Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

his early education in public schools of
his native town, passing thence to the
Greenwich Academy. He was entered as
a law student in the office of the late
Michael Kenealy, of Stamford, and attended
lectures at the Law School of the
University of New York. In 1899 he was
admitted to the bar. After practising for
nearly a year in the office of Mr. Kenealy,
Mr. Radford (as he then was) opened an
office of his own in Greenwich. The most
conclusive evidence of his success in
achieving a deservedly high reputation
both for legal learning and skill in the
application of its principles is furnished
by the fact that on January i, 191 5, he
was elected judge of probate. His record
as a member of the judiciary has more
than justified the choice of those whose
votes placed him upon the bench. Politically
Judge Radford is a Republican,
and for eight years filled the office of
clerk of the Court of the Borough of
Greenwich, serving for three years as
assistant town clerk, and member of the
Republican town committee. He affili-
ates with Acacia Lodge, No. 85, Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons, of Green-
wich ; Rittenhouse
Masons, of Stamford ;
Chapter, Royal Arch
and the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, of Green-
wich. He and his wife are members of
p:ncyclopedia of biograph'^-
the Congregational church.
Judge Radford married, June 11, 1892,
Bessie H. Russell, daughter of Charles
E. and Lillian (Green) Russell, of Greenwich,
and they are the parents of one son
Jesse Russell, born October 24, 1903. The
Russells are an old English family, tracing
descent from Hugh de Rosel, who
came over with William the Conqueror
and was rewarded with possessions in
Dorsetshire. The escutcheon of the Rus-
sells is as follows
:
Arms—Argent, a lion rampant gules, on a chief
sable three escallops of the first.
Crest—A demi-lion rampant gules.
:
284
The Green familiy is of Anglo-Saxon
origin, the name being derived from the
word "grene," a common prefix to local
surnames.
Judge Radford is now in the prime of
life and his record, both at the bar and on
the bench, indicates that, rich as the past
has been in results, the future in all probability
holds for him greater honors and
more signal achievements.
CRANE, Albert,
Iia-nryer, Philanthropist.
There is no department of activity in
human life more worthy of record than
that which aids and assists those worthy
objects which tend to upbuild and develop
mankind. The life of the late Albert
Crane, A. B., LL. B., of Stamford, Con-
necticut, was marked by many splendid
qualities, but above all by his great gen-
erosity and broad charity. Many public
institutions and individuals have been the
recipients of his generosity. Each has
been enabled through this good man's
deeds to broaden the extent of its help-
fulness. The Stamford Hospital, the
Stamford Children's Home, the Stamford
Day Nursery, and the free library at
Quincy, Massachusetts, are a few of the
institutions which will long revere the
memory of Albert Crane.
The use of signs to designate the occupation
or trade was of ancient origin.
Even today we often see a boot hanging
in front of a shoemaker's store. Inns es-
pecially made use of different species of
birds, fowls, and animals, on their signs,
thus giving the hostelry a name. After
the general adoption of surnames, many
of these were retained as a patronymic,
one of these being Crane, taken from the
sign-name of the bird. The first mention
of it is found in 1272, when it was writ-
ten de Crance.
(I) Henry Crane, the ancestor of the