Edward Morton Judd, the third son of Deacon Morton Judd, was born in New Britain, November 11, 1837, and his life record covered the intervening years to 1906 and reflected further credit and honor upon an untarnished family name.

  He attended the schools of New Britain, completing his studies by a three years’ high school course, and when eighteen years of age he followed in the footsteps of the family by becoming connected with manufacturing interests. In 1856 he began the manufacture of the first metal curtain fixtures, of which he was the patentee, and in 1861 established business in New Haven under the firm style of E. M. Judd & Company. There he extended the scope of his interests to include the manufacture of a general line of upholstery hardware. Some time later he combined his interests with those of the Turner & Clark Manufacturing Company and of the Seymour Manufacturing Company, both of Torrington, and the newly formed firm was established in the western part of Torrington and Edward M. Judd became the general manager of the plants there, the business being conducted under the name of the Turner, Seymour & Judd Company. He remained in active connection with the business until 1870, when he disposed of his interests in Torrington and became one of the organizers of the Judd Manufacturing Company of New Haven, which was formed for the purpose of manufacturing general hardware as well as upholstery hardware.

  Mr. Judd was a man of excellent business ability. He readily discriminated between the essential and the non-essential in all business matters and seemed to know intuitively the value of any business situation or condition. Under his guidance, therefore, the various companies with which he was connected prospered in marked degree. In 1874 he went to Brooklyn, New York, and while still retaining his interest in the Judd Manufacturing Company of New Haven, he established the firm of H. L. Judd & Company of Brooklyn. After three years he located in Wallingford, where the Judd interests have since centered. For thirty years he remained a prominent factor in the successful conduct of the large manufacturing concerns conducted under the family name and in 1887 he retired to private life to enjoy a rest which he had truly earned and richly merited. He was the inventor of a number of curtain fixtures and also of a stamp cancelling machine, which completely destroys the stamp and which was patented in America and abroad. Mr. Judd considered this the most important work of his life. He was most thorough in all that he undertook and his initiative carried him into paths where others had not yet trod, making him the leader in many fields of manufacturing activity.

  On the 27th of March, 1860, Mr. Judd was united in marriage to Miss Jane A. Peck, a daughter of Joel and Charlotte (Scoville) Peck. They became the parents of three children. William Theodore, who was born March 1, 1866, died on the 24th of February, 1867. Jennie Susan, born March 8, 1872, was married on the 1st of October, 1895, to Charles G. Phelps, of Wallingford. Edward Peck was born August 3, 1877.

  The death of Edward Morton Judd occurred October 15, 1906, while his widow is living at the age of eighty-three years. In the course of a most active life he found time to cooperate in many plans and measures for the general good. In fact, he perhaps placed his church obligations above all else and was a most devoted and helpful member of the First Congregational church, serving as superintendent of its Sunday school and as chairman of the Society’s committee. He was most generous and benevolent in spirit and gave freely in charity but always unostentatiously. In politics he was an earnest republican from the time when he cast his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln, and while he did not seek nor desire office, he was never remiss in the duties of citizenship and at all times stood for public progress and improvement in civic affairs. He served on the board of burgesses and on the school committee and in 1897 was elected judge of the borough court, to which position he was later reelected. There was no movement of real worth to the community that did not receive his endorsement and aid. He held to the highest standards of manhood and of citizenship and his career was an illustration of the fact that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously. He was never known to take advantage of the necessities of another in a business transaction and to his family he left the priceless heritage of an untarnished name.