History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 67

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 67

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Mr. Dunn was united in marriage to Miss Isobel Martin and they have become the parents of three children: Mary, Rita and George. Dr. Dunn and his wife are widely and favorably known in New Britain, where he has now made his home for nineteen years. He feels a keen interest in the welfare and upbuilding of the com- munity but has had no time for active participation in public interests outside the strict path of his profession. In large measure he enjoys the high regard of his professional colleagues and contemporaries and he holds membership in the Hartford County, Connecticut State and American Medical Associations and the American College of Surgeons.

HON. ERNEST WILSON CHRIST

Ernest Wilson Christ, vice president and secretary of The Stanley Works of New Britain, deserves much credit for what he has accomplished inasmuch as he started out in the business world as office boy with the corporation which he now represents as one of its chief executives. His promotions have been well earned, and merit and ability have carried him to his present relation. New Britain numbers him among her native sons, he having been born here April 12, 1876, his parents being Ernest K. and Jennie Burnett (Wilson) Christ. After attending the public schools and the New Britain high school he made his initial step in the business world in 1894, and though he occupied the minor position of office boy with The Stanley Works, he transformed necessity into opportunity by so faithfully performing each task assigned him that he rapidly gained promotion. He was energetic and determined and at all points in his business career has been actuated by a laudable ambition. Step by step he has advanced and in 1919 he was elected secretary and in 1927 vice president and secretary of the corporation, which controls one of the most important business interests of New Britain. Nor is his activity confined alone to one line, for as the years have passed his cooperation has been sought in other fields and he has

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become a director of the Stanley Chemical Company, of the Farmington River Power Company, of the Savings Bank of New Britain, the City National Bank and the William H. Hall Construction Company. In his vocabulary there is no such word as fail, and obstacles and difficulties in his path seem to serve as an impetus for renewed effort on his part. He never stops short of the successful achievement of his purpose and the methods which he pursues are such as neither seek nor require disguise.

Mr. Christ has also figured prominently in the political activity of the state. He has always voted with the republican party, became a member of the republican town committee and in 1908 was elected its chairman. He has served as a member of the common council and as alderman and was president pro tem for a number of terms. In 1923 he was chosen to represent his district in the state legislature and was made house chairman of the finance committee. He became the first president of the New Britain Chamber of Commerce and was appointed manufacturing member of the industrial wastes board by Governor Holcomb. During the World war he was chairman of the war relief board and was local coal administrator under State Administrator Russell. He was appointed by Governor Templeton a member of the tax exempt committee, of which he was made chairman, and from Governor Trum- bull he received appointment to membership on the state board of healing arts and is so serving at the present time. His official record has always been a commendable one and his service has proven of great value to community and commonwealth, for at all times he is actuated by a progressive spirit that is governed by sound practical experience.

Mr. Christ was married in New Britain to Miss Gertrude E. Hall, a daughter of Henry A. and Lucy J. Hall. Their children are Edward H., Curtis W., Henry A., Margaret E. and Barbara B. Mr. and Mrs. Christ are widely and favorably known in New Britain and have a circle of friends almost coextensive with the circle of their acquaintance. Mr. Christ belongs to the New Britain Club and to the Shuttle Meadow Club. He also has membership in the Young Men's Christian Association having had charge for several years of their debating club. His cooperation is always counted upon as a valued factor in the accomplishment of any given project and as a business man and citizen he ranks high.

ROBERT H. WILLIAMS

Having devoted his entire life to the insurance business and received his training as a representative of some of the best known and most reliable insurance men of the country, Robert H. Williams is now vice president of the Travelers Fire Insurance Company, to which office he was called in January, 1925. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, February 10, 1886, he supplemented his high school training by study in the University of Nashville and at the age of eighteen years he turned his attention to insurance by becoming office boy with the firm of Gale & Frizzell in his native city. His mental alertness, his genial disposition and his loyalty to the interests of the firm brought him advancement and after serving as bookkeeper he became chief clerk and gained con- siderable knowledge concerning the insurance business at a time when the agency did more of the work that is now done by the companies for the agent. He thoroughly familiarized himself with underwriting and organization work and when but twenty- two years of age was appointed special agent for the western department of the Insur- ance Company of North America, with headquarters at Erie, Pennsylvania. He repre- sented that corporation in Tennessee and Kentucky and later won the attention of J. M. De Camp of the Liverpool & London & Globe, who a year later appointed him to the position of state agent for Tennessee. Through the succeeding five years he bent every energy to the development of the company's business in Tennessee, organizing the business in that state in such a manner that its premium income was greatly increased. In April, 1917, he was transferred to the western New York field, where again he demonstrated his superior qualifications as an organizer. In July, 1919, he was assigned to executive work in the office of the United States manager at New York and in 1920 was advanced to the position of assistant deputy manager, while in 1922 he' became deputy manager. He was serving the Liverpool & London & Globe in that connection when offered the vice presidency of the Travelers Fire Insurance Company of Hartford and entered upon the duties of his present position on the 1st of January,

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(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)

ROBERT H. WILLIAMS

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1925. It was at that time that the Travelers Fire became an operating company and through the intervening period he has developed the business to notable proportions. Again his powers of organization and of executive control have been called into full play and the history of the development of the business now constitutes an important chapter in insurance annals in Connecticut.

In organizations of fire insurance companies and fire insurance men Mr. Williams has been an important factor. He is a member of the Insurance Society of New York, a fellow in the Insurance Institute of America, a member of the National Fire Pro- tective Association and Ancient and Honorable Order of the Blue Goose. He is also a member of the Hartford Club, Hartford Golf Club, Wampanoag Country Club of Hart- ford, and the Bankers Club and Drug and Chemical Club of New York city.

WILLIAM THOMAS MORRISSEY, M. D.

Dr. William Thomas Morrissey, physician and surgeon of New Britain, was born at Unionville, Connecticut, April 7, 1882, and is a son of William and Mary Morrissey. He supplemented the work of the grades by a high school course and then entered the Holy Cross Academy, from which he was graduated in 1904. Soon afterward he became an instructor of mathematics in the Freehold Military Academy, with which he remained until 1905, when he carried out his plans to prepare for medical practice by entering the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore. He was graduated winning his M. D. degree and then putting his theoretical knowledge to practical test by serving as interne in the Providence Hospital at Washington, D. C. After leaving the national capital he opened an office in Unionville, where he remained in practice until 1913, when he became associated with the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital of New York city, there remaining for two years. The next two-year period was passed in Unionville, after which he was commissioned a first lieutenant in the med- ical arsenal laboratory of the aviation section at Hazelhurst, Long Island. In 1920 he came to New Britain, where he has since maintained his office, and through the interven- ing period of eight years he has specialized in the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear and nose, being particularly skillful in this branch of practice. He is on the surgical staff of the New Britain Hospital and his ability is recognized by his professional colleagues and contemporaries and by the general public.

In New Britain, Dr. Morrissey was married to Miss Agnes Curtin and their children, three in number, are Anne, William and Mary. Dr. Morrissey belongs to various social organizations, including the New Britain, Shuttle Meadow, Chippanee Country and Sequin clubs, and his pleasing personality has gained for him many friends.

WALTER L. GOODWIN

Walter L. Goodwin is associated with various financial and industrial corpora- tions and is managing large estate interests. Born in New York, September 3, 1875, he is a son of James J. and Josephine Sarah (Lippincott) Goodwin, of Hartford, of whom extented mention is made elsewhere in this work.

His preparatory college course was pursued in St. Mark's School at Southboro, Massachusetts, after which he entered Yale and won the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1897. The same year he started out in the business world as a clerk with J. P. Morgan & Company of New York, there continuing until 1901, when he returned to Hartford and has since been associated with the management of the estates of his father and uncle, J. J. and F. Goodwin. Important interests are therefore under his control and in the management thereof he has measured up to the highest standards of executive direction. He is seldom, if ever, at fault in his judgment concerning a business oppor- tunity and in the management of his affairs has ever displayed a most progressive spirit. He is now a director of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, of the Hartford- Connecticut Trust Company, of the Phoenix State Bank & Trust Company, the So- ciety for Savings and many other financial and industrial institutions which figure prominently in the business development and stability of city and state.

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On the 7th of January, 1921, Mr. Goodwin married Miss Olga V. Hempstone, a daughter of Flavius Hempstone, of New York. The children of his first marriage are Walter L., Jr., Henry Sage, Grenville and John B. L. Mr. Goodwin has member- ship connection with the Hartford and Hartford Golf Clubs, the University Club of New York, the Racquet and Tennis Club of New York and the Meadowbrook Club of New York. An early devotee to pony polo, he introduced the sport in Hartford and became one of the leading players of the country, maintaining a remarkable string of mounts at his beautiful Hartford home and other places. He has always voted with the republican party and Hartford made him a representative on the board of aldermen from the fourth ward in 1906, while in 1909 he represented the second senatorial district in the upper house of the general assembly of Connecticut, and upon the problems of the commonwealth he brought to bear the same discrimination and keen inteligence which he has ever displayed in the management of his private business interests and added thereto a spirit of marked devotion to the general good.

WILLIAM JOSEPH HICKMOTT, JR.

An active, energetic business man is William Joseph Hickmott, Jr., the president of the Hartford Oil Service, Inc. He is a native of the city in which he still resides, he having been born here February 6, 1889. His parents, William J. and Hattie A. (Safford) Hickmott, are also natives of Connecticut and the father was prominently known in insurance circles, having been with the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company for about forty-five years. He is now living retired, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil. He has figured somewhat prominently in community affairs and at one time represented the fifth ward as city councilman.

Pursuing his education in the public schools, William J. Hickmott, Jr., completed the work of successive grades until graduated from the high school with the class of 1907. He later entered the employ of the Aetna Life Insurance Company and spent seventeen years with that corporation, but desirous that his labors should more directly benefit himself, he organized the Hartford Oil Service, Inc., in May, 1926, and has since engaged in business under that name. This company supplies oil for domestic burners and acts as distributor for the New England Oil Refining Company, manufacturers of Mayflower products. Under the present management the business has been very suc- cessful and is steadily growing. Mr. Hickmott is the president of the company, with Alfred M. Kohn as vice president, C. R. Boardman as secretary, James A. Coleman as treasurer and A. W. Hyde as attorney.

On the 20th of June, 1917, Mr. Hickmott was married to Miss Pauline Bidwell, a daughter of Daniel Bidwell. He is a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Connecticut and he belongs also to the City Club and to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained high rank. It is said that all men have a hobby, and with Mr. Hickmott this may be found in his ownership of some of the finest bred dogs in the country, including Belgian sheep dogs which won the cups for the best American-bred dog and puppy in the United States. His kennels include some very fine stock and the Maple Rock Kennels are today well known throughout the country. He is never content save with the best and this is characteristic of all that he under- takes, whether in business or otherwise.

JAMES HAZLETON TALLMAN

A notable example of a well spent life is afforded in the career of James Hazle- ton Tallman, who has been closely identified with business and financial affairs of Hartford for more than forty years and has also performed his share of public ser- vice. He was born in Scotland, Connecticut, June 7, 1847, and traces his ancestry to Ed- ward Fuller, who was one of the signers of the Mayflower compact. Mr. Tallman is also a direct descendant of Samuel Gorton, solicitor general of the colony of Newport and plantations. The Hazletons, his forbears in the maternal line, were ,early settlers of Haddam, Connecticut, and Captain James Hazleton of that town was a member of the general assembly of Connecticut. The parents of James H. Tallman were the Rev.

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WILLIAM J. HICKMOTT, JR.

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Thomas and Frances Maria (Hazleton) Tallman, natives of Middlesex county, Con- necticut. The father was a Congregational minister and was pastor of the church in Scotland, Connecticut, from 1842 until 1860, a period of eighteen years. In 1866 he became a member of the state legislature and served for two terms, espousing the moral side of every issue. He was a true Christian and an earnest follower of the faith he preached.

James H. Tallman obtained his early instruction in his native town and next attended Williston Academy, a preparatory school at Easthampton, Massachusetts. In 1867 he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and then took up the study of law. In 1868 he matriculated in the Harvard Law School, which he left a year later, and completed his legal training in the office of Welch & Shipman, Hartford attorneys. On the 29th of October, 1869, Mr. Tallman was admitted to the bar of Connecticut and located in Hartford, where he practiced successfully for twelve years. Since 1881 he has been a member of the firm of George W. Moore & Company, investment brokers, and his well directed labors have constituted a vital force in the development and success of the business. Mr. Tallman was one of the auditors of the Mechanics Savings Bank of Hartford for more than twenty years and has a detailed knowledge of the various phases of financial affairs, acquired by close study and years of practical experience.

On the 30th of October, 1873, Mr. Tallman was married in Boston, Massachusetts, to Miss Alice Elizabeth Graves, of Thompson, Connecticut, and three daughters were born to them: Grace, who is the widow of Edgar B. Burr; Alice, the wife of Dr. C. Brewster Brainard; and Marion, who is Mrs. Leonard A. Ellis, of San Diego, California.

For many years Mr. Tallman has been a member of the Hartford Historical Society and the Educational and University Clubs. He is also identified with the Yale Alumni Association and adheres to the faith in which he was reared, being a devout member of the Congregational church. At one time he was clerk of the probate court for the district of Thompson and served as judge of that court for two years. A strong advocate of the cause of education, he was made chairman of the West Middle school board and acted in that capacity for about fourteen years, rendering valuable service to the district. In April, 1880, he purchased his home at No. 25 Niles street and has lived in the same dwelling and at the same address for forty-eight years. Time has dealt kindly with Mr. Tallman, who is well preserved in mind and body, and although eighty-one years of age, he is on duty at his desk each day, deriving pleasure from the knowledge that he is still able to perform useful work. Wisely conserving the gifts with which nature endowed him, Mr. Tallman has extracted from life the real essence of living and his admirable traits of char- acter have won for him the strong and enduring regard of all with whom he has been associated.

EUGENE C. HEACOX

Eugene C. Heacox is general manager at Unionville for the Bourne-Fuller Com- pany, Inc., manufacturers of bolts and nuts, and is thus closely associated with an enterprise that features largely in the business activity and material development of this city. A native of Connecticut, he was born at Pine Meadow in 1874, being one of the five sons of Charles and Julia M. (Hackney) Heacox. The father was a mechanic and machinist who followed that line of activity throughout his entire business career but is now living retired in Unionville, enjoying a well earned rest. He is a Civil war veteran, is a blue lodge Mason and a member of the Methodist church. His wife passed away in 1920.

At the usual age Eugene C. Heacox became a public school pupil in Unionville, mastering the work of successive grades until he completed his high school course in 1891, when he became a student in the Huntsinger Business College at Hartford. He was thus well trained for life's practical duties and responsibilities and he started out in the business world with the Upson-Hart Company in the capacity of book- keeper about 1892, thus continuing until 1897, when he became identified with the Upson Nut Company, with which he has since remained. Today the business is carried on by the Bourne-Fuller Company, Inc., which was organized in Cleveland, and Mr. Heacox, advancing steadily step by step through an orderly progression, is now plant

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manager, having charge of the manufacture of bolts and nuts of all descriptions, while general repair work in their line is also carried on. The products are sold from the Cleveland office, the company being jobbers as well as manufacturers. The Union- ville plant employs about one hundred people and for thirty-one years Mr. Heacox has been continuously associated with this business under the ownership of the Upson Nut Company and its successors, the Bourne-Fuller Company, which took over the business in 1917. The Upson Nut Company was one of the oldest in this line in Unionville, having been established in 1854 by Dwight Langdon, who began the man- ufacture of carriage bolts and nuts, and throughout all the intervening years to the present the business has been carried on and is an important unit of the Bourne- Fuller interests owing to the wise management and successful direction of Mr. Hea- cox, who is thoroughly familiar with every feature of the trade and thus manifests sound judgment in directing the labors of those who serve under him. He is also president of the Unionville Bank & Trust Company and a director of the Unionville Water Company, of which he is secretary and manager.

In 1895 Mr. Heacox was married to Miss Alice M. Brewer, who was born in Unionville, and they have one daughter, Marjorie Wilmot, who was born in 1906, is a graduate of the Farmington high school and now a senior in Wheaton College at Norton, Massachusetts. The religious faith of the family is that of the Congregational church and in his political views Mr. Heacox is a republican. He served as a member at the Home Guard Company of Unionville under Captain George Jenkins and he is interested in civic affairs, becoming the second warden after the borough form of government was adopted. He filled that office for one year, has also served on the school board, as a member of the town board of finance and as treasurer of the Union school district. His social activities include connection with the Avon Country Club and the City Club of Hartford.

BERNHARD LYON

Bernhard Lyon, president of the street board of Hartford and at all times regard- ing a public office as a public trust, was born in this city February 29, 1872, a son of Jacob and Hannah (Guggenheimer) Lyon, the former a native of Alsace, Germany, while the mother was born in Munich, Germany. They came to the United States in 1863 and settled in Hartford, where the father engaged in business. He was a copper- smith and was engaged in the sheet metal business during his life, his son Bernhard succeeding him in this undertaking.

Attending the Brown school, Bernhard Lyon mastered the work of consecutive grades until graduated with the class of 1887, subsequent to which time he attended high school. When his course was completed he learned the plumbing trade with Thomas Oakes and then entered business with his father and his brother Felix. After the father's death in 1918 the brothers took over the business and have continued this enterprise, which has been established here through fifty-five years and is one of the oldest in this line in Hartford. The same spirit of reliability and the same quality of thoroughness in work that was manifest at the beginning has been continued through the intervening years and the owners are regarded as most substantial business men of the capital city.

In 1896 Mr. Lyon was united in marriage to Miss Celia Fischer, of Hartford. They are the parents of a daughter, Delphine, who is the wife of Sol Kohn. Mr. Lyon is very fond of travel and has made frequent trips to Europe, finding much to occupy his time and attention in the places of modern and historic interest. In community affairs of his native city he has taken an active part. For eight years he served on the board of health under Mayor Henney, Mayor Cheney and Mayor Hooker and did effective work in that connection. He is president of the Employers Association, vice president of the Hartford Open Shop and is in touch with all that has to do with the improvement of business conditions here. Matters affecting the youth of the country also receive his earnest attention and he is now a director of the Boy Scouts and a member of the Good Will Club. He belongs to the Lions Club, the City Club and the Tumble Brook Country Club and he is a loyal member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1924 he was elected street com- missioner, was made vice president of the board in 1926 and became its president in

(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)

BERNHARD LYON

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1927. He assisted in the registration at the time of the World war, in which his nephew, Maurice Herman, was killed, making the supreme sacrifice at the battle of Verdun. All that has to do with progressive citizenship awakens his interest and receives his cooperation and he is rendering important service to his fellowmen in the efficient discharge of the official duties and responsibilities that devolve upon him.

GEORGE K. MACAULEY

George K. Macauley, vice president of the New Britain Lumber Company, with which business he has been closely associated since 1905, contributing in a substantial measure to its growing success, was born in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1875, and pursued his education in the schools of his native province. He was a young man of about twenty-three years when he crossed the border, establishing his home in Boston, where he became identified with the lumber trade as a representative of the Leatherbee Lumber Company. He filled the position of lumber surveyor and was with that company until 1905, when he came to New Britain to accept the posi- tion of manager with the New Britain Lumber Company. Throughout the interven- ing period of twenty-three years he has been closely associated with the business and in 1912 was elected vice president, adding the duties of that office to his work as general manager. They are the largest operators in New Britain. Lumber is shipped to them from the south, from the Pacific coast and from Quebec, Canada, and they handle everything in building supplies, their trade having now reached gratifying proportions as the direct outcome of the careful management and well devised plans of Mr. Macauley, who has been the active head of the concern for sixteen years. He is likewise vice president and a director of the Bristol Lumber Company and is thoroughly familiar with the lumber trade in all of its phases from both the produc- tion and sales standpoints. He has membership in the Connecticut Retail Dealers Association and also in the Northeastern Lumbermen's Association and keeps in close connection with the trade in every particular.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 67

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