WILLIAM CHARLES HARMON William Charles Harmon, president of the Pond Lily Company of New Haven and thus well known in manufacturing circles of the city, where he was born October 7, 1868, has continuously made his home here with the exception of a brief period spent upon the Pacific coast. His father, George M. Harmon, was a native of Brookfield, Massachusetts, born December 2, 1837, and removed to New Haven prior to the Civil war. After the outbreak of hostilities with the south he joined the army as a member of the Company F, Fourth Connecticut Infantry, becoming a second lieutenant. This command was afterward changed to the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, in which he was made captain of Company G. After the war he turned his attention to manufacturing in New Haven and in his later years was also interested in business enterprises in New York and Boston. He was likewise prominently identified with public affairs in his adopted city, standing at all times on the side of progress and improvement, and for a period he was adjutant general of Connecticut under Governor Bigelow. He died in 1910, while his wife passed away May 5, 1904. She bore the maiden name of Mary A. Baldwin and was a daughter of Darius Baldwin, of Orange, who came from Oxford, England. The ancestral line of William Charles Harmon can be traced back to a remote period. His grandfather, Marvin Harmon, was a native of the state of New York and wedded Lavinia Jenks, a daughter of the Rev. Henry Jenks, who was a descendant of Roger Williams. To Mr. and Mrs. George M. Harmon were born five children: George H., who died in July, 1882; Mary L., the wife of Charles E. Hellier, of Boston; William C.; Frank W., a member of the firm of Harmon & Spaulding of New Haven; and Edward F., of California. No special event occurred to vary the usual routine of life for William Charles Harmon in his boyhood and youth. Starting out in the business world, he became a partner in a men's furnishing goods store in 1886, with Charles W. Wilson, establishing the firm of Charles W. Wilson & Company. Later the name was changed to Harmon Brothers, composed of William C. and Frank W. Harmon, and continued as such until 1897 when William C. retired from the firm. He afterward spent two years in California and in 1900 he bought an interest in the Pond Lily Company, in which he was made secretary and treasurer. In 1905 he purchased the controlling interest and retained his position of secretary and treasurer until 1912, when he became the president. On the 25th of March, 1890, Mr. Harmon was married in New Haven to Miss Mira L. Cargill, a daughter of Frank A. Cargill, of this city. They have two children, Margaret and William C. The daughter is a sculptress of New York city. The son was with the Calco Chemical Company of Boundbrook, New Jersey, until he volunteered for service in the ordnance department and is now holding the rank of first lieutenant. He married Ethel Thomas, a daughter of Captain Thomas Thomas, of New Haven, and has two children, Jane and Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. William O. Harmon reside in Orange, Connecticut. He is a stanch republican in politics where national interests are involved but at local elections casts an independent ballot. He is prominent in club circles, holding membership with the Union League, the Quinnipiac, the New Haven Country, the Edgewood, the New Haven Yacht, the Silver Sands Clubs and the Loyal Legion. He likewise belongs to the Civic Society and stands for all those things which are most worth while in the life of the community. He belongs also to the Chamber of Commerce, while the firm of which he is the head has a membership in the Manufacturers Association of Connecticut, the National Association of Manufacturers and also the National Association of Cotton Manufacturers. Mr. Harmon is a progressive, business man, alert to every opportunity that opens in the natural ramifications of trade, and passing over the pitfalls into which unrestricted progressiveness is so frequently led, he has been enabled to focus his energies in direction where fruition is certain. In his business career, a native justice expresses itself in correct principle and practice. In civic matters he displays a deep earnestness impelled and fostered by indomitable perseverance, and in all that he does he is ruled by more than ordinary intelligence and good judgment. (Photo attached)
Modern History of New Haven
Illustrated Volume II New York – Chicago
pg 178 - 181 |
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NEW HAVEN COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES pages / text are copyrighted by Elaine Kidd O'Leary & Anne Taylor-Czaplewski May 2002 |