USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume III > Part 28
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He went to Buffalo, New York, that same year to begin his career with the Barber Asphalt Company, remaining with that or- ganization until 1929. Thereafter until 1931 he was with Nash Motors Company in Milwaukee. From 1932 to 1936 he held a position with Stewart-Warner Corporation in Chicago, Illinois, which he left to join the musical manufacturing firm of Rudolph Wurlitzer Company at DeKalb in the same state. He remained there until 1938, when he went to Evansville, Indiana. Until 1942 he was with the Hoosier Lamp and Stamping Corporation in that city.
Mr. Giese returned to the East in 1942 to accept a position as works manager with Sargent and Company at New Haven. This firm engages in the manufacture of builders hardware and hand tools. He was promoted to vice president in 1948, while continuing his duties as works manager until 1955, when he was made vice presi- dent and general manager. He was made executive vice president in 1959. He also serves on the corporation's board of directors.
Mr. Giese is an associate director of the First New Haven Na- tional Bank, a trustee of the Connecticut Savings Bank, and a direc- tor of Ball and Socket Manufacturing Company of Cheshire. He also serves on the board of the Grace-New Haven Community Hospital. He was formerly a director of the Manufacturers Association of
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Connecticut and of the New Haven County Manufacturers' Associa- tion.
Active in the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Giese formerly served as its president. He is also a member of the New Haven Lawn Club Association, the New Haven Country Club, the Harvard Club of New York, and The Madison Beach Club. His fraternities are Sigma Tau, honorary engineering, and Phi Delta Theta, social. In politics he is a Republican.
In Chicago, Illinois, on October 3, 1936, Herman Robert Giese married Margaret Alene (Reimers) Griffin. Her first husband, Donald C. Griffin, is deceased. Her father, Theodore Reimers, was born at Grand Island, Nebraska, in 1872. A rancher, he died in 1950. Alta Mae Bake, whom he married, was a native of Philadelphia, and died in 1940. Mrs. Giese was born at Fullerton, Nebraska, on September 14, 1908, and attended Miss Wolcott's School in Denver, Colorado, Kemper Hall, Kenosha, Wisconsin, and The University of Colorado, where she was a member of Delta Gamma sorority. Before moving to Madison Mrs. Giese was on the boards of the Grace-New Haven Hospital Auxiliary, and the New Haven Symphony. She was active in the Spring Glen Garden Club and St. Thomas Episcopal Church. She is now on the board of the Yale Art Gallery and a member of the Madison Garden Club.
Mr. and Mrs. Giese raised her daughter by her first marriage, Joan Margaret Griffin, who was born April 25, 1930, at Hartford, Connecticut. She was legally adopted by Mr. Giese. She graduated from Prospect Hill School in 1948, and from Smith College in 1952. She is a member of the New Haven Junior League. She is married to Frank Kenna, Jr., and they live in Woodbridge. Their children are: Margaret Alene, Cynthia Verti, Frank Kenna, 3rd, and Herman Robert Kenna. Mr. and Mrs. Giese live on Green Hill Road, Madison.
CHARLES FOSTER MCNEIL
Dean of New Haven's insurance men, Charles Foster McNeil retired in recent years after more than six decades in the successful management of an agency. He remains active in community life and as an official of the Pine Orchard Association.
A native of Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut, he was born on April 1, 1871, son of Virgil Foster and Alice (Curtis) McNeil. His father, born at Sheffield, Massachusetts, enlisted for Union service in the Civil War from Salisbury, which is also in the Berkshires area of that state. His first position in industry was as salesman for an iron
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mine at Warren, Connecticut, and he was the first salesman to call upon the Malleable Iron Fittings Company at Branford. Later he entered the insurance business, founding the Virgil F. McNeil Agency in New Haven, which still carries his name. It has been in existence since 1886. His death occurred in 1933. Alice Curtis, whom he mar- ried, was a native of Warren, Connecticut. She too is deceased.
Charles F. McNeil completed his formal education at Gunnery Academy in Washington, Connecticut. For one year he worked in a florist's shop in New York City, and then, in 1892, he came to New Haven to take over the insurance office which had been founded by his father. This he operated until his retirement in 1955. He became its president in 1925, and held that office as long as he remained active in the organization. Its management has gone to the third generation of the family in the person of his son, Virgil Johnston McNeil.
Although now living in retirement in New Haven, Charles F. McNeil has remained active in the post of treasurer of the Pine Or- chard Association, a position he has held for the past fifty years. He was formerly a director of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion at New Haven. He was a member of the Quinnipiac Club and the New Haven Country Club, and is a member of the Pine Orchard Club and the New Haven Colony Historical Society. In politics he is a Republican, and he attends the Congregational Church.
At the time of the Spanish-American War, Mr. McNeil was commissioned an officer in the New Haven Grays, but he was not in active service.
At the First Congregational Church of New Haven, on April 19, 1897, Charles Foster McNeil married Louise Telford Johnston. Born in that city on November 18, 1870, she was the daughter of James and Emma Jane (Elliott) Johnston, and descendant of Thomas Telford who built the bridge across the Firth of Forth in Scotland. He is buried in Westminster Abbey. Mrs. McNeil's father was born at Hamilton, Ontario, and for many years he was general manager of the Candee Rubber Company, now a part of the U. S. Rubber Company. Emma Jane Elliott, whom he married, was a native of New Haven. Mrs. McNeil attended Hillhouse High School in New Haven, and was a member of the Garden Club and other women's organizations. She died in 1954.
Mr. and Mrs. McNeil became the parents of three children: Ruth, who died in infancy, Alice, and Virgil Johnston McNeil. Alice was born on March 5, 1898, in New Haven. She attended Dana Hall and
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Pine Manor, and is married to Thomas A. Sturgess, who is now president of Virgil F. McNeil and Company, Inc. Their children: i. Charles T. Sturgess, who married Jane Jockmus. They have two children: Jeffrey and Leslie. ii. Macneil Sturgess, who is associated with the McNeil firm. He is married to the former Miss Barbara Duke, and they have four children: Thomas Estel, Elizabeth Ann, and twins Douglas Campbell and David Elliott. Virgil Johnston Mc- Neil, only son of Charles Foster and Louise Telford (Johnston) Mc- Neil was born on December 12, 1904 in New Haven. He attended Choate School and graduated from Dartmouth College in the Class of 1928. As an undergraduate he was a member of Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity. For four years he was building manager of the Liberty Building in Bridgeport, and in 1932 he joined Virgil F. McNeil and Company. Since that time he has held office as its vice president. Since 1956 he has been president of the Pine Orchard Association. He is a member of the Pine Orchard Club and of Hiram Lodge No. 1, Free and Accepted Masons. On June 13, 1929, in West Haven, he married Edith Virginia Marshall, who was born October 31, 1905 in West Haven. She attended Gateway School in New Haven, Walnut Hill School at Wellesley, Massachusetts, and Smith College, where she took her degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1928. She is active in Red Cross work, is a member of the Garden Club, and is vice president of the Class of 1928 of her college. Mr. and Mrs. Virgil J. McNeil have three children: i. James Marshall, born September 18, 1931, in New Haven. He attended Hamden Hall and Berkshire Academy, and took his degree of Bachelor of Arts at Hobart College in 1954. He has also attended the University of Connecticut Graduate School. He married Barbara Jean Cole, and they have two children : Jean Diane, and James, Jr. James M. McNeil is with Travelers In- surance Company. ii. Mary Louise, born June 12, 1933, in New Haven. She attended Hamden Hall and Walnut Hill School. She married Donald R. Welch of Branford, and they have three children : Virginia Victoria, Linda Louise, and Susan. iii. Margaret Ann, born July II, 1936, in New Haven. She attended Hamden Hall and Walnut Hill School, and in 1958 received her degree of Bachelor of Arts from Smith College, and is now working for the Polaroid Company in Boston, Massachusetts.
CIRO PAOLELLA
Many an outstanding and distinctively American career has had
Cino Padella
Conn. III-23
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its beginning when a young immigrant lad, arriving in this country, has found that, in fact, its streets are not paved with gold-that much hard work stands between him and the realization of his dream, and that this country always stands in need of the services of those who arrive bringing determination, faith, and vision. This tacit under- standing, this partnership between the immigrant and his chosen country has immeasurably enriched both. Connecticut has in the Pao- lella family an excellent example of the meaning of such a relationship.
Ciro Paolella was born in Italy in 1892. His father died three months before his birth, and when he was quite young, his mother also died. The early years of his life were very precarious and difficult. He managed to complete three grades in the local schools, but beyond that point he was self-educated, and, as the saying runs, "a credit to his teacher."
He also had an apprenticeship in the mason's trade in his native land, and when he arrived in the United States at the age of sixteen, he first went to Hackensack, New Jersey. He was there only a short time, and later the same year came to New Haven. There he followed the trade of stone and brickmasonry from 1908 until 1920. He had learned his business well, and when in 1920 he started working under his own name, he made rapid strides as a home-builder. Through individual study, he had learned enough about design to provide architectural services as well. As contractor, architect and builder, he became head of a thriving organization.
It was in 1922 that he first started making concrete blocks for his own use. Other contractors, persuaded of the quality of his prod- uct, began to place orders for the blocks, and he soon had a second business venture on his hands. But on his path to success he was to encounter at least one more serious roadblock. In 1925 he took a con- tract to remodel a small hotel. To complete this, his biggest job to date, he incurred financial obligations, and was to receive first mort- gage on the completion of the work. He went ahead in full confidence that the transaction would be authorized, but the mortgage never came through and he lost over sixty thousand dollars-his life earn- ings. The beginning of the year 1926 found him with a few pieces of equipment, which were not fully paid for. These he offered to return, but the company from which he had purchased them proved to be a more reliable friend than the erstwhile mortgagor, and asked him to keep the equipment and pay when he could. With this encouragement, he borrowed three hundred dollars to make a down payment on the four and one-half acres on which the main plant and office of Plasti-
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crete Corporation now stand. On Christmas Eve, 1926, using a horse and wagon which he had borrowed, and an aged truck which he owned, and with his sons helping him, he moved all of his equipment to the vacant lot. From the time this move was made, he concentrated his attention on the manufacture of concrete blocks, for which he had developed a substantial demand.
Starting out afresh, he faced a lack of adequate plant and pro- duction facilities. For three years he worked in the open, making blocks with hand machinery, without even a roof against the weather. His boys helped him, getting up at six in the morning, working until school hours, then returning after classes were over. Philip, who is now executive vice president of the company had secured an excellent po- sition with Rockbestos in New Haven as soon as he graduated from high school; but the urge to be a part of the family working team was stronger and he left the job to join his father. It was his assign- ment, at that time, to go on the road building sales for the blocks which were being produced in increasing quantity. The first big break came when the Paolellas received the contract to provide the blocks for the Hamden High School. It was a moral victory as well, for it indicated that concrete block had become "socially acceptable" for major public construction projects. Since that time the company's volume of business has grown steadily, doubling and redoubling. Plants have been established at Hartford, Waterbury, North Haven, and Willimantic as well as at Hamden, and in all there are more than three hundred employees on the payroll.
The company was incorporated in 1922, and its name was changed to Plasticrete Corporation in 1945. Its founder, Ciro Paolella, is still active in its management, although at the time of writing he is en- joying an extended trip to his native Italy. He is president of Plasti- crete Corporation and of all its affiliates. The parent company has its headquarters at 1883 Dixwell Avenue in Hamden, and there also are located the facilities of Plasticrete Glazed Products, Plasticrete Aggregates, Inc., and Plasticrete Brick Corporation. The D. and R. Corporation, also in Hamden, is an affiliate, as are the following firms: Plasticrete-Waterbury, Inc., at Waterbury; Plasticrete-Hart- ford Concrete Units, Inc., in Hartford; and The Stiles Corporation in North Haven.
Ciro Paolella is a member of the Hamden Italian-American In- dependent Club. A communicant of St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church, he is a member of its Holy Name Society.
In New Haven, in 1914, Ciro Paolella married Mary Jennie
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Cassella. She too is a native of Italy, born on June 23, 1898, and came to this country with her mother when she was seven years old. They settled in New Haven, and she attended Ivy Street School in that city. The couple became the parents of the following children: I. Philip, who was born in New Haven, on April 3, 1915. He attended Hillhouse High School, and New Haven Junior College. He began work for Rockbestos, and was given a good position in its office, but left to do sales work for his father, and his efforts helped the com- pany expand its volume of trade and attain its present proportions. Since 1950 he has held the office of executive vice president. He is active in the Knights of Columbus, in which he holds the Fourth de- gree. He has received honors from the Pope (the late Pius XII), having been appointed a Knight of St. Gregory in recognition of out- standing work on behalf of Catholic charitable programs. Philip Paolella married Angelina Gagliardi, and they have six children: i. Mary Jane. ii. Philip, Jr. iii. Joseph Richard. iv. Ann Marie. v. Ciro Michael. vi. John Paul. 2. Alfred, who was born August 28, 1916, at New Haven. He attended Hillhouse High School for two years, and completed his secondary studies with two years of evening courses at Commercial High School. He is now treasurer of Plasticrete Corpora- tion. Alfred Paolella married Mildred Gambardella, and their child- ren are: i. Ciro Gerald. ii. Joanne Marie. ii. Leonard Alfred. iv. Al- fred, Jr. 3. Ralph, born on July 15, 1918. He attended Hillhouse High School for two years and Hamden High for two years, graduating in 1937. From 1942 to 1945, he served in the United States Army, and was in the European Theater and Iceland. He is now vice president of Plasticrete Corporation. In 1941, Ralph Paolella married Eleanor Ruwet. Their children: i. Jean Louise. ii. Ciro Ralph. iii. Robert Philip. iv. Ronald Alfred. 4. Rose, born July 31, 1920. She attended Commercial High School and transferred from there to Hamden High School, where she graduated in 1937. She is now secretary of Plasti- crete Aggregates Corporation. She is the wife of Arnold Caputo, who is director of Promotion and Product Research at Plasticrete. They have seven children: i. Patricia Ann. ii. Thomas Gerald. iii. Pamela Mary. iv. Rosanne Rita. v. Arnold Peter. vi. Paula Marie. vii. Eliza- beth Ann. 5. Helen, who was born on August 24, 1924. She is a graduate of Hamden High School, and is the wife of Frank DeToro, who is sales manager for the parent firm, Plasticrete Corporation. They have five children : i. Frances Ann. ii. Dolores Mary. iii. Jennifer Helen. iv. Mary Ann v. Armand. 6. Mary Jane, born on April 18, 1929; a graduate of Hamden High School. She is secretary of Plasti-
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crete Corporation. The wife of Paul Morello, personnel manager of Plasticrete Corporation, she is the mother of six children: i. Louis Rocco. ii. Rosemary. iii. Paul John. iv. Roberta Ann. v. William Ciro. vi. Sally Ann.
AUSTIN DUNHAM BARNEY
Austin Dunham Barney, of Farmington, chairman of the board of directors of The Hartford Electric Light Company, was born in Hartford on November 7, 1896, his birthplace being the old home of Mark Twain. For three generations his family has been associated with The Hartford Electric Light Company and among its pioneers.
He is the son of the late Danford Newton Barney and Laura (Dunham) Barney, daughter of the late Austin C. Dunham, who was the first president of the Hartford utility and an early leader in the power industry in the East. Mr. Barney's father, also, was for many years an officer of the company. The family has long resided in Farmington.
His career has been one of distinguished public service in state and municipal office and community, civic and welfare activities. In utility, legal, financial and insurance circles, his interests have been widespread.
Mr. Barney was appointed president of the Connecticut Public Welfare Council in 1937, having been first appointed to the Council by Governor Cross in 1933, and was reappointed by successive gov- ernors and continued as such until the Council was abolished in 1956.
He represented the Fifth District in the State Senate in 1933 and 1935, serving on the finance, fish and game and other committees.
As a member of the Connecticut Special Tax Commission of 1933, appointed by Governor Cross, Mr. Barney took part in the inquiry into the State's tax structure which culminated in the 1935 report by that commission and the subsequent adoption by the General Assembly of many of its recommendations for improvement in Connecticut's tax laws.
He has been chairman of the Farmington board of finance, first chairman of the town council, served as judge of the borough court there for four years and was first selectman for eight years. In 1958 he was honored with the Book of Golden Deeds award of the Farm- ington Exchange Club in recognition of his civic leadership and serv- ice to the town.
In the field of business, finance and law, Mr. Barney has long
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been active. In addition to being chairman of the board of directors of The Hartford Electric Light Company, he is a past president and director of the National Association of Electric Companies. He is a member of the executive committee of the Association of Edison Il- luminating Companies and served as president for two years 1955- 1957, and a former director of the Edison Electric Institute.
He is a director of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, representing Region I, New England, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in that organization. Since 1952 he has been a member of the board of trustees of the National Industrial Conference Board.
Mr. Barney is also a director of the Hartford Steam Boiler In- spection and Insurance Company, Hartford National Bank and Trust Company, Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Automatic Refrigerating Company, and Veeder Root, Inc., The Farmington Water Company, and a director of the Farmington Savings Bank. He is also a trustee of the Western Massachusetts Companies.
He attended Thatcher School, Ojai, California, and Taft School, Watertown. He was graduated from Yale University, class of 1918, his studies being interrupted by war service, and from Yale Law School in 1922, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. He was admitted to the bar in that year and became associated with Day, Berry and Reynolds, later Day, Berry and Howard.
In 1924 he became counsel for The Hartford Electric Light Com- pany. He was made general counsel in 1928, vice president in 1936 and a director in 1944. He was elected president in October 1946 and became chairman of the board of directors July I, 1951. He was elected president of The Connecticut Power Company in February 1950, and continued in that office until the company was merged with and into The Hartford Electric Light Company on January 1, 1958. He was formerly general counsel of The Connecticut Power Company.
Mr. Barney has held membership in the American, State, and Hartford County bar associations. He was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 195I.
A corporator and director of Hartford Hospital since 1936, he was named its president in 1958. He is a member of the Committee of Founders of the University of Hartford, the International Com- mittee of the Y.M.C.A., and a director and former president of the Hartford Y.M.C.A.
He is president of the Farmington Village Green and Library Association, a director of the Farmington Community Chest, and a
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director of Gaylord Farm Sanatorium and the Farmington Cemetery Association.
He is a former director of the Connecticut Chamber of Com- merce, the Hartford Chamber of Commerce, the Hartford Institute of Living, and the Hartford Community Chest.
In 1958 he was appointed general chairman of the University of Hartford Founders' Fund, and was named a member of the Uni- versity's Board of Regents. He served as general chairman of the East Hartford and West Hartford Y.M.C.A .- Y.W.C.A. Building Fund Drive, in 1957-1958, was Hartford regional chairman of the 1945 fund-raising campaign for the Gaylord Farm Building and Endowment Fund, and in 1951 he was New England regional chair- man of the United Defense Fund.
He was first chairman of the Re-employment and Re-adjustment Committee of Greater Hartford, appointed by Mayor Mortensen in 1944 to assist returning war veterans, and in that capacity was a prime mover in the formation of the Veterans' Service Center for Hartford.
He was a member of the Republican State Central Committee, representing the Fifth District for several years. He served as chair- man of the Connecticut Republican State Finance Committee from 1940 through 1943.
He saw service in the first World War at the 1917 Plattsburg Officers Training Camp, and with the A.E.F. in France as first lieu- tenant of the 303rd Field Artillery, 76th Division. Previous to World War I, he was a member of the Yale R.O.T.C. and trained with that unit at Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania.
He is a member of the Hartford Club, University Club of Hart- ford, Yale Club of New York City, Farmington Country Club, Elihu Club (Yale), Beta Theta Pi. Yale Alumni Association, Farmington Exchange Club, American Legion and Evening Star Lodge No. 101, A.F. & A.M., Unionville.
He is a fish and game enthusiast and has long been active in sup- port of measures for the conservation of wild life. He is secretary- treasurer of the Nictau Fish and Game Club of New Brunswick, a member of the Camp Harmony Angling Club of Matapedia, P. Q., Canada, and owner of the former Pine Island Club, Currituck Sound, North Carolina. a duck shooting property.
Mr. Barney was married in June, 1924, to Miss Katharine Derr of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and they have two daughters, Mrs. John P. ( Harriet) King, and Mrs. Wyatt (Katharine) Garfield and
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nine grandchildren. He has two sisters, Mrs. H. Bissell Carey of Farmington, and Mrs. Halleck Lefferts of South Royalton, Vermont ; and a brother, Philip Cushman Barney of Farmington.
WILLIAM ROSS MCCAIN
For seventeen years, William Ross McCain served as president of the AEtna Group of Insurance Companies, and for eight years as chairman of the board. He has served as official of a number of na- tional insurance men's groups, and also of several corporations, in his home city of Hartford and in New York.
Mr. McCain is a native of Monticello, Arkansas, and was born on October 15, 1878, son of William Simonton and Eliza Catherine (Chesnutt) McCain. He began his advanced studies at Washington and Lee University in 1894, but in his senior year transferred to the University of Arkansas, where he graduated in 1898, receiving the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts at the same time. The University of Arkansas also conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, in 1944. Mr. McCain went to Europe in 1898. He studied at the University of Bonn, in Germany, and at the Sorbonne in Paris, in addition to traveling, and returned to this coun- try in 1900.
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