Leo T. Molloy

Leo T. Molloy
1893-1974
Newspaper Reporter
Editor and Manager
Historian
Author

Derby native and lifelong resident Leo Thomas Molloy was the son of Thomas F. Molloy and Miss Mary Donnelly. He attended St. Mary’s School and graduated from Derby High School in 1912. Starting in 1913 he worked at The Ansonia Evening Sentinel and then became city editor and manager of the Derby-Shelton branch of the newspaper. He married his first wife Miss Anna Byrne, R. N. of Ansonia in 1923 and that same year was appointed Probate District Judge of Derby, a position he held for two years. He served four years as a member of the Board of Police Commissioners in Derby and was a member of the Paugassett Council, Knights of Columbus and Derby Lodge of Elks. He was one of the original organizers of the Derby Historical Society when it was incorporated as a non-stock corporation in 1958. Mr. Molloy married his second wife, Miss Ruth J. Tobin of Shelton, after his first wife passed away in 1943. He retired in 1963 and passed away in 1974.

In accord with his interest in local history, he wrote and compiled several books. His “Tercentenary Pictorial and History of the Lower Naugatuck Valley”, published in 1935, was a collaboration with Senator Henry M. Bradley, Jr., State Senator and noted Connecticut historian, and a comprehensive treatise on the history of Derby, Ansonia, Shelton and Seymour. His other major works include "Henry Shelton Sanford 1823-1891. A biography”, published in 1952, and "Commodore Isaac Hull, U.S.N., His Life and Times" (1964). The former book is a definitive work about the famous American diplomat from Derby and the latter book details the history of the Hull family and their connection to the Valley. The contributions of the Hon. Leo T. Molloy to the recorded history of Derby serve as an invaluable resource for future generations.