History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 94

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 94

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In October, 1910, Mr. Rapaport was united in marriage to Miss Victoria Tudor, of New York city. They are the parents of two children, Viola and Eddie. In 1924,

(Photograph by Oricchio) BARNEY RAPAPORT

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accompanied by his family, Mr. Rapaport traveled abroad, visiting his old home and relatives in Poland. During the World war period he was a most generous giver to the cause and he has always stood for those activities which have featured in the substantial growth and improvement of his adopted city. He is a member and was the founder of the Emanuel synagogue of Hartford and is serving on its board of directors. For many years he has been on the board of the United Jewish Charities, on the board of the Hebrew Children's Home, of the Mount Sinai Hospital and of the Hebrew schools of Hartford. He is much interested in the Zionist movement, to which he has devoted much time, serving as chairman of the Hartford district, and has been an executive of the board of relief. He is keenly and helpfully interested in philanthropic work, giving liberally of effort, time and money to the cause. Fraternally he is connected with John Hay Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. His is a notable career of successful achievement. What he has accomplished represents the fit utilization of his innate powers and talents, which at all times have been intelligently directed, and as the architect of his own fortunes he has builded wisely and well.

WILLIAM BROWNELL GOODWIN

William Brownell Goodwin, well known insurance official, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, October 7, 1866, a son of Francis Goodwin, M. A., D. D., and Mary Alsop (Jackson) Goodwin. He is descended in the eighth generation from Ozias Goodwin of Hartford, Connecticut, Miles Morgan of Springfield, Massachusetts, Cap- tain Simon William, of Newton, Massachusetts, Edward Jackson of Newton, Massa- chusetts, and Colonel John Fenwick of Charlestown, South Carolina.

In the acquirement of an education William B. Goodwin attended St. Paul's School of Concord, New Hampshire, Trinity College of Hartford and Yale University. During his college days he became a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. His initial experience in the business world came to him as assistant cashier of the Merchants National Bank of Kansas City, Missouri, in 1888. He next became a director of the Mechanics Mill and Lumber Company of Seattle, Washington, where he remained from 1889 until 1903. He had been made special agent of the Aetna Insurance Company in 1895 and in 1904 represented the corporation as special agent for Ohio and West Virginia, while in 1906 he was state agent for West Virginia and from 1908 until 1923 served as state agent for Ohio. During the past five years he has been secretary of the World Fire and Marine Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, in the home office. Mr. Goodwin is also a trustee of the Bankers Trust Company of Hartford, was chairman of the West Virginia Fire Underwriters and in 1915 and 1917 filled the presidency of the Ohio Field Club and Ohio Fire Prevention Association.

During the period of the World war Mr. Goodwin ably served the government as civilian aide for the state of Ohio to the adjutant general of the United States, thus continuing from 1917 until 1923. He rendered valuable service as civilian aide to the secretary of war of the United States in 1923, at Plattsburg in 1916, as a member of the Canadian American Recruiting Mission in 1917, as a member of the Liberty Loan and Red Cross committee at Columbus, Ohio, as chairman of the military committee of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, as chairman for Ohio of the Military Training Camps Association and as a member of the Secret Service of the United States for Ohio. He is now first vice president of the Charity Organiza- tion Society, trustee and curator of colonial arts in the Wadsworth Atheneum of Hartford and a director of the Hartford Hospital and the Hartford Community Chest. He is a fellow of the American Geographical Society of New York, a member of the American Museum of Natural History, Associate in Fine Arts, Yale Univer- sity, and a member of the Connecticut Historical Society, the South Carolina His- torical and Genealogical Society, the Sons of the American Revolution and the Society of Colonial Wars. Moreover, he is a trustee of the Berkeley Divinity School. His favorite forms of recreation are golf, fishing, historical research and the col- lection of antiques. His name is on the membership rolls of the Ambellish Club of the Province of Quebec, Canada, the Hartford Golf Club, the Wampanoag Country Club, of which he is president, the White Hollow Fishing Club and the Dauntless

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Club of Essex, Connecticut. He is an Episcopalian in religious faith and is serving as vestryman of Trinity Protestant Episcopal church in Hartford, Connecticut.

On the 23d of November, 1898, in Seattle, Washington, Mr. Goodwin was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. V. Hood, daughter of Thomas and Mary Theresa (Burke) Hood. His residence is at 200 Scarborough street and his office at 670 Main street in Hartford.

CHARLES L. AMES, A. M.

No history of the progress of Connecticut, in the educational field, would be complete without extended reference to Charles L. Ames, who for nearly sixty-four years has been a teacher within the borders of the commonwealth, continuously con- nected with the Brown school, Hartford, since 1891. In the continued progress of the Brown school, and in its far-reaching influence on the lives of thousands of students who have attended this school since 1891, much credit must be given to Principal Ames, who, for more than thirty-seven years, has been at the head of the Brown school. And now, 1928, he is still holding the same position, arriving early and staying late, at each session. His long experience and study of human nature have given him a thorough understanding of youth.

Mr. Ames was born in Killingly, Connecticut, November 9, 1847, son of George and Lucy Day Ames, both of whom were teachers for awhile, but later engaged in farming. Their son Charles, the subject of this sketch, was brought up on a farm. In early life, he attended a one-room school in South Killingly, and later a select school in Danielson. Circumstances did not warrant his taking a college course.

He was only eighteen years of age when offered a position in his native town, and, seeing this an opportunity to acquire some ready money-the salary to be twenty-five dollars per month,-he accepted the position. He did not realize then that he was entering upon his life-work, but he found the field congenial, and the public recognized his ability to manage a school, and he continued teaching. He remained in the Killingly schools two years, when he went to Plainfield, where he taught for three years, after which he spent a four-year period as a teacher in Plainville. In 1874, he went to Southington to accept an offered position as principal of the new Plantsville school, and remained there for seventeen years. In 1891, Mr. Frederick F. Barrows, who had been at the head of the Brown school since 1850, invited Mr. Ames to come to Hartford as his successor. Mr. Ames accepted the position, thus giving the Brown school only two principals during the last seventy- eight years.

Mr. Ames has lived to see many changes in all that has to do with the teaching profession. In his early teaching, he "boarded 'round" among the families, whose children were his pupils. He followed the methods of instruction then in vogue, but he progressed year by year along lines of modern methods of teaching and supervision. In the Brown school there has been a marked change in the racial personnel. Twenty- five or thirty years ago, a very large percentage of the children were Jewish children, while today nearly ninety per cent of the children are of Italian parentage. Not only has Mr. Ames seen to it that these children had thorough instruction in all funda- mentals, but also he has made it his purpose to instill in the minds of those in his care a love for their adopted country, with a recognition of its opportunities and possibilities. While Americanization, under that title, does not appear on the cur- riculum, it has been widely and helpfully taught.

Mr. Ames' love of music, his "hobby" of a lifetime, has also had its influence in the school. The musical education of the children has always been a matter of special interest to him. That is why in part the Brown school chorus has become one of the finest organizations of its kind in New England. His enthusiasm and love of music have been an inspiration to teachers and pupils.

Mr. Ames has always been a champion for the youth. Many times has he appeared before legislative committees to protest the passage of laws that might bring hardship to both children and parents. For the same reason, he has been strongly opposed to the "child labor amendment", and also to any federal centraliza- tion of education in the states. His open letter protesting the adoption of the amend- ment was the first to appear in the public press of this state.

(Photograph by John Haley)

CHARLES L. AMES

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Soon after coming to the Brown school, he began holding public graduating exercises. Realizing that only a few of his students would ever graduate from a college, he presented diplomas to his graduates so that they might look upon the Brown school as their alma mater. Now the school has an "Alumni Association". This large association has already vindicated the use of diplomas at graduation.

Mr. Ames is a member of the Connecticut state board of education and of the Teachers". That address was printed by the state board of education, and five mittee on pensions for teachers. For eight years his committee on pensions appeared biennially before legislative committees to secure a pension system. In May, 1912, Mr. Ames gave an address in Center church house, Hartford, on "Pensions for Teachers Board of Retirement. From 1909 to 1917, he was chairman of the com- thousand copies were distributed among the teachers of the state. In 1917, a "re- tirement system for teachers" was established by the legislature, and the system has been pronounced by experts as one of the three best pension systems in the United States. Mr. Ames regards the securing of a pension system for teachers as one of his best achievements outside of the classroom.

In 1919, the Connecticut state board of education was organized under a new plan-membership to consist of one appointive member for each county, and one at large, all appointments to be made by the governor. Mr. Ames was appointed a member for two years by Governor Holcomb to represent Hartford county. In 1921, he was reappointed for six years by Governor Lake, and in 1927, he was again reappointed for six years by Governor Trumbull. Mr. Ames took a great interest in the erection of the new state normal school, at New Britain, and gave an address at its dedication, in May, 1925.

Mr. Ames is the author of the history of public school education in Connecticut, which appeared in Osborn's "History of Connecticut". He has given many public addresses and written many articles for the public press, not only on educational subjects, but on many other subjects pertaining to public affairs. He is a member of the Connecticut Congressional Club, the Hartford Chamber of Commerce, the Twentieth Century Club, and the South Congregational church, in which he is a deacon. In recognition of his noteworthy contribution to the cause of public school education, Trinity College, in 1924, conferred upon him the degree Master of Arts.

In 1876, Mr. Ames, while in young manhood, married Ida Emogene Cowles, of Plainville, Connecticut, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William L. Cowles of that town. Mrs. Ames attended the Hartford public high school before her marriage, and became a fine French student. She departed this life in 1908. One child died in infancy.

Mr. Ames is exemplifying in his own life his prescription for a long and happy life, which is as follows :- eat in moderation, sleep at least six hours each day, take an interest in public affairs, have a hobby, and keep with and be interested in the young. His high standing in the community is shown by the way his boys and girls delight to do him honor, by remembering his birthdays and commemorating his years of teaching. To him may well be applied the words of Victor Hugo:

"Though the snows of winter are on his head,

The flowers of spring are in his heart".

HON. BENJAMIN B. MERRILL

In the great insurance organizations, in which the work has become highly spe- cialized and the maximum degree of efficiency must be maintained, are found thor- oughly trained men adequate to the work of each department. In this class is num- bered Hon. Benjamin B. Merrill, the superintendent of the voucher audit department of the Aetna Life Insurance Company. He was born in Frankville, Iowa, July 20, 1871, and is a son of George and Nancy (Treat) Merrill, the former a native of New York and the latter of Glastonbury, Connecticut. The Treat family were early settlers of Hartford county. By occupation George Merrill was an agriculturist.

The rural schools accorded Benjamin B. Merrill his early educational privileges, after which he attended the Decorah (Iowa) Institute for a time, while subsequently he was graduated from the Nora Springs Normal and Business College in his native state. He taught school for a short time and then entered the field of insurance in

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connection with the Aetna Life Insurance Company, having come to Hartford in 1898. He has since been with that corporation and has therefore just closed thirty years of service with the company, during which he has held various positions in the several departments which make up this great organization. Promotion after promotion followed until he was made superintendent of the voucher audit department in 1917 and so continues.

Aside from his business affairs, which are broad in scope and of a responsible character, Mr. Merrill has been active in other connections. For ten years he served as town auditor of East Hartford and at the present writing is filling the office of town treasurer. He is commissioner of the Connecticut river bridge and highway dis- trict and has been chairman of the Hockanum sewer district committee since its organization in 1915. He is now the vice president of the East Hartford Chamber of Commerce and is interested in all of the activities instituted by that organization for the benefit of community and state. Always an earnest republican, he is treasurer of the town committee of the Republican Club. Appreciation of his civic activities and the high standards to which he adheres came to him in his election to the state legislature in November, 1924, with reelection in 1926. He served on the insurance committee during both sessions and acted as chairman of the insurance committee of the house in 1927. Another of his public activities included service on the exemption board during the World war.

On the 5th of September, 1905, Mr. Merrill was married to Miss Mary Catharine Gehan, of East Hartford, where they now reside with their six children: Ruth W., George B., Catharine, Eleanor E., Ralph B. and Barbara. Mr. Merrill is a member of Orient Lodge, No. 62, A. F. & A. M. He has never cared to figure in club circles, finding that there is ample demand made upon his time and activities through his business affairs and public interests. He has reached a creditable place in insurance circles and he is today making a commendable record in connection with the work of framing state legislation, his influence ever being given on the side of constructive measures.

RUSSELL PEET TABER

Prominently known in Hartford as a representative of the automobile business, Russell Peet Taber is handling the Reo car and has one of the large and important agencies of New England. He was born in Dutchess county, New York, December 8, 1887, in the little village of Quaker Hill, in the township of Pawling, and there his grandfather, William Henry Taber, was born on the 4th of May, 1825. The latter married Elizabeth Thomas, of Dover, New York, and they were parents of Charles · William Taber, who on the 24th of November, 1886, married Sarah Ophelia Peet, a daughter of Samuel R. and Laura (Thompkins) Peet. Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Taber had three children.

The eldest, Russell P. Taber, spent the greater part of his youth in Gaylordsville, Connecticut, where his parents established the family home in his early boyhood and where he attended the public schools. When a youth of fourteen, however, he started out to provide for his own support and secured employment in a grocery store just across the New York boundary line. His identification with Hartford dates from 1905, when he obtained a position with the Whitlock Coil Pipe Company, and he entered into active association with the automobile trade the following year as an employe of Louis Elmer, a motor car dealer of Hartford. After about a year and a half he was em- ployed by a Mr. Gilman in the same line and in 1910 he established business on his own account by securing the agency for the Reo car. Through the intervening period he has developed an extensive business that classes him with the leading automobile dealers of New England. His annual sales now approach two and a half million dol- lars and throughout his business career he has always recognized the fact that a satis- fied customer is the best advertisement. There are few Reo dealers in New England who equal him in the volume of business, and in addition to his salesrooms in Hartford he conducts a sales agency in Meriden and Wallingford, Connecticut, and in Springfield, Massachusetts, serving a territory that covers six and one-half counties in Connecticut and one county in Massachusetts.

On the 23d of June, 1910, Mr. Taber was united in marriage to Miss Mary Russell,

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( Photograph by The Johnstone Studio)

RUSSELL P. TABER

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a native of Hartford and a daughter of John Russell. They are well known socially and their home is the center of warm-hearted hospitality that is greatly enjoyed by their many friends. Mr. Taber also belongs to the Hartford Club, the Farmington Country Club, the Wampanoag Golf Club and the Sequin Golf Club-all of which indicates something of the nature of his recreation. He has membership connection with Tuscan Lodge, No. 126, A. F. & A. M., with the council and chapter, with Wash- ington Commandery, K. T., and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in Connecticut Consistory. He is likewise a member of Sphinx Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is a director as well as a member of the National Dealers Asso- ciation, a countrywide organization of automobile dealers. He has likewise been presi- dent of the Hartford Automobile Dealers Association, and that he is interested in the progress and development of his state is indicated in the fact that for three years he has rendered service as treasurer of the Connecticut State Fair. Mr. Taber pos- sesses that "saving sense of humor" that takes a man over many of the hard places of life. Moreover, he is genial, cordial and at all times approachable, ready with the apt word or with repartee, broad-minded, cosmopolitan in his interests and tastes and at all times the desired companion of men of culture and innate refinement.

CLARENCE E. WILSON

Bending every energy toward the attainment of a definite objective, Clarence E. Wilson has steadily progressed and is now at the head of a large nursery business in Manchester. He was born in Westminster, Maryland, in 1883, a son of J. H. and Lucretia Wilson, who have passed away. His father, also a native of Maryland, devoted his life to railroad work.

Clarence E. Wilson was reared in his native town and supplemented his high school course by attendance at the Western Maryland College. His initial experience in the nursery business was gained with J. G. Harrison & Sons, of Berlin, Maryland, after which he was employed by C. W. Stewart & Company of New York and the West Jersey Nurseries at Bridgeton, spending two years in each place. During that time he gradually assumed heavier responsibilities and in 1909 came to Manchester as superintendent of production for C. R. Burr & Company. For seven years he filled that position, working untiringly and effectively to promote the interests of the firm, and in the spring of 1916 started out for himself as a nurseryman. At first he was sole owner of the business but later formed a stock company and is now president of the firm of C. E. Wilson & Company. Its headquarters and storehouse are situated at Allen place and all of the nurseries are within a radius of two miles from Man- chester except one, which is located in Vernon, Connecticut. The firm specializes in seedlings and sells its young stock to other nurseries and to landscape gardeners in various localities. This company probably grows more plants than any other nursery in New England, producing from five to eight million plants per year, and furnishes work to twenty-five persons throughout the year. During the weeding season the force is augmented to about one hundred and seventy-five and the house is repre- sented by two traveling salesmen, who call on the wholesale trade, while the company also has twenty agents. Through deep study, broad experience and concentrated effort Mr. Wilson has taken his place among the foremost nurserymen of the east, developing an extensive business which is a monument to his powers of organization and administration and a great asset to Manchester.

In 1910 Mr. Wilson married Miss Ethel Woodbridge, a native of Manchester Green and a member of one of its oldest and most prominent families. She is a daughter of George W. and Hetty (Bailey) Woodbridge, the former living in Manchester. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson now have three children: Carroll W., who was born in 1911 and is a high school pupil; Hewitt E., who was born in 1913 and is also attending the public schools; and George S., born in 1915. Mr. Wilson attends the Congregational church and is an adherent of the republican party. The Chamber of Commerce numbers him among its influential members and along fraternal lines he is connected with Man- chester Lodge, No. 73, F. & A. M., and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a director of the building corporation of the latter organization, while his wife is one of the Daughters of Rebekah. Mr. Wilson is one of the charter members of the Manchester Kiwanis Club. Along business lines he is a member of the National,

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Connecticut and New England Nurserymen's Associations and other trade organiza- tions. Following the path of opportunity open to all, Mr. Wilson has arrived at the goal of notable success, at the same time gaining the respect, confidence and good will of his fellowmen, for the principles of truth and honor have constituted his guide throughout life.

FRANK H. ANDERSON

Among the men who are making history in Connecticut is numbered Frank H. Anderson, a product of Manchester and one of the foremost merchants in New England. Like most leaders in the business world of today, he started at the bottom of the ladder and has risen to the top through his strength of character and mental endowments. He was born February 21, 1888, and is a son of Samuel and Jennie (Gordon) Anderson.

In the schools of the ninth district he received his early education and in April, 1905, was graduated from the South Manchester high school, of which Harry C. Folsom was then in charge. As a result of his friendly counsel Mr. Anderson decided to enter Tufts College and after passing the necessary examination planned to work a year in order to secure the funds for his tuition. During vacation periods he had been employed at Laurel Park and at the close of the season of September, 1905, obtained a position in the J. W. Hale department store. Mr. Anderson started the day of sweeping the sidewalk in front of the establishment, after which he worked at various counters, and in addition aided in painting the signs and decorating the windows, making himself generally useful. When it was time to enter college Mr. Hale persuaded him to abandon the project and choose a mercantile career, realizing his exceptional qualifications therefor. Mr. Anderson progressed with the business and at the end of four years was admitted to a partnership in the firm.

In 1910 the J. W. Hale Company was incorporated with a capital of fifty thousand dollars and Mr. Anderson, who had charge of the dry goods advertising, was made secretary and a director of the firm. At the end of four years the founder and head of the business retired and Mr. Anderson acquired control of the company. In 1919, the year of Mr. Hale's death, the capital stock was increased to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the original style being still retained, and Mr. Hale's interest in the House & Hale property was taken over. At that time an addition was started for the House & Hale building, planned especially for the J. W. Hale Company, which in 1920 established the Self Serve Grocery, the first of its kind in the New England states and the second of its kind in the country. In 1924, a Health Market was added to the grocery department. In less than three years it was claimed to be doing more busi- ness per square foot of floor space than any store in Connecticut. In 1928, the lack of space and constant increased demand for facilities caused the opening of the sec- ond Self-Serve Grocery and Health Market, at the corner of Park and Main streets in South Manchester. This was opened in a building constructed by N. B. Richards and Mr. Anderson as a result of Mr. Anderson's efforts in securing Montgomery Ward & Company to open their first New England store in the Hartford district and selecting South Manchester as the location. Mr. Richards and Mr. Anderson erected the building for Montgomery Ward & Company and in addition the adjoining building of seven stores.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 94

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