History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 57

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 57

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On the 7th of November, 1894, Major Greene was united in marriage to Miss Florence K. Buck, of Hartford, daughter of Hon. John R. and Mary Buck. Major and Mrs. Greene reside at 113 Woodland street. His military title came to him through service in the Connecticut State Guard. He was a member of the Foot Guard in 1892 and 1893 and during the World war period served in the Connecticut State Guard, being made major of the First Battalion, First Infantry. He belongs to the Hartford Club, the University Club, the Hartford Golf Club and St. Anthony's

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Club of New York city. He is also secretary of the Church Home of Hartford and he has done public service along various important lines. He has been a member of the board of aldermen, a member of the board of health and also a member of the board of finance, and he is actuated in all public work by a marked sense of devotion to duty, recognizing at all times that a public office is a public trust-and at no time has any trust been reposed in Major Greene in vain.

EDWARD FRANKLYN HALL

Edward Franklyn Hall retired from important financial connections when in 1927 he accepted appointment to the position of commissioner of finance and control for Connecticut, with offices in the state capitol. He makes his home in New Britain and he spent his entire life in Connecticut, he having been born at Middletown, January 5, 1879, his parents being David and Ellen (Orcutt) Hall. While spending his youthful days under the parental roof he attended the district schools of Berlin, to which place his parents removed during his early boyhood. There he remained to the age of eighteen years, when he became a resident of New Britain and entered the employ of the firm of Landers, Frary & Clark as timekeeper in the factory. His faithfulness and capability soon gained him recognition and after a year he was promoted to the position of paymaster of the hardware division. Another year passed and he was made assistant superintendent of the factory, while subsequently he was advanced to the position of auditor of the corporation and in 1922 was elected secretary of the Landers, Frary & Clark corporation, remaining in that connection until 1926, when he resigned and at the same time gave up directorships in ten dif- ferent important business concerns to accept the appointment of commissioner of finance and control for the state of Connecticut. He remains the incumbent in this office, with headquarters in the state capitol, and is meeting every requirement of the position and fulfilling every expectation of his friends concerning his capability for office. His political allegiance has ever been given to the republican party and he is now president of the board of finance and taxation for the city of New Britain. He has also held other important public offices, inasmuch as he was a member of the state legislature in 1917 and was made clerk of the committee on finance and a member of the committee on appropriations. In 1919 he was again a member of the house and in 1921 he represented his district in the state senate, in which he was made chairman of the appropriations committee. In 1925 he was named chairman of the committee on railroads and a member of the committee on public health and safety. In 1927 he became chairman of the appropriations committee of the senate and thus through many years he has been active in shaping the interests of the commonwealth through legislative enactment and service. His work has been highly commended by the general public and his position has long been one of leadership in connection with the political interests of the state.

Mr. Hall was united in marriage at New Britain on the 16th of October, 1906, to Miss Olive Davis and they have one child, Melvin. They are well known not only in New Britain but in Hartford and other sections of the state, and Mr. Hall is today recognized as occupying a position of influence and of leadership, while his devotion to the general welfare stands as an unquestioned fact in his career.

ANSON A. MILLS

Anson A. Mills, engaged in the plumbing and heating business in New Britain, has been continuously connected with this line of activity here since 1915, although at a previous period he resided for a time in New Britain, where he was employed at his trade. He was born at East Granby, Connecticut, in 1870, his parents being Gustavus D. and Sarah E. (Whitmore) Mills, who were natives of Hartford county, where the father followed the occupation of farming until the last fifteen years of his life, which were passed in Newington, where he died in 1902. He had been a republican in politics and active in the life of his community. He represented the town of Granby in the state legislature, to which office he was elected on the demo-

(Photograph by Murray Studio)

EDWARD F. HALL

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cratic ticket, but his study of the political questions and issues of the day led him later to become a supporter of the republican party. His widow survived him for a quarter of a century, passing away in 1927.

Anson A. Mills largely received his educational training in Newington, Con- necticut, but afterward pursued a business course in the Hannum College at Hart- ford in 1888. In young manhood he was engaged in farm work but in 1893 came to New Britain, where he entered the employ of George Rapelye, who conducted a plumbing and heating business and with whom Mr. Mills continued for six years. In 1899 he became identified with the business of Bruce & Filley at Hartford, being in charge of the collection department, and later he traveled for the Skinner Chuck Company of New Britain, which he represented throughout the entire country. In 1909 he purchased the business of the M. J. Kibbe Company in association with his brother, John O. Mills, the undertaking being then carried on under the style of J. O. Mills & Company until 1915, when Anson A. Mills purchased the interest of his brother, who then removed to Westerly, Rhode Island, where he engaged in the furniture business. Mr. Mills now owns and conducts the business under his own name, having a plumbing and heating establishment and also carrying an attractive stock of stoves and kitchen ware. The business has steadily grown and expanded under his careful management and now furnishes employment to thirty workmen. Many important plumbing and heating contracts are accorded Mr. Mills and his skilled workmanship and efficiency constitute the basis upon which his success is built. He is now at the head of one of the oldest establishments in New Britain and his record for reliability is an unassailable one.

In 1891 Mr. Mills was married to Miss Nellie G. Griswold, of Newington, Con- necticut. They have an adopted daughter, Leila M. Cochrane, who was born in Hartford, the daughter of Mrs. Mills' brother. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mills hold member- ship in the Trinity Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is a trustee, and their interest in the church work is manifest in many tangible ways. She is also well known socially and she has membership in the Women's Club, the Eastern Star and the Young Women's Christian Association. Mr. Mills is serving on the advisory board of the Salvation Army. He votes with the republican party and while not a politician in the usual sense of the term, he is keenly interested in all matters of progressive citizenship. He has served as treasurer of the Rotary Club since it was organized in 1921, is a member of the New Britain Club and is widely known in Masonic circles, being a Royal Arch Mason, a Consistory Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine. Along the line of his chosen life work, too, he has exerted a strongly felt influence, is a past president of the local plumbers' association, president of the State Master Plumbers Association and interested in all that makes for progress and improvement in this field of business. His has been an active and useful life and one which has gained for him the high and enduring regard of all with whom he has come in contact.

WILLIAM S. THOMSON

William S. Thomson, president and treasurer of the Tobrin Tool Company, is thus closely associated with the productive industries of Plantsville and has been active in the development of this business, which features prominently in the upbuild- ing of the community. He was born September 6, 1870, in Mount Holly, New Jersey, a son of John and Elizabeth (Watson) Thomson, and pursued a public school education, after which he began learning the trade of die sinking in 1886. Through the intervening period to 1896 he devoted his time to mastering the business and to work in drop forge establishments. He came to Plantsville in 1896 and here began making drop forges under contract with the Blakeslee foundry, while in 1900 he became an equal partner in the Thomson Drop Forge Company. In 1923 he severed his connection with that business organization and established the Tobrin Tool Company, of which he is now the president and treasurer. The business was incorporated May 24, 1923, with an authorized capital of one hundred thousand dol- lars, his associates in the undertaking being Joseph C. Brannin and Robert W. Pain. From the beginning the business has steadily grown and developed, the output con- sisting of high-grade drop forged tools, screw drivers, pipe wrenches, cold chisels

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and automotive tools and a small portable machine was known as the Tobrin bench saw. The factory is supplied with the latest machinery and equipment for economi- cal production and its output is widely sold, the company being represented by jobbers in every state in the Union and in several foreign countries. They also have representatives on the Pacific coast and in the south. Mr. Thomson has not only contributed in large measure to the successful conduct and management of the business but in the years of his active life has developed many tools, securing patents on at least twenty tools and devices. He is alert and energetic and thoroughness has characterized him in everything that he has undertaken.

Mr. Thomson was married at Plantsville to Miss Nellie Frisbee and they now have four children: Mary, Elizabeth, Jeanette and William. He has never sought to figure prominently in public life but has concentrated his efforts and attention upon his business affairs, thoroughness characterizing him at every point in his career and eventually winning him a prominent and honored place among the leading representatives of industrial activity in Hartford county.

CHARLES SOBY

Charles Soby, now deceased, was eighteen years of age when he came to Hart- ford and for many years he was well known as president and treasurer of The Gray Telephone Pay Station Company. He also figured prominently in other business and public connections and had made for himself a most creditable position in commercial circles ere he passed away at his home in this city, December 12, 1921, at the age of sixty-seven years. He was born in Suffield, Connecticut, March 4, 1854, his parents being William and Mary (Endress) Soby. The father was also connected with the tobacco trade for a number of years but at the time of the Civil war put aside all business and personal considerations in order that he might join the Union forces, enlisting as a member of Company C, Seventh Connecticut Volunteer In- fantry. He was wounded at Pocotaligo, West Virginia, October 22, 1862, and passed away on the 9th of November following.

After mastering the rudimentary branches of learning in the public schools of Suffield, Charles Soby attended the Connecticut Literary Institute in his native town and when eighteen years of age came to Hartford with his brothers and sisters. Here he established a cigar factory and salesroom at 66 Asylum street. The business, started on a small scale, grew under his directions until he occupied almost an entire four-story building for the manufacture of cigars. He was the secretary and treas- urer of the Connecticut Tobacco Corporation, then engaged in the growing of six hundred and fifty acres of shade tobacco. Nor did Mr. Soby confine his attentions alone to this line. When William Gray invented the automatic toll equipment for the telephone, he asked Mr. Soby for financial aid and the latter responded, becom- ing one of the founders of the Gray Telephone Pay Station Company. This business was started on a small scale, Mr. Soby becoming one of the backers. He saw the opportunity in this patent and it was due to his ability as an organized that even- tually the company grew to the large and important concern it is today. The original cash value of the concern was placed at about twenty thousand dollars but today it has increased to over two million dollars and the credit of this belongs to Mr. Soby, who was president and treasurer of the company and actually the leading spirit in the business. He was also a director of the First National Bank and he was one of the stockholders of the Connecticut Fair Corporation, taking great interest in making its annual exhibit a notable success. A few weeks prior to his demise he was elected to the presidency of the corporation but did not live to carry out his well defined plans for the further development of its interests.

Mr. Soby was united in marriage to Miss Anna Hazlewood, daughter of William John Hazlewood, of Brooklyn, New York, and they became the parents of two sons: Ralph H., now twenty-four years of age; and James T., now twenty-one.

For many years Mr. Soby was well known as a lover of clean sports and as a promoter of baseball, serving as president of the Hartford Baseball Club from 1883 until 1886. About the same time he was also one of the backers of the Hartford Polo Club. He was likewise a charter member of the Hartford lodge of Elks and also of the Griffin A. Stedman Camp of the Sons of Veterans. In manner he was

CHARLES SOBY

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pleasant and cordial and never hesitated in imparting information about his various enterprises to others if he believed he could assist them in attaining success in busi- ness. Generous in spirit, he gave freely but unostentatiously to those who needed assistance and he was highly regarded because of his many sterling traits of char- acter and for the good that he did in the world as well as for the notable success which he achieved.

GEORGE ALEXANDER LONG

George Alexander Long, widely known as the maker of the first telephone pay box and now secretary and general manager of the Gray Telephone Pay Station Company, has come into prominence not only as a business executive but as an inventor, and his contribution to telephone service in that field is of incalculable worth. Born in Montreal, Canada, on the 3d of November, 1870, he is a son of George S. and Mary E. (Brockway) Long, the former a native of New York and a noted inventor of his time. The mother was a daughter of Judge Brockway, who repre- sented one of Connecticut's oldest families.

After acquiring a common school education George A. Long served a four years' apprenticeship as a pattern and model maker and then devoted eight years to con- tract work with the Pratt & Whitney Company. Subsequently he became foreman of the pattern department of the Phoenix Iron Works but after one year resigned to accept the position of general foreman of the National Machine Company. Since 1901 he has been continuously associated with the Gray Telephone Pay Station Com- pany and from the position of draftsman has passed successively through the positions of shop foreman, shop superintendent and general manager to become eventually the secretary of the corporation. He has to his credit over one hundred inventions on telephone toll apparatus and is the actual producer of the first device in the world for collecting toll charges by mechanical methods without the use of an attendant. He was chosen to build the first model of William Gray's invention when he was only sixteen years old and the insight, aptitude and intellect he displayed in the early work has proved to be the foundation upon which the imposing structure of the Gray Telephone Pay Station Company has been reared. A contemporary writer has said: "Practically his whole fruitful and creative life has been devoted to the telephone pay station. His life has been so active and full, that he has been granted more patents on telephone toll apparatus than any other single person. And quite naturally such marked activity produced considerable patent litigation in which he gave expert testimony with signal success. Among George A. Long's more promi- nent inventions are the first single-slot coin collector, the first three-slot, and the first portable coin collectors. Then he developed the combined telephone and pay station-the compact type-two thousand of which then especially designed, formed the Wanamaker installation in Philadelphia, the largest in the world. Large cities, like New York, required a prepayment collector, however, to keep lines free, so Long provided the first automatic, multi-coin prepay stations. Of these, over sixty thou- sand are in use in New York alone and their installation has become almost univer- sal. He anticipated machine-switching telephony with that rare discernment which fathoms the future with uncanny accuracy; so it is hardly surprising to find, that as early as 1905, fifty of his prepayment machines for this service were put to good use in Fall River, Massachusetts, on the Strowger system. George A. Long's activities and achievements in the telephone field have gained for him recognition as an eminent authority-which is doubly attested by special honors conferred on him by the United States and Japanese governments." Mr. Long has secured patents on his inventions not only in the United States but in Canada, the British Isles, Belgium, France and Japan, and in all these countries the product of his inventive genius is contributing to satisfactory telephone service. There are now innumerable kinds of coin collectors and other devices upon the market which are the direct result of the inventive genius of George Alexander Long. It is said that there are over seven hundred thousand of these now in use throughout the world. He was accorded a silver medal by the Panama-Pacific Exposition and he is a widely read contributor to the Electrical World and to the Southern Electrician on subjects concerning American telephone practice. In November, 1895, in Hartford, Mr. Long was married to Miss Grace L. Finley.

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He is an Episcopalian in religious faith and fraternally is a thirty-second degree Mason. He finds his chief source of recreation in golf and he is a member of the Wethersfield Country and the Shuttle Meadow clubs. His military experience covers six years with the First Company, Governor's Foot Guard, and eighteen years as lieutenant of the Putnam Phalanx. While his interests and activities have covered a broad scope, producing a well rounded character with no eccentricities and no hobbies, his attention has chiefly been given to business affairs and his achievement has brought him into membership connection with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. While his work is outstanding in scope and importance, his friends find him a most agreeable companion, his unfailing geniality and cordiality winning for him the warm regard of all whom he meets in social circles.

MILTON D. NEWMAN

Milton D. Newman entered upon a profession in which advancement is proverb- ially slow and, moreover, he was only of the second generation of his family in America, but with ready adaptability and unfaltering purpose he has steadily prog- ressed until he occupies an enviable position as a member of the Hartford bar, main- taining his office at 18 Asylum street, where he handles the interests of a large and representative clientele. Mr. Newman was born in this city June 10, 1902, and is a son of Solomon and Sarah Newman, who came from Russia and settled in Hartford. The son obtained a public school education here and afterward attended the New York University in preparation for a professional career. He there mastered the principles of law which won him his LL. B. degree upon his graduation with the class of 1924. In the following year he was admitted to the bar and has since engaged in the practice of his profession, in which he is making steady progress, practicing in the federal district court and also the state and county courts.

Mr. Newman has also been quite active in public affairs. He has always stanchly advocated the principles of the republican party and on its ticket was elected alder- man from the third ward on the 7th of April, 1925. Endorsement of his first term's service came to him in reelection on the 5th of April, 1927. He is now serving as a member of the republican committee of the town of Hartford and is a member of the Republican Club. As a member of the aldermanic board he is serving as chairman of the ordinance committee, one of the most important committees of the city council, and none question his fidelity to duty or his devoted interest to the wel- fare and progress of the city and state. Fraternally he is connected with Lafayette Lodge, No. 100, F. & A. M., and with the Knights of Pythias and has gained many warm friends among his brethren of those organizations.

STANLEY R. EDDY

Stanley R. Eddy, a veteran of the World war, has made good use of his oppor- tunities and is classed with New Britain's successful brokers and leading business men. He was born in this city on the 20th of November, 1890, and is a son of Elford B. and Mary (Welles) Eddy. His father was born in New Britain in 1856 and the mother was born in Newington, Connecticut, in 1864. Early in his career Elford B. Eddy became connected with the Stanley Rule & Level Company and remained with the corporation until his retirement from business. His political support was given to the republican party and his life was guided by the teachings of the Congre- gational church. He passed away in 1925, leaving three children: Mrs. Margaret Hooker, of Hartford; and E. Welles and Stanley R. Eddy.

The last named was a pupil in the Hotchkiss school and completed an academic course in Yale University in 1913. After leaving college he returned to his native city and for two years was a member of the office force of the New Britain Machine Company. In 1915 he entered the employ of Richter & Company, brokers and after the business was acquired by Putnam & Company he was placed in charge of the New Britain office, which he successfully managed until 1924. In March of that year he embarked in the brokerage business in partnership with his brother and they now

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(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)

MILTON D. NEWMAN

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have four offices, located in New Britain, Hartford, Meriden and New Haven. Their local office is at No. 65 West Main street and the rapid increase in their clientele is proof of their business acumen and high standards of service. Stanley R. Eddy is a director of the New Britain Trust Company, one of the substantial financial institutions of Hartford county.

In 1917 Mr. Eddy enlisted in the United States Naval Reserves and at the end of six months was transferred to the regular army, becoming a member of the Three Hundred and Third Field Artillery. He was made sergeant of his company and went overseas with the Seventy-sixth, a replacement division, which was ordered to the Metz front. On April 26, 1919, he returned to the United States, receiving his hon- orable discharge five days later, and then resumed his work with Richter & Company.

Mr. Eddy was married June 19, 1917, to Miss Alice Hart, a native of Chicago, Illinois, and they now have two sons: Howard Hart, who was born March 9, 1919; and Norman Cooley, born February 9, 1920. The parents are Congregationalists in religious faith and Mrs. Eddy is active in social affairs. Mr. Eddy casts his ballot for the candidates of the republican party and loyally supports all movements for the good of his city. He is a member of the American Legion and the New Britain and Shuttle Meadow Clubs. His progress has not resulted from any fortunate combi- nation of circumstances, but is directly attributable to his own efforts and ability. Mr. Eddy's many friends in New Britain have watched his career with much interest and are thoroughly appreciative of his sterling worth.

A. PARKER ABBE

A. Parker Abbe, president and treasurer of the Abbe Hardware Company, Inc., at New Britain, is thus at the head of one of the mercantile enterprises here which has been in existence for forty-five years and has long been accounted one of the foremost commercial interests of the city. New Britain numbers him among her native sons, he having been born in 1886. His father, A. Howard Abbe, removed from Enfield, Connecticut, to New Britain about 1880 but had previously been employed in Hartford by the Cone Hardware Company, having the oldest business in that line in the capital city. He was very active in public affairs in New Britain, lending his aid and influence always on the side of progress and improvement. He became closely associated with the hardware trade here and was at the head of the Business Men's Association, which indicated the fact that he was a recognized leader in the commercial circles of the city. Particularly in hardware circles he was widely known not only locally but throughout the country, and at one time he was called to the vice presidency of the National Retail Hardware Association. He married Nellie Parker, who was born in Meriden, Connecticut, and they became the parents of two sons, one deceased, and a daughter, also deceased. Both Mr. and Mrs. Abbe were consistent members of the First Congregational church and he also held membership with the Masons and the Elks. He never faltered in his loyalty to any cause which he espoused and he remained a valued and honored resident of New Britain until 1915, when he was called to the home beyond. His widow survives and is yet a resi- dent of New Britain.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 57

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