USA > Connecticut > Representative citizens of Connecticut, biographical memorial > Part 57
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Peter Berry
T HE DEATH OF Peter Berry on March 31, 1896, occasioned Hartford, Connecticut, the loss of one of its most prominent citizens, the commercial world of a conspicuous figure, and his very large circle of friends and associates of a most win- ning and admirable personality. Mr. Berry was a member of that strong race, the Irish, which from the earliest Colonial times has contributed with its blood to the develop- ment of the American people, and with its intelligence and love of freedom to the construction of our national institutions.
He was born in Ireland, and passed the first twenty years of his life in that picturesque and romantic region. His birth took place in 1830, and he was one of a family who felt keenly the oppressive conditions which in those days racked his countrymen. Eventually the whole Berry family determined upon emigration and accordingly his parents and their children set sail for America in the month of December, 1850. A tragedy overtook them upon the voyage, for the mother died and it was necessary to bury her at sea. They did not land until February, 1851, in the port of New York, and as soon as they did, Peter and his brother John went on at once to Hartford, Con- necticut, where they settled and made their home. Upon their arrival in Hartford John at once became a carpenter and followed that trade until the outbreak of the Civil War. He was a mere youth at the time of this dreadful occurrence, but he at once enlisted in the Twenty-second Regiment of Con- necticut Volunteers, offering his life in the service of his adopted country. It was a sacrifice that was consummated. The regiment saw much active service, and the young man was wounded so seriously that he died from the effects shortly after returning home and when only about twenty-one years of age.
When Mr. Berry of this sketch arrived in Hartford, he found employ- ment with a wholesale fruit dealer, and thus became associated with a busi- ness which he was to follow for the remainder of his natural life, for a time in the service of others, but later on for himself. For a considerable time, however, he was connected with other houses, before the opportunity arose for him to embark on his own enterprise. He remained for a time in the employ of Benjamin Haskell & Company, and later went with Ramsey & Strickland and Simon Gregory, who were also in the same line. He was also associated with a number of other houses before he started his own business, among them being, William P. Williams, A. C. Brewer and Brewer & Bronson. All these men were dealers in and importers of fruit and with them Mr. Berry learned the details of the trade, and fitted himself for inde- pendent participation therein.
It was in the year 1884 that he finally severed his associations with his employer, and embarked on his own account. Several of his sons had reached their majority at that time, and Mr. Berry took them into partnership with himself under the style of P. Berry & Sons. The young men ably seconded
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their father's efforts, and it was not long before the venture began to prosper mightily. In the beginning it was of necessity small, but honesty and deter- mination of purpose, backed up by hard work, were bound in the end to succeed and the firm soon became one of the leading ones of the kind in Hart- ford. Indeed at the time of Mr. Berry's death, he did a business which was exceeded by few houses in the fruit and produce trade in New England. In another matter he held the record among all his fellow merchants in New England, that is for length of service, in which no one else in the entire region equalled him.
But though Mr. Berry's energies were much taken up with his efforts to build up his trade, this was by no means the only department of the city's life in which he took an interest and actively participated. Although Mr. Berry never entered politics, he was a staunch member of the Republican party, and a strong believer in its principles and policies, and so persuasive were his words, especially when uttered by one of his personality, that he may be said to have exerted considerable influence in the realm of politics entirely in the capacity of a private citizen.
Mr. Berry was married May 3, 1858, to Mary Tracy, a daughter of Michael and Mary Tracy, who survives him. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Berry, as follows: John F., Dennis J., James P., Thomas A., and Peter, Jr., all five sons being interested in the firm of P. Berry & Sons, and now engaged in carrying on the business. There were also four daugh- ters: Annie E., Margaret C., Mary E., and Theresa C.
It would perhaps be difficult to say what was the chief factor in Mr. Berry's unusually attractive and winning personality. Those who approached him were at once impressed with the spirit of simple honor which seemed to breathe out of the man, an impression which was never disappointed. Alike in his business dealings and in those more personal relations which obtain between friends, he was always direct and sincere, always said just what he meant, and was faithful in his affections and friendships. His reputation in business was naturally of the highest. He won friendship too, because of the truly democratic attitude with which he viewed the world and his fellow-men. No one was ever farther from an assumption of superiority than he, and he mingled freely and on terms of absolute equality with even the humblest. His modest and retiring manner, so attractive to those who came in contact with him, did not by any means betoken a negative mind. On the contrary he was possessed of the strongest opinions which he could urge with vigor when the occasion demanded, and a firm will which no amount of opposition could bend. His relations with his family might well serve as a model, for he was not only faithful to all, even the slightest obligations, but his affections for his household were of the strongest and most disinterested type, and he enjoyed no pleasure so greatly as time spent by his own hearth in the intimacies of the family. The same qualities which made his home life so exemplary, made of him the most devoted of friends and won for him in return the friendship and admiration of a large circle. There were few men who were regarded with a more univer- sal sentiment of affection than Peter Berry, and few whose death occasioned a more universal sense of loss within his adopted community.
Robert Price
IN THE DEATH of Robert Price on July 10, 1912, the city of Hartford lost one who, though not a native of the place, made it his home during the major part of his life and be- came closely identified with the growth of that part known as West Hartford, where he was regarded as one of the lead- ing citizens. His family was of English origin, his parents residing in New Brunswick, Canada, and finally dying there. They were Robert and Elizabeth Price, the former a shoemaker in New Brunswick, where he prospered well.
Robert Price, Jr., was born June 1, 1835, in New Brunswick, and there spent the years of his childhood and youth in that healthy and wholesome life which is growing less common among the young men of this country, but which is such a splendid training for character-the life of the farm. He did not receive a great deal of the formal education of the school, attend- ing it but a short time in the winter, but he was a lad of a bright and ambitious mind, who made the best of his meagre opportunities in this direc- tion, and supplemented them to good purpose by reading and the first hand experience under the observation of nature and life which his environment afforded. During the time he was not in school he worked on a farm in the neighborhood of his native place, and as a woodsman in the forests which cover so great a part of that region. When twenty-one years of age he was married to a young lady of Hartford, whose parents had removed from that city to New Brunswick and brought her with them to the more northern clime. In this way Mr. Price's attention became directed to the States and to Hartford, Connecticut, in particular, and it was not long after his mar- riage that he took his wife with him to that city and sought for employment there. His alert mind and willingness to work produced a favorable im- pression upon such men as he applied to, and he was soon engaged in the manufactory of Smith, Bowan & Company, makers of harness and saddles. It was not the intention of Mr. and Mrs. Price to remain indefinitely in Hartford, on the occasion of his first trip to the city, and after three years, the young couple returned to New Brunswick which they intended to make their home. During the three years' absence, Mr. Price had by dint of hard and intelligent work, coupled with thrift, saved up a sufficient sum of money to enable him to buy a farm and start it in operation. But although he had decided upon a farmer's life in his native region. he appreciated the oppor- tunities which awaited careful investment in Hartford, especially in the realm of real estate, and he accordingly purchased for himself a city lot before his departure for the north. For the farm in New Brunswick he paid the sum of one thousand dollars and it was a great joke with his family, in view of his other successful investments, that fifty years later, long after he had become a permanent resident of Hartford, he disposed of the farm for the sum of five hundred dollars. With most of Mr. Price's ventures in real estate investment, the result was quite otherwise, but it was not for some time that he again entered the field. For three years he lived on the farm
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and then returned to Hartford where he was employed for a time as a book agent, in which line he met with moderate success. In time he found an opportunity to enter the service of Arnold & McCune, proprietors of a butcher shop in the city, and here he quickly learned that business. After remaining in this employ for some time, he found a better position with Albert Lee Sisson, a prominent citizen of Hartford who was engaged in the meat business on a large scale. When he first entered Mr. Sisson's employ, Mr. Price drove the delivery wagon, but knowledge and skill did not long escape the notice of his employer, who brought him into the shop and speedily promoted him, until in the course of a few years he became a partner in the business. The Sisson family had been for long associated with West Hartford, and it was through his employer that Mr. Price's attention was first directed to this quarter, in the development of which he was to play an important part. After remaining a partner of Mr. Sisson for ten years, he sold his interest to that gentleman, and embarked upon his enterprise in West Hartford. He first purchased a tract of seventeen acres in that region and then opened a meat market and grocery store at Parkville on the corner of Sisson avenue and Park street. From the outset his business flourished and his real estate began the inevitable rise in value that accompanies a growing population. As time went on he invested in other tracts including forty acres on Park street, and a large farm at Farmington farther out in the same direction. After conducting his butcher and grocery business success- fully for a number of years, he sold out and took up the coal and feed business at Nos. 82 to 92 Francis avenue. This enterprise was as successful as its predecessor and in it Mr. Price continued until the time of his death, since which it has been conducted by his son, George T. Price. Mr. Price was also engaged in horse dealing on a large scale, buying them by the carload and disposing of them to great advantage in the growing community. One of his chief occupations consisted in the development of his real estate, and in the course of his residence in the neighborhood he built and sold upwards of fifty houses in that district, and all his property there is now divided up into city lots. In the course of these developments Mr. Price was instrumental in advancing the community's interests in many ways. It was largely due to his efforts that the trolley line in Hartford was extended to reach West Hartford and Parkville, a factor second to none in the development of these two places.
It was not alone in the realm of business enterprise, however, that Mr. Price was of service to this neighborhood, but in well nigh every department of activity. He was very energetic in local politics, though always from a disinterested standpoint, and was a staunch member of the Republican party, and a strong supporter of Roosevelt and his policies. He served for some time as a member of the Hartford Common Council to the entire satis- faction of his constituents, whose interests he looked after in a most capable manner. Mr. Price owned a handsome dwelling in West Hartford, where he resided during the greater part of the year and where Mrs. Price now lives, but for the summer months he built for himself an attractive home, at the popular watering place, Attawan Beach. The religious affiliations of Mr. Price were with the Episcopal church, and he was for many years a member of the Parish of St. James in West Hartford. He was faithful in
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attendance at divine service in the venerable old church which was built in 1730, and an ardent participant in the parish work, and the cause of the church generally. He held the position of senior warden for a long period and was a member of the vestry at the time of his death. He was one of those men whose religion is a very vital thing in their experience, and who, not satisfied with a merely intellectual acceptance of its doctrines, strive to translate it into terms of actual life, and make it a practical guide of conduct. He was much valued by his fellow parishioners, and "The Parish Leaflet," the periodical record of the parish, in a notice of him appearing at the time of his death, said in part: "Mr. Price was a faithful churchman, an upright and successful man in business, and a devoted father and husband. For thirty years he had been a communicant of this parish * * * He was ripe fruit of the Christian Church."
Mr. Price was married, September 13, 1856, in New Brunswick, to Sarah N. Woody, a native of Hartford, and a daughter of John and Sarah (Mar- shall) Woody, old residents of what was then called College street, now Capitol avenue, in that city. Mrs. Price was born in the old Woody house, but, as has already been referred to in this sketch, accompanied her parents to Canada, where they intended to make a new home. There she met Mr. Price, and returned with him to Hartford, and now survives him. To them were born four children, as follows: George T., who married Alice Rollow, and by her had one child, a son, Robert R. Price; Emma D., now Mrs. George W. Gammack, of Hartford; Sarah P., now Mrs. Arthur J. Hall, of Park street, Hartford, and the mother of four children, Marion Marshall, Herbert Price, Priscilla and Marjory ; Nettie, now Mrs. Henry W. Bacon, of Beaver street, Hartford, and the mother of one child, Robert W. Bacon.
Mr. Price was in the best sense of the phrase a self-made man. Begin- ning life in a small rural district, the son of poor parents, without resources or opportunities, he developed through his own undivided efforts into a man of culture, cosmopolitanism and wealth. Virtue and religion he had at the start, indeed, a heritage from his parents and childhood's environment, but to these he added the accomplishments of a mode of life which he adopted for his own. To a strong but healthy ambition, he added those qualities of good sportsmanship which caused his friends to say of him that he was a "good loser," and a certain philosophical outlook which kept him calm and un- ruffled in the face of reverses. He was possessed of an unusually clear mind, and did his own thinking on all subjects, a reasoner, and brilliant in discus- sion, to such an extent that many of his friends held he should have fol- lowed the law. He was, indeed, often called upon to hold informal court and settle disputes and quarrels among his associates. In spite of these unusual abilities, and despite his semi-public and business successes, he was essentially a domestic man, of the most unassuming manner and bearing, a man with a truly democratic attitude to his fellow-men, a man of tolerance and charity in whose company men of all degrees felt at their ease. His qualities were of the kind to win him many friends and the admiration of the community where he dwelt, so that it was more than his immediate family who felt the sense of personal loss in his death. Indeed there were but few of his fellow citizens who did not so feel it, but few who had not benefitted directly or indirectly as a result of his character and deeds.
Joseph Charles haworth
J OSEPH CHARLES HAWORTH, in whose death Farming- ton, Connecticut, lost one of its successful and popular citizens, was not a native, nor even an old resident of the town with the life and traditions of which he so closely identified himself. Whatever its hardships and stern diffi- culties, life must certainly present an attractive face to fol- low it under such varied surroundings and in such different parts of the world. A native of England, he was born in the city of Black- burn, in the heart of what is probably the greatest industrial region for its size in the world, Lancashire, and there he passed his boyhood and early youth growing accustomed to an environment where man seems well nigh to have crowded nature out of existence with his numbers and huge con- trivances and devices.
His father was employed as an engineer in a factory of some kind, so that the growing lad had ample opportunity to become acquainted with the very bowels of that appalling region, as he helped him at his work in the intervals of attending the local public schools. Average types do not flourish amid these surroundings, the mind that is quick and alert by nature and strong enough to stand the strain becomes still more so from constant rub- bing with other wits, while the dull are made duller yet. Mr. Haworth's was of the former variety and he grew up a clever, intelligent young man with a keen knowledge of human nature and the ability to take quick advan- tage of such opportunities as offered. Striking indeed was the contrast to these surroundings offered by the change he made at the age of seventeen years. At that age, having completed his schooling, he accompanied rela- tives to America, and went with them to the west, settling in Minnesota. With him as a constant comrade he had an old friend and fellow countryman, who shared with him the fortunes of the new land. The two found employ- ment readily enough in the wilds whereto they had wandered, for work is apt to be plenty in these frontier regions, and they were quick and able to turn their hands to whatever offered. Working at now this, now that, they gradually made their way still further into the undeveloped lands and reached at length Manitoba where they remained for a time. The entire period of their more or less nomadic existence in the West occupied some six years, when the desire for more civilized scenes drew Mr. Haworth back to the East. He settled for a time in Brooklyn, New York, and there found employment in a florist's establishment, a business with which he is asso- ciated in the minds of friends in Farmington. He remained for a consider- able time in Brooklyn and then accepted a better position of the same kind in Irvington, New York, a location which was far more acceptable to Mr. Haworth than Brooklyn, his strong fondness for rural scenes and life being appealed to by this quiet spot on the Hudson river. From Irvington he went to Yonkers, New York, and there he secured a position as head man in a large florist's establishment. Mr. Haworth's final move was made in the year 1907, when he came to the town of Farmington, Connecticut, where he
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took over the business of Mr. Hugh Cheseney, who for some time had con- ducted a large trade in plants and flowers. Mr. Haworth had been pros- pering greatly as his successor for the space of one year, when he was seized with an illness which was closely followed by his untimely death when only forty-three years of age. Since that time his wife, and eldest son, Joseph Charles, have continued the business with a high degree of success and now conduct a large establishment, of a most complete description, where they have for sale every variety of flower, and make a specialty of handsome wedding and funeral decorations. They have now five large houses under glass and employ three hands.
Mr. Haworth was a very active member of the many communities of which he was at various times a member, and after engaging in the florist business took a great interest in the general welfare of his fellow florists, joining the Floral Society and making himself a leader in its activities. During his year of life in Farmington he displayed his public spirit in many ways and was always ready to aid with time, effort or pecuniary assistance, any movement undertaken for the advantage of the community or any por- tion thereof. He was a man whose mind turned naturally to the solution of political questions, and he took a keen interest in the issues and problems with which his adopted country was confronted. He was a strong supporter of the Republican party, and its principles and policies generally, although he never allowed partisan considerations to influence his practical actions. Notwithstanding his interest, Mr. Haworth did not ally himself with any local organization of his party, nor seek to actively engage in politics. He was a busy man and had no ambition for political preferment or the holding of public office. His religious affiliations were with the Episcopal church, and as in every matter in which he took part, he was active in his church, taking part in the work of the parish and supporting generously the many philanthropies and benevolences in connection therewith.
Mr. Haworth was married in Irvington, New York, November 4, 1890, to Alice Goode, a native of Ireland. To them were born three children, as follows : Joseph Charles, Alice Lillian and George Raymond. Mrs. Haworth is a daughter of Thomas and Eliza (Geary) Goode, natives and lifelong residents of Ireland, he having died there. Their daughter Alice came to America while she was a mere girl, and making her home in Irvington, New York, met Mr. Haworth while he was employed in that town and married him.
Notwithstanding his short residence of but a year in Farmington, Mr. Haworth had already won for himself an enviable reputation for integrity and capability, and a large circle of devoted friends. His whole life had been such as to teach him the value of simple faith and honor and develop his naturally strong and self-reliant nature. The multitudes of his fellow- men amid which he lived in his native land, and not less so the stern elemental nature he encountered in the West, were alike calculated to bring out the best of a fine character, and not less to crush a weak one. He was a man of strong domestic instincts and feelings, finding his chief happiness in the society of his "ain fireside," yet wherever he went he was generally popular and quickly made himself a leader, and it may be said of him that the community of which he was a member for so brief a period, is the richer for his having lived there and the poorer for his loss.
Christian U. Georgia
T 'HE LATE Christian T. Georgia was, during a long and eminently useful career, numbered among the most highly regarded citizens of Unionville, Connecticut. His residence there covered a period of about sixty years, and for fully fifty years he was actively identified with the life of the community, his entire success being a demonstration of the characteristics of his race and nation-integrity, industry, thrift, and an unswerving pursuit of the desired end.
Christian T. Georgia was born October 11, 1830, in the kingdom of Saxony, Germany, and he there passed the first seventeen years of his life. His father, for whom he was named, was a traveling salesman in that coun- try, and was so successful that he was enabled to afford his son the advan- tages of a good practical education, and a three years' apprenticeship to the important trade of wood-turning, after leaving the local volkeschule. He displayed great aptitude for his trade, and at the age of seventeen was a master workman. Coming to the United States, he made his first stay in New York City. Of pleasing appearance and alert manners, he however soon made friends, and found little difficulty in obtaining work at his trade. After about two years he went to Bristol, Connecticut, but soon removed to Unionville, which was destined to be his home for the remainder of his life, with the exception of a single brief period. In Unionville he took employ- ment in the cabinet shop of 'Squire Hitchcock, on the identical site upon which Mr. Georgia afterwards erected his spacious business block, at Main and Water streets. After eight years' pleasant association with Mr. Hitch- cock, Mr. Georgia was called to Thomaston, Connecticut, to perform expert work on clock cases in a leading clock factory, and this accomplished, he returned to Unionville. After his marriage he invested in a restaurant. Some years later he opened a general merchandise store, which under his masterly management proved to be the foundation of his successful life work. His business developed and expanded with the growing population, and Mr. Georgia was soon recognized as the leading merchant of the place, and as the result of his enterprise and wise judgment, he drew customers from a surrounding region hitherto unreached by local merchants. Finding his building inadequate for the needs of his greatly expanded business, in 1886 he erected the Georgia Block-the first brick edifice of its kind in the town. In this was installed every modern improvement, and in it were accommodated not only his own offices, but the post office. Meantime Mr. Georgia had been acquiring valuable real estate. and had become a man of some means. He invested in the West and lost. Until the time of his death he continued to direct all his varied mercantile and financial enterprises, and with unfailing success. He took especial pride in his mercantile establish- ment, which he had himself founded and brought to be not only the oldest but by far the most extensive of its class in the town of Unionville. During the last ten years of his life he had devolved much of the business respon-
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