History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 35

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 35

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George C. Hubert spent his youthful days in the usual manner of the farm-bred boy, working in the fields during the summer months and attending the country schools in the winter seasons and taking care of his mother as his father had died in 1873. He felt that the farm offered to him little opportunity and in 1887, at the age of seventeen years, he secured an office position, becoming an accountant in Keokuk, Iowa, where he remained for thirteen years, or until 1901, with the exception of one year which was spent in St. Joseph, Missouri. On leaving Keokuk he came east with New York city as his destination and there engaged in Y. M. C. A. work, mentally agreeing with himself to devote five years thereto. One year of that time was spent in New York city and on the 1st of June, 1902, he went to Holyoke, Massachusetts, as general secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association, there remaining until 1909, when Hartford sought his services as general secretary and he has since re- mained in charge of the work here. He had not long been engaged in this field of labor before it had taken strong hold on his interest and sympathies, leaving him with no desire to enter other lines. His qualifications for such service were soon manifest and he has proven a most able guiding factor in the conduct of Y. M. C. A. activities. Under his supervision the membership at Hartford has grown from nine hundred and three until it is now more than three thousand. An addition to the original building has been erected at a cost of three hundred and fifteeen thousand dollars and the endowment fund has been increased from one hundred and five thousand dollars to more than six hundred thousand dollars. When he took charge the association had ten employes and today has seventy, while the annual cost of upkeep has increased from twenty-seven thousand to two hundred and fifty-five thousand dollars. Interest in the work in its various departments has continuously developed and the gymna- sium attendance has grown from twenty thousand to more than two hundred thou- sand annually. The types of service rendered are so many as to be almost bewilder- ing and include everything from Bible classes to wrestling clubs and summer camps. There are athletic leagues with as many as two hundred organized teams in a year. Mr. Hubert has done marvelous work in the institution, establishing and promoting its various departments and directing its activities along lines that have been an upbuilding force in the physical, mental and moral development of thousands.

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During the World war he went out with the first contingent of the Young Men's Christian Association men in May, 1917. He was sent to organize the work at Fort Snelling in the camp of the Reserve Officers Training Corps and there remained dur- ing the organization period, covering several months, after which he was sent back to Hartford and was made a state director for raising war funds in Connecticut, thus serving in 1918 and 1919. He was sent to Cuba on a special mission in April, 1918, and during the summer of that year was in New York city as assistant director of the Y. M. C. A. war work for the eastern seaboard. At the same time he had charge of all of the Hartford work. He assumed his added duties willingly and performed them most efficiently and his labors were far-reaching and resultant.

On the 7th of April, 1903, Mr. Hubert was united in marriage to Miss Helen Annett Mathias, of Keokuk, Iowa. They have two living children, Eleanor and Georgina.

In his fraternal relations Mr. Hubert is a Mason, loyally following the teachings of the craft. He also belongs to the Rotary Club and is in full sympathy with its purposes. He has membership in the Get Together Club and in the Twentieth Cen- tury Club and he is appreciative of all those social agencies which bring men closer in their activities for mutual benefit and uplift. He ranks today as one of the foremost Y. M. C. A. workers of the country, widely known because of his initiative and his ideals and his ability to embody these ideals in practical service for the organization which he represents.

WILLIAM L. BARRETT

In his youth William L. Barrett acquired habits of industry and thrift which have constituted the basis of his success in later life, and in manufacturing circles of Bris- tol his name has long figured conspicuously. A native of New York state, he was born January 28, 1859, in Pine Plains, Dutchess county, his parents being Lawrence and Elizabeth Barrett. He was reared on his father's farm and received a public school education. Mr. Barrett aided in the cultivation and improvement of the home- stead until he reached the age of twenty-one, when he went to New York city but returned to the farm at the end of a few months and for several years devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits.

In the fall of 1878 he came to Bristol and entered the service of S. G. Munice, the inventor of steel wheel glass cutters. While in his employ Mr. Barrett improved his opportunities and gradually mastered every detail of the industry. In 1893 he em- barked in the same line of activity, in which he has since continued, and is now at the head of a business developed by good management and concentrated effort. His factory is thoroughly equipped and its output is in constant demand. For thirty- four years the industry has been in continuous operation and throughout this period its owner has kept abreast of the constantly changing conditions of the commercial world, striding in step with the spirit of the times.

Mr. Barrett was married in 1892, to Miss Minnie P. Pardee, and they became the parents of five children, but Russell, the first born, died at the age of thirteen. The others are Richard, Robert, Minnie and Anne.

REINHART LANG GIDEON

There are interesting chapters in the life record of Reinhart Lang Gideon, who reversed the usual procedure by coming east instead of going west and has found in the older section of the country the same opportunities that are supposed to feature more largely in the newly developed regions where settlement is just beginning. He has made for himself a creditable position at the Hartford bar and is now filling the office of assistant state's attorney. His birthplace was in Farmington, Missouri, October 17, 1890, and he is a son of Judge Valentine and Elizabeth (Lang) Gideon, who have left Farmington and are now residents of Salt Lake City, Utah, where the father is filling the high office of chief justice of the state supreme court.

It was during the youthful days of Reinhart L. Gideon that the family home was

(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)

REINHART L. GIDEON

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established in Utah, so that he acquired his preliminary and high school education in Ogden, that state. Afterward he became a student in Amherst College, completing his classical course in 1912, when the Bachelor of Arts degree was conferred upon him. He then entered Harvard Law School and won his LL. B. degree in 1915. The same year he was admitted to the bar of Utah and at once began practice in Ogden as the associate of his father, who is a most distinguished and honored representative of the bar of that state. When Judge Gideon went upon the bench in 1917 the son entered into partnership with Roscoe Gwillian under the firm style of Gideon & Gwillian, an association that was maintained until 1919, when Mr. Gideon came to Hartford and practiced with Judge Joseph P. Tuttle until the death of that well known jurist in 1921. Mr. Gideon was appointed assistant state's attorney in 1922 and is now discharging the responsible duties of that position, in which he is making every effort to protect and safeguard the interests of the commonwealth. He has membership in the Hartford County, Connecticut State and American Bar Associations.

The military chapter in the life record of Mr. Gideon followed his enlistment in the National Guard of Utah in December, 1916, and when America became involved in the World war he entered the federal service with his command and was com- missioned a second lieutenant of field artillery on June 1, 1918. He was then sta- tioned at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, was later transferred to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and afterward to Camp Mcclellan, Alabama, receiving his discharge January 27, 1919. In April, 1922, he was appointed captain in the judge advocate general's Officers Reserve Corps.

On the 11th of August, 1920, Mr. Gideon was married to Miss Mary Edmonds, a daughter of John J. and Mary (Judd) Edmonds, of Springville, New York, and they are well known socially in Hartford, where they have an extensive circle of warm friends. In his political affiliation Mr. Gideon is a democrat, while fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine. He has also been received into the more important clubs and social organizations, having membership in the University Club, Country Club of Farmington, the Wethersfield Country Club and the Suffield Country Club, associations which indicate that his recreation is largely found in outdoor life and sports. He is also a member of the Lions Club, being in full sympathy with its purposes to maintain high standards of citizenship, and he is also a member of the American Legion. Those who know him attest to the many sterling traits of his character, and the history of the bar shows that although yet a comparatively young man he has already gained a most creditable position in the field of law practice.

JOHN BAIRD RIDDELL

John Baird Riddell, machine supervisor of the Aetna Life Insurance Company of Hartford, was born in this city June 11, 1895, while his parents, George B. and Elizabeth B. (Baird) Riddell, were natives of Scotland, whence they emigrated to the new world in the '60s, settling in Hartford, where the father engaged in business as a stationary engineer.

John B. Riddell attended the grammar schools of his native city to the age of sixteen years, when he left the parental roof and started out to earn his own way in the world by working at various odd jobs throughout the United States. He spent a portion of this time on a ranch and through this experience he learned the great les- son that there is no place like home. After experiences both disheartening and illumi- nating he returned to Hartford and entered the employ of the firm of Pratt & Whit- ney, but when international events were taking shape that seemed to indicate war with Mexico he joined Troop B of the cavalry forces under Captain Davis in 1916 and went to the southern border, being on duty at Nogales and at Arivaca, Arizona. This was but the initiatory step to further military service, for on the 9th of October, 1917, he left the shores of his native land for duty overseas and was transferred from Troop B to the One Hundred and First Machine Gun Battalion under Major Morgan Bulkeley in Captain Myers' company. He was on active duty at Chemin des Dames, France, on the Toul front and at Chateau Thierry, where he was gassed on the 22d of July, 1918. He was then in the hospital for one and one-half months and after convalescing he went to the front at St. Mihiel and also participated in the Meuse-

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Argonne campaign, there remaining until the armistice was signed. On the 6th of April, 1919, he sailed for the United States, landing in Boston on the 16th of the month and receiving his discharge on the 29th of April.

After arriving home Mr. Riddell was unable to work for several years on account of the injuries he had sustained. On the 21st of January, 1924, however, he entered the employ of the Aetna Life Insurance Company as a clerk and for two years he has occupied his present position-that of machine supervisor.

On the 11th of January, 1926, Mr. Riddell was united in marriage to Margaret Helen Greenland, of Hartford, and they are the parents of a daughter, Marjorie Joyce.

Fraternally Mr. Riddell is connected with the Knights of Pythias. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party, and in 1923 he was elected city constable, while in April, 1925, he was chosen alderman from the fifteenth ward and was reelected in 1926 and 1928. He has made a creditable record as a public official and in every relation of life has shown the same spirit of loyalty which prompted him to cross the water for military duty overseas in defense of principles in which he firmly believed.

JOSEPH B. SESSIONS

Joseph B. Sessions, a member of one of Bristol's foremost families, was born in Bristol on November 11, 1881. His parents were William Edwin and Emily (Brown) Sessions, the former mentioned prominently on another page of this publication.

Mr. Sessions left the local high school at the close of his sophomore year and spent one year as a student at the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut. His studies were completed at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Returning to Bris- tol he entered the employ of the Sessions Foundry Company, of which his father was president, starting as a pattern clerk.

Being of a mechanical turn of mind he made rapid progress in the details of the business and progressed through various departments, and in 1911 was elected treasurer of the company. Upon the death of his father on August 27, 1920, Mr. Sessions was elected president and has since managed the concern.

He also at this time succeeded his father as president of the Bristol Trust Com- pany, having been a director of this institution since its inception. He is a director of and was active in the formation of the Terryville Trust Company, recently or- ganized. He is also a director and treasurer of the Sessions Clock Company, a director of the Bristol Realty Company, and a member of the American Foundry- men's Association and the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Mr. Sessions was married on September 9, 1903, in Bristol, to Miss Mary Esther Stewart, daughter of Lemuel L. and Gierstein (Spencer) Stewart. Mr. and Mrs. Sessions have three children, Edwin S., Helen and Harold S.

In religious affiliation Mr. Sessions is a member and an official of the Prospect Methodist Episcopal church, in which his father was very deeply interested for many years. Mr. Sessions is of a retiring disposition, and interested in mechanical sub- jects, especially automobiles. Of late years he has become greatly interested in the development of radio. His principal outside diversions are fishing and hunting.

WILLIAM TAFT PITKIN

Inseparably interwoven with the history of Connecticut and New England is the name of Pitkin and in keeping with the history of his distinguished ancestors is the record of William Taft Pitkin, capitalist, sportsman, traveler, philanthropist and pro- gressive citizen. In this characterization are summed up his life activities, which have been of wide scope. Born in Hartford, April 20, 1867, he is a son of Albert P. and Jane Ann (Hastings) Pitkin. The family name had its origin in that early period which followed the invasion of William the Conqueror into England. Up to that time surnames were not generally in use and it became the custom to add "kin" to the

(Photograph by Blank & Sto ller)

JOSEPH B. SESSIONS

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sire name and thus through a development from Peter to Peters and Peterkin there came eventually into use, through abbreviation of Peterkin, the family name of Pitkin. A contemporary biographer gives the further history of the family in the following: "The Pitkin name has had the distinction of including thirty-nine college graduates, representing ten clergymen, two governors, one general, one major, one colonel, one judge, seven physicians, two honorables and other graduates of less distinction. This is a most unparalleled record, as a college education was in itself a distinction during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries."

The town of Pitkin Falls was so called in honor of the family but was afterward changed to Scotland and is now known as Burnside. In this locality the Pitkin family became prominently identified with manufacturing interests, owning here a fulling mill and a powder and iron mill, manufacturing screws and other castings. Members of the Pitkin family also built and operated woolen and cotton mills and their affairs were wisely and carefully managed, as indicated in the success which attended their undertakings.

It was in 1659 that William Pitkin left London, England, making the long and tedious voyage across the Atlantic to become a resident of East Hartford, where in course of time he had extensive land holdings on the east side of the river. His liberal education and pronounced ability soon brought him into prominence and he exerted a wide influence in public affairs of the town and filled various positions of prominence and honor. In 1662 he was prosecutor for the colony and in 1664 was appointed attorney-general by the crown, while from 1675 until 1690 he represented Hartford in the colonial assembly. In 1676 he was chosen treasurer of the colony and in the same year was appointed with Major Talcott to negotiate peace with the Narragansett and other Indian tribes. For several years, beginning in 1690, he was a member of the colonial council and he ranked with the principal planters of the town. He married Hannah Goodwin and their son, Roger Pitkin, who was born in 1662, also became a leader in the life of his community. He followed farming and as captain of militia engaged in defending the town against the Indians in 1704. He held membership in the First Church of Christ in Hartford and in 1683 he mar- ried Hannah Stanley.

Their son, Jonathan Pitkin, who was born March 1, 1697, was married in 1728 to Rebecca Smith and resided in Hartford. Their first child was Jonathan Pitkin (II), who was born in 1730 and in 1760 married Lucy Steele. The second child of . that marriage was Ezekiel Pitkin, who was born January 26, 1763, and was married December 30, 1793, to Hannah Chapman, his death occurring May 12, 1843, thus terminating a useful and prosperous career.

The representative of the family in the sixth generation in direct line of descent to William Taft Pitkin was Denison Pitkin, son of Ezekiel and Hannah (Chapman) Pitkin. He was born in East Hartford in 1807 and spent his entire life on the home- stead of the first William Pitkin. In 1828 he married Phebe Dunham Turner and died July 18, 1871. He was the grandfather of William Taft Pitkin.

His son, Albert P. Pitkin, was born and spent his early life on the old family homestead in East Hartford which had been purchased by the first William Pitkin from the Indians. In young manhood he learned the trade of furnace making with the Gilbert & Cowles Company and afterward was associated with the Culvers of New York. In 1849 he returned to Hartford and formed a partnership with D. L. and Charles Bidwell under the firm style of Bidwell, Pitkin & Company. A year later he became a partner of his brother in the manufacture of steam goods and was soon recognized as an authority upon that class of work. The firm of Pitkin Brothers & Company numbered N. T. and Albert P. Pitkin and Charles A. and George C. Root, with Albert P. Pitkin as the guiding genius. His was one of the pioneer industries of the kind in the country and he made it one of the foremost enterprises of Hartford. His activities also extended into other lines and he became one of the organizers of the Hartford Light & Power Company and a director of the Farmers & Mechanics Bank. He was keenly interested in the Hartford Board of Trade and he became a charter member of the Putname Phalanx. In Masonry he attained the thirty-second degree and ever exemplified in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. Although his growing and extensive business interests made heavy demand upon his time, he nevertheless found opportunity to compile the Pitkin Genealogy, a most com- plete and systematically arranged work, the authorship of which won him member- ship in the Harleian Society of Blackheath, Kent, England. He belonged also to the

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Historical Society of Connecticut and found great interest in delving into the records of the past.

He was married November 4, 1851, to Jane Ann Hastings, who died February 1, 1876, leaving three sons-Albert H., Howard S. and William T., but only the last named survives. In 1889 he married Julia Louise Goodwin, daughter of Horace Ely Goodwin, of Hartford. His death occurred February 21, 1892, and was the occasion of deep and widespread regret because of his sterling worth, which made his com- panionship valued by all with whom he came in contact.

Through the Hastings line William Taft Pitkin is also a representative of one of the oldest families of Hartford. His great-grandfather, Benjamin Hastings, and his grandfather, Captain Henry Hastings, both served as collector of taxes for the town and city of Hartford covering a period of thirty consecutive years, and in other ways the name is associated with the material development and civic progress of the city.

William Taft Pitkin acquired his education through attendance at the grammar and high schools of Hartford but has constantly broadened his knowledge through wide reading and extensive travel, gaining that generous culture which can never be acquired as readily in any other way as through trips to foreign lands, where one gains an understanding of different peoples, their modes of life and thought and a knowledge of their scientific and cultural attainments. After leaving school Mr. Pitkin was associated for a number of years with his father in the firm of Pitkin Brothers & Company, after which he retired from active business management to devote his attention to the control of invested and financial interests.

Mr. Pitkin was united in marriage to Miss Nellie W. Kennedy, a daughter of Colonel Kennedy, of Hartford. She is well known by reason of her cooperation in many charitable projects, and in social circles. Mr. Pitkin has always been a great lover of outdoor life and manly sports and both he and his wife have found great pleasure in equestrian pursuits. They own a stable of hunting horses, which they have taken to the south for several winters where they have a winter home in Aiken, South Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Pitkin have traveled extensively, having taken a trip around the world also visiting many European countries and the West Indies, Panama and Venezuela. In 1916 Mr. Pitkin remodeled their home at the corner of Asylum avenue and Garden street and in 1926 removed to West Hartford. In the club circles of Hartford Mr. Pitkin is a prominent figure, having membership in the Hartford Club, and also in the Church Club of Connecticut. Fraternally he is a Mason, having membership in Hartford Lodge, F. & A. M .; Washington Commandery, K. T .; Con- necticut Consistory, A. & A. S. R .; and Sphinx Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is a fellow of the American Geographical Society. He has long been prominent in church work and is a senior warden in the Church of the Good Shepherd, while of the Men's League of the church he has served as president. There are few men so widely or favorably known in Hartford as Mr. Pitkin, who has ever upheld an hon- ored family name, while his social qualities and liberal culture have made his com- panionship regarded as a valuable acquisition by his many friends.

WALTER GOODMAN COWLES

Understanding fully the power and effectiveness of concerted effort, Walter Good- man Cowles has been a vital force in bringing about systematized and harmonious activity in that great organization which has been built up under the name of the Travelers Insurance Company and of which he is now a vice president. Throughout his entire career he has always exhibited the capability of appraising correctly any opportunity and any work and has utilized every advantage to further the interests of the great corporation of which he is one of the chief executive officers.

Mr. Cowles was born in Farmington, Connecticut, April 4, 1857, and is a son of Samuel Wallace and Harriet Sophia (Goodman) Cowles, the former a native of Avon, Connecticut, and the latter of West Hartford. The paternal ancestral line is traced back to John Cowles, who was born in England about 1598 and became a resident of Massachusetts in 1635, of Hartford, Connecticut, some time prior to 1639 and of Farm- ington in 1640. He was prominent in the political and religious activities of the state. To him and his wife, Hannah Cowles, were born several children, the eldest being

WALTER G. COWLES

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Samuel, who was born in Hartford in 1639 and who died April 17, 1691, in Farm- ington, where he had spent much of his life. He was married February 14, 1660, to Abigail Stanley and their youngest son was Caleb Cowles, born at Farmington, June 20, 1682. He was prominent in the church and on the 8th of August, 1710, he mar- ried Abigail Woodford. He passed away November 15, 1725, and his wife in 1736. Their son, Daniel Cowles, born at Kensington, Connecticut, December 14, 1717, died in 1798, his last years being passed in Worthington. His wife, Martha Powell, died in 1810, at the age of ninety years. Their son, Daniel Cowles (II), was born in 1741 and died in Worthington in 1809. He served as a soldier of the Revolutionary war and on the 25th of April, 1765-6, he married Esther Rhodes. Their son, Lemuel Cowles, who was born in 1776 and died in 1815, married Esther Gridley, daughter of Seth Gridley, a Revolutionary war soldier.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 35

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