Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Mr. Lyon was soon joined by the Messrs. Fair- child, of Trumbull, who in addition to their paper manufacture were also manufacturers of saddle- trees. Under this arrangement the business was removed from Main street to Water street, near the foot of Wall street, and afterward to the old saddle factory near the bridge. The firm was Fairchild, Lyon & Co. This firm established a house in Charleston, S. C. , of which the late Lemuel Coleman, of Bridgeport, was the head, and met a stiff opposition from the firm of Smith & Wright, who preceded them both as manu- facturers in Bridgeport and in the Charleston s: .(\'7iK.yy- :ni; ti'i \'V. *■•: ■! .j;: •■,,■- ■:u MHO iJJ .!l -ji ,Tiv..V J (17 . <:'.\ ■1 ■) '.ilJIl: i.lj li--. .,' !,, -:\ i.iT 14 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. market. Mr. Lyon had a fund of incidents, trials and petty annoyances from tfiis service! with which he would sometimes favor the juniors,' his successors in the business, but in which his patience and tact generally brought him out all right, and sometimes signally the winner. De- spite the opposition, business prospered, and Mr. Lyon, made and sustained a firm position. After a time both firms tired of their strife and a better understanding prevailed, which resulted in the removal of Smith & Wright to Newark, N. J., as their place of manufacture, and an amic- able division of the markets, the Newark house taking Augusta, Ga., and Mobile, Ala and afterward New Orleans, while the Bridgeport house confined itself to the older and leading . Charleston market. In this arrangement the Fairchilds retired, and Mr. Wright retained a nominal interest in I3ridgeport, making the firm name Lyon, Wright & Co., and bringing in the late Hon. H. K. Harral as the leading business man of the firm in Charleston. This firm en- joyed uninterrupted prosperity for a series of years, Mr. Lyon all the time standing at his post and attending most assiduously to the minutest details of a large and prosperous business. About the year 1834 P. C. Calhoun (after- ward president of the Fourth National Bank of New York), who was first an apprentice at the factory in Bridgeport, and then an assistant in the Charleston house, became connected with the factory, and by degrees relieved Mr. Lyon of much of the details of its management. In 1838 the firm became Lyon, Calhoun & Co The years 1837-38 were memorable for a panic and disaster, which seriously interrupted the business, in common with all others, and al- though there was a partial recovery in 1841-42, yet the outlook was not encouraging, the old markets were not as remunerative as formerly, and a curtailment seemed to be in order. Mr! Harral had become tired of the wear and tear of the details in the business of the South, and pro- posed to purchase the interest of Mr Lyon which he did, it taking effect in June, 1843! Mr. Lyon almost, if not quite, reluctantly left the business in which he had grown up and been largely instrumental in making a splendid suc- cess, in which he had educated scores and even hundreds of young men, and in which he felt an honest pride. He had the satisfaction, however of retiring with more than a competency in the prime of life, with health unimpaired, and a repu- tation for business integrity and capacity of the highest order. With such a foundation, by pru- dent and sagacious management of his estate he had long since become, and afterward continued to be, the largest individual ta.xpayer in the com- munity. Self-educated and thoroughly furnished with a large and active business experience, with a capacity equal to almost any position, Mr. Lyon was yet modest and unassuming, and did not seem to desire public office or political distinc- tion of any kind. He belonged to the old Whig party in its day, and was a stanch Union man and a Republican, but was content to remain in the ranks. He was a member of the common council of Bridgeport, in the year 1837, 1842, 1843, 1844. 1845, 1856 and 1858, a part'of the time as alderman. He was for many years a director in the Connecticut National Bank. He participated in the reconstruction of the old Bridgeport Bank after the disaster of 1837-38, and was president of that institution for a short period, when he voluntarily retired, remaining, however, as a director until his presence and influence was more needed in the Pequonnock Bank, of which he remained a director until his death.' He participated in the re-organization of the City Savings Bank in 1859, and was its first and only president up to the time of his death. He was one of the original corporators of the Bridgeport Gas Light Company, in 1849, a director until 1854, when he was appointed president in place of H. K. Harral (deceased), and held that office until 1868, when he gave place to Hon. Amos S. Treat, but remained a director until his death. He was also a life director of the Bridgeport Library Association. Mr. Lyon appreciated talent and enterprise in young men, and rendered valuable pecuniary assistance to quite a number, first when needed to give them a start on the road to a prosperous career. He early began an investment in real estate, and was one of the city's heaviest holders. He donated the sight of the railroad depot for that purpose, and erected that fine building known as the "Atlantic Hotel " about 1863-64, which was afterward enlarged, becoming one of the large and thoroughly appointed hotels of the country. Mr. Lyon's first residence was in what was known as Woolsey Place, on Main street, north of the old Bridgeport National Bank.' Later he bought from Alanson Hamlin the old home of Elijah Waterman, on Golden Hill, which he occupied for almost half a century. He was a member of the First Congregational Society from his early manhood, and for many ' years was one of its most liberal supporters'. In church building and other extraordinary oc- casions he was always foremost and cheerful in his contributions. He united with the Church in 1858, and by his constant attendance on the COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 15 Sabbath, and at the weekly gatherings, was an example to others and a valued helper of his pastor and brethren. No one has been more missed from his accustomed seat in the sanctuary. Mr. Lyon was married (first) to Miss Hettie Ann Thompson, of Stratford, and (second) to Annie MackeyFrye, daughter of Daniel M. and Ann (Butler) Frye, of New York City. The children by the first marriage were: Frederick H. (referred to farther on); Sarah J., who mar- ried Judge Edward 1. Sanford, of New Haven; William T., unmarried, who was a druggist at Bridgeport, then for twenty-five years or more was a resident of California; Josephine, widow of Henry T. Shelton, who was a business man of Bridgeport, and died in 1889 (of their two chil- dren, Harry is an attorney in Bridgepc^rt, and Frederick died at the age of fifteen months); and Adelaide, unmarried, who resides in Bridgeport, Conn. The children born to the second mar- riage were: Edward (now deceased) formerly a grocer of Bridgeport, Conn., married Jessie, daughter of Dr. D. H. Porter; Frank C. , for- merly engaged in business in New York, but now living in Bridgeport (he married Ida Mitchell, of Brooklyn, N, Y.); Charles G. (married) is a res- ident of New York; and Alice C. , wife of Thomas L. Watson, of Bridgeport. Frederick H. Lyon, the eldest son of Han- ford Lyon, was born in Bridgeport, where he received his elementary education. Here he be- gan his business career, which has been passed amid the scenes of his childhood. For many years he has been a member of the hardware firm of Halcoinb & Lyon, one of the. leading business concerns of Park City. Of late years he has lived in retirement from active business. He is one of the substantial business men of Bridge- port, and enjoys the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens. In politics he is a Republican, but, like his father, has never aspired to political honors. In December, 1849, Mr. Lyon was married to Bessie A., daughter of Abijah Hawley, a mem- ber of one of the oldest and most prominent fam- ilies of Bridgeport and New England, mention of which is made elsewhere. To this marriage have been born children as follows: Hanford is deceased; Julia is now Mrs. N. Wilson, of Bridgeport; Henry M. is deceased; Josephine; William K. ; and Helen C. is now the widow of Charles D. Mills, of Bridgeport. fAJOR PHILO C. MERWIN. While the Hindoo in his knowledge and his reason- ing in occult science may lay claim through his preceding existences to a memory that extends back thousands of years over a past fraught with deeds of barbaric splendor and daring, or in the calm and peace of a series of lives spent in the contemplation of things divine, we, more active races of the colder Northland, bow in reverence before the man whose actual existence has far passed the allotted three-score and ten years; who has lived through the stirring epochs in the history of the nineteenth century, and can proudly say, like /lineas of old — "a great part of which I was." Such a man is the venerable Philo C. Merwin, who was "born September 29, 1809, on the place where he now resides.