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in Connecticut and pne in Cleveland,
Ohio. Until his death Mr. Wilcox was
vice-president of the company, and was
president of the Berlin Iron Bridge Com-
pany, a company which he had assisted
when they were financially embarassed
and also through his superior business
ability and judgment placed it among the
leading and prosperous industries of Berlin.
To-day it is one of the largest and
most prosperous of its kind in the country
and has constructed some of the finest
engineering structures in both this coun-
try and Europe. Berlin is heavily indebted
to Mr. Wilcox for much of its growth
and substantial development. He was a
Democrat in politics, a man of strong con-
victions, withal a kindly disposition.
He married (second) Anne Scovill
Peck, born March 15, 1827, died March
7, 1884, daughter of Norris and Elizabeth
(Langdon) Peck, of Kensington Parish,
Berlin. They were the parents of eight
children.
Hon. Frank Langdon Wilcox, sixth
child of Samuel Curtis and Anne Scovill
(Peck) Wilcox, was born in Berlin, January
6, 1859. He attended the Berlin
Academy until twelve years of age, and
then pursued a course of college prepara-
tory study at St. Paul's School, Concord,
New Hampshire. After his graduation in
1876, he entered Trinity College, Hart-
ford, and was graduated from that insti-
tution with the degree of A. B., in the
class of 1880. Immediately after his grad-
uation he entered the employ of the Peck,
Stow & Wilcox Company in the capacity
of clerk in the shops. In 1885 he had risen
to the position of manager of the Ken-
sington Shops, continuing until that plant
was consolidated with the others. He
was then elected treasurer of the Berlin
Iron Bridge Company, and continued ac-
tively engaged in the management of that
prosperous concern until 1900, at which
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
time the company became a part of the
great consolidation of interests, the American
Bridge Company. Since that time
Mr. Wilcox has been intimately connect-
ed with the financial and business corporations
of Hartford and New Britain. He
is vice-president of the Peck, Stow & Wilcox
Company, the corporation which
started him in his business career ; presi-
dent of the Fidelity Trust Company of
Hartford ; a director in the Phoenix
Mutual Life Insurance Company of Hart-
ford ; the Berlin Savings Bank of Berlin
the American Hosiery Company, and
president of the J. O. Smith Manufacturing
Company.
The rise of Mr. Wilcox has been rapid,
however, it has been commensurate with
his ability, as he is the architect of his own
39
life and owes his success to no fortuitous
circumstances.
In political belief a Republican, Mr.
Wilcox has taken more than a passive
interest in public affairs and has given
much of his time to the service of the
City and State. In 1893 he was the rep-
resentative from Berlin to the Legislature
and served on the judiciary committee.
In 1903 he was state senator from the
Second Senatorial District. The following
year he was president of the Connec-
ticut Commission to the World's Fair at
St. Louis. He was a former major of the
Governor's Foot Guard, and is now re-
tired after years of service. Major Wil-
cox is a member of many social and frater-
nal organizations in his own and other
cities, taking an active interest in them.
He is an ex-president of the Trinity Col-
lege Alumni Association ;
the College Athletic Association ;
of the fraternity, Delta Psi ;
ex-president of
member
vice-president
of the Connecticut Agricultural Society;
and a trustee of Trinity College. His
clubs are the Hartford City and Universi-
ty of Hartford, and he is affiliated with
;