Louis Richmond Cheney (1859–1944) was a businessman and political figure from Connecticut.

Early life

Cheney was born in South Manchester, Manchester, Hartford County, Connecticut on April 27, 1859. He was the son of George Wells Cheney and Harriet K. (Richmond) Cheney and the great-grandson of Captain Timothy Cheney, who served in the Connecticut militia during the American Revolution. He graduated from Hartford Public High School in 1879.

Marriages

On April 16, 1890, he married Mary Alice Robinson (1856–1926), daughter of the late Lucius F. Robinson and Eliza (Trumbull) Robinson. They for the parents of one daughter who married John T. Roberts. Mary Cheney died on May 8, 1926. His second wife was Margaret Bennett Crain (1874–1940) whom he married on December 8, 1933. She was the widow of Robert Crain, a prominent lawyer of Baltimore, Maryland.

Business

After graduating high school, Cheney was employed by Cheney Brothers silk manufacturing company of Manchester, Connecticut. Cheney Brothers was founded by his father and five uncles in 1838 and owned the landmark Cheney Building in Hartford. He worked for four years in their sales department in New York City. In addition to the silk business, he was President of the Hartford Chamber of Commerce, from 1915 to 1916 and 1923 to 1924. He was also a director of the Connecticut River Banking Company, of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company, the

Hartford Electric Light Company The Hartford Electric Light Company (HELCO) is a defunct electrical company that was located on Pearl Street in Hartford, Connecticut. It was merged with the Connecticut Power Company in 1958 and later these became Connecticut Light & Power. Its ...

, Colts Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company, the Phoenix and Connecticut Fire Insurance Companies, the Automatic Refrigerating Company, Connecticut River Bridge and Highway District. He was also a trustee of the Hartford-Connecticut Trust Company, the American School for the Deaf, the Institute for the Blind, the Hartford Retreat for the Insane and the Loomis Institute preparatory school. He was president of the Hartford Hospital, the Hartford Morris Plan Bank, and Honorary President of the Hartford Council of

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. He was president of Hartford Hospital and served on its board of directors for over 40 years.

Military

Cheney served, with the rank of colonel, as quartermaster general of the Connecticut Militia from 1895 to 1897. In 1898 he was reduced in rank to major and commanded the socially elit
1st Company of the Governor's Foot Guard
He commanded this unit until 1903 and again from 1907 to 1909.

Politics

Cheney was elected a councilman and alderman in Hartford and served for five years. He was then elected mayor of Hartford as a Republican and served from 1912 to 1914. In 1914 he represented Hartford at the Millenary Celebration of

Hertford, England Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ...

, for which Hartford was named. He also served as a member of the Connecticut State Senate from 1915 to 1917.

Memberships

Cheney was elected as an honorary member of the Connecticut

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

in 1914. He was also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, the

Society of Colonial Wars The Society of Colonial Wars is a hereditary society composed of men who trace their descents from forebears who, in military, naval, or civil positions of high trust and responsibility, by acts or counsel, assisted in the establishment, defense, ...

(served as Governor of the Connecticut Society from 1910 to 1912), Military Order of Foreign Wars (served as Commander of the Connecticut Commandery), the General Society of Mayflower Descendants and the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America. He was also a member of the Hartford Club (of which

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

and

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were also members), the Hartford Golf Club, the

Union League Club The Union League Club is a private social club in New York City that was founded in 1863 in affiliation with the Union League. Its fourth and current clubhouse is located at 38 East 37th Street on the corner of Park Avenue, in the Murray H ...

of New York, and of many sports men's clubs. He was also chairman of the several Red Cross fund raising campaigns starting in 1917, when the United States entered the First World War.

Residences

Cheney lived at 40 Woodland Street in Hartford and had a summer home, named Tholassa Cottage, on Eastern Point in York Harbor, Maine.

Death

He died at his home in Hartford on December 17, 1944, at the age of 85 years, 234 days. He was interred in the East Cemetery in Manchester, Connecticut.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, Louis Richmond 1859 births 1944 deaths People from Manchester, Connecticut Mayors of Hartford, Connecticut Republican Party Connecticut state senators Businesspeople from Connecticut General Society of Colonial Wars