History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 126

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 126

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CHARLES WELLES GROSS.

Charles Welles Gross, a Hartford man whose scholastic training has constituted the basis on which he has builded notable success, is now senior partner in the law firm of Gross, Hyde & Williams, occupying an enviable position among those who are recognized as leaders at the Hartford bar. Many important business interests also profit by his sound judgment and particularly in the field of insurance is his name one to conjure with. He is a native son of Hartford, born October 13, 1876, his parents being Charles E. and Ellen Clarissa (Spencer) Gross, long residents of this city, where his father, a most prominent lawyer, passed away December 31, 1924. Further mention of him is made elsewhere in this work.

At the usual age Charles W. Gross became a public school pupil and following his graduation from the Hartford high school he entered Yale, winning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1898. In preparation for the bar he attended the Harvard Law School and was graduated cum laude in 1901, the LL.B. degree being at that time conferred upon him. Admitted to the bar, he became associated in practice with his father, then senior partner in the firm of Gross, Hyde & Shipman, since which time changes in the partnership relation have led to the present firm style of Gross, Hyde & Williams in 1925. The firm of Waldo, Hubbard & Hyde existed from 1867 until 1881, when Charles Edward Gross, father of Charles Welles Gross, joined the firm under the name of Hubbard, Hyde & Gross. This became Hyde, Gross & Hyde, in 1884, and so continued until 1894, when partnership changes led to the adoption of the firm style of Gross, Hyde & Shipman, no further change occurring until 1919, when it became Gross, Gross & Hyde and so remained until 1925, when it became Gross, Hyde & Williams.

Charles Welles Gross became a member of the firm in 1906. For more than a quarter of a century he has practiced in Hartford, where he is recognized as a most able lawyer, skillful in the presentation of his cause and seldom, if ever, at fault in the application of legal principle. His knowledge of the law, as well as his business ability, has constituted an important element in the successful management of vari- ous business and corporate interests. He is now a director of the Aetna Insurance Company, the World Fire & Marine Insurance Company, the Century Indemnity Company, the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company, the Rossia Insurance Com- pany of America, the First Re-Insurance Company of Hartford, the Hartford National Bank & Trust Company, the Society for Savings, and the Case, Lockwood & Brain- ard Company. He is the president of the board of trustees of the Hartford Seminary Foundation, a trustee of the Cedar Hill Cemetery Association and a member of the library committee of the Hartford Bar Library. He is likewise a trustee of the Wadsworth Athenaeum, and of the Horace Bushnell Memorial Hall Corporation.

On the 2d of November, 1905, Mr. Gross was married to Miss Hilda Frances Welch, a daughter of Pierce N. and Emma Cornelia (Galpin) Welch, of New Haven. Their children are: Spencer, born December 22, 1906, who graduated from Yale in 1928 and is now a student at the Yale Law School; Mason Welch, born June 3, 1911; and Cornelia, born May 28, 1913.

In his political views Mr. Gross is a democrat, nor has he hesitated to take time from his professional and business interests to serve the public in official positions. From 1907 until 1909 he was a member of the board of street commissioners and from 1913 until 1923 served on the board of park commissioners, and from 1912 to 1928 as a member of the district committee of the West Middle School District of Hartford. At all times his cooperation can be counted upon to further measures and

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movements for the public good and a guiding spirit of his life is shown in the fact that he has membership and is serving as a deacon in the Asylum Hill Congregational church. That Mr. Gross has the right to claim descent from many of the earliest of New England's citizens is indicated in the fact that he has membership in the Con- necticut Society of Mayflower Descendants, the Connecticut Society of the Cincinnati, the Connecticut Society of Colonial Wars and the Sons of the American Revolution. He belongs, moreover, to the Elihu Club of Yale, to the Graduates Club of New Haven and the Yale Club of New York, while in the city of his residence he has member- ship in the Hartford Club and the University Club. Along strictly professional lines his connection is with the Hartford County, Connecticut State and American Bar Associations, and such has been his course that he commands the highest regard of his professional colleagues and contemporaries, public opinion having firmly estab- lished him as one of the eminent lawyers of the capital city.

JOSEPH N. CAMMARANO

Joseph N. Cammarano, a public accountant of Hartford and well known among the Italian residents of this city as president of the Italian Club, Inc., was born in Hartford, March 24, 1902, his parents being Cono and Marianna (Russo) Cammar- ano, who are natives of Sassano, Italy.

Joseph N. Cammarano pursued his early education in the Washington street school, in which he completed the course in 1916, and then entered the Hartford high school, of which he is a graduate of 1920. Desirous of obtaining as liberal an educational training as he could possibly secure, he next entered the New York University and won the degree of Bachelor of Commercial Science in 1923. Since that time he has been a public accountant with A. F. Hall and his work is highly satisfactory to his patrons because of his thoroughness, efficiency, promptness and reliability. His activity aside from those lines is directed mainly in connection with the interests of the Italian Club, Inc., of which he was elected president in December, 1927. He is well known in Hartford, where his entire life has been passed, and especially among the people of Italian birth or descent, having much influence among them. He observes the best traditions of his race and is thoroughly popular among those who know him.

JOHN MARSHALL HOLCOMBE, JR.

The activities and experiences in the life of John Marshall Holcombe, Jr., have been varied in character. He is a veteran of the world war, with later connection with the American Relief Administration in Austria, and he is now manager of the Life Insurance Sales Research Bureau at Hartford, his native city. Born May 4, 1889, he is a son of John Marshall Holcombe, who was the president of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company.

Mr. Holcombe obtained a grammar and high school education in Hartford and pursued his academic course at the Hotchkiss School and in Yale University, where he received the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911. He then entered the Harvard Law School, gaining his LL.B. degree in 1914, and the same year was admitted to practice. Immediately afterward he became associated with the legal department of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company and there remained until 1916, when he saw service on the Mexican border as a private in Troop B of the Connecticut National Guard. He remained in Arizona with his troop from June, 1916, until the following October; and from November, 1916, until May, 1917, he was again with the Phoenix Mutual as counsel. At the latter date, however, he went to the first officers' training camp at Plattsburg. He resigned his reserve commission of second lieutenant of cavalry in order to enter field artillery, in which he was recommended for a first lieutenancy. This he declined, however, in order to accept a captaincy in the air service. Follow- ing the signing of the armistice, he was in the Army Educational Corps in France as an instructor in life insurance and was later attached to the American Relief Administration at Vienna, Austria. He returned home in September, 1919, when he was discharged, with the rank of captain.

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With his return to Hartford in September, 1919, he entered the agency depart- ment of the Phoenix Mutual Life as head of the sales research division and so con- tinued until January, 1922, when he became business manager of the newly organized Life Insurance Sales Research Bureau. He was located in Pittsburgh from that time until 1923, when he removed to New York, becoming at that time the Bureau's manager. In June, 1924, the office moved to Hartford and he continued as manager. The Bureau is an association, whose members are life insurance companies in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Japan, one hundred and twenty-four companies being members thereof.

On the 10th of May, 1920, he was married to Mrs. Herbert Allan Boas, a daugh- ter of Waldo K. and Ada F. (Wood) Chase, of Farmington. Their children are: Marguerite Emily, born March 19, 1921; John Marshall (III), born May 16, 1923; and Ada Chase, born June 9, 1924.

Mr. Holcombe is identified with a number of clubs and social organizations, his memberships including the University Club of Hartford, the Farmington Country Club, the Yale Club of New York, and the Tourilli Fish and Game Club of Quebec. He is also a member of the Society of Industrial Engineers. He has always been a repub- lican and in 1920 served as a member of the board of aldermen. He is a director of the Sesamee Company and the American College of Life Underwriters.

ANDREW NELSON SHEPARD

In the record of those men who have been active in molding the development and shaping the history of Connecticut appears the name of Colonel Andrew Nelson Shepard, of Portland, whose activities have been of wide scope and beneficially resultant. He ranks with the foremost tobacco growers of the state and in other fields as well he has made valuable contribution to the interests of the commonwealth, proving a capable and loyal official and a supporter of all those interests which stabilize society and make for permanent improvement. The Shepard family, one of the oldest in New England, was founded in America by Edward Shepard, who came from England and established his home at Cambridge, Massachusetts. His first wife, Violet Shepard, died January 9, 1649, after which he married Mrs. Mary Pond. His son, John Shepard, born in England in 1627, removed to Hartford, Connecticut, after 1666. He was married October 1, 1649, to Rebecca Greenhill, who died December 22, 1689. Their second son, Edward Shepard, who was born July 31, 1662, and made his home at Middletown, was a member of the general court in 1710-11. On the 14th of April, 1687, he married Abigail Savage and their eldest child was John Shepard (II), who was born February 19, 1688, and on the 17th of February, 1720, married Sarah Clarke. The direct ancestor of Andrew N. Shepard in the fifth generation was Daniel Shepard, who was born September 16, 1723, and died August 22, 1798, while his wife, Sarah Cornwall, died January 10, 1773. They were the parents of Daniel Shepard (II), who was born in what is now Portland, Connecticut, March 2, 1754, and there passed away October 24, 1850. His son, Erastus Shepard, born in Portland in 1791, married Honor Goodrich and died September 15, 1843. They were the parents of Nelson Shepard, who was born December 25, 1820, in Portland, and inherited from his father a farm of sixty acres there. He was among the first in Connecticut to engage in raising tobacco and was also interested in other business enterprises, becom- ing a stockholder in the Middlesex Quarry Company, a trustee of the Freestone Savings Bank and a director and vice president of the National Bank of Portland. He was a public-spirited citizen who occupied a high place in public regard. He served for three years as a member of the board of selectmen, was for three years county com- missioner and also represented Portland in the general assembly, giving zealous sup- port to the republican party. His religious faith was that of the Protestant Episcopal church. In November, 1844, he married Elizabeth Tryon, daughter of Noah and Eliza- beth (Goodrich) Tryon. Their family numbered four daughters and a son.

Colonel Andrew Nelson Shepard, the only son, was born in Portland, May 5, 1862, and spent his boyhood and youth on the old homestead, attending the public schools and supplementing his early education by study in the Glastonbury Academy and the Cheshire Military Academy. He early became familiar with the farm work, acquaint- ing himself with the best methods of tilling the soil and producing crops. As his

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father was a tobacco grower, he early became interested in that department of agri- cultural activity and since 1888 has concentrated his efforts and attention upon tobacco production, being recognized as one of the prominent growers of this part of the state. He still makes his home in the village of Portland, where he has estab- lished a large plant for housing and packing tobacco. His work is carried on along progressive and scientific lines and the intelligent direction of his labors is manifest in the notable success which has rewarded his efforts. Naturally his cooperation has been sought in other fields and he has rendered effective service as a director of the First National Bank and as president and trustee of the Freestone Savings Bank, which institutions were consolidated under the name of the Portland Trust Com- pany, with Colonel Shepard as president.

Colonel Andrew N. Shepard married, May 1, 1889, Harriet Stockwell, born August 14, 1868, in Windsor Locks, daughter of A. B. Stockwell, of that town. Colonel and Mrs. Shepard are the parents of two children: 1. Dorothea, born May 13, 1891; gradu- ated in 1910, with the degree of A. B. from the Bennett School, Halcyon Hall, Mill- brook, New York; she married, October 12, 1915, Gordon Stewart, of Portland, now residing in Hartford, Connecticut, who is mentioned at length on another page of this work. 2. Nelson A., born November 1, 1897, graduated at Kent School, and was freshman at Trinity College, that year; he enlisted in 1918 in the United States Marine Corps, and served with the United States Marines at Paris Island, South Carolina, and later in the School for Non-Commissioned Officers; he is now associated with his father in the tobacco business.

In the midst of intense business activity Colonel Shepard has never neglected the duties and obligations of citizenship and has rendered valuable service to the public in various capacities. For a decade, beginning in 1883, he was auditor of the town of Portland and from 1899 until 1909 served on the board of relief. In 1901 he was chosen to represent his town in the general assembly and was made a member of the important committee on appropriations. In 1907 he became a member of the state senate, was chairman of the committee on state institutions and rendered valuable service in bringing about a correct settlement for various vital state problems. He was again elected to the legislature in 1921 and during his term served on five com- mittees of the house of representatives, the most important of these being the com- mittee on appropriations. He has always given unfaltering allegiance to the repub- lican party and has been active in upholding the high standards which it has largely represented. He was a member of the staff of Governor George A. Lilley and Gover- nor F. B. Weeks continued him on the staff with the rank of colonel. Well known in Masonic circles, he has membership in Warren Lodge, No. 52, F. A. & A. M., of Portland; Washington Chapter, R. A. M., of Middletown; Washington Commandery, K. T., of Hartford; and Sphinx Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is likewise a member of Freestone Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Portland, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He has long held membership in the Hartford Club and the motive spirit of his life is found in his connection with the Trinity Episcopal church of Portland, of which he has been a vestryman for many years and is now warden. He has ever enjoyed hunting, fishing and out-of-door sports and annually has made a trip into the Maine wilds. His activities have been broad and varied, touching the general interests of society and having to do with the welfare and progress of city and state along many lines.

JAMES HENRY NAYLOR, M. D.

Dr. James Henry Naylor, a Hartford physician and surgeon with offices at No. 1 Main street, has always fully realized his duties and responsibilities in this connection and has measured up to the high ethical standards of the profession. He came to Connecticut from New York, having been born in Schuylerville, that state, August 3, 1869. His father, Jerome B. Naylor, was a native of Vermont and became a nailmaker when all nails were made by hand. In order to learn the trade he had to sign a contract and work for three years at a salary of a dollar and a half per week and board. Subsequently he did contract work for the Lake Champlain canal and his life was one of activity and usefulness. He died in 1894, while his widow, who was born in the Empire state, survived until 1900.

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Dr. Naylor supplemented his public school training by a course of study in the University of Vermont, whereby he was qualified for professional duties, being gradu- ated in 1895 from the medical school, at which time his degree was conferred upon him. The same year he came to Hartford and put his theoretical knowledge to the practical test by serving as interne in the Hartford Hospital for eighteen months. He then located for independent practice at 153 Main street in 1897, there remaining until 1908, when he came to his present location, having here a well equipped office. He is careful in the diagnosis of cases and his deductions are sound, so that he is able to render valuable service to those in need of assistance in his chosen field. For two years he served as clerk of the Hartford board of health and he was a member of No. 3 Draft Board during the war. He is also a member of the Hartford County Medical Society and through the interchange of thought and ideas in its meetings is adding to his knowledge.

On the 5th of June, 1905, Dr. Naylor was married to Miss Grace Preston Hodg- kins, of Rocky Hill, Connecticut, a daughter of Dr. H. D. Hodgkins. Mrs. Naylor is a noted concert singer and a teacher of vocal music and she has been honored with the presidency of the Hartford Woman's Club, in which office she is now serving. By her marriage she has become the mother of three children: Marie Bissell, who is a graduate of the Knox private school; Grace Preston, a graduate of the Gardner private school of New York city, in which she was one of the honor students; and James H., who is now attending Roxbury school at Cheshire, Connecticut.

Dr. Naylor has always been deeply interested in the cause of education and served as a member of the high school board of Hartford for eight years, acting as chairman of the board during two years of that period. For eighteen years he was a member of the South school committee and was chairman thereof for eight years. He was likewise a member of the building committee at the time of the erection of the Broad street school and a member of the committee that built the Weaver school and the Bulkeley high school, the Richard J. Kinsella school, the Alfred E. Burr school and the J. H. Naylor school, the last mentioned being named in his honor. His efforts in behalf of public education have been of a most practical and valuable character and Hartford had just reason to honor him by naming one of her public educational institutions the J. H. Naylor school. He is likewise president of the University of Vermont Alumni Association of Hartford. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree, and his entire life has been actuated by high and honorable principles, manifest in all of his relations with his fellowmen, whether in medical and surgical practice, in social life or in the field of public ser- vice which has to do with civic development and achievement.

LAWRENCE HUBBARD FROST, M. D.

Dr. Lawrence Hubbard Frost, who for more than a decade has been numbered among the able and successful physicians of Plainville, is a native of Willimantic, Connecticut, and a son of Marshall and Jane (Hubbard) Frost. After attending the- public schools near his boyhood home he entered the University of Vermont, from which he was graduated in 1913, following the completion of a medical course in that institution. He gained his first practical experience as an interne in the Lying-In Hospital of New York, where he remained for six months, and he afterward had the benefit of one year's broad experience in Bellevue Hospital of New York city. He thus constantly added to his knowledge through his association with some of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of the country and was well equipped for his chosen life work when he established an office in Plainville and entered upon the private practice of his profession here. Throughout the intervening period his patronage has steadily grown and he is regarded as one of the leading physicians of the city. In addition to his private practice he is on the consulting staff of the Bristol Hospital. Moreover, he has the distinction of being the second physician in Connecticut to vol- unteer his services during the World war and acted as camp physician and instructor in Georgia. He was commissioned a first lieutenant and discharged with that rank after the cessation of hostilities.

In 1916 Dr. Frost married Miss Edith Ellis, of Plainville, and they have one daughter, Jane. The parents are members of the Congregational church and the Doctor gives his political allegiance to the republican party, in the principles of

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which he firmly believes, but has had neither time nor inclination to seek public office. He is connected with several fraternal organizations, belonging to the blue lodge and Royal Arch chapter of Masons, to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Independent Order of Foresters and the American Legion. Along the strict path of his profession his membership is with the Bristol Medical Society and the Ameri- can Medical Association.

CHARLES B. SIMMONS

Never fearing that laborious effort which must precede ascendancy in every line of endeavor, Charles B. Simmons has steadily advanced toward the goal of success and is accorded a place of prominence in manufacturing circles of Bristol. He was born April 21, 1879, in Cleveland, Ohio, and when a child of eight came to Connecticut with his parents, John H. and Josephine Simmons, who settled in Bristol. In the public schools of this city he secured an education and his first money was earned by working for the American Silver Company of Bristol. Later he was in the employ of the Corbin Company of New Britain, gradually assuming heavier responsibilities, and in 1909 returned to Bristol as assistant superintendent of the Ingraham Clock Company. Five years were spent with that well known firm and since 1914 he has been associated with the New Departure Company, of which he is now production manager. He is devoted to the interests of the firm and results have amply justified the wisdom of his selection for this important office.

At Southington, Connecticut, Mr. Simmons was married December 15, 1903, to Miss Mabel Bailey and to this union has been born a son, Kenneth.

CLINTON DEMAS DEMING, M. D.

Dr. Clinton Demas Deming, a Hartford surgeon of widely recognized ability, with offices at 179 Allyn street, was born in this city August 21, 1884, a son of Edward and Ella Frances (Griswold) Deming, who are natives of Berlin and of Wethersfield, Connecticut, respectively, while both are of English lineage. The ancestry is traced back to John Deming, who settled at Wethersfield, Connecticut, about 1636, and the Griswold family was established there about the same time. Edward Deming, the Doctor's father, is now secretary of the L. T. Frisbie Company of New Haven, Connecticut.

Dr. Clinton D. Deming was educated in the public schools of Hartford and in Yale College, being numbered among its alumni of 1907, in which year the Bachelor of Arts degree was conferred upon him. His interest in the practice of medicine and surgery led him then to enter Johns Hopkins Medical College, which conferred upon him his professional degree in 1910. The same year he was appointed instructor of pathology at his alma mater, thus continuing for a year, and through the succeeding two years he put his theoretical knowledge to practical service as an interne in the Hartford Hospital. Since 1914 he has continuously been assistant visiting surgeon of the Hartford Hospital and he has concentrated his efforts and attention largely upon surgical practice, becoming recognized as a distinguished representative of this branch of the profession.

In July, 1918, Dr. Deming enlisted for service in the World war, becoming a first lieutenant in the United States Army Medical Corps, stationed at the New York Surgical School, and later he was instructor in neuro-surgery at Camp Oglethorpe. He was next assigned to duty at General Hospital No. 2 in Baltimore, Maryland, as assistant surgeon and received his honorable discharge in May, 1919. His military experience, like his private practice, had brought him intimate and accurate knowl- edge of surgery and with his return to Hartford he concentrated his activities upon this branch of professional work. His colleagues and contemporaries attest his high standing and efficiency and he keeps in touch with the trend of modern thought and practice through his membership in the Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut State and American Medical Associations and the American College of Surgeons. In January, 1928, he was elected secretary of the Hartford Medical Society.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 126

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