USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III > Part 34
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Their son, Harold G. Holcombe, pursued his education in the Hartford public high school and in Yale College, winning his Bachelor of Arts degree at his graduation in 1897. When his textbooks were put aside he secured a position as messenger with the Fidelity Trust Company of Hartford and upon leaving that company in 1908 lie was filling the position of assistant treasurer, having been advanced from time to time from one position to another of larger responsibility, gaining thereby broad and valu- able experience as well as greater remuneration. While associated with the Fidelity Trust Company he also became identified with the National Surety as agent, and in 1907 he formed a partnership for the conduct of an insurance business with James H. McManus under the firm style of McManus & Holcombe. This association was main- tained until 1919, when the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Holcombe established business on his own account. In 1923 he incorporated his interests under the name of Harold G. Holcombe, Inc., which is now general agent for the National Surety Com-
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pany and the London & Lancashire Indemnity Company of America and local agent for the London & Lancashire Insurance Company of London, the Travelers Insurance Company, and various other corporations. He has built up a business of large and gratifying proportions, having thoroughly acquainted himself with every phase of the kinds of insurance which he handles, so that he is able to wisely advise his clients in placing their insurance.
On the 19th of June, 1913, Mr. Holcombe was united in marriage to Miss Ethel Percy Monson, of New Haven, Connecticut. They are the parents of three children: Harold Goodwin, Jr., Seth Pomeroy and Shepherd Monson. The family resides at 79 Spring street, in the house which was purchased by Mr. Holcombe's grandfather in 1840, he and has family being of the fifth generation to occupy this residence.
Mr. Holcombe takes a keen and active interest in political affairs and keeps well informed on the vital questions and issues of the day. He is chairman of the sixth ward republican committee and has ever recognized the duties and obligations as well as the privileges of citizenship. He belongs to the Hartford Golf Club, the University Club, the Lions Club, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Yale Alumni Association, the Westchester Game and Fish Club and various others. He is also identified with the Chamber of Commerce and never withholds his support from any plan or measure that he deems of vital worth to the community.
IRA HOBART SPENCER
Ira Hobart Spencer, who passed away April 28, 1928, was a prominent manu- facturer and inventor, and president of the Spencer Turbine Company, of Hartford. He was born in Barkhamsted, Connecticut, June 19, 1873, and was descended from Jared Spencer, son of Sir Thomas Spencer of England, who was the first settler in Haddam, Connecticut, in 1688, and whose son was General Joseph Spencer. He had two brothers, the Rev. Uriel H. Spencer and Herbert D. Spencer.
Uriel Spencer, Ira H. Spencer's father, was in the lumber and building busi- ness, but owing to poor health sold out and took up farming about the time Ira Spencer was born. His mother, Harriet A. (Blackman) Spencer, was a school teacher in Greenwich, Connecticut. From her Ira Spencer received his early edu- cation and from both father and mother the best of moral and spiritual influence. Later he was tutored by Philip Dewitt Phair of Trinity College.
At twelve years of age he attended school in Winsted for two terms, walking four and one-half miles night and morning to do so. At the age of thirteen moved to Hartford, which city continued to be his home throughout the remainder of his life. He went to school for a short time in Hartford, but owing to the illness of his father soon went to work, first for Alonzo White in the stationery and wholesale paper business, where he remained about a year, after which he entered the employ of E. H. Betts, wholesale grocer.
To augment his income during this time, Mr. Spencer took care of St. James' Episcopal church, where it was a part of his duty to blow the organ every Sunday. In connection with his work at St. James' church, he built a hydraulic engine to automatically blow the organ and as the water supply pipe in the church was only the usual small house supply size, it was necessary to make a most efficient engine to secure sufficient power with such a small service pipe. This high efficiency was the foundation for the present Spencer Turbine Company's business.
After installing a few of these water engines in local churches, his employer, E. H. Betts, together with his friends, Messrs. Kibbe, Gates and Turner, organized the Spencer Motor Company to manufacture these engines under the Spencer patents of 1892. The Spencer Motor Company worked up an attractive business with the pipe organ manufacturers on the basis of quality and service. The Spencer Motor Company was sold to the L. E. Rhodes Company and later became the Organ Power Company. In 1904 Mr. Spencer brought out the electric organ blower known as the "Orgoblo," on which has been built up the largest business of its kind in the world.
In 1905 Mr. Spencer brought out the turbine vacuum cleaner or "central clean- ing system," which is now securing about eighty per cent of this class of business. In 1907 the Spencer Turbine Cleaner Company was organized and in 1918 the
IRA H. SPENCER
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Organ Power Company and the Spencer Turbine Cleaner Company were merged into the Spencer Turbine Company, who are the acknowledged leaders in the above specialties.
To meet the necessities of the war Mr. Spencer brought out the turbo centrifugal air compressor, on which a large business has since been built up for foundries, steel treating furnaces, pneumatic tube systems, etc. Almost every great American organ is blown by an "Orgoblo," as well as a large percentage of smaller ones and many abroad.
The central cleaning systems are installed in thousands of the largest and finest buildings in the United States, collecting all of the dust and dirt from the many acres of floor space in these immense buildings and conveving it through pipes to the central receiver in the basement. The turbo compressors are installed in many of the best equipped automobile factories and other manufacturing plants and in many of the great department stores, insurance buildings, etc.
In connection with these products above mentioned, Mr. Spencer took out about one hundred patents and built up the largest and best equipped manufacturing plant of its kind in the world, and each of the three specialties has won the highest award in every exposition entered.
At his death Arthur P. Day, a director of the company, paying a tribute to Mr. Spencer said: "Mr. Spencer was a remarkable man. With only a common school education, he made himself a leading expert in the engineering field in which he found his life work. He was an inventor of prominence and an able business man. All who came in contact with him will miss his gracious personal qualities."
On the 27th of September, 1900, Mr. Spencer was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Monks, daughter of William and Margaret McClaran Monks of Hartford, and to them was born one child, Dorothy, born March 21, 1905.
Mr. Spencer was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (life member); Hartford Engineers Club; West Hartford Country Club, Inc .; Sequin Golf Club; City Club; Automobile Club of Hartford; and Hartford Chamber of Commerce.
CAPTAIN IRVING EMERSON PARTRIDGE, JR.
Important business interests are entrusted to the care of Captain Irving Emerson Partridge, Jr., through his present connection with the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company of Hartford as its office manager. He has been a representative of this cor- poration continuously for nine years and his fidelity and efficiency have found recog- nition in steady promotion. Mr. Partridge is a native of the neighboring state of Mas- sachusetts, he having been born in Holliston, Middlesex county, October 11, 1897, his parents being Irving Emerson and Alice E. (Bigelow) Partridge, also natives of the Bay state. The Partridge family are descendants of the Rev. Ralph Partridge, who settled at Plymouth about 1640, and among both the paternal and maternal an- cestors of Captain Partridge are those who served with distinction in the Revolutionary war, including participants in the old North Bridge battle at Concord, where was fired the shot that was heard around the world. Both the Partridge and Bigelow families have been connected with mercantile interests at Holliston, Massachusetts, and Irving E. Partridge, Sr., is now a department manager with the Wallace Company, owners of a large department store at Schenectady, New York. The grandfather, George E. Part- ridge, is also yet living but has retired from active business and makes his home in Orlando, Florida.
Captain Partridge acquired his early education in the public schools of Winsted, Connecticut, and in 1909 the family removed to Hartford, so that he here continued his studies, being graduated from the Washington school with the class of 1911 and from the Hartford high school in 1915, at which time his name was on the honor roll. He next entered Trinity College, pursuing a scientific course but leaving just before his junior year. America had entered the World war and he enlisted in the Coast Artillery Corps at Fort Adams, Rhode Island, being afterward transferred to the Fifth Officers Training Camp at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, where he was graduated September 25, 1918, and was then commissioned second lieutenant. He was assigned to the coast defenses of Boston and stationed at Fort Andrews, Massachusetts. While
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there he was placed in command of the Thirteenth and Twenty-third Companies of Coast Artillery for the Boston Harbor defense and later was transferred and assigned to the command of Battery B, Twenty-eighth Heavy Artillery, C. A. C., at Fort Strong, Massachusetts. He was ready for overseas when the armistice was signed. The command was demobilized January 11, 1919, at which time he received his honor- able discharge.
Returning to Hartford, he again entered Trinity College and by intensive study was able to graduate with the June class of 1919, winning the Bachelor of Science degree and graduating with honors in biology, also winning the history prize. Prior to entering the government service at the time of the World war he was a captain in the Reserve Officers Training Corps.
On the 1st of July, 1919, Captain Partridge entered the employ of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company and is still connected with that concern. His in- terest in military affairs has never abated. Following his discharge from the army and the completion of his college training' he joined the State Guard in September, 1919, as a captain in command of Headquarters Company and as regimental adjutant to Colonel Charles W. Burpee, remaining in that connection until the First Regiment of the State Guard was mustered out in 1921. In September, 1923, he joined the Connecticut National Guard and was made first lieutenant of Company K, One Hun- dred and Sixty-ninth Infantry, while in January, 1925, he was promoted to the rank of captain and was made supply officer on the regimental staff under Colonel D. Gor- don Hunter. Another promotion came in April, 1926, making him regimental adjutant of the One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Infantry, which is his present official connection with Connecticut's military interests.
One of the recent, and more important events in the life record of Captain Part- ridge was celebrated September 24, 1927, when Miss Mary A. W. Brand became his wife, and they now reside in Wethersfield, Connecticut.
The Captain is a member of the Broadview Community church of Hartford and his membership relations are many. He belongs to the Phi Psi Chapter of the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity, also to the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity, to the Military Order of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. He has membership in the University Club of Hartford and in the National Sojourners, Hartford Chapter No. 56. He is secretary of the Employing Book Binders of America and chairman of the Pamphlet Binders Group of the same organization, also chairman of the publicity committee and a member of the cost committee and the research committee. He is also graduate treasurer of the Trinity College Athletic Association. Fraternally he is a Mason, having membership in St. John's Lodge, No. 4, A. F. & A. M .; Pythagoras Chapter, No. 17, R. A. M .; Wolcott Council, No. 1, R. & S. M .; Washington Commandery, No. 1, K. T .; Charter Oak Lodge of Perfection; Hartford Council of the Princes of Jerusalem; Cyrus Goodell Chapter of the Rose Croix; and Connecticut Consistory, S. P. R. S.
JOHN T. HENDERSON
John T. Henderson, a civil and consulting engineer of high professional attain- ments, practicing in Hartford continuously for a period of thirty years, was born near Elkton, Maryland, March 19, 1876, and is a son of William C. and Annabelle (Smith) Henderson, also born in Maryland. The father, who followed the occupation of farming in his native state for many years, is now living retired.
Having attended the public schools, John T. Henderson continued his education in the University of Delaware, where he pursued his studies along the line to which inclination and natural tendency directed him, so that he was graduated in 1896 as a Bachelor of Civil Engineering. Immediately afterward he entered upon the active practice of his profession, securing a situation with the Manhattan Railway Com- pany of New York, with which he continued until 1898. In the latter year he came to Hartford to accept the situation of draftsman with the Connecticut River Bridge and Highway District Commission, and that he made a creditable and acceptable record in that connection is shown by the fact that in 1906 he received the appoint- ment of deputy chief engineer of that commission, and in 1910 was appointed chief engineer, and has so continued to the present time. He was supervising engineer in connection with the high school plan and the building commission, acting in that
(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)
JOHN T. HENDERSON
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capacity at the time of the erection of the Weaver and Bulkeley schools. He also filled a similar position in connection with the construction of the Central Baptist church and was supervising engineer of the Orphans Home on Albany avenue. He has been connected in his professional capacity with many other important building programs all over the country and his labors have at all times been adequate to the demands of the situation. He holds membership with the American Society of Engineers and the Connecticut Society of Engineers and keeps in touch with modern progress in his chosen field of labor.
On the 27th of December, 1905, Mr. Henderson was married to Miss Maude Helen Keeney, of Rockville, Connecticut, and they reside at No. 295 Farmington avenue, in Hartford. Mr. Henderson finds rest and recreation on the links as a member of the Hartford Golf Club. He also belongs to the various Masonic bodies, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, is a past master of the Lodge of Perfection, a past sovereign prince of Hartford Council of the Princes of Jerusalem and a past potentate of Sphinx Temple of the Mystic Shrine of Hartford. He like- wise belongs to Hartford Lodge, No. 19, B. P. O. E. His great interest aside from his profession is in music, in which art he has developed his skill until he is an accompanist of recognized ability. In hunting, fishing and in the great out-of-doors he takes keen delight and on all such excursions is found a most companionable gentleman, his genial nature and admirable qualities making him a man whose friend- ship is valued by all with whom he comes in contact. He enjoys the confidence and good will of all who know him, and during his thirty years of residence in Hartford he has gained an enviable place professionally and socially.
WILLARD JOSEPH GOULD
Willard Joseph Gould, who for forty years has engaged in the furniture and un- dertaking business as head of The Gould Company at Southington, Connecticut, was born in Hartford, July 8, 1872, and is a son of Winfield Scott and Isabella Alice (Hotchkiss) Gould. The father was born in Meriden, Connecticut, November 27, 1847, and the mother in New Hartford, Connecticut, March 23, 1846. Little is known concerning the father's ancestors in the paternal line save that they came from Scotland and settled in western New York. The mother of Winfield S. Gould was Rachel Turner, who was descended from one of the old families of Massachusetts. The father of Mrs. Isabella A. Gould was descended from the Hotchkiss family which was established in New Haven, Connecticut, about 1673 and also from the Marsh and Webster families who settled in Hartford, Connecticut. Ten of the thirty-two names on the Settler's Monument of Hartford are names of ancestors of Willard J. Gould and include the names of Governor Webster, who was the fifth Colonial governor of Connecticut, and of Joseph Wadsworth of Charter Oak fame. The grandmother of Willard J. Gould in the maternal line came from England when thirteen years of age.
Reared in his native city, Willard J. Gould attended the public schools of Hart- ford and was graduated from the Hartford public high school as a member of the class of 1889. He remained in the capital city until seventeen years of age, when he removed to Southington and entered upon his business career in connection with his father by opening a furniture and undertaking establishment in 1889. He has re- mained in this business continuously to the present time and is familiar with every phase of the trade. The Gould Company has met with substantial success owing to their capable management and the spirit of undaunted enterprise which has ever been manifest in the conduct of the business.
On the 26th of June, 1895, Mr. Gould was married in Plantsville, Connecticut, to Miss Emma Nelson Clark, who was born in Plantsville, October 26, 1872, and traces her ancestry through the Clark, Twichell, Atkins, Carter and Frisbie families to Revolutionary and Colonial ancestors. She thereby became a charter member of Hannah Woodruff Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her father, Lucas Carter Clark, a son of Salmon C. and Theda (Carter) Clark, was born in Plantsville, September 7, 1845, and died February 8, 1922. Her mother, Phebe Atkins (Twichell) Clark, a daughter of Dwight and Jane (Carter) Twichell, was born in Plantsville, November 29, 1848, and is now residing there. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Gould are four in number. Doris Clark, the eldest, was graduated from Vassar
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College in 1918 and is the wife of Leslie Beach Stevens of Meriden, Connecticut, by whom she has two daughters. Clark Gould, who is associated with his father in busi- ness and resides in Milldale, Southington, married Beatrice French and has one son. Phebe Twichell Gould was graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1928. Willard Joseph, Jr., the youngest of the family, is still in school.
Mr. and Mrs. Gould are members of the First Congregational church of South- ington. He gives his political support to the republican party and is interested in everything that features in public progress and improvement. He has served at various times on the school board and on the fire board and has ever been active in the affairs of the Public Health Association. Well known in Masonic circles, his membership is in Friendship Lodge, No. 33, F. & A. M., of which he was worshipful master in 1906 and again in 1920. He is also a member of Triune Chapter, No. 40, R. A. M .; Temple Council, No. 32, R. & S. M .; St. Elmo Commandery, No. 9, K. T .; and Sphinx Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is a well known collector of postage stamps and he is a member of the Southington Club, the Southington Country Club, and the Exchange Club. During the long years of his residence in Southington the circle of his friends has constantly grown as the circle of his acquaintance has broadened and he is classed not only with the representative business men but with the popular and honored citizens of this place.
MILTON JAMES TURKINGTON
Milton James Turkington, superintendent in charge of administration of the Aetna Life Group Division of Hartford, was born in South Manchester, Connecticut, April 5, 1898, and is a son of Edward and Sarah (Atkinson) Turkington, who were natives of Ireland but crossed the Atlantic to Canada about 1884 and took up their abode in Manchester, Hartford county, this state, in 1887. The father was a land- scape gardener and excavating contractor, carrying on business along those lines until his death in 1925. His widow still survives.
Passing through consecutive grades in the public schools until graduated from the high school in 1916, Milton J. Turkington then attended the Connecticut Business College and in 1917 he became identified with the Aetna Life Insurance Company as a clerk in the group department, and has filled various positions, until he now is superintendent in charge of administration of the division, with offices in the Hart- ford National Bank building.
On the 23d of July, 1921, Mr. Turkington married Miss Clara Stella Janicki, of Manchester, and they have become the parents of four children: Milton, Jr., Robert Bruce, Alan Edward and Roy Stuart. The family resides in South Manchester and attends the Congregational church there. Mr. Turkington is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
ALEXANDER HARPER
Alexander Harper controls industrial interests of importance and is also a leader in civic affairs. A native of Connecticut, he was born January 15, 1878, in New Britain and his parents were Samuel B. and Mary (Smith) Harper, the former of whom served as secretary and assistant treasurer of the American Silver Company. In the acquirement of an education Alexander Harper attended the public schools of New Britain and was next a student in the Sheffield Scientific School, from which he was graduated with the class of 1898. For three years he was a clerk in the Farmers & Mechanics National Bank of Hartford and in 1901 came to Bristol. At that time the American Silver Company and the Bristol Brass Corporation were one concern, which he entered in the capacity of clerk, and diligently applied himself to the tasks assigned him. As his experience and value increased he was steadily promoted and since Feb- ruary, 1920, has been president of the American Silver Company and in 1924 was made president of the Bristol Brass Corporation. The best years of his life have been devoted to the service of these industries and his efforts have been manifestly resultant. Mr. Harper has the fine perspective, unerring judgment and administrative power of the
(Photograph by Burrill)
ALEXANDER HARPER
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man of large affairs and is a director of the Bristol National Bank, and the Manu- facturers Association of Hartford County. He is also a director and a vice president of the American Trust Company; a director of the National Marine Lamp Company and the Acme-Wire Corporation, the last named being a New Haven firm.
Mr. Harper was married at Bristol in October, 1904, to Miss Bertha Sisson, who passed away in 1924. His second marriage, in February, 1926, was with Miss Olive Costello, a daughter of Alfred M. Costello of Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
Mr. Harper is an influential member of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, of which he was president during the first two years of its existence, and is a member of the Nictau Fish & Game Club of New Brunswick, Canada, also belonging to the Farm- ington Country Club, the Chippanee Country Club, and the Shuttlemeadow Club. His fraternal connections are with the Masonic order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a republican and has been secretary of the Bristol board of water commissioners since 1913, at which time it became a municipal department. His interest in the city has been manifest by tangible efforts in its behalf, and his worth to the community is uniformly conceded. Through the force of his personality and the strength of his mental endowments Mr. Harper has risen from a lowly posi- tion to one of power and influence and deserves much credit for what he has accom- plished.
GEORGE C. HUBERT
George C. Hubert, secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association of Hart- ford, was born in Brookville, Indiana, November 2, 1870, and is a son of James and Eva (Schaeffer) Hubert, the former a native of London, England, while the mother was born in Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany. They came to America with their respective parents in childhood, were residents of Cincinnati for a time and afterward established their home in Brookville, Indiana, settling on a farm. The father served in the Civil war with the Engineers Corps and both he and his wife have now passed away.
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