Wales Lines deBussy (1891-1942)

From the Meriden Daily Journal, October 11, 1933.

  Multifaceted Connecticut resident Wales Line Debussy made quite a name for himself in his short life of fifty years, being both a WWI Navy aviator and later a director of a successful construction firm. His public career reached its apex in 1925 when he was elected as Mayor of the city of Meriden, Connecticut for the first of three terms.

  Born in New Haven on February 3, 1891, Wales Lines deBussy was the son of Roger Baldwin (1863-1943) and Clara Lines deBussy (1867-1949). He inherited his first and middle names in honor of his grandfather, Henry Wales Lines (1838-1927) a former Meriden mayor and state representative who was the founder of the H. Wales Lines Company, a successful building construction company responsible for erecting many of Meriden's homes and public buildings.

  Wales L. deBussy attended public school in Winchester, Massachusetts, and is remarked by the Meriden Record as removing with his family to Mt. Vernon, New York, where he graduated high school. At age eighteen he joined his grandfather's business and remained in this employ until the onset of American involvement in World War I. He enlisted in April 1917 and spent the next few months in service. In February of the next year, he was detailed to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he began preparations for training as an aviator in the U.S. Navy. 

   After his aviation training, deBussy remained at MIT, serving as an instructor. He was commissioned as a navy ensign in June 1918 and left MIT in January 1919 for Florida, where he completed his training and officially qualified as a naval aviator. In May 1919 he was discharged from service and shortly thereafter returned to his earlier duties with the H. Wales Lines Company. In 1920 he was elected as the director and secretary of the aforementioned company, and during his stewardship took charge of building projects involving several Meriden businesses, including the Meriden Savings Bank, the Meriden Hospital, the Center Congregational Church, the Meriden Gas Light company and the Meriden Electric Light Company. In addition to these public buildings, the H. Wales Lines Company built many personal residences in Meriden, including the home of Charles H. Cuno (1888-1978) a Meriden civic leader, industrialist, and founder of the Cuno Engineering Company, prominent in the manufacture of automobile parts.

   In 1923 deBussy made his first move into politics, running as a Republican for Mayor of Meriden. He was defeated by Democrat Henry T. King (1867-1956). deBussy again ran for mayor in 1925 and was successful in his candidacy, taking office on January 4, 1926. He was interviewed by the Meriden Record shortly before his inauguration and was reported as stating "There is only one thing certain, and that is that only thoroughly competent persons will be appointed to the various city positions." 

Mayor deBussy, from the January 12, 1942 edition of the Meriden Record.

  deBussy was re-elected as Mayor in 1927 and 1928 and in the former year took over the Presidency of the H. Wales Lines Company, succeeding his grandfather, who had died at age 89. After his mayoral term concluded in January 1930, deBussy retired from political life, due to what the Meriden Record referred to as "business pressure". In 1933 he was induced by city Republicans to once again run for Mayor, but was unsuccessful in his attempt, losing in that year's primary to Democrat Joseph Dispersio by a vote of 914 to 1157.

  Following his term as mayor deBussy continued as President of the Lines Company until 1935, when he left that office to serve as a company vice president under new executive Charles S. Phelps. In December 1937 he married Ms. Anne Sullivan (1898-1991) and is recorded as having at least one daughter, Barbara. In addition to his business activities, deBussy was one of Meriden's prominent Masonic leaders, being a past master of the Meriden Lodge #77 and was a member of the Keystone Chapter No. 27 of the Royal Arch Masons, the Meriden Knights Templar Lodge, the Meriden Elks Club, and the American Legion. 

  Wales L. deBussy died of a "short illness" on January 11, 1942, just a few weeks short of his 51st birthday. He was shortly thereafter buried in the Walnut Grove Cemetery in Meriden. He was survived by both his parents, wife, daughter, and an elder sister, Beatrice. Anne Sullivan deBussy survived her husband by nearly fifty years, dying at age 93 on February 12, 1991, and following her death was interred alongside her husband in the Walnut Grove Cemetery.

From the front page of the Meriden Record, January 12, 1942.

Clapp Spooner (1824-1899)

  A prominent citizen and financier based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the strangely named Clapp Spooner also served as Mayor of that city from 1863-1864. Although few sources mention him at great length, a fairly substantial overview of Spooner's life was found in America's Successful Men of Affairs, Vol. II published in 1895. The rare portrait of him above (and the only one to be found online) was also discovered in this book.

  Clapp Spooner was born in the village of Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire on  June 11, 1824, the third-born son of Charles (1789-1842) and Betsey Powers Spooner (1793-1866), both former residents of Petersham, Massachusetts. Clapp Spooner inherited his odd first name from his paternal grandfather, also named Clapp Spooner (1760-1826). Young Clapp attended common schools local to the Barre, Massachusetts area and as an adolescent found employment as a clerk in a grocery store.

   After leaving behind his clerkship, Spooner joined up with the Thompson and Co. Express in Boston, Massachusetts. In July 1848 he married Harriett Garland, with whom he had one daughter, Anna Garland Spooner (1849-1864). Harriett Spooner died at the age of 26 in April 1852 and in March 1857 Clapp remarried to Catherine Wiley. Spooner's second marriage lasted over thirty years and also saw the births of three more children, Charles Wiley (born 1858), Eliza Towne (born 1861), and Henry Clapp (born 1864).

   During the late 1850s and early 1860s, Clapp Spooner earned a reputation as one of the premier businessmen in New England, eventually working his way up to the position of part owner of the Phillips and Co. Express. In 1854 this company merged with three other independent express companies (including Harnden and Company) to form the famed Adams Express Company, a freight and transport business still in existence today, although it is now known as an equity fund and investment trust. Spooner is listed by the Successful Men of Affairs as one of "the nine organizers of that company and has been identified with it ever since." During the 1870s and 80s, he served as a manager and superintendent of Adams's New England division, and in 1887 he was named as the company's Vice President, serving in this post until 1891.

  While Spooner's business activities dominated most of his life, his involvement in local politics is also a major part of his life story. He was a member of the Bridgeport City Council and in 1863 was elected as the Mayor of Bridgeport. His election to the above offices is remarked by America's Successful Men of Affairs as having an impact on Bridgeport, as "the city has had a great benefit of mature judgment and great business capacity." A roster of Bridgeport mayors (bearing Spooner's name) has been provided below.

   While his involvement in politics was rather short, Spooner is mentioned as being a staunch Republican, and throughout the remainder of his life maintained a "keen interest in political matters, local and national." As he entered his twilight years, Spooner continued a string of successful business endeavors, including being a director of the Hartford Steam and Boiler Co., a past director of the American Steel Company of Bridgeport, past director of the Connecticut National Bank of Bridgeport, and one of the directors of the Bridgeport Brass Company.

  As a result of his numerous financial interests, Spooner became one of Bridgeport's wealthiest residents, and with this wealth came one of Spooner's most lasting attributes, Brooklawn Park. This 200-acre piece of land was bought and developed by Spooner into "the finest suburb of Bridgeport", and he spent the remainder of his life improving and redesigning this landscape to attract Bridgeport's wealthiest and most well-known citizens.

   Clapp Spooner continued to be socially active well into his seventh decade, and this activity was only curtailed by an accident he suffered on the streets of Bridgeport in 1896. In July of that year, he was struck down by a team of horses being driven by a drunk driver. Spooner was on his way to board a trolley car when the accident occurred, and it is mentioned that he was "knocked down by a horse and trampled upon", resulting in serious injury. This accident eventually led to Spooner being confined to his home for the remainder of his life, and he died at his estate on July 30, 1899, at age 75. His cause of death was listed by his New York Times death notice (posted below) as a "general breaking down as a result of the accident." He was interred alongside his wife Catherine (who had predeceased him in 1890) at the Mountain Grove Cemetery and Mausoleum in Bridgeport.

                                            From the New York Times, July 31, 1899 edition.

Epaphroditus Champion (1756-1834), Epaphroditus Ransom (1798-1859), Epaphroditus Peck (1860-1938), Epaphroditus Champion Bacon (1811-1845)

   This particular posting will be in four parts, as there are four men with the unusual name of Epaphroditus who served their country in the political arena. The first to be profiled, Epaphroditus Champion, is shown above. Of the four, Champion is the only one to have been active in politics at the federal level, serving as a U.S. Representative from Connecticut for nearly a decade.

  Epaphroditus Champion was born April 6, 1756, in Westchester, Connecticut, the fifth of nine children born to Colonel Henry Champion (1723-1795) and his wife Deborah Brainard (1724-1789). In an interesting note to his childhood, Epaphroditus was actually the second child of that name born to Henry and his wife. The first Epaphroditus Champion was the second-born son in this family and died a tragic death at age 3 in 1752 when he was killed by "being scalded in a vat of malt." It seems that when another son was born to Henry and his wife in 1756, this unusual first name was passed along to him!
   Young Epaphroditus attended common schools in the Westchester area and during the Revolutionary War helped his father (a Colonel) drive a herd of cattle into Valley Forge to feed General Washington's troops. In 1776 the then twenty-year-old Champion was made assistant commissary to General Joseph Trumbull (1737-1778), who earned distinction as the first Commissary General of the Continental Army. In 1781 Champion married Ms. Lucretia Hubbard (1760-1836) with whom he had three children, Lucretia Champion (1783-1882) who lived to be nearly 99 years old, Clarissa (1785-1801), and a son, Epaphroditus (1786-1841).
  Throughout the 1780s and early 1790s, Champion served in the 24th Regiment of the Connecticut State militia, working his way up from major to lieutenant to finally, Brigadier General. Champion became well known in Connecticut business circles as a merchant, shipowner, and both an exporter and importer of goods. As the owner of several vessels Champion was recorded as having "successfully conducted trade in the West Indies."

  In 1791 Champion was elected to the first of many terms in the Connecticut State Assembly, representing the county of Middlesex. His service here extended fifteen years, and in 1807 won election as a Federalist to the U.S. Representatives, serving for five terms in this body. After his final term in Congress concluded in 1817, Champion returned to Connecticut and soon went back to his earlier business pursuits. In one of his last acts of public service, Champion is recorded as serving as commissary-general of provisions for army pensioners in 1832, two years before his death. He died in East Haddam, Connecticut at the age of 78 on December 22, 1834, and was later interred in the River View Cemetery in that village. His impressive gravestone gives notice to his service in the military, and his epitaph acknowledges that "talents, benevolence, and integrity characterized his spotless life."

    Next up is Epaphroditus Ransom, a New Englander by birth who made his political mark in Michigan. Ransom was originally born in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts on March 24, 1798, although the years 1787, 1796, and 1797 are variously given as his birth year. Ransom was one of twelve children born to Ezekiel (1763-1850) and his wife Lucinda Fletcher (died 1836), respective natives of both Vermont and Connecticut.

  Epaphroditus Ransom attended school at the Chester Academy in Vermont and later began the study of law at the Northampton Law School in Massachusetts, graduating from this institution with his law degree in 1823. Shortly afterward he set up a law practice, and on February 21, 1827, married Ms. Almira Cadwell (1804-1877), with whom he had four children, who are listed as follows: Wyllys Cadwell Ransom (1828-1908), Elizabeth (died aged one in October 1831), Antoinette (born in 1832) and Eugene Beauharnais, who died aged five months in 1837.
  Ransom began his political career in Vermont at a young age, winning election as the District Attorney for Windham County in 1825 at age 27. In the following year, he was elected by the citizens of that county to a seat in the Vermont State House of Representatives and was reelected the next year. In 1834 Ransom removed with his wife and children to the Michigan Territory, following the earlier example of two of his siblings. After arriving in Michigan in November of 1834, Ransom set up another law practice, and within a few years of his resettlement had won election as a circuit court judge. In 1837 the Michigan Governor appointed Ransom as an Associate Justice on the Michigan State Supreme Court. Ransom served here until 1848, and during his last five years on the bench served as the court's Chief Justice.

                                   

   In 1848 Epaphroditus Ransom was elected as Governor of Michigan and subsequently resigned his seat on the court. It is remarked that Ransom was elected "by a majority vote of every county in the state", and that he was also the first Michigan governor to be inaugurated in Lansing (then called Lansing Township), which became the new state capitol in 1847. During the Ransom governorship construction began on the now-famous Sault Ste. Marie canal and he was "also active in organizing and getting forward the Michigan quota of volunteers for the Mexican war." Sources also relate Ransom's impressive physical presence and demeanor, remarking:

"Governor Ransom was a man of commanding presence, in height over six feet, in weight exceeding two hundred pounds, with massive head, and a voice of power. As a judge, when off the bench, it was hs pride to mingle with the people, and to lead them into talks about their farm and mechanical implements; and he carefull noted the details of their experience and made effort to profit by it."

  Ransom served as Governor until 1850 and wasn't renominated by the Democratic Party because of his anti-slavery stances. He was subsequently elected to a term in the Michigan State legislature and held his seat from 1853-1854. Ransom is also recorded by the Historical Outline of the Ransom Family of America as being a prominent farmer in Kalamazoo, and engaged "extensively in the breeding of blooded stock, cattle, sheep, and swine and improving his beautiful estate."

   In 1855 Ransom lost most of his fortune courtesy of an ongoing financial panic, and he eventually moved to Kansas in 1856.  Two years later he was appointed by then-President James Buchanan as the receiver for the land office in Fort Scott, Kansas. It was here that Ransom died on November 9, 1859, at age 61, and his body was then returned to Kalamazoo, where he was buried in the Mountain Home Cemetery. Ransom was remarked by the earlier mentioned Ransom family history as being "somewhat reserved, but easy of approach, and had a friendly response to all who greeted him." He was "also noted for his fine social qualities and his home was always open to friends." The rare portrait of Epaphroditus Ransom shown above was featured in the second volume of the Historical Outline of the Ransom Family of America, originally published in 1903 and compiled by his son Wyllys Cadwell Ransom.

From Geer's Hartford City Directory and Hartford Illustrated.

   The next Epaphroditus to be profiled is arguably the most obscure of the four. His name is Epaphroditus Peck, born on May 20, 1860, and, like Epaphroditus Champion before him, was a native of Connecticut. Peck's parents, Josiah Tracy and Ellen (Barnard Peck) were both residents of Bristol and had a total of four children, Epaphroditus being the third born. 
   Epaphroditus Peck attended high school at Hartford, Connecticut, and following his graduation in 1877 began the study of law at Yale. Peck is recorded as graduating as valedictorian from Yale University in the class of 1881 and ten years later became a founder of the Bristol Public Library. He married in 1886 to Grace Brownell and became the parents of three daughters, none of whom survived past the age of four. They are listed as follows: Grace (1892-1896), Dorothy (1897-1899), and Eleanor (1904-1907).
    After graduating from Yale, Peck opened a law practice in Bristol, and over the next few decades became one of the most prominent members of the Connecticut bar. His career in public affairs began in 1895 when he won election as Prosecuting Attorney for Bristol. He served in this post for a decade and also served as associate judge of the Hartford County Court of Common Pleas from 1897-1912.
   In addition to the above activities, Peck served as an instructor at the Yale Law School from 1903-13, teaching courses in both civil procedure and domestic relations. Late in his life, Peck won election to the Connecticut State Assembly, his first term beginning in 1925. Peck won re-election to the assembly in 1927, 1929, 1931, and 1933, representing the town of Bristol throughout his service. During his service, Peck also served as a member of the Statute Revision Commission.

  Highly regarded in his hometown as a knowledgeable man on New England history, he authored a work relating to the history of his native town of Bristol, which he revised "several times" and in 1935 delivered the main address at the 150th anniversary of Bristol's founding. He was also a major contributor to the second edition of the English and American Encyclopedia of Law. In 1932 he was elected treasurer of the Connecticut Bar Association, serving for an indeterminate period.

  Active in the civic life of his native Bristol, Peck chaired the Bristol Public Library Board of Directors, was a director of the Bristol Hospital, and was a trustee of the Bristol Savings Bank. 

Epaphroditus Peck died at the Bristol Hospital on October 29, 1938, at age 78, following an operation. Peck's Hartford Courant obituary notes that he had attended a Connecticut State Bar Association meeting the week before his death, and shortly thereafter entered into hospital care. Following his death he was memorialized in the Hartford Courant as a "loyal, wise, and learned citizen", and:

"A revered teacher and a forthright and independent character. One of the high stand men of his class in the Yale Law School, he might have one a national reputation in the legal profession. Instead, he was content to divide his time between a small town practice, writing and the abundant public service his alma mater, his church and his State called him. Like another Epaphroditus, he was received ''with all gladness'' and ''held in reputation.'' His long, useful and honorable career will not soon be forgotten by the State he loved."

From the Hartford Courant, March 22, 1932.

From the Hartford Courant, October 30, 1938.

 In a January 11, 2013 update, another Epaphroditus was discovered who had fleeting involvement in politics. Read on to find out more!

 From the Litchfield Historical Society's Litchfield Ledger webpage.

  Pictured above is Epaphroditus Champion Bacon of Litchfield, Connecticut. Named in honor of his uncle Epaphroditus Champion, Mr. Bacon died at the young age of 33 in 1845 but not before having carved a notable (yet short) career for himself in Connecticut political circles. Listed by most sources of the time as "E. Champion Bacon", Bacon was born in Litchfield on September 2, 1811, the son of Asa and Lucretia Champion Bacon. Lucretia Bacon (1783-1882) was the daughter of the previously profiled Epaphroditus Champion and died aged nearly 99 in 1882.

   Epaphroditus C. Bacon attended school in Litchfield and later enrolled in the prominent Litchfield Female Academy from 1821 to 1823. Bacon continued his education at the Goshen Academy in 1829 and four years later entered the Yale Law School. Sources also mention that Bacon studied medicine for a short time in addition to his law studies. After receiving his law degree Bacon removed from the confines of Litchfield to Mobile, Alabama in 1835, where he soon after opened a law practice. His stay in Mobile was short-lived, as a bout of ill health and "weakness of the lungs" caused him to return to Litchfield in 1838. 

  Bacon began to venture into politics in 1839 when he became a delegate to the 1839-1840 Whig National Convention that nominated Gen. William Henry Harrison for the Presidency. Bacon pulled double duty at this convention by also serving as the secretary of the proceedings. In 1840 Bacon was elected to the Connecticut State House of Representatives from Litchfield County and won a second term the following year.

   Bacon's continuing health troubles eventually got the best of him, necessitating a trip to Europe to better his health. While traveling in Seville, Spain in January 1845 Bacon suffered a strangulated hernia that led to his death on January 11. He was only 33 years old and his demise certainly curtailed an already promising political career! His body was eventually returned to Connecticut some weeks following his death and he was later interred at the Strangers Cemetery in Litchfield. Bacon never married and was survived by both his mother Lucretia and father Asa.

  The rare painting of Bacon shown above (completed by Anson Dickinson, 1779-1852) was located via the Litchfield Historical Society's webpage, which gives a brief but highly informative overview of Bacon's short life. This webpage also contains a color painting of the portrait of Epaphroditus Champion shown at the very top of this article. For those interested, the name Epaphroditus originates from an ancient figure (Saint Epaphroditus) in the Orthodox and Catholic churches.