William A. Purtell

William Arthur Purtell (1897-1978) representated Connecticut in the U.S. Senate in 1952 and from 1953-1959.

William Arthur Purtell was born in Hartford on May 6, 1897. In 1917, he enlisted in the United States Army and was discharged as a corporal in 1919. In 1919, he was married to Katherine Cassidy of Waterbury, who had worked as a surgical nurse during World War I. They had two children, William and Margaret. William A. Purtell worked as a salesman from 1919-1929. In 1929, he and a few friends founded the Holo-Krome Screw Corporation. On August 29, 1952, he was appointed as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Brien McMahon and served from August 29, 1952, to November 4, 1952. He was elected to the United States Senate on November 4, 1952, for a full six-year term and served from January 3, 1953, to January 3, 1959. In 1955, he was an official observer at the United Nations Atoms for Peace Conference in Geneva. Following his political career, he resumed manufacturing interests and resided in West Hartford. He died on May 31, 1978.