History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 5

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 5

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God delights In such a being; for her common thoughts Are piety, her life is gratitude.

This, I am aware, is eulogy; but no less a true testimony.' "

In a review of the life record of Henry C. Robinson one cannot but be impressed by his great intellectual force, his broad sympathy and his benevolences. There are few men who have so fully recognized and met their obligations to their fellowmen. Ex- tensive and important as were his professional and public duties, he nevertheless found time to cooperate in all movements that made for uplift, for mental activity and culture or for benevolence in his community. He rendered valuable service as a trustee of the

HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT

Wadsworth Atheneum and the Hartford grammar school and he was a member of the Hartford Tract Society. The Bar Association of Connecticut honored him with the vice presidency and regarded him as one of its most distinguished representatives, as did the Hartford County Bar Association. He was president of the Yale Alumni Association and was one of the founders of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. His private benefactions were many, for he was continually doing all in his power to alleviate the hard conditions of life for the unfortunate. The worth of his work can hardly be overestimated. He exemplified in his life the highest standards of manhood and citizenship, helpfully reaching out to the human race at large and rendering to his fellowmen a service that will not reach its full fruition until those who came within the circle of his work and his influence shall have passed from life.

LUCIUS F. ROBINSON

The position of any individual is determined by the consensus of opinion on the part of his fellowmen, and judged by this standard, Lucius F. Robinson has few peers at the Hartford bar, where for more than four decades he has continuously practiced, being now senior partner in the firm of Robinson, Robinson & Cole. Actuated by a high purpose, his entire professional career being characterized by marked fidelity to the interests of his clients and the highest standards of the legal fraternity, he has long commanded a practice that in its nature and its extent classes him with the foremost lawyers of Connecticut. He is now serving as president of the Hartford County Bar Association.

Mr. Robinson was born in Hartford, June 12, 1863, and on his ancestral record appear the names of many distinguished colonial families. He is the eldest of five children, three sons and two daughters, born to Henry C. and Eliza Niles (Trumbull) Robinson, and he had the advantage of a cultural environment and of liberal education. Following the completion of his preliminary school work he entered Yale University and was graduated with the class of 1885. Having determined to follow in the pro- fessional footsteps of his father, he at once entered upon the practice of law in association with the senior Robinson and has since been a member of the Hartford bar. While he had the advantage of becoming a partner of an able and distinguished representative of the legal fraternity in Hartford, it was his own industry and capabil- ity that won him promotion, for in no calling does advancement depend so entirely upon individual merit, thoroughness and personal efficiency as in the law. From the beginning he prepared his cases with great thoroughness, precision and skill and thus steadily developed his powers until he has long since left the ranks of the many and stands among the most successful attorneys of Hartford, having today a large and distinctively representative clientele. Through more than forty years of practice he has acquired a most comprehensive and accurate knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence and has ever maintained his practice in accord with the highest pro- fessional ethics and standards.

In 1894 Mr. Robinson was united in marriage to Miss Elinor Cooke, of Paterson, New Jersey, and they are parents of three sons: Lucius F., Jr., Barclay and Henry Cornelius. Inspired by the story of an ancestry honorable and distinguished, the lines of Lucius F. Robinson's life have been cast in harmony therewith. He has sought and supported that which is best in citizenship and in the life of the individual, and he has rendered signal service to his fellowmen through his example and his activities:

EVERETT ELTON DOW

Many substantial qualities characterized the business career of Everett Elton Dow, who for twenty-six years was active in the insurance field. Industry and per- sistency of purpose carried him steadily forward and for a long period he ranked not only as a progressive and reliable business man but also as a valued citizen of Hart- ford. He had passed the sixtieth milestone when death called him on the 14th day of October, 1925, he being born in South Coventry, October 25, 1864, his

HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT

parents being Riou Duane and Sarah A. (Grant) Dow. In his boyhood, however, the family home was established in Hartford, so that he pursued his education in the South school and in the Hartford public high school, completing his course as a member of the class of 1881. Early experience in the business world came to him through employment as clerk of the probate court under Judge J. Hurlburt White. He left that position to become office manager with the Greenwood Manufacturing Company, makers of cotton duck at New Hartford. Each change in his business connections marked a forward step. After a time he was advanced to a position of larger responsibility in the New York headquarters of the company, there remaining until 1894, when he accepted the proffered position of advertising manager with the Willimantic Linen Company. The experience which he gained in the commercial field proved an excellent foundation for his success in insurance. In 1899 he became assistant manager of the American branch of the National Assurance Company of Ireland, the corporation having its headquarters in Hartford. With the withdrawal of that branch in 1905, Mr. Dow became identified with the state insurance depart- ment, with which he continued for several years, resigning to engage in business independently as an expert accountant in 1910. He displayed marked capability in that field and was called upon to install accounting systems in many banks and manufacturing concerns throughout Connecticut. Moreover, he was regarded as an expert on taxation accounting. Ten years prior to his demise he joined the Hart- ford County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, with which he remained until his death. In 1915 he was made secretary of the company and filled the office in a most capable manner, proving an efficient and painstaking executive. He likewise had other business connections, being secretary of the Ely Brothers Lumber Company, and in 1907 he became assistant treasurer of the Connecticut river bridge and highway commission.

On the 26th of October, 1887, Mr. Dow was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Goodwin Adams and they became parents of two daughters: Mrs. William H. Flint (II), of Larchmont, New York; and Mrs. Allan P. Northend, of Hartford; and a son, Everett D., also living in this city.

In his fraternal relations Mr. Dow was a Mason, having membership in Amos Beecher Lodge, F. & A. M., of New Hartford. He also belonged to Jeremiah Wads- worth branch of the Sons of the American Revolution and maintained a patriotic attitude in relation to all questions of citizenship, standing stanchly in defense of every project advanced for the benefit of community and state. His business activities had brought him a wide acquaintance and his outstanding characteristics were such as gained for him not only the thorough respect but also the warm friendship of his fellowmen. He measured up to high standards and his associates valued his com- panionship as of real worth.

WALTER ELLSWORTH BATTERSON

For three generations the name of Batterson has been interwoven with the his- tory of the Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, of which Walter Ellsworth Batterson is now an officer. This corporation was founded by his grandfather, as elsewhere told in these volumes, and its successful history is due in large measure to the efforts of the founder, and of James G. Batterson, who was New York resident manager, and of the subject of this review.

Walter E. Batterson was born in Westerly, Rhode Island, on the 6th of October, 1886, his parents being James Goodwin and Ida (Wooster) Batterson. He was graduated from the public and high schools of Hartford and also attended Trinity College. His association with the Travelers Insurance Company dates from January 27, 1908, when he was employed as a clerk in the liability and compensation depart- ment of the home office in Hartford. He did not depend upon family influence to gain him promotion but won each advance in his business career through determined purpose, diligence and close application. In October, 1916, he was elected an assistant secretary of the liability and compensation department and with the passing years he acquired intimate, accurate and comprehensive knowledge of every phase of the business, so that he was well qualified for larger responsibilities when in October, 1924, he became assistant secretary of the Travelers Fire Insurance Company, in

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(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)

WALTER E. BATTERSON

HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT

which connection he still continues. His labors were a contributing element to the development of the corporation along Travelers methods and thus his work is reflect- ing further credit upon an honored family name.

On April 29, 1914, Mr. Batterson married Miss Ann Grewar Cargill, daughter of James and Jean (Stoddard) Cargill, of Alyth, Scotland. The only son of this mar- riage, James Goodwin Batterson (IV), was born in Chicago, February 13, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Batterson are prominent socially, having a circle of friends in Hartford almost coextensive with the circle of their acquaintance. He is a member of the Hartford Golf Club, the Wampanoag Golf Club, the Get Together Club, the Trinity Alumni Association and the Republican Club. During the World war he served in the Machine Gun Officers' Training Camp.

Loyalty to the republican party is a family characteristic, Mr. Batterson's grand- father having been one of the founders of the republican party in this city. Since becoming a voter Mr. Batterson has risen to prominence in his party in Hartford. His first activity was in connection with caucus matters, and from that time these steps are noted: president of the Young Men's Republican Club and organizer of the Republican Young Men's Marching Club; secretary of the Hughes' Business Men's League of Hartford; chairman of the first district congressional committee; member of the tenth ward republican committee; republican town chairman of the city of Hartford; state central committeeman of the first senatorial district; president of the Hartford County Republican Organization; president of the Mckinley Association; and delegate to the republican national convention at Kansas City in 1928. Mr. Bat- terson served as a police commissioner for three years, being president of the board in 1927 and 1928. In April, 1928, he was elected mayor of Hartford and is now serving in that capacity. In his message, among other things, he advocated attention to and cooperation with the development of a metropolitan Hartford. He recom- mended the transfer of a discontinued part of the reservoir system of the city from the water department to the park department to provide the city with a park devoted solely to recreational life. This recommendation has been approved and an important feature of Hartford's park development in future years has thus been secured. He has urged the plan of dyking for the South Meadows and plans are in operation which will make available for use land of about one-sixth the total area of Hartford. Mr. Batterson has always been interested in athletics and favors greater opportunities for the boys and girls of the city in the development of sports. During his high school days he played on every athletic team of the school and was captain of the football and track teams and winner of the "Best Athlete's" cup. He still pursues his love of sport and is a good golfer. To his office as mayor he has brought the same intensity of application that has characterized his career in both athletics and business.

NORMAN CLIFTON STEVENS

An important chapter in the history of Hartford is found in the life record of Norman Clifton Stevens, who is the present chief executive of the city, and in the discharge of his official duties he brings to bear the same substantial and dependable qualities which have made him a leader in the field of business. As secretary of the Aetna Casualty & Insurance Company he occupies a commanding position in insur- ance circles. He was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, November 19, 1883, his parents being Alfred P. and Mary (Van Ness) Stevens. To the public school system of Bayonne, New Jersey, he is indebted for his educational opportunities and without collegiate training he started in the business world, where his rise has been con- tinuous as the result of his early manifested faithfulness and ability. His first position was that of messenger boy with the Fidelity & Casualty Company of New York city. He entered the service of that corporation in 1898 and when he severed his connection with the company a decade later he was serving as special agent. In September, 1908, he came to Hartford, having been called to take charge of the plate glass department of the Aetna Casualty & Surety Company, which he has since rep- resented in that connection, and he is also the secretary of the Aetna Casualty & Insurance Company. Thus through a period of almost three decades he has remained in constant association with insurance interests, gaining year by year added knowl-

HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT

edge, power and ability. He is likewise a director of the Capitol National Bank and is accorded a position among those men of sound judgment and broad vision whose efforts constitute the basic element of substantial advancement and prosperity in Hartford.

On the 8th of June, 1910, two years after his removal to this city, Mr. Stevens was married to Miss Bess A. Bailey, of New Haven, and in the social circles here they are well known. Mr. Stevens is identified with the various York and Scottish Rite bodies of Masonry and is a loyal adherent of the teachings and purposes of the craft. He likewise holds membership in the Mystic Shrine and belongs to the Elks and Odd Fellows lodges. In club circles, too, he is widely known through his connection with the Hartford, City, Avon Country and Wethersfield Country Clubs and he has mem- bership in the Hartford Saengerbund. In political life Mr. Stevens has also been an outstanding figure for a number of years and heartily supports the republican party, which has called him to various offices of importance. He has served as alderman of what was the old tenth ward and is now the fourteenth ward, acting in that capacity in 1921, 1922 and 1923. In 1924 he was elected mayor of the city and hearty endorsement of his two years' service came to him in his reelection in 1926. Since entering upon the duties of this position he has instituted various reforms and improvements, giving to the city a businesslike and progressive administration that has made for wide popularity among his fellow townsmen.

WILLIAM BRADDOCK CLARK

The career of William B. Clark was one of the most distinguished in the history of fire insurance in the United States. He was engaged in that business for seventy years, from 1857 until his death in 1927, in his eighty-seventh year. For nearly sixty years he was an officer of the Aetna Insurance Company, spanning in a single life more than half of the corporate life of the Aetna which was chartered in 1819.

Mr. Clark's family were among the earliest settlers of Hartford. He was of the sixth generation in descent from John Clark who came from Newtown (now Cam- bridge) Massachusetts, to Hartford in 1636, and whose name appears upon the Founders' Monument in the Ancient Cemetery in the rear of the old First Church of Christ in Hartford. The family later moved to Farmington and thence to New Britain. Mr. Clark's father, Abel Newell Clark, returned to Hartford and became one of the pro- prietors and business manager of The Hartford Courant for many years.

William Braddock Clark was born in Hartford, June 29, 1841. His education in the public schools was followed by a course in a private school kept by an uncle. After one year's service in the Courant office he entered the employ of the Phoenix Insur- ance Company on January 19, 1857, as bookkeeper. In 1863 when twenty-two years of age he was made secretary of that company.

On December 1, 1867, he was elected assistant secretary of the Aetna Insurance Company in which office he was actually the underwriting secretary of the company. On September 26, 1888, he became vice president, and on December 1, 1892, he was elected its president. On January 8, 1923, he resigned as president and was elected chairman of the Board of Directors, which office he held until his death on August 6, 1927. He lived for the Aetna Insurance Company and his most earnest wish was literally fulfilled that he might be at his desk up to the very last day of his life.

His record of seventy years service in the insurance world,-sixty of which was as an officer of the Aetna, and thirty as its president,-was most remarkable not only for its length but for the breadth and character of the service rendered. Mr. Clark's span of office, commencing back before the Chicago fire in 1871, covers the period of the greatest growth both in the field of fire insurance generally and also in the history of his own company. From the time he joined the Aetna in 1867 he was an acknowledged leader in the fire insurance world, as an underwriter, as an executive, as a wise investor and as a man.

In 1907, upon the fiftieth anniversary of his entry into the fire insurance busi- ness, the leaders of the fire insurance world in New York city feted him in token of their personal affection and high esteem.

On December 1, 1917, which was the fiftieth anniversary of his joining the Aetna Insurance Company and the twenty-fifth anniversary of his election as its president,

WILLIAM B. CLARK

HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT

he was honored by his directors and associate officers in the Aetna by the adoption of resolutions which so adequately express Mr. Clark's outstanding leadership in the fire insurance world that they are here quoted in full.

"Resolved, That we, the directors and officers of the Aetna Insurance Company, assembled today to celebrate the completion of fifty years of service which Mr. William B. Clark has rendered as an officer of this company, of which for twenty-five years he has been president, desire to place on record.

"First: Our congratulations on the uniform and remarkable success which has distinguished his administration as shown in the results which have been achieved.

"Second: Our appreciation of the ability, fidelity, and steadfast courage which, during the days of adversity as well as in times of prosperity, have, through all vicissitudes of half a century, preserved the high and honorable reputation of the Company and maintained its position among the greatest insurance corporations of the world.

"Third: Our felicitations that in all of the personal relations which have existed between him and the officers and directors of the company he has, by his unfailing courtesy and consideration, won not only in the highest degree, the respect and confi- dence of his associates, but their sincere and lasting affection."

When he died, he had also been for fifty-two years a director of the Travelers Insurance Company. In 1925 the board of directors of that company by appropriate resolutions commemorated the fact that for fifty years as a director and for thirty years as a member of its finance committee, Mr. Clark "at all times and in every capacity a wise and helpful counselor has had a large part in the company's achieve- ments and has been a power for good to the Travelers companies as he has been to every other institution with which he has been connected."

He was also for many years a director of the First National Bank of Hartford, the City Bank, the Society for Savings, the Fidelity Trust Company; a trustee of the Y. M. C. A. and of the Retreat for the Insane and a member of the corporation of the Hartford Hospital. He was a stanch republican, a member of the "Wide Awakes" in 1861 and had served on the board of aldermen and on the board of water com- missioners of Hartford.

In 1896 he served as president of the National Board of Fire Underwriters and in 1897 declined a reelection.

He was a devout member of the First Baptist church and a very generous sup- porter of that church and of all worthy causes. Only a few of his closest associates have ever had even an intimation of the extent of his public benefactions and of his many acts of charity rendered generously and sympathetically in strictest confidence and privacy.

Mr. Clark married, May 13, 1863, Miss Caroline H. Robbins, the daughter of Philemon F. and Emily (Strickland) Robbins, who died in 1902. To them five chil- dren were born, only one of whom survived him, Mrs. Caroline Clark Marshall. He is also survived by his second wife, Mrs. Rachel Whittier Clark, whom he married in 1905, and by three grandsons, William B., Clark Allen, Edwin Stanton Allen and Francis R. Allen, the children of a deceased daughter.

WALTER HAVEN CLARK

Walter Haven Clark, judge of the probate court in Hartford, has been a member of the Connecticut bar since 1899. He was born January 20, 1872, in the city which is still his home, his parents being Mahlon N. and Mary A. (Haven) Clark. He com- pleted his public school education by graduation from the high school in Hartford and then matriculated in Yale University as a member of the class of 1896, there gaining his Bachelor of Arts degree. He then entered the Yale Law School and the LL. B. degree was conferred upon him in 1899. Following his admission to the bar he at once entered upon active practice in partnership with William A. Arnold under the firm style of Clark & Arnold, which association was maintained for twenty-two years, until in 1921 he was elected judge of the probate court, the office which he now holds. His official service in other connections also covers a wide scope. He is a republican in politics and in 1900 was elected a member of the common council, serving therein until 1903 and acting as president of the board during the last year

HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT

period. In 1905 he was elected representative from the town of Hartford to the gen- eral assembly. He was associate judge of the city police court from 1903 until 1908 and judge of the police court through the succeeding five years. Early in 1917 he was named a member of the governor's council of assistants. After the declaration of war against the central powers he was appointed chairman of Draft Board No. 2 of the city of Hartford. Mr. Clark is a member of the directorate of the State Savings Bank of Hartford, of the Hartford Seminary Foundation, of the Hartford Public Library, of the Long Lane Farm, which is a state reformatory, and he is also a member of the board of the State Department of Public Welfare. He was president of the Connecticut Conference of Social Work during 1927.

On the 26th of June, 1902, Mr. Clark was married to Miss Julia E. Gilman, a daughter of the late Judge George S. and Ellen M. (Hills) Gilman. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have two daughters: Eleanor Mary, who was born March 6, 1904, and was graduated from Smith College with the class of 1926; and Dorothy Gilman, born November 22, 1911, who is a member of the class of 1929 in the Hartford Public High School. Mr. Clark belongs to the Hartford Club, the University Club of Hart- ford, the Graduates Club of New Haven, the Acorn Club and the Dauntless Club.

V HON. HENRY ROBERTS

Winning equal distinction in the field of politics and of business and bringing to both high ideals, combined with most practical service, Henry Roberts is leaving the impress of his individuality and his strongly developed powers upon the history of Connecticut in no uncertain manner. His record as the chief executive of the state is one over which there fell no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil and into his business career he has carried the same lofty ideals, successfully managing various manufacturing and commercial interests.

Mr. Roberts is a native of the Empire state, having been born in Brooklyn, New York, in January, 1853, at which time his father, George Roberts, a prominent Connecticut manufacturer, was temporarily managing business interests in that city, while his ancestors through many generations had been numbered among Connec- ticut's sons. The ancestral line is traced back to his great-great-great-grandfather, William Roberts, and comes down through Benjamin and George Roberts, the latter a Revolutionary war soldier, while the grandfather, Captain Ozias Roberts, served on the privateer "Blockade" during the War of 1812. Later he became a sea captain and subsequently turned his attention to farming in Connecticut, where he was chosen to serve in various positions of public honor and trust. He was treasurer of his town and a member of the state legislature, and when the question of slavery became a paramount issue he left the democratic ranks to join the newly organized republican party, formed to prevent slavery extension into the north. Captain Roberts married Martha Treat and their son, George Roberts, was born at East Hartford, Connecticut, in 1810, his life span covering the intervening years to 1878. He had important busi- ness interests both in Hartford and New York, serving as a director of the Phoenix Bank of Hartford, as treasurer of the Hartford Carpet Company and for twenty-two years as president of the Woven Wire Mattress Company. He was likewise a director of the Phoenix National Bank, the Aetna Fire Insurance Company, the Connecticut Trust and Safe Deposit Company and the Hartford Gas Company, while in New York he became one of the organizers of the Metropolitan Bank. His second wife, Elvira Evans, was born July 27, 1812, her parents being Jason and Thankful (Taylor) Evans. Through the maternal line she was descended from John Taylor, one of the first settlers of Windsor, Connecticut, and from John Taylor, the Indian fighter, whose heroism was remembered in the erection of a monument at Deerfield Cross Roads, near Deerfield, Massachusetts. He had been captured in the Deerfield raid and was carried into Canada, where his captors decided to put him to death; but through the offices of a friendly Indian his life was spared and later he returned to his old home.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 5

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