History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 107

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 107

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When Mr. Johnson received the patent for this last clutch he was traveling through Ohio and came into touch with the Stambaughs, Youngstown financiers, who were largely interested in the iron and steel industry of the Mahoning valley. These Ohio capitalists thought so well of the device that they agreed to finance it and to have the inventor of the clutch take up the manufacture of the device in Hartford. Accordingly, M. C. Johnson was supplied with funds and made superintendent of the company, which was incorporated in 1901. He started the business at Hartford in 1902 and friction clutches were produced in moderate quantities. In 1904 Scott H. Simon was chosen by the Stambaughs to take charge of the office details, and in 1905 his efficiency led to his selection for the office of treasurer, left vacant by the resigna- tion of J. F. Barr, while he also assumed the duties of general manager.

(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)

SCOTT H. SIMON

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The business was conducted at No. 356 Asylum street, Hartford, and grew until two floors of the building were utilized. It then became evident that much greater floor space would be required for the normal expansion of the industry and accord- ingly in 1909 the Carlyle Johnson Machine Company moved to Manchester. On April 1 of that year the firm purchased from the Eastern Biscuit Company its plant on Main street, which was formerly the Frank Goetz biscuit factory. The sale was arranged through Major Wyatt Owen, who had been in charge of the property for several years.

In addition to the above mentioned friction clutch the Carlyle Johnson Machine Company manufactures the Johnson marine reverse gear, a device which expert mechanics unhesitatingly pronounce the best of its kind on the market. From time to time the firm has improved its friction clutch and the product has no equal today among the industries of the world. It is made in two types, single and double, and for most purposes is superior to a positive clutch because the engagement is gradual. When unusual conditions are encountered, there is an opportunity for slippage rather than breakage. Furthermore, the Johnson friction clutch is designed in an exceed- ingly simple manner, with very few parts and with adjustable features that make it suitable for a great variety of applications.

The termination of 1926 marked the most prosperous year in the history of the firm since the close of the World war and its notable record for gross business and net profit is due to the constantly growing demand for Johnson friction clutches in the machine tool, automotive, woodworking, textile and paper industries, the dairying and food products fields and many others. During 1926 there was a notable increase in the use of these clutches on the overhead lineshaft, thereby eliminating the need for countershafts. The lineshaft permits of a quick, smooth control, as compared with the use of a tight and loose pulley. The pulley on the lineshaft is mounted directly on the loose sleeve of the friction clutch, while the other part of the clutch is keyed or clamped to the shaft. Then, by means of the shifting lever, the driving pulley can be instantly released from or connected with the lineshaft. The elimination of countershafts saves a considerable amount in power, belting and pulleys and makes the entire installation less cumbersome and the shop cleaner and lighter. Johnson friction clutches are internationally known and in operation in Great Britain, Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, and India, as well as in many other foreign countries. Some time ago The American Machinist published the following article regarding the firm:

"The shops of the Carlyle Johnson Company present an excellent example of the modern self-contained machinery building plant which, isolated to a certain extent from a base of supplies, must become to a considerable degree independent of it. Located in a small town about ten miles distant from the capital city of Connecticut but connected therewith by three lines of electric railway, the plant possesses prac- tically all the advantages of urban location without restriction of space, lack of natural light, etc., usually connected with the city shop, and what is of even greater import- ance, it enjoys more freedom from labor disturbances and a lower rate of labor turn- over than is usually the fortune of the latter.

"As might be expected, the main factory is light, clean and well ventilated. There is plenty of space for handling the work, and the machinery is so placed that the operations go forward in regular sequence with a minimum of rehandling. On the lower floor adjacent to the castings storage is a battery of Cleveland automatics supplemented by Jones & Lamson flat turrets, upon which most of the round parts of the product is machined by means of special tools which are the product of the company's designing and tool departments.

"Besides the regular form of friction clutch, the company builds special forms and modifications to suit builders of all kinds of machinery. In these special forms the body, or the hub of the friction cup, or both, may be modified to suit the require- ments of the machine into which it is built, as, for instance, the cup may be part of a gear or pulley, or may be screwed upon the end of a shaft, the hub of a gear, or may be bolted to the face of a cam or other special part."

The increased business of 1926 necessitated a complete remodeling of the offices of the company, with the addition of more rooms and many other changes. In 1920 Mr. Simon was elected vice president of the corporation and since May, 1928, has been its president. Since he came to Manchester the output of the plant has been more than doubled and markets previously inaccessible have been opened all over the country as well as in foreign lands. No detail of the work escapes his keen observa- tion, and that he is an executive of exceptional capacity is demonstrated by the remarkable strides made by the industry under his expert guidance. In 1916 he was

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elected a director of the Manchester Savings Bank, and later resigned, accepting a directorship in the Manchester Trust Company, which he still represents in that capacity.

Mr. Simon was married November 1, 1909, to Miss Josephine Reebel, of Youngs- town, Ohio, daughter of Charles and Jennie (Gray) Reebel. Mr. and Mrs. Simon have two children: Janet Gray, who is attending Abbott Academy of Andover, Massachu- setts, preparatory to entering Wellesley College; and Frank Reebel, in the public school.

During the World war Mr. Simon was a member of the Home Guards of Man- chester and also served on the finance committee of Manchester Chapter of the American Red Cross Society. In 1921-22 he was president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce and has also been one of its directors. His interest in the growth and advancement of the town is deep and sincere, and as president of the Manchester Young Men's Christian Association and as a trustee of the Community Club of Man- chester he exerts a strong influence for good. He is a member of the Manchester Kiwanis Club and is chairman of the business committee of the Second Congregational church. For recreation he turns to hunting and is also a devotee of golf. Just, considerate and courteous, Mr. Simon has secured the complete trust and confidence of those who serve him, and his genuine worth is attested by all with whom he has been associated in the varied relations of life.

GEORGE EDWARD JONES

George Edward Jones, secretary of the Rossia Insurance Company of America and thus identified with a field of business that has made the name of Hartford known throughout the world, was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, September 4, 1889, a son of George Abial and Harriet Brooks (Anderson) Jones, the former a native of Law- rence, Massachusetts, while the latter was born in Baileyville, Maine. The Jones ancestors came from Wales and England, while the progenitors of the Anderson family were residents both of Scotland and the north of Ireland. It was through the maternal line that George E. Jones is connected with Matthew Thornton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and both the Jones and the Anderson families were represented in the American forces in the Revolutionary war. Th same spirit of loyalty and of service has been manifested in later generations, the grandfather, Abial Jones, having been captain of the commissary department, Sixth Army Corps, in the Civil war, while the maternal grandfather, William Harrison Anderson, served with the Eleventh Maine Regiment in the long conflict between the north and the south. The record of the father, George A. Jones, is equally creditable from the standpoint of loyalty and efficiency, inasmuch as he has been with the New Haven Railroad for a period of forty-eight years, making his home in Middleboro, Massachusetts.

In the public schools of Baileyville, Maine, and of Middleboro, Massachusetts, George Edward Jones pursued his preliminary education and then took up the study of law, being graduated from the law school of Boston University with the class of 1913. After practicing for a short time in Boston he removed to New York city, where he did re-insurance work for the Casualty Company of America, which was being liqui- dated at that time. He served the company for nine months and in 1917 established his home in Hartford, where he became office manager with the Rossia Insurance Com- pany. Adequately measuring up to the standards of the position, he was afterward promoted to the office of assistant secretary and in 1924 was made secretary of this rapidly growing company, the success of which is attributable in substantial measure to his efforts and capability. He is now vice president and one of the directors of the Globe Underwriters Exchange, is secretary and director of the First Re-insurance Company of Hartford and secretary of the Fire Re-assurance Company of New York. He has thus entered upon extended connections with insurance interests and is widely and prominently known among those who are most active in the insurance field in New England and in America's metropolis.

On the 17th of March, 1917, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Quelle, of Middleboro, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of three sons: George Edward, Jr., William Anderson and John Brooks. Their home is at No. 9 Dale street in West Hartford.

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(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)

GEORGE E. JONES

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Politically Mr. Jones is a republican and is now filling the office of town chair- man at West Hartford and also is serving as chairman of the West Hartford school board, being keenly interested in those activities which have most to do with com- munity welfare and progress. He is recognized as a forceful factor in local community circles and his labors in that field have been far-reaching and resultant, as they have been in his business life. He is a popular member of various social organizations, including the Hartford Club, the City Club, the Highland Country Club at Meriden and the Wampanoag Country Club. He likewise belongs to the Republican Club of West Hartford and the Congregational Community Club there and is a member of the Exchange Club of Hartford and the Round Table of New York city. As an exponent of the high principles of Masonry he is also widely and favorably known, having membership in Wyllys Lodge, F. & A. M., of Hartford, and in the various York and Scottish Rite bodies, belonging to the Bay State Commandery, K. T., at Brockton, Massachusetts, and to Aleppo Temple of the Mystic Shrine in Boston. All this indi- cates that his interests are broad and varied and are progressive in spirit and tendency. Progress has been his watchword throughout his entire life and step by step he has advanced until he has reached an enviable position.

E. SHOEMYEN, M. D.

While at New Britain for only a brief period, Dr. E. Shoemyen has already become well established in practice here and the future promises still further prog- ress. He was born at Budapest, Hungary, on the 2d of July, 1896, and is a son of Joseph and Goldie Shoemyen. He pursued a course of study in the gymnasium of his native city until graduated therefrom and later he entered the Royal Hungarian Uni- versity, in which he studied medicine, winning his professional degree in 1919. He then located for practice in his native land and retained his residence there until 1924, when he crossed the Atlantic and established an office in New Britain. Through the intervening period of four years he has made steady and substantial progress along professional lines and his practice is now one of gratifying proportions.

Dr. Shoemyen was married at Bridgeport, Connecticut, May 12, 1925, to Helen Naseados.

FREDERICK SETH BELDEN

Frederick Seth Belden, widely known as the president and treasurer of the Hart- ford Coal Company and also having similar official connection with the Maynard Coal Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, was born in Connecticut's capital city May 28, 1869, and is a son of Charles Rockwell and Mary E. (Sill) Belden, who are mentioned at length on another page of this work, the eldest of their three children being Frederick S., who in the acquirement of his education completed a course in the Hartford high school and then started out in the business world by entering the employ of H. H. Whitman, a dry goods merchant. Having thus gained his initial experience, he was afterward associated with the Jewell Belting Company for a period of eight years, at the end of which time he resigned to join his father in the Hartford Coal Company, of which he became assistant secretary. He was elected to the presidency of the company upon his father's death in 1902 and through the intervening period, covering more than a quarter of a century, has continued as the chief executive of the business. In 1914 he further extended the scope of his activities by the purchase of the oldest coal yard of Springfield, Massachusetts, and reorganized this enterprise under the name of the Maynard Coal Company, thus retaining the name of the former owner, although Mr. Belden has continuously been president and treasurer of the concern, which conducts both a wholesale and retail business. In Springfield, as in Hartford, he has gained a large patronage through progressive and reliable methods, richly meriting the success which has crowned his labors.

On the 10th of February, 1899, Mr. Belden was united in marriage to Miss Sydney B. Hanson, daughter of Stephen Hanson, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and they have become the parents of two children, Kathleen and Ruth.

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Mr. Belden is well known in Masonic circles, having membership in St. John's Lodge, No. 4, F. & A. M., of Hartford, and Wolcott Chapter, R. A. M. He greatly enjoys outdoor life, to which he largely turns for pleasure and recreation. He belongs to the Hartford Club, of which he was president from 1924 until 1926. He likewise has membership in the Hartford Golf Club, the Farmington Country Club, the East Haddam Fish and Game Club, the Twentieth Century Club, the Union League Club of New York and the Bangscote Club of Nova Scotia. He belongs to the Hartford Em- ployers Association and politically is connected with the republican party in the matter of exercising his right of franchise but is entirely without political ambition. He feels that his business cares and interests make full demand upon his time, and among the men of ability and substantial worth in Hartford he is numbered, his life record prov- ing that activity doesn't tire but hardens and gives resisting power. The exercise of effort has always kept him alert and his position in business circles is a most credit- able one.

JUDGE WILLIAM MILLS MALTBIE

Connecticut has always been distinguished for the high rank of her bench and bar and among her eminent jurists of the present day is Judge William Mills Maltbie, now an associate judge of the supreme court, to which office lie was elected in 1925, following previous service as a judge of the superior court. The story of his life is the record of steady progress resulting from close application, thoroughness, a laudable ambition and marked fidelity to the interests entrusted to his care. He was born in Granby, Connecticut, March 10, 1880, and is a son of Theodore Mills and Louise A. (Jewett) Maltbie. He attended the common schools of his native town and later pursued a course in the Hartford high school, being numbered among its alumni of 1897. Later he enrolled at Yale and won his Bachelor of Arts degree at his gradua- tion with the class of 1901, while he completed a course in the Yale Law School in 1905, receiving his degree summa cum laude. In June of that year Judge Maltbie was admitted to practice at the Hartford county bar and entered into partnership with his father under the firm style of Maltbie & Maltbie. His progress from the beginning was rapid. Endowed by nature with a keen intellect, he has steadily developed his powers of analysis and concentration and it was soon evident that he was seldom at fault in the application of a legal principle.

There is no profession which has furnished more representatives to political activ- ity than the law. The reason for this is obvious, for the capable lawyer naturally becomes a student of human nature and learns how to judge his fellowmen. His analyti- cal qualities prepare him to understand and master a situation and these elements become factors in the political field. It is not a matter of marvel, therefore, that in 1913 William M. Maltbie was elected on the republican ticket to the house of representa- tives as a member for the town of Granby, and there he earnestly considered the ques- tion of lawmaking. The following year he became assistant to Hugh M. Alcorn, states attorney, and in January, 1915, was appointed executive secretary to Governor Marcus H. Holcomb, after which he continued to fill both offices until his appointment as judge of the superior court. On the 3d of March, 1916, Judge Gardiner Greene in the superior court made him a member of the grievance committee of the Hartford county bar to succeed the late William Waldo Hyde and thus accorded him unusual recognition for an attorney of his years. Judge Maltbie also acted as clerk of the commission which prepared the 1918 Revision of the General Statutes of Connecticut. On the 2d of August, 1917, he was called to fill a vacancy on the superior court bench and in Janu- ary, 1919, was nominated and elected for the full term of eight years. He continued to serve in that capacity until 1925, when he was elected an associate judge of the supreme court of Connecticut and is now sitting upon the bench of this court of last resort, a judicial honor to which his previous service well entitled him. The competent judge must be a man of well balanced intellect, thoroughly familiar with the law and practice, of comprehensive general information, possessed of an analytical mind and a self-control that will enable him to lose his individuality, his personal feelings, his prejudices and his peculiarities of disposition in the dignity, impartiality and equity of the office to which life, property, right and liberty must look for protection. Possess-

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JUDGE WILLIAM M. MALTBIE

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ing these qualities, Judge Maltbie merits the high honor which was conferred upon him by his elevation to the supreme court bench.

On June 28, 1917, Judge Maltbie was married to Miss Mary L. Hamlin and to them has been born one son, Theodore Mills, whose natal day was March 7, 1919. The Judge holds membership in St. Mark's Lodge, No. 91, A. F. & A. M., of Granby, of which he is past master. He belongs to the Phi Beta Kappa and the Zeta Psi frater- nities of Yale University, also to Corby Court of the Yale Law School and to the Golf Club of Hartford, the last named indicating the nature of his recreation. For a num- ber of years he has served on the executive committee of the South Congregational church of Granby, of which he has long been a faithful member. His entire life has been actuated by high principles that have found expression in valued judicial service, and the fairness and impartiality of his decisions as well as his legal acumen were recognized in his elevation to the superior court bench and his later advancement to the highest tribunal in the state.

JOHN THOMAS DUNN, JR.

Hartford has reason to be proud of the record of many of her native sons who have wisely utilized the advantages here offered and have made steady progress that has constituted a contributing factor to the substantial development of the capital. In this class John Thomas Dunn, Jr., deserves mention. He was here born December 1, 1891, a son of John Thomas and Minnie (Costello) Dunn, the former being now connected with the Hartford board of education. At the usual age the son entered the public schools, passing through consecutive grades to the completion of the high school course, after which he matriculated in the Catholic University at Washington, D. C. He was pursuing a law course there when war was declared with Germany and he left school to join the First Officers Training Camp at Fort Myer, Virginia, where he was later commissioned a second lieutenant on the 19th of August, 1917, and assigned to

Camp Lee, Virginia, with the Eightieth Division. When he arrived at that place there were thirty-two hundred officers and only twelve enlisted men, but in due course of time he received and trained over forty thousand troops which came from Virginia, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania. Lieutenant Dunn acted as finance officer and was attached to the camp quartermaster's office. In December, 1917, he was assigned to Camp Joseph E. Johnston at Jacksonville, Florida, where he was attached to the camp quartermaster's office, first as finance officer and later as fuel administrator of the camp, where there were stationed more than thirty thousand troops. In July, 1918, he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and in the latter part of Sep- tember, 1918, was recommended for a captaincy and passed the required examination, but soon afterward the armistice was declared and promotion did not come. He received his discharge April 30, 1919, after serving for nearly two years.

With the close of his military activity Mr. Dunn located in Hartford, where he became a mortgage loan and real estate broker and in this line of business has since continued. In 1920, during the presidential campaign which made Warren G. Harding the nation's chief executive, Mr. Dunn was elected a representative to the general assembly from Hartford and while a member of the state legislature introduced several important bills for the benefit of his city and also for the benefit of the American Legion, in which organization he has been very active. He introduced the Sunday baseball bill which was passed during Governor Trumbull's term of office. He was a delegate to the first American Legion convention, held in Minneapolis in November, 1919, and he served on the executive committee of the Rau-Locke Post No. 8 of the American Legion and also as district commander but resigned the latter position when elected to the general assembly. He is now a member of the Velhage-Hayes Post No. 96 of the American Legion of West Hartford and he is a member of the Veteran Corps of the First Company of the Governor's Foot Guard. He likewise belongs to the City Club, to the Sicagog Tribe of Red Men and is a member of the bureau of assessment and award of damages in West Hartford. He is serving on the republican central com- mittee of the first district of West Hartford and is vice president of the Hartford Real Estate Board, vice president of the Service Mortgage Corporation and a director of the Hartford Bond & Mortgage Corporation. All this indicates the life of intense activity which he leads-activity which touches the general interests of society at

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many points and which leads to progress and development, to the promotion of the general welfare and to the upbuilding of his own fortunes.

On the 16th of November, 1921, Mr. Dunn was married to Miss Norma E. Mairson, of Hartford, and they have one son, John Morton, born August 10, 1926. Mr. Dunn may well be called a representative young man of Hartford. He is alert and energetic, keeps abreast with the times in thought and spirit and in promoting his own business affiairs neglects not his opportunities to aid in advancing the best interests of city and state.

ERNST THEODOR FROMEN, M. D.

Dr. Ernst Theodor Fromen was born in Kalmar, Sweden, September 21, 1866. His father was Captain W. Theodor Fromen and his mother's maiden name was Mathilda Jansson. The Doctor received his elementary and secondary education in the schools of his home town and later pursued studies at the University of Lund, where he received his degree "Artium Liberalium Baccalaurei" in 1886. Coming to America in 1892, he studied medicine at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and four years later received his degree in medicine. He served his interneship in a Milwaukee hospital and then practiced medicine in Michigan for a short period and later in South Bend, Indiana.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 107

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