Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

enty years, so that it is now one of the
largest of its kind in the region. It sells
both at wholesale and retail, and some
idea of the magnitude of its operations
may be gained from the fact that it handles
over two tons of crackers per month.
Four automobiles are employed and a
large number of hands are required to
deal with the various aspects of the busi-
ness. On January i, 1918, it was incor-
porated for fifty thousand dollars and the
officers of the company are Frederick H.
Atchison, president, William W. Hast-
ings, vice-president, and Thomas E.
O'Neil, secretary and treasurer.
Besides his business activities, Mr.
Atchison has always taken a prominent
part in the general life of the community,
and has always maintained a keen inter-
est in public affairs. He belongs to
a number of important organizations
among which should be mentioned the
local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks, and the Saengerbund
of Hartford. Mr. Atchison is one of the
best type of New England business men,
whose reputation for integrity and probity
in all of his transactions is unim-
peachable. Of great energy and ready
recourse in every emergency, his great
enterprise continues to grow uninterrupt-
edly during his career. He is extremely
public-spirited and always keeps the inter-
ests of the city in mind and constantly
aims at serving them. He has won not
only the respect and admiration of his
fellow-citizens, but their affection as well,
and there are very few who can claim so
large a circle of friends or such devotion
on the part of those who make it up.
On November 11, 1917, Mr. Atchison
was married to Rose W. House, of West
Hartford, Connecticut.
YERGASON, Edgar Smith,
Decorator and Furnisher.
Edgar S. Yergason, one of the most
widely known and successful of interior
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Conn—5— 11 I
61
decorators, and who bore the distinction
of having decorated many of the wealthi-
est homes in the country, including the ,
first House of the Land, was born Sep-
tember 10, 1840, in the town of W'indham,
Connecticut, son of Christopher
Yergason, born at Norwich, Connecticut,
and served as lieutenant in State Militia,
and Charlotte Ann (Smith) Yergason,
born in Windham, Connecticut, descend-
ant of Elder and Love Brewster.
Edgar S. Yergason was educated in
the schools of his native town, and grad-
uated from the Pine Grove Seminary in
South Windham. Upon completing his
education he removed to Hartford, Connecticut,
to accept a position as clerk with
the firm of Talcott & Post, dry goods
merchants. He remained with the firm
until the outbreak of the Civil War, at
which time he volunteered his services
and served as a private in Company B,
Twenty-second Connecticut Volunteers.
At the end of his term of service he
resumed connection with the same firm,
continuing until 1881, in which year it
was dissolved, and Mr. Yergason became
associated with the junior partner in the
formation of the firm of William H. Post
& Company. The excellent quality and
high order of the work of this firm soon
gained prominence and they were com-
missioned with many important contracts.
The entire department of decorating was
under the personal supervision of Mr.
Yergason, and his superior taste and
executive ability in that line was no small
factor in the firm's success. He attained
wide prominence in work done at the
White House under Presidents Benjamin
Harrison and William McKinley, and at
the State Capital at Albany and other
noted places. Probably Mr. Yergason's
work at the White House under Presi-
dent Harrison's administration attracted
more attention than did his work for pri-
vate persons in Washington and other
parts of the East. Mr. Yergason obtained