USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume IV > Part 34
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He was married in Waterbury on December 15, 1943, to Emilie Fitzpatrick, born in Waterbury, the daughter of Joseph Fitzpatrick and of Emilie (Reichenbach) Fitzpatrick. Mr. and Mrs. Daly have two sons : I. Edmund J. IV, born on September 3, 1944. 2. Jeremiah M., born on November 5, 1953.
GUY JOSEPH FARINA
One of Stamford's younger professional men, Guy Joseph Farina recently opened his own offices for private practice in Stamford. He has become interested in public and political affairs, being active in Republican circles, and is former chairman of the jury commission in his home city.
Born July 26, 1930, in New York City, he is a son of Frank and Elsie (Piscatello) Farina. His father came to this country from Italy, where he was born on October 21, 1892. Arriving in the United States in 1917, he entered the United States Army for wartime serv- ice a short time afterwards, and was in uniform until 1919. He spent his remaining working years as a barber until 1948, when he retired. He lives in Stamford with Mrs. Farina. She was born in Tusa, Italy, in December, 1901.
Guy J. Farina completed his secondary studies at Robert E. Fitch School in Groton, graduating there in 1948. He then entered the University of Connecticut where he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1952. As a student at the state university he
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majored in government. He went from there to the Boston University Law School, where he took his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1955, after serving as a senior editor of the Boston University Law Review.
Admitted to the Connecticut bar at that time, he entered the law firm of Santaniello and Satti in New London, and was associated with that partnership until 1957, when he opened his own office for private practice at 21 Broad Street. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Connecticut State Bar Association and the Stamford Bar Association.
Mr. Farina is a member of the Young Republican Club. In his post as chairman of the jury commission in Stamford-a responsible post for one of his years-it was his job to help select prospective jurors for the superior courts in Bridgeport. He was appointed by Mayor Givens of Stamford.
He is a member of the Piedmont Club of Stamford, and attends the Roman Catholic Church. He was married October 1, 1959, to Miss Dorothy Joan Haus, of Lynbrook, New York, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Adolph H. Haus of Lynbrook.
JOHN TAYLOR
Branch manager and vice president of the Connecticut Bank and Trust Company, West Hartford office since 1953, and active in the banking field for more than twenty years, Mr. Taylor has been active in local politics and served as a Republican on the Farming- ton, Connecticut, Town Committee. He was born in New Haven on April 13, 1913, the son of E. L. Taylor and of Helen (Curtis) Tay- lor. His father was Public Utilities Commissioner from 1933 until his death in 1943.
Mr. Taylor attended the public schools and two years of high school in New Haven, and he then graduated from Andover Academy in 1931. He obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Yale Uni- versity in 1935. During World War II, he accepted a Naval Reserve commission as ensign in June, 1941, and received a year's training in Naval Intelligence. He was assigned to duty in Boston, Massa- chusetts, Florida and Alaska, and then served on a destroyer escort with the rank of lieutenant commander in the Philippine Islands area. He was assigned to the Tactical Air Force for the Okinawa Cam- paign. He received his honorable discharge in September, 1945, and is now retired as a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve.
Mr. Taylor began his banking career in the credit department
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of the National City Bank in New York City in 1935, and then served in the general training and operation departments of the European Division. After completion of military service, he became associated with the Hartford-Connecticut Trust Company in January, 1946, being assigned to the credit department. In October, 1946, he was transferred to the West Hartford office and was appointed an assistant treasurer in January 1947. In 1949 he became assistant vice president. Made vice president in 1953, he became branch manager on July 1, 1953.
Mr. Taylor has been active in charities in the Hartford and Farmington area, and his social connections include membership in the Camden Yacht Club of Camden, Maine, the Anglers Club of New York, and the Limestone Trout Club of East Canaan, Connecti- cut. He attends religious services at Saint John's Episcopal Church in West Hartford.
He was married in New Havven on October 17, 1936, to Bar- bara V. Cooksey, born in New Haven on January 20, 1914, the daughter of Charlton D. Cooksey and of Elizabeth V. Cooksey. Mrs. Taylor is a member of the Colonial Dames of America. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have two children, both of whom were born in Hartford, Connecticut : 1. John, Jr., born on August 22, 1949. 2. David D., born on March 27, 1953.
LOUIS WALKER
Managing partner of the Hartford office of G. H. Walker and Company, of St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Walker has been associated with the company from 1936 to 1939, and from 1945 to the present. He served as political agent for John de K. Alsop in his candidacy for the governorship of Connecticut in 1958.
Mr. Walker was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 14, 1912, the son of George Herbert Walker and of Loulie (Wear) Walker. His father was born on June 11, 1874 and donated the Walker Cup, the international golf trophy, played for by the United States and Great Britain. His mother was born on September 17, 1874. Mr. Walker graduated from The Hill School in 1931, and obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Yale University in 1936. During World War II, he was in Civil Service with the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, from 1941 to 1943, and he was in charge of allocation and scheduling of aluminum forgings in the Army and Navy aircraft engine program. From 1943 to 1945, he served in the Psychological Warfare Branch of the Office of War
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Information, Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, and he held the post of administrative officer.
Associated with G. H. Walker and Company of St. Louis, Mis- souri, as a salesman from 1936 to 1939, Mr. Walker was sales manager and director of the Western Newspaper Union in New York City from 1939 to 1941, and after completing his war duties, he returned to G. H. Walker and Company and has been managing partner in the company's office in Hartford, since 1949.
He leads an active social life and holds membership in the Hart- ford Club, the Hartford Golf Club, the Farmington Country Club, the East Haddam Fish and Game Club and the Fisher's Island Coun- try Club. He is also a member of the Links Club, the Yale Club and the Turf and Field Club of New York, and of Skull and Bones of Yale University. Mr. Walker attends religious services as a member of the Farmington Congregational Church in Farmington, Connecti- cuit.
He was married on June 17, 1939, to Grace White, the daughter of David B. White and of Nellie B. White of St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Walker's brother-in-law is Prescott S. Bush, United States Senator from Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Walker have four children : I. James W. II, born in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 2, 1940, and now a student in Brooks School. 2. Suzanne, born in New York City on May 21, 1941, and a student at Miss Porter's School. 3. Dorothy Bush and Elizabeth Ballard, twins, born on October 27, 1946, and students at Renbrook School.
BENJAMIN RUSH FIELD
With experience in the investments field dating from the early years of his career, Benjamin Rush Field is now co-manager of the Hartford office of Eastman Dillon Union Securities and Company. He has capably filled a number of offices in professional and welfare groups, and has been active in the councils of the Republican party.
Born at Easton, Pennsylvania, on March 25. 1908, he is a son of Benjamin Rush, Sr., and Nan (Rounsavell) Field. His father too was born at Easton, on November 3, 1863, and died there on May I, 1935. Mrs. Field was a native of Washington, New Jersey, born on May 30, 1875, and she died at Easton on April 25, 1951.
A student at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, from 1924 to 1927, the younger Benjamin Rush Field graduated there, and entered Williams College. There he took his degree of Bachelor
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of Arts in 1931. He then commenced his career in business, with the New York investment trusts firm of Calvin Bullock. Two years later he left to join the staff of Goodbody and Company, a brokerage firm also located in New York.
Coming to Hartford in 1939, he spent two years with Riter and Company, brokers and investment bankers. Associated with East- man Dillon Union Securities and Company since 1941, he is branch office co-manager of this investment banking and brokerage firm, at its 75 Pearl Street address. Mr. Field is also a director of Hey- wood-Wakefield Company of Gardner, Massachusetts.
In 1947 he became a member of the First District West Hart- ford Republican Committee, on which he served for a decade, re- signing in 1957. He was on the rolls of the Connecticut State Guard from 1941 to 1945, with a commission as first lieutenant. An active member of the Connecticut Investment Bankers Association, Mr. Field served as its president from 1955 to 1957. He is also a former president of the Bond Club of Hartford. He has retained an interest in his preparatory school and his college. In 1957 he became a mem- ber of the Alumni Council of Phillips Andover Academy; and he is past president of the Connecticut Williams Alumni Association. His fraternity is Delta Phi. His other memberships include The Hartford Club, the University Club, Hartford Golf Club, Hartford Tennis Club, Hartford Gun Club, and the Kingdom Game Club, all of Hart- ford, the Wianno Club of Cape Cod, and the Beach Club, at Center- ville, also on the Cape.
Conscientious in the support of charitable causes, Mr. Field has capably filled various positions in connection with fund-raising pro- grams for the American Red Cross, the Young Men's Christian As- sociation, the Easter Seals campaign, the Community Chest, and others. He is chairman of the Easter Seal Drive for 1960. He is a communicant of St. John's Episcopal Church at West Hartford.
At Centerville, Massachusetts, on September 1, 1934, B. Rush Field married Barbara Heywood. Her parents lived at Gardner, Massachusetts, where her father, Seth Heywood, was born on July 28, 1887, and died January 25, 1938. Her mother, the former Edith Cowee, was born on March 5, 1891, and is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Field make their home on Ferncliff Drive in West Hartford, and they are the parents of two children: I. Diana, who was born in New York City on February 12, 1936. She is a graduate of Emma Wil- lard School in Troy, New York, and Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York. She is married to Mr. Bruce K. Baker, a veteran of the
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Korean War. They now reside in New York City. 2. Benjamin Rush, 3rd, born in Hartford on September 1, 1938. He is a graduate of Phillips Andover Academy, and is now a student at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts.
IRWIN ELKIN FRIEDMAN
A partner with his brother, Samuel Friedman, in the law firm of Friedman and Friedman of Bridgeport, Connecticut, since 1934, Mr. Friedman served as prosecutor in the Trumbull Court in 1939, and served as judge of the Trumbull Municipal Court from 1951 to 1953. A Republican in politics, he has been active in professional or- ganizations and is a member of the Bridgeport and Connecticut bar associations ; he serves on the Civil Rights Committee of the Bridge- port and State bar associations and he is a member of the Insurance Committee of the American Bar Association. He was appointed to the Connecticut Civil Rights Commission by Governor John Lodge in 1953 and he is presently serving as chairman of the State Civil Rights Commission, reappointed for a five year term by Governor A. A. Ribicoff in 1958. He is also a member of the Mayor's Com- mittee on Human Rights of the City of Bridgeport.
Mr. Friedman was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on July 20, 1910, the son of Morris Friedman and of Bessie ( Elkin) Friedman. His father was born in Russia, on April 16, 1874, and settled in Bridge- port in 1897. Mr. Friedman's mother was born in Russia, on Septem- ber 4, 1873, and came to Bridgeport in 1898. She died in 1950.
Mr. Friedman graduated from Warren Harding High School in Bridgeport in 1927, and then obtained the degree of Bachelor of Laws from Boston University Law School in 1932. It was in 1934 that he formed the law firm of Friedman and Friedman with his brother, Samuel. A past chancellor of Tau Epsilon Rho fraternity, a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and a member of the Masons, Blue Lodge, Mr. Friedman is also a member of the board of associates of the University of Bridgeport, and a member of the Exchange Club and the Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce. His social connections include membership in the Mill River Country Club and the Longshore Country Club, and he attends religious worship as a member of Con- gregation Rodeph Sholem.
Mr. Friedman was married at Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on December 20, 1936, to Ruth Wells, born on July 4, 1912, the daughter of James L. Wells and of Julia (Bernstein) Wells. Her father was
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born in Fall River, Massachusetts, where he conducted a department store. Mrs. Friedman's mother was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Both of her parents are now deceased.
Mrs. Friedman graduated from Durfee High School in Fall River, Massachusetts, and then obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from Pembroke College in 1932. A member of the board of governors and a past president of the Unquowa Parent-Teachers Association, she is also active as chairman of the Westport County Playhouse of Fairfield, Connecticut. She is presently president of Pembroke Col- lege Alumnae of Fairfield County.
Mr. and Mrs. Friedman have two children: I. Wendy Welis, born on June 25, 1939, in Bridgeport, attended Unquowa School and then graduated from The Day School of New Haven in 1957; she is presently a junior at Pembroke College in Brown University. 2. Gary James, born in Bridgeport on April 22, 1944, attended Fairfield Country Day School and is now a student at Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven.
The Friedmans reside in Fairfield.
SERENO CLARK SPERRY, SR.
For nearly two centuries, members of the Sperry family have been playing their part in New Haven's industrial history. The role of Sereno Clark Sperry, Sr., was executive leadership in The Pond Lily Company, of which he became the president. As will be seen from the account which follows, his record, that of his family, and that of the firm are so closely interwoven that even such a brief account as this must give attention to all three to place Mr. Sperry's career in its proper perspective. For the early family and industrial back- ground our reference is a book published by the company, titled "The Pond Lily Company-The Story of One American Business," writ- ten by the present treasurer of the firm, John Francis Welch.
An early reference to one of the Sperry family occurs in a record of colonial times which reads more dramatically than most fiction. In July, 1660, William Goffe and Edward Whalley arrived in Boston -two judges involved in the death sentence of King Charles I, who escaped with their lives. With the restoration of monarchial power, the king's (Charles II's) agents pursued them to Boston, and they escaped from there to New Haven, which today has streets named in their honor. When once again the king's henchmen started closing in on them, a group of local citizens organized to assist them in mak-
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ing their escape. One of these citizens, Richard Sperry, guided them to a cave. There they sought refuge, and he supplied them with pro- visions. Some months later Indians discovered the cave, and Sperry found them a second hiding place. The spirit of an independent Ameri- ca is thus in evidence in the Sperry family records more than a cen- tury before that spirit erupted into open revolution. Richard Sperry was a farmer, as were his sons; but in July, 1760, we have the first record of a member of the family filing claim to property in New Haven itself. Levi Sperry, a descendant of Richard, erected a grist mill in 1794, and for fifty years thereafter it served the farmers in the area. In the mid-1840s, it was closed and dismantled and on its site was erected a factory to produce springs and axles for wagons and carriages. This plant was destroyed by fire in 1856, but it was rebuilt in time to aid the Union cause in supplying axles and spring's for wagons and gun carriages. A depression followed the war, and by 1879 it had been decided to discontinue manufacturing operations. However, a new process for the manufacture of paper had been de- veloped by Joseph Parker and the Sperrys became interested and de- termined instead to rechannel their industrial interests. They had an abundant supply of water, at the Pond Lily Mill, as it was then known, and there they began producing paper. This they carried on success- fully for many years. In 1896, the present textile dyeing and finishing operations were begun, but only as a service to the "carriage trade," and it did not immediately supplant the paper-making operations. The growth of the automobile industry brought a more decisive change, with a dependable and steadily growing demand for the company's textiles and dyes. When World War I erupted in Europe, the im- porting of German dyes was cut off, bringing its challenge to our domestic industry. The company measured up, and until the end of the war its plants were running day and night. With vision and adaptability, it successfully converted to postwar demands; and the same resourcefulness tided it through our greatest depression. At that time the bleaching of ducks for the shoe trades received major emphasis, as did the finishing of fabrics to be coated with rubber, and of fabrics for the artificial leather trade. When Admiral Byrd first went to the Antarctic, the Pond Lily Company finished and dyed the fabrics for the tents to be used by the expedition for shelter.
This skillfully managed plant was operating on overtime sched- ules during several periods when industry generally was revealing the symptoms of short work weeks and shutdowns. In 1940 the firm emerged from the depression with a vastly improved plant, the most
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modern equipment, and a highly skilled and loyal labor force. Follow- ing Pearl Harbor came another conversion to defense production, and many millions of yards of fabrics for service uniforms-Army, Navy, Marine and Air Corps-rolled from its finishing machines. Mr. Welch concluded his record, which we have condensed in the above review, with these words:
The descendants of Richard Sperry control the same land today that he worked for and defended. The family directs the mills built upon that land. The heritage is more than a heritage of property; it is a heritage of high principles. It is not given, nor held, lightly.
Within this framework of continuing achievement and service, Sereno Clark Sperry took his place in 1912, following previous ex- perience in textile finishing elsewhere. A native of New Haven, he was born on September 23, 1865. His father, William Wallace Sperry, was also born in New Haven, and spent his early years as a ship builder. He enlisted in the Union forces at the time of the Civil War, and served as a sergeant-major in the 13th Connecticut Infantry.
His son, who was named Sereno Clark, attended the New Haven public schools until he was nearly sixteen years of age, and left about 1880 to begin his industrial career with Williams, Wells and Com- pany. From 1900 to 1912 he was with the United States Finishing Company. In March of the latter year, he brought his business ex- perience to the Pond Lily Company, beginning his connection as secretary of the firm. He served in that office until 1925, was treasurer from 1925 to 1929, and was then elected president of the corporation, holding office until his retirement in 1935. It is noteworthy that it was under his leadership as executive head of the firm that the Pond Lily Company established the outstanding record in depression-time employment, contrary to the national trend, which was described above-a record of which any industrial leader might be proud.
While his life was identified to an unusual degree with company responsibilities, Mr. Sperry found time for active membership in the New Haven Home Guard, the New Haven Union League, and the Yacht Club. Except for these organizations, his recreational interests were out-of-doors. He was particularly fond of hunting, and followed this sport in various parts of the world. He brought back game trophies from the most inaccessible part of the New Brunswick wilderness, and paralleled this record elsewhere.
On June 26, 1890, Sereno Clark Sperry, Sr., married Nettie A. Alling, daughter of James E. and Addie (Denney) Alling. They be- came the parents of three children : 1. Sereno Clark, Jr., who was born
amasa D. Pierce
Mrs. amasa I Fierce
-
Alvah Francis and Annie Miller! Hyde) Porce
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on September 13, 1891. He succeeds his father as president of the Pond Lily Company. 2. Paul Alling, born on December 4, 1895. 3. Armstrong W., who was born on July 11, 1897.
The death of the elder Sereno C. Sperry occurred on August IO, 1935.
AMASA DOWE PIERCE
A Connecticut resident who became widely known for his achieve- ments as a poultryman was the late Amasa Dowe Pierce. Operating the prosperous Alder-brook Farm near Brooklyn, he specialized in the production of chicks, for which a very considerable market was developed. He also operated a grain business under the name of Pierce Quality Feeds.
Born at Squaw Rock, Township of Plainfield, and bordering on the Killingly Town line, on December 7, 1898, he was a son of Alvah Francis and Annie Miller (Hyde) Pierce. The Pierces are an arms- bearing family. Alvah F. Pierce, a native of Sterling, operated the family farm at Squaw Rock throughout his life. He was active in civic and religious affairs. His wife, the former Annie Hyde, was the daughter of Captain William Hyde who served in the Civil War.
Amasa D. Pierce attended the public schools in Plainfield and Killingly. Prior to finishing his secondary courses at Killingly High School, he had become interested in poultry raising. He saved money earned while working for his father on the farm, and in 1924 began to sell baby chicks. He increased his sales volume each year there- after. In the summer of 1930 he had a chance to buy property in the Town of Brooklyn, known as the Marlor Estate, and this he pur- chased, moving there with his family the following September. The location was named Alder-brook Farm. Steady growth doubled and tripled the volume of business, and it became necessary to build a whole new hatchery and office building, on Wauregan Road. By 1936 over two million baby chicks were being sold annually, and the present production and sales level has reached four or five million chicks. Mr. Pierce installed the most modern equipment obtainable. Today the hatchery farm has fully electrically operated and automatic ma- chines with a capacity setting of two hundred and fifty thousand eggs at one time. During Mr. Pierce's lifetime the business was conducted by him as a single unit. Since his death, three corporations have been formed: The A. D. Pierce Hatchery Corporation, the Chick-A-D- Farms, Inc. and the Pierce Feed Company, Inc.
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Mr. Pierce also established an automobile business in Brooklyn, having the agency first for Dodge and later for Buick cars. He was president and treasurer of this firm until 1942, when he sold it.
In addition to being a leader in business, Mr. Pierce was also widely known in religious circles. In 1949 he founded what later be- came known as the Windham County Men's Fellowship. This had its origin in the Baptist Church in Danielson, but grew so rapidly that a larger meeting place had to be found. The Congregational Church was the place selected, and the fellowship met there each year until 1953, when the attendance became so great that it became necessary to look for still another location. They next met at the Kil- lingly Memorial School, where more than a thousand men were able to attend. Mr. Pierce was chairman of this organization for fifteen years prior to his death.
For eight years, Mr. Pierce was president of the Connecticut Baptist Convention. After this he was elected president of the Con- necticut Council of Churches, and served in this capacity for three years until his death. He was well known among the membership of the American Baptist Convention from coast to coast, having served as a member of the general council of that convention. In his own congregation he served as deacon and trustee for many years and was the superintendent of the Sunday school for twenty years. He was known as a very prominent layman among the churches of Con- necticut and occupied many pulpits all through the state at various times. In 1936 he was president of the Connecticut Temperance Union, the oldest temperance organization in continuous existence in the state, which had been founded by Governor Buckingham in 1865.
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