A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 42

Author: Lincoln, Allen B
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke publ. co.
Number of Pages: 960

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Mr. Hyde was united in marriage to Miss Annie J. Lilley, the ceremony being performed at Danielson, Connecticut, on the 24th of August, 1881. She was born at Central Village, Windham county, and is a daughter of Jonathan and Ann (White- house) Lilley, who were natives of England. The father was a mill worker and lived for many years in Windham county, residing at Wauregan, Danielson and Central Village. He was well known as a musician, being a fine violin player, and at times he gave lessons in music. Mr. and Mrs. Hyde are members of the Westfield Congre- gational church of Danielson. They are well known in Windham county, where they have always resided, and well spent lives have gained them high regard. Mr. Hyde has never sought to figure prominently in any public connection, but it is said that "he is the most lovable man in the town of Pomfret," reminding one of the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes: "If your name is to live at all, it is so much more to have it live in people's hearts than only in their brains."

HON. AMORY JACOB KEBLER.

Hon. Amory Jacob Kebler is now practically living retired at Sterling, although still connected to some extent with the wholesale grain business. He has been active along commercial lines and in the political life of the community as well and has repre- sented his district in the state legislature. He was born in Needham, Massachusetts, June 6, 1851, and is a son of Mathias Frederick and Emeline Lois (Pierce) Kebler. The father was born in Wittenberg, Germany, and at the age of eighteen years came to America with his parents, who settled at Needham, Massachusetts, where his father took up the occupation of farming. Mathias F. Kebler was reared to that pursuit, which he also followed as a life work, spending his remaining days as a farmer at Need- ham. His wife, who was born in Hallowell, Maine, also passed away at Needham.

It was in the public schools of his native locality that Amory J. Kebler pursued his education. He was reared to farm life, early becoming familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. He was only six years of age when his father died and he was left an orphan by his mother's death when a lad of but eight years. He then went to live with an uncle at Rochdale, Massachusetts, and there at- tended school and aided in the work of the farm to the age of fourteen, when he re- moved to Hallowell, Maine, which was the birthplace of his mother. In the Pine Tree state he resumed his studies as a public school pupil and also divided his attention with farm work. He remained in Maine for four years, after which he removed with his maternal grandmother to Boston, Massachusetts, where he secured employment in a drug store. He thus worked until 1880, when he took up his abode in the village of Sterling and was employed by the Sterling Dyeing & Finishing Company, the predecessor of the United States Finishing Company. He worked in the mills from 1880 until 1909 and was in charge of the stock room when he severed his connection with the mills. Since his retirement from mill work in 1909 he has been engaged in the wholesale grain business on a limited scale, for he is largely living retired at present. Indolence and idleness, however, are utterly foreign to his nature and he cannot be content without some business connection.

On the 13th of January, 1889, Mr. Kebler was married to Miss Ellen Esther Bab- cock, a native of Sterling, Connecticut, and a daughter of Albert and Frances (Pierce) Babcock. Mr. and Mrs. Kebler have become parents of four children but three have passed away, the living daughter being Emeline Lois, a native of Sterling, where she still makes her home.

In his political views Mr. Kebler is a republican, giving loyal support to the party

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and its principles. He has been called to serve in a number of local offices, having been a member of the school board and a member of the board of selectmen for two terms. In 1910 he was called to higher political honors, being elected to the state legislature, where he served during the session of 1911. There he did important work as a member of the committee on new towns and probate districts, as a member of the committee on capitol furniture and grounds and the committee on constitutional amendments. In 1918 he was again elected to represent his district in the Connecticut general assembly, serving in 1919, when he was once more made a member of the committee on new towns and probate districts and also of the committee on excise. His position upon any vital question is never an equivocal one. He believes that legislative work should be for the benefit of all the people against any special cliques or monopolies and in exercising his political power he has ever placed the general welfare before personal aggrandizement and the good of the state at large before partisanship. His progressiveness is tempered by a safe conservatism, providing against unwarranted risks, and yet he is ever ready to take a forward step when opportunity leads the way.

EDWARD NELSON FOSTER.

Edward Nelson Foster, deceased, was for many years a prominent figure in the business circles of Putnam and in 1891 retired from commercial pursuits, after which he devoted his attention to the management of agricultural interests, owning and occu- pying a fine farm on Putnam Heights, overlooking the city. He was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, October 25, 1842, a son of Alfred and Susan (West) Foster. The father was born in Oxford, Massachusetts, and was employed in woolen mills in early life, while later he removed to Plainfield, Windham county, Connecticut, purchased land and carried on farming until 1876. He then retired from active business and with his wife removed to Putnam, making his home there throughout his remaining days. The mother also spent her last years in the home of her son and they were laid to rest in the ceme- tery at Plainfield, Connecticut.

It was in his early boyhood that Edward Nelson Foster accompanied his parents to Plainfield, where he acquired his education, and on starting out in the business world he went to Southbridge, Massachusetts, where he was in 1867 in charge of the finishing department of a woolen mill until 1868. He then came to Putnam as a young man of twenty-six years and entered the employ of the firm of Smith & White, dealers in meats, provisions and poultry. After some time spent in that connection he entered into part- nership relations as a member of the firm of Randall, Foster & Pray for the conduct of a retail meat market, which occupied a prominent corner in Putnam. There they de- veloped an extensive business, enjoying a constantly increasing trade as the years passed on, and through the successful conduct of their interests Mr. Foster became the possessor of a substantial competence that enabled him later to live retired. Prospering in his undertakings, he invested in farm land on Putnam Heights, overlooking the city, erected fine buildings and afterward gave much attention to the further development and improvement of the place. In 1891, disposing of his commercial interests, he re- tired to the farm to devote his attention to agricultural pursuits and there he spent his remaining days.

Mr. Foster's interests ever centered in his home. He was devoted to the welfare of his wife and family and counted no personal effort or sacrifice on his part too great if it would enhance their happiness. He was married on the 3d of January, 1868, in Southbridge, Massachusetts, to Miss Helen Elizabeth Westgate, who was born in Somers, Connecticut, but in childhood was taken to Southbridge, where she was reared and educated. She is a daughter of David Gifford and Lucinda Warner (Fuller) Westgate, the latter a direct descendant of Dr. Fuller, a physician who came to the new world on the Mayflower and brought to this country the now famous Mayflower cradle. Mr. and Mrs. Foster became the parents of four children. Their two sons, natives of Windham county, have gone to other cities where they have won notable reputations, thus adding new laurels to an untarnished family name. Herbert West, the eldest of the family, was born in Putnam, July 29, 1869, and after attending the public and high schools entered the New York Homeopathic College of Medicine, from which he was graduated with the class of 1890. He afterward spent two years as an interne in the New York City Hospital and is now one of the leading physicians of Montclair, New Jersey, en- joying an extensive and well merited practice. He married Martha Mitchell Pray, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and they have become parents of three children: John Edward, Robert Knox and Frank Pray. The second of the family is Edith Gertrude, at home with her mother. Helen Elizabeth is the wife of Dr. George A. Shepard, a well known oculist, and they have three children: William Mac, Janet and Barbara. Harold

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Alfred, the youngest of the family, was born November 28, 1880, in Putnam, and after completing the high school course was graduated from the New York Homeopathic Med- ical College. He, too, served as an interne and has since taken post-graduate work in the Ophthalmic Hospital of New York city, making a study of the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He now confines his practice entirely to nose and throat work and has introduced some notable improvements in methods of practice in his especial branch, particularly in connection with the removal of tonsils, which operation he now accomplishes without the use of the knife. He married Constance Ives, of Montclair, New Jersey, where they maintain their home, but he has his office in New York city. There are two children of this marriage, Jean and Mary Elizabeth. Mrs. Foster has every reason to be proud of her sons, who have made for themselves eminent positions in professional circles.

The family circle was broken by the hand of death when on April 14, 1917, Mr. Foster was called to the home beyond. He had long been a most devoted, faithful and helpful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, taking a very active part in its work and serving for many years on the church board. His wife shared with him his interest in the church work, in which she has also been most active. Mr. Foster likewise be- longed to Quinebaug Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and exemplified in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft, but above all he was a home-loving man and found his greatest hap- piness at his own fireside, for he was an ideal husband and father. Wherever he went, men respected him for his genuine worth and his fidelity to high standards, and the nobility of his character endeared him to all with whom he came in contact.

HON. URGELE LAFRANCE.

It is not the province of biography to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments but rather to leave the record establishing his position by the consensus of opinion on the part of his fellowmen. Everywhere Urgele Lafrance is spoken of by those who know him in terms of the highest regard, for his life has been actuated by a spirit of progress-not the progress that seeks individual wealth merely but seeks also public benefit and regards the interests of the individual as sub- servient to the interests of the many.

Mr. Lafrance was born in St. Dominique, in the province of Quebec, Canada, July 28, 1875, his parents being Jeremie and Salina (Brodeur) Lafrance. The father was born in St. Bruno, Quebec, as was the mother. He followed the occupation of farming in St. Dominique, where he passed away in 1880, and his widow afterward resided in Taftville, New London county, to which place she removed in 1882 with her family of three daughters and two sons. There she passed away in 1883.

Urgele Lafrance was but seven years of age when he became a resident of Taft- ville, where he attended the public schools and afterward became a student in the College of the Sacred Heart at Arthabaskaville, Quebec. The elemental strength of his character is shown in the fact that he worked his way through school, providing for his expenses by clerking in a grocery store or doing other work that would bring to him the necessary funds. Before entering college he was employed for a time in the Ponemah mills of Taftville and after his school days were over he returned to Taftville, where he accepted a position in a grocery store. He was subsequently engaged in the retail shoe business on his own account in Taftville, conducting his store there until 1900, when he removed to Central Village and in a small way began the manufacture of carbonic water, soda water, etc., conducting a bottling business. He did most of the work by hand and gradually developed a trade of large and substantial proportions. He today has an extensive plant for the manufacture and bottling of carbonic waters and beverages, a plant equipped with the latest improved machinery and in which the most sanitary conditions prevail. This plant is located in Central Village, where he established business on the 16th of May, 1900. He limits the sale of his products to the state of Connecticut, having no difficulty to dispose of his entire output in this state, and he uses auto trucks for delivery.

On the 10th of September, 1894, Mr. Lafrance was united in marriage to Miss Delia Fregeau, of Taftville, Connecticut, who was born in Baltic, this state, a daughter of Joseph and Lucy (Surprenant) Fregeau, who are natives of St. Damase, Quebec. Her father was a farmer of Canada and after his removal to Baltic, Connecticut, was em- ployed in the mills. Subsequently he took up his abode in Taftville, where he and his wife now reside. To Mr. and Mrs. Lafrance have been born eleven children, as follows: Marie Stella, who was born in Taftville, and is a graduate of the Plainfield high school and now a member of the 1918 class of Brown University; Jeremie, who was born in Taftville, Connecticut, followed a business course at St. Charles Seminary at Sher-

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brooke, Canada, and is in the employ of his father; Beatrice, born in Taftville, a mem- ber of the 1918 class of Plainfield high school; Raymond, who also followed a business course at St. Charles Seminary at Sherbrooke, Canada, and works for his father; Lucy; Roselle; Pauline; Fregeau; Louis; Marie, who is deceased; and Marguerite. The eight last named were born in Central Village.

In politics Mr. Lafrance is a republican and for two terms he served as selectman of Plainfield. In 1909 he was elected to the state legislature and was reelected in 1911, serving during both terms on the committees on rivers, roads and bridges. In 1915 he was elected county commissioner of Windham county and is now filling that position, the duties of which he is discharging with marked promptness, capability and fidelity. He made a most excellent record as a legislator, carefully considering the vital ques- tions which came up for settlement. He belongs to the Roman Catholic church, to St. Jean le Baptiste Society of Moosup, Connecticut, of which at one time he was president, to Putnam Lodge, No. 574, B. P. O. E., to the Association of Canado-Americans, to the Franco-American Club of Moosup, to the Adelphi Club of Central Village, of which he is now president, and to the Naturalization Club of Taftville, in which he has served as a director.

One of Connecticut's leading statesmen said of him: "Mr. Lafrance is all man, every way you look at him." In other words, he measures up to the highest standards, being guided by an irreproachable character and the loftiest ideals. He has the confidence of all who know him, both American and French people. He is dominated by the spirit of democracy which believes in living and letting live and never fails to give hearty aid and cooperation to all well defined plans and movements which are for the benefit of his adopted city and state. His integrity is above question and his ability has placed him in a position of prominence, both in connection with business life and public interests.

CLARENCE ALPHONSO POTTER.

Throughout his entire career Clarence Alphonso Potter has been connected with banking and is today a prominent figure in financial circles of Windham county, having since 1876 been treasurer of the Brooklyn Savings Bank, which in 1915 was removed to Danielson, where he now makes his home. He was born in Williamsville, now Good- year, in the town of Killingly, Windham county, on the 25th of February, 1855, his parents being James and Lucy A. (Newell) Potter. The father was born at Foster, Rhode Island, and acquired his education at Killingly, to which place he removed in his youth. He became a cotton mill man at the old town of Williamsville and for many years was identified with manufacturing interests, but in the evening of his days re- tired from active business and removed to East Killingly, where he made his home until called to his final rest. His wife was born in Pomfret, Connecticut, and following her marriage became a resident of Killingly, where her demise occurred.

Clarence A. Potter, whose name introduces this review, is indebted to the public school systems of Williamsville, Killingly and Danielson for the educational oppor- tunities which he enjoyed and which prepared him for life's practical duties and re- sponsibilities. When his textbooks were put aside he made his initial step in the busi- ness world in connection with banking by entering the employ of the Brooklyn Savings Bank, which was then located in Brooklyn. He obtained a clerical position and he was at the same time employed as a clerk in the Windham County National Bank, both in- stitutions occupying the same office. On attaining his majority in 1876 he was made treasurer of the Brooklyn Savings Bank and through all the intervening years he has occupied that position, contributing much to the development of the institution, bending his efforts and attention at all times to administrative direction and executive control. He has closely studied every phase of the banking business and at all times has tem- pered progressiveness by a safe conservatism that prevents unwarranted risk or failure. In 1915 the bank was removed to Danielson and the change has proven beneficial, the business of the institution steadily increasing. Its policy has always been such as com- mended it to public patronage and it is justly regarded as one of the strong financial institutions of Windham county.

On the 3d of June, 1880, Mr. Potter was united in marriage to Miss Alice Louise Moody, of Whitinsville, Massachusetts, who was born in that place and is a daughter of James and Martha (Smith) Moody, who were also natives of Whitinsville. Her father was a mechanic in connection with the making of cotton manufacturing machin- ery. To Mr. and Mrs. Potter were born two children, but both have passed away.

Politically Mr. Potter has been a republican since reaching adult age and several times he has been called upon to serve in positions of public honor and trust. For seven

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years he occupied the office of town clerk of Brooklyn and for five years was town treas- urer there. He belongs to the Westfield Congregational church and is well known in Masonic circles, being identified with Moriah Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; Warren Chapter, R. A. M .; Montgomery Council, R. & S. M .; Columbia Commandery, K. T .; and Sphinx Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He likewise belongs to the Bohemian Club and has attractive social qualities which make for personal popularity. He is a man of indefatigable de- termination, undaunted courage and high purpose and possesses a progressive spirit ruled by more than ordinary intelligence and good judgment.

ROBERT WILLIAMS BOYS.

Robert Williams Boys is the superintendent, and purchasing agent for the Good- year Cotton Mills Company, Incorporated, of Goodyear, Connecticut, and through stages of successive business development has reached his present position of responsibility. He was born in Manchester, England, April 4, 1870, a son of John and Sarah Ann (Melburn ) Boys and a grandson of Henry and Elizabeth Boys. Born in Nelson, Eng. land, Henry Boys in early life took up cotton textile work and engaged in weaving at the time the old hand looms and spinning looms were used. This was at a period when all the spinning was done on the old spinning wheel and with the use of the hand looms in the homes of the various workers.

His son, John Boys, was born in Nelson, England, in the southeastern part of Lan- cashire, and was there reared and educated. In early boyhood he entered the cotton mills of his native town, for by this time certain development had been made in the methods of manufacture and the labor had been centered in factories. At a subsequent date John Boys secured employment in cotton mills of Manchester, England, and devoted his entire life to the cotton textile industry of that country, passing away in Manchester in 1908. His wife, who was born at Ashton-under-Lyne, in Lancashire, is now living at Southport, England.

Their son, Robert Williams Boys, spent his youthful days in. his parents' home in Manchester and there attended the public schools to the age of nine years, when he went to work in the mills, being first employed in the weaving rooms. Realizing the neces- sity of education if he wished to make any substantial advancement in business, he attended the Manchester technical school in the evenings, after his day's work was over, and thus continued his education until he was twenty-three years of age. He was thus continuously qualifying for life's practical and responsible duties and his daily toil was preparing him for the work which he was to assume in subsequent years. He was employed in Johnson's silk mills of Manchester between the ages of nine and fourteen years and then went to work in the Reservoir cotton mills of Manchester, being employed in the weaving rooms to the age of seventeen, when he was appointed overlooker of weaving, a position equivalent to that of overseer in America. He was very young to be appointed to this position of responsibility, but his training had been thorough and moreover he came of a family long connected with the textile industry. He con- tinued to serve as overlooker until twenty-three years of age, or in 1893, when he came to the new world, landing at Boston. He proceeded to Centerville, Rhode Island, where he secured employment as loom fixer in the Warwick cotton mills, and subsequently he entered the employ of the Boston Manufacturing Company in their mills at Waltham, Massachusetts, again serving as loom fixer. He was afterward similarly employed in the New Brunswick cotton mills at St. John, New Brunswick and later was made overseer of the weaving room in 1895, occupying the position for two years.

In 1897 Mr. Boys accepted the position of overseer in the mills of the Williamstown Manufacturing Company at Williamstown, Massachusetts, having supervision of the weaving room for four years at the end of which time he was given charge of the weav- ing department of the mills of the West Boylston Manufacturing Company at East- hampton, Massachusetts. It was while there that he obtained his first experience in man- ufacturing tire duck fabric, which is used in the manufacture of the tires of the Good- year Tire Company of Akron. The mill at Easthampton was one of the pioneers to establish the making of tire fabric and after being with this mill for a year, from 1901 until 1902, Mr. Boys was induced to accept a position as overseer of cotton and silk weaving in the mills of the New Market Manufacturing Company at New Market, New Hampshire. There are few men connected with the textile industry who are capable of supervising the weaving of both silk and cotton goods, but Mr. Boys has had thorough training along both lines. After two years he was made superintendent of the entire cotton division of these mills and so continued for five years. The mills of the New Market Manufacturing Company were not in a very healthy financial condition when he took charge as superintendent and the stock of the company was selling for nineteen

Perw Boy.

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dollars per share. What he did in the way of developing the business is indicated in the fact that when he resigned the stock was selling at one hundred and forty-five dol- lars per share.

On the 1st of September, 1911, Mr. Boys came to Williamsville, Connecticut, now known as Goodyear, and with others he organized the Killingly Manufacturing Com- pany, taking over the buildings, mills and property of the Williamsville Manufactur- ing Company. Preparations were begun for the manufacture of shirting, with Mr. Boys in charge of the mills. The financial men back of this project did not succeed in effecting an organization very rapidly and the work of the mill was at a standstill for about a year, nothing being produced. The capitalists back of the enterprise were Providence (R. I.) men. The mill property offered a fine opportunity for manufacturing yet the work dragged along for a year, when Mr. Boys, W. I. Bullard, of Danielson, Con- necticut, and William Bennett. of New York city, went to Akron. Ohio. and interested the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in the project, persuading them to take over the mill and manufacture their own tire fabric here, where facilities were ripe for such an undertaking. The Goodyear Company bought up the stock of the Killingly Manufactur- ing Company and became the owner of the mill, while under the supervision of Mr. Boys they began the manufacture of tire fabric for auto tires under the name of the Killingly Manufacturing Company. This was the first tire company to manufacture its own tire fabric. After a year all were convinced of the success of the undertaking and then organized the Goodyear Cotton Mills Company, Incorporated, which took over all of the holdings of the Killingly Manufacturing Company and changed the name of the town from Williamsville to Goodyear. They also improved and greatly increased the equip- ment of the mills, which have since been successfully operated. The mills and their direct interests constitute the entire town, as all the inhabitants of Goodyear are em- ployed in the mills. The business was first capitalized for six hundred thousand dol- lars, while later the capital stock was increased to two million dollars. The president of the company is P. W. Litchfield, the factory manager of the Goodyear Tire & Rub- ber Company of Akron, Ohio; the vice president is W. E. Teagan, of Boston, Massa- chusetts; the treasurer, W. E. Palmer, of Akron, Ohio; the assistant treasurer, Claire N. Turner, formerly of Akron but now of Danielson, Connecticut, in charge of the finances of the mill; and Robert W. Boys, who is the general manager and puchasing agent. The last named is one of the pioneer manufacturers of tire duck, is well known in connection with the cotton textile industry of the country and is a recognized authority upon the line of manufacture which he controls.

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A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 42

Author: Lincoln, Allen B Publication date: 1920 Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke publ. co. Number of Pages: 960

Author: Lincoln, Allen B
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke publ. co.
Number of Pages: 960