THOMAS OSTROM ENDERS. In the business circles of Hartford no man
stood higher than the late Thomas Ostrom Enders.
Mr. Enders was born Sept. 21, 1832, in Glen,
N. Y., a son of Jacob John and Relief (Ostrom) Enders, natives of New York
State. His father was a prominent man, a merchant and farmer. Thomas O.
was educated in Glen, and began work on the farm at an early age, continuing
until seventeen, when he came to Connecticut and secured employment in
a factory at Meriden. He also worked for a time as a dry-goods clerk in
New Haven, and, being a man of naturally good business ability, he met
with considerable success. He became interested in the insurance business
through Curtis L. North, of Meriden, Conn., the first agent of the AEtna
Life, who employed him as a solicitor. Three years later he removed to
New York and entered the employ of the Avery Sewing Machine Co. While there
he attracted the favorable attention of the secretary of the AEtna Life,
and on invitation he came to Hartford at the age of twenty-two, and accepted
a clerkship in that office. Four years later (1858) he was elected secretary
of the company, and served as such until 1872, when he became president.
His industry, fidelity to duty, and remarkable aptitude for the insurance
business, contributed largely toward bringing about the great success of
the company. In building up its interests he sacrificed his health, and
in 1879 he resigned his position of president and rested for two years,
although he continued as a director of the company. He took the presidency
of the United States Bank of Hartford (then called the United States Trust
Co.) in 1881, at which time it was suffering from old losses, and the stock
was quoted at eighty. He remained president until June 16, 1891, when he
declined re-election. Under the pres-idency of Mr. Enders the bank advanced
rapidly, and at the time of his resignation was in per-centage of surplus,
value of shares, and ratio of deposits to capital, far in advance of the
other banks of the city. Mr. Enders made his home in West Hartford, and
as a Republican represented that town in the General Assembly during the
sessions of 1889 and 1891, and served on the committees on Appropriations
and Banks, respectively. Without the aid of influence or wealth he rose
to a leading position among the most prominent business men of the county.
In addition to his connection with the AEtna Life and the United States
Bank he was a director in the AEtna .Fire, Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection
& Insurance Co., Society for Savings, Dime Savings Bank, Charter Oak
Bank, and various other financial institutions. He died June 21, 1894,
honored and respected by all who knew him. He was a member of a lodge of
the Masonic Fraternity, at Hartford. Mr. Enders was a man of wonderful
business 'knowledge and a courteous gentleman, a representative financier.
Mr. Enders was married Dec. 29, 1858, to Miss
Harriet Adelaide Burnham, who was born March 12, 1835, and is still living,
and who is a lineal descendant of Thomas Burnham. To Mr. and Mrs. Enders
were born four children, of whom Harry and Harriet Burnham are deceased.
The others are:
(1) THOMAS B. ENDERS, M. D., born May 14, 1865, in Hartford, was graduated
from the Hartford Public High School, and from Yale in the class of '88.
He studied medicine in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York
City, from which institution he was graduated in 1891. Following this event
he spent two years in the Surgical Division of Bellevue Hospital. He then
was engaged for one year in private practice in New York, after which (in
1894) he returned to Hartford. Dr. Enders is a member of the Society of
the Alumni of Bellevue, and a fellow of the New York State Society; also
a member of the Hartford City and County Medical Societies. Dr. Enders
married Elizabeth T. Daly, of New York City.
(2) JOHN OSTROM ENDERS, born Dec. 3, 1869, in Hartford, was educated
in the West Hartford schools and Phillips Exeter Academy. He has been connected
with the United States Bank at Hartford since 1888, of which he is now
one of the directors. He is also a director of the AEtna Life Insurance
Co. In 1899 Mr. Enders served as a representative from West Hartford in
the General Assembly. In 1895 he married Harriet Whitmore, and they have
two children, John Franklin and Harriet Burnham.
(Photo attached)
Commemorative
Biographical Record
of
Hartford County,
Connecticut
Illustrated
Chicago
J. H. Beers & Co.
1901
pgs 30 - 31
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