work and re- moved to Morris, Connecticut. He married Caroline Bownes, who was born in Torrington, Connecticut. She passed away June 2, 1858, and was long survived by her husband. They had six children. They attended the Methodist church and Abel C. Tracy was a republican. He was the first member of his party to be elected a selectman of his town and he also served as assessor of Morris.
George Tracy, son of Abel C. Tracy, beeame one of the most prominent and influential residents of Waterbury. He was born in Goshen, Connecticut, January 6, 1847, and was reared to farm life in the towns of Washington and Morris, pursuing a district school educa- tion until he reached the age of twelve years, when he became a student at the Gunnery, a famous school of Washington, Connecticut. On the completion of his education he en- tered upon an apprenticeship to the carpenter's and builder's trade at Torrington and after his term of indenture was over he removed to Waterbury in 1869. For two years he was employed by John Dutton, a carpenter and builder, and then entered into partnership with B. H. Eldredge under the firm style of Tracy & Eldredge. They conducted business as con- tractors and builders for four years, after which Mr. Tracy remained alone in the business for a decade. In 1886 he was joined by his brother, Cornelius Tracy, in the organization of the firm of Tracy Brothers, which was incorporated in 1895 as The Tracy Brothers Company. Their patronage became very extensive in building operations. They were chosen to ereet the Connecticut building at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and they have done much building in Hartford, Norwalk, Danbury and New Britain, Connecticut. They are the owners of an extensive wood-working plant, a mill and lumber yard and their busi- ness became one of the foremost in this line in Connecticut.
George Tracy was married in April, 1869, to Sarah Dady, a native of Ashford, Con- necticut, and they became the parents of twelve children. Mr. Tracy gives his political allegiance to the republican party and for one year served as alderman. while for two years he was on the board of councilmen, acting as its president for one year. He belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge at Waterbury and he and his family attend the First Baptist church.
Reared in his native city, George E. Tracy passed through consecutive grades in the public schools until he became a high school pupil. When his textbooks were put aside he joined the Tracy Brothers Company and has since been identified with building operations. In 1907 he was made secretary of the company and has since had voice in its adminis- trative direction and executive control. He has done much to sustain the enviable reputation long borne by the firm and to further its operations in the field of active building.
In 1894 George E. Tracy was married to Miss Grace E. Crosley, of Waterbury, and they have become the parents of four children, S. Mildred, George H., Earl and Raymond E. Mr. Tracy exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republi- can party, but the honors and emoluments of office have no attraction for him although he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He belongs to the Trinity Episcopal church and is a Mason and an Elk. In the former organization he has attained the Knight Templar degree in the York Rite, the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. In a word, his life is an exemplification of the benefi- cent spirit and teachings of the craft and he ever loyally adheres to its purposes. He has made an excellent record and stands for all those interests which are vital to the welfare and upbuilding of the community.
ALEXANDER DALLAS.
Alexander Dallas, a florist of Waterbury, was born in Scotland, October 22, 1850, and was a public school pupil in that country where he remained through the period of his minority, but in 1872, at the age of twenty-one years, he left Scotland and crossed the Atlantic to the United States. For seven years he was engaged in business in Bridge- port as a florist, having previously served an apprenticeship along that line in the land of hills and heather. He came to Waterbury in 1879 and here bought out the business of James McWhinnie, a florist on Union street. While conducting the business there he also had a store on Bank street and about 1909 removed to 119 Grand street, where he has a
ALEXANDER DALLAS
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store with twenty feet frontage and a depth of one hundred and twenty-five feet. His greenhouses are situated on Meriden road, where he has two and one-half acres under glass. One of the greenhouses covers an entire half acre and is the largest in the Nauga- tuck valley. He propagates and raises all kinds of flowers, shrubbery and seeds and is conducting an extensive business which employs about twenty-five people. He uses three automobiles for delivery and has a large trade throughout the valley. The business was incorporated in 1911, with Mr. Dallas as president and treasurer and Walter Dallas as secretary.
In 1873 Mr. Dallas was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Thomson, who was born in Scotland, a daughter of John Thomson, of Hawick, Scotland. The children of this mar- riage are: Alexander Thomson, who died at the age of seventeen years; Agnes and Eliza- beth Mann, who have also passed away; John T., who is a graduate of Yale University and of the New York Theological Seminary and is now assistant head master at the Taft school; and Walter, who was graduated from the Waterbury high school and from Yale and is now in business with his father.
Mr. Dallas is an active member of the' First Congregational church, in which he is serving as deacon. In politics he is a republican and fraternally he is connected with the Masonic lodge and Clark Commandery, K. T. He is also an Odd Fellow and a Red Man and he belongs to the Potatuck Fishing Club, finding in fishing one of his chief sources of recreation.
ROBERT FOOTE GRIGGS.
Robert Foote Griggs, president and treasurer of the R. F. Griggs Company, Incorporated, engaged in the brokerage business, dealing in securities, investments, stocks and bonds, was born in Waterbury, February 22, 1868, and is a son of Henry Charles and Mary Bassett (Foote) Griggs, who are mentioned in connection with the sketch of David C. Griggs on an- other page of this work. Liberal educational opportunities were accorded him. He at- tended public and private schools, becoming a student in Williston Seminary at East- hampton, Massachusetts, from which he was graduated in the class of 1885, while later he became a sophomore at Yale. He entered upon his business career in Waterbury, August 5, 1889, and throughout the intervening period has been actively connected with financial and commercial interests here. He was originally with the Fourth National Bank that later was merged into the Colonial Trust Company. After two years he became connected with the Malleable Iron Company, with which he spent a year, and in 1893 he was made secretary and director of the Mathews & Willard Manufacturing Company, with whom he had be- come connected in 1890. He continued as secretary and director for a decade and in 1903 turned his attention to the brokerage business. The R. F. Griggs Company was incorporated on the 1st of August, 1915, as successors to Robert F. Griggs, established in May, 1903. Of the more recently organized company Mr. Griggs remains as president and treasurer, with Altred Hart as vice president, while Rowley W. Philips and P. J. Skilton are also directors. The business was first established in the Jones & Morgan building but later a removal was inade to 63 North Main street, where the company occupies a building formerly used by the Waterbury Savings Bank and the Citizens National Bank. The company does a broker- age business and handles investments, securities, stocks and bonds. Mr. Griggs, however, has not confined his efforts alone to this undertaking but has reached out along constantly broadening lines and his cooperation has been sought in connection with the management of various important business organizations. He is vice president and a director of the Waterbury Savings Bank, a member of the executive committee and a director of the Colonial Trust Company, secretary and a director of the American Mills Company, a director of the Waterbury Buckle Company, a director of the Smithi & Griggs Company, president of the Waterbury Gas Light Company, and a director of the Bristol & Plainville Traction Company and the Clark Brothers Bolt Company of Milldale, Connecticut, as well as the Morris Plan Bank.
On the 11th of April, 1893, Mr. Griggs was married to Miss Charlotte Hamilton Branch, of Savannah, Georgia. Their only child died at the age of nineteen months and Mrs. Griggs passed away in May, 1897. On the 4th of February, 1902, Mr. Griggs wedded Caroline Haring White, a daughter of George L. White, of Waterbury, and they have three chil- dren: Haring White, born November 16, 1904; Caroline White, December 1, 1906; and Robert Foote, June 27, 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Griggs hold membership in St. John's Episcopal church and in polities he is a republican. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and he belongs to various social organizations including the Waterbury Club, of which he was
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president for two years, the Union League and the Yale Clubs of New York, the Society of Colonial Wars and the Sons of the American Revolution. His activities are broad and varied, touching the general interests of society and bearing upon the welfare and progress of the community along many lines. His course has upheld the unsullied record of a family history that dates back in Connecticut through many generations.
LOUIS J. THIBAULT, M. D.
Dr. Louis J. Thibault, who for seventeen years has been an active and successful practitioner of medicine and surgery in Waterbury, entered upon his professional career well equipped for its onerous duties by thorough training at Yale. He was born in Meriden, Connecticut, July 24, 1878, and in March, 1879 was brought by his parents to Waterbury, where he has since made his home. His father, Thomas Thibault, was a general me- ehanic, who was born in Canada, of French parentage, and he is likewise of French Canadian ancestry on the maternal side. John Thibault, his grandfather, removed from Canada to Connecticut about fifty years ago, when his son Thomas was a little lad, and resided at different periods in Winsted, Colebrook and Waterbury. He was accidentally killed in Waterbury about 1873 or 1874. Thomas Thibault is now living in Flushing, Long Island, which is a part of New York city. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Delima Laprise, also a French Canadian, was born in Quebec and passed away January 14, 1899. Dr. Thibault was their only son, but has two sisters: Delia, the wife of Charles Hebert; and Leda, the wife of Henry Fortin. All are residents of Waterbury.
Dr. Thibault was educated in the public schools of Waterbury and later attended the Nicolet Seminary near Montreal, Canada, for four years. In 1900 he was graduated from the Yale Medical School with the M. D. degree and returned to Waterbury, where he at once opened an office for the general practice of medicine and surgery, in which he has now been actively engaged for seventeen years. He was the youngest member of his class at Yale, but his youth did not seem an especial bar to his progress when he entered upon the active work of his profression and steadily he has advanced, his patronage being now extensive and gratifying.
On the 5th of October, 1903, Dr. Thibault was marriel to Miss Elmire Barre, of Fall River, Massachusetts. They have two children: Beatrice, born April 7, 1908; and Louis J., born July 24, 1911.
Dr. and Mrs. Thibault are members of St. Ann's Catholic church, a French church, of Waterbury, of which his father was one of the founders. Dr. Thibault is an Elk and along strictly professional lines he has membership with the Connectieut State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He reads and studies along lines cal- eulated to promote his knowledge and advanee his efficieney in his chosen field of labor and he is a conscientious practitioner whose suecess is well deserved,
JAMES H. BIGHAM.
James H. Bigham, manager for the Boody-MeLellan Company at Waterbury, was born in Danbury, Connecticut, in 1879, a son of Thomas Francis and Katherine H. (Hagen) Bigham, the latter a native of Montreal, Canada. She is still living, but the father passed away on the 18th of April, 1916.
After mastering the branches of learning taught in the public schools of his native city James H. Bigham started upon his business career there as a elerk in a dry goods store and later was employed in a hat factory. While thus engaged he devoted his leisure hours to the study of telegraphy and worked for a railroad company at night. Later he entered the service of the Postal Telegraph Company as an operator at the test station at Pound Ridge, New York, and in 1900 he came to Waterbury as a representative of the Postal Telegraph Company. His connection with the brokerage business began when he accepted a position as telegraph operator in the office of George Wright, a well known and prominent broker of this eity. Later he was with F. O. Peabody until 1910, when he be- came connected with the Boody-Mclellan Company as operator and so continued until 1912, when he was made manager of the Waterbury offiee. The night of the big fire in 1902 he was an operator in a broker's office. There were only two wires out of town and Mr. Bigham worked for forty-eight hours without stopping in the constant transmission of
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DR. LOUIS J. THIBAULT
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messages. The Boody-Mclellan Company is one of the most prominent brokerage firmns not only of Waterbury but of New York and New England. Their business was estab- lished at No. 111 Broadway, New York, in 1879 and the Waterbury office was established in 1904, being made a member of the New York Stock Exchange. David A. Boody, a former mayor of Brooklyn, was the founder of the company. The members of the company at the present time are David A. Boody, Theodore Ames, Jr., and Edward Boody and they are conducting a general brokerage business on a commission basis. The Waterbury office enjoys the full confidence of the public and is today doing a business within a radius of fifty miles. Their trades are ten times larger than they were only a decade ago. The execu- tion of orders is as fast as in New York, the Waterbury house priding itself on its splendid service. They receive quotations direct by telegraph, which is an improvement of ten minutes over the ticker service. The office has ever maintained an attitude of accommoda- tion to the public, whether dealing with direct clients or not, and the success of the under- taking at Waterbury in recent years is attributable in large measure to the efforts, enter- prise, business knowledge and ability of Mr. Bigham.
On the 1st of July, 1905, Mr. Bigham was married to Miss Minnie J. Scully, a daughter of John Scully, deceased, a former alderman. They have two children, Thomas Francis and Mary Genevieve. Mr. and Mrs. Bigham attend the Sacred Heart Catholic church. From a humble clerkship in a general dry goods store James H. Bigham has steadily worked his way upward, utilizing each opportunity to best advantage and making such wise use of his time and talents that each year has seen him in advance of the position occupied the previous year. Thus step by step through an orderly progression he has reached his present place of importance in the business circles of Waterbury.
THOMAS F. JACKSON.
Thomas F., Jackson, president and treasurer of the Thomas F. Jackson Company, en- gaged in the cut stone business and contract work in interior marble finishing and tiling, is a native son of Waterbury, born September 29, 1858. His father, Charles Jackson, was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, October 17, 1835, and was a son of Timothy and Catharine (Curry) Jackson. He came of a family that through several generations had engaged in stone cutting. Having determined to try his fortune in America, he reached New York on the 1st of May, 1851, and for two years thereafter was employed at stone cutting in Albany. From 1853 until 1855 he was engaged in the same line of business in New York city and in the latter year removed to Washington, D. C., where he spent a year or two engaged in stone carving and ornamental work on the north wing of the capitol. In the spring of 1857 "he arrived in Waterbury, where he became an employe of Samuel Warren, with whom he continued for about two years. The year 1860 saw the fulfillment of his ambition-to en- gage in business on his own account. From the outset the new enterprise prospered and in 1887 he admitted his son to a partnership under the firm style of Charles Jackson & Son, a name that was retained for some time, even after the father had retired from business in 1893. On the 17th of August, 1857, Charles Jackson was united in marriage to Bridget Walsh, a daughter of Michael Walsh, and they became the parents of eight children, of whom six reached adult age.
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