Death of a Salesman
A sheriff noticed a late model car parked at a turnout in Tolland, Massachusetts, on Saturday, August 10, 1963. On Monday, the sheriff saw that the car had not moved, so he took the vehicle's registration and notified town officials.
Selectman George Wolford checked the car at dusk. In the glove compartment, he found two suicide notes.
Massachusetts State Police, Tolland residents, and members of the Tunxis Club searched the area. Joseph Clark of Burnt Hill Road found the body of a man in the woods about 50 feet from Route 57 near New Boston Road.
Papers on the man identified him as 30-year-old Robert C. Ford of 157 Marshall Street, Torrington, Connecticut. He shot himself with a .45, believed to be a Colt.
Robert's family, more than likely his wife, the former Dorothy Evelyn Webb, reported him missing on August 9.
Robert was a salesman for Prudential Life Insurance Company. He was also a musician performing as part of The Four Specs. Robert served in the United States Navy before being honorably discharged in 1953.
Besides his widow, he left a son, Clinton, and three daughters: Valerie, Vanessa, and Victoria. (Dorothy told Victoria that her father died in a car accident. Years later, she would make the truth known.)
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| Help Wanted AD 1960 |
In court on October 13, a judge found Marie not guilty. He fined Dorothy $35 for speeding and found her not guilty of operating under the influence.
Robert Clinton Ford was born in Winsted, Connecticut, to Clinton E. and Gladys Ford. His younger brother Donald came a few years later.
Clinton went into the photography business for himself on July 5, 1915. He also served his country during World War I as a photographer in the military's Aeroplane Photographic Division. In 1922, Clinton purchased an existing photography business owned by E. Frank Madden inside the Citizen Building at 462 Main Street, Winsted, Connecticut. Before that, he was a grocery store clerk.
Since Clinton opened his studio, three fires broke out in the Citizens Building. After the third fire destroyed his studio on May 11, 1940, he built a building across the street at 492 Main Street and opened Clinton Studio and Camera Shop. His new building also had an apartment for his family.
The May 11 fire started in Clinton's studio on the second floor. A dentist with an office in the building discovered the fire around 5:45 p.m. The fire quickly spread. Several women in Angela English's English Beauty Salon escaped from the first floor in curl papers and hairnets. Flames covered the roof as thick, black smoke poured from the building's upper windows and eaves. More than 500 people, mainly shoppers, were in the immediate area when the fire broke out. Most helped business owners save what they could by removing inventory and equipment from the burning building and into the street. They saved two filing cabinets from the dental office; the fire consumed the practice's other dental records. Clinton's studio was a total loss. The Gatto Brothers' bowling alley in the rear of the building, where a fire broke out on February 7, 1937, suffered the least damage in the 1940 fire.
Clinton was an expert photographer. In addition to his studio doing various portrait work, it excelled in commercial photography. The State of Connecticut even used Clinton for expert testimony in some trials, including the sensational murder of a 10-year-old Winsted girl in 1927. (State agencies had previously used E. Frank Madden.)
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| Patent #1,866,157 |
On July 5, 1932, the United States Patent Office granted a patent to Clinton for a device he invented that illuminated rotary dial telephones using radium luminous paint. (Patent Number: 1,866,157; Serial Number: 536,134; Application File Date: May 9, 1931.)
Clinton donated $30 to the March of Dimes in January 1953. He came to that amount by deducting two percent of bills paid in December 1952. (In May 1952, Clinton observed the 30th anniversary of his photography business.)
After Clinton sold his camera business, he went into picture framing, working out of a small workshop in his home.
Clinton Ford died on October 27, 1962. His wife died in 1977. Both were very active members of their community.
A special thank you to Robert's daughter Victoria "Vicki" for her time and assistance.
Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes
Some reports say they found Robert's body about 150 feet from his car - however, 50 feet appears correct.
Clinton E. Ford: 2/15/1897 - 10/27/1962
Robert Clinton Ford: 11/14/1932 - (body found: 8/12/1963)
Dorothy Evelyn (Webb) (Ford) (Labaha) Ford: 7/9/1937 - 9/22/1993
In 1891-2, Almon B. Strowger of Kansas City, Missouri, invented and patented the rotary dial telephone. He invented it to bypass telephone operators, who he believed were directing business to his local competitor, another undertaker. The commonly known form of rotary dial telephones, with finger holes in the wheel, was introduced in 1904. It is this version that Clinton Ford sought to improve with his new device.
On July 9, 1965, Dorothy married Phillip Labaha. They divorced around 1978.
The Four Specs played the fourth annual Snow Ball in January 1963. The event raised money for St. Anthony's School.
Robert was a member of the Navy's Seabees. He received an honorable discharge in 1953. Robert and Dorothy married in Winsted on May 8, 1954. Edward Hoxie, Jr. was the best man. The newlyweds made their home in tenement housing at 36 Wheeler Street. (The couple moved around quite a bit.)
Robert and Dorothy welcomed a daughter on January 22, 1955. A second daughter was born on January 17, 1956. Dorothy miscarried on October 21, 1956. Another daughter was born on September 26, 1957, but sadly died shortly after birth. They welcomed another daughter on July 28, 1959. Their son Clinton was born on October 6, 1960.
Robert's brother Donald married in January 1954 while still serving in the military. A judge sentenced Donald to 120 days in jail in 1962 on four counts of providing false statements to obtain unemployment compensation. (The judge suspended Donald's sentence and put him on probation for 6 months per count.)
Donald relocated to Florida in 1981. He died there in 1998.
Robert may or may not have been a patient at the Seaside Sanatorium in 1940.
The Ford's past addresses include 136 Ridge Street and 928 Main Street, both in Winsted, Connecticut. In 1955, Robert bought land at 42 Cook Street. He sold it in 1959.
On Christmas Eve, 1954, Robert lost control of his car in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The brakes locked, and the car skidded. It pulled to the right and slammed into the rear right fender of a vehicle making a turn, causing about $50 in damage.
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