USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III > Part 45
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128
Mr. Hagarty was particularly interested in an gave much study to plans for the relief of traffic congestion through the widening and extension of streets in the center of the city. Upon recommendations contained in his messages to the court of com- mon council, nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars was appropriated by the elec- torate at the spring election in 1917 for the purposes of widening Church street, of extending Wells street into Hudson street, including the building of a stone bridge across Park river at Elm street, the extension of Prospect street into South Prospect street by means of a bridge across Park river from Arch street to Sheldon street, and the extension of Capitol avenue by means of a viaduct passing under the tracks of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company. Each of these improve- ments has resulted in great benefit to the city. Mr. Hagarty was a pioneer in recom- mending the reclamation of the North and South Meadows by means of a dyke to be built along the river bank, and made this project the subject of special messages to the court of common council. That was in the days when aviation was in its infancy and Hartford's aviation field not thought of. Neither had the power plant of the Hartford Electric Light Company been established in the South Meadows, nor the plant of the Standard Oil Company. The meadow at that time was entirely virgin territory untouched by the hand of industry or commerce and valued at less than fifty dollars per acre on the tax list of the city. Mr. Hagarty's recommendation was not at the time followed although he continued to advocate it for several years after retiring from the office of mayor. The project was destined to lie untouched for more than another decade, until the great flood of 1927 and the increased require- ments of the aviation field again brought it prominently into public notice and dis-
486
HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT
cussion. At the spring election of 1928 the foresight of Mr. Hagarty was justified when the voters approved an appropriation of one million dollars to carry out the reclamation work.
While in office Mr. Hagarty continued in the practice of law and long held a prominent position among the able and learned members of the Hartford bar. He retired from general professional activity, however, in 1922, when he became vice president and general counsel of the City Bank & Trust Company, in which position he has continued to the present time. He is also a director of the City Bank & Trust Company, of the Society for Savings, of the City Company of Hartford, Inc., and of other business organizations.
In 1907 Mr. Hagarty was married to Miss Isabel Cody, of Hartford, and they have one child, Christine. Mr. Hagarty is well known to and popular among his fellow members of the Hartford Club, the City Club and the Republican Club. His fellow townsmen have ever been loath to relinquish his public service, and he is now serving as a director of the Hartford Public Library and of St. Francis Hospital. He became the first president of the Hartford Meadows Development Commission and wrote the charter under which it was formed. In 1919 the legislature passed an act authorizing the establishment of that commission, and in 1920 Mr. Hagarty was called to the presidency thereof. Men of every party, of every creed and of every race re- spect and honor him. and he is most esteemed by those whose judgment of men is founded upon true worth of character.
FRANK H. WHIPPLE
Frank H. Whipple occupies a position of distinction in business circles in Hart- ford not only by reason of his capability and success but also owing to his long association with one of the old established commercial enterprises of the city, for he is president of the firm of Olds & Whipple, manufacturers of fertilizers and also dealers in seeds and tools. For a half century the business has been carried on at Nos. 164 to 168 State street and has shared in the continuous development and growth of Hartford. Mr. Whipple was born in the town of New Braintree, Massa- chusetts, April 23, 1856, and is a son of John C. and Elizabeth (Allen) Whipple, the former a native of eastern Connecticut, whence he removed to New Braintree with his parents when a little lad of but four summers. He became a farmer and met with a substantial measure of success in the conduct of agricultural interests. He belonged to one of the old and honored pioneer families of Massachusetts.
His son, Frank H. Whipple, acquired his education in the Worcester Academy and in the Eastman Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, from which he was graduated. Early in his business career he was associated with the firm of Homer, Foote & Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, dealers in hardware and steel. He represented that house for three years and afterward spent a year as bookkeeper in the employ of J. S. Carr & Company, wholesale cracker manufac- turers of Springfield. In 1877 he came to Hartford and on the 15th of November of that year entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, Alfred A. Olds, in the establishment and conduct of the present business. Mr. Olds had formerly been associated with the firm of Allen & Willard, engaged in the sale of stoves, furnaces, fertilizers and agricultural implements. Later Mr. Willard purchased the interest of his partner, Mr. Allen, and when the firm of Olds & Whipple was organized they purchased the business from Mr. Willard. From the outset success attended the new undertaking. Their diligence and enterprise led to the rapid expansion of their business and after three years they purchased the business of Charles Allen & Son, who were handling similar lines in the store east of them. About the same time they purchased the entire property holdings occupied by both stores and also acquired property on Ferry street, where they erected a storage warehouse. For a half century the business has been conducted at Nos. 164 to 168 State street and Mr. Whipple is now the only business man on the street that was connected with com- mercial activities there at the time he became a partner in the firm of Olds & Whipple. In 1896 they erected their present building-a five-story structure which the company has since occupied. Some time later property was acquired on Com- merce street, on which a fertilizer manufacturing plant was erected, the business
----
(Photograph by Dunne's Studio)
FRANK H. WHIPPLE
i
i
489
HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT
being carried on for many years, with additional buildings being added from time to time. At length, however, this space proved inadequate and a large tract of land was acquired in East Hartford, where was erected a fertilizer plant with a capacity of twenty-five thousand tons during the planting season, covering about five months. In 1900 the firm took over large tobacco interests, including both the growing and packing of tobacco, and this branch of the business has since attained mammoth pro- portions. In 1920 the business had reached such a size that it was reorganized under the name of Olds & Whipple, Inc., but there was no change in ownership, the senior partner remaining an active factor in the business until his death, on the 17th of September, 1925. Associated with Frank H. Whipple, who is president of the company, are Merle W. Whipple (vice president), Frank A. Olds (treasurer) and Ernest J. Brewer (secretary). All through the passing years the company has kept in touch with the trend of modern business progress and improvement and in fact has stood in the vanguard of those who have achieved. In addition to the extensive business now handled by Olds & Whipple, Inc., in the manufacture of fertilizers and in the sale of seeds and tools, Mr. Whipple is also treasurer and a director of Steane, Hartman & Company, a director of the City Bank & Trust Company, a director and treasurer of the Otee Tobacco Corporation and president and director of the Windsor Tobacco Growers Corporation. His business interests have thus reached extensive proportions and the results achieved have been most satisfactory. He is a man of broad vision whose plans are always carefully formulated and promptly executed and his efforts most intelligently directed.
On the 1st of November, 1888, Mr. Whipple was united in marriage to Miss Clara M. Williams, of Springfield, Massachusetts. They are the parents of two sons and a daughter, namely: Frank A., who resides at Suffield, Connecticut, and who is in charge of the advertising agency of Charles W. Hoyt Company, Inc., of Spring- field, Massachusetts; Merle W., who makes his home at Windsor and who is vice president of the firm of Olds & Whipple, Inc .; and Marion E., the wife of Kenneth T. Mackay, of Hartford. Mr. Whipple maintains his family residence at Hartford and a summer home at Black Point, Niantic, Connecticut. He and his wife are members of the Asylum Hill Congregational church, in which he has been a deacon for six years, taking active and helpful part in the church work. He belongs to the Hartford Club and to the City Club and few men are so widely and favorably known in Hartford as Frank H. Whipple, whose memory forms a connecting link with the somewhat primitive past and compasses the era of present-day business conditions that have led to the development of greater Hartford. Unqualified respect is enter- tained for him by all who have been associated with him or know aught of his career, and he is accounted one of the valued residents of the city.
HENRY B. ROLLINS, M. D.
Broad experience in the field of his profession, combined with a sense of con- scientious obligation to his fellowmen, has brought Dr. Henry B. Rollins to the front as one of the younger members of the medical fraternity in Hartford county. A son of Edward Henry and Anzonetta Rollins, he was born in Palmer, Massachusetts, on the 5th of May, 1896, and with the removal of the family to Connecticut he pursued his preliminary education in the Hartford public and high schools. His collegiate training was obtained in Dartmouth University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1920, and he then began preparation for medical practice as a student at Yale and is numbered among its alumni of 1922. Following his graduation he spent one year as interne in the New Haven General Hospital. For three years thereafter he was with the Yale Foundation at Changsha, China, where he served as professor of pathology. His experiences there were interesting, broad and enlightening. After his return from China he came to Southington on the 23d of March, 1927, and already had become well established as a capable physician with a growing practice. On March 1, 1928, he was made assistant medical director of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company.
On the 23d of June, 1923, in Hartford, Dr. Rollins was united in marriage to Miss Helen Bristol, and they have two children, Edward Henry and Janice, both of whom were born in China. Dr. Rollins is a member of the various Masonic bodies
490
HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT
and loyally adheres to the teachings and purposes of the craft. He has member- ship in the Southington Club, and his social qualities, as well as his professional ability, have placed him high in public regard.
HAROLD TALMADGE MESSENGER
Harold Talmadge Messenger, conducting an insurance business at 125 Trumbull street in Hartford, was born in Winsted, Connecticut, June 21, 1888, and is a son of Merritt and Alice (Talmadge) Messenger, also natives of this state. After com- pleting a course in the Gilbert school in Winsted he entered Yale University, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree as a member of the class of 1909. He spent six months in New York city with the banking house of J. W. Seligman & Company and then came to Hartford, where in March, 1910, he entered the employ of the Travelers Insurance Company, with which he remained for thir- teen years, acting as cashier of its offices in Minneapolis and Detroit, after which he returned to the home office, where he was in the personnel department for four years.
In December, 1917, Mr. Messenger enlisted for service in the World war and was assigned to the quartermaster's department at Camp Johnston, Florida, where he was commissioned a second lieutenant in July, 1918. He was then sent to Washing- ton, D. C., remaining there until January, 1919, receiving a commission as first lieu- tenant. With his return to Hartford he became special agent in the office here and so continued until April, 1920, when he was sent to Detroit as assistant manager at that point. In September, 1921, he returned to Hartford to become assistant mana- ger of the branch office in this city and in January, 1923, he joined the firm of Chase, Morrison & Company in charge of the insurance department. The firm discontinued business on the 1st of February, 1926, and Mr. Messenger took over the insurance department, since which time he has conducted independently a general insurance agency.
On the 12th of October, 1919, Mr. Messenger was married to Miss Nell Gwyn, of Elkin, North Carolina, and they have two children, Richard Gwyn and Betty. They reside at No. 177 Warrenton avenue in Hartford, and Mr. Messenger has member- ship in the University Club and the Hartford Golf Club.
CARLYLE C. THOMSON
Carlyle C. Thomson, well known member of the Hartford bar, having for nine- teen years been capably and successfully engaged in practice in the courts which convene in this city, is a native son of Connecticut and a Yale man. He was born in West Hartford, March 19, 1884, and is a son of Paul Thomson, who was a native of Scotland and for a long period after coming to America conducted business as a florist in West Hartford. He passed away in February, 1909. His wife, Jennette D. Thomson, was of English lineage, although the family has long been represented on this side of the Atlantic, as indicated in the fact that she is a Daughter of the Amer- ican Revolution.
The youthful days of Carlyle C. Thomson were unmarked by event of special or spectacular importance. He attended the public schools of his native town and after leaving the high school entered Yale University, which conferred upon him the Bachelor of Arts degree at his graduation in 1906. During his senior college year he studied law and then continued his preparatory reading in the office of Bill & Tuttle, well known attorneys of Hartford. In 1909 he was admitted to the bar and the following year he began practice independently. Throughout the intervening period he has steadily progressed, his practice becoming more and more important in character as well as in volume, so that his name figures in connection with some of the most notable litigation heard in the courts of this district. He has largely confined his attention to civil law and his knowledge of legal principles is compre- hensive and exact.
In May, 1908, Mr. Thomson was united in marriage to Miss Alice B. Harvey, a daughter of Lewis W. and Jennie W. (Hotchkiss) Harvey, of West Hartford. They
(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)
CARLYLE C. THOMSON
493
HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT
now have three children: Paul, born in August 22, 1909; Virginia H., born in October 29, 1910; and Dorothy Jane, born August 26, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Thomson are highly esteemed in the social circles in which they move and he is a member of the University, City and West Hartford Country clubs. Fraternally he is a Mason, loyal to the teachings and high purposes of the craft. Politically he is a republican and since 1907 has continuously served as justice of the peace of West Hartford. He has also been assessor there and in 1917 he represented his town in the general assembly, where his powers of analysis enabled him to judge of the value of any proposed measure, while his patriotic spirit led to his strong endorsement of any cause which he believed beneficial to the commonwealth. Since 1920, when the town government of West Hartford was changed to the council-manager form of government, Mr. and prior to that had been legal adviser to the town on many important matters. Thomson has been continuously corporation counsel for the town of West Hartford,
CHARLES R. RILEY
Throughout his business career Charles R. Riley has been identified with indus- trial affairs, giving his best efforts to every task that he has undertaken, and in the steps of an orderly progression he has reached an influential position in manufacturing circles of Bristol. He is a son of William J. and Margaret (Russell) Riley and was born August 14, 1875, in Colchester, Connecticut. In the public schools of East Hartford he pursued his studies and prepared for a commercial career by a course in the Huntsinger Business College. His first position was that of a clerk in the Ingraham clock works and later he was employed in a similar capacity by the New Departure Corporation of Bristol. In 1905 he became connected with the Horton Company, manufacturers of sporting equipment, and his worth soon won recogni- tion. Mr. Riley worked his way through the various departments and is now vice president and general manager of the corporation, to which he has given twenty-two years of faithful, efficient service, working untiringly to promote its interests. He is one of the directors of the firm and also of the National Marine Lamp Company of Bristol.
In this city Mr. Riley was married February 22, 1898, to Miss Louise F. Michael and they have one child, William C., who was born October 29, 1902. During the World war Mr. Riley was a member of the Connecticut National Guard, in which he served for two years, and was made corporal of his company, later becoming a ser- geant. He belongs to the Shuttlemeadow Country Club of Bristol and the Explorers Club of New York city. In the Masonic order he holds the thirty-second degree and is also identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. Earnest, purposeful and industrious, Mr. Riley has converted his opportunities into tangible assets and his strength of character and personal magnetism have drawn to him a large circle of sincere friends.
CAPTAIN LEONARD C. DEWING
Captain Leonard C. Dewing, operating in the field of real estate and making steady progress toward the goal of success, is a native of Hartford, born July 13, 1893. His parents, Leonard Hiram and Fanny Chandler (Ames) Dewing, were natives of Mans- field, Connecticut, and of Oswego, New York, respectively. The father was a broker of New York city for some years and afterward a farmer but about 1880 removed to Hartford, where he retired from active business life and where he passed away in April, 1926. The mother survives and now makes her home at No. 208 North Beacon street in Hartford.
Captain Dewing was educated in the South school and in the high school of this city, being graduated with the class of 1912. He later attended Williams College at Williamstown, Massachusetts, completing his course in 1917, when the Bachelor of Arts degree was conferred upon him. In the same year he enlisted and went to the officers' training camp at Plattsburg, New York, where he was commissioned a second lieutenant on the 26th of November. From there he was transferred to Camp Dix,
494
HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT
New Jersey, and joining the Three Hundred and Eleventh Infantry he sailed for Europe on the 18th of May, 1918, and was on overseas duty with the British until the following September. He was in the front line training in August and on the 12th of September participated in the St. Mihiel drive, being also on duty in the Limey sector and in the Meuse-Argonne drive, when with the troops of his command he was relieved on the 5th of November, 1918, and went into camp near Dijon, France. He was promoted to a first lieutenancy November 8, 1918, and attended the Second Corps School at Chatillon-sur-Seine, also the British Fourth Army Musketry School at Norbecourt, France. Between the 1st of March and the 1st of July, 1919, he was a student in the Sorbonne university in Paris and then returned to America, landing on the 28th of July, 1919, and receiving his discharge on the 11th of August following. He then joined the Officers Reserve Corps and on the 25th of January, 1923, was promoted to a captaincy, while at the present writing he is plans and training officer of the Three Hundred and Fourth Infantry. He belongs to the American Legion, the Military Order of the World War and the Military Order of Foreign Wars.
Since the war Captain Dewing has been engaged in the real estate business and is now treasurer and one of the directors of Dewing & Dewing, Inc., at the same time holding a similar connection with Falcone & Dewing, Inc., the latter organization being engaged in the manufacture of an adjustable arch for shoes. His business affairs are wisely and capably conducted and at all times he displays the thoroughness and close application which constitute the basis of growing success. His appreciation of the social activities is manifest in his membership connection with the Hartford Golf Club, the University Club, the Westmoor Polo Club and the Williams Club of New York city. He resides with his mother at No. 208 North Beacon street, Hartford.
CHARLES WINSLOW BURPEE
Charles Winslow Burpee was born in Rockville, Tolland county, Connecticut, November 13, 1859, being the second son of Thomas F. and Adeline M. (Harwood) Burpee. His father was colonel of the Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteer Infantry in the Civil war and was killed at Cold Harbor. On both his father's and his mother's sides, he is of early colonial ancestry. After graduating at the Rockville high school, where he established a school publication, he went to Yale University, receiving the degree of B. A. with the class of 1883. There he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News. Immediately on graduation he became city editor of the Waterbury (Conn.) American.
Colonel Burpee married Bertha Stiles, daughter of Ransom B. and Anna (Still- man) Stiles, of Bridgeport, in 1885. They have one son, Stiles, who was graduated at Yale University in 1926 and is now on the staff of the Hartford Times.
From 1891 to 1895 he was associate editor of the Bridgeport Standard. He joined the staff of the Hartford Courant in 1895 and was managing editor from 1900 to 1904, when he went as editor with the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company of Hart- ford, with which company he is still connected, being in charge of the reinstatement division. He has contributed to various periodicals, chiefly on historical subjects, to the "History of Waterbury," which was published in 1896, and to the "History of Connecticut," published in 1925.
He held five commissions at different times in three different regiments of the Connecticut National Guard. In the Spanish-American war, having resigned a year previously, he went out with the First Infantry, on Colonel Charles L. Burdett's staff, to assist, without commission. For the World war he was beyond the age limit. He First Infantry, Connecticut State Guard, composed of men who by reason of age or served from 1917 to 1921 (disbandment) as district commander and colonel of the exemption were not called or accepted for active federal service and were organized, under call by the legislature and Governor Marcus H. Holcomb, for service of pro- tection within the state.
He has served on the board of education, on the high school building committee and as secretary of the Municipal Art Society. He is a member of the Connecticut His- torical Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, of the National Council of the National Economic League of veteran military associations (president of the Twenty- first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers Association), of the Hartford County Yale
--
CHARLES W. BURPEE
1
497
HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT
Alumni Association (of which he has been president and also secretary of the loan fund committee) and of the Twilight Club. In Yale, he was in Psi Upsilon fraternity and in Skull and Bones.
FRANK L. COROSO, D. D. S.
Dr. Frank L. Coroso, while one of the younger members of the dental profession in Hartford county, has sought success along the well defined lines of close applica- tion and thoroughness, and thus it is that he is accorded a liberal practice which is constantly increasing.
The Doctor is a native son of Hartford, he having been born in that city on the 12th of May, 1900. His parents, Rocco and Margaret Coroso, were natives of Italy but established their home in Hartford, where the Doctor was reared and edu- cated, attending the city schools until he had passed through consecutive grades and had completed the high school course. It was then that he determined upon a profes- sional career and in preparation therefor entered the Baltimore College, gaining his degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery upon graduation with the class of 1922. Return- ing to Hartford, he there opened an office but in 1923 removed to Bristol, where he has since remained. He soon gave evidence of possessing the three qualities which are essential to success in his chosen field-mechanical skill and ingenuity, a knowledge of scientific methods and the business ability to wisely direct the financial phases of dental practice. Gradually his patronage has increased until he now occupies a most creditable place in professional circles. He belongs to the Hartford County, Connecti- cut State and American Dental Associations and he is the vice president of the Bristol Dental Society. He also belongs to the Sons of Italy, thus keeping in touch with those who, like himself, trace their ancestral lines to that country. He has pleasing social qualities and has thus gained a creditable place in social as well as professional circles.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.