History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 104

Author: Burpee, Charles W. (Charles Winslow), b. 1859
Publication date: 1928
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1390

USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III > Part 104

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Mr. Perkins is a native of Colchester, Connecticut, born July 14, 1866, his par- ents being Octavius 'Harrison and Ellen (Niles) Perkins. He is a representative of a distinguished family of Mansfield, his great-grandparents having been William and Rhoda (Davis) Perkins, while his grandparents were Hezekiah and Elizabeth H. (Dodge) Perkins.

With the removal of the family to Titusville, Pennsylvania, Clifford D. Perkins acquired his elementary education in the public schools there and later he attended Bacon Academy at Colchester, Connecticut, and the Hampden Business College in Springfield, Massachusetts, thus receiving thorough training that well qualified him for the duties and responsibilities of later life. When his textbooks were put aside he obtained a clerkship in the wholesale store of J. B. Merrow & Sons Company of Merrow, Connecticut. He subsequently engaged in the silk business, being for several years with the Springfield Silk Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, and the Aetna Silk Company of Norfolk, Connecticut. He thoroughly acquainted himself with every phase of the silk business and pursued special courses in chemical dyeing, becoming an expert in that field. In 1893 he directed his efforts into other channels, however, by entering the hotel business, at which time he became manager of the Stevens House of Norfolk, Connecticut, in which undertaking he was associated with E. C. Stevens. There he remained until 1897 and during that period gave evidence of the possession of qualities essential to successful hotel management and control. From that point forward his career has been marked by steady and substantial progress. From Norfolk he went to New Haven, where he was connected with the management of the Hotel Garde, and from 1898 until 1900 he was assistant manager of the Grenoble Hotel in New York city under Warren G. Leland. In 1900 he became manager of the Mohican Hotel of New London, one of the most attractive and best equipped hotels in Connecticut, of which he continued in charge until he went south as manager of hotels in several of the leading resorts in Florida. In the fall of 1904, however, ne accepted the management of the Highland Court Hotel of Hartford at the request of its owner, G. W. Merrow, a son of Mr. Perkins' first employer. As in his previous hotel experiences, he made a success in controlling that hostelry and continued in charge until 1915, when he took over the Heublein Hotel of Hartford and in 1920 pur- chased the property. He is now sole owner of this hotel and has maintained it at the highest standards of service, putting forth every possible effort to promote the comfort and happiness of his guests. He has displayed the spirit of the pioneer inas- much as he has introduced various improvements and initiated many new ideas of hotel service which have become very popular. With the passing years he has ex- tended his business connections and is now a director of the Capitol National Bank & Trust Company of Hartford and also a director of the New England Hotel Asso- ciation.

On the 30th of September, 1903, Mr. Perkins was married to Miss Gertrude Constance Allender, of New London, Connecticut, a daughter of Nelson J. and Sarah (Cone) Allender, of that place. In his fraternal relations Mr. Perkins is a Mason, being now a Knight Templar of Washington Commandery, while in the consistory he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, and he also belongs to Sphinx Temple of the Mystic Shrine. In civic affairs he is helpfully interested, his cooperation being a potent factor in bringing about progress in municipal interests

CLIFFORD D. PERKINS

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at various times. He votes with the republican party and was its candidate for the office of state senator in the third district. He has membership in the notable Lambs Club of New York, in the Hartford Club, the Hartford Golf Club, the Country Club of Farmington and the Automobile Club of Hartford, being a director of the last named. For seven years he was commanding officer in the Putnam Phalanx. Cour- teous, obliging and genial, those qualities have made for success in his most creditable business career and they have also made for popularity in private life and in the social organizations with which he is identified. His acquaintance is an extremely wide one and his friends are legion.

JAMES BARNETT SLIMMON

James Barnett Slimmon, of Hartford, secretary of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, was born at East Orange, New Jersey, July 18, 1893. His parents are Robert and Emily (Barnett) Slimmon. He attended the Herne School in England, the Ridge School at Washington, Connecticut, and the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. He next attended the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University and was graduated in the class of 1915 with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. After leaving school he entered the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company and was employed by that corporation until 1917. In the intermediate year of 1916 he joined Troop B of the Connecticut National Guard and did duty on the Mexican border. Following attendance at Plattsburg training camp, he was commissioned a first lieu- tenant of field artillery for service in the World war. Soon afterward he was trans- ferred to the air service and attended ground school at Austin, Texas, and received his flying training at Rockwell Field in San Diego, California, and Roosevelt Field, Mineola, Long Island. He was honorably discharged with the rank of captain, Janu- ary 10, 1919.

Mr. Slimmon returned to Hartford and became connected with the Aetna Life Insurance Company as a representative of the agency department. In 1924 he was chosen assistant secretary of the company and in the following year was elected to the office of secretary. He is also a trustee of the Bankers Trust Company.

On the 29th of May, 1920, Mr. Slimmon married Miss Beatrice Dunham, a daughter of S. G. Dunham. They have become parents of a daughter and two sons: Eleanor Dunham, Robert Douglas and James Barnett, Jr. Mr. Slimmon is a member of the Hartford Club, Hartford Golf Club and the University Club. He has voted with the republican party and he is a member of the Hartford Aviation Commission and Inspector of the State Department of Aviation, taking active interest in making this an aviation center.

WILLIAM H. CADWELL

William H. Cadwell, president of the Beaton & Cadwell Manufacturing Company of New Britain, engaged in the manufacture of plumbing and heating specialties, was born in Farmington, Connecticut, in 1862, his parents being William A. and Margaret (Brown) Cadwell, who were also natives of Farmington, Hartford county. The family has long resided in this section of the state and has ever contributed to the material progress and substantial development of the county. William A. Cadwell was a farmer by occupation and in early life was connected with the Methodist Episcopal church of Farmington but afterward became identified with the Congrega- tional church. The family numbered four sons and two daughters, of whom one son and one daughter have passed away.

William H. Cadwell attended the schools of Farmington and of New Britain, while later he became a student in Williston Seminary of Massachusetts, in which he pursued a scientific course, specializing in engineering. On the 29th of May, 1883, he became identified with A. W. Rice as assistant engineer and continued to serve in that capacity until December, 1888, when he began business independently as an engineer and architect. He was active in that field until 1917, when he was elected to the presidency of the Beaton & Cadwell Manufacturing Company, with which he

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had been associated as a director from 1895. The business had been established in the previous year under the name of the Beaton & Bradley Company, but a change in ownership in 1895 led to the adoption of the firm style of the Beaton & Cadwell Company. When Mr. Cadwell purchased the interest of Mr. Bradley the business was located in Southington but in 1900 was removed to New Britain and established near the present location. Today the company occupies a building six stories in height with basement, which was completed in February, 1917. The company manufactures plumbing and heating specialties and probably does the largest business of the kind in Connecticut. The output is sold largely to the jobbing trade all over the United States and abroad and includes radiator air valves, pipe hangers and flush valves. Their manufactured products are of the highest quality upon the market, which has secured for them a ready sale. In addition to his activity as president of the Beaton & Cadwell Manufacturing Company, Mr. Cadwell is a trustee of the New Britain Trust Company, a director of the New Britain Real & Title Company, president and director of the Real Estate Investment Company, treasurer and director of the Union Realty Company and president and director of the Hadley-Smith Manufacturing Com- pany of Moodus, Connecticut. During the war period the products of the plant were largely used by the government. The business is one of gratifying proportions, returning to the owners a satisfactory income.

In 1891 Mr. Cadwell was married to Miss Frances Hadley, who was born in New Britain. He is a Mason, has attained the Knight Templar degree in the York Rite and the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite, and is a member of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the New Britain Club and the Kego Park Club in the Adiron- dacks, New York, an organization of which he is secretary, treasurer and trustee and which is devoted to hunting and fishing. In civic affairs he has always taken a deep and helpful interest and his professional skill and ability have been utilized for public benefit. He is chairman of the state board of civil engineers and is engineer member of the rivers, harbor and bridges commission.

EDWARD BONTECOU MORRIS

Edward Bontecou Morris holds the important office of actuary of the Travelers Insurance Company and through his activity in this field has contributed to the reputation which Hartford bears as the insurance center of the country. Moreover, he has made valuable contribution to the literature of his profession and he is widely known in scientific circles, especially those which have more or less to do with math- ematical interests.

Mr. Morris was born August 16, 1875, in the city which is still his home, and is a son of John E. and Mary P. (Felt) Morris. His father at one time was secretary of the Travelers Insurance Company. The ancestral line is traced back through nine generations to Edward Morris, of English birth, who became a resident of Rox- bury, Massachusetts, where he filled the office of selectman and member of the gen- eral court. He afterward removed to Woodstock, Connecticut, and became the founder of the family in this state. In the seventh generation Edward B. Morris is descended from Pierre Bontecou, a Huguenot refugee from France who settled in New York in 1689, and he is also numbered among the descendants in the ninth generation of George Felt, who left his native England to become a resident of Charleston, Massa- chusetts, in 1633, while in 1643 he established his home at Casco Bay, where he had extensive holdings. Among the ancestors of Mr. Morris is also numbered Thomas Lincoln, who in 1635 arrived in New England, making his home first at Hingham and afterward at Taunton, Massachusetts, where he engaged in the milling business. On the family tree there further appear the names of Hon. William Pynchon, Governor George Wyllys, Governor William Bradford and others of distinction.

After attending the Hartford public high school Edward B. Morris matriculated in the Yale Sheffield Scientific School, from which he was graduated with the class of 1897. In school he was captain of one of the strongest track teams in the school's history and in college was on the freshman football eleven and later played on the varsity, being also a member of the track team. Never losing his love for athletics, he has gone on with golf and tennis and is still rated with a low golf handicap in the Connecticut Golf Association. He had a year's business experience in New York city

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(Photograph by John Haley)

EDWARD B. MORRIS

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HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT

and in August, 1898, returning to Hartford, became an employe in the actuarial department of the Travelers Insurance Company at the suggestion of James G. Batter- son, who founded the business. With the passing years he has made steady progress, developing his powers through the exercise of effort and increasing his ability through study, application and experience. A recognition of his growing ability led to his appointment as assistant actuary in 1906 and he became actuary in 1914. Along the line of his chosen field of labor he has entered into various membership connections, being now a fellow of the Actuarial Society of America and its vice president. He is likewise a fellow of the American Institute of Actuaries, a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a fellow of the Royal Statistical Society of London England. He is also a member of the American Statistical Association, the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Economic Society, the Comité Permanent des Congrés Internationaux d' Actuaires, Academy of Political Science, American Eco- nomic Association, American Public Health Association, and a member of the com- mittee on "Combined Group Life Experience" of the Group Insurance Association, Committee of Five Actuaries appointed by Superintendent Beha of New York state to recommend revisions of certain New York Life Insurance laws, and Permanent Committee on Insurance Legislation of American Institute of Actuaries. Mr. Morris has contributed numerous articles on insurance and actuarial matters to the various actuarial societies of which he is a member, some of which are given below: (1907) Mortality Experience of Yale Graduates, 1792-1901; (1913) Substandard Life Insur- ance; (1913) Premiums and Reserves upon Life Insurance Contracts that provide for Maturity at Total and Permanent Disability as at Death; (1917) Group Life Insurance and its Possible Development; (1918) Joint Mortality Experience of the Aetna Life and the Travelers Insurance Companies on Group Policies (with E. E. Cammack) ; (1920) Some Suggestions affecting the Fnancial Statements of Life Insurance Companies; (1921) Some New Problems affecting Life Insurance; (1923) A Comparison of Mortality Elements between Group and Regular Life Insurance; (1928) Life Insurance in Conjunction with Bank Savings Deposits, and The Permanent Total Disability Provision in Life Insurance Contracts (1928).

Something of the breadth of his activities and his interests is indicated in the list and variety of his membership connections. He belongs to the Hartford Yale Alumni Association, is a trustee of the Yale Alumni Association Loan Fund of Hart- ford County, belongs to the Delta Phi fraternity and the St. Elmo Society of the Sheffield Scientific School and the Yale Engineering Association. Because of his collegiate connection he has membership in the University Club of Hartford, of which he formerly served on the executive committee. He is likewise interestd in patriotic organizations, having membership in the Sons of Veterans, in the Connecticut Histori- cal Society, the National Association for, Constitutional Government, Playground and Recreation Association of America, American Association for Old Age Security, and American Civil Liberties Union. He belongs to the Bachelors Club, to the Sentinels of the Republic, the American Museum of Natural History (of) New York and to the Wadsworth Atheneum, and is a fellow of the American Geographical Society. He is also a member of the Twentieth Century Club of Hartford, of which he served on the executive committee, the Hartford Get-Together Club, the Hartford Curling Club, of which he was formerly president, and the Hartford Golf Club, in which he has served, as captain, secretary, vice president and president. In the Lions Club of Hartford he has been vice president and a member of the executive committee. He likewise belongs to the Hartford Club, the Hartford Chamber of Commerce, Auto- mobile Club of Hartford, the Graduates Club of New Haven and the Connecticut Golf Association, having in the last named served as secretary, vice president and presi- dent, while at the present writing he is on the executive committee. He is likewise a member of the Wampanoag Country Club of West Hartford and a member of the South Congregational church of Hartford.

On the 5th of June, 1909, Mr. Morris married Miss Martha V. King and the family circle now includes two daughters, Martha Bontecou, born April 22, 1911, and Ann Josephine Morris, born June 28, 1914. Their residence at 843 Prospect avenue is a social center that accords a warm-hearted hospitality to their extensive circle of friends. That Mr. Morris reaches out in helpfulness toward his fellowmen is indicated in his

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membership in the National Tuberculosis Association, in the Hartford Community Chest and in the Young Men's Christian Association.

Politically Mr. Morris is a republican and that he is not neglectful of the duties and obligations of citizenship is shown in his connection with organizations previously mentioned. He has never sought office as a reward for party fealty, however, his activi- ties centering in other fields. As a business man his course has been marked by steady progress, while in the field of club and social activities his influence has ever been ex- erted along constructive lines and his social nature is such as adds to the happiness of his fellowmen as well as to progress and achievement in the material world.

DEWITT PAGE

DeWitt Page, one of the outstanding industrial leaders of New England, is president and general manager of the New Departure Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Hartford and Meriden, Connecticut. This company is one of the principal accessory units of the General Motors Corporation, of which organization Mr. Page is a vice president and director.

Mr. Page was born in Meriden, Connecticut, April 26, 1869, the eldest son of George Washington and Mary Jane (Smith) Page. He attended the public schools of his native city but the untimely death of his father made it necessary for him to leave school at an early age. He served as clerk in mercantile establishments in Hartford and New Britain until his twenty-third year when he entered the employ of the company of which he is now president. This concern was then small, employ- ing thirty hands, and manufactured a line of door bells. Subsequently the bicycle reached the zenith of its popularity and the company added bicycle bells to its manufacture, giving to Bristol the appellation of the "Bell Town," by which name it is still known in many sections of the United States. Later the coaster brake for bicycles was added, this device becoming popular throughout this country and in several countries of Europe.

Throughout this early period in the history of the New Departure Manufacturing Company the duties of Mr. Page were varied, taking him into practically every department of office activity as well as giving him an intimate knowledge of the manufacturing ends. Later he was the head of the advertising, purchasing and sales departments by successive promotions until he became assistant general man- ager, and then president and general manager.

Mr. Page has ever been conservatively progressive,-a man who thinks straight, is a keen analyst and possesses constructive ability for organization and for working out managerial problems to a successful conclusion. His counsel was sought and followed from the early development of the company. It was he who in 1904 urged that the company discontinue its policy of employing a selling agent and conduct its own sales work. He was appointed sales manager at that time and the steady upward growth of the company has continued from that time until now (1928) when upwards of six thousand hands are employed.

Meanwhile, the company entered into the manufacture of ball bearings, retain- ing, however, the business of making door, bicycle, ambulance and fire bells. The production of ball bearings today constitutes 90 per cent of the business of the company. With a daily output of one hundred and sixty-five thousand bearings, the company is at the head of the anti-friction bearing industry of the world.

In 1916 the common stock of the company was taken over by the United Motors Corporation of New York city and Mr. Page was elected secretary and treasurer of that organization, holding office until that corporation was absorbed by the General Motors Corporation on January 15, 1919. The following May he was elected a member of the directorate of that organization and on April 19, 1923, was elected a vice president and continues in that position.

Throughout his career Mr. Page has proved himself to be not only a man of far-seeing vision, sterling integrity, keen perception and indomitable pursuit of purpose as an executive, but exercises unusual humanistic cooperation in his rela- tions with his employes. Having come up through the ordinary positions in the New Departure Company he has a knowledge of the problems of the men in prac- tically all departments and has established in the New Departure plants various

(Photograph by Pirie MacDonald)

DEWITT PAGE

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HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT

institutional activities that have proven helpful to employes in many ways. For example: The company maintains at Bristol one of the most complete First Aid and Medical departments to be found in industrial plants anywhere. Every applicant for employment must undergo a physical examination and if employed he is not given work that will aggravate any physical defect he possesses. Minor injuries, disorders or ailments such as might keep a man from his employment with conse- quent loss of income are treated by the physician in charge and trained nurses without cost to him. Every employe is urged to properly estimate the value of thrift and provision is made through the Two-for-One plan for returning a hand- some increment to the man who saves regularly. Group insurance is prevalent throughout all plants, providing not only death benefits but sick benefits also. The General Welfare department is important and embodies many intimate services to employes in their personal and family interests.

Mr. Page is a lover of clean athletic sports and through the New Departure Athletic Association promotes interest in such activities and entertainment. The company maintains baseball, basket ball and bowling leagues and teams throughout the year and annually brings all plants together for a mammoth field meet of field and track events.

The company also has its own fire department, a well organized "Safety First" work, looking not only to the guarding of machinery but aiming to educate employes to avoid carelessness in the factory and in their homes. An unusual enterprise in the institutional work of the company is the Hotel-Club, maintained for single men, in which modern living accommodations and recreational games are maintained on a high plane but at a cost to the employe which is not in excess of the cost to the company. Some three hundred men participate in this feature. For the purpose of promoting the success of all New Departure institutions a monthly newspaper, the "New Departure News," has been maintained for many years.

Mr. Page is a director of the Bristol National Bank, the American Trust Com- pany, Bristol Chamber of Commerce, Bristol Realty Company and the Cycle Trades of America, of which organization he was formerly president. He is a member of the Wolverine Automobile Club of Detroit, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Toledo Club, the Country Club of Farmington, Connecticut, Shuttle Meadow Club of New Britain, Connecticut, the Sea View Golf Club of Absecon, New Jersey, the New York Yacht Club, the Montauk (L. I.) Yacht Club, the Hartford Yacht Club, the Anglo- American Fish and Game Club of Montreal, Canada, the Chippanee Country Club of Bristol, the Bristol Club, Bristol Lodge, No. 1010, B. P. O. E., the Meriden Chamber of Commerce, and president of the Endee Club of New Departure executives and departmental principals.

During the World war Mr. Page was a member of the Connecticut Board of the United States Fuel Administration. Mr. Page is a republican in politics and was elected as a republican elector from Connecticut in the election of 1928. His home is in Bristol and he is intensely interested in all that pertains to the welfare of the city and is quietly active in support of all worthy enterprises making for a better Bristol.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 104

Author: Burpee, Charles W. (Charles Winslow), b. 1859 Publication date: 1928 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Number of Pages: 1390

Author: Burpee, Charles W. (Charles Winslow), b. 1859
Publication date: 1928
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1390