History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 88

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 88

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On the 3d of March, 1928, Mr. Lee was united in marriage to Miss Grace C. Marshall, of Baltimore, Maryland. Their home is at 888 Asylum avenue in Hartford. Mr. Lee is a member of the Country Club of Farmington but concentrates the major part of his time and attention upon his business interests, although his associates in the varied relations of life find him a genial and companionable gentleman.

WILLIAM HENRY ST. JOHN

William Henry St. John, who represents one of Hartford's old and prominent families, is a successful business man of broad experience and proven ability, who has also been active in public affairs. He was born in this city, May 4, 1869, and his parents were Howell Williams and Elizabeth (Wilcox) St. John, natives respect- ively of Newport, Rhode Island, and West Granby, Connecticut. The father came to Hartford in the fall of 1867 with the Aetna Life Insurance Company and was the first actuary of the corporation, continuing in that capacity until his death, Septem- ber 25, 1924. Endowed with keen intellect, he was able to state a difficult problem in its simplest and most understandable form and excelled in his chosen line of work. He was the third president of the Actuarial Society of America, which he aided in organizing, and was an associate member of the French Actuarial Society. In his earlier years he figured prominently in Masonic affairs and was also a member of the Hartford Golf Club. His wife survived him for four years, passing away June 12, 1928.

William H. St. John received kindergarten training and attended the public schools of Hartford and Exeter Academy of New Hampshire. In 1891 he won the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and for a year was a postgraduate student at Harvard University. In October, 1892, he entered the employ of the New York Life Insurance Company but tendered his resignation in February, 1893, and went to Superior, Wisconsin. There he embarked in business in partnership with David L. Billings under the name of the Billings Hardware Company, operating on a wholesale basis, but the venture proved a failure, owing to the widespread financial panic of 1893. In the fall of that year Mr. St. John returned to Hartford and was elected treasurer of the Spencer Automatic Machine Screen Company, acting in that capacity until 1901. He then became secretary and treasurer of the Hartford Rubber Works

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Company and filled the dual office for two years. In 1903 he returned to the Spencer Company, but left January 1, 1907, having been made Hartford manager for Boody, Mclellan & Company, a brokerage firm connected with the New York Stock Ex- change. For seventeen years he successfully managed their local business and since January 1, 1924, has been associated with the well known brokerage firm of Putnam & Company, which has also benefited by his keen sagacity and executive force. The company maintains an office at No. 6 Central Row and offers its clients the sound, conscientious counsel of men who devote their entire attention to safe investments. Mr. St. John is a director of the United States Freight Company of No. 40 Rector street, New York; the Public Industrials Corporation of No. 120 Broadway, New York, and the Universal Gear Shift Corporation, which has the same address.

In Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. St. John was married October 1, 1902, to Eleanor Tarleton Reynolds and they have one child, Eleanor Vivian, who was graduated from Bryn Mawr College in June, 1925. During the World war Mr. St. John joined the Home Guard, afterward known as the Connecticut State Guard, and was first a corporal and later sergeant of Company B of the First Regiment. His next promo- tion made him a second lieutenant, after which he was commissioned a first lieuten- ant, and in 1919 he was honorably discharged as adjutant with the rank of Captain for the First Military District Connecticut State Guard. In 1917 he was made chair- man of Hartford Chapter of the American Red Cross and still fills that position. For six years he was a member of the Hartford board of finance, discharging his duties with customary thoroughness and fidelity. He was the executive head of the Yale Alumni Association for one year and is also a past president of the Twentieth Century Club of Hartford. Mr. St. John is also connected with the Hartford Club, the Wampanoag Club, the Graduates Club of New Haven, the University Club of New York and the Horn Point Club of Princess Anne County, Virginia. By nature he is a genial and companionable and enjoys the social side of life. He has a wide circle of friends and is a high-minded man whose honor and integrity are above question.

LOREN PINCKNEY WALDO MARVIN

Loren Pinckney Waldo Marvin, of Hartford, judge of the superior court, was born in the capital city October 9, 1870, his parents being Edwin Eliphalet and Cynthia Paulina (Waldo) Marvin. In unbroken line he traces his ancestry back to Reinold, or Rynalde, Marvin, of Ramsey, County Essex, England, who was born as early as 1514 in a district which had been the ancestral home for more than a century. He died October 14, 1561, making his wife, Johan, executrix of his will, which is still pre- served in Somerset House, London. Of his six children, Edward was born at Ramsey about 1550 and inherited the homestead. He died November 13 or 14, 1615, and his widow, Margaret, was buried May 28, 1633.

Their son, Reinold Marvin, was baptized in St. Mary's church, Great Bentley, County Essex, England, October 25, 1594, and in 1638 he was in Hartford, Connecti- cut, removing to Farmington as one of the early proprietors of the town about 1640. He was made a freeman in Saybrook, May 20, 1658, and on July 9, 1663, his will was probated. The death of his wife, Mary, about 1681, was attributed to witchcraft. Their son, Lieutenant Reinold Marvin, was born in Great Bentley, England, and baptized there December 20, 1631. He came to Connecticut with his father, was admitted a freeman ten days after his father, at Saybrook, and became prominent in the colony, holding various offices. He married Sarah Clark, who was baptized February 18, 1643, and died in Milford, Connecticut, February 1, 1716, having sur- vived her husband since August 4, 1676, he passing away at Lyme. They were parents of Deacon Samuel Marvin, who was born at Lyme in 1671 and there died May 15, 1743. Various local offices of importance were filled by him and for many years he served as deacon in the church. On May 5, 1699, he married Susannah, daughter of Henry and Mary Graham, of Hartford, and his will was proved June 18, 1743.

The next in line of direct descent was Deacon Zachariah Marvin, who was born in Lyme, December 27, 1701, and died there September 12, 1792. He was admitted a freeman September 14, 1731, and, like his forebears, filled many local offices, while

(Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)

L. P. WALDO MARVIN

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in January, 1741, he became a deacon of the church. On March 29, 1732, Abigail Lord, who was born in 1708 to Thomas and Mary (Lee) Lord, became his wife. Their son, Elihu Marvin, born in Lyme, February 13, 1733, died August 13, 1812, in Hebron, where he began teaching in 1768 and later followed farming. He was justice of the peace from 1787 to 1803, and was a deacon in 1793. On November 16, 1762, he married Anna Beach, who died September 26, 1778, and their son, Elihu Marvin, was born in Hebron, December 13, 1771, and died in Tioga, Pennsylvania, in June, 1805, after which the family returned to Hebron. His widow, Clarissa, was a daughter of Elijah and Sally (Welles) Kilbourne, of Colchester, who was born in 1777 and died in 1809. Their son, Ira Kilbourne Marvin, who was born in Hebron, September 6, 1796, was for twenty-eight years a deacon in the Baptist Church. On the 22d of October, 1824, in Windham, Connecticut, he married Julia Young, daughter of Eliphalet and Sybil (Lathrop) Young. She was born May 14, 1800, and died February 24, 1875, while her husband survived until May 12, 1879, passing away in Tolland, where he had established his home in May, 1820. They were the grandparents of Judge Marvin of this review, whose father, Edwin Eliphalet Marvin, was born in Tolland, October 8, 1833, and after leaving the public schools attended the Suffield Literary Institute. He enlisted April 19, 1861, in response to the call for troops to serve three months following the outbreak of the Civil war, and on May 5, 1861, joined the First Regiment Colt Revolving Rifles. When that company disbanded he enlisted June 20, 1861, in Company F, Fifth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, became a lieutenant and captain of his company and resigned because of disability, being mustered out Feb- ruary 12, 1863. In 1889 he wrote the history of his regiment and twenty years later prepared a family handbook of the genealogy of his grandparents. He lived succes- sively in Tolland, Colchester, Rockville and Hartford, where he practiced law, served as justice of the peace and was United States commissioner and extradition com- missioner for Connecticut. For about forty years he served as clerk of the United States circuit and district courts and from 1869 to 1875 was justice of the peace in Hartford and during the vacations of the regular judges frequently presided over the police court. He was also secretary of the Tolland County Agricultural Society for many years and was the author of a law authorizing the purchase and reforesta- tion of Connecticut lands. On December 24, 1866, in Hartford, he married Cynthia Paulina, daughter of Judge Loren Pinckney and Frances Elizabeth (Eldredge) Waldo. She died March 18, 1908, while Edwin E. Marvin survived until January 24, 1914.

Their son, Judge L. P. Waldo Marvin, an only child, attended the Hartford schools and won his Bachelor degree on graduation from Yale with the class of 1892. He afterward purchased his law studies at Yale and was graduated in 1894, being one of the editors of the Yale Law Journal during the intervening period. Admitted to the bar, he at once began practice and his natural and acquired ability gained him distinctive preferment in legal circles. In 1907 he was elected probate judge of Hart- ford and made such an excellent record that later he became the nominee of both parties for the office. In 1921 he became judge of the superior court and his decisions are marked by notable fairness and impartiality, so that he has ever commanded the respect and admiration of professional colleagues and contemporaries as well as of the general public.

On the 4th of June, 1894, Judge Marvin was united in marriage to Miss Florence Belle Watrous, who was born March 26, 1873, a daughter of Christopher and Char- lotte (Kendall) Watrous. Their two children are: Florence Watrous Hatch, born December 2, 1896; and Edwin Waldo, June 13, 1899.

The religious faith of Judge and Mrs. Marvin is indicated in their membership in Trinity church in Hartford, of which he has long been a vestryman, also served as president of St. Andrew's Brotherhood and took active and helpful part in other lines of church work. He is generous in his support of charitable and benevolent projects and served as president for a number of years of the Open Hearth Associa- tion, a rescue mission. He has also rendered valuable service on the board of trustees of the Connecticut Training School for the Feeble Minded, of which board he has been president since its organization, and for seven years was a member of the high school commission .. He likewise served on the street board, which position he resigned when elected probate judge. He has acted as chairman of the democratic town com- mittee, has been president of the Young Men's Christian Association, of the City Club of Hartford and of the Yale Alumni Association of Hartford. He became a member of the Alpha Delta Phi during his college days, belongs to the City Club

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of Hartford, the Elihu Club of New Haven, the Hartford and Hartford Golf Clubs. Along fraternal lines he is connected with Lafayette Lodge, F. & A. M .; Charter Oak Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; John Hay Lodge of the Knights of Pythias; the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and the Foresters of America. His name is likewise well known in musical circles, for he has served as the first president of the Choral Club and was a member of the Hartford Saenger- bund. His interests and activities have thus covered a wide scope and have ever been actuated by the spirit of progress, improvement and uplift.

CHARLES E. HOUSE

A worthy scion of one of the old and prominent families of Manchester, Charles E. House occupies an influential position in local business circles and is also well known because of his legislative service. He was born in this town in 1854. His parents were Edwin M. and Mary Ann (Tarbox) House. The father was born in 1817 and learned the tailor's trade, which he followed for many years, also becoming a dealer in men's clothing. In 1853 he founded the business now conducted by his son and remained at its head until his death. He was a merchant of high standing and a good citizen. His political support was given to the republican party and in religious faith he was a Congregationalist. He responded to death's summons in 1885 and his wife passed away in 1893.

Charles E. House attended the public schools of Manchester and Hartford public high school until he reached the age of eighteen, when he secured a position in a grocery store and was thus employed for two years. In 1872 he started to work for his father, under whom he received thorough instruction in the tailor's trade, and later was a traveling salesman for a firm located in Rochester, New York. After his father's death he took charge of the business, and formulated well devised plans for its expansion, keeping in close touch with the constantly changing conditions of mod- ern commerce. The store was originally located in the House & Hale building, of which J. W. Hale was part owner. In 1909 the building was destroyed by fire and a modern fire-proof building erected on the same site. In that year Herbert B. House was admitted to a partnership and in 1913 the business was incorporated under the present style of C. E. House & Son, Inc. They are dealers in clothing and men's fur- nishings and also carry a large stock of shoes. This is regarded as the leading estab- lishment of the kind in Manchester and has to its credit a record of seventy-five years of usefulness. High ideals of service have ever dominated the mmbers of the firm and the name has become synonymous with enterprise and integrity in local business cir- cles. Methodical, systematic and resourceful, Charles E. House has been able to broaden his activities without lessening their force. He is secretary of the Manchester Building & Loan Association; also a director of the Manchester Trust Company, which he aided in founding; is the president and a director of the Manchester Lumber Com- pany; and is also treasurer and a director of The J. W. Hale Company.

In 1876 Mr. House was married in Manchester to Miss Grace L. Bissell, who passed away March 28, 1925. She had become the mother of two children and the daughter is also deceased. The son, Herbert B. House, received the degree of Bachelor of Science from Harvard University. He has charge of the shoe dpartmnt of the business of C. E. House & Son, Inc., of which he is the president, an office for which he is well qualified by reason of his ability and sagacity. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, and both he and his father are connected with the Sons of the American Revolution. In 1903 Herbert B. House married Miss Sophia Staver, of Pennsylvania, and they now have a family of three children: Emily Louise, a graduate of Abbot Academy and now at Miss Wheelock's school in Boston; Charles S., a student at Harvard Uni- versity in the class of 1930, who is one of the editors of the Harvard Lampoon; and Laura Caroline, a pupil in the Manchester high school.

Since 1889, a period of nearly forty years, Charles E. House has been clerk and treasurer of the Center Congregational church, of which his wife was also an earnest, helpful member. She was a teacher in its Sunday school and also took an active part in the affairs of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mr. House casts his ballot for the candidates of the republican party and was for many years registrar of voters. At the formation of the town court of Manchester he was appointed deputy judge of

(Photograph by Harris & Ewing)

CHARLES E. HOUSE

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the court by the legislature, but declined the office, and the vacancy was filled by appointment of the governor. In 1893 he was elected to represent the town of Man- chester in the state legislature. One of the most memorable of the war activities in which the town distinguished itself was in the organization and development of the War Savings campaign. This was entrusted to Mr. House as chairman of the com- mittee and he was indefatigable in its development. As a result four hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars maturity value was subscribed in War Savings securities by citizens of the town of Manchester. For a number of years Mr. House was town treasurer and displayed rare qualities as a public servant, never deviating from the path of honor and rectitude. He belongs to the Manchester Country Club and the Kiwanis Club and is one of the charter members of the Chamber of Commerce, in which he has the distinction of being the oldest member. In Masonry he has attained high rank, belonging to the following bodies: Manchester Lodge No. 73, F. & A. M .; Delta Chapter No. 51, R. A. M .; Wolcott Council No. 17, R. & S. M .; Washington Com- mandery No. 1, K. T .; and Sphinx Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is likewise affiliated with King David Lodge No. 31, I. O. O. F. That Mr. House is a broad-minded man is indicated by the nature and extent of his interests and activities. His influence for good has deepened with his advancing years, and no resident of this community holds a higher place in the esteem of its citizens.

WILLIAM GEORGE GLENNEY

Among the outstanding enterprises of Manchester is that conducted under the name of the W. G. Glenney Company, of which William George Glenney is the treas- urer and general manager. He is likewise a forceful factor in the successful conduct of other important business interests and therefore deserves classification with the representative residents of Hartford county. Born in South Manchester, July 28, 1888, he is a son of William George and Ann (Stevenson) Glenney, the former born in Ireland, May 21, 1858, and the latter on the 21st of August, 1857. In early boyhood W. George Glenney attended the Ninth district school and afterward spent two years as a high school student, while for one year he attended a business college. He started out upon his business career in connection with the lumber trade, holding the position of bookkeeper and stenographer with the Hartford Lumber Company from 1907 until 1913. In the latter year he entered the wholesale lumber business with the Stevens Lumber Company of Boston as the New England representative and con- tinued to serve in that capacity for four years. In 1917 he put aside all personal interests and considerations and enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Division for service in the World war, spending two years in France with the One Hundred and First Ma- chine Gun Battalion. Following his return to his native land Mr. Glenney again entered into business association with the Stevens Lumber Company, with which he continued until 1919, when he bought out the retail lumber and coal business at Manchester and organized the W. G. Glenney Company, which now controls an ex- tensive trade in lumber, coal and mason supplies. He is the treasurer and general manager of this business, which is steadily growing in volume and importance and which is an indication of the capability and resourcefulness of its promoter. He has also become the president of the Charter Oak Lumber Company of Hartford and the treasurer of the Niantic Lumber Company of Niantic, Connecticut, and he has ever shown marked ability in finding a successful solution for intricate business problems.

On the 10th of February, 1922, at South Manchester, Connecticut, Mr. Glenney was united in marriage to Marian Swift, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, September 24, 1886, and who has membership with the Daughters of the Revolution. Her parents, William Henry and Ina Hoyt (Pingree) Swift, who were natives of Boston, Massachusetts, and Norway, Maine, respectively, are both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Glenney are the parents of three children: William George, Jr., Edward Hol- brook and Eleanore Hoyt.

Mr. and Mrs. Glenney are communicants of St. Mary's Episcopal church and his political endorsement is given to the republican party, which he has supported since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He is well known in Masonic circles, having membership in Manchester Lodge, No. 73, F. & A. M., of which he was wor- shipful master in 1926-27, in which year the lodge observed its centennial anniver-

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sary and, as master, Mr. Glenney laid the cornerstone for the new Masonic Temple. He has attained the Knight Templar degree in Washington Commandery and is a member of Sphinx Temple of Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Manchester Country Club, to St. Mary's Young Men's Club, to the Y. D. Club, the Kiwanis Club and the Chamber of Commerce. During the World war he saw action on all the battle fronts of France and he is thoroughly cognizant of the requirements of good citizenship in times of peace. His outstanding characteristics are such as command respect and confidence wherever he is known.

ANDREW G. NYSTROM

As registrar of voters Andrew G. Nystrom is rendering service of value to Hart- ford and the fact that he has been retained in this office for a period of eleven years is proof that his worth is appreciated. He was born in Plainville, Connecticut, Feb- ruary 4, 1882, and his parents, Peter and Johanna (Hanson) Nystrom, were natives of Sweden, whence they came to the United States about 1865, settling in Plainville, Connecticut. The father obtained work as a bricklayer and later became a builder of prominence and a successful business man. He passed away in 1925 but the mother still resides in Plainville.

Andrew G. Nystrom attended the public schools of his native town and completed a course in the Huntsinger Business College. After his graduation he entered the office of General Henry C. Dwight, an ex-mayor of Plainville, starting as a stenog- rapher, and later he became a wool salesman. For five years he was a commercial traveler and then embarked in business in Hartford as a wool broker. He was thus engaged for five years and in 1910 was made manager and secretary of the Industrial Realty Title & Guarantee Company of Hartford, furthering the progress of the corporation by able, systematic work. In February, 1917, he was appointed by the board of aldermen to fill a vacancy as registrar of voters and has been elected to the office every two years since that time. His duties are performed with marked efficiency and he has clearly demonstrated that he is the right man for the position.

Mr. Nystrom was married October 11, 1905, in East Hartford to Miss Linda H. Driggs, who traces her lineage to William Bradford, the first governor of Plymouth colony. They have become the parents of a son, Kenneth Gaylord, who was born August 3, 1908, and is a student at the Phillips Exeter Academy, a preparatory school of Exeter, New Hampshire.

Mr. Nystrom has long been an influential factor in Connecticut politics and from 1910 to 1912 was assistant secretary of the republican state central committee, of which he was secretary from 1912 to 1917, when he resigned to accept his present office. He was a councilman from 1909 to 1913 and in 1912 was president of that body. Mr. Nystrom served the city with rare fidelity and accomplished much im- portant work along the line of municipal advancement. His fraternal affiliations are with St. John's Lodge, No. 4, of the Masonic order, and the Hartford Lodge of Elks. Mrs. Nystrom is a member of the Connecticut Society of Mayflower Descendants. Like her husband, she is the possessor of many fine qualities of mind and heart and both are highly esteemed.

CHARLES L. SPENCER, JR.

Charles L. Spencer, Jr., a banker of Suffield, has had long and varied experience in the field of finance, with which he has been identified since the age of twenty years, his steady progress at length bringing him to the presidency of the First National Bank in 1923. Born in Suffield on the 21st of February, 1887, he is a son of Charles Luther and Florence (Smith) Spencer and a grandson of I. Luther Spencer, who was president of the First National Bank of Suffield, which he organized in 1864 and which has since been carried on by the family, Mr. Spencer of this review being of the third generation connected with the institution. His father was also president of the Con- necticut River Banking Company of Hartford and in substantial measure the family has contributed to stability in financial affairs. The ancestral line in Connecticut is

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 88

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