History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 55

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 55

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MAJOR THOMAS J. BANNIGAN

Major Thomas J. Bannigan, who since October 28, 1924, has been regional man- ager of the United States Veterans' Bureau for the state of Connecticut and who since May 11, 1925, has been vice president of the Federal Business Men's Association, making his home at 208 Farmington avenue in Hartford, with business headquarters in the American Industrial building, is a native of Utica, New York, and a son of James and Ellen (Shenon) Bannigan, both of whom have passed away. His parents were natives of Ireland and came to America in youth, settling in Utica, New York, where the father engaged in business as a building contractor for many years, erecting some of the larger structures in that city. He afterward concentrated his time and energies upon the coal business.

Major Bannigan obtained a grammar school education in Utica and when he had completed the work of the various grades continued his studies in the high school there, while later he was a student in Assumption Academy of Utica. His activities in business have covered a wide scope. He was at one time a journalist and after- ward a traveling salesman and sales manager. At one time he entered the newspaper business as reporter on the Utica Daily Observer and was afterward associated with the Utica Sunday Tribune as feature writer, while subsequently he joined the editorial staff of the Utica Daily Herald. During this period he also personally issued several small publications. Prior to that service which made him a veteran of the World war he represented G. W. Van Slyke & Horton of Albany, New York, manufacturers of the Peter Schuyler cigar and other brands, remaining with that company for eleven years as a traveling salesman. It was at his suggestion that they began a national advertising campaign on this brand, which at that time was not widely known, and the inscription on the back of the smaller size Peter Schuyler, known as "Briefs," is a facsimile of his chirography. Later he was for seven years with the George L. Storm Company of New York, a subsidiary of the United Cigar Manufacturers, this being a thirty-million-dollar corporation, controlling national cigar brands, and which has since become the General Cigar Company. With that corporation Mr. Bannigan acted as salesman, as sales manager and as branch manager. He then joined the parent corporation and was executive assistant to President Storm and later sales manager and branch manager for the western and midwestern territories. He resigned in order to organize retail cigar stores under his own management and under the name of the Bannigan Cigar Company. He remained as owner and pro- prietor until the World war, when he disposed of all his interests except the Hartford business in order to enter the service. He also sold the Hartford business in 1921 in order to devote his time to veteran activities.

Following the entrance of the United States into the World war Major Bannigan was commissioned as a captain at Hartford on the 30th of July, 1918, and was assigned as officer-in-charge of the Reed Street plant of the Schuylkill Arsenal at Philadelphia, where about forty-five hundred enlisted men and civilians were employed in making clothing and equipage for overseas. He received an honorable discharge from the

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BACHRACH

MAJOR THOMAS J. BANNIGAN

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HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

United States army December 31, 1918, with the rank of captain in the Officers Reserve Corps for five years, and was assigned as administrative officer in the Seventy- sixth Division, while on the 3rd of March, 1924, he was commissioned a major in the Quartermaster's Division of the Officers Reserve Corps.

With his return to civilian life Major Bannigan was appointed supervisor of the Soldiers, Sailors and Marines Club on February 19, 1919, when the city of Hartford took over a large building and equipped it as a club for the benefit of returning veterans of the World war. He was the unanimous choice of the court of common council of Hartford to supervise the club, which was maintained by the city for two years and gave lodging to and supplied a temporary home for hundreds of veterans, including transient veterans from practically every state in the Union. He was next appointed sub-district manager for the Hartford area of the United States Veterans' Bureau, effective February 28, 1922, and at the consolidation of the New Haven and Hartford offices was reappointed as sub-district manager for the state of Connecticut. When the Veterans' Bureau was decentralized on October 28, 1924, he was appointed regional manager for the state, and on May 11, 1925, was appointed vice president of the Federal Business Men's Association.

Major Bannigan was married in 1907 to Miss Katherine Anita Emmett. He has several political and social connections, being a member of the Republican Club, the City Club, the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the United States Commercial Travelers, while of the Harding Memorial Association he is an associate member. He is also connected with the General Hart Memorial Association, Leonard Wood Camp No. 1 of the Veteran Soldiers, Sailors & Marines Association, the American National Red Cross, Reserve Officers Association, and with the Veterans' Non-Partisan League. His membership relations, however, are mostly in those organizations which have been formed by the World war veterans. He belongs to and was one of the organizers of Rau-Locke Post, No. 8, of the American Legion at Hartford, in which he has held the offices of post adjutant, department adjutant, chairman of the state legislative committee, member of the national executive com- mittee and national vice commander. Major Bannigan was elected first adjutant of the post. He was also one of the organizers of the Connecticut Department of the American Legion and elected its first state adjutant at the state convention held in Hartford, October 11, 1919, having been reelected in 1920 for a term of three years, the first time in the history of the American Legion an elective officer had been elected for longer than one year. In 1919-1920 he was in charge of the state service division of the American Legion, during which time he handled many claims on com- pensation cases of disabled veterans and their relation to the United States Veterans' Bureau. He was a member of the National Legion committee which appeared before congress in behalf of the adjusted compensation bill and was spokesman for the delegation when it appeared before the ways and means committee of congress. In 1920 he was appointed chairman of the state legislative committee of the Connecticut Department of the American Legion, during which time nearly all beneficial legisla- tion to veterans was victorious in Connecticut. This committee was instrumental in having the state of Connecticut continue the interest on the two million, five hundred thousand dollar fund for the care of Connecticut veterans and their dependents. The Connecticut Legion News was inaugurated at his suggestion in 1920 and later Major Bannigan became its editor. At the state convention of the American Legion, held in New Haven in 1921, he was elected a member of the national executive committee from Connecticut. In 1921 he was appointed a member of the national war risk insurance committee of the American Legion. In 1921 he was elected national vice- commander of the American Legion to succeed John G. Emery, elected national com- mander to fill the unexpired term of National Commander Galbraith, deceased. He was a member of the national reception committee to Marshall Foch on his visit to America as the guest of the American Legion. Major Bannigan is likewise a member of La Societe des 40 Hommes et 8 Chevaux, having been initiated at Wallingford, Connecticut, while he is now associated with the voiture at Hartford. He belongs to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Military Order of Foreign Wars, and in recognition of patriotic service rendered to the cause of the wounded and disabled American veterans of the World war was made an honorary member of the Disabled American Veterans' Association March 24, 1927. He has been identified with veteran activities since the armistice and has had entire charge of the disabled Connecticut veterans for the United States government during this period. He has been instru-

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mental in solving many of their problems and wherever his name is heard it is usually identified with the cause of the disabled veterans. He is the outstanding figure in Connecticut who has been actively identified with service for the disabled soldier from the armistice to the present time and the value of his work cannot be overestimated. He resides at 320 Farmington avenue.

CLEMENT H. BRIGHAM

Clement H. Brigham, widely known in business circles as an insurance agent, has also directed his efforts most effectively and beneficially in the field of public office, making a most honorable record in the state senate and in other positions of public trust. He has always held to high ideals and at the same time his methods have been manifest in practical achievement. His life story is an interesting one not only by reason of what he has accomplished but also owing to the fact that he is a representative of one of the old and distinguished families of New England. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, June 20, 1873, and he traces his ancestry back to Thomas Brigham, who was born in England in 1603 and who sailed from London, April 13, 1635, on the ship "Susan and Ellen." He took up his abode in Watertown, Massachusetts, where he was made a freeman April 18, 1636, and there he served as constable in 1637 and selectman in 1640. He was married in 1637 to Mercy Hurd, and he passed away in Cambridge, Massachusetts, December 8, 1653. His son, Thomas Brigham, born in Cambridge in 1640, was made a freeman in 1690. He owned land in Marlboro and in association with others purchased fifty-eight hun- dred acres from the Indians. On the 27th of December, 1665, he married Mary Rice, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Moore) Rice, and he died November 25, 1716.

Elnathan Brigham, son of Thomas Brigham (II), was born March 7, 1683, and became a surveyor. In later life he removed to Mansfield, Connecticut, and in 1705 married Bethiah, daughter of William and Hannah Ward. He passed away April 10, 1758. His son, Paul Brigham, born in Mansfield, was married July 1, 1741, to Catherine Turner, and died May 3, 1746. They were parents of Captain Thomas Brigham (III), who was born March 7, 1742, and lived in Coventry. He married Susannah Eels, on February 5, 1769, and died May 10, 1800. They were the parents of Don Ferdinand Brigham, who was born about 1776 and followed farming and shoe- making. He was married November 7, 1802, to Lois, daughter of Elias Palmer, of Coventry, and died September 29, 1867.

Lewis Brigham, son of Don Ferdinand Brigham and the grandfather of Clement H. Brigham of this review, was born in Coventry, March 22, 1809, and there died January 17, 1873. He was married February 19, 1833, to Lewisa Tilden, who died June 20, 1849. He conducted a store at Mansfield Depot and also operated a sawmill.'

Don Ferdinand Brigham (II), son of Lewis Brigham, was born in Utica, New York, January 11, 1839, and was quite young when the family home was established in Mansfield, Connecticut, where he attended the public schools. He afterward studied in Monson Academy and for two years was a student at Amherst College. He then became associated in the silk business with P. H. Turner in Turnerville and later acted as general agent for the Smith & Wesson Company of New York city. At a sub- sequent date he engaged in merchandising and thus continued until his retirement from active life in 1885, at which time he took up his abode in Hartford, where he passed away February 26, 1888. On the 28th of November, 1863, he had married Harriet Maria Storrs, daughter of William Storrs, of Westford, and of their five children four reached adult age: Ernest W., of Boston; Clement H .; Alice; and Clara, the wife of Arthur P. Bennett, of Hartford.

The second son was but two years of age when his parents removed with the family to Oxford, New Jersey, where he attended the public schools, and with the removal to Hartford in 1885 he continued his studies here until graduated from the high school with the class of 1891. After a little time he accepted a clerical position in the office of the National Fire Insurance Company, remaining with that concern until 1896, when he became associated with the local agency of W. T. Price, which was afterward sold to the firm of F. F. Small & Company. In 1905 Mr. Brigham

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CLEMENT H. BRIGHAM

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HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT

became a partner in that firm and has contributed in no small degree to its success through his business capability, close application and unremitting energy. There have been no spectacular phases in his life work, but the steps in his orderly pro- gression are easily discernible and the qualities which he has wisely cultivated and which have led to his success may become a part of the equipment of any other young business man who has the will to dare and to do.

Mr. Brigham was united in marriage to Miss Lilian Talcott, a daughter of Hart and Mary Gray (Huntington) Talcott and a representative of one of the old colonial families. Mr. and Mrs. Brigham have a son, Storrs Talcott, born May 3, 1900, and a daughter, Mary Gray, born April 29, 1905. The family residence is maintained at Granby and Mr. and Mrs. Brigham hold membership in the South Congregational church there, taking an active and helpful part in its work. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to Lafayette Lodge, No. 100, F. & A. M., of Hartford. His interest in the events which have shaped the annals of Connecticut is shown in his member- ship in the Connecticut Historical Society and his appreciation of the social amenities of life is attested by his connection with the Farmington Country Club, the City Club, the Twentieth Century Club, the Congregational Club and the Civitan Club, of which he is the president. His political endorsement has always been given to the repub- lican party and his interest in its welfare has been effectively shown. Upon that ticket he was elected to office, having in 1921 represented the town of Granby in the house of representatives, while in 1925 he was a member of the senate from the seventh senatorial district. While serving in that body he was made chairman of the committee on public health and safety and through committee service and in other ways he labored indefatigably for the welfare and upbuilding of the state and the advancement of its best interests. He was a member of the extraordinary grand jury which investigated the activity of the diploma mill (medical) known as the Holden grand jury, in which connection a most valuable work was done for the state in ridding it of those who were a menace to public health and safety. Mr. Brigham was also president of the Hartford Board of Fire Underwriters from 1922 until 1925, and such are his standards in business and in citizenship that his position as one of the acknowledged leaders among the men of the present generation is widely recognized.

MORGAN BULKELEY BRAINARD

Morgan Bulkeley Brainard, president of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, was born in Hartford, January 8, 1879, and he naturally came into the field of insurance inasmuch as his father, the late Leverett Brainard, at one time mayor of Hartford, was for many years a director of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, while his mother was a sister of Morgan Gardner Bulkeley, third president of the Aetna Life.

Having graduated from the Hartford public high school, Morgan B. Brainard entered Yale University and completed his course with the class of 1900. He then enrolled as a student in the Yale Law School and at his graduation three years later received the Bachelor of Laws degree. He entered upon the active practice of law in the office of Lewis Sperry, who for many years was general counsel for the Aetna Company, and he became identified with the Aetna Life Insurance Company as assistant to President Bulkeley and was chosen his father's successor on the directorate at the latter's death in 1901. In 1905 he was elected assistant treasurer, the office being created at that time, and when two years had passed he became treasurer of the company and later was elected vice president, this being followed by his election to the presidency. He entered upon his duties when a comparatively young man but with wide training and diversified experience to serve as the founda- tion upon which to build the superstructure that constitutes the great Aetna interests foremost among the insurance activities on the American continent. Since he assumed the duties of his position, November 16, 1922, the growth has been continuous, because of changes which he introduced, bringing about improved methods and greater efficiency.

Mr. Brainard is a director and president not only of the Aetna Life Insurance Company but also of the Aetna Casualty & Surety Company, the Automobile Insur- ance Company and the Standard Fire Insurance Company. He is likewise a director

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of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, the Hartford National Bank & Trust Company, the Hartford Electric Light Company, director and chairman of the board of the Bankers Trust Company and a director of the Underwood Typewriter Com- pany, the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Company, the Hartford County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the American Hardware Corporation and Swift & Company. He is a director of The Connecticut Company, a holding com- pany for all trolley lines of the state, and a United States trustee of the Scottish Union and National Insurance Company. Mr. Brainard is now a director of the Hartford Hospital and of the Hartford Retreat for the Insane. The scope of his interests is further manifest in his service as a trustee of the Wadsworth Athenaeum, the Watkinson Library, the Morgan Memorial, the Connecticut State Prison and the Colt Bequest, and he has served as president of the Connecticut Historical Society, in which he still holds membership.

ROBERT THOMAS HURLEY

Robert Thomas Hurley, commissioner of the department of state police and thus taking active part in the maintenance of law and order, makes his home and main- tains his office in Hartford. He was born in Plymouth, Litchfield county, October 25, 1869, and is a son of Patrick and Margaret (Keating) Hurley, both of whom were natives of Ireland but in early life came to the new world, settling in Litchfield county, whence they afterward removed to Bristol, Connecticut, where the father engaged in farming.

Robert T. Hurley, after pursuing a public school education, began learning the tinsmith's trade, which he followed for several years. He next entered the employ of the E. N. Welch Clock Company of Forestville, but after a brief period turned his attention to horse racing interests, driving in several hundred horse races all over New England and the middle west. He always loved fine horses and participated in racing events between the ages of fourteen and thirty years. In 1889 he became foreman of the electric fuse department of the Johns-Pratt Company of Hartford, with which he remained until March 4, 1904, at the end of which time he became connected with the state police department as a state policeman. About 1917 he was made a captain of the department, and in July, 1921, was advanced to the position of superintendent. He is now commissioner of the department of state police and has one hundred state policemen under his direction. During the past twenty years he has made an intensive study of psychology and criminology and has one of the finest libraries on these subjects to be found in New England, with the contents of which he is largely familiar, having spent much time as well as money in a study of the crime situation, its causes and cures. Up to 1919 he had brought about the arrest and conviction of more "fire bugs" in the United States than perhaps any other man. He was instrumental in the capture of Archie Gilligan, who poisoned seven people and was convicted and sentenced to hang but gained a second trial in which the sentence was imprisonment for life. Mr. Hurley was also instrumental in bringing about the capture and conviction of Bernard Montveid, who killed a priest and his housekeeper and who was hanged in Wethersfield.

On the 2d of August, 1893, Mr. Hurley was married to Miss Mary Parrett, of New Hartford, and they reside at 1359 Albany avenue. He is an honorary member of the Exchange Club. Although his educational opportunities in boyhood were limited, he has closely applied himself along certain educational lines and is today a broad-minded man of wide interests as well as a most efficient public official.

JUDGE HENRY PATRICK ROCHE

Well equipped for the profession of his choice, Judge Henry Patrick Roche has steadily progressed and ably administers the affairs of the police court of New Britain, which for thirteen years has been the scene of his lega! activities. He was born June 4, 1886, and is a native of Berlin, Connecticut. His parents were James and Nora (Warren) Roche, the former of whom passed away in 1912, at the age of

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fifty-two years, and the latter in 1925, when she had reached the sixty-seventh mile- stone on life's journey.

Moving to New Britain in boyhood, Henry P. Roche here attended the public and parochial schools and in 1909 completed a course in Holy Cross College. In 1912 he was graduated from the Yale Law School and in the same year was admitted to the bar. At that time he established an office in New Britain and soon proved his ability to cope with the intricacies of the law. During the World war Mr. Roche entered the service of his country and was trained in the coast artillery school at Fortress Monroe, Virginia. After his honorable discharge he resumed his profes- sional labors in New Britain and as time passed his practice assumed large propor- tions. In recognition of his ability he was appointed police judge on July 4, 1927, and is making a fine record in the office. He carefully ascertains the facts of each case brought before his tribunal and tempers justice with mercy.

In politics Judge Roche is a strong republican and his civic spirit has been demonstrated by service on the New Britain school board, with which he was identified for eight years. Along fraternal lines he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and has passed through all the chairs of the Foresters of America. In the affairs of the latter organization he takes a prominent part and is a member of the Grand Court of Foresters. A diligent student, Judge Roche has constantly augmented his legal knowledge and his professional colleagues and the general pub- lic unite in bearing testimony as to his worth.

PHILIP G. GORTON

Philip G. Gorton, who, associated with his brother, is one of the managers of the home office of the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, conduct- ing business under the firm name of Gorton & Company, was born in Bloom- field, this state, May 30, 1863, his parents being Horace Simmons and Mary (Gris- wold) Gorton, the ancestral line having been one of long connection with New Eng- land. The youthful days of Philip G. Gorton were passed in the usual manner of the lad of normal interests to whom the public schools offer educational opportun- ities. He passed through consecutive grades to the high school and at the age of sixteen years started out in the business world by entering the employ of the Charter Oak Life Insurance Company in Hartford, occupying the minor position of mail boy. He remained with that corporation for five years and then became a clerk with the Travelers Insurance Company, with which he was associated for three years. His identification with the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company dates from 1900, at which time he became agent for the corporation, and is now associ- ated with his brother, Joseph C. Gorton, under the firm style of Gorton & Company, managers of the home office of the Connecticut General Life. They have developed a business of large proportions, having an extensive clientele, and their success is the direct outcome of well defined plans promptly executed.

Mr. Gorton is a member of the Hartford Club and of the City Club. He votes with the democratic party and his active political service covers the period from 1896 until 1900, when under the Cleveland administration he was deputy clerk of customs. He has always preferred to concentrate his efforts and attention upon the insurance business, with which he has been connected from the age of sixteen years and in which he has won substantial advancement and well merited success.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 55

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