Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

the prominent institutions in financial
Connecticut.
The business operations of Mr. Treadway
were not actuated solely by personal
considerations, and many of his most
characteristic successes were achieved
with the general development of the community
quite as much in mind as his pri-
vate interests. Ten years of banking in
Bristol had given Mr. Treadway a conspicuous
position in that town, and it was
as a man of influence that he started in
the year 1883 a definite movement toward
the improvement of conditions there. In
spite of his unselfishness and broad conception
of public welfare his plans met
with considerable opposition on the part
of the extreme conservatists in the com-
munity. Mr. Treadway and his associ-
ates were not the men, however, to be de-
terred by obstacles, and they proceeded
surely towards their goal. Their plan was
the establishment of an adequate public
water supply and to this end the Bristol
Water Company was organized with John
H. Sessions as its head. The plant, which
was finally constructed, is one of the most
modern and effective in the State of Connecticut,
and to its final success Mr. Treadway
devoted his great energies, mastering
its construction and operation in the
greatest detail. At the death of Mr. Ses-
sions, Mr. Treadway succeeded him as
president of the water company and
served in that capacity until the end of
his life. His next movement in the inter-
est of the town was towards the installing
of electric lights, and in this matter also
his efforts were crowned with success,
and the year following the establishment
of the Bristol Water Company saw that
of the Bristol Electric Light Company,
with Mr. Sessions again at the head. The
lighting company, however, was absorbed
ten years later by the Bristol and
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
20
Plainville Tramway Company, also the I
product of Mr. Treadway's enterprise,
and which carried on a successful trans-
portation and lighting business. At the
death of Mr. Sessions, Mr. Treadway succeeded
to the presidency of these companies
and held the office until a few
months before his death, when ill health
obliged him to give up the manifold duties I
connected with their management. It
was largely due to his skill and judgment
that the various public utilities were so
successful and that the operating companies
were placed upon such sound
financial basis.
Mr. Treadway's interests were not con-1
fined to enterprises of this semi-public
type, however, for he has played anl
equally important part in the industrial
development of the town. One of the
largest concerns with which he was con-1
nected was the New Departure Manufac- I
turing Company. The company was or-1
ganized in 1887, and a few years later Mr.
Treadway became a stockholder, and in
1900 was elected its president to succeed
W. A. Graham. The business at once
felt the stimulus of his progressive man
agement and grew rapidly until it attained
enormous size and an international ac
tivity. It possesses at the present time a
market for its products, such as bells, s,
brakes for bicycles, ball bearing, stee
balls, and many other devices in all part
of the world. A branch factory was es
tablished in Germany some time beford
Mr. Treadway's death. The association I
of Mr. Treadway with Everett Horton
was also the cause of a large concerJI
known as the Horton Manufacturing
Company. Mr. Horton was the inventor
of a steel fishing rod which he hac
patented, and Mr. Treadway and a num-j
ber of his associates organized a company
for the manufacture of this article. Of this,