History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 87

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 87

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In the schools of his native city Edward H. Hezlett acquired his preliminary education and afterward matriculated in Harvard College, from which he was grad- uated as honor man in mathematics in 1913, when the Bachelor of Science degree was conferred upon him. In the fall of the same year he became associated with the Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, doing clerical work, and there remained until December, 1915, when he secured a situation with the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company. Again he worked in a clerical capacity until October, 1917, when at the call to arms he enlisted for service in the World war. He had applied for entrance into the aviation service in July of that year and had enlisted in October, being called for active duty in February, 1918, while in July, 1918, he was made a second lieutenant in the Reserve Military Aviation branch of the army. He traveled over the country while with the army and left the service in December, 1918, after which he returned and resumed his clerical connection with the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company. Later he became an associate of the Actuarial Society of America in 1918 and was made a fellow of the society in 1921, passing his last exam-

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ination in Texas while in the army service. He was elected a member of the council in 1928. He was elected assistant actuary of the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company in 1921, was made associate actuary in 1924 and actuary in 1926, while in 1928 he became vice president and actuary.

On the 20th of September, 1921, Mr. Hezlett was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude E. Whitworth, of Somerville, Massachusetts, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Lefevre) Whitworth. They are the parents of two children: Edward H., born August 13, 1924; and Elizabeth, who was born September 6, 1925. Mrs. Hezlett is president of the Radcliffe Club of Hartford and also secretary of the College Club, taking a keen and helpful interest in affairs of that kind. Mr. Hezlett belongs to the University Club of Hartford and to the West Hartford Post of the American Legion. He is also serving on the finance board of West Hartford and is interested in the welfare of the city, cooperating in all those measures which feature in the development and progress of the community. In days of peace he manifests the same spirit of loyalty that he displayed in war times and his victories are now those of mind over matter.

FRED N. TILTON

In assuming the presidency of the Atlantic Screw Works, Inc., Fred N. Tilton became the executive head of an important industry of Hartford, located at 85 Charter Oak avenue. He is proving adequate to the exacting requirements of the position and his wise management is manifest in the successful control of the under- taking. He was born August 30, 1868, in the city in which he still makes his home, and is a son of David and Mary Jane (Russell) Tilton, the former a native of Mere- dith, New Hampshire, and the latter of Manchester, New Hampshire. About 1861 they became residents of Hartford. The father, who was born November 29, 1834, had gone to Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1853 to learn the machinist's trade in the shops of the famous Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. He became connected with the Atlantic Screw Works about 1879. Four years before the Castleton Screw Company began the manufacture of wood screws at Castleton-on-the-Hudson, New York, and struggled along for two years, losing about seventy thousand dollars of their own money and thirty-five thousand dollars more borrowed from George W. Bruce, a wholesale hardware merchant of New York city. In 1877 Mr. Bruce took possession in order to secure his loan and the machinery was destroyed. In the meantime David Tilton, the superintendent of the plant, had made various special improvements in the original Castleton threading machine, of which Mr. Bruce approved, and he decided to develop this machine and start in the business anew. He had unlimited confidence in Mr. Tilton and in his machine, a model of which was built and fully tested in Brooklyn, New York, with a daily inspection of the product for quality and quantity. This resulted in more machines being built like it and in November, 1879, a factory was opened under the name of the Atlantic Screw Works, where the daily manufacture for nearly ten years exceeded the original promises of the inventor and gave Mr. Bruce confidence to such an extent that he spent about three years in Europe, at large expense, taking out foreign patents. He also induced Mr. Tilton to spend nine months in France and Belgium exhibiting this threader, sometimes under very trying circumstances, Mr. Bruce had a duplicate plant built to locate abroad that he might demonstrate the merits of the machine but because of ill health he was forced to return to New York, where he died November 14, 1887, his will providing for the sale of the plant to David Tilton, who had been his super- intendent all these years. The sale was consummated and under his immediate owner- ship and guidance the business was carried on by Mr. Tilton, who in 1902 erected the present commodious factory on Charter Oak avenue. Much of the machinery now utilized was the result of his inventive genius and well devised plans. He remained at the head of the business until April, 1908, when he retired and was succeeded by his son, Fred N. His remaining days were passed in well earned rest until his death, on the 26th of April, 1914. He was survived by three children, the daughters being Mrs. Morton F. Miner and Lela A.

The son, Fred N. Tilton, pursued his early education in the Charter Oak school and the old Dwight school. When his textbooks were put aside in 1887, and when a youth of nineteen years, he entered the factory of the Atlantic Screw Works and

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(Photograph by The Johnstone Studir)

FRED N. TILTON

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bent his energies to the task of thoroughly acquainting himself with and learning the business in all of its departments. He gained a thorough knowledge of the enterprise both as to the methods of manufacture and as to the disposal of the product on the market, and was therefore well qualified to take charge when his father turned the business over to him in 1908. Following his father's death he incorporated the business in 1915 and has since been president of the company. They manufacture wood screws exclusively, and something of the volume of their trade is indicated in the fact that they employ about one hundred people and their product finds a market throughout the entire United States.

On the 16th of July, 1892, Mr. Tilton was married to Miss Alice Belle Curry, of Hartford, and they have one daughter, Doris Belle, who is the wife of Roy Johnson, of Palmer, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Tilton make their home at 82 Charter Oak avenue, where he has resided since 1891. He holds membership in the Farmington Club and the Wethersfield Golf Club and is also a member of the East Haddam Fish and Game Club, largely turning to the out-of-doors for his recreation when his business permits of leisure. He has proven a man of excellent executive power, clear business foresight and keen discrimination, and the enterprise with which he has been associated through practically his entire business life is today one of the impor- tant productive industries of Hartford.

HON. ALEXANDER T. PATTISON

Various business interests have felt the stimulus of the cooperation of Hon. Alexander T. Pattison, whose intelligently directed effort has brought about notable results. He has been closely associated with mercantile interests, with tobacco grow- ing and with dairying and his efforts have ever been of a character that have con- tributed to general prosperity as well as to individual success. Simsbury therefore numbers him among her most valued residents. He was born in East Weatogue, in the town of Simsbury, March 26, 1861, his parents being Joseph and Delilah (Sceery) Pattison. The father was born in County Antrim, Ireland, October 16, 1833, and was a son of Joseph and Mary (Brown) Pattison. In the spring of 1855 he came to the United States, settling in Simsbury, where he married and reared his family. He followed farming in this vicinity, making a specialty of the growing of tobacco and of the dairy business. He died in 1915, while his wife, who was born October 31, 1838, passed away in January, 1928. In their family were seven children, four sons and three daughters, who are yet living.

Reared under the parental roof, A. T. Pattison devoted his youth largely to the acquirement of an education, supplementing his district school training by study in the Granby Academy and in Professor McLean's school in Simsbury. His elementary business training was received under his father's direction and in the spring of 1880 he secured a clerkship in a store in Simsbury, thus becoming connected with the business of which he is now the head. The business had been established by Mr. Wilcox in 1851 and was conducted under the firm style of Wilcox & Company until January 1, 1927, when it was incorporated and the name changed to Pattison & Com- pany. Not only is a large line of general merchandise handled, but the company also includes in its activities the sale of lumber, lime and cement. This is probably the largest merchandise business in the valley and the substantial development of the trade is largely attributable to the efforts and enterprise of Mr. Pattison, who has long been in charge and upon the incorporation of the business became president and general manager, with George E. Pattison, George S. Hart, Minor E. Stoddard and Mrs. Minnie S. Pommeau as his associates in the undertaking. To speak of Mr. Pat- tison, however, merely as a merchant would be to give a one-sided view of his active career, for he has been connected with various enterprises and projects which have featured largely in the commercial, agricultural and financial development of this part of the state. He is a director of the Simsbury Electric Company, of which he was formerly president. He now occupies the position of director of the water company, is a director of the Simsbury Bank & Trust Company, is president of the board of trustees of the library and secretary of the Simsbury Cemetery Association. He is probably one of the largest individual shade tobacco growers of the state, owning and operating about five hundred acres of land. He is likewise the owner of a fine dairy

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herd and his sound business judgment is regarded as a valuable asset to any organi- zation or to any business with which he has become associated. Obstacles and diffi- culties in his path have ever seemed to serve as an impetus for renewed effort on his part and he never stops short of the successful accomplishment of his purposes. On the 7th of October, 1885, Mr. Pattison was united in marriage to Miss Ella Ruth Wilcox, who was born in Simsbury, October 23, 1862, and is a daughter of Judson and Nancy S. (Chapman) Wilcox, representing one of the oldest families of this section of the state. The ancestral line is traced back to William Wilcox, of Stratford, Connecticut, who was born at St. Albans, in Hertfordshire, England, in 1601 and came to the new world when thirty-four years of age. He established his home in Massachusetts but in 1639 removed to Stratford, Connecticut. His son, Sergeant Samuel Wilcox, removed from Stratford to Meadow Plains in 1667 and died March 12, 1713. He was the grandfather of Lieutenant William Wilcox, who was born in 1727 and at the outbreak of the Revolutionary war left Simsbury for Lexington. He died in 1775. His son, Dan Wilcox, was born March 25, 1772, and married Esther Merritt, who was born March 8, 1771. He spent the latter part of his life in Weatogue, where he died November 10, 1860. He reared a large family, including Judson Wil- cox, who was born at Barkhamsted, March 18, 1808, and died at Simsbury, June 6, 1879. Judson Wilcox early learned the carpenter's trade which he followed for several years. On the 20th of April, 1831, he married Ruth Tuller and a few years later removed to Illinois. Subsequently he resided in Ohio and then returned to Hartford county, where he engaged in peddling and other work until he had acquired sufficient capital to enable him to open a store in Simsbury Center. This was in 1851 and he thus became the founder of the business now carried on under the style of Pattison & Company. His first wife died in Simsbury, December 19, 1860, and on the 9th of October, 1861, he married Nancy S. Chapman. Of this marriage was born a daughter, Ella Ruth, who became Mrs. Pattison. By her marriage she had four children: Mrs. Lucy Wilcox (Pattison) Hart, who was born October 14, 1886; Stella Chapman, now deceased; Julia E., who was born October 26, 1890; and Mrs. Ruth Francis Stoddard, born June 8, 1903.

In his political views Mr. Pattison has always been a stalwart republican, giving unfaltering support to the principles of the party. He has figured prominently in the public life of the community and was chairman of the committee that recom- mended the establishment of the high school in Simsbury and which built and turned over to the town without cost a substantial high school building. In November, 1896, he was elected to the state legislature and he loyally supported every measure which he deemed vital to the community. He was a member of the house in 1897, of the senate in 1903 and was reelected in 1905. He served as chairman of the appropriation committee during both sessions and when he again became a member of the house in 1927 was also again made a member of the appropriation committee. He was ap- pointed on the arsenal and armory commission by Governor Roberts and thus served until the building was dedicated and turned over to the state. For more than fifty years he has been a member of the Congregational church, taking a very active part in church work, serving for an extended period on its official board and in other offices. He is a member of the Missionary Society of Connecticut and chairman of its finance committee, which handles the trust fund for ministers. No plan or project for the general good has sought his aid in vain and his activities have been a vital force in the upbuilding and progress of this section of the state.

HON. SHERMAN W. EDDY

Hon. Sherman W. Eddy, who represents Avon in the state legislature, has influ- enced the agricultural progress of Connecticut to a notable extent, at the same time achieving success in business affairs, and he is also a prominent clubman. He was born in Troy, New York, in 1879, and after the completion of his high school course matriculated in the Connecticut Agricultural College, from which he was gradu- ated in 1905. Soon after the explosion which wrecked the Avon plant of the Ensign-Bickford Company in 1905, he entered the employ of the corporation and for twenty-two years has been superintendent of operations here. This is an office of large responsibility and his long retention therein is an eloquent testimonial to the

(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)

HON. SHERMAN W. EDDY

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quality of his service. He is a director of the Avon Water Company and has long been active in agricultural affairs. Mr. Eddy developed Towpath Gardens, a large project which was later taken over by Avon College, and he supervises the operation of a large sheep and trout farm in the vicinity of East Hartland, Connecticut. He is now developing a sheep ranch known as the Moosehorn Farm at East Hartland. This ranch has one of the most unusual sheep barns, which was especially designed by Mr. Eddy and is not only unique in its architectural beauty but is of a very practical worth. He was the designer of the very attractive Avon Country Club and also had supervision of its construction.

In 1900 Mr. Eddy was married in Stratford, Connecticut, to Miss Grace Blackman, who died in 1917. She had become the mother of three sons: Bernard B., who was born in 1903 and after his graduation from the University of Michigan became asso- ciated with the firm of Desmond, Eddy & Warner, well known landscape architects of Simsbury, with whom he still continues; Julian B., born in 1909; and Donald B., who was born in 1913 and is attending the Simsbury high school. In 1919 Mr. Eddy married Miss Marion Sparner, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and they have become the parents of two children: Barbara Ann, who was born in 1924; and James Henry, born in 1926.

Mr. Eddy is a member of the Congregational church and chairman of its board of trustees. In politics he is a republican and occupies a seat in the lower house of the general assembly of Connecticut, lending the weight of his support to all con- structive legislation. He is a Royal Arch Mason; a director of the State Agricultural Society; a member of the local and state bodies of the Grange, in which he has held office; a member of the Hartford County Farm Bureau; chairman of the executive committee of the 4 H Boys' Club; president of the building committee of the Avon Country Club; vice president of the Kiwanis Club of Hartford and a member of its agricultural committee. Mr. Eddy has been the recipient of important trusts and in every instance has acquitted himself with dignity, fidelity and honor. His activities have touched life at many points and his worth as a man and as a citizen is uniformly acknowledged.

H. RUSSELL TRYON

Endowed by nature with a special talent for mathematics, H. Russell Tryon has achieved success in the field of accounting and occupies a prominent place in business circles of South Manchester. A native of Manchester, he was born in 1891 a son of Charles W. and Harriet Tryon, who were lifelong residents of Hartford county. His boyhood was spent of his father's farm and his early instruction was obtained in Glastonbury. He attended the Manchester high school and in 1908 was graduated from the Morse Business College in Hartford. In the same year he entered the employ of the Hale department store and worked in all of the departments, acquiring a practical knowledge of the business, and in 1912 he became a bookkeeper, afterward specializing in auditing, and is now secretary and assistant treasurer of The J. W. Hale Company of South Manchester. He has charge of the credit department, also managing the office, and plays an important part in the conduct of the business. In the discharge of his duties he brings to bear the energy and zest of youth and is also methodical, painstaking and efficient.

In 1919 Mr. Tryon married Miss Anna Ruth McIntosh, of Manchester, a daughter of Herbert L. and Jessie (Hayes) McIntosh. Mr. and Mrs. Tryon are popular in social circles of the community. During the World war Mr. Tryon was assigned to duty in the quartermaster's department of the United States Army and was made sergeant of his company. His military service covered one year and in 1919 he was honorably discharged. He belongs to Dillsworth Cornell Post, No. 102, of the American Legion and to the 40 & 8 Club, the social branch of that organization. In Masonry he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish rite and has held various offices in the order. He has crossed the hot sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic shrine and is connected with the Patrol Association of Sphinx Temple. Mr. Tryon also belongs to the local chapter of the Eastern Star, and the Order of Amar- anth. He attends the Methodist Episcopal church and his wife is an earnest worker in its behalf. He is also a member of the Shelter Harbor Country Club. In politics

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he is a republican and loyally cooperates in all projects for the growth and better- ment of his community. He has a large circle of friends in Manchester and possesses many good qualities, as his fellow citizens attest.

FRED M. GODARD

Fred M. Godard, who has made a most commendable record as superintendent of the Hartford County Temporary Home, of which institution he has been in charge for the past twenty-two years, was born in Granby, Connecticut, September 11, 1868, a son of Harvey and Sabra (Beach) Godard, and a brother of George S. Godard, state librarian. The parents also were natives of Granby, where the family has been represented for several generations. His education was acquired as a public school pupil and in the Yale Business College, after which he spent thirteen years in the government service as storekeeper and gauger in different distilleries at various places in his district. It was in 1906 that he was appointed superintendent of the Hart- ford County Temporary Home by the county commissioners and in this capacity he has served very acceptably throughout the intervening period of twenty-two years. He and his wife make all the necessary purchases and are in full charge of the insti- tution, which is conducted for the care and assistance of the neglected children of Hartford county. It is located at Warehouse Point and embraces sixteen acres of ground besides a large garden. Its schools are under the supervision of seven capable teachers. Mr. Godard has manifested the utmost efficiency and ability in the dis- charge of his important duties as superintendent of this charitable institution, to which he has devoted his entire time, and splendid results have attended his efforts.

On the 15th of June, 1898, Mr. Godard was united in marriage to Jean T. Steele, of Warehouse Point, daughter of Robert J. and Mary (Dunn) Steele. They are the parents of a daughter, Idell F., who is a graduate of the Connecticut College for Women at New London, Connecticut and is now in the medical department of the Aetna Life Insurance Company. Mr. Godard is a member of the Hartford City Club and is a worthy exemplar of the teachings and purposes of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to St. Marks Lodge, No. 91, F. & A. M., of Granby.

GEORGE SMITH HARRIS

George Smith Harris, secretary of the nursery business conducted by C. R. Burr & Company at South Manchester, where he has remained for eight years, was born in West Virginia in 1891 and is a son of R. R. and Annie M. (Pribble) Harris, the latter a resident of Oklahoma City. His father followed the nursery business through- out his entire life and George S. Harris became associated with his father along that line. He conducted a nursery business near the old Hickory powder plant at Nashville, Tennessee, where he was in business for himself and with his father for eight years. Attracted to New England, he came to South Manchester and in 1920 accepted the position of office manager with the C. R. Burr nurseries. After four years he was advanced to the position of secretary and director and is in full charge of the busi- ness in the absence of Mr. Burr. He thoroughly knows nursery stock and the possi- bilities for successful propagation and shipment, and his labors have brought sub- stantial results to the enterprise with which he is now allied.

In 1912 Mr. Harris was united in marriage to Miss May Carter, of Green Brier, Tennessee, daughter of Samuel B. and Sarah (Dorris) Carter. Mr. and Mrs. Harris have become parents of a daughter, Rebecca, now thirteen years of age, and a son, Sam, eight years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Harris hold membership in the Baptist church and he is well known through Masonic relations, belonging to the lodge, chapter, council and commandery and also to the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and while in Green Brier, Tennessee, he filled the office of mayor for 1918 and 1919. Mr. Harris received a permanent Civil Service appointment in the ordnance department from Washington in 1918. He has not been a politician, how-

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(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio )

FRED M. GODARD

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ever, in the usually accepted sense of office seeking but keeps informed on the vital questions and issues of the day and does not hesitate to give his support to any project in which he believes.

JOSEPH COLLINS LEE

Insurance interests of Connecticut have drawn into their ranks a large percentage of young men of ability who are prompted by a laudible ambition and whose devel- opment has followed their ready recognition and utilization of chances for advance- ment, basing this advancement upon a high type of service rendered. In this connection mention is made of Joseph Collins Lee, now the secretary of the Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, March 20, 1880, and is a son of Richard Henry and Isabelle G. (Wilson) Lee, the father a native of Vir- ginia, while the mother was born in Baltimore, Maryland. The

son obtained his public school education in Baltimore and then, thinking to make the practice of law his life work, entered the University of Maryland, in which he completed his course in 1905. Following his graduation he was admitted to the bar but never prac- ticed, turning his attention instead to the insurance business in connection with the American Bonding Company of Baltimore. He has since continued in this field of labor and at the organization of the Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company in 1914 he became associated therewith and was advanced to the position of vice president in 1928. He has thus concentrated his efforts and attention upon a single line of endeavor and the result has been a steady development of his powers, manifest in a masterful grasp of business problems and situations and bringing him gratifying profit.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 87

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