History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 114

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 114

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On the 11th of February, 1914, Colonel Connor was united in marriage to Miss Catharine Conway, of Hartford. They are the parents of three children, namely: Jane, who was born February 23, 1916; Clare, who was born on the 12th of July, 1922; and Michael A., Jr., born January 12, 1924. The family resides at 281 Grandview terrace.

Colonel Connor is now serving as state senator from the first district. For three years he was a member of the Zoning board of appeals, receiving his appointment from Mayor Norman F. Stevens, and was chairman of the board for one year. He is a charter member of the American Legion of Hartford and is a member of the Army

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Athletic Association. He is also widely and favorably known in club circles, having membership in the University, City, Wethersfield Golf and Rotary clubs, and in these are found many of the chief interests of his life outside the strict path of business in which he has made steady and substantial progress.

EDSON M. PECK

Edson M. Peck, treasurer of the Bristol Savings Bank of Bristol, Connecticut, was born here on the 23d of May, 1864, one of the six children of Josiah Tracy and Ellen Lewis (Barnard) Peck. The Bristol schools afforded him his early educational opportunities and he afterward entered Yale University as a student in the Shef- field Scientific School. In 1882, when eighteen years of age, he started out in the business world by becoming an employe in the bank in which he was elected assistant treasurer in 1894 and treasurer in 1923. His efforts have been a factor in the bank's growth, which has been notable, showing an increase of over eleven million dollars in twenty-eight years. The growth in the past five years has been particularly rapid, the deposits in that time more than doubling. The total deposits in 1922 were six million, two hundred and sixty-four thousand and nineteen dollars and in 1927 reached twelve million, five hundred and seventy-four thousand, seven hundred and seven dol- lars. This is indicative of the steady development of the institution. When he entered the bank the deposits were only six hundred and sixty thousand dollars, while at the present writing the assets are about fifteen million dollars. In addition to his con- nection with the Bristol Savings Bank he is a director of the Bristol Building & Loan Association.

On the 17th of October, 1894, Mr. Peck was married to Mittie Philena Skinner, of Barre, Vermont. She was elected a member of the Bristol board of school visitors in 1895, and served on that board for eighteen years. She was the first woman ever elected to public office in Bristol. She was instrumental in establishing the Bristol Visiting Nurse Association and has also taken active part in organizing the Bristol Girls' Club Association. Along these lines she has done a work of far-reaching worth and importance and has thus contributed in notable measure to the civic welfare. Mr. and Mrs. Peck hold membership in the First Congregational church, in which he now fills the office of deacon, while in all branches of the church work he takes an active and helpful interest. He belongs to the Bristol Club, the Chippanee Country Club, and the Pequabuck Golf Club, and he has manifested a particularly keen interest in the welfare of the youth of his community. He was instrumental in establishing the Bristol Boys Club, and was its first president, which office he held for many years, and recently was made honorary president. He was a member of the board of directors of the Boys' Club Federation, International, for many years. He believes in giving every boy his opportunity for the development of honorable manhood and his labors have been effective in encouraging the youth to follow higher ideals.

HENRY HERMAN CLARK

The life history of Henry Herman Clark was so closely associated with the devel- opment of Southington as to become an integral part of the history of Hartford county. He was born in Southington, May 14, 1829, and there the greater part of his life was passed. He enjoyed the educational opportunities afforded by the public schools and by Lewis Academy and he ever made good use of his time and oppor- tunities, while later in the school of experience he learned many of the most valuable lessons of life. In 1845 he became connected with mercantile interests in Milldale in association with his brother-in-law, Hezekiah C. Cummings, and three years afterward he removed to Watertown, where Mr. Cummings took over a well established mer- cantile business with which he had formerly been associated. Upon the death of Mr. Cummings in 1850, Mr. Clark succeeded him as proprietor of the business and there remained until 1854, when he sold the store that he had profitably conducted and returned to Southington. Here he entered into partnership relations with his two brothers under the firm style of William J. Clark & Company, succeeding to the

(Photograph by Burrill)

EDSON M. PECK

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business hitherto carried on by William J. Clark, who in 1871 withdrew from the partnership, Henry H. Clark thus becoming the senior member of the firm of Clark Brothers Company, which was reorganized to take over the business of William J. Clark & Company, manufacturers of bolts and nuts in Milldale, with the incorporation of their interests under the name of the Clark Brothers Bolt Company, Henry H. Clark was elected to the presidency and so continued until his demise. He was a man of sound business judgment and of unfaltering enterprise and never stopped short of the successful accomplishment of his purpose, for he ever recognized the fact that obstacles and difficulties will give way before diligence, industry and perseverance. He was a man of marked capability and for many years efficiently served as president of the Aetna Nut Company of Southington, while in connection with the Clark Brothers Bolt Company of Milldale he developed one of the large and important industrial activities of Connecticut.

On the 29th of September, 1852, Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Mary C. Davis, of Watertown, Connecticut, who passed away in August, 1866. On the 29th of January, 1874, Miss Susie Curtiss of New York city became his wife. He had two daughters and a son: Carrie Luella, who became the wife of Warren Williams, of New Haven, Connecticut; Flora L., of Milldale, who married F. J. Smith, of Hartford, and Charles W., now deceased, who at one time was manager of the Chicago office of the Clark Brothers Bolt Company.

Mr. Clark died in Milldale, on December 4, 1906, at the age of seventy-seven years. He was a man of kindly spirit who never withheld his assistance from the needy and gave liberally to worthy charitable organizations. He lived a busy, active and useful life and in every relation enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his fellowmen, leaving to those who knew him an example of business enterprise and integrity that any might profitably follow.

SAMUEL H. GRAHAM

Samuel H. Graham, who is filling the office of county commissioner of Hartford county for the second term and has served as chairman of the board since his first election in 1923, has for many years been numbered among the most influential citizens of Suffield, represented his district in the state legislature for two terms and has exerted his efforts in behalf of many measures of progress and improvement. Born in Suffield, Hartford county, Connecticut, May 5, 1870, he is a son of Robert and Jane (Hamilton) Graham, who were natives of the north of Ireland, of Scotch-Irish lineage, and are now deceased. Emigrating to America about 1869, they took up their abode in Suffield, this state, where the father devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits.

Samuel H. Graham pursued his early education in the public schools and con- tinued his studies in what is now the Suffield high school. After putting aside his text- books he obtained employment with the Fitchburg Railroad in Boston, which has been absorbed by the Boston & Maine Railroad, spending five years in a clerical capacity. On the expiration of that period he was sent out as freight agent, working at differ- ent stations and finally locating at Troy, New York, where he spent seven years in the company's service. In 1908 he resigned his position and returned to Suffield, where he turned his attention to general farming, specializing in tobacco growing. In this business he has been successfully engaged to the present time and he owns an excellent farm in the vicinity of Suffield, where he makes his home. He has been a director of the New England Tobacco Growers Association for seven years and has been a mem- ber of the board of trustees of the Suffield Savings Bank for about five years.

On the 9th of May, 1893, Mr. Graham was united in marriage to Miss Eugenie C. Stiles, of Suffield, Connecticut, and they are the parents of five children: Lewis S., Philip H., Rowena M., Elliott C. and Charles S.

Mr. Graham has taken an active and commendable interest in public affairs, serv- ing as chairman of the republican town committee for four years. A stanch champion of the cause of education, he has rendered valuable service in its behalf for twenty years as a member of the Suffield school board, of which he acted as chairman for twelve years. He has been chairman of the Suffield board of assessors for nine years, has for six years been a member of the board of trustees of the Suffield high school

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and has been a member of the executive committee of the school during the past four years and also auditor of the institution for four years. Mr. Graham has occupied the presidency of the Zions Hill Cemetery Association, Inc., of Suffield for two decades and has been one of the directors of the Connecticut State Fair for three years. In the fall of 1920 he was elected to the state legislature and two years later won reelec- tion, serving as a member of the finance committee during both terms and giving earnest and thoughtful consideration to the many vital questions which came up for settlement. In 1923 he was elected county commissioner for a term of four years and in 1927 was reelected, so that he is now serving for the second term, and from the beginning of his connection with the board he has been its chairman. His duties have ever been discharged with marked fidelity and efficiency and over the record of his career as a public official there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. A worthy ex- emplar of the teachings and purposes of the Masonic fraternity, he belongs to Apollo Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and his name is also on the membership rolls of the Westfield (Mass.) Camping Club, the Suffield Country Club and the City Club of Hartford. His personal relations with his fellowmen have ever been mutually pleasant and agreeable and, being obliging and straightforward, he is highly regarded by all who know him.

PETER ANTHONY TROIANO

Peter Anthony Troiano, a Hartford florist, doing business at 138 Market street, was born in New York city, September 14, 1898, and is a son of Dominick and Ange- line (Guiffio) Troiano, who were natives of Italy and came to America about 1888, settling in New York city, where the father followed the stone mason's trade, which he had learned in his native country. He passed away in the eastern metropolis about 1901, after which the mother and her family came to Hartford in 1903 and still reside here.

Peter A. Troiano pursued his education in the Hartford schools and on starting out in the business world obtained employment with Welch, the florist, with whom he continued for several years. During that period he carefully saved his earnings until his industry and economy had brought him sufficient capital to enable him to engage in business on his own account in 1923, when he opened a florist place at 1043 Main street. In June, 1928, he removed to his present location, where he has a well equipped store and is doing a good business, his patronage steadily increasing. He makes de- liveries to all parts of the city and handles only the freshest and best cut flowers, which he arranges in most artistic fashion, so that his patrons are well pleased. He deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, as he has worked his way steadily upward through his own efforts.

Mr. Troiano takes an active interest in the welfare and progress of his state and in all matters of public concern and is a member of the Governor's Foot Guard. He belongs to the Knights of Columbus, the Improved Order of Red Men, the For- esters, the Oriels and several Italian organizations.

WILLIAM HENRY BULKELEY

For almost three centuries the name of Bulkeley has figured in connection with the history of New England, but no generation of the family has borne the name more creditably and honorably than that to which William Henry Bulkeley belonged. He was actuated by high ideals that found expression in the honor and integrity as well as the progressiveness of his business career and in loyal devotion to the best in citizenship. Political honors were accorded him, but whether in office or out of it he never wavered in his allegiance to the principles which make for good government and the stability of the commonwealth. The greater part of his life was passed in Hartford, although he was born in East Haddam on the 2d of March, 1840, his parents being Eliphalet Adams and Lydia S. (Morgan) Bulkeley, in whose family he was the third son and fourth child. The family came to Hartford during his early boyhood and he displayed special aptitude in his studies while a pupil in the public schools of this city. While his father was a most prominent figure in business and financial

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circles, parental influence was not used to give the son an easy berth. His preliminary business training was such as might have fallen to the lot of any boy and his original salary with the Aetna Life Insurance Company was but a dollar per week. Thus while still in his teens he learned the value of industry, perseverance and determina- tion and those qualities were numbered among his marked characteristics throughout his entire life. When a youth of sixteen he became a clerk in one of the oldest dry goods houses of Hartford and in the spring of 1857 went to Brooklyn, New York, where he entered the employ of H. P. Morgan & Company, dry goods merchants, with whom he received thorough training that enabled him to win success when a few years later he established business on his own account on Fulton street of that city. He had just attained his majority when the Civil war began and he was among the first to respond to the country's call for aid following the inauguration of hostilities. He enrolled as a member of Company G, Thirteenth Regiment of New York National Guard, known as the Brooklyn City Guard, which proceeded to the front on the 19th of April, 1861, just seven days after the bombardment of Fort Sumter, and was in the service for four months. In 1862 Mr. Bulkeley organized a company which became Company G of the Fifty-sixth Regiment, New York National Guard, and was elected its captain. Through the Pennsylvania crisis of 1863 his command was in General "Baldy" Smith's division and was also on active duty during the New York draft riots, after which it was disbanded, its term of enlistment having expired.

Captain Bulkeley then returned to his old home in Hartford and organized the firm of Kellogg & Bulkeley to engage in the lithographing business. For many years he was president of this concern, which still owns an extensive plant in Hartford. He also became actively associated with various other important business concerns. He was elected a director of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, which was founded by his father, was from 1877 to 1879 inclusive the vice president of the company and for many years its auditor, contributing in large measure to the success of the corporation through his sound business judgment. He became a director and the vice president of the United States Bank, one of the strongest financial institutions of New England and a director of the American National Bank. In 1878 he purchased the "Bee Hive," one of the leading dry goods establishments of Hartford, and successfully managed the store for several years. His plans were definitely and wisely formed and were ever carried forward to successful completion. He was a man of broad business vision who looked beyond the exigencies of the moment to the opportunities of the future and wrought along constructive lines.

It was in the period of his early manhod, in fact while he was in the service of his country during the Civil war, that Mr. Bulkeley established his own home through his marriage on the 18th of September, 1863, to Emma Gurney, a daughter of Melvin and Letitia Gurney and descended in the paternal line from one of the oldest and most distinguished families of Massachusetts. The records chronicle the death of John Gurney of Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1663, and of his wife the following year. Their son, Zachariah Gurney, born about 1660, resided in Weymouth with his wife Mary, and their son, Joseph Gurney, born in Weymouth, March 7, 1696, became a resident of Abington, Massachusetts. He was married June 10, 1718, in Weymouth, to Mary Perkins, of Hingham, and their family included Joseph Gurney, who was born in Abington, February 4, 1735, and there resided until his death May 13, 1814. On the 8th of July, 1758, he had married Sarah Shaw, who was born in Bridgewater, Connecti- cut, May 24, 1736, a daughter of Rev. John and Sarah Shaw. Joseph and Sarah Gurney had a son Joseph, born in Abington, March 28, 1759, and who married Mercy Smith, who was born in Abington, February 24, 1759, a daughter of Jacob and Mercy (Pratt) Smith, of Weymouth, and afterward of Abington. A son of this marriage, Melvin Gurney, born in Abington, April 22, 1782, was married January 25, 1807, to Olive Holbrook, who was born January 30, 1783, and was a daughter of William and Olive (Blanchard) Holbrook, who removed from Weymouth to Abington. Melvin Gurney died July 4, 1846, and his son, Melvin, who was born September 27, 1810, in Abington, and died October 19, 1845, was the father of Mrs. Bulkeley. By her mar- riage she became the mother of three sons and three daughters: Mary Morgan, the wife of E. S. Van Zile; William Eliphalet Adams, who became the vice president of the Aetna Life Insurance Company and is mentioned elsewhere in this work; Grace Chetwood, wife of David Van Shaack; John Charles, of Hartford; Sally Taintor, wife of Richard H. Macauley, of Detroit, Michigan; and Richard Beaumarais, of Hartford.

Mr. Bulkeley maintained his home in Hartford until his death, November 7, 1902.

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He held membership in the Pearl Street Congregational church, of which he was a liberal supporter, and he also contributed generously to charitable and benevolent projects. He was long an honored member of Robert O. Tyler Post, G. A. R., of Hart- ford, and belonged also to the Army and Navy Club of Connecticut. From the time that age conferred upon him the right of franchise he gave his political allegiance to the republican party and city and state benefited by his official service on various occasions. For five years he was a member of the common council of Hartford, acting as vice president and as president, and his duties as street commissioner were most efficiently discharged. He served as commissary general of Connecticut and was one of its commissioners at the Yorktown Centennial celebration. In 1880 he was elected lieu- tenant governor on the ticket with Governor Bigelow and during the senate sessions of 1881 and 1882 received high endorsement for his impartiality and ability as a presiding officer. He was also the republican candidate for governor in 1882 and was elected to that position on the face of the returns but refused to accept the office, as under a technicality-the Black Ballot so-called-had disfranchised the majority of the New Haven voters. It was, therefore, necessary for the legislature, which was republican, to pass an enabling act declaring the above Black Ballots legal before his opponent, the Hon. Thomas B. Waller, could be declared elected governor of the state. His entire life was actuated by the highest sense of personal and public honor and he ever preferred an untarnished name to any advancement that might have come to him. He was still in the prime of life when at the age of sixty-two years he passed away, leaving a record which few men have equaled because of the extent and breadth of his service in the fields of military, political and business activity.

WILLIAM JUDSON CLARK

As one delves into the past to search out the beginnings and the cause of the prosperity of certain sections of Hartford county it will be found that William Judson Clark played a most important part in promoting the industrial development of Mill- dale in the town of Southington. He was the founder and promoter of a nut and bolt business that has steadily grown and which after more than three-fourths of a century remains one of the foremost productive industries of this region. His life record indicates what can be accomplished by determined and earnest purpose guided at all times by sound practical judgment.

Mr. Clark was born in the town of Southington, August 19, 1825, and traced his ancestry back through three separate lines of Clarks to progenitors who were among the founders of the Connecticut and New Haven colonies between the years 1635 and 1639. His youthful experiences were those of the farm-bred boy and his educational opportunities were such as were afforded by the rural schools of the home neighbor- hood until he reached the age of fifteen years, when he enrolled as a pupil in the Southington Academy, walking to and from the school-a distance of three miles- morning and evening. While pursuing his studies he also continued his farm work and it was only through the utilization of every possible moment that he was enabled to meet the requirements of the college course. Fate intervened in 1845, when he suffered a severe attack of ophthalmia, and a year had passed ere he was able to resume school work. In 1846, however, he took charge of the high school at West Avon and the public soon recognized in him a capable educator who imparted clearly and readily to others the knowledge that he had acquired. He felt, however, that broader business opportunities might be secured in some other field and in the spring of 1847 opened a general store at Hitchcock's Basin, now Milldale, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Hezekiah C. Cummings, under the firm style of Cummings & Clark. The new enterprise prospered and was profitably conducted for three years, when their lease expired, and being unable to renew it, they discontinued the business.

As a result of the discovery of gold in California in 1848, Mr. Clark in January, 1849, became one of a party of fifty-six men who purchased and outfitted the G. H. Montague, a two-hundred ton schooner, to make the trip by way of Cape Horn to San Francisco. The vessel weighed anchor at New Haven on January 23 and ended its twenty thousand mile voyage on the 26th of June, 1849. Mr. Clark continued his prospecting in the gold fields for a few months, when ill health compelled him to abandon that work and seek better medical treatment in San Francisco. When he

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had recovered he began the manufacture and sale of ground coffee, supplying the miners and merchants with a commodity which up to that time had been difficult to secure in this newly settled region. He carried on a substantial business through the winter, but his physician advised him not to remain in the climate longer and he sailed by the Panama route for New England, reaching home in April, 1850.

Constantly alert for opportunities that would lead to success, Mr. Clark estab- lished a small factory on the Quinnipiac river, securing water privileges there and beginning the manufacture of cold pressed nuts in 1851, investing his entire capital of six hundred dollars in the new enterprise. He had two power presses, an undershot paddle wheel and a few tools so necessary that he could not do without them. Again success attended him, but in 1852 the factory was destroyed by fire, involving con- siderable loss. With notable determination and enterprise, however, he built a new factory, in which operations were resumed after sixty days, and in addition to manu- facturing cold pressed nuts he began turning out washers, kettle ears and other specialties. He remained sole proprietor until 1854, when he was joined by his brothers, Henry Herman and Charles H. Clark, under the firm style of William J. Clark & Company. Again they broadened the scope of their activities to include hand rail or stair rail screws, being pioneers in manufacturing of this kind. They also purchased a new patent for a detachable carriage shaft coupling and added various other improvements and equipments to their factory from time to time until their original plant was no longer adequate to the business and they leased room and power from a neighboring manufactory near Hitchcock Station, now Milldale, there making nuts on presses up to five-eighth inch bolt size. With the passing years the company introduced new machinery and improved manufacturing methods, according to the progressive spirit of the times, the years marking a gradual development and trans- formation in the business as well as a steady growth in the plant. In 1868 the com- pany brought about a notable engineering feat by turning the water of the Quinnipiac river from its natural course through a canal across the meadows and fields to the river course lower down the stream. New quarters were secured from time to time, new inventions were brought forth and advanced methods introduced until the product of the factory included nearly every style of bolts, nuts and rivets in use and lag, coach and skein screws.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 114

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