History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 115

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 115

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William J. Clark, who had founded the business, continued an active factor in its growth, control and success until 1871, when he sold his interest to his two brothers, but the factories of the Clark Brothers Bolt Company will ever stand as a monument to his initiative, enterprise and progressive spirit.

Mr. Clark, in 1882, was elected a state senator and was actively interested in state problems. He died in Stony Creek, Connecticut, October 29, 1909, at the age of eighty-four years.

CHARLES EDWARD GOODRICH

Charles Edward Goodrich is making a splendid record as county commissioner of Hartford county, in which office he is now serving for a second term. Born at Glaston- bury, Connecticut, November 22, 1879, he is a son of John and Deborah Hale (Edwards) Goodrich, both of whom are deceased. The father, also a native of this state, success- fully engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career. The mother was born on Long Island, New York, but lived in Connecticut from her infancy.

Charles E. Goodrich received his early education at the place of his nativity and subsequently continued his studies in Worcester Academy. Eventually he turned his attention to the business of tobacco growing and trucking prior to the time when motor-driven vehicles were generally adopted. He still owns his tobacco farm but is not now actively engaged in its operation. However, he is still a factor in business and financial affairs as a director of the Glastonbury Bank & Trust Company and the Riverside Paper Company. Public affairs have largely claimed his time and attention in recent years. He was elected commissioner in the legislature of 1923 and reelected in 1927, so that he is now filling the office for the second term. For four years he served on the board of the Glastonbury selectmen, being its chairman for three years.

On the 1st of June, 1905, Mr. Goodrich was united in marriage to Helen B. Gris-

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wold, of Glastonbury, and they are the parents of a son, John, now a student in the University of Pennsylvania. The family home is still maintained in the Glastonbury residence in which Mr. Goodrich was born. A representative of the Masonic fraternity, he belongs to Daskam Lodge, A. F. & A M., and he also has membership in the City Club of Hartford and the Automobile Club of Hartford. He has lived in Hartford county since his birth, and that his career has been an upright and honorable one in every relation is indicated in the fact that the associates of his boyhood and youth are still numbered among his warmest friends and admirers.

WALTER RALPH STEINER, M. D.

With the opening year of the present century Dr. Walter Ralph Steiner came to Hartford, where he has since engaged in the practice of his profession. He was born in Frederick City, Maryland, November 18, 1870, a son of Lewis Henry and Sarah Spencer (Smyth) Steiner. The family is of German origin and the first repre- sentative in America was Jacob Steiner, who was born in 1713 and died in 1748. He took up his abode in Frederick county, Maryland, in 1733. His eldest child, Captain John Steiner, married Catherine Elizabeth Ramsburg. He was a miller and owned large land holdings. Tradition says that he served in the French and Indian war and he participated in Braddock's campaign and was in the quarter- master's department of the Continental army in the Revolutionary war. His third son, Henry Steiner, was born in Frederick county, Maryland, in 1764, and died in Frederick City, April 24, 1831. The sixth child of Henry and Elizabeth (Brengel) Steiner was Christian Steiner, born January 14, 1797, and died February 26, 1862. For many years he was a director of the Fredericktown Savings Institution and one of the founders and trustees of the Frederick Female Seminary. He belonged to the Evangelical Reformed church and served as an elder. He married Rebecca Weltzheimer and their son, Lewis Henry Steiner, was the father of Dr. Steiner of this review.

Lewis Henry Steiner, born May 4, 1827, prepared for college in the Frederick Academy and was graduated from Marshall College in 1846. He then became a medical student in the University of Pennsylvania, winning his professional degree in 1849, while Marshall College conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree about the same time. In 1854 he received the same degree from the College of St. James and in 1869 from Yale. He practiced in Frederick, Maryland, until 1852, when he went to Baltimore, where he was connected with the private medical institute of Dr. John R. W. Dunbar until 1855. Later he devoted his time entirely to the teaching of botany and chemistry, was professor of chemistry and natural history at Columbian University from 1853 until 1856 and professor of chemistry and pharmacy in the National Medical College. He lectured on chemistry and physics at the College of St. James from 1854 until 1859 and in 1855 and 1856 was Swann lecturer on applied chemistry in the Maryland Institute. In the latter year he became professor of chemistry in the Maryland College of Pharmacy, which he reorganized. Later he aided in incorporating the Mount Washington Female College at Baltimore, in which he held a professorship, and from 1856 until 1861 he was librarian of the Maryland Historical Society. At the outbreak of the Civil war he returned to Frederick and entered the United States Sanitary Commission as an inspector. In 1863 he was made chief inspector for the Army of the Potomac and in recognition of valuable service rendered the New York Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion elected him a companion of the third class in 1868. For twelve years he served in the state senate of Maryland and in 1876 was a delegate to the republican national convention. He was political editor of the Frederick Examiner from 1873 until 1884, when he became librarian of the Enoch Pratt Free Library of Baltimore, so serving until his sudden death on February 18, 1892. High honors were accorded him by medical, scientific and other organizations and he was an outstanding figure in scientific circles in the country. He contributed much to scientific literature and in 1884 Delaware College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws, while from Franklin and Marshall Colleges in 1887 he received the degree of Doctor of Literature. He took prominent part in church work as a representative of the Evangelical Reformed church and collaborated with Professor Henry Schwing in preparing two hymn books.

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On the 30th of October, 1866, he married Sarah Spencer Smyth, of Guilford, Con- necticut.

Their son, Dr. Walter Ralph Steiner, pursued a preparatory course in the Uni- versity School of Baltimore and also received instruction from private tutors. In 1888 he entered Yale and in 1892 completed the academic course, the Bachelor of Arts degree being then conferred upon him, while in 1895 he received the Master of Arts degree. It was his desire and purpose to become a member of the medical profession and in 1892 he entered Johns Hopkins University for pre-medical work and two years later began the regular medical course, which he completed in 1898, winning his professional degree. He served as medical house officer in the Johns Hopkins Hospital during 1898-99 and the year 1900 witnessed his arrival in Hartford, where he opened an office, concentrating his efforts and attention largely upon pathology and bacteri- ology. In 1901 he was made pathologist and bacteriologist of Hartford Hospital, was assistant visiting physician from 1905 until 1907 and visiting physician from 1908. Since 1912 he has been consulting pathologist and bacteriologist to the hospital. He is consulting physician to the Hartford Isolation Hospital, the Hartford Orphan Asylum, the New Britain, General, the Manchester Memorial, the Bristol and Meriden Hospitals and the Middlesex Hospital of Middletown. He has membership rela- tions with the leading professional societies, including the State and American Medical Associations, the Association of American Physicians, the American Climatological and Clinical Association, the American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists, and of the Connecticut State Medical Society he was secretary from 1905 until 1912, while of the Hartford Medical Society he has been librarian since 1903. He belongs also to the Congress of American Physicians and Surgeons, of which he has been secretary since 1911, and he has membership in the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He also belongs to the Sons of the American Revolution, the Society of Colonial Wars and to the Connecticut Historical Society.

Dr. Steiner votes with the republican party and his religious faith is that of the Congregational church. He obtains needed recreation through his connection with the Hartford, University, Hartford Golf, and Twentieth Century Clubs. His professional activities, however, have made demands upon the major part of his time and aside from his active practice he has written broadly upon the subjects of internal medicine, pathology and medical history. In the Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital have appeared his articles: "A Contribution to the History of Medicine in the Province of Maryland," "A Contribution to the History of Medicine in Maryland During the Revolution" and "Governor John Winthrop, Jr., of Connecticut, as a Physician." His authorship includes two chapters on the diseases of the muscles in the seven-volume textbook entitled "Modern Medicine." He has also written for the Nelson and Oxford Loose Leaf Systems of Medicine. He was chosen one of the principal speakers at the centenary celebration of the Yale Medical School, June 15, 1914. Throughout his life he has been a lover of good literature and of art, especially interested in old prints. In a word he is a man of broad and liberal culture and, like his father, is an outstanding figure in scientific circles.

WILLARD G. PHELPS

Willard G. Phelps, a well known coal dealer of Glastonbury, who is successfully following in the business footsteps of his father, was born April 27, 1877, in this city, and is the only child of Alfred E. and Isabel Phelps. His grandparents were Philo F. and Anne Phelps, and his forebears were natives of England. Alfred E. Phelps established a large coal business in Glastonbury and was also a prosperous tobacco grower. In politics he was a stalwart democrat, became a member of the state legislature, and also filled the office of selectman. As a public servant he made an enviable record and measured up to high standards in every relation of life.

In the acquirement of an education Willard G. Phelps attended the public schools of Glastonbury, completing his high school course in 1892, and a year later was graduated from the Huntsinger Business College in Hartford. For some time he had charge of the clerical work in his father's office and before the latter's death assumed the management of the business. It was first operated under the name of P. F. Phelps and later the style of A. E. & S. S. Phelps was adopted. At that time the

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business was owned by Alfred E. Phelps and his brother, and in 1920 the present name of the Phelps Coal Company was assumed. The partners are Willard G. Phelps and Raymond B. Olcott. They are the leading coal dealers in Glastonbury and conduct the business on both a wholesale and retail basis. This is one of the pioneer com- mercial enterprises of the city and from the time of its founding the business has been controlled by men of high standards. Mr. Phelps knows every phase of the trade and has inherited his father's executive force and business acumen. He has a tract of twenty-two acres planted to tobacco and he is also identified with financial affairs, being one of the directors of the Glastonbury Bank & Trust Company.

On October 4, 1911, Mr. Phelps was united in marriage to Miss Margaret R. Johnson, of Northampton, Massachusetts, and their attractive home has become a center of the social life of Glastonbury. They are affiliated with the Episcopal church and Mr. Phelps is allied with the democratic party. He is a member of the town finance board and an earnest and untiring worker for the good of his community. Along fraternal lines he is connected with the Masonic order and is treasurer of Daskam Lodge, No. 86, F. & A. M. He has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. A lifelong resident of Glastonbury, he has watched its progress with deep interest and has aided in the work of development and improvement. Mr. Phelps has been loyal to every cause which he espoused and faithful to every trust reposed in him, and stands deservedly high in the esteem of his fellowmen.

WILLIAM E. GATES.

No public official of Glastonbury is better known or enjoys a higher reputation than William E. Gates, its efficient and popular postmaster, who has been identified with this branch of governmental service for thirty-two years. He was born in Lyme, Connecticut, in 1857, a son of Francis E. and Sarah M. (Day) Gates. His uncle, William Hungerford, engaged in the practice of law and achieved prominence in the profession. Francis E. Gates owned a valuable farm in the vicinity of East Haddam, Connecticut, and was active in public affairs, filling a number of local offices. He was a consistent member of the Hadlyme Congregational church, with which his wife was also affiliated. They had a family of five children: William E .; Justin J., deceased; Charles D., who is president of the Turner-Day-Woolworth Handle Company, of Louis- ville, Kentucky; and Mrs. Elizabeth M. Sanford and Mrs. Nellie M. Luther, of East Haddam.

William E. Gates was reared on his father's farm and completed his studies in a high school at Hartford, graduating with the class of 1877. For three years he was a dealer in groceries at Middlefield, Connecticut, and in 1885 entered the same line of activity in Glastonbury. He was thus engaged until 1896 and prospered in business, never resorting to questionable methods in any commercial transaction. In 1896 he joined the firm which became known as the E. S. Kibby Company in 1909, and was one of its directors for a number of years. For two years he was secretary of the Glastonbury Bank & Trust Company, of which he is now a director and chairman of the building committee.

In 1883 Mr. Gates was married in East Haddam to Miss Phoebe Holmes, who died in 1883, leaving a son, Robert Holmes. He was born in 1883 and resides in Louisville, Kentucky. He has been in the employ of his uncle for twenty-two years and fills the responsible position of manager. Mr. Gates was married in 1889 to Miss Isabella Robertson, who passed away in 1922, and his third union was with Miss Ethel Maynard, to whom he was married in East Haddam in June, 1926.

In 1885 Mr. Gates joined Putnam Phalanx of the Sons of Veterans and rose to the rank of first lieutenant, remaining with the organization until 1926, when he tendered his resignation. Along fraternal lines he is connected with Daskam Lodge, No. 86, F. & A. M., and Elm Lodge, No. 17, I. O. O. F. He is a zealous member of the First Congregational church and was chairman of its finance committee for three years. In politics he is a stalwart republican and in 1912 became a member of the board of selectmen, with which he was connected for a year. When the World war was in progress he served on the local draft board and was trial justice of the peace for eight years, at which time Woodrow Wilson was president of this country. In 1885 Mr. Gates became an employe of the United States government, entering the postal

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department, and for four years was assistant postmaster under President Cleveland. In 1889 he was appointed postmaster of Glastonbury, which was then made an office of the second class, and with the exception of eight years during the Wilson adminis- tration he has since acted in this capacity. His service covers twenty-eight years and few postmasters in Connecticut have been retained in office for a longer period. He has a special talent for this branch of public activity and his work has received high commendation. Mr. Gates was largely instrumental in securing adequate fire protec- tion for Glastonbury and for ten years was chairman of the committee in charge of this fire district. Devotion to duty is one of his outstanding characteristics and for many years he has been a tireless and effective worker for the general welfare. Honest, unselfish, broad-minded and public-spirited, Mr. Gates has won and retained the con- fidence. respect and friendship of all who know him, and his life record affords a striking example of what constitutes good citizenship.

PAUL MERRITT GROVER

Paul Merritt Grover, of the firm of Putnam & Company, handling stocks and securities in Hartford, with offices at 6 Central Row, was born in Boston, Massachu- setts, March 13, 1905, a son of Alfred C. and Ethel (Peterson) Grover, who are also natives of the old Bay state. The father engaged in business as a shoe manufacturer in Boston and Lynn, Massachusetts, and in Manchester, New Hampshire.

After attending the public schools, Paul Merritt Grover continued his studies in the Phillips Exeter Academy and in 1921 enlisted in his country's service, going to the United States Naval Academy, where he received officers' training, completing his. course by graduation with the class of 1926. He then resigned his commission in the navy but in 1927 joined the Marine Corps Reserve as a first lieutenant. His. association with the business interests of Hartford dates from 1926, when he joined the firm of Putnam & Company, handling stocks and securities in Hartford. He is: applying himself closely to a mastery of the business and is making steady progress in the field of finance.

On the 9th of August, 1926, Mr. Grover was married to Miss Ella Miles Beckham, of Baltimore, Maryland, and they have one son, David, born June 4, 1928. Mrs. Grover is a nicce of Ex-Governor Beckham of Kentucky, who was also at one time United States senator, and is a daughter of Colonel D. Yulee Beckham. Her family was connected with the Wickliffes of England, of whom Lord Wickliffe translated the Bible into English, while others of the name were prominent both in Europe and America. One of these, Robert Wickliffe, was governor of Louisiana, while Senator David L. Yulee was the first United States senator from Florida, and several members of the family have served in the cabinet. Mrs. Grover, who is a graduate of the Holton- Arms School of Washington, D. C., presides with gracious hospitality over her home at 816 Farmington avenue, Hartford. Mr. Grover is a member of the Army and Navy Club of America at Washington, D. C., and of the Putnam Phalanx and the Norwich (Conn.) Golf Club. What he has already accomplished argues well for a successful future.

CHARLES RAY

Charles Ray, who has become a successful business man and an outstanding figure in industrial circles of South Manchester, is a native of Ireland. He was born in 1882 and when a child of five came to the United States with his parents, Robert and Elizabeth Ray, who settled in Troy, New York. His education was acquired in the public schools of that city and when about eighteen years of age he entered the employ of the John A. Manning Paper Company. Conscientious and painstaking, he gave his best efforts to the company and was steadily advanced, eventually becoming secretary and manager of the firm, with which he remained for nineteen years. On the expiration of that period he sold his interest in the business and in 1920 became associated with the Rodgers Paper Manufacturing Company in the capacity of general manager. For seven years he filled that position and on August 1, 1927, when the business was reorganized, he assumed the duties of president and treasurer, which he:

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is now discharging, while he is also a director of the Wheelwright Paper Company of Leominster, Massachusetts.

Mr. Ray belongs to the Manchester Country Club and is an ex-president of the Kiwanis Club. While living in Troy he became a Mason, joining King Solomon's Primitive Lodge, and shapes his conduct by the beneficent teachings of the order. He is one of the directors of the Chamber of Commerce and heartily cooperates in movements for Manchester's growth and improvement. Mr. Ray's business associates have found him a man whose word is always to be relied upon and in every relation of life he measures up to high standards.

CHARLES WILLIAM JAYNES

Charles William Jaynes, engaged in the real estate business, with offices in the Capitol Bank building of Hartford, and also well known in military circles, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, December 24, 1879, a son of Charles P. and Ella F. (Janes) Jaynes, both of whom were natives of Connecticut, the Jaynes family having been pioneers of the New Haven colony. The father was a manufacturing druggist who carried on business in Boston for a considerable period.

In the public schools of his native city Charles W. Jaynes began his education, while subsequently he attended the Hopkinson school. He afterward entered Harvard and was graduated with the B. S. degree in the class of 1901. He then became connected with a manufacturing business in Boston and so continued for about ten years. In 1911 he came to Hartford, where he engaged in the foundry business, becoming treasurer of the Standard Foundry Company. When America entered the World war in 1917 he was appointed deputy fuel administrator for the state of Con- necticut, which position he filled until the cessation of hostilities made it no longer necessary to sustain that office. His own military experience covers three years' service as a member of Troop B of the Connecticut Cavalry, after which he went to the civilians' camp at Plattsburg, New York, in 1916. On his return and the organiza- tion of the State Guard he was commissioned captain of Company B of the First Regiment. Before the war he had acted as one of the managers in taking the military census of Connecticut. Mr. Jaynes' identification with the real estate business dates from 1923, when he became associated with W. A. Sanborn & Company, one of the leading firms of Hartford. He is also a director of the Capitol National Bank and Trust Company of Hartford.

On the 17th of October, 1903, Mr. Jaynes was married to Miss Ruth Cheever Wilkins, of Brookline, Massachusetts, and with their two daughters, Nancy C. and Elinore, both of whom are now students at Vassar College, they make their home at 211 Fern street, in West Hartford.

In the public life of the community Mr. Jaynes has manifested an active and helpful interest. During the first two years of its existence he was in charge of Community Chest individual subscriptions and he has been connected with other charitable work in this city. He belongs to the Hartford Golf Club, the University Club of Hartford, the Eastern Yacht Club of Marblehead, Massachusetts, the Harvard Club of Boston, Harvard Club of Connecticut, and the Dauntless Club of Essex, Connecticut.

A. WELLS CASE-A. WILLARD CASE

The story of the Case family constitutes one of the most important chapters in the history of commercial development not only in Manchester but in this part of the state. For many years an extensive paper manufacturing enterprise has been carried on by members of the family and the three present companies in the county, Case Brothers, Inc., of Highland Park, Manchester, Case Manufacturing Company of Unionville, and Case & Marshall, Inc., of East Hartford, are the outgrowths of their early activities in the manufacture of paper in Manchester.

Many years ago Charles Bunce, Sr., began the manufacture of paper here and the business which he established was afterward conducted by his six sons. It was

A. WELLS CASE

A. WILLARD CASE

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in one of these mills that three of the brothers, C. Frank Case, A. Wells Case and A. Willard Case, learned the trade of paper making.

In 1861 A. Willard Case, with his brother Frederick, hired an old mill near the present site of St. James cemetery and began paper making. At about this time, A. Wells Case started a small mill in that part of the town now known as Highland Park, for the washing of cotton waste. In 1869 another brother, Henry F. Case, with C. Frank Case, started the manufacture of paper making machinery in their machine shop on Gardner street, and A. Wells Case, A. Willard Case and Frederick Case built a mill on the site of the present plant at Highland Park. Later they built mills at Chaplin, Connecticut, and on the sites of the Bunce mills in Manchester. Frederick retired from the firm some years later and built a mill at Andover, Connecticut.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 115

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