History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 23

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 23

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In young manhood Mr. Tuller was a member of the West Hartford Company of the Home Guard and became supply sergeant, thus serving at the time the Company disbanded. Fraternally he is identified with Wyllys Lodge, No. 99, A. F. & A. M., and Washington Lodge, No. 4, K. of P. He is also a member of the Collectors Club of Hartford and is actively interested in religious work, holding membership in the First Baptist church of West Hartford, of which he is clerk and Sunday school superintendent. His life has ever been guided by high and honorable principles and the sterling traits of his character are recognized by all with whom he has been associated.

JOHN BUCKLEY

There is no record which the American public so highly esteems as that of the self-made man and there is nothing that indicates more clearly the wonderful oppor- tunities which the country offers to its citizens than the life story of one who has attained a creditable measure of success and distinction in the field of business or professional life. Starting out without special advantages, John Buckley through the force of his character and through his developed powers has steadily advanced and is today a well known representative of the legal profession in Hartford. He was born in Stafford, Connecticut, May 12, 1885, and his early education was acquired in the public schools of Union, this state. He afterward attended the Hitchcock Academy at Brimfield, Massachusetts, and then having mentally reviewed the broad field of business and determined upon the practice of law as his life work, he enrolled as a student in the University of Maine Law School and won his LL. B. degree as a graduate of the class of 1907. The same year he was admitted to the bar. He has spent many years in active public service, all of which, however, has been more or less closely associated with his professional interests. In politics he is a stalwart republican and in 1909 was elected to represent his district in the house of repre- sentatives, where he was made chairman of the committee on labor. He was assist- ant clerk of the house of representatives in 1911 and again in 1913, was clerk of the house in 1915 and was clerk of the senate in 1917. In the latter year he became executive secretary to Governor Marcus H. Holcomb and filled that important posi- tion until 1921, when he again became a member of the house. He was made chair- man of the important judiciary committee and house leader and in 1923 was once more elected as representative, his influence in the general assembly being far- reaching and of most important character. In 1924 he was appointed United States attorney and continues in this office. His comprehensive knowledge of the law, his careful preparation of cases and his devotion to the interests which he represents are factors in the success which attends his labors. In 1915 he was appointed assist- ant secretary of the republican state central committee and held the position for two years, when he was appointed secretary of the republican state committee and filled the office until 1921, when he resigned. In the republican national convention which nominated Hughes for the presidency he was an alternate delegate, and he is now a member of the republican state committee for the thirty-fifth district.

The life of Mr. Buckley has always been one of intense activity and his labors have been crowned with satisfying results. He is now a trustee of the Connecticut Agricultural College. He belongs to the Hartford Club, City Club, Reciprocity Club the Cohasse Country Club of Southbridge, Massachusetts, and the Stafford Country Club of Stafford, Connecticut. In 1917, while serving as the executive secretary to Governor Holcomb, he was commissioned, in December, a major in the infantry and was assigned to duty as draft executive for Connecticut, receiving his discharge in May, 1919. Fraternally he is a Mason, loyally following the high teachings and purposes of the craft. His record should serve as a source of encouragement and inspiration to others, showing what can be accomplished when there is a will to

JOHN BUCKLEY

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dare and to do. His entire life has been an exemplification of fidelity to duty and that he has the confidence and trust of the public in unsual measure is shown by his three elections to the general assembly and by the frequent call that has come to him to fill public office.

JOSEPH BENEDICT GRIFFIN

Joseph Benedict Griffin, one of the progressive young lawyers of the Hartford bar, now serving as prosecutor in the police court, was born in the capital city August 17, 1896, his parents being John and Margaret (Finn) Griffin, who here make their home. He supplemented his public and high school course by study in Holy Cross College at Worcester, Massachusetts, but put aside his textbooks and all personal considerations to enlist for service in the World war. The United States had scarcely declared a state of war with Germany and her allies when on the 4th of May, 1917, Mr. Griffin enlisted in the United States navy, serving on a destroyer and in the submarine chaser fleet for a period of twenty-eight months overseas. He received his discharge September 10, 1919, as first-class quartermaster.

With his return to civil life Mr. Griffin entered the Fordham Law School of New York, from which he was graduated on the completion of a course in 1922, winning the LL. B. degree. The same year he was admitted to the bar and began practice in Hartford in association with the law firm of Schatz & Schatz, there remaining until 1923, when he began practicing independently and has so continued. He is yet a young man but already has attained a position at the bar that many an older member of the profession might well envy.

On the 27th of September, 1924, Mr. Griffin was married to Miss Julia Butler, a daughter of Michael and Catharine (Looney) Butler, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and they have one child, Marguerite, born July 12, 1925.

Mr. Griffin has membership with the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Foresters of America, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He is a republican, active in the work of the party, and he has the distinction of having been the youngest member of the senatorial body when in 1923 he was elected to represent the third senatorial district in the upper house of the general assembly, while endorsement of his record came to him in his return to the senate in 1925. In January, 1927, he was appointed chief clerk to the secretary of the state, which position he resigned in the following July to accept the appointment of prosecutor in the Hartford county police court, the appointment coming from Judge George H. Day and Nathan A. Schatz. He brings to the duties of his present position experience as well as wide general knowledge in the principles of law and is making good in the office. He received the strong endorsement of the judges by whom the appointment was made and the general public felt marked satis- faction over his attainment to this position of trust and responsibility.

DWIGHT GERARD HOLBROOK

Dwight Gerard Holbrook, manager for Connecticut of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, was born in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, on the 27th of July, 1867, and is a son of Dwight and Kalista (Thayer) Holbrook, both of whom were natives of Massachusetts and of English lineage. They came to Hartford county about 1864, establishing their home in Windsor Locks, where the father invented and manufactured school apparatus until 1877, when he removed with his family to New York. He died in 1889 and his widow survived until 1923.

Dwight G. Holbrook was educated in private schools of New York and after his course was completed he was employed in the general passenger department of the New York Central Railroad for about a year. In 1884 he entered the service of the Mutual Life as a clerk in the actuary's department of the home office. He was afterward made secretary to the vice president and in 1893 was sent to North and South Dakota to organize the business of the company in those states, with head-

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quarters in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In 1906 Mr. Holbrook was transferred to Hartford as manager and has since been located here. Seven of his associates in the work have become managers for the Mutual Life, three managers or general agents for other companies, and two agency superintendents in the home offices of other companies.

On the 14th of July, 1898, Mr. Holbrook was married to Miss Charlotte Long, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and they have two sons, Robert D. and Darwin L. The family residence is at No. 25 Belknap road in West Hartford.

Mr. Holbrook is a thirty-second degree Mason in the Scottish Rite, while in the York Rite he has become a Knight Templar, and he also has membership in Sphinx Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He was treasurer of the Connecticut Military Census and he is identified with the Sons of the American Revolution. He formerly served in various offices of the Connecticut Association of Life Underwriters. He also belongs to the Dauntless Club and the Hartford Golf Club.

MAJOR JOHN J. McMAHON

Among the leading architects of Hartford are numbered those who constitute the firm of Whiton & McMahon, successfully practicing their profession at 805 Main street and enjoying a patronage that indicates their high rating. Major McMahon is a native son of Hartford, born April 22, 1875, his parents being John and Mary (Hoar) McMahon, both of whom were natives of County Clare, Ireland, coming from the town of Ennistimon. They arrived in America about 1868 and settled in Hart- ford, where the father, who was employed by L. T. Frisbie Company, died June 29, 1899. The mother still makes her home in Hartford.

Major McMahon pursued his education in St. Patrick's parochial school, then spent two years with the firm of Gemmill, Burnham & Company, clothiers, and in 1893 took up the study of architecture in the office of Frederic R. Comstock, with whom he remained until 1901. He then spent three years in New York city in con- nection with Mr. Comstock, on the expiration of which period he became associate partner of J. J. Dwyer, an architect of Hartford, under the firm name of Dwyer & McMahon, this connection being maintained until January 1, 1911. In May of that year Major McMahon became a partner of Frank Warren Whiton, under the firm style of Whiton & McMahon, and through the intervening years he has prac- ticed in this connection, the business of the firm being now extensive and of an important character, as manifest in some of the finest buildings of Hartford, con- structed after designs made in their office. Throughout the passing years Major McMahon has been a student of his profession, constantly broadening his knowledge by reading and investigation until he ranks with the foremost architects of the capital city.

His military career had its beginnings in his enlistment as a member of Com- pany B, First Infantry Regiment of the Connecticut National Guard, on the 1st of April, 1895. The following year he was appointed corporal and became a sergeant in December, 1897. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he was made first sergeant and served with Company B, First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, from the 4th of May to the 31st of October, 1898, receiving his discharge on the 1st of April, 1899. He then reenlisted in Company B of the First Regiment, Connec- ticut National Guard, in November, 1901, was appointed corporal in 1902, became second lieutenant in March, 1903, first lieutenant in November, 1903, and was ad- vanced to the rank of captain in March, 1908, while in April, 1909, he became major and in December, 1916, was transferred to the National Guard Reserve. From the 21st of June, 1916, until the 31st of October of that year he served on the Mexican border as commander of the First Battalion, First Connecticut Infantry, National Guard, being stationed at Nogales, Arizona. In March, 1917, at the organization of the Connecticut State Guard, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the First Regi- ment of Infantry and on the 25th of October, 1918, was appointed major in the Quartermaster Corps, U. S. A., and stationed at the quartermaster depot at Phila- delphia, where he received his discharge January 25, 1919. In March, 1919, he was appointed and commissioned major of the Quartermaster Corps, Reserves, U. S. A., and still holds this commission. He is a past president of the First Connecticut

(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)

MAJOR JOHN J. McMAHON

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Volunteer Infantry Veterans Association of the Spanish-American war, and was one of the organizers and is a charter member of the Rau-Locke Post, American Legion. He is also a charter member of Charles L. Burdett Camp No. 4, United Spanish War Veterans, and is a past department adjutant, Department of Connecti- cut, United Spanish War Veterans; he likewise belongs to the Connecticut Com- mandery of the Military Order of Foreign Wars. Few men have taken so active a part and done such effective work to advance and uphold the military standards of the state as has Major McMahon, who is a splendid disciplinarian, thoroughly familiar with military procedure and tactics, and at all times commands the respect and has therefore secured the cooperation of those who have served under him.

On the 10th of October, 1900, Major McMahon was married to Miss Katherine E. Duffy, of Hartford, and they have become the parents of four children who are yet living: Katherine M., who is the wife of Joseph A. Hallisey, of Wethersfield, Connecticut; John J., Jr., a graduate of the Catholic University at Washington, D. C., of the class of 1926 and now employed in the office of the supervising archi- tect of the treasury department at the national capital; Paul Richard, a pupil of the Bulkeley, high school; and Eleanor D., a pupil in the Washington Street school.

In public affairs Major McMahon has taken a prominent and helpful part. In May, 1911, he was elected a member of the Hartford board of education, then the board of school visitors, to which he was reelected in April, 1914, serving thereon altogether for six years, while for two years he was secretary of the board. During the entire period of his two terms' service on this board he occupied the chairman- ship of the building committee and he was the author of the revised building rules which are in force today. In April, 1922, he was elected alderman from the seventh ward for a two years' term and in April, 1924, was reelected for another term of similar length. He rendered valuable and efficient service as a member of the ordnance committee, as chairman of the committee of nominations and as member of the auditing committee and also as a member of the board of finance during the years 1925 and 1926. Moreover, he was a member of the commission which had in charge the erection of the memorial to Major Thomas McManus in St. Augustine's Triangle, Maple avenue, in 1923. He was appointed a member of the Spanish War Memorial Commission in 1924 and served as its vice chairman. Major McMahon is a member of the Elks Club and also of the Capital City Bowling Club and is at all times appreciative of the social amenities of life. while his sterling worth, his genial manner and unfeigned cordiality have gained him the warm regard and loyal friend- ship of many. His standing in his profession, in military circles and as a man and citizen is altogether an enviable one.

HENRY J. CALNEN

Henry J. Calnen, attorney at law of Hartford, who has held various public offices in the line of his profession and has ever discharged his duties with marked prompt- ness and fidelity, was born September 24, 1883, in the city in which he still resides, his parents being Dennis P. and Nellie A. (Flynn) Calnen. His father was engaged in the drug business in Hartford for many years and died in 1922, having long survived his wife, who passed away in 1902.

During his youthful days Henry J. Calnen was a pupil in the public schools of Hartford, mastering the branches taught in the grades and in the high school, and then with the desire to enter upon a professional career he matriculated as a law student in Yale University and gained his LL. B. degree in 1909. The same year he was admitted to the bar and began practice independently in Hartford. His later success cannot be attributed to any outside aid or influence. He has worked his way upward by sheer diligence and ability, wisely utilizing his time in the prepara- tion of cases and presenting his cause before the courts with clearness and force that has brought him many favorable verdicts. He is justly accounted today one of the leading attorneys of the capital city-at home in all departments of practice, while his careful analysis enables him readily to determine the relative value of any point bearing upon his case. He is seldom, if ever, at fault in citing a principle or precedent and he enjoys not only the confidence of the general public but also

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of his fellow members of the Hartford County, Connecticut State and American Bar Associations.

On the 9th of October, 1912, Mr. Calnen was united in marriage to Miss Ida Mayo, of Hartford, and their children are: Marjorie, born November 1, 1916; Henry J., Jr., born November 6, 1920; and Robert W., July 16, 1922.

Fraternally Mr. Calnen is widely known through his connection with the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, the Foresters of America, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He likewise belongs to the Madison Country Club. Politically he is a democrat and he has been called upon to fill various offices as the result of his acknowledged legal ability and of his well known fidelity to the public welfare. He has served as city councilman and was vice president of the board in 1911-12. He became assistant prosecuting attorney of the Hartford police court in 1913 and filled that office until 1915. He was also made United States jury commissioner for the state of Connecticut and served from 1912 until 1915, while from 1915 until 1920 he was clerk of the court of common pleas for Hartford county. He is now a member of the high school committee, his term of service in that office continuing from 1925 until 1928. That he has again and again been called to public positions is a high testimonial to his personal worth, his professional ability and his loyalty in matters of citizenship.

LUCAS C. CLARK

Southington is greatly indebted to Lucas C. Clark for its development and prog- ress along industrial, financial, civic and moral lines. He was a citizen of great worth and a man whom to know was to esteem and honor. He never sought to figure prominently in any public connection, but his sterling traits of character were many and he ever stood for those things which make for honorable manhood and upright citizenship. Mr. Clark had attained the age of seventy-six years when he passed away on the 8th of February, 1922. He was born in Southington, September 7, 1845, and his entire life was here passed. His youthful days were uneventful beyond the fact that in the habits which he formed was laid the foundation of a character that never sought or required disguise in any relation of life. When he was still a young man he and his two brothers had a contract with H. D. Smith & Company and thus became identified with the industrial activity of their native town. Later they engaged in the manufacture of bolts in the old Plant factory at Plantsville and subsequently Mr. Clark engaged in business as a dealer in stocks and bonds, conducting one of the important investment houses of this section. He won a large clientele because of the integrity of his business methods and the wise counsel which he gave to investors. Year by year his business grew and developed until it had brought to him a measure of success that enabled him to retire some years prior to his demise and yet enabled him to enjoy all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. He was a stockholder in many of the manufacturing companies of Connecticut and his sound judgment proved a valuable factor in the control of a number of these. At the time of his death he was still a director in the Union Manu- facturing Company of New Britain.

Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Phebe Atkins Twichell, who was born November 29, 1848, a daughter of Dwight and Jane (Carter) Twichell. They became the parents of six children. Francis Allen married Ada Borst and has one daughter, Helen Baldwin. Emma Nelson is the wife of Willard J. Gould and has four children, Doris (Mrs. Leslie Stevens), Clark who married Beatrice French, Phebe and Willard J. Gould, Jr. James Twichell married Nellie Blatchley and has one son, Leverett Curtiss. Ellena Ellenor is the wife of George Morrison Hubbard and they have three children: John Clark, Morrison and Elizabeth. Helen Frisbie became the wife of Franklin Graham Brown and had three children-Margaret, Franklin G. and Velma-and for her second husband married Harold Wyman. Louise Carter became the wife of Raymond Porter Dickerman and has four chil- dren: Kathryn Louise, Dorothy, Frederick William and Theda Carter.

The family circle remained unbroken by the hand of death until Mr. Clark was called to his final rest on the 8th of February, 1922. He had always taken a keen and helpful interest in community affairs and did everything in his power to pro-

LUCAS C. CLARK

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mote public progress and improvement but would never accept public office. He was a charter member of the Plantsville Congregational church and he was a most gen- erous and charitable man, giving his aid freely to those in need of assistance. He enjoyed hunting and fishing and other outdoor sports and was a great lover of flowers, his home being surrounded by many most beautiful plants and flowering shrubs. Outside of his business, however, his chief interest centered in his family and he found joy in each succeeding generation as children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren were added to the household. He was indeed a devoted husband and father, and while his death was deeply deplored throughout the community and his loss is yet felt by many who were his close friends and associates, to none did it bring the sense of personal bereavement that it did to those of his own fireside, where his memory is enshrined in the hearts of wife and children.

MAJOR HOWARD ANDRUS GIDDINGS

Major Howard Andrus Giddings, insurance executive and author, vice president of the Travelers Insurance Company, was born in Hartford on October 2, 1868. Of colonial and Puritan ancestry, his great-grandfather, Jabez Wight Giddings, owned a square mile of land in the south part of what is now the city of Hartford. It was upon a portion of this farm that he was born.

Leaving school at an early age by reason of economic necessity, he entered the employ of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company of Hartford, as office boy in 1887, remaining with that company for fourteen years, when he became asso- ciated with the Travelers Insurance Company as a special agent under the late Major E. V. Preson, general manager of agencies, assigned to the task of developing the liability insurance business.

He was appointed assistant superintendent of agencies in 1903. Four years later he was made superintendent of agencies, casualty lines, a position he held for twenty years, when in November, 1927, he was elected a vice president. His sphere has always been the production of business and the development of the company's agency organization. In his time the Travelers has grown from a small company to the largest multiple line insurance organization in the world. Enthusiasm, energy, and devotion to the insurance business have carried him steadily forward until he ranks among the leading insurance executives in Hartford.

On April 7, 1892, Major Giddings married Florence Chase Starkweather of Hart- ford. They have the following children: Helen, Florence, Elizabeth, Bradford Chase, Marion, Constance, and Marston Todd. The family residence is at 201 Fern street.

Aside from his business, Major Giddings' interest is centered perhaps more in military affairs than in anything else. Enlisting in the National Guard at the age of eighteen, with an instinct for military service, he rose rapidly through all the grades to that of major, which rank he held as signal officer on the brigade staff at the age of twenty-four. He served in the staff as signal officer and later as inspector, nearly ten years, one of the most progressive and best known National Guard officers of his time. In 1896 he wrote a hand-book of military signaling which remained a standard manual on this subject for twenty-five years.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 23

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