TAINTOR, JAMES ULYSSES, general agent of the Phoenix Insurance Company of Hartford, secretary of the Orient Insurance Company, also of Hartford, and one of the most able fire insurance adjusters in Connecticut, was born in Pomfret, Windham County, Connecticut, October 23rd, 1844. He is of Welsh-Scotch extraction and his first paternal ancestor in America was Charles Taintor who came to Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1640. Michael Taintor, son of Charles, was an original settler and leading citizen of Branford, Connecticut, and Charles Taintor (2) a descendant of Michael, was a prominent man in the commissary department of Connecticut during the Revolution. Mr. Taintor's father was RaJph Smith Taintor, a farmer, who held various town offices in Colchester, Connecticut, whither he moved in 1848, and was a member of the State senate in 1857. He was a kind, liberal, and temperate man who was always considerate of others and who was a man of great physical vigor and force and consequent energy and of marked industry. On the maternal side Mr. Taintor is descended from Scottish and English stock and his first maternal ancestor in America was Thomas Lord, who came to Hartford with Hooker's famous band in 1635. Mr. Taintor's mother was Phebe Higgins Lord, a woman whose firm and noble character greatly influenced his moral and mental life. A strong, hardy country boy, blessed with a fine constitution and abundant energy, James Taintor was not hindered from securing a thorough education by the severe financial difficulties that he was obliged to face. He was naturally studious and managed to prepare himself for the college education which he was determined to have, by studying at home during the hours he could snatch from farm work and on stormy days and by attending school at the Bacon Academy, Colchester, in the winter term. He employed his evenings in reading and study and took especial interest in history, biography, and mathematics. He read the best fiction and kept up with the political and social questions of the times. During the summers of 1860, 1861, and 1805, he employed the hours in which he could be spared from labor on his father's farm in "working out'' for a neighboring farmer and with the forty dollars thus earned as his sole capital he ventured upon a college course. He insured his life in favor of a friend who advanced money for four years' college expenses, and was graduated from Yale in 1866 with a B.A. degree and three thousand dollars in debt. Three years later he took his M.A. degree at Yale. By great diligence in teaching and serving as assistant clerk in the legislature while in college, and as clerk after leaving college, he managed to pay off the debt and start afresh in the fire insurance business, his real life work, which he has carried on in Hartford.

For nineteen years Mr. Taintor has been general agent and adjuster of losses of the Phoenix Insurance Company of Hartford and for twelve years he has been secretary of the Orient Insurance Company in the same city. He has had no other active business connections and has seldom held public office, having no taste for political and civic positions. He was, however, street commissioner for the city of Hartford for six years from 1888 to 1894. He has taken great interest in the business affairs of the Congregational Church, of which he is a member. He is and always has been an adherent to the Republican party in politics. Fraternally he is a member of the Order of Masons. Mr. Taintor has been twice married. In 1868 he married Catharine Augusta Ballard of Colchester, who died in 1875. His second wife, whom he married in 1878, was Isabelle Spencer of Hartford. Mr. and Mrs. Taintor, whose home is on Asylum Avenue, Hartford, have two sons, James Spencer Taintor and Nelson Case Taintor; the former was graduated at Yale, class of 1901, and the latter is in Yale, class of 1909.

"Temperate habits, industry, economy, tenacity of purpose, perseverance and patience" are the essentials of success according to Mr. Taintor's opinion and experience. His advice has added force, coming from one who has carved his own way to success and has done so in the face of serious obstacles.  Men of Mark Index

TAYLOR, JOHN METCALF, president of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Hartford, was born of New England parentage, at Cortland, Cortland County, New York, February 18th, 1845. His father, Charles Culver Taylor, was a fanner, a vigorous, strong man, and was honored by offices in his town as trustee of the Cortland Academy, treasurer and trustee of the State Normal School, president of the board of village trustees, and by other offices. He was a man of integrity, generosity, courtesy, and kindness. Mr. Taylor's mother, Maria Jane Gifford, died when he was an infant, and the development of his character was chiefly due to the care and counsel of a good woman who had charge of him in his earlier years, strengthened as it was by his zeal in the tasks of the common school, by his love of out-of-door sports and recreations; and, later, broadened and deepened by listening to the pleas and arguments of distinguished counsel at the bar, and to courses of lectures, in 1858-1860, by Henry Ward Beecher, George William Curtis, Thomas Starr King, Wendell Phillips, Samuel J. May, E. H. Chapin, Lydia Maria Child, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and to other gifted authors and lecturers of that period.

His earliest ancestor in this country was Stephen Goodyear of London, England,—1638; who was one of the founders of New Haven, Connecticut, a magistrate, commissioner for the United Colonies, and deputy governor of New Haven Colony. Another, John Taylor of England, was one of the settlers of Hartford, Connecticut, and of Hadley, Massachusetts.

His sound, healthy physical development is to be attributed in many ways to his early years on the farm, with its varied demands on body and mind and its excellent school of discipline, observation, and useful experience. In boyhood the study of the Bible and the reading of history and biography were potent factors in strengthening his firm and serious grasp of the basic principles for an honest, sturdy, and forceful life. Later, the Greek, Latin, and English classics, and standard fiction, served to mold his speech and writing into a correct and admirable style of expression, while his training in his profession of the law, his diligence in following court; decisions and current legislation, broadened his mastery of principles and details, and lodged in a splendid memory a reserve and a strength which have manifested themselves in his life work; and have made him an acknowledged authority on insurance law, well known in the insurance, as well as in the legal profession. His education, begun in the common and academic schools, was carried on through his course at Williams College, from which he was graduated with the degree of B.A. in 1867; and his Alma Mater again honored him by conferring upon him the degree of M.A. in 1888.

Mr. Taylor was married on the fourth day of October, 1871, to Edith Emerson, at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. One child was born to them, Emerson Gifford Taylor, who is now a member of the Yale University Faculty.

John M. Taylor was admitted to the Bar and began the practice of law in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in June, 1870, and he has occupied many positions of honor and trust in that community. He was influenced to his choice of a profession by his own personal leaning that way, and has always taken pleasure in pursuing his study of the law, especially in those branches relating to and connected with insurance. At Pittsfield he held, at various times, the office of town clerk, clerk of the District Court, and clerk of St. Stephen's parish.

In 1872 Mr. Taylor went to Hartford, Connecticut, as the assistant secretary of The Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company. In 1878 he became secretary; in 1884, vice-president, and in 1905, upon the death of his valued friend and associate, the late Colonel Greene, he became president of the company. Among other offices held by him is that .of trustee of the Connecticut Trust & Safe Deposit Company since 1884; director of the Phoenix National Bank; director of the New York Dock Company; vice-president and president of the Loomis Institute from 1901; and trustee and secretary of the Bishop's Fund of the diocese of Connecticut. He has been a diligent student of early Colonial history, and of the history of the era of the Civil War; and out of his studies have grown the writing and publication by him of his books entitled "Roger Ludlow, the Colonial Law-maker," in 1900, and his "Maximilian and Carlotta, a Story of Imperialism," in 1894. These books have taken high rank among the standard authorities.

Mr. Taylor is a member of the American Historical Association; the Connecticut Historical Society; the Connecticut Civil Service Reform Association; the Society of Colonial Wars; Berkshire Commandery of Knights Templar. He has always been identified with the Republican party, but is not slow to express his mind or take action when it is necessary to make a choice of men or measures in the interests of the general good.

He has been a president, and is now a director of the Hartford Golf Club, and continues to take an active interest in its affairs, and to make very considerable use of the athletic advantages of the club. He enjoys hunting and fishing; is an excellent shot and fly fisherman; and often takes long walks in the woods and fields, but is particularly fond of the game of golf.

He has always been an attendant of the Protestant Episcopal Church and a member of Christ Church in Hartford for many years, which has called upon him to serve as vestryman and on its various committees from time to time. He has always been kindly and sympathetic with young people and has truly said: "Successful men have no failures to explain. Unsuccessful men do not always attribute their failures to recognized causes. In one sense all men have succeeded, and in another all have failed to do what they hoped to do in life; and I cannot see how a study of failures can be helpful to young people. A book might be written on the broad question of what will contribute most to the strengthening of sound ideals and will most help young people to obtain true success."

He feels that as to principles: "An abiding religious belief and faith; a clear conscience; honor in all things; charity towards all men; right living in the sight of God and man; loyalty to one's country; knowledge of its origin and development, its theories and principles, and the sacrifices that have been made for them, should be chief factors in the growth of young people."

As to methods: "They should aim high; all ideals are not attainable, but most of them are, through study, observation, and persistence. Early choice should be made of a profession, business, or occupation, and a determination to succeed in it despite all obstacles."

As to habits: "Too great importance cannot be given by young people to a life of temperance, purity in act, thought, and speech, courtesy at home and abroad, punctuality and thoroughness every day in the week, with time for exercise and recreation."

Mr. Taylor himself has truly followed the course which he has thus marked out for others.  Men of Mark Index

WHITE, HERBERT HUMPHREY, secretary and director of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company of Hartford, treasurer and trustee of the Hartford School of Religious Pedagogy and a man of wide experience in banking and in public service, was born in Hartford, July 3rd, 1858, the son of Francis A. White, a builder, and Cornelia Humphrey White. His father was a very sociable and musical man who possessed keen, mathematical faculties and his mother was a woman of great moral force and spiritual depth. Going further back in the study of Mr. White's antecedents it is found that he is descended from John White who came from England to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1639, and was an incorporator of Lancaster, Massachusetts, in 1643; from John Haynes who came from England in 1635; George Colton, a pioneer settler of Longmeadow, Massachusetts; George Wyllis, an early emigrant from Essex County, England, and from Peter Brown who came to Plymouth in the "Mayflower" in 1620. Two of these, Haynes and Wyllis, were the first and third governors of Connecticut, and another early ancestor, Jonathan White, was a lieutenant colonel in the French and Indian War and fought at Lake George. Another, Benjamin Colton, was the first pastor of the West Hartford Congregational Church and held that pastorate forty-five years. Until Herbert White was twelve years old he was very frail and he did not have hard work to do in early boyhood, as did so many of his contemporaries. He was fond of study and was disappointed because he could not take a college course. He attended the public schools and took the classical course at the Hartford Public High School, after leaving which he studied political economy, constitutional history and astronomy at home. He desired to become engaged in financial work and in 1874 he entered the employ of the Hartford Trust Company, where he remained for four years, at the end of which he entered the Phoenix National Bank, where he was assistant cashier for nine years.

In 1899 Mr. White became secretary and director of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, one of the largest, most prosperous and reputable life insurance companies in the world. March 23rd, 1906, the office of treasurer was created by the company to which he was promoted, at the same time resigning the office of secretary. He is also a director of the Hartford Insane Retreat, treasurer and member of the advisory board of the Connecticut Institute for the Blind, treasurer and trustee of the Hartford School of Religious Pedagogy and a member of the West Middle District School Committee. In politics he is and always has been a Republican, and he was a member of the common council for six years during two of which years he was an alderman and one year the president of the Board of Councilmen. He is secretary, treasurer and director of the Hartford Golf Club Company, a member of the Twentieth Century Club, the Connecticut Historical Society, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Hartford Club. He was president of the Colonial Club before its consolidation with the Hartford Club. In religious conviction he is a Baptist. As a boy, his most congenial outdoor exercise was rowing, which did much to build up his constitution. Tennis and golf have been his favorite recreations in mature life. Mrs. White was Ella F. Kinne, whom he married in 1886 and by whom he has had one child, a daughter.

The dominating purpose and impulse of Mr. White's life has been to do the duty made clear to him to do, without regard to consequences, and he considers such an impulse the best "investment" one can have. He gives an admirable list of the essentials of true success in life which he considers to be: "A full and abiding trust in God, a familiar knowledge of the Bible, un-shirking performance of duty, doing for others rather than seeking to get from others, the exercise of self-control, proper care of the body, and abstinence from unnecessary stimulants."  Men of Mark Index

WILCOX, FRANK LANGDON, represents a family that has been prominent and influential in New England since early Colonial days. On his paternal side Mr. Wilcox is a lineal descendant of John Wilcox, who came from England about 1630, and was one of the original proprietors of Hartford. On his maternal side he is descended from Deacon Paul Peck and the Rev. Thomas Hooker, the latter the famous divine and statesman, and both proprietors of Hartford in 1639. Another distinguished ancestor was Major John Mason, the apostle to the Indians. Several other ancestors, both Peck and Savage by name, fought in the Colonial, Indian, and Revolutionary wars. Mr. Wilcox's ancestors have always been extensive landowners in Berlin and East Berlin and Middletown, Connecticut, and instrumental in building up the industries of those towns.

Samuel Curtis Wilcox and Anna Scoville Peck were Mr. Wilcox's parents. His father was a manufacturer and farmer. He was a man of exceptionable business ability, and his business career was most interesting and prosperous. His marked characteristics were industry, honesty, perseverance, and common sense. He was at various times representative and selectman of his town and an officer in many manufacturing, commercial, and financial institutions. He consolidated various factories manufacturing similar lines into the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Company, and was vice-president of the company until his death. He started the Berlin Iron Bridge Company, and was its first president. Until it was absorbed by the United States Steel Corporation it was one of the leading bridge companies in the world. Mr. Wilcox's mother was his "chief inspiration and guide to everything that was good."

The date of Mr. Wilcox's birth was January 6th, 1859; his birthplace Berlin, Hartford County. Brought up in the country and endowed with excellent health, Mr. Wilcox was chiefly interested in out-of-door life and athletic sports. He has always kept up his interest in athletics, and his favorite recreations today are baseball, cricket, golf, and all outdoor sports. His favorite authors as a boy were Scott and Cooper, but most of his leisure of recent years has been given to general reading.

Beginning his education in a district school Mr. Wilcox continued it at the Berlin Academy. He then prepared for college at St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire, and went to Trinity College, Hartford, graduating in 1880 with the degree of M.A.

The following fall he began work as a clerk in the office and packing room of the Kensington factory of the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Company. Parental wishes and his own "natural affinity" determined this course. His desire for success was an outgrowth of family and personal pride.

Mr. Wilcox rose rapidly to responsible business positions. In 1885 he became manager of the Kensington plant, the company in which he began as clerk, and later became the vice-president of the company. After the Kensington plant was destroyed by fire, Mr. Wilcox became associated with the Berlin Iron Bridge Company, and was its treasurer from 1890 to 1900, He is director in several corporations and banks. In 1893 he was Republican representative from Berlin, and in 1903 he was senator from the second district. He has held several of the minor offices in his native town; been chairman of some of the important legislative committees and was president of the Connecticut Commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis in 1904. He has taken an active part in the Second Congregational Church, Berlin, and is the superintendent of its Sunday school. He is a member of the college fraternity of "Delta Psi," of the Knights Templar and other Masonic Orders, of the Engineers Club of New York, the Hardware Club of New York, the Hartford Club, the New Britain Club, and the Country Club of Farmington. He is also a member of the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut, and Judge Advocate on the staff of the first Company of Governor's Foot Guards.

The secret of Mr. Wilcox's success lies in the virtues which he recommends as antidotes for failure—"Promptness, square dealing, industry, and temperance."  Men of Mark Index

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