USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 58
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HIRAM MILROY STEELE.
Hiram Milroy Steele is a vice president of the American Brass Company of Water- bury and is thus active in a business with which he has been identified for three decades. He entered into relations with the company as office boy and through intermediate posi- tions has worked his way steadily upward until he is now occupying an important adminis- trative position with one of the most important manufacturing interests of New England. He was born in Geneva, New York, August 22, 1866, and is a son of Charles E. and Ger- trude E. (Hawks) Steele, the former a son of Hiram Steele, of Litchfield, Connecticut.
Hiram Milroy Steele acquired a public school education in New York but his text- books were put aside before he reached the age of sixteen years and since that time he has been dependent entirely upon his own resources. He was first employed in a railway office in Geneva, New York, where he remained for six years. On the 17th of March, 1888, he became connected with the Waterbury Brass Company in the capacity of office boy. Working his way steadily upward through various departments, he at length became the assistant treasurer of the Waterbury Brass Company. At length, on the organization of the American Brass Company, which took over the Waterbury Brass Company, he became vice president in charge of the Waterbury branch, where about eighteen hundred men are employed. The principal product of this branch is sheet brass, brass wire, brass rods and a line of cut and drawn brass work. The business is thoroughly organized and systema- tized, the effort of each individual contributing to the sum total of the whole. The busi- ness is so arranged that there is no loss of time, labor nor material, and with thorough understanding of various phases of the business, Mr. Steele has been able to contribute largely and in valuable measure to the result.
On the 20th of October, 1898, occurred the marriage of Mr. Steele and Miss Mar- garet W. Hill, of Waterbury, a daughter of John W. Hill, former postmaster. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons and the Odd Fellows and he is junior warden in Trinity Episcopal church. He also belongs to the Church Club of Connecticut and has member-
HIRAM M. STEELE
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ship in the Waterbury and the Waterbury Country Clubs. A resident of this eity for almost thirty years, he has beeome widely known as a most forceful and resourceful man, not only in business eonneetions but in furthering all those interests which eall forth publie-spirited eitizenship or effort toward advaneing the highest municipal ideals.
IRVING H. CHASE.
Irving H. Chase is the president and treasurer of the Waterbury Cloek Company, to which position he was ealled after serving for some time as secretary of the company. As one of its executive officers he lias contributed in substantial measure to the notable growth and development which has characterized the business during the past few decades. He was born in Waterbury, May 13, 1858, a son of Augustus Sabin Chase, who was born in Pomfret, Connecticut, August 15, 1828, and a grandson of Captain Seth and Eliza Hempsted (Dodge) Chase. The youthful experiences of Augustus S. Chase were those of the farm-bred boy and when sixteen years of age he became a student in Woodstock Academy, while at the age of eighteen he began teaching in a country school of Brooklyn, Conneetieut. In the following year he aeeepted a elerkship in the store of the Danielson Manufacturing Company at Killingly and in 1850 eame to Waterbury to take a position in the Waterbury National Bank, of which he was made eashier in 1852. Beginning in 1864 he served for thirty years as its president and in the meantime he became extensively connected with manufacturing interests and was ealled to the presideney of the Waterbury Manufacturing Company, the Waterbury Wateh Company, the Benediet & Burnham Manufacturing Company and the Waterbury Buekle Company, all of which profited by his eooperation, his sound judgment and his progressiveness. He was one of the original stockholders of the American Printing Company and was ehosen president in 1877. He also became first president of the Waterbury Club, which he- aided in founding, and he was treasurer of St. Margaret's sehool from its estab- lishment. He was also one of the original members of the Second Congregational Society and of the Waterbury Hospital Corporation and he served as the first eity treasurer of Water- bury and a member of the school board, the water board and the board of agents of the Bronson Library. He extended his efforts into a still broader field through serviee as a member of the state legislature. A man of broad and scholarly attainments, interested in all those forees which make for upbuilding and progress for the individual and the eom- munity, his efforts and his influenee have been of the greatest benefit to eity and state. He was married on the 7th of September, 1854, to Martha Clark Starkweather, a daughter of Dr. Rodney Starkweather, of Chesterfield, Massachusetts, and they have become the parents of three sons and three daughters, all of whom are residents of Waterbury.
Liberal educational opportunities were aeeorded Irving Hall Chase, who was a student at the Gunnery following his attendanee at the Waterbury publie schools and later continued his preparatory work in the Andover Academy. At length he entered Yale and was graduated therefrom with the elass of 1880. Through long connection with the Waterbury Cloek Company he has made steady progress and has been a contributing force to the development and upbuilding of this business, which in its ramifying trade interests reaches out to all seetions of the globe.
The Waterbury Cloek Company was organized March 27, 1857, and ineorporated with a eapital stoek of sixty thousand dollars. It had originally been a department of the Benediet & Burnham Manufacturing Company. From the time it was made a separate institution it grew rapidly and in 1873 larger quarters were demanded, a removal then being made to North Elm street. The first president was Arad W. Welton, who was succeeded by Charles Benediet, who up to that time had been treasurer of the eompany. At his death in 1881, G. W. Burnham became the president and remained in office until his demise in 1885, when Henry L. Wade, who had been seeretary from 1871, was elected to the presideney, while Irving H. Chase became the seeretary. The inerease of the business eaused a removal of the factory to 31 Cherry avenue. At that time, in addition to the officers mentioned, Israel Holmes and A. S. Chase were on the board of directors. The former died about 1895 and A. S. Chase in 1896, the latter being succeeded by H. S. Chase. Henry L. Wade and Irving H. Chase remained in their respective offices, the former as president and the latter as seeretary and treasurer, until 1912. In that year William J. Larkin was appointed assistant secretary. On the 31st of October, 1912, Mr. Wade passed away and Mr. Chase was elected president on the 12th of November, continuing also in the office of treasurer. Wil- liam J. Larkin succeeded him as seeretary and at the same eleetion George M. Van Dever was made a direetor. At the election held on the 27th of May, 1913, all continued in office
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save that Clifford H. Hall became assistant secretary. From time to time the factory has been greatly enlarged and the number of employes greatly increased. The company manu- factures every kind of a clock in cases of marble, onyx, enameled iron, nickel, ebony, mahogany, oak, walnut, ash and cherry and in many designs. For some time the only product which they handled that they did not manufacture was glass. In 1914, however, they established a factory for that purpose, making crystals for their own and for other clocks and watches, and their output is now two and one-half tons of glass per day. In their splendid new glass factory they employ three hundred people. Something of the rapid growth of their business is indicated in the fact that while in 1887 they were employ- ing three hundred people, they are today employing over three thousand. They manu- facture all kinds of clocks and watches, including the Ingersoll watch, which they sell to the Ingersoll Watch Company. The output of their factory is now sold all over the world and the plant, which is modern throughout, has a capacity of twenty-three thousand timepieces daily. The buildings are of mill construction, well ventilated and lighted, and extreme cleanliness everywhere prevails. They manufacture their own electricity and use the electric power group drive for motors. They maintain a large experimental department in which men are continuously employed, and they are continually adding something new to their output, which today includes about seven hundred different styles of manufactured clocks and watches and other features of timepieces. They now have a new factory under construction which is seventy by one hundred and ten feet and six stories in height with basement. It is of reinforced concrete construction and is equipped with a sprinkler system. Their work benches placed end to end would extend over seven miles. Everything used in clock construction is made in their own factories. With the development of the business Irving H. Chase, as president and treasurer, has been closely associated. His initiative has led to development and his optimism to success. His judgment is sound and his sagacity kcen and his well defined plans and purposes have been carried forward to successful completion. While Mr. Chase largely concentrates his efforts and attention upon the Waterbury Clock Company, his cooperation has also been sought in other fields. . He is a director of the Chase Rolling Mill Company, of the Chase Metal Works, the Waterbury Manufacturing Company, the Waterbury Hotel Corporation, the American Printing Company, the Waterbury Buckle Company. the Smith & Griggs Manufacturing Company and the Waterbury National Bank, all of which have profited by his keen insight into business situa- tions and his sound judgment
On the 28th of February, 1889, Mr. Chase was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Hosmer, a daughter of the Hon. S. W. Kellogg, and they have become parents of five chil- dren: Marjorie Starkweather, Eleanor Kellogg, Lucia Hosmer, Elizabeth Irving and Dorothy Mather. The family residence is maintained at 63 Prospect street in Waterbury, while their summer home is at Narragansett Pier. The qualities of Mr. Chase as a man and citizen as well as a manufacturer rank him with the leading residents of Waterbury. He manifests a public-spirited devotion to the general good and stands for those interests and
activities which feature most largely in the promotion of general welfare. He is a trustee of St. Margaret's school and a member of the Congregational church. He also has member- ship in the Home and Waterbury Clubs. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and his fellow townsmen, recognizing in him the qualities of leadership and loyalty to the commonwealth, elected him to represent the fifteenth district in the Connecticut state senate in 1907 and 1908 and again in 1909 and 1910. He gave careful consideration to the vital questions which came up for settlement and in office, as in private life, has always stood for those interests which are looking toward higher ideals in eitizenship.
GEORGE W. BEACH.
George W. Beach, for many years a prominent citizen of Waterbury, was born at what is now Seymour, Connecticut, August 18, 1833, and after there acquiring a public school educa - tion he entered the employ of the Naugatuck Railroad at Seymour in a clerical capacity. His life was devoted to railroad service. He was in that field as agent, conductor, general ticket agent and division superintendent. He resided in Naugatuck from 1855 until 1857, when he removed to Waterbury. While in the former place he was registrar and clerk of the board of education and in Waterbury he was again called to public office, serving as couneilman, as police commissioner and as postmaster. In 1870 he was chosen to represent his district in the state legislature and served for two years. In the meantime his business activities were continued in connection with railroad interests. After serving as superintendent
George W. Beach
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of the Naugatuck Railroad from 1868 until 1887 he became division superintendent for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad when they took over the line of the former company. In 1893 he was elected president of the American Society of Railroad Superin- tendents, which position he held for five years.
On the 4th of October, 1855, Mr. Beach wedded Saralı Upson, of Seymour, who passed away January 24, 1882, and on the 2d of April, 1883, he wedded Mrs. Sarah (Steele) Blackall, of New York city. His two sons born of his first marriage were Henry Dayton and Edward Wells.
Mr. Beach's interest in community affairs never flagged and resulted in much beneficial effort. He was a consistent member and active worker in the First Congregational church, in which he served as deacon and committeeman for a number of years and was also Sunday school superintendent. He was one of the early superintendents of the Young Men's Christian Association in Waterbury, was also identified with the state work of that organization and was a member of the first International Young Men's Christian Association Conference. He served on the executive committee of the Waterbury Hospital from its incorporation and he left the impress of his individuality in many ways upon the public life, thought and interests of his community.
EDWARD W. BEACH.
A rapidly developing and substantial business enterprise of Waterbury is that of which Edward W. Beach is at the head, being vice president and manager of the Manufacturers Foundry Company, engaged in the manufacture of fine grey castings for gasoline engines. He was born October 10, 1873, in the city where he still resides, and is a son of George Wells and Saralı (Upson) Beach and a grandson of Sharon Yale and Adeline (Sperry) Beach. He acquired a public school education and started in the business world in connection with the Waterbury Farrel Foundry & Machine Company, with which he spent seven years as draftsman. Since 1900 he has been very prominently identified with the industrial life of the city, for in that year he organized the Manufacturers Foundry Company and bought out the George B. Scovill iron foundry, located at No. 27 Benedict street. In 1913 a removal was made to Railroad Hill street, where he built a small plant that constituted the nucleus of the present plant, which has been increased from year to year. The plant now has a frontage of eight hundred feet on the railroad, with a depth of one hundred and fifty feet. The foundry buildings are of mill construction and supplied with sprinkler system. The plant has a capacity of forty tons of iron, castings per day. It was in 1905 that Mr. Beach began making castings for the motor trade and now the entire plant is engaged in the manufacture of gasoline engine castings, than which no better grade of castings can be found in the United States. The rapid growth of his business leads to the employment of three hundred people, of whom nearly half are skilled workmen, and the product today goes all over the world and is comparable with the best produced in Europe.
Mr. Beach is a Knight Templar and thirty-second degree Mason. He is a member of the Waterbury Club, the Waterbury Country Club, the Union League Club of New Haven and the Society of Automotive Engineers and is now serving for the second term on the board of directors of the Motor & Accessories Manufacturers' Association, the national motor parts organization. He is also well known and prominent in musical circles, for four years being barytone singer in the First Congregational church and for eight years in St. John's Episcopal church. He turns to music for recreation and his love of the art proves a counterbalancing force to his intense business activity. He was elected to the board of aldermen for the term 1918-20 and holds a commission in the Connecticut Home Guard as captain, being intelligence officer on the staff for the Fifth Military District.
REYNOLD JANNEY.
Reynold Janney, inventor and manufacturer, who is now vice president and mechanical engineer of the Waterbury Tool Company, was born in Martinsville. Ohio, in 1858, a son of George and Rebecca Ann (Betts) Janney. The father was a contractor and builder and at the time of the Civil war put aside business and personal considerations and served in the Union army with the rank of lieutenant.
The son acquired his education at Wilmington College, where he won the Bachelor of
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Arts degree and the post graduate degree of Master of Arts. He was elected professor of mathematics and astronomy in the college but did not accept the position. He was, however, identified with educational interests as principal of a high school in Ohio for several years. He always engaged in mechanical engineering work, however, his natural taste and talent being along that line. In 1893 he removed eastward to New England to develop an invention having to do with typewriters, called the bibliograph, and was made manager of the Densmore-Yost Company. He was afterward with the Trinity Cyele Manufacturing Company at Worcester, Massachusetts, and at Keene, New Hampshire, acting as superin- tendent of the plants at both places. Later he became superintendent with the Locomobile Company at Bridgeport, where he continued for two years, and was afterward associated with Thomas A. Edison as manager of the Edison Storage Battery at Glen Ridge, New Jersey, there continuing for about a year. He was likewise connected with the Buick Motor Company as superintendent of the Jackson plant when the four-cylinder gas motor Buick car was developed. After resigning that position he became connected with the Waterbury Tool Company and it was Mr. Janney who perfected the Waterbury hydraulic speed gear, which was invented by Professor Williams, thus bringing to perfection machinery which has been of the greatest benefit and value in many connections. He was aetive in introducing the speed gear to the various foreign governments and it is now in use by practically all the governments of Europe and of Asia. The company continues in the manufacture of the speed gear for the transmission of power at variable speed. It is used for turning turrets, for gun elevating, for shell and powder hoists, for rammers, for main steering gear and bolt cranes. Mr. Jamey possesses not only marked mechanical skill and ingenuity but also that power of initiative which results in invention. He is an expert in his line and has been called into consultation by practically every government of the world, his broad knowledge and experience enabling him to speak with authority upon all matters relating to his line of manufacture and to questions relative thereto. In addition to his connection with the Waterbury Tool Company Mr. Janney is chief engineer of The Universal Transmission, Ltd., of Montreal, which has the foreign rights of the Waterbury Hydraulic gear.
In 1882 Mr. Janney was united in marriage to Miss Ella Dixon, of Chillicothe, Ohio, and their children are three in number: Russell, a literary and dramatie writer who resides in . New York and who married Edith Cramer, of that eity, by whom he has one child; Bertha, the wife of E. S. Holland, of New York, and the mother of one child; and Ramona, at home. The family maintain their residence in New York.
Mr. Janney is a Knight Templar Mason and is identified with various societies which indicate the trend of his interests, being a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, of the Institute of Automobile Engineers of London, a fellow of the American Geographical Society of New York and of Washington and a member of the New York Academy of Science. He has carried his investigations far into the realms of seientific knowledge and as a mechanical expert ranks with the foremost of the country.
JOHN P. ELTON.
John P. Elton. viee president and treasurer of the American Brass Company of Waterbury, occupies a prominent position in manufacturing and financial circles and an equally prominent one in social circles. The excellence of any plan is attested by the successful attainment of its purpose and that Mr. Elton's plans are always carefully formulated is manifest in the results which have attended his efforts, causing his cooperation to be sought in the conduct of various important business interests.
Mr. Elton was born in Waterbury, June 30. 1865, a son of James S. Elton, mentioned elsewhere in this work. He attended the English and elassical schools of Waterbury until he reached the age of fourteen years, when he became a student in St. Paul's School of New Haven and later matriculated in Trinity College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1888. Through the intervening period, covering almost three decades, he has been eonneeted with the brass company of which he is now the viee president and treasurer. Thus he is active in one of the most important industrial interests of New England and yet he does not eonfine his attention alone to this line, for he is the president of the Blake & Johnson Company, builders of rolling mills for reducing all metals to fine gauges and manu- facturers of general metal working machinery. He is likewise the vice president of the Colonial Trust Company, a director of the American Pin Company, of the Waterbury Gas Light
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Company and the Manufacturers' Foundry. He is the president of the Waterbury Hotel Corporation, vice president of the Dime Savings Bank and a director of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company of Hartford.
On the 9th of July, 1902, Mr. Elton was united in marriage to Miss Deborah Steele, of Waterbury, and their children are Deborah Richmond and Charlotte. The parents hold membership in St. John's Episcopal church, of which Mr. Elton is junior warden. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is identified with various prominent clubs of New England and New York. He belongs to Delta Psi, a college fraternity, the Waterbury Club, the Waterbury Country Club, the Union League, the University and the St. Anthony Clubs of New York and the Yacht Club. Liberal opportunities were his and to the call he quickly and adequately responded. History shows that a large majority of the men to whom opportunity is offered do not make the best use of their time and talents. There seems to be a lack of that need which is a stimulus to drive men on. Mr. Elton, however, has proven the exception to the rule and while he made his initial step in business in connection with interests already established, he has called forth his own powers and initiative in their further development and control and is today one of the most prominent and active of the younger generation of business men in the city.
LANCASTER P. CLARK.
Lancaster P. Clark, treasurer and manager of the Blake & Johnson Company of Waterbury, one of the oldest established business enterprises of the city, has in the further direction of this interest displayed marked business enterprise and ability. This company builds rolling mills for reducing all metals to thin gauges and also manufactures general metal working machinery. Thoroughly acquainted with the trade in every department, Mr. Clark is now active in controlling the interests of the house and his labors are being attended with substantial success. He was born in New York city, December 22, 1882, a son of Charles P. and Helen (Lancaster) Clark and a grandson of Charles P. Clark, Sr., who for many years was president of the New Haven Railway Company. For an extended period Charles P. Clark, Jr., was general manager of the New England Railway and later became general manager of the New Haven Railway Company, while at the present writing he is bureau chief of the Massachusetts Public Commission. The family home has always been maintained at Newton, Massachusetts, and in the public schools of that city Lancaster P. Clark pursued his education, supplemented by a year's study at Harvard. He was afterward employed by the Westinghouse Machine Company, spending four years in that connection as a salesman. In 1905 he came to Waterbury as salesman for the Blake & Johnson Company, was afterward advanced to the position of secretary, later was made general manager and afterward the duties of treasurer were added to those of general manager until he now has directing voice in the control of the plant and the conduct of the business.
In Buffalo, in 1904, Mr. Clark was married to Miss Lulu Jewel, of New York, a daughter of Willard and Almira (Taylor) Jewel. They have three children, Lancaster P., Charles P. and Alice Coley. Mr. Clark is a republican in politics with independent tendencies. His opinions are not formed according to the dictates of party leaders but according to his study and investigation of political issues and conditions. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons. He belongs to the Union League Club of New Haven, the Country Club and the Home Club of Waterbury. He and his family attend the Trinity Episcopal church. Intelli- gently directed effort has brought him to a prominent position in the business world and an analyzation of his life record indicates the employment only of such methods as anyone may cultivate, showing that success is not a matter of genius, as held by some, but is rather the outcome of clear judgment and experience combined with indefatigable industry.
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