USA > Connecticut > Illustrated popular biography of Connecticut > Part 38
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ALBERT H. BOND, HARTFORD: Life Insurance.
A. H. Bond, who for more than a score of years has represented the Massachusetts Mutual Life In- surance Company of Springfield, as its Connecticut general agent, was born in Wilmington, Mass., Oct. 14, 1834. At the age of nine his father's fam- ily moved to Colchester in this state, and three years later to Springfield, at which two last-named places, and at Andover, Mass., his education was acquired. Returning to Wilmington he was en- gaged for a number of years with his father in the wholesale cracker busi- A. H. BOND. ness; and in 1865 he entered life insurance, which has since engrossed his attention. He spent three years in Springfield in life insurance, representing a New York company, and in 1868 settled in Hartford, where he established an office and has maintained the general agency since to the present time. In 1864 he was married to Miss Mary A. Walker of Wakefield, Mass. They have one daughter. Miss Marion Walker Bond, a graduate of the Hartford public high school in the class of 'S5.
Mr. Bond is an ardent republican, having been a member of that party since its formation. Though positive in his convictions and earnest in his sup-
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port of the principles and candidates of his party, he has declined to accept political office of any kind, giving his entire attention to business and the ordi- nary duties of private life. He is an attendant at the Park church.
COL. WILLIAM C. SKINNER, HARTFORD: Aid- de-Camp on staff of Gov. Morgan G. Bulkeley, 1889-90.
William C. Skinner was born in Malone, N. Y., January 26, 1855. He has resided in Hartford since 1872. in which year he entered Trinity College, graduating in 1876. The two winters following he attended lectures at the Albany Law School. In 1879 he became a mem- ber of the extensive wool firm of Dwight, Skin- ner & Co., Hartford, which connection he still retains. He is a very popular and able busi- ness man. Colonel Skin- ner is a director in sev- eral of the life and fire W. C. SKINNER. insurance companies, financial institutions, and minor corporations of Hartford. His wife, a lady of many accomplish- ments, is the daughter of Mr. Ebenezer Roberts, one of Hartford's most esteemed citizens.
Among the young business men of the capital city there is none who gives promise of a more useful or brilliant career than the subject of this sketch.
BYRON LOOMIS, SUFFIELD:
Mr. Loomis was born in Suffield, May 2. 1831, in which town his entire life has been spent. His early mental training was received in the public schools, from which he passed to the Connecticut Literary Institute of Suf- field, where his education was completed. At the age of twenty-three he married Miss Elizabeth B. Cowles, daughter of the late Stephen Cowles, Esq., of Suffield, who has borne him four chil- dren, of whom three still survive -one son and two daughters. Mr. Loo- BYRON LOOMIS. mis has been president of the First National Bank of Suffield, sustaining that relation for several years; he was also president of the Suffield Savings Bank for a similar period. He
was chosen a director of the Hartford & Connecti- cut Western Railroad Company at the first meeting of the stockholders of the corporation, continuing such until the re-organization of the company in 1878. He is a member of the Suffield Congrega- tional church, of which he was treasurer and socie- ty's committee for some years. Among the local offices which he has held the most important are those of selectman and town treasurer. He has led a life of great activity and usefulness, and has been connected with various enterprises which have called for the exercise of mature judgment and ex- ecutive sagacity. As member of various building committees he has aided in the planning and erec- tion of many of the public edifices of Suffield, and has thus aided by word and work in beautifying and practically benefiting his native town. Mr. Loomis is held in high esteem by his fellow-towns- men as an upright and honorable gentleman and a useful citizen.
HON. MORRIS WOODRUFF SEYMOUR, BRIDGEPORT: Attorney-at-Law.
Morris W. Seymour, son of the late Hon. Origen S. Seymour of Litchfield, was born in that town, Oc- tober 6, 1842. Graduating from Yale College in the class of 1866, he acquired a thorough legal educa- tion at the Columbia Law School of New York, and began the practice of the legal profession at Bridge- port in the fall of 1868, in which city he has since resided. In 1870 he was elected assistant judge of the Bridgeport city court, and was also appointed that year on the staff of Governor James E. Eng- M. W. SEYMOUR. lish, with the rank of colonel. The following year he was chosen city clerk of Bridgeport, and in 1872 and 1873 held the offices of city attorney and corporation counsel. He was appointed a United States commissioner in 1871, and held the position until his resignation in 1880, to accept the office of state senator, to which he was chosen in the fall election of that year. He served with distinguished credit in the upper house through the sessions of 1881 and 1882, being chair- man of two important joint committees, and a mem- ber of the senate committee on contested elections. In every public position to which Mr. Seymour has been called to serve his city or the state he has dis- charged its duties with marked ability and a con- scientious regard for the interests of his constituents and the commonwealth.
In his legal practice Mr. Seymour is in partner-
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ship with Howard H. Knapp, under the firm name of Seymour & Knapp, taking rank among the lead- ing law firms of Bridgeport. Personally he has a great love for his profession, in which he has always been an earnest and persistent worker. He is the author of the present method of pardoning and commuting the sentence of prisoners in this state, - a system that has been commended as the best in the country by people who have investigated the subject, and which has in substance been copied by other states. His practice is such that he is quite actively engaged in the United States courts, in patent and admiralty causes; and such time as he can command from the business activities of his profession is fully occupied in those diversions which attend his position as a law lecturer at Yale University, a director in the Connecticut Industrial School for Girls, and in the exacting duties of do- mestic and social life.
Mr. Seymour is a gentleman of many pleasing accomplishments, an able and honorable lawyer, · and a patriotic citizen. As such he possesses the esteem of a large circle of associates and personal friends.
DEWITT C. BRADLEY, WESTON : Manufac- turer of Edge Tools.
Representative DeWitt C. Bradley, who was elected to the general assembly for the third con- secutive term by the republicans of Weston, in November, 1890, is en- gaged in the manufactur- ing business, being con- nected with the firm of G. W. Bradley's Sons. This company has an established reputation for edge tools, and carries on a prosperous and exten- sive business. The sub- ject of this sketch was born in Weston, Dec. 26, 1846, and received a com- mon school and academic D. W. C. BRADLEY. education. He spent two years in the regular army. Representative Brad- ley is a member of Temple Lodge, No. 65, F. and A. M., of Westport, Clinton Commandery, No. 3, Knights Templar, and Washington Chapter, No. 24, R. A. M., of Norwalk .. His wife was Miss Emma J. Sherwood prior to marriage. There are no children in the family. Mr. Bradley has added extensively to his circle of friends and acquaintances during the three sessions in which he has been in the legisla- ture. He was first elected in 1886, making his first appearance as a member in the capitol in IS87. His three terms have been marked with able and conscientious service as a legislator.
CHARLES O. WARREN, EASTFORD: Town Clerk and Treasurer.
Charles Orville Warren was born in Vernon, July 7, 1851, and was educated in the common schools, and the Franklin academy at Somerville, Mass. In 1885 he was a member of the house of representa- tives from Eastford, serv- ing on the republican side during the session. For the past three years he has been the secretary and treasurer of the Eastford creamery corporation, and chairman for eight years of the republican town committee. As a business and public man he is highly esteemed in the community where he re- C. O. WARREN. sides. He is a member of Putnam Lodge, No. 46 of South Woodstock, and has been advanced in the order to the Royal Arch degrees. Mr. Warren is an attendant of the Congregational church. His wife, who is still living, was Miss Mary Lyon Sum- ner, daughter of Increase I. Sumner of Illinois. There are two children - William Sumner and S. Florence Warren.
JAMES HENRY BEARD, SHELTON.
J. H. Beard was born in that portion of the town of Huntington known as the Long Hill District, January 16, 1839. He received a common school and academic education, being chiefly engaged during his minority upon his father's farm. Since becoming of age most of his time has been spent in manufacturing and mer- cantile pursuits in his na- tive town, where he has always resided. He has dealt quite largely in real estate, has been engaged in the manufacture of fancy wood brackets, and J. H. BEARD. during 1868 "he erected and occupied as a grocery the first store in the village of Shelton. He has been honored by his native town with most of the positions of public trust within their power to bestow, having served them as constable, selectman, member of the board of relief, registrar of electors, town agent, justice of the peace, and town auditor, covering a period of about a quarter of a century. He represented the town in the general assembly in
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1883, and is now a burgess of the Borough of Shel- ton. His religious connections are with the Con- gregational church of Birmingham, and his political affiliations are with the democratic party. He was married, October 6, 1868, to Miss Emily Elizabeth Hurd of Monroe, who died January 28, 1888, leav- ing one child, a daughter, Helen Willard Beard. He was married to his present wife, Miss Margaret Elizabeth Blue, of the city of Defiance, Ohio, September 9, 1889.
JOHN E. SCANLAN, HARTFORD: Editor " The Connecticut Catholic," and Lawyer.
Probably no young man in the state, during the past few years, has been more active and influen- tial in the democratic party than John E. Scanlan of Hartford. He is famil- iar with the best methods of honest political work, is acquainted with the leading men of both of the great political par- ties, and enjoys the re- spect and confidence of them all.
Mr. Scanlan was repre- sentative from Hartford in the legislatures of 1886 and 1887 - the last of the J. E. SCANLAN. annual sessions and the first of the biennial terms. Both years he was on the important committee of incorporations, and also chairman respectively of forfeited rights and woman suffrage. He was prominent in forwarding reformatory legislation, and in advocating the rights of the workingman. The high esteem in which he was held by his col- leagues was manifested on many occasions. Every report made by him each year was adopted by the republican majority. The young legislator was elected county auditor by the Hartford county sen- ators and representatives, and the legislature also elected him state auditor each year. He thus served the county four terms and the state three years, owing to the recent change in the constitution of the state. He was appointed clerk during the or- ganization of the house of '86. He has been grand juror and justice of the peace several years, and a member of the board of school visitors since No- vember, 1886.
The subject of this sketch was born of Irish par- ents, in Simsbury, Hartford county, this state, May 22, 1858, during a mixture of weather of hail, rain, and snow. He was educated in the district school there; in St. Peter's parochial school, Hartford; St. Charles College, Ellicott City, Md .; and Niagara University, Suspension Bridge, N. Y., from which last-named institution he graduated in 1877. He
has lived in Hartford since 1869, when his parents moved there. Immediately after graduation he began to study law in the office of Hyde & Joslyn, and was admitted to the Hartford county bar three years later. After practicing his profession for a time, he became connected with his brother, M. F., in the publication of The Connecticut Catholic, and has been editor of that able and influential pa- per since November, 1882.
In society affairs Mr. Scanlan has been promi- nent. He was grand knight of Green Cross Coun- cil, Knights of Columbus, two years, and has been a member of the board of government of the order, and attended all the conventions for the past six years. He was president of the 2d division, Ancient Order of Hibernians, two terms, and has been county del- egate since May, 1888. He was a delegate to the national convention of this order, held in Hartford in May, 1890, and was chairman of the local gen- eral committees of arrangement and entertainment. He was a delegate from the Connecticut Weekly Press Association to the National Editorial Associ- . ation conventions in Boston, June 24-27, 1890, and in St. Paul, July 14-17, 1891. He is a member of the Catholic Press Association of the United States. He was one of the three delegates, appointed by Bishop McMahon, who represented this state in the first Catholic congress of America, held in Balti- more, November 11 and 12, 1889. Mr. Scanlan is intensely American, and believes the government of the United States is the best in existence. He is glad to feel that our system of popular government is a beacon-light of freedom and liberty to all the nations of the world.
HON. EDWARD BUTLER DUNBAR, BRISTOL: State Senator; Manufacturer.
Edward B. Dunbar was born in Bristol, Novem- ber 1, 1842. He received a common school educa- tion at home, and finished his studies at Williston Seminary, East Hamp- ton, Mass., on the com- pletion of which, in the spring of 1860, he went to New York city, and engaged in the manufac- ture of hoop skirts. After remaining there five years he returned to his native place, where he has since been engaged in the man- ufacture of clock springs and small springs, under the firm name of Dunbar Brothers. E. B. DUNBAR. Mr. Dunbar early took great interest in politics, and has been an active worker in the democratic party since he became a voter. He has been grand juror, and is
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now, as he has been continuously, for the last eighteen years, registrar of voters; has been on democratic town committee for the past twenty years, and chairman for the last six years. Hc is chairman of the board of fire commissioners, a position he has held for the last eight years, always taking great interest in the fire department and its efficiency. He is chairman of the High School committee, and has been since the institu- tion was first established; and is a member of the third school district committee. He has always been a strong friend of educational interests, as his course in town meetings and his speeches in public meetings will testify. He has been a director in the Bristol National Bank since it was established in 1875; is at present a director in the Bristol Sav- ings Bank; is vice-president of the Bristol board of trade; and was president of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association four years, ending in October, 1890. Mr. Dunbar's legislative experience consists of two terms as member of the house, and two terms in the senate; having been first elected to the house in 1869, and again in ISSI; and to the senate in 1884, and re-elected in 1886; on both of these occasions running more than one hundred ahead of the state ticket, in his own town. In fact, he has never yet been defeated when placed before the people for their suffrages. His legisla- tive record gave great satisfaction to his constitu- ents. Possessed of warm sympathy for working men, he looked well to their interests. He was one of the most earnest advocates of the weekly pay- ment law, and inaugurated the system in his own factory before the law was passed. In 1890 his name was mentioned with others as a possible can- didate for congressional honors, but he peremptori- ly refused its use by his friends, as his private business requires all his time. Mr. Dunbar is a member of the Congregational church of Bristol, and has been chairman of the society's committee at different times; is also a member of the Bristol Club, a social organization.
Mr. Dunbar was married in 1875 to Alice, daugh- ter of Mr. Watson Giddings, carriage maker, of Bristol. They have one daughter, Marguerite, eleven years old; and one son, Edward Giddings, two years old. His father, the late Edward L. Dunbar, was in former years a prominent manu- facturer of Bristol, and was elected representative in 1862. He established the business now carried on by the subject of this sketch and an older brother, Winthrop W. Dunbar. A younger brother, William A. Dunbar, represented the town in the legislature in 1879; he retired from the firm of Dunbar Brothers, April 1, 1890. Mr. Dunbar and his family are living in the house built half a century ago, and occupied for a time by the late Chauncy Jerome, the famous clock-maker. Three
years ago he had it remodeled, inside and out; and one of the pleasant spots in it is the library, in which are some eight hundred volumes of books which he has been collecting since his school days, and where he welcomes his friends.
WILLIAM B. RUDD, LAKEVILLE (SALISBURY) : Secretary and Treasurer Holley Manufacturing Company.
General Rudd is one of the best-known business men in Litchfield county. He was born in Fredo- nia, N. Y., August 17, 1838. His paternal grand- father was Major Nathan- iel Rudd of Vergennes, Vt .; his grandmother a sister of Judge Hopkins of Hopkinton, N. Y., for many years prominent in the politics of the states of New York and Ver- mont. His father, Rev. George R. Rudd, was ed- ucated at Hamilton Col- lege, was graduated in the class of 1823, prepared for the ministry at the W. B. RUDD. Auburn Theological Sem- inary, was ordained and installed by the presbytery of Cayuga over the Presbyterian church of Scipio, in January, 1827; in October of the same year mar- ried Miss Frances Beardslee of Auburn, a lady of far more than ordinary literary and social attrac- tions. Rev. Mr. Rudd was a close student, a man of fine intellect, cultivation, and refinement. His son, William B., removed to Lyons, N. Y., with his parents, sister and brothers, in 1850. He received a common school education until sixteen, when he began his business life, first with his brother, Ed- ward P. Rudd, of the firm of Rudd & Carleton, book publishers, New York city, later continuing in the same business in Lyons, N. Y., acting also for several years as agent for the American Express Company. He entered the army in the fall of 1861, in the Ninety-eighth N. Y. regiment, serving in the Peninsula campaign; in the spring of 1865 was ap- pointed adjutant of the 107th regiment, National Guard, state of New York: was married in June. 1865, to Maria C. Holley, daughter of ex-Gov. A. H. Holley of Lakeville, Conn., and became con- nected with the "Holley Manufacturing Co." of Lakeville, on removing to that place in the spring of 1866; from the first has been its secretary, still holding that position, as well as treasurer and gen- eral manager, and is one of the directors and larg- est stockholders. He has been a republican since the formation of the party (his first Presidential vote being cast for Abraham Lincoln), and more or
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less connected with and interested in politics for many years; was a member of the state central committee for ten years; a district delegate to the Cincinnati convention in 1876, and a member of the Chicago convention in 1888. He was on Governor Bigelow's staff in 1881-82, as aid-de-camp, with the rank of colonel; and was appointed by Governor Bulkeley, in 1889, to the office of quartermaster- general of the state, holding the position more than the full term of two years, by reason of a disagree- ment in the matter of a successor to Governor Bulk- eley at the end of his official term. He is treasurer of Hematite Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, at Lake- ville, and has been a member of the Masonic fra- ternity since 1864. He is also a member and past commander of Orren H. Knight Post, G. A. R., of Lakeville.
General Rudd has four children. His only daugh- ter, Fanny, is now Mrs. Martin Cantine, her hus- band being a paper manufacturer of Saugerties, N. Y. Alexander Holley Rudd, the oldest son, married Miss Oliver of Brooklyn, N. Y., and is con- nected with the Pennsylvania Railroad, with head- quarters in Philadelphia, his residence being Media, Pa .; they have a son, nearly two years old, at present the only grandchild of General Rudd. The second son, Malcolm Day Rudd, fourteen years of age, is now engaged on a genealogical history of the Rudd family. He has a great love for such researches, as well as for antiques and relics. His room shows a goodly number and variety of curiosities of his own collecting. The General's youngest son, Charles Edward Rudd, is a boy of ten.
CAPT. RUSSELL FROST, SOUTH NORWALK : Lawyer.
Russell Frost is a New Yorker by birth, his na- tive place being Delhi, the county seat of Delaware county. He is of English descent and Connecticut stock on both sides. His mother's maiden name" was Mary Griswold, and she was connected with the Connecticut Gris- wolds, of whom Matthew and Roger were among the earlier governors of this state. He is a great- great-grandson of Gen- eral John Mead of Horse- neck, now Greenwich, who was colonel of the Ninth Connecticut Infan- RUSSELL FROST. try and general in com- mand of the Third Connecticut Brigade in the Revo- lutionary war, serving under General Washington in the Connecticut and New York campaigns, and
being a personal friend and military comrade of General Israel Putnam. His paternal ancestors came to Connecticut about 1650, his great grand- father, John Frost, moving to Vermont after the war of the Revolution, and his grandfather, Russell Frost, settling in New York in 1800.
At the age of fifteen, Captain Frost was a stu- dent at the Delaware Academy in Delhi, fitting to enter college. He was induced by the president of the Delaware National Bank of that place to enter the employ of the bank, where he remained three years, being bookkeeper, teller, and acting-cashier. He then spent a year in his father's employ in the hardware business, but during this year his college hopes and ambitions, which had been slumbering, again asserted themselves, and so strongly that he gave up business and resumed his preparatory studies. At the academy again, and also under the instructions of private tutors, he fitted for col- lege. He entered Yale in 1873, and graduated among the honor men of his class in 1877. Choos- ing the law for his profession, he was assistant to the district attorney for Delaware county at Delhi for two years, and conducted a prosperous private practice at that place for three years. He was then offered a position under the United States government to investigate and aid United States district attorneys in the prosecution of criminal offenses against the pension laws, forgery, perjury, false personation, and other frauds. His head- quarters were for most of the time at Cincinnati, Ohio, although his work took him, at times, through Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, and Mis- souri, where he investigated the conduct of many prominent physicians, lawyers, ex-army officers, some of very high rank, as well as public officers, whose connection with pension cases had been sus- picious or criminal. He was instrumental in put- ting behind prison bars a number of men who had been distinguished in their respective states, be- sides several notorious criminals, and many others of less prominence.
After serving in this capacity for three years, Captain Frost resigned his position to resume the private practice of his profession. He chose South Norwalk as a promising field, opening an office there in 1885. He made no mistake in his choice, for his business has been active and prosperous, entirely absorbing his time and attention. Soon after going to South Norwalk, he was elected cap- tain of Company D of the Fourth Regiment, Con- necticut National Guard. He had seen no previous military service, but he took up the study of tactics and regulations with energy, and became an effi- cient commandant and good disciplinarian. He raised the military standard of his command to such a degree that for three successive years it has stood at the head of the Fourth Regiment in figure
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of merit for drills and service. He is a republican in politics, strong in his convictions, but public office never had for him as strong allurements as his profession offered, and, while often urged, he has always refused to be a candidate for office, although active in the interest of others. Captain Frost is a Free Mason, and a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, which he joined at Yale. He is also a member of the University Club of the city of New York, and of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. He is vice-president of the First National Bank of South Norwalk, and is connected with the Congregational church of that place. As a speaker on special literary and patriotic occasions he has been in much demand.
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