USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 63
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Dr. Kilmartin was married in Waterbury, November 5. 1900, to Mary C. Coughlan, a native of Waterbury, daughter of James and Lucy (Loughlin) Coughlan, life-long residents there. To Dr. and Mrs. Kilmartin six children have been born as follows: Thomas, now a student in the Waterbury high school; Lucy, a student in the grammar school; James, also a student there; Rosemary; Margaret; and Katherine.
JOHN I. CRAIN.
John I. Crain, sales manager for the Waterbury Tool Company, having practical en- gincering experience back of his work in his present connection, has contributed in no small measure to the success of the organization which he represents. Mr. Crain was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1875, a son of William Elliott and Mary Josephine (Tooker) Crain, the father a manufacturer, who was connected with the Diamond Match Company. He passed away in the year 1877 and in 1906 his widow became the wife of Professor Harvey D. Williams, of Cornell University, who later became ordnance engineer for the navy department of the United States government and served in that capacity for about a decade. He now resides in Wallingford, Connecticut. It was he who invented the Waterbury hydraulic speed gear, now manufactured by the Waterbury Tool Company. He began work on this in the fall of 1900 and sold the first machine in 1906. Mr. Janney later brought the invention to per- feetion and it is now the only thing of the kind on the market and the only practical method of regulating gears and transmitting power at variable speed. It fills a long felt want and is acknowledged as of the utmost value, being used today by almost every country on the face of the globe.
John I. Crain attended the Buchtel Academy at Akron, Ohio, and then entered Cornell as a student in the mechanical engineering department, from which he was graduated with the class of 1896. He entered upon his active business career as an employe of the General
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Electric Company of Schenectady, New York, with which he remained for a year. He was afterward with the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company at Newport News, Virginia, spending three years in that place, after which he became connected with the navy department at Washington, D. C., three years being passed as expert electrical aid to the bureau of construction and repair. Later he was with the Fore River Shipbuilding Company at Quincy, Massachusetts, in the capacity of electrical engineer, for ten years and in 1914 he became connected with the Waterbury Tool Company as sales manager.
In 1906 Mr. Crain was united in marriage to Miss Louise Truax Hibbard, of New York eity, and their children are Jason and Mary Josephine. Mr. Crain is a member of the Waterbury Country Club and along lines of scientifie study and research he has become associated with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the American Society of Naval Architects. Study and experience enable him to present the question of the value of the hydraulic gear in a most intelligent and convincing manner and largely as the result of his ability the business has continually grown and expanded until the plant is now one of the well equipped machinery manufactur- ing concerns of the country.
RAYMOND HARRISON RYDER, M. D.
Dr. Raymond Harrison Ryder, actively engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Waterbury, his native city, was born August 23, 1889, and is the only son of Dr. Minnie L. Frost, a well known dentist of Waterbury and the wife of Dr. Charles W. S. Frost. At the usual age he became a public school pupil, passing through consecutive grades to his graduation from the Waterbury high school with the class of 1908. His professional course was pursued in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, where he was grad- uated in 1913. He afterward spent one year in the Waterbury Hospital, his training there proving most valuable, and then entered upon general practice, in which he is meeting with well merited success, having already gained a clientele that many an older member of the profession might well envy. He belongs to the New Haven County, Connecticut State and American Medical Associations. His interests are further indicated in his connection with the Sons of the American Revolution, with the Elks and the Masons, being identified with lodge, chapter and council. He is a member of the First Congregational church.
THE HUNGERFORD FAMILY.
There is something about the Hungerford homestead, which stands surrounded by fine old trees in the midst of a broad lawn that seems to reflect the strength, stability and refinement that are characteristic of those of that name. The founder of the family in America was Thomas Hungerford, who came from England and settled at Hartford in 1638. His name is on the list of proprietors there in that year.
His great-grandson, David Hungerford, who was born in Haddam, Connecticut, moved to Watertown (then called Westbury) about 1750. He died near Lake Champlain in 1756 while serving in the Colonial army in the French and Indian war. The military spirit of David Hungerford was inherited by his son Joel who served in the American army in the war of the Revolution.
Joel Hungerford, 2nd (his son), was born in Watertown in 1783 and there spent his entire life. He married Rebecca Merriam, a native of Watertown and a daughter of Cliris- topher Merriam, who fought as a corporal in one of the Connecticut Line Regiments in the Revolution. On Christopher Merriam's death, Joel Hungerford and his wife inherited the Merriam home, and there their great-grandchildren now reside. Joel Hungerford died in 1858 and his wife in 1884 at the advanced age of ninety-seven years.
Dr. Allyn Merriam Hungerford, the son of Joel and Rebecca (Merriam) Hungerford, was born in Watertown, August 16, 1810. He was educated in the public schools and after mas- tering the elementary branches of learning, took up the study of medicine at Yale College, from the medical department of which institution he was graduated in 1833. Shortly after completing his preparation for professional activity he married Emily R. Platt, who was a daughter of Deacon Joseph Platt of Prospect. For several years in his early life he prac- ticed his profession in Cincinnati, but on account of the growing feebleness of his father, he returned to the old homestead in Watertown, where he spent his remaining days. In 1851
DR. RAYMOND H. RYDER
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lie erected the fine, old residence now standing on the site of the original Merriam home. Dr. Hungerford took a deep interest in Watertown and its public affairs and was much beloved by all who knew him. He served as a member of the state legislature in 1850 and 1851; was judge of probate for the Waterbury district in 1852 and 1853, and for the Watertown district in 1857 and 1858. He was at all times actuated by high ideals in his devotion to the public good, and his efforts were far-reaching and beneficial. He passed away June 17, 1883, but his memory is yet cherished in the hearts of all who knew him, because of his upright life, his honorable purposes and his splendid manly qualities. His wife died July 15, 1880.
In their family were two children, Sarah A., who died March 15, 1870, and William Allyn. William Allyn Hungerford was born in Watertown, March 2, 1850, and at the usual age became a public school pupil. Later he studied a couple of years in the old academy at Watertown. While still in his 'teens, in 1868, he entered the employ of the Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Company at Waterbury, in the capacity of a clerk in the office. In 1871, following various intermediate promotions, he was called to the position of manager of the New York office of that concern. Accepting the proffered posi- tion of trust and responsibility, he spent the remaining days of his life in that connection and was instrumental in building up the business to extensive proportions. In later life he became a director and treasurer of the company. He was also identified with other business enterprises, among them being the Gas Engine & Power Company of New York, and the Waterbury Watch Company of Waterbury, and all of them profited by his co- operation and indefatigable energy. As a member of several clubs in New York, among them the Union League, he was well known in social circles in the metropolis, and his associates entertained for him the highest regard. He died at his home, 121 West Sixty- ninth street, New York city, April 15, 1897, and was buried in the family plot in Evergreen cemetery, Watertown. He was much devoted to his home and family and was equally loyal to the standards of good citizenship, his dominant qualities ever commanding the respect and confidence of all with whom he was associated.
On the 23d of April, 1873, he was married in New York city to Marian Stuart, who was the daughter of John Francis and Maria (Kennedy) Stuart, of the island of Jamaica. To Mr. and Mrs. Hungerford were born three children: Charles Stuart, Victor William and Margherita. Both of the sons attended Dwight School in New York city and later Columbia University.
Charles Stuart Hungerford became associated with his father in business and is now connected with The American Metal Hose Company of Waterbury. He makes his home in that city and with his mother at the old family homestead in Watertown.
Victor William married Helen S. Stevenson, a daughter of George Stevenson, a banker of Philadelphia, and for a number of years past has been practicing law in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They have one child, Elizabeth Stevenson Hungerford. When the United States was drawn into the war, Victor Hungerford, who had served previously as a captain in the Colorado National Guard on the Mexican border, entered the Federal service, and he is now serving abroad as a captain in the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment of Field Artillery.
Margherita, Hungerford married Birney B. Blackwell, a manufacturer in New York city, in 1913, and they became the parents of one child, Marian Victoria Blackwell, who was born in New York.
The old family residence in Watertown is now used by Mrs. William Allyn Hungerford and her children as their summer home.
CHARLES STUART HUNGERFORD.
Charles Stuart Hungerford, secretary and treasurer of The American Metal Hose Com- pany, Waterbury, Connecticut, was born in New York city, January 31, 1874. His father, William A. Hungerford, was a native of Watertown, and his mother, Marian (Stuart) Hun- gerford, the daughter of a Scotch planter in the island of Jamaica.
William A. Hungerford was closely identified with the great metal manufacturing in- terests of Waterbury for many years, representing the Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Company in New York city, and later acting as treasurer of that company. He lived the greater part of his life in New York and died there in 1897.
Charles Stuart Hungerford is a lineal descendant of Thomas Hungerford, who settled in Hartford in 1638. Among his ancestors there were several who saw service in the French Vol. III-21
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and Indian and Revolutionary wars. In the acquirement of his education he attended Dwight School in New York city and he later spent two years as a student at Columbia University, in the class of '96, mines. A severe illness resulted in his leaving college, and in 1895, after a year spent in the recovery of his health, he entered business in connection with his father's interests in New York. Shortly after the death of his father he came to Waterbury as a salesman for the Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Company, and he has resided here and at the old family residence in Watertown ever since. When the American Brass Com- pany absorbed the Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Company, Mr. Hungerford continued his connection with the new concern. In 1908 The American Metal Hose Company was formed as a subsidiary of The American Brass Company to manufacture flexible metal hose and tubing. The venture did not prove to be a particularly successful one, and after a year or two of discouraging results, Mr. Hungerford was drawn from the brass business and given the active management of the new concern. At the present time, under his able handling, it has become one of the most prosperous of the smaller companies in the city.
Mr. Hungerford has never married. He is well known in club circles, not only in Water- bury but in New York city as well, having membership there in the Union League Club and the Columbia University Club. This would seem to indicate a devotion to the social amenities of life, and yet he does not allow outside interests to interfere with the capable conducting of his business. He stands as an alert, enterprising and progressive representative of the manu- facturing interests of Waterbury.
CHARLES H. PRESTON, JR.
Charles H. Preston, Jr., architect and structural engineer, was born in the city of Norwich, Connecticut, May 18, 1876. As his father, Charles H. Preston, Sr., was one of the most prominent architects and engineers in the eastern part of the state for thirty-five years, the son eame naturally to the profession.
On completing his education at the Norwich schools, Mr. Preston served an apprentice- ship of five years in the office of Charles E. Chandler, consulting engineer at Norwich taking up the study of municipal engineering, including sewerage, water supply and railroad con- struction. Mr. Preston later became associated with his father in the profession of archi- tecture and mill engineering and for two years was in charge as resident architect of some of the largest industrial plants being erected in New England. In 1902, when the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company commenced the construction of its rail- road bridge over the Shetucket river at Norwich, a complicated engineering work where the use of several deep water divers was necessary for a long period, Mr. Preston was selected to fill the position as resident engineer to represent that company, and continued in their employment for many years being engaged on several of the largest railroad under- takings.
Mr. Preston was engaged in railroad improvements between New London, Connecticut, and Worcester, Massachusetts, at Boston for many years on the Columbia Road Bridge, at Mattapan, Massachusetts, on bridge work and grade crossing elimination work, at East Providence on the construction of huge coaling stations and on the Naugatuck division be- tween Bridgeport and Waterbury double tracking, building new passenger stations, freight houses, storage yards, etc. When the New Haven Road decided to eliminate all grade crossings, build a union passenger station and freight yards in the city of Waterbury, necessitating an expenditure of four million dollars and requiring nearly five years to com- plete, Mr. Preston was selected as resident engineer and continued throughout the entire contract. At the completion of this work in 1909, Mr. Preston opened an office in Waterbury for private practice as consulting architect and engineer and his professional skill has called him into active connection with many of the most important projects of this section, having designed and supervised the construction of industrial plants, storage warehouses, casting shops, rolling mills, power plants, transfer stations, coal elevators, pipe-lines, and trolley and steam railroads.
In September, 1914, prominent manufacturers of the Naugatuck valley, feeling keenly the loss of sufficient water from the Naugatuck river to meet the demands of their numerous factory uses, consulted Mr. Preston, and, explaining their situation, requested that he in- vestigate the feasibility of a water conservation schemc, its probable cost,. location, etc. The project promises to become the largest undertaking in the Naugatuck valley.
After two years of research, studies of brooks, watersheds, flowage rights, ponds, valleys, etc., trips of many miles in practically all the territory bounded by Thomaston,
CHARLES H. PRESTON, JR.
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Winsted, Norfolk and Wolcott, covering miles of mountainous watershed, heavy timber land and farm properties, Mr. Preston reported that the conservation of water in the Naugatuck valley was entirely feasible and that annually there is enough water wasted to supply the demands of the corporations, to flush the Naugatuck river to a sanitary condi- tion throughout the year and to create many thousands of horse power. The investigation included the watersheds of Hart Brook, Hall Meadow Brook, the East branch of the Nauga- tuck river and Lead Mine Brook, each having large watersheds, many natural valleys for development into huge impounding reservoirs and the report recommended the construc- tion of a series of dams as a means of conserving the great volumes of water that otherwise rushed down through the valley in spring freshets, for uses during the dry months of June, July, August, and September. The report was accepted by the corporations and Mr. Preston was engaged to design the first of a series of large dams known as Dam No. 2, Lead Mine Brook, Harwinton, Connecticut, for manufacturers of the Naugatuck valley.
This dam will be constructed of cyclopean masonry, will impound nearly four billion gallons, creates a pond nearly two thousand feet in width, three miles in length and is one of the largest structures of the kind in New England, being one thousand three hundred feet in length and one hundred and forty-two feet in height.
The plans of this huge dam have been approved by the state board of civil engineers . and the manufacturers have been issued a certificate permitting construction. The entire scheme will cost several million dollars and will take many years to develop.
Mr. Preston's father, Charles H. Preston, Sr., and mother, Margaret France Preston, were also natives of Norwich. The mother was a daughter of James F. and Margaret Jane (Henderson) France, who were natives of Edinburgh, Scotland. The paternal grandparents were Aaron Lee and Susan M. (Baldwin) Preston, the former a farmer, born at Bundy Hill, this state, while the latter was born in Auburn, New York state. Charles H. Preston, Sr., resided all his life in Norwich, Connecticut, and passed away April 21, 1916, while his widow still resides at Norwich.
On the 25th of November, 1903, Mr. Preston was married to Miss Elfie Luella Harris, of Norwich, Connecticut, a daughter of George A. and Catherine (Dewey) Harris. Their children are Charles H. III and Harris F.
Fraternally Mr. Preston is a Mason and with his interest in his line of profession has become a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers and the New England Water Works Association.
JACOB J. GANCHER, M. D.
Dr. Jacob J. Gancher, a physician and surgeon of Waterbury, was born in Russia, March 25, 1882, and in 1892, when a lad of ten years, was brought to the United States by his parents, Isaac and Sarah Gancher, who settled with their family at Hartford, Connecticut, where they still make their home. In their family are two sons and two daughters who yet survive: Lizzie, the wife of Abraham Bergman, of Hartford; Abraham, who is a manufacturer of New York city and is the inventor and manufacturer of the Golden Gem adding machine; Fannie, the wife of Moses J. Huskinsky, of Hartford; and Jacob J., of this review.
The last named first came to Waterbury with his parents in 1893 and acquired his preliminary education in its public schools. He afterward pursued a course in Troy Academy at, Troy, New York, from which he was graduated with honors in 1902 and in his academic training laid the foundation on which to build the superstructure of professional knowledge. Later he entered the Long Island Hospital at Brooklyn and was there graduated with the M. D. degree in 1906. He took a post graduate course in the New York Lying-In Hospital in the same year and on the 20th of December, 1906, opened an office in Waterbury for the general practice of medicine and surgery. While he continues in general practice, he makes a specialty of gynecology and obstetrics. In 1907 he was appointed on the staff of St. Mary's Hospital as assistant consulting physician and so continued until 1909. In 1908 he had taken a special course on diseases of the stomach and intestines in the New York Post Graduate Medical School and since 1909 he has been gastrologist on the staff of St. Mary's Hospital.
On the 9th of September, 1906, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Gancher and Miss Frances Penn, of New York city, and they now have four children, Edna, Elias, Louis and Raphael. Dr. Gancher is a lover of music and has become quite proficient as a violinist and it is through that avenue that he gains much of his recreation. In politics he is a republican
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and he holds to the Hebrew faith. He belongs also to the Waterbury and Connecticut State Medieal Societies and has made for himself a most creditable position, gaining much more than local fame in the field of his specialties.
JAMES H. GRAHAM.
In contemplating the career of James H. Graham one is reminded of the words of an eminent New York financier: "If you would win success, you must be willing to pay the price-the price of earnest, self-denying effort." James H. Graham started out in the business world when a youth of fifteen in a humble capacity, and working his way up through various minor positions to those of larger and larger responsibility, he is now in control of mam- moth interests as the general factory manager of the Torrington Company, a position to which he has attained through the closest application and most unremitting labor, combined with comprehensive study of every phase of the work that has come under his direction. A native of England, he was born in Carlisle, December 19, 1877, his parents being Thomas and Isabel (Constable) Graham, who were natives of England and Scotland respectively. The birth of the father occurred in Carlisle in 1855. He was educated in his native land and served a seven years' apprenticeship to the printing trade, becoming an expert journey- man. In February, 1882, with his family, he crossed the Atlantic to New York, where at different periods he was connected with two of the leading job printing establishments of the metropolis. In 1883 he came to Torrington to take charge of the Register printing office and there remained for ten years. In 1893, in association with Henry Gerrard, he organized the job printing firm of Graham & Gerrard. They established a well equipped plant, the facilities of which were constantly improved and enlarged and the business reached most gratifying proportions, work being received not only from Torrington but from Bridgeport, Waterbury and other Connecticut cities. Among their patrons were many of the leading manufacturing corporations of Torrington. In 1898 they consolidated their interests with those of the Torrington Item and the Torrington Register under the firm name of the Tor- rington Printing Company, with Mr. Graham as the manager, and he thus continued in active connection with printing interests until his death, which occurred May 10, 1909. Mr. Graham was the first secretary of John Bright Lodge of the Sons of St. George, filling the office for three years, after which he served for a number of years as treasurer. He also became grand state president of the grand lodge and was a district deputy. At one time he was treasurer of the Sheridan Club and the president of the Torrington Baseball Club. He was recognized as a man of irreproachable character and of high standing both in business circles and as a citizen. His widow still resides in Torrington, where the family home has long been maintained. To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Graham were born six sons, all of whom are living, namely : James H .. of this review; Christopher C., of Torrington; William H., who is with the American Brass Company of Waterbury; Alexander C., of Torrington; and Joseph F. and Thomas H., also of Torrington.
James H. Graham came to the United States with his parents in 1882, when but five years of age, and acquired his early education in the Torrington publie schools but put aside his textbooks when a youth of fifteen in order to make his start in the business world as an employe of the Excelsior Needle Company. The department in which he first worked later became the business of the Standard Company of Torrington and Mr. Graham eventu- ally won promotion to the position of superintendent of the Standard Company and also of the Progressive Manufacturing Company- a position of trust and responsibility which he filled for several years. Recently he was made general factory manager of the Torrington Company, which concern is a consolidation of numerous plants in the United States, together with one in Coventry, England, and another in Aachen, Germany. The plants in Torrington, known as the Excelsior Needle Company and the Standard and Progressive plants, are included in the Torrington Company, together with plants in Springfield, Massachusetts, and in various other sections of the United States and Canada, making this concern a gigantic industry which produces many products that are essentials in the world of industry. Mr. Graham's connection with these various enterprises covers a period of a quarter of a century, for he began work when but fifteen years of age. His rise to the position of general factory manager is the result of close application, hard work and genuine ability. From the beginning he made it his purpose to master thoroughly every task assigned him and his record is the outcome of applied energy intelligently directed. He has indeed become a dynamic force in the industrial world and without pausing to consider his career one little realizes what an immense amount of work he has accomplished in fitting himself for
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