New Britain herald., 1928-11-13
FRED 4. BETTS ID
 BE BURIED TODAY Insurance Commissioner in
 Conn. in 1895
 PROMINENT POLITICALLY Engineered Deal Whereby o. vtncent Cofftn Rooevcd Republican Gu. bernatoriA Nomination - Later Sent to Pfison In New York.
PROMINENT POLITICALLY

NeW taVeus NOV. l3 ~-Ered A. Betts. insurance commissioner of Connecticut under appointment of Gov. o. Vincent Coffin in 1895. died in Pittsburgh. Penn.. yesterday. The body was brought her for burial in Evergreen cemetery today. MT. Belts leaves . widow and one daughter. He was Il.
 History Recalled
 The death of Mir. Betts recalls much political history in the 9o's for he was very active figure at that time as one of the heads of the Young Mems republican dub move- ment in the state. He had started in the newspaper business on the old New Haven Union under the senior Alexander Troup. His activ- ity in ward politics in those days. linked up as he was with a number of men who later had a part in state politics. brough Betts into promi- hence. AS one of the organizers of the Young Mems Republican club of New Haven he headed a delegation to the republican state convention in Hartford in 1S?4 when there were four candidates for the gubernatorial nomination. Col. F. w. Cheney. of Manchester, o. Vincent Coffin, John Addison Porter and General Merwin of New Haven.
 Opposed to Coffin
 As 1t is recalled the state central committee was opposed to Coffin. New Haven was interested in Nehe- miah D. Sperry for congress and Betts engineered 2 combination by which New Haven county went for Coffin and Middlesex county support cd Sperry.
 Coffin won out. When he became governor he appointed Betts insur- ance commissioner in spite of the de- sire of the state committee to have a hand in the selection of a man. A subcommittee had been sent to Gov. Coffin with names but the gov ernor said he was to name Betts. Ths sah-co-uittse 1.aA not accept 7tks name.
 Betts had been i& tho retail grain and hay business in this city. His promotion to insurance commissioner attracted attention. While commis- sioner 8 number of incidents oc- cured which had their inception during the administration of Gov. Morgan G. Bulkley. In Bett's ad- ministration of the state insurance department some angles of the troubles came to a head. and after wards assumed considerable pro- portions but it was always maintain ed by friends of Betts that he was not a party to them but was used by others in various ways.
 Goes to Prison
 Belts closed his career as com missioner without reproach, it is un- but some years later he be- came involved in financial and insur- ance policy troubles in New York state which brought punishment in an institution. It is understood that he did not again return to Connecu- cut.
 Friends of Belts. who learned of his death today. said that he was liked by a great many people in who gladly tried to aid him financially when he was in trouble, especially when he became involved through the machinattons of a group of women. He was re- called as a man who did great many kindly acts in political and financial ways for his friends with out any hope of recompense.
 In late years friends in the state had been generally out of touch with Betts and his death in Pittsburgh came to them as a surprise.