The Patent King of the United States
Justus A. Traut was a prominent inventor and contractor at the Stanley Rule & Level Company. His extensive collection of patents earned him the title “The Patent King of the United States” or the “King of Inventors”...
New Britain’s Notable Women: Lena Candee Bassette, Suffragette and Political Leader
Best known for her work as a suffragette and local political leader, Lena Candee Bassette (1872-1957) was born in Oran, New York on June 18, 1872. She was one of five children of Ralph Candee and Anne Sarah Housley, and from the age of eleven was raised in Houston, Texas by her aunt and uncle...
New Britain’s Notable Women: Connie Wilson Collins, Civic Leader
Connie Wilson Collins (1928-2013) is considered one of New Britain’s greatest civic leaders and labor activists. Born in New York and raised in New Britain, she began her career in 1951 at Landers, Frary, & Clark and quickly became active in the plant’s union, United Electrical Workers of America Local 207. Later, she rose to the position of Union President...