Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

the wife of John McMaster, and they
were the parents of Frances Loomis Mc-
Master, the wife of George H. Forward,
of this sketch.
Mrs. Forward is a member of the
Daughters of the American Revolution
Mt. Holyoke Alumnae Association and
College Club. She removed to Hartford
in 1904. The Forward family have a
coat-of-arms which was granted by the
Crown for distinguished war services. Mr.
and Mrs. Forward were the parents of
two children:
1. John Francis, born October 16,
1872, in South Hadley, Massachusetts,
and removed with his parents to West
Springfield, in 1873
Trinity College, from which he was graduated
in 1896. Mr. Forward studied law
in the office of Andrew F. Gates, of Hart-
;
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
; in 1892 he entered
ford, and in 1902 was admitted to the
practice of law in Connecticut ; on September
4, 1917, Mr. Forward was appoint-
ed by the Superior Court to the position
of public defender, whose duties are to
investigate the case of all who are to
be arraigned in the Superior Court and
who have no other counsel. Mr. Forward
continues his private practice in ad-
dition to the extra work entailed by his
appointment. He is a member of the
Hartford Street Board, and on the staff
of the First Company, Governor's Foot
Guard ; member of the American, Con-
necticut and Hartford Bar associations;
Trinity College Alumni Association; Uni-
versity Club ; Connecticut Historical Society
; The Get-together Club ; Republican
and City clubs ; Connecticut Society,
Sons of the American Revolution ; Jeremiah
Wadsworth Branch, Sons of the
American Revolution. Mr. Forward has
never married and resides at home.
2. Laurence McMaster, born in West
Springfield, Massachusetts, October 18,
1875, and died November 24, 1878, in that
place.
36
PARKER, Francis Hubert,
Lawyer, Public Official.
Francis Hubert Parker was born in
East Haddam, Middlesex county, Connec-
ticut, September 23, 1850. The son of
Ozias H. and Maria M. (Ayer) Parker,
and a descendant of William Parker,
Hartford, 1636, Saybrook, 1645. He
traces his descent to Edward Fuller, John
Howland and John Tilley, of the "May-
flower" Pilgrims, to James Avery, John
Elderkin, William Lyon, and others, early
settlers of Connecticut and Massachu-
setts. Three of his great-grandfathers,
John Parker, Nathan Avery, and Josiah
Lyon, were soldiers of the Revolution.
His father, Ozias H. Parker, was a rep-
resentative in the General Assembly in
1851, 1854, 1857 and 1877, selectman for
several years, first selectman for seven
years, town auditor, official school visitor,
and a man faithful to many trusts, with
a strict sense of honor, independent judgment
and common sense. His mother
Maria M. (Ayer) Parker, was a woman
of strong character whose moral in-
fluence was exerted for the good of
her son.
Francis H. Parker was brought up on
his father's farm. He attended the pub-
lic school and prepared for college in the
old fashioned way with Rev. Silas W.
Robbins, pastor of the First Congrega-
tional Church in East Haddam. He en-
tered Wesleyan University at Middle-
town, Connecticut, and in 1874 was grad-
uated with the Bachelor's degree. In 1876
he was graduated LL. B. from the Yale
Law School. During his college course,
he taught school one term and two terms
during his law course. He was admitted
to the Connecticut bar and began prac-
tice in Hartford the year of his gradua-
tion from law school and has there con-
tinued steadily and successfully in his