Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

found every day at his post, giving especial
attention to the operation of the me-
chanical department of the "Press" plant.
Upon settling in Middletown, he purchased
a home on Park Place, and began
assuming his share in the social, moral
and material development and progress of
the town. In fact, the "Press" carries a
progressive policy, and seeks to develop
a spirit of enterprise in the community.
Mr. Stevens is a regular attendant at the
Church of the Holy Trinity, and is af-
filiated with the leading fraternal bodies
of the city, including St. John's Lodge,
No. 2, Free and Accepted Masons ;
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Wash-
ington Chapter, No. 6, Royal Arch
Masons ; Cyrene Commandery, No. 8,
Knights Templar ; Columbia Council, No.
9, Royal and Select Masters ; all of Middletown,
and Sphinx Temple, Ancient
Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine, of Hartford. He is a member of
Job Sahara, a club composed of Shriners,
of Central Lodge, No. 12, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows ;
Priscilla Rebekah
Lodge, No. 12, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows ;
and Middletown Lodge, No. 771,
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks,
and of the Middletown Chamber of Commerce,
and Rotary Club of Middletown.
Politically, his principles are those of the
Republican Party, but he does not en-
courage partizan preference in the selection
of local officials. He has dodged any
political preferment offered him, and has
used his best endeavors and influence to
procure faithful and competent managers
of public concerns. While the "Press" is
outspokenly independent, it shows no
partizan favor in approval of justice and
condemnation of unjust or impractical
measures in legislation.
Mr. Stevens was married (first), 1918,
to Miss Anna M. Held, who was born in
January, 1873, in New York City, daugh-
163
ter of John L. and Christine (Bruner)
Held, died June, 1924, in Middletown,
leaving a son and three daughters,
namely: Ethel Mildred, Anna Marie, Edward
Burr, and Beatrice Harriet. Mr.
Stevens married (second), August 18,
1925, in New York City, Bertha M.
Schneider, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Ferdinand Schneider, of Waterbury, Con-
necticut.
WEEKS, Frank Bentley,
Sixty-fourth Governor of Connecticut.
The name of Weeks is one of the oldest
in New England, and it is very fitting that
one bearing this ancient name should
occupy the highest office of the State of
Connecticut, during his career. There
were several immigrant ancestors of the
name, all of whom left large progeny, and
the name is found in the early records
under a great many different spellings.
The ones chiefly used now being Weeks,
Weekes, and Wicks. In the early gen-
erations in England it was very often
spelled Wyke. According to the English
authorities the Devonshire family of
Weeks was descended from Robert Le
Wrey, who was living in 1135, the first
year of the reign of King Stephen, and
was undoubtedly of Norman blood. Presumably
his father came into England
with William the Conqueror. Late in
the fourteenth century, this family had a
seat in North Wyke, in Tawton Hundred,
some twenty miles west of the city of
Exeter.
Thomas Weeks, who came from Eng-
land in 1637, is the ancestor of Frank B.
Weeks, on the paternal side, and he also
traces to several other distinguished fam-
ilies through his maternal lines.
Honorable Frank B. Weeks was born
January 20, 1854, in Brooklyn, New York.