USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 3 > Part 34
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Leon Parker Broadhurst was born June 14, 1871, in South Manchester, Connec- ticut, and removed with his parents to Hartford in 1880. Here he attended the grammar and high schools, and after lay- ing aside his books became a clerk in the Charter Oak National Bank, where he continued some six months, and then en- tered the employ of the State Bank in a similar capacity. On the first of October, 1890, he severed his connection with the State Bank, and entered the employ of the institution of which he is now execu- tive head. With the determination to advance himself he early set about the study of the principles and practice of banking, and was keenly observant of all that went on about him. By intelligent application and diligence, he attracted the attention of his superiors, and his work was observed and approved by the man- agement. Through successive promotion
he came to be made teller of the bank in February, 1899; was made assistant cashier in January, 1901 ; cashier in Octo- ber, 1904; vice-president in January, 1913, and upon the death of Frederic L. Bunce, Mr. Broadhurst was advanced to his pres- ent position, president, November 19, 1915. The Phoenix National Bank was organized in 1814, and is one of the four largest banks in the State of Connecticut, and has the largest deposits of any com- mercial bank of the State. It is apparent that Mr. Broadhurst has been honored and that the promotion is a tribute to exceptional ability. He is a typical mod- ern business man, progressive and aggres- sive, yet with sufficient caution and con- servatism in his makeup to safeguard him against visionary or speculative ventures. His splendid executive ability has already been demonstrated. Modest, quiet, and unassuming in manner, he is cordial and unfailingly courteous to all-qualities that are of prime importance in the chief executive of a large financial institution. While Mr. Broadhurst's life has been a very busy one, he has found time to take an active part in the conduct of other important enterprises. He is a director of the Glazier Manufacturing Company, the Atlantic Screw Works, C. H. Dexter & Sons Company, Incorporated, of Wind- sor Locks. While in no sense of the word a politician, Mr. Broadhurst has always been actively interested in those move- ments and measures that promise to en- hance the public welfare, and when the call came, he has not sought to evade his duty as a citizen in official position. He served four years as a member of the Council and two years as a member of the Board of Aldermen of Hartford, serv- ing four years as a member of the Board of Finance. He is a member of the Re- publican Club of Hartford, the Hartford Club, the Hartford Golf Club, and the
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Hartford Automobile Club. He has been active in promoting military interests, and served five years as a member of Com- pany F, First Regiment, Connecticut Na- tional Guard, known as the Hartford City Guard.
On May 22, 1895, Mr. Broadhurst mar- ried Alice, daughter of George Best, of Hartford, and his family includes three children : Katharine L., Nellie T. and Grace A. Mr. Broadhurst and family are connected with the Asylum Hill Congre- gational Church of Hartford.
PRIOR, Charles Edward, Financier, Musical Composer.
Charles Edward Prior was born Janu- ary 24, 1856, at Moosup, in the town of Plainfield, Windham county. Connecticut, the son of Erastus L. and Sarah Ladd (Burleson) Prior. When he was about four years old, his parents moved to Jewett City, Connecticut. In his youth- ful home he was surrounded by the best influences, his father having been a man of strong moral and religious character, a deacon in the Baptist church, and his mother a woman of more than average intellectual and spiritual force.
He received a good education in the Jewett City schools, and at an early age developed a marked fondness for the study of nature and for the art of music. This taste is sometimes supposed to indi- cate a lack of talent for practical things, but it was not so in his case, for while he has devoted much time to the study and enjoyment of nature, poetry and music, this predilection has never interfered in the least with his interest in practical affairs. When but fourteen years of age, he became the organist of the Congrega- tional church at Jewett City, and held the position for more than eight years, during a portion of which period he studied at
the Worcester Conservatory of Music. He resigned to become organist and choir leader at the Jewett City Baptist Church, of which he became a member in early life.
He worked for a number of years in the railroad station and express office in Jewett City, and in 1873 entered the em- ploy of the Norwich & Worcester Rail- road Company in their Norwich office, where he remained one year. In 1875 he became bookkeeper and paymaster for the Ashland Cotton Company at Jewett City, and in 1883 he was elected secretary and treasurer of the Jewett City Savings Bank. Two years later he became a member of its corporation, and four years later was made one of its directors. A new bank building was erected during his term of service, and his management of the affairs of the bank was highly compli- mented by the State Bank Commis- sioners. In January, 1895, he resigned his offices in the Jewett City Bank to accept the position of assistant treasurer of the Security Trust Company of Hartford, then known as the Security Company. In March, 1896, he was promoted to the responsible position of secretary and treasurer of the company, and in Novem- ber, 1904, he was elected vice-president and treasurer, which offices he continues to hold at this date, 1917.
Mr. Prior has been a man of tireless energy, and has evidently enjoyed being active and useful. For eighteen years (from 1898 to 1917) he was a member of the auditing committee of the Connecti- cut Mutual Life Insurance Company. In July, 1910, he was elected a trustee of the State Savings Bank of Hartford, and for several years past has been a member of its finance committee. He has held many offices in religious and kindred organiza- tions, having been treasurer of the Con- necticut Sunday School Association for
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several years, and later its auditor ; treas- urer of the Connecticut Peace Society ; president of the Hartford Baptist Union from 1901 to 1907; vice-president of the Connecticut Baptist Convention from 1905 to 1907, and treasurer of the con- vention from 1907 to date. For four years he was superintendent of the Sun- day school and president of the Young People's Society of the Asylum Avenue Baptist Church, Hartford. He has also served as treasurer of the Baptist Young People's Union of Connecticut, as treas- urer of the Twentieth Century Club of Hartford, and as a member of the board of managers of the Hartford Young Men's Christian Association. Mr. Prior enjoys the rather unusual honor of being con- nected with two theological seminaries, as he is a trustee of the Hartford Seminary Foundation and of the Newton Theolog- ical Institution. He is also a trustee of the Ministers' and Missionaries' Benefit Board of the Northern Baptist Conven- tion, and president of the George M. Stone Brotherhood of the Asylum Avenue Bap- tist Church, Hartford.
In 1883, in collaboration with the Rev. C. W. Ray, D. D., of Philadelphia, one of his former pastors, he published his first musical work, "Spicy Breezes," a book of Sunday school songs. In 1890 he edited "Sparkling and Bright," in connec- tion with J. H. Tenney. This work was enthusiastically received and won for him wide renown as a composer of Sunday school music. In 1892, in association with Professor W. A. Ogden, he issued a third successful book of songs entitled, "Our Best Endeavor." In politics Mr. Prior is a Republican with independent tend- encies. He was for several years treas- urer of the town of Lisbon. In fraternal circles he became affiliated with several Masonic bodies early in life. He is a past master of Mt. Vernon Lodge, No. 75,
Free and Accepted Masons, of Jewett City; a member of Franklin Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; of Franklin Conn- cil, Royal and Select Masters, and of Co- lumbian Commandery, Knights Templar, all of Norwich ; and of Hartford Chapter, Order of Eastern Star. Perhaps next to Mr. Prior's love of music may be men- tioned his passion for poetry and good literature. He has a fine library, selected with intelligent discrimination, and a large number of scrap books upon which he has bestowed much labor, and in which he takes pardonable pride.
Mr. Prior is a member of the Twen- ticth Century Club, of Hartford, the Con- necticut Historical Society, the Hartford Bird Study Club, the Stamp Collectors' Club of Hartford, and has been for many years an honorary member of the Wor- cester County (Massachusetts) Musical Association.
Mr. Prior was married in 1875 to Mary Eleanor Campbell. Of the four children born to them, three daughters died in infancy. Their son, Charles Edward Prior, Jr., is secretary of the Security Trust Company, and treasurer of the Con- necticut Bible Society. Mr. Prior, Jr., is widely known as an accomplished tenor soloist, having sung in the Hartford churches for twenty years or more.
LINSKEY, John Joseph, Man of Enterprise.
Mr. Linskey is a nåtive son of Connec- ticut and well known in the State, in fact all over New England, as a promoter and developer, specializing in land and build- ing improvement. He has developed tracts in many parts of New England, and in both Waterbury and Bridgeport, "Fair- lawn Manor" is evidence of his efficient handling of properties.
Mr. Linskey is a son of Martin Linskey,
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born in County Galway, Ireland, where his youth was passed. When a young man he came to the United States and found his way to Guilford, Connecticut, where he became an iron molder, and yet resides, aged seventy-three years. He married Ellen Hannon, also born in Gal- way, who died at Guilford, aged fifty-five years, the mother of seven sons and seven daughters, all living save a son William, who died in infancy. Children: 1. John Joseph, of further mention. 2. Mary, twin with John J., married (first) Daniel O'Leary, of Bridgeport, now deceased ; (second) Charles Noemeyer, of New Haven, Connecticut. 3. Kate, married Matthew Lahey, of New Haven. 4. Dennis, married Nora Keefe; residing in Naugatuck, Connecticut. 5. Theresa, mar- ried Benjamin Parker, of New Haven. 6. Martin (2nd), residing in Naugatuck, Connecticut, married Elizabeth Clyne. 7. Thomas, married Margaret Skinner; re- sides in New Haven. 8. Nicholas, married Daisy Larkins; resides in Guilford, Con- necticut. 9. Daniel, married Annie Ma- line ; also of Guilford. 10. Elizabeth, mar- ried John Flannigan, of Brooklyn, New York. 11. Jennie, married Daniel O'Neill, of Guilford. 12. Lillian, married Joseph Brennan, of New Haven. 13. Ellen, mar- ried William Brown, of Brooklyn, New York.
John Joseph Linskey, eldest son of Mar- tin and Ellen (Hannon) Linskey, was born at Guilford, Connecticut, April 24, 1862, and there resided until he was eighteen years of age. He was educated in the public schools and at Guilford Academy, being an apt pupil and a good student. At the age of eighteen he began work as a wage earner, going to Naugatuck, Con- necticut, where for two years he was an employe of the Naugatuck Malleable Iron Company. He had then attained his ma- jority, and being able to command suffi-
cient capital opened a grocery store. He was energetic and capable, public-spirited and progressive; his store soon gained popular favor and support ; he prospered, and in course of time opened a second store in Naugatuck, of which his brother was manager. For seventeen years he continued in successful business as a gro- cer, and during four years of President Cleveland's second term served as post- master of the Union City office. About 1905 he retired to engage in the real estate business at Naugatuck, a line of activity in which he has been very successful, be- ing sole owner of same. From a local business he became interested in the de- velopment of land areas in other parts of New England, many important land de- velopments of suburban properties having been carried to a successful issue under bis management. On March 20, 1916, he moved his office to Waterbury, where he is well known through his development of the "Fairlawn Manor" tract.
Mr. Linskey is essentially a business man, and has not taken active part in public affairs. He won success as a mer- chant, and is an authority on land promo- tion and suburban values, sound in his judgment, upright and honorable in his methods. He is a Democrat in politics, a member of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church at Union City, and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
He married, at Naugatuck, October 23, 1888, Louise Theresa Clancy, born there in 1868, daughter of Thomas Clancy, born in Ireland, died in Naugatuck, Connecti- cut, at the age of sixty years. Mr. and Mrs. Linskey are the parents of a family of nine as follows : I. Ellen A., a graduate of Monroe Business College in Water- bury ; now her father's assistant as sten- ographer and clerk. 2. Thomas F., mar- ried Agnes Wallace and has two daugh-
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ters: Constance, and Rose Marie. 3 .- 4. Louise, a graduate of the Naugatuck High School; and Marie R., both residing at home. 5. Madeline R., a student at Naugatuck High School. 6. John Joseph (2nd), attending Salem School. 7. Wil- liam L., attending Salem School. 8. Mar- garet, died in infancy. 9. Francis, attend- ing Oak street school, Naugatuck.
BENNETT, Charles Joseph,
Public Official, Author, Civil Engineer.
The record of a busy life, a successful life, must ever prove of interest and profit to those who look at it carefully, who attempt an analysis of character and trace back to the fountain head the widely di- verging channels which mark the onward flow. Among the men who have led busy and successful lives must be mentioned Charles J. Bennett, State Highway Com- missioner at Hartford, whose career has been characterized by fidelity, honesty and enterprise, and as a public official, citizen and Christian gentleman he com- mands the respect and admiration of all with whom he is associated.
The paternal ancestors of Charles J. Bennett were residents of Yorkshire, England, where they lived for many years, tracing back to the days of Wil- liam the Conqueror. Joseph William Bennett, great-grandfather of the Mr. Bennett of this review, was a manufac- turer of woolen goods at Leeds, England, a prosperous and influential resident of that thriving city. His son, Joseph Wil- liam Bennett, Jr., was a dyer by trade, proprietor of a dye shop at Leeds, which he conducted in a successful manner. His son, William T. Bennett, was a native of Leeds, England. and died in 1894, aged fifty years. He was reared in his native land, studied in Belgium and Flanders, and prior to his marriage resided in Hartford, and in 1913 was appointed State
Frome, England, remaining there for a number of years. He studied chemistry in the shop of Reed, Holliday & Company, making a specialty of dye stuffs and colors. In the year 1880 he emigrated to this country. He first located in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was employed in a manufacturing plant as a dyer, in which line of work he was highly proficient. Later he located in Amsterdam, New York, where he con- ducted a dye house and also engaged in the manufacture of shoddy. He married Lydia R. Perkins, a native of Road, Eng- land, daughter of William Perkins, who, as also his ancestors, conducted a mill there, a woolen mill run by water power. Two children were born of this marriage, William, a resident of Toronto, Canada, and Charles Joseph. Mr. and Mrs. Ben- nett were members of the Episcopal church.
Charles Joseph Bennett was born in Frome, England, February 9, 1878. He accompanied his parents to the United States, attended the public schools of Amsterdam, was graduated from the Amsterdam High School in 1897, then entered Union College, from which in- stitution he was graduated in 1901 with the degree of B. E. He is a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity of that college. After his graduation he entered the employ of the city engineer of Am- sterdam, but in the following year, 1902, entered the employ of the Metropolitan Street Railway Company of New York City. In 1903 he changed to the New York Central Railroad, and in 1905 came to Hartford, Connecticut, with the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railway Company. In 1909 he entered the employ of the State of Connecticut, working on the Saybrook Bridge. In 1910 he was appointed superintendent of streets in
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Highway Commissioner by the Governor of Connecticut, in which capacity he is serving at the present time (1917). Prior to his assuming the duties of this office the highway department was a political machine, covering every town in the State of Connecticut politically. The highway department was made an issue in the first campaign of Governor Baldwin. He won the election on his promise to reform the highway department. He failed to re- form it because a partisan Senate rejected his nomination of a new highway com- missioner. Two years the people re- turned him to office and gave him a Senate controlled by his own party. Commissioner Bennett was then placed at the head of the highway department. In the session of 1915 Commissioner Bennett came up for reappointment. The Gov- ernor was urged to reappoint him, which he accordingly did, and as long as he remains in that office the interests of the State will be carefully subserved. His honesty and integrity have never been questioned by any one and his compe- tency is evidenced by the improvements in the roads during his tenure of office.
Commissioner Bennett has written a section for a handbook on "Highway Engineering" published by Wiley & Sons. He has written to some extent for tech- nical journals ; has lectured at Columbia and Sheffield Scientific School at Yale, and has delivered popular lectures throughout Connecticut and other States or road questions and engineering topics, which have been largely attended and which have proven of benefit to those interested in such matters. He is a mem- ber of the American Society of Civil Engi- neers, the International Permanent Con- gress de la Rute. a director in the Massa- chusetts Highway Association, and a member of the American Highway Asso- ciation, American Road Association, Na-
tional Highway Association, National Society of Civil Engineers, Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers, Rotary Club, and the University Club.
Mr. Bennett married, in August, 1905, Marguerite Balch, daughter of Dr. W. V. Balch, of Galway, New York, and a de- scendant of John Balch, an early settler of Massachusetts. They are the parents of four children : Elizabeth J., Alison Margaret, Charles William and Gordon. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett are members of St. John's Episcopal Church, West Hartford, in which he has served as vestryman for a number of years.
ABRAMS, Alva E., M. D., Physician.
An honored physician of the city of Hartford, Connecticut, since 1884, Dr. Abrams holds prominent position among the men who are recognized as leaders of the medical profession in Connecticut. In business and public life men are often assisted to positions of prominence by fortuitous circumstance, apparently quite apart from their own personal endeavor. There is but one way to gain recognition in the medical profession and that is by results actually accomplished in relieving the ills of mankind. The price is a life- time of devotion to the profession, and constant, conscientious study that ability may be gained to observe phenomena accurately, to correlate and interpret facts intelligently, and with wisdom to apply to the individual case the knowledge thus acquired. These are the means coupled with a natural aptitude for his work by which Dr. Abrams has earned his present position as a leading practitioner and authority.
The branch of his family to which Dr. Abrams belongs springs from Benjamin Abrams, a farmer and early settler of
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Alva E. Abrams MED.
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Greene county, New York. His son, Benjamin (2) Abrams, was also a farmer of Greene county, his sons settling in Greene, Albany and Schenectady counties, New York. Elnathan Abrams, son of Benjamin (2) Abrams, located in Duanes- burg, Schenectady county, was a farmer and there died in 1861, aged sixty-one. He married Anna Strong.
J. Danforth Abrams, son of Elnathan and Anna (Strong) Abrams, was born in the town of Duanesburg, Schenectady county, New York, in 1836, and gave up his life in his country's service in 1865 at Fortress Monroe, Virginia. He was engaged in farming until his enlistment in Company I, One Hundred and Thirty- seventh Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry. He married Susan Ladd, of the seventh generation of the family founded in New England by Daniel Ladd, who took the oath of supremacy and allegi- ance in London, England, March 24, 1633, prior to taking passage on the ship "Mary and John" for New England. He was granted land in Ipswich, February 5, 1637. He died in Haverhill, July 27, 1693, his widow Ann, February 9, 1694. The line of descent is through the founder's son, Ezekiel Ladd; his son, Nathaniel Ladd ; his son, Ezekiel (2) Ladd; his son, Wil- liam Ladd; his son, Lemuel Ladd; his son, Elijah Ladd, born October 22, 1811, married Harriet Bently ; their daughter, Susan Ladd, who married J. Danforth Abrams. They were the parents of two sons: Alva E., of further mention ; and Elijah.
Dr. Alva E. Abrams was born in Duanesburg, New York, June 28, 1856. After public school attendance, he pre- pared at a school in Little Falls, New York, after which he entered Cornell University, continuing there until his junior year. He then taught school for two years, in the meantime studying med- icine under the preceptorship of Dr. Delos
Braman, of Duanesburg. He continued study in the medical school of the Univer- sity of New York and in Albany Medical School (Albany, New York), receiving his Doctor of Medicine degree from the latter institution with the class of 1881. After a term of service as interne at St. Peter's Hospital, Albany, he began the private practice of his profession in Duanesburg, continuing until 1884. With the year 1884, Dr. Abrams was introduced to Hart- ford professional life as an associate of Dr. J. A. Stevens, with whom he prac- ticed for three years. He then spent a year in private practice in Collinsville, Connecticut, returning to Hartford upon the death of Dr. Stevens, in 1887, resum- ing the practice they had jointly con- ducted until Dr. Abrams' withdrawal. He has gone steadily forward in public favor, his continually growing practice having attested the confidence reposed in him as a physician of skill and a citizen of high repute. He is a member and ex-president of the Hartford City Medical Society, the Hartford County Medical Society, the Connecticut State Medical Society, mem- ber of the American Medical Association, the American Laryngological, Rhinolog- ical and Otological societies, and in 1897 was sent as a delegate to the International Medical Congress which met in Moscow, Russia. He is medical examiner for a number of leading insurance companies, belongs to the Hartford Scientific Society and the Twentieth Century Club. Both he and his wife are members of Immanuel Congregational Church, he having served that body as deacon for many years.
Dr. Abrams married, July 26, 1877, Jessie Davis, daughter of Rev. D. Cook and Euphemia (Murray) Davis, of Brook- lyn, New York. They are the parents of three daughters: Mabel, married R. La Mott Russell; Effie, married Professor Walter Clark; Jessie, married Warren Currier.
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OLDS, Alfred Allen,
Leader in Tobacco Industry.
There are few families that can claim a more honorable antiquity than that of Olds, represented at the present time by Alfred Allen Olds of Hartford, Connecti- cut, and by many branches in both the old world and the new. The origin of the name is undoubtedly to be found in the nickname "The Old," and in the faculty such nicknames have of adhering to the children and descendants of him who is first so designated. The present Mr. Olds can trace his descent uninterruptedly from a period so remote as that of the end of the twelfth century, from an ancestor who flourished during the reign of Rich- ard the Lion Hearted. The name, as is the case with so many names that have descended to us from early times, was found in a great variety of spellings, such as Old, Olds, Ould, Wold and many others. The Olds arms are thus de- scribed: Gules, on a mount in base vert a lion sejant guardant. Crest: A lion sejant guardant proper, supporting an an- tique shield gules, charged with a fesse or.
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