USA > Connecticut > New London County > A modern history of New London County, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 36
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Dr. Rainville married, December 18, 1910, Eliza- beth La Rose, daughter of Simeon and Mary (Clos- set) La Rose, and to them has been born one child, Frederic F.
JOHN OWEN (2) PECKHAM-Among the eighteen associates of William Coddington, who, under the inspiration of Roger Williams, went out from Massachusetts to found a plantation, was John Peckham, who was of Newport, Rhode Island, in 1638, and there died in 1681, his wife, Mary (Clarke) Peckham, dying in 1648. From John and Mary (Clarke) Peckham the line of descent to John Owen Peckham, farmer and coal dealer of Norwich, Con- necticut, is traced through several generations to Benjamin Peckham, who was born in Rhode Island, settled in Ledyard, Connecticut, and married Lucy Wilcox, who also was born in Rhode Island, they the parents of fifteen children. Descent continues through their son, Nathan Peckham, and his wife, Sarah (Perkins) Peckham, both of whom died in Ledyard, Connecticut. They were the parents of five children, one of whom was a son, John Owen (1) Peckham, father of Jolin Owen (2) Peckham, of Norwich, Connecticut.
John Owen (1) Peckham was born in Ledyard, Connecticut, February 22, 1817, and died December 11, 1902, at Preston, Connecticut. He was for sev- eral years engaged in farming in New York State, but in 1842, returned to Connecticut, and purchased a farm at Preston, in New London county. He brought his farm of seventy-three acres to a high
state of cultivation and prospered abundantly. He was a Democrat in politics, a deacon of the Baptist church, and a man highly esteemed in his com- munity. Mr. Peckham married, in 1840, Margaret Connor, of New York, who died in 1857, in Preston, leaving four children: I. Mary L., who married Giles H. Bliven. 2. Nancy A., who married Albert M. Brown. 3. Robert M., who married (first) Fannie E. Brown, (second) Hannah Peckham. 4. Clarissa, who married William H. Bennett. Mr. Peckham married (second) November 7, 1858, Sophia Louise Brown, who died May 16, 1908, daughter of Albert and Seviah (Maine) Brown, of Ledyard, Connecti- cut. They also were the parents of four children: I. John Owen (2), of this review. 2. Sophia Louise, married Edward Hallowell. 3. Joseph Tyler, mar ried Hannah A. Story. 4. William Hazzard, who married, November 27, 1908, May Ruge. He died August 7, 1919.
John Owen (2) Peckham, eldest son of John Owen (1) and Sophia L. (Brown) Peckham, was born in Preston, Connecticut, August 12, 1859. He obtained his education in district public and select schools, continuing his school years until the age of seven- teen, when he became his father's farm assistant, re- maining at home until his twenty-third year. For three years following he was in the employ of Mrs. Lyman Randall, of East Great Plain, as her farm foreman. During that period he also ran a milk route in Norwich. He was next foreman on the farm of R. E. Turner, at Laurel Hill, Norwich, and while there, obtained a knowledge of the carpenter's trade.
In 1887 he leased the one hundred acre farm in Ledyard, known as the Theophilus Avery farm, and there brought his bride. In March, 1889, he bought a fine farm in Preston, near the Norwich city line, and cultivated its two hundred acres personally, with the help of a manager, and also conducted a general farm with a dairy department, selling the dairy product in Norwich until he sold out in September, 1913. He has been proprietor of a retail coal busi- ness in Norwich since March, 1914, and has pros- pered in every department of his business. Mr. Peckham is also greatly interested in flowers and makes a specialty of growing dahlias.
Mr. Peckham is a Republican in polities, but be- yond grand jury duty has refused all public office. In religious faith he is a Baptist, and for years has served the church at Preston as a member of the Church Committee, assistant superintendent, also superintendent for several years of the Sunday school and librarian of same, his wife also an active worker until her death.
Mr. Peckham married (first) March 13, 1887, Anna Elizabeth Avery, who died August 4, 1913, daughter of Theophilus and Mary Lydia (Corning) Avery, her father a farmer. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Peckham: Florence Belle, and How- ard Clifton. Mr. Peckham married (second), Octo- ber 17, 1914, Ivy Beatrice Otis, daughter of Frederic and Nellie Almira (McClure) Otis. Mr. Peckham is a inan highly regarded for his fine business qual- ity and his honorable, upright life.
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FRANK CRANSKA-In 1885, Frank Cranska came to the Thames National Bank of Norwich, Connecticut, and has remained with that institution during the thirty-seven and one-half years which have since elapsed. He is the third eldest man in the bank in point of years of service and has won high standing as a business man. He is a son of James and Asenath (Randall) Cranska, his father coming to Connecticut from the State of Maine. He located in Thompson and there established a busi- ness and a home. His five sons have all secured honorable position in the business world, Cranska being a name particularly well known in the textile world, and Floyd Cranska among textile manufac- turers.
James Cranska was born in Portland, Maine, April 17, 1815, and died in Thompson, Connecticut, in April, 1905. He spent his youth in Maine, coming in youthful manhood to Thompson, where for thirty years he was engaged in the shoe business. He was also for twenty years station agent at Grosvenor Dale on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad in Windham county, Connecticut, thirty- nine miles north of Norwich, and was also post- master of the village. He was a man of indepen- dence and enterprise, a good and useful citizen.
James Cranska married Asenath Randall, daughter of Calvin and Caroline Matilda (Blackmar) Randall, her father owner and manager of the Thompson Mills. Mr. and Mrs. Cranska were the parents of eight children: Helen, a resident of Thompson; Isabel, married George Ballard, of Thompson; Cal- vin, a factory superintendent of Towanda, Pennsyl- vania; Caroline Matilda, a resident of Thompson: Floyd, a textile manufacturer, and founder of the Cranska Thread Company of Worcester, Massachu- setts, married Evelyn C. Briggs; Frank, of whom further; James, with B. B. & R. Knight, cotton manufacturers; William, deceased.
Frank Cranska was born in Thompson, Connecti- cut, September 4, 1857, and there was educated in the public schools. At the age of seventeen, in 1874, he entered the office employ of the Grosvenor Dale Company at Grosvenor Dale, Connecticut, that com- pany being manufacturers of cotton goods. He re- mained with that company ten years and when he resigned, in 1880, he was filling the office of pay- master. In 1883 he entered the employ of the B. B. & R. Knight Company, at Manchaug, Massachu- setts, as an accountant, and remained for two years with that largest individual cotton manufacturing concern in the world. In 1885 he located in Nor- wich, Connecticut, where he entered the clerical service of the Thames National Bank, and for thirty- seven and one-half years has continued with that bank, filling different positions. Mr. Cranska is a Republican in politics, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Central Baptist Church.
He married in New York City, December 25, 1885. Lillian Wythe Leonard, daughter of Dr. Williams Robert and Adelaide Muriel (MacKees) Leonard, of New York. Dr. Williams Robert Leonard, born ir Virginia, died in 1892, was a descendant of George
Wythe, of Virginia, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Adelaide Muriel (MacKees) Leon- ard, who died in Brooklyn, New York, in 1872, was a daughter of George W. and Sarah Louis (Vander- hoof) MacKees, of New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Cranska are the parents of five children, all born in Norwich: Marian Asenath, residing at home; Harold Wythe, a veteran of the American Expedi- tionary Force in France, Company K, 113th Infan- try, 29th Division, now teller of the Irving Na- tional Bank of New York; Wesley Randall, a vet- eran of the war with Germany, serving in France with the 304th Engineers, 79th Division, American Expeditionary Force; Wallace Russell (twin of Wes- ley Randall), died aged two and one-half years; Rosalind Joyce, residing with her parents. The family home is in Norwich, on Laurel Hill avenue.
CLAUDIUS VICTOR PENDLETON, JR .- One of the leading figures of Norwich today is Claudius V. Pendleton, Jr., sporting goods and automobile dealer, and representative to the State Assembly. Mr. Pendleton comes of an old New England family, the name being of Gaelic origin, signifying the summit of a hill, from pendle, the sum- mit, and dun, a hill.
Claudius Victor Pendleton, Sr., was born March 14, 1851. He is a graduate of Yale College, with the degree of Civil Engineer, and while still a young man was the head of an independent business in the building of bridges. For many years he was superintendent of construction with the American Bridge Company, and later was inspector for that concern. At one time he was with the Berlin Iron and Bridge Company, of East Berlin, Connecticut. He married Phebe J. Johnson, who was born in September, 1850.
Claudius Victor Pendleton, Jr., was born in Nor- wich, Connecticut, June II, 1885. His education, begun in the public schools of the city, was contin- ued through grammar school and completed in the Norwich Free Academy, which he attended for thece and one-half years. His first active interest in life was semi-professional baseball, especially throughout the State of Maine, his position being catcher. In the year 1910 Mr. Pendleton established himself in business in Norwich in the sale of motor- cycles and sporting goods, and the interest became very successful. In 1919 he extended his operations to include the sale of Hupmobile cars, and he now handles a large business, continuing all branches as outlined, except motorcycles. Mr. Pendleton's busi - ness activities are not, however, the only avenues of usefulness in which he is a familiar figure. A Re- publican by political affiliation, he has for years been a worker in the party's behalf, always upholding the broader interests of the people in its councils, and some years ago was elected alderman. In the fall of 1920 he was elected town representative to the Legislature of the State. Fraternally, Mr. Pen- dleton is widely connected, being a ... Af Som !- erset Lodge, No. 34, Free and Accepted Masons; Franklin Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons; Frank-
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lin Council, No. 3; Columbian Commandery, No. 4. He is a member of all the Scottish Rite bodies, hold- ing the thirty-second degree in this order, and is a member of Sphinx Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 130, and Uncas Lodge, No. II, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Palmyra Encampment, No. 3, of the Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Arcanum Club of Norwich, and of Trinity Episcopal Church. His chief recreative interests are hunting and fishing.
Mr. Pendleton married, October 5, 1918, Blanche Hall, daughter of George Everett and Annie B. (Harvey) Hall, her father a prominent woolen man- ufacturer and business man of this city.
MARTIN E. MULLEN, D.D.S .- Among the younger professional men of New London county, Connecticut, Dr. Mullen is counted among the suc- cessful dental surgeons, and with offices in Taftville, he is handling a prosperous and growing practice. Dr. Mullen is a native of Windham county, this State, and prepared for his professional career in the leading institutions of the East. He is a son of Joseph M. and Josephine (Boucher) Mullen, both his parents having been born in Canada. His father, who was for many years active in Willimantic in the grocery business, dealing also in meat. 5-4 and bakery, died in the year 1915. His mother is still living.
Dr. Mullen was born in the city of Willimantic, Connecticut, August 17, 1890. His elementary and intermediate studies were pursued at St. Joseph's and St. Mary's parochial schools in his native place, and he also attended the Windham High School, at Willimantic. For his classical course he attended Niagara University, at Niagara Falls, New York, after which he entered the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, from which he was graduated in the class of 1917. He has since practiced in Taft- ville, with the exception of seven months, during which period he served in the United States army, being stationed at Camp Devens, Massachusetts. He was discharged from the service on January 27, 1918, after which he came direct to Taftville, and began his professional career, purchasing the prac- tice of Dr. Raymond Couture. He has thus far been very successful, and is counted among the rising professional men of this section.
In public affairs Dr. Mullen takes only the inter- est of a progressive citizen. He is a member of the Connecticut State Dental Association, and the Hor- ace Hayden Odontological Society of Baltimore. Fraternally, he is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and also is a mem- ber of the fourth degree, Knights of Columbus. He is a member of the Church of the Sacred Heart.
Dr. Mullen married, in Willimantic, in 1919, Mary Ellen Cheney, a graduate nurse, who was born in Willimantic, and is the daughter of Edward and Annc (Peltier) Cheney. Dr. and Mrs. Mullen have
one son, Martin, Jr .; they reside in Taftville, but are widely known in both Willimantic and Norwich.
CARLOS CURTIS PECK-Peck is an honored New England name and has been worthily borne by sons of the family for many generations, in both business and in the professions. Carlos C. Peck, of New London and Norwich, Connecticut, belongs to the Bridgeport branch of the family, his father, Eugene B. Peck, being an cminent member of the New England bar. Carlos C. Peck chose a business career and is one of the successful merchants of New London, Connecticut.
Eugene Benjamin Peck was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, April 4, 1854, and died in the city of his birth, April 19, 1913. He received his early cdu- cation in Bridgeport grade and high schools, and then, deciding upon the legal profession, he entered Yale Law School, whence he was graduated Bache- lor of Laws, class of 1875. The same year he began the practice of law in Bridgeport and there continued an honorable carcer until his retirement. He mar- ried Mary Curtis, who was born in Bridgeport, October 18, 1856, and died in that city, May 28, 1919; they were the parents of twin sons: Richard Eugene, who married Violet Smith and resides in New York City; and Carlos Curtis, of further and extended note.
Carlos Curtis Peck was born in Bridgeport, Con- necticut, July 1, 1877. He passed through the grade and high school courses of Bridgeport public schools, finishing with the high school graduation class of 1897. He then entered Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, whence he was graduated, class of 1901. He at once entered business life, locating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1901, and there re- maining until 1912, as assistant superintendent of the Nelson Valve Company. In 1912 he returned to Bridgeport, where he was appointed assistant superintendent of production for the Bridgeport Brass Company, a promotion he retained for four years. In 1916 he became manager of the Standard Brass & Copper Tube Company, of New London, Connecticut, remaining in that position for two years. In 1918 he organized the Connecticut Machinery & Sales Company, of Norwich, of which he was made president and manager. The company is capitalized at $50,000, deals in mill sup- plies and farm machinery at both wholesale and retail, and is well established in business. Mr. Peck is a member and former president of the New Lon- don Chamber of Commerce, 1918-19; is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Trinity College, Chapter of Delta Phi; of the Thames Club of New London; and his religious connection is with St. James Protestant Episcopal Church of New London. He is a Republican in politics.
Mr. Peck married, in New London, Connecticut, November 30, 1918, Mary Palmer, the Rev. J. Rom- eyn Danforth officiating. The family home is in New London, although Mr. Peck's business is in Norwich.
Jacob Shalt
harry M. Shalett
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JACOB SHALETT-As president of the Swiss Cleaners and Dyers, Inc., which he established in 1920, at No. 573 Bank street, New London, Connecti- cut, Mr. Shalett holds a recognized place in the business circles of the city. Since the inception of his business career, Mr. Shalett has been identified with this particular line of industry, and gained a thorough knowledge of it years ago when he was associated with his father, who was a dyer in Russia.
Jacob Shalett was born in Russia, town of Starya, October 30, 1883, the son of Moses and Mary (Kir- lick) Shalett. There he was educated and lived until he left Russia. In the fall of 1911, Mr. Shalett came to this country, and after a two months' visit with his brother Nathan at New Haven, Connecticut, he went to New York City, where he secured employment as a cleaner and dyer, and remained in that city working with various prominent firms until the year of 1914. After leaving New York City, Mr. Shalett came to New London and opened a cleaning and dyeing establishment, a year later taking his brother, Harry M. Shalett (see following sketch), in the business with him. In April, 1920, the partnership dissolved, Mr. Shalett selling his share in the firm to his brother, Harry M. The following August a fireproof building was con- structed by Jacob Shalett and equipped with the most modern machinery necessary for the various processes of cleaning and dyeing, the plant being known as the Swiss Cleaners and Dyers, Inc. Mr. Shalett has been very successful, and has developed a large and prosperous business.
Mr. Shalett married, in 1917, Fannie Rosen, a native of Montville, Connecticut, the daughter of Louis and Sara Rosen, both of Russia. Mr. and Mrs. Shalett are the parents of two children: Marie, born March 12, 1918; Melvin, born March 9, 1920.
HARRY M. SHALETT-One of the busiest men in New London, Connecticut, is Harry M. Shalett, founder of Shalett's Cleaning and Dyeing Company, which is located on Montauk avenue, at Bank street. Since commencing business life in this country, Mr. Shalett has identified himself with local interests, gradually making his way to the position of promi- nence which he holds at the present time.
Harry M. Shalett was born in Starya, Russia, Sep- tember 18, 1888, the son of Moses and Mary (Kir- lick) Shalett, and brother of Jacob Shalett (see pre- ceding sketch). The boy received his education in public schools and then became associated with his father in the cleaning and dyeing industry. In 1906 he came to this country and located at New Haven, where he attended Yale College, subsequently work- ing with his brother Nathan, who had previously come to America and established a cleaning and dye- ing business on his own account. Here Harry M. Shalett remained until 1914, when he removed to New London and, together with his brother Jacob, conducted a cleaning and dyeing establishment.
Later, in 1920, he purchased the latter's interest in the business and has since carried it on alone.
We have spoken of Mr. Shalett as one of the busiest men in New London, and he is obliged to be so, for he is the head of a very busy and exten- sive enterprise, which has branches in Mystic, Nor- wich, and Westerly. The fact that he is so thor- oughly occupied is largely owing to the constant care and consideration which he has bestowed on the upbuilding and maintenance of its interests. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and the Rotary Club, and in the public affairs of the city he manifests the same qualities which charac- terize him as a business man-steadfast loyalty to principle, and promptness and efficiency in the per- formance of duty. In politics he is a Republican, and yet, while taking no active part in the affairs of the organization, his opinion is often sought and his word carries weight. Energetic as he is, he is too wise a man to ever sink into a mere business machine, and is never neglectful of the social side of life. He affiliates with the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, New London Lodge, No. 360, and is a member of the Harbour Club.
On May 5, 1913, Harry M. Shalett was united in marriage with Haddie Hughes, of Manchester, Eng- land, daughter of Gifford and Elizabeth (Berigon) Hughes, of Manchester. Mr. and Mrs. Shalett are the parents of two children: Elizabeth, born May 19, 1914; and Harry, born July 10, 1920.
JOSEPH NAPOLEON LAPOINTE-This is the record of a Canadian lad of eighteen years who came to 'the United States, and without a false move or mistake found his true vocation in a machine shop, and from apprentice boy passed through the various stages of promotion and development until he was established in a plant of his own, manufac- turing for home and foreign use a machine bearing his own name and patentee-the Lapointe Broaching Machine. He has won fame and fortune, and is yet so much the man of action and energy that he has recently embarked in a new line of manufacturing in New London, Connecticut.
Joseph Napoleon Lapointe was born in St. Hya- cinthe, a suburb of Montreal, Canada, March 31, 1861, son of Peter and Lucie (Perrault) Lapointe, both born in Canada of French parentage. Joseph N. Lapointe remained in the place of his birth until attaining the age of seventeen, and acquired a fair education there, to which he added to in the schools of Waterbury, Connecticut, his parents moving there in 1878. He entered the Benedict Brass Manufac- turing Plant in Waterbury, Connecticut, as an ap- prentice to the machinist's trade, and proved so apt that his progress was very rapid. He became a skilled workman, and before passing out of his eighteenth year he was foreman of a department of the Waterbury Watch Company, the makers of that one time famous "Waterbury Watch." Mr. Lapointe's department was the making of machine
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parts, tools, etc., and there he remained seven years, being an important factor in the early development of the Waterbury Watch Company.
He was twenty-five years old when he left the Waterbury Watch Company to go with the Seth Thomas Watch Company, at the request of Mr. Heath, the general master-mechanic of the com- pany. In his new position he was in charge of the "train room" at the Thomaston, Connecticut, plant of the company, a place he capably filled for three years. While with the watch company he invented several devices that were of value and upon which patents were issued, two in particular being most useful, viz .: an automatic rotary pinion and polish- ing machine. At the age of twenty-eight he left the Seth Thomas Watch Company and opened a small machine shop in Waterbury, Connecticut, a success- ful enterprise which he later sold to the Pearl Lake Company, Mr. Lapointe then engaging with the Pratt-Whitney Company of Hartford, Connecticut, in charge of experimental work for Mr. Whitney. A year later he was made foreman of a department at the plant. For fourteen years he continued in that position, and during that period his inventive genins was given full rein and he perfected and made many improvements in the manufacturing of both tools and tool making machines. While with Pratt-Whitney Company he devised and inaugurated the broaching system now in general use and known as the Lapointe Broaching System the world over.
From the Pratt-Whitney Company, Mr. Lapointe went to the Becker Milling Machine Company of Hyde Park, Massachusetts, organizing the plant upon a better basis and increasing its rate of pro- duction. After three years with that company he again established in business for himself, locating at No. 35 Hartford street, Boston, Massachusetts, where he perfected a broaching machine of his own design. He was short of funds at this period, but he weathered the crisis and in his little shop on Hartford street perfected the Lapointe Broaching Machine and received his first order for a machine. His first order came from the Mason Regulator Works of Milton, Massachusetts, his second from Mfr. Clements, connected with an automobile manu- facturing company of Paris, France. This machine, which cuts square holes of any size in steel, has been a boon to the automobile trade and has met with a ready sale. In 1902 Mr. Lapointe visited France, and from automobile manufacturers alone took orders for broaching machines totaling $18,000.
In 1906 he built a plant at Hudson, Massachu- setts, the Lapointe Machine Tool Company, sever- ing his connection with same in 1911, and then organizing the J. N. Lapointe Company at Marlboro, Massachusetts, for manufacturing broaching ma- chines. In 1913 the company moved to New Lon- don, and erected a modern plant, which he operated successfully for six years, employing 200 hands. In 1919 he sold out, and in 1920 bought the Arnold Electric Tool Company, then located in New Haven,
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