USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume IV > Part 27
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Under appointment by Governor John Lodge Mr. Ferris began duties on the bench as judge of the Greenwich Town Court in 1952. He held office for two terms until 1956. In 1958 he took over his present duties as town counsel of the Town of Greenwich. He has been a member of the Republican Town Committee since 1956.
Active in the Greenwich Bar Association, Mr. Ferris served as its president in 1951-1952. He is also a member of the Bar Associa- tion of the State of Connecticut and the American Bar Association. His nonprofessional memberships include the Innis Arden Golf Club at Old Greenwich, and the posts of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. A Roman Catholic, he is a communicant of St. Ca- therine's Church at Riverside.
In Greenwich, on August 12, 1939, Benjamin F. Ferris married Mary Ellen Yerks, daughter of James L., Sr., and Catherine Yerks. Mr. and Mrs. Ferris make their home at I Meadow Drive, Cos Cob, and are the parents of four children: I. Constance Ann, who was born on May 2, 1942. 2. Jonathan, born on November 4, 1944. 3. George Benjamin, born August 8, 1946. 4. Benjamin Filmore, Jr., born on March 13, 1958.
ABBOTT ABERCROMBIE
After varied business experience, Abbott Abercrombie estab- lished his own insurance agency at Darien a few years ago. He has headed this organization, known at The Abercrombie Company, since. Meantime, he has become active in community affairs, holding office in the local Y. M. C. A. organization, and filling municipal posts.
He is a native of Newark, New Jersey, and was born on March 7, 1909, son of David T. and Lucy (Abbott) Cate Abercrombie. His father had come from Baltimore, Maryland, and was born in that city on June 6, 1867. After attending Baltimore schools and Baltimore City College, he began his career as a civil engineer, but later became a dealer in canvas and ultimately a camp outfitter. During World War I, he was in military service stateside, in the Quartermaster Corps. Following impairment in his eyesight, he became a designer
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of camp equipment, and was a founder of the Campfire Club of America. His death occurred at Ossining, New York, in 1931. He was a member of the Explorers Club and the Military Order of the World Wars. Lucy A. Cate, whom he married, was born in 1867 at Brookline, Massachusetts. She attended schools there and in Balti- more. Her death occurred in 1956 in Montclair, New Jersey.
Abbott Abercrombie attended Polytechnic Preparatory Country Day School in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Pawling School at Pawling, New York in 1928. He did not attend college. During his first two years following graduation, he worked for the firm of Raymond and Whitcomb, Travel Agents and Cruise Opera- tors. In 1930, with his own ship, he entered business for himself, heading the Elda Shipping Company until 1933. In 1936 he joined Graybar Electric Company, with which he remained for twelve years. In 1946, Mr. Abercrombie came to Darien and there he opened his own insurance firm in 1952. He has headed the Abercrombie Com- pany since. Its offices are at 34 Old Kings Highway South.
From June 10, 1942, to March, 1946, he was serving in the United States Army Air Corps. On his enlistment, he was commis- sioned a second lieutenant, and was discharged with the rank of major. He remained stateside throughout his period of service. He is a member of the Air Force Association, but is not active in the Re- serve Corps.
Mr. Abercrombie is a member of the board of directors of the Stamford Young Men's Christian Association, and also chairman of the board of governors of its Darien branch. A Republican in politics, he is active as representative at town meetings, and serves as a member of the Darien Safety Committee and the Architectural Review Board. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Darien, which he formerly served as president. He is a Kiwanian, and was one of the founders of the Country Club of Darien.
Work with youth and on behalf of welfare causes have claimed their share of Mr. Abercrombie's attention. He was formerly dis- trict commissioner of the Boy Scouts of America, and formerly an official of the Darien United Fund, serving successively as its presi- dent, vice president and treasurer. Professionally he is associated with the Mid-Fairfield County Association of Insurance Agents, the Con- necticut State Association of Insurance Agents, and the National Association of Insurance Agents. Mr. Abercrombie and his family attend the Noroton Presbyterian Church, which he serves as an elder. He is also active in the National Council of Presbyterian Men.
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At All Saints Church at Scarborough, New York, on Decem- ber 10, 1938, Abbott Abercrombie married Jane Grey Carter. She was born at Brooklyn, New York, on July 12, 1912, and is a daugh- ter of James Henry and Laura (Thedford) Carter. Her father, who left school in the sixth grade to take a job as page with the National City Bank of New York, advanced to the position of senior vice presi- dent of that large financial organization, but left to become a partner in Carter and Company of the New York Stock Exchange. Mrs. Abercrombie attended Scarborough schools and Bennett School (now Bennett College) at Millbrook, New York, where she graduated in 1931. She is active in the Darien Community Association, the Gar- den Group, Darien Book Aid, Inc., and other organizations. The couple, who make their home at 25 Knollwood Lane, Darien, are the parents of two children: I. David Carter, who was born on July 31, 1940, in New York City. He is attending South Kent School, and is a member of the baseball team there. 2. Thomas Tyler, born in Ro- chester, New York, on August 20, 1941. He too is attending South Kent School.
WARREN FRANCIS CRESSY, JR.
Practicing law at Stamford since he was admitted to the bar, Warren Francis Cressy, Jr., is a partner in the firm of Cressy, Melvin and Carter. He makes his home in Darien, and has represented that town in the Connecticut State Legislature, as well as heading its Zon- ing Commission Appeals Board.
A native of Stamford, Mr. Cressy was born on October 19, 1909, son of Warren Francis and May (Butler) Cressy. Also a lawyer, his father was born at Oxford, in 1878, and took his degree of Bachelor of Laws at Yale Law School in 1905. He first practiced at New Haven, then came to Stamford, where he became associated with a law firm which has been in continuous existence for a full century, although under a succession of names, corresponding with its changes in mem- bership. When the elder Warren F. Cressy became a partner, it was titled Carter and Cressy, later becoming Cressy and Sherwood. From 1929, it was known as Cressy, Bartram, Melvin and Sherwood. It is now Cressy, Melvin and Carter. Warren F. Cressy, Sr., died in 1952. During his younger years he was a member of the Common Council at Stamford, and was a Rotarian. May Butler, whom he married, was born in 1880 at Naugatuck, and died in 1947.
After attending Stamford public schools through his second year
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at Stamford High School, Warren F. Cressy, Jr., transferred to Phillips Andover Academy in Massachusetts, completing his prepara- tory studies at that famed school in 1928. He then enrolled at Yale University, where he took his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1932. In 1935 he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws from Yale Law School. Admitted to the Connecticut bar, he joined his father's firm, with which he has remained since. He has been a partner since 1952.
A Republican, Mr. Cressy was chosen his party's candidate for representative from Darien in the Connecticut State Legislature, and was elected to serve in the 1949 session. He was re-elected for the 1951 session. A resident of Darien for more than two decades, he is cur- rently chairman of the Zoning Commission Appeals Board of the town.
As a lawyer, he is a member of the Stamford Bar Association, the Connecticut Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He holds no memberships in clubs of purely social nature or in lodges or fraternities.
In Stamford, on June 29, 1935, Warren Francis Cressy, Jr., mar- ried Bernice L. Foster, who was born at Freeport, Kansas, on April 26, 1911. She attended the Low-Heywood High School and Putnam Girls School in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is a graduate of Welles- ley College, where she took her degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1932.
The couple make their home on Deepwood Road in Darien, and are the parents of two daughters: I. Dean, born in Stamford on May 20, 1937. A graduate of Darien High School in the Class of 1955, she graduated in 1959 from Bates College, where she majored in government. She was a proctor, and active in all campus affairs. 2. Barbara, born September 8, 1939, also in Stamford. She graduated from Darien High School in 1957, and is now a student at Bates College.
WILFRED BARBER HOBSON
President of the Hobson and Botts Company of Danbury, one of the pioneers in the stainless steel tableware industry, and manu- facturers of stainless steel knives, forks and spoons, Mr. Hobson has been associated with the company for thirty years. He is also active in civic and community affairs in Danbury.
Mr. Hobson was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, on December 19, 1912, the son of Arthur Kendrick Hobson and of Margaret ( Bar- ber) Hobson. His father was born in Brooklyn, New York, on
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November 1, 1891, and his mother was born in Sheffield, England, on March 28, 1894. He attended elementary and high school, and he then became associated with the Hobson and Botts Company in Dan- bury.
Founded in 1920 by John M. Botts and John Hobson, the Hob- son and Botts Company began operations with twenty employees and in its first year manufactured sixty thousand dozen knives, forks and spoons, made of nickel-plated and silver-plated carbon steel. The company then pioneered in the use of stainless steel for table ware, and in 1957, used three hundred tons of stainless steel in the manu- facture of more than eight million knives, forks and spoons, which were sold to wholesalers, retailers, and jobbers. The company has ex- panded its plant facilities twice, and numbers among its customers the chains of F. W. Woolworth and J. J. Newberry, S. H. Kress and Company, and H. L. Green and Company as well as many large restaurant supply houses. Other officers of the company include R. Forrest Hobson, vice president and secretary, Margaret B. Hobson, assistant treasurer and Martha T. Waterhouse, treasurer.
Mr. Hobson is active in community life and is a member of the Danbury Rotary Club and the Elks. He enjoys social connections as a member of the Danbury Club, the New York Athletic Club and the Ridgewood Country Club, and he attends religious services as a member of the Episcopal Church.
Mr. Hobson was married in Danbury on July 6, 1935, to Ruth Elizabeth Hatch, the daughter of Charles Mills Hatch and of Caro- lyn Louise (Raymond) Hatch. Her father was born in Danbury on August 29, 1876, and her mother in Ridgefield, Connecticut, on Sep- tember 27, 1878. Mrs. Hobson's paternal great-great-grandfather, Sylvanus Stewart, was twenty-six years of age when the British burned Danbury in 1777. He helped clear the town before burning, and he is now buried in Gaylordsville, Connecticut, with his history inscribed on his tombstone.
Mr. and Mrs. Hobson have two children: I. Carolyn Louise, born in New Milford, Connecticut on April 7, 1936. She is now the wife of George K. Currie of West Redding, Connecticut. 2. Ruth Kendrick, born in Danbury on August 16, 1946.
RALPH FORREST HOBSON
Vice president, secretary and a director of Hobson and Botts Company of Danbury, manufacturers of solid stainless flatware and Conn. IV-22
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one of the pioneers in the stainless steel tableware field, Mr. Hobson has been associated with the company since 1951. He was born in Danbury, the son of Ralph Street Hobson and of Martha Jane (Tippet) Hobson. His father was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August II, 1896, and died on April 18, 1940. Mr. Hobson's mother was born in Concord, New Hampshire, on September 21, 1897. Mr. Hobson attended Wooster School in Danbury, Connecticut, and gradu- ated from Danbury High School in 1949. He then graduated from Bryant College in 1951 with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Busi- ness Administration.
The Hobson and Botts Company was founded in 1920 by John M. Botts and John H. Hobson with twenty employees, and in its first year produced sixty thousand dozen forks, knives and spoons made of nickel-plated and silver plated carbon steel. The company pioneered in manufacturing stainless steel tableware, and in 1957, used three hundred tons of stainless steel to produce more than eight million knives, forks and spoons. Its products are sold to retailers, wholesalers, jobbers and exporters, who distribute them throughout this country. The company's plant has expanded twice, and among its customers are most of the large store chains, including the F. W. Woolworth Company and the J. J. Newberry Company, S. H. Kress and Company, H. L. Green and Company and others, as well as many large restaurant suppliers. The officers of the company are Wilfred B. Hobson, president; Ralph Forrest Hobson, vice president and secretary ; Margaret B. Hobson, assistant treasurer and Martha T. Waterhouse, treasurer.
Mr. Hobson has been associated with the company since 1951. He is active in the community and attends religious services at Saint James Episcopal Church.
EDWARD DA CRUZ
Owner of Danbury Plastics of Danbury, and associated with the plastics business since 1931, Mr. da Cruz founded his com- pany after World War II. The firm produces millions of plastic items annually which are sold throughout the United States and in South America. Mr. da Cruz is a member of the Society of the Plastics Industry and he is active in the community as a member of the Danbury Chamber of Commerce.
He was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 20, 1915, the son of Antonio L. da Cruz and of Maria Joaquina (Augusto) da Cruz. Both of his parents were born in Portugal, his father on Octo-
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ber 18, 1888, and his mother on February 22, 1894. He attended elementary school in the United States, and then studied at a prepara- tory school in Portugal.
Mr. da Cruz entered the plastics industry in 1931. His first employment was as a press operator for the Synthetic Molded Pro- ducts Company of Stonington, Connecticut, and after three months he was taken off production work and assigned to setting up the proper procedures for both production and quality control through direct supervision of all operations. The company moved to Wake- field, Rhode Island in 1939, and became known as Greene Plastics, and at this time Mr. da Cruz became general manager of production, responsible for purchase of machinery and equipment and raw ma- terials. During World War II, in 1943, he was employed for a time as an inspector by the Hamilton Standard Propeller Company, a di- vision of United Aircraft, at Westerly, Rhode Island, and he re- mained in this post for eleven months. He then returned to the posi- tion of manager of production at Greene Plastics, and it was some- time later that he decided to go into business for himself.
At first Danbury Plastics made fancy dress buttons and curtain tie-backs, and then went into the manufacture of custom jewelry find- ings. It then launched into electronic insulators and plugs, industrial plug handles, receptacles and switch bases for home appliances, per- fume bottle caps and items in the novelty field. It also expanded into the packaging field, the automotive field, the aircraft field and the de- velopment of plastic replacement items for general use.
Continued expansion is underway for Danbury Plastics, and de- velopment plans have had to be added, too. The company now supplies subcontractors, jobbers and industrial manufacturers with fancy- dress type buttons, plastic jewelry findings for custom jewelry, for which a combination of materials known as "glitter gems" has been developed, small electric insulators, electric plugs, special electrical housings, instrument cases and frames, poker chips and poker-chip racks, pipe holder racks, cosmetic bottle caps, and other associated products. The firm has handled a number of government contracts.
Mr. da Cruz takes a keen interest in community activities and is active in all civic movements. He attends religious worship as a member of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church in Danbury.
He was married in Fall River, Massachusetts, on April 27, 1936, to Mary M. Aguiar, the daughter of John M. Aguiar and of Diaman- tina (Ferreria) Aguiar. Both of her parents were born in St. Mi-
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chael's, Azores Islands, her father on February 11, 1886, and her mother on October 23, 1889. Mr. and Mrs. da Cruz have two child- ren, both of whom were born in South Kingston, Rhode Island: I. Carleen Marie, born on January 4, 1942, now a student at Boston College School of Education. 2. Edward, Jr., born on June II, 1943.
JAMES WILLIAM HARDING
After completing his World War II service in the Army Air Corps, James William Harding entered the real estate and insurance field at Stamford, and is a partner of his father in the Harding and Harding Agency, Inc. He has held office as president of both the real estate board and the insurance board of his city.
A native of Stamford, he was born on August 17, 1921, son of Horace William and Verna May (Look) Harding. His father came from the state of Maine, having been born at LeMoine on June 30, 1894. He attended Hebron Academy, at Hebron in his native state, and after graduation there, secured a position with National City Bank which took him to South America. He became assistant manager of one of its branches, and eventually manager. He served in World War I, being with the American Expeditionary Forces in France, and subsequently returned to his bank managership in South America. About 1920 he went to New York City as chief auditor for his bank, and the following year left its employ and came to Stamford, where he opened an office for R. E. Strout, a large real estate brokerage firm. In 1921, he opened his own office as a builder, real estate agent and insurance broker. In the course of his active career, he developed extensive tracts of residential property, and built over three hundred homes in Stamford. He remains president of Harding and Harding Agency, Inc., but retired from active management in 1950, and now lives in St. Petersburg, Florida. Verna May Look, whom he married, was born at Jonesport, Maine, on June 6, 1892, and died in 1955.
James W. Harding attended Stamford High School and Hebron Academy, then entered Darien High School to complete his secon- dary studies, graduating there in 1939. For his advanced training he entered Tri-State Engineering College at Angola, Indiana. Six months before he had completed his requirements for a degree there, he was called into active service, and never returned for his degree.
He was called up on December 8, 1941, and went into uniform in March, 1942. Entering the Army Air Corps he served as a test pilot with the rank of first lieutenant, and was stationed at various
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aircraft plants in the United States. He received his honorable dis- charge in December, 1945.
In January, 1946, he entered his father's company, which was then renamed the Harding and Harding Agency, Inc. He has been with the organization ever since, and has been in charge of operations since the elder man retired in 1950. He holds the offices of vice presi- dent and treasurer of the corporation, as well as manager. The firm deals in insurance as well as real estate, and Mr. Harding is past president of Stamford Insurance Board, Inc., as well as of Stam- ford Board of Realtors. He is a director of the Connecticut Associa- tion of Insurance Agents, Inc., and is a member of the National In- surance Agents Association, the National Board of Realtors, and the Connecticut State Board of Realtors.
He is a member of the local Chamber of Commerce, and a direc- tor of Midtown Club, and his other memberships include the Innis Garden Golf Club, Stamford Yacht Club, the lodge of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he holds the Third degree, and Beta Phi Theta fraternity. He is a Protestant in religious faith.
At St. Charles, Missouri, on March 22, 1941, James William Harding married Ann Marie Schelling. Born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 25, 1919, she is a daughter of William and Julia Schelling. Both of her parents came to this country from Germany. Her father, born in 1883, arrived in this country prior to World War I, and spent many years with the Chicago Transit Company. He died in 1955. Mrs. Schelling survives him and lives in Seattle. Mrs. Harding completed her high school studies at Darien in 1937.
The couple have four children: I. James William, who was born on December 24, 1942, in Stamford. 2. Judd Raymond, born Septem- ber 18, 1946, in Norwalk. 3. Julie Ann. born November 24, 1947, in Stamford. 4. Jerri Lou, born in Stamford on June 3, 1949.
RANDAL MCLACHLAN
President and treasurer of George Mclachlan and Sons, In- corporated, of Danbury, hat manufacturers, and associated with the firm since 1928, Mr. McLachlan is a leading industrialist in the area and is active in the community.
He was born in Danbury, on June 17, 1910, the son of George McLachlan and of Katherine (Collins) Mclachlan. His father was born in Leith, Scotland, on October 1, 1879, emigrated to the United
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States, organized George Mclachlan and Sons, Incorporated, in 1907, and the firm has become a prominent manufacturer of men's fur felt hat bodies. Mr. McLachlan's mother was born in Danbury in June, 1884. Both of his parents are now deceased. Mr. Mclachlan at- tended the Danbury public schools and graduated from Danbury High School in 1928. He became associated with the McLachlan Company immediately after graduation, and he now holds the posts of president and treasurer. During World War II, he served seventeen months in the United States Army.
A member of the Elks and of the Knights of Columbus, Mr. McLachlan is a director of the Ridgewood Country Club, and he at- tends religious worship at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Danbury.
He was married in Danbury on February 14, 1942, to Marcella Doyle, born in Alliance, Ohio, the daughter of Thomas Doyle and of Annie (McDougal) Doyle. Her father was born in Alliance and both of her parents are deceased. Mrs. McLachlan attended the public schools of Alliance and then studied at Mount Union College in Alliance.
Mr. and Mrs. McLachlan have four children, all of whom were born in Danbury : 1. Randal, Jr., born on September 9, 1944. 2. Margot Anne, born on October 2, 1945. 3 & 4. May and Kay, twins. May was born on February 28, 1948, Kay was born on February 29, 1948.
FRANCIS DAVID MARTIN
President of the First National Bank and Trust Company of Ridgefield, since 1941, and active as the operator of a jewelry and optical establishment in Ridgefield, for forty years, Mr. Martin served thirty-two years on the Ridgefield Board of Finance, he was a member of three Ridgefield School Building committees, and he was one of the three named by the Governor of Connecticut to serve on the United Nations Site Committee.
Mr. Martin was born in West Park, New York, on September 19, 1893, the son of Louis Martin and of Franciska (Vite) Martin. His father was born in Switzerland and his mother in Germany. Mr. Martin attended grade school in Ridgefield, and was a student at Norwalk High School until his senior year; there he was an outstand- ing athlete and was captain of the baseball and basketball teams. He then attended the Philadelphia College of Horology and Optics, com- pleting a three-year course in nine months, and at the age of seven-
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teen he opened the first jewelry and optical store to be established in Ridgefield, the store opening on July 3, 19II.
While still in school, Mr. Martin earned money by carrying mail and lunches, he caddied at the golf course and was night operator for three years for the telephone company. He also mowed lawns, washed porches and picked flowers and vegetables, and once he opened his jewelry store, he began work at 4:30 in the morning, and has con- tinued this practice for forty years.
Mr. Martin took a lifelong interest in Ridgefield community activities ; he organized the Promoters Club, and it was in 1933 that he founded the first planning group for the Town of Ridgefield. Shrewd land investments turned to Mr. Martin's benefit, and a result was the introduction of new companies into Ridgefield, Schlumber- ger's and Electro Mechanical Research. A skating accident in 1934 forced Mr. Martin to retire from business for a time, but he returned to his profession, finally retiring in 1950.
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