PORTRAIT AND
BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM
pg 503, 504
WILLIAM H. HANFORD. Although it is less than a decade since this gentleman took up his abode in Springfield, his name is now well known as Superintendent of the Citizen’s Street Railway Company. It was not long after his arrival before his ability became known to other business men, and the reputation which he had elsewhere had as a worthy citizen, a kindly and intelligent man and a gallant soldier, followed him to his new home.
The HANFORD family is of Scotch descent, while the mother of our subject was descended from English ancestors. William I. HANFORD, the father of our subject, was a railroad and street contractor in Rochester and other Eastern cities. He was a son of Holley HANFORD, a native of Connecticut. He married Julia, a daughter of William COBB, who like himself, was born in the city of Rochester, and whose parents were from Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. HANFORD made their home in the city of their nativity, rearing four sons and four daughters, only four of the entire family now surviving.
The subject of this biographical notice is the second of the parental family, and was born in Rochester, Monroe County, N. Y., June 7, 1837. He passed his youth in his native city, attending the common schools, and at the age of fifteen years began making his own living. In April, 1861, he enlisted in an independent company, and afterward became a member of the Sixty-seventh New York Infantry, which was commanded by Col. Adams, of Brooklyn. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, and he of whom we write took part in the battle of Gettysburg, and in various engagements in the Shenandoah Valley under Gen. SHERIDAN. At the battle of the Wilderness he was shot through the left wrist, and was absent from his regiment thirty-five days in consequence. He took part in nearly all of the engagements in which his corps, the Sixth, participated. He was promoted from the ranks to the position of Corporal, and on through the non-commissioned and commissioned officers until he became First Lieutenant, in which rank he served out his term of enlistment and was discharged in August, 1865.
When the war was over Mr. HANFORD returned to his native city, which he again left in 1866, to take up his residence in Covington, Ky. There he worked at the carpenter’s trade, which he had learned prior to his enlistment. He remained in Covington until January, 1869, when he removed to Jeffersonville, Ind., working at his trade in that city. His next removal was to Princeton, whence he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and then to Newport, Ky. In February, 1883, he came to Springfield, which has since been his home. Not long after his arrival he received the appointment of Superintendent of the of the different lines of the Citizen’s Street Railway Company, in which, while advancing the interests of the corporation, he is giving all citizens excellent accommodations and increased facilities for travel.
In 1866 Mr. HANFORD led to the hymeneal altar Miss Mary A. SHUEL, of Covington, Ky., daughter of Jacob and Helen (PIERCE) SHUEL, of that city. There she was born and reared amid favorable surroundings, which developed in her estimable and pleasing traits of character and mental culture. She presides with grace over the family residence, No. 400 West Columbia Street, whose neat and tasteful surroundings are an index of the refinement which characterizes its owners. Mr. HANFORD is a member of Clark Lodge No. 101, F. & A. M. and he also belongs to the fraternity of the Knights of Honor.
transcribed by Deborah Brownfield Stanley