History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 93

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 93

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and was made the first president of the Rotary Club of Thompsonville and for three years was president of the Thompsonville Board of Trade. He belongs to the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks and was exalted ruler of the lodge at Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1905. He has membership in the Hartford Engineers Club, and that he turns to fishing and hunting for recreation in his hours of leisure is indicated in the fact that he belongs to the Springfield Fish and Game Club. While outside interests constitute an even balance to his intense business activity, Mr. Schwabe is after all first and foremost an executive. Emerson has said, "An institution is but the lengthened shadow of a man," and this finds expression in the life record of Walter P. Schwabe, who for twenty years has been a directing force in the Northern Connecticut Power Company, the development of which has been the tangible expres- sion of his plans and purposes, his determination, his keen vision, his recognition of opportunities and his business ideals. He has always recognized the good will of the public and the loyalty of employees as the principal asset of a public utility. Many of the company's customers and employees are stockholders, and the prosperity of the company is shared with the customers in lowered rates, and with the employees in salary dividends and other welfare plans.

FRED AYER VERPLANCK

While the efforts of the merchant and manufacturer take a more tangible form in direct results, the labors of perhaps no individual more closely affect the welfare of a community than do those of the teacher, whose instruction leaves an ineffaceable impress upon the minds of the young, constituting a guiding force in after life. To this high vocation Fred Ayer Verplanck has devoted his talents and for thirty-five years Manchester has benefited by his ability as an educator.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Verplanck was born February 9, 1860, a son of Bronck and Julia S. (Ayer) Verplanck. He is the seventh in line of descent from Abraham Verplanck, a Hollander, who left his native land prior to the year 1638 and settled in New Amsterdam, as New York was then known. In the maternal line Fred A. Verplanck is descended from John Ayer, the first settler in the town of Franklin, Connecticut.

When Fred A. Verplanck was eighteen months old his father died and the mother returned to her old home in Franklin. The vigorous, exacting life on a New England farm supplemented school training during all the years of his boyhood and young manhood. In 1880 he completed a course in the Windham high school at Willimantic. From 1877 until 1883 he was engaged in teaching in the towns of Lebanon, Franklin and Sprague, afterward taking a year of preparatory work at the Norwich Free Academy. In 1888 he was graduated from Yale College and this was followed by a year of teaching in Bacon Academy at Colchester and in the Thomaston high school. Returning to Willimantic in 1890, he was made principal of the Model school con- nected with the State Normal school and filled the position for three years.

Mr. Verplanck's life in Manchester dates from August 31, 1893, when he became principal of the Ninth District school, which at that time had nine hundred and forty pupils, and the South Manchester high school which had a registration of thirty-seven pupils. The record which he made in that connection led to his selection for the important office of superintendent of the Ninth District schools and he has since served in this capacity. Mr. Verplanck has seen the local schools grow from one building on School street to seven large modern structures, situated in various parts of the district, and his job no longer concerns the managing of scholars individually, as it did in the old days, nor in laying out the curriculum. On the other hand it has become one of managing an extensive business; of being the controlling head of a concern which expends more than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars yearly in the interests of education. While he is no longer able to call each pupil by name, his influence, his personality and his efficiency stand out today as prominently as they did when such a thing was possible. The high standard attained by the local schools is due in no small measure to his discrimination in the selection of a teaching force that perfectly carries out his methods and principles. His outstanding service to South Manchester was his fight for and the installation of fire escapes on the old Ninth District school as well as his determined insistence upon frequent fire drills for a space of fifteen

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years-a precaution which resulted in the saving of hundreds of lives in the disastrous fire of October 23, 1913, when the blazing building was emptied in less than three minutes and not a child was harmed. For sparing the town from what might easily have been a holocaust Manchester owes to Mr. Verplanck a debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid. In December, 1922, he was elected a director of the Manchester Savings Bank and also represents the Manchester Memorial Hospital in a similar capacity. He has also served the teaching profession in his state as president of the State Teachers' Association, president of the Connecticut School Masters' Club, and president of the Connecticut Council of Education.

Mr. Verplanck was married August 27, 1890, to Miss S. Annie Noyes, daughter of William H. Noyes and Emily (Card) Noyes of Lebanon, Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Verplanck have two sons: Van N., a physician of New York city, and Philip of South Manchester, who is employed by the Bon Ami Company.

Mr. Verplanck is affiliated with the Center Congregational church and was one of its trustees for nine years. During the World war he served his town, state and country to the extent of his ability. He was chairman of the Manchester committee of Four-Minute speakers, a member of the executive committee of the local war bureau, and chairman of the committee on education in the Connecticut Council of Defense. In the activities of the Masonic order he has long figured prominently and is a past master of Manchester Lodge, No. 73. He was district deputy for Hartford county for two years and in 1910 was made grand master of Masons in Connecticut. For seventeen years he has been a member of the board of managers of the Masonic Home at Wallingford, and was elected president in 1919, serving for seven years in that capacity. During that period the wooden buildings of the home were replaced by a brick fireproof structure including a hospital containing a hundred beds, at a total cost of over five hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Verplanck keeps in close touch with the progress of his profession and is classed with the leading educators of the state. Actuated by high ideals of service, he has accomplished much and his worth to the community is uniformly conceded.

S. GERARD CASALE

Salvatore Gerard Casale, eldest in a family of nine children, is the son of Gerard and Catherine Casale, of Maple Hill, Newington. Born at Picarno, Italy, on the 8th of February, 1898, he crossed the Atlantic at the age of four years in company with his mother, to join his father who had preceded them two years before. The family established their home in New York city, where the subject of this article pursued his education in the public schools until 1908, when the family moved to New Britain. Continuing his studies in the schools of New Britain he graduated from New Britain high school in 1917. While in high school he was for two years a member of the high school debating team. In preparation for a professional career he entered Fordham Law School in 1917. In 1918 he was enrolled in the Students' Army Training Corps at Spring Hill College, Spring Hill, Alabama. Following his discharge from the army he was for a time with the weekly Mobile Times-News, a journal now defunct. He returned to Fordham in the fall of 1919, where he received his law degree in 1921. The following year he did postgraduate work at New York University Law School. While at his studies in New York he helped to defray his schooling expenses by working for Messrs. Stapleton & Moses, and later as a title examiner for The Home Title Insurance Company, and still later as an investigator for the General Accident Assurance Company. While in New York he found time to enroll in the militia, enlisting in the 104th Regiment New York Field Artillery, and later the 105th Regiment New York Field Artillery, being battery clerk for Battery C, of the latter unit.

After reading some law in the office of Judge William F. Mangan of New Britain he was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1923, when he opened an office in New Britain, where he has since engaged in practice. He made his first appearance before the supreme court of errors in 1925, as counsel for the plaintiff appellee in the case of Corvi vs. Stiles and Reynolds, reported in 103 Conn., 449.

In 1924 Mr. Casale was married in New York city to Miss Marie Sylvester and they now have one child, Catherine, who was born May 22, 1925. In the same year

(Photograph by Murray Studio)

S. GERARD CASALE

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of his marriage Mr. Casale was a candidate for the state senate but went down to defeat with the rest of the party ticket. In the municipality of New Britain he has served as a commissioner of the board of charities, the board of public works and as a member of the school board.

In June, 1928, a brother, John J. Casale, Fordham Law '28, was admitted to the bar, and shortly after the two brothers opened offices in the new Leonard building, New Britain, where they are now engaged in the general practice of law under the firm name of Casale and Casale.

CHARLES G. RANKIN, M. D.

Dr. Charles G. Rankin is a successful physician with a background of more than forty years of professional experience and enjoys the distinction of being the dean of the medical fraternity of Glastonbury, which also numbers him among its most loyal, progressive and public-spirited citizens. A native of Portland, Connecticut, he was born in 1859. His father, Rev. Samuel G. W. Rankin, was at one time assistant to the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, the noted divine. Rev. Rankin dedicated his talents to the service of the Congregational church and was one of the strong individual forces in the spread of its influence. His wife, Dolly (Goodrich) Rankin, was born in Glaston- bury and passed away in 1898.

When Dr. Charles G. Rankin was a child of four his parents removed to Glaston- bury and he attended its public schools. His academic studies were pursued in Williams College, from which he was graduated in 1882, and his education was completed in Northwestern University, which awarded him the degree of M. D. in 1886. Locating in the west, he followed his profession for two years in Reynolds, Nebraska, and then returned to Glastonbury, where he has maintained an office since 1888. As its pioneer physician he is widely and favorably known and his practice is drawn from a large area. He is devoted to his patients, in whom he inspires trust and confidence, and he possesses a kindly, sympathetic nature which is one of the physician's chief assets in the sick room. In diagnosis he is thorough and painstaking and his scientific knowledge is used to the best advantage in his efforts to check the progress of disease. He was appointed town health officer and school physician in 1890 and has been retained in those capacities for a period of thirty-eight years, rendering service of great value to the community.

In 1887 Dr. Rankin married Miss Lucretia B. Pinkham, who died in 1902, leaving a son, William Goodrich, now a resident of Virginia. Dr. Rankin's second union was with Miss Lucie E. Kingsbury, to whom he was married in Glastonbury in 1906. The Doctor is identified with the Masonic order, the Chamber of Commerce, the Hartford County and Connecticut State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and at one time he was a member of the local school board. Dr. Rankin is affiliated with the Congregational church and closely follows its teachings. He and his wife were largely instrumental in securing for Glastonbury a fine public library and for over twenty years the doctor has been president of its board, of which his wife is treasurer. Energetic, unselfish and broad-minded, they have exerted a distinct force for good in the community and are esteemed and honored because of their many admirable traits of character.

WILLIAM C. CHENEY

A progressive business man of proven worth and ability, William C. Cheney typifies the spirit of enterprise in South Manchester and represents one of its oldest and most prominent families. He was born in Manchester, December 3, 1865. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. John S. Cheney. His great-great-grandfather, Timothy Cheney, held the rank of captain in the Continental army and aided in winning American independence. He was one of the first selectmen of Manchester, which became a town in June, 1823, and by a remarkable coincidence William C. Cheney was chairman of the board on the exact date of the Centennial anniversary of the town's incorporation.

The latter was a pupil in the Cheney private school and continued his studies in

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the Hartford high school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1884. Follow- ing the example set by other members of the family, he concentrated his attention upon the silk industry and his first connection with the local firm was in the ribbon mill, which at that time was located in Hartford. There he worked under James Monroe Grant, the inventor of a reel afterward used by silk manufacturers of the United States and many other countries. Mr. Cheney remained in Hartford for sev- eral years and then returned to South Manchester, where he learned the rudiments of all operations pertaining to the "throwing" of raw silk. At the present time he is manager of the throwing department of the plant of Cheney Brothers and in this connection has supervision of all matters pertaining to the sale and storage of yarn as well as the buying of raw silk from foreign countries for use in the many operations of this industry, which has become one of national scope and importance. He has an authoritative knowledge of the business, acquired by years of study and practical expe- rience, and is one of the directors of the firm of Cheney Brothers. In financial affairs he also takes a keen interest and is vice president and one of the directors of the Manchester Trust Company, exerting a strong influence in the control of its activities.

On May 21, 1908, Mr. Cheney was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Griffin, a daughter of Major Samuel and Ann (Hutter) Griffin, and a member of one of the well known families of Bedford, Virginia.

Early in life Mr. Cheney became identified with military affairs, joining Com- pany K of the First Connecticut Infantry at Hartford. From 1890 until 1895 he was paymaster, with the rank of first lieutenant, and instructor of small arms practice with the rank of captain in the Connecticut National Guard. During the six years of Governor Marcus H. Holcomb's administration Mr. Cheney was attached to his per- sonal staff, holding the title of colonel, and served from 1914 until 1920. He was a member of the Manchester war bureau and devoted much of his time to work of a patriotic nature during the conflict with Germany.

With a strong predilection for politics, Mr. Cheney was chosen a member of the republican state central committee, on which he served for many years, and was also connected with the town committee of the party, taking a leading part in its councils. In 1895 he was selected to represent his district in the general assembly of Connecticut and in 1911 was elected state senator from the fourth senatorial district. He espoused the moral side of every issue and was instrumental in securing the passage of much con- structive legislation. In 1919 he was appointed a member of the board of directors of the Connecticut State prison, succeeding his uncle, James W. Cheney, in that office, which he has since held. Like most Americans, Mr. Cheney is a lover of the national game and from 1903 until 1907 was president of the local baseball association, at which time Manchester had the best team in its history. For more than a quarter of a century he has been a member of Manchester Lodge, No. 73, F. & A. M., and also belongs to the Hartford Club of Connecticut and the Manhattan Club of New York. Mr. Cheney set a high record of efficiency as a public official, rendering service of value to his town and state, and his democratic spirit, innate courtesy and generous nature have won for him the strong and enduring regard of all who have been brought within the sphere of his influence.

RICHARD JOHNSTON GOODMAN

Richard Johnston Goodman, since October, 1921, a member of Putnam & Com- pany, well known bond and stock concern of Hartford, has also for twenty years been at the head of the Bush Manufacturing Company, controlling one of the pro- ductive industries of the city devoted to the manufacture of automobile radiators. The continued growth and success of the business is attributable in large measure to his enterprise, initiative and ability to coordinate seemingly diverse interests into a harmonious whole. It has often been said that a man's character is determined by the lives of his forebears. Mr. Goodman is one who has no reason to feel ashamed of his ancestral record, for through seven generations representatives of the name have played an important part in the substantial development of New England. He is a direct descendant of Richard Goodman, of English birth, who settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in early colonial days and was one of the proprietors of that town in 1633, becoming a freeman on the 14th of May, 1634. However, he joined the

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(Photograph by John Haley)

RICHARD J. GOODMAN

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company that under the guidance of the Rev. Thomas Hooker removed to Hartford, being among the first settlers here. His last years were spent in Hadley, Massa- chusetts, and he was killed by the Indians in King Philip's war, April 1, 1678. In Hartford, December 8, 1659, he had married Mary Terry and their second son, Richard Goodman, was born in Hadley, March 23, 1663. He married Abigail Pantry, born January 11, 1678-79. She died January 26, 1708, and Richard Goodwin (II) passed away in Hartford, May 14, 1730. Their fourth child was Timothy Goodman, who was born September 22, 1706, and who on March 4, 1729, located in West Hartford, near Farmington. He married Joanna Wadsworth, granddaughter of Captain Joseph Wads- worth of Charter Oak fame. Timothy Goodman passed away on the 12th of March, 1786. His sixth child was Richard Goodman (III), who was born April 10, 1748, and served in the Revolutionary war in Captain Seymour's Hartford company. In 1771 he married Nancy Seymour, daughter of Captain Timothy Seymour. He died in West Hartford in May, 1834, and his wife on January 27, 1792. Their son, Aaron Goodman, born in West Hartford, July 20, 1773, was the first postmaster of that town and served until his death, March 28, 1832. His wife, Alma Cossitt, born December 10, 1780, survived him until November 13, 1868.

They were the parents of Aaron Cossitt Goodman, who was born on the old homestead at West Hartford, April 23, 1822. After several years in the employ of Sumner & Company, book dealers of Hartford, he went to Philadelphia in 1841, in the employ of a publishing house, but returned to Hartford in 1842 and a little later became a partner of his former employer under the style of Sumner, Goodman & Company. In 1848 he bought out his partner's interests and continued alone until 1852, when he went to New York, where he successfully conducted a paper business until 1872, in which year he again took up his abode in Hartford. He was one of the original stockholders of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company and in 1875 became its president but practically retired from business in 1889. He was a member of the old fire department, was captain of the Hartford Light Guard on the staff of General Frank Bacon and was a member of Trinity church. On the 10th of April, 1857, he married Annie M. Johnston, daughter of Robert Rhea and Mary Sears (Hatch) Johnston. They became parents of five children: Emilie, wife of Rev. Richard Wright; Edward, who died in 1872; Annie, wife of Rev. John F. Plumb, formerly of New Milford and now a resident of Hartford; Mary A .; and Richard Johnston.

The last named was born in Hartford, March 23, 1875, and after attending the public schools, being graduated from high school in 1892, he spent four years as a student in Yale University in the completion of a classical course and then entered upon the study of law there, being graduated in 1899. In January of that year he was admitted to the bar and during his last year in college practiced his profession in New Haven. In October, 1899, he opened an office in Hartford, where he practiced independently for six years and then joined Leslie W. Newberry in organizing the law firm of Newberry & Goodman in 1905. For twelve years they were associated in professional activity and enjoyed prominence as members of the Hartford bar, a liberal clientele being accorded them. It was in 1908 that Mr. Goodman became associated with the Bush Manufacturing Company, engaged in the manufacture of automobile radiators. He became president on its organization and has so continued to this time. He has closely studied trade conditions and opportunities and his labors have resulted in the development of a large and growing business which has made him one of the men of affluence in Hartford. What he undertakes he accomplishes, his persistency of purpose enabling him to overcome all difficulties and obstacles in his path. In October, 1921, he also formed a partnership with Putnam & Company, the best known bond and stock company in Hartford. In 1915, in association with Colonel Louis R. Cheney, he organized the Hartford Morris Plan Bank, which has operated successfully since.

On the 19th of April, 1917, Mr. Goodman was married to Miss Helen Hatch, daughter of Edward B. Hatch. They hold membership in Trinity Episcopal church, of which he is a vestryman. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he has been somewhat active in public affairs, serving as a member of the common council for two terms and as a member of the health commission in 1908, while from 1904 until 1908 he was a member of the republican town committee and from 1912 until 1915 served as its chairman. He has made a commendable record

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as chairman of the board of finance of the town of West Hartford since 1924. Fraternally he is connected with St. John's Lodge No. 4, F. & A. M .; Washington Commandery, K. T .; and Sphinx Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He has also been active in military affairs and was commissioned colonel in July, 1914. It was on the 6th of September, 1899, that he enlisted in Company K, First Infantry, Connecticut National Guard, and in November, 1902, became a second lieutenant, while in Decem- ber of that year he was advanced to the captaincy, became major in 1907, lieutenant colonel in November, 1908, and colonel in July, 1914. He served as aide on the staff of Grand Marshal Chaffee at the inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt as president. During the Mexican border trouble of 1915-16 he was stationed at Nogales, Arizona, and when the United States joined the allied forces for service in the World war he was in command of the First Infantry and was stationed at Hartford and New Haven until November, 1917, when he was assigned to duty in the training of troops for overseas service at Camps Greene and Wadsworth in South Carolina. He remained a member of the national army until December 22, 1918, when he received his honor- able discharge. He holds membership in the Society of Colonial Wars and the Sons of the American Revolution, is identified with the Connecticut Historical Society and along the more strictly social lines has membership in the Hartford, Hartford Golf, University, Graduates', Yale and Dauntless clubs. His has been a well-rounded development. His activities have touched the general interests of society in many ways, making for physical, intellectual, material and moral progress. He is recognized as a forceful factor in the business world and as a citizen of worth, highly esteemed by all who know him and most of all by those who have known him from his boyhood to the present-a fact which is indicative of his well spent life.

BARNEY RAPAPORT

Barney Rapaport, a packer and dealer in Connecticut leaf tobacco, whose busi- ness enterprise is shown in the substantial trade that he has built up, was born in Veilna, Poland, March 12, 1881, and is a son of Jacob and Iada (Jacobs) Rapaport, who spent their entire lives in Poland. The son was educated in the schools of his native country and there engaged in the lumber business with his father and also in farming. In November, 1904, however, his plans for trying his fortune in the new world reached their culmination when he sailed for America, landing in New York city. Almost immediately afterward he went to New Haven, where for a year he was employed in the rubber works. In 1906 he came to Hartford and worked with the firm of Silver Brothers for a time, while later he was in the department store of G. Fox & Company. In 1907 he opened a grocery store, which he conducted for about nine months. He next purchased a horse and wagon and peddled junk and low priced tobacco in the country. In this manner he became acquainted with the tobacco growers and sold for the farmers on the commission basis. Little by little he began buying for himself and thus became acquainted with the trade. In 1908 he opened a warehouse and office of his own and has since built up a substantial busi- ness which has now become one of extensive proportions, his dealings being with the biggest tobacco people of the country. In fact he is one of the outstanding tobacco packers of New England, widely known to growers and dealers, with office at 245 State street in Hartford. He is truly a self-made man, deserving great credit for what he has accomplished. Without college training he has learned the lessons of life in the school of experience and each step in his career has been a forward one, bringing him a broader outlook and wider opportunities, which he has eagerly utilized in the upbuilding of his fortunes. Not only has he become a foremost tobacco mer- chant of Connecticut but is also one of the founders of the Merchants Bank & Trust Company, of which he is a director. With others he purchased the bank on the 26th of October, 1926, and during the intervening period of two years the business of the bank has steadily grown. For a time he was associated in the tobacco trade with Fred B. Griffin under the name of Griffin & Rapaport. This association was continued for two and one-half years, during which period they handled a large volume of business.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 93

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