The name of Meriden has become a synonym in America for silver manufacturing. Many important interests of this character center in the city and are controlled by men of marked business enterprise, discernment and notable capability. Among this number is classed Wells Rockwell, who is the treasurer and general manager of the Rockwell Silver Company, manufacturers of sterling silver hollow and deposit wares at Meriden, his native city.

Mr. Rockwell was born March 7, 1888, a son of Curtis and Isabelle (Chaffee) Rockwell. He attended the public and high schools and afterward took up the plumbing business, to which he devoted a year. He then became connected with the International Silver Company and since that time has been associated with the silver manufacturing interests of this section of the country. He continued with the International Silver Company for a year and a half.

The Rockwell Silver Company had its inception in 1907, when it was organized by Lucien Rockwell and E. F. Skinner, who became president; James W. Mackay, who was made vice president; Lucien Rockwell, treasurer, and Wells Rockwell, secretary. At that time the firm employed six men. In 1913 the business was reorganized, James W. Mackay becoming president, Harry S. Clark, vice president; Lucien Rockwell, treasurer, and Wells Rockwell, assistant treasurer and secretary. While the original employes numbered six and the floor space of the plant was fifteen hundred square feet, today the business has grown until there are now twenty-four employes and the plant has been increased to in-clude eleven thousand, two hundred and fifty square feet of floor space. Curtis Rockwell, father of Wells Rockwell, is the superintendent of the factory, and the output is sold by traveling salesmen all over the United States and is also exported to foreign lands.

On the 14th of September, 1910, Wells Rockwell was united in marriage to Miss Bertha May Clark at Prospect, Connecticut, and they have become parents of four children: Lucien, born August 14, 1911; Shirley, born June 6, 1914; James Arthur, January 20, 1916; and Wells, Jr., November 21, 1917.

The Rockwell coat of arms is a shield upon which appear three boar heads with the motto "All for my God and my king," denoting that the family is of old and distinguished English origin and it may be said that they have kept alive the meaning of tints motto, for the Rockwells of this day keep true their pledges as did their ancestors of old.

Mr. Rockwell has recently purchased the old Merriam farm on Johnson avenue, the house thereon having been erected in 1744 and was burned in 1916. It is one of the old landmarks of this section of the state. In his political views Mr. Rockwell is a republican, his ballot always supporting the men and measures of the party, in the principles of which he firmly believes. He attends the Methodist church, being a member of its choir, and he is interested in all that has to do with the musical development of the community. He has always resided in Meriden and is numbered among its representative business men, finding in silver manufacturing an avenue of opportunity which is leading him forward to the goal of success.