USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III > Part 11
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ARTHUR ADAMS
For twenty-one years Trinity College has benefitted by the high standards and efficient service of Arthur Adams, distinguished educator and author, who is college librarian and at the same time holds the chair of professor of English. Born in Pleasantville, New Jersey, May 12, 1881, he is a son of James Reading and Marietta (English) Adams, also of Pleasantville. There in the public schools he pursued his education for a time and then entered the high school at Ocean City, New Jersey, while later he matriculated in Rutgers College of New Brunswick, New Jersey, win- ning his Bachelor of Arts degree at his graduation with the class of 1902. The following year Yale University conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree and within its classic walls he won his Ph. D. degree in 1905. He completed a course in the Berkeley Divinity School at Middletown, Connecticut, in 1910, when the Bachelor
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of Divinity degree was conferred upon him, and from the Philadelphia Divinity School obtained the S. T. M. degree. Throughout his entire life, when not attending school, Professor Adams has been engaged in educational work. In 1905-6 he was instructor in English at the University of Colorado and in the latter year came to Hartford as assistant professor of English at Trinity College. In 1908 he was made associate professor and in 1911 was advanced to the full professorship and still holds that chair, while in 1915 he was also made librarian. He has taken active part in advancing the moral as well as the intellectual development of the communities in which he has lived. In 1908 he was ordained a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal church by C. B. Brewster and ordained a priest on the 13th of May, 1909, since which time he has been assistant pastor of Christ Cathedral church in Hartford. He was examining chaplain of the diocese of Connecticut, was made chaplain of the Officers Reserve Corps in the United States Army and has been untiring in his efforts to make the truths of the gospel a vital force in the lives of his fellowmen.
On the 22d of June, 1910, Professor Adams was married to Miss Emma Steelman, a daughter of Hiram and Mary (Jackaway) Steelman, of Ocean City, New Jersey, and they now have two children: Esther Steelman, born December 30, 1912; and Richard Hancock, November 16, 1916.
Mr. Adams is closely and prominently associated with many educational and scientific societies and patriotic organizations. He holds membership in the Modern Language Association of America, the American Philological Association, the Ameri- can Historical Association, the Medieval Academy of America, the American Society of Church History, the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, Society of Colonial Wars, Order of Founders and Patriots of America, Sons of the American Revolution, the St. Nicholas Society, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, the New York Genealogical Society, the Genealogical Society of Pennsyl- vania, the Huguenot Society of America and the Connecticut and the New Jersey Historical Societies. Fraternally he is a Mason and his social nature finds expression in his connection with the Twentieth Century Club and the Get Together Club. During his college days he became identified with the Delta Phi fraternity and the Phi Beta Kappa. He is a member of the Authors Club, having written many books, and articles for periodicals dealing with historical, philological, and genealogical subjects, and he is the editor of the Index of Ancestors and Honor Roll of the Society of Colonial Wars, published in 1922. His authorship also includes: The Syntax of the Temporal Clause in Old English Prose, 1907; A Genealogy of the Lake Family of Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey (with Sarah A. Risley), 1915; and he was collaborator in the preparation of the Concordance to the English Poems of Thomas Gray in 1908 and the Wordsworth Concordance in 1911.
EVERETT JOHN LAKE
The interests and activities of Everett John Lake have touched life at many points. His contribution to the upbuilding and development of Hartford through the commercial field has been most valuable, while in public office he has done much to uphold the standards of the state and the value of his service is widely acknowl- edged. He has ever carried his plans and purposes to successful conclusion and the city and commonwealth have been a direct beneficiary of his labors. He was born February 8, 1871, in Woodstock, Windham county, Connecticut, where his maternal ancestors were among the first settlers. In the paternal line he traces his ancestry from Thomas Lake, who left his native England in 1748, he having probably been born in Portsmouth in 1734, to become a resident of America. After remaining for a time in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, he removed to Rye, that state, and in 1785 took up his abode on a farm near Chichester, New Hampshire. He married Mrs. Eunice (Seavey) Davis, and they became the parents of five sons and three daughters, the youngest child being William Lake, from whom the line of descent comes down through John Lake, his son, Thomas Alexander Lake, to Everett John Lake of this review.
Thomas Alexander Lake was a youth of but fourteen years when, fired by a patriotic spirit, he ran away from home to join the Union army. He was not accepted for regular service but became a waiter with Company G, Eighteenth Regi-
(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)
Everex J. Lare
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ment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, of which his cousin, Captain Warner, was the commander. He acted as orderly for the captain, later enlisted in the same company and was captured at Winchester on the 15th of June, 1863, but escaped and made his way home. Later he re-enlisted, serving until the close of the war; nor was that the extent of his service to his country, for in 1885 he became a member of the Connecticut legislature and in 1897 was elected to the state senate. He held various other public positions and ever manifested his loyalty and his progressiveness in citizenship, while in business he gained success and prominence, becoming the head of the Hartford Lumber Company, then as now one of the foremost enterprises of this character in the city. In Woodstock, Connecticut, he married Martha A. Cockings, and they became the parents of two daughters, Sarah M. and Margaret B., and a son, Everett J.
The last named acquired his early education in the public schools of Woodstock and in 1885 entered the high school of Stromsburg, Nebraska, following the removal of his parents to that place. He completed his high school course by graduation with the class of 1887 and continued his education in the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which conferred upon him the Bachelor of Science degree at his graduation with the class of 1890. He then became a junior at Harvard and won his Bachelor of Arts degree as a member of the class of 1892. For a year thereafter he was a student in the Harvard Law School but put aside his textbooks to enter the broad field of business in 1893. During his college days he was active in athletics and contributed to the success of the football team of which he was a member. In later years he has coached the team at various times and never has he ceased to feel the keenest interest in football and other athletic sports. In 1921 the honorary LL. D. degree was conferred upon him by Wesleyan College, and in 1922 by Trinity College. He has never ceased to feel the deepest interest in educational progress and has served as a trustee of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and on the advisory council to the department of government of Harvard College.
It was in 1893 that Mr. Lake made his initial step in business by becoming a clerk in the employ of the Hartford Lumber Company, of which his father was the head. Parental authority, however, was not exercised to give him an easy berth. He mastered the various phases of the business through close application, persistent purpose and untiring industry. In 1894 he was made secretary of the company and in 1896 also became its treasurer, while in 1901 he was elected to the presidency and still continues at the head of this business, which is now one of large extent and importance, wisely directing its affairs and promoting its expansion in harmony with the growth and development of the city. The thoroughness which has ever character- ized him has been one of the strong elements in the steady growth of the business. In 1903 he was elected to the presidency of the Tunnel Coal Company, retaining the office until 1908. He is also a director of the Hartford-Aetna National Bank and his sound judgment is regarded as a valuable asset to any business undertaking.
Political activity has divided his time with his business interests. From early manhood he has been an earnest and consistent supporter of the republican party and in 1900 was elected a member of the school visitors board of Hartford, while in 1902 he was chosen to represent his district in the lower house of the state legis- lature, being made chairman of the appropriations committee and serving also on other committees of importance. Still further political honors were accorded him in his election to the state senate in 1904 and there he was made chairman of the committee on incorporations and was an effective worker on the floor of the senate, giving careful and earnest study to all vital problems that came up for settlement, his course at all times being characterized by a spirit of progressive citizenship. In 1906, in the republican state convention in New Haven, he was nominated for lieu- tenant-governor, and the following election gave him a plurality of nineteen thousand, seven hundred and eighty-one. In 1921 the highest political gift of the state came to him and for two years he served as governor of Connecticut, giving to the common- wealth an administration that upheld its stability and brought about various reforms and improvements.
On the 5th of September, 1895, Mr. Lake was married in Rockville, Connecticut, to Miss Eva Louise Sykes, daughter of George Sykes, and they have become parents of two children. The elder, Harold Sykes, born September 5, 1896, is associated in business with his father as manager of their manufacturing operations. He married Mary Parker, of Chicago, and they have two children, Barbara and Madeline. The
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daughter, Marjorie Sykes Lake, is now the wife of Julian T. Leonard, of Boston, and they have one child, Julian T., Jr.
In club circles Mr. Lake is widely known and his club activities date from his college days, for at Harvard he was a member of the Hasty Pudding Club, the Institute of 1770 and the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He now has membership in the Hartford Club, Hartford Golf Club, Country Club of Farmington, Sequin Golf Club, the New York Club of New York, the Harvard Club of New York, and the Thames Club of New London, Connecticut. His religious faith is that of the Con- gregational church, and fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M .; Pythagoras Chapter, R. A. M .; Washington Commandery, K. T .; while in the Scottish Rite he has attained the thirty-second degree, and he is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to Lincoln Lodge of the Knights of Pythias and to Charter Oak Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. One who knows Governor Lake well said of him: "He is a big man, physically, mentally, morally." He has ever been actuated by a progressive spirit and high ideals, and at all times he has recognized the rights and privileges of others. Opportunity has ever been to him a call to action and it has led to his success in business, his prom- inence in the arena of politics, and over his public career there has never fallen a shadow of wrong or to it there has never been attached a suspicion of evil. His entire life has been constructive and in the improvement of his individual interests and in the advancement of city and state he has builded wisely and well.
MINNIE S. DAVIS
The superior intellectuality of Miss Minnie Skinner Davis found expression in prose and poetic writings and in notable service to mankind. She was prominent in New Thought circles and was widely known as a metaphysician. A native of Balti- more, Maryland, she had attained the notable age of ninety-two years when she passed away at her home in Hartford on the 19th of April, 1927. Her natal day was March 25, 1835, and she was the eldest of the ten daughters of the Rev. Samuel A. and Mary (Partridge) Davis. Her father was a Universalist minister of rare power and missionary zeal. In 1862 he removed with his family to Hartford and for many years continued his residence here, becoming prominent in state missionary work. He was also actively identified with the establishment of a number of churches in the state and was a man of broad influence, his life being of inspirational value to many. The family to which he belonged numbered various distinguished members who made notable contribution to Christian work and service.
Reared in an atmosphere of broad culture and refinement, Miss Davis made excellent use of her educational opportunities and was only eighteen years of age when she wrote her first book, called "Marion Lester." It was a story of liberal young people amid militant evangelism and had a wide circulation. In young womanhood she suffered an accident which brought about twenty-three years of invalidism, and though in seclusion and ofttimes in pain, she gave to the world messages of intel- lectual power, interpreting the divine love that compasses the world. It was in 1886 that deliverance came to her through her restoration to health as the result of her investigation and utilization of the principles that are basic elements of "New Thought" and psychic healing. She became a practitioner, lecturer and author and won national prominence in those fields. The Christian Leader, commenting upon her life, said: "Her published works reveal marvelous grasp of scientific information coupled with spiritual insight." She was ever greatly interested in literary matters and numbered many prominent writers among her acquaintances and friends. In her later years she lived quietly in her Hartford home and she continued her literary labors almost to the last, writing many poems that were published, including a beautiful little one which she called "Good-Night and Good-Morning":
"Good-night, dear world, the twilight shadows fall. All wrongs and griefs fade with the day, And I look back upon a sunlit way With God's love over all.
Good-by, home friends, so dear, so true,
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I'll take you with me in my heart,
And friends with whom I would not part,
Tried friends, yes, you and you and you. Good-night and good-morning,
With a little rest between.
Such a sweet rest, and now what world is this?
Familiar voices greet my list'ning ear,
Glad voices of welcome and good cheer.
I feel upon my brow my mother's kiss, And know the clasping of my father's hand.
A new world greets my opening eyes,
As I in joy and wonder rise, To say 'Good-morning' in the Heavenly Land."
It would be impossible to measure the influence of the life of Miss Davis. For many years she took an active part in developing the New Thought movement and was recognized as an interesting and forceful lecturer. Who can tell to what extent her words influenced the lives of her hearers or how widely her written expressions were embodied in the activities of her readers? It was written of her: "Miss Minnie S. Davis was remarkable for intellectual keenness, for spiritual exaltation and for her power of convincing and persuasive expression. Among leaders of thought in a city of unusual literary reputation she was regarded as a gifted seer and a beloved saint."
THOMAS FRANCIS EGAN
If one were asked to characterize in a single phrase the record of Thomas Francis Egan, having to do with both his business career and his public service, it might best be done in the words "fidelity to duty." He long held the position of superintendent of state police and filled other positions whereby he promoted and safeguarded the public welfare. In business, too, he showed equal loyalty and thus it was that all who were associated with him in his varied relations of life felt a sense of personal loss when he passed away March 27, 1927.
Mr. Egan was born in Southington, Connecticut, January 10, 1854, while his parents, William E. and Catherine (Gorry) Egan, were natives of Kings county, Ireland. In 1849 the father arrived in the new world, settling in southeastern South- ington, where he secured work on a farm. The following year his parents, Thomas F. and Catherine (Tracy) Egan, joined their son in the United States and established their home in Southington, where Thomas F. Egan, Sr., began farming in the south- eastern part of the town. His family numbered the following, named: Michael; Ann, wife of Thomas Mahon; William E .; Thomas; James; Patrick; and John. The maternal grandparents of Thomas F. Egan, whose name introduces this review, were Daniel and Mary (Kelly) Gorry, of Kings county, Ireland. During the Civil war William E. Egan responded to the country's call for aid, joining the boys in blue of Company G, Ninth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, being mustered in as a private in October, 1861, and disease contracted in the army caused his demise at New Orleans, Louisiana, in August, 1862.
His son, Thomas F. Egan, was the eldest of five sons, the others being Daniel D., Joseph A., James C., and William E. A common school education was acquired by Thomas F. Egan during his early youth, spent at Southington, and on attaining his majority he became an apprentice to the cutler's trade, serving three years. He was afterward employed as a journeyman along that line for four years, and in 1881 he secured a situation in the box department of the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Company, with which he remained for many years, working diligently and persistently and thus winning promotion. He was regarded as one of the most trusted representatives of that firm.
Mr. Egan became even more widely known through his public service, for he held various positions of honor and trust. In 1884 he was elected constable of South- ington and served continuously until June, 1895, when he was appointed deputy sheriff, occupying that office until 1904, when he tendered his resignation, for in the meantime, on the 13th of July, 1903, on the establishment of the department, he had
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been appointed superintendent of state police. He was in that position subject to call by the governor, any state's attorney, coroner or any regularly appointed prose- cuting officer in all criminal matters throughout the state, but the activity of the department is confined to criminal matters. Mr. Egan at once resolutely set to the task of organizing and building up the department and made it notably efficient, his work receiving the high endorsement of all law-abiding citizens. In July, 1905, following the abolishment of the state fire department, he became state fire marshal by legislative enactment, and still other official duties were accorded him when in 1911 the legislature assigned to the superintendent of state police the work of the office, in that year established, of state superintendent of weights and measures. Again in this connection Mr. Egan displayed the marked thoroughness, skill and capability which characterized his duties in other positions.
On the 18th of February, 1878, Mr. Egan was married to Miss Ellen M. White, a daughter of John and Mary (Fox) White, of Ireland, and to them were born six children: William Edward, mentioned elsewhere in this work; Catherine, who was born in 1881 and is the wife of Michael J. Sullivan, of New London, Connecticut; Thomas F., who was born September 1, 1882, and married Annie Sullivan, of Hart- ford; Anna T., who was born September 22, 1884; John B., April 20, 1889; and Joseph P., June 13, 1893.
Mr. Egan and his family were members of the Cathedral Roman Catholic church and he belonged to the Knights of Columbus, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He also held membership in Trumbull Camp of the Sons of Veterans and with the Southington Fire Department, Hook & Ladder Company No. 1, of which he was foreman from 1897 until October, 1899. Over the record of his public career there fell no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil, and to the state he rendered a service that greatly furthered public welfare.
HON. EDWARD WILLIAMS HOOKER
The life record of Hon. Edward Williams Hooker is inseparably interwoven with the history of Hartford and of the state inasmuch as he directed the affairs of the municipality as its mayor and safeguarded the interests of his district as representa- tive and senator in the general assembly. As a business man, too, he contributed to the material development of city and state and his capability in the field of commerce was widely known.
Mr. Hooker was born in Hartford, October 19, 1865, and death came to him at his summer home at Eastern Point, in New London, September 3, 1915. In the inter- vening period he had accomplished much, leaving the impress of his individuality upon the public records. He traced his ancestry back through seven generations to the Rev. Thomas Hooker, Hartford's first settler, who came to this section with a party of emigrants from what is now Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the year 1636. Through the maternal line, his mother having been Martha Huntington (Williams) Hooker, he was descended from the Williams family that settled in Lebanon, Con- necticut, early in the seventeenth century, and one of the family, William Williams, affixed his signature to the Declaration of Independence.
Edward W. Hooker is numbered among the alumni of the Hartford Public High School of the class of 1885 and during his four years' attendance he not only won popularity among his schoolmates but also distinguished himself as a scholar. He was twenty years of age when he started out in the business world as an employe of the Broad Brook Company, manufacturers of woolen goods, of which his father, Bryan E. Hooker, was treasurer and general manager for forty years. The son gained broad experience in the mills, acquainting himself with every phase of the business as he filled various positions in the different departments. After ten years' association with the enterprise it was taken over by the firm of Ogden & Brook in 1895, and following its sale Mr. Hooker became the secretary and treasurer of the Perkins Electric Switch Manufacturing Company, the predecessor of the present Franklin Electric Company. He contributed in notable measure to the successful management of the business until 1900, when there was a change in ownership and Mr. Hooker turned his attention to the brokerage business as a partner of Hiram Nickerson, organizing the Hooker & Nickerson Company. He entered the field of
(Photograph by Dunne)
EDWARD W. HOOKER
(Photograph by Dunne)
MRS. MARY M. HOOKER
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fire insurance as senior partner of the firm of Hooker & Penrose, his partner in this undertaking being William R. Penrose. With that business Mr. Hooker was con- tinuously associated until ill health forced his retirement, and in the meantime the firm had won a large clientele that made theirs one of the strong and prosperous agencies of the city.
In 1889 Mr. Hooker was united in marriage to Miss Mary Mather Turner, a daughter of Dr. Charles P. Turner and a granddaughter of Roland Mather of Hart- ford. They became the parents of a daughter and a son. Rosalie Hooker, by a former marriage, had one son, Francis Stilwell Dixon, Jr. On the 6th of April, 1926, she became the wife of Prince Levan Melikovde Somhetie, of Georgia, Russia, who was a colonel in the World war and won distinction by his service. He possessed those social and magnetic qualities that made him liked by all and won him many admirers. He died of acute appendicitis January 26, 1928, when but thirty-four years of age. The son, Roland Mather Hooker, born September 10, 1900, is a graduate of Yale and for one year studied at Oxford, England, while his Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him at Princeton. He is now with Hutton & Company, brokers of New York. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Society of Cincinnati. He married Miss Winifred Cartwright Holhan, and they have two children, Edward Gordon and Margaret Carmichael.
In young manhood Mr. Hooker was actively interested in military affairs, becom- ing a member of Company F, First Regiment of the Connecticut National Guard, and also serving as a member of the First Company, Governor's Foot Guard. In Masonry he attained the thirty-second degree. He was always interested in benevo- lent and moral projects and was associated with the Hartford Hospital, the Hartford Theological Seminary, and with other educational and benevolent institutions. He was chairman of the business committee of the Center church, Congregational. He ever recognized the duties and obligations as well as the privileges of citizenship and was called to various public offices. In 1906 he was elected to the house of repre- sentatives, and on the 7th of April, 1908, popular suffrage placed him in the office of mayor of Hartford. In 1910 he was elected to the state senate and endorsement of his first term's service came to him in his reelection in 1912. To the problems which came before the upper house of the general assembly he gave thoughtful and earnest consideration and his opinions carried weight in party councils. He was exceedingly fond of outdoor life, especially yachting, and he was noted for his social qualities, which won him many friends who pay high tribute to his memory. He passed away September 3, 1915, when not quite fifty years of age, and the flag on the city hall was placed at halfmast in recognition of the death of one of Hartford's most valued citizens and one who had served as the chief municipal executive. In every sphere of life his loss has been felt. He numbered his friends among the rich and the poor, the humble and the great, and all appreciated the strong qualities of his manhood.
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