Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

cess gave an impetus to the work which
was not entirely due to the activities of
the men in whose hands the business had
been left.
Moses Fox, the present head of the firm
is, in more than one sense, one of the foremost
men of Hartford. His history is so
interwoven with that of his father that it
is difficult to separate the two. He was
born in Hartford, November 26, 1851,
and was educated in the public schools of
that city. From the time that he was a
child, he was a frequent visitor at the
store, and after leaving school took his
place in the business life of the establish-1
ment. He early became familiar with the
routine of the different departments,
working about the store when other
young men of his age were idle. As the
years passed, his keen interest and eager
enthusiasm were a valuable asset in the
business, and he became more and more
closely identified with the management.
His father was, above all else, a progres-
sive man, keeping up with the times, in
fact watching the tastes and habits of his
customers so closely that he was able to
anticipate their wants. As the youth de-
veloped business talents, and gained the
respect and confidence of the employees,
father and son carried on the interests of
the store side by side, the younger man
becoming manager before his father's
death.
On the night when half the city watched
the destruction by fire of the business
which had taken more than a lifetime in
its development, the question went the
rounds whether a new home would be
built, whether the firm would recover
from the blow. The few men closely in-
terested felt the shock, it is true, but they
immediately began to make plans for a
new building. The new store was opened
on April 10, 1918, and there are very few
stores in New England which compare
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
388
with it in excellence of appointments and
facilities for providing for the comfort of
its patrons, as well as meeting their requirements
in the various lines of merchandise.
The firm of G. Fox & Company
is now composed of Moses Fox,
Morris Marks, Moses Stern, and Jacob L
Fox.
FOX, Jacob L.,
Business Man.
One of the leading spirits in the management
of the business of G. Fox &
Company, Jacob L. Fox, was born in
Ellsworth, Maine, March 26, 1856. He
is a son of Lewis and Mary Fox, and has
been connected with the firm since 1877,
first as salesman, then as a member of the
firm, and when the business was incorporated
in February, 1920, he was made
an officer of the company.
WEBSTER, John Clough,
Insurance Actuary.
A native of the Pine Tree State, where
he was born May 24, 1839, m tne town of
Kingfield, son of Benjamin and Harriet
(Clough) Webster. John C. Webster was
foremost in the ranks of insurance offi-
cials for many years.
His early education was received in
Kingfield and supplemented with a course
at the High School of Concord, New
Hampshire. At sixteen years of age he
taught the school in a district of his na-
tive town. Later he learned the trade of
printer, and so well did he master the
business that he was in charge of one of
the largest and most flourishing offices in
Concord soon after attaining his major-
ity. Three years later he resigned to
engage in insurance work and was gen-
eral agent of the Aetna Life Insurance
Company for the Granite State. It was