USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 52
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In 1907 Mr. Stewart joined the Baird Machine Company as purchasing agent and was thus connected until 1912, when he became one of the organizers of the Autoyre Company, which was organized in the month of June of that year with J. H. Cowles as the president, F. M. Peasley as vice president and R. G. Stewart, secretary and treasurer. They began business in a two-story building at Main and Oakville streets, where they are engaged in the manufacture of a general line of wire goods, with a factory equipped with all kinds of automatic machinery necessary for their purpose. Something of the executive force and administrative ability of Mr. Stewart and his associate officers is indicated in the fact that within five years the business has increased four hundred per cent. The company took over a small wire manufacturing business from the Baird machine shop. Today they own ten acres of land, which they secured in plans for the extension of their plant. The business has enjoyed a notable growth. All of the department heads of the company are under forty years of age-young men of marked enterprise, ambition and with exceptional ability for their particular work. The Autoyre Company is therefore rapidly forging to the front as one of the progressive productive industries of the city, its success being attributable in large measure to the efforts of R. G. Stewart.
On the 12th of July, 1910, Mr. Stewart was married to Miss Lilly Monahan, of Waterbury, and they now have one child, Myrtle E. Mr. Stewart exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican party and he is a member of the Rotary Club. He has a wide and favorable acquaintance in this city, having gained the goodwill and confidence of colleagues and contemporaries.
HENRY L. GRIGGS.
Among the men who make up the personnel of The Bristol Company, contributing in substantial measure to its success, is Henry L. Griggs, who is general sales manager. Con- stantly studying business conditions and the possibilities for the extension of trade, he is reaching out through his department along constantly broadening lines that have brought the house into close sales connections with many sections of the country. Connecticut claims him as a native son. He was born in Terryville, June 19, 1881, a son of Rev. Leveret S. and Cornelia (Little) Griggs.
After attending the public school of Essex, Connecticut, Henry L. Griggs spent a year in the New Haven high school and for a year was a student in the Hotchkiss school at Lake- ville, Connecticut. He afterward entered Yale and was graduated from the academic department with the class of 1904. He then spent a summer in pursuing the scientific course at Harvard and subsequently was made an instructor of mathematics and physics in the Hotchkiss school. On the 1st of October, 1906, he became connected with W. H. Bristol, beginning in Colorado the introduction of the pyrometer, a new recording instrument which was being put out by Mr. Bristol from his New York office. He afterward traveled all over the United States introducing that instrument, which was the first practical electrical pyrometer for shop use, used in measuring and recording temperatures above one thousand
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Rastewart
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degrees Fahrenheit in the industries. For two years Mr. Griggs was thus engaged. In July, 1908, this business was combined with that of The Bristol Company at Waterbury and Mr Griggs was ealled to this city as sales manager for The Bristol Company. He is now in charge of the sales, the advertising, the order work and the shipping.
Mr. Griggs exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican party. He is a member of the Congregational church and the social side of his nature has found expression in his membership in the Fifteen Club, the Rotary, the Water- bury and the Waterbury Country Clubs and the Yale Club of New York. His strongly marked characteristics are such as win for him warm friendship and regard, while the de- velopment of his business powers has given him prominent place in the manufacturing circles of Waterbury.
CARL G. OLSON.
Carl G. Olson, who is engaged in the drug business in Naugatuck, his native city, is one of the representative young merchants of that place. He was born August 5, 1892, and is a son of N. A. Olson, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work in connection with the sketch of H. B. Olson.
Carl G. Olson attended the Upsala preparatory school at Kenilworth, New Jersey, and afterward entered the employ of his brother, H. B. Olson, a druggist of Naugatuck, with whom he remained for five years. On the 1st of July, 1916, he purchased the E. P. Brennan drug store at No. 174 Church street and has since conducted the business. He employs two clerks and he has a well appointed store, occupying a building with a twenty foot front and a depth of eighty feet. The store room has a tile floor and metal safe and the ap- pointments are most modern and up-to-date. Mr. Olson carries a well selected line of drugs and druggists' sundries and the appointments of his store, combined with his excellent stock, his progressive business methods and his reliable dealings, have brought to him a very gratifying measure of success.
Fraternally Mr. Olson is connected with the Improved Order of Red Men. His religious faith is that of the Lutheran church and his political belief is that of the republican party. He is wide-awake, progressive and alert in matters of citizenship as well as in business and he has made for himself a creditable position in the regard of his fellow townsmen.
WHITMAN W. BOWERS.
Learning the various interests of the business through successive stages of development and promotion with the American Pin Company, Whitman W. Bowers is now occupying an administrative position with the company as its secretary. He has been both the architect and the builder of his own fortunes and his life record is an indication of the fact that no matter in how much fantastic theorizing one may indulge as to the reason or basis of success one must eventually reach the conclusion that initiative and intelligently directed industry are the indispensable qualities of business advancement. The record of his progress should serve as a stimulus to the efforts of others. He was born in Wapping, Connecticut, Mareh 27, 1876, a son of James D. and Anna C. (Wilson) Bowers. The father was born in Rockhill, New York, and the mother in Glenwild, that state, and in the year 1876 they came to Connecticut, where for a considerable period James D. Bowers followed the occupa- tion of farming but is now living retired and makes his home with his son Whitman, his wife having passed away.
The country schools afforded Whitman W. Bowers his early educational privileges, while later his education was continued in the high school at Rockville, Connecticut, from which he was graduated with the class of 1893. He afterward pursued a course in Hunt- singer's Business College at Hartford, Connecticut, continuing his studies there until 1896, when he became an employ of the American Pin Company, starting in the humble capacity of billing clerk. He afterward became identified with the purchasing department as buyer and later was given charge of the cost department. The mastery of his duties in that connection led to his further promotion and he became superintendent of the manufacturing department. Later he was sales manager of the plumbing line and in 1913 became secretary of the company, thus being connected with the executive of one of the most important industries of Waterbury. His experience in various departments has brought him accurate and com-
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prehensive knowledge of the business in both principle and detail. He has shown ready discrimination in judging between the essential and the nonessential and his keen sagacity has enabled him to recognize oncoming conditions and prepare for emergency and for demand.
On the 2d of October, 1901, Mr. Bowers was married to Miss Gertrude M. Davis, of Manchester, Connecticut, a daughter of Loren and Fannie (Hollister) Davis, the former at one time a millwright in the employ of Cheney Brothers, of Manchester, Connecticut, but now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Bowers have been born a daughter and two sons, Clarice Gertrude, Whitman Walter and Everett Wesley.
Mr. Bowers votes with the republican party. He is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal church and since 1903 has been an active Sunday school worker. He served for a number of years as superintendent, is now assistant superintendent of the Sunday school and does all in his power to advance the cause and extend the influence of his church. In a word, his aid is ever on the side of truth, reform and improvement for the individual and for the community.
HON. JAMES M. LYNCH.
Hon, James M. Lynch, practicing at the Waterbury bar since 1903 and well known as a democratic leader of the city, has been called upon to represent his district in the general assembly. He was born in County Cavan, Ireland, on the 23d of November, 1868, and is a son of James and Elizabeth (Kiernan) Lynch. In 1873 the family removed to England and when he was seventeen years of age the family home was established in Waterbury, Connec- ticut, where his father still resides, but the mother passed away a few years ago. To them were born twelve children, six sons and six daughters, eight of whom are yet living.
After taking up his abode in Waterbury, James M. Lynch learned the printer's trade, which he followed for eighteen years, and through a decade he was at the head of the mechanical department of the Waterbury Democrat. For five years he was foreman for the Jackson Quick Print Company, but determining to engage in the practice of law, he began study with that end in view in 1900, while foreman in the Democrat office, and after thorough preliminary reading was enabled to pass the required examination, which won him admission to the bar in June, 1903. He has since practiced in Waterbury with marked success and now has a large and distinctively representative clientage, while his work in the courts is most ably and successfully handled.
On the 9th of November, 1898, Mr. Lynch was married to Miss Elizabeth M. Sullivan, a native of Winsted, Connecticut, and a daughter of Timothy and Margaret Sullivan, who were natives of Ireland. The three children of this marriage are J. Gregory, Walter James and Marjorie Grace, aged respectively sixteen, twelve and eight years.
The family are communicants of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic church and Mr. Lynch belongs to the Knights of Columbus and also is an Elk and a Maccabee. Along strictly professional lines he has connection with the Waterbury and the State Bar Associations. He has long been an active worker in democratie ranks and was the candidate of his party for the mayoralty in 1903. In 1912 he was elected to the general assembly and in May, 1913, was appointed proseenting attorney of Waterbury, which position he filled for two years. He has made an excellent record in office by his fidelity to duty and the promptness with which he discharges the tasks that devolve upon him. At the same time he regards the pursuits of private life as in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts and is nmmn- bered among the most progressive lawyers of the Waterbury bar.
ERNEST C. WHITNEY.
Ernest C. Whitney, conducting a growing business as president of the Waterbury Sand & Gravel Company, has resided in Waterbury since 1912. He was born in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, September 21, 1874, a son of David C. and Harriet (Shepstone) Whitney, who were natives of Walpole, New Hampshire, and of Bristol, England, respectively. In the paternal line the ancestry is traced back to John and Eleanor Whitney, who came from England in 1630 and settled at Ashburnham, where the family has since been represented. The great-grandfather was Captain Silas Whitney, one of whose sons was Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin. The grandfather, Silas Whitney, was born in 1759 and at the
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HON. JAMES M. LYNCH
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time of the Revolutionary war became captain of a company of the Massachusetts Militia and rendered active aid in defense of the cause of independence. In days of peace he devoted his life to farming. David C. Whitney, father of our subject, for many years was superin- tendent of the George H. Winchester Chair Company, holding that position until he retired from active business life. His wife was a daughter of John Shepstone, an architect and builder, of Bristol, England, and a brother of Sir Theophilus Shepstone, who was knighted for service to the government in South Africa. Crossing the Atlantic in 1859, he settled in Montreal, Canada, and afterward removed to Lockhaven, Pennsylvania, where he was appointed the first superintendent of bridges of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. It was while north on a visit that Harriet Shepstone formed the acquaintance of David C. Whitney, who sought her hand in marriage. She survived her husband for a long period. passing away April 15, 1913, at the age of seventy-six years.
Ernest C. Whitney was accorded liberal educational opportunities, being a graduate of the Cushing Academy at Ashburnham. He then learned the machinist's trade, which he followed until he attained his majority, when he took up civil engineering work in the office of the city engineer at Fitchburg, Massachusetts. In 1900 he became assistant superinten- dent of streets in Fitchburg and afterward was made superintendent of streets and city engineer at Gardner, Massachusetts, where he remained until April, 1906. He next accepted the position of superintendent of the American Road Machine Company of Phila- delphia, where he resided for six years, and in 1912 he came to Waterbury, since which time he has been president of the Waterbury Sand & Gravel Company. In the intervening period of five years he has built up a substantial business.
In 1899 Mr. Whitney was united in marriage to Miss Kate E. Burnap, a daughter of George Franklin Burnap, and they have three children, David B., Elizabeth B. and Theodore S. Mr. Whitney is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a Rotarian. He is a member of the Congregational church but attends the Methodist church.
WILLIAM S. JONES.
William S. Jones has long ranked as a leading merchant of Waterbury and is today the oldest merchant in the city in point of continuous connection with the clothing trade. He was born in Meriden, Connecticut, June 28, 1859, a son of Samuel and Margaret (McGrath) Jones. The father died in Meriden in 1867 and the family removed to Waterbury the same year. There William S. Jones pursued his early education in public schools. He began his business career as a newsboy and was the first to establish a newspaper route out of Water- bury on the railroads. In 1877 he secured a position as a clerk in J. H. Dudley's clothing store. In 1885 he organized the Jones-Morgan Company at 96 Bank street, at which number the store is still conducted with great success. On February 2, 1902, the store was destroyed in the great fire that swept over the city, but the company rebuilt in 1903 at the same location, and has since expanded continuously. The company was incorporated in 1906 and its present officers are: William S. Jones, president : William H. Jones, treasurer; James H. Lahey, secretary.
In 1889 Mr. Jones was married to Miss Elizabeth R. McGowan, of Hartford, and they have five children: Marguerite, a graduate of Smith's College of the class of 1915; William H., who is treasurer of the Jones-Morgan Company, Inc., and who graduated from Yale in 1916; Samuel J. and Oswald R., both in Yale; and Edwin Cheshire.
Mr. Jones is a democrat in politics and has served on the board of health under Mayor Elton and on the board of charity under Mayor Hotchkiss. He is a member of the Water- bury Club and the Waterbury Country Club.
ROBERT S. BOOTH.
Robert S. Booth, office boy in 1905 and assistant treasurer of the Berbecker & Rowland Manufacturing Company in 1914-the record of the intervening years is the story of his continuous progress resulting from close application, indefatigable energy, ready adaptability and commendable ambition. Robert S. Booth was born in Waterbury, November 2, 1889, his parents being W. E. and Belle (Stone) Booth. The father was born in Rochdale, England, and the mother in Waterville, Connecticut. In young manhood he bade adieu to friends and native land and sailed for the new world, becoming a resident of Waterbury in 1864. For a considerable period he was engaged in plumbing and as tinsmith under the firm style of
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S. Booth & Son and made this a profitable undertaking, with which he was long associated, occupying a commendable place in business circles of the city. He became the owner of valuable property, ineluding the Booth block at the corner of Phoenix avenue and East Main street but is now living retired, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil.
Reared under the parental roof, Robert S. Booth had the advantages which most boys enjoy. Improving his opportunities for acquiring a public school education, he passed through consecutive grades to his graduation from the high school of Waterbury with the class of 1905. He then turned to the business world and, ready to accept any honest employment that would constitute the gateway to advancement, he became office boy with the Berbecker & Rowland Manufacturing Company. Step by step he has advanced, proving his worth as he has progressed through various positions until in July, 1914, he was made assistant treasurer.
In politics Mr. Booth maintains an independent course, considering the qualifications of the candidate for the office which he seeks rather than his party affiliation. He belongs to the Waterbury Club and the Waterbury Country Club and he has attained high rank in Masonry, holding membership in Continental Lodge, No. 76, F. & A. M .; Clark Commandery, No. 7, K. T., of Waterbury; and in Lafayette Consistory, S. P. R. S., of Bridgeport. He is likewise a member of Sphinx Shrine of Hartford and is an exemplary representative of the craft which has as its basic principle the brotherhood of man.
GEORGE FRITZ.
George Fritz, president and general manager of the Brass City Machine & Tool Works, was born in Tiffin, Ohio, December 7, 1869, and is a son of John Jacob and Mary Fritz. His public school education prepared him for life's practical and responsible duties, after whichi he took up the task of learning the machinist's trade in his native city. He came to Water- bury in 1890 with considerable practical knowledge of the business. He has since traveled quite extensively, visiting the international expositions held in Chicago and in St. Louis, also visiting Canada and spending about a year in Scotland, where he occupied the position of general foreman with the firm of Stewart & Menzies at Airdrie, Scotland. Returning to his native land, he again took up his abode in Waterbury, where he entered the employ of the Scovill Manufacturing Company in charge of the special tool and machine work. He was afterward with the Waterbury Farrel Foundry & Machine Company for a year, having charge of the second floor, and later he spent two years and four months with the New England watch factory. He then became general foreman on the second floor of the Blake & Johnson plant, where he continued for nine years, and on the expiration of, that period he began business on his own account, organizing the Brass City Machine & Tool Works, incorporating the business August 28, 1916, at which time he became president and general manager. A location was secured at 29 Pearl street, where the company is now engaged in the manufacture of special machinery, jigs, tools and dies. The company has designed an automatic machine for making metal lathes and for bending and entting the strips after perforations have been made.
On the 12th of July, 1898, Mr. Fritz was married to Miss Carrie A. Moulthrop, of Waterbury, a daughter of Edward Moulthrop, a member of an old Connecticut family which was represented in the Revolutionary war, so that Mrs. Fritz is eligible to the Daughters of the American Revolution. They have become parents of two children, Edgar W. and Zora C.
Mr. Fritz has membership with the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World and the Vorwaerts Turnverein. His experiences have been varied and his sojourn in various parts of the world has brought to him the broadening experience which makes for culture and promotes general knowledge.
SAMUEL R. KELSEY.
Samuel R. Kelsey has been continuously connected with Upson-Singleton & Company since 1888 and in 1900 was called to official position, while at the present time he is the chief executive officer, having been president since 1907. He was born in North Danville, Vermont, in 1870, a son of Dr. O. R. and Augusta (Shattuck) Kelsey, who in 1883 removed
GEORGE FRITZ
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to Waterbury, where the father practiced medicine until his death in 1886. His widow afterward became the wife of Dr. Arthur Luscomb and is now residing in Waterbury.
Samuel R. Kelsey was a lad of thirteen years when the family came to Waterbury, where he continued his education, attending the high school. At the age of eighteen years he entered the employ of the Upson-Singleton Company and his course has been marked by steady progress in connection with a business that for almost forty years has figured in commercial circles of Waterbury. It was incorporated in 1888, the year in which he became an employe, and in 1900 he was made assistant treasurer. The following year he became treasurer and in 1907 was elected to the presidency. This company owns and controls one of the large clothing houses of the city, occupying two floors of a building on Bank and South Main streets and employing from fourteen to twenty-five clerks.
In 1897 Mr. Kelsey was married to Miss Cornelia Gertrude Wright, of Jersey City, and they have a son, George Wright, who was graduated from the Waterbury high school with the class of 1917. The parents are members of the First Congregational church and Mr. Kelsey belongs to the Masonic fraternity, the Royal Arcanum and the Rotary Club. His political endorsement is given to the republican party but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him, as he has always preferred to concentrate his energies upon his mercantile interests. From clerkship to presidency is a far step, but the road in Mr. Kelsey's case has been marked by continuous advancement, and obstacles and difficulties have never seemed to bar his path but have rather acted as a stimulus to renewed effort on his part.
ALEXANDER J. CAMPBELL.
Alexander J. Campbell, a Yale man, who since his college days has been identified with electrical projects, is general manager for the United Electric Light & Water Company of Waterbury. While the tide of migration has been uniformly westward Mr. Campbell is an exception to the rule, for he is a native of Oakland, California. He was educated in private schools and in Yale University, having been graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School with the class of 1893. He then entered Columbia University in which he completed a mining engineering course in 1898, and following his graduation from Yale and again after completing his studies at Columbia he devoted some time to mining and engineering. In 1901 he went to Norwich, Connecticut, as the manager of the Norwich Gas & Electric Company, and in 1904 he removed to New London, Connecticut, to accept the position of manager of the New London Gas & Electric Company. In 1907 he became manager of the Rockville & Willimantic Lighting Company, and in 1912 arrived in Waterbury to accept the position of general manager of the United Electric Light & Water Company, to which extended reference is made in connection with the sketch of David B. Neth, chief engineer of the company, on another page of this work. As general manager Mr. Campbell is devoting his efforts to executive control, and through the intervening period of five years has largely promoted the interests of the company through his business capacity.
In 1904 occurred the marriage of Mr. Campbell and Miss Elizabeth R. Fish of Boston, a daughter of Charles E. Fish, who is principal of the Exeter Academy of Exeter, New Hamp- shire. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are parents of five children: Alexander F .; Henry C .; Louise J .; Elizabeth C .; and Edith S. Mr. Campbell is prominent in Masonic circles, being a Knight Templar and Consistory Mason, and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Waterbury and the Waterbury Country Clubs. He is highly esteemed as a man of genuine personal worth which has made him popular among those with whom business or social relations have brought him in contact.
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