Howard L. Stanton, chief of the Norwich Fire Department, was born in Norwich, Connecticut, July 17, 1854, the eldest son of George H. and Helen Sparks Stanton. He attended public schools until age 12, when he was obliged to go to work.
He worked in the machine shop of C.B. Rogers & Co, builders of woodworking machinery, for nine years. At age 16, he was apprenticed as a machinist for the company. By 1875, he became a toolmaker at the Norwich Pistol Co. and soon thereafter accepted a more lucrative position at the Bacon Arms Co., builders of revolvers and pistols. In 1875, as a toolmaker, he was recognized as a first-class mechanic. In August 1881, Mr. Stanton went to work for Lester & Wasley, builders of automatic envelope machinery, where he remained until July 1901.
In 1901, he was elected chief of the Norwich Fire Department. His connection with the fire department dates from his early years in the machine shop, where he worked his way up through all grades to assistant chief in 1881, holding the position until 1899.
He served as the Chief of Norwich’s Fire Department from 1901 to 1929. During that period, he fought countless fires, including the infamous 1912 Central Wharf Fire and the 1915 Taftville Fire.
Mr. Stanton was a member of the International Association of Fire Engineers, the International Association of Municipal Electricians, the National Fire Protection Association, and the New England Association of Fire Chiefs. He also served as President of the Connecticut State Firemen’s Association. He was also a member of the Connecticut Fire Chiefs Club and served as president of the Norwich Chamber of Commerce and the Commonwealth Club of New York.
He was a director in the Chelsea Savings Bank and of the Masonic Temple Corporation. He was Vice President and director of the Lester & Wasley Company, a member of the Connecticut Society, and Sons of the American Revolution. He received all the Masonic degrees in the York and Scottish Rite, including the thirty-third and the last degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States of America. He was a life member of Pyramid Temple Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Mr. Stanton married Frances (Fannie) Loosee Hotchkiss of Norwich, Connecticut, the daughter of Edward O. and Eliza Hotchkiss, on October 22, 1874.
They had two children. Amy Louisa Stanton Kind and Georgie Coit Stanton Whitney. Amy was born January 3, 1878, and Georgie was born April 30, 1879.
His wife, Fannie, died on December 18, 1899. Six years later, Howard married Katherine K. Kind, the daughter of Joseph and Henrietta Kind, on January 25, 1905.
Howard L. Stanton died in 1935. He and his first wife, Fannie, are buried in the Yantic Cemetery.
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