Читать книгу History of Bridgeport and Vicinity, Volume 2: Biographical - George Curtis Waldo jr. - Страница 22

George Manson Eames, works manager for The Singer Manufacturing Company of Bridgeport, is a leader in the business circles of the city. His attitude toward public affairs is one of helpfulness and progressiveness and there is no one who has done more than he to stimulate effort to establish and develop public parks, a work in which his father was equally interested and active. He is a son of Albert Eames and represents a distinguished old Massachusetts family dating back to an early period in the colonization of the new world, the name being a prominent one in connection with the history of Framingham, Massachusetts. His great-grandfather and his great-great-grandfather fought side by side in the battles of Lexington and Concord, belonging to the band of Minute Men whose names will ever be honored in American history.

The same spirit of loyalty was manifest in Albert Eames, though it took on different form according to the needs and conditions of the age. He was especially interested in the park system of Bridgeport and for twenty years served as park commissioner, doing everything in his power to develop and beautify the parks of the city. At the time of his death he was actively interested in the work of Beardsley park, which was being developed under his supervision and which had been almost completed at the time of his demise. He was a stalwart republican in politics and his opinions carried weight in party councils. Again and again he was called upon for public service, filling the positions of alderman, selectman and member of the street and bridge as well as the park commissions. While he held to high ideals, his method of work was at all times practical, producing immediate and beneficial results. His life record compassed a period of seventy-eight years. He was born in South Framingham, Massachusetts, March 9, 1811, and on attaining his majority entered upon an apprenticeship to the gunmaker's trade at Springfield, that state. He afterward traveled through the south and west, working in government mints, and in 1846 at the factory of the Remington Brothers at Ilion, New York, he was engaged in making breech -loading carbines, manifesting superior skill in directing the assembling of weapons. At length he returned to Springfield and organized the American Machine Works for building cotton presses and heavy machinery, but the Civil war put an end to their business, as the sale of their products was largely in the south. In 1856 Mr. Eames removed to Bridgeport and entered the employ of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company, first as maker of machinery and tools and afterward as a contractor. At the time of his death, which occurred December 14, 1889, he was president of the Bridgeport Horse Railroad Company. He belonged to Hampden Lodge, I. O. O. F., but never cared to figure prominently in club or social circles. In 1844 he was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Avery Ferre, a native of Munson, Massachusetts.

Their son, George M. Eames, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, January 19, 1859, but was reared in Bridgeport, where he attended the public schools, and when still a youth he entered the foundry of the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine Company, in connection with which business he worked his way steadily upward through various departments. He was eventually elected to office and became vice president and general superintendent of the business, continuing as such until the company sold out to The Singer Manufacturing Company, at which time he was made manager of the Bridgeport works and so continues. He knows every phase of the business.

Mr. Eames was united in marriage to Miss Helen Augusta Higby and their children are: Charlotte M., the wife of George W. Ellis; Helen, the wife of Noble E. Vincent; Martha, now deceased, a twin sister of Helen; William, who has also passed away; and George Manson, Jr.

While an active factor in business circles of Bridgeport, Mr. Eames has also contributed to public progress and improvement along other lines. He has done much to improve business conditions in general and is a member of the Bridgeport Board of Trade and also a member of the executive board of the Manufacturers' Association. For one term he was president of the Algonquin Club and has also been commodore of the Bridgeport Yacht Club, but his chief interest outside of business is in city parks and for sixteen years he has been on the park board of Bridgeport, of which he is the president. He realizes fully the necessity of developing the park area during this period of the city's rapid growth, knowing that breathing spaces must be provided especially in the congested factory districts and that playgrounds must feature in the city parks, thus giving outlet to the vital energy of the youth, statistics showing that where adequate space and opportunity are provided for the normal interests of the boy the tendency toward crime is practically annihilated. He recognizes, too, the effect of natural beauties as an uplift element in the lives of all and his efforts in behalf of the city park system have indeed been far-reaching and beneficial.