USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 9
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were residents of Waterbury and then took up their abode in Naugatuck, where they have since remained.
Clayton L. Klein has practically been a lifelong resident of Naugatuck, for he was one year old when his parents removed with their family to that place. In the attainment of his education he was graduated from the Naugatuck high school with the class of 1900 very soon after he had reached the fifteenth milestone on life's journey, having displayed notable aptitude in his studies. At the age of twenty-one years he entered the Yale Law School, matriculating in 1906. He completed a three years' course there, being graduated in 1909 with the LL. B. degree, and soon afterward was admitted to the bar of Connecticut, after which he at once entered upon active practice in Waterbury. In June, 1910, he also opened a law office in Naugatuck and has since maintained both offices. He enjoys a splendid practice and is regarded as one of the rising young attorneys of New Haven county. His comprehensive knowledge of the principles and practices of juris- prudence enables him to base his arguments upon irrefutable precedent, and his mind, naturally logical and inductive, attains as result, a clear presentation of his cause. He belongs to both the local and state bar associations.
Mr. Klein is married and has a son. Clayton L., Jr., who was born May 25, 1905. In politics Mr. Klein is a democrat and he served for six years as prosecutor for the borough of Naugatuck. He belongs to the Naugatuck Country Club and fraternally is a Royal Arch Mason and an Elk. He is widely known in this part of the state and has social qualities which render him very popular, while his close conformity to a high standard of professional ethics has gained him the warm regard of his colleagues at the bar.
REV. THEODORE ZIMMERMANN.
Among the representatives of the Catholic ministry in Waterbury is the Rev. Theodore Zimmermann, who in 1914 was assigned to duty in the parish of St. Stanislaus church on East Farm street in Waterbury. He was born in that part of Germany which formerly belonged to Poland, the place of his nativity being the town of Bisehofsburg and the date the 7th of February, 1861. His education was pursued in schools and colleges of Germany, Italy and Switzerland, and he was ordained to the priesthood in the last named country, November 30, 1904.
Since 1906 he has resided on this side of the Atlantic and has served St. Stanislaus church of Waterbury since August 15, 1914. Previous to that time he had done pastoral work, being first connected with St. Adalbert's Polish church at Elmhurst, Long Island, but was transferred to St. Michael's Polish church in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in February, 1907, and to Sacred Heart Polish church in New Britain, July 13, 1907. From November 1, 1909, until August 15, 1914, he was curate at SS. Cyril and Methodius Polish church in Hartford, and then came to Waterbury as pastor of St. Stanislaus church. In 1915 the parish under his leadership laid the foundation of a splendid new church edifice, upon which already more than fourteen thousand dollars has been expended. The basement has been sufficiently completed to admit of its use for church services.
Father Zimmermann is the third pastor of St. Stanislaus church, the parish being a comparatively new one. It was established in 1912, when Rev. Father Ignatius Maciejewski became the first pastor. He is now serving a church in Norwich, Connecticut. The second pastor was Rev. Paul Piechochi, who in turn was succeeded by Father Zimmermann. This is a Polish congregation and the present pastor is doing excellent work among his parishioners.
JAMES L. MORIARTY, M. D.
Dr. James L. Moriarty, orthopedie surgeon, well versed in his branch of the profession having qualified by thorough study in this country and abroad, was born in Norwich, Connecticut, Angust 18, 1871. His father, James Moriarty, was a shoe merchant, who was born in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland, whence he came to the United States with his parents when a lad of seven years. He died in the year 1908. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Leary, was born in Norwich, where she still resides.
Dr. Moriarty, their only child, was reared in Norwich and was graduated from the Norwich Academy with the class of 1891. He prepared for his profession in Harvard Medical College and won his M. D. degree upon graduation with the class of 1896. For
REV. THEODORE ZIMMERMANN
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a year thereafter he was interne in the Carney Hospital of Boston and in 1897 he came to Waterbury, where he has since been engaged in the practice of medicine, specializing in orthopedic surgery. He has taken various post graduate courses in orthopedic surgery in New York and Boston and has twice been abroad for post graduate work in London, Paris, Berlin and Vienna, where he has had the benefit of instruction and clinical practice under some of the most eminent orthopedic surgeons of the old world. Three years ago he gave up general practice and has since devoted his entire attention to his specialty. He is orthopedic surgeon on the staffs of both the Waterbury and St. Mary's Hospitals and he is also radiographer in St. Mary's Hospital. He has been a frequent contributor to medical journals and his opinions are largely accepted as authority, especially in the field in which he specializes. Quite recently Dr. Moriarty has enlisted offering his services and his knowledge to his government and country.
On the 8th of May, 1901, Dr. Moriarty was married to Miss Mary Donahue, of Water- bury, and they have one son, James Thomas, who was born August 3, 1902. Dr. Moriarty belongs to the Catholic church and has membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He votes with the democratic party but is not a politician in the generally accepted sense of the word. His professional duties are undertaken with seriousness and manifest devotion to his work.
DAVID B. NETH.
David B. Neth is chief engineer of the United Electric Light & Water Company of Waterbury. His training has been that of the school of experience and he is now familiar with every practical phase of the business and the scientific principles which underlic his work. He was born in Winchester, Connecticut, August 8, 1867, and is a son of John Neth. In the acquirement of his education he passed throughi consecutive grades in the public school, ultimately becoming a high school pupil at Hartford, and he made his initial step in the business world as an employe in the Hartford Automatic Machine Screw Company. He was afterward with Colt's Armory for a year and a half and subsequently devoted two years to farming. When he withdrew from active connection with general agricultural pursuits he came to Waterbury in 1888 and entered the employ of the Standard Electric Time Company. Through the intervening period, covering three decades, he lias been a resident of this city. He afterward became a partner in the firm of George M. Chapman & Company, that association continuing from 1891 until 1898. He was later with the Waterbury Clock Company for but a brief period and subsequently he became con- nected with the New England Engineering Company. The following year, however, he entered the employ of the Connecticut Light & Power Company, with which he has since' been identified, being advanced to the position of general engineer in May, 1914.
The United Electric Light & Water Company was organized under its present form January 1, 1912, succeeding the Housatonic Power Company, the name under which the New Haven Railroad Company operated the property after acquiring it in 1907. It had previously been. the Connecticut Railway & Lighting Company, which was organized about 1902, its predecessor being the Connecticut Light & Power Company, which succeeded the Waterbury Traction Company that, in turn, was the successor of the Connecticut Electric Company. The last named was a combined lighting and contracting concern. The New England Engineering Company was an offshoot of this business, taking the contracting end. When the Waterbury Traction Company was organized the street car and the lighting systems were combined, at whichi time the line was transformed from a horse car to a trolley system, and the company also took over the New Britain Railway. When the Connecticut Lighting & Power Company was organized its business was extended to include Greenwich and Norwalk, to both of which towns they furnished the electric lighting systems. With the organization of the Connecticut Railway & Lighting Company in 1902 it took over the business of the Bridgeport Traction Company, and in 1907 the New Haven Railway Company took over the property but operated the trolley line separately, while the Housatonic Power Company was organized to have charge of the power and lighting end of the business. The further development of these interests is indicated in the fact that in 1912 the United Electric Light & Water Company was formed. They leased all the lighting and power end of the business from the New Haven Railway Company, which they leased from the Connecticut Railway & Lighting Company. Beside the Waterbury plant the company furnishes power and light to New Britain, Newington, Berlin, Plainville,
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Southington, Milldale and Norwalk, and the territory included in New Canaan, George- town, East Norwalk, Routon and Greenwich. Also the territory included in East Port Chester to the state line, while the Waterbury district includes Waterbury, Watertown and Cheshire. In June, 1900 the Waterbury power station was located at No. 571 Bank street, furnishing commercial lighting and power, municipal street lighting and trolley power. The plant formerly had two 450 hp. and one 225 hp. Corliss engines for lighting and power, and two 350 hp. Corliss engines for trolley. The boiler plant contains five 500 hp. Babcock & Wilcox electric generators; two 150 kw., four 60 kw. Edisons, one 150 and one 100 kw. for 5,000 hp .; two 75 kw. 1100 v. single phase alternating current and fourteen sinall T. H. generating machines for street lighting; two 300 kw. 550 v. for trolley. That same year one 450 hp. engine with 300 kw. three p. 2300 v. generator and two 150 kw. three p. 2300 v. generators were installed, displacing the old 1100 v. single phase alternating current generator, and the whole alternating current system was raised from 1100 v. to 2300 v. and changed from 125 cycles to 60. The Naugatuck generating station was also closed and the whole Naugatuck load was taken by this new machinery. The following year a 1,200 hp. engine with 800 kw. generator was installed for the trolley and a 200 kw. generator for lighting, and one of the old 300 kw. trolley generators converted to lighting. To get the steam for the new apparatus a new boiler house was erected and two 600 hp. boilers were installed. In 1904 the substation at West End in the rear of the car barns and at Field street were completed and started operation with 3,000 kw. capacity for lighting and power and 2,000 kw. for trolley at No. 1, and 1,200 kw. for lighting at Field street. In 1910 a new steam generating station was started with eight 500 hp. boilers and two 1,500 kw. Turbo generators; in 1911 a 3,000 kw. Turbo generator was added and in 1912 four 500 hp. boilers and a 400 kw. Turbo generator were added. Further equipment was secured in 1916 with the installation of two 500 hp. boilers and a 10,000 kw. Turbo generator. The company employs about three hundred and seventy-five people, of whom one hundred and twenty are in the Waterbury district. At Norwalk the company has a gas business in addition to the electric lighting, and since 1912 they have taken over the Seymour, Connecticut, business, furnishing light and power there. The company lias a complete hydraulie electric plant on the Housatonic river at Bull's Bridge with a capacity of 6,000 kw. in addition to the new steam plant in Waterbury. Mr. Neth, as chief engineer, has control of the operation of all these plants and is familiar with every phase of the work in every department.
In 1902 Mr. Neth was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth M. Blair, of Waterbury, and they had three children: Marshall W., thirteen years of age; Paul, who died in infancy ; and Katherine Blair, three years of age.
Mr. Neth holds membership in the Congregational church, while his wife is a member of the Baptist church. In politics he is a republican, and fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Red Men. He belongs to the Waterbury Country Club and is widely and favorably known in this city, where for three decades he has made his home. He stands as a recognized leader in the line which he has chosen as a life work, and his ability is not the result of college training, for he did not have the opportunity of advancing beyond the high school. Starting in business, however, he made it his purpose to learn from each day's experience and duties, and study and experience have constantly broadened his knowledge until today he is a power in his cliosen field where his comprehensive understanding of every phase of the business enables liim to speak with authority upon anything relating to his line.
HARRY A. DALBY.
Harry A. Dalby, a well known resident of Naugatuck, where he is engaged in the banking business, being now treasurer of the Naugatuck Savings Bank, was born in Steuben- ville, Ohio, June 19, 1867, and is a son of Henry S. and Clementine (McMillan) Dalby, the former a native of Steubenville, while the latter was born in Washington county, Penn- sylvania, and came of Scotch-Irish ancestry. William McMillan and Margaret Rea, his wife, were born and lived in the parish of Carmony, County Antrim, Ireland. They emi- grated to America and settled in Fagg's Manor, Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1742. They had two sons, one of whom, John, became the pioneer missionary of Presbyterianism in western Pennsylvania and was the founder of Washington and Jefferson College at Washington, that state. Our subject is the great grandson of the other son of . William
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HARRY A. DALBY
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McMillan. The Dalbys were an early family of Ohio. It was there that Henry S. Dalby followed the occupation of blacksmithing until 1849, when, attracted by the discovery of gold in California, he made his way to the Pacific coast and while in that far western country he lost his eyesight. Returning to Ohio, his remaining days were spent in Steubenville.
Harry A. Dalby acquired a publie school education and when a youth of thirteen started as a Western Union Telegraph messenger and took up the study of telegraphy. After being active in the railroad business for six years he came to Naugatuck in 1887 and spent two years as a clerk in the Goodyear Metallic Rubber shoe store. Later he went to New Haven and occupied the position of train dispatcher with the New Haven Railway Company. Since 1905, however, he has been identified with financial interests in Naugatuck, having on the 1st of February of that year been made teller of the Naugatuck Savings bank, with which he has since been associated. He served in that capacity until July, 1912, when he was made assistant treasurer, and in July, 1914, he was advanced to the position of treasurer. in which capacity he has since served. His long commection with the bank has made him thoroughly familiar with every pliase and detail of the business and he is well qualified for the executive position which he is now occupying.
On the 8th of September, 1888, Mr. Dalby was united in marriage to Miss Etta A. Terrill, of Naugatuck, a daughter of Lester A. and Mary (Patterson) Terrill. They have one daugh- ter, Helen, who is a graduate of the Cushing Academy at Ashburnham, Massachusetts, of the class of 1909.
Mr. and Mrs. Dalby are members of the Congregational church. In politics he is a republican where national issues are involved but at local elections casts an independent ballot. He served for two years, in 1914 and 1915, as assessor of Naugatuck. He is well known in fraternal circles, belonging to Shepherds Lodge, No. 78, F. & A. M .; Allerton Chapter, No. 39, R. A. M .; Waterbury Council, No. 21, R. & S. M., of Waterbury; Clark Commandery, No. 7, K. T .; and Evergreen Chapter, No. 22, O. E. S. He is also a member of Centennial Lodge, No. 76, I. O. O. F., and he is loyal to the teachings of these different organizations, which are based upon a recognition of the brotherhood of man and the obligations thereby imposed.
JOHN JOSEPH EGAN, M. D.
On the roll of successful physicians and surgeons in Waterbury appears the name of Dr. John Joseph Egan, who has his residence and office at No. 30 Prospect street and also another office at No. 131 Baldwin street. He was born in Waterbury, May 18, 1878, and is a son of John Egan, who came to Waterbury prior to the Civil war. The latter was born in County Kerry, Ireland, and after arriving in America was employed as a mechanic in some of the large manufacturing plants of Waterbury, his main connection, however, being with the Scovill Company. He is now nearly eighty years of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Bridget Flaherty, was born in County Kerry, Ireland, and passed away in 1914. Mr. Egan had been previously married and by his first union had one son, Eugene, who became a well known athlete, holding the track championship for the state in the one-hundred-yard dash. Eugene Egan passed away a few years ago. Of the second marriage of John Egan were born six children, two sons and four daughters, of whom Dr. Egan was the fourth. All are living with the exception of the son Thomas, who was a machinist by trade. He joined the army at the time of the Spanish-American war and died in California just after the war closed and while still in the service.
Dr. Egan attended the public schools of Waterbury and pursued his academic course in Villanova College at Villanova, Pennsylvania, where he studied for four years. In preparation for the practice of medicine, which he had determined to make his life work, he entered the University of Maryland at Baltimore and was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1907. He then spent one year in research for The Johns Hopkins at the Bay View Hospital of Maryland and in 1908 he returned home, since which time he has been continuously, actively and successfully engaged in general practice in Waterbury. He has further qualified for his professional duties by various post graduate courses along special lines. In 1909 he pursued a course in diseases of the stomach in the New York Post Graduate School and 1915-16 he took special work on diseases of the reetum and intestines in the Bartholomew Clinic of New York city, in the New York Polyclinic and in the Bellevue Hospital of New York. He displays particular skill in treating stomach and intestinal diseases and is now rectal surgeon on the staff of St. Mary's Hospital. He
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belongs to the Waterbury, New Haven County and Connecticut State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association.
On the 9th of September, 1910, Dr. Egan was married to Miss Anna Agnes Healey, of Waterbury, who was born April 11, 1886, a daughter of Maurice Healey, who was an extensive dealer in barrels and general cooperage products. He was born in County Kerry, Ireland, and died in Waterbury in 1902, while his wife, who bore the maiden name of Ellen Shane, passed away in 1905. Dr. and Mrs. Egan have two children: John Vincent, born May 15, 1912; and Maurice Francis, born February 25, 1915.
Mrs. Egan is a member of the Daughters of Isabella and both Dr. and Mrs. Egan belong to the Immaculate Conception Catholic church. Fraternally he is an Elk and he finds his chief recreation in fishing. He has recently purchased and now occupies a splendid home at No. 30 Prospect street, which by reason of its environment and central location is in one of the most desirable sections of the city.
GEORGE S. BISSET.
George S. Bisset was one of the organizers of the dry goods house of Grieve, Bisset & Holland in 1902 and remains active in its ownership and control. He was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1864, and is a son of Peter and Agnes (Swapp) Bisset. He acquired a public school education and afterward served an apprenticeship to the dry goods trade in Scotland, where his ability along that line soon became manifest. Promotion followed from time to time until he became manager of an Aberdeen store, but thinking to find still better opportunities in the new world, he crossed the Atlantic to Canada in 1889 and first located at Ontario. Later he made his way to Syracuse, New York, and in 1890 came to Waterbury, where for twelve years he was in the employ of Reid & Hughes. In 1902 he joined William G. Grieve and Lewis M. Holland in organizing the firm of Grieve, Bisset & Holland. They opened a dry-goods store in what is now the Chase building but soon afterward removed to Nos. 40-42 North Main street, where they bought out another lease. The building which they occupy has a frontage of sixty feet with seventy feet in the center and a depth of two hundred feet. They occupy the first floor and basement and employ fifty people in the conduct of their department store. The business has been care- fully organized and systematized and their interests are conducted in accordance with the most progressive methods. They have realized from the outset that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement and they have put forth every effort to please the public. Mr. Grieve died March 31, 1914, the other two partners remaining active in the business.
On the 5th of June, 1895, Mr. Bisset was married to Miss Arabella Walker, of Water- bury, a daughter of George and Julia (Dempster) Walker. Their children were: G. Walker, who is in school; and Mildred Agnes, who died at the age of two years and three months.
The parents are members of the Congregational church and the political belief of Mr. Bisset is that of the republican party. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and with the Red Men, and is loyal to the teachings and the beneficent spirit of those organi- zations. He. has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for here he has found the business opportunities which he sought and in their utiliza- tion has steadily advanced until he now occupies a creditable place in the commercial circles of his adopted eity, making his establishment a credit to Waterbury and an orna- ment to its business interests.
HON. JOHN HURLEY.
Hon. John Hurley, serving for the fifth term as a member of the state senate of Con- necticut, has long been recognized as a leader in democratic circles and in questions affecting the welfare of the commonwealth he displays a statesman's grasp of affairs. Actuated by marked devotion to the general good, he has received endorsement of his services in his frequent reelections. He was born in County Kerry, Ireland, May 17, 1862. His father, John Hurley, passed away there during the boyhood of his son and namesake and the widowed mother with her three sons and two daughters came to the new world in 1872. One son and one daughter had already crossed the Atlantic and were residents of Waterbury, where the other members of the family joined them.
John Hurley has therefore been a resident of Waterbury from the age of ten years. In
HON. JOHN HURLEY
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his youth he attended night school and in the daytime worked in the factory of the Water- bury Clock Company, thus continuing for fifteen years. Later he was for many years engaged in the retail liquor business and still later embarked in the wholesale liquor business, in which he yet continues, being the local agent of the Ropkins Brewing Company of Hartford.
Mr. Hurley has been married twice. He first wedded Margaret Fitzgerald, who died several years later, leaving two children: Josephine, the wife of Hubert Cooke; and John. Eighteen years ago Mr. Hurley wedded Katherine Crane, also a native of County Kerry, Ireland, and they have two children, Thomas and Mary.
Mr. Hurley is a member of the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic church. He holds mem- bership with the Moose, the Elks, the Foresters and the Hibernians. As indicated, he has long been an active worker in the ranks of the democratic party. He served as a member of the Waterbury board of aldermen from the fifth ward for eighteen years and while still occupying that position was elected state senator in 1906. He was reelected in 1908 and in 1910 again became the candidate for the office but was defeated. In 1912, however, he was returned to the position and was reelected in 1914 and in 1916, so that he is the present incumbent and is serving for the fifth term in the upper house of the state legislature, where he gives thoughtful and earnest consideration to the vital questions that come up for settlement.
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