USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III > Part 15
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GEORGE H. BURT
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and East Hampton for a period of about eight years. In addition to discharging his duties as probate judge he also practiced law, continuing in his professional work in Portland and in Middletown until 1912. He was a member of numerous civic associations in Middletown and Portland, and also a member of the Middlesex His- torical Society, and a trustee of the Freestone Savings Bank, and the Methodist Episcopal Church of Portland. He was active in Masonic work and was a past master of Warren Lodge, No. 51, A. F. & A. M., of Portland, Connecticut.
In January of 1913, he was appointed tax attorney for the state of Connecticut, with offices at the state capitol, and removed to Hartford, where he also engaged in the private practice of law as the duties of his office gave him opportunity. He was retained in the position of tax attorney until 1918, when he resigned and entered into partnership with Arthur E. Howard, now associate judge of the court of common pleas, and the firm of Cramer & Howard was maintained until 1922, when it was merged with the firm of which Walter S. Schutz, former corporation counsel for the city of Hartford, and Ufa E. Guthrie were partners, the style of Schutz, Cramer, Howard & Guthrie being then assumed. In the following year Mr. Howard withdrew to go upon the bench and since that time the firm name of Schutz, Cramer & Guthrie has been maintained, although the senior partner passed away in 1925. Throughout the years of his connection with the legal profession Judge Cramer has enjoyed a substantial practice, growing in volume and importance as time has passed. He has long been accorded high rank among the eminent lawyers of the capital city and he is a valued member of the Hartford County, Connecticut State and American Bar Associations, enjoying in full measure the respect, confidence and high regard of his professional colleagues and contemporaries.
On the 1st of June, 1909, Judge Cramer was married to Miss Flora Marshall, a daughter of William Henry and Ellen (Kern) Marshall, of Boston. Their children are Edith Winifred, John Marshall and Ruth Marion.
In his political views, Judge Cramer has always been a stalwart republican and a consistent worker for the party's success. He holds membership in the Hartford Golf Club and is widely known in Masonic circles, having taken all of the degrees in the various York and Scottish Rite bodies, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. He is a past grand master of the state of Connecticut and the esteem accorded him in Masonic ranks vies with that which is extended him as a representative member of the Connecticut bar.
EPAPHRODITUS PECK
Epaphroditus Peck was born December 20, 1860, in Bristol, to which his great- great-grandfather removed in 1750. He is a descendant of Paul Peck, who come to Hartford in 1638, owned a farm near the present corner of Capitol avenue and Washington street, and was a deacon in Thomas Hooker's church.
Judge Peck received his elementary education at Bristol, and graduated from the Hartford Public High School in 1877, there being at that time no high school in Bristol. Soon after he began the study of law, and received the degree of LL. B. from the Yale Law School in 1881, being valedictorian of his class. He was admitted to the bar that year, and in 1882 opened an office in Bristol, where he has been located ever since.
From 1887 till 1912 he was Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas at Hartford; and from 1903 to 1913 taught the law of domestic relations, evidence and procedure at the Yale Law School. In 1912 he resigned both of these positions, and since that time he has been engaged in law practice at Bristol.
Mr. Peck was married at Hartford, on August 21, 1886, to Miss Grace Brownell of Hartford, a daughter of Frank C. and Mary B. Brownell. To Mr. and Mrs. Peck were born five children, but three of them died in early childhood. They have two daughters living, Mrs. Thomas S. McEwan of Evanston, Illinois, and Miss Mildred A. Peck of Bristol. They have three grandchildren, children of Mrs. McEwan.
Mr. Peck is a director of the Bristol Savings Bank, secretary and director of the Bristol Public Library, secretary and director of the Bristol Hospital. He has taken a considerable part in the national affairs of the Congregational church, and is vice president of the Corporation for the National Council of Congregational Churches in
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the United States, and has been for several years a director and member of the executive and finance committees of the Church Extension Boards of that denomi- nation.
He was elected to the legislature as a republican from Bristol in 1925, and again in 1927, serving in the first session on the committee on banks, and in the second session on the judiciary committee.
Among his published articles and addresses are the History of Bristol in the Hartford County Memorial History, published in 1886, the historical address at the centennial celebration of the town of Bristol in 1885, the historical address at the centennial celebration of the town of Burlington in 1906, a monograph on "Thomas Hooker and his relation to American Constitutional History," published by the Con- gregational State Conference in 1904, a monograph on Moses Dunbar, loyalist, pub- lished in the Connecticut Magazine in 1904; and a text book for law students entitled "Peck on Persons and Domestic Relations," published by Callaghan & Co. of Chicago in 1913, and a second edition in 1920. His address on "The Pilgrims' Conception of Democracy" delivered at the International Congregational Council in Boston, in 1920, was printed in "Christian Work" in September of that year. He has also written a number of articles for legal periodicals and encyclopedias, and addresses on various occasions.
He is still actively engaged in practice at Bristol.
ALFRED SPENCER, JR.
A banking executive of the broadest experience, having long occupied a position of leadership among the financiers of Connecticut, Alfred Spencer, Jr., is numbered with those who have given stability to the state and made its history a record of steady and substantial growth. The thoroughness which he has ever displayed has enabled him to overcome difficulties and obstacles, and as chairman of the executive committee of the Hartford National Bank & Trust Company he is giving out of the rich stores of his wisdom and experience for the benefit of his associates and of the strong institution which is the outcome of the merger of two of the largest banking interests of Hartford. He has reached the age of seventy-six, yet cares not to relegate to others the duties and responsibilities of business life, and no name is more honored in banking circles than is that of Alfred Spencer, Jr.
Born on the 29th of October, 1851, in Suffield, Connecticut, he is a son of Alfred and Caroline Frances (Reid) Spencer. One cannot carry his investigations far into the annals of Connecticut without learning of the long and important association of the Spencer family with the history of this state, for through eleven generations the ancestral line is traced back to Michael and Elizabeth Spencer, who in the midlle of the sixteenth century maintained their home at Stratford, in Bedfordshire, England, where on the 20th of May, 1576, their son, Jared Spencer, was baptized. Having reached manhood, he married and in 1632 came with his wife, Alice, and their five sons to the new world, settling at Cambridge, Massachusetts. The eldest son, Thomas Spencer, who became the progenitor of the Suffield branch of the family, was born in Stratford, England, March 27, 1607, was brought by his parents to this country and in 1635 he and his brother William came to Hartford with Rev. Thomas Hooker's company. As early as 1633 he resided at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in 1639 had become a resident of Hartford, where he owned land and was chosen a sergeant March 7, 1650. He was called upon for public service of a varied character, acting as chimney-viewer in 1650, as constable in 1657 and as highways surveyor in 1672. He served in the Pequot war in 1637 and in 1671 was granted sixty acres of land by the general court "for his good service in the country." He died September 11, 1687. His will dated September 9, 1686, shows an idealism as unexpected as it is beautiful in this rugged old Puritan's make up when he said "I * * * finding the shadows of the evening are stretching over me cannot but judge the council of the prophet very seasonable 'set thy house in order' * *
* and finally I leave all my children with the Lord and desire his blessing may be their portion that they may love and serve him and live in love and peace one with another when I shall be gathered to my fathers." His son, Thomas Spencer, was born in Hartford and in 1684 voted at the
ALFRED SPENCER, JR.
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first town meeting in Suffield, where he engaged in farming until his death, July 23, 1689. His widow, Mrs. Esther (Andrews) Spencer, daughter of William Andrews, survived until March 6, 1698.
Samuel Spencer, second son of Thomas and Esther Spencer, was born in Suffield, followed farming there and died November 23, 1743. On the 18th of March, 1700, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel Mascroft, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and the elder of their two sons was Thomas Spencer, who was born in Suffield, January 13, 1702. He, too, was a farmer and served as a lieutenant in the French and Indian war. On the 15th of December, 1720, he married Mary Trumbull, a relative of Governor Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut. She was born December 2, 1701, in Suffield, and died in 1755, having for more than a year survived. her husband, who died Feb- ruary 4, 1754. Their youngest son, Hezekiah Spencer, born December 16, 1740, was a Suffield farmer who died August 3, 1797, while his wife, Olive Nott, died February 2, 1771. Hezekiah Spencer, their son, was born April 30, 1766, followed farming as a life work, was a leading member of the Congregational church and on June 5, 1793, married Jerusha Nelson, who was born in Suffield, December 17, 1771. He died October 1, 1820, and his wife August 17, 1854. Their second son, Alfred Spencer, was the grandfather of the Alfred Spencer whose name introduces this review and who now ranks as one of Connecticut's foremost financiers. He was born July 12, 1801, on the family homestead, was married October 16, 1823, to Harriet King, who was born September 30, 1802, in Suffield, and he died on October 17, 1838, his wife surviving until December 15, 1844.
Alfred Spencer, son of Alfred and Harriet Spencer, was born January 21, 1825, on the family homestead, supplemented his district school education by study in the Connecticut Literary Institute and became owner of large landed interests and an extensive dealer in tobacco. He was married March 26, 1846, to Caroline Frances Reid, of Colchester, who was born October 22, 1827. Both have now passed away, Mr. Spencer having died December 30, 1891, while his wife died August 31, 1898. Their children were James P., Harriet A., Alfred, Mary Reid, Clinton, Carrie E., Jennie and Samuel Reid.
Reared upon the home farm, in the old Spencer Homestead built in 1726 and still used by him as a summer residence, Alfred Spencer, Jr., attended the Connecticut Literary Institute after completing his public school course and later entered the Edwards Place School at Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He was a young man of twenty- one years when he secured employment in the First National Bank of Suffield, there applying himself with such diligence and determination that he won various promo- tions and ultimately became cashier, remaining with that institution through two decades. In 1891 he resigned to become cashier of the Aetna National Bank of Hart- ford and again his forcefulness and resourcefulness brought him advancement until in 1899 he was elected president, remaining the executive head of the institution until it was merged with the Hartford Bank in 1915, becoming the Hartford-Aetna National Bank, with Mr. Spencer continuing in the presidency until February, 1926, when he was made chairman of the board of directors. His association therewith thus con- tinued until May, 1927, when arrangements were completed resulting in the merger of the Hartford-Aetna and the United States Security banks under the name of the Hartford National Bank & Trust Company, with a capitalization of four million dollars, a surplus of equal amount and undivided profits of about one million, seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The combined resources of the new institution are approxi- mately forty-four million dollars, the deposits about thirty-two million dollars and the total trust funds reach about sixty million dollars. On the merger Mr. Spencer was made chairman of the executive committee and thus he has a most important part in shaping the policy and directing the destiny of this institution, which today ranks with the foremost banks of the east. Starting out as a messenger boy, his rise has been continuous, his powers have been logically developed and his capability places him in the front rank among the prominent and honored bank executives of New England. Aside from his association with the newly organized Hartford National Bank & Trust Company, Mr. Spencer is president of Gray's Telephone Pay Station Company of Hartford, a trustee of the State Savings Bank of Hartford and of the Suffield School at Suffield.
In leisure hours Mr. Spencer has ever found his greatest happiness at his own fireside. He was married October 14, 1879, to Miss Ella Susan Nichols, a daughter of Francis and Mary (Pomeroy) Nichols, of Suffield, and the children of this marriage
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are: Alfred Francis, who was born February 21, 1881; and Herbert, who was born January 13, 1883, and married Ruth Ensign, of East Hartford, by whom he has three sons-Richard Herbert, Louis Ensign and Alfred Nichols.
Mr. Spencer is prominently known in the City Club of Hartford and also has membership relations with the York and Scottish Rite bodies of Masonry, his con- nection being with Apollo Lodge, No. 59, F. & A. M., of Suffield; Washington Chapter, R. A. M .; Suffield Council, R. & S. M .; Washington Commandery, K. T., of Hartford; and Hartford Consistory, S. P. R. S. He is also a member of Sphinx Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Hartford and has held various offices in these organizations, embodying in his life the highest principles and spirit of the craft. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party and he has been a close student of the vital questions and issues of the day but never an aspirant for public office, preferring to concentrate his time and energies upon his business affairs, in which his has been a notable record; but the most envious cannot grudge him his success, so worthily has it been won and so honorably used, his efforts being a vital force in the upbuilding of the banking interests of the state.
SAMUEL REID SPENCER
While Samuel Reid Spencer ranks with the leading and representative business men of Suffield, he is also classed with its prominent and influential citizens, having for many years taken an active part in public affairs which have featured largely in the upbuilding and progress of this section of the state. Suffield numbers him among her native sons, having been born here on the 4th of November, 1871. At the usual age he entered the public schools and his collegiate training was received at Yale, which numbers him among its alumni of 1893. His graduation brought him the Bachelor of Arts degree, and thus equipped for life's practical and responsible duties, he started out in the business world as an employe of the J. R. Montgomery Company of Windsor Locks, Connecticut. His initial position was that of general utility man and in 1894 he went upon the road, selling goods for the firm until 1900. In that year he and his brother, Clinton Spencer, purchased the feed, coal and lumber business of W. W. Cooper, thus taking over a business that had been established in 1874. On the 31st of December, 1913, they reorganized under the name of Spencer Brothers, Incorporated, with Clinton Spencer as president and Samuel R. Spencer as treasurer. Upon the death of the former in 1917, Samuel R. Spencer became presi- dent and continues as the chief executive officer of the company, with Howard C. Cone as treasurer and H. L. Pomeroy as secretary. They conduct an extensive retail trade in feed, coal and lumber and their business is now one of substantial proportions, bringing to them a gratifying annual income. Mr. Spencer is also widely known in financial circles, having been a trustee of the Savings Bank since 1906, while the year 1914 brought him election to the presidency. He was likewise made a director of the First National Bank in 1917 and became its vice president in 1923, so that he shares in the executive control of two of the strong and stable banking institutions of this section.
On the 12th of December, 1899, Mr. Spencer was married to Helena E. Bailey, daughter of Ezra B. and Katie E. (Horton) Bailey, of Windsor Locks, her father having been president and treasurer of the Horton Chuck Company from about 1887 to the time of his retirement from active business. He was a member of the Connecticut state senate and for many years was collector of customs at the port of Hartford.
Mr. Spencer gives his political allegiance to the republican party, which he has supported since age conferred upon him the right of franchise, and his fellow towns- men, appreciative of his worth and ability, have frequently called upon him to render public service. He has continuously filled the office of trustee of the Suffield schools since 1906 and in 1913 was made chairman of the executive committee. Since 1903 he has served on the library board and has been chairman of the directorate since 1910. The office of town treasurer he has filled without interruption since 1900 and Suffield is among the few towns in Connecticut that is without indebtedness. In 1915 he was elected to the state legislature for a two years' term, was reelected in 1917 and served on the committee on finance in both sessions, while in 1917 he was chairman of the committee. The seventh district elected him state senator and his service covered the
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session of 1927. Since June of that year, through appointment of Governor Trumbull, he has been a member of the state board of finance and control and his public activity has ever been actuated by the utmost loyalty to the public good. His service has received the highest endorsement of leading officials as well as of his fellow townsmen and he ranks with the valued residents of the state. Mr. Spencer is a member of the various Masonic bodies, having become a Knight Templar, a Consistory Mason and a Mystic Shriner. His wife is a member of the Second Baptist church of Suffield, which he attends, and she belongs to the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Mayflower Society.
WILLIAM MUIR
Liberally endowed with the qualities of energy and perseverance, William Muir overcame many obstacles and difficulties, never losing sight of his objective, and now controls the destiny of one of the industries of Bristol. A native of Scotland, he was born October 14, 1876, near the city of Glasgow, and when a child was brought to the United States by his parents, Henry and Mary S. Muir, who settled in Bristol, Connecticut. He attended the local schools and in 1897 entered the employ of the New Departure Company. Two years later he became connected with the Wallace- Barnes Company and his zeal and ability soon won him promotion. Eventually he was made assistant treasurer and subsequently was elected president. For seven- teen years he remained with the Wallace-Barnes Corporation and in 1916 allied his interests with those of the Thompson Clock Company, of which he has since been president, treasurer and a director. Mr. Muir combines a capacity for detail with the broad vision and mature judgment of the true executive and under his able admin- istration the industry has made notable strides. He is also a director of the C. J. Root Company and the Wallace-Barnes Company. Proficiency in accounting is one of his accomplishments and for twenty years he was auditor of the Bristol Savings Bank.
On June 14, 1905, Mr. Muir was united in marriage to Miss Eva G. Olcott, of Bristol, and both are prominent in social circles of the city. Mr. Muir gives his political allegiance to the republican party and for twenty years has been treasurer of school district No. 1. The cause of education finds in him an ardent champion and his influence is always on the side of projects of reform, progress and improvement. Through the steps of an orderly progression he has reached a field of broad useful- ness and his life has been guided by those principles which constitute the basis of all honorable and desirable prosperity.
ROSCOE N. CLARK
On the roster of public officials in Hartford appears the name of Roscoe N. Clark, city engineer. He was born at Auburn, Maine, August 8, 1870, and his parents, Warren and Mary Caroline (Doe) Clark, were likewise natives of the Pine Tree state. The father was long a railroad man, acting as agent for the Grand Trunk and Maine Central railroads at Danville Junction, Maine. He died in the year 1879, while his widow long survived him, passing away in 1900.
Roscoe N. Clark pursued his education at Worcester Academy, a preparatory school at Worcester, Massachusetts, from which he entered the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he studied civil engineering, graduating with the degree of B. S. in 1892. Immediately afterward he took up railroad survey work and was thus engaged until the winter of 1894-95, his activities covering the territory from the Maine Central up through Rumford Falls to Rangeley Lakes. He also spent a few months in the office of a surveyor at Worcester, and in 1896 came to Hartford to take charge of a party on the topographical survey of what is now Keney Park. In the spring of 1898 he became engineer for the park department of the city, and in 1901, while still active in that work, he entered the employ of E. D. Graves, the then chief engineer of the Connecticut River Bridge and Highway District, who was then
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engaged in the preliminary work having to do with the construction of the Hartford bridge. In 1902 Mr. Clark became an employe in the city engineer's office, and when the incumbent of that position resigned in 1911 he was appointed city engineer, which position he has since filled. Under his supervision the East Side Intercepting Sewer was built, numerous bridges have been constructed, much street widening has been done and all public improvements have been carried forward in a manner that has given evidence not only of his professional ability and practical skill but of his loyalty to the interests entrusted to his care.
On the 5th of October, 1895, Mr. Clark was married to Miss Florence S. Hart- well, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and their two children are Alfreda C. and B. Hartwell.
Mr. Clark is a member of St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M., and Pythagoras Chapter, R. A. M., while along strictly social lines he has connection with the City Club and with the University Club of Hartford, and through a professional avenue he is identi- fied with the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers.
CARLYLE FULLER BARNES
It is true that in his successful business career Carlyle Fuller Barnes entered upon an enterprise already established, but in further developing and promoting this many a man of less resolute spirit and with less courage and determination would have failed. However, he developed his interests to meet the growing demands of the times and thus gave demonstration of both his forcefulness and his resource- fulness. His life history had its beginning in the village of Bristol, where he was born December 11, 1852, and in tracing his family history it is found that both in the paternal and maternal lines he came of old and distinguished American families. He was a direct descendant of Thomas Barnes, who left his native England to estab- lish his home in the new world, becoming a resident of Farmington, Connecticut, about 1660. He was also a descendant of Edward Fuller, who was one of the passen- gers on the famous Mayflower. His parents were Wallace and Eliza (Fuller) Barnes, the father a prominent manufacturer who founded and promoted the Wal- lace Barnes Company, engaged in the manufacture of clock springs. He was a busi- ness man of marked capability and worth and concentrated his attention largely upon his manufacturing interests, holding no public office save that of fire commis- sioner.
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