USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III > Part 29
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of an education until the 1st of August, 1862, when as a youth of but sixteen years he enlisted in the Twentieth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers and went to the front. His loyalty and his valor equaled that of many a veteran of twice his years and he continued actively in the service until March 10, 1864, when he received his honorable discharge owing to physical unfitness for further service. When the news was received that General Lee had surrendered to General Grant and his forces, it was Captain Thacher who rang the bell in the Old State House in Hartford to notify the people of the city that the war had ended, and again on the 11th of November, 1918, when the armistice was signed whereby the hostilities of the World war ceased, it was again Captain Thacher who climbed the stairs in the same old historic building and rang the bell that proclaimed peace in the world.
His was ever an active and useful career. In 1870 he entered the employ of the Connecticut Fire Insurance Company as cashier and his association therewith continued for a period of forty-four years, when he resigned. At the conclusion of four decades of connection with the corporation, in 1910, he was given a silver tea service. Having resigned his position with the insurance company, he went to Cali- fornia, where he remained for some time, but his love for his home city drew him back to Hartford, where his remaining days were passed. Following his return he was made a member of the executive board of the Soldiers' Home and also one of its trustees, while subsequently he was chosen chairman of the board. On the 1st of March, 1919, he was appointed superintendent of the home, with the rank of colonel, but declined to accept the position. He ever had the keenest interest, however, in the welfare of the Civil War veterans and did everything in his power to further their interests, being long an honored and valued member of Robert O. Tyler Post, and assistant adjutant-general of the Department of Connecticut, G. A. R., for twenty years.
Captain Thacher was married twice. At the age of twenty-two years he mar- ried Alice M. Perry, of Hartford, who died in January, 1892, and of that marriage one son is living, Sheldon Perry, a resident of Detroit. In 1896 Captain Thacher married Martha B. Spencer, of St. Louis, a daughter of Captain Edward and Charlotte G. (Shute) Spencer, who survives him. Captain Thacher was a faithful follower of Masonic teachings and had membership in St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M .; Pythagoras Chapter, R. A. M .; Washington Commandery, K. T .; and Sphinx Temple of the Mystic Shrine. The sterling worth of his character was recognized not only by his brethren of the fraternity and his business associates but by all with whom he came in contact. Each year of his active career marked off a full-faithed attempt to know more and to grow more-to be of greater service to the corporation which he represented and to his fellowmen,-and the consensus of public opinion attests the sterling worth of his character. He passed away August 3, 1927.
DAVID A. WILSON
With civic affairs, as well as with the practice of law, David A. Wilson of Hart- ford is closely connected. He is, however, a native of Massachusetts, having been born at Becket on the 11th of September, 1881, his parents, Thomas and Bridget (O'Brien) Wilson, being farming people of that locality. The son enjoyed the advantages of a good public school education at Westfield, Massachusetts, where he mastered the branches of learning taught in the high school, and this served as an excellent foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of profes- sional knowledge, for it was his desire to become a member of the bar and with this end in view he entered the Yale Law School, which enrolled his name among its graduates of 1909 and conferred upon him the LL. B. degree, cum laude. He was president of his class and an editor of the Yale Law Journal. With his admission to the bar the same year Mr. Wilson opened an office and began practice in Hartford, remaining alone until 1912, when he entered into partnership with the Hon. Augus- tine Lonergan. That association was maintained until 1914, when Mr. Wilson was appointed postmaster of Hartford. He assumed the duties of the office in April, 1915, and by reappointment served continuously until the 1st of August, 1923, con- ducting the affairs of the post office in a most business like and systematic manner and thus winning the commendation of his fellow townsmen. He had previously
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(Photograph by Dunne's Studio)
DAVID A. WILSON
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been called to public office in his appointment as associate judge of the Hartford police court, being named for that position by Governor Simeon E. Baldwin and serving in that capacity from 1913 until 1915. This does not, however, cover the entire scope of his public service, for in 1911-12 he represented the sixth ward as alderman in the city council and during the latter year was president of the board, making a most competent presiding officer. His loyalty to the interests which he has represented has always been a distinctive feature of his office holding.
On the 23d of November, 1913, Mr. Wilson was married to Katharine Gill, of Southington, Connecticut, and their children are: Mary Alice, born October 23, 1914; and David A., Jr., born October 17, 1917. Mr. Wilson has membership with the Knights of Columbus, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Foresters of America. He has always voted with the democratic party. In the path of his pro- fession he has membership with the Hartford County, Connecticut State and Ameri- can Bar associations and thus keeps in touch with the work and with the ideals of professional service. His steady progress has caused him never to regret his deter- mination to become a member of the legal profession in Hartford.
THOMAS A. SHANNON
Mastering the lessons of life day by day until his postgraduate work in the school of experience has placed him with the men of wide business knowledge and ability, Thomas A. Shannon is now occupying the responsible position of vice presi- dent of the Hartford National Bank & Trust Company, active in controlling its affairs and establishing its policy, which at all times has been such as to command uniform confidence and patronage. He was born September 8, 1866, in the city which is still his home, his parents being John and Ellen (Carney) Shannon, who were natives of Ireland, whence they came to America in 1847, settling in Hartford. The father worked in Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company for some time but passed away in 1873. The mother is also deceased.
Thomas A. Shannon attended the schools of Hartford but was only seven years of age at the time of his father's death and when a lad of but thirteen years faced the necessity of providing for his own support. He entered the employ of the Charter Oak Life Insurance Company in 1879, but the organization met with misfortune and in 1886 went into the hands of receivers, Isaac W. Brooks and Edmund A. Stedman taking charge of the business. Mr. Shannon remained with them until the business was closed out in 1893, after which he continued in the employ of Mr. Stedman, who was the president and treasurer of the Fidelity Company, a business which was afterward conducted under the name of the Fidelity Trust Company and subsequently was merged with the United States Bank and Security Trust Com- pany under the style of the United States Security Trust Company. Again a merger was effected with the Hartford Aetna National Bank in 1927 and today the business of the consolidated institution is carried on under the name of the Hartford Na- tional Bank & Trust Company. Mr. Shannon has made steady progress through all the passing years. He was assistant secretary of the Fidelity Trust Company and after it was merged with the United States Bank and Security Trust Company he was made vice president and has continued to hold that office throughout all the suc- cessive changes. He has contributed in large measure to maintaining the substantial methods upon which the business of the bank has been conducted, recognizing ever that that institution is most worthy of confidence and support that most carefully safeguards the interests of its depositors. Aside from his connection with the Har- ford National Bank & Trust Company he is a trustee of the Mechanics Savings Bank.
On the 17th of November, 1896, Mr. Shannon was married to Miss Hannah Hayes, of Hartford, and they have two children, Madeline U. and Thomas A., Jr. With public activities and progressive movements in Hartford Mr. Shannon has been closely, helpfully and prominently associated for many years. He has served as clerk of the board of fire commissioners and as a clerk of the common council of Hartford and also on the board of water commissioners and Meadow Development Commission, while during the World war period he was a member of the selective service board, representing the third district. He is a trustee and treasurer of the
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Hartford Disabled Veteran's Camp Fund. He has also been treasurer of the special building committee for the Knights of Columbus and is treasurer of St. Francis Hospital Extension Fund and one of the hospital directors. He has also filled the office of treasurer of the Hartford South School District since 1905 and has been a director of the Hartford Community Chest. He is likewise a director of the Chamber of Commerce and all organized efforts for the benefit and upbuilding of the city along the lines of material, intellectual, social, civic and moral improvement receive his strong endorsement and earnest support. For thirty-two years he has been the valued and efficient secretary of the Hartford Lodge of Elks and is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Maccabees, the Foresters and also of the Lions Club. He is likewise identified with the American Chapter of the Institute of Banking and keeps in touch with the highest standards and purposes of the banking fraternity. There are few men whose life records indicate more clearly the possibilities for suc- cessful accomplishment than does that of Thomas A. Shannon. Dependent upon his own resources from the early age of thirteen years, he struggled on through diffi- culties and obstacles, conquering each and from the victory gaining strength and inspiration for later encounters. When determination, perseverance and ability are arrayed against drawbacks and trials the result is almost absolutely certain. The former are invincible-they know no defeat-and it has been through the possession of these qualities that Mr. Shannon has risen from humble surroundings to the field of large enterprises and continually broadening opportunities until he now ranks with the leading financiers and bankers of his native state.
FULLER F. BARNES
Alert, energetic and with clear vision as to future business conditions, Fuller F. Barnes is wisely directing the interests of the Wallace Barnes Company and, more- over, has voice in the wise management and capable direction of many other business interests. He has been a lifelong resident of Bristol, where he was born March 6, 1887, and in his veins are the mingled strains of English and Scotch blood received from his parents, Carlyle F. and Lena (Forbes) Barnes, although the ancestral lines of both were early established on American soil. Carlyle F. Barnes succeeded his father in the presidency of the Wallace Barnes Company and was thus closely associated with industrial activity in Bristol to the time of his death, in April, 1926.
It was into this same field of business that Fuller F. Barnes entered after the completion of his education, which was acquired by study in the Bristol schools, his high school course being supplemented by study in the Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, and at Yale University, which numbers him among its 1910 alumni and which conferred upon him the Bachelor of Arts degree. He became associated with the Wallace Barnes Company as its treasurer and in 1913 his duties and responsibilities were increased when he was also made general manager, acting in the dual capacity until the death of his father, when he was elected president. He has since been the executive head of the business and various other commercial and manufacturing enter- prises profit by his keen discrimination and sound judgment. He is now a director of the American Silver Company, the Bristol National Bank, the American Trust Com- pany of Bristol and Dunbar Brothers Company of Bristol. He is also widely known outside of his native city as a director of the American Piano Supply Company of New York; the William D. Gibson Company of Chicago, Illinois; Wallace Barnes Company, Ltd., of Hamilton, Ontario; the Root-Veeder Corporation; the Associated Spring Corporation of Delaware, of which he is also president; Barnes, Gibson, Ray- mond, Inc., of Detroit, Michigan, of which he is president; and still other important business concerns. He is the treasurer and a director of the Washburn Wire Com- pany of Phillipsdale, Rhode Island, and New York, and vice president of the American Electrical Works of Phillipsdale, Rhode Island.
On the 1st of October, 1913, Mr. Barnes was united in marriage to Miss Myrtle A. Ives, of Bristol, and their family now numbers four children: Edward F., Louise F., Carlyle F. and Aurelia Ives.
Mr. Barnes has always voted with the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. During the World war he was a member of the Spring Division of the War Industries Board of Washington and during the period of hos-
(Photograph by Burrill)
FULLER F. BARNES
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tilities his company did ninety-five per cent war work for the United States govern- ment and its allies. In recognition of his services Mr. Barnes received proper men- tion from the chief of ordnance in Washington. He is a consistent follower of Masonic teachings and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. He likewise belongs to Bristol Lodge, No. 1010, B. P. O. E. He has membership in the Society of Mechanical Engineers and in the Beta Theta Pi Club of New York city, while in organi- zations more strictly local in character he is identified with the Country Club of Farm- ington, the Shuttle Meadow Club of New Britain, the Bristol Club and the Hope Club and the Wannamoisett Club of Providence, Rhode Island. The extent and importance of his business interests have made him widely known, while his social connections have brought him warm friendships, kindly regard and the high respect of those with whom he is associated.
EDWARD J. MYERS
On the roster of Hartford's attorneys appears the name of Edward J. Myers, who was admitted to the bar in 1917 and through the intervening period of more than a decade has practiced continuously in Hartford, his course being marked by steady progress. He is a native son of Connecticut, his birth having occurred in Collinsville, January 16, 1893, his parents being Thomas F. and Anna (Holloway) Myers. His high school course completed in his native town, he then entered Trinity College and was graduated with the class of 1914, gaining the Bachelor of Arts degree. Attracted to the legal profession, he next entered the Yale Law School in New Haven and his LL. B. degree was won in 1917. The same year he won admission to the bars of both Massachusetts and Connecticut, and locating in Hartford, he immediately began to practice by entering the office of B. M. Holden, a prominent attorney of this city, there remaining until 1918. He was afterward associated with E. W. Broder, in whose office he continued until 1923, since which time he has practiced alone, and it needs no gift of prophecy to foretell that his will be a successful future by reason of what he has already accomplished and the qualities which he displays as both advocate and counselor. He is a young man of sound judgment and keen discrimina- tion and his deductions are logical, his reasoning sound and his presentation of a cause clear and forceful. He has come into close relations with his fellow members of the bar through his connection with the Hartford County, Connecticut State and American Bar associations.
Fraternally Mr. Myers is an Elk. During his college days he became identified with the I. K. A. and Delta Phi at Trinity and with the Phi Alpha Delta at Yale and he maintains pleasant connections with his classmates and other college friends through his membership in the Trinity Alumni Association and the Yale Alumni Association. His social nature finds expression in his membership in the University Club and the Wampanoag Country Club. He is now widely and favorably known in Hartford and is numbered among the young men to whom the city is looking for the promotion of stability and of progress in the work of the courts.
FRANCIS SPENCER GOODWIN
Francis Spencer Goodwin bears a name that has been closely associated with the history of Connecticut and of New England through many years and, like his fore- bears, he has taken prominent part in shaping public interests of Hartford, while his business and financial interests are extensive and important, his time being de- voted to the activities of the firm of J. J. & F. Goodwin, handling the family estate. Born in Hartford, October 19, 1878, he is a son of the Rev. Francis Goodwin, men- tioned at length on another page of this work. Public and private schools of Hart- ford accorded him his early educational advantages and he afterward studied in St. Paul's School at Concord, New Hampshire, while his college course was pursued in Yale University, where he won his Bachelor of Arts degree with the class of 1903. He at once took up the task of managing the business and invested interests repre-
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sented by the Goodwin estate and he is prominently known in financial circles as a director of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company and of the Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company. He is likewise director and secretary of The Collins Company and a director of the E. G. Whittlesey Company.
On the 1st of November, 1922, Mr. Goodwin was married to Miss Helen Whittle- sey, a daughter of Edgar G. and Alice G. (Smith) Whittlesey, of Hartford. His social prominence is indicated in his membership connection with the Hartford and Hartford Golf clubs, the Country Club of Farmington, the Wampanoag Country Club, the University Club of New York and the New York Yacht Club. Politically a republican, he has been called upon for important public service, representing his district in the state senate in the sessions of 1921 and 1922. He was water com- missioner of Hartford in 1913 and 1914 and acted as president of the board in the former year. He is now a member of the park commission of Hartford and was president thereof in 1921. He takes active interest in promoting the park and boule- vard system of Hartford, whereby the beauty and attractiveness of the city has been greatly enhanced. His civic spirit is furthermore evidenced in his service as a trus- tee of the Handicraft Schools of Hartford and of the Watkinson Farm School.
THOMAS HEWES
After preliminary training, Thomas Hewes, a Yale man, is successfully engaged in law practice as senior partner of the firm of Hewes, Phillips & Lindsey, specializ- ing in corporation and patent law. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, May 27, 1888. Since the early settlement of America the family of which he is a representa- tive has been found in the new world. The ancestral line is traced back to William Hewes, who was born in Somersetshire, England, in 1600, and who in turn was descended from Gwaithwoyde, Lord of Powis, who was a son of Gwyde, Prince of Cardigan. The family coat-of-arms is: Azure, a lion rampant or. The crest: A lion couchant or. In the course of years a branch of the family was established in England, and William Hewes, previously mentioned, removed from his Somersetshire home to London about 1649, owing to the disturbed conditions brought about by Cromwell. His son, William Hewes, came to America on one of the first four ships with William Penn in 1674, being a subscriber to the Delaware lands. He married Sarah Berger, and their son, Joseph Hewes, born in 1709, married Annie, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Giles) Worth, of Herefordshire, England. Aaron, brother of Joseph, was the father of Joseph Hewes, who signed the Declaration of Independence and was a member of the Continental Congress from North Carolina. Edward Hewes, son of Joseph and Annie (Worth) Hewes, was born in 1741 and married Mary Stubbs, born in 1751. He died in 1826, and his wife in 1830. They were parents of John Hewes, who was born in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1781, and about 1801 removed to Baltimore, where he became connected with the Federal Gazette, later the Baltimore American. In 1825 he founded and became the first president of the Firemen's Insur- ance Company of Baltimore and so served until his death. His wife, Rachel Thomas Ellicott, was a daughter of Elias Ellicott, of the distinguished Maryland family of that name. Their son, James Ellicott Hewes, was connected with the Ellicott enter- prises in Baltimore and afterward became a general merchant and later a wholesale dealer in butter and cheese in that city. He married Gulielma Krebs Warner, and their son, Meyer Lewin Hewes, was born in Baltimore, June 14, 1861. In 1877, when but sixteen years of age, he secured employment in the fire insurance office of Proud & Campbell of Baltimore and in 1882 became associated with R. Emory Warfield, then district agent of the Continental Fire Insurance Company in Baltimore. Mr. Hewes was afterward special agent for the Norwich Union Fire Insurance Company of England and was next secretary of the Howard Fire Insurance Company of Balti- more, which combined with the National Fire Insurance Company, becoming the United Fire Insurance Company, of which Mr. Hewes was secretary until it liquidated in 1901. He then came to Hartford as agency superintendent of the Scottish Union & National Insurance Company, and in the winter of 1909 founded the Standard Fire Insurance Company, of which he became president. He became a member of the Hartford, Hartford Golf and Farmington Country clubs. He was married Novem- ber 14, 1883, to Virginia Sumter Smith, daughter of John D. and Mattie (Blas) Smith.
(Photograph by John Haley)
THOMAS HEWES
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Thomas Hewes, the second of three sons, his brothers being James Ellicott and Philip Hewes, was graduated from the Hartford high school in 1906 and then enrolled as a student in Yale University, from which he received the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1910. He completed a course in the Yale Law School in 1912, receiving the LL. B. degree cum laude, and following his admission to the bar was in the law office of Robinson, Robinson & Cole until 1917. In May of that year, the country having entered the World war, he was appointed secretary of the Connecticut State Council of Defense, but resigned that position to enlist as a volunteer in the regular army October 30, 1917, when he became a member of the Three Hundred and First Artillery at Camp Devens, of which he was made corporal. Later he was transferred to the Ordnance Department to assist in organizing the civilian personnel of that depart- ment, an endeavor being made at that time to secure as officers all persons in the county with knowledge of civil service procedure. Mr. Hewes was then appointed second lieutenant and assigned to duty as head of the civilian personnel section of the Bridgeport district of the ordnance department. In September, 1918, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the field artillery, ranking from January of that year, and was honorably discharged at the School of Fire at Fort Sill, Okla- homa, December 14, 1918.
Mr. Hewes returned to Hartford and joined Richard Phillips in organizing the firm of Hewes & Phillips, which has since become Hewes, Phillips & Lindsey. He has concentrated his efforts and attention upon corporation law and law relating to labor disputes. He was a delegate to the democratic national convention of 1916 and has attended state conventions as a delegate. In 1915 he was elected to the state legislature and was made a member of the committee on corporations. For two years he served on the democratic state central committee and was a member of the Connecticut civil service commission from 1917 until it was abolished in 1921. In 1915, through legislative appointment, he became judge of the borough court of Farmington, and was reappointed in 1917, serving until he joined the army. In 1927 he was appointed by the governor to be a member of the commission to revise the general statutes of the state.
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