USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume III > Part 47
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Through the Daughters of the American Revolution, she donated an ambulance to England, before the entrance of this country into World War II. She also contributed generously to the blood plasma fund and the war fund of the Daughters of the American Revolution. As state regent of that organization, Miss Matthies supervised the "Landing Craft-Infantry" project in Connecticut and was a mem- ber of the Governor's War Fund Committee. She has always been deeply interested in civic affairs and is unusually capable as an ad- ministrator. Her constructive efforts and abilities have placed her service in demand in many fields.
Other patriotic societies of which she is a member are the Socie- ties of Mayflower Descendants in Connecticut and Massachusetts through her descent from Richard Warren; the Daughters of Colonial Wars; the Society of Old Plymouth Colony Descendants, 1910, and the American Legion Auxiliary. As a member of the United States Daughters of 1812, State of Connecticut, Miss Matthies served as first vice president, 1957-1959, and was elected president in 1959 for a two year term. She is also a member of the New York Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association, and the Episcopal Church of her home community, which she has served as a member of various com- mittees as well as in the diocese. In the fall of 1959 Miss Matthies be- came a director of the Seymour Manufacturing Company, the organi- zation founded by her grandfather, William H. H. Wooster.
As hobbies Miss Matthies enjoys floriculture, photography, and the collecting of old prints. As a philatelist, her collection of patriotic covers is known throughout the United States. She has exemplified the traditions of service and personal development which have for centuries been identified with her noble forebears.
MATTHIES
(I) Martin Matthies, first of this line to be recorded, married Eva Sumnor, and they had a son George E., of whom further. (City of New York Department of Health, Bureau of Records, Family re- cords. )
(II) George E. Matthies, son of Martin and Eva (Sumnor) Mat- thies was born in Brewster, New York, July 9, 1863, and died in New York City, April II, 1922. He married, November 18, 1890, Annie Thompson Wooster (Wooster VIII). They became the parents of the following children: 1. Bernard Harrison, married, September 22, 1920, Ethel May Clark. Children: i. George Clark, born July 29, 1922. ii. William Wooster, born July 8, 1924. iii. Roberta Isabel,
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born December 10, 1925. iv. Richard Lloyd, born October 28, 1927. v. Bernard Franklyn, born January 23, 1932. 2. Katharine, whose biography appears on preceding pages. (Col. N. G. Osborn: Men of Mark in Connecticut, Vol. IV, pp. 91, 92. Family records.)
WOOSTER
The surname Wooster, a variant of Worcester, signified a resi- dent of the English town or county of that name. This patronymic is also found as Worster and Woster in early records. (C. W. Bardsley: Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames. H. Harrison: Surnames of the United Kingdom. M. A. Lower: Patronymica Britannica. )
(I) Edward Wooster, American progenitor of this family, was born in England in 1622, and died July 8, 1689. He married (first) a lady whose name is unknown, but who may have been a member of the family of Francis French, to whom he appears to have been related by marriage. He married (second), in 1669, Tabitha Tomlinson. Eldest of the six children of the second marriage was a son Timothy (I) of whom further. (H. O. Collins: The Wooster Family, in New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. Vol. XXX, pp. 243-46. J. Savage: A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Vol. IV. pp. 310, 649.)
(II) Sergeant Timothy ( 1) Wooster, son of Edward and Tabitha (Tomlinson) Wooster, was born in Derby, Connecticut, November 12, 1670. He married Anna Perry, who was born in 1678, daughter of Arthur and Ann (Judson) Perry. Eldest of their nine children was a son Timothy (2) of whom further. (Ibid.)
(III) Timothy (2) Wooster, son of Sergeant Timothy ( r) and Anna (Perry) Wooster, was born in Derby. December 29, 1699. He married (first), August 18. 1727, Abigail Harger, who died September 23. 1736. He married (second). March 22, 1737. Sarah Bowers, his cousin, daughter of Samuel and Ruth (Wooster) Bowers. Fourth and youngest of the children of the second marriage was a son Walter, of whom further. (H. O. Collins: The Wooster Family. in New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. XXX. p. 43.)
(IV) Walter Wooster, son of Timothy (2) and Sarah ( Bowers) Wooster, was born in Derby, July 7. 1745. and died in Waterbury, July 21. 1829. his obituary reading as follows :
At Waterbury (Salem Society) Mr. Wooster age eighty-two. He served his country in the hour of her need and was one of the heroes who stared death in the face at the storming of Stony Point, etc. He sustained through his long life the character of an honest man and a humble Christian (of Baptist denomina-
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Anna Louise (Putnam) Wooster, Annie J. Wooster) Matthies, Bernard Harrison Matthies, George Clark Matthias
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tion), and his was "the path of the just which shineth more and more unto the perfect day."
It has been said that he was a "marked exemplification of the patriotic soldier of the Revolution, ready to sacrifice his property and life in the struggle for freedom from tyranny." March 2, 1777, he enlisted in Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs' Continental Regiment, Sixth Connecticut Line, and participated, for the following three years, in nearly all the campaigns and battles in Connecticut and New York. He was promoted to orderly sergeant of his company, and, February 26, 1779, led the storming detachment at Horseneck, on Long Island. The first to enter the fort, he was the man who hauled down the British flag. He was severely wounded in the shoulder at an engagement near King's Bridge (Kingsbridge), New York.
Upon his return to Connecticut, the town of Derby made him a member of its recruiting committee. He was later appointed a revenue officer for one of the districts of Connecticut, collecting taxes for the Continental Army. At the conclusion of the Revolution, he served on the "Alarm List" of Derby and was often engaged in mili- tary duty.
Walter Wooster married, November 15, 1780, Ursula Beebe. Eldest of their eight children was a son Levi, of whom further. (Ibid., pp. 43-44. )
(V) Lieutenant Levi Wooster, son of Walter and Ursula (Beebe) Wooster, was born in Derby in 1781, and died in Naugatuck, Con- necticut, in 1859. He married in 1803, Esther Terrill, daughter of Jared and Esther (Eelles) Terrill. The eldest of three sons was Albert, of whom further. (Ibid., p. 44. Campbell, Sharpe and Bassett: Sey- mour, Past and Present, p. 604. )
(VI) Albert Wooster, son of Lieutenant Levi and Esther (Ter- rill) Wooster, married, November 19, 1826, Mittie Chatfield. They had four children, youngest of whom was a son, William Henry Harrison, of whom further. (Campbell, Sharpe and Bassett: Seymour Past and Present, p. 604.)
(VII) William Henry Harrison Wooster, son of Albert and Mit- tie (Chatfield) Wooster, was born in Waterbury, July 4, 1840, and died in New Haven, December 17, 1919. He married, August 26, 1861, Anna Louise Putnam. Eldest of their six children was a daugh- ter, Annie Thompson, of whom further.
(VIII) Annie Thompson Wooster, daughter of William Henry Harrison and Anna Louise (Putnam) Wooster, married George E. Matthies. (Matthies II). (Ibid.)
Conn. III-37
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JOHN LEO SULLIVAN
The Hon. John Leo Sullivan, Connecticut's State Tax Commis- sioner, assumed his present post following a distinguished record as mayor of the City of New Britain. In both offices he has revealed an exceptional grasp of municipal and state finances, tax procedures, and the statistics relevant to these fields. He is a man wholeheartedly devoted to his task, to which he brings vision and a clear-cut and courageous policy.
Mr. Sullivan is a native of West Cromwell, and was born on June 26, 1900, son of Daniel Patrick and Margaret (McCarthy) Sullivan. After completing his studies through the secondary grades in local public schools, he studied at the Hartford College of Law. His knowledge of law has served him well throughout his career. In his earlier years he was prominent as a musician, and became an orchestra leader, touring New England, New York, New Jersey and elsewhere in the East between 1917 and 1930. His principal instrument is the violin, and on occasion he has employed such well-known bandsmen as Rudy Vallee, Charlie Spivak, Artie Shaw, Hal McIntyre, Tony Pastore and Barry Wood. He first turned his attention to politics in 1922, and since then has been very active in that field, whether in elective office or not.
In the course of his many years in public life he has filled several responsible executive posts. From 1937 to 1940 he served as a mem- ber of his city's board of education. Elected to the Connecticut State Senate in 1938, he served until 1945, and in the latter year was named clerk of the Senate, holding that office until 1947. Meanwhile, in 1940, he served as director of census for the entire state of Connecticut.
In 1945 Mr. Sullivan entered private industry, as Connecticut sales manager for the Johns-Manville Corporation. He continued in this capacity until 1950, when he was elected to his first term as mayor of New Britain. He was reelected in 1952.
The people of his city first chose him for this office in a close campaign in which Mr. Sullivan was victorious by only seven hundred votes. It attests to his popularity and to the confidence which he earned that when he ran to succeed himself two years later, his plurality was approximately 10,000 votes. He has been cited nationally for the effec- tive job he performed in instituting a program of off-street parking in that city. Today, five municipally-owned parkades, a word coined by Mr. Sullivan, accommodate the large number of cars driven into the downtown area by shoppers. During his years as mayor, Mr. Sul- livan traveled widely in the state to promote such programs in other
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cities, a matter of very real interest to him. He also attracted consid- erable attention because of his stand on the use of state tax dollars in behalf of smaller communities. His views in this regard were thus stated to a Waterbury Sunday Republican reporter at the time he was mayor :
Thirty-five communities in the state are functioning without a dollar of indebtedness and refuse to go into debt for educational and highway facilities that the cities must provide out of their own resources.
Mr. Sullivan has been recognized as particularly well informed in the matter of municipal administration and finance since he served in the Senate, 1938-1945. As mayor, he put into effect a number of liberalized programs, winning salary increases for city employees, reducing working hours for policemen and firemen from forty-eight to forty, and seventy-two to fifty-six respectively, adding eighteen men to the police force and seventeen to the fire department, as well as sixteen more teachers . . and still managing to effect a tax re- duction.
Following Abraham Ribicoff's election as Governor, Mr. Sullivan was named State Tax Commissioner, a post for which he was partic- ularly well qualified, and in which he has served effectively and devot- edly since 1955. He received a reappointment to this office in 1959 and was confirmed by a unanimous vote of the State Senate.
In his home city, Mr. Sullivan holds membership in the Civitan Club, the Order of Ahepa, and the lodges of the Knights of Columbus, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is of the Roman Catholic faith.
On May 17, 1941, John Leo Sullivan married Dorothy Mae Cush- ing, daughter of Edward and Mary Elizabeth (Fennimore) Cushing. The couple has a daughter, Pamela, who was born on August 7, 1950.
HENRY HILL PIERCE, JR.
Connecticut's State Banking Commissioner, Henry Hill Pierce, Jr., has been capably filling his present responsible post since 1955. Prior to that he had practical experience as executive of a bank in Clinton. He has been candidate for United States Congressman, and has been active otherwise in public, civic, and organizational affairs.
A native of New York City, he was born on June 12, 1908, son of Henry Hill and Katharine (Curtis) Pierce. His father, a graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine, and a native of that state, was descended from Thomas Hill, who was once president of Harvard College. He
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took his degree of Bachelor of Arts at Bowdoin in 1896, and in 1900 received his Bachelor of Laws degree at New York University. Bow- doin later conferred on him a Doctor of Laws degree. Admitted to practice in New York State in 1900, he joined the well-known firm of Sullivan and Cromwell, became a partner, and continued in this connection until his death in 1940. Katharine Curtis, whom he mar- ried, was born at Summit, New Jersey, and attended Bryn Mawr College. She survives her husband and makes her home in New York City.
Completing his preparatory studies at Groton School, Groton, Massachusetts, the younger Henry Hill Pierce graduated there in 1927. He went abroad for his advanced studies, attending Clare Col- lege of Cambridge University, which conferred on him the degrees of Bachelor of Arts in 1931, and Master of Arts in 1934. He also studied art in England and in New York City, and a number of his paintings have been exhibited at galleries in various parts of the Unit- ed States.
Mr. Pierce moved to Clinton, Connecticut, in 1938, and in his early years there, turned his attention to farming. He also served as a member of Clinton's board of education, and for four years held office as first selectman. In 1948 he joined the management staff of the Clinton National Bank, holding office as vice president and director until his appointment to the state banking post in 1955. Meantime, in 1954, he had been nominated by the Democratic party as its can- didate for United States Congressman from Connecticut's Second Congressional District. He was defeated in a close race.
While Mr. Pierce's offices are in the State Office Building in Hartford, he retains Clinton as his place of residence. He serves on the board of directors of the public library there, and is junior warden of the city's Episcopal Church. His memberships include the Clinton Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, the Madison Beach Club, The Hartford Club, and the Union Club and Players Club, both of New York City. Affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, he is a member of Jephtha Lodge and of all higher bodies of the Scottish Rite. He holds the Thirty-second degree, and is a member of Sphinx Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in Hartford.
In New York City on June 10, 1938, Henry Hill Pierce, Jr., married Mildred Pope of Madison, Connecticut, daughter of Arthur R. and Madeline (Parker) Pope. Mrs. Pierce attended Brearley School in New York City, and Vassar College at Poughkeepsie, New
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York. The couple are the parents of five children: I. Katharine C., born in New Haven on March 27, 1940. She is now a student at George School in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. 2. Margot, born on October 17, 1941. She attends Miss Masters' School at Dobbs Ferry, New York. 3. Thomas Hill, born on February 13, 1945, also at New Haven. He is attending Groton School. 4. Evelina, born in Middle- town on July 15, 1947. She attends Clinton Grammar School. 5. Pa- tience, born March 20, 1954, in Middletown.
DONALD C. MATHEWS
Donald C. Mathews, Director of State Parks and Forest Com- mission of the State of Connecticut, assumed his present duties more than a decade ago. He previously had extensive experience in private industry.
He is a native of Milford, and was born on July 7, 1905, son of Charles O. and Harriet (Clark) Mathews. His father, who died in 1941, held at that time the position of general manager of the White Manufacturing Company in Bridgeport. Mrs. Mathews survived her husband until 1946.
Spending his boyhood years in Milford, he attended its public schools, and was a member of the 1924 class of Milford High School. Rather than seek higher education, he began his practical experience in the business world, joining the American Chain Company in Bridge- port. That firm placed him in the export sales department. In 1932, he left to join the Berkshire Chemical Company, also of Bridgeport, in a sales capacity. Mr. Mathews' next position, in which he began work in 1944, was as secretary of the Woodruff Seed Company of Orange, Connecticut. He continued in his executive post with that firm until his appointment as Director of State Parks and Forest Commission, in 1946. He is president of the North Eastern State Park Directors Association. He is a Methodist in religious faith.
At Bristol, on September 12, 1931, Donald C. Mathews married Judy Jenkins of that city, daughter of Garfield and Margaret (Dick- son) Jenkins. The couple are the parents of the following children: I. Richard, born on December 14, 1935. 2. David, who was born on May 31, 1940. Both of the children were born in Bridgeport. The family resides a IIO Preston Street, in Windsor.
ROBERT L. HALLORAN
It has been a little less than three decades since Robert L. Hal-
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loran was admitted to the Connecticut bar and commenced his practice at Hartford. He is now senior partner in the firm of Halloran, Sage, Phelan and Hagerty, which has its offices at 25 Lewis Street.
Born at New Britain on August 19, 1906, he is a son of James R. and Mary (Conran) Halloran. Both of his parents are deceased. Receiving his early education in local public schools, Robert L. Hal- loran graduated from New Britain High School in 1923. He took both his advanced academic and his professional studies at Yale Uni- versity, receiving his degree of Bachelor of Arts at the college in 1928, and his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1930.
He was then admitted to the bar of the state of Connecticut, and began his practice in Hartford. The firm of Halloran, Sage, Phelan and Hagerty, of which he is now senior partner, was formed in 1935. Mr. Halloran devotes the greater part of his attention to trial work. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Connecticut State Bar Association, and the Hartford County Bar Association.
His nonprofessional memberships include the Yale Club of Hart- ford, the University Club, The Hartford Club, and Hartford Golf Club. His favorite sport is tennis. A Roman Catholic, Mr. Halloran is a communicant of St. Joseph's Church.
At Forest Hills, Long Island, on July 7, 1936, Robert L. Hal- loran married Elizabeth M. Dempsey. The daughter of William and Elizabeth (Brewer) Dempsey, Mrs. Halloran is a graduate of the College of New Rochelle. The couple are the parents of the follow- ing children : 1. Robert L., Jr., who was born on March 26, 1937. He is a graduate of Chester Academy, and is now studying for the priest- hood at St. Thomas Seminary. 2. Elizabeth Ann, born January 31, 1939. She graduated from Mount St. Joseph's Academy in West Hartford, and is now a student at Boston University Art School. 3. Marie Louise, born July 21, 1942. She is attending Ursuline Academy at Springfield, Massachusetts. 4. James Philip, born December 2, 1948; attending Robinson School in West Hartford. All of the children were born in Hartford.
ATTILIO R. FRASSINELLI
Following experience in the real estate and insurance business, and in public life as a member of the Connecticut State Legislature, Attilio R. Frassinelli was appointed in 1955 to the important state post of Commissioner of Foods and Drugs. In 1959 he was appointed Commissioner of Connecticut's new Consumer Protection Department,
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and he was recently elected president of the New York Conference of Health Officers and Food and Drug Officials. He is a resident of Stafford Springs, where he still serves on the board of selectmen, and is active in community affairs.
The son of John and Josephine (Dell'Agnese) Frassinelli, he was born at Stafford Springs on August 7, 1908. Both of his parents were natives of Italy, married there, and arrived in this country in 1907. His father was born in Venice, and once served as footguard to King Victor Emanuel III. On coming to the United States, he and his family settled in Stafford Springs, where he took a position in the textile mills. He later became a stationary engineer with the War- ren Woolen Company. He died May 19, 1936.
Attending the public schools of his native city, Attilio R. Fras- sinelli graduated from Stafford Springs High School and from Met- ropolitan School of Accounting in Boston. He then returned to Staf- ford Springs to enter the insurance field as a life underwriter, and after a short time in that branch of insurance, opened a general insur- ance agency in his own name, in conjunction with a real estate business. The insurance business was sold in 1954.
Meantime he had made an auspicious start in public life. His first office was membership on the board of education at Stafford Springs to which he was elected in 1930. He served until 1942. Mr. Frassinelli was elected to the Connecticut State Legislature from Stafford in 1946, took his seat in 1947, and was elected to a second term, 1949-1951. In 1946 he was elected first selectman of Stafford Springs, and has held that local office to the present time.
In March, 1955, Governor Ribicoff appointed Attilio R. Fras- sinelli Commissioner of Foods and Drugs for the State of Connecticut, and he has capably discharged the many duties of that office. In 1959 Mr. Frassinelli was appointed by the governor to the position of Com- missioner of the State's new Consumer Protection Department, the first agency of its kind in the country. This new department, part of the governor's state reorganization plan, is the collection of state inspection agencies with the Food and Drug Commission as the nu- cleus. He has his headquarters in the State Office Building in Hart- ford. Mr. Frassinelli was recently elected president of the New York Conference of Health Officers and Food and Drug Officials, one of the country's oldest associations devoted exclusively to the discussion of food, drug, and health problems.
He continues to live at Stafford Springs. There he is an incor- porator of the Stafford Savings Bank. He is a member of his city's
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Chamber of Commerce, and formerly served as president of its Rotary Club and of the Italian Benefit Society. A Roman Catholic and a communicant of St. Edward's Church, he is a Fourth-degree member of the Knights of Columbus, serving as honor guard in his lodge. Interested in work with youth, he serves on the board of trustees of the Young Men's Christian Association camp at Woodstock, Con- necticut. He retains his interest in real estate development, and his hobby is antiques. Recently, Mr. Frassinelli received a citation of merit in recognition of his service as chairman of the State Employees Association in the Muscular Dystrophy program.
In his home city of Stafford Springs, on January 27, 1927, At- tilio R. Frassinelli married Mildred M. McLagan, daughter of John and Annie (Cowan) McLagan. The couple are the parents of the following children, all of whom were born at Stafford Springs: I. Claire, born on July 4, 1928. She graduated from Stafford High School and from the University of Connecticut, and is now the wife of Wilmar West. A native of Stafford, Mr. West is a veteran of naval service in World War II. They have the following children : i. Donna. ii. Diane. iii. Wendy. iv. Deborah. 2. Gordon John, born October 10, 1936. A graduate of Stafford High School, he graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1958. 3. David Allen, born on April 29, 1938. He graduated from Stafford High School, and now holds a contract for mail delivery and operation of a school bus at Stafford Springs. 4. Nancy Ellen, born May 8, 1940; recently graduated from Stafford High School. 5. Virginia Ann, born July 29, 1942.
RICHARD THOMAS SCULLY
Practicing law in Hartford since he completed his professional training a decade ago, Richard Thomas Scully has acquitted himself well in public office, in the course of that time, as prosecutor and judge. He has taken a lively interest in political affairs, and is active in bar and other groups, in some of which he has held office.
Born at Hartford on August 3, 1914, Mr. Scully is a son of John Patrick and Anna M. (Benny) Scully. He attended local schools, in- cluding the Washington Street School, and the William H. Hall High School where he graduated in 1932. For his advanced academic studies, he went to Washington and Lee University, where he received his degree of Bachelor of Science in 1936.
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Before he prepared for the law, Mr. Scully gained varied ex- perience in the business world. His first full-time position was as as- sitant manager of the Hartford Better Business Bureau. In 1940, he became vice president and manager of the Capitol City Linen Supply Company. He entered government work in 1942 as supervisor of the Food Enforcement Division of the Office of Price Administra- tion, serving in that post until 1946. He then became office manager for Stern and Company, Inc.
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