USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume III > Part 34
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At Springfield, Connecticut, on August 9, 1905, Robert Jesse Hodge married Sadie Dodd, daughter of Charles and Henrietta (Car- rier) Dodd. The couple are the parents of a son, Hubert C. Hodge, who was born in Hartford on June 17, 1908. He is secretary and assistant treasurer of the American Buckle Company, and with his father is stockholder in other corporations. Hubert C. Hodge mar- ried Grace Tinker. They have four children: i. Diane. ii. Joan. iii. Suzanne. iv. Hubert C., Jr.
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Mr. and Mrs. Hodge have one great-grandchild, Sally Madalyn Rice.
LYNDES B. STONE
Lyndes B. Stone, who is executive vice president and director of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company of Hartford, is a lawyer by training who joined the insurance firm early in his career. He holds official positions with several corporations, and is active on behalf of welfare and cultural organizations.
A native of Billings, Montana, he was born on June 27, 1905, son of David L. and Eva (Coffman) Stone. His parents are still living, and make their home at Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the time of writ- ing, 1959, his father is eighty-six years of age and his mother eighty- one. The family moved from Montana to Oklahoma in 1907, the year in which that state was admitted to the Union. David L. Stone had first made the "run" there in 1889. Lyndes B. Stone completed his secondary studies at Tulsa Central High School, and went to the University of Kansas for his advanced academic studies, graduating there in 1928 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Two years later he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws at Yale Law School.
He was admitted to practice before the Oklahoma bar in 1930, and before the Connecticut bar in 1932. In 1930-1931, he practiced in Tulsa. In the latter year he joined the Phoenix Mutual Life Insur- ance Company, beginning in its legal department. He was later pro- moted to a more responsible position in its mortgage investment depart- ment, from which he was transferred to the general investment div- ision. Following a two-year period as financial vice president of the firm, Mr. Stone was promoted to executive vice president in 1956, and was admitted to the board of directors at the same time.
He is also a trustee of the Mechanics Savings Bank of Hartford, and is a member of the board of advisors of the West Hartford Branch of Connecticut Bank and Trust Company and of the board of directors of Phoenix Insurance Company. He is a member of the board of the Greater Hartford Community Chest, and also serves on the board of Children's Service of Connecticut, the Hartford Rehabilitation Center, and Governmental Research Institute. He is a trustee of Kingswood School in West Hartford.
His fraternities are Phi Alpha Delta (law) and Beta Theta Pi (social), and he also holds membership in Phi Beta Kappa national scholastic honor society. He is a member of The Hartford Club and attends Asylum Hill Congregational Church.
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In West Hartford, on June 28, 1934, Lyndes B. Stone married Alys Pierce of that community, daughter of Albert and Agnes ( Hoop- er) Pierce. Mrs. Stone attended Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, the University of California at Los Angeles, and Yale Art School. She has studied art in Paris, France. The couple are the parents of two children: 1. David H., born in West Hartford on August 28, 1941 ; attending Kingswood School. 2. Debora Alys, born April IT, 1945; attending Oxford School for Girls.
LESTER COURTLAND SMITH
An engineer by training and experience, Lester C. Smith joined the Spencer Turbine Company of Hartford in that capacity over three decades ago, and has advanced by steady steps to the presidency of the firm. He has held prominent offices in engineers' groups, and in local organizations.
He is a native of Winsted, and was born on August 16, 1904, son of Edgar S. and Bertha E. (Lamb) Smith. His father died in 1951, but his mother is still living and makes her home at Winsted. The engineer and executive received his elementary school education in the public schools of that town. For his secondary studies he went to the Gilbert School, also in Winsted, where he graduated in 1921. Already planning on an engineering career, he entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he graduated in 1925 with the degree of Bachelor of Science.
In that year he began his connection with the Spencer Turbine Company in the capacity of junior engineer. He was promoted to sales engineer in 1928 and to assistant chief engineer in 1932. In 1944, Mr. Smith was named chief engineer of the company, and he joined its management ranks when, in 1947, he was named vice president. He continued his duties as chief engineer concurrently with the vice presi- dency through 1956, and from 1952 was a member of the corporation's board of directors. He was chosen president of the company in 1957.
Among the engineers' societies, Mr. Smith has been most active in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In the national organization, he was a member of the National Constitution and By- laws Committee from 1945 to 1950, and again from 1952 to 1954. He was its chairman in 1950. In 1948, he served on the National Nomi- nating Committee; and he was a member of the National Organization Committee during 1949-1950. In 1955 he was renamed to that commit- tee, his term to continue through 1959. He became chairman in 1959. He was a member of the Production Engineering Division of the
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national body from 1947 to 1950. Among the regional activities of the society, Mr. Smith was a member of the Region I Sections Com- mittee from 1947 to 1952, and chairman of that committee in 1951- 1952. He was vice chairman of the Hartford Section from 1940 to 1942, and its chairman from 1942 to 1944. Also in 1942, he became delegate to the Connecticut General Committee of A.S.M.E. Sections, and was chairman in 1944. He was A.S.M.E. delegate to the Con- necticut Technical Council from 1945 to 1949, and vice chairman of the council from 1947 to 1949.
Mr. Smith was elected an honorary member of Pi Tau Sigma, Connecticut Pi Psi Chapter, in 1951. In 1954 he was elected an hono- rary member of Tau Beta Pi, Connecticut Beta Chapter.
During the war years 1942-1944, he served as chairman of the War Production and Engineering Council for Northern Connecticut, and he was a member of the Hartford Engineering Committee of the Connecticut War Industries Commission during 1948-1949. From 1940 to 1946, he was a member of the Subcommittee on Equipment, Cupola Research Project, of the American Foundrymen's Association. He was a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's National Committee on Financing Development in 1950. Since 1931, he has continuously served on the Dust Explosion Hazards Commit- tee of the National Fire Protection Association. He is an associate member of the American Institute of Management, and American Management Association, and an engineering associate of the Uni- versity of Connecticut from 1951 to 1955.
His memberships include the Hartford Club, Hartford Engineers Club, the Technology Club of Hartford, the Industrial Management Club of Hartford, and the Old Newgate Coon Club. Since 1945 he has been treasurer of Hartland Pond Corporation.
Mr. Smith has written several articles for trade papers on the industrial and commercial applications of suction for good house- keeping (vacuum cleaning), removal of surplus material in production operations and the part that low-pressure air plays in serving industry generally. He holds fourteen patents on industrial vacuum cleaning, dust collecting, and airflow devices.
He is a communicant of St. James's Church in West Hartford. He served as senior warden of the congregation in 1951-1952; and since 1953 has been building fund treasurer.
In Hartford, on September 14, 1929, Lester Courtland Smith married Miss Nuala E. Rommel of Hartford, daughter of J. Wesley and Adelene (Pye) Rommel. To their marriage two children have
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been born: I. Susan D. Smith, at Hartford on April 22, 1932. She is a graduate of the William H. Hall High School in West Hartford, and of Wellesley College, where she took her degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1954. In August, 1955, she became the wife of Peter K. Windesheim of Urbana, Illinois. A graduate of Trinity College, Mr. Windesheim is now with Arrow-Hart and Hegeman. The couple have two sons, Kurtis and Eric Windesheim. 2. Courtland L., born in Hart- ford on November 8. 1939. He is attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
LEWIS HENRY WHITNEY
Lewis Henry Whitney was, until recently, president and director of the Whitney Chain Company of Hartford, a firm which he joined for a second time a decade ago. He is now senior vice president of The Hanson-Whitney Company of Hartford.
Born December 9, 1908, in Winchendon, Massachusetts, he is a son of Charles and Cora A. (Clough) Whitney. His father, who died in 1913, was a millwright by trade, and also a chair maker, who work- ed at Gardner, Massachusetts, well known as a chair manufacturing center. Mrs. Whitney survived him until 1948. Lewis H. Whitney graduated from high school at Acton, Massachusetts, in 1927, the family having moved there in 1909. For his advanced studies, he went to Northeastern University in Boston, where he took his degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1931.
He began his career in that year with the Firestone Footwear Company at Hudson, Massachusetts, in the capacity of machine de- signer. Leaving in 1935, he joined the Fitchburg Paper Company of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and was employed in mechanical main- tenance at its plant. From 1936 to 1938, he was plant engineer with the Cambridge Rubber Company, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Mr. Whitney first joined the Whitney Chain Company of Hart- ford in 1938, taking a position as chief draftsman. He left in 194I to accept a position with the Grenby Manufacturing Company at Plainville, Connecticut, and worked for that firm as its chief engineer until 1947. At that time he returned to the Whitney Chain Company as assistant chief engineer. His progress thereafter was rapid. He was named chief engineer the following year, and became works man- ager in 1954. He was promoted to vice president in 1955, while retain- ing his title and duties as works manager. He was elected president of the corporation in 1956, and served in this capacity until 1959. He was also a member of its board of directors until 1959. Mr. Whitney
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now holds the post of senior vice president of The Hanson-Whitney Company of Hartford.
As an industrialist, Mr. Whitney has joined the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, the American Petroleum Institute and the American Standards Association. He is also a member of the Farm- ington Country Club. He makes his home at Farmington, where he is a communicant of the First Church of Christ, Congregational. Fond of the out-of-doors, he enjoys golf and gardening.
At Hyde Park, New York, on May 6, 1933, Lewis Henry Whit- ney married Elizabeth Vose Howe, daughter of Oscar and Madeleine (Harvell) Howe. Mrs. Whitney graduated from Acton High School, in Massachusetts, and is also a graduate of Massachusetts State Col- lege at Amherst. The couple are the parents of two children : I. Joanne B., who was born at Concord, Massachusetts on August 31, 1934. She graduated from Farmington High School, and holds the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Colby College, Waterville, Maine. She now teaches at Yarmouth, Massachusetts. 2. Charles A., born on Septem- ber 27, 1935. He is a graduate of Farmington High School and of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and is now with the Royal-McBee Typewriter Company as an engineer. He married Marlene Dietz of Farmington, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Durant, on June 23, 1957.
WALTER B. SCHATZ
Member of the well-known Hartford law firm of Schatz and Schatz, Walter B. Schatz has practiced in that city since the begin- ning of his career. Born in Hartford on February 12, 1922, he is a son of the late Louis M. Schatz, a founder of the firm, who was born in 1894 and died in 1953, and his wife, the former Elizabeth Borden. Mrs. Schatz survives her husband and makes her home in West Hartford.
Completing his preparatory education at Loomis Institute in Windsor, Walter B. Schatz went to Cornell University for his ad- vanced academic studies, and took his degree of Bachelor of Arts there in 1947. He then attended Cornell Law School, where he grad- uated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1949. Admitted to the bar, he has since been identified with the law firm of Schatz and Schatz, in which he is now a partner. This is a large organization whose mem- bers include Arthur H. Schatz, S. Michael Schatz, Joseph Adinolfi, Jr., Ralph M. Shulansky, Daniel E. Holland, Jr., Richard T. O'Con- nell, and several associates. It engages in a general practice, including
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corporation and probate law and the conduct of trials. Among the large organizations which are its representative clients are Dunham- Bush, Inc., Sage-Allen and Company, Albert Steiger, Inc., The Ed- ward Balf Company, Standard Foundry Company, Outdoor Adver- tising Association of Connecticut, Tobacco Distributors of Connec- ticut, Connecticut Pharmaceutial Association, and Connecticut Retail Grocers and Marketmen's Association. Offices are at 750 Main Street, Hartford.
Before he had completed his education, Mr. Schatz entered military service at the time of World War II, serving as a sergeant in Military Intelligence from October, 1942, to November, 1945. He was in the Pacific Theater. As a lawyer he is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar Association of Connecticut, and the Hart- ford County Bar Association.
On November 29, 1953, Walter B. Schatz married Edith Bern- stein, daughter of Abram and Mary (Diamond) Bernstein, and a graduate of Barnard College. The couple are the parents of the fol- lowing children: I. Louis Borden, born December 5, 1954. 2. Beverly Joan, born October 24, 1956.
EDGAR GARTSIDE RHODES
With a record of three decades' experience in the public utilities field, Edgar Gartside Rhodes has been for some years president and general manager of New Britain Gas Light Company. He is active in a number of trade societies, and also in the commercial, organiza- tional, and civic life of his own city.
Born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 22, 1900, he is a son of James Herbert and Alice Ann (Russell) Rhodes. His father had come to this country from England in 1890, being a native of Oldham in Lancashire. He returned on a number of visits to the country of his birth. He held a position as chief proof reader with the Curtis Publishing Company, publishers of The Saturday Evening Post and other magazines.
Edgar G. Rhodes received his early education in the public schools of his native city, and graduated from Northeast Manual Training High School in Philadelphia in February, 1917. He went on to advanced studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where he took his degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1921.
In that year he began his professional career as a construction
CIgas & Pholes
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engineer with United Engineers and Constructors, Inc., in Philadel- phia, an organization with which he remained until 1929. At that time he came to Connecticut, and joined the staff of the Housatonic Public Service Company at Derby as superintendent of its gas department. He was with that utilities firm until 1940, when he came to New Britain; he became president and general manager of the New Bri- tain Gas Light Company in 1950.
Mr. Rhodes was president of the New England Gas Association, and he is a member of the Guild of Gas Managers, The Society of Gas Operators and of the Society of Gas Lighting, this country's oldest trade organization in its field.
In his home city, Mr. Rhodes is a corporator of the New Britain Savings Bank. He is also a corporator of the New Britain General Hospital, and he is active in the program of the Boy Scouts of Ameri- ca, having served in past years as president of the Keemosahbee Council. A Rotarian, he is now also president of New Britain Cham- ber of Commerce, and he is a member of the New Britain Club and Shuttle Meadow Country Club. His fraternity is Sigma Tau, and he also belongs to Sigma Xi national scientific society.
Mr. Rhodes' church is St. Mark's Episcopal in New Britain, and he serves his congregation as senior warden.
At Goffstown, New Hampshire, on July 1I, 1925, Edgar Gart- side Rhodes married Mary Shirley, daughter of Robert Lawrence and Bertha (Shields) Shirley. In her family, for five consecutive generations the oldest daughter has been named Mary Shirley. Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes have two children: I. Edward Carleton, born July 23, 1929. 2. Russell Lawrence, born October 27, 1931.
E. STEPHEN COWLES, 3RD
The firm of E. S. Cowles and Son of Hartford has a record of over sixty-five years in the insurance business. With headquarters at 99 Pratt Street, the organization acts as Managing General Insurance Agents for the New England States, representing several insurance companies. Representing the third generation in its management is E. Stephen Cowles, 3rd, who joined the agency on his return from wartime service with the Army Air Corps.
Son of Edwin S. Cowles, Jr., and grandson of the agency's founder, Edwin S. Cowles, E. Stephen, 3rd, was born January 31, 1923. His mother is the former Florence Lee Ledger. He completed his preparatory studies at Admiral Farragut Academy, Toms River,
Conn.III-28
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New Jersey, after which he attended the University of Connecticut for one year. In 1942 he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps as an air cadet, and became a bomber pilot with the rank of first lieutenant, serving in the Eighth Air Force in England. His unit, the 44th Bomb Group, received the Presidential Unit Citation for leading the Eighth Air Force on the Famous Pulaski Mission. Lieu- tenant Cowles received the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. He received his honorable discharge in 1945.
Immediately on his return to civilian life, he joined the firm of E. S. Cowles and Son. Its founder died in 1942. At the present time, E. Stephen, 3rd, is a partner in the firm, and his father, Edwin S., Jr., is senior partner.
Mr. Cowles is currently serving as executive secretary and treas- urer of the Insurance Board of Hartford, which is the second oldest Insurance Agents' Association in the United States, having been founded in 1864. He is a member of the board of directors of the Connecticut Association of Insurance Agents, and is currently sen- ior member of its Executive Committee. He also is an active member of the National Association of Insurance Agents Educational Com- mittee.
His nonprofessional memberships include the City Club of Hart- ford and the Avon Country Club. He is fond of the active outdoor sports, skiing, swimming and boating. He and his family attend Grace Episcopal Church at Windsor, where they make their home.
At Westport, on June 18, 1945, E. Stephen Cowles, 3rd, married Sarah Ridgeway Hastings. Born in Hartford, she is a daughter of Ford Huntington and Edith (Corey) Hastings of that city. She is a graduate of Edgewood Park Junior College at Briarcliff, New York. She is a member of the Ridgeway Society of Philadelphia, as a des- cendant of the Ridgeway family. A forebear of this family, Benjamin Rush, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Mrs. Cowles is also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The couple are the parents of two children: 1. Susan Ridgeway, who was born in Hartford on June 2, 1947. 2. Abigail Satterlee, born March 14, 1953.
JOHN S. MURTHA
Practicing law in Hartford since the beginning of his profes- sional career, John S. Murtha is now a member of the firm of Shep- herd, Murtha and Merritt, which has its offices at 97 Elm Street. He
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formerly served as Assistant State's Attorney for Hartford County.
A native of Hartford, he was born on April 30, 1913, and is a son of John J. and Agnes (Hennessey) Murtha. His father, who was born in Hartford in 1887, and died on April 13, 1950, was a partner in the firm of Cooley and Company, investment brokers of Hartford. A graduate of Hartford Public High School, he entered the brokerage business as a young man, and was one of the first members of the above firm, with which he continued his connection until the end of his life. Agnes Hennessey, whom he married, was a native of Middle- town, and survives her husband, making her home in West Hartford.
John S. Murtha completed his preparatory studies at The Loomis School in Windsor, then entered Yale College, where he took his de- gree of Bachelor of Arts in 1935. He took his professional training at Yale Law School, which conferred on him the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1938. In that year he was admitted to the bar of his state, and began his connection with the firm with which he has since been identified, although it was at that time known as Hewes, Prettyman and Awalt. It subsequently became Shepherd, Murtha and Merritt, after considerable change in its membership.
Mr. Murtha was absent serving in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. He was discharged as lieutenant, senior grade, and was in the sea combat areas of both the Mediterranean and the Pacific. Following his return to civilian life, he assumed duties in public of- fice as assistant state's attorney, in 1946, and served until 1951. He has since centered his attention in the practice of law, although he also has other duties in connection with business corporations. He is a di- rector of the Kaman Aircraft Corporation of Bloomfield, the River- side Trust Company of Hartford, and the Security Insurance Con- pany of New Haven. He also serves on the board of trustees of The Loomis School, which he once attended, and the Ethel Walker School.
As a lawyer, Mr. Murtha belongs to the Hartford County Bar Association, the Connecticut State Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. His fraternity is Psi Upsilon, and he is a member of the Fence Club of New Haven, the Yale Club, The Hartford Club, the University Club and Hartford Golf Club. In politics he is a Re- publican, and he is a communicant of St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church. Fond of the outdoors, Mr. Murtha enjoys golf and hunting.
At Madison, on July 7, 1939, John S. Murtha married Winifred Garvan, daughter of John F. and Emily (Trowbridge) Garvan. She is a graduate of Ethel Walker School for Girls. The couple have
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three children: 1. John Garvan, born in Hartford on March 3, 1941, now attending Loomis Institute. 2. Leslie Alice, born June 26, 1945, also in Hartford. She is attending Oxford School in West Hartford. 3. Brenda Ann, born April 9, 1947; attending Bugbee School in West Hartford.
RONALD E. YOUNG
In the course of approximately two decades with The Hartford Fire Insurance Company. Ronald E. Young has advanced to the posi- tions of vice president, secretary and treasurer of this and subsidiary firms. He served in the United States Army during World War II.
Born at Northeast Harbor, Maine, on October 19, 1910, Mr. Young is a son of Curtis S. and Florence (Smith) Young. Both parents are now deceased .. Attending the public schools of his native city, Ronald E. Young graduated from Gilman High School there, and entered the University of Maine, where he graduated in 1932 with the degree of Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering. He began his business career with the manufacturing firm of Landers, Frary and Clark in New Britain, working in its sales department, but the following year, 1933, left to join the Socony-Mobil Oil Com- pany, working in various capacities at its Hartford office. His next connection, during 1935-1936, was with Christian Peterson and Com- pany, a dairy supply and refrigerating firm.
He joined The Hartford Fire Insurance Company late in 1936, and until 1941 was special agent for the firm in New Jersey. He left for military service in 1941, and served until 1946, attaining the rank of major in the United States Army, with duty in both the American and Pacific Theaters.
Mr. Young rejoined the Hartford Fire Insurance Company in 1946, and became office manager at its Hartford headquarters. He was promoted to assistant secretary of the company in 1949, to secretary in 1953, and to the offices of vice president, secretary and treasurer in 1956. He has held the same offices in its subsidiary organizations since that time.
His fraternity is Alpha Tau Omega, and he is also a member of the following organizations: National Association of Corporate Sec- retaries; National Conference of Christians and Jews; American Management Association; Connecticut Chamber of Commerce; Na- tional Office Management Association. He and his family attend Horace Bushnell Congregational Church where he has served succes- sively as a trustee, as chairman of the executive board, and as a deacon.
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