USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume IV > Part 29
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Mrs. Jensen graduated from Wallingford High School in 1924. She is a member of the North Haven Public Health Association and of the Order of the Eastern Star. The couple are the parents of the following children: 1. George Blakeslee, who was born in North Ha- ven on September 28, 1938. He graduated from North Haven High School in 1956. In 1958 he completed courses at the Eli Whitney Technical School, and has now begun his career working for a con- tractor. He makes his home at North Haven. 2. John Harold, born December 21, 1940, also at North Haven. Graduating from the high school there in 1958, he is working in his father's garage. 3. William Raymond, born February 12, 1943; attending North Haven High School. 4. Doris Karen, who was born on June 13, 1944. She too is a student at North Haven High School.
ALBERT WADSWORTH MESERVE
With ample experience in forestry, landscape gardening, and tree surgery in his career background, Albert Wadsworth Meserve has headed his own firm of arborists at Danbury for the past two decades. His organization is known as The Albert W. Meserve Com- pany and Associates, and it offers complete tree expert service. Mr.
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Meserve has been active in a number of connections in his industry; and Danbury has found him a helpful citizen who has participated fully in civic and welfare programs.
Born at Framingham, Massachusetts, on January 14, 1898, he is a son of Frank Wilbur and Alice Belle (Wadsworth) Meserve. His father was an electrical engineer at Framingham. A pioneer in the telephone and electrical field, he was associated with Alexander Graham Bell; and he helped to build the first telephone line between Boston and Albany. He was probably the first man to talk over this line. He was also a pioneer in the industrial use of electricity. For over twenty-five years he was a holder of public offices, including that of chairman of the board of Public Works at Framingham. Through his father, Albert W. Meserve is a direct descendant of Clement Meserve, who came to this country from the Isle of Jersey and settled at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, about the middle of the Seventeenth Century. Alice Belle (Wadsworth) Meserve was a direct descendant of Christopher Wadsworth, an emigrant from England who arrived in America aboard the ship "Lion" in 1632. This is the same Wads- worth family and same ancestry of Reverend Benjamin Wadsworth, an early president of Harvard University at Cambridge, Mas- sachusetts, and the brothers, Captain Joseph Wadsworth and John Wadsworth of Hartford, Connecticut, co-conspirators to take and hide the Connecticut Colonial Charter in the famous Charter Oak Tree in 1687 when its surrender was demanded by the English Colonial Governor, Sir Edmund Andrus.
Albert W. Meserve attended the public schools of his native town and graduated from Framingham High School in 1915. He took his advanced studies at the University of Massachusetts, where he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1920. While a student there, he was in the Reserve Officers Training Corps, and, in 1918, in the Student Army Training Corps of the United States Army.
In 1919, before he had taken his degree, Mr. Meserve joined the Massachusetts State Department of Forestry, being assigned to its white pine blister rust control program. In 1921 he entered the land- scape gardening business at Greenwich, Connecticut, where he con- tinued until 1925; and he then left for Bradenton, Florida, where until 1927 he continued work as a landscape service and engineering specialist.
Mr. Meserve then returned to Connecticut, and accepted a posi- tion as district manager with Bartlett Tree Experts at Danbury. He remained with this firm through 1939, and with the year 1940,
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founded The Albert W. Meserve Company, of which he has remained the owner and operator since.
He has long been active in trade organizations. A member of the Connecticut Tree Protective Association, he served on its executive board from 1941 to 1953, and was its president from 1941 to 1943. In 1954 he was recipient of the Association's Award of Merit. A member of the executive board of the National Arborists Association from 1948 to 1952, Mr. Meserve was its president in 1949. Ha was a member of the executive board of the National Shade Tree Confer- ence from 1946 to 1955, and its president in 1954. He is also a member of the New England Council for Shade Tree Preservation. He has been a contributor of articles on forestry and arboriculture appearing in trade publications and has been active in the furtherance of his profession through conference meetings and university courses.
From 1950 to 1960, Mr. Meserve was a member of the Danbury Recreation Commission; and in 1951, he became a member of the city's Board of Park Commissioners, which he has served as chair- man since 1953. He has found ample opportunity for community service in his home city. From 1938 to 1946 he was a member of the executive board of the Danbury Chapter of the American Red Cross; and he was chairman of the organization's swimming and life-saving program for seven years. He was chapter chairman in 1939-1940. In 1940 he became a member of the executive board of the Danbury Community Chest, on which he served until 1948. He was its president in 1942. From 1936 to 1958 he was a member of the executive board of the Mid-Fairfield and Mauwehu Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He was president of the Council from 1941 to 1947, and served on the National Council from 1949 to 1955. In 1947 he was recipient of the Silver Beaver Award for "distinguished service to American boyhood." He is at present serving as an honorary member of the executive board of the Council. Mr. Meserve has been a member of the executive board of the Danbury Scott-Fanton Museum since 1948. He was president of the museum from 1956 to 1958, and was in charge of its restoration program, 1957-1958.
Active in the American Legion, he was commander of Danbury Post No. 60 in 1932; and in 1931 held dual state offices as member of the executive committee, Department of Connecticut, and chairman of forestry in that department. He is a past president of the American Legion Drum Corps. In 1933 he served as president of the Danbury Veterans Association. Affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons. he is a member of Alpha Lodge at Framingham, Massachusetts,
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Candlewood Shrine Club of Danbury, and Pyramid Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Bridgeport. He is a Rotarian, and a member of the Varsity Club of the University of Massachusetts. In politics he is a Republican. He attends the Congre- gational Church, while Mrs. Meserve is a member of St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church at Danbury.
She is the former Miss Helen Teresa Clark, daughter of Morris Henry and Bridget Agnes (Costigan) Clark. She became the wife of Albert W. Meserve in a ceremony at Hartford, Connecticut on November II, 1932. The couple have no children. They make their home at 161 Main Street, Danbury.
ROBERT BENEDICT DEVINE
As a lawyer practicing in Norwalk since the beginning of his career, more than two decades ago, Robert Benedict Devine has served his town as a member of the board of education and as corporation counsel. He has taken a particular interest in real estate law. A veteran of World War II, he served in the Army Intelligence Corps.
The son of John Francis and Mary Ellen (Flynn) Devine, he was born at Norwalk on October 22, 1914. His father too was born there, as his father had been before him. John F. Devine was born in 1880. For thirty-three years he worked for a ladies' wear manufactur- ing company in Norwalk, advancing to assistant manager of the plant. He left to open his own automobile sales agency in Norwalk. From 1920 he was silent partner in a fuel and masonry supply com- pany, which had been founded by himself and his brothers. He with- drew from the automobile agency in 1941, but at that time became active as a partner in the fuel and masonry supply concern, continuing in that business until his death in 1950. He also took a conspicuous part in Democratic politics. Mary Ellen Flynn, whom he married, was born in 1880 in Norwalk, and died in 1922.
Their son, Robert B. Devine, attended Norwalk schools, parochial and public, graduating from high school in 1930. For three years he was a student at the University of Notre Dame College of Engineer- ing, but at the end of that time he changed his professional goal to the law, and entered the university's law school. There in 1936 he grad- uated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, magna cum lande.
With his admission to the bar of the state of Connecticut that same year, Mr. Devine commenced his private practice in Norwalk, and now has offices at 7-9 Isaac Street. He is a member and past presi- dent of the Norwalk-Westport-Wilton Bar Association, and served as
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secretary-treasurer of the Real Estate Section of the Connecticut Bar Association, for a number of years. He is also a member of the American Bar Association.
Mr. Devine was elected to the Norwalk board of education in 1939 and served until 1945. From 1947 to 1955 he was corporation counsel of the city of Norwalk. He is a Democrat in politics, con- tinuing a family tradition of service to that party. His period of wartime military service extended from July, 1941, several months before the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor, to Novem- ber, 1945. Entering the United States Army and assigned to the In- telligence Corps, he held the rating of master sergeant and served stateside.
Mr. Devine is active in Kiwanis and formerly served as president of his local club. He is a member of his city's Chamber of Commerce, and of the Notre Dame Clubs of New York and Southwestern Con- necticut. A Roman Catholic, he has been a member of St. Mary's Parish in Norwalk from his early years, and he is a member and past president of the Holy Name Society. He is also a member, former director and past president of the Shorehaven Golf Club, Inc.
On October 24, 1942, in Stamford, Robert Benedict Devine mar- ried Elinor Barrett. She was born in that city on September 8, 1920, and is a daughter of Frank P. and Frances (Magee) Barrett. Her father, a native of Litchfield, has practiced law in Stamford for many years, and is still one of the most prominent attorneys there. He also takes an active part in Democratic politics. He was formerly police commissioner, and has held other public positions. Mrs. Barrett like- wise is a native of Stamford.
Mr. and Mrs. Devine are the parents of the following children, all of whom were born in Stamford: 1. Mary D'Arcy, born on May 5, 1945. She is a graduate of St. Mary's Parochial School and presently attends Sacred Heart Academy at Stamford, Connecticut. 2. Peter Robert, born on December 25, 1946, a student at Central Catholic High School. 3. John Barrett, born on April 1, 1950; attending St. Mary's Parochial School. 4. Catherine, born on July 1, 1952. She is at St. Mary's Parochial School. 5. Timothy, born on April 26, 1955, who attends Tracey School. 6. Frances, born on October 26, 1957. The family lives at 24 West Rocks Road, Norwalk.
EDWIN HOYT
One of the oldest nurseries in the country is the Hoyt Nursery in New Canaan, which has continued under the management of mem-
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bers of the same family for well over a century. Its executive head at the present time is Edwin Hoyt, who holds the offices of president and general manager. He has a wide reputation in his industry, and is also highly regarded in his home city, where he has held public office.
A native of New Canaan, he was born on April 4, 1896. His father, Stephen Hoyt, was also born in New Canaan in 1870, a grand- son of the founder of the Hoyt Nursery. In his turn as representative of the third generation, Stephen Hoyt assumed management of this nursery, which was his major occupational interest throughout life. He was for some years selectman of his town. He died in 1950. Edwin Hoyt's mother was the former Miss Alice Rose Bunting, who was born at Lewisboro, New York, in 1873, and died in 1946.
After commencing his education in the public elementary schools in New Canaan, Edwin Hoyt went to Hotchkiss School at Lakeville for his preparatory studies, and graduated there in 1916. He spent one year at Yale College, but left his studies to enter military service and never resumed them. He joined the Field Artillery and after be- coming an officer and training artillery troops in this country for twelve months, transferred to the newly organized Air Corps. He spent the remainder of his period of service in France, and held the rank of first lieutenant.
Receiving his honorable discharge from the service in 1919, Ed- win Hoyt first entered the export business in Italy. After one year there, he returned to Connecticut and joined his father in the Hoyt Nursery. He has been identified with the organization since, and be- came principal owner on his father's death in 1950, assuming duties as president and general manager at that time. The company was then already past the century mark, having been founded in 1848. As early as 1860, it shipped apple trees to Oregon, and played a part in establishing the extensive orchards of the Pacific Northwest. Head- quarters of the company are on Carter Street in New Canaan.
Mr. Hoyt is a member of the American Association of Nursery- men. A Republican, he has been active in the public affairs of his township, serving on many boards in the town of New Canaan. in- cluding the school board.
At the time of World War II, he re-entered Air Corps service, being in uniform from February, 1942, to October, 1945. In the course of that time he was in all parts of the United States, in training and maintenance work as an officer in the Training Command. He held the rank of major.
Mr. Hoyt is a member of the American Legion, and in his home
Show. Boyd
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area belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and the Wee Burn Country Club of Darien. He is fond of golf, and is a member of the United States Golf Association, serving on two of its committees. He is also a member of the Yale Club of New York City. He and Mrs. Hoyt attend the Congregational Church.
She is the former Miss Louise Warren Powe, and she was born in Bridgeport on June 23, 1899, daughter of Louis B. and Mai (Lewis) Powe. Her father, a native of Connecticut and a banker, is deceased. Her mother was born in Bridgeport, and is also deceased. Mrs. Hoyt graduated from Rosemary Hall, after which she spent two years at Smith College. For many years she has been active in the American Red Cross, and she has been in the real estate business with Baldwin and Company of New Canaan for the past two decades. She became the wife of Edwin Hoyt in a ceremony in her native city of Bridgeport on April 26, 1919. The couple have no children.
JOHN WETHIERALL BOYD
A member of the law firm of Boyd and Anstett of Westport, since 1953, and active in the practice of law since 1942, Mr. Boyd served as judge of the Westport Municipal Court from 1951 to 1953, and he is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association and of the American Bar Association.
He was born in New York City on December 10, 1916, the son of Edward F. Boyd and of Marguerite (Van Voorhis) Boyd. His father, born in Montreal, Canada, on January 10, 1878, was an artist who settled in Westport in 1912. Mr. Boyd's mother was born in Roches- ter, New York, in 1877. Mr. Boyd attended the Westport schools to the ninth grade, graduated from Loomis School in 1935, and then ob- tained his Bachelor of Science degree at Hamilton College in 1939. He received the degree of Bachelor of Laws at Columbia University Law School in 1942. During World War II, he served with the Army Air Forces from 1942 to 1946. He was stationed in the United States and held the rank of captain.
Associated with the law firm of Mitchell, Capron, Marsh, Angulo and Cooney of New York City in 1942, Mr. Boyd moved to West- port in 1952 to open a law office, and in 1953 he entered the firm of Boyd and Anstett. He has been active in politics and was chair- man of the Republican Town Committee of Westport until 1958. A member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity and of the Kiwanis Club, he attends religious services as a member of Christ and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church of Westport.
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Mr. Boyd was married in Westport, in 1946, to Jean Moomau, born in New York City on March 30, 1923, the daughter of Laurence Pendleton Moomau and of Ruth (Thorne) Moomau. Her father was born in 1894 and was associated with John P. White and Company, Stock Brokers in New York City until his death in 1957. Her mother was born in 1892 and resides in Westport. Mrs. Boyd attended the Westport schools, and then studied at Bolton School, Westport, Hill- side School in Norwalk, and graduated from Women's College, Uni- versity of North Carolina in 1944. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she is also a member of the faculty of the Westport School of Music.
Mr. and Mrs. Boyd have four children: I. Barbara Finley, born in Norwalk on October II, 1948. 2. Frances Armstrong, born in Nor- walk on June 27, 1950. 3. Nancy Pendleton, born on February 1, 1952 in Norwalk. 4. Jean Wetherall, born in Norwalk on December 30, 1954.
ERNEST LUCIUS GOFF
Executive vice president of the Associated Spring Corporation of Bristol, the leading domestic manufacturers of precision mechani- cal springs, with which he has been associated since 1925, Mr. Goff has "grown up" with the company. He is a member of the American Ordnance Association and a director of its Hartford-Springfield Chapter.
He was born on March 24, 1907, in East Hampton, the son of Otis Henry Goff and of Eva (Hale) Goff. The Goff family were among early settlers in Connecticut, and on his mother's side, Mr. Goff is a descendant of the Hale family, who were also early settlers. He graduated from East Hampton Grammar School in 1921 and from Middletown High School, Middletown, Connecticut in 1925. He then entered the employ of the Wallace Barnes Division of As- sociated Springs that same year. Promoted to assistant quality mana- ger and sales engineer, Mr. Goff became Spiral Division superinten- dent in 1938, and assistant factory manager of the Bristol Divisions in 1942. Factory manager of the Bristol Divisions in 1944, he was promoted to general manager in 1948, and it was in 1951 that he became executive vice president of the Associated Spring Corpora- tion, which he also serves on the board of directors.
A director of the Bristol Bank and Trust Company, a director and member of the executive committee of the Bristol Brass Com- pany, Mr. Goff served as finance chairman of the Republican Town
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Committee in 1957. He was a director of the Bristol Boys Club, is a member of the advisory board of the Salvation Army, and is a Thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner. His social connections include membership in the Bristol Town Club, Chippanee Golf Club, and the Shuttle Meadows Country Club in New Britain. Athletics and outdoor life are his favorite means of relaxation.
Mr. Goff was married in Bristol on October 15, 1932, to Doro- thy Osgood, who was born on July 31, 1902, daughter of Ernest B. Osgood and Edith Northrup. Mr. and Mrs. Goff have two daughters: I. Patricia Mae, born on September 10, 1941. 2. Mary Jane, born on December 16, 1945.
WALTER EDWARD FROEHLICH
When he had completed his technical education, Walter Edward Froehlich joined one of Bristol's oldest manufacturing firms, the Wallace Barnes Company. He is now vice president, and also a director of The Associated Spring Corporation of which the Wallace Barnes Company is a division. Mr. Froehlich has played an important part in the development of this latter concern.
A native of Bristol, he was born on September 30, 1911, and is a son of Carl Gustave and Clara (Foetsh) Froehlich. His father, who was born in Germany on April 2, 1884, came to this country at the age of fifteen. Upon his arrival, he began working for Wallace Barnes Company, an organization which even at that time had been playing a prominent part in Bristol's industrial life for over four de- cades. After fifty-three years with the company, Carl G. Froehlich retired from the position of general superintendent which he then held. His first wife, Clara Foetsh, was born in Beacon Falls, Connec- ticut, on March 23, 1886. They were divorced in 1919, and Mr. Froeh- lich married, second, Winifred O'Connell.
Reared in Bristol and attending its public schools, Walter E. Froehlich graduated from high school there in 1929. For two years he was employed by J. H. Sessions and Son. He then entered Tufts College, where he graduated in 1935 with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, completing his courses with honors.
At that time he began his connection with Wallace Barnes Com- pany in the capacity of engineer. He advanced steadily through posi- tions of increasing responsibility, and was promoted to factory man- ager in 1948. In 1953 he was made general manager, and was also elected to the board of directors of The Associated Spring Corpora-
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tion. He joined the management roster of the firm as vice president in 1955.
Since the time it was founded in 1857, Wallace Barnes Company has specialized in the manufacture of springs for a great variety of purposes. The 1869 edition of Webb's "N. E. Railway and Manufac- turers' Statistical Gazetteer" listed the plant thus:
Wallace Barnes, manufacturer of clock springs. Commenced business in 1857. Building 2 stories; situated about one-quarter mile south of depot. Emr .- ployees 20 hands. Uses an 11 horse power turbine wheel.
Over the years it diversified its line of products to manufacture springs for such diversified items as apple parers, steel traps, gun mechanisms and kerosene lamp chimney cleaners. It produced spring's for carriages, and was an early producer of springs for typewriters. The heyday of the bicycle brought a demand for springs of another type; and in industry the textile mills, the electrical and telephone manufacturers, and in time the automobile created ever-changing needs. In World War I it performed a vital service in making spring parts for firearms and aircraft. The growth of radio provided a new market. In 1921 a plant of the company was established at Hamilton, Ontario. The following year, a subsidiary was formed: the firm of Barnes-Gibson-Raymond, to provide Detroit with a spring-making plant for the automobile industry. In 1923, Associated Spring Cor- poration came into being to integrate the far-flung manufacturing activities. In more recent years, the aircraft industry has become a large purchaser of the firm's products; and of course the organiza- tion once again played an important part in supplying defense needs during World War II. But never has the company been called upon for a greater variety of products than in the present day, with more millions of consumers using more mechanical devices than ever in every aspect of their daily living.
Besides his major corporate connection, Walter Edward Froeh- lich has served on the board of directors of Bristol Savings and Loan Association since 1950. He is currently the president and a director of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, and he has taken a vital and useful part in welfare and community programs, serving as past director of the Bristol Boys Club; trustee of the Bristol Community Chest; incorporator of Bristol Hospital, and member and past chair- man of the Salvation Army advisory board.
His memberships include the American Society of Metals, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the American Marketing Associa- tion and the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is vice president
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and a director of the Spring Manufacturers Association. He is affi- liated with the Free and Accepted Masons. In Masonry he belongs to the higher bodies, including the Shrine, and holds the Thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. Locally, he belongs to the Chippance Golf Club and the Farmington Country Club. He is a past president of the Town Club and of the Bristol Exchange Club. He and his family attend the First Congregational Church.
At the Congregational Church in Lynn, Massachusetts, on June 10, 1939, Walter Edward Froehlich married Elva M. Winn, daughter of Fenton and Anna (Young) Winn. Mrs. Froehlich traces her an- cestry back to some of the earliest settlers in New England. The couple are the parents of three children, all of whom were born at the Hartford Hospital: I. Judith Winn, born December 27, 1940. 2. Linda Ann, born September 10, 1943. 3. Robert Edward, born on August 26, 1946.
HARRY CHIDESTER CLOW
At the beginning of his career, Harry Chidester Clow of Terry- ville formed his connection with the Eagle Lock Company of that city. He was with the organization until his retirement in 1941 and for some time has held the offices of secretary and purchasing agent. He is president of the Terryville Bank and Trust Company.
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