History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 110

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 110

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Dr. Weldon completed his public school education by graduation from the Hartford high school with the class of 1880, and having carefully considered the broad field of business with its countless opportunities along many lines, he at length decided to take up the study and practice of medicine. He pursued his professional course in the Medical University of New York city and won his M. D. degree in 1883. Through the passing years he has kept in touch with the trend of modern professional research, thought and investigation through his membership in the Hartford County, Connecticut State and American Medical Associations and has also done much private reading and study. He practiced for a year in New York city and for a year and a half was an interne in the Bellevue Hospital there. In 1885 he came to South Manchester, where he has since continued, so that his practice here covers a period of forty-three years and with one exception he is the oldest physician at that place. While he has been quick to adopt new and improved methods, he has never hastily discarded the old and time-tried methods whose value he has proven. He has rendered important service to his fellowmen and has always been accorded a large practice that still con- tinues. In addition to his other interests Dr. Weldon was at the head of the T. Weldon Company for thirty-five years and in 1923 sold out to Francis E. Miner.

On the 30th of December, 1892, Dr. Weldon was married to Miss Annie J. D. Carter, of Manchester, and they have become parents of seven children: Thomas C., who is married and who is acting as his father's bookkeeper and utility man; Bessie L., the wife of John Barnsbee; Annie M., the wife of Francis E. Miner; Ethel L. and Edith, twins, the latter the wife of Robert Finnegan; Mary, the wife of Herbert Best; and Margaret, the wife of Joseph A. McLean.

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Dr. Weldon has always voted with the republican party and stanchly upholds its principles. At one time he was a member of the local examining board of Manchester and he has filled several local offices, serving as selectman in 1903, 1904, 1922 and again in 1923. His interest in civic affairs has never abated and he has ever worked along constructive lines. Fraternally he is a Mason and he is well known through his membership in the Manchester City and Country Club.

· GEORGE ELLERY CROSBY

George Ellery Crosby died at his home on Stony Hill, Windsor, Connecticut, October 11, 1928, when fifty years of age. As superintendent of publicity for the Aetna Insurance Company, The World Fire and Marine Insurance Company and The Century Indemnity Company he was closely associated with insurance interests of Hartford and during the thirty-two years of his connection with the insurance business he worked his way steadily upward from the humble position of office boy. Capability, diligence, loyalty and strength of character gained for him his various promotions until he occupied a position of large importance and responsibility. This was only one phase of his activity, however. He loved Windsor, her history, her development, her accomplishments, and no one was more familiar with the annals of her past or did more to spread a knowledge thereof. In matters of pres- ent-day progress, too, he took the keenest interest and his aid and influence were features in their further development. Born in Hartford on the 3d of December, 1877, he was a son of George Ellery and Clara (Hutchings) Crosby, the former a native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and the latter of Cambridge. They became residents of Hartford about 1870 and both have now passed away. The father was the founder of the New England Laundry, conducting the business for a number of years in association with his son, Lester D., who is also deceased.

George E. Crosby was indebted to the public school system for the educational advantages which he enjoyed. He mastered the work of the grades and of the high school and then started out in the business world, spending a short time in the office of the Colt Fire Arms Company. In July, 1896, however, he secured a position as office boy with the Aetna (Fire) Insurance Company. Prompted by a laudable ambition and a sense of loyalty to the interests which he represented, he proved his worth in diligent service and gained promotion after promotion. From office boy he was advanced to the position of map clerk and examiner of daily reports for Connecticut and Rhode Island and in October, 1925, was assigned to create a pub- licity department, of which he shortly was made superintendent. He closely studied the question of publicity and adequately met the requirements of the three corpora- tions he served in this connection. That he came to be regarded as an authority in this field is shown in the fact that he was chosen secretary of the Insurance Advertis- ing Conference.

Mr. Crosby was twice married. On June 7, 1906, he married May Loomis, of Windsor, Connecticut, who died July 17, 1925, and on September 1, 1926, he was united in marriage to Daisy Gordon Stewart, of Washington, D. C., daughter of Col. Gordon A. and Mary C. (Hopkins) Stewart. Her father was a colonel in the Civil war who fought in the Army of the Potomac.

Fraternally Mr. Crosby was connected with Washington Lodge, No. 70, A. F. & A. M., of Windsor. His name was associated with the military history of the state inasmuch as he was a member of Company K of the First Regiment, Connecti- cut National Guard. For many years he was a member of the Windsor Library Association. His interests and activities were indeed broad and varied. He was a member of the National Press Club and the president and founder of the Windsor Historical Society, Incorporated. He was an honorary member of the Simsbury Historical Society and also of the Winchester Historical Society and an active member of the Connecticut Historical Society. He was a member of the advisory board of the Hartford County Memorial History, was likewise an honorary governor of the Connecticut Branch of the Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims and was interested in many patriotic organizations. That the purely social side of life had its due attention from Mr. Crosby was manifest in his connection with the Plymouth Meadow Country Club and his recognition of man's moral obligations was evidenced

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GEORGE E. CROSBY

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in his legal membership in the Grace Episcopal church of Windsor. He rendered effective and far-reaching service to his community through three years' work as chairman of the school committee in Windsor, during which time the first high school building here was erected. Mr. Crosby caused it to be named the John Fitch high school in recognition and honor of John Fitch, who was the first man in Windsor to bequeath money for the founding of a free public school. For three years Mr. Crosby was president of the Windsor Chamber of Commerce, which at the time he assumed office had a membership of sixty-five. Of these twelve were dropped for non-payment of dues, but at the end of three years there were two hundred and fifty members. Through his efforts Windsor had the distinction of being the first small town to have the annual state convention of the State Cham- ber of Commerce and, moreover, Windsor enjoys the distinction of being the only town to pay all of the expenses of entertaining this convention. As president of the Chamber of Commerce Mr. Crosby gave the address of welcome at the dedicatory exercises of the new Loomis Institute buildings and for several years he acted as one of the auditors of the institute. He was also a director of the Windsor Herald and a writer on historical and insurance subjects, and there was no plan or project promulgated for the benefit and improvement of the town or of the county that did not receive his endorsement and hearty support, while at all times his efforts were far-reaching and resultant.

Perhaps the story of his life and the important part which he played in the world's work can best be told by quoting from articles published at the time of his death. The Hartford Times said: "The tragic and untimely death of George E. Crosby of Windsor removes from the Hartford community one of its most progressive and useful members. Mr. Crosby gave much of his time to the public service in his own village, but his more recent interest was in the preservation of Windsor's and Connecticut's historical places of interest. The Windsor Historical Society, founded largely through Mr. Crosby's zealous efforts, has done yeoman service in re-creating interest in the antiquities of one of the original Connecticut towns and it is not too much to say that this awakening has spread throughout the state."

The Windsor Historical Society prepared and adopted a resolution which said in part: “Forasmuch as our beloved president, George E. Crosby, has been taken from us by death, we the officers and executive committee of the Windsor Historical Society, acting for the society at a meeting duly called on October 12, 1928, desire not merely to put on record our sense of personal loss, but to express our appreciation of all that Mr. Crosby has been to our society and to Windsor. With high ideals, and a strong sense of the obligations of citizenship, he has taken a leading part in many of the activities of our community life. As president of the Chamber of Commerce for two years, and as chairman of the school board and a member of the committee that erected the John Fitch high school, he had had a hand in some of the movements that have meant the most in the development of our town life."

The Windsor Herald of October 19, 1928, contained the following editorial: "As the only president since his initiative founded the Historical Society of Windsor, George Crosby has made the history of Windsor not only a vital reality, but has brought our town into greater prominence in state and nation. Some fitting me- morial will surely be placed in the Walter Fyler homestead before 1933 of one who has so ably and untiringly worked to carry on the unfinished work of the founders of Windsor. It is but a few years since the older Windsor in England had its 'Town Crier' who at points of vantage in the town would ring his bell and begin with the words, 'This is to give notice.' For those with eyes to see, both towns may now see that shadowy figure ringing its bell to give notice of some important news. It never occurred to us that the bell our Town Crier rang to such good purpose would cease to ring. His physical grip on that bell was so strong, his upstanding physique so vibrant with health, his personality so commanding, his joy in life so keen, we would not think of Windsor without the 'this is to give notice,' following the ringing of that bell. It was always something worth while of which he gave notice-his two years memorable work as editor of the Town Crier in 1915-16-his articles in The Windsor Herald-his keen interest in the present paper as director-his arduous labors as secretary of the great Insurance Conference in Washington which he di- rected from a sick bed-these and other interests were always accomplished with both an idealistic understanding of the work as a whole, and the most untiring zeal for the exactness of every detail. It was often remarked that his manners were

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those of a southern gentleman of the past. Yes-he was always that-a gentleman- keeping amid the brusqueness of much of our modern machine life, the fine courtesy and gentle manners of that world in which his spirit lived."

His high position among those with whom he worked was given in an article which appeared in The Messenger under the title of "The Passing of the Editor." "When with tragic suddenness, death called George Crosby, it took from our midst an exceptional man. We are not sure that his real worth was ever truly appreciated, for he did so much that no one success seems to stand above all the rest. He had what so many lack-vision and imagination to a marked degree. The routine of fire insurance did not give full scope to his talents, and we find him in his spare hours, at different stages of his life, organizing a Chamber of Commerce, an His- torical Society that preserved the many landmarks of the old town of Windsor, Connecticut, in which he lived; we find him running a newspaper where he gave vent to his exceptional literary talent, and many other activities. When work was to be done, he was always found on the spot ready to do it. But when in 1924 he was selected to head the publicity department of the Aetna and The World he seemed to realize that here was the work for which he had long been waiting and to which his full energy could be given. He made a success of the publicity work of both companies, and later when The Century was organized, handled their publicity work as well. The company advertisements he prepared received favorable comment from all quarters, and in a short time he was recognized as one of the leading insurance advertising men of the continent. To those who knew him best, as did the writer, he was a gentleman-a man of culture, with a heart full of sympathy and regard for others. So much a part of the life of the company did he occupy, so deeply imbued was he with its aims and ideals that his passing leaves a place very hard to fill, and he will always be remembered with admiration and affection. Some months ago George Crosby was given a cash prize for his advertisements, which he immediately donated to the purchase of a clock for the publicity department. He caused to be inscribed thereon words that may well be used for his epitaph:

We live in deeds-not years; In thoughts-not breaths; In feelings-not in figures on a dial.

So passes another man of whom the Aetna was proud to claim her own."

JOSEPH R. ANDREWS

Among the enterprising and progressive business men of New Britain is num- bered Joseph R. Andrews, of the firm of Andrews & Swift, conducting an extensive meat business. He was born June 26, 1856, in the city in which he still resides, and traces his ancestry back to John Andrews, who was the first settler on the home farm, situated just beyond the present city limits of New Britain. The line of descent comes on down through Moses and Joseph to Joseph R. Andrews of this review. His father, Joseph Andrews, Sr., was born August 27, 1819, and passed away January 30, 1899, having reached the age of eighty years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Julia B. Church, was a native of East Haven, Connecticut, born December 2, 1821, and died September 9, 1915, at the venerable age of more than ninety-three years.

To the public school system of his native city Joseph R. Andrews is indebted for the educational opportunities accorded him. He passed through successive grades until he had completed the high school course but during the summer of 1876, before finishing school and while assisting his father upon the home farm, he became an employe in the post office under Captain Gladding, who was then postmaster, and wished to employ a boy as an extra worker. Accordingly Mr. Andrews spent the summer in the post office and then returned to his father's farm. Upon the farm considerable butchering was done, the meat being sold in wholesale lots to local butchers. It was the experience which he gained in that way that led Mr. Andrews on the 15th of September, 1881, to form a connection with the Swift Beef Company under the firm name of Andrews & Swift. The business has been carried on continu- ously since, covering a period of forty-seven years, so that Mr. Andrews is one of the oldest business men in New Britain in years of continuous connection with the

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commercial interests of the city. His business methods are always sound, his enter- prise unfaltering and his energy has carried him over all the difficulties and obstacles in his path, so that a substantial measure of success has rewarded his labors. More- over, he is one of the directors of the Burritt Mutual Savings Bank and of the Com- mercial Trust Company of New Britain and is widely known as a representative business man here.

Mr. Andrews has been married twice. His first wife was Olive A. Booth and they became the parents of two children, Florence and Joseph C. He afterward married Miss Mary R. Travis, and to them were born three children: Emily R., Hazel and Maxwell. The daughter Hazel is the wife of George A. Hick and is the mother of three children: Robert, Mary and Elizabeth.

In his political views Mr. Andrews has been a republican since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and has been an active, earnest and effective worker for the party. He has filled various local offices with credit to himself and satisfac- tion to his constituents, having for nine years held the position of police commissioner, while for eight and one-half years he was chairman of the police board and for one year chairman of the board of public safety. He belongs to the Chamber of Com- merce, of which he was president for two years, while at this writing, in 1928, he is serving on the board of directors. His interests are manifold and varied in charac- ter. Along strictly social lines he has connection with the New Britain Club and the Shuttle Meadow Club. He is well known in Masonic circles, having membership in Centennial Lodge, F. & A. M., of which he is past master, in Washington Com- mandery, K. T., in the Scottish Rite bodies and in Sphinx Temple of the Mystic Shrine. There is also an interesting military chapter in his life record, as he served in the Connecticut National Guard for five years, holding the rank of captain in the First Regiment. He has thus been associated with all those activities which figure most prominently in the life of a community and his influence is ever given on the side of reform, progress and improvement.

CHARLES SNOW THAYER

The identification of Charles Snow Thayer with the educational and moral prog- ress of Hartford dates from September, 1902, at which time he took charge of the Case Memorial Library of the Hartford Theological Seminary Foundation, having now continued in this position for a quarter of a century. A native of the neighbor- ing state of Massachusetts, he was born in Westfield, August 4, 1865, and is a son of Lucius Fowler and Martha Ann (Harrison) Thayer, of that place. In the pursuit of his education he attended the public and high schools of Westfield and then entered Amherst College, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1886. He next matriculated in the Yale Divinity School and won his B. D. degree in 1895, while in 1901 the Ph. D. degree was conferred upon him by the university of Goettingen, Germany, where he later pursued advanced courses.

Mr. Thayer started out in the business world in 1886, when he secured the posi- tion of teller in the National Bank of Commerce of Minneapolis, Minnesota, there remaining until 1892. It was subsequent to this time that he became a student at Yale and afterward studied abroad, but in 1899 he returned to his native country and was made assistant pastor of the Union Congregational church in Providence, Rhode Island, where he continued from February, 1900, until July, 1902. In June of that year he was ordained to the Congregational ministry in Providence and in the following September he came to Hartford, where he has since been librarian of the Case Memorial Library of the Hartford Theological Seminary Foundation. His previous experiences and broad study have well qualified him for the onerous and important duties that now devolve upon him and he has ever measured up to the highest requirements of the position.

On the 28th of December, 1904, Mr. Thayer was united in marriage to Miss Mary Appleton Shute, a daughter of Nathaniel and Ellen (Holbrook) Shute, of Exeter, New Hampshire, and they occupy an enviable position in those social circles where intelligence and true worth are accepted as the passports to good society. Mr. Thayer has membership in the University Club of Hartford and is connected with the Phi Beta Kappa and became a member of the Psi Upsilon at Amherst. He also

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belongs to the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis and to the Archaeological Institute of America. He has carried his researches and investigations far and wide into the realms of knowledge and is frequently found in those gatherings where men of broad intelligence have met together for the discussion of important problems.

CHARLES SUMNER FULLER

It is always a matter of deep regret when a career of signal usefulness is ended. Such was the life of Charles Sumner Fuller, who for many years was a prominent figure in financial circles in Connecticut and who in his support of important public measures also contributed to the general welfare. His sterling worth was attested by all who knew him and his friends were many. He was a lifelong resident of Suffield, born in this place on the 10th of October, 1855, his parents being William H. and Sarah Adeline (Hare) Fuller. In his youthful days he attended the public schools near his home and later entered the Connecticut Literary Institute of Suffield. The greater part of his life was devoted to the banking business and his preliminary training in that field led to his appointment to the position of cashier of the First National Bank in 1891. He served in that capacity for twenty years and in 1911 was elected to the presidency, remaining as the chief executive officer of the bank until his death. The policy which he pursued was safely conservative yet did not hamper continuous progress. He carefully formulated his plans for the bank's man- agement and conduct and the results achieved were highly satisfactory. He was also one of the incorporators of the Suffield Savings Bank and was for many years auditor of the Travelers Insurance Company and for twenty years was president of the Cemetery Association. Thus his life was one of broad usefulness and activity in the community in which he lived.

In Conway, Massachusetts, on the 10th of October, 1888, Mr. Fuller married Miss Emma F. Judin and they became parents of four children, two of whom are living: Mrs. Dorothy Adeline Bissell, wife of Charles S. Bissell, of Hartford; and Kathryn, at home. Two sons, Laurence I. and Sumner F., have passed away. There are also eight grandchildren.

Mr. Fuller died May 28, 1923. His life constituted a splendid example of high purposes and honorable ideals. He held to advanced standards in civic affairs and rendered efficient service to his community as a trustee of the Suffield School. He was a member of the Second Baptist church, in which he served as a deacon, and he recognized the duties and obligations of citizenship in loyal support of republican principles. No one ever sought his aid in vain when an important public project was under consideration and thus he contributed in substantial measure to the material, intellectual, social and moral progress of his community.

SUMNER F. FULLER

In the untimely death of Sumner F. Fuller, the senior partner of the firm of Fuller, Richter, Aldrich & Company of Hartford, the city sustained the loss of one of its most prominent and widely known young business men. He was but thirty- five years of age when he passed away January 27, 1928, for he was born in Suffield, Connecticut, on the 25th of October, 1892. His parents were Charles S. and Emma F. (Judin) Fuller, the former a prominent banker and leading citizen of Suffield, where he died May 28, 1923.

In his youthful days Sumner F. Fuller attended the public schools of Suffield and of Salisbury, Connecticut, while his collegiate course was pursued in the Shef- field Scientific School at Yale, and he is numbered among its alumni of the class of 1915. The same year he entered the business world by becoming the Hartford rep- resentative of the New York investment house of Clark, Dodge & Company and was thus active in financial circles until 1917, when all business and personal considera- tions were put aside that he might aid his country, then engaged with the allies in suppressing the German attempt for world supremacy. He enlisted in the service and trained at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. He was commis-

CHARLES S. FULLER

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SUMNER F. FULLER

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sioned an ensign and later promoted to lieutenant, junior grade, and assigned to the U. S. S. Annapolis at Tampico, Mexico, remaining on active duty until accorded an honorable discharge in January, 1919.

In the same year Mr. Fuller became associated with the Travelers Insurance Company in the auditing department and there continued for a year or more. In 1921 he became purchasing agent for the Hart Manufacturing Company of Hartford and in April, 1922, he organized the firm of Fuller, Richter, Aldrich & Company, of which he was the senior partner. From the beginning this firm has made every effort to meet the wishes and demands of their patrons, providing every facility and comfort for their convenience, while at the same time they are able to render valu- able aid in placing investments because of their comprehensive knowledge of the real worth of commercial paper. In the slogan, "Investments That Grow," is found the spirit that underlies the business and has led to its continuous and substantial growth and success. The members of the firm belong to the Hartford Stock Exchange and something of the steady growth and volume of their business is indicated in the fact that they have now established branch offices in New London and in New Britain. Aside from his other interests Mr. Fuller was a director of the First National Bank of Suffield.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 110

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