History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 26

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 26

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Mr. Seymour has always voted with the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and in 1921 he was elected from the first senatorial district to the general assembly, serving in the senate during the session of 1921. In 1925-6 he was a member of the Republican Town Committee of West Hartford. He is now secretary of the Greater Hartford Commission, in which connection he is putting forth practical effort in the attainment of high ideals of the city's growth, benefit and improvement. He has membership in several of the patriotic organizations of the country and is a past state commander of the American Legion. He has also served as governor of the Connecticut Society of Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims and is a member of the Mayflower Society of Connecticut and of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He likewise has membership relations with strictly social organizations, includ- ing the Hartford Golf Club and the University Club, and during his college days he became a member of the Yale Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa and the Junior Fra- ternity of Beta Theta Pi. Mr. Seymour is always approachable and genial and his social qualities have gained him popularity among a large circle of acquaintances, while warm friendship is entertained for him by many with whom he has been brought in contact.

FREDERICK FORREST SMALL

Frederick Forrest Small is president of the firm of F. F. Small & Company, Incorporated, of Hartford, and manager for Prince & Whitely, handling investment securities in New York and members of the New York Stock Exchange, the Chicago Stock Exchange and the Cleveland Stock Exchange. He was born July 15, 1866, in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. His grandfather, Henry T. Small, was the founder of the family in New England, removing from Pennsylvania to Newton Lower Falls, Massachusetts, where he married Pamelia Brackett March 10, 1822. Their son, Henry Thomas Small, was born in Newton Lower Falls, January 19, 1823, and became a resident of South Coventry, Connecticut, and engaged in business as a general mer- chant as senior partner in the firm of Small & Loomis. He afterward established his home in Stafford Springs, opened a drug store, and served as postmaster there. From 1867 to 1870 he lived in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he owned and successfully conducted a drug store. He came to Hartford and became associated in business with F. C. Sturtevant, wholesale dealer in groceries, teas and coffees. His wife, who bore the maiden name af Lavina Thayer Bosworth, was born in Tolland, Connecticut, July 1, 1828, and died in December, 1891, while Henry Thomas Small passed away in Hartford in January, 1903.

Frederick Forrest Small, the only surviving member of their family, was a pupil in the Hartford schools. Following his graduation from high school with the class of 1885 he entered business circles as an employe of George W. Moore & Company, mortgage brokers. Later he represented that firm in the west for seven years. After severing his connection with Moore & Company, Mr. Small entered the employ of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company as assistant cashier and occupied that position for eight years, or until 1900, when he purchased from the estate of W. T. Price the insurance agency founded by Mr. Osborne. This company was the local agent for the National Fire Insurance Company of Hartford and the Hartford County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, both of which are still represented by F. F. Small & Company. In 1905 Mr. Small also entered into partnership with Judd & Company, investment brokers, who liquidated their business in 1906, at which time Mr. Small became the Hartford manager for Thomson & Mckinnon at 11 Wall street, New York city, representing that corporation until June, 1927, when he became the manager for Prince & Whitely. He is a director of the National Fire Insurance Com-

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pany, and vice president of the Hartford County Mutual Fire Insurance Company and of the Phoenix State Bank & Trust Company, while of the Dime Savings Bank he is a trustee.

On the 8th of October, 1891, Mr. Small was married to Miss Agnes Hyde Swan, a daughter of Samuel and Henrietta (Hyde) Swan, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and a granddaughter of Captain A. L. Hyde and of Rev. Benjamin Lincoln and Frances (Brinckerhoff) Swan, the former being for many years the pastor of the church at Litchfield, Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Small are parents of a daughter, Frances Brinckerhoff, now the wife of E. W. Goodell, of Hartford, and the mother of one child, Mary Blair, born August 12, 1923. Mrs. Small holds membership with the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mr. Small votes with the republican party and his military record covers service for several years with Company K, First Regi- ment of Connecticut National Guard. Both he and his wife are active workers in the Asylum Hill Congregational church and he has served on the board of directors of the Young Men's Christian Association. In club circles he is well known through his membership in the Hartford and Wampanoag Golf clubs, the Country Club of Farmington and the Union League Club of New York.

FRANKLIN A. MORLEY

Franklin A. Morley, well known in insurance circles as partner in the firm of Wakefield, Morley & Company, with offices at 209 Pearl street in Hartford, was born in this city July 31, 1872, a son of Asahel M. and Ruth (Cadwell) Morley, the father a native of New York state and the mother of West Hartford, Connecticut. The family came originally from Brittany. Mr. and Mrs. Asahel M. Morley early settled in Hartford, residing on Front street, which at that time was the leading resi- dential thoroughfare of the city. Representatives of the name were long connected with agricultural interests, but Asahel M. Morley lived retired from active business for many years prior to his death, having accumulated a substantial competency through his judicious dealings in real estate. He passed away in the year 1881, while his wife departed this life in 1878. They were the parents of two children, the younger being a daughter, Gertrude, now the widow of Henry C. Joy.

The son, Franklin A. Morley, was a lad of but nine summers when left an orphan. He was educated in the public schools of Hartford and went to work when a youth of fifteen years, entering the employ of John W. Gray & Company, propri- etors of the Hartford Rubber Works. He remained there for only a short time and in February, 1888, secured a position as office boy with the Connecticut Fire Insur- ance Company, continuing with that corporation until 1895, when he resigned a clerical position and joined Isaac Cross in organizing the firm of Cross & Morley. They opened an insurance office and conducted a general agency until January, 1902, when Mr. Morley purchased the interest of Mr. Cross and formed a partnership with Walter L. Wakefield under the style of Wakefield, Morley & Company. They built up the agency from a business of thirty-five thousand dollars a year until the annual business had reached one million, five hundred thousand dollars. They conduct a general insurance business with agencies at various points throughout Connecticut. This is today one of the old and well established insurance companies of Hartford, having enjoyed a continuous existence of more than a quarter of a century. The success of the undertaking is attributable in notable measure to Mr. Morley, who deserves great credit for what he has accomplished, for he has depended upon his own resources from the age of fifteen years and has worked his way steadily upward through industry, diligence and close application. In 1922 he organized the Under- writers Finance Company, of which he has since been the president. It started with a capital of twenty-five hundred dollars and something of the rapid and marvelous growth of the business is shown by the fact that the capital has been increased to nine hundred thousand dollars. The company was formed for the purpose of financing automobile sales and the well formulated plans and progressive spirit of Mr. Morley have been the underlying forces in the steady and gratifying growth of the business.

On the 15th of November, 1893, Mr. Morley was united in marriage to Miss Maie Clark, of Hartford, and they have one son, Russell Clark, who is now a student

(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)

FRANKLIN A. MORLEY

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in Princeton University. They reside at No. 11 South Highland street in West Hartford and their religious faith is indicated by their membership in Immanuel Congregational church. In his fraternal relations Mr. Morley is a Mason of high rank and belongs to Sphinx Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is widely known as a club man, having membership in the Hartford, Hartford Golf, Wampanoag, Sequin Golf and City clubs and the Shelter Harbor Club of Westerly, Rhode Island. His political endorsement is given to the republican party, which elected him a member of the city council, in which he served from 1894 until 1898, and his endorsement could always be counted upon to further progressive measures and practical projects for the city's upbuilding. His life record is a demonstration of the fact that the sources of our power lie within ourselves, and without the aid of influential friends or advantageous circumstances Mr. Morley has accomplished important and far- reaching results along the distinctive line chosen for his life work.

WILLIAM EUGENE FARNSWORTH

William Eugene Farnsworth, vice president of the Sisson Drug Company of Hartford, is thus connected with the oldest business of this character in the country and he has long since become well established in public opinion as a progressive and reliable merchant, his close application and business acumen contributing in large measure to the success of the establishment which he represents. Born in Hartford on the 17th of October, 1856, he is a son of Francis and Almena K. (Pratt) Farns- worth, and while spending his youthful days under the parental roof to the age of nine years attended the public schools. He was then left an orphan and faced the necessity of providing for his own support. Through struggle and adversity he has reached his present high position in commercial circles. His association with the drug business dates from 1872, when at the age of sixteen years he secured employ- ment in the drug store of George Curtiss under the old United States Hotel. He remained there for four years, during which period he thoroughly acquainted himself with the business in principle and detail. On the expiration of that period he became associated with what was then the house of Sisson, Butler & Company and he is now rounding out his fifty-first year with this concern, now carrying on business under the style of the Sisson Drug Company. Gradually he worked his way upward and in 1907 he became vice president and assistant treasurer, in which dual position he still continues. Records recently unearthed establish the fact that the business had its inception in 1786 in a small store established by Daniel Hopkins. For many years in the vaults of the company lay books forgotten that when brought to light gave proof of the fact that this is the oldest drug house of the country that has maintained an uninterrupted existence. In 1828 a building was erected by the owners, Lee & Butler, at No. 729 Main street, where the business has been continued from that date to the present. In 1850, Thomas Sisson was admitted to a partnership, and in 1865 the firm name of Sisson & Butler was assumed. In 1871, George Perry Chandler, who had been with the house as an employe for six years, was admitted to a partnership, and in 1881 the firm style of T. Sisson & Company was adopted. The year 1907 witnessed the incorporation of the business under the name of the Sisson Drug Company, and it was in that year that Mr. Farnsworth was called to official connection in his election as vice president and assistant treasurer. Through his diligence, enterprise and faithfulness, however, he has contributed to the con- tinuous growth and success of the house for more than a half century and is today one of the best known and most highly esteemed merchants of Hartford.

On the 24th of February, 1886, Mr. Farnsworth was united in marriage to Miss Mary Lizzie Bacon, a daughter of George Cutler and Clara (Knight) Bacon, of Windsor, Vermont. Their son, Francis Porter Farnsworth, born September 2, 1897, is now with the Sisson Drug Company as a salesman. He married Eleanor Wells, of East Windsor, Connecticut, and they have four children: Wells Eugene, born July 10, 1921; Mary Jane, July 12, 1923; Ellen Terry, April 30, 1925; and Frances Porter, September 19, 1926.

In his fraternal relations Mr. Farnsworth is a Mason, loyal to the teachings and purposes of the craft. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, which he has supported since attaining his majority, but the honors and emoluments of

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office have had no attraction for him, as he has preferred to concentrate his time and efforts upon his business affairs, and no merchant of Hartford enjoys a more unassail- able reputation or more fully merits the esteem and confidence of his fellowmen.

JOHN SPENCER CAMP

John Spencer Camp has long been an outstanding figure in musical circles and it was natural that he directed his efforts into a field of business having to do with musical instrument manufacture. He is now widely known as the treasurer of the Austin Organ Company of Hartford, but is also equally well known as musician and composer. He was born in Middletown, Connecticut, January 30, 1858, being the youngest child of John N. and Mary (Gleason) Camp. With the history of New England the family name has been associated for almost three centuries. In 1639 the name of Nicholas Camp appears in the records of Guilford. Previously he had resided in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and before that time in Watertown, Massachu- setts, where he had settled on coming to the new world from Nasing, England, where he was born about 1606, his parents being John and Mary Camp. He became a landowner of Milford, Connecticut, in 1646, and his name is on the list of free planters of that place dated November 20, 1639, and on the 2d of November, 1643, he joined the Milford church. His first wife, Sarah, died September 6, 1645, and was the first adult buried in Milford. His second wife was the widow of John Tilley, of Windsor. Nicholas Camp (II), born in 1630, was a prominent citizen in his day and generation. He was accepted an inhabitant of Derby in May, 1673, was married July 14, 1652, to Katherine Thompson, and died at Milford, June 10, 1706. Their third son, Joseph Camp, was born in Milford, December 15, 1657, was graduated from Harvard College in 1677, and married Hannah Rogers, who was born in 1664 and died January 9, 1740, while he passed away in Milford, May 20, 1750. The direct ancestor of John Spencer Camp in the fourth generation in America was Nathan Camp, who was born in 1690 and became an early settler of Durham, Con- necticut, representing that town in the general assembly for fifteen years. He was married January 1, 1717, to Rhoda Parsons, who was born in Northampton, Massa- chusetts, in 1694, and both died in 1767, the former on the 27th of February and the latter on the 1st of July. Elah Camp, their third son, was born May 20 and baptized May 29, 1729, while he passed away in Durham, October 17, 1787. He was mar- ried May 14, 1760, to Phebe Baldwin, and they were parents of Elias Camp, who was born in Durham, August 28, 1765, continuing his residence there until his death. By his marriage October 17, 1788, Elizabeth Spencer, a representative of one of the oldest families of Connecticut, became his wife, her ancestry being traced back to Ensign Jared Spencer, who was one of four brothers who came from England in the middle of the seventeenth century, and it was through this line that John Spencer Camp received his middle name. John Spencer Camp, the youngest child of Elias and Elizabeth (Spencer) Camp, was born July 17, 1797, and was married October 15, 1822, to Parnel Camp, who was born October 6, 1799, and died in May, 1888. The eldest child of John Spencer and Parnel (Camp) Camp, named John N. Camp, was born May 17, 1824, and his life record covered the intervening period to May 21, 1893. On the 14th of March, 1853, he married Mary Gleason, who died February 7, 1858, and on October 12, 1859, he married Sarah Gould Williams.

Thus the ancestral line comes down to John Spencer Camp, whose youthful days were spent in Middletown, Connecticut, and whose preparatory course of study was pursued at Durham Academy, after which he entered Wesleyan University and won his A. B. degree at his graduation in 1878, while two years later the Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him. He became a law student in the office of Hon. Samuel L. Warner, of Middletown, and likewise took up the study of Latin as an adjunct to his preparation for the bar, but nature had endowed him with musical talent of high order and because of his love for music he decided to abandon his thought of becoming an attorney. When a youth of fourteen he began studying music and in the course of years had instruction from some of the noted musicians of the country, including Harry Rowe Shelley, Samuel P. Warren, Dudley Buck and Antonin Dvorak, who was for two years director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York. His art first became a source of remuneration to him when

(Photograph by Katherine Lee Enders)

JOHN SPENCER CAMP

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he secured the position of organist in the Davenport church of New Haven at the age of twenty years. At the end of a year he resigned and it was not until another year had passed that he again appeared in public as an organist, his second position being with the Park Congregational church of Hartford, with which he was thus associated until the spring of 1906. At that date he became organist for the First Church of Christ of Hartford and so continued until 1918. Not only as musician but as composer is his name known throughout the country. For ten years he was director of the Hartford Philharmonic Society and the development of that organiza- tion was attributable in large measure to his efforts. His compositions include the Forty-sixth Psalm for chorus and orchestra; The Song of the Wind, Ballad, for chorus and orchestra; The Prince of Peace, a Christmas Cantata, solos, chorus and organ; Morning Star, Christmas Cantata, solos, chorus, and organ; The Prince of Life, Easter Cantata, solos, chorus, and organ, to which might be added a long list of mis- cellaneous anthems and songs. He has written a Spring Song, Chant D'Amour, Zeit- geist overture and Pilgrim Suite for orchestra and a string quartet in G major. He has also lectured on musical subjects in Hartford and vicinity.

Mr. Camp is likewise widely known because of his important connections with musical instrument manufacture. In 1898 he became vice president and treasurer of the Pratt & Cady Company and so continued until 1911, when ill health compelled him to cease his activities in that field. Some months later, when he had recovered, he became treasurer of the Austin Organ Company and fills the position at the present time. He is likewise a vice president of the Society for Savings and he is a trustee of the Howard Bushnell Memorial Association, the Wesleyan University of Middle- town, Connecticut, and the Young Women's Christian Association of Hartford. During his college days he became a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and of the Owl and Wand, a society drawing its membership from the senior class. He belongs to the Hartford Club, the University and Twentieth Century clubs, the Con- gregational Club of Connecticut, the Twilight Club and the Hartford Golf Club. He is also a founder of the National Guild of Organists and for several years served on its council. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and his religious faith is that of the Congregational church. Mr. Camp was married April 8, 1885, to Susie Virginia Healy of Hartford, who died February 7, 1923, in Hartford, leaving no issue. His life work has added to the beauty and the culture of the world and he is today a distinguished representative of that art which, though the most intangible of all the arts, has ever had the most far-reaching influence and power of uplift.

MORRIS OLDER

Morris Older is one of those who, coming to this country from Europe, has made America, and especially Hartford, their own, with heart and soul, and have come to be strong components of the body politic. He was born in Kovna, Poland, August 14, 1879, and was but three years old when his family located in Hartford. Attending the old First District or "Brown" School, he came under the attention of Miss Alida B. Clark, one of the teachers whose memory all of the boys and girls of that district will always call blessed. He went on to the Hartford Public High School, and, while still a boy, found employment on The Hartford Courant. There he won the life- long friendship of Charles Hopkins Clark, the editor, and also of the men in the various departments. Improving his opportunities, he quickly prepared himself for entrance to Yale Law School and won his degree there in, 1904. He was assistant registrar in the school.

Immediately upon becoming a member of the Hartford county bar he took an office in what might be called "Lawyers' Row" of that time, which included the old "Marble Block," first in clerical capacity and then by himself. From this developed a large practice and the eventual establishment of the present law office of Older, Older & Older, in which his nephew, George J. Older, is associated with him.

His personal knowledge and judgment early caused his selection for membership on the Board of Charity Commissioners. He was one of the incorporators of the present Hartford Dispensary and he is a director of the Hartford Community Chest. Likewise he is a director of the United Jewish Charities, and is president of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum. He is interested also in the problems of health in general,

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is a director of the Hartford Tuberculosis and Public Health Society and of Mount Sinai Hospital. For the city government he was further called upon to act as police commissioner for six years; he was president of the board for a considerable part of this time.

Jewish by ancestral faith, he has been a promoter and supporter of the several Hebrew institutions that have been built up in this city. He is president of Hartford Rebekah Lodge and a member of several other social and benevolent societies.

He married Miss Ethel J. Stodel of New Haven. Their children are: Julia, a writer for the Courant; Betty, a student at Syracuse University; Marynn, at West Hartford High School; and Andrew, at West Hartford Junior High School.

ABRAHAM S. ALBRECHT

The Hartford bar finds a worthy representative in Abraham S. Albrecht, who, though one of its younger representatives, has steadily progressed, holding to the high ethical standards of the profession and attaining substantial success as the merited reward of his ability and his loyalty to the interests of his clients. He has his office at 983 Main street in Hartford, having come to this city from New York, where he was born September 29, 1893, his parents being Schaje and Eva (Schachter) Albrecht, the former a native of Germany, while the latter was born in Austria. They were married in Europe and came to America in 1892, establishing their home in New York city, where they resided for some time and then removed to Atlanta, Georgia. Following the World war they returned to New York, where Mr. Albrecht is now living retired from business, although for many years he was actively connected with the jewelry trade.

At the usual age Abraham S. Albrecht became a public school pupil in New York and passed through consecutive grades until he had completed his education by a high school course in Atlanta, Georgia. He then turned to the study of law, having for some time cherished the ambition of becoming a member of the bar, and in 1915 was graduated from the Atlanta Law School. The same year he was admitted to practice and entered at once upon the active work of the profession, in which he was engaged until the United States entered the World war in 1917. Mr. Albrecht then became identified with the intelligence branch of the United States army and he was also field secretary of the Jewish Welfare Board of the United States army and navy.

Mr. Albrecht has been identified with the Hartford bar since 1920 and his prac- tice here has been one of steady growth and of increasing importance. Many liti- gated interests have been entrusted to his care and he is not only a capable trial lawyer but also a safe counselor. He belongs to the Georgia Bar Association, the New York County Lawyers Association, the Connecticut Bar Association and the American Bar Association and thus keeps in touch with the trend of modern pro- fessional thought and standards.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 26

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