Starting out in the business world at a salary of live dollars per week, Edward J. Duggan has made rapid advance and as the result of his untiring industry and perseverance he has reached the position of secretary and treasurer of the Majestic Laundry Company, which owns and controls one of the finest laundry establishments of New England. He was born in New Haven, December 13, 1871, his father being Patrick Duggan, a native of Ireland, who came to America during the early '50s and made his way direct to New Haven, where he resided until his death, which occurred when he was sixty-eight years of age. He married Bridget Gray, who had also come to America from Ireland about the same time as her future husband, whom she met in New Haven. She is still living and by her marriage she became the, mother of seven children.
     Edward J. Duggan, who is the fourth in order of birth, started out in the business world as a clerk in a retail grocery store at a salary of but five dollars per week without board. He continued to clerk for ten years and in 1895 he entered the coat and apron supply business, establishing the New Haven Coat, Apron & Towel Supply Company, which he conducted individually at 505 Elm street. He still continues in that business but in 1905 he broadened the scope of his interests and activities by entering the laundry business at No. 169 East street. His interests were incorporated in October, 1905, with Moses H. Lambert as president and Mr. Duggan as secretary and treasurer of the Majestic Laundry Company. They began the business in a small way, having originally but fifteen employes. On the 12th of February, 1917, they removed to their present quarters at the corner of Ashmun and Lock streets in New Haven, where they erected the most modern and up-to-date laundry in New England. The plant is one hundred feet square, the building being two stories in height, and was erected at a cost of one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. Something of the growth of their patronage is indicated in the fact that today the company employs seventy-five people to take care of the trade, which is entirely local. The plant contains all of the latest and most improved laundry machinery. They have their own electric plant, which operates all of the machinery and there is no accessory of a model laundry that is not to be found in their establishment. They give especial thought to the comfort of their employes and have made provision for supplying meals to them, having a special dining room for their service. This laundry with its splendid equipment is the visible expression of the spirit of enterprise and progress which has actuated Mr. Duggan at every point of his business career.
     In New Haven, on the 14th of November, 1906, Mr. Duggan was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Conlan, a native of New Haven and a daughter of Patrick and Catherine Conlan. who were natives of Ireland. Three children have been born of this marriage: Helen, Martha and Margaret.
     In his political views Mr. Duggan is independent, voting according to the exigencies of the case or according to the capability of the candidate as he sees it. He is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, of the Knights of Columbus and of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic church, and for two years, in 1913 and 1914, he served as president of the Knights of St. Patrick. He was at one time a member of the Governor's Foot Guard and his record on every occasion has been a creditable one. He started out in life with little capital and that little was borrowed, but he has worked his way steadily upward, recognizing the eternal principle that industry wins. He has worked diligently and unremittingly and has in the conduct of his laundry business given the best possible service, knowing that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement. Thus he has steadily advanced and is today in a most creditable position among the business men of his native city.