Makepeace family papers

Walter Dunham Makepeace, B.A. 1897

Born April 27, 1875, in Gloucester, Mass.

Died August 27, 1942, in Waterbury, Conn.

Father, Rev. Frank Barrows Makepeace (grad. Hartford Theological Seminary 1873), a Congregational minister; son of Lysander Otis and Esther Eliza (Dunham) Makepeace of Norton, Mass. Mother, Helen Mary (Viets) Makepeace; daughter of James Rollin and Cordelia Tryphena (Rouse) Viets of East Granby, Conn. Yale relatives include four nephews, Frank B. Makepeace, 3d, ex-'35 E., Mark L. Sperry, 2d, '35, Lloyd B. Makepeace, '37 S., and Leavenworth S. Sperry, Jr., '45 W.

Phillips-Andover, Springfield (Mass.) High School, and Williston Academy, Easthampton, Mass. First BerkeleyPremium in Latin CompositionFreshman year; first English Composition Prize and second Lucius F. Robinson Latin Prize Sophomore year; philosophical oration appointment Junior and Senior years; second Henry James TenEyck Prize Junior year; Townsend Premium and one-year honors in political science and law Senior year; contributed dedicatory poem to Class Book; member Yale Union, Chi Delta Theta, and Phi Beta Kappa. Attended Yale Graduate School 1897-1898 (M.A. 1899) and Yale School of Law 1898-1900 (LL.B. 1900; Junior Class honors; Townsend Prize and Kent Club diploma Senior year; University Debating Team; business manager Yale Law Journal; registrar of the Law School 1899-1900; member Corbey Court).

Admitted to practice in New York 1900 and Connecticut 1907; lawyer in New York City 1900-1907 (associated with his brother in firm of Makepeace & Makepeace 1904-1907) and Waterbury 1907 until retirement 1939 (member Makepeace & Ells 1912-1916); deputy coroner for Waterbury district 1907-1916; chairman Republican Town Committee 1914-1916; deputy judge District Court of Waterbury 1916-1923 and judge 1924-1927; enlisted as seaman, Connecticut Naval Reserve, June 15, 1898; assigned to U.S.S. Minnesota ; promoted Quartermaster (1st class) and transferred to U.S.S. East Boston; discharged September 5, 1898; commissioned Captain, Ordnance, April 22, 1918, and Major, Judge Advocate General's Department, October 16, 1918; served in Washington until discharge December 14, 1918; Major Judge Advocate, Officers Reserve Corps, 1919-1925 and Lieutenant Colonel 1925-1934; an incorporator Black Hall School 1912; an organizer Associated Charities (Lincoln House Association) 1909 and trustee 1909-1913; secretary American branch International Migration Service, 1932-1939; president Yale Club of the Naugatuck Valley 1924-1927 and Associated New England Yale Clubs 1925-1926 (representative on Alumni Board); on Class reunion committees; member State Bar Association of Connecticut, American Bar Association, Mattatuck Historical Society, Mental Hygiene Society of Waterbury, United Spanish War Veterans, American Legion, Military Order of Foreign Wars, Elizabethan Club, Masonic order, and First Congregational Church, Waterbury.

Married June 19, 1906, in Waterbury, Ethel Meliscent Sperry (B.A. Wellesley 1900), daughter of Mark Leavenworth and Julia Sherman (Porter) Sperry, granddaughter of Corydon S. Sperry (B.A. 1832), great-great-granddaughter of Jesse Leavenworth (B.A. 1759), great-great-great-daughter of Mark Leavenworth (B.A. 1737), and sister of Leavenworth P. Sperry, '02 S., and Roger S. Sperry, '10 S. Children: Roger Sherman, '29; Melicent Porter (diploma Sarah Lawrence Coll. 1932); LeRoy McKim, '37; Evelyn Sperry, the wife of Douglas George Cochrane (B.A. Princeton 1939); and John Viets, '43.

Death due to terminal bronchopneumonia. Ashes interred in Riverside Cemetery, Waterbury. Survived by wife, children, a sister, Helen M. Lillie (B.A. Smith Coll. 1899), the wife of Ralph Stayner Lillie, Sc.D. (B.A. Univ. of Toronto 1896; Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago 1901), of Chicago, and a brother Frank B. Makepeace, Jr., '01 (died September 23, 1942).

[From the Yale University Obituary Record, 1940-1943, pages 58-59.]

For a chart outlining the genealogical relations of the Makepeace family, please consult the Genealogical Chart.