History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 98

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 98

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JOHN F. ROLFE

John F. Rolfe, general manager and treasurer of The Hartford Times, was born in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania. His early newspaper experience was gained with the Associated Press, the New York World and the New York Sun, which he served in a reportorial capacity in southern New York and northern Pennsylvania as their representative. He became editor of the Elmira Weekly and Tri-Weekly Advertiser in 1900 and was sports and telegraph editor with the Elmiro Daily Adver- tiser. From October, 1901, until February, 1928, he was connected with the Corning Evening Leader, which paper he served in every capacity from city editor to manager. Mr. Rolfe, upon the purchase of The Hartford Times by F. E. Gannett, was chosen to represent him in the management of this paper.

Mr. Rolfe has served as director of the Empire State School of Printing in Ithaca and of the New York State Press Association and has been a guest lecturer in various university school of journalism, as well as the author of many business and advertising articles in trade publications. During his residence in Corning he was a member of the various Liberty Loan committees during the World war, chair- man of publicity for the War Chest and director of publicity for the war stamps and postal savings, and at various times assistant fuel and food administrator. He was also a member of the district draft board, having charge of the preparation and educuation of drafted soldiers, and was a member of the New York State National Guard Reserve, formed as a home defense organization. He was for many years interested in health work and for eighteen years a member of the board of health

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in Corning and was one of those instrumental in securing the model milk regulations which are now a law of New York state.

He was a member of the Tuberculosis Camp Commission for eight years and had a wide and varied experience in the establishment of these and similar camps for the development of undernourished children. He was chairman of the finance committee which secured the building fund and endowment of the Corning Hospital. He was secretary of the Denison Park committee which raised the funds for and developed one of the most beautiful city parks in New York state, it being trans- ferred upon its completion to the municipal government which maintains it. He was, for eighteen years, the vice president and director of the Corning Printing Company and a former director for several years of the Corning Chamber of Commerce, Corning Homes, Inc., and Crystal City Realty Company.

Mr. Rolfe comes of Revolutionary stock on both sides of his family. On the Rolfe side he is a direct descendant of Honour Rolfe and of Benjamin, one of the proprietors of Newbury, Massachusetts, and of the family of which the poet Whit- tier's mother came. On his paternal grandmother's side he is a descendant of Stephen Hight, after whom Hightstown, New Jersey, was named and who was one of the original surveyors of Steuben county. On his mother's side he descends from the Seaman family of New England and from the Connecticut Potters, who settled in Potter county, Pennsylvania, and from whom that county takes its name.

He was, for many years a director of the Steuben county (N. Y.) Young Men's Christian Association, a member of the executive and examining committee of the Steuben county Boy Scouts and a director of the Girl Scouts.

Mr. Rolfe is a director of The Hartford Times, the Hartford Chamber of Com- merce, Hartford Better Business Bureau and of the Connecticut State Fair. He is a member of Hartford Rotary Club, an honorary member of Corning (N. Y.) Rotary Club, and is a member of the Masonic order, the Episcopal church, and of the Hartford Club.

Mr. Rolfe married, in Elmira, Bertha Emily, daughter of William and Mary . Ann Butterworth. Upon making their home in Corning Mrs. Rolfe was for many years prominent in club work, having been chairman of the publicity committee for the seventh New York district of the American Federation of Women's Clubs.

GEORGE EDWARD ABBOTT

In 1912 George Edward Abbott, the head of the Abbott Ball Company of Elm- wood, erected a factory for the manufacture of balls for ball bearings. He had already engaged in that line of business for a number of years and had established a trade of substantial proportions which had steadily grown until it demanded further space and he erected the building which would adequately house his interests. Since that time his business has continued to grow and expand until Mr. Abbott ranks with the leading manufacturers of this section of the state, alert, energetic and of sound judgment and clear vision.

It has been said that to adequately understand a man and what he does one must know something of his ancestral record, and research indicates that the Abbott family has been long and prominently associated with the history of New England. In colonial records the name was spelled Abbitt. It had its origin in the Hebrew term Ab, meaning father, and from the monasteries of Syria it spread through the east and became generally accepted in all languages as designating the head of a mon- astery. In England at an early date the name was spelled with one "t" but the present orthography was later adopted. Robert Abbott was admitted a freeman of Watertown, Massachusetts, September 3, 1634, and there received several grants of land. In 1640 he removed with a small company to Wethersfield, Connecticut, then called Watertown, and was a juryman for the "Particular Court" at Hartford, July 12, 1640, and September 2, 1641. His name appears thirtieth on a list of seventy freemen of the "Court of New Haven" and he otherwise figured prominently in the public life of his day and community. About 1645 he removed to Branford, Connecticut, where he died September 30, 1658. He was twice married and Joseph Abbott, the youngest of his thirteen children, was born in Branford and was living in New Haven in 1683. Stephen Abbott, the eldest child of Joseph Abbott, was

GEORGE E. ABBOTT

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born in Branford and was married January 6, 1724, to Hannah Frisbee, of Bran- ford, born August 14, 1693. About 1750 Stephen Abbott and his wife removed to Middlebury, Connecticut, where he died at an advanced age, while his wife passed away December 25, 1803, when she had reached the age of more than one hundred years. They were the parents of Daniel Abbott, born in Branford, January 4, 1725. He lived for some time at Middlebury, Connecticut, and on March 1, 1763, married Lois Smith, of Wallingford, who died in August, 1800.

Daniel Abbott (II), the second son of Daniel Abbott (I), was born in Middlebury, June 24, 1768, followed farming and was married July 25, 1787, to Lois Terrel, who died in Middlebury, January 16, 1836. They were parents of Daniel Abbott (III), who was born in Middlebury, September 18, 1796, and became a farmer and manu- facturer there. In 1837 he removed to Southford, where he built a flour and feed mill and also two large manufacturing plants. About 1849 he began manufacturing paper and developed a constantly increasing business, introducing new and improved methods. He was married February 10, 1819, to Sally Sherman, who was born March 27, 1801, and was a member of the same family as General William Tecumseh Sherman. Daniel Abbott (III) passed away on the 7th of March, 1859. To him and his wife were born six sons and two daughters, all natives of Middlebury save John B., who was a native of Southford.

Their son, Elijah Edwards Abbott, born in Middlebury, January 26, 1827, obtained a public school education, learned the machinist's trade and worked under his father in the paper mills. In young manhood he was employed at Gananoque, Ontario, Canada, in a machine shop and foundry owned by his eldest brother, Daniel Sherman Abbott, Jr. At the latter's death July 12, 1861, Elijah E. Abbott succeeded his brother as owner of the business, which he conducted until a few years prior to his own demise, his last years being spent in honorable retirement. For many years he was United States deputy consul at Gananoque and was a member of the Masonic lodge there. On the 11th of April, 1848, he married Mary Jane Buell, who was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, December 11, 1827, the eldest daughter of Samuel and Minerva (Wadhams) Buell. Through the Buell line George E. Abbott also became a descend- ant of the Griswold and Loomis families, of equal prominence in the pioneer history of New England, and of the Allgar, Collins and Leete families. Mr. and Mrs. Elijah E. Abbott became the parents of seven children. They were active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, taking a helpful part in various branches of the church work.

George Edward Abbott, son of Elijah Edwards and Mary Jane (Buell) Abbott, was born in Gananoque, Ontario, Canada, November 16, 1864, and when he had completed his public school education he learned the machinist's trade under the direction of his father and continued in his employ until he had attained his majority, when he returned to the land of his forefathers, with New Britain, Connecticut, as his destination. There he obtained a position as a machinist and toolmaker with the Case Engine Company, continuing to serve in that connection for five years. He was afterward a machinist and toolmaker with the firm of Yale & Towne, of Stam- ford, but after a year withdrew and went to Providence, Rhode Island, where for a short time he was with the firm of Brown & Sharpe. He next came to Hartford and entered the employ of Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company as a toolmaker. Subsequently he was with the Sigourney Tool Company for five years and for a decade was with the New Departure Manufacturing Company of Bristol, acting as master mechanic for that corporation during the last six years of the period. While he was thus engaged that company began the manufacture of balls for ball bearings and Mr. Abbott designed the special machinery necessary for the production of the product. Desirous that his labor should more directly benefit himself, he resigned his position and rented a small room on Hicks street, Hartford, in which he installed a few machine shop tools, designed and drafted his own special machinery and had the necessary patterns for casting made. When his equipment was completed he made five hundred pounds of balls, which he then took out on the road and sold. Returning, he made more balls which he sold, and in course of time he had built up a trade sufficient to enable him to employ a boy as assistant. From that time forward the business has constantly grown and expanded and in 1912 justified the erection of a factory building, which he located in Elmwood, Connecti- cut. This was but the first unit of his present large plant, for he has since made various additions and today has one of the best equipped factories of this kind in

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the country. The business is now carried on under the name of the Abbott Ball Company and has reached gratifying proportions. Mr. Abbott's knowledge of the machinist's trade has enabled him to secure everything necessary in equipment and enables him to wisely direct the labors of the men in his employ. At the same time his executive ability prompts his careful management and systematization of the business, which has grown year by year until it has become one of the important productive industries of Hartford county.

Mr. Abbott has a son and a daughter, namely, George Kenneth Abbott, born June 16, 1890, and Edith, born July 27, 1899.

Mr. Abbott is a thirty-second degree Mason, having membership in Franklin Lodge, F. & A. M .; Pequabuck Chapter, No. 32, R. A. M .; Ionic Council, R. & S. M., of Bristol, Connecticut; Washington Commandery, No. 1, K. T., of Hartford; Con- necticut Consistory ; and the Sphinx Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., Hartford, Connecticut. He exemplifies in his life the beneficent spirit and high purposes of the craft but outside of business prefers to give his time and attention to his family and friends. He is also a member of the Manufacturers Association of Connecticut, Manufacturers Association of Hartford County, National Association of Manufacturers, Hartford Club and Hartford Rotary Club.

In manner he is free from ostentation and display, but the sterling worth of his character is widely recognized and all who know him speak of him in terms of high regard, recognizing his forcefulness as displayed in the establishment and development of an extensive business and his loyalty in citizenship.

WILLIAM A. SANBORN

Possessing broad, enlightened and liberal-minded views, faith in himself and in the potentialities for development in Hartford, William A. Sanborn chose the field of real estate as his life work and his has been an active career in which he has accomplished important and far-reaching results contributing in no small degree to the expansion, material growth and improvement of his city. A native of Charles- town, Massachusetts, he was born September 4, 1864, his parents being Daniel Alfred and Ann Rogers (Forster) Sanborn. Research seems to establish beyond doubt the fact that the family is of English origin, with a coat-of-arms as follows: Argent, a chevron sable, between three mullets gules. Crest: A right hand holding a sheaf of arrows proper. There is another branch of the family which shows the arrows sable, and still another with a crest consisting of a lion rampant azure. As early as 1194 A. D. the name appears in England in the old form of De Sandeburne and in the fourteenth century the spelling was Samborne, or Sambourne, which orthography has been maintained in England, and the first American settlers also used the "m" and the final "e." After several generations, however, the modern spelling was adopted. William Sanborn, son of William and Anne (Bachiler) Sanborn, of Brimp- ton, Berks, was born about 1622 and the preponderance of evidence shows that he and his three brothers came to America with their grandfather, Rev. Stephen Bach- iler, in 1632. Records speak of them in Hampton, New Hampshire, in 1639, and "in June, 1640, a house lot on the road towards the sea was granted to him." He married Mary, daughter of John Moulton, of Ormsby and of Hampton, New Hamp- shire, and died November 18, 1692. His son, Stephen Sanborn, born in Hampton, September 4, 1671, was a soldier of the wars of 1704 to 1708 and died June 21, 1750. He was married July 26, 1693, to Hannah, daughter of Lieutenant James Philbrick, of Hampton, and their son, Stephen Sanborn, was born at Hampton, May 1, 1694. He was married November 30, 1721, to Ruth Levet, of Hampton, where they always resided, the wife dying May 30, 1776, and the husband May 30, 1778. Their son, Amos Sanborn, born in Hampton, June 1, 1726, there resided until his father's death, when he removed to Moultonborough. He died March 3, 1815. To him and his wife, Polly, was born a son, Robert Sanborn, in Hampton, February 6, 1762. He became a resident of Sandwich, New Hampshire, married Mary Glines and died February 24, 1851. Their son, David Ambrose Sanborn, born in Sandwich, New Hampshire, Feb- ruary 14, 1795, died in Somerville, Massachusetts, February 19, 1875. He was a brick manufacturer and prominent citizen. He married Hannah Adams, who was

(Photograph by John Haley)

WILLIAM A. SANBORN

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born January 18, 1794, and died July 15, 1875. This worthy couple were grandpar- ents of William A. Sanborn of this review.

Daniel Alfred Sanborn, father of William A. Sanborn, was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, April 5, 1827, and studied in the office of a prominent civil engineer of Boston. He was at one time superintendent of railroads in Maine and again in Delaware, and he took a contract to fill in a part of what is now the Back Bay district of Boston. In 1866 he entered the employ of J. B. Bennett, manager of the Cincin- nati office of the Aetna Insurance Company, to make maps for insurance work. His was one of the earliest attempts in this direction and there was a very small demand for such maps in the beginning, but he possessed determination and courage and his perseverance resulted in building up a most important business, which he conducted profitably until ill health forced him to retire several years prior to his death, April 11, 1883. On the 6th of October, 1853, he had married Ann Rogers Forster, who was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, January 10, 1832, and died November 17, 1910. William A. Sanborn, having attended private schools, continued his education in the Brooklyn (N. Y.) Polytechnic Institute, after which he became associated with his father in the insurance map business. His residence in Hartford dates from 1890 and in 1901 he established his present real estate business, which has main- tained a steady growth, reaching extensive and gratifying proportions. He has always specialized in developing high-class realty propositions, especially in resi- dence districts, and has also had the agency for a number of the leading business buildings of the city. Gradually his activities have increased in scope and volume until many corporate interests today acknowledge indebtedness for success in large measure to his sound judgment and wise counsel. He is now president and treasurer of the Sanborn Map Company of New York, vice president and director of "Estate of Charles Forster" of Strong, Maine, director of the First Bond & Mortgage Com- pany of Hartford, secretary and assistant treasurer of The Stratford Company of Hartford, director of the Institute for the Blind in Hartford, commissioner of the East Side Fire Board of West Hartford, director and vice president of the Capitol National Bank of Hartford, and formerly he was a director of the Colonial Bank and a director of the Standard Fire Insurance Company. The list of his business associations at once places him in the front rank among the leading citizens of Hartford.

On the 30th of October, 1884, Mr. Sanborn married Miss Nellie A. Smiley, a daughter of Joseph E. and Nellie Aurelius (Wightman) Smiley, of Philadelphia. They have an only child, Eleanor, born October 18, 1901. They have a beautiful summer home at Eastern Point, Connecticut, and are leaders in the social life of Hartford. In the social and club circles of Hartford and also of New York William A. Sanborn is prominently known. He has membership in the Hartford Club, the Hartford Golf Club (previous secretary), the Hartford Yacht Club (commodore), Curling Club of Hartford (previous president), Hartford Chamber of Commerce, Connecticut Historical Society, Sons of American Revolution, Wadsworth Atheneum, Get-Together Club, Reciprocity Club and Hartford Automobile Club. He also belongs to the Union League Club of New York, the Automobile Club of America (New York), the American Museum of Natural History of New York and the Horticultural Society of New York. All this is indicative of the nature of his interests and activi- ties outside the strict field of business and in matters of citizenship he has ever main- tained a progressive and helpful attitude. He served as a member of the sewer board of West Hartford and also of the school board and gives hearty endorsement and earnest support to plans and projects looking to the upbuilding and development of the city. His sterling traits of character are many and he stands as a man among men, honored and respected wherever known and most of all where he is best known.

ULYSSES JOHN LUPIEN

Ulysses John Lupien is a mechanical engineer of high standing and has been prominently identified with the industrial life of South Manchester for eight years. A native of Cochituate, Massachusetts, he was born December 12, 1883, and is a son of Frank and Laura (Brousseau) Lupien, who reside on a farm near Chelmsford, in Middlesex county, Massachusetts. He completed a course in the high school at

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Wayland, Massachusetts, and subsequently was a student in the engineering depart- ment of Harvard University, which awarded him the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1926. For about one and a half years he was employed in the research depart- ment of the General Electric Company and in September, 1907, became an instructor in the Lowell Textile School at Lowell, Massachusetts, teaching mathematics, physics and electrical engineering. In addition he was athletic coach and acted in that capacity for eight years. During 1918 he spent four months in the shipyards at Sparrows Point, Maryland, serving as a planning engineer for the Emergency Fleet Corporation, and then returned to Lowell, Massachusetts. Mr. Lupien was a member of the faculty of the Lowell Textile School until 1920, when he came to South Manchester as educational director for the plant of Cheney Brothers and is now assistant manager of industrial relations department.

In August, 1907, Mr. Lupien married Miss Eugenie M. Gosselin, of Lynn, Massa- chusetts, and they now have four children: Frank U., a member of the sophomore class of Tufts College; Albert J., a freshman at Harvard; Theodore A., who is in his senior year in high school; and Ulysses J., an eighth grade pupil. The members of the family adhere to the Catholic faith and are communicants of St. James' church. Mr. Lupien has always manifested a keen interest in civic affairs and while a resident of Chelmsford was made chairman of the school board, serving from 1916 until 1920. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Manchester Country Club and the American Management Association of New York. Through practical experience and deep study Mr. Lupien has constantly enlarged his field of usefulness and his personal qualities are such as inspire confidence and command respect.

HON. RAYMOND A. JOHNSON

Possessing an alert mind, keen analytical powers and an energetic nature, Judge Raymond A. Johnson has risen rapidly in a most exacting profession and is accorded a place of prominence in legal circles of South Manchester, His pronounced ability and strength of character have led to his selection for public offices of trust and responsibility and the notable service which he rendered to the town as a legislator will long be remembered and appreciated. Born August 31, 1895, in Derby, Con- necticut, he is a son of George A. and Mary (McCrindle) Johnson, the former a civil engineer who brought his family to Manchester in 1898.

At that time Raymond A. Johnson was a child of three years and here he ob- tained his early education, attending the Ninth District schools. In 1914 he completed a course in the South Manchester high school and in the fall of that year enrolled as a student in the law department of Boston University, from which he was grad- uated with honors in 1917. He chose Manchester as the scene of his professional labors and in the summer of 1917 secured a desirable location in the post office block owned by George W. Smith. It was in 1918 that Mr. Johnson received his first polit- ical appointment, becoming examiner of public records for the town of Manchester, and in 1919 he was chosen by Judge Alexander Arnott as assistant prosecuting at- torney. His work attracted favorable notice and in 1921 he was selected by the gen- eral assembly for the office of police court judge, for which he proved equally well qualified, tempering justice with mercy. Judge Johnson is well versed in legal science and accurately applies his knowledge to the points in litigation. His course on the bench was strongly approved and in 1923 he was again named by the general as- sembly for the same office. .

On July 12, 1921, Judge Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Elsie Dougan, a daughter of William and Flora (Coulton) Dougan, and a member of one of the prominent families of South Manchester. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two children: Elsie Althea, born September 23, 1923; and Raymond A., January 28, 1925.

In politics the Judge is a republican and in 1922 was elected to represent his district in the lower house of the state legislature, being one of the youngest men ever sent from the town to that law-making body. His talents were soon recognized and he was appointed a member of the judiciary committee-an important assign- ment. In the session of 1923 he introduced his first measure, the Manchester Armory bill, which other representatives had tried unsuccessfully to put through the legis-

(Photograph by The Jchustone Studio)

RAYMOND A. JOHNSON

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lature, and a bitter contest ensued. Through herculean efforts he won the victory and Manchester was given the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars with which to build an armory, the largest state appropriation ever secured in the history of the town. Judge Johnson was reelected for the session of 1926 and again for the sessions of 1927 and 1929. In January, 1928, he was appointed First Assistant Attorney General.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 98

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