MEN OF MAKK IN CONNECTICUT
Men of Mark in Connecticut
IDEALS OF AMERICAN LIFE TOLD IN BIOG-
RAPHIES AND AUTOBIOGRAPHIES OF
EMINENT LIVING AMERICANS
EDITED BY
COLONEL N. G. OSBORN
M
EDITOK "NEW HAVEN JOURNAL AND COURIER"
VOLUME II
WILLIAM R. GOODSPEED
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT
1906
Copyright 1904 by B. F. Johnson
[u
LIBKARYofOONef-JESSj
Two Copies nhcui^j.
AFK 14 1908
The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, Hartford, Conn.
MEN OF MARK IN CONNECTICUT
Col, N. G. Osborn, Editor-in-Chief
ADVISORY BOARD
HON. WILLIAM S. CASE . . . .
JIIBGE OF SI7FKBI0B COUBT
Hartfobd
HON. GEORGE S. GODAED
STATE lilBBABIAK
Hartford
HON. FREDERICK J. KINGSBURY, LL.D. . . Waterbukt
MEMBER CORPORATION TALE UNIVEESITr
CAPTAIN EDWARD W. MARSH .
TREASUEEB PEOPLE'S SAVINGS BANK
Bridgeport
COL. N. G. OSBORN
editor new haten begisteb
HON. HENRY ROBERTS
EX-OOyEBNOR.
New Haven
Hartford
HON. JONATHAN TRUMBULL
T.TBBARTAN FT7BLIC LIBRARY
Norwich
WILLIAM KNEELAND TOWNSEND
TOWNSEND, JUDGE WILLIAM KNEELAND, of the United
States Circuit Court, comes of a family that long has held
a prominent place in the university town of New Haven,
where he was born June 12th, 1848.
He is the son of James Mulford and Maria Theresa Townsend.
He was fond of his books and of the companionship of good friends
as well, and youthful characteristics have remained constant. Gradu-
ated from Yale in 1871, in a class that gave not a few eminent men to
the professions, he continued his studies in the Yale Law School, along
the line which nature seemed to have marked out for him. In 1874
he received the degree of LL.B, and immediately was admitted to the
bar in New Haven County, and entered upon the practice of his pro-
fession. For a time he was associated with Simeon E. Baldwin of
New Haven, now Justice in the Supreme Court of Errors, with whom
he had studied law during his course. He quickly gained recognition
as a practitioner and, as part of his work, was employed by the New
York, New Haven & Hartford Eailroad Company as attorney in im-
portant litigation. In 1878 he received the degree of Master of Laws
from the Yale Law School and two years later that of Doctor of Civil
Laws.
His interest in public affairs and his civic spirit were manifested
in 1880, when he was chosen a member of the New Haven Court of
Common Council, and in 1881 and 1882 he was alderman from his
ward. He has served his city also as corporation counsel. His con-
nection with Yale University as an instructor dates from 1881, when
he was appointed to the chair of Pleading, in the Law school. Sub-
sequently he was selected for the Edward J. Phelps chair on Contracts.
The appointments were of material importance to the school for, aside
from his personal popularity with both students and professors, his
lucidity and force did much to increase the reputation the school had
gained.
It was March 28th, 1892, that he was chosen for the responsible
9
10 WILLIAM KNEEIAND TOWNSEND.
position of judge of the United States District Court, for the district
of Connecticut. The estimate placed upon the discharge of his duties
in that capacity was evidenced when, in 1902, he was promoted to be
judge in the United States Circuit Court, Second District. Some of
his decisions have had far-reaching effect and have contributed in no
small measure to the country's law literature.
In addition the judge has found opportunity to do considerable
outside writing. A widely known work of his is " The Connecticut
Civil Officer," and he is the author of the articles on " Patents,"
" Trademarks," " Copyrights," and " Admiralty," in " Two Centuries
Growth of American Law." Also he has contributed frequently to
tlie magazines.
In politics Judge Townsend is a Eepublican, and in religion a
Congregationalist, He is intensely fond of outdoor life and recrea-
tion, and is an enthusiastic member of the Boone and Crocket Club
of New York and of the Country Club of New Haven. He also be-
longs to the Society of Skull and Bones at Yale, the Graduates Club
of New Haven, and the Yale Club, the Century Club, and the Uni-
versity Club of New York.
Judge Townsend married Miss Mary Leavenworth Trowbridge of
New Haven on July 1st, 1874. They have had three children, one
of whom is now living, George Henry Townsend, 2d, a student in
Yale College. Their home is at No. 148 Grove Street, New Haven.
JAMES PERRY PLATT
PLATT, JAMES PERRY, of Meriden, United States District
Judge for the district of Connecticut since March 23d, 1902,
comes of a long line of sturdy, able ancestors. Few family
names in Connecticut have won as much respect and reverence.
Richard Piatt of England arrived in New Haven Colony in
1638 and, foremost in organizing a church society, settled in Milford.
His son, Isaac Piatt, was a captain of militia and held nearly all the
offices of prominence in the town. One of his descendents removed to
Washington, Connecticut, where the Piatt homestead has been main-
tained ever since. In the Revolutionary War a father and son did
their part in behalf of the struggling colonies. In times of peace the
members of the family were hardy, industrious farmers.
Judge Piatt is the son of the late Hon, Orville Hitchcock Piatt,
United States Senator, who was born in Washington. The father lo-
cated as a lawyer in Meriden. His wonderful talents were soon
recognized and he was elected successively Secretary of the State,
State Senator, member of the House of Representatives, of which he
was speaker in 1869, and United States Senator in 1879. This high
office he held until his death in 1905. With what efficiency he served
his state and the nation, in what esteem he was held in council at home
or at the federal capital is a part of Connecticut's proudest history.
Senator Piatt's first wife was Annie Bull, of the Perry family of
Towando, Bradford County, Pa. She was an earnest worker in the
Congregational Church in Meriden and was possessed of those graces
which endeared her to her friends and commanded the love and tender
respect of her household.
The Judge was born in Towando on March 31, 1851. After a
course at the celebrated " Gunnery " School at Washington, Connecti-
cut— the old family home — he attended the Hopkins Grammar School
in New Haven, where he completed his preparation for college.
Entering Yale immediately, he displayed an aptness for learning and
had a special predilection for boating, football, baseball, and other
11
12 JAMES PERRY PLATT.
manly sports. In later life he has found pleasure and relaxation
in tenuis. On graduating from college in the class of 1873, he went
to the Yale Law School, following his father's wishes and his own in-
clination, and received his degree as bachelor of laws in 1875,
Immediately he joined with his father in the practice of his pro-
fession in Meriden, the firm title being 0. H. & J. P. Piatt. Three
years later he was chosen representative from his town to the General
Assembly. After serving in 1878 and 1879 he was appointed City
Attorney of Meriden, the duties of which office he discharged with
marked ability from 1879 to 1893, when he was chosen by the General
Assembly to be Judge of the City and Police Court of that city. It
was while serving in this capacity, in the year 1902, that he was ap-
pointed United States District Judge. From the beginning of his
term, he has won the highest commendation of his associates and of
the members of the bar.
In politics Judge Piatt is a Kepublican. In religion he is affil-
iated with the Protestant Episcopal Church. He is a member of
Meridian Lodge, No. 77, F. & A. M., and of St. Elmo Commandery,
of Meriden, and at one time was Master of the Blue Lodge, F. &
A. M. He is also a member of the Home Club of Meriden, the Yale
Club of New York, and is a trustee of the Meriden Savings Bank.
He married Miss Harriet White Ives of Meriden on December
2, 1885. They have had two children, one of whom, Margery Piatt,
born December 30, 1886, is living; the other, a boy named after him-
self, died in infancy. The judge's home is at No. 130 Lincoln Street,
Meriden.
ALBERTO T. RORABACK
RORx\BACK, ALBERTO T., of North Canaan, associate
judge of the Supreme Court, was born in Sheffield, Mas-
sachusetts, August 23d, 1849. His father, John C, was
a farmer, industrious and sturdy of character. He migrated from
Columbia County, New York, to Suffield, Massachusetts, in 1846.
The name of Roraback, as it suggests, is of German origin. Early
in 1700, three brothers from the town of Rohrbach in Alsace, Lor-
raine, settled in what is now known as Columbia County in the State
of New York. During this century the name was spelled Rorabacher,
and about 1800, apparently fpr the sake of brevity and convenience,
it was changed to Roraback. After obtaining such education as the
public schools of his native town could furnish, the boy went to
the South Berkshire Institute in New Marlboro, Massachusetts, and
thence to the Genesee Seminary in New York State. Endowed with
remarkable perspicacity and clearness in reasoning, he had a natural
bent toward the bar.
When he entered the law office of Judge Donald J. Warner of
Salisbury, Connecticut, in 1870, to begin his Blackstone, he entered
upon a career which, through his grit, energy, perseverance, and
kindly disposition, was to give him high place in his State, Ad-
mitted to the bar in 1872, he early won the confidence of a strong
clientele and was welcomed into that circle of lawyers who maintain
the high standard of the Litchfield County Bar. By 1889 he had risen
to the position of judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the County,
which office he held until 1893, and during that period not one of
his decisions was overruled by the Supreme Court of Errors. There
was always a goodly modicum of plain common sense in his opinions
along with the evidence of faithful research and thorough knowledge
of the law. Every reason there was, then, except political, why
he should be continued as judge, but he was a strong Republican
and the Legislature of 1893 was Democratic. In 1897, however,
when the term of his successor expired, the Legislature was Repub-
15
16 ALBERTO T. RORABACK
lican again and Judge Eoraback was re-elected for another term of
four years.
But liigher position was to be his. When a vacancy occurred on
tlie bench of the Superior Court in 1897, the record Judge Eoraback
had made was sufficient proof of his worthiness for the position and
he was appointed. His decisions in the higher position have been,
like those when presiding over the Court of Common Pleas, most
carefully formed and most clearly expressed. In 1907, Governor
Woodruff conferred the high honor upon Judge Eoraback of re-ap-
pointing him to the Superior Court for eight years, and also appoint-
ing him an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Errors for a
like period upon the retirement of Judge Hamersley when he reaches
the constitutional age limit of seventy years. The prophecies of
those who have followed his career since his early youth are abun-
dantly fulfilled.
The judge first consented to the use of his name as a candidate
for the Legislature in 1895, and he led his party to its first victory in
thirty years in North Canaan. As a member of the lower House, he
made himself felt and gave such satisfaction to his constituents that
he was re-elected in 1897. In that session his abilities were recog-
nized by his appointment by the speaker to the chairmanship of
the judiciary committee, which carries the party leadership in the
House. His leadership was a success. He never wasted words and
time. His explanations of various measures were sharp and vivid,
his conclusions eminently just and his influence consequently pow-
erful. He also served as representative from the Ninth Senatorial
District on the Eepublican State Central Committee. Since his ap-
pointment to the Superior Court bench, he has taken no active part
in politics.
As lawyer, as representative, as judge, he never has lost interest
in the humblest of his friends, and each step in his advancement has
been applauded heartily by all who knew him, without regard to
party. He is " counselor and friend " to many.
He was married in 1873 to Minnie E. Hunt, daughter of Ed-
ward P. Hunt, an iron manufacturer of Northwestern Connecticut.
Of their seven children, five are now living, Grace M., a teacher in
New Haven ; M. Louise, a graduate of Moimt Holyoke College in the
class of 1899 ; Albert E., B. A., Yale Academic, 1902, B. D., Yale
ALBERTO T. RORABACK 17
Divinity School, 1905, and now Assistant Pastor of the Central Con-
gregational Church in Providence, E. I.; J. Clinton, B.A., Yale
Academic, 1903, and LL.B., Yale Law School, 1905 (playing Center
on the Yale foot-ball team in 1903-1904), now practicing law in
his father's oflSce in Canaan, Connecticut, and Catherine Hunt, now
making her home with her parents in Canaan.
JOHN xMOWRY THAYER
THAYER, JOHN MOWRY, lawyer and Judge of the Supreme
Court of Errors, is a resident of Norwich, New London County,
Connecticut, who was born in Thompson, Windham County,
Connecticut, March 15th, 1847, the son of Charles D. and Lucy E.
Thayer. His father was a farmer who held a number of town offices
and through whom the Judge traces his ancestry to Thomas and
Margery Thayer, who came from Braintree, Essex County, England,
and settled in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1G36.
In his childhood and boyhood John Thayer was strong and well
and when not at school he was busy at work on his father's farm.
His parents encouraged his desires for a thorough education and were
able to supply the means for it. He prepared for college at Nichols
Academy in Dudley, Massachusetts, and under private tutors and in
due time he matriculated at Yale University, where he was graduated
with the degree of A.B. in 1869. Then, in accordance with both
parental wishes and personal choice, he prepared himself for the pro-
fession of law. He read law for two years in the office of Judge
James A. Hovey in Norwich, Connecticut, and was admitted to the
Bar in New London in September, 1871.
After his admission to the Bar, Judge Thayer spent a year prac-
ticing law in Iowa and subsequently returned to Connecticut. He
formed a legal partnership with Judge Hovey in Norwich, which city
has been his home ever since. In 1875 and again in 1876 he was
Judge of the City Court of Norwich. From July, 1883, to July,
1899, he was State's Attorney for New London County. From
July, 1889, to January, 1907, a period of seventeen and one-half
years, he was Judge of the Superior Court and since January 31st,
1907, he has been Judge of the Supreme Court of Errors. This
honorable position tells better than anything else the breadth and ex-
tent of his legal and judicial ability and the mental capability and
powerful personality of the man himself.
Judge Thayer unites with the Democratic party in politics. He
has no fraternal or Masonic affiliations and finds out-of-door life
the best relaxation from work. He is particularly devoted to walking
and automobiling. He is unmarried.
18
/^7^£.^^^
WILLIAM THOMAS ELMER
ELMEE, HON. WILLIAM THOMAS, lawyer, jurist, and public
man, judge of Superior Court, state referee, and former mem-
ber of Legislature, of Middletown, Connecticut, was bom in
Eome, Oneida County, New York, November 7th, 1834, a member
of an old and substantial New England family. His grandfather,
Theodorus Elmer, was a dairy farmer in Herkimer County, New
York, and his father, Lebbeus E. Elmer, was a pioneer merchant of
Eome, New York, who was United States Marshal, town sheriff, a
prominent Mason and a trustee of the Methodist Church for fifty
years and a man of marked integrity and unswerving Christian
faith. His wife, Judge Elmer's mother, was Charlotte Mudge, a
woman of splendid character and ennobling influence.
In boyhood Judge Elmer was vigorous and fun-loving, full of
ambition and spirit and fond of books and study as well. He was
especially fond of history and the great English novelists. Fielding,
Sterne, SmoUet, Scott, Thackeray, and Dickens. He was able to se-
cure a good education which consisted of public school courses, college
preparation at the Eome Academy, and a college course at Wesleyan
University, where he was graduated with the degree of B.A. in 1857.
He then entered upon his professional study, having chosen the law as
his life work, and after studying a year at The Albany Law School
he was admitted to the Bar in Hartford in 1859. He opened his
legal practice in Suffield, Connecticut, and at the end of a year he
transferred his oflBce to Middletown, Connecticut, where he has prac-
ticed law ever since.
As soon as Middletown became his home and the center of his
professional interests, Judge Elmer became identified with the po-
litical, the educational and, indeed, with all the public interests of
that city. He was appointed State's Attorney in 1863 and remained
in that office until 1875. In 1863 and 1864 he was clerk of the
House of Eepresentatives, serving the Eepublican party, of which he
has always been a staunch adherent. In 1865 he became Judge of Pro-
21
22 WILLIAM THOMAS ELMER.
bate and Clerk of the Senate. In 1873 he was state senator, chairman
of Judiciary, and leader of the Senate. In 1876 he was Mayor of
Middletown and in 1880 he became Judge of the City Court, in which
capacity he served four years. In 1883 he was reappointed State's
Attorney and held that office with great capability and success until
1895, when he relinquished it for his position on the Superior Court
Bench. In the fall of 1894 he was elected to the State Legislature,
this time serving as chairman of the judiciary committee and as
leader of the House. In March, 1895, Judge Elmer was imanimously
elected to his position on the Bench of the Superior Court and h£is
served with his characteristic ability, tact, and success, winning es-
teem and popularity at every step in his career upon the Bench and
a reputation for absolute justice, keen judgment, and fruitful, ener-
getic work. In November, 1904, he was appointed State Referee.
Judge Elmer has been a political leader, an eminent lawyer, and
a light in the legislative and judicial affairs of his state and has had
many other interests in life and many other spheres of usefulness.
He has been exceedingly active and influential in raising the standard
of education in Middletown and has greatly benefited the public
schools in that city. He was a member of the Middletown Board
of Education for many years and its president for a number of
years. He has fraternal connections with St. John's Lodge, F. and
A. M., and when a student at Wesleyan he was a member of the fa-
mous " Mystic Seven." In May, 1862, Judge Elmer married Miss
Katharine Lanman Camp of Middletown, by whom he has had four
children, three of whom, two daughters and a son, are now living.
The son, Avery Theodore Elmer, graduated from Yale Law School
in 1903 and has been admitted to the Bar, and is now practicing in
Middletown and is clerk of the City Court.
SILAS ARNOLD ROBINSON
ROBINSON, SILAS ARNOLD, Judge of the Superior Court,
and a well-known citizen and ex-mayor of Middletown, Mid-
dlesex County, Connecticut, is the son of Eev. Daniel Robin-
son, a Baptist clergyman, and of Ursula Matilda Arnold Robinson.
He was born in Pleasant Valley, 'Fulton County, New York, Sep-
tember 7th, 1840, and spent most of his youth in the country. He
was strong and healthy and a devotee of all outdoor sports. He was
equally interested in books and his mind developed rapidly under
the strong intellectual influence of his parents, who were persons of
noble character. Their influence in forming their son's character
and shaping his career as well as in quickening his moral and spirit-
ual life was one that he feels cannot be over-estimated.
His first school days were spent at the Lewis Academy in South-
ington and he afterwards studied at the Bacon Academy in Col-
chester and finally at the Brookside Institute in Sand Lake, New
York. His strongest ambition was to follow the legal profession and
as soon as he finished school he entered the law office of Gale Alden
in Troy, New York. He was admitted to the Bar at Albany, New
York, in December, 1863, and the following year he came to Middle-
town, Connecticut, which has been his home and the center of his
professional practice ever since.
In 1878 came the first tribute to Mr. Robinson's great ability
along judicial and legal lines, for in that year he was elected Judge
of Probate for the District of Middletovm and served two years in
that office. In 1880 and 1881 he was mayor of Middletown and for a
long period he served with great efficiency and faithfulness on the
school board of the city and the town of Middletown. On February
11th, 1890, Judge Robinson became a Judge of the Superior Court
and still holds that high and distinguished office.
In politics Judge Robinson is a Republican and has never
changed in his allegiance to his party. For relaxation from profes-
sional and official cares he prefers out-of-door life to club or fra-
2 23
24 SILAS ARNOLD ROBINSON.
ternal interests and he is not connected with any Masonic or fraternal
order. He is an enthusiastic devotee of walking, bicycling, and trout
fishing. His family consists of a wife and three children, though
four have been bom to him. Mrs. Eobinson was Fannie E. Norton
of Otis, Massachusetts, and the date of their marriage was June 13,
1866.
Judge Eobinson is a man of keen sagacity and broad capability
in his professional work. In personal habit and manner he is direct,
modest, and a man of simple tastes. He gives his time and ability
to his work with the singleness of purpose and interest that always
wins success and high place.
GEOEGE WAKEMAN WHEELER
WHEELEE, GEORGE WAKEMAN, of Bridgeport, as-
sociate judge of the Superior Court, comes of a family
of judges. Stephen Wheeler of Easton was a judge of the
County Court. His son, Charles, held various public oflBces, including
that of representative from his town in the lower House of the
General Assembly. George W. Wheeler, son of Charles, was graduated
at Amherst College in the class of 1856. In 1857 he went to Woodville,
Mississippi, where he was principal of a large school. Eetuming
Forth in 1868, he located in Hackensack, N. J., and while residing
there was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas. His wife
was Miss Lucy Dowie, daughter of Henry Dowie of Andes, New
York. They had two children.
George Wakeman Wheeler, the elder of these two children, was
bom in Woodville, Mississippi, December 1st, 1860, and he spent
his early life in that State, during the stirring days of the Civil War,
coming North in 1865. When the family returned North, he studied
at home, in the schools of Hackensack also, graduating from Hacken-
sack Academy in 1876. Then he went to Williston Seminary, where,
after one year, he received his diploma with the class of ^77.
Immediately thereafter, choosing law for his profession, he began
his studies in the office of Garret Ackerson, Jr., a prominent lawyer
of Hackensack. Mr. Wheeler entered Yale University in the class of
1881 and obtained his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1883.
Bridgeport offering a good field he opened an office there, and,
in partnership with Howard J. Curtis, under the firm name of
Wheeler & Curtis, entered upon a lucrative practice. Mr. Wheeler
was employed in several notable cases which he conducted in a way to
win high commendation.
In July, 1890, he was appointed city attorney of Bridgeport, an
office which he held for two years. The partnership of Wheeler &
Curtis continued until 1893, when Mr. Curtis was made judge of the
Court of Common Pleas and Mr. Wheeler was appointed by Governor
25
26 GEORGE WAKEMAN" WHEELER.
Luzon B. Morris to be associate judge of the Superior Court. While
he was the youngest man ever selected for the bench in this State,
the appointment elicited many favorable comments from the Bar and
the press, and the judgment of the Democratic Governor has been ap-
proved by Eepublican successors and confirmed by the judge's record.
Judge Wheeler was a vigorous Democrat and as an efficient
manager his services were of great value to his party, but on his acces-
sion to the bench he ceased from political activity. He is a profound
student, going carefully into the details of every case tried before him
and devoting most of the time he has for himself to reading of wide
range, but generally historical.
On July 5th, 1894, Mr. Wheeler married Miss Agnes L. Moey, of
New York City, a daughter of Charles and Helen M. Moey. Two
children of this marriage are living, Helen Lucy, born January 2 2d,
1899, and George Moey, born December 20th, 1901. He retains his
residence in Bridgeport, where he is a member of the leading clubs
and where he enjoys the companionship of a wide circle of friends.
Wiilim/C'^Cc^
WILLIAM SCOVILLE CASE
CASE, WILLIAM SCOVILLE, lawyer, Judge of the Superior
Court, scholar, and author, of Hartford, Connecticut, was
bom in Tariffville, Hartford County, Connecticut, June 27th,
1863. His first ancestor in America was John Case, who came to
New England in the seventeenth century and was constable, deputy
to the General Court, and in many other ways an influential Colonial
settler. Dr. Jarvis Case, the Judge's grandfather, was a most able
and successful physician who was at one time state senator. Judge
Case's parents were William Cullen and Margaret TumbuU Case,
and his father is well known as a successful criminal lawyer, as a
powerful speaker, an industrious worker, and a thorough scholar, as
well as for his capable occupancy of the Speaker's chair in the House
of Eepresentatives.
Until the time for his college preparation came, William S. Case
spent his boyhood in the little village of Tariffville. He then en-
tered Hopkins' G-rammar School in New Haven and in due time
matriculated at Yale University. He was graduated from Yale in
1885 with the degree of B.A. after a course pursued with great credit
and marked with many social and scholarly honors. He was made a
member of the Senior secret society of Scroll and Key and of the Psi
Upsilon fraternity. As soon as he left college he entered his father's
law office, for he had determined to follow his footsteps in the legal
profession and with characteristic promptness lost no time in so
doing. He was admitted to the Hartford County Bar in 1887 and
began his successful and distinguished legal practice.
Public recognition of his capability came to William S. Case as
soon as he was fairly laimched upon his professional career, and the
Eepublican party was quick to appreciate his loyalty and integrity as
one of their members. In the State legislative sessions of 1887 and
1889 he was clerk of bills. In October, 1893, he was appointed law
clerk at the United States Patent Office and he held this office until
April, 1893. In July, 1897, he was appointed judge of the Hartford
29
30 WILLIAM SCOVILLE CASE
Court of Common Pleas, which office he held until October, 1901,
when he received his present responsible office of judge of the Superior
Court.
Like his father, Judge Case is a scholar as well as a lawyer, and
he possesses marked literary talent. He is the author of a novel,
" Forward House," published by Scribner in 1895, and of the short
history of Granby, Connecticut, incorporated in the " Memorial His-
tory of Hartford County." In addition to the college societies men-
tioned above Judge Case is a member of the Graduates' Club of New
Haven and of the Thames Club of New London. His home is at 63
Highland Street, Hartford. Mrs. Case was Elizabeth Nichols,
daughter of Nathan Nichols of Salem, Massachusetts. They were
married April 3d, 1891, and have two children.
JOEL HENRY REED
REED, JOEL HENRY, attorney-at-law and Judge of the Supe-
rior Court, was born in Eastford, Windham County, Con-
necticut, January 10th, 1850, the son of Levi Reed and
Pamelia Allen Reed. His father was a currier and farmer, a man
of great industry, frugality, and honesty, and his mother was a woman
of such moral and mental strength and spiritual depth that hers was
one of the strongest influences for good ever exerted upon his life.
The family is descended from Thomas Reed, who came from Col-
chester, Essex County, England, about 1654, and settled in Sudbury,
Massachusetts. Nathaniel Reed, great-grandson of Thomas Reed, bom
in 1702, settled in Warren, Massachusetts, where the subsequent an-
cestors were born. Major Reuben Reed, Joel Reed's great-grandfather,
was an officer in the Revolutionary Army and a large land owner of
Warren, Massachusetts.
As a boy Judge Reed was slender and frail, but he was filled with
purpose and ambition and, as he was brought up on a farm, he had
plenty of hard work of all kinds to do in his early youth. He was
obliged to shift for himself in obtaining an education and it was
earned under many difficulties. He attended the public and high
schools of his native town and later took a course at Monson Academy,
Monson, Massachusetts, where he graduated in 1871. As soon as he
left school he began the study of law in the office of the late Hon.
Dwight Marcy of Rockville, Connecticut, where he remained three
years, at the end of which he was admitted to the Bar (in 1874),
and began immediately to practice law at Stafford Springs, Con-
necticut. In the mean time, in 1872, the year following his gradua-
tion from school, he married Lydia E. Willis, by whom he has had
three children.
After four years practice at Stafford Springs, Judge Reed opened
a law office in Colchester, Connecticut, which he maintained until
1885, when he returned to Stafford Springs, where he has remained
ever since. From 1893 to 1904 he was State's Attorney for Tolland
31
32 JOEL HENRY REED.
County, in 1893 and 1894 he was County Health Officer, and in 1904
he became Judge of the Superior Court. He has been counsel for the
towns of Stafford, Union, and Willington for many years, he has
served long terms on the School Committee and been director and
counsel for the Stafford Savings Bank. In politics he has always
been a constant Republican, and from 1901 to 1903 represented
Stafford in the State Legislature, during which time he served on
the judiciary committee.
A modest man, of simple tastes. Judge Reed finds his greatest
amusement in his law books and general reading, for which he has
had a life-long fondness. He has always found great pleasure and
help in the study of history. His favorite exercise is in riding and
walking. He is a member of the Stafford Springs Methodist Epis-
copal Church and of Wanseon Lodge, No. 32, I. 0. 0. F. As a
lawyer he is thorough and capable, and his natural legal bent combines
with persuasive eloquence in bringing him to the front in his profes-
sion. Of the success of his career he says, "Of course I have not
accomplished all I had hoped to do in life, but I feel that in a large
measure my career, under God, has been a success. Wherein I have
failed has been in not living up to my own ideals. From my own
experience I would say, ' Strive to he rather than to seem to he.' It
is better to get a reputation by faithful, efficient, honest service and
trust to time for results than to seek sudden reputation for smart-
ness."
RALPH WHEELER
WHEELEE, EALPH, of New London, associate Judge of the
Superior Court, was bom in Stonington, May 14th, 1843.
His ancestors settled in that town, among the first-comers,
in 1654. The family line included many who were prominent in the
history of the colony. He is a member of the Society of the Colonial
Wars. His parents were Hiram W. and Mary B. Wheeler.
He prepared himself for college, while at home upon his father's
farm, entered Yale College at the age of seventeen, and was graduated
with the class of 1864. After graduation he pursued the study of law
and in June, 1867, was admitted to the Bar of New London County.
While his attention was devoted to his law practice, he was interested
in public affairs and in politics. In 1868 he was elected a member
of the Board of Education of New London and was for a number of
years its secretary. In 1869 he was a member of the Court of Com-
mon Council of the City. He was a member of the Democratic State
Committee during the years when Charles R. Ingersoll of New Haven
and Eichard D. Hubbard of Hartford were elected Governors. In
1874 he was chosen State Senator from the old Seventh District.
For several years he served as city attorney of New London and was
mayor of the city in 1891-1893.
His first appointment to the bench was made by Governor Luzon
B. Morris in March, 1893, and he has held the position continuously
ever since, having received a second appointment from Governor
McLean. His present term expires in 1909.
Judge Wheeler married Mrs. Helen M. Graves of Kennebunk,
Me., daughter of Hale Stevens and Elizabeth (Hughes) Stevens,
February 38th, 1884.
3S
EDWIN BAKER GAGER
(^ AGEE, EDWIN BAKER, of Derby, Judge of the Superior
"TT Court of Connecticut, was bom on August 30th, 1852, in the
country town of Scotland, Windham County, Connecticut.
He was the son of Lewis and Harriet (Jennings) Gager, and while
from them he did not inherit rich estate, he received the far more
precious heritage of a proud name and of honest New England cour-
age and perseverance.
Of his ancestors, William Gager of Suffolk, England, was one
of Governor Winthrop's most intimate friends. He came to New
England with the Governor in 1630, a surgeon of high repute, and
was made a deacon of the Congregational Church in Charlestown, in
which place he had settled. He lived but about a year after reaching
America, death being caused by disease contracted on the voyage. His
son John came to Saybrook with the younger Governor Winthrop
and removed thence to New London, where he was a leading citizen
for forty years. John's grandson, William, son of Samuel Gager,
was graduated at Yale in 1721, and became pastor of the church in
Lebanon. On his mother's side the judge is descended from Jonathan
Jennings, an early settler of Norwich and one of the earliest residents
of the town of Windham.
Up to the age of seventeen, the Judge had the experience which
so many of the State's best citizens have had and which, with all its
severity, we might conclude from their record is exceedingly bene-
ficial, — a boy's life of drudgery on the farm. However, he clung to
his books and got what schooling he could in the winter time. His
mother contributed much to his intellectual and moral upbuilding.
With the little money he could get teaching school, in Hampton and
Abington, he plodded on till in 1872 he had graduated from the
Natchaug High School in Willimantic. College was before him and
he felt that he must have it, but, res augusta domi, he must make his
own way. So, in order to get a fair start, he taught for a year in
East Hampton, Connecticut, and entering Yale in 1873, was gradu-
84
EDWIN BAKER GAGEE. 37
ated therefrom in 1877. The qualities developed in his early youth
proved of material advantage to him in his academic course. He was
a Courant editor, a Townsend speaker, and class orator. During his
college course he taught school two terms.
Obtaining the position of principal of the public schools of
Ansonia immediately on graduation, he gave all his spare time, first
to a post-graduate course in history and then to the study of law
under the direction of Judge David Torrance, then of the law firm of
Wooster & Torrance. In July, 1881, he formally entered their office
and was admitted to the bar the following October. In January,
1883, he became a partner, under the firm name of Wooster, Torrance
& Gager. Three years later, when David Torrance w£is appointed
Judge of the Superior Court, when William H. Williams, now State's
Attorney for New Haven County, was admitted to partnership, on
April 1st, 1885, the title of the firm became Wooster, Williams &
Gager, thus continuing till Colonel Wooster's death in the fall of
1900, when the firm name became Williams & Gager.
It was in 1885, October 15th, that Judge Gager married Nellie
A. Cotter, daughter of Samuel A. Cotter of Ansonia, and four years
later their home was established at No. 49 Atwater Avenue, Derby.
Four children were born to them, all of whom are living. They are
Edwin B., Jr., William W., Charles C, and Harriet H.
Thus following his natural preferences and profiting by the in-
fluence and example of strong men, he had gained for himself a place
in the world, when in 1889 he was appointed by the Legislature judge
of the town court of Derby, a position which he held till 1895. In
1890 he was appointed a member of the newly formed State Bar Ex-
amining Committee, and has served in that honorable capacity ever
since. His appointment to the Superior Court bench came in 1901,
and the year following he was selected as a member of the State
Library Committee. Meantime he had been called upon to fill the
positions of president of the Derby Public Library and director of the
Home Trust Company, the Housatonic Water Power Company, the
Fountain Water Company, and the Derby Street Eailway Company.
Also he was chosen three years' lecturer on jurisprudence in the
academic department of Yale University, instructor in the Yale Law
School in 1893, and professor of general jurisprudence in that in-
stitution in 1903.
3g EDWIN BAKER GAGER.
In politics he is a Republican and in religion a Congregationalist.
With his multifarions duties, he still finds time for wide reading and
philosophical research. He is in demand as a speaker on important
occasions, and his court opinions bear testimony to the simplicity and
power of his English.
MILTON ADELBERT SHUMWAY
SHUMWAY, MILTON ADELBEKT, of Killingly, Associate
Judge of the Superior Court since 1893, chose his profession
early in life and by his aptitude for it and the persistence
with which he followed it won his present high position. He was
bom in Killingly, Windliam County, August 30th, 1848, the son of
Noah and Elizabeth (Stiness) Shumway, both members of highly
respected families. After attending the public schools of his native
town he rounded out his preparatory course at Phillips Academy,
Exeter, New Hampshire, where he was graduated in 1869.
He entered Harvard College in the fall of that year, but left in
his sophomore year, 1871, and began to study law in the office of Judge
Albert Mason, who was afterwards chief justice of the Massachusetts
Court. In the summer of the following year he returned to Daniel-
son, which is in the town of Killingly, where he continued his studies
with Judge Earl Martin and was admitted to the Bar of Windham
County splendidly equipped for his work, in April, 1874. His equip-
ment consisted not only of his knowledge of law based on a broad,
general education, but also of a keenly analytical mind trained to
careful judgment. His qualifications were abundantly recognized
when he opened his office in Danielson.
His increasing practice demanded all his attention, but he was
ever an earnest advocate of good citizenship and was frequently in con-
ference with the local leaders of the Democratic party. All that he
could find time to do he was willing to do, being particularly active
in campaign work, and when he was nominated for representative
from Killingly, he was elected by a good majority, for the session of
1886-7. His record in the House was so highly creditable that he
was his party's choice for senator from his district in 1891 and was
again victorious at the polls. That was the famous " deadlock " ses-
sion and his counsel was often sought. At various times he was
sent as delegate to the state conventions of his party, to choose candi-
89
40 MILTON ADELBEBT SHUMWAY.
dates for state offices, and at the convention in 1888 he was chairman
of the committee on resolutions.
In the summer of 1893, Governor Luzon B. Morris appointed
him Judge of the Superior Court, a position in which he has been
continued, by Kepublican governors, ever since. His present term
will not expire until 1910. From the earliest times men have been
chosen for this high position absolutely on their merits, with the
result that no court in the coimtry has a more worthy record. No
man on the bench has given greater thought to the questions laid be-
fore him and none has expressed himself more clearly and compre-
hensively than has Judge Shumway in his decisions.
Two years after he began his practice, on March 7th, 1876, he
married Mary A. Woodward, daughter of Sylvanus Woodward.
Judge Shumway for two years was Worshipful Master of Norwich
Lodge, No. 15, Free and Accepted Masons, and has served as High
Priest of Warren Chapter.
r ^ -^ /-4L--"jr_,^ <
HOWARD J. CURTIS
CURTIS, HOWAED J., lawyer, judge of the Superior Court
and former Judge of the Civil Court of Common Pleas for
Fairfield County, Connecticut, was born in Stratford, Fair-
field County, Connecticut, Jime 29th, 1857, the son of Freeman L.
Curtis, a farmer, and Georgiana Howard Curtis.
He traces his ancestry to John Curtis, son of the widow Eliza-
beth Curtis, who, with her three sons, made one of the seventeen fam-
ilies that settled Stratford in 1639. His boyhood was spent in Strat-
ford under the advantages and disadvantages enjoyed by all boys
who spend their impressionable years amid the activities of farm life
in a thickly settled community, where companionship is abundant and
where outdoor work and outdoor play are fairly combined. These
circumstances tended to produce health of body and an optimistic
spirit. In 1874 he entered the employ of the Housatonic Eailroad
Company at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, as shipping clerk in the
freight office and remained there one year, when he decided to take a
college course. He returned to Stratford in the fall of 1875 and en-
tered the preparatory school of Frederick Sedgwick. Here he en-
joyed for two years the instruction of Mr. Sedgwick, a teacher of
unique power and a personality of marked originality and force. In
1877 Mr. Curtis entered Yale University and took his academic de-
gree in 1881. He spent the next year at Chatham, Virginia, teaching
and incidentally studying law. In the fall of 1882 he entered the
senior class of the Yale Law School and received his degree of LL.B.
in June, 1883. His choice of the profession of law was determined
by his own preference and because " law looms large in the horizon of
a country boy."
After a short experience in reading law in the office of Amos L.
Treat of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mr. Curtis settled down to the prac-
tice of law in Bridgeport, in 1883, with George W. Wheeler, now Judge
of the Superior Court, under the firm name of Wheeler and Curtis.
This partnership lasted ten years until, in 1893, Mr. Curtis became
43
44 HOWARD J, CURTIS.
Judge of the Civil Court of Common Pleas for Fairfield County,
which position he held until appointed Judge of the Superior Court
by Governor Woodruff in January, 1907. In addition to his practice
and his duties on the bench Judge Curi;is has been a member of the
Stratford Board of Education and Public Library Board for many
years and has been active in many town affairs. He is a member
of the society's committee of the First Ecclesiastical Society of Strat-
ford, which is Congregational in denomination. In politics he is a
conservative Democrat. He is a member of the Seaside Club, the
Contemporary Club, the University Club of Bridgeport, and the
University Club of New York City. On Jime 5th, 1888, Judge
Curtis married Ellen V. Talbot, by whom he has had three children,
Howard Wheeler, bom July 9th, 1890, John Talbot, born August
15th, 1900, and Violetta, bom December 30th, 1903, all of whom are
aow living-
WILLIAM LYON BENNETT
BENNETT, WILLIAM LYON, Judge of the Superior Court
and one of Connecticut's leading lawyers, is a resident of
New Haven and was bom in that city on May 19th, 1848.
His father was the late Thomas Bennett, an attomey-at-law, who
was trial judge in the city of New Haven for many years before his
death. Judge Bennett's grandfather was a lawyer in Charleston,
South Carolina, which town had been the home of the family for two
earlier generations. The judge's mother was Mary A. Hull Bennett.
After completing the course at Eussell's Collegiate and Commer-
cial Institute at New Haven, he entered Yale College, where he re-
ceived his B. A. degree in 1869. He then entered the Yale Law
School, where he spent two years studying for the legal profession and
was graduated in 1871. He lost no time in commencing professional
activity and as soon as he left law school he entered the law olBBce of
Tilton E. Doolittle in New Haven. He engaged in the practice of law
with constancy and great success until July, 1905, when he became a
judge of the Court of Conmion Pleas for New Haven Coimty. In
January, 1907, he was appointed to a still higher judicial office, that
of a Superior Court Judge.
Judge Bennett has been as active in club life and in athletics as
in professional life. He is a prominent member of the Quimiipiae
Club of New Haven and was formerly president of that club. In
his younger days he was a devotee of all outdoor sports, baseball,
tennis and golf, and more recently he has found keenest enjoyment in
camping and fishing in the Canadian woods. Though his ideas in
politics do not find full expression in the platform of either the Ee-
publican or Democratic party, he is generally called a Democrat, even
3 46
46
WILLIAM LYON BENNETT.
though he is identified with neither party. His religious creed is
that of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
He was married to Frances T. WeUes in 1878. His wife died in
1888. Three children comprise Judge Bennett's family. His home
is at 357 Elm Street, New Haven.
'kji.^.^.J^U^
GEORGE SEYxMOUR GODARD
GODARD, GEORGE SEYMOUR, State Librarian, president
of the Connecticut Library Association and ex-president of the
National Association of State Libraries, was born in Granby,
Hartford County, Connecticut, June 17th, 1865, He is a descendant
of Daniel Godard (or Gozzard) who came from England to Hartford
previous to 1646 and Moses Godard who served in the Revolution.
Mr. Godard is also descended from John Case, an early settler and
first magistrate of Simsbury, William Spencer, an original settler of
Hartford, and from Thomas Beach who came from England to Mil-
ford, Connecticut, in 1646, from whom Mr, Godard's mother was di-
rectly descended, Mr. Godard's parents were Harvy and Sabra
Lavinia Beach Godard, His father, who was a farmer, was a member
of the General Assembly and Master of the Connecticut State Grange,
He was a man greatly admired for his integrity, his hospitality, and
his temperate habits.
Mathematics and mechanics were George Godard's chief interests
as a boy, though he was too busy at work on his father's farm and in
the grist and saw mills to have as much leisure for deep study as he
desired. He prepared for college at Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham,
Massachusetts, completing the course in 1886 and then entered Wes-
leyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, where he was graduated
in 1892 with the degree of B,A, He spent two years in post graduate
study at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, and in 1895
took the degree of B,D, at Yale University. He then entered upon
another year of post graduate work at Yale, but was called home by
the death of his father and did not return. While at Wesleyan he
was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and recently, in
June, 1906, he was elected to honorary membership in the Phi Beta
Kappa Society at Wesleyan, Mr. Godard taught school in Granby in
1882 and 1883 and in 1893 was sergeant in the Columbian Guard at
the World's Fair in Chicago,
It was during his preparatory course at Wilbraham that Mr.
Godard had his first experience in library work, but his real work in
49
60 GEORGE SEYMOUR GODARD.
life may be said to have begun when he became librarian of Cossitt
Library in Granby, Connecticut, when it was established in 1890. He
held this position until 1898, when he became assistant librarian of
the Connecticut State Library at Hartford. Upon the death of his
predecessor. Dr. Charles J. Hoadly, in 1900, he became State Libra-
rian of Connecticut. In 1904-05 he was president of the National
Association of State Libraries and 1905 and 1906 president of the
Connecticut Library Association. Under his supervision the State
Library has been reorganized and equipped with a modem steel stack.
Mr. Godard is a member of Washington Commandery, Knights
Templar, Sphinx Temple, A. A. 0. U. M. S., St. Mark's Lodge, No.
91, F. and A. M., Pythagoras Chapter No. 17, E. A. M., and Wolcott
Council, No. 1, E. and S. M. He is also a member of the Acorn
Club of Connecticut, the Connecticut Historical Society, and the Cen-
ter Congregational Church, Hartford. Books and out-of-door life
with his camera and his children are Mr. Godard's most enjoyable
forms of recreation. His family consists of a wife, who was Miss
Kate Estelle Dewey, whom he married on June 23d, 1897, and three
children, George Dewey, Paul Beach, and Mary Katharine.
Questioned as to ideals of citizenship and the best way of attain-
ing success in life Mr. Godard replied : " Be true to yourself, putting
yourself in the other fellow's place as far as possible. Once well done,
twice done. We do not need more voters, but we do need better voters.
Always do your best."
t^f*»^
GEORGE L. CHASE
CHASE, GEOEGE L., is president of Hartford's oldest insur-
ance company, The Hartford Fire Insurance Company, and
in length of service, though not in age, is the senior of all
the insurance presidents of the United States. The " Hartford Fire,"
in addition, is known everywhere as one of the most substantial insti-
tutions in the country, and Mr. Chase, in addition, is one of the most
stalwart, alert, valuable citizens of Connecticut.
The Hon. Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, late chief justice, was
among those men whose names are revered by their countrymen and
the record of whose deeds will be preserved through future genera-
tions. Thomas Chase of Hundrich, Parish of Chesham, England,
was a conspicuous man in the sixteenth century, as was likewise his
son Kichard and in turn his son Aquila, Sr., of Cornwall — or of
Chesham, some of the writers say. These were the ancestors of Chief
Justice Ch£ise and of President Chase, men of hardy endurance, of
strong will and of great intellectual power.
Aquila's son, Aquila Chase, Jr., who was born in 1618, emigrated
to America, and in 1639 or 1640 his name appears as among the earliest
settlers of Hampden, Massachusetts. In 1646 he removed to New-
bury, Massachusetts, and was one of the first residents of that town.
His wife was Anne, daughter of John Wheeler of Salisbury, Eng-
land. His death occurred in 1670.
President Chase is descended from the progenitor of the family
in America through Moses, Daniel, Daniel (2), Paul, Joshua, and
Paul Cushing Chase. Paul Gushing Chase, who was bom March 7,
1790, married Sarah Pierce, daughter of Aaron and Hannah Pierce,
on December 19th, 1819. President George L. Chase was born in
Millbury, Worcester County, Massachusetts, January 13th, 1828.
One sometimes hears that good underwriters are "born, not
made." It might almost be said that President Chase literally was
bom an underwriter, for his propensity developed the moment he was
through school, and there may be ground for the suspicion that he
53
54 GEORGE L. CHASE.
hurried his schooling in order to get into the calling in which he was
destined to place his name so high. He was nineteen years of age
when he left the Milbury Academy and began to place fire risks. Be
it said, however, that that industry which marks the afternoon of his
life must have been present in the early dawn, for he got from the
academy and from his home studies an education which left little room
for regret over loss of a collegiate course. In English he was an
especially apt pupil, and presumably it was at the academy that he
acquired that ease of diction and mastery of expression which char-
acterize his writings.
Now the life of a fire insurance agent in 1840 was not much like
what it is today. There were no Pullman cars, trolley cars or auto-
mobiles to get around the country in, and no big company cash box
to make expenses good. Indeed, one might almost say there were no
roads for any vehicle to traverse in a large part of the country under
Mr. Chase's care. The company was the old Farmers' Mutual Fire
Insurance Company, with its home office at Georgetown, Massachu-
setts, and Mr. Chase's territory was southern Massachusetts and
eastern Connecticut — about as rugged a section, even today, as New
England can boast. And it has turned out its full proportion of
rugged men, too.
Mr. Chase had to make no experiments to find his " calling " ;
fire insurance literally had called him and he had answered with such
earnestness that in a short time he was a director in the Farmers'
Mutual and was easily recognized as a young man with a future.
Zeal and ambition, with integrity and perseverance, told vrith those
companies even as they do today with the company of which Mr. Chase
is the executive head. His agency assumed proportions rapidly, till
it included four mutual companies. And one of those companies, the
Holyoke Mutual of Salem, Massachusetts, is still in existence today
and doing a good business.
Mr. Chase's qualifications having been remarked by the People's
Insurance Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, he was offered and
accepted the responsible position of traveling agent in 1848, at the
age of twenty. Success rewarded his energy and early promotion
would have been his had he not had his attention attracted for four
years to the railroad business, then in its infancy. In 1852 he re-
moved to Ohio, where he had accepted the position of assistant super-
GEORGE L. CHASE. 66
intendent of the Central Ohio Eailroad Company. Surro\mded by
men of enterprise looking for merit, his own enterprise pushed him
to the front and after a short period he was made general superin-
tendent. He was one of the organizers of the first association of rail-
road superintendents in the United States, at a meeting held in
Columbus, Ohio, in 1853.
But Mr. Chase was not to be lost to fire insurance. In the year
1860 he accepted an appointment to the position of Western General
Agent for the New England Fire Insurance Company of Hartford,
discharging his duties with a fidelity which greatly increased the
company's business till the year 1863. That was the year he became
connected with the company of which he now is president. Appointed
Assistant Western General Agent of the Hartford Fire Insurance
Company in 1863, he promptly demonstrated not only a splendid
training, but natural ability, a talent, an originality that amounted
to genius, and the eyes of the directors and executive ofificers at the
home office in Hartford, always on the lookout for the right kind of
men, were soon upon him. Each year fulfilled the abundant promise
of its predecessor till in 1867, four years after he had come with the
company, and when not yet forty years of age, he was offered the
position of president, to succeed the late Timothy C. All)^!. In June
he accepted, and today, with zeal undiminished, can look back upon a
record, as already said, equaled in years by no insurance president
and surpassed by none in management, as the companjr's increasing
prosperity testifies. The company was organized in 1810, with a
capital of $150,000.00; today it has a capital of $1,250,000.00, assets
of $18,061,926.00, reinsurance reserve of over $10,000,000.00 and pol-
icy-holders' surplus of $6,500,000.00.
There have been only five presidents of the company and the
term of none has been as long as the present incumbent's. In 1869 the
magnificent granite home office building was built at the comer of
Pearl and Trumbull Streets, the company having outgrown its quar-
ters on Main Street. In 1897, the business having increased five-fold,
the building was enlarged to its present proportions — one of the
most complete and finest office buildings in New England. President
Chase was the first to introduce the use of the telephone in Hartford
business offices, and the first to employ stenographers and typewriters.
President Chase was elected president of the National Board
66 GEORGE L. CHASE,
of Fire Underwriters in 1876, and ever since then has served as chair-
man of the Committee on Legislation and Taxation, the most import-
ant committee of the organization. He is also a trustee and vice-
president of the Society for Savings, Connecticut's largest savings
bank ; a trustee of the Connecticut Trust and Safe Deposit Company,
and a director of the American National Bank. Always progressive,
he is full of public spirit and civic pride and shows deep interest in
local affairs as a member of the Board of Trade.
The esteem in which President Chase is held by his associates and
fellow workers has evinced itself on many occasions. On the twenty-
fifth anniversary of his becoming president, in 1893, the evidence
took the form of a silver loving cup. In 1898, the general and spe-
cial agents gave him a Jurgensen watch.
President Chase had three children by his first wife, Calista M.
Taft, daughter of Judson Taft. Of these children only one survives,
Charles E. Chase, who is first vice-president of the Hartford Fire In-
surance Company.
An active, earnest member of the Congregational Church, Presi-
dent Chase attends the Asylum Hill Congregational Church. Five
times he has been called upon to serve as president of the Connecticut
Congregational Club.
JOHN HOWARD WHITTEMORE
WHITTEMOEE, JOHN HOWARD, former president of the
Naugatuck Malleable Iron Company and a man of wide-
spread business interests, not only in the development of
the iron industry, but in real estate, railroads, and banking, was born
in Southbury, New Haven County, Connecticut, October 3d, 1837.
He is descended from Thomas and Mary Whittemore of Hitchens,
Hereford Count}% England, whose son was baptized January 6th, 1593,
and came to New England and settled in Maiden, Massachusetts. Mr.
Whittemore's father, William Howe Whittemore, was a Congregational
clergyman and graduate of Yale Divinity School, and who married
Maria Clark, by whom he had four children, of whom Mr. Whittemore
was the youngest son.
John Howard Whittemore spent his youth in the country
until 1851, when he went to New Haven and took a three years'
course at General Eussell's School. After a short experience as
clerk with Shepard & Morgan in New York City, he returned to New
Haven and his services were soon sought by Mr. Tuttle of Naugatuck
to straighten out the books of his firm, for he was then contemplating
retirement from business. With B. B. Tuttle, Mr. Tuttle's son, Mr.
Whittemore soon formed the partnership of Tuttle & Whittemore, for
the development of the malleable iron industry. This business grew
to large proportions, and about twenty years ago was reorganized and
formed into a joint stock company called the Naugatuck Malleable
Iron Company, and of this successful and extensive company Mr.
Whittemore was the head and president until succeeded by his son
Harris upon his own recent retirement from active management of the
business. Mr. Whittemore has also had interests in the iron busi-
ness in other cities of the east, and in Cleveland, Chicago, and
Milwaukee, and his industrial interests have been equalled by his
interest in real estate in the west and east as well. He is a director in
the New York, New Haven & Hartford Eailroad, and in many other
corporations, and he is first vice-president of the Colonial Trust Com-
57
68 JOHN HOWAKD WHITTEMOKE.
pany of Waterbury. He has avoided all political honors, though he is
a consistent Eepublican, and has held no public oflBces except to go as
delegate to the recent Constitutional Convention.
Of late years Mr. Whittemore has devoted his time, his ability,
and his fortune to the improvement of public welfare and institutions
in Naugatuck, the town which owes so much of its attractiveness and
prosperity and so many of its public buildings to his beneficence. He
was one of the promoters of Laurel Beach, a most successful summer
resort; he gave to the town the handsome and well-equipped new
Naugatuck High School, the well-filled Howard Whittemore Memorial
Library, in memory of his late son Howard, and he built a splendid
stone wall around the Hillside Cemetery. He also built the Music
Temple in Waterbury, a generous gift for the advancement of musical
taste in that town.
Mr. Whittemore is a modest and retiring man of simple, artistic
tastes and home-loving disposition. In business he is as strictly honor-
able as he is highly capable. He is a lover and collector of the best
examples of literature and art, and owns a superb collection of Whis-
tler's paintings. He is a self-made man who has used his gifts and his
fortune unselfishly. In June, 1863, he married Julia Spencer. Six
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Whittemore, of whom two, a son
and a daughter, are now living.
CHARLES FREDERICK BROOKER
BEOOKER, CHAELES FEEDEEICK, of Ansonia, president
of the American Brass Company, vice-president of the board
of directors of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Eail-
road Company, and director in about fifty smaller companies affiliated
with one or the other of these, is one of the leaders of industry in
Connecticut, and, indeed, in the country.
He is descended from an old English family, represented in
Guilford, Connecticut, in 1695, by John Brooker. Two generations
later, Abraham Brooker, Jr., moved to Wolcottville, which is now
Torrington, in the Naugatuck Valley, and there Charles Frederick
Brooker was bom, March 4th, 1847. Ever since he left school he has
been identified with the brass manufacturing business. In 1864 he
became bookkeeper for the Coe Brass Company of Torrington, and he
proved so useful there that in 1870 he was made the secretary. The
great success of the brass industry in the Naugatuck Valley is a story
of surpassing interest, and Mr. Brooker has played a very large part
in its vast development. His uncle, Hon. Lyman W. Coe, devoted his
life to building up the Coe Brass Company, and at his death, in 1893,
Mr. Brooker succeeded him in the presidency, stepping naturally into
a position whose duties and responsibilities had largely fallen upon
him during Mr. Coe's later years.
In February, 1900, the five great brass concerns of the Valley
were consolidated in the American Brass Company, capital $12,500,-
000, which now includes the Coe Brass Company, with works in Tor-
rington and Ansonia; the Ansonia Brass & Copper Company, at An-
sonia; the Waterbury Brass Company, the Holmes, Booth & Haydens
Company, and the Benedict & Bumham Company, all three of Water-
bury, and the Chicago Brass Company. These constitute an organi-
zation against which one never hears complaint. It has no strikes
among its employees and its customers appreciate its conservative in-
fluence in keeping the price of its products at reasonable figures with
59
60 CHARLES rEEDERICK BEOOKER.
the least possible fluctuations. In his position as its president Mr.
Brooker is the largest purchaser and consumer of copper in the world.
In Ansonia Mr, Brooker is director and vice-president of the
Ansonia National Bank, incorporator of the Ansonia Savings Bank,
president of the Ansonia Land & Water Power Company, and director
of the Derby Gas Company, In Torrington, his former home, he is
president and director of the Torrington Savings Bank, and director
of the Torrington Water Company, the Brooks National Bank, and
the Turner & Seymour Manufacturing Company; in Waterbury he
is director of the Colonial Trust Company, and in New Haven of the
Second National Bank of that city. The list of the railroad, trolley.
and steamboat companies of which he is a director through his con-
nection with the New York, New Haven & Hartford Kailroad Com-
pany, is too long to print, but it goes to show the large place he fills in
the aifairs of that great company, of whose most important committees
he is an influential member.
Busy as he is with all these material concerns, Mr, Brooker main-
tains a lively interest in social and political affairs, and is equally
influential there. He has served in each branch of the Connecticut
General Assembly (House in 1875 and Senate in 1893), has been a
member of the Eepublican State Central Committee, and is now, and
since 1900 has been a member of the Eepublican National Committee;
in 1904 he was a member of its executive committee. He is a member
of the executive committee of the Union League Club of New York,
trustee of the New England Society of New York, and member of im-
portant committees of the New York Chamber of Commerce, and is a
member of the New York Yacht Club, Engineers' Club, Transporta-
tion Club, and Lawyers' Club, He is a man of large executive ability,
with a natural gift for organization, and a wise judgment in selecting
capable associates ; and he possesses those choice personal qualities that
bind his associates to him in affectionate loyalty. He is of social and
companionable disposition and has a wide circle of friends all over
the country.
Mr, Brooker married Mrs, Julia E, Clarke Farrel of Ansonia in
London, October 30th, 1894, and their home is in Ansonia,
/j^^p-m^e^ (-^fri^Ji^A<j^
JAMES NICHOLS
NICHOLS, JAMES, president of the National Fire Insurance
Company of Hartford, is a descendant of Sergeant Francis
Nichols, who came of a prominent English family and was
one of the leading men of Stratford, Connecticut, in 1639. His son,
Isaac, was a large land-owner and four times was chosen to the General
Court. His wife was the daughter of Theophilus Sherman of Wethers-
field. In the early part of the last century. Captain James Nichols
was one of the most prominent farmers and cattle dealers in Newtown,
and his son, Isaac, who for a time was in business in Bridgeport,
also was a large proprietor. Both were Whigs and Episcopalians and
men of great force and high character.
James Nichols, son of Isaac and of Betsey Piatt, his wife, was
born in Easton on December 24th, 1830. His early days on his
father's farm developed his naturally strong physique, and gave him
good preparation for the life ahead of him. His mother died when he
was about three years old. Obtaining what education he could from
the common schools of his native town, the young man became imbued
with the desire to become a lawyer. To that end he studied law
every odd moment he could get, nights, Sundays and all other times,
while teaching school winters and farming in the summer. Com-
pleting his studies in the office of the late Amos S. Treat, he finally
gained his right to practice by being admitted to the bar in Danbury,
Fairfield County, in 1854. He opened an office in Thompsonville,
town of Enfield, but had not been there long before he was called to
Hartford to take the position of assistant clerk of the Hartford County
Superior Court.
In 1861, when only thirty-one years of age, he was elected judge
of probate for the Hartford district, which included Hartford,
Windsor Locks, East Hartford, and Glastonbury. His ad-
ministration won him the commendation of both parties and
he was elected for a second term which ended in 1864. In 1867
he accepted appointment as adjuster and special agent of Merchants'
63
64 JAMES NICHOLS.
Insurance Company of Hartford, a company in which his exceptional
ability won him rapid advancement. At the time of the Chicago fire,
in 1871, he was secretary of the company. The losses by that confla-
gration were so severe that the Merchants' surrendered its charter.
That same year the National Fire Insurance Company was organized
in Hartford and Judge Nichols was chosen its secretary. Mark
Howard was president. On Mr. Howard's death in 1887, Mr. Nichols
succeeded to the presidency, his present position. The company has de-
veloped with the conservatism which characterizes Judge Nichols, un-
til today it is one of the foremost in America; its strength was
splendidly attested by the way it met its losses after the San Fran-
cisco earthquake and conflagration in April, 1906. Its capital is
$1,000,000.00. Its ledger assets, by the last annual report of the in-
surance department, December 31st, 1905, were $6,246,025.00, its
gross assets $7,304,958.00, and its surplus as regards policy holders,
$3,314,305.00. Its home office building on Pearl street is one of the
handsomest structures in New England.
President Nichols is also president of the Mechanics' and Traders'
Fire Insurance Company of New Orleans, vice-president of the Frank-
lin Fire Insurance Company of Wheeling, West Virginia, vice-presi-
dent of the Charter Oak National Bank of Hartford, a director in the
Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company, a trustee in the Society for
Savings of Hartford, and a director of the Pratt & Cady Company.
He has served as representative of his ward in the Hartford Court
of Common Council and he is a member of St. John's Lodge, F. & A.
M. In politics he is a Eepublican and in religion a Congregationalist,
a member of the Asylum Avenue Congregational Church of Hartford.
For health and relaxation he plays golf and is a member of the Hart-
ford Golf Club. He also belongs to the Hartford Club, the Country
Club of Farmington, and the Connecticut Congregational Club.
He married Miss Isabelle M. Starkweather, daughter of Nathan
and Cynthia Starkweather, on July 9th, 1861. They had three chil-
dren, of whom one is living, the wife of Harry A. Smith, assistant
secretary of the National Fire Insurance Company. President Nichols'
residence is at No. 639 Prospect avenue, Hartford.
MEIGS HAYWOOD WHAPLES
WHAPLES, MEIGS HAYWOOD, of Hartford, has special
reason — when we all gladly accord general reason — to
cherish the memory of the love-making of John and Pris-
cilla Alden and of the war-making of the men of '76, of whom the
Meigs brothers were among the bravest.
Early, fearless settlers from England brought the name of Meigs
to America. In each generation the members of the family were
thrifty, earnest citizens, but perhaps the greatest test of their mettle
came on the day of the Lexington alarm in 1775. At that time the
branch of the family in which we are interested was living in Middle-
town, Connecticut. Eeturn Jonathan, one of the sons, hurried at once
to Eoxbury to participate in the siege of Boston as major in Connecti-
cut's Second Eegiment under the first call for troops. In Major Bene-
dict Arnold's Quebec expedition, in 1775, he was in command of the
Second Division, doomed to spend the winter as a prisoner of war in
Quebec. Having been paroled, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of
"Colonel Shelburne's Eegiment" (Ehode Island and Connecticut
men), in 1777, and the same year was promoted to the command of the
Sixth Eegiment of the " Connecticut Line." He conducted the Sag
Harbor expedition, for his success in wliich Congress awarded him the
sword now to be seen in the Peale portrait of him, a valued heirloom
in the possession of Mr. Whaples' mother. When Washington selected
the troops for " Mad " Anthony Wayne's dash on Stony Point, in 1779,
Colonel Meigs was detailed to command the picked body known as
" Meigs' Light Eegiment." In 1781 he was offered, but declined, the
position of brigadier-general of state troops. After the war he
was the first provisional governor of Ohio. His son became post-
master-general.
John Meigs, the oldest of the four brothers, was adjutant in
" Colonel Webb's Eegiment " and later in the Third Connecticut Line.
He was captured during the Long Island expedition, in 1777. In the
War of 1812 he was brigade major in the regular army. And, speaking
65
JONATHAN B. BUNCE
SINCE the days when Thomas Bunce, the Puritan, worked with
Hooker and Ludlow and their companions in founding the city
of Hartford and securing civil liberty under the world's first
written constitution, the family name has been honored by men prom-
inent in the affairs of city and state by reason of their integrity, their
zeal, and their general sturdy worth. Jonathan B. Bunce, born April
4th, 1832, in Hartford, was the son of James M. Bunce, a commission
merchant and president of the Hartford, Providence & Fishkill Eail-
road Company, a grandson of Deacon Eussell Bunce.
After attending the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale for a year
and a half, Mr. Bunce withdrew and interested himself in his father's
mercantile business. At the age of twenty-two he went to New York,
where the very successful firm of Dibble & Bunce, commission mer-
chants, was formed and was continued until the death of Mr. Bunco's
father, in 1859, caused him to return to Hartford to look after his
father's interests in the firm of J. M. Bunce and Company, Drayton
Hillyer being the partner. For fifteen years the firm continued most
prosperously, at the end of which time Mr. Bunce accepted the vice-
presidency of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company of Hart-
ford. In 1889 he was advanced to the presidency, which position he
held through years of remarkable growth and enterprise on the part
of the company, resigning as president in 1904, but continuing as pres-
ident of the board of directors and chairman of the finance committee,
he at that time having been chosen president of the Society for Sav-
ings, the largest institution of its kind in the state.
In addition, Mr. Bunce has been called upon to fill many places
of responsibility. Early in the Civil War, while his brother, the late
Eear-Admiral Francis M. Bunce, was serving in the navy, he was
appointed quartermaster-general on the staff of Governor Buckingham,
to fill out an unexpired term. In the business world he has been
closely connected with the American School for the Deaf at Hartford,
the Hartford Ketreat for the Insane, and the Hartford Hospital, and
68
fid
JONATHAN B. BUNCE. "*
is a director in several institutions, including the Hartford Fire In-
surance Company, the Connecticut Trust and Safe Deposit Company,
and the Phoenix National Bank. He is a Eepublican in politics, and
is a member of the Farmington Avenue Congregational Church, of
which he was one of the incorporators. His wife, whom he married
on May 9th, 1860, was Laura Biddle, daughter of Calvin B. Biddle,
of Granby. Three sons and three daughters are living.
HORACE JOHN WICKHAM
W[CKHAM, HORACE JOHN", inventor, mechanician and
industrial manager and one of the most prominent and
best known citizens of Hartford, Connecticut, who lias a
national reputation for his skillful labor saving inventions, the most
important of which are those used by the Government in the manufac-
ture of stamped envelopes, was born in Glastonbury, Hartford County,
Connecticut, on the first day of April, 1836. The American branch
of Wickhams is of Puritan stock and traceable to early colonial settlers,
and Horace J. Wickham is a lineal descendant of Thomas Wickham,
who came from England and settled at Wethersfield, Connecticut,
about 1648, and was the first holder of land in Glastonbury. His
great-grandson, Hezekiah Wickham, Horace Wickham's great-grand-
father, was a deacon, a schoolmaster, and a soldier in the Revolution.
He was a man of unusually strong character and of conspicuous
importance in his community. He was one of the first to march to
" the relief of Boston " at the Lexington alarm. Mr. Wickham's
father, John Wickham, was a farmer and a man of great perseverance,
who died in 1865. Mr. Wickham's mother was Melinda Culver, a
woman of deeply spiritual character. Through her he is descended
from Edward Culver, who took a prominent part in the Pequot War
in 1637, and in King Philip's War in 1676.
The first fourteen years of Horace Wickham's youth were spent
in Glastonbury, after which the family moved to Manchester, Con-
necticut. Though his education was confined to that of the common
schools it was thoroughly acquired and supplemented by thoughtful
reading, much of which was of a moral and spiritual nature. His
most marked trait as a boy was his mechanical and constructive
ingenuity and he was happiest when indulging his mechanical tastes.
He worked a great deal on his father's farm and this increased his
physical strength and endowed him with full capacity for work and
augmented his natural general ability. At seventeen he apprenticed
himself to the machinist's trade in Bristol and he mastered the trade
70
/TT,,, A,, /r-,^ T/fyr//,^^^ SBra A^i"
^Ay
^ 0\yX^^^^^
HORACE JOHN WICKHAM. 73
with a rapidity and thoroughness that his natural mechanical bent
fostered. At twenty he was master of his trade and he went to New
Haven to enter the Whitney Gun Works and was immediately given
the most responsible commissions. He remained with the company
during most of the period of the Civil War and invented many
improvements in the art of gun-making which was so important and
profitable at that time. He became a foreman in the Whitney Com-
pany and in 1864 left them to serve as master machinist in the United
States Arsenal at Springfield.
In 1869 Mr. Wickham began the most important chapter in his
business experience and the best work of his life by becoming identi-
fied with the Plimpton Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Con-
necticut, The concern was doing a large business in the manufacture
of envelopes, etc., for the trade and secured, in 1874, the Government
contract for making stamped envelopes and wrappers. The com-
pany was severely taxed to hold its own against competition and still
have a profit until Mr. Wickham invented the machinery which
revolutionized the industry and made the process of envelope making
quicker, simpler, and more profitable than had ever seemed possible.
The Wickham machines reduced the cost of manufacturing envelopes
from fifty cents to three and one-half cents a thousand. Encouraged
by the remarkable success of this invention Mr. Wickham perfected
a machine for making stamped wrappers, a wonderful device and as
valuable for the saving of time and money as his envelope machines.
For twenty-five years all the stamped envelopes used by the Govern-
ment have been made by the Wickham machines, and, when we realize
that nearly a billion of these envelopes are turned out annually and
at such a low figure that they yield the Government an annual profit
of nearly $500,000.00, and know that this is the achievement of Mr.
Wickham's genius, he may well be regarded as one of the most
important American inventors as well as one of the most valuable
promoters of American industrial progress. Mr, Wickham remained
with the Plimpton Company imtil 1898, and during the life of his
patents, twenty-two claims, they were controlled by that company
and never infringed. Some twenty more patents were granted to
him at various times for other inventions. Although the greatest
of his achievements have been in the service of the Plimpton Com-
pany he had other business interests at the same time. In 1881 he
74 HORACE JOHN WICKHAM.
helped organize the Hartford Manilla Company, of which he became
president and his son, Captain C. H. Wickham, secretary and treas-
urer. He was also a promoter and for a time general manager of
the Hartford, Manchester, and Eockville Tramway Company, and
his son was secretary and treasurer of this company. In 1899 both
gentlemen retired from the management of this company and in
1901 they purchased the entire plant and business of the Hartford
Manilla Company and organized it into the Wickham Manufacturing
Company, which they sold after fifteen months to " Case and
Marshall, Incorporated." Since 1902 Mr. Wickham has retired from
all business save the care of his extensive investments. His business
interests have been too great to admit of a public career, but he was
a valued member of the Hartford Common Council in 1883 and 1884
as representative of the First Ward. He is a Eepublican in political
faith.
From 1871 to 1895 Mr. Wickham's home was on Edwards street,
Hartford, but in 1895 he built a country seat in Manchester, Con-
necticut, known as The Pines, arranged according to his own designs
and the embodiment of his deep love of country life in all its phases.
He is a lover of horses and cattle and finds great enjoyment in his
fine stock farm and in his three hundred acres of well-cultivated
country lands. Mr. Wickham's wife was Fylura Sanders, whom he
married in 1857. Clarence Horace Wickham is their only child. Mr.
and Mrs, Wickham have traveled extensively throughout the United
States and in travel Mr. Wickham has found recreation of pleasure
secondary only to the enjoyment of his country home. He has few
fraternal or club ties, though he is connected with the Order of
Masons and is a member of St. John's Lodge, F. and A. M., Hart-
ford.
As an inventor Mr. Wickham is generally regarded as one of the
greatest geniuses of his age. His part in the development of
industrial aflPairs has been a great one and he deserves a high place
among the public benefactors of the past century.
THEODORE ALFRED BINGHAM
BINGHAM, THEODORE ALFRED, retired brigadier-general
in the United States Army, former military attache to the
United States Embassies at Rome and Berlin, military aid
to President McKinley and President Roosevelt, and at present Police
Commissioner of New York City, was born in the town of Andover
Tolland County, Connecticut, on the 14th of May, 1858 He
traces his ancestry to Thomas Bingham, who came from Sheffield
England, to America, and was one of the original proprietors o
Norwich, Connecticut, in 1660. General Bingham's father is Joel
Foote Bingham, D.D, Litt.D., a clergyman, whose integrity of char-
acter and thorough scholarship command wide respect and adniira-
tion His mother was Susan Grew, and to her he is indebted tor
strong moral and spiritual influence. The nature of his father s pro-
fe^sion determined that Theodore Bingham's youth should be spent m
various towns, large and small, and he lived in the country, m a vil-
lage, and in the city during his boyhood days. He was a strong active
boy, and was early taught to study and to work with a will. He had
a strong desire for military life and chose for himself a career m the
army He enjoyed the best literature and found constant interest
and inspiration in studying the Bible and the works of Carlyle and
Charles Kingsley. After preparatory courses under his father at
home he studied at Yale for three years and then spent four years at
West Point, where he graduated in 1879. He then began his active
military career by entering the Corps of Engineers, United States
Army His promotions were rapid, for in June, 1879, he was made
a second lieutenant; in June, 1881, a first lieutenant; and m July,
1889, a captain. During his service with the Corps of Engineers,
from 1879 to 1890, he performed many important official duties. In
1889 he was appointed military attache to the United States embassy
at Berlin, where he remained until 1892, when he was made military
attache to the embassy at Rome until 1894.
Soon after his return to this country General Bingham entered
75
76 TPIEODORE ALFRED BINGHAM.
upon a very distinguished public service as military aid to Presidents
McKinley and Roosevelt, and was in charge of the public buildings
and grounds at Washington, with the rank of Colonel, from March,
1897, to May, 1903. In this responsible position he was a social and
military leader at the Capitol, establishing the formal precedent at
various State functions. In 1903 he became a brigadier-general in
the United States Army, and retired in 1904. After his retirement he
settled down for a well-earned rest at Farmington, Connecticut. His
thirty years' distinguished career as an army officer was terminated by
physical incapacity due to an accident. It was soon proved that he
was to be the recipient of still further public honors, and, in 1906, he
was made police commissioner of New York City, under Mayor Mc-
Clellan.
General Bingham is a member of the Protestant Episcopal
Church, of the Metropolitan Club of Washington, the Order of Masons,
the Sons of the American Eevolution, the Society of Colonial Wars,
and the Chester Yacht Club of Chester, Nova Scotia. He is fond of
shooting and riding, and for an in-door diversion he enjoys a game of
chess. In 1896 Yale bestowed upon him the honorary degree of Master
of Arts. In 1898 he published the Bingham Genealogy, a most com-
plete and interesting work. Mrs. Bingham, whom he married in
1881, was Lucile Eutherford. One child, named Rutherford, has
been bom to General and Mrs. Bingham.
Home training and influence have been the dominant forces in
General Bingham's life and the chief incentives to his great success.
He believes that the highest good is " not money, but a clean con-
science, absolute honesty and integrity, and love of duty ; nerve and grit
to fight temptation, and active participation in the duties of a citizen."
All these things he deems indispensable and necessary to true success
in life.
BENJAMIN WISNER BACON
BACOX, BENJAMIN WISNER, LL.D., professor of New
Testament criticism and exegesis at Yale Divinity School,
New Haven, is a descendant of a family that has made a
lasting name for itself in the world of theology and of letters. On
his father's side, he is descended from Michael Bacon, son of Michael
of Winston, Suffolk Comity, England, who came to America and set-
tled in Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1640, and on his mother's side from
Nathaniel Bacon, son of William of Stretton, Rutland County, Eng-
land, who came to this country prior to 1654, and was among the first
settlers of Middletown, Connecticut. The Rev. Leonard Bacon, D.D.,
LL.D,, of New Haven, the ecclesiastical leader and writer, was the pro-
fessor's grandfather, and Rev. Leonard Woolsey Bacon of Norwich and
of Philadelphia, a brilliant and versatile divine, was his father. His
mother was Susan Bacon, whose example and teachings had much to
do with moulding both the intellectual and the spiritual and moral
life of her son.
Professor Bacon was bom in Litchfield, Connecticut, on January
15th, 1860. Endowed by nature with a good physique, every ad-
vantage was given him for muscular development and he was a leader
in boyhood sports and pastimes. Meanwhile he was receiving and ap-
preciating the best of intellectual training. In his preliminary course
of study he was a pupil at the Hopkins Grammar School in New
Haven, at the Gymnasium in Coburg, Germany, and at the College de
Geneve, Switzerland. Entering Yale College at the age of seventeen,
he was graduated with honors in the class of 1881.
Following the line of the ministry, which he had chosen, he went
to the Yale Divinity School, where he received his degree of B.D. in
1884. Throughout his college and graduate course, he had been con-
spicuous in athletics, and from 1879 to 1883 was a stalwart on the
Yale University foot-ball eleven. Today he keeps himself " in trim ''
with golf. Yale gave him the degree of M.A. in 1891, Western Re-
serve that of D.D. in 1892, Syracuse University that of Litt.D. in
77
78 BENJAMIN" WISNEE BACON,
1894, and Illinois College that of LL.D. in 1904. Private study, lie
believes, has had the strongest influence upon his career.
The year of his graduation from the Divinity School he was in-
stalled pastor of the Congregational Church of Lyme, Connecticut. In
1889 he accepted a pastorate in Oswego, New York, where he re-
mained until called to Yale in 1896 to take the chair of New Testa-
ment criticism and exegesis. In addition to his duties in this capacity,
he was director of the School of Oriental Eesearch in Jerusalem,
1905-6. In 1904 he was representative of American New Testament
Science at the St. Louis Congress of Arts and Sciences.
The professor's writings are marked by clearness and simplicity
of style. They include, "Genesis of Genesis" (1891), "Triple
Tradition of the Exodus" (1894), "Introduction to New Testament
Literature" (1900), "Sermon on the Mount" (1902), and "Story
of St. Paul, (1904) ; also important translations and many magazine
articles and essays.
In politics he counts himself a member of no distinct party; as
a believer in tariff reform, he was a supporter of President Cleveland.
He married Eliza Buckingham Aiken on May 27th, 1884, and
they have had two children, both of whom are living. Their home is
at No. 244 Edwards street, New Haven.
In his own life, Professor Bacon believes that when he has fallen
short of his expectations it was because he yielded to the constant
temptation of the ease of superficial success. His principle is that
ambition to do effective service should be the ideal of manliness, keep-
ing in mind the perpetual danger of eclipse by the ambition to " get."
p. HENRY WOODWARD
WOODWAED, P. HENEY, of Hartford, son of Ashbel and of
Emeline (Bicknell) Woodward, was born in Franklin,
Connecticut, March 19th, 1833. He is the eighth in de-
scent from Eichard Woodward, an emigrant from Ipswich, England,
in 1634:, and one of the early proprietors of Watertown, Mass. In
Bond's histor}^ of that town is given the genealogy of the family, pre-
pared by Ashbel Woodward, eminent in his day both as physician and
antiquarian.
Mr. Woodward was graduated at Yale College in 1855, studied
law, in part at Harvard, and in the fall of 1860 opened an office in
Savannali, Georgia, in partnership with Wm. Eobert Gignilliat. In a
few months the outbreak of hostilities ended the connection, and the
practice of law was never resumed. From September, 1862, to Sep-
tember, 1865, he was on the editorial staff of the Hartford Courant.
In September, 1865, he was appointed special agent of the post-
office department and assigned to the task of reconstructing the ser-
vice in Georgia. So well was the work done that he was soon placed
in charge of the through mails and of the system of railway distribu-
tion from the Ohio Eiver to the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic
ocean. Without interference, and with sole reference to fitness, he
was allowed to select the clerks assigned to the postal car service. In
a short time chronic incompleteness at the South gave way to a degree
of excellence limited only by relatively slow railway schedules.
With the changes attendant on the accession of General Grant
to the presidency he was transferred from the railway to another
branch of the service, of which he was made chief in 1874, with head-
quarters at Washington. Under his control the corps of special agents
was reorganized on the strictly merit plan. It quickly rose to unex-
ampled effectiveness. In difficult matters other departments of the
government invoked its aid. Failure to succeed relapsed into a tra-
dition of the past. New methods which became permanent were intro-
duced.
81
82 HENRY P. WOODAVARD.
Toward the end of the second term of General Grant, Secretary
Bristow and Postmaster-General Jewell were dismissed from his cab-
inet. With them Mr. Woodward was retired after eleven years of
service.
A few days after the inauguration of President Garfield, Mr.
Woodward received a telegram from Thomas L. James, postmaster-
general, asking for an interview in New York. He was then invited
to reenter the postal service and take charge of the investigation into
alleged Star Eoute frauds. He accepted. The story is partially told
in the records of the two trials which fill seven large volumes, in the
testimony before Congressional committee, etc. In the latter volume
is also told the story of the corruption of the juries. As a
result of the trials two and a half millions of dollars a year
were lopped from the cost of star and steamboat service despite an
increase of mileage, an annual deficiency extinguished, and the con-
tract bureau regenerated. Long before these trials President Grant
had said to a member of his cabinet that in the District of Columbia
convictions for defrauding the government were impossible. The
method of selecting juries made the manipulation of them easy at
the hands of " shysters " who devoted their energies to this special
branch of legal practice. The Star Eoute cases initiated a reform
which has eradicated all such scandals from the courts of the District.
With the change of administration in 1885 Mr, Woodward retired
finally from the postal service to which he had given fifteen years of
his life.
In 1888, leading citizens of Hartford, discouraged by the sta-
tionary, and in some respects the relatively retrograde, condition of
the town, organized the Board of Trade. As its first secretary Mr.
Woodward prepared for publication the following season a volume
of over two hundred pages, packed with statistical and historical facts
regarding local banking, insurance, manufactures, public works, edu-
cation, art, charities, etc. Within a few months an edition of ten
thousand copies found its way into circulation. During the next
decade the town gained fifty per cent, in population, while its progress
in other lines was equally marked.
In 1890-1 the Hartford Board of Trade Eoom & Power Company,
Mr. Woodward being secretary and treasurer, erected for manufac-
turing purposes a solid building of three stories, three hundred and
HENET P. WOODWARD. 83
sixty feet long. It is now the home of the Underwood Typewriter
Company, the original subscribers having been reimbursed, principal
and interest.
Mr. Woodward has written various articles and books — some
acknowledged and some anonymous. Many years ago he wrote a
series of sketches drawn from the postal service, published first under
the title of " Guarding the Mails," changed in a later edition to " The
Secret Service of the Post-OflBce Department." For the hundredth
anniversary of the Hartford Bank (June llth, 1892), he prepared the
history of that institution; delivered the address at the unveiling of
the statue of Colonel Thomas Knowlton on the State Capitol grounds
in November, 1895; wrote for "The New England States" (D. H.
Hurd & Co., 1897) the articles on Manufactures in Hartford and
Insurance in Connecticut; and at different times papers on a variety
of subjects.
He is president of the Dime Savings Bank, vice-president of the
Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, secretary of the board
of trustees of Trinity College, director in the Eetreat for the Insane,
etc., etc.
September 11th, 1867, he married Mary, only daughter of the late
Charles Smith of South Windham, Conn., a manufacturer widely
known for ability and elevation of character. He has a daughter,
Helen W., wife of Rev. Stephen H. Granberry of Newark, N. J., and
a son, Charles Guilford Woodward of Hartford.
WILBUR LUCIUS CROSS
CEOSS, WILBUE LUCIUS, Ph.D., professor of English
Literature at Yale University, was born in Mansfield, Tolland
County, Connecticut, on April 10th, 1862, the son of Samuel
Cross and Harriet Maria Gurley. The first of the family name in
this country was Peter Cross who emigrated from England in the
latter part of the seventeenth century. The Gurley ancestors, with a
strain of Scotch blood in their veins, were also among the early
settlers. Samuel Cross who, in turn, was sailor, teacher, farmer, and
manufacturer, was a sturdy, practical-minded man of highest in-
tegrity. Mansfield was a Eepublican town and he was a Democrat,
yet such was the esteem in which he was held by the coimtryside that
he was twice sent to the Legislature as representative.
Wilbur Lucius Cross was hampered by a weak physical con-
dition in his childhood and from twelve to eighteen was threatened
much of the time with nervous collapse. But rural life, with its pas-
times, built him up. While no special tasks were assigned him, he
was permitted to earn pocket money by working in the postoflSce and
village store and by driving about on errands when he was not with
his friends, the books. His mother ever kept a kindly eye upon him
and encouraged him to lofty ideals.
After preparing at the Natchaug High School in Willimantic,
he went to Yale and was graduated with the class of 1885, a member of
Psi Upsilon society and winning membership in Phi Beta Kappa by
his high stand. In his senior year he was awarded the DeForest
medal. Immediately upon graduation, he accepted the position of
principal of the Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut, where
he remained one year.
Literature was his forte and in this and in philosophy he took a
graduate course at Yale, winning the degree of Ph.D. in 1889, In
the histories of successful men he found much of his inspiration for
higher work and for careful, thorough research. The year he received
his degree as Doctor of Philosophy, he was appointed instructor in
84
I
WILBUR LUCIUS CROSS. 85
English Literature at Shadyside Academy, Pittsburg, Pa. He con-
tinued there until 1894, when he was called to Yale to take the po-
sition of instructor in English in the Sheffield Scientific School. In
1897 he was promoted to be assistant professor and in 1903 to his
present position of professor. He also was made a member of the
governing board of the School.
The work by which Professor Cross is best known to the outside
world, here and in foreign lands, is his " Development of the English
Novel", published in 1899, which has won unstinted commendation
for its completeness, impartiality and great value to the student. He
edited the department of English Literature in the New International
Encyclopedia (1903-4), writing the leading articles on English Lit-
erature for it. He has also written on the novel and various novelists
for the American Encyclopedia (1906). He published in 1904-5
notable studies of Sterne, in the complete works of Laurence Sterne,
and there have come from his scholarly pen essays on Scott, Shakes-
peare, and George Eliot, in editions of some parts of their works, as
well as many articles in the magazines.
He is an Episcopalian. In political matters he casts an inde-
pendent vote. He is fond of wheeling, tramping, mountain-climbing,
and fishing, and belongs to the Graduates' Club of New Haven, of
which he has been a member of the board of governors for five years.
He married Miss Helen Baldwin Avery of Willimantic on July
17th, 1889. Of their four children, three are living. Their home is
at No. 306 York street. New Haven.
A brief extract from his book, " The Development of the Eng-
lish Novel," may be taken as showing his insight into life. " We are
by nature both realists and idealists, delighting in the long run
about equally in the representation of life somewhat as it is and as
it is dreamed to be. Idealism in course of time falls into unendurable
exorbitances; realism likewise offends by its brutality and cynicism.
And in either case there is a recoil."
CLARENCE DEMING
DEMING, CLARENCE, journalist, of New Haven, Connecti-
cut, was born in Litchfield, Litchfield County, Connecticut,
October 1st, 1848, and is the son of William Deming, a late
merchant of Litchfield, and of Charlotte Tryon Deming. His father
was a man of positive character who took much interest in political
and religious questions and controversies, and through him he traces
his ancestral line to John Deming, an early English emigrant to
America who was a patentee in the Connecticut Charter in 1662. On
his mother's side Mr. Deming is descended from Henry Champion,
who came from England to Saybrook, Connecticut, about 1647, and
from Commissary-General Henry Champion of the Continental
Army.
Litchfield was Mr. Deming's boyhood home and his life in that
beautiful, healthful country town was full of wholesome influences
and strong ties. He was strong, vigorous, and athletic, and equally
well developed in mental capacity and tastes, for he enjoyed reading
and study as much as he did all out-door sports. He had no heavy or
regular work to do in youth, but earned his spending money by chop-
ping wood and by other outdoor tasks. He had plenty of time for
the improvement of his mind and read historical, political and jour-
nalistic literature with great interest and profit. He attended Dr.
Richards' School in Litchfield, The Gunnery in Washington, Connecti-
cut, and then completed his college preparation at the Hopkins Gram-
mar School, New Haven. He then entered Yale College and was
graduated in the class of 1872, with an " oration " stand in the honor
list. While in college he took second prize in composition, was an
editor of the Yale Courant in Senior year, and a member of the
" Skull and Bones " Society. He was as prominent in the athletic
as in the scholarly life of the University, having been captain of the
'Varsity base ball nine and a member of the 'Varsity football team.
In July, 1872, the month following his graduation, Mr. Deming
went to Troy, New York, where he was assistant editor of the Troy
86
CLARENCE DEMING. 87
Whig for a period of eight months, at the end of which he returned
to New Haven and took a short post-graduate course at Yale. In the
fall of 1873 he became night editor of the New Haven Palladium and
held this position until February, 1875, when he became assistant news
editor of the New York Evening Post, joining steady editorial writing
with the regular duties of that position. In 1881 he took the position
of traveling correspondent for the Post and visited England, the Con-
tinent, Newfoundland, Cuba, the lower Mississippi, and the South for
political correspondence, and Ireland, where he wrote up the Agrarian
" Outrages " in 1883. In 1884 he became editor of the New Haven
Morning News and in 1886 he added to his editorial duties those of
business manager, treasurer and president of the Morning News
Company, doing the entire work for a year without pay to save the
paper froim a sale which would probably have turned the Morning
News against Cleveland and tariff reform. Since completing this
arduous and responsible work Mr. Doming has had no definite edito-
rial position, except that of editorial correspondent and editorial
writer on the Railroad Gazette, but has remained in New Haven and
occupied himself with general writing, consisting mostly of contri-
butions to various magazines and newspapers. For twelve years
(1889-1901) he was the weekly editorial correspondent for the Con-
necticut edition of the New York World. He has made a special
study of railroads and has made frequent important contributions to
the Railroad Gazette. He has also given especial attention to mat-
ters of civic and tariff reform, and to the discussion of athletic prob-
lems and subjects. As a critic he writes with both freedom and justice,
and in a clear, interesting, and incisive manner. His longest and
most permanent work is " BjTvays of Nature and Life," published
in 1884. He has also written some poetry, the most memorable of his
verses being those published in 1870 on the occasion of a reunion at
The Gimnery School and a short poem " A Eeverie of The Game,"
published in the Yale Alumni Weekly, in June, 1905. He is a
journalist both by choice and by natural endowment, and is one of
the most able writers in the Connecticut field of journalism.
Mr. Deming is a member of the University Club and the Eeform
Club of New York City. In politics he affiliates with the Democratic
party, though he votes " independently " in state and local elections.
He keeps up a keen interest in college sports, concerning which he
5
88 CLARENCE DEMING.
writes so copiously and capably, and enjoys fishing and all outdoor
life very fully.
Mr. Deming has never sought or held public office. In 1893 Gov-
ernor Morris, of his own volition, sent the name of the journalist to
the State Senate for the place of Insurance Commissioner. The
Senate refused to confirm the nomination. This result was partly due
to the solid adverse vote of the Eepublican senators, who contended
that the Eepublican incimibent of the office had the legal right to hold
over after the " dead-lock " ; partly to opposition in his own party to
Governor Morris, who had shown favor in his appointments to former
" mugwumps " ; but more particularly to Mr. Deming's sharp criti-
cisms in his editorial work aimed at politicians in both parties.
Mrs. Deming, whom he married in 1886, was Mary Bryant Whit-
ing of New Haven, and is his second wife. Mr. and Mrs. Deming
have three children: Mary Whiting, born April 14th, 1887; Eobert
Champion, born June 4th, 1888, and Dorothy, bom June 8th, 1893.
Mr. Deming's first wife was Anna Battell Humphrey of Brooklyn,
N. Y., whom he married in 1879, and who died in 1880.
The advice which Mr. Deming gives to yoimg men seeking a
success of as great measure as his own is most deserving of adoption.
He says : " Young men, while they ought always to be terribly in
earnest, should temper earnestness and sincerity by the ' suaviter in
modo \ They must have courage in action, attitude and utterance,
and a standard of absolute right as distinguished from qualified,
timid, and * prudential ' standards."
PHILIP CORBIN
COEBIN, THE HON. PHILIP, the founder and head of the
great industry of P. & F. Corbin of New Britain from its in-
cipiency, traces his ancestry ba^k to Eobert Corbin of Nor-
mandy through a line of men whose rugged character and industry
have left their imprint upon contemporaneous history in each genera-
tion. Geofrey and Walter Corbin are mentioned in English annals
in 1194 and 1272. Clement Corbin (or Corbyn) came to this coimtry
and was among the settlers of Eoxbury;, Mass. John, his son, played
a conspicuous part in King Philip's War in 1675; John's son James,
born in Eoxbury in 1667, was one of the settlers of Woodstock, Con-
necticut, in 1686; James' son Lemuel was a constable in Dudley,
Massachusetts, in 1746; Lemuel's son Philip was successively con-
stable, captain, selectman and representative, and his son Philip, bom
in Union, Connecticut, removed to Willington, Tolland County,
Connecticut, where Philip, the third of the name and destined to take
high rank among America's captains of industry, was bom on October
26th, 1824.
Philip was a brave, sturdy lad, thoughtful and energetic. One
of a large family, it was his lot to begin at an early age to assume
responsibilities and to bear that share of the burden of life for which
his splendid physique seemed to have fitted him. When he was seven
he attended school in TJnionville, the family then living in Farming-
ton. After a year there they removed to West Hartford, thence to
Ellington and thence back again to West Hartford, where the home-
stead was established at what is now known as Corbin's Comers.
There the father died in 1881, and there two of Philip's sisters still
reside.
Philip Corbin made the most of his meagre opportunities to ac-
quire knowledge in the district schools and for a term and a half at-
tended the academy in West Hartford; for the rest, he had to glean
what he could from books at rare intervals in hard labor on the farm.
Perhaps his tasks were the harder because of his ambition to be a
91
92 PHILIP CORBIN.
leader among workmen and because of his great endurance. At one
time he contemplated teaching school in the Stanley Quarter in New
Britain at $10.00 a month, but as a relative of the selectman would do
it for $8.00, the position was not for Philip. At nineteen he was the
leader in cutting wood for a big contract his father had taken, his
" stint " being two cords of two-foot wood a day, at forty-five cents a
cord. It was while engaged at this laborious task that a workman in
a New Britain hardware factory suggested to him the advisabihty of
his taking employment in the shop. He could get $15.00 a month as
leader of workmen for a neighboring farmer, and altogether that
looked to Philip's father like an exceptional proposition.
However, consent finally being given, young Mr. Corbin entered
the employ of Matteson, Eussell & Co. (later Eussell & Erwin), on
March 18th, 1844, as an apprentice to contractor Charles Burt, for
$14.00 a month. To eke out this sum, and to assist the family, he
did odd jobs, including sweeping the whole factory, for which he re-
ceived fifty cents a week. Influenced by his example, three of his
seven brothers, Hezekiah, Waldo and Frank, followed Mm to New
Britain, though in the summer they returned home to do the haying
and Philip to work for other farmers till fall. That fall he had his
first experience in the field his genius was to develop, that of lock-
making, when he entered the employ of Henry Andrews, contractor
for North & Stanley.
By diligent study, he mastered the work so that, at the age of
twenty, he himself had become a contractor and an employer of labor.
His younger brother Frank soon entered into partnership as con-
tractor. Such was his success that in the last year of his minority
Philip gave his father $1,000.00 toward the support of the family.
Possibilities of improvement being more apparent and welcome to
him than to his superiors, he made up his mind to attain greater free-
dom. He, his brother Frank and a brass founder, Edward Doen,
finally resolved to set up in business for themselves.
In May, 1849, they opened a small shop in a two-story wooden
structure built for them. Each had contributed $300.00 toward the
capital and, with a horse and treadmill for power, they were ready to
begin with $300.00 for buying stock and running the business under
the name of Doen, Corbin & Co. Their first product was " ox balls "
for the horns of oxen. Mr. Corbin's young wife assisted in packing
PHILIP CORBIN. 93
goods when she could spare time from her duties as housekeeper, the
family including two boarders. In September, 1849, Mr. Doen left
the firm and Mrs. Corbin's father, Henry W. Whiting, came in, the
name being Corbin, Whiting & Co. The present firm name of P. &
F. Corbin was adopted on January 1st, 1852, when Mr. Whiting had
sold his interest to the brothers, believing that they were making too
great a variety of goods. Philip Corbin's theory was to meet compe-
tition at every point and to extend his market — the theory to which
he devoted every waking hour and to which the great industry today
owes its world-wide fame ; the local field widened to take in all Amer-
ica and then to embrace the whole civilized world. On February 14th,
1854, the North & Stanley Company and P. & F. Corbin consolidated
in a joint stock company as P. & F. Corbin, Mr. Corbin being secre-
tary and manager, soon after to become president, to which oflSce of
secretary was added that of treasurer in 1859, which he held until
1903. In 1880 the capital was increased from $50,000.00 to $500,-
000.00. In 1882, the Corbin Cabinet Lock Company was established
as an adjunct of the orginal company — the officers being the same
in both companies, Philip Corbin president. Most of his brothers
have been connected with the enterprise. Business continued to in-
crease marvelously when on March 13th, 1902, the two greatest of
hardware concerns, P. & F. Corbin and the Eussell & Erwin Manufac-
turing Company, were merged, with the American Hardware Corpora-
tion organized as the holding company, Philip Corbin, president,
authorized capital of $7,500,000.00. May 2d, 1903, the Corbin Screw
Corporation appeared as another outgrowth and on June 11th, 1903,
the Corbin Motor Vehicle Company.
The factories which President Corbin looks out upon now cover
acres upon acres of land, employ thousands of the most skilled me-
chanics and make a large per cent, of all the locks and general hard-
ware used in the world.
And in addition — Mr. Corbin is president of the New Britain
Machine Company, of the Savings Bank of New Britain, the D. C.
Judd Company, the Calumet Building Company; and director in the
Hartford National Bank of Hartford, and in the Mechanics National
Bank of New Britain and in the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection
and Insurance Company of Hartford.
Mr. Corbin was a Whig and then a Eepublican, but, confining
94 PHILIP CORBIN.
himself to his business, had no aspiration for public office. In 1849,
however, he was prevailed upon to take the office of warden of the bor-
ough, and after the borough became a city he served in the common
council. Doing much to establish New Britain's system of water sup-
ply, he was a member of the board of water commissioners for some
years. In 1884, he was sent to the House of Kepresentatives, and in
1888 to the Senate.
His wife, Francina F., daughter of Henry W. Whiting, he mar-
ried near the outset of his industrial career, on June 21st, 1848. They
have had three children, two of whom are living, Charles F. Corbin
who is associated with his father in business, and Nellie, wife of Wil-
liam Beers of New Britain.
^ri^.&yA,'0: iy1-i//:^, -^s ^-Bry A'j'
/iZ-^>t>C^
CHARLES MAPLES JARVIS
JARVIS, CHARLES MAPLES, of Berlin and New Britain, was
bom in the town of Deposit, Delaware County, New York, on
April 16th, 1856. He came of a family marked for their in-
tegrity, industry and firmness. The progenitor in America was Wil-
liam Jarvis, who settled in Norwalk, Connecticut, in the seventeenth
century, dying about 1740. His grandson, Abraham Jarvis, was the
second bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.
Mr. Jarvis' father was Henry Sanford Jarvis, a business man and at
one time county supervisor. His mother was Rachel Peters, to whose
forceful influence Mr. Jarvis feels that he owes much.
From a child somewhat weak and sickly, Mr. Jarvis developed
into a man of strong physique. His natural bent was toward me-
chanics, and he spent hours poring over the pages of the Scientific
American and similar publications.
His parents removed to Binghamton, New York, when he was
still quite young and he studied at the public schools and was grad-
uated at the high school. Every facility was offered him to acquire
the education he desired. Entering the Sheffield Scientific School at
Yale, he spent> three years in the study of scientific branches and was
graduated with the degree of Ph.B. in 1877.
His first position, the April after graduation, was as draughtsman
and later as engineer with the Corrugated Metal Company. That
was the name of a concern located in the village of East Berlin, near
New Britain, Connecticut. The high character of its products was
becoming better known each year and in a short time the corporation
title was changed to the Berlin Iron Bridge Company, a name which
was soon known in every part of the civilized world. The success of
its operations constituted a revelation in scientific commerce; its
metal frameworks, of any size, were transported to all parts of Amer-
ica and to foreign lands, where they were set up by the company's
skillful men with a promptness and a permanency which soon gave
95
96 CHARLES MAPLE JAEVIS.
the company practical control of this class of work throughout the
world. Of this Company Mr. Jarvis became president.
When the Berlin Iron Bridge Company, still the foremost in its
class, was absorbed by the American Bridge Company, Mr. Jarvis
was made vice-president, in charge of the operating department.
In the fall of 1901, the large manufacturing concerns built up
by the Corbins in New Britain, as the P. & F. Corbin and Corbin
Cabinet Lock Company, and known wherever hardware and builders'
furnishings are used, having been brought under one management,
Mr. Jarvis accepted the position of vice-president. The following
spring saw the organization of that great company, the American
Hardware Corporation, composed of P. & F. Corbin, the Kussell &
Erwin Manufacturiing Company, the Corbin Screw Corporation, the
Corbin Motor Vehicle Corporation and the Corbin Cabinet Lock
Company.
For this corporation — The American Hardware Corporation —
Mr. Jarvis is first vice-president. He is also president of the Hard-
ware City Trust Company, of New Britain, and vice-president of
The Connecticut Computing Machine Co. at New Haven. Mr. Jarvis
has always taken a deep interest in agriculture and at present is
running one of the largest farms in Hartford County, and is president
of The Berlin Agricultural Society.
Mr. Jarvis is one of those who gladly admit the influence upon
them of the successful careers of others, and in this connection it is
interesting to note his scientific calculation of the relative strength of
influences. It is : Of home, twenty per cent. ; of school, ten per cent. ;
of early companionship, ten per cent.; of private study, thirty per
cent.; and of contact with men in active life, thirty per cent. An-
other item not to be passed by in looking over causes and effects in
life is this, that Mr. Jarvis got his first strong impulse to strive for
such prizes as energy and application can bring by reading a list of
subjects given out by the Institute of English Civil Engineers for
prize essays.
He is associated with the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Com-
pany. When the policy-holders of that company elected him a di-
rector in 1906, the Hartford Courant said : " Mr. Jarvis is a man of
large personal popularity and wide business experience and connec-
CHARLES MAPLE JARVIS. 97
tions. He represents one of the largest of the great interests of New
Britain, and consequently of the State."
Political preferment Mr. Jarvis has felt constrained to decline;
he did consent, however, to serve as a member of the Constitutional
Convention of the State in 1903. The work of that body of picked
men makes one of the State's proudest pages ; although it was not ap-
proved by the people, it already has served as a guide for legislators
and will be a source of inspiration in years to come.
Mr. Jarvis requires considerable exercise and he gets it mostly
in walking and horseback riding. He has membership in the Hart-
ford Club, the Country Club of Farmington, the University Club of
New York and the Union League and Engineer's Clubs of that city ;
of the American Society of Civil Engineers and of the American So-
ciety of Mechanical Engineers, of which last organization he has
served as vice-president.
Mrs. Jarvis was Miss Mary Morgan Bean, whom he married May
27th, 1880. They have a daughter, Grace Morgan Jarvis. He is a
member of the Congregational Church.
Mr. Jarvis was made Commissary General in the military de-
partment of the State by Governor Woodruff with the rank of Colonel,
which it may well be believed he accepted more out of loyalty to an old
friend than from a desire to wear a uniform.
WILLIAM THOMAS WOODRUFF
WOODRUFF, WILLIAM THOMAS, president of the Seth
Thomas Clock Company of Thomaston, Connecticut, and
one of the foremost mannfactnrers in the State, is a de-
scendant of early English settlers and traces his ancestral line to
Matthew Woodruff, who came from England and settled in Hartford,
Connecticut about 1641. Mr. Woodruff's parents were William and
Martha Thomas Woodruff. His father was a physician, a graduate
of Yale Medical School and one of the leading representatives of his
profession in Waterbury until, during his later years, he became an
invalid and was forced to retire from active professional duties.
William Thomas Woodruff was bom in Plymouth, now Thomas-
ton, Connecticut, on July 11th, 1839, and received his early education
at the common schools of his native town. He then took a course at
the Institute of East Hampton, Massachusetts, followed by a more
advanced course at the Hudson River Institute in New York. This
was the extent of his actual schooling, but wide and intelligent travel
throughout the United States and Europe in later life have served as
a broad and practical education, which he considers an influential and
considerable part of his training for his work in life.
Choosing mechanical work in a manufacturing industry for his
*•' start " in business life, young Mr. Woodruff went to work after
leaving school as a workman in the employ of the Seth Thomas Clock
Company of Thomaston. By gradual steps he rose from one position
to another in that company until he reached his present responsible
office as president of the large and well-known company.
Outside the absorbing responsibilities of managing a large and
growing manufacturing industry Mr. Woodruff has few and simple in-
terests. In politics he is a Republican, in religious faith he is a Con-
gregationalist, and in fraternal affiliation he is a Mason. Socially he
is a member of the Country Club of Farmington, Connecticut, of the
Union League Club of New York, and of the Waterbury Club of
^. ^^.
/
WILLIAM THOMAS WOODRUPP lOl
Waterbury. His home the year round is at Thomaston. Mrs. Wood-
ruff was Gertrude Slade of Ansonia, whom he married January 32d,
1868. Mr. and Mrs. Woodruff have no children.
tOfC
JOHN BUTLER TALCOTT
TALCOTT, JOHN BUTLEE, a prominent citizen and leading
manufacturer of New Britain, was born at Enfield, Connecti-
cut, September 14th, 1824, son of Seth and Charlotte Stout
Talcott. He is of old New England stock, being a direct descend-
ant of John Talcott, who, in 1636, came from England to Hartford,
where he built the first frame house in the city. As an influential
member of the Hartford Colony, he was frequently sent to England
as its business representative. Mr. Talcott is also lineally descended
from the Eev. Thomas Hooker, the first minister of the Hartford
colony.
In 1828 Mr. Talcotfs parents removed from Enfield to West Hart-
ford, and here in the public schools he received his early education.
A serious illness in boyhood somewhat impaired his physical
strength, and rendered him unable to take part in the sports and
activities of other children. Books, happily, proved for him an all-
sufficient substitute for play, and thus early in life he became familiar
with good literature. He became one of the most promising pupils
in the Hartford Grammar School, where he was fitted for college, and
where he also taught during the last year of his college course.
He was graduated from Yale College in 1846, being the saluta-
torian of his class, and receiving the degrees of A.B. and A.M. Mr.
Talcott next turned his attention to the study of law, entering for
this purpose the ofiice of Francis Fellowes, a leading member of the
Hartford Bar. His expenses he defrayed in part by teaching in the
Hartford Female Seminary, by serving as clerk in the probate court,
and by tutoring for a year in Middlebury College, Vermont.
In the winter of 1848 he was admitted to the Bar. For the next
three years he held a tutorship in Yale College, at the same time con-
tinuing the study of law with a view to practice. Circumstances,
however, changed his expectations in this regard, and he was induced
to abandon the law for active business.
In 1851 Mr. Talcott went to New Britain, and with S. J. North
and others began the manufacture of knit goods and hooks and eyes.
102
iS^S*-'-
.M'
JOHN BUTLER TALCOTT 105
After a time the New Britain Knitting Company absorbed the
Knitting goods interest of North & Stanley. Of this new company,
Mr. Talcott was appointed treasurer and general manager, a position
that he held for fourteen years.
In 1868 he organized the American Hosiery Company, of which
he was secretary and treasurer for many years, and of which he is
now president. The business of this company in its special lines is one
of the largest in the country, and Mr. Talcott is an authority in all
matters pertaining to this business. He is also interested in numer-
ous other corporations and manufacturing establishments. He is a
valued member of the board of directors of the P. & F. Corbin Hard-
ware Company, of the General Life Insurance Company, and of the
New Britain Savings Bank. He is also president of the Mechanics
National Bank.
Mr. Talcott has been frequently honored by his fellow citizens
with official station and trust. In 1876 he was a member of the
common council of New Britain, and from 1877 to 1879 a member
of the board of aldermen. He was twice mayor of the city, all
parties uniting their suffrages to secure his election. His adminis-
tration was conceded to be one of the most successful in the history
of the city.
Mr. Talcott has been deeply interested in the success of the New
Britain Institute, of which he was one of the original incorporators,
and of which he has been president for several years. This insti-
tution was among the first to provide an absolutely free reading
room, and an ample library at a nominal charge. To this institute
he has given twenty-five thousand dollars, known as the Talcott Art
Fund, the income of which is to be used for the purchase of oil
paintings for the art room. He is a notable example of a man whose
devotion to high ideals has been shown not only in his fidelity to busi-
ness interests, but by his scholarly attainments, and a generous partici-
pation in the philanthropic and religious enterprises of the com-
munity, in the midst of which his remarkable success has been
achieved.
Mr. Talcott's first wife was Miss Jane C. Goodwin of West Hart-
ford, whom he married September 13th, 1848. His present wife
was Miss Fannie H. Hazen of New Britain, whom he married March
18th, 1880. Of his six children, three are still living.
108 THOMAS HOWAED EUGER.
Department of California, where military divisions were discon-
tinued in July, 1891.
He was promoted to a major-general, United States Army, Feb-
ruary 8th, 1895, and was retired on April 2nd, 1897, having reached
the age limit for active service, and is now enjoying his well-earned
rest at Stamford, Connecticut.
He was married to Helen L. Moore, daughter of Henry E. Moore
on October 6th, 1857, at Beloit, Wisconsin.
ALBERT STANBURROUGH COOK
COOK, PROFESSOR ALBERT STANBURROUGH, Ph.D.,
L.H.D., LL.D., of Yale University, was born in the village
of Montville, Morris Comity, N. J., on March 6th, 1853, the
son of Frederick Weissenfels Cook and Sarah Barmore Cook. His
father was a farmer and justice of the peace, a man of good judgment
and wise in counsel.
The earliest of this branch of the Cook family to come to
America was Ellis Cook, whose name appears in the town records of
Southampton, L. I., in 1644, as one of a colony that had removed
from Lynn, Mass., the colonists having come originally from England.
He was an extensive landholder, and a person of standing in the
community. He died before 1679. Silas Cook, who served as post-
master, State senator (vice-president of the State Senate), and county
judge, was the grandfather of Professor Cook ; and the late Professor
George H. Cook, vice-president of Rutgers College and State geologist
of New Jersey, was a relative of his.
In youth. Professor Cook was not robust. Small tasks about the
farm engaged much of his attention, and the solitary, out-of-door life
tended to establish a reflective habit and a love for nature, as his
tasks taught him an appreciation of homely toil. His mother's
influence contributed greatly to his spiritual and moral develop-
ment, while his passion for reading was directed to the better class of
books. The Bible, Milton, Shakespeare, and Tennyson he counts as
having been perhaps the books most helpful to him in his career.
After attending the district school, and a private school in Boon-
ton, N. J., he entered Rutgers College in 1869, where he was graduated
with the degree of B.S. in the Scientific department in 1872. Being
dependent chiefly upon his own resources, he immediately began teach-
ing, though cherishing the hope of further study. The year previous
to his entering Rutgers, when a lad of fifteen, he had been a teacher
in the district schools of Whitehall (Towaco), and Taylortown, Morris
County, N. J. Just before graduation he was offered a professorship
6 109
110 ALBERT STANBURROUGH COOK.
of chemistry at Fukni, Japan, a position then vacated by William
Elliot Griffis, since known as an authority on Japan. For a year after
graduation he was tutor in mathematics at Eutgers, and for four
years subsequently a teacher in Freehold Institute, Freehold, N, J.
In 1877 he went abroad for a course in linguistics and literature.
After a year at Gottingen and Leipzig Universities, he returned to
America, and a year later (1879) accepted a position as associate in
English at the Johns Hopkins University. In 1881 he went to the
University of Jena, where he received the degree of Ph.D., in 1882.
Eutgers gave him the honorary degree of M.A. in 1882, Yale that of
M.A, in 1889, Eutgers that of L.H.D. the same year, and Eutgers
that of LL.D. in 1906.
His first position on returning from Jena was in the University
of California, where he was appointed professor of the English
language and literature in 1882. He put the department on a more
substantial basis, established a higher standard of instruction, and
helped to bring about closer relations between the high schools and
the University.
In 1889 he was called to his present position of professor of the
English language and literature at Yale, where he is indefatigable in
his labors for the good of the University. It was through his instru-
mentality that English was placed among the requirements for en-
trance examinations at Yale, and he caused the acceptance throughout
the country of the principle of close study of certain books in English,
in distinction from mere reading, in college preparatory schools.
Among those whom he has assisted in training for academic positions
in English, or the pursuit of literature or linguistic study, are a num-
ber of prominent or rising teachers and writers.
Meantime he has been a prolific writer himself. Among his works
are : a translation of Sievers' " Old English Grammar," now in its
third edition ; " Glossary of the Old iSTorthumbrian Gospels " ; " Bib-
lical Quotations in Old English Prose Writers," two series ; " Notes
on the Euthwell Cross " — approximately fixing the date of that monu-
ment of Germanic antiquity ; " The Higher Study of English " ;
" The Artistic Ordering of Life " ; editions of treatises on poetry ; of
Tennyson's " Princess," Burke's " Conciliation with America," Bacon's
"Advancement of Learning ; " of " Judith," " The Dream of the
Eoad," and " The Christ of Cynewulf," besides the " Yale Studies in
ALBERT STANBURROUGH COOK. Ill
English " (thirty-one volumes, with more in preparation), of which he
is general editor.
He was president of the California State Teachers' Association in
1887, president of the Modern Language Association of America in
1897, and secretary of the National Conference on Entrance Ex-
aminations in English from 1897 to 1899. He is foreign member of
the Society of the Dutch Language and Literature. In 1890 he was
Carew lecturer at the Hartford Theological Seminary.
He graduated at the head of his class, received first prize for his
graduating thesis, " The Inclined Planes of the Morris Canal,'' and
delivered at Commencement a German oration entitled, " Bildung "
(Culture).
In politics he was originally a Kepublican, but is now an Inde-
pendent. He is a member of the Eeformed Church. For exercise and
recreation he chooses bicycling, walking, driving, light farming, and
foreign travel. He is a member of the Graduates Club of New
Haven.
He married Miss Emily Chamberlain on June 1st, 1886. They
have had two children, Mildred E, and Sidney A., both of whom are
living. His home is at 219 Bishop street, New Haven.
Principles which should conduce to the success of young Ameri-
cans he summarizes thus : " The study and practice of true Christian-
ity, as exemplified in the life of Christ, and as set forth in the Bible,
but particularly in the New Testament; a living faith in God and in
His Son, Jesus Christ. Next to this, a devotion to great poetry."
ANDREW JACKSON SLOPER
SLOPER, HON. ANDREW JACKSON, of New Britain, promi-
nent in the banking world and in public life, was bom July
14th, 1849, in Southington, Hartford County, Connecticut. His
father, Lambert E. Sloper, was a farmer in Southington, and later
became a carpenter in New Britain. He is remembered as a man
of strong will, unusually well informed, and an ardent reader;
characteristics which have descended to the son. Mr. Sloper's mother,
Emma Barnes Sloper, was a fine type of Christian woman, who left a
lasting impression upon the moral life of her son. Like many of Con-
necticut's prominent men, Mr. Sloper comes from an old New England
family. Richard Sloper, his earliest ancestor in America, came from
England in 1G25. He was one of the original settlers and owners of
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was a sergeant in the Colonial militia,
and married a daughter of Governor Sherburne. Captain Daniel
Sloper, another ancestor, was a strong patriot during the Revolution-
ary War, and a man of much influence in Southington.
Young Andrew Sloper, a healthy and active youngster, inherited
the military spirit of his forefathers, and for three years was captain
of a company of boys in New Britain. But his youthful desire to
become a soldier was never realized.
At the age of fourteen he was graduated from the New Britain
High School, and he then attended the State Normal School for one
year. But he had to work hard for his education. For several years
he drove cows, earning enough money in this way to pay for his
winter clothes, and he increased this meager income, out of school
hours, by taking care of gardens and doing any kind of odd jobs. This
hard work taught him regular habits and the ability to do a great
variety of useful things. He was a boy whom every one knew, and
as a declaimer at school he made a name for himself. School
influences had a marked influence upon his life. One of his high
school teachers, who marveled at his ability in mathematics, advised
him to seek a position as an accountant. But Mr. Sloper, pressed
by necessity, had to seize the first opportunity offered to earn money.
112
ANDREW JACKSON SLOPER 115
In 1865 he went to work for a photographer in New Britain, The
next year he received employment in a dry goods store and the
following year he entered the New Britain National Bank as a mes-
senger boy. Through perseverance and hard work, aided by his
natural ability, he rose to one position after another. In 1885 he
became cashier, and since 1895, he has been president of the bank.
In addition to being head of his bank, the former messenger boy
is now president and treasurer of the New Britain Gas Light Com-
pany, treasurer of the American Hardware Corporation, treasurer
and director of the Russwin Corporation, and treasurer and director
of the Russwin Lyceum. He was at one time president of the Con-
necticut Bankers' Association, and is now, in addition to the com-
panies above named, director in the following companies: Russell
& Erwin Manufacturing Company; Landers, Frary & Clark; North
& Judd Manufacturing Company; Union Manufacturing Company;
New Britain Machine Company; Corbin Motor Vehicle Company;
National Spring Bed Company; Adkins Printing Company; Rock
Manufacturing Company, Rockville; Edward Miller Company, Meri-
den; Cuba Eastern Railroad Company; Tehuantepec Rubber Com-
pany; Cuba Hardware Company, and Meriden Realty Company.
In political life Mr. Sloper has always been a Republican and
has taken an active part in the public affairs of his community. His
record shows a long list of offices held and public services rendered.
His first public office was that of councilman, which he held for two
years. He was alderman for one year, sewer commissioner for two
years, police commissioner for one year, and State senator from 1900
to 1903. At present he is chairman of the park commission and of
the cemetery committee of New Britain. Among the many services
by which Mr. Sloper has earned public esteem may be mentioned the
securing of the passage of the sewer filtration bill for his city. He
was chairman of the incorporation committee of the General Assem-
bly 1901-03, and was largely instrumental in framing tbe present
corporation law of Connecticut which is justly regarded as the best
corporation law on the statute books of any state in the Union. As
chairman of the park commission he has contributed greatly to the
development of Walnut Hill Park.
Mr. Sloper was married, on October 8th, 1873, to Ella B. Thom-
son. Of his five children, three sons are now living. He is a member
116 ANDREW JACKSON 8L0PER
of the First Baptist Church and has been its treasurer for more than
thirty years. He is a Knight Templar and an active clubman. He
is a member of the Union League Club of New York, of the Hard-
ware Club of N"ew York, of the New England Society of New York,
of the Union League Club of New Haven, of the Hartford Club, and
of the New Britain Club ; of the last named he was for several years
the president. He is a member of the Sons of the American Eevolu-
tion. He is fond of active exercise and takes great pleasure in horse-
back riding, which is his favorite amusement.
Mr. Sloper's one regret in life is that the necessity of earning
his own livelihood prevented him from taking a college course.
His advice to young Americans who are striving to attain success
in life is summed up in the following words: "Be temperate
and don't be afraid to work. When you have secured a fair position,
stick: even if reward is a long time coming. Make friends wher-
ever you can and go out of your way to help the other fellow. Be
regular in church attendance. It helps you to be decent the rest of
the week." The story of his life shows that Mr. Sloper has followed
his own advice. To him religion is not a mere form; it is helpful.
Each Sunday he gains inspirations which help him throughout the
week. But the most instructive and helpful idea in Mr. Sloper's
philosophy of life is, stick and be patient.
ALEXANDER ROSS MERRIAM
MERRIAM, ALEXANDER ROSS, theologian, clergyman, and
professor of homiletics, pastoral care and sociology at the
Hartford Theological Seminary, was born in Goshen, Orange
County, New York, January 20th, 1849. The first Merriams in
America came from Kent, England, and esttled in Concord, Mas-
sachusetts, about 1630, and he is in direct line of descent from these
original settlers. He is also descended from Col. Benjamin Tusten,
a colonel in the Revolutionary War. Prof. Merriam's parents were
Henry Merriam and Ann Eliza Reeve Merriam. His father was a
hardware merchant and a man of high moral character and recognized
business integrity, and his mother was a woman of great moral and
spiritual strength and influence.
Village life was the lot of Alexander Merriam in boyhood. He
was not blessed with a robust constitution, and his pursuits were
sedentary rather than athletic, his chief interests being literary ones.
He prepared for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, and then en-
tered Yale University, where he was graduated with the degree of
A.B. in 1872. He then taught for two years in the Hartford Public
High School. The ministry was his choice of a profession, and after
finishing his second year of teaching he entered the Andover Theo-
logical Seminary, where he was graduated in 1877.
Shortly after his graduation from the Theological Seminary Mr.
Merriam entered upon his first pastorate, a Congregational Church
in East Hampton, Massachusetts, where he remained from 1877 to
1884. During this time, in July, 1879, he married Jane May Gore
of Boston, by whom he has had five children, all now living. In
1884 he became pastor of the First Congregational Church in Grand
Rapids, Michigan, where he remained until 1892, when he was called
to his present position, the chair of homiletics, pastoral care and
sociology in the Hartford Theological Seminary. In addition to his
sermons and lectures Prof. Merriam has written a number of pam-
phlets and articles on religious and sociological subjects, and has been
117
118 ALEXANDER EOSS MEKRIAM.
a frequent contributor to various reviews and magazines. He is a
member of the Psi Upsilon college fraternity, the Yale Senior secret
society of Skull and Bones, the Twentieth Century Club of Hartford,
the Educational Club of Hartford, of which he has been president, the
American Economic Association, the National Conference of Charities
and Correction, the American Social Science Association, a member
and trustee of the Good Will Club of Hartford, president of the Social
Settlement Association of Hartford, director of the Charity Organiza-
tion Society of Hartford, director of the Connecticut Bible Society,
and a member of the advisory board of the Connecticut Institute for
the Blind. He was formerly a trustee of Williston Seminary and of
Olivet College (Michigan). In politics he is a Eepublican. For exer-
cise and amusement he finds his greatest enjoyment in horseback
riding.
MARCELLUS B. WILLCOX
WILLCOX, MAECELLUS B., president of the Southington
National Bank and vice-president of the Peck, Stow and
Willcox Company, was born in Southington, Hartford
County, Connecticut, November 23d, 1844, the son of William and
Sally Ann Bristol Willcox. His father was a manufacturer who
served his town as selectman and was a member of the Connecticut
Legislature for several terms. Mr. Willcox's paternal grandfather
was Francis Willcox and his maternal grandfather was Julius D.
Bristol.
In Mr. Willcox's early boyhood Southington was a country town
and the experiences and interests of his youth were those of the aver-
age New England country boy. His chief reading was the perusal of
the daily papers and his education was confined to that afforded by the
Lewis Academy in Southington.
Upon leaving school he went to work in a factory in Southington
and in choosing this employment he was actuated solely by personal
preference. In October, 1879, Mr. Willcox went to Cleveland and
started the firm of Willcox, Treadway & Co., which In 1883 consoli-
dated with Peck, Stow & Willcox, and returned to Connecticut in 1887.
He became identified with the firm of which he is now vice-president,
the Peck, Stow & Willcox Co., manufacturers of hardware, edge tools,
and tinners' tools, with extensive plants in Southington and adjoining
towns. Mr. Willcox is also greatly interested in banking and is presi-
dent of the Southington National Bank. He is a director in the
Union Polling Mill Company, the ^tna Nut Company, and the
Southington Cutlery Company.
A man of few words and simple interests whose whole time and
energy is given to business, Marcellus Willcox is neither a political
leader or a club man in any sense of the word. He has always voted
the Eepublican ticket, but has found no time or taste for public office.
He is not a member of any religious body but attends the Protestant
Episcopal Church. His has been a busy, industrious and fruitful life
119
120 MARCELLUS B. WILLCOX.
and work has been his exercise and recreation as well as " the business
of life." His wife is Emma D. Blatt Willcox, whom he married on
August 20th, 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Willcox have no children, though
one was born to them. Their home is in Southington, where the
whole of his busy, successful life has been led.
HAROLD WARRINER STEVENS
STEVENS, HAROLD WARRINER, president of the Hartford
National Bank and one of the foremost bankers in Connecticut,
was born in Warren, Pennsylvania, January 6th, 1855. He
is descended from " good ancestral stock," and considers this fact most
influential upon his own character and success. His first ancestors in
America were Cyprian Stevens, who came from England to Boston in
early Colonial days (about 1660), and John Whitney, who came from
England to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635. Mr. Stevens' parents
were Abram Walter and Elizabeth Ellen Stevens. His father was a
clergyman of scholarly pursuits, who possessed rare literary taste and
intellectual ability, and was a keen investigator in theology and gen-
eral knowledge. Mr. Stevens' mother was a woman of unusual strength
of character, whose example and influence were strongly for his good
in every way, and who created a home atmosphere which was a con-
stant stimulus to high standards of living.
A serious illness in early life handicapped his youthful develop-
ment ; but he was ambitious and persisted, and succeeded in surmount-
ing his difficulties to a marked degree. He attended public and private
schools for his preliminary education, and then entered the Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology in Boston, where he took three years of
the course in civil engineering, but did not graduate. An opportunity
of becoming a clerk in the First National Bank of Cambridge, Mas-
sachusetts, was presented to him, and he left school to accept this posi-
tion.
Banking was thus Mr. Stevens' first work in life, and it has occu-
pied his time and engaged his best efforts continuously ever since.
Since his first position, he has been clerk in the National Bank of the
Republic in Boston, cashier of the Northampton (Massachusetts)
National Bank, and vice-president and president of the Hartford Na-
tional Bank, the last named being his present responsible and influ-
ential position. The Hartford National Bank is the oldest and strong-
121
122 HAROLD WARRINER STEVENS.
est bank in Connecticut, and as its head Mr. Stevens holds a high
position in the banking business of his state.
In politics Mr. Stevens votes an Independent ticket, and in reli-
gious belief he styles himself " a thinker." His relaxation from busi-
nes is in outdoor life, which he keenly enjoys in all its branches. His
marriage to Frances Elizabeth Ball took place on December 4th, 1880.
They have had one son, Harold Parker Stevens, a young man of high
promise, who died January 18th, 1905, aged twenty-three years. Mr.
and Mrs. Stevens make their home at 56 Kenyon Street, Hartford.
Mr. Stevens is not a " society man " in the usual sense of this
phrase, but his social nature is thoroughly alive and active, and it is
one of his fundamental principles to be loyal to his friends.
The strongest influences upon his success are, in Mr. Stevens'
own estimation, the advantages of good antecedents, an uplifting home
life, and his own intelligent, persistent efforts. He would urge
young men to " keep the body healthy, the mind clear and clean, and
the heart gentle and sweet; to cultivate the principle of fair play,
habits of industry, clear, broad thinking, deep, genuine feeling, and
intelligent sympathy."
SAMUEL EDWARD ELMORE
ELMORE, SAMUEL EDWARD, of Hartford, president of the
Connecticut River Banking Company, was born in South
Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut, November 3d, 1833,
and is the son of Harvey and Clarissa (Burnham) Elmore. His
father was a teacher and farmer, who represented his district for
four years in the General Assembly, and who served in the Connecticut
militia as a captain of an independent rifle company. He was noted
for his honesty, industry, and piety. Edward Elmore, the first Ameri-
can representative of the family, came over from England in the ship
Lyon and settled in Newtowne in 1633. Three years later he came to
Hartford with the Rev. Thomas Hooker.
Mr. Elmore was brought up in the country where an out-door
life and the usual farm work enabled him to outgrow the effects of
a naturally weak constitution. He had few advantages in early life,
when the Bible was about the only book he had to read. But he was
determined to acquire an education, and after attending the Hinsdale
Academy and the Williston Seminary, he matriculated at Williams
College, where he was graduated with the degree of B.A. in 1857. He
subsequently studied law for a time, but he never practiced.
He began the active work of life as a teacher in Sedwick Institute
and later became principal of the Stowe Academy in Vermont. Re-
turning to his native State, he was elected to the General Assembly,
where he represented his district for four years ending in 1864. He
was also chief clerk to the State Treasurer. In 1865 he became sec-
retary and later president of the Continental Life Insurance Com-
pany ; for thirty years he has been president of the Connecticut River
Banking Company and has been treasurer of the J. R. Montgomery
Company since its organization.
In 1864 Mr. Elmore married Mary Amelia Burnham. He has
had four sons, all of whom are living. He attends the Congregational
Church and is a member of the Hartford Scientific Society, the Hart-
ford Club, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Connecticut
123
;[24 SAMUEL EDWARD ELMORE.
Historical Society. Hunting, fishing, and conducting a tobacco farm
have been his favorite pastimes.
Good habits, strict honesty, and firm religious principles, together
with a willingness to do a little more than is expected of one: these
are the ideals by which Mr. Elmore has been guided in his long career,
which has brought ample success to himself and to those associated
with him.
i
RALPH HART ENSIGN
ENSIGN, EALPH HAET, manager of Ensign, Bickford and
Company, manufacturers of fuses, of Simsbury, Connecticut,
was bom there November 3d, 1834. On both the paternal
md the maternal side he is descended from very old families. The
Snsigns trace their ancestry to James Ensign who came from England
;o Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in 1634 came to Hartford with
rhomas Hooker's famous flock. The name Ensign is of old Saxon
)rigin and was known in England as early as 1563. Mr. Ensign's
earliest maternal ancestor in America was William Whiting, one of
;he earliest settlers of Hartford. His mother, Martha Tuller
i.Vhiting, a direct descendant of William Whiting, through Joseph,
John, Allyn and Elijah Whiting, was a woman of noble character and
listinguished bearing. Moses Ensign, Mr. Ensign's father, was a
farmer and manufacturer of tin ware, and a man very active in church
work and steady in his political interests.
Mr. Ensign was educated at the Hop Meadow District School of
Simsbury, and afterwards studied at the Connecticut Literary Insti-
tute in Suffield and at Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Until he was
twenty-one he worked at his father's shop and at farming, then he
became assistant foreman in a cigar factory in Suffield. After a few
months he gave up this business and joined his brothers who were
sngaged in business in the south. Upon his return home he worked at
farming for a while and then became clerk in a store in Tariff vi lie,
where he afterwards engaged in business for himself. In July, 1863,
he married Susan Toy, the daughter of Mr. Joseph Toy, the manager
of the firm of Toy, Bickford and Company, manufacturers of safety
fuses, and he was invited to enter the employ of the firm. Five
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ensign, of whom three are now
living: Joseph E., who married Mary Phelps, Susan A., who married
Eev. W. Inglis Morse, and Julia W., who married Eobert Darling. In
1870 Mr. Ensign became a member of the firm, and upon the death
of Mr. Toy, in 1887, the company was reorganized under the name of
125
128 RALPH HAET ENSIGN.
Ensign, Bickford and Company, with Mr. Ensign as general mana-
ger, which oflBce he still holds. The company is one of the oldest and
largest concerns for the manufacture of blasting fuses in America.
Although Mr. Ensign's chief interest is in manufacturing he holds
several important positions in other corporations than his own. He is
president of the Hartford County Mutual Fire Insurance Company,
director in the Hartford National Bank, the National Fire Insurance
Company, the Arlington Company, and a trustee in the Dime Savings
Bank. In politics Mr. Ensign is a Democrat and represented Sims-
bury in the state legislature in 1876. He is a member of the Simsbury
Lodge, F. & A. M., and of the Hartford Club.
GEORGE FREDERICK TINKER
TINKER, GEORGE FREDERICK, merchant, manufacturer,
bank president, and ex-mayor of New London, Connecticut,
was born in Marlow, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, Feb-
ruary 13th, 1834. He is descended from "Mr." John Tinker who
came from London, England, to Boston and was listed as a freeman
there in 1654, was selectman and first town clerk of Lancaster, Massa-
chusetts, and settled in New London in 1658. The title of "Mr."
or "Master" was very rare in those days and showed that he was
either a university graduate or of high social rank in England. Mr.
Tinker's parents were Mary Ann Tinker and Nathan Tinker, a
farmer and a member of the village school committee, a man who was
honest, faithful and diligent in all he undertook.
Mr. Tinker spent his boyhood in the country attending school,
in which he delighted, and having plenty of farm work to do outside
of school hours. He was fond of outdoor sports and of reading his-
tory and biography. After a brief education at the country school
and village academy he went to work during the summers at farming
and during the winter months as teacher in the district school of his
native town, Marlow, New Hampshire.
At twenty-one Mr. Tinker engaged in business as a provision
dealer and manufacturer in New London, and he has continued in
this business ever since. He was mayor of New London for three years
and councilman and alderman for fifteen years. He served two years
in the legislature and during that political career never missed a
session or committee meeting. He has been a staunch Republican
since the birth of that party. His interests, aside from those in his
own business and in politics, have been largely in connection with
the financial, religious, and philanthropic institutions of his city.
He is president of the Union Bank of New London, of the Smith
Memorial Home, of the Young Men's Christian Association, chairman
of the board of management of the Memorial Hospital Association,
superintendent of the First Congregational Sunday School, and a
7 129
130 GEORGE FREDERICK TINKER
trustee of the New London Savings Bank. He is also president of the
board of trustees of the Bulkeley High School. He has been greatly
interested in the intellectual life of his city and has managed courses
of lectures there for twenty-eight consecutive years. He does not belong
to any club or fraternal order, having devoted all of his time to his
business and home life, his public offices and his church.
On the third of June, 1856, Mr. Tinker married Augusta Rebecca
Coombs. Mr. and Mrs. Tinker have had two children, both of whom
are now living. The Tinker home is at 15 Franklin Street, New
London.
The advice which Mr. Tinker gives to others who would emulate
his success is most pertinent. He advocates "total abstinence from
intoxicants, a good education, honesty, integrity, industry, and econ-
omy, coupled with energy and enthusiasm."
.€^n!i by ^enrif G-/ff'j^i;r 3
JAMES DICKINSON SMITH
SMITH, JAMES DICKINSON, banker, financier, yachtsman,
and prominent club member, is a native of P]xeter, Eockingham
County, New Hampshire. He was born November 34th, 1829,
and is the son of John Smith, who was born at Wethersfield, Connecti-
cut, September 2nd, 1798. The elder Smith was gi'aduated from
Yale College in 1821. He v/as at Princeton College during the
years 1823 and 1824, and was installed over the Presbyterian Church
in Trenton, New Jersey, in March, 1826. After serving in the
ministry for forty years, he died at his son's house in Stamford, Con-
necticut, February 20th, 1874. The mother of James Dickinson
Smith, who was married to his father in Trenton, New Jersey, Sep-
tember 11th, 1826, was Esther Mary Woodruff, daughter of the
Honorable Dickinson Woodruff. To her potent influences on moral,
spiritual, and intellectual grounds, Mr. Smith considers due the
greater portion of his success in life, and in alluding to her he has
ever reverently spoken of her as "an angel mother." Further back,
on the male side, this branch of the Smith family can be traced to
Samuel Smith who, in 1634, emigrated from Ipswich, England, to
Connecticut and settled in Wethersfield. The fact is, this particular
Smith was the founder of Wethersfield and really may be said to have
made the "Mother of Connecticut."
In his youth James Dickinson Smith had the good fortune to
possess a strong and healthy constitution and his aspirations were
always for obtaining something higher in life. His early life was
passed in the country and from the age of sixteen to nineteen he
was clerk in a store at Ridgefield, Connecticut, enjoying a salary of
$30.00 for his first year's services. His industry and attention to
business brought him $40.00 during a second year, and $50.00 was
the emolument for the third. With this he clothed himself and had
cash to spare. He had no difficulty in acquiring an education. Even
at sixteen years of age, when he became a store clerk, he was fitted for
college and was more than an average Latin and Greek scholar. Being
133
134 JAMES DICKINSON SMITH
an apt pupil he profited by a course of study at the district school at
Wilton, Connecticut, and at the Wilton Academy. His father was
anxious that he should go to Yale College, but he declined as he
wanted to work for his living. In 1848, then a stout, healthy youth,
he went to New York, and in 1854 returned to Connecticut, where
he bought a residence and has lived there from that time, doing busi-
ness in New York City.
James Dickinson Smith, in January, 1857, married Elizabeth
Henderson of New York. They have had four children, but only
two of them are now living: Archibald Henderson and Helen Wood-
ruff, now Mrs. Homer S. Cummings, who has one son, James Dickin-
son Schuyler Cummings, aged seven years. Mrs. Smith died April
24th, 1871. Mr. Smith is in all respects what is generally known as
a self-made man since he carved out his own course, though he
regards the guidance received at home, school influences, and close
union with men of energy and ability as having been instrumental in
his success in life.
Among his successful performances was the establishment, in
1865, of the banking firm of Jameson, Smith & Cotting, now
the banking house of James D. Smith & Company, in which
his son, Archibald Henderson Smith, and nephew, A. G. Henderson,
are his partners, in New York. He was president of the New York
Stock Exchange for the years 1886 and 1887, having been a member
of that body since 1868. He was State Treasurer of Connecticut in
1881, president of the City Council of Stamford from 1894 to 1897,
and has been a director in several of the most important banking,
insurance, and railway corporations in the country. These include
the Bank of Commerce and the Continental Bank of New York, the
Union Pacific Railroad, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, the
Panama Railroad Company, the Home Insurance Company of New
York, and various others. He is president of the Stamford Hospital
and has other local offices.
Yachting and driving are paramount among Mr. Smith's pleas-
ures. He dearly loves aquatic sports, is a member of the New
York Yacht Club, has filled the offices of rear commodore, vice-com-
modore, and commodore of that club, and was chairman of the
American cup committee for twelve years. Mr. Smith has owned
several famous yachts, among them the steam yacht Julia, the
JAMES DICKINSON SMITH 135
schooner Estelle, the sloop Pocahontas, and the daring schooner
Viking, which has twice crossed the Atlantic Ocean. He has been a
member of the Union League Club since its foundation, was presi-
dent of the New York Club in 1886-87, is a member of the Player's
Club, the Atlantic Club, the National Academy of Design, and The
New England Society. These do not, however, complete the list of
societies with which he is connected. He is a fine parliamentary
debater and fluent orator. Gifted in speech, and often eloquent, he
is sought as presiding officer at social and political meetings.
In politics he is a Eepublican, having stepped into that organiza-
tion from the old Whig party of which he was an active member,
though he has never sought political honors. His name figures widely
in club matters and has leading attention in "The History of Ameri-
can Yachts and Yachtsmen."
THOMAS DWIGHT GOODELL
GOODELL, THOMAS DWIGHT, Ph.D., professor of the
Greek language and literature at Yale University, was born
in Ellington, Tolland County, Connecticut, on November
8th, 1854, the son of Francis Goodell and S. Louisa Burpee Goodell.
Of his paternal ancestors, Robert Goodell and Katherin, his wife,
sailed from Ipswich, England, in April, 1634, and settled in Salem,
Mass. His maternal ancestors also were among the earliest settlers,
and were of Norman descent. Francis Goodell was a farmer, and
later was engaged in the delivery business in Eockville. Of strong
mind, he was an omnivorous reader of the leading periodicals and made
an earnest study of the economic problems of the day. His Puritan
antecedents appeared in his deep interest in theological questions,
which he was always fond of discussing. Mrs. Goodell was a woman of
rare delicacy and refinement, whose gentle graces had much to do in
shaping the character of her children, all of whom possessed marked
intellectuality and moral and spiritual force.
With parents setting the highest estimate upon education, it was
their desire that the children should " go as far as they could " — to
borrow an expression of the professor's. Thomas, the youngest son,
was somewhat slight in physique, but was sufficiently strong to do
" chores " around the farm and in the village, enough to at least give
him an appreciation of what manual labor means. This in itself
was educational. His particular aptness as a student led him on till
he and his elder brother were the first to graduate from the high
school which had recently been established in Rockville under the
principalship of Randall Spalding, Yale, 1870. And they were the
first to go from that school to Yale. To his associates it seemed like
a bold undertaking. There were indeed formidable obstacles to be
overcome, but the earnestness which characterizes his work today
carried him through, and he was graduated with honors in 1877. The
ancient classics were perhaps his favorites, though his reading was
along many lines, in literature (especially poetry), history, and
sciences. The impulse he had received from two teachers being in-
creased by that of his life at Yale, he set for himself higher tasks.
136
THOMAS DWIGHT GOODELL.
137
He had taught school in 1871, before entering college, and on his
graduation he accepted a position as classical teacher in the Hartford
Public High School, where he remained for eleven years. During
this period he was continuing his studies, in definite form, at Yale
from 1880 to 1884, where he received in the latter year the degree of
Ph.D. In 1886 he went abroad for a year, returning to his work with
new zeal, inspired by studies in Germany, Greece, and Italy. In 1888,
his position as a Greek scholar was recognized by his appoint-
ment as assistant professor in Greek at Yale, and in 1893 he was
made full professor, his present position. The year 1894-5 he spent at
Athens, Greece, imder the direction of Yale University, as professor
in the American School of Classical Studies.
Professor Goodell's book, "Chapters on Greek Metric" (1901,
Yale Bi-centennial Series) alone is enough to assure his rank among
the scholars of the day. The review in the Independent says of it that,
for its originality of research, if for no other reason, it " would be a
notable addition to American scholarship. Fortunately the work has
stronger claims to approbation than this purely relative one; it
treats one of the most difficult subjects of investigation in a manner
which combines at once learning and common sense." He also has
written "School Grammar of Attic Greek" (1903), and composed
the Greek ode for the Yale bi-centennial.
In religion the professor is a Congregationalist. By early asso-
ciations a Eepublican, he voted for Cleveland every time, but for Mc-
Kinley as against Bryan, and then for Parker as against Roosevelt.
His exercise he gets in walking, gardening, bicycling, and mountain-
climbing. The systematic training he has had in the gymnasium he
believes has been very beneficial.
He married Miss J. Harriet Andross, daughter of William W.
Andross of Rockville, on May 9th, 1878. His residence is at No. 35
Edgehill Road, New Haven.
Speaking of success and ideals for American youth, he says : " My
life work is the endeavor to cultivate in young men a higher estimate
of the value of things of the mind, especially in literature and the
arts, as over against the material side of civilization. Our danger is
the over-estimate of the latter. Ideas, and the true beauty of life in
every kind, are to be rated infinitely above wealth, which has no value
except as it serves what is higher."
DAVID SCOTT PLUME
THE life of David Scott Plume is typical of the successful busi-
ness men of his age and generation. Bom in New Haven,
August 22 d, 1829, he received his early education at Lovell's
Lancastrian School, and after his father's return to Newaxk, New
Jersey, attended a private school there. Mr. Plume's father, Kobert
Plume, was the son of a well-to-do farmer of Newark, and learned the
trade of carriage maker, this work taking him to New Haven, where
he met and married Aurelia Hulse, a descendant of the Barnes
family, conspicuous in the history of North Haven. In going back
to the Plume ancestor who first came to America, we find that he
was Capt. John Plume who came from England in his own ship,
and was one of the first settlers of Wethersfield, 1632.
When fifteen years of age, Mr. Plume entered the office of a
manufacturer of brass goods in Newark, to leam the business ; being
faithful in all duties and industrious, he won promotion rapidly and
at the age of twenty-two was in a position to go into business for
himself, and established a factory in Newark with a store in New
York. Waterbury being the center of the brass industry, he was
brought into association with the men who had made it such, and he
saw the opportunities for still further development — though no man
could have foreseen the magnificent proportions of the industry to-
day. In 1866, having bought an interest in the Thomas Manufactur-
ing Company at Plymouth Hollow, Connecticut — now Thomaston —
he removed to that village to take charge of the establishment. In
1869 he was one of the organizers of the Plume & Atwood Manufactur-
ing Company in Waterbury and was made treasurer, a position which
he still holds. The Thomas Manufacturing Company was merged
with the new company in 1869, and continues as an important
branch of the Waterbury plant, which itself has been enlarged and its
facilities increased till it ranks as one of the important companies
in this country for the manufacture of high-class brass goods. In
138
d>CJ^r~K/- (/ 'Z^^.-.^-x-t-ti^,
DAVID SCOTT PLUME. 141
addition, Mr. Plume is treasurer of the American Eing Company,
another of Waterbury's well-known manufacturing concerns.
He removed his residence from Thomaston to Waterbury in 1873.
A "natural born Whig" till 1861, he has been a Eepublican since
that date, but has found no time to devote to politics. He has con-
sented, however, to serve his fellow citizens in various local offices
and was elected representative in 1876 and re-elected in 1878. In
most that stands for the business activity of this wonderfully enter-
prising city he has been among the foremost. He has been in con-
stant contact with the world, in the broadest sense of that expression,
and that fact has had a powerful bearing on his career. He was a
director of the New York & New England Eailroad Company, which
was the later name for the Hartford, Providence & Fishkill, in which
Waterbury was deeply interested, — today a part of the New York,
New Haven & Hartford system. Mr. Plume was one of the originators
of the Waterbury Horse Eailroad Company, and held the office of
president from the time it was incorporated until merged into the
Waterbury Traction Company. The Connecticut Electric Company
was the first company to furnish electricity for lighting and power in
Waterbury; on its organization, in 1884, he was chosen president.
The Waterbury Traction Company came into existence in 1894, with
him as preeident. Since its absorption by the Connecticut Street Rail-
way & Lighting Company — or, it might almost be said, since it be-
came that company and extended its system over a large part of the
State — he has been a director of the new company and vice-presi-
dent. He was also most active with Mr. A. M. Young in building the
first telephone exchange in Waterbury, which afterwards became a
part of the Southern New England system. When the Colonial Trust
Company was incorporated he was made president and still holds
that position. Also he is a director in the Phoenix Mutual Life In-
surance Company of Hartford and of the Waterbury Hospital.
Mr. Plume belongs to the Union League Club of New York and
to the Waterbury Club and the Home Club of Waterbury. In re-
ligion he is affiliated with the Protestant Episcopal Church. While he
has not taken much recreation since he was quite a young man, he
thinks he owes much of his vigorous health since then to the systematic
exercise he indulged in then. He always has been and still is very
fond of horses and driving, but about vacations he knows little. His
1^2 DAVID SCOTT PLUME,
advice to young men is, " Whatever your business or calling, work
and stick."
Mr. Plume married Miss Abbie Cornelia Eichardson of Newark,
New Jei^ey, on October 16th, 1855. They had three children, Frank
C, David N., who died September, 1899, and a daughter, Emily
Mansfield, now the wife of Ex-Governor John Gary Evans of South
Carolina.
ELISHA L. PALMER
PALMER, ELISHA L., merchant and manufacturer of New
London, was born in Montville, New London County, Connec-
ticut, February 14th, 1840, the son of Elisha H. Palmer and
Ellis Loomis Palmer. His father was a cotton manufacturer, who
held many important town offices and was several times representative
and state senator. Mr. Palmer traces his ancestry to Walter Palmer,
who came from England and settled in Stonington, Connecticut, in
1640.
Mr. Palmer spent his boyhood in the country, and as he was
strong and healthy his youth was the typical one of a New England
country boy. He attended the public schools of Montville and the
Connecticut Literary Institute at Sheffield, and finished his school
education at eighteen with a business course at Providence, Rhode
Island. He began work as a clerk in a wholesale house in New York
City.
At the time of the Civil War Mr. Palmer enlisted as a private,
April, 1861, in Company I, 57th N. Y. Vol. Inf., and returned home
in 1865 with the commission of lieutenant. During his term of ser-
vice he was a prisoner of war, and at different times was confined in
Libby Prison, at Columbia, and in Charleston, South Carolina.
At the close of the war Lieutenant Palmer returned to Mont-
ville, and, with his brother, Edward A., formed the firm of Palmer
Brothers, commission merchants of New York City. This firm con-
tinued for about twelve years, when Elisha L. returned to Montville
to enter the firm of Palmer Brothers, manufacturers of bed-quilts
upon a large scale. In 1900 the firm was incorporated with Mr.
Palmer as vice-president, which office he still holds.
He is a member of many distinguished clubs, including the
Thames Club of New London, the Army and Navy Club, the Loyal
Legion, the Republican, the National Arts, and the G-rolier, all of
New York, and the Bibliophile Society of Boston. In politics he has
always been identified with the Republican party. His religious as-
sociations are with the Episcopal Church.
143
ERNEST THOMPSON SETON
SETON, EENEST THOMPSON, artist, author, and lecturer,
whose home is at Cos Cob, Connecticut, is an Englishman by
birth, having been born in South Shields, England, August
14th, 1860. In nature he has always found delight, and through
nature he has received his education, — or is receiving it, for his study
will never cease.
On coming to America in 1866, he went to live in the backwoods
of Canada, where he probably received the first impulse to the life
he has led. There was strenuous farm work to be done, and he did
it, but all around him was the school he grew to love, in the woods and
in the fields. In 1883, he went West to study on the Western plains
and has continued to reside there more or less ever since.
His actual book-learning he acquired at the Toronto Collegiate
Institute and the Eoyal Academy in London, England. Feeling the
need of an artist's skill in interpreting nature's lessons, he took four
years' study in Paris, from 1890. His genius was recognized by the
Government of Manitoba, which appointed him official naturalist, a
position he still holds. His writings already were attracting wide
attention, particularly his " Manuals of Manitoba," published in
1886 and his " Birds of Manitoba," published in 1891. Other works
of his are: " Art Anatomy of Animals " (scientific), in 1896 ; " Wild
Animals I Have Known," in 1898; "The Trail of the Sandhill
Stag," 1899 ; " The Biography of the Grizzly," 1900 ; " Wild Animal
Play for Children," 1900; " Lobo, Rag, and Vixen," 1900; *' Lives
of the Hunted," 1901 ; " Pictures of Wild Animals," 1901 ; " Krag
and Johnny Bear," 1902; "The Little Savages," 1903; "Monarch,
Big Bear," 1904; " Woodmyth and Fable," 1905 and "Animal
Heroes," 1905.
As a painter, illustrator, and lecturer, he also is well known
throughout America and in Europe. He is thoroughly imbued with
nature, in all its forms, animate and inanimate, and has a marvelous
faculty of presenting it fascinatingly for both readers and listeners.
144
ERNEST THOMPSON" SETON. 145
He was one of the chief illustrators of the Century Dictionary, and
his articles and illustrations are familiar to readers of all the leading
magazines, while he has delivered some 1,500 lectures. He is a mem-
ber of the Campfire Club.
Mr. Seton married Grace Gallatin, daughter of Albert Gallatin of
California, June 1st, 1896. They have one child, Ann. Mr. Seton's
New York address is No. 80 West Fortieth Street. At Cos Cob he
has a most characteristic and interesting home, which he calls Wyndy-
goul, and there he continues his studies, researches, and writings,
with frequent trips to his old friends in the wilds.
His country home with its hundred acres of wild land is the
head camp of the boy Order of Woodcraft Indians. This he estab-
lished four years ago to assist boys in enjoying outdoor life. Each
year since its numbers have doubled and over fifty thousand boys are
now following the camp laws of the " Birch Bark Koll."
LEWIS JOHN ATWOOD.
AT WOOD, LEWIS JOHN", president of the Plume and Atwood
Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut, was
born in Goshen, Connecticut, April 8th, 1827. His father
was Norman Atwood, a native of Woodbury, Connecticut, a farmer by
occupation. His mother was Abigail Woodward Atwood of Watertown,
a woman of strong mind and noble character. On his father's side Mr.
Atwood is descended from Dr. Thomas Atwood, a physician of note,
who came from England to America in 1666 and settled at Wethers-
field, Connecticut. He was said to have served as a captain in Crom-
well's army previous to his emigration. On his mother's side Mr.
Atwood is descended from Henry Woodward, who came to Boston in
the vessel with Cotton Mather, in 1630, to seek religious liberty.
A rugged, active boy, fond of work and play, Mr. Atwood learned
in his earliest youth habits of industry and self-reliance. He spent
his youth partly in the country and partly in a village, and found
always plenty of work to be done with little time for play. His oppor-
tunities for education were limited to those of the common schools.
He was especially fond of mechaaics and wished to make their study his
life work, but he was obliged to earn his livelihood at the task nearest
at hand, and became clerk in a store in Watertown when he was twelve.
For five years he alternated this employment with work on the farm
and in a grist mill and saw mill. In 1845 he left Watertown for
Waterbury and continued in, the mercantile business there. At twenty-
one he became associated with Samuel Maltby of ISTorthford, Con-
necticut, in the manufacture of buckles and buttons, but as they
did not have enough money to conduct the business successfully he
returned to the mercantile business, this time in connection with a
flour and feed store. Later he became engaged in the manufac-
ture of daguerreotype cases, lamp burners and other brass goods.
In January, 1869, he, with a number of others, organized the
Holmes, Booth and Atwood Company, which afterwards became
the present Plume and Atwood Manufacturing Company. He has
146
LEWIS JOHN ATWOOD. 149
been an active member of the firm ever since, holding the office of
secretary from 1874 to 1890, when he became president, the office
he now holds. Meanwhile, in 1865, he became largely interested
in the American Ring Company and was its manager for many years.
During the time that Mr. Atwood has been connected with manu-
facturing business he has invented many valuable articles and appli-
ances, and during a period of forty years he took out over seventy
patents. Most of these were for improved burners, lamps and lamp
fixtures. One of Mr. Atwood's most important inventions is a hy-
draulic press for forcing " scrap metal " into a compact form prepara-
tory to re-melting it. This device saves much time and labor and is
in general use today, the process it involves being technically known
as cabbaging."
On January 12th, 1852, Mr. Atwood married Elizabeth S.
Piatt of Waterbury. Of their three children, two daughters and a
son, the son, Irving Lewis Atwood, is the only one living. Mr.
Atwood early identified himself with church interests in Waterbury.
He has been a deacon of the Second Congregational Church for the
past fifteen years and interested in its business affairs, serving as
chairman of the building committee during the construction of the
present fine edifice. He was president of the Young Men's Christian
Association of Waterbury for five years, and also served as chairman
of the committee for the erection of the Y. M. C. A. Building.
Mr. Atwood was actuated by an intense desire to become a
successful business man and a useful citizen when he was a very young
boy, and his busy life has been crowned by the attainment of that
desire. To others he says, " Be honest and truthful, lose sight of
yourself in your interest in your employer's prosperity; have the
courage of your convictions in matters of right and wrong; use the
best judgment at your command in dealing with men and affairs; be
kindly considerate in your relations with others; give due heed
to the needs of your higher nature and you will not fail of true
success in life."
JOSEPH ANDERSON
ANDEESON, JOSEPH, clergyman, antiquarian, philologist,
historian and man of letters, one of the leading Congrega-
tional ministers of New England, is a native of Scotland.
His ancestors lived in the North Highlands and were presumably
of Danish descent. On his mother's side he traces his lineage back
to the clans of MacBain, Cameron and Grant. He was the only child
of William and Mary (Rose) Anderson. His father was for many
years a manufacturer of fine paints in New York City, and, though
not college bred, was a man of wide reading, of considerable culture,
much refinement and notable courtesy. His mother was a woman of
positive but lovable character, not intellectual in her tastes, but
strong in moral and spiritual influence,
Joseph Anderson was born at Broomton, Easter Boss, December
16th, 1836. He came to America with his parents in his sixth year,
and lived for several years in Delaware County, New York, and at
Astoria, Long Island. Much of his boyhood was spent in healthy,
out-of-door sports. He was exceptionally robust and active, fond of
play and of manual exercise, and was at the same time a precocious
pupil. He inclined naturally to books and study, and his scholarly
tastes were heartily encouraged by his parents. A Puritanic uncle
drilled him in the Scriptures and at five years of age he read the
Bible fluently. Among the other influential and helpful books of
his boyhood were Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress," a history of the
martyrs and heroes of Scotland, entitled " Witnesses for the Truth,"
and a story by Catherine Sedgwick, entitled " The Poor Rich Man and
the Rich Poor Man." At the age of thirteen he removed from As-
toria to New York City and entered one of its public schools, to pre-
pare for the College of the City of New York. He was admitted to
that institution in 1850, when it was still known as the Free Academy,
and was graduated in 1854 as valedictorian of his class. Three years
later he delivered the Master's oration and received his M.A. degree.
He studied theology at the Union Theological Seminary, and was
150
i^r?^',, ^'^^-^v
(1
'W
ItU^ LCwcIc/v
^-tA^
JOSEPH ANDERSON. 161
graduated in 1857. In 1878 Yale College conferred upon him the
honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, and in 1884 he was elected a
Fellow of the Yale Corporation.
When Mr. Anderson was licensed to preach, he was but little
more than twenty years of age. After finishing his seminary course
he returned to his Alma Mater for a year as tutor in Greek and Latin,
He began his ministry in 1858 in the First Church in Stamford,
Connecticut. In 1861 he became pastor of the First Church in Nor-
walk, commencing his work there on the first Sunday of the Civil
War and continuing it until September, 1864. In 1865, he was called
to the First Church in Waterbury, where he fulfilled the various du-
ties of a pastor and a citizen for forty years. Having given notice
of his intention a year beforehand, he resigned his pastorate on the
fortieth anniversary of his settlement, and after a winter in Porto
Kico, where he has a son residing, took up his residence in Woodmont,
a summer colony of which he was the pioneer thirty-one 3'ears before.
By vote of the church and society he was made " pastor emeritus."
In 1859 Mr. Anderson married Anna Sands Gildersleeve, daugh-
ter of T. J. Gildersleeve of New York, and of the five children born
to them two are now living.
Such is the history of Dr. Anderson's life in meagre outline.
To give account of his mental activity, of his work in the ministry,
and his part in the intellectual and religious life of the day would in-
vest the bare facts here recounted with living and intense interest
and reveal to some extent the mind and purpose of the man. As a
scholar Dr. Anderson is versatile, thorough and original. His in-
terests are wide and his learning extended, but he has given especial
attention to history and philology, selecting as his particular field of
research the ethnology, archceology, and the languages of the American
Indians. For some years these studies occupied most of his spare
hours, and they were not fruitless of results. Some of his work has
been crystallized into literature, and is stored up in various pam-
phlets and journalistic articles, as well as in larger books. Among the
books of which he was the editor and largely the author are " The
Town and City of Waterbury " in three volumes, " The Churches of
Mattatuck," and several volumes of local interest, all characterized
by charm of style and accuracy of detail. His intellectual interests
and activities have made him a member of the American Social
8
152 JOSEPH ANDERSON.
Science Association, the American Antiquarian Society, the American
Philological Association, the American Historical Association, the
Connecticut Historical Society, and the Mattatuck Historical Society
of Waterbury, of which he is vice-president and curator.
As a clergj'raan and preacher Dr. Anderson wins distinc-
tion parallel to that of his scholarship. In creed he is a liberal
Congregationalist, having been among the first of the New Eng-
land ministers to espouse and advocate the so-called New Theology,
when it required courage to do so. He has also done good
work in behalf of Christian union and church federation, leading
a movement in 1885 and 1886 to establish the American Congress of
Churches. His headship of a large and influential church for forty
successive years is the best tribute to his success as a minister and his
ability as a preacher and parish worker. His missionary zeal is one
of his most forceful and effective qualities. During his seminary
days he spent a vacation of three months as a Sunday School mis-
sionary in Northern Illinois, traveling on foot more than a thousand
miles. He was president of the Connecticut Bible Society for twenty
years — from May, 1884, to May, 1904, and a director of the Mis-
sionary Society of Connecticut for more than thirty years. He is also
a corporate member of the American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions. In 1891 he was a delegate to the International
Congregational Council in London. He believes that "the church
in its plea for ' higher things ' has confined itself too much to emo-
tional and ecclesiastical religion, and that in its work for men it must
learn to include both the ethical and the esthetic elements."
Though so greatly occupied with scholarly and ministerial in-
terests Dr. Anderson is a man of earnest public spirit and has al-
ways taken a keen and active interest in the development of the mu-
nicipal life of his city. He was for several years a member of the
Waterbury Board of Education and an active school visitor. Since
transferring his residence to Woodmont he has been thrice elected
warden of that borough. In national politics he usually votes the
Republican ticket, but at the same time declares himself a free trader.
Throughout his ministry he has found his chief recreation from parish
cares and intellectual labor in boating and in walking and in tbe cul-
tivation of flowers and shrubs on his three-acre lawn on the shore of
Long Island Sound.
JOSEPH ANDEBfiON.
153
In the fulness of his years Dr. Anderson reviews his fruitful life
in these words : " Throughout my ministry, I aimed too much at
breadth, at a rounded culture, at influence through divers lines of
action, to produce so positive an impression as some ministers have
produced in their special parishes. In this respect I am not very
modem or very American, but I do not regret the course I have pur-
sued. A clergyman should be broader than the largest parish. I
am more and more impressed with the materialism, the overwhelming
secularism of our time and its baleful influence on our American life.
It is the task of the ministry to counteract it. Sound ideals must
be spiritual and social, not merely commercial." Dr. Anderson has
attained in full measure that " rounded culture " of which he speaks,
and the influence he has exerted in fostering not only sound " spirit-
ual and social ideals" but intellectual ideals as well, has been by no
means insignificant. Unconfined by parish bounds, it is likely to be
as lasting in effect as it has been broad in its scope.
EDWARD GAYLORD BOURNE
BOUENE, EDWARD GAYLORD, PhD., professor of history at
Yale University, was born in Strykersville, Wyoming County,
New York, on June 24th, 1860. The first of the family name
in America was Richard Bourne who, coming from England, settled in
Sandwich, Mass., about 1635. He was a missionary to the Marshpee
Indians. Professor Bourne's father was the Rev. James Russell
Bourne, a Congregational clergyman who begot in his sons a strong
desire for scholarly attainments. His mother was Isabella Graham
(Staples) Bourne, a worthy guide in both the intellectual and spirit-
ual and moral life of her children.
Edward's life in the small country village afforded opportuni-
ties for robust development and to learn what toil meant. Early
evincing a scholarly turn of mind, he was encouraged to look forward
to a college education, and after passing through the Norwich Free
Academy at Norwich, Connecticut, he entered Yale in 1879. There
he supported himself in part, mastering his lessons with an ease that
gave him the opportunity to do an unusual amount of outside reading
and enabled him to take high rank in the class of 1883, with which he
was graduated. His interest in economics and history led him to take
a graduate course in these subjects at Yale, which he continued from
1883 to 1888, teaching there the last three years of that period. In
1892 he received the degree of Ph.D.
He was lecturer on political science and instructor in history in
Yale College from 1886 to 1888. Then he went to Adelbert Col-
lege, where he was instructor in history, from 1888 to 1890. In
the latter year he was promoted to full professorship. His work having
been followed by the faculty of his Alma Mater and having been
crowned with success both as a scholar and as an instructor, he was
recalled to Yale in 1905 and was given the chair of history which he
continues to hold. His class-room work and his occasional writings
bear evidence of patience, thoroughness and painstaking care in mi-
nutest detail.
154
EDWARD GAYLORD BOURNE. 155
Professor Bourne has been president of the New England His-
tory Teachers' Association and chairman of the Historical Manuscripts
Commission of the American Historical Association. He is corres-
ponding member of the Massachusetts Historical Society and is a mem-
ber of the American Antiquarian Society.
In politics he is an independent Democrat. His religious faith
is Congregational. For recreation he turns to bicycling, swimming,
and boating.
He married Miss Annie Thomson Nettleton of Stolkbridge,
Mass., on July 17th, 1895. They have had five children, all of whom
are living. Their home is at No. 73 Mansfield Street, New Haven.
Professor Bourne's writings include : " The History of the Sur-
plus Revenue of 1837" (1885); "Essays on Historical Criticisms"
(1901); "Historical Introduction to 'The Philippine Islands'"
(1903); "Spain in America" (1904). He is editor of Wolley's
" A Two Years' Journal in New York," Fournier's " Napoleon I,"
Eoscher's " Spanish Colonial System," The Chase Papers, " Original
Narratives of Columbus and Cabot," and of " The Voyages and Ex-
plorations of Champlain," translated by his wife, Annie Nettleton
Bourne. He also edited and in part translated " The Narratives of
De Soto." Also, he is co-editor of the " Yale Review."
JUSTUS A. TRAUT
TRAUT, JUSTUS A., the New Britain inventor and manufact-
urer, was born in Potsdam, Germany, in 1840.
His father, F. A. Traut, was also an inventor who rapidly
acquired a large fortune through his highly successful wood veneering
machine, and lived on a large estate near Berlin in Mr. Traut's early
youth. Later, during the revolutionary year 1848, he was obliged
to sell his estate and removed with his family to Berlin, where Justus
A. received his education in the Berlin Gymnasium. He completed
the course at the early age of fourteen, and though the youngest in
his class, he received high honors.
Meanwhile his father, eager to resume his trade, emigrated to
America, and his son followed him in 1854. Father and son became
identified with the firm of Hall and Knapp of New Britain as
designers and contractors. When the firm in 1856 was absorbed with
the others into the Stanley Rule and Level Company, Justus A. Traut
became connected with the new organization, and has been connected
with it for over fifty years.
Inheriting his father's inventive ability, J. A. Traut has devel-
oped a positive genius for the invention and perfection of carpenters'
t-ools which have made the Stanley Rule and Level Company famous.
He has evolved over three hundred patents, mostly on time and labor
saving tools and devices that are in use all over the world. His
inventions are conspicuous for their practicability and usefulness
as well as for their great number and diversity. The majority of
Mr. Traufs patents are concerned with instruments of precision,
but he has deviated from this regular line of work, and given the
world many other articles useful in households and elsewhere, aad
he can be justly called " the king of inventors in a city of inventions."
He has been identified with other manufacturing concerns as director,
and he established the Traut and Hine Manufacturing Company in
the year 1888, which has developed into one of the most prosperous
156
^C-C^Z.-^
A-<^
0. ^
JUSTUS A. TRAUT. 159
firms in that line of business during the short time of its establish-
ment.
During the fifty years that Mr. Traut has been a resident of New-
Britain, he has been an active and dutiful citizen. He was most
influential in establishing the New Britain General Hospital, and has
served on its board since its organization. He has also held various
town and city oflBces.
Mr. Traut is a great lover of country life, and his spare time is
devoted to the study of nature. He is a proud and loyal citizen
of the United States, and has never regretted his "transplanting
from German to American soil." He once said, " A man's nationality
remains part of him always, and this is as it should be. I cannot
help feeling a double sense of loyalty, as if the roots of my life-
tree were divided, one-half still growing in the old Vaterland, while
the other is thriving in the generous atmosphere of this glorious
republic, and more closely defined in the atmosphere and circle of my
friends and business associates of a lifetime, in whose midst I hope
to enjoy many a year of active and therefore happy usefulness."
EVELYN MILES UPSON
UPSON, EVELYN MILES, fanner and man of prominence in
political, religious, and educational affairs in Wolcott, New
Haven County, Connecticut, where he was born May 7th, 1852,
is chairman of the Town Eepublican Committee, the holder of many
local offices, and an ex-representative of several terms' service. He
is descended from Thomas Upson, who emigrated from England to
Hartford in 1638, and from Stephen Upson, son of Thomas, who was
one of the original settlers of Waterbury. Mr. Upson's parents were.
Miles S. and Mary A. Hough Upson. His father was a farmer who
held a number of town offices, including those of selectman and
assessor, and was generally respected for his integrity and executive
ability.
In earliest boyhood Evelyn Upson had tasks to perform on his
father's farm, and he has always been a farmer. He was strong and
vigorous and did not find the regular work outside of school hours
irksome or difficult. His education was the simple, fundamental one
of the district schools of the day, and he learned more lessons from
actual experience than from text-books. He chose farming as his life
work not only because he was a farmer's son, to farming bom and
bred, but because he loved and understood agriculture better than any-
thing else.
Outside of the management of his farm Mr. Upson has given his
time and efforts chiefly to public services. In 1887, 1891, 1893, and
1901 he was a member of the Connecticut House of Kepresentatives.
In 1902 he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He is
the present chairman of the Republican Town Committee, town
treasurer, assessor, and justice of peace, and chairman of the Town
School Board, of which he has been a member for over thirty years.
Since 1886 he has been secretary and treasurer of the Wolcott Agri-
cultural Society. He joined the Congregational Church at the age of
fifteen and has been a most active and influential member ever since
160
EVELYN MILES UPSON. 161
that time. For many years he has been Sunday School superin-
tendent, he is a deacon and is chairman of the Ecclesiastical Society
Committee.
Mr. Upson's home is in the town of Plymouth, and his family
consists of a wife and two children. Mrs. Upson was Elsie S. Lane,
daughter of Albert N. Lane, whom he married May 24th, 1876.
HERBERT CLEVELAND WARREN
WARREX, HERBERT. CLEVELAND, president of the Mer-
chants' National Bank of New Haven and one of the best
known bankers of the state, was born in Derby, New Haven
County, Connecticut, February 5th, 1843. His father was Henry
Warren, a school teacher and a man of influence and prominence in
the community. Mr. Warren's mother was Mary A. Clark Warren,
a woman whose influence upon her son was strong and for his good.
On both sides Mr. W^arren's ancestry goes back to the sturdy Colonists
of New England. On his mother's side he is a descendant of George
Clark, one of the original settlers of Milford, Connecticut, in 1639.
Another ancestor, Robert Treat, was governor of New Haven Colony
for thirteen years, and a third, Samuel Peck, was a captain in the
War of the Revolution.
Until he was fifteen Mr. Warren attended the public schools of
the town of Derby, where his early days were spent. Though limited
as to educational advantages he was naturally studious and a great
reader. His reading was of a very broad, general nature, and of a
character which, together with a keen sense of observation, well
fitted him for success in after life. At fifteen he became a clerk in
a country store. At the age of twenty he came to New Haven as clerk
in banking institutions and in 1877 he became associated with
Alexander McAlister in the banking business established in 1868,
out of which grew the present house of H. C. Warren & Company, of
which he is the head. He is also president of the Merchants' National
Bank and director in several large corporations. He is treasurer
of the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the New Haven park
commission.
Mr. Warren is a Mason, a member of the Union League Club
and the Quinnipiack Club of New Haven, and the New Haven
Country Club. In politics he is a consistent Republican and in
religion he is a Congregationalist. His favorite recreations are
fishing and travel and he is a great lover of the woods. Mr. Warren
162
HERBERT CLEVELAND WARREN 165
has been twice married. In 1867 he married Helen L. Perkins, who
died in 1896. In 1900 Mr. Warren married Alice G. Bristol.
A desire to succeed has actuated Mr. Warren's life from boy-
hood, and he has been successful as a business man and honored
as a citizen. He is a modest man, but a keen judge of human nature.
As a student of the market he is well to the front and for this reason
is consulted at all times by investors. It is to the possession of these
qualities that he owes his steady advance among financiers and business
men. Through frequent business trips abroad he has been able to
encourage his fondness for travel and to enlarge his experience.
Though not a public speaker he has a peculiarly persuasive manner in
presenting his judgment in regard to things he is familiar with, which
a natural power of close analysis aids. To young Americans he says :
"Always try to do right, or, as boys used to say, in business as well as
sport, 'play fair.' "
TRACY PECK
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literxtnre in Yale Uisivtavii.*. i- _- \\-' : -i.:.^ " — -?n cf
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trisr m MathsBsiles c»d TJatm sx Y^l-r ir : :::":' ~^i :z 'jlit :-^~*rit7
tin 1870, haiTT-g :7t titit h^ ^li - Z Ii > -1: ::
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TRACT PECK. 167
president of the American Philological Association, 1885-6, and di-
rector of the American School of Classical Studies in Rome in 1898-9.
Professor Peck has done much to make the study of Latin at-
tractive to young students and valuable to scholars. With Professor
Clement L. Smith, of Harvard University, he is editor-in-chief of the
College Series of Latin Authors, of which twelve volumes have been
published since 1888; with Professor J. B. Greenough of Harvard,
he is editor of a College edition of Livy, Books XXI, XXII. Among
his published papers are : " Latin Pronunciation Practically Con-
sidered," " The Authorship of the Dialogus de Oratoribus," " Notes
on Latin Quantity," "Alliteration in Latin," "The Personal Ad-
dress in Latin Epitaphs," " Cicero's Hexameters."
Politically he voted with the Eepublican party until the nomi-
nation of James G. Blaine, since which time he has had no party
aflBliation. He is a member of the Congregational Church. His
chief form of exercising is bicycling.
He married Miss Elizabeth Harriet Hall of Hadleigh, England,
in Brooklyn, December 22d, 1870. They have had two children, both
of whom are living. His home is at No. 124 High street, New
Haven.
LEWIS BAYLES PATON
PATON, LEWIS BAYLES, educator and author, professor of
Old Testament Criticism in the Hartford Theological Sem-
inary, was bom in New York City, on June 37th, 1864, the
son of Eobert Lenox Stuart Paton, an importer of upholstery goods,
and Henrietta Bayles Paton. His earliest known ancestor in this
country was the Eev. John Prudden who came from Edgerton, York-
shire, England, to Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1639, and was after-
wards a minister in Milford. Another ancestor in Scotland, John
Paton, a Covenanter, fought Claverhouse's Dragoons with a flail, and
a third, Benjamin Halsey, was a captain in the Eevolutionary War.
For the most part Lewis Paton's early youth was spent in Orange,
New Jersey, Though well, he was not robust, and he preferred read-
ing to more active pursuits. He prepared for college at the high
school in Keokuk, Iowa, and then entered the New York University,
where he was graduated in 1884 with the degree of B.A. Nine years
later, in 1893, he received the degree of M.A, at the same University,
and in 1906 the degree of D.D. In 1887 Mr. Payton entered Princeton
Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1890. From 1890 to
1892 he studied at the University of Berlin, Germany, as Hebrew Fel-
low of Princeton Theological Seminary; and in 1897 he took the de-
gree of Ph.D. at the University of Marburg, Germany.
At the end of his first period of study abroad Mr. Paton began
his work as instructor in Old Testament Criticism at the Hartford
Theological Seminary. At the end of a year he became associate pro-
fessor in the same subject. Since 1900 he has been professor of Old
Testament Exegesis and Criticism at the Seminary. In 1903 and 1904
he was director of the American School of Oriental Study and Re-
search in Jerusalem. He is a member of the American Oriental Society,
the Society of Biblical Literature, the Vorderasiastische Gesellschaft,
and the Society of Biblical Archaeology. He is the author of " Early
History of Syria and Palestine," Scribner's, 1901, and of numerous
articles on Biblical and archaeological research.
168
LEWIS BAYLES PATON. 169
On the thirtieth of December, 1896, Prof. Paton married Suvia
Davison of Hartford, who died while he was director of the American
School of Oriental Study, March 20th, 1904. He has one child, a
daughter, and makes his home in Hartford. In politics Prof. Paton
is an Independent. He belongs to no fraternal organizations and con-
fines his interests, outside of church, city, and home, to those institu-
tions which exist for the promotion of the studies which he makes his
life work.
HENRY LUCIUS HOTCHKISS
HOTCHKISS, HENRY LUCIUS, manufacturer, president of
the L. Candee Company, and other corporations, and a life-
long citizen of New Haven, Connnecticut, was born there on
December 18th, 1843.
The name of Hotchkiss has been a familiar one in New Haven
for over two centuries and a half, and it has always stood for prom-
inence in business affairs and public interests. The first of the fam-
ily to come to America was Samuel Hotchkiss, who came from Essex
County, England, to New Haven in 1641. Early in this century Jus-
tus and his uncle, Eussell Hotchkiss, were prominent lumber mer-
chants on Long Wharf. Henry and Lucius Hotchkiss, sons of Justus,
and the former the father of the present Henry Lucius Hotchkiss,
continued the family business on the wharf until 1850. On Sept. 7th,
1843, they (Henry and Lucius) entered into a partnership with L.
Candee as special partners for the manufacture of rubber boots and
shoes under the Goodyear patent. In 1852 the firm of L. Candee &
Company was changed to a corporation bearing the same name. In
February, 1863, Henry Hotchkiss, Mr. Hotchkiss' father, was elected
president and treasurer of the company. He was a man of great
leadership in business and financial affairs, and was gifted with excep-
tional capacity for controlling large enterprises, with remarkable
sagacity and far-sightedness, and was a man of great use to his fellow
men. He was president of the New Haven County Bank for twenty-
one years, and was also president of many corporations. Mr. Hotch-
kiss' mother was Elizabeth Daggett Prescott, daughter of the senior
member of the well-known shipping firm of Prescott & Sherman, a
descendant of John Prescott who came from England to Boston in
1640. In the same line of descent from him was Colonel William
Prescott of Bunker Hill fame, and William H. Prescott the historian.
After a course of study at Hopkins Grammar School, Henry
Lucius Hotchkiss entered Williston Academy, Easthampton, for the
purpose of preparing for college, but he was so attracted by the idea
170
Sf.^^XITL
HENRY LUCIUS HOTCHKISS. 17B
of a business career that he substituted practical experience for
academic training, and became associated with his father in his
various interests. From 1860 to 1863 he was paymaster of the New
London Eailroad, of which his father was trustee, and also assisted
his father in the management of the United States Pin Company, of
which he was president. In February, 1863, he was elected secretary
of L. Candee & Company, and soon after he was made treasurer,
his father resigning the treasurership, he filling both offices until
his father^s death in December, 1871, when he was elected president
in his father's place, and kept the position of treasurer, too, for a
number of years.
On November 19th, 1877, the company met with entire loss of
their property by fire in the busiest season of the year, but through
Mr. Hotchkiss' able management no time was lost in leasing tem-
porary factories, and rebuilding the old ones on a much larger and
finer scale. No industry in New Haven is of greater local benefit,
or has done more for the city's reputation abroad. Falling in
with the tendency of the age toward centralization in industrial man-
agement, the L. Candee Company, in 1892, in common with all the
other prominent rubber corporations in America, joined the group
which forms the United States Eubber Company of New Jei-sey,
though Mr. Hotchkiss is still the head and manager of the internal
affairs of the company and continues to give it his close personal
supervision. Mr. Hotchkiss has been a director of the United States
Eubber Company since its organization, and for the first seven years
of its existence actively served on the executive committee, retiring
from that position in 1899 to travel in Europe.
Since 1871 Mr. Hotchkiss has been president of the Union Trust
Company of New Haven, succeeding his father in that office, and for
thirty-one years he has been a director in the National New Haven
Bank. He is a trustee of the Hopkins Grammar School. Though pa-
triotic and public-spirited, Mr. Hotchkiss has always avoided public
offices of a political or civil nature. He has devoted all his time and
executive ability to the development of the enormous industry
of which he is the head. It is one of the largest, most modern, and
representative manufacturing corporations in the country, utilizing
twelve substantial brick buildings, and employing nearly two thou-
sand hands.
9
174 HENRY LUCIUS HOTCHKISS.
In February, 1875, Mr, Hotchkiss married Jane Trowbridge,
daughter of Henry and Mary Webster Southgate Trowbridge. She
was a lineal descendant of Gov. William Bradford, of Mayflower fame,
and great-granddaughter of Noah Webster, the lexicographer. She
died April 20th, 1902, leaving three children: Henry Stuart Hotch-
kiss, a graduate of Yale Scientific School in the class of 1900, and the
present vice-president of L, Candee & Company; Helen Southgate,
married Elisha Ely Garrison, Yale, 1897; and Elizabeth Trowbridge,
married Carl Brandes Ely, Yale Scientific School, 1900.
AUGUSTUS JAY DuBOIS
DUBOIS, PEOFESSOE AUGUSTUS JAY, of Yale Univer-
sity, who ranks today as one of the foremost science teachers
in America, has devoted his life to the advancement of indus-
try by means of providing a clearer understanding of the laws
which govern mechanics. What this means in a land like ours,
we have only to contemplate the marvelous progress of the last score
of years to appreciate, and also to more clearly comprehend the
country's indebtedness to the patient student.
Professor DuBois is descended, on his father's side, from Jacques
DuBois, a sturdy French Huguenot who emigrated from La Bassee,
Artois, to America in 1675, and on his mother's side from John Jay,
the first chief justice of the United States and grandfather of John
Jay, minister to Austria. Chief Justice Jay's granddaughter, Cather-
ine Helena Jay, married Henry Augustus DuBois, M.D., LL.D., an
eminent physician and a writer of many pamphlets and contributions
to the journals of his time which won for him a high place both here
and abroad.
Their son, Augustus Jay DuBois, was born in Newton Falls,
Trumbull County, Ohio, on April 35th, 1849. Though rather delicate
in his childhood, the youth attained sufficient vigor to support his
unusual mental activity and to enable him to pursue the study of
abstruse subjects, for which he early developed a fondness. In this
formative period, he feels that he is deeply indebted to his mother for
her share in promoting his intellectual, moral, and spiritual well-being.
His craving for books could be satisfied only in part by his father's
extensive library, and he was always reaching out after more.
Before entering college, he was a pupil in the Hopkins Grammar
School, French's Preparatory School, and Amos Smith's Preparatory
School, all well-known New Haven institutions. He was graduated
from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale with the degree of Ph.B.
in 1869. Taking a graduate course there, he won the degree of C.E.
in 1870 and of Ph.D. in 1873. After this he went abroad and pur-
sued a course of study in the Mining Academy at Freiberg, Saxony.
175
176 AUGUSTUS JAY DUBOIS.
As his labors had been prompted by a love for teaching as well
as for investigation and by desire to be of service in this age of
mining engineering, and mechanical development, he accepted the
appointment to a professorship in civil and mechanical engineering
at Lehigh University in 1874. He had been there only two years,
however, when his Alma Mater summoned him, and from 1876 to the
present time, his energies have been given to increasing her prestige
in the scientific world. Till 1884 he was professor of mechanical en-
gineering in the Scientific School, from that date to the present he
has been professor of evil engineering.
He is known in the world at large, not only by the men who have
come under his instruction, but by a great number of valuable books
and articles. Some of the more familiar are : " The New Method of
Graphical Statics " ; the same with " A Short Presentation of the
Principles of the Subject, for the Use of Engineers " ; " Upon a New
Theory of the Retaining Wall " ; "A New Theory of the Suspension
System with Stiffening Truss " ; " The Strains in Framed Struc-
tures"; "The Early History of the Steam Engine"; "Tables for
Bridge Engineers " ; " Science and the Supernatural " ; " Science and
the Spiritual " ; " Formulas for Weights of Bridges " ; " Science and
Miracle " ; " Science and Immortality " ; " Science and Faith " ;
" Science and Eeligion " ; " The Elementary Principles of Mechan-
ics," in three volumes — " Kinematics," " Statics " and " Kimetics " ;
" The Mechanics of Engineering," in two large volumes — " Mechan-
ics " and " Structures," and a large number of translations from the
writings of European scientists.
He holds membership in the leading scientific societies, as fol-
lows: The American Society of Civil Engineers, the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society of Mining En-
gineers, the American Society for the Advancement of Science, the
Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, and the Con-
necticut Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He married Miss Adeline Blakesley on June 23d, 1883, and their
home is at No. 334 Edwards Street, New Haven.
CEPHAS BRAINERD ROGERS
R OGEES, CEPHAS BEAINEED, was born in Saybrook, Con-
necticut, December 30th, 1836. His parents, Hervey and
Elizabeth (Try on) Eogers, moved to Meriden to engage in
the hotel business when Cephas was thirteen years of age. He was
the fourth of nine children. His early schooling was obtained in the
schools of Meriden. He showed in the early years of his boyhood
that energy and ability which contributed to his future success. He
was reliable and faithful in all of his youthful undertakings. He
was accustomed to rise early in the morning to do the chores and
after school worked in a neighboring tinware factory. Thus he de-
veloped in his youth all those qualities which are so conspicuous in
all successful men: namely, perseverance, energy, and systematic
methods and habits. A better opening soon presented itself and he
became a clerk in the office of the Meriden Lumber and Coal Com-
pany. When he was somewhat older he resumed his studies and
completed his schooling in the Meriden Academy.
At this time he was engaged as clerk in the New Haven House,
where he remained until 1863. This hotel was the rendezvous of
the great men of the state and he had the opportunity of meeting
many political and military leaders. Here he met Abraham Lincoln
and was one of the committee of escort to accompany him to Meriden,
where he delivered one of his great political speeches. Mr. Eogers
was an enthusiastic Eepublican and his ready speech and wide knowl-
edge and keen insight into political situations made him an agreeable
and successful public speaker. He was very much impressed by the
personality of Mr. Lincoln and he went to Washington to hear his
first immortal inauguration speech.
In 1863 Mr. Eogers left the New Haven House to take charge
of the Wadananock House, a summer hotel, at Stonington, Con-
necticut, and later became manager of the St. Denis Hotel in New
York City. He was very successful in both of these enterprises,
but his health was broken by close confinement and he was obliged
179
180 CEPHAS BEAINERD ROGERS.
to return to Meriden and recuperate. It was during this time that
the partnership of C. Rogers & Bros, was planned, and it was entered
upon in February, 1866. His two brothers, Gilbert and Wilbur F.,
were skilled manufacturers of silver plated ware, and there was plenty
of room in the business world for a new factory in that line. Begin-
ning in a small factory the industry advanced until it became one
of the principal establishments of its kind in the country, and their
spoons, knives, and forks, and other plated ware became known
throughout the country for quality and beauty of design. After the
business had been carried on for nearly forty years they sold out to
the International Silver Company of Meriden, the largest silver
ware concern in the world, and retired to enjoy the fruits of their
labor.
Cephas Rogers is not only a prominent business man, but is
also well known in social and religious circles. He is a prominent
Methodist and has always been greatly interested in the First Meth-
odist Episcopal Church of Meriden. He has served on the official
board of that church since 1866 and is now president of the board
of trustees. In this denomination he is well and favorably known.
In 1888 he was president of the New York East Lay Electoral
Methodist Conference held in Middletown, Connecticut, and in 1900
he was a lay delegate to the Methodist General Conference at Chicago.
In 1904 he was again delegate to the General Conference held in
Los Angeles, California. He has been a Trustee of Wesleyan
University of Middletown, Connecticut, for twenty years. He was
the first subscriber to the additional endowment fund of that Univer-
sity, heading the list with twenty-five thousand dollars. He has also
taken much interest in local matters, moral, political, and financial.
He is a director in the First National Bank of Meriden and a trustee
of the City Savings Bank, For six years he was a valued member
of the City Council. In 1880 he made a business trip to Europe in
connection with their branch house in London.
In 1870 Mr. Rogers was married to Margaret, daughter of Dr.
Peter F. and Anna (Goodwin) Clark of New York City. Mrs.
Rogers is also prominent in the Church and is highly esteemed in
the society of Meriden. Mrs. Rogers is a member of the Susan Car-
rington Clark Cliapter, D. A. R. Their home is the Rogers home-
stead, which is beautifully located on North Colony street. A
CEPHAS BBAINERD ROGERS. 181
new honor has lately come to Mr. Kogers which adds to the already
long list. He has been elected to membership in the National G'eo-
graphical Society at Washington, D. C.
Mr. Eogers is much interested in his family history and may
justly be proud of it. He is descended directly from James Kogers,
a lineal descendant of John Eogers, who suffered martyrdom in the
reign of Queen Mary in the year 1555. On the maternal side Cephas
is, in the ninth generation, descended from John Alden and Priscilla
Mullins of the Mayflower. James Eogers came to this country in
1635 in the ship Increase, when he was twenty years of age. He
stopped for a time at Stratford, Connecticut, and there he married
Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Eowland. A little later he moved
to Milford, where he and his wife became interested in the church.
In 1637 he was one of six men from Saybrook, who, under Captain
John Underbill, took part in the Pequot War. In 1660 he moved
to New London, Connecticut, where he became prosperous and in-
fluential in church and colonial affairs. He was sent seven times
as Eepresentative to the General Court between 1662 and 1673, and
at one time was Speaker of the House. Ichabod Eogers of New
London, Connecticut, grandfather of Cephas, was a soldier in the
War with England in 1813, and his great-grandfather, Ichabod Eogers,
was a soldier in the Eevolutionary War.
RICHARD ANSON WHEELER
WHEELER, EICHARD ANSON, the late " Grand Old Man
of Stonington," farmer, judge of probate, historian, gen-
ealogist, legal adviser, writer, public speaker, and in all
Avays an influential and useful citizen of Stonington, New London
County, Connecticut, was bom there January 29th, 1817, and died
there April 6th, 1904, when a life of unusual activity, fruitfulness and
inspiration was closed on earth. He was the only son of Richard and
Mary (Hewitt) Wheeler, through both of whom he was descended
from a long and distinguished line of ancestors, including men of
marked prominence in the making of American history — soldiers,
government officials, and public men of many types. Thomas
Wheeler, a native of England, came to Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1635
and was the founder of the Wheeler family in America. William
Cheseborough, another early ancestor, came from Lincolnshire, Eng-
land, with the Winthrop Company in 1630, was the first white resi-
dent of Stonington and was a deputy to the General Courts of both
Massachusetts and Connecticut. Thomas Hewitt, an early maternal
ancestor, was a sea-farer who commanded a vessel in the Mystic
River in 1656 and was an early landowner in Stonington. John
Gallup, another noteworthy progenitor, came from England to Massa-
chusetts in 1630 and in 1636 took part in the fight with the Pequot
Indians off Block Island, called the first naval battle on the Atlantic
Coast, and his son. Captain John Gallup, was killed in the Great
Swamp Fight in 1676. Still another prominent ancestor of the
same period was Thomas Stanton, Interpreter General during the
Indian hostilities, while another, George Denison, was a deputy to
the General Court of Connecticut for fifteen sessions and, as captain
of the Connecticut forces in King Philip's War and a fighter in a
number of other encounters with the Indians, was a soldier of unusual
distinction.
Soldierly blood has always run in the veins of Judge Wheeler's
ancestors and his father was a captain of militia as well as a farmer.
From him the son inherited traits of generosity, hospitality and gentle-
182
EICHABD ANSON WHEELEE. 183
ness as well as a keen interest in military tactics. From his mother
he inherited many Christian graces and the mental alertness that re-
vealed itself in his keen legal and judicial ability, in his accuracy and
aptness as a historian and in his humor and eloquence as a public
speaker and conversationalist. He was reared on the farm tilled by
his ancestors for several generations and as he was strong, robust,
and vigorous he had plenty of hard manual labor. He loved to read
as well as to play boys' games and he perused history, poetry, law
books, biographies, and the daily papers with great eagerness and ap-
preciation. His education was the limited one of the common schools
of the time, supplemented by a three months' course at a private school
in Old Mystic when he was seventeen. He was anxious for a college
education, but felt it his filial duty to remain at home because of his
father's ill health. At eighteen he was chosen sergeant of the 6th
Company of the 8th Kegiment, 3d Brigade, Connecticut Militia, and
two years later he became captain of that company. He served with
great credit for three years, at the end of which he was honorably dis-
charged from military service.
At the close of his military service Kichard A. Wheeler settled
down on the home farm where so many hours of his youthful labors
had been spent and where the foundations of his rugged health and
industrious habits had been laid. He remained a farmer of the
most solid and prosperous type the rest of his long life, but never to
the exclusion of public service and mental activity. He was inter-
ested in education, religion, politics, and all social problems and he
was both a magnetic leader and a faithful servant in public life. He
was a member of the Stonington board of education for fifteen years,
selectman and assessor for several terms each, representative in the
General Assembly in 1851, judge of probate for twenty-three years,
justice of peace for forty years, notary public for fifty-five years and
high sheriff of New London County for twelve years. Though
he never desired or obtained admission to the Bar he acquired a
thorough legal knowledge and was considered an authority on all
matters of probate. He wrote over six hundred and fifty wills and
settled scores of estates. At the time of his death he was president of
the Stonington Savings Bank, which office he had held for twelve
years. In politics he was a steadfast and active supporter of the Ee-
publican party. In creed he was a Congregationalist and was the
184 RICHARD ANSON WHEELER.
oldest in age and membership of the First Congregational Church
of Stonington. He was clerk and a member of the standing committee
of that Church for sixty-six years and he made a conscientious study
of the history of the Church and parish resulting in a three hundred
page volume, published in 1875, called " The History of the First
Congregational Church of Stonington." He also wrote historical
sketches of a number of other churches in New London County,
Indeed it is as a historian and genealogist that Judge Wheeler's
name is most widely known and will be perpetuated long after those
fortunate enough to have known him personally pass away. In 1900
he published his " History of the Town of Stonington " containing
careful genealogies of eighty-seven families. Many addresses which
he made at public and patriotic gatherings have been published in
pamphlet form and have become a part of the local history of his
county. He was the author of a history of the Pequot Indians and
of a most interesting paper called " Memories " written at the request
of the New London Historical Society and published at the very time
of his death. He was at one time president of the Connecticut His-
torical Society and he was a member of similar societies in Buffalo,
Tennessee, and of the Pawtucket Valley, the New London County
Historical Societies and was tendered membership in the Koyal His-
torical Society of London, England. His mind was a storehouse of
historical and genealogical information, the result of painstaking
study and keen interest.
Judge Wheeler was twice married — in 1843 to Frances M.
Avery and in 1856 to Lucy A. Noyes, who died October 27th, 1905,
Three daughters, Mrs. Henry Tyler, Mrs. Seth N. Williams, and Miss
Grace D. Wheeler, survive him. Though he had no sons he was the
popular adviser and comrade of young men, to whom he was a constant
example of cheerfulness, courtesy, unselfishness, modesty, integrity,
and industry, fittingly called the " Grand Old Man of Stonington."
The purity of his principles, the soundness of his mind and the
sweetness of his character are best revealed in the advice which he
himself followed so admirably. " Be a Christian. Love your home
and country, cultivate habits of industry and perseverance, study to
strengthen and enrich your mind. Take an interest in those about
you and do them good. Use your money in right and proper ways
and enjoy each day of life."
EDWARD LEWIS CURTIS
CURTIS, PROFESSOR EDWARD LEWIS, of the Yale Divinity
School, has attained his high position among the scholars of
the country by his diligent study along the line he early
mapped out for himself. It can be said of him that no moments have
been wasted; as soon as he was old enough to exercise his own judg-
ment as to his course of study and work, he found that it coincided
exactly with the ambition of his parents and for which his boyhood
and reading had been preparing him. It was with the decided ad-
vantage, then, and with excellent facilities, that he approached the
greater field of study and research.
His father was William Stanton Curtis, a man whose moral ear-
nestness and catholicity of spirit marked his career as professor at
Hamilton College, New York, and subsequently as president of Knox
College, at Galesburg, Illinois. He was a lineal descendant of Thomas
Curtis, who came from England to Wethersfield, Connecticut, where
he died in 1681. The professor's mother is Martha Leach Curtis, a
descendant of John Alden of Plymouth Colony, who came over in the
Mayflower in 1620 — " speak for yourself, John." Her strong charac-
ter had pronounced influence on the intellectual, moral and spiritual
life of her son.
Professor Curtis was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, October 13th,
1853. Passing his early days in small cities, he was accustomed to do
such small " chores " as fall to the lot of the children of wise parents —
like caring for a horse and working in the garden — gaining thereby
habits of industry and, above all, sympathy with people obliged to
perform manual labor. There was plenty of time for baseball and
football, though his special fondness was for the books in his father's
well-stocked library.
His reading began to take more definite form when he entered
the preparatory department of Knox College, and later the Free
Academy at Elmira, New York. For two years he studied at Beloit
College, Wisconsin, after which he was graduated at Yale in the class
185
186 EDWAED LEWIS CURTIS.
of 1874. After teaching two years in Illinois and North Carolina, he
entered the Union Theological Seminary, New York, in 1876, where
he was graduated in the class of 1879 and received a fellowship en-
abling him to study two years abroad which he spent in Germany,
taking three semesters at the University of Berlin.
On his return from Berlin in 1881, he was appointed instructor
in Old Testament literature in the McCormick Theological Seminary
in Chicago. This was the beginning of his professional career. After
teaching ten years in Chicago in 1891, he was called to Yale, where
he now holds the chair of Holmes professor of the Hebrew Language
and Literature in the Divinity School. For many years previous to
1891, he was a member and minister of the Presbyterian Church, but
since then he has been a Congregationalist. He received the honorary
degree of Ph.D. from Hanover College, Indiana, in 1886, and the
degree of D.D. from Yale in 1891.
He married Miss Laura Elizabeth Ely, daughter of the Rev. B. E.
S. Ely, D.D., of Ottumwa, Iowa, on April 27th, 1882. They have
had four children, Elizabeth C, Margaret M., Edward Ely, and Laura
Dorothea, all of whom are living. Their home is at No. 61 Trumbull
street, New Haven.
Professor Curtis, when asked what suggestions he could offer
to young Americans out of his own experience, as to the principles,
methods, and habits which would contribute most to the strengthening
of sound ideals and would be of most help in attaining true success,
replied : " I would emphasize two principles — first, regard for the
advice of elders, especially parents, and second, the habit of availing
one's self of opportunities for usefulness, and thus doing ' more than
might have been expected of one.' "
WILLIAM HENRY PRESCOTT
PEESCOTT, WILLIAM HENRY, vice-president of the United
States Envelope Company and member of its executive com-
mittee, with office in Springfield, Massachusetts, was born in
Loudon, New Hampshire, August 12th, 1840. He is the son of
Abram Perkins Prescott, born in Hampton Falls, and Nancy Martin
Prescott of Loudon, New Hampshire. Abram P. Prescott was a
man of sterling worth and cheerful disposition. Modest and unas-
suming, he was respected by all who knew him. His wife was a true
helpmeet, a woman of great force of character, resolute will and ac-
customed to look on the bright side of life. She was a devoted mother
and home-maker. Of the seven children born to them, only two are
left, Charles Blake Prescott of Holyoke, Massachusetts, and the sub-
ject of this sketch.
Without attempting to trace the lineage of the Prescotts back
of the time of Queen Elizabeth, it may be said that the Prescotts
were an ancient famil}^ in the town of Prescott, in the County of
Lancaster, England. The American ancestor was James Prescott, who
came from Dryby, County of Lincolnshire, England, in 1665, and
settled in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. He married Mary,
daughter of Nathaniel and Grace Boulter of Exeter, New Hamp-
shire, in 1668.
William H. Prescott joined the Sons of the American Revolu-
tion through his ancestor, James Prescott, who was a captain in the
militia and lieutenant in the Revolutionary army. He was in Abram
Drake's regiment operating against Burgoyne, and served from Sep-
tember 8th to December, 1777. It is probable that Drake's regiment
formed a part of the army with which General Gates achieved his
great victory.
The early days of W. H. Prescott were passed on a farm in New
Hampshire. When ten years old he removed to Holyoke, Massachu-
setts, then a small village, where he attended the common schools.
After he was fifteen he worked morning and evening for Mr. R. B.
189
190 WILLIAM HENEY PRESCOTT
Johnson and attended the high school. At the age of eighteen he left
school, but remained in Mr. Johnson's employ two years.
In 1860 he accepted a position as accountant with White &
Corbin, envelope manufacturers, in Eockville, Connecticut. In 1865
he organized the firm of Prescott, Plimpton & Company for the
manufacture of envelopes in Hartford, Connecticut. At the expira-
tion of a year he sold out his interest to Mr. Linus B. Plimpton, who
then organized the Plimpton Manufacturing Company, still promi-
nent in the business. Mr. Prescott returned to Eockville and was
made one of the new firm of White, Corbin & Company. When
the firm was incorporated Mr. Prescott was chosen vice-president and
treasurer. Four years later he was made general manager, retaining
this office twenty-eight years. During that time the business grew
from a small beginning to be one of the largest and most success-
ful envelope manufactories in the country. In August, 1898, this
company was one of the ten which formed the United States
Envelope Company and Mr. Prescott was elected vice-president
and a member of the executive committee. On the death of Mr.
Cyrus White, the senior member of the firm of White, Corbin &
Company, Mr. Prescott was appointed an executor and trustee under
his will. He also filled the position of president and treasurer of
The White Manufacturing Company for fourteen years, and until
the recent closing of its business and final settlement of the White
estate.
He was also one of the incorporators of the Columbia Paper
Company of Buena Vista, Virginia, and of The Norman Paper
Company of Holyoke, Massachusetts, and one of the original incor-
porators of the Hartford Manufacturing Company and a director
from its beginning until the present time. Besides his relations to
these large manufacturing interests, Mr. Prescott has been called
to fill various other positions of honor and trust. He is a director
in the First National Bank of Eockville, president of the Eockville
Mutual Fire Insurance Company, president of the People's Savings
Bank of Eockville, a director in the Eockville Water and Aqueduct
Company, one of the trustees of the Eockville Public Library Asso-
ciation, and one of the trustees of the George Sykes fund for the pro-
posed manual training school.
Mr. Prescott's political affiliations are with the Eepublican party.
WILLIAM HENRY PRESCOTT 191
He was chosen an alternate delegate to the National Convention at
St. Louis and has served not only on the town committee but on the
State central committee. For many years he was one of the auditors
of town accounts. He has always taken an active interest in measures
tending to promote the public welfare.
In 1879 Mr. Prescott, with others, built the Citizens Block in
Kockville. Prescott Block, in which is the new post office, the finest
business edifice in the city, was erected in 1901, He is also largely
interested in other real estate besides the beautiful home in which his
family have spent nineteen years.
From its organization he has been a sustaining member of the
Ecclesiastical Society of the Union Congregational Church and
previous to that of the First Congregational Church.
Mr. Prescott finds relaxation and pleasure in his visits to his
beautiful farm on the borders of Lake Snipsic, where he gives much
attention to the breeding of Jersey cattle. In December, 1865, W. H.
Prescott married Miss Celia Ellen Keeney, daughter of Francis and
Eliza Porter Keeney, of Eockville. Two children have been bom
to them, Francis Keeney Prescott and Eliza Porter Prescott. Francis
Keeney Prescott, in September, 1897, married Miss Annie Rich, of
Eockville. They have three children, William Henry Prescott, second ;
Celia Keeney Prescott, and Lucy Martin Prescott. In December,
1897, Eliza Porter Prescott became the wife of Thomas Southworth
Childs of Holyoke, Massachusetts. Two sons have been bom to
them, Prescott Childs and Benjamin Willis Childs.
JOHN COLEMAN ADAMS
ADAMS, JOHN COLEMAN, author and clergyman, was born
in Maiden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, October 25th,
1849. He was the son of John Greenleaf Adams and Mary
Hall (Barrett) Adams.
Mr. Adams comes from a line of distinguished ancestors, —
men who were prominent actors in the stirring scenes of the coloniza-
tion period of this country. Among them was John Alden of the May-
flower, and the brave and gallant Colonel James Barrett, who com-
manded the militia at Concord Bridge. Henry Adams, of Braintree,
Massachusetts, was the first of the family to settle in America. Mr.
Adams' father was a clergyman, and while he never held public office
of prominence, his vigorous preaching, combined with a winning per-
sonality, caused him to exercise an undoubted influence in economic
as well as church affairs of his state and community. Mr. Adams'
mother died when he was very young, and he has felt the loss of her
gentle companionship and counsel throughout his life.
He spent a healthy and happy childhood in the different cities
where his father's pastorates happened to be; doing his share of
work about the home and learning of practical affairs by every-day
experience. His recreation was taken in boyish sports and in reading.
The books which helped him during the years in which he was laying
the foundation of his character and future success — books which
are still an inspiration — were Samuel Smiles' " Self Help," Emer-
son's " Essays," and Robertson's " Sermons."
Mr. Adams' education, after primary courses in the graded
schools of Massachusetts and the Lowell High School, was acquired in
Tufts College. He was graduated from that college in 1870, and from
its Divinity School in 1872, from the former with the degree of A.B.
In 1884, after having been out of school for twelve years, he took a
course in history and meteorology which again earned an A.M. degree.
In 1888 an honorary degree of S.T.D. was conferred on Mr. Adams
192
JOHN COLEMAN ADAMS. 193
by his Alma Mater. He has been an enthusiastic worker for Tufts
College since he entered it as a student more than a quarter of a
century ago, and is at present one of its trustees, having served in
this capacity since 1880.
The personal wishes of Mr, Adams, coinciding with those of his
father and family, caused him to decide on a theologian's career;
and in 1872, in the pulpit of the Universalist Church of Newtonsville
(now Newton), Massachusetts, he preached his first sermon. Here
he continued for eight years, going in 1880 to a church in Lynn,
Massachusetts, where he remained for four years. From 1884 until
1890 he occupied a pulpit in Chicago, Illinois, coming to his present
pastorate, the Church of the Redeemer, Universalist, in Hartford,
Connecticut, in 1901. He has been a trustee of the Universalist Gen-
eral Convention since 1880.
Aside from his mark as a clergyman and a man of broad culture
and interests, Mr. Adams is well known as an author. He has pub-
lished five books ; " The Leisure of God," " The Fatherhood of God,"
" Christian Types of Heroism," " Nature Studies in Berkshire," and
the "Life of WiUiam Hamilton Gibson." His style in writing is
simple and direct, and has an undeniable charm, Mr. Adams is a
member of the Authors' Club, of New York City, one of the most
exclusive clubs in the country.
In politics he is now independent, but was formerly a member of
the Eepublican party. In the memorable campaign of 1884, when
Blaine was nominated by the Republicans, Mr. Adams was one of
the hundreds of thinking men who left the party rather than do
violence to their principles. He has never allied himself with any
party since that time, preferring an independent judgment.
With all the work necessary to keep up his various interests,
social and professional, Mr. Adams finds time for much recreation
out of doors. While he has never taken up any of the forms of
athletics as a fad, he is fond of walking, bicycling, golfing, boating,
and swimming, and in this way preserves an excellent standard of
health, and is as much at home among the young people of his
congregation as with its older members.
On July 18th, 1883, Mr, Adams married Miriam P. Hovey, and
three children have been bom of the union, all now living,
10
WILLIAM BUTLER
BUTLER, WILLIAM, merchant and bank president of Eockville,
Tolland County, Connecticut, was bom in Wethersfield, Hart-
ford County, Connecticut, May 7th, 1823. The first American
ancestor of the Butler family came from England and settled in
Wethersfield in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Mr. Butler's
father was Jason Butler, a builder and farmer, who died when his son
was but a year old. Mr. Butler's mother was Martha Woodhouse
Butler, a noble woman with a strong influence on her son's moral and
mental life.
Young Mr. Butler was a healthy, active boy, and his youth, spent
in the town of Wethersfield, was a busy one. He worked on the farm,
and in the garden when he was not at school. He was educated at the
public schools of Wethersfield, and graduated from the Wethersfield
Academy. In 1840 he began work in Hartford, and left there to
become a merchant in Rockville in 1847. The following year, March
1st, he was married to Jane Maria Marvin, daughter of Ira K. and
Julia Young Marvin, of Tolland, Connecticut. Of the four children
bom of this union but one is now living.
Mr. Butler continued in the mercantile business, and with what
success his various positions show. He is director in the New Eng-
land Company, in the American Mills Company, as well as in the
Eockville Fire Insurance Company. He is also president and director
of the Savings Bank of Eockville, and vice-president and director of
the First National Bank of Rockville.
In politics Mr. Butler is a Republican. His first ballot was cast
for Henry Clay, and he has voted for every candidate for president of
the Whig and Republican parties ever since. He has served his town
as selectman and assessor. In creed Mr. Butler is a Baptist. As a
business man Mr. Butler has been highly successful, and that his
townsmen have recognized his worth his many important positions in
industrial and financial institutions bear testimony.
196
LEVI NELSON CLARK
CLARK, LEVI NELSON, fanner and insurance man, former
state representative, grand Juror, selectman, and delegate to
the Constitutional Convention of 1902, as well as a leader in
fraternal affairs, of South Canterbury, Windham County, Connecti-
cut, was born in Brooklyn, Windham County, Connecticut, September
6th, 1863. On both branches of his ancestral tree he is of English stock.
His father, Francis Clark, was bom in England and came to America
in 1836. He was a tanner and currier by occupation and a man of
strong Christian character. Mr. Clark's mother was Sarah M.
Heath Clark, a granddaughter of Levi Chapman, who served in the
Revolution.
As his father died when he was but twelve years old Levi Clark
learned lessons of responsibility at an early age. His mother carried
on the farm, and he worked early and late to help her. He pre-
ferred farming to any other occupation, and read agricultural books
and papers with great interest and zeal. His education was limited
to the graded schools in Brooklyn and terminated when he was very
young. At nineteen, that is in 1882, he married Carrie E. Larkham,
and in the fall of that year he settled in Canterbury as a farmer.
The following year he bought the farm on which he still lives. Be-
sides farming he has been interested in insurance and has been the
successful agent of leading makers of farming implements and fer-
tilizers. Of late years poor health has obliged him to give his atten-
tion to less vigorous work than farming. He has held many public
oflBces, including those of selectman, grand juror, member of the board
of relief, census taker, delegate to the Constitutional Convention,.
1902, state representative, and also assessor. During his membership
in the House he was clerk of the committee on state prisons and a
member of the committee on constitutional amendments.
Mr. Clark is a charter member and was for ten years secretary of
Canterbury Grange, No. 70, a member and assistant steward and for
two years overseer of Quinebaug Pomona Grange, and for three years
197
198 I^VI NELSON CLARK.
he was high priest and for one year chief patriarch of Unity Encamp-
ment. In political faith he is a loyal Republican. Fishing and hunt-
ing are his favorite outdoor pleasures. His family consists of his
wife and two daughters, Sarah H. and Bertha M.
Realizmg the difficulties that a meagre education brings to a man
starting out in life, Mr. Clark places education as the first essential of
success. To this he belieyes must be added " a good character and
steady habits."
WILLIAM HENRY WATROUS
WATROUS, WILLIAM HENRY, president, treasurer, and
owner of the Rogers Cutlery Company, organized January,
1871, of Hartford, Connecticut, was born in that city on the
eighteenth day of July, 1841, His father was Rufus Watrous, a
farmer, who died when his son was but twelve years old. Mr..
Watrous's mother was Julia A. Rogers.
Brought up in his native city, Mr. Watrous received his education
in the public schools of Hartford. He attended the Arsenal School,
and went for one year to the Hartford Public High School. From
his earliest boyhood he evinced a great interest in mechanics, and
delighted in reading scientific works, especially those on mechanics
and electricity. At fourteen he began to learn the electroplating
business in the plating room of the Rogers Brothers' Silver Plating
Works in Hartford, the "Brothers" being his maternal uncles. This
choice of a trade was purely personal preference and an outgrowth of
his early taste for mechanics.
Immediately upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Watrous
enlisted for three months in Rifle Company A, First Regiment, Con-
necticut Volunteers, under Captain Joseph R. Hawley, the late
senator. In 1862 he recnlisted for nine months, and was appointed
first sergeant of Company B, Twenty- Fourth Kegiment, Connecticut
Volunteers, and was subsequently promoted to the rank of second
lieutenant, being mustered out in 1864.
The year following the war, Mr. Watrous became identified with
the William Rogers Manufacturing Company of Hartford. In
1869 he removed to Waterbury to take charge of the plating depart-
ment of the Rogers & Bros. Company there. He returned to Hart-
ford in 1870 and organized the Rogers Cutlery Company, of which
he became manager and owner. Meanwhile, besides his Connecticut
interests, Mr. Watrous had, in 1868, become superintendent of the
plating department of the Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee,
Massachusetts. From 1879 to 1899 he was half owner and manager
199
202 WILLIAM HENRY WATEOUS
of the William Eogers Company, and from 1890 to 1899 he waa owner
of the Norwich Cutlery Company, and during part of that period he
founded and owned part of the Watrous Manufacturing Company of
Wallingford, Connecticut. Upon the union of the William Rogers
Company with the Rogers Cutlery Company, Mr. Watrous was made
president, treasurer, and general manager of the concern. The
company has an extensive business, and an exceptional reputation
for selling a better quality of goods than its competitors for the same
money. It is greatly due to Mr. Watrous's standards and ability
that this reputation has been won. His great interest in the welfare
of his employees is another reason for his success as "a captain of
industry."
In politics Mr. Watrous is a Republican. He has rendered several
important public services. In 1894 and 1895 he was a member of the
Hartford Board of Aldermen. He was a representative in the State
legislature in 1895-6, and in 1902 he became a member of the Hart-
ford Board of Water Commissioners.
Mr. Watrous is a member of the Army and Navy Club of Con-
necticut, a member and ex-commodore of the Hartford Yacht Club,
an honorary member of the Second Division, Naval Battalion, and a
member of the New York and Larchmont Yacht clubs. He is a thirty-
second degree Mason, and belongs to the Hartford Lodge F. and A. M.
He is also a member of the C A. R., and belongs to the R. 0. Tyler
Post. In religious belief Mr. Watrous is a Methodist. His favorite
out-of-door amusement is yachting.
On the twenty-sixth of January, 1893, Mr. Watrous was married to
Agnes MacFadyen. No children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Watrous. Their home is at 548 Windsor Avenue, Hartford.
From apprenticeship to presidency and ownership has been Mr.
Watrous's course in his business life. His steady advance has been the
natural result of choosing, following, and mastering the business for
which he was preeminently fit. His success has been as logical and
deserved as it has been great.
CHARLES HAROLD DAVIS
DAVIS, CHARLES HAROLD, one of the most eminent of
American landscape painters, and the son of James H.
Davis and Elizabeth L. (CoflBn) Davis, was bom in Ames-
bury, Essex County, Massachusetts, January 7th, 1856. His father
was a school teacher and librarian, a great student and a man of simple
habits. His mother was a woman of artistic temperament and one
who influenced her son strongly in every way that could make for
good. On her side Mr. Davis is descended from Tristram Coffin, who
came from Devonshire, England, in 1642, and settled in Salisbury,
Massachusetts.
In early childhood the boy Charles Davis revealed evidences of an
artistic temperament, and his chief interest was in painting, imagina-
tive literature, and music. As he grew older, both before and after
the death of his mother, he spent all his odd moments with the brush
and painted landscapes which, though crude and immature, showed
such marked talent that his father deemed it worth while to develop
that talent After the schooling afforded by the Amesbury High
School and four years' practical experience in learning the trade of
carriage body making, which he began at the age of fifteen, his father
sent him to Boston, in 1876, to study art at the Art Museum School,
where he won a scholarship and remained for three years.
In 1880 Mr, Davis went to France and entered Julian Academy,
Paris, studying imder Lefebre and Boulanger. He remained in
France ten years and exhibited his paintings in the Salon for the ten
consecutive years. The growth of his art was natural and steady and
he was soon recognized as an artist of unusual ability in interpreting
the moods of nature. His first pictures portrayed nature in her
quiet and often gloomy moods, and did not, therefore, appeal to the
popular taste, but they were so natural, so full of feeling and so free
from violent contrasts and straining for effect that he won a high
reputation among true critics of art, as the honors which he received
have proved. He was awarded the Prize Fund gold medal of the
203
204 ,., CHARLES HAEOLD DAVIS.
American Arts Association in 1886, received honorable mention for
his " Last Eays " in the Salon of 1887, a medal at the Paris Expo-
sition in 1889 and became Hors Concours at the Paris Salon.
In 1890 Mr. Davis returned to America with his wife, Angela
Lagarde Davis, whom he married in 1884, and made his home in
Mystic, Connecticut, where he has lived ever since and has followed
with great constancy and success the calling of landscape painter. He
has studied nature rather than art and has followed no school or
teacher in his work. In 1894 his painting began to show a more lumi-
nous style and to have more color and life and less severity and sober-
ness of sentiment, though he has still clung to the study of the isolated
corners and rarer moods of nature and has preserved his rare delicacy
and depth of feeling. His paintings have met with increasing favor
and he is represented in many distinguished public collections, includ-
ing the Metropolitan Museum, New York, the Corcoran Grallery,
Washington, where his well known " Deepening Shadows " is seen,
the Pennsylvania Academy in Philadelphia, the Art Institute in Chi-
cago, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburg, the Hartford Athenseum, a public
collection in Omaha, at the Union League and Lotos Clubs, New
York, and in many well known private collections throughout the
country. He has received medals at the Chicago, Atlanta, Buffalo,
St. Louis, and Paris Expositions and many other prizes of value and
significance. He is a member of the Copley Society of Boston, of the
National Academy of Design, and of the Lotos Club, New York. He
is not now identified with any political body, having left the Republi-
can party upon the tariff issue. He is a Unitarian in religious belief.
Outside of his art his chief enjoyment is in music, which he considers
the ideal diversion. Mr. Davis has been twice married, his second
wife whom he married in 1900, being Frances Thomas Darby Davis.
He has two children living, Angele G. and Eobert J. Davis.
One has only to know Mr. Davis' pictures to know the man and
to feel in his work the depth of sentiment and the nearness to nature
that have made his paintings great. The study of his art reveals the
life principle that made art possible and which he expresses thus:
" Do the thing you want to do. Aim high and work.''
ROLLIN JESSE PLUMB
PLUMB, EOLLIN JESSE, president and treasurer of the Eagle
Ijock Company of Terr}'ville, town of Pl3Tnouth, Litchfield,
Connecticut, was bom in that town, September 13th, 1853, the
son of Caroline Nancy Brooks Plumb and Eollin Wiard Plumb. The
Plumbs are of Norman ancestry, the family being found in Normandy
as early as 1118 and in England in 1272. John Plumb, Mr. Plumb's
first ancestor in America, came from England to Boston, Massa-
chusetts, and was later one of the first settlers of Wethersfield, in
1635. He was a member of the General Court in 1637, and in that
same year was one of Captain Mason's little band of ninety men who
attacked and defeated the Pequots at Pequot Hill. On his mother's
side Mr. Plumb is descended from Henry Brooks, who came from
England to New Haven, Connecticut, about 1670.
There were many difficulties for Mr. Plumb to overcome in
acquiring even the scanty education afforded by the common schools
of the little village in which he spent his youth. He had many duties
to perform, such as the regular care of the horses and cows and during
the vacations he worked in the lock factory. Though obstacles to
his securing a higher education, these labors taught him the priceless
lessons of regularity of habits and the need of persistent application,
invaluable influences upon his future life.
At fifteen Mr. Plumb began work as a mechanic in Terryville.
The following year he became an office boy in the employ of the
company of which he is now president. He was actuated from the
start by an earnest desire to accumulate a competence for his old age,
and his rise in position was as deserved as it was rapid. He became
bookkeeper and in 1881 he was made assistant secretary of the com-
pany. In March, 1882, he became director and he was made secretary
in July of the same year. In August, 1891, he was made treasurer,
in July, 1903, vice-president and treasurer, and in October, 1903, he
became president of the enormous business, which is a consolidation
of several of the oldest and finest industries in New England.
207
208 EOLLIN JESSE PLUMB.
One of the chief interests in Mr. Plumb's life, outside of his
business life, is in his fraternal ties. He is a thirty-second degree
Mason and has been Master of the Masonic Blue Lodge and in other
subordinate offices in the same lodge. He has also been high priest
and in minor offices in his Masonic Chapter. Mr. Plumb is a Deacon
and supporter of the Congregational Church. He is a member and
has been vice-president of the Central Congregational Club of Con-
necticut. His political standards have always been those of the Repub-
lican party. His favorite outdoor sports are horseback riding, driving,
and fishing. Mr. Plumb married Cora Jane Eossetter on the 29th of
July, 1872. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Plumb,
all of whom are now living.
Overcoming as he has the obstacles of a meagre education and
pecuniary disadvantages, and attaining the top of the ladder in his
particular line of work, Mr. Plumb is truly a self-made, successful
American of the best and highest type. The greatest influences on
his life have been contact with men in active life and home influences,
and the chief motive a fixed ambition to carve his own way and to
carve it upward to the top.
COL. AUGUSTUS C. TYLER
TYLER, COLONEL AUGUSTUS CLEVELAND, army officer
and president of the American Tea Growing Company, was
bom in Norwich, New London County, Connecticut, May 2d,
1851. He is descended from Job Tyler who was born in 1619 in
Shropshire, England, and emigrated to Groton, Massachusetts, and
from four Daniel Tylers, the first three of whom lived in Brooklyn,
Connecticut, and the fourth was Col. Tyler's father. On his father's
side he is descended from Jonathan Edwards. The Colonel's father
was Daniel Tyler (the fourth) a soldier and civil engineer and a man
of great firmness and decision. He was lieutenant of artillery in the
United States Army, president of the Norwich and Worcester Rail-
road, president of the Morris Canal Company, of the Maine and
Western Railroad, Colonel of the 1st Connecticut Regiment in May,
1861, and Brigadier-General in the United States Army, Col. Tyler's
mother was Emily Lee Tyler and she died when he was but thirteen
years old.
Until he was thirteen years old Col. Tyler lived in the country.
He was a healthy, active boy whose chief interest was in books. His
particular delight was in reading lives of military men like Napoleon,
Caesar, and Marlborough, and he found books on military science
most helpful and enjoyable. After getting what education the coimtry
schools afforded he went to boarding school in New York City and
later to West Point Military Academy, where he graduated in 1873
and became second lieutenant in the 4th U. S. Cavalry, in which
capacity he began the active work of life. He had always desired to
enter military or naval service and his career was of his own choosing.
He remained in the army until 1878 and in January of that year he
married Cornelia Osgood, a woman well known in Washington and
Connecticut for her social leadership and her great interest in music,
literature, and in everything that makes the broadest culture. Two
daughters, Edna Leighton and Sarah Lamed, now Mrs. E. E. Mar-
shall, and a son, Frederick Osgood, have been bom to Col. and Mrs.
Tyler, all of whom are now living.
209
210 COL. AUGUSTUS C. TYLBE.
At the time of the Spanish War Col. Tyler was Colonel of the
Third Kegiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry and was in active
service from July, 1898, to February, 1899. Since his retirement
from active military service Col. Tyler has interested himself in an
industry that has proved the possibility of growing tea in this country
as well if not better than elsewhere. He is president of the American
Tea Growing Company located in South Carolina, which uses seven
thousand acres of land. His son is vice-president and general man-
ager of the business.
In politics Col. Tyler is a Republican and in creed he is an Epis-
copalian. His favorite sports are riding and yachting. He is a mem-
ber of the University Club, the Manhattan Club, the New York Yacht
Club, all of New York, and of the Metropolitan and the Chevy Chase
Club of Washington, his winter home. It may be of interest to note
that one of his sisters was the mother of Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt.
The family spend their summers at the Tyler mansion in the Pequot
Colony, New London.
FRIEND WILLIAM SMITH
SMITH, FEIEND WILLIAM, president and owner of the Smith
& Egge Manufacturing Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut,
one of the most widely known business concerns in America,
was born in Kortright, Delaware County, New York, on the eleventh
of May, 1839. His ancestors came from Holland and England and
were nearly all in the ministry. His grandfather, Eben Smith, and
his grandfather's brother, James Matthews Smith, were Methodist
circuit riders and made preaching tours through Connecticut and
Massachusetts. Eben Smith was one of the foremost clergymen of his
denomination and was a delegate to the general conference of his
church for four consecutive sessions. He was also one of the
original promoters of Wesleyan University, Middletown. Mr. Smith's
father was also a Methodist clergyman, an "itinerant," who preached
in various parts of Connecticut and New York for fifty years and
who was a most benevolent man with a social temperament and a
fine, logical mind. Mr. Smith's mother was Mary Esmond Smith,
a woman of great strength of character.
As his father was stationed part of the time in New York Mr.
Smith had the advantages of both city and country life in his youth.
He attended the Amenia Seminary, Dutchess County, New York,
and a public school in New York City. His greatest delight was in
books and the attainment of knowledge and he read history, poetry,
and scientific books with especial pleasure. Wishing to earn his
own living he left school at an early age and became a clerk in a
hosiery house in New York at ten dollars a month. After thirteen
years in this employment he came to Bridgeport in 1849 and opened
a dry goods store, which failed owing to the dishonesty of an employee
and Mr. Smith was forced to become a clerk again. Meanwhile, being
an ardent Kepublican, Mr. Smith became prominent in the "Wide
Awakes" in the Fremont and Lincoln campaigns, and when his party
came into power he became postmaster of Bridgeport under Abraham
Lincoln, and held the office until 1869. During this period he was
211
212 FRIEND WILLIAM SMITH
a member of the State central committee, chairman of the executive
committee in the city of Bridgeport and, in fact, one of the foremost
politicians of his community.
After the close of his official service as postmaster Mr. Smith
entered business and organized the Forrester Manufacturing Com-
pany of Bridgeport. In 1870 he was chosen superintendent of the
Ellsworth Mill and Mining Company in Nevada, in which capacity he
became familiar with the process of mining and milling the precious
metals. In 1873 he resigned his position in the Nevada Company
and returned to Bridgeport. At this time the post office department
was advertising for a new letter box lock. Mr. Smith and Mr.
Frederick Egge invented together a lock, for which Mr. Smith in-
vented a key and they were the successful bidders. The outcome
of this success was the organization of the large manufacturing con-
cern, the Smith & Egge Manufacturing Company. In 1878 they
secured another contract with the Government for the manufacture
of mail bag locks and for twelve years made all the locks used in the
postal service. About this time Mr. Smith originated the system
of carrier and post office chains for securing the lock keys, and
secured orders for the entire country. He also secured contracts for
all the cord fasteners and label cases used in the postal service, and
for many years his firm was one of the largest contractors in the
country for furnishing supplies to the mail equipment division of the
post office department. The idea of using chain instead of cord for
hanging weights to windows was conceived by Mr. Smith, and the
"Giant" metal sash chain introduced by his company is now a
standard article in general use throughout the country. In 1891
Mr. Smith visited England and organized the Automatic Chain
Company in Birmingham, using his methods in the English market.
He also made arrangements for the use of his patents in Germany.
The company now supplies Mexico, Hayti, Chili, and Santo Domingo
as well as the entire United States with his valuable chains, punches,
and other inventions and has extensive dealings with the treasury
and navy departments of the Government, and there are branch
offices in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and St. Louis. In
addition to his achievements in the invention of many valuable
devices used in the postal system and his responsibility as president
and owner of such a large concern, Mr. Smith organized the Bridge-
FRIEND WILLIAM SMITH 213
port Deoxidized Bronze and Metal Company and was its president for
a long time ; he is greatly interested in the Lake Torpedo Boat Com-
pany and is a member of the city board of apportionment and taxation
of the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut. He adds to his many busi-
ness connections strong religious, fraternal, and social ties. Though
brought up a Methodist he is now a member and vestryman of Christ
Church — Episcopal. He is a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 3, of
Bridgeport; of the Hamilton Commandery; of the Lafayette Con-
sistory, and a thirty-second degree Scottish Eite Mason. He is a
member and past governor of the Seaside Club; a member of the
Algonquin Club; the Seaside Outing Club; the National Manufac-
turers' Association, and the Bridgeport Historical and Scientific
Society.
In 1903 Mr. Smith celebrated the golden wedding anniversary of
his marriage with Angelina Amelia Weed, which occurred in 1853.
She is still living and they have a married daughter and three sons,
two of whom hold high office in the Smith & Egge Company, and
his eldest son, F. W. Smith, Jr., is a graduate of Yale College and
a well known patent attorney. In looking back over his long fruit-
ful life Mr. Smith attributes his success to "industry and reasonable
economy" and to the recognition of the dictates of his conscience in
his work and dealings. "The one word I would recommend," he
adds, "associated with perseverance, energy, and reverence for the
Supreme Being, is 'Fidelity.' There is no nobler ideal than that
presented in Longfellow's Psalm of Life."
JOHN CHRISTOPHER SCHWAB
SCHWAB, JOHN CHRISTOPHER, Ph.D., librarian of Yale
University, is a name familiar to graduates of Yale. While
he must have in mind the standard set by his family in past
years, it is apparent that much of the success already obtained is due
in large measure to that principle of thoroughness and determination
which characterize the Teutonic scholars.
Among Professor Schwab's ancestors were Conrad Weiser of
Germany, who settled in New York in 1710 ; Henry Melchior Mxihlen-
berg, who was the head of the Lutheran church in Pennsylvania in
the eighteenth century, and Gustav Schwab, a German poet and theo-
logian who lived in 1792-1850. The one bearing the name of Gustav
Schwab in this country was a merchant in New York, upright in all
his dealings and with a love for books not second to that of his name-
sake. He held the position of school commissioner. His wife was
Catherine Elizabeth von Post.
Their son, John Christopher Schwab, was bom in Fordham
Heights, Westchester County, New York, on April 1st, 1865. En-
dowed with a fine physique, his home training was of a kind to promote
his future usefulness. While he found among his father's books and
under his father's guidance the wherewithal to satisfy his craving for
good reading, his mother's influence was being exerted with effect upon
his spiritual and moral life. There was no attempt to force the young
mind or to fix the channel of his thoughts. His favorite books were
Emerson's "Essays" and Kanfs "Philosophy," and for current
history he read the New York Journal of Commerce. Fond of the
classics and of the study of the weightier problems of history and sci-
ence, he none the less has kept in close touch with the daily events in
his own community and in the world at large. Humanity has fur-
nished his chief text-book.
Having prepared for college in a private school in New York
City, he entered Yale in 1883, where his studious habits and faculty
for forceful reasoning won him preferment. He received the degree
214
JOHN CHRISTOPHER SCHWAB. 215
of B.A. in 1886 and that of M.A. in 1888. Fortunately he was able
to indulge his desire for a still more thorough acquaintance with that
branch of science which had most attracted him, and in 1887-1888,
he took a course at Berlin University, and the next year at Gottingen
University, where he received the degree of Ph.D. in 1889.
Keturning to New Haven, for which city he had a deep affection,
he was appointed an instructor in political economy in 1890, meanwhile
continuing his studies by himself and also interesting himself keenly
in the whole life of the University. In 1893 he was promoted to be
assistant professor and in 1898 to a full professorship, and in 1905 to
the librarianship of the University. Nor is it in the classroom alone
that his work is appreciated; in the library, in the secretary's de-
partment, in the executive department, as on the occasion of the bi-
centennial celebration in 1901, he is of great assistance.
Naturally, a position like his for a man of his years, must com-
mand the most of his attention. Yet never does he allow himself to
forget the world outside nor underestimate the value of association
with that world. As evidence of this he served three years as an en-
listed man in Company F, the " New Haven Grays," Second Eegi-
ment, Connecticut National Guard, as private and as corporal, and
every duty, from that of policing camp to acting as colonel's orderly,
was performed with absolute conscientiousness.
He has written " The History of New York Property Tax "
(1890), and "The Confederate States of America" (1901), and is a
contributor to historical magazines and reviews. He is corresponding
member of the Massachusetts Historical Society and a member of the
American Economical Association and of the Eoyal Economical As-
sociation of England. Since 1892 he has been editor of the Yale
Review. Of social organizations he is a member of the Century
Club of New York and of the Graduates' Club of New Haven.
In politics he was a Democrat till 1896, when he took exception
to the party's free silver platform. A Protestant Episcopalian in
faith, he is vestryman of Trinity Church, New Haven. His recreation
he finds in gardening and walking.
He married Miss Edith Aurelia Fisher of New Haven on
October 5th, 1893. They have two children. Their residence is at
No. 310 Prospect street. New Haven.
11
CHARLES S. TREADWAY
T HEADWAY, CHARLES S., the late president of the Bristol
National Bank and of several other of the principal business
organizations of that town, was bom in Bristol, Hartford
County, Connecticut, January 24th, 1848. In his recent death the
town of Bristol lost one of its most valuable and prominent citizens,
a man who devoted his exceptional mental ability and keen business
tact to the growth and improvement of the industries, public utilities,
and institutions of his native town. Mr. Treadway's mother was
Emily Candee, his father was Charies Treadway, a clock maker.
The family lived in Bristol, where Mr. Treadway attended the com-
mon schools until he was twelve, when they removed to Winsted and
thence to Waterbury, where he took a course in the High School.
At fifteen Mr. Treadway entered the Waterbury Clock Company
to learn his father's trade, but he soon abandoned this course to
accept a clerkship in the Waterbury Post Office. His diligence and
faithfulness in this employment attracted attention and he was offered
a position as office boy in the Waterbury National Bank, where the
same personal characteristics won rapid promotions and he was ap-
pointed teller when he was but little past his majority. In 1870 he
went with the late Andrew Terry to Lawrence, Kansas, where they
established a bank with Mr. Terry as president and Mr. Treadway
as secretary. Four years later, when the Bristol National Bank was
organized, Mr. Treadway returned to Bristol as the cashier of the
new institution, and remained in that position until 1899, when,
upon the death of Mr. John H. Sessions, Sr., he became president,
which position he held until his death, bringing it, through his energy
and judgment, to the front ranks of financial corporations.
His conscientious and able solutions of municipal problems, his
progressive ideas and his generous zeal in behalf of his fellow towns-
men made Mr. Treadway a leader in many most important move-
ments for the benefit of Bristol. In 1883 he set on foot the organiza-
tion of the Bristol Water Company, of which he was first treasurer
218
^^^c
CHAKLES S. TREADWAY. 221
and manager and subsequently, upon the death of Mr. J. H. Sessions,
Jr., president as well. Through his well directed efforts and untiring
attention to the details of the equipment of the plant the enterprise
was a complete success, and the water supply is one of the best in
the State. As soon as the Water Company was well established Mr.
Treadway turned his attention to organizing the Bristol Electric
Light Company, and a few years later he started the Bristol and
Plainville Tramway Company, which absorbed the Electric Company
and added to its functions the manufacturing of power and a steam
heating plant. Mr. Treadway was the prime mover in bringing
about this consolidation and in extending the branches of the original
trolley lines. In 1895 Mr. Treadway was elected president of the
Tramway Company and kept this position until his ill health in the
last year of his life compelled his resignation. He was also treasurer
of the Horton Mfg. Company, manufacturers of steel fishing rods,
and president of the New Departure Manufacturing Company, a com-
pany which may well attribute its marvelously rapid growth in part
to Mr. Treadway. He was vice-president of the Bristol Manufactur-
ing Company, a director in the Blakesley Novelty Company, in the
Bristol Press Publishing Company, and in the Southington National
Bank, and at one time a director of the Waterbury American.
Though no man was ever more deeply and actively interested
in the affairs of his town Mr. Treadway never sought public office.
He represented Bristol in the General Assembly of 1882, and was
treasurer of the borough of Bristol from 1893 to 1901. He was
town treasurer for a number of years subsequent to 1887. He was
a member of the board of directors of the Free Public Library from
1892 until his death, and treasurer of the first district school for a
number of years. He was a member and generous supporter of the
First Congregational Church of Bristol. Fraternally he was a mem-
ber of Townsend Lodge I. 0. 0. F. of Waterbury and of Eeliance
Council, Eoyal Arcanum of Bristol. He was a member and at one
time vice-president of the Farmington Country Club, and also a
member of the Waterbury Club and the Bristol Business Men's
Association.
In 1873 Mr. Treadway married Margaret Terry who died in 1880,
leaving one son, Charles Terry Treadway, Treasurer of the New
Departure Mfg. Company, who has inherited much of the business
222 CHARLES S. TREADWAY.
axjumen and promises to be a worthy successor in many important
positions of his late father, Mr. Treadwa/s second wife, Lucy
Hurlburt Townsend, whom he married in 1884, survives him, as
do two sons and a daughter born of this union.
After a long wasting illness Mr. Treadway's busy, useful and
unselfish life was closed on January 27th, 1905, and on that day
Bristol lost a loyal, self-sacrificing citizen, a man who achieved the
highest success in business, who exerted a vital influence on the
progress of his town and who was generally esteemed for his rare
mental capacity and clean, honorable character. In comment on the
loss to the community the Bristol Press said editorially : " He was
one of those men of Connecticut's family of manufacturers whose
enterprise reached beyond the wants of his own community and even
of his own coimtry, and by whose industry not only was his native
town benefited, but the name " American " made stronger. He leaves
behind him an example of straightforward, upright dealing in all
business affairs. His words of kindly advice were most oppori;une
as many in this community can testify. He has builded well and his
works do live after him."
SAMUEL HOSMER CHITTENDEN
CHITTENDEN, SAMUEL HOSMER, retired civil engineer,
of East River, Connecticut, was bom in Madison, New Ha-
ven County, Connecticut, November 18th, 1845. He is de-
scended from some of the early settlers of Guilford, Connecticut, the
most distinguished of whom was William Chittenden, who came from
England to Guilford in 1639, and was magistrate and deputy to the
General Court. Nicholas Mimger, another of his early ancestors,
settled in Guilford in the first half of the seventeenth century. Sam-
uel C. Chittenden, Mr. Chittenden's father, was a prosperous lumber
dealer who was also engaged in the manufacture of sashes and blinds.
Mr. Chittenden's mother, whose maiden name was Amanda A. Mun-
ger, was a woman of great strength of character and of a deeply re-
ligious nature. Her influence upon her son w'as very strong and con-
trolling.
After a preparatory course at Guilford Institute and Lee's
Academy, Madison, Mr. Chittenden entered the Sheffield Scientific
School of Yale University, where he took his Civil Engineer's degree
in 1868. He began work immediately as civil engineer on the Union
Pacific Railroad and he was engaged in the construction of that road
until 1876. He did a great deal of work, extending the railroad
through the Indian country, and was commended highly for the
rapidity and skill of his engineering. Later he was engaged on the
Quinnipiack Bridge at Fair Haven, and he had many other important,
contracts in the South, in Arizona, Mexico, and in Washington, D. C.
He followed his calling until 1885, and since his retirement his time
has been occupied with public interests and the writing of a number
of valuable papers on engineering and kindred subjects.
In 1889 Mr. Chittenden was elected state senator, from 1890 to
1905 he was judge of probate for the town of Madison and town clerk
of Madison from 1901 to 1905. He has always been a consistent and
devoted Republican in his political views. During his senatorship he
223
224 SAMUEL HOSMER CHITTENDEN
was chairman of the committees on humane institutions and new
counties and county seats.
Mr. Chittenden has devoted his life to his calling and to the
public offices which he has held. He has never married, and aside
from membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers he has
no fraternal or club ties. He chose his own career and has followed
it with a singleness of purpose that has won the great measure of suc-
cess that the combination of determination and skill deserves
CHARLES EDWIN SEARLS
S EARLS, CHARLES EDWIN, was born March 25th, 1846, in
Pomfret, Windham County, Connecticut, A lawyer of promi-
nence, he has taken an active part in the political and economic
fortunes of the state. He was the son of Edwin Clark Searls and
Caroline (Matthewson) Searls. His father, in early life, was a mer-
chant, but later a broker in Wall Street, New York City, where his
quickness of perception and promptness of execution made him a
power. These qualities the son inherited and they have helped him
greatly in his career.
Mr. Searls is a descendant of one Sello, who came from Nor-
mandy to England with William the Conqueror, and he is of the fifth
generation from Robert Searls (or Searl) who came from Dorchester,
England, and was admitted to the little community of Dorchester,
Massachusetts, June 9th, 1662. On his mother's side he is a de-
scendant of John Mathewson, who took up his residence in Provi-
dence, Rhode Island, in the year 1658. This same John Mathewson
was a man of some note in the colonies in those stirring days, and was
a deputy to the General Court of Rhode Island in 1680. Mr. Searls'
great-grandfather, on the maternal side, was an intimate friend of
the early national leaders of the Republic, although he held no public
office. His grandfather, Darius Mathewson, was a leading man for
many years in Windham County. He was a member of the General
Assembly and of the Constitutional Convention in 1818.
The first four years of Mr. Searls' life were passed in Pomfret,
Windham County, where his father carried on a general country store.
The family then removed to Brooklyn, New York, and, after a resi-
dence of some time there, came back to Windham County, which place
Mr. Searls has made his permanent home. He is a Yale man (1868),
but the foundations of his education were laid in the Rawsonian In-
stitute of Thompson, Connecticut, one of the well-known schools of the
state. Deciding on the law as his profession, Mr. Searls entered the
office of a lawyer and there worked and studied, branching out for
225
226 CHARLES EDWIN SEARLS
himself as an attomey-at-law in 1870, selecting Putnam, Connecticut,
as a field for his active, business life. His career in this profession ia
respected throughout the state.
He has held numerous offices of public honor and trust, being on
the executive committee of the State Bar Association for several
years, a member of the Local Council for Connecticut in the American
Bar Association, and attorney under general retainer for many cor-
porations. Mr. Searls was town clerk of Thompson in 1869, a mem-
ber of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1871 and 1886,
secretary of state for Connecticut from 1881 to 1882, and in 1903
he was elected to the office of state's attorney for Windham County, in
which office he still remains. Mr. Searls has been a justice of the
peace continuously from his majority to the present time. In politics
he is an active Republican, and he was a delegate to the National Re-
publican Convention at St. Louis in 1896.
While Mr. Searls is not a member of any church, he is at heart
of the Congregational faith. In 1902 he was married to Sarah Alice
Fell of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but no children have been born of
this union. He finds his recreation " in a comfortable chair, with a
good cigar," in the quietness of his home after the day's hurly-burly.
His personal preference caused him to select the law as his pro-
fession, and contact with men of affairs in the world has been a vigor-
ous impetus for the best work of which he is capable. " The lives of
public and great men, whether in church, state, or business affairs,"
next to the example of his mothers beautiful life, have influenced
him greatly, both morally and spiritually.
iXCviA (^/M/^W ' ■
JULIUS TWISS
TWISS, JULIUS, lawyer and banker of New Haven, secretary
and treasurer of the National Savings Bank of that city and
a man of prominence in the business, municipal, fraternal,
and religious affairs of his community, was bom in Jolliette,
Province of Quebec, Canada, April 18th, 1838. The earliest known
ancestor of the family which Julius Twiss represents was without
doubt William Twisse, a Teuton, who emigrated from Germany
about 1500 and settled in Newbury, England, whose grandson, a
graduate of Oxford College, known as Dr. William Twiss, was
chaplain to Elizabeth, daughter of King James, and a " divine of
great ability, learning, piety, and moderation." He died July, 1646.
Daniel, Nathan, and Robert Twiss, undoubtedly the sons of Dr.
William Twiss, came from England to Salem, Massachusetts, about
1650. By direct descent from one of the three brothers and through
Thomas, Benjamin, and Joseph Twiss, all of Cheshire, Connecticut,
came the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, whose name was
also Joseph Twiss and who lived and died in Meriden, Connecticut.
He was a member of a company known as the Corps of "Artificers "
in the War of the Revolution and this company participated in the
battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth and others. His son,
Russell Twiss, one of the first clock makers in the United States and
Canada and maker of fanning mills as well, was the father of Julius
Twiss and a man of energy and integrity. Mr. Twiss' mother was
Permela Hall Twiss, a woman of many virtues and the highest
influence. Through her Mr. Twiss is descended from John Hall
who was born in England in 1605 and died in Wallingford, Connecti-
cut, in 1676. He was a fighter in the Pequot War and an original
proprietor of Wallingford. His son, Samuel Hall, was four times
a deputy to the General Court and was a prominent land owner and
military man, and his son, John Hall, took an active part in the
Indian Wars of that time and was several times a representative in
tlie General Assembly. His son. Rev. Samuel Hall, graduated at
239
230 JULIUS TWISS.
Yale in 1716, and was the first Pastor at Cheshire, Connecticut.
His daughter, Abigail, married Eev. John Foote, whose son, Samuel
Foote, became Governor of Connecticut and U. S. Senator, and his
son, Andrew Hall Foote, was at one time Eear-Admiral of the U. S.
Navy. John Hall, a brother of Eev. Samuel Hall, was the father
of Lyman Hall, who graduated at Yale in 1747, and he became
Governor of the State of Georgia, a representative in Congress and
one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence for that State.
Brenton Hall, a son of Eev, Samuel Hall, was a large landed proprietor
in the eastern part of Meriden, and he was very active in getting that
town set off from Wallingford, and was its first representative in the
General Assembly. His son was Augustus Hall, the father of Permela
(Hall) Twiss.
The present representative of this long line of worthy ancestors,
Julius Twiss, lived in Canada until he was sixteen years old, when,
after his father's death, he came to Meriden, Connecticut, and was
first employed as a clerk in the post office in that town, his uncle,
Hiram Hall, being the postmaster. He was a delicate lad, but
possessed by a strong desire to learn and to get ahead in the world,
he acquired a thorough education in defiance of all obstacles. He was
greatly interested in historical works, the best English novels and
religious works. The Bible was his best loved book and Johnson, and
other writers of his stamp, his favorite authors. Young Mr, Twiss
left Meriden in a short time to enter the Hopkins Grammar School
at New Haven to prepare for Yale College, where he was graduated
with the class of 1863 and then entered the Yale Law School, where
he received his LL,B. degree in 1865.
In September of the year of his graduation from law school Mr.
Twiss opened an office as practicing attorney on Church street. New
Haven, and he continued in the active practice of law with gratifying
success until 1894, In 1866 he became a member of the Common
Council of New Haven and served in that capacity at various times
for over eight years. From 1869 to 1872 he was clerk of the New
Haven City Court and in 1882 he was appointed a member of the
Tax Commission, From 1866 to 1869 he was an active member of
the New Haven Grays, a local military compauy, and he is now a
member of the Veteran Grays, He has been candidate for the office
of judge of probate several times, but always when the opposition
JULIUS TWISS.
231
party has been successful. From June, 1872, to February, 1882, there
were brought before him for trial as justice of the peace eighteen
hundred and thirty civil cases. He declined to serve longer in that
office.
Mr. Twiss is a Republican, but does not hesitate to vote independ-
ently in accordance with his conscience. He is very active and
prominent in Masonic matters, having been treasurer of Hiram Lodge
No. 1, F. and A. M., for three years, Master of Lodge one year and a
trustee since 1880. He was a director of the Masonic Mutual Benefit
Association of Connecticut for several years and is a member of
the New Haven Commandery of Knights Templar. In religious and
philanthropic interests he has been equally active. Since 1880 he has
been a member of the Society's Committee of the Calvary Baptist
Ecclesiastical Society and he has been a member of the executive com-
mittee of the New Haven Baptist Union since 1893 and is now its
president. He has been a director of the Organized Charities since
1898 and a member of the board of managers of the Calvary Industrial
Home since its organization. He is also a member of the Young
Men's Republican Club, the New Haven Historical Society, the
Chamber of Commerce, the Union League Club and the Yale Grad-
uates' Club, all of New Haven. He has never married.
In March, 1894, Mr. Twiss was made secretary and treasurer
of the National Savings Bank of New Haven and the business of
the bank has so increased and the duties and responsibilities of his
position have so absorbed his time, that he has given up the practice of
law. Mr. Twiss says that his successes and failures have been those
of the average American of today and that his boyhood's " desire to
get ahead " has been his chief incentive to success. He says, " For
the young man of average ability I would say that true success can
ordinarily be secured by diligence, honesty, close application to one's
vocation, correct habits, economy, judgment in investments and belief
in and practice of the principles of Christianity."
COLONEL JEROME TOURTELLOTTE
TOUKTELLOTTE, JEROME, Civil War veteran, former mem-
ber of Legislature, and at present treasurer of the Putnam
Savings Bank, was bom in Thompson, Windham County,
Connecticut, June 11th, 1837, the son of Joseph Davison Tourtellotte
and Diana Munyan Tourtellotte. His father was a shoemaker and
farmer, whom he describes as a man of " robust health and easy good
nature," and who was assessor and selectman in the town of Putnam.
Colonel Tourtellotte's mother was a woman of strong intellect and an
uplifting character, whose influence was strongly for his good in
every way. Going farther back in the study of the Colonel's an-
cestors one finds his descent traceable from Abraham Tourtellotte, who
came to Boston from Bordeaux, France, in 1687 on the ship " Friend-
ship " and married Marie Bemon, daughter of Gabriel Bemon of
Eoxbury, Massachusetts. This Gabriel Bemon was a French Hugue-
not and a very influential man in the affairs of both church and state
in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. On the maternal side Colonel
Tourtellotte is descended from Edward Munyan, who came from Eng-
land to Salem, Massachusetts, in early colonial days, from Deacon
Thomas Dike, a soldier in the Revolution, and from Anthony Dix,
who came to Plymouth in 1623.
Inheriting his father's vigorous constitution the boy Jerome
Tourtellotte was as " hardy, sound and sappy " as a young oak. He
enjoyed hard work and found plenty of it to do, for he was taught
to hoe his row as soon as he could handle a hoe. These early formed
habits of industry kept him out of mischief and have proved a life-
long benefit. He was a great reader and, although the family li-
brary was limited, he learned to know many great books. Aris-
totle's works made a lasting impression, but his strongest inclinations
led him to read fiction more than anything else, a fact for which he
is still regretful. His education was limited in both quality and
quantity, for it was confined to that afforded within the walls of a
"little red school house" and was acquired only through the winter
232
COLONEL JEROME TOURTELLOTTE 233
terms and until he was fifteen years old. His father gave him his
time when he was but sixteen years old and he set up for himself as
a shoe-maker in Putnam, his native town. He followed this trade
because it was the first opportunity that was offered him and he did
not find the work distasteful. His success at it came through " pa-
tient plodding and industry " and was as great in measure as it was
deserved.
In 1861, upon the outbreak of the Eebellion, Mr, Tourtellotte
enlisted as a volunteer soldier and served from April 22, 1861, until
August 7, 1861, as a private in Company B, 2nd Volimteer Infantry,
Connecticut. His brave and capable service won speedy promotions
and he became first lieutenant, captain, major and lieutenant colonel
of the 7th Connecticut Volunteers, experiencing many dangers and
serving with distinction. He participated in the Battle of Bull
Eun and was wounded and taken prisoner at the assault on Fort
Wagner, Morris Island, S. C. He was mustered out in August,
1865, and immediately became interested in manufacturing. From
1866 to 1873 he was outside superintendent of the A. & "W. Sprague
Manufacturing Company of Cranston, E. I. At the end of that
time he returned to Putnam, and the following year, 1874, he
married Eliza Emily Husband, by whom he has had three sons,
Leroy E., bom January 20, 1877; Arthur, born October 30, 1881,
and Harry, born December 14, 1884, all of whom are now living.
In 1875 and again in 1880 he was elected representative from Put-
nam to the State Legislature by the Eepublican party to which he
has been a royal adherent since he cast his first vote for President
Lincoln. In 1880 Col. Tourtellotte became treasurer of the Putnam
Savings Bank and he still holds this office.
He is a member of the Army and Navy Club of Connecticut,
of the Grand Army of the Eepublic and of the Masonic fraternity.
He considers good habits and hard work the safest insurance against
failure in life as well as the best means of securing bodily welfare.
He also advises the best possible education and the cultivation of
" charity and fairness towards one's neighbors and associates " and
adds — " seek labor and avoid labor unions."
JAMES FRANKLIN BROWN
BROWN, COL. JAMES FRANKLIN, veteran officer of the
Civil War, public man, and retired merchant, of North
Stonington, New London County, Connecticut, was bom
there January 10th, 1836, the son of George Coggeshall Brown and
Sarah Ann Stanton Brown. His father was a trader who also en-
gaged in farming in his latter days, and who was notary public and
the incumbent of several other local offices. George C. Brown left
his son a heritage of industry, integrity and good judgment that was
increased by the spiritual and intellectual inspiration of his mother's
character. A more extended tracing of Col. Brown's ancestry re-
veals personages of parallel worth and interest, for he is descended
from Thomas Stanton, the Indian interpreter, who came from Lan-
cashire, England to Stonington, in 1639, and from Gen. Joseph Stan-
ton, who commanded the Rhode Island troops in the Revolution and
was representative and senator in Congress after the War.
Physically robust and mentally studious, James E. Brown gave
promise in early boyhood of broad capabilities and " all-around "
development in manhood and each step in his career has evidenced
the fulfilment of that promise. His boyhood days on his father's farm
were busy and profitable ones, for much of the lighter labor of the
farm and especially of caring for the live stock fell to his share. He
was taught to feel a personal interest and responsibility in the work
and rewarded by a fitting share in the profits and this arrangement
promoted habits of forethought, industry and economy. His taste in
reading inclined particularly to history and biography which formed
the " staple of his early reading " until his college preparation was
begun. After completing preparatory courses in the schools of East
Greenwich, Rhode Island, and at Wilton and Stonington, Connecticut,
he entered Yale University, where he took his B.A. degree in 1863
and was given the honorary degree of M.A. in 1865. He did not, how-
ever, wait for the full equipment of a college education before begin-
234
JAMES FRANKLIN BROWN. 235
ning active work in life, for in 1855 and 1856 he taught school for
three terms.
There was no question in the mind of a brave, patriotic and
earnest young man who graduated from a northern college in the
memorable year of 1862 as to what course he would pursue and, in
August following his graduation from Yale, James F. Brown went to
the front as captain of Co. G, Twenty-first Connecticut Infantry.
He was in service until June 16th, 1865, and received constant and
rapid promotion from captain to major, to lieutenant-colonel, to
colonel, and he also commanded a brigade for some time in the siege
of Eichmond. His highly creditable military service received tangi-
ble appreciation in a set of resolutions expressing the gratitude of
the General Assembly of Connecticut.
As soon as the War was ended Col. Brown established himself in
the wholesale grocery and naval supply busness in Savannah, Georgia,
and he remained in this business until 1878, since when he has
resided in North Stonington, the home of his youth. His later life
has been occupied with public duties and offices, many of which
have been entrusted to him. He has been school visitor and justice of
the peace for many years. In 1886 and again in 1889 he was a mem-
ber of the House and during the latter session he was chairman of the
committee on railroads. In 1902 he was a delegate to the Constitu-
tional Convention. Since 1895 be has been a member of the Board of
Agriculture and since 1900 he has been secretary of that board. In
politics he holds the views of the Eepublican party to which he has
always given active loyalty. His religious connections are with the
Congregational Church. He has always maintained the vigorous
habits of his youth and throughout his manhood has found in horse-
back riding, hunting and fishing his most congenial and helpful
recreation.
Col. Brown's marriage took place in October, 1868, and his
wife's maiden name was Harriet Almy Greene. Their five children
are all living: Bessie A., James F., Jr., Harriet E., Myra L., and
Helen G.
12
JOHN BIRGE
BIRGE, HON. JOHN, former State Senator, and late president
of the N. L. Birge & Sons Company of Bristol, Connecticut,
was a lifelong resident of that city. He was born in the Birge
homestead in Bristol, August 25th, 1853, and the accident which
caused his death on October 20th, 1905, occurred within sight of
the house in which he was born. He was a descendant of Eichard
Birge, a pioneer settler of Windsor, Connecticut, and the grandson of
John Birge, a captain in the war of 1812 and a prominent factor in
the military, civil and religious affairs of his day. Mr. Birge's father
was Nathan L. Birge, founder of the Bristol Knitting Company and
of N. L. Birge and Sons, a member of the school board for many
years, vice-president of the Bristol National Bank and president
of the Bristol Water Company. Mr. Birge^s mother was Adeline
Smith, through whom he was descended from Thomas Hooker,
George Smith of the New Haven Colony of 1638, William Smith,
a pioneer settler of Huntington, Long Island, and Theophilus Smith,
a Revolutionary soldier. Another ancestor, Samuel Terry, made and
put in place the great wooden clock in the steeple of the Congrega-
tional Church of Bristol.
When a very young boy Mr. Birge determined upon a business
careec He was educated in the Bristol common schools and at the
academy at Lake Forest, Illinois. In 1882 he entered into partner-
ship with his father in the extensive knitted goods business and
when his father died, in 1899, the firm became the N. L. Birge and
Sons Company and Mr. Birge was president and general manager
of the company from that time until his death in 1905. He succeeded
his father as a director in the First National Bank of Bristol and as
a leader in public affairs. He was an organizer and promoter of
the Bristol Volunteer Fire Department and secretary of the board
of fire commissioners. He took a lively interest in politics and was
a devoted Republican. He represented his district in the state
senate in 1894 and was chairman of the committee on manufactures.
236
^^/^'^^'^"^T-'V^ / ^^T^O'^^
JOHN BIEGE. 239
He was a member of the Republican state central committee and
chairman of the town committee for several years. He was a lead-
ing figure in the Young Men's Eepublican Club of Bristol, in the
Bristol Men's Association and a member of the First Congregational
Church.
In a study of Mr. Birge's character we find the foundation of
his success in life. He was a man of great sincerity and integrity,
cheerful disposition and raxe judgment. He loved nature, children
and home life and was always a friend of the weak and oppressed.
On June 22d, 1874, Mr. Birge married M. Antoinette Root, a
daughter of Samuel E. Root of Bristol. She died April 25th, 1891,
leaving four children: Adeline, bom August 16th, 1875, is the wife
of Roger S. Newell of Bristol; Nathan Root, bom June 16th, 1877,
married Bertha Haight of Schenectady, New York; Marguerite,
bom April 22d, 1886; John Eangsley, bom March 4th, 1888. On
February 1st, 1893, Senator Birge married Matilda Louise, a daughter
of John Sayles Smith of Willimantic, Connecticut. His death was
caused by a shocking accident in which he was thrown from his
carriage while driving home from business at noon, and in the fatality
which resulted Bristol lost not only a prosperous and important
business leader, but a patriotic and admirable citizen.
SAMUEL LEWIS PENFIELD
P ENFIELD, SAMUEL LEWIS, late professor of mineralogy in
the Sheffield Scienitfic School, Yale University, was a descend-
ant of Samuel Penfield, an Englishman who came to Fairfield,
Connecticut, about the middle of the eighteenth century. George
Hoyt Penfield was engaged in the freight and passenger business of
the Hudson Eiver steamboats, devoting himself thoroughly to his
work. He married Miss Ann Augusta Cheeseman.
Their son, Samuel Lewis Penfield, was born in Catskill, Greene
County, N. Y., on January 16th, 1856. He developed into a sturdy
youth, fond of the village sports and also of carpentering, of doing
odd jobs around the house and of caring for the garden. But his
particular desire was to investigate the mountains and rocks about
the old town, and then to understand better the meaning there is in
the rocks and stones for him who will seek it patiently. Not every-
thing was as he could wish for the prosecution of the higher studies
he had in mind, yet there was everything to encourage him in the
warm interest of his parents, who thought also of his welfare in
other paths than that of learning. Particularly strong was his mother's
influence upon both his intellectual and moral being.
It was a happy day for him when, on entering Wesleyan
Academy at Wilbraham, Mass., he believed he was well on the road
to the education he desired. In 1877, he had received the degree of
Ph. B. at the Sheffield Scientific School. His attainments won him
the position of assistant in the chemical laboratory of the school im-
mediately upon graduation, where he continued until 1879, when he
was appointed assistant in his favorite science of mineralogy.
The winter of 1880-1881, he studied chemistry at Strasburg
University, and returning to Yale was appointed instructor in min-
eralogy, in 1881. In 1884, he took a course in crystallography at
Heidelberg University, but came back to New Haven and continued
with his classes as instructor. In 1888 he was appointed assistant
professor, and in 1893 professor of mineralogy. He received the
240
SAMUEL LEWIS PENFIELD. 241
degree of M. A. from his Alma Mater in 1896 and of LL.D. from the
University of Wisconsin, in recognition of his valuable work in 1904.
The professor died August 12th, 1906, at Woodstock, Connecti-
cut, where he had been spending the summer. Few names are more
familiar than Professor Penfield's in the world of mineralogy, and
particularly to the readers of the " American Journal of Science and
Art," since 1877, to which he contributed a number of scientific
articles on chemistry, mineralogy, and crystallography. The student
laboratory in Kirtland Hall was built imder his direct supervision
and according to his plans. An obituary in the " Yale Alumni
Weekly " says of him : " As an investigator. Professor Penfield far
surpassed all others in the science of mineralogy in both the extent
and importance of his investigations. As a teacher he possessed the
rare faculty of directing and inspiring investigation among those
about him.'' Books of his are : " Determinative Mineralogy and Blow-
pipe Analysis," 1898, and " Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrog-
raphy from the Laboratories of the SheflSeld Scientific School'' —
published as one of the Yale Bicentennial Series.
He was an associate fellow of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, 1893 ; foreign correspondent of the Geological Society of Lon-
don, 1896; member of the National Academy of Sciences of America,
1900; fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, 1902; corresponding member Der Konigliche Gesellschaft der
Wissenschaften zu Gottingen, 1902; member of Videnskabs Seleska-
bet Christiana, 1902; Geologiska Foreningen, Stockholm, 1903, and
foreign member of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain, 1903.
In college he belonged to the Berzelius Society and he was a mem-
ber of the Graduates' Club of New Haven.
His religious faith was Congregational. In politics, he voted
according to what he believed was best in either party.
He married Miss Grace Chapman, of Albany, New York, on Janu-
ary 26th, 1897. Their home was at No. 239 Edwards street, New
Haven.
It is said of him: "By the death of Professor Penfield, Yale
loses one of the most famous men she has ever produced. He was un-
doubtedly the foremost mineralogist in the United States and a man
of international fame."
EDWIN LEWIS SCOFIELD
SCOFIELD, EDWIN LEWIS, lawyer, legislator, former mayor,
and bank director, of Stamford, was born in the town of Stam-
ford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, June 18th, 1852. His
father, Erastus E. Scofield, was a son of Edwin and Eliza (Brown)
Scofield, and a descendant from Daniel Scofield, who came from
England with the original New England colonists about 1638, and set-
tled in Stamford about 1640. Erastus E. Scofield was a merchant,
first selectman, and prominent townsman of Stamford, esteemed for
his sturdy character and strong religious convictions. He married
Jane A, Waterbury, a widow, of Poundridge, N. Y.
Edwin Lewis Scofield was brought up in the village of Stamford,
where he helped, even at an early age, to support the family by
manual work, and he thus came to know the value of labor from ex-
perience, at an impressionable age. His mother exerted an excel-
lent influence over his intellectual, moral, and spiritual life. His
school training was received from private teachers and was so ar-
ranged as not to interfere with his daily work as a bread-winner.
When eighteen years of age, he entered a law office in Stamford as
clerk and student, and in 1873 took a year's course in the study of
law at Columbia University Law School.
He was admitted to the bar in 1873, thus carrying out a long-
cherished, youthful ambition to become a lawyer. His home in-
fluence had aided this ambition, and his early companionship and
contact with men in public life strengthened it.
He is a Eepublican in politics and has served his native state
and city as a representative in the State Legislature in 1881; state
senator, 1882 and 1883; State Building and Loan Commissioner,
1896 and 1897; mayor of the city of Stamford for two terms, 1896-
1897; State Insurance Commissioner for three years, 1898-1900.
His business and financial obligations were discharged through ser-
vice as a director in the Greenwich Trust, Loan, and Deposit Com-
pany; in the First National Bank of Stamford; in the Provident
243
EDWIN LEWIS SCOFIELD.
243
Savings Life Assurance Society, from 1901; as president of the
Crestwood Company, Yonkers, New York, from 1902; and as secre-
tary of the Stamford Hospital for ten years, 1895-1905, and as vice-
president since 1905.
He was married October 15th, 1879, to Annie W. Candee, daugh-
ter of Julius and Evalina (Weed) Candee of New York, and they
have one child, Edwin L., Jr., born August 22nd, 1887.
His church home is with the Congregational denomination. His
recreation is found in the game of golf, which affords amusement, ex-
ercise, and relaxation. His club affiliations include the Eepublican
Club of New York City, the Suburban Club of Stamford, the Stam-
ford Yacht Club, and the Wee Bum Golf Club of Noroton.
From his own experience and knowledge he gathered these facts,
which he promulgates for the benefit of young men of like environ-
ments and advantages : " I have succeeded to the maximum of my de-
serts, and I can only say that what success I have attained in life has
been brought about by hard and persistent labor. Every young man
should appreciate the value of labor, and should not only work him-
self, but should show the advantages of work to others."
HENRY GLEASON NEWTON
NEWTON", HENRY GLEASON, one of Connecticut's ablest
lawyers, former State representative, writer, and a leader in
the religious, business, and public life of New Haven, was
born in Durham, Middlesex County, Connecticut, June 5th, 1843.
He comes of a long line of illustrious ancestors, the first of whom to
come to America was Eoger Newton, who emigrated from Cambridge,
England, in 1638, and in 1645 was ordained the first minister of the
church in Farmington. Mr. Newton's ancestry embraces the following
distinguished men: Thomas Hooker, first minister of Hartford,
John Talcott, an early State Treasurer of Connecticut, who held that
ofiice for twenty-six years; Governor Thomas Wells; Deacon Richard
Piatt, ancestor of the two senators of that name; Thomas Bucking-
ham, ancestor of Governor William Buckingham; Sergeant John
Plympton, one of the settlers of Deerfield, Massachusetts, who was
burned by the Indians in 1677; Nathaniel Sutliff, of the same town,
who was also burned; Major Matthew Mitchell, who fought in the
Pequot War; John Parmelee of Guilford, who came over with Whit-
field ; Samuel Newton, a Captain in King Philip's War ; Miles Mer-
win, a lieutenant in the French and Indian War, and Burwell and
Abner Newton, soldiers in the Revolution.
The parents of Henry Gleason Newton were Gaylord and Nancy
Maria Merwin Newton. The father was a farmer, who taught in the
district school in the winter, was a captain in the militia, selectman
and assessor, and for forty years a deacon in the First Congregational
Church in Durham. The mother was a woman of good education and
strong intellect, who was earnest and faithful in all duties, particularly
those of church and home. She died when her son was but thirteen
years old, but not before she had imparted to him studious habits and
literary tastes. The books which were his most influential reading in
boyhood were Prescott's History of Mexico, Pilgrim's Progress, the
Star Papers, and Dr. Bacon's articles in the New York Independent.
The Quarry District School and the Academy of Durham furnished
246
-^-^^^^-^^yy^^t^l-'t^c^
HENRY GLEASON NEWTOF.
247
Henry Newton's preliminary education. He entered Wesleyan Uni-
versity with the class of 1865, but his health failed repeatedly, and he
did not graduate until 1870. In the mean time he taught school in and
near Durham and worked on his father's farm. While in college he be-
came a member of the Eclectic Fraternity and of the Wesleyan Chap-
ter of Phi Beta Kappa. After completing the academic course at
Wesleyan, Mr. Newton entered Yale Law School, where he was
graduated in 1872 as valedictorian of his class and took prizes for the
best common law and civil law essays.
As soon as his professional education was completed Mr. Newton
began the practice of law in New Haven, and he has worked at his
profession in that city continuously since that time. His success has
been rapid and full in measure, and he is now one of the foremost
lawyers in the State. He has been attorney for C. Cowles & Company,
for the Yale National Bank of New Haven, for Brown Brothers of
New York, and for William Jennings Bryan in the matter of the
Bennett will. He has conducted many cases in the Supreme Court.
He assisted in the most extensive revision of the " Civil Officer," and
wrote the chapter on probate law contained in that work. Since the
passing of the bankruptcy law in 1898, he has been referee in bank-
ruptcy. He is the author of the article on bankruptcy in the Ency-
clopedia Brittanica, and of the history of Durham in the " History of
Middlesex Coimty." He is a member of the American Bar Associa-
tion.
In public affairs Mr. Newton has always been active, giving his
services unselfishly, and always endeavoring to " help the right side."
He is loyal to the Eepublican party in politics. In 1885 he repre-
sented Durham in the General Assembly, and was house chairman of
the judiciary committee during that session. In 1886 he was re-
elected to the General Assembly by one vote. He claimed a mis-
count, contested his own election as attorney for his competitor and
succeeded in having himself unseated and his opponent seated at the
opening of the second day of the session, the shortest time on record.
In 1895 he represented New Haven in the Legislature and was chair-
man of the committee on humane institutions. He obtained the pas-
sage of a bill for a State reformatory and secured the adoption of a
number of important laws which still survive.
248 HENRY GLEASON NEWTON.
In religion Mr. Newton is an earnest Congregationalist, having
been active in Plymouth Church and Sunday School of New Haven
for over thirty years, and a deacon in the Congregational Church in
Durham since 1858. He has been chairman of the board of directors
of the City Missionary Association of New Haven since its organiza-
tion and he is a director and trustee of the Young Men's Christian
Association of New Haven. For many years Mr. Newton was chair-
man of the committee on moral legislation of the General Conference
of Congregational Churches of Connecticut.
In addition to his professional, political, and religious activities
Mr. Newton is a trustee of the Farmers and Mechanics' Savings
Bank of Middletown, a director in the Yale National Bank of New
Haven, a member of the Sons of the American Eevolution, of
the Society of Colonial Wars, and of the Graduates' and Union
League Clubs of New Haven. Mrs. Newton was Sarah Allen Bald-
win, M.D., of Cromwell, Connecticut, whom he married September
11th, 1885. No children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Newton.
JOSEPH LOOMIS BARTLETT
BAETLETT, JOSEPH LOOMIS, fanner and tobacco dealer and
a leader in the town affairs of Simsbury, Connecticut, was bom
in East Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut, March 11th,
1835, the son of Joseph S. and Emeline Strong Bartlett. His first
ancestor in America was Eobert Bartlett, who came from England to
Boston in 1633 and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Eobert
Bartlett moved to Hartford with Hooker's band in 1639 and was
made first selectman there. In 1655 he removed to Northampton,
where he was made first selectman, and was killed there by the Indians
in King Philip's War in 1676. Tracing his ancestry still farther
back Mr. Bartlett is descended from Adam Bartelot, a Norman
who came to England with William the Conqueror and founded the
English branch of the family. Joseph S. Bartlett, Mr. Bartletfs
father, was a farmer by occupation and a man of integrity and
honesty, who held many civil oflBces of importance in East Windsor
and Simsbury and was in command of the 25th Eegiment, Con-
necticut Militia.
In boyhood Joseph Bartlett was strong and healthy, and, as he
was brought up on his father's farm, his early days were busy with the
usual tasks that make up farm life. He had plenty to occupy his
mind and employ his hands, and the habits of "thinking and do-
ing " were firmly established. There were many obstacles in the way
of his acquiring an education, but he was successful in overcoming
them and in addition to the district school he studied at the select
schools of Simsbury, the Connecticut Literary Institute, and Wil-
braham Academy. He enjoyed all kinds of instructive reading and
was keenly interested in history and the biographies of great men.
His first work after leaving school was teaching, which he engaged
in for several years, working on the farm in the summer months.
Since 1859 Mr. Bartlett has been extensively interested in general
farming and tobacco raising, packing, and selling, and he has been a
most successful and model farmer. In connection with his farm
249
250 JOSEPH LOOMIS BAETLETT.
he has a large dairy and cider mill and many acres of tobacco land.
Although he is a farmer on a large scale he has found time for many
public interests and services. When he was but twenty-one he was
elected a member of the board of school visitors and appointed acting
school visitor by the board, which position he held twelve successive
years. In 1869 he was elected judge of probate and held this po-
sition three terms. In 1875 he was appointed deputy sheriff of Hart-
ford County and served six years. For seven years he was treasurer
of the town school committee and he has always been actively inter-
ested in all educational matters. In 1901 he was Simsbury's delegate
to the Constitutional Convention and answered every call during its
session. He has always voted the regular Democratic ticket and been
a leader of that political party.
Mrs. Bartlett's maiden name was Ellen Maria Weston. Mr. and
Mrs. Bartlett were married in 1858 and they have five children living,
though ten have been born to them. The names of the children living
are: Joseph L., Jr., Mrs. Mary J. Cheseboro, Mrs. Emeline S.
Spires, Mrs. Isabella White, and John. The family home is in Sims-
bury.
du/d^d. iO, ^Mi^d^ ,^
EDWARD BUTLER DUNBAR
DUNBAE, EDWAED BUTLEE, president of the Bristol Na-
tional Bank, former state senator, and the head of the manu-
facturing firm of Dunbar Brothers of Bristol, Hartford
Coimt}% Connecticut, was born in that town, November 1st, 1843. The
Dunbar family is a very old one of Scottish extraction, and takes its
name from the ancient Scottish city of Dunbar. Eobert Dunbar, who
started the American branch of the family, came from Scotland to
Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1655. He was succeeded by three John
Dunbars, the last of whom, born in 1724, had five sons who fought
in the Eevolution. One of these sons. Miles Dunbar, was the great-
grandfather of Edward Butler Dunbar, and his son Butler Dunbar,
Mr, Dunbar's grandfather, was a musician in the War of 1812 under
John Buckingham, and later settled in Bristol and became engaged
in the clock business. His son, Mr, Dunbar's father, also lived in
Bristol and was a manufacturer of clock springs and trimmings. He
was a man of great honesty and industry, and a zealous promoter of
all public affairs. He was instrumental in the erection of the town
hall of Bristol and in organizing a fire department there. He repre-
sented Bristol in the General Assembly in 1862. Mr. Dunbar's
mother was Julia Warner of Farmington.
Mr. Dunbar spent the years of his youth in Bristol and was edu-
cated in the common schools there, supplementing that training later
at the Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Massachusetts. At the
age of seventeen he went to New York to be assistant manager of the
hoop-skirt factory of Dunbar and Barnes, in which his father had
been a partner, and in two years became head manager of that busi-
ness. Three years later fashion's decree abolished the hoop-skirt and
the business was abandoned. Mr. Dunbar then returned to Bristol
and entered the firm of Dunbar Brothers, manufacturers of clock
springs, started by his father and carried on so successfully by the
"Brothers" of this generation. From its crude and primitive be-
ginning the business has developed into a most flourishing and
251
254 EDWARD BUTLER DUNBAR.
advanced industry, turning out many millions of delicate springs
annually.
In public spirit and activity as well as in business Mr. Dunbar
has been truly " his father's son." He has worked steadily for the
improvement of the fire department which his father organized, and
during his long chairmanship of the Board of Fire Commissioners
he has done much to increase the efiBciency of that department. Mr.
Dunbar has always taken a keen interest in the advancement of
education, and, as chairman of the Bristol High School Committee,
he has helped that school become one of the best in the State.
Since his first vote Mr. Dunbar has been a staunch and active
Democrat, and he has held many offices in the gift of his party. For
twenty years he was a member of the Democratic Town Committee
and its chairman for six years. He represented his town in the
General Assembly in 1869 and again in 1881. In 1884 he was elected
state senator and re-elected in 1886. He has been a capable chairman
of many important public and municipal committees. Mr. Dunbar
understands well the standpoint of the laboring man and has always
worked sympathetically for the laboring man's best interest, as his
worthy stand on the child labor question showed.
In addition to his other positions and interests Mr. Dunbar is
vice-president of the Bristol Savings Bank, vice-president of the
Board of Trade of Bristol, and of the Free Public Library Board.
Fraternally Mr. Dunbar is a member of Reliance Council No. 753
Royal Arcanum. In creed Mr. Dunbar is a Congregationalist, and he
has been chairman of the committee of the society of the Congrega-
tional Church. For four years he was president of the Young Men's
Christian Association of Bristol.
On December 23d, 1875, Mr. Dunbar married Alice Giddings of
Bristol. They have had three children, two of whom, a daughter and
a son, are now living. Mr. Dunbar died at his home, May 9th, 1907.
LOUIS VALENTINE PIRSSON
PIESSON, PKOFESSOE LOUIS VALENTINE, M.A., of
Yale University, is the son of Francis M. Pirsson, a New
York business man, and Louise Butt Pirsson. His great-
grandfather, William Pirsson, came from Chelmsford, England, about
the beginning of the nineteenth century, and settled in New York
City.
Louis Valentine Pirsson was born on November 3d, 1860, in New
York City, and the fact that in childhood he was rather delicate
caused his family to send him into the country to live, and there, while
he was building up a good physique, he acquired imconsciously a taste
for nature, and natural science in particular.
After studying at Amenia Seminary, Amenia, N. Y., and at
South Berkshire Institute at New Marlboro, Mass., he entered the
Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University, where he was graduated
in 1882. He continued his studies in the graduate course here and
at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and the University of
Paris. Yale conferred upon him the degree of M.A. in 1903.
The year after his graduation, in 1883, he was appointed assist-
ant in the chemical laboratory of Sheffield Scientific School. After
two years he was appointed instructor. In 1889 he went to the Brook-
lyn Polytechnic Institute as assistant professor in analytical chemistry
and for two years thereafter he was assistant in the United States
Geological Survey. From 1892 to 1894 he was instructor in lithology
and geology, assistant professor in inorganic geology from 1894 to
1897, and since 1897 professor of physical geology at Sheffield Scien-
tific School.
His work for the United States Geological Survey has been of
much importance. From 1895 to 1904 he was assistant geologist and
special expert and he has been geologist since 1904. He is a specialist
in petrography, and the publications of his many investigations in that
field have been received with great interest by the scientific world.
Among his other writings are : " Classifications of Igneous
255
266 LOUIS VALENTINE PIESSON.
Eocks" (part author), 1903; many memoirs on the geology and
petrography of the Castle, Little Belt, Highwood, Judith, Little
Rocky, and Bearpaw Moimtains in Montana, published by the United
States Geological Survey, and other papers on geological subjects
published in scientific journals and in the proceedings of societies.
He is a member of the geological societies of America, of Stock-
holm, and of Washington ; of the Connecticut Academy of Science, of
the Washington Academy of Science, of the Sigma Xi Society, and of
the Graduates' Club and the Country Club of New Haven. Also he
was a member of the Committee of the International Congress of
Geologists which convened in Paris in 1903, and is assistant editor of
the American Journal of Science, New Haven.
A Republican in politics, he is a man of independent ideas rather
than a partisan. He attends the Congregational Church. For recre-
ation he indulges in out-of-door sports and in geological studies of
nature.
His wife is Eliza Trumbull Brush, daughter of Director George
J. Brush of SheflBeld Scientific School, whom he married on May 17th,
1902. Their home is at 41 Trumbull street. New Haven.
BENJAMIN RHODES STILLMAN
S TILLMAN, BENJAMIN EHODES, secretary of the National
Fire Insurance Company of Hartford and one of the most
prominent and able fire insurance underwriters in New Eng-
land, was born in the town of Adams, Jefferson County, New
York, March 31st, 1853, the son of Benjamin Franklin Stillman, a
merchant, and Sarah Rhodes Stillman. He is descended from George
Stillman, who came from Steeple-Ashton, England, to America in
1635. Mr. Stillman lost his father in early boyhood and he set to
work at an early age to take his father's place in supporting the
family. He was a healthy, ambitious boy who preferred starting
early in business to the college career his mother desired for him, so
that although he fitted for college at the Oswego High School and
passed the entrance examinations for Hamilton College he never
entered that institution. In 1868 he became a clerk for Mollison &
Hastings, insurance agents, millers, and vessel owners at Oswego, New
York, thus beginning to earn his living at the age of fifteen. He won
this first position in a competitive examination and held it for three
years, at the end of which he was offered an interest in the insurance
branch of the business with which he was identified two years longer.
At the age of twenty-one Mr. Stillman founded the firm of Shepard
& Stillman, insurance agents, which he maintained until he was
appointed special agent of the Watertown Fire Insurance Company
in 1877 which involved his removal to New York City. Later he
returned to their home office in Watertown, New York, where he
assisted in negotiations which resulted in the sale of the company to
the Sun Fire Office of London, of which he became assistant general
agent in 1882.
In 1883 Mr. Stillman moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, to
become general agent at the home office of the Springfield Fire and
Marine Insurance Company and remained there until 1890, when he
resigned to become secretary of the Safety Car Heating and Lighting
Company of New York City. He soon realized that any other business
13 267
258 BENJAMIN RHODES STILLMAN
than insurance was uncongenial, secured release from his contract
and became, in 1891, assistant secretary of the National Fire In-
surance Company of Hartford. In 1900 he was made secretary of this
company and still fills the position. In 1889 Mr. Stillman was
president of the New England Fire Insurance Exchange, he was an
organizer and original trustee of the Insurance Library Association
of Boston, a member of the committee of organization of the New
England Bureau of United Inspection and one of the original directors
of the Insurance Club of Boston. His experience in fire under-
writing has been a very large and valuable one and his part in making
the history of fire insurance in New England has been in due pro-
portion.
Mr. Stillman has always voted the Republican ticket, though he
has been too busy to hold political office. He is a member of the
Protestant Episcopal Church, of the Hartford Club, the Hartford
Golf Club, the Republican Club of Hartford, the Country Club of
Farmington, the New England Insurance Exchange, and the Insur-
ance Club of Boston, In October, 1880, Mr. Stillman married Jennie
Louise Whitney of Oswego, New York. They have had two children,
Daisy Gilbert, now the wife of George M. Holbrook of Springfield,
Massachusetts, and Cyrus Whitney, who died at the age of nine years.
U^yi^i>U^C^^z//y/
ANDREW B. HENDRYX
HENDEYX, ANDREW B., president of the Andrew B.
Hendryx (Manufacturing) Company, was born in South-
bury, New Haven County, Connecticut, on April 7th, 1834.
His mother was Eosette Booth, a woman of great force of character,
and his father was Wilson E. Hendryx, a manufacturer and inventor,
a man of rigid religious principles and genial disposition. On his
mother's side Mr. Hendryx is descended from Eichard Booth, who
came from England and settled in Stratford, Connecticut, in 1640,
He is also descended from Michael Han, who came from Germany
to Newtown, Connecticut, in 1752. Another of Mr. Hendryx's an-
cestors, William Hendricks, was governor of Indiana in 1822, and was
three times a representative in Congress and twice a senator. Mr.
Hendryx is also related to Thomas Andrews Hendricks, who was
Vice-President of the United States from 1884-88.
As a boy Mt. Hendryx was robust and active, and his rugged
constitution and life in the country made him naturally industrious.
From the first he evinced decided mechanical genius and an investi-
gating turn of mind. He read mechanical works with especial inter-
est and took great pleasure in the study of mechanical drawing.
He was obliged to work the greater part of the time, and he deems
this to have been the best possible preparation for his later business
life. At eleven he began to support himself and after that he never
attended school in the daytime, though he studied at night school
until he was twenty-five. At twenty-three he was in charge of one
of the largest machine shops in New York City. At thirty he started
the paper-box business in Ansonia, Conn. Five years later he started
the brass bird-cage business in Ansonia, which was later moved to New
Haven. This company is now the Andrew B. Hendryx Company, of
which Mr. Hendryx is the president. Much of the company's success
is due to his many patented inventions and improved methods of man-
ufacture.
261
262 ANDREW B. HENDRYX.
On October 19th, 1857, Mr. Hendryx was married to Mary A.
Hotchkiss. Five children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Hendryx,
but three of whom are now living, Mrs. George T. Doolittle of Spo-
kane, Washington; Mrs. John H. E^lock, and Nathan W. Hendryx,
of New Haven. Mr. Hendryx is not a member of any secret orders,
the Quinnipiack and Union League Clubs of New Haven being the
only societies to which he belongs. In politics he is and has always
been a Republican. His favorite relaxation from business is found in
farming and trout fishing.
When asked to give others the benefit of his experience in winning
success in life Mr. Hendryx expresses his advice in one brief but sig-
nificant word, which is " Work." He has always been actuated by a
desire to be independent and to experience the pleasures of true
success, and he has achieved the results he desired by his own merit
and industry. Mr. Hendrj^x died at his home, May 9th, 1907.
WILLIAM EDWARD MEAD
MEAD, WILLIAM EDWAKD, Ph.D., educator, author, lec-
turer, and professor of English at Wesleyan University, was
bom at Gallupville, Schoharie County, New York, October
25th, 1860. He belongs to that branch of Meads who came from Eng-
land and settled in Greenwich, Connecticut, about 1640. His great-
grandfather, Edward Tucker, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin,
came from England to America about 1785. The Meads have been
prominent citizens of Connecticut from earliest Colonial times. Dr.
Mead's father was Merritt Bates Mead, a clergyman of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, a high-minded man and one of great independence
in thought and action. Dr. Mead's mother was Lucenia A. Tucker
Mead.
Passing his early life mostly in the country or in large towns
William Edward Mead had plenty of time for long walks over the
hills and for boating and reading. Another favorite occupation was
making collections of coins, minerals, and books, in all of which be
was greatly interested. He studied English literature, history, and
the languages and classics with great interest, and as he had few
manual tasks to perform he had ample opportunity to cultivate these
intellectual tastes. He studied at the high school in Plattsburg,
N. Y., and Brandon, Vermont, and then entered Wesleyan University,
where he was graduated in 1881 with the degree of B.A. For a
year after his graduation he remained at Wesleyan as a graduate
student and assistant librarian. From 1882 to 1887 he was engaged
in teaching in secondary schools, with the exception of intervals of
travel and study in Europe, and during the latter part of that time
he was principal of the high school in Troy, N. Y. In 1884 he re-
ceived the degree of M.A, at Wesleyan, and he spent three months of
that year traveling in England, Scotland, France, and Belgium.
In 1886 he spent two months in Germany and in 1887 he entered the
University of Leipzig for the purpose of studying Germanic and
263
264
WILLIAM EDWARD MEAD.
Komance philology. In 1889 he received the degree of Ph.D., magna
cum laude, from Leipzig, and after taking this degree he spent one
semester in further study in Berlin. During the vacations of these
years of University work he traveled in Germany, Switzerland, Hol-
land, Belgium, France, Italy, and England, and in 1891 he spent
three months in Iceland and the Faroe Islands. He spent several
months at the Ecole des Chartes in Paris, studying paleography and
the Komance languages, and he also engaged in researches at the
Bibliotheque Rationale in Paris and at the British Museum in Lon-
don on the manuscript sources of early English romances.
In 1890 Dr. Mead returned to the United States and was ap-
pointed associate professor of the English language in Wesleyan Uni-
versity, in 1893 he became professor of that subject and he still holds
the chair. He has spent most of the summer vacations during his
professorship in Middletown in travel in this country and in Europe,
and has made three interesting cycling tours in England and France.
During the summer quarter of 1903 he conducted courses in Middle
English at the University of Chicago, and also delivered several
public lectures before that university. In 1904 he spent seven months
traveling in Spain, Sicily, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. From
1897 to 1903 he was secretary of the pedagogical section of the
Modem Language Association of America, and in 1906 he became
secretary and treasurer of the American Dialect Society.
William Edward Mead is the author of the following works:
Selections from Malory's Morte D'arthur, The Squyr of Lowe Degre,
Versification of Pope in Its Eelation to the Seventeenth Century
(his Leipzig thesis). Elementary Composition and Rhetoric, Lan-
guage Lessons (with W. F. Gordy), Grammar Lessons (also with W.
F. Gordy), and outlines of the History of the Legend of Merlin. He
has also made many noteworthy contributions to literary magazines
and philological journals. He is a member of the college fraternities,
Phi Beta Kappa and Psi Upsilon and of the University and Conver-
sational Clubs of Middletown. He usually votes the Republican
ticket, and his religious connections are with the Methodist Episcopal
Church. He spends more time in physical recreation than most men
do, and particularly enjoys walking and bicycling. Mrs. Mead, whom
he married in June, 1893, was Kate Campbell Hurd. They have no
children.
WILLIAM EDWARD MEAD. 265
The advice of a scholar of such high rank as Dr. William E.
Mead is well worth heeding, because his own life proves the practical
value of that advice and proclaims him a striking embodiment of
the principles he suggests. In his opinion " the average young Ameri-
can must rid himself of the notion that he is entitled to have some-
thing for nothing, and that he need not exert himself to master what-
ever subject he undertakes to treat. This is, in the scholarly world at
least, increasingly true.'*
GEORGE HARE FORD
FORD, GENERAL GEORGE HARE, one of New Haven's
prominent merchants and business men, a man of influence
in many departments of the corporate life of that city, a mem-
ber and director of many incorporated institutions, ex-president of
the Chamber of Commerce in New Haven, a prominent club member,
and president of the Ford Company and the Grilley Company, was
bom in Milford, Connecticut, in 1848. He is of pure New England
stock on both branches of his ancestral tree and is in direct line of
descent from the founders of Massachusetts Bay and New Haven
Colonies, one of whom, Thomas Ford, St., came to New England's
shores in the ship " Mary and John " in 1632 and was a member of
the Massachusetts Bay Colony, settling first in Dorchester, Massa-
chusetts, later being one of the original settlers of Windsor in 1633
and a deputy under Governor Haynes. His son, Thomas Ford, Jr.,
was one of the original founders of the town of Milford, where he
settled in 1639. On his mother's side General Ford is a direct de-
scendant of Thomas Tibbals, who came to New England on the " True
Love " in 1635 and won honor and renown for his invaluable services
rendered the brave Captain John Mason in the Pequot War, for which
he was honored with a special grant of land from the Colony in what
is now the town of Milford. The General's father was Merritt Ford,
who died in 1888.
After receiving a good education at the Milford High School
George Hare Ford began his business career with one of the most
noted old-time merchants in New Haven, Deacon Everard Benjamin,
a man distinguished for the purity and excellence of his personal
character, and under whose guidance he quickly developed his natural
business capacity, foresight, tact, and enterprise, and soon won for
himself a high place in the mercantile life of New Haven. In 1865
he was honored with an election to membership in the New Haven
Grays, and in 1871 he was appointed commissary-general of the
GEORGE HAKE FORD 269
state on the stail of the late Governor Bigelow. He is now president
of the Ford Company, president of the Grilley Company, a director
in the Merchant's National Bank, a trustee of the New Haven Orphan
Asylum and a trustee of the New Haven Yacht Club. For three
years, in 1896, 1897, and 1898, General Ford was president of the
New Haven Chamber of Commerce, the oldest Chamber of Commerce
but one in the United States, and as head of this important and his-
toric civic body he gave freely to the duties of that office his cus-
tomary energy and executive talent, the result being that during his
administration the membership of the Chamber was increased from
three hundred and fifty to five himdred and fifty. Under his active
leadership many important public improvements were achieved, and
one of the most noteworthy was the securing of a survey of New
Haven Harbor and an appropriation of $345,000 from Congress for
the improvement of that harbor. General Ford is an ex-president of
General David Humphrey's Branch of the Connecticut Society of
Sons of the American Revolution, a hereditary member of the Society
of Colonial Wars, and an ex-president of both the Ansantawae and
Quinnipiack Clubs of New Haven, having been president of the latter
club for seven years.
In 1871 General Ford married Mary A. Lewis, daughter of the
late Hon. John C. Lewis of Terryville, speaker of the Connecticut
House of Representatives in 1849, and she died in April, 1900. Late
in 1901 General Ford was married a second time in Lucerne, Switzer-
land, to Madame Ruth Leonard Lauranius, a native of Maryland, but
a resident of Rome, Italy, for twenty-five years. General and Mrs.
Ford spend a part of each year at her former home in Rome. He is
a great lover of travel and has crossed the Atlantic thirty times and
acquired great familiarity with foreign lands. He is greatly in-
terested in historical subjects and has contributed historical articles
to various magazines, besides having made a number of public ad-
dresses on historical subjects before important social bodies in Con-
necticut. His love of history is akin to his intense and unwearying
public spirit, which makes him an ardent promoter of civic and pub-
lic welfare. He is an indefatigable and systematic worker, persistent
in whatever he undertakes, and this quality coupled with his great
executive ability and honorable business principles enables him to
270 GEORGE HARE FORD
transact a vast amount of business and fill many positions of trust
with comparative ease. In politics he is a staunch Republican, yet
deferential to the views of others. His interest in helping young
men, his warm loyalty to his friends, and his many admirable quali-
ties of mind and heart have won for him the staunchest friendship
and the warmest regard of his fellow citizens.
WILLIAM LYON PHELPS
PHELPS, WILLIAM LYON", M.A., Ph.D., Lampson, professor
of English literature in Yale University, is one of the family
of Phelps of which the American progenitor was William
Phelps, who came from England and settled in Windsor, Conn., in 1638.
He also is a lineal descendant of Theophilus Eaton of New Haven,
governor of Connecticut.
His father was the Eev. Sylvanus Dryden Phelps, D.D., a Baptist
clergyman, editor of the " Christian Secretary,'* and a poet whose vol-
umes of verse are well known; his mother was Sophia Emilia (Linds-
ley) Phelps. He was born in New Haven on January 2d, 1865, and
from earliest childhood has lived in a literary atmosphere and has been
encouraged in his scholarly ambitions. His mother's precepts and ex-
ample assisted greatly in the development of the spiritual side of
his life, and of the influences upon his career, in order of relative
strength, he gives : " Home, private study, contact with men, school."
The books which he believes have been most helpful to him are the
Bible, Froude's " Life of Carlyle," Goethe's writings, and Shakes-
peare.
It was his good fortune to prepare for college at the Hartford
Public High School, where he was graduated in 1883. Entering
Yale that fall, he found and improved every opportunity to make
himself better acquainted with the best poets, authors, and historians,
graduating with the class of 1887. And after college he continued his
pursuit of knowledge, taking a two-years' graduate course and winning
the degree of Ph.D. at Yale after he had spent a year as instructor in
English at Westminster School, at Dobbs Ferry, New York. At Har-
vard, in 1891, he earned the degree of M.A.
In 1892 he was appointed an instructor in English literature at
Yale, and in 1901 he was selected to fill the chair of Lampson professor
of English, his present position. But his activities are not confined to
class-room work. His services are in constant demand as a lecturer
on literary topics in various cities.
271
272 WILLIAM LYON PHELPS.
Nor yet is this the limit of his interests. His native enthusiasm
and earnestness of purpose lead him to enlist the best that is within
him in whatever appeals to his faculties. In Michigan, he was a dele-
gate to the Eepublican convention in 1896, and that year he addressed
many political meetings in that State in behalf of McKinley's can-
didacy for the presidency. Fond of music, he is president of the New
Haven Choral Union, and thoughtful of the material as well as of the
mental welfare of the college men, he is president of the Yale Co-
operative Corporation, one of the most beneficent of institutions and
one, furthermore, which requires of its president a good measure of
business tact. He was a member of Psi Upsilon in college and be-
longs to the Yale Club, New York, and to the Graduates' Club, the
Lawn Club, and the Coimtry Club in New Haven. In politics he is
a Republican, and in religion a Baptist. His chief recreation he finds
in golf, tennis, baseball and shooting.
Professor Phelps' publications include : " The Beginnings of the
English Romantic Movement" (1893), and "The Permanent Con-
tribution of the Nineteenth Century to English Literature" (1901),
while he has edited " Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas
Gray" (1894), Irving's "Tales of a Traveler" (1894), Irving's
"Sketch Book" (1895), "The Best Plays of Chapman" (1895),
Shakespeare's " As You Like It" (1896), the novels of Samuel Rich-
ardson (twenty volumes, 1902-3), Thackeray's "Henry Esmond"
(1902), Jane Austen's novels (1906), and Stevenson's Essays (1906)
— these in addition to frequent contributions to periodicals.
He married Miss Annabel Hubbard of Huron City, Michigan,
on December 21st, 1892. Their home is at No. 44 High street. New
Haven.
As elements for success and for higher ideals among American
youth he names : " Energy and enthusiasm, coupled with modesty and
a sense of humor."
■<^^^^ / ^i5U/ 02^
SETH JACOB HALL
HALL, SETH JACOB, a prominent business man of Meriden,
Connecticut, was bom in Middletown, Middlesex County,
Connecticut, September 4th, 1839. He is descended from
John Hall, who was born in England in 1605, and came to Hartford
probably with the Kev. Thomas Hooker, and was one of the founders
of Wallingford, Connecticut. Comfort Hall, Mr. Hall's grandfather,
owned extensive farm lands in Middletown, and was one of the early
and most zealous Methodists. Mr. Hall's father was Sylvester Hall,
a farmer and school teacher whose chief characteristics were intelli-
gence, honesty, and industry. He filled various offices in Middletown
being selectman, assessor, and captain of the Fourth Regiment of
Cavalry in the militia of the State of Connecticut. Mr. Hall's mother
was Rosetta Johnson, whom he remembers as " a good Christian
mother."
Mr. Hall passed his youth in the country at work on his father's
farm. He was educated in the district school and later, for a few
months, at a private school. He studied at home after that and fitted
himself to be a district school teacher. A friend's advice encouraged
him to prepare himself for teaching and, though he was his ovni
school of pedagogy, he taught with great success for nine consecutive
winters in the vicinity of Middletovm. In 1857 he entered the employ
of a hardware firm in Meriden, teaching during the dull periods of
business. In 1861 he started there in the flour business, and later
the coal and feed business was added, which he has followed ever
since with great success. On October 14th, 1860, Mr. Hall married
Lois Blakeslee. Eive children have been born to them, four of whom
are now living,
A lifelong Democrat, Mr. Hall has received many honors from
his fellow townsmen. His service to this city has been as efficient
as it has been extensive. He has been councilman, alderman,
town treasurer, selectman, and member of the board of relief. He
has also served on the board of apportionment and taxation since
275
276 BETH JACOB HALL.
1897. He has been trustee and treasurer of the State Keform School,
and is at present trustee, incorporator, and treasurer of the Meriden
Hospital, and also treasurer and trustee of the Y. M. C. A., and a
member of the building committee. He has been for many years a
member of the board of appraisal of the City Savings Bank of
Meriden, and vice-president and director of the Meriden National
Bank. He was president and treasurer of the Meriden & Middletown
Turnpike Company, which is not in existence at the present time.
From 1891 to 1895 Mr, Hall was state senator from the sixth district.
Mr. Hall has taken an active interest in religious and educational
matters. He is a Baptist and was for sixteen years a deacon in the
First Baptist Church of Meriden, of which church he has also been
a trustee. He is vice-president and trustee of the Baptist Seaside
Eesort Association at Niantic, Connecticut,
Mr. Hall has won success as a teacher and as a business man
through dependence upon his own resources. He has overcome many
discouragements through his worthy resolution "to take hold and
never let go.''
JOSEPH HOPKINS TWICHELL
TWICHELL, EEV. JOSEPH HOPKINS, M.A., pastor of the
Asylum Hill Congregational Church of Hartford, Connecticut,
fellow of Yale University, scholar and writer, was bom in
Southington, Hartford County, Connecticut, May 27th, 1838. He
is a descendant of Joseph Twichell, a member of Thomas Hooker's his-
toric band, who was made a freeman of the Massachusetts Colony in
1634. Mr. Twichell's father was Edward Twichell, a manufacturer of
Southington, where he was deacon in the Congregational Church and
greatly honored for his industry, integrity and piety. His wife, Mr.
Twichell's mother, was Selina Delight Carter who died when her son
was a young lad,
A vigorous, active country boy, Joseph Twichell spent many hours
of his early life at work in his father's factory and fields. He was,
however, able to secure a thorough education, for which he laid the
foundation at Lewis Academy, Southington. He entered Yale with
the class of 1859 and was graduated in due time with the degree of
B.A. His ambition was to be a minister of the Gospel, and as soon as
he completed his academic education he entered Union Theological
Seminary, where he studied for two years.
The desire to serve his country and to work for his Master opened
but one course of action to Joseph Twichell's mind at the outbreak of
the Civil War and on April 25th, 1861, he became chaplain of the
71st Kegiment, New York State Volunteers. This was his first work
as a minister of the Gospel and he continued in this ministry until
the muster out of his regiment July 30th, 1864. He then entered An-
dover Seminary, there finishing his theological course, and on Decem-
ber 13th, 1865, was installed pastor of the Asylum Hill Congregational
Church of Hartford, Connecticut, of which he has been pastor ever
since that date and a leader in the religious and intellectual life in
his city.
The chief interests of Mr, Twichell's life outside of his imme-
diate pastoral cares have been of an intellectual nature. He is well
277
278 JOSEPH HOPKINS TWITOHELL.
known as the author of " John Winthrop," published in 1891,
of the "Makers of America " series and as editor of *' Some Old
Puritan Love Letters/' published in 1893. He is a prominent
member of the " Monday Evening Club " of Hartford and is greatly
interested in all movements for the social and moral betterment of
his city. He is identified with the Republican party in politics and
takes a very keen interest in matters of State. His only fraternal
connections are with the college societies Psi Upsilon and Scroll and
Key, both of Yala When in college he pulled an oar on the Yale
crew of 1889, and he has always been actively interested in outdoor
life. His part in the history of Yale has not been confined to prom-
inence as a student and an alumnus, for since 1874 he has been a
fellow of the University.
Mr. Twichell's home is at 125 Woodland street, Hartford, and
his family consists of a wife and nine children. Mrs. Twichell, whom
he married on November 1st, 1865, was Julia Harmony Cushman of
Orange, New Jersey.
For over forty years Mr. Twichell has given the ripe fruits and the
untiring efforts of an earnest soul, an able mind and a vigorous con-
stitution heartily and solely to the Christian ministry in one parish.
His church has grown and prospered in numbers and increased "in
faith and works" and his has been the chief inspiration and his
the greatest work in bringing about this growth and development.
THEODORE SALISBURY WOOLSEY
WOOLSEY, THEODORE SALISBURY, LL.D., professor of
International Law at Yale University since 1879, is the
elder son of Theodore Dwight Woolsey, the eminent Greek
scholar and professor, and for many years the beloved and honored
president of Yale College. The direct ancestor of the Woolsey family
in America was George Woolsey, who came from England to Massa-
chusetts in 1623, and thence removed to Albany, New York, and later
to New Amsterdam, New York, and finally to Flushing, Long Island.
Professor Woolsey's ancestry also includes Jonathan Edwards, the
Rev. Thomas Hooker, who founded Hartford and was instrumental in
framing the world's first written constitution, Judge Edmund Quincy,
James Pierpont, Chief Justice Smith, and Thomas Willet of New
York. His mother, Elizabeth Martha Salisbury Woolsey of Boston,
died while he was an infant.
Professor Woolsey was born in New Haven on October 22d, 1862.
In childhood he was not strong physically. He delighted in sports,
however, and in those romantic pastimes which children of active
mentality devise. With every facility to cultivate his taste for the
best reading, his mind turned chiefly to history and law, and at an
early age the abstruse problems of international law, in the solving of
which his father had no superior, possessed a decided fascination for
him. By systematic exercise and attention to athletics he built up his
physical strength and has preserved it ever since.
His preparatory course completed in the Hopkins Grammar
School in New Haven, he entered Yale in 1867 and was graduated in
the class of 1872 with the degree of B.A., to which was added that of
M.A. in 1877. In college he was a member of the Psi Upsilon fra-
ternity and of Skull and Bones, After graduation, he followed the
bent of his mind and attended the Yale Law School, where he was
graduated in 1876 with the degree of LL.B. The winter of 1874-5 he
spent at the University of Leipzig, attending a course of lectiures on
the Roman law, but he did not matriculate. In 1903, Brown Uni-
14 279
280 THEODOEE SALISBURY WOOLSET.
versity gave him the degree of LL.D. Throughout his life he has de-
voted much of his time to private study and in that is one of the main
elements of his success.
Following his graduation from the Yale Law School, he was ap-
pointed instructor in public law in the University. That was in 1877.
Two years later, in 1879, he received the appointment to his present
position, that of professor in international law. Aside from class-room
and lecture work, he is a conspicuous figure in public affairs, through his
writings on topics relative to international law in various magazines
and journals, and has become a leading authority when mooted points
arise. In addition he has edited " Woolse/s International Law,"
sixth edition, and " Pomeroy^s International Law," and wrote the
articles on international law in Johnson's Cyclopedia, new edition.
With it all he has found time to interest himself in the affairs of
his own community, where he was park commissioner for two years
and where he has served three years as a member of the court of com-
mon council. His politics are Eepublican, though he supported Cleve-
land in both of his administrations. Also, his judgment is highly es-
teemed in business circles, and he is a director of the New Haven
National Bank.
He has served as president of the Graduates' Club of New Haven
and as governor of the Society of Colonial Wars of Connecticut, Other
organizations in which he holds membership are the Century Associa-
tion and the University Club of New York City, the University Club
of Boston, and the Country Club of New Haven, He is a member of
the Church of Christ in Yale College, Congregational. His favorite
pastimes are deer-stalking and golf. He has traveled extensively in
Europe.
On December 22d, 1877, he married Miss Annie Gardner Salis-
bury. Two sons have been bom to them, both of whom are living.
The professor's residence is at No. 250 Church street. New Haven.
Asked for his opinion, from his own observation and experience,
as to the principles, methods, and habits of young men which will con-
duce most to the strengthening of sound ideals in our American life,
the professor replied, " I believe what we need is a higher standard of
honor in our business and political life."
EDWARD MILLER
MILLEK, EDWARD, founder and president of one of the most
important manufacturing concerns of Meriden, Connecticut,
known as Edward Miller & Company, was bom August 10th,
1827, in Wallingford, Connecticut, the son of Joel and Clarissa
(Plum) Miller. His ancestry is traceable through eight generations
to John Miller, who emigrated from Maidstone, Kent County, Eng-
land, to Lynn, Massachusetts, removing thence to South Hampton,
Long Island, about 1649. Jacob Miller, an ancestor in the fifth
generation, ran a whaleboat during the Eevolutionary War and was
the father of the Rev. Thomas Miller, a preacher in Long Island, and
of the Rev. Samuel Miller, Mr. Edward Miller's grandfather, who
was a minister in Wallingford for twenty-six years.
When Mr. Miller was but two years old the family removed to
Canastota, New York, where they lived eight years, then came back
to Connecticut and settled on a farm which included the land through
which Broad Street now runs and the present home of Mr. Miller
in Meriden. The busy life of a farmer's boy left small opportunity
to attend school, but he made the best use possible of the common
schools of the district and of Post's Academy in Meriden, a school,
however, which left its impress on some of Meriden's leading men.
At fifteen he found employment in a factory making lamp screws,
hoops, and candlestick springs, and after continuing at this work
for several years he resolved to be a manufacturer himself, and the
outcome of this resolution was the similar concern called Joel Miller
& Son, in which he and his father began business in a small way. The
son's thorough knowledge of his trade and determination to succeed
won rapid results, and when Edward Miller was but twenty years old
he bought up his father's interest and his own legal time up to his
majority, giving his notes for $800.00 in payment. He managed
the business so well that he paid his notes out of the profits in one
year. This evidence of his business ability gave a promise of
achievement that has been well fulfilled, for, though the business has
met with loss by fire and financial panic, he has made it prosper and
develop with exceptional rapidity.
Ever on the alert to improve his products and increase the capacity
of the business Mr. Miller has done much to advance the manufacture
of brass goods. He was the first manufacturer in America to make
283
284 EDWAKD MILLEB
and market the "Vienna Kerosene Burner," which at that time used
oil distilled from coal, and this innovation was so successful that the
factory equipment was taxed beyond its capacity, not only manufactur-
ing the kerosene burner, but a great variety of other brass goods. In
1866 Mr. Miller formed a joint stock company with several capital-
ists under the corporate name of Edward Miller & Company and
Edward Miller was elected president and has served as such ever
since. The concern continued to grow steadily and to manufacture
goods exceptional for their excellent quality and artistic designs,
until to-day their goods are sold in all the markets of the world. In
1884 the company began to manufacture the valuable "Rochester
Lamp," and when competitors began to imitate it Mr. Miller devised
the "Miller Lamp," on a scientific basis, and the best and simplest
device on the market. This is one of many original devices and
improvements for which he has patents.
Building and perfecting his business has practically absorbed Mr.
Miller's life. He has never taken any of the political honors that
have been offered him, and his only public service has been a twelve
years' membership in the city council. In early life he was identified
with the Democratic party, but since the organization of the
Republican party he has been an ardent supporter of its principles.
One of his chief interests outside of those of business and home is
in the Broad Street Baptist Church, Meriden, of which he is an
active member, a generous supporter, and a member of the board
of managers. In 1869 he presented the church with an excellent pipe
organ. He is greatly interested in the Young Men's Christian Asso-
ciation and the Connecticut Literary Institute at Suffield, to both of
which he has made substantial gifts. Until recent 3'ears Mr. Miller
has enjoyed outdoor sports, fishing and hunting having been his
favorite ones.
On August 30th, 1848, Mr. Miller married Caroline M, Neal of
Southington, Connecticut. Five children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Miller, three of whom survive, one daughter and two sons. Ed-
ward Miller, Jr., is secretary and treasurer and Arthur E. Miller is
superintendent of the company. The daughter. Layette A., is now
Mrs. Charles G. Kendrick.
To remember that Mr. Miller has spent sixty years in developing
so highly the business that he chose for his life work is to realize
the consistency and the value of his advice to others, which is, "What-
ever you undertake as a life work, do it thoroughly and stick to it."
FRANK CHAMBERLIN PORTER
POETEE, PEOFESSOE FEANK CHAMBEELIN, D.D., of
Yale Divinity School, inherits his fondness for biblical lore
and no little of his talent from a long line of distinguished an-
cestors, men whose names are immortal in theology in America.
Among them are Jonathan Edwards, James Pierpont, one of the
clergymen who contributed their books toward the foimding of Yale
College at Saybrook, and Thomas Hooker, the divine who founded
Hartford and inspired the world's first written constitution. Others
who were conspicuous in New England's early history were Judge
Edward Quincy and Josiah Quincy of Boston. The first of the family
name in this country was John Porter, who emigrated from England
about 1637 and who settled in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1638.
Professor Porter, who was born in Beloit, Eock County, Wis., on
January 5th, 1859, is the son of William Porter and Ellen Chapin
Porter. William Porter has been Professor of Latin at Beloit College
since 1852; though emeritus, he is still teaching, at the age of
eighty-five. The son, healthy and strong, was heartily encouraged in
his pursuit of learning, yet, while a child, by being set at odd Jobs
about the house and garden, he was taught to respect the simple,
daily tasks of the household. His mother's watchful care and kindly
words of counsel produced a lasting impression on his spiritual and
moral character. The youth's preferences in reading were philo-
sophical works in college, and biblical study, historical in nature, in
the divinity school. He says he owes much to Lotze's " Microcosmus "
and to the historical writings of Wellhausen and Harnack.
Preparing at Beloit Academy, he entered Beloit College, where,
as valedictorian of his class, he was graduated in 1880, and received
the degree of M.A. in 1883. He was at the Chicago Congregational
Seminary in 1881-1882, at the Hartford Theological Seminary in
1884-1885, and at the Yale Divinity School in 1885-1886, where he
received his degree of B.D. For work from 1886 to 1889 at Yale, he
285
286 FRANK CHAMBERLIKT PORTER.
was awarded the degree of Ph.D. Beloit honored him with the degree
of D.D. in 1897.
His first work was as a teacher for two years in the High School
in Chicago, 1882-1884:. Immediately on completion of his graduate
course at Yale, he was appointed instructor in Biblical Theology, in
1889, and two years later was chosen to the Winkley professorship of
Biblical Theology, which position he now holds.
In following his natural choice of a profession, he had been
favored by wise council at home and by capable teachers in leading in-
stitutions. Fruit of his ripe scholarship appears in his class work
and also in his writings, which embrace articles on the Apocrypha
and the Book of Revelation in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible,
and " Messages of the Apocalyptical Writers," published in 1905. He
has in preparation books on " The Spirit of God and the Word of
God in Modem Theology " and on " The Contemporary History of the
New Testament," in Scribner's series of International Theological
Text-books.
In religion he is a Congregationalist, in politics a Republican.
He is fond of wheeling and is systematic in his physical exercise.
His wife is Delia W. Lyman, daughter of Professor C. S. Lyman of
Yale, and they have two sons. Their home is at No. 266 Bradley
street, New Haven.
In reply to a query Professor Porter says : " My observation leads
me to think that young Americans sometimes put too much de-
pendence on self-confidence and self-assertion, and do not set out by
hard work to make themselves the best equipped and most competent
men in their chosen occupation, and hence, as experts, of indispensable
value to society."
FRANCIS ATWATER
ATWATER, FKANCIS, printer, author and publisher, of Meri-
den, Connecticut, was born in Plymouth, Litchfield County,
Connecticut, December 3d, 1858. On his father's side Mr.
Atwater is descended from David Atwater, one of the first settlers of
New Haven, and on his mother's side from Benjamin Fenn, the first
magistrate of New Haven, both of these ancestors coming from Eng-
land.
Mr. Atwater's father was Henry Atwater, a contracting mason,
who was justice of peace, tax collector, in fact the " Village Squire "
of Plymouth, his native village. He was an honest and upright man
who meted out justice with a firm and exact hand. He died when
Mr. Atwater was but six years old. Mr. Atwater's mother was
Catherine Fenn, and as she died before her husband, Mr. Atwater's
parental influence was confined to his earliest youth. Put under
guardianship, young Mr. Atwater went to school for three years, and
was then put on a farm to earn his living. His work was hard and
the hours long, broken by meagre bits of schooling in the winter
months. He found time for considerable reading, and was par-
ticularly interested in historical works. Mr. Atwater began his life
work as a " printer's devil " in Meriden, Connecticut. Though the
hours were long and the duties manifold and lowly, the work was
congenial and his progress rapid. Soon after he became thoroughly
settled as a newspaper man, his health broke down and was very poor
for twenty years, handicapping but not defeating his plans and am-
bitions.
In 1877 he founded the Windemere Weekly Forum at Walling-
ford, Connecticut; in 1879 he became assistant foreman of the Hart-
ford Courant; the following year he founded the Meriden Sunday
New^s; in 1881 he became editor of the "Sentinel" in Red Bluff,
California, whither he had gone for his health. In 1883 he became
owner of a job printing plant in Meriden. Three years later he
founded the Meriden Daily Journal, and became president of the
290 FRANCIS ATWATER.
Journal Publishing Company of Meriden, He organized and became
president of the Meriden, Southington and Compounce Tramway
Company. In 1899 he was in charge of the Red Cross Cuban recon-
centrado asylimis. While in Cuba he published the first of all
American daily newspapers ever printed on the Island. This is one
of many of Mr. Atwater's original enterprises. He was from 1897 to
1904, president of the Meriden Board of Trade, which he was in-
strumental in organizing.
Mr. Atwater was at one time owner of the New Britain Daily
News, and the Waterbury Republican and is now owner of the T. H.
Hubbard Paper Company of Boston. Besides these enterprises he
is tlie author of the History of Plymouth, Connecticut, of the History
of Kent, Connecticut, and of the Atwater History and Genealogy.
He is a member of the American Publishers Association and of the
National Typothetae. In 1904 he was candidate on the democratic
ticket for state senator from the thirteenth district. In 1903 Mr.
Atwater was made business manager of the American National Red
Cross, having been previously identified with the association, at the
request of Clara aBrton.
In 1879 Mr. Atwater was married to Helena J. Sellew. Their
only child, a son, was drowned at the age of twenty.
WILLIAM CARVOSSO SHARPE
SHARPE, WILLIAM CARVOSSO, editor of the Record, Sey-
mour, is one of those local chroniclers and historians whose
patient work is most precious to the general historian as the
years go by. One of his ancestors, Thomas Sharpe, removed from
Boston to Brookhaven, L. I., in 1665. His grandson, Thomas Sharpe,
was one of the thirty-eight to whom the township of Newtown, Con-
necticut, was granted in 1706. Another Thomas Sharpe fought in
the Revolutionary War, grandson of the last-mentioned, and grand-
father of William C. Sharpe. One of his ancestors on his mother's
side also fought in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Sharpe's father
was Lugrand Sharpe of Seymour, a man of the highest integrity,
prominent in church and Sunday-school and public school work; his
mother, Olive M. (Booth) Sharpe, instilled into him the principles of
earnest, faithful, self-denying endeavor and devotion to duty.
Mr. Sharpe was bom October 3d, 1839, in Seymour. After
studying at the Glendenning Academy in that town he attended the
Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Massachusetts. For ten years he
was a teacher in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Penn-
sylvania, closing this work as principal of the school in East Derby,
Connecticut. He gave up teaching to go into the printing business
and journalism. His job office he opened in his native town in 1868
and launched the Record in 1871. The paper, frank, honest, and
always reliable, is welcomed weekly in nearly every household in that
section of the state, and its influence is always for good.
An indefatigable worker, Mr. Sharpe has found time to write the
"History of Seymour," 1879; "Sharpe Genealogy," 1880; "Dart,
Washburn, and Chatfield Genealogies," " Annals of Seymour Metho-
dist Episcopal Church," 1885; "South Britain Records and
Sketches," 1898; "Vital Statistics of Seymour"; the larger part
of "Seymour Past and Present," 1903, and Part 1, "History of
Oxford," and other similar works. He is earnest in his church duties,
having been Sunday-school superintendent and clerk of the Con-
291
292 WILLIAM CARVOSSO SHARPE.
gregational Church since 1893. Also he has been prominent in fra-
ternity circles. He is past grand master of the Temple of Honor
of Connecticut, past chancellor of Knights of Pythias, past W. C. of
the Temple of Honor, past T. I. M. of Union Council, E. & S. M.
of Derby, and past W. P. of Olive Chapter, Order of the Eastern
Star. He belongs also to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
to the Order of Eed Men, and is a member of New Haven Com-
mandery. Knights Templar. In politics he is a strong Eepublican.
Active in ever}' worthy project, he displays particular interest in the
public schools, and he was one of those who were eflBcient in securing
for the town its fine high school building, also the public library and
the soldier's monument. He has been a member of the board of
education for a number of years and a director of the public library
since 1893. He makes a careful study of the publishing business
and is a valued member of the Connecticut Editorial Association, in
which he has served a term as president.
He married Miss Vinie Amanda Lewis on October 8th, 1865. They
have two children, Ernest C. Sharpe, an architect of Willimantic,
Connecticut, and Mrs. J. A. Parker of Oxford, Connecticut, both
of whom are living. There are four grandchildren, Archie, Cora, and
Victor Sharpe, and Ealph Sharpe Parker.
Mr. Sharpe has traveled extensively in his own country and in
Mexico. His home is at No. 8 Washington Avenue, Seymour.
>."/«»/.»( JBr^. Afy
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THOMAS DUDLEY BRADSTREET
BRADSTREET, THOMAS DUDLEY, manager and vice-pres-
ident of the Seth Thomas Clock Company of Thomaston, Con-
necticut, state senator, and former representative. Civil War
veteran, and prominent in patriotic and fraternal organizations, as
well as in business and political life, was born in Thomaston, Litchfield
Comity, Connecticut, August 1st, 1841. The first of his ancestors to
settle in America were Simon Bradstreet and his wife, Anne Dudley
Bradstreet, daughter of Governor Thomas Dudley, who came from
England in 1630 and settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Simon
Bradstreet is well known as the first secretary of the Massachusetts
Colony and as governor. He held public office by annual election for
more than sixty years, and his wife, Anne Dudley, was the first poetess
of America. On the maternal side Mr. Bradstreet is descended from
Seth Thomas, who founded the Seth Thomas Clock Company in 1813,
and was noted for his honesty in business and -private life. Mr. Brad-
street's father was Thomas J. Bradstreet, a Congregational clergyman
until 1840, when he gave up the ministry on account of ill health and
became superintendent of the cotton mill department of the Seth
Thomas Company, and later their commercial agent, until increased ill
health forced him to seek an out-of-door occupation and he lived a
farmer's life the rest of his days. He was selectman, a member of the
board of education for thirty-seven years, Sunday school superintend-
ent for twenty-five years, and state representative. He was a graduate
of Yale College, a clear thinker, a ready debater, and a man whose
character and integrity were above reproach, and whose interest in
youth and education was unbounded. Mr. Bradstreefs mother was
Amanda Thomas Bradstreet, a woman of noble character and strong
moral and spiritual influence.
It fell to the lot of Thomas Dudley Bradstreet to work early and
late on his father's farm, and this gave him the priceless endowment
of a good constitution and regular habits. He was a typical healthy
New England boy, educated in the common schools, and delighting
295
296 THOMAS DUDLEY BRADSTREET.
in base-ball, outdoor life, and the perusal of all sorts of books, with a
special love for history. At the time of the Civil War Mr. Bradstreet
served as first sergeant in Company D, 19th Regiment, Connecticut
Volunteers, from August, 1862, to March, 1863, when he was dis-
charged for " total disability." In 1873 he entered the employ of the
Seth Thomas Clock Company as a bench hand, and this was the initial
step in a life-long career as a manufacturer in connection with that
large and celebrated company. From a workman he was promoted to
secretary of the company, and he is now its manager and vice-pres-
ident. He is also president of the Thomaston Water Company and a
director in the Thomaston National Bank.
From the time Mr. Bradstreet became a voter he has been a loyal
Republican, and has been chosen for high honors by that party. In
1886 he was a member of the House of Representatives of Connecticut,
and in 1903 and in 1905 he was elected state senator. Senator Brad-
street has been as active in fraternal and social orders as in politics.
He is a Mason, a Knights Templar, a member of the Grand Army of
the Republic, of the Army and Navy Club of Connecticut, the New
England Society of New York, the Sons of the Revolution, of which he
was one of the board of managers, and of the Hartford Club. He is a
member of the Congregational church. What time he can spare from
his pressing business and legislative interests he enjoys in traveling.
In 1864 he married Sarah M. Perry, a daughter of Julius Perry, who
was a descendant of Commodore Oliver Perry. Of the two children
born of this union, Annie Dudley and Perry Thomas, Annie Dudley,
who married George A. Lemmon, is now living; Perry Thomas died
in 1874.
Thomas D. Bradstreet is a striking example of a highly successful
man who has carved his own fortune and won his own high place in
business, in public service, and in public esteem. A study of his
advice to others reveals his own character and the reasons for his suc-
cess better than anything else can. He counsels young men " to
cultivate honesty and truthfulness, to perform all work faithfully and
complete every task in a neat, workmanlike manner, striving to do a
little better than any other person, to be kind to the unfortunate, and
so live that you can see all mankind your friends."
JOSEPH LANE BARBOUR
BARBOUR, J0SP:PH LANE, one of the ablest lawyers in Con-
necticut and a well-known public speaker and politician of
Hartford, was born in Barkhamstead, Litchfield County, Con-
necticut, December 18th, 1846, the son of Heman Humphrey and
Frances Elizabeth (Merrill) Barbour. His father was a lawyer who
was at one time judge of probate for the district of Hartford and
was also State senator in Indiana. Heman Barbour was an honest,
energetic, and industrious man, and one of marked intellectual ability
as well.
Among the earliest ancestors of the family were: Peter Brown,
who came from England to Windsor, Connecticut, in 1635, Gov. John
Webster, who came from England to Hartford, in 1636, Elder Wil-
liam Goodwin, one of the Rev. Thomas Hooker's flock, and Gov.
William Leete, who came from England and settled in Guilford,
Connecticut, in 1643, and afterwards became Deputy Governor of
New Haven Colony. Thomas Dudley, another ancestor who came
from England in 1630, was Deputy Governor of Massachusetts Bay
Colony for thirteen years and governor of that colony for four years.
Still other ancestors, Capt. Thomas Bull and Lieutenant Samuel
Humphrey, served in the early Indian Wars, and Capt. John Brown
served in the Revolutionary War and remained in the service until
he died in 1876.
Most of Joseph L. Barbour's early days were spent in the city
and he was educated at the Hartford Public High School and Willis-
ton Seminary. His first work was school teaching and consisted of
a year's experience in Bloomfield, Connecticut, and another year at
Meriden, Connecticut. Then in 1867, he became interested in
journalism and worked as a reporter for the Hartford Post until
1874. He has since devoted himself to the study and practice of
law in Hartford.
In 1872, 1873, and 1874 Mr. Barbour was clerk of the Hartford
Common Council, from 1876 to 1883 he was prosecuting attorney of
297
298 JOSEPH LANE BABBODE.
the city of Hartford, from 1877 to 1878 he was clerk of the Connecti-
cut House of Kepresentatives, in 1879 he was clerk of the State
Senate, and in 1897 he was Speaker of the Connecticut House of Rep-
resentatives. He has always been a faithful and active Eepublican
and has served his party effectively as a campaign orator. Nor is this
the extent of his public services, for he uses his oratorical powers on
many public occasions and is a favorite Memorial Day orator. From
1866 to 1871 he was a member of the Connecticut National Guard
and served with credit.
In religious views Mr. Barbour unites with the Congregational
Church. He is a member of the Washington Commandery, Knights
Templar, and of other fraternal orders. His favorite amusements
are reading, traveling, and the theatre. His family consists of a
wife and three children, though five have been bom to Mr. and Mrs.
Barbour. Mrs. Barbour, whose maiden name was Anne J. Wood-
house, is a daughter of the late Oliver Woodhouse. The living chil-
dren are Miss Frances Barbour of Hartford ; Robert W. Barbour of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Florence A., now Mrs. Arthur Van
DeWater of New York City.
Joseph L. Barbour is well known throughout the State as a
successful lawyer, and the history of his practice is a record of many
distinguished cases won by his keenness, and the history of his life
as a public man is a record of many honors won by his loyalty, capacity
for leadership, and executive ability.
ALFRED W. CONVERSE
CONVEESE, ALFKED WOODS, banker, postmaster, and Civil
War veteran of Windsor Locks, Connecticut, was born in Staf-
ford, Tolland County, Connecticut, August 1st, 1835, the son
of Hannibal Alden Converse and Julia Ann (Ferry) Converse. He
is a descendant, in the ninth generation, of Deacon Edward Converse,
who came from England with Governor Winthrop and settled in
Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1630, and removed to Woburn, Massa-
chusetts, in 1640. Another of his ancestors was Major James Con-
verse, who made a bold defense against the Indians at Wells, Maine,
and a third ancestor, Jesse Converse, was a soldier in the Kevolution-
ary War. Mr, Converse's father, Hannibal Converse, was engaged
in the iron foundry business in Windsor Locks, where he was select-
man and a man of great influence and prominence. When he was a
citizen of Staiford he was town clerk and postmaster. His most con-
spicuous characteristic was devotion to business. Mr. Converse's
brother, Joseph H. Converse, was killed at Cold Harbor and the J. H.
Converse Post, No. 67, G. A. E., at Windsor Locks, is named after him.
Alfred Converse was brought up in a village by parents of simple
means, and he worked on a farm until he was sixteen years old, after
which he spent two years at the Wilbraham Academy and Monson
Academy. He was greatly interested in American history, particularly
that of the Eevolutionary period. He learned his father's trade in all
its branches and became foreman and then owner of the foundry in
Windsor Locks, the firm becoming, even before his father's death,
A. W. Converse & Company.
At the opening of the Civil War Mr. Converse enlisted and served
from September 5th, 1862, to August 26th, 1863. He was first ser-
geant, second lieutenant and then first lieutenant of Company C, 25th
Eegiment, Connecticut Volunteers, assigned to duty in the Gulf De-
partment. He was in every engagement in which his regiment took
part and was mustered out with a most honorable record, as his rapid
promotions testify. Upon his return to business he took a still greater
299
300 ALFRED W. CONVERSE.
interest in the firm, which he maintained until 1891, when he sold out
to E, Horton & Company, since when he has been engaged in insur-
ance, banking, and the filling of public offices. In 1867 he was given
the offices of town clerk, registrar, and treasurer, which he held for
fifteen years. Since 1871 he has been treasurer of the Windsor Locks
Savings Bank. He has been postmaster continuously since 1868, a
period of twenty-nine years, with the exception of the two terms of
Cleveland's administration. In 1897 he was representative to the
General Assembly. As postmaster of his town he has greatly in-
creased the efficiency of the office and has furthered public conven-
ience by planning and bringing about the building of the fine post-
office building, built in 1903.
Another great service that Mr. Converse has done for his fel-
low townsmen is the compilation of very complete, interesting, and
accurate historical facts and statistics into a manuscript called " Wind-
sor Locks in the War of the Rebellion." The record is a very valuable
one and has involved indefatigable labor. In spite of his many busi-
ness cares and interests Mr. Converse has found time for this work
and for many other interests. He is a member of many fraternal,
military, and social orders, being a Mason and a Shriner, a member of
the Grand Army, the Army and Navy Club, the Society of the 19th
Army Corps, and the Society of the Army of the Potomac. He was
the first secretary of Blue Lodge, has been commander of the J. H.
Converse Post, G. A. R., for seven years, senior vice-commander of
the Department of Connecticut and chief Mustering Officer, Depart-
ment of Connecticut. He has always been a Republican in politics
and a Congregationalist in religious belief. He is a member of the
Connecticut Historical Society. When a younger man he found the
greatest enjoyment in base-ball, and walking is now his favorite relaxa-
tion. His home is at Windsor Locks. Mrs. Converse was Julia
Orcutt, whom he married in 1857, and by whom he has had four
children, two of whom are still living : Ida G. Converse and M3T*tie B.
(Converse) Elson.
The experience of a long, busy and fruitful life adds force to the
advice which Mr. Converse gives that others may be helped in the
strife for success. He says, " Neither drink, cbew nor smoke, learn a
trade and make yourself master of it in every detail, and worthy of
promotion."
JPVrhO-1,.^^ ^/l/Ayty^^>-1^4^
AMOS WHITNEY
WHITNEY, AMOS, ex-president of the Pratt and Whitney
Company of Hartford, Connecticut, and recognized as one
of the most competent machinists and one of the most
successful captains of industry in New England, was bom October
8th, 1833, at Biddeford, Maine, His father, Aaron Whitney, was
a machinist by trade and his mother was Eebecca Perkins. Mr.
Whitney's ancestors in America are traceable through eight genera-
tions to John Whitney, born in 1589, who emigrated from Isleworth-
on-the-Thames, to Watertown, Massachusetts, about 1635. His grand-
son, Jonathan Whitney, served in King Philip's War. Levi Whitney,
grandson of Jonathan, was an officer in the commissary department
with rank of lieutenant during the Eevolution. Many of Mr.
Whitney's ancestors were skillful mechanics and machinists and Eli
Whitney, the famous inventor of the cotton gin, was of the same
ancestral stock.
During Mr. Whitney's boyhood the family moved several times;
when he was eight they left Biddeford and moved to Saccarappa, and
three years later to Exeter, New Hampshire. Amos attended the
village schools in all three of these towns and that was the extent of
his education. At thirteen he was apprenticed to the machinist's trade
with the Essex Machine Company of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and
his apprenticeship lasted three years, at the end of which he served
his time as journeyman for one year.
In 1850 the family moved to Hartford and father and son
entered the employ of the Colt Fire Arms Company. Francis A.
Pratt, who afterwards became Mr. Whitney's lifelong partner, was
also employed at Colt's, and he and Mr. Whitney soon became con-
nected with the Phoenix Iron Works; Mr. Pratt as superintendent,
and Mr. Whitney as contractor. The two young men became intimate
and from this intimacy and their community of business interests
arose their ambition to set up in business together. They began
very humbly, in 1860, to make spoolers in a small shop outside their
15 303
304 AMOS WHITNEY.
regular business, and this was the beginning of the present gigantic
plant. In 1865 they purchased land and erected a building on the
present site. They steadily increased the floor space, number of
employees, eflSciency and amount of products until the concern oc-
cupied about five acres of floor space, employed over eleven hundred
hands and put on the market the greatest variety and the best quality
of machines of any concern in the world. In 1869 a joint stock com-
pany was formed. Mr. Whitney has been superintendent, vice pres-
ident and president of the company, and his hard work, steady
devotion, keen business ability and complete mechanical knowledge
have been vital forces in developing the enormous business. The
company has met with fire losses, financial panics, and every business
disaster, but its growth has been marvelous notwithstanding. Their
products are shipped all over the world and are used in several royal
armories.
Devotion to business and domestic tastes have held Mr. Whitney
aloof from political office holding and from club life. He has never
held public office, though he is a loyal and consistent Eepublican and
takes a keen and conscientious interest in public affairs. He has
traveled extensively for over thirty years in the interests of the
company and is known throughout the country as a mastei machinist.
He is a director in the Pratt and Cady Company, president of the
Gray Pay Station Telephone Company and treasurer of The Whitney
Manufacturing Company. He is a member of the Universalist
Society.
On the 8th of September, 1856, Mr. Whitney married Miss
Laura Johnson. Three children have been born to them, two of
whom, Nettie L. and Clarence E., are now living. The son is now
president and manager of the Whitney Manufacturing Company.
J
HOMER LEACH WANZER
WANZER, HOMER LEACH, farmer, man of prominence in
politics and the public affairs of Fairfield County, and
former state representative, was bom in New Fairfield,
Fairfield County, Connecticut, March 3d, 1850. He is of German an-
cestry and his first American ancestor was Abraham Wanzer, who
came from Hesse Castle, Germany, and became a leading citizen of
Fairfield County. He was commissioned by the General Assembly of
1744 to act as lieutenant of the company or trainband of the New
Fairfield South Society and served in the French War in America.
Mr. Wanzer's parents were Willis H. and Sarah Kellogg Wanzer, and
his father was a farmer who held many town offices, being selectman,
assessor, and state representative for three terms.
Though delicate in infancy, out-of-door life and healthful habits
made Homer Wanzer a healthy boy and a typical farmer's son.
Trapping and fishing were his favorite sports and farming the calling
which appealed to him most strongly for his own work in Hfe. He
attended the district school imtil he was sixteen years old, when he
entered a boarding school at Oswego Village, New York. He after-
ward took a course of study at the Chappaqua Mountain Institute in
Westchester, New York, which he completed in 1870.
As soon as he left school Mr. Wanzer went to work on the family
farm. His entire life has been spent in farming on a most extensive
and thorough plan, and his farm now consists of more than one hun-
dred and fifty acres of profitable land devoted to the raising of cattle,
tobacco, and general farm produce. Since his father's death in 1891
he has had entire management of this estate. He considers farming
the most independent and healthful of all occupations and enjoys the
life as a good farmer always does.
Mr. Wanzer has been a director of the New Milford Agricultural
Society for nearly thirty years and has been at different times presi-
dent and vice-president of that society. He was president of the old
Housatonic Agricultural Society for two years. He was also a mem-
305
B06 HOMER LEACH WA.NZER.
ber of the Lanesville Grange, No. 3, for a number of years, and a di-
rector in the Housatonic Valley Creamery Company.
In politics Homer L. Wanzer is an ardent and influential Demo-
crat, and he has had many public honors in the gift of party, town
and county. He was a member of the State Legislature in 1895 and
again in 1901 and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in
1903. He was selectman continuously for sixteen years and president
of the Town Board of Health at one time. In 1901 and 1903 he was
auditor of Fairfield County. His citizenship is based on the highest
ideals of honest, unselfish service and of zeal in the promotion of
public welfare.
On the eighth of October, 1878, Mr. Wanzer married Mary Alice
Giddings, who died in 1887, leaving one child, a daughter, now Mrs.
Knapp. Mr. Wanzer's present and life-long home is the old family
homestead at New Fairfield, built by his grandfather, John Wanzer,
in 1816, and the birthplace of three subsequent generations.
ARTEMAS ELIJAH HART
HART, ARTEMAS ELIJAH, secretary, treasurer, and trustee
of the largest savings bank in Connecticut, the Society for
Savings of Hartford, was born in New Britain, Connecticut,
June 20th, 1842. He is the son of Artemas Ensign Hart and Annie
Elizabeth Clark.
Mr. Hart is of English ancestry, traceable to Deacon Stephen
Hart of Braintree, Essex County, England, who emigrated to Cam-
bridge (then Newtown), Massachusetts, in 1632. There he became a
deacon in the Rev. Thomas Hooker's church, and joined him later
in his pastoral settlement of Hartford. This Stephen Hart was
prominent afterward in the religious, social, and political affairs of
Farmington, and was in 1635, one of the original proprietors of
Hartford. He then lived on the west side of the present Front
Street, and there is a tradition that the town was named from his
discovery of a good ford for crossing the Connecticut River at that
point, it being called " Hart's Ford ' and later Hartford. The third
son of this man, Thomas Hart of Farmington, and direct ancestor
of our subject, represented his town in the General Court twenty-
nine times from 1690 to 1706, and served on a committee to " return
thanks of the Court to the Rev. Samuel Hooker for his great * paynes ^
in preaching the Election Sermon." He and John Hooker were the
most important men of their town on account of their part not only
in town affairs, but in colonial history. Next in direct descent came
Deacon Thomas Hart, Deacon Elijah Hart, and Deacon Elijah Hart,
the second, all prominent in the church and town affairs of Kensing-
ton, Connecticut. Deacon Elijah Hart, the third, enlisted in the
Revolutionary Army, and was present at the surrender of Burgoyne.
His grandson, Mr. Artemas Hart's father, was bom in New Britain,
Connecticut, 1812, a jeweler by trade, and a devout Congregationalist
and respected citizen.
Artemas Hart's boyhood was spent in the country and in a
village. He was never idle, realizing early the value of an indus-
307
308 ABTEMAS ELUAH HAKT.
trions life. He worked at farming and helped his father at the
jeweler^s bench. His education began at the district school, was
continued at the New Britain High School, and finished at Edward
Hall's Boarding School in Ellington, Connecticut. He began his
work in life as clerk in a " combination " drug store and post-office
in Kockville, Connecticut, force of circumstances determining this
step.
In 1860 he came to Hartford, and became clerk in a dry-goods
store. Two years later he became the youngest clerk and general
utility boy in the bank of which he is now secretary and treasurer.
In 1865, he married Katherine A. 0. Litchfield. This event was
the source of his first strong impulse to strive for success in life.
Five children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Hart, of whom three
are now living.
Kising step by step, Mr. Hart now holds, beside his responsible
office in the " Pratt Street Bank," the position of director of the State
Bank of Hartford, and of the Eagle Lock Company of Terryville,
Connecticut. For many years he was clerk and treasurer of the Park
Ecclesiastical Society of Hartford, which position is indicative of
Mr. Hart's great interest in church matters. He is also greatly
interested in school affairs. In politics Mr. Hart is an Independent
voter. He is a member of the Hartford Club, of the Country Club
of Farmington, and of the Lamentian Club of Canada. His favorite
recreations are hunting and fishing.
Beginning at the lowest round of the ladder of banking business,
Mr. Hart has attained, through his own merits and industry, to his
present high position, and in this great success he exemplifies well
his own principle of seeking work and persisting in it.
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BUELL HEMINWAY
HEMINWAY, BUELL, manufacturer, banker, and president
and treasurer of the Heminway & Bartlett Silk Company
of Watertown, Litchfield County, Connecticut, was born
there April 20th, 1838. His father was Gen. Merrit Heminway, a
manufacturer and merchant, who established a large silk business
in Watertown, and was a prominent public man in his day, being
justice of peace, judge of probate, postmaster, church warden, and
a military man of high rank. He was a man of stem, upright char-
acter, and temperate in habits and disposition. Through his father
Buell Heminway is descended from Ralph Heminway, who came from
Yorkshire, England, to Roxbury, Massachusetts, as early as 1634.
Mr. Heminway's mother, Mary Ann Buell Heminway, was a woman
of admirable character and strong moral influence. On her side Mr.
Heminway traces his ancestry to William Buell, who came from
England to Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1630.
Business was Mr. Heminway's chief interest in his boyhood as
well as in his later life. He worked in his father's store and factor}'
before school hours and during vacations, and, at nineteen, after
finishing his education at the Watertown Academy, he began his
real work in life as his father's bookkeeper. This was in 1857, and
in that same year he became secretary of the company, which was
known as M. Heminway & Sons Silk Company. After his father's
death he organized the Heminway & Bartlett Silk Company, of which
Mr. Heminway became president and treasurer in 1888. The quality
of their goods is well known both in this country and abroad, and,
owing to the increasing demand, they have several times been obliged
to build additions to the factory. Besides the regular line of spool
silks they turn out all shades of art embroidery silk, and many special
orders for the manufacturing trade. In 1880 Mr. Heminway became
a vice-president of the Dime Savings Bank, and in 1890 he was made
a director in the Citizens' National Bank, of Waterbury. In addition
to these positions he has been for five years president of the Water-
311
312 BHELL HEMINWAT.
town Library Association, treasurer of the Watertown Water Com-
pany, and treasurer of the public school board for ten years.
Mr, Heminway is a most active and prominent churchman, hav-
ing been a vestryman of Christ Church (Episcopal) for twenty-five
years, treasurer of the parish for ten years, and trustee of the Parish
Fimd for six years. He is also a trustee of the Evergreen Cemetery
Association. In politics he is a Democrat, though he could not
stand by his party on the Bryan platform. He is a member of the
Waterbury Club and Home Club of Waterbury, and of the New Eng-
land Society of New York. His most ideal pleasure is found in
driving a good pair of horses and in traveling, both at home and
abroad. Mrs. Heminway, whom he married on the seventeenth of
January, 1866, was Julia M. Havens of Ogdensburg, New York.
Mrs. Heminway is a member of the Daughters of the American
Eevolution through Peleg Havens on her father's side and John
Allyn, who married Euth Bumhara, December 18th, 1760, on her
mother's side. Her maternal grandmother was the daughter of
Thomas Burnham of Herefordshire, England, who was a direct
descendant from Sir John Geers Bumham-Cotterell, Baronet.
The ruins of the old court built in the thirteenth century are still
standing, with the coat of arms carved in stone over the entrance.
Mr. and Mrs. Heminway have three children, Buell Havens, married
to Maud Willard of Brooklyn, New York, Mary Julia, wife of Paul
Klimple, and Helen Louise, who remains at home.
" Ambition, determination to succeed in business, honesty, and
temperate habits, but not to the extent of total abstinence," are the
essentials of true success according to Mr, Heminway's solution of the
problem. His advice is worthy, for he is a man who has made his
own way in the world and made it straight and firm, through the very
qualities which he advises others to cultivate.
EDWARD WASHBURN HOPKINS
HOPKINS, EDWAKD WASHBURN, Ph.D., LL.D., professor
of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology at Yale University,
distinguished Orientalist, and an authority on the history
of India, comes of a family that has been conspicuous in New Eng-
land annals. Originally, the family was from Wales. John Hopkins,
who emigrated from Coventry, England, was made a freeman in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1634; he is said by some to have been
the son of Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower party, and by others to
have been related to Edward Hopkins, governor of Connecticut. The
date of his arrival in this country was 1633.
Associated with the Eev. Thomas Hooker on his journey to
America, he traversed the wilderness with that sturdy divine and
statesman, and with him, in 1636, helped found Hartford, of which
town he was a selectman and a juror. His son, Stephen Hopkins,
was the builder of the first mill in what is now the great industrial
center, Waterbury. Stephen's son, John, in his turn, was among the
foremost men in the development of that community, serving on the
Committee of Public Safety and attaining the rank of lieutenant in
the militia. His son, the Eev. Samuel Hopkins of West Springfield,
married Jonathan Edwards' eldest sister, and their son, the Rev. Dr.
Samuel Hopkins of Hadley, Massachusetts, was one of the most learned
and forceful ministers and theologians of his time. John Hopkins
(third) acquired competency as a merchant in Massachusetts, His
son, Lewis Spring Hopkins, M.D., practiced as a physician in North-
ampton, Massachusetts, two years, traveled much in Europe, was a
deacon in Northampton, and in his later years was bank and school
trustee and chairman of the board of health in Bridgewater, Massachu-
setts. He was a man of scholarly attainment and literary ability, as
indicated by the fact that after the age of seventy he began a critical
translation of the New Testament.
Edward Washburn Hopkins, a twin son of Dr. Lewis Spring Hop-
kins, was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, September 8th, 1857.
»Hia tastes, by inheritance, were literary, and his special fondness was
313
314 EDWAED WASHBURN HOPKINS.
for the ancient classics and poetry and history. His mother's in-
fluence upon the moral side of his character was strong. After at-
tending the academy at Bridgewater, Massachusetts, he entered Colum-
bia College, where he was graduated with the class of 1878. Im-
mediately upon graduation he went abroad for three years' study in
Germany and France. From the year of his return, 1881, till 1885,
he was tutor in Latin and Zend at Columbia, whence he went to Bryn
Mawr College as professor of Greek and Sanskrit. He had held that
position ten years when he was honored by being called to succeed
Professor Whitney at Yale University, in the chair of Sanskrit and
Comparative Philology, where he now is recognized as one of the lead-
ing Orientalists of the day. At the end of his first year at Yale, he
took his family to Germany and himself spent the following year in
India, returning to New Haven in 1897. He received the degrees of
A.M. and Ph.D. at Leipzig University in 1881, and that of LL.D. at
Columbia in 1902.
Professor Hopkins is secretary of the American Oriental Society
and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, of the German Oriental So-
ciety, and of the American Philological Society. He is editor of the
" Journal of the American Oriental Society." His published works
include : " Caste in Ancient India," " Mann's Law Book," " Eeligions
of India," " The Great Epic of India," " India, Old and New," and
many essays on oriental and linguistic subjects.
In politics he is a Republican, but not partisan ; in religion he is
an Episcopalian. His amusement and recreation he gets from chess,
tennis, bicycling, and mountain-climbing.
He married Mary Sanger Clark, daughter of Cyrus Clark of New
York, on June 3d, 1893. They have had six children, all of whom are
living. Their home is at No. 399 Lawrence street, New Haven.
Speaking of the course young Americans should adopt to attain
the right kind of success, he says : " Avoid amusements that take up
too much time. From twenty to thirty-five, spend all energies in life
work ; when thirty-five is reached, get married and after that do what
work you can without neglecting your new interest. Especially avoid
introspection; let God and your soul alone; keep up your morals by
reading the best writers; don't get spiritually slipshod. Don't try
to make more money when you have enough for convenience, but spend
your life time in the pursuit of really satisfactory pleasure."
WILLIAM FOWLER HOPSON
Ho PS ON, WILLIAM FOWLER, artist, expert in the art of
wood and copper plate engraving and designing, and a
member of some of the foremost Literary and art clubs in this
coimtry and abroad, is now a resident of New Haven and was bom in
Watertown, Connecticut, August 30th, 1849. His parents were Orrin
Lewis and Caroline Susan (Wilson) Hopson, and his father was a
master mechanic and inventor. Mr. Hopson's earlier ancestors were
of English and French stock and the American branch of the family
to which he belongs was founded by John Hopson about 1660.
The district and high schools of the village of Watertown and the
town of Waterbury furnished William Hopson's early education. His
later and more important training was gained while studying his
profession in New York and New Haven. In 1897 he traveled
across the American continent, in 1899 in Canada and Nova Scotia,
and in 1904-5 and 6 quite extensively in Great Britain, Belgium,
Germany, Italy, France, and Switzerland. He spent an entire year
in Great Britain and a winter in Italy.
From 1872 to 1885 Mr. Hopson was engaged with a partner in the
general business of wood engraving, and since 1885 he has worked by
himself at etching, wood and copper-plate engraving, and designing.
He engraved the illustrations, some 2,500 in number, for the last
edition of Webster's Dictionary, as well as doing much book and
magazine work, and for the last ten years he has confined his efforts
almost entirely to the art of book-plate engraving, at which he has
been so successful. His work is well and widely known for its artistic
merit, originality, careful execution, and delicateness of detail. He
had an exhibit at the Paris Exposition in 1900 and received honorable
mention at the Pan-American Exposition in 1901.
Mr. Hopson is a member of many distinguished clubs, including
the Grolier Club of New York, the Rowfaut Club of Cleveland, of the
Odd Volume, and the Bibliophile Society of Boston, of the Acom
Club of Connecticut, of which well-known book club he is now presi-
315
316 WILLIAM FOWLER HOPSON.
dent, of the Ex Libris Society of London, the BibliogTaphical Society
of London, the Paint and Clay Club of New Haven, the National
Arts Club of New York, and of the Society of Illustrators and Artists.
He is also a member of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the
American Eevolution and of the Connecticut Historical Society. He
is a member of St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, New Haven,
and is greatly interested in Masonry, being a Master of Hiram Lodge,
No. 1, F. and A. M., also Master Workman of Israel Putnam Lodge,
A. 0. U. W. In politics he is a Kepublican, though he occasionally
votes independently. Sketching and fishing are his favorite out-of-
door pastimes and recreations.
William Fowler Hopson has been twice married; in 1871 to
Mary Taylor Allen, by whom he had one son, Orrin Lewis Hopson,
who is now living and who married Mary Mangliers in 1900. Mr.
Hopson's present wife was Ada Mabel Carter, whom he married in
Worcester, Massachusetts, June 27th, 1899. The city home of Mr. and
Mrs. Hopson is at 730 Whitney avenue. New Haven, and their sum-
mer home is at " Idle Eealm," Morgan's Point, East Haven.
i
GEORGE EDWARD KEENEY
KEENEY, GEORGE EDWAED, the treasurer and manager of
the Somerville Manufacturing Company, and president of the
Hartford Life Insurance Company, was born in Manchester,
Hartford County, Connecticut, March 22d, 1849. He is the son of
Rockwell and Lenora Keeney. His father was a manufacturer and
president of the company which Mr. Keeney now manages. He was
a man esteemed for his clean, honest character, as well as for his suc-
cess in business. He was a member of the Legislature from Somer-
ville in 1884. The first of Mr. Keeney's ancestors found in America
was Alexander Keeney, who came from England to Gloucester, Mass.,
and from there to Hartford about 1648. Richard and Joseph Keeney,
two other ancestors, took part in the Revolutionary War.
Passing his youth in the country, Mr. Keeney received his early
education at the district and high schools until he was thirteen, when
he went to work in the silk mills in Manchester, and later in a
machine shop in Meriden. He thus formed habits of industry at an
early age, and attained a mastery of mechanical knowledge that can
come only with experience. He was fond of study, particularly litera-
ture and mechanics, and when he was eighteen he attended the Mili-
tary Academy at Cheshire, paying his tuition with his own earnings.
His determination to become a successful business man was of as
early formation as the industrious habits which made his success pos-
sible.
After leaving Cheshire, Mr. Keeney resumed his employment in
the mills with his father. In 1868 he became treasurer and manager of
the Somerville company. From 1865 to 1869 he was in the National
Guard. In 1873 he married Ellen Denison, by whom he has had two
children. Their home is in Somerville, Tolland County, Connecticut.
Politically, Mr. Keeney is thoroughly Republican in spirit,
though he has never held any public office except to be Paymaster-
General of State, from 1897 to 1899, and State Senator from the
twenty-fourth district, from 1889 to 1891 and from 1893 to 1895. He
319
^20 GEORGE EDWAED KEENEY.
was a member of the recent Constitutional Convention of Connecticut
from his home town, Somers. Fraternally Mr. Keeney is a Mason.
He attends and aids in the support of the Congregational Church,
though he is not a member of any church.
Mr. Keeney's watchword to young Americans has plainly been his
own, for he says ; " Have some definite purpose, with a settled deter-
mination to accomplish the best possible results in whatever direction
your energies tend. In business secure the approbation of older men
by a life of honesty, and a clean and upright moral character."
LUDWIG HOLMES
HOLMES, Dr. LUDWIG, A.M., L.H.D., D.D., preacher, poet,
and scholar, Swedish secretary of the Lutheran General
Council of the United States and Canada and pastor of the
Swedish Lutheran Church in Portland, Middlesex County, Con-
necticut, is a native of Sweden and is one of the most distinguished
representatives of that country in America today. He was born in
Strofvelstorp, Province of Skane, Sweden, on September 7th, 1858,
the son of Carl and Johanna Nystrom Holm. His father was a
contractor and builder by trade.
The first fourteen years of Ludwig Holmes' life were spent in
the country. After that he was obliged to earn his own living, which
he did as errand boy in a newspaper office and later as clerk in a
retail and wholesale dry goods house in Stockholm. He was healthy
and strong in mind and body and showed remarkable literary taste
and ability at a very early age. He wrote poetry at the age of eight
and preached sermons to the trees in the forests. He came to America
in 1879 and in 1886 he was graduated from Augustana College in
Eock Island, Illinois, in the divinity school of that institution. He
has since received many honorary degrees; in 1891 the degree of
A.M. and in 1897 the degree of L.H.D. from Bethany College, Linds-
borg, Kansas, in 1900 the degree of D.D. at Wittenberg College,
Springfield, Ohio, and in 1903 the degree of L.H.D, from his Alma
Mater, Augustana College,
In June, 1886, Dr. Holmes was ordained pastor of the Lutheran
Church and in the same year undertook his first pastorate in North
Grosvenor Dale, Connecticut, The following year he married Sophia
Helena Johnson of Altoona, Illinois, by whom he has had one child,
a daughter, named Esther. In 1889 he was called to be pastor of the
Swedish Lutheran Church in Burlington, Iowa, where he remained
until 1903. During his pastorate in Burlington the congregation of
his church was nearly doubled, the church was remodeled, a chapel
321
322 LUDWIG HOLMES.
built, a new school erected and a new church was built in West Bur-
lington, and all of these improvements were effected by the faithful
work, the strong influence and rare organizing ability of Dr. Holmes.
His eloquence and magnetism as a preacher attracted many people
on whom his character and capability laid permanent bonds. He left
that parish and came to Portland, Connecticut, in May, 1903, because
he wished to devote more time to his literary work than the cares of
the large Burlington Church permitted. While in Burlington he was
a trustee of the Public Library for nine years and a leader in the
intellectual life of that place.
Dr. Holmes has held many important ecclesiastical offices in the
gift of his denomination. From 1890-1895 he was chairman of the
Burlington District, from 1895 to 1898 he was vice-president of the
Iowa Swedish Lutheran Conference, and from 1898 to 1902 he was
president of the same. Since 1903 he has been Swedish Secretary of
the Lutheran General Council of the United States and Canada. He
is a member of the Board of Immigrant Missions of the Augustana
Synod and in 1901 and 1902 he was president of the board of regents
of Augustana College. In 1904 he was elected a member of the
board of regents of Upsala College in New Orange, New Jersey.
In the last town election in Portland he was elected a trustee of the
Public Library and a member of the School Board. He is a member
of several literary and historical societies.
As a poet and scholar Ludwig Holmes is one of the most learned,
versatile, and well known men of his nationality in this coimtry and
is considered by many to be the foremost Swedish-American poet.
He has written epic, lyric and didactic poems, hymns and humorous
verses, all clear in style, beautiful in language and genuinely Chris-
tian in spirit. In 1896 he published his " Poems by Ludwig " and
in 1904 his " New Poems by Ludwig " and both volumes are full of
noble verse often forcefully dramatic and always scholarly and beau-
tiful. He has contributed many articles to the leading Swedish peri-
odicals, including the " Ungdoms Vannen" and the " Valkyrian."
He is also the author of an " Outline for the Final Examination of
Catechumens " and was editor of the Sunday School Hymnal used in
the Churches of the Augustana Synod.
In addition to the many honors given him by the leading colleges
of his faith in this country Dr. Holmes is the recipient of two most
LDDWIG HOLMES.
323
distinguished honors of royal gift. In 1901 he received from Oscar
II, King of Sweden, through the special legate sent to the Swedish
Lutheran Church of America, his eminence Bishop Von Scheele, the
highest award ever conferred by the King for literary merits — the
gold medal " Litteris et Artibus." He is also the sole possessor in
America of the Jubilee Medal, granted him by Oscar II in 1897.
16
LEVERETT MAESDEN HUBBARD
HUBBAED, LEVERETT MARSDEN, lawyer, bank president, ,
and ex-secretary of State, of Wallingford, New Haven i
County, Connecticut, was bom in Durham, Middlesex i
County, Connecticut, April 23d, 1849. His earliest ancestor in i
America was George Hubbard, bom in 1601, who was one of the i
original settlers around Boston, and who came overland to Hartford i
in 1636. Mr. Hubbard's father was Eli Hubbard, a clergyman and an i
educator, who was well known for his exceptional eloquence and
oratorical gifts. Mr. Hubbard's mother was G'eorgiana Leach, and she
died when he was but three years old, after which he made his home
with her parents in the town of Durham, Connecticut, until he was
seventeen, working some of the time in his grandfather's store. He
was a robust lad with a most sanguine temperament. He took a great
interest in politics and public speaking, and his favorite subjects for
reading were history and biography. The study of the lives of suc-
cessful public men gave him the impulse to win such success for him-
self. He attended Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Massachusetts,
and then entered Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, with
the class of 1872. He did not stay to graduate, but entered instead
the Albany Law School, where he took his LL.B. degree in 1870.
Wesleyan has since conferred upon him the honorary degree of A.M.
The summer following his graduation from law school Mr. Hub-
bard took up his residence in Wallingford and began the practice of
law there and in the city of New Haven. That same year he became
borough attorney of Wallingford, which ojBSce he has filled almost con-
tinuously ever since, a period of thirty-five years. In 1872 he was
postmaster of Wallingford and held this position until 1885. In
1886, when the Borough Court of Wallingford was organized, he be-
came its judge, and remained in that position for eleven years, imtil
1897, when he became judge of the Court of Common Pleas for New
Haven Coimty, which office he held until 1905. His professional work
as a lawyer includes many important and successful cases, among the
824
LEVERETT MARSDEN HDBBABD. 326
most notable being the Hayden-Stannard trial and the Anderson-Hall
murder case.
Politically Jndge Hubbard is an unswerving Eepublican. He
was a delegate to the convention of 1888 which nominated President
Harrison, and at that time and on many other public occasions has
made political speeches of great force and eloquence. In 1887 and
: 1888 Judge Hubbard was secretary of state, and during his secretary-
ship he compiled a Kegister and Manual of the state of Connecticut
; that has been used as a model for all subsequent registers.
j Business and social interests have received considerable attention
I from Judge Hubbard in spite of his many public services and his
regular and extensive legal practice. He was one of the projectors
i of the First National Bank of Wallingford, was its vice-president for
, many years and has been one of its directors since its incorporation
in 1881. Since 1894 he has been president of the Dime Savings Bank
of Wallingford, and is a director in various manufacturing corpora-
tions. He has been for twenty-five years a trustee of Wesleyan Academy
of Wilbraham, Massachusetts. He is a member of the Greek letter
college fraternity, " Psi Upsilon '\ of the Wallingford Club, the Union
League Club of New Haven, the New Haven Colony Historical
I Society, the American Historical Society and the Connecticut Sociel^
of the Sons of the American Eevolution. He is a member of the Con-
gregational Church. His favorite recreation is found in walking and
horse-back riding.
On May 2l8t, 1873, Judge Hubbard married Florence Gazelle
Ives. They have had four children, all of whom are now living.
1
JOHN HALL SAGE. 329
Aside from his business, Mr. Sage has made ornithology hie
greatest interest, and he has become a thorough and authoritative
student of that science. He is a fellow and secretary of the American
Ornithologists' Union, a member of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, of the Linnaean Society of New York, of
the Biological Society of Washington, and of the Connecticut
Historical Society. In recognition of his scientific knowledge and
his contributions to ornithology. Trinity College conferred the
honorary degree of M. S. upon Mr. Sage in 1901. In creed Mr.
Sage is an Episcopalian, in politics he is a Eepublican.
On September 16th, 1880, Mr. Sage married Agnes Farwell
Kellogg. One child has been born to them.
CHARLTON MINER LEWIS
LEWIS, CHARLTON MINER, Ph.D., Emily Sanford professor
of English Literature in Yale University, is a descendant of
John Alden and Priscilla Mullen, who came from England to
Plymouth in 1620. His paternal great-grandfather, Charles Miner,
was an author and historian, and his maternal great-grandfather,
Joseph McKeen, was the first president of Bowdoin College. His
father was Charlton Thomas Lewis, a leading New York lawyer of
wide and profound learning, an eminent Greek scholar, a member of
the Actuarial Society of America and president of the Prison As-
sociation of New York, an organization whose purposes command
his best energies in his later days.
Charlton Miner Lewis was bom on March 4th, 1866, in Brook-
lyn. In his early life he was afficted with much sickness. Limited
as to out-door sports, he found more than comfort in his father's
library, — he foimd opportunity to develop his inherited taste for the
best in literature. His mother, who was Nancy McKeen previous to
her marriage, was particularly watchful over him as he developed into
young manhood, and her influence upon his spiritual life was strong.
Despite his handicap of physical ailments in his boyhood, his
active brain, his clear mind, and his ready comprehension advanced
him rapidly in his studies through James H. Morse's school and the
Berkeley School in New York; and he was well prepared, physically
as well as mentally, for the requirements of further study when he
entered Yale, where, at the age of twenty, he received his degree of
B.A. with the class of 1886. His proficiency in the curriculum won
for him membership in Phi Beta Kappa. Also in college he was a
member of the Psi Upsilon and Skull and Bones Societies.
His first intention was to follow his father's footsteps in the law,
a choice of profession in which he had the support of his parents and
the encouragement of circumstances. Accordingly he went to the
Columbia Law School, where he received his LL.B. in 1889 and
soon after began practicing in New York. But the attractions in the
880
CHABLTON MINER LEWIS. 331
study of literature and philosophy — strengthened also by his en-
vironment— were too powerful for him to resist. In 1895 he re-
turned to New Haven to accept a position as instructor in English
Literature. At the same time, he began a graduate course which
brought him the degree of Ph.D. in 1898. That year he was appointed
assistant professor, and in 1899 he was selected for the Emily Sanford
chair, which he has since held.
Of the publications from his pen, that which shows best, per-
haps, his poetic instinct and culture is " Gawayne and the Green
Knight" (1903). His other books are largely techincal and edu-
cational in their nature, like " The Foreign Sources of Modern Eng-
lish Versification" (1898), " The Beginnings of English Literature"
(1900), "The Principles of English Verse" (1906), and contri-
butions to various magazines and journals.
He is a Eepublican in politics, though he voted for Cleveland
and might have remained with the Democratic party had it not
been for Bryanism. He is fond of golf and music. He is a mem-
ber of the University Club of New York, but his devotion to his
work allows him little time for social recreation and club life.
He married Miss Grace H. Bobbins of St. Paul, Minn., on June
16th, 1903. They have two children. Their home is at No. 439 St
Honan street. New Haven.
WILLIAM DELOSS LOVE
LOVE, EEV. WILLIAM DELOSS, A.M., Ph.D., clergyman,
scholar, and writer, pastor of the Farmington avenue Congre-
gational Church of Hartford, president of the Connecticut I
Humane Society, and author of a number of well-known books and his-
torical articles, was bom in New Haven, New Haven County, Con- ■
necticut, November 39th, 1851. His ancestry is a very interesting and '
distinguished one and includes several of the most prominent early
American families of English, Scotch, Scotch-Irish, Huguenot, and 1
Dutch descent. The list of ancestors through whom, as " founders of (
the nation," he is entitled to membership in the Sons of the American i
Revolution and the Society of Colonial Wars, shows him to be in the •
fifth generation of descent from Robert Love, a sergeant in the Revo-
lution. He is also in the ninth generation of descent from John
Prescott, in the eighth from Lieutenant William Clark, in the seventh
from Josiah Whitcomb, in the fifth from Captain Samuel Gurley, and
in the fourth from William Whitcomb. Mr. Love's parents were
William DeLoss Love and Matilda Wallace Love. His father was a
well-known clergyman, preacher, and author, who held pastorates in
Connecticut, in Massachusetts, and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From
him Mr. Love inherited his preference for the ministry, his scholarly
mind and habits, and his Christian grace of character. From his
mother he received the noblest influences upon mind and character
and the truest ideals of conduct.
The cities of New Haven and Milwaukee were Mr. Love's homes
in childhood and boyhood, and having good health and plenty of leisure
for study, he made the most of the educational advantages afforded by
the city. He prepared for college at the Milwaukee Academy and then
entered Hamilton College, where he received his A.B. degree in 1873,
and his A.M. degree in 1876. After graduating from college he became
instructor of mathematics and natural science in the Leicester (Mass.)
Military Academy, and held this position for a year, when he resigned
to become principal of the Broadway Grammar School of Norwich,
382
WILIIAM DELOSS LOVE.
333
Connecticut. In 1875 he gave up his position as principal to enter
Andover Theological Seminary, for he had determined upon the minis-
try as his calling. He received his B.D. degree in 1878, and immedi-
ately after his graduation he was installed pastor of the Evangelical
Congregational Church in Lancaster, Massachusetts. This was in
1878, the year of his marriage to Ada Minerva Warren of Leicester,
Massachusetts, who died May 31st, 1881. After the death of his first
wife Mr. Love resigned from his church in Lancaster and traveled in
Europe and the East. Upon his return he supplied in the pulpit of the
Second Congregational Church in Keene, New Hampshire. This
charge fulfilled, Mr. Love spent a few years in business, at first in
the Lebanon Woolen Company, and later as general passenger agent
and assistant superintendent of the Boston, Winthrop & Shore Rail-
road. He was also for a time private secretary to Governor Samuel W.
Hale of New Hampshire.
In October, 1884, Mr. Love married his second wife, Mary Louise
Hale of Keene, New Hampshire, daughter of Governor Hale, and in
the following year he resumed his ministerial calling as pastor of the
Pearl street (now Farmington avenue) Congregational Church, and
he still holds this pastorate. Since making Hartford his home Mr.
Love has taken great interest in municipal matters, and since 1894 he
has been a member of the Board of Park Commissioners. He is presi-
dent of the Connecticut Humane Society, corresponding secretary of
the Connecticut Historical Society, and in many other ways actively
identified with the social, charitable, and intellectual, as well as the
religious interests of Hartford. He is a member of the Republican
party in politics, and is most active in the patriotic organizations, the
Sons of the American Revolution and the Society of Colonial Wars.
He is also a member of the American Antiquarian Society. He is a
keen and ardent student of history and most of his secular writings
have been on historical subjects. His best-known works are " Fast
and Thanksgiving Days of New England," 1895, " Samson Occom
and the Christian Indians of New England," 1900, monographs on
New England history, and pamphlets and papers on local history. In
1894 he was granted the honorary degree of Ph.D. by his Alma Mater,
Hamilton College.
The numerous and exacting pastoral duties of a large church and
an active intellectual life occupy most of Mr. Love's time and interest,
334 WILLIAM DELOSS LOVE.
and he has never aflBliated with any Masonic or fraternal orders, pre-
ferring to devote the time not taken by parish duties and scholarly
pursuits, to home and family pleasures. His family consists of his
wife and four children, though six have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Love. Their home is at 354 Laurel street, Hartford.
The influences which Mr. Love considers to have been strongest
upon his life have been those of home, school, and active life. His ex-
perience in life has been broad indeed, for he has been an educator, a
business man, a writer and scholar, and, first and always, a minister of
the Gospel and a servant of God. His success as a minister, a scholar,
and a man has depended on his own efforts, and it is with especial
weight and pertinence that he gives his advice to others, saying, "Work,
honest work, thorough work, and plenty of it," is the one true foun-
dation of success in life.
ALBERT DUNHAM JUDD
JUDD, ALBERT DUNHAM, manufacturer, contractor, and
inventor, of Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut, was
born in New Britain, Hartford County, Connecticut, December
4th, 1830. He traces his ancestry to Thomas Judd, who came from
England in 1634 and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and went
later to Hartford and Farmington. Deacon Anthony Judd, Thomas'
son, a joiner by trade, settled in New Britain. Several of Mr. Judd's
ancestors were representatives in the General Assembly, and they have
numbered among them deacons of churches for several generations,
including the last three. Mr. Judd's father, Morton Judd, a hard-
ware manufacturer, was a man who won general respect for his kind-
liness and generosity, as well as for his business ability. He was very
strong and athletic and as active as he was vigorous. He was select-
man in 1840, a member of the State legislature in 1845, and deacon
of the First Congregational Church of New Britain from 1851 imtil
the family removed to New Haven in 1864, and to Wallingford in
1878, where he died in 1901 in his ninety-third year. He married
Lucina Dunham, a woman whose deep spirituality vitally influenced
her son's character.
New Britain was a village in Mr. Judd's boyhood, and he attended
the district school there and worked for his father out of school hours.
He loved to work and was happier in the factory than in school. From
early childhood he evinced a genius for drawing and constructing,
and made pictures, sleds, and boats, with a skill far beyond his years.
After leaving the district school he attended Williston Seminary at
East Hampton, Massachusetts, and when he left there at the age of
seventeen, and his father offered him the option of college or factory,
he chose the latter, and entered upon his work in life by making har-
ness hames. He had acquired a great fondness for reading, which did
much to atone for his brief schooling. The works of Thomas Dicks,
the Bible, and other religious works, history, and some lighter reading,
received his chief attention. The study of the Bible has been a con-
337
338 ALBERT DUNHAM JUDD.
stant interest in Mr. Judd's life, and his familiarity with the Scrip-
tures has been of inestimable value in his later church and Sunday
school work. After leaving the Seminary he joined evening classes
in elocution and in learning the German language.
When Mr. Judd first entered the hardware manufacturing busi-
ness he worked for his father and uncle, the firm being M. & 0. S.
Judd. In 1851 he was taken into partnership and the firm name
changed to M. Judd & Company. In 1864 he removed to New Haven,
where he entered into partnership with his brothers, H. L. and E. M.
Judd, for the manufacture of upholsterer's hardware. In 1870 a
joint stock company was formed, of which A. D. Judd was made
president, and he continued in that office until his retirement from
business in 1890. In 1879 the business was removed to Wallingford,
where new and more commodious buildings were erected, and where
now, 1905, he is a stockholder in the present firm of H. L. Judd
Company. Since his retirement from the manufacturing business
Mr. Judd has devoted his time to real estate and to his various church,
financial, and civil offices. He has spent much time planning, building,
and renting model tenements, and in this way has done much for the
poor. His inventions have led to thirty-four patents on constructions
and designs, including many original and useful articles now in use.
He was deacon and treasurer of the First Congregational Church of
New Britain, deacon of the Dwight Place Church of New Haven, and
a member of the Building Committee for the latter Church. He has
taught Sunday school classes for nearly fifty years and has given
constant individual service to many religious causes. His positions
in financial circles have been as corporator, director, and appraiser
of the Dime Savings Bank of Wallingford, and vice-president and
director of the First National Bank in the same town. In politics
he has always been a Eepublican. He was burgess of New Britain in
1860, and of Wallingford in 1890.
Mr. Judd has never Joined any secret society, finding more con-
genial society, as well as social enjoyment, in his church relations.
He has always been active and vigorous in his physical life, as in
business, being especially fond in his earlier life of baseball, wicket,
and ten-pins, and in his later life of Jjilliards and croquet. He has spent
a considerable part of the last twenty years in travel in the South,
Catskill, Adirondack, and White Mountains, Mexico and California.
ALBERT DUNHAM JUDD. 339
He has lived in many places, the cause of the changes being an
endeavor to find a beneficial climate, for Mr. Judd has been a suf-
ferer from chronic asthma for nearly fifty years. Indeed, during his
long life Mr. Judd has had a series of illnesses and accidents that
would have discouraged the average man, so great a loss of time,
money, and vitality have they entailed. Instead of letting them hinder
his career, he has so overcome these drawbacks that he has accom-
plished more than most men, and this has been possible because
he has done what he advises all men seeking success to do, namely,
"to familiarize themselves with the teachings and life of Christ
and follow them. Then to do with their might what their hands find
to do."
On April 35th, 1855, Mr. Judd married Lucilia Wells, who died
in August, 1900. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Judd,
three of whom have survived their mother.
GEORGE TRUMBULL LADD
LADD, GEORGE TRUMBULL, D.D., LL.D., Professor of
Philosophy at Yale University, is a scion of the Ladd family
(variously spelled De Lad, Le Lad, Ladde) which came to
England with William the Conqueror from France, and settled at Deal,
eight miles from Dover. Daniel Ladd sailed to this country from
England in the Mary and John of London, March 24th, 1633-34.
Elder William Brewster, through his son Love, and Governor William
Bradford are also among the professor's progenitors. He himself is
of the Connecticut branch of the Ladd family.
He was bom in Painesville, Lake County, 0., on January 19th,
1842, the son of Silas Trumbull Ladd and Elizabeth Williams Ladd.
His father was treasurer of Western Reserve College from 1842 to
1850, was deacon in his church, filled various minor town offices, and
was held in high esteem for his integrity, industry and kindliness —
a genuine Puritan of the highest type. His mother was a woman of
noble domestic ideals and of restless activity — ambitious for her
children.
The home tasks were apportioned among the children, and to the
boy George, being the only son, fell the care of the horse and the cow
and the general " chores " out-of-doors. To get away into the woods
and fields was his delight, but it was with books that he found his
particular happiness — not a little to the anxiety of his parents, for
he was not especially robust. While he read everything that came in
his way, the books for the most part were carefully selected. At the
age of eight, his first savings, of $2.00, he spent for a copy of Josephus
and of Plutarch, and at eighteen he read Kant's " Critique of Pure
Reason," from which he suffered no more injury than he had suffered
from certain " thrillers " he had read on the sly in his earlier youth.
Most of his work in preparing for college was done by himself, only a
portion of the time being given to the curriculum in the Painesville
High School and the Rev. Mr. Brayton's private school. He entered
Western Reserve in 1860, graduating in 1864. While in Reserve Col-
340
GEOEGE TEUMBULL LADD. 341
lege, Morgan's " raiders " brought the " troublous times " of the Civil
War close home, and the yoimg college boy went forth as one of the
Squirrel Hunters to defend Cincinnati, a service for which he still
preserves his certificate.
After graduation, he went into business with his father. His
constant studies, however, seemed to turn his steps naturally toward a
higher institution of learning, with the result that in 1866 he went to
the Andover (Mass.) Theological Seminary, where he was graduated
in 1869. His first pastorate was in Edinburg, 0. In 1871 he went
to the Spring Street Congregational Church in Milwaukee, Wis., where
he remained till called to the professorship of philosophy at Bowdoin
College in 1879, and thence he was called to his present chair at Yale,
in 1881. Through all this period he had kept up his private study.
Western Reserve conferred upon him the degree of D.D. in 1879;
Yale that of M.A. in 1881, Western Reserve that of LL.D. in 1895,
and Princeton that of LL.D. at the sesquicentennial in 1896.
He was lecturer on church polity and systematic theology at
Andover Theological Seminary, 1879-81, and was several times lecturer
and conducted the Graduate Seminary in Ethics at Harvard in 1895-6.
In 1892 and 1899, on invitation of the Imperial Educational Society
and the Imperial University of Tokio, he lectured at Doshisha and the
Summer School of Japan. His work made of this an international
episode of note, marked in Japan by the Emperor's admitting him to
audience and decorating him with the Third Degree, Order of the
Rising Sun, and in this country by the report of Minister Buck to the
effect that these services had been worth more for cementing friendly
relations between the two countries than much diplomacy. The pro-
fessor also lectured on philosophy before the University of Bombay,
India, in 1899-90, and on the philosophy of religion at Calcutta,
Madras, Benares, and other cities in India.
While in Milwaukee, the professor was customarily on the Home
Missionary and other committees, and before leaving was for several
years one of the advisory committee of the Chicago Theological
Semiaary. He founded in 1893 and served as second president of
the American Philosophical Association in 1904. He belongs to the
International Congress in Paris in 1900. He also belongs to the
American Society of Naturalists, the American Oriental Society,
section of Religion, and to the Imperial Educational Society of
Japan.
342 GEORGE TRUMBULL LADD.
Professor Ladd's writings embrace : " Principles of Church
Polity" (1882); "Doctrines of Sacred Scripture," two volumes
(1884); Lotze's "Outlines of Philosophy," translation, six volumes
(1887); "Elements of Physiological Psychology"; "What is the
Bible?" (1883); " Introduction to Philosophy " (1889); "Outlines
of Physiological Psychology" (1890); "Philosophy of Mind"
(1891) ; " Primer of Psychology " (1894) ; " Psychology, Descriptive
and Explanatory" (1894); "Philosophy of Knowledge" (1897);
"Outlines of Descriptive Psychology" (1898); "Essays on Higher
Education" (1899); "A Theory of Eeality" (1899); "Lectures to
Teachers on Educational Psychology " (in Japanese), " Philosophy of
Conduct" (1902), and many magazine articles. Some of the books
have been translated into Japanese and some into the language of the
blind. The professor is now engaged upon an elaborate work on the
philosophy of religion.
The Professor's father was a " Free-Soiler," and he himself was
a Eepublican until 1884, when he became an independent. In Church
affiliation he is a Congregationalist. Gardening is his favorite pas-
time, and at sea he finds his most perfect rest and relaxation. When
younger he was expert at boxing, fencing, playing ball and the like,
and in later life, when suffering from over-work, he took up archery.
He married, on December 8th, 1869, Miss Cornelia Ann, daughter
of John Tallman of Bellaire, 0., and on December 9th, 1895, Miss
Frances Virginia, daughter of Dr. George T. Stevens of New York.
He has had four children, three of whom are living. His home is at
No. 204 Prospect street, New Haven.
He believes that principles, methods, and habits for what the
world calls success depend upon the nature of the ideals. Ideals, then,
should be chosen as things of highest worth and should be followed
because they are worth it, expecting much suffering in their behalf,
acting with all the wisdom that can be gathered and leaving the re-
sults with the Euler of All.
LEW ALLEN LIPSETTE
LIPSETTE, LEW ALLEN, editor and one of the founders of
the Meriden Daily Journal, is best known in his own locality
and in the newspaper fraternity of Connecticut and New York
as Lew Allen. He was born in the City of New York on February
18th, 1852, and he has been in the newspaper business from his
earliest youth. Even while he was attending public school in New
York his mind was running to newspaper work. It had for him that
fascination which any man who has been successful in the work has
felt, but which the best of them cannot describe in terms intelligible
to that portion of the world which might be called immune.
At the moment he was old enough to direct his own affairs he be-
gan to indulge his passion for journalism and for more than a quarter
of a century has been following his profession in Connecticut. He had
been city editor of the New Haven Union for some time when, in 1886,
the city of Meriden seemed to offer a good field for a wide-awake even-
ing paper. Francis Atwater, Thomas L. Eeilley (the present mayor),
Frank E. Sands, and Mr. Allen, after discussing the situation from
the standpoint of trained newspaper men, established the Journal Pub-
lishing Company and began to publish an evening paper. Francis At-
water was chosen president and Mr. Allen vice-president and Mr. Allen
has been the editor ever since, the oldest newspaper man in Meriden in
point of service. Success attended the enterprise from the start. Mr.
Allen and his associates studied the needs of the field and have sup-
plied them to the highest satisfaction of a constantly widening ter-
ritory. The Journal stands among the foremost of the publications in
Connecticut.
What these results have required of Mr. Allen in the way of time
and thought may well be imagined by those acquainted with editorial
work and is proved to others by his inability to spare moments for
those outside affairs in which in reality he is deeply interested. His
politics might be described as Independent, betokening a freedom to
support the best in men and measures without regard to party. He
17 343
344 LEW ALLEN LIPSETTE
has served as a member of the Court of Common Council. For five
years he was a member of Company I, Second Infantry, C. N". G,
He belongs to Pilgrims' Harbor Council, No. 543; Eoyal Arcanum,
and the Colonial Club. His religious creed is that of the Protestant
Episcopal Church and he is a member of the parish of All Saints'
Church in Meriden.
Mr. Allen's wife is Amelia TJrick, whom he married in 1878. They
have two eons, Walter and Lewis, Jr.
PKOF. WILLIAM HENRY BRISTOL
BRISTOL, PEOF. WILLIAM HENRY, educator, inventor,
manufacturer and founder of The Bristol Company of Water-
bury, Connecticut, was bom there July 5th, 1859, and is the
son of Benjamin H. and Pauline Phelps Bristol, both of English de-
scent. The first American progenitor of the Connecticut Bristols
was Henry, who was one of the early settlers in the New Haven
Colony. He was married twice; his second wife was Lydia, daughter
of Francis and Mary (Edwards) Browne, whom he married on Jan-
uary 26th, 1656. Henry died in 1695. The line of descent is through
his son Daniel by his second marriage.
Daniel was bom May 4th, 1671, and died May 15th, 1728. He
was also married twice, but the children are all by his second wife,
Hester Sperry.
Richard, son of Daniel, was bom October 18th, 1708, and died in
1791. He married Mary and lived in Milford.
Nathan, son of Richard, was baptized on March 3d, 1752, at Mil-
ford. On his tombstone, standing at present in the old cemetery at
Milford, is inscribed, " Died April 25th, 1826, aged seventy-five years."
He married Anna, daughter of Jesse Lombard, whose tombstone is
also in the old Milford cemetery. He was a soldier in the Revolution
and fought in the battles of Long Island and White Plains.
Nehemiah, a son of Nathan, married Lorania Down, June 3d,
1798. On his tombstone in the old Milford cemetery is inscribed
" Died May 30th, 1832, aged sixty-two years."
Hiel, the second son of Nehemiah and grandfather of William
H. Bristol, migrated from Milford to Newtown and then to Salem
(Naugatuck), and married Chastina Potter. He was born September
5th, 1803, and died May 30th, 1871.
William H. Bristol studied at the public schools in Naugatuck
until 1876, when he became a clerk in a general store in that town,
in which position he remained until 1880. He evinced decided me-
chanical genius and a scientific bent of mind and as soon as his sav-
847
348 PROF. WILLIAM HENRY BRISTOL.
ings were sufficient, he resigned this position to avail himself of the
scientific course at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New
Jersey. During his junior year he organized the manual-instruction
department in the Workingman's School in New York City and taught
there, continuing his courses at the Institute at the same time. In
1884 he was graduated with the degree of Mechanical Engineer, after
which he kept up his classes in the Workingman's School for two years.
Then, in 1886, he became instructor in mathematics at Stevens In-
stitute and two years later assistant professor in that department.
In 1899 he was given the title of Professor of Mathematics.
In addition to carrying on his courses in mathematics at the In-
stitute, Professor Bristol has given considerable attention to inventing,
perfecting and manufacturing a series of recording instruments
adapted for making continuous records of pressure, temperature and
electricity. During the past fourteen years he has developed a com-
plete line of these recording instruments adapted to meet almost
every industrial requirement, covering the most complete variety
of ranges for the measurement of pressure, temperature and electricity
manufactured by any company in the world. Thousands of the re-
corders are in daily use. They are based on scientific principles and
are unequaled for their simplicity and reliability. Among the most
valuable and extensively used are his recording pressure gauges, re-
cording voltmeters, wattmeters, ampere meters, recording thermom-
eters, pyrometers and his patent steel belt-lacing.
In 1889 Mr. Bristol organized The Bristol Company for the pur-
pose of manufacturing his inventions and he has been president of the
company from its organization until January, 1906.
At the Chicago Exposition, the company was awarded a medal
and diploma for their exhibit of recording instruments and steel
belt-lacing. A silver medal was awarded for the exhibit of the Bristol
recording instruments at the Paris Exposition in 1900, and at the
St. Louis Exposition in 1904, these recorders were awarded a gold
medal. Mr. Bristol has received many other recognitions of the ex-
cellence of his inventions, including the John Scott Legacy Medal
awarded him by the Franklin Institute at Philadelphia in 1890.
At the present time, he is developing a system of thermo-electric
pyrometers for the measurement of high temperatures, and also a line
of instruments for automatically recording extremely delicate move-
PEOF. WILLIAM HENRY BRISTOL. 349
ments of an indicating arm where the slightest friction would cause
an inaccuracy in the record.
Professor Bristol is a member of the American Society of Me-
chanical Engineers and a Fellow of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. In politics he is a Kepublican. Though he
is not a member of any church society, he is affiliated with the Con-
gregational denomination. His favorite sports are those afforded by
out-door country life, boating and automobiling.
In 1885, Prof. Bristol married J. Louise Wright, who died three
years later. On June 28th, 1899, he married Elise H. Myers, who
is a great-granddaughter of General Michael Myers.
HENRY WOODWARD
WOODWARD, HENRY, a leading citizen and druggist of
Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut, was bom in
that city, June 26th, 1838. His parents were Ellen Pratt
Woodward and Dr. Charles Woodward, a physician honored for his
skill and success in his profession, and for his public spirit and
benevolence. He was actively interested in education, and was a
trustee of Wesleyan University. He was also at different times
state senator and representative.
The first of the large and well knovn family of Woodward to
be found in America was Henry Woodward, a physician, who came
from England and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1635.
Third in line of descent from him was Israel Woodward, who served
as captain in the French and Indian War. Thomas Dewey, another
of Mr. Woodward's paternal ancestors, was an early colonial settler
of some note. On his mother's side Mr. Woodward is descended from
John Pratt, who came from England to Cambridge, Massachusetts,
about 1735, and moved later to Hartford with Hooker's famous band.
A big, healthy boy, yoimg Mr. Woodward was brought up in the
little city of Middletown. Though not a very diligent student, he
was fond of mathematics, and of reading history and biography.
He attended Chase's Academy in Middletown, J. B. Woodford
Academy in Windsor, and studied for a short time at Wesleyan
University. In 1861 Mr. Woodward went into business as a druggist,
a career adopted from force of circumstances and one which he has
followed ever since with marked success. Though a man of true
public spirit and an intelligent voter, Mr. Woodward has never desired
public office, and held such office rarely, though he did valuable service
to his state on the important Fish Commission in 1867-1869, and he
has been alderman and a member of the City Water Commission.
In political faith Mr. Woodward has been a Democrat, though he
changed his allegiance in the instance of " Bryanism." Perhaps Mr.
Woodward is best known for his prominence in Masonic circles in
350
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^ -^ . % ^^ Jt^,Mams d ^'■^
HENBY WOODWAKD. 353
which he is an enthusiastic leader and promoter. He has held many
important offices in Templar Masonry, having become a thirty-third
degree Mason, His activity in masonry may best be judged by the
high masonic offices he has held. He has been Master of Lodge,
Master of Council, Commander of Commandery, Grand Commander
of Connecticut, President of the Connecticut Association of Past
Grand Commanders and President of the New England Association
of Past Grand Commanders. He has been a trustee of the Con-
necticut Hospital for the Insane for thirty-five years, or since 1870,
and is the only chairman the board has ever had. He has also served
on the fiinance committee for over twenty-five years, a large part of
the time as its chairman.
Mr. Woodward finds his pleasantest relaxation in yachting and
driving. He is unmarried and lives with his sister on Broad street,
Middletown.
Gleaning his principles from a long successful business career,
and proving them in his own honored citizenship, Mr. Woodward
gives the following careful advice to yoimg men. " Be true to yourself-
Study questions from all sides. Consider the opinions of others, form
and act upon your own. Cultivate self-reliance. Preserve your
individuality always. Avoid excesses of all kinds. Never be afraid
to say ' No: "
CHARLES HENRY NOBLE
NOBLE, CHAELES HENEY, bank commissioner for the State
of Connecticut, expert accoimtant, and financier, of New Mil-
ford, Litchfield County, Connecticut, was born there Decem-
ber 13th, 1842, the son of Charles Clement Noble and Harriet Curtis
Noble. His father was by trade a merchant tailor, and he was at one
time the town clerk of New Milford. His mother died when he was but
thirteen years old, but he has never forgotten her patient, loving care
of her large family of eight children, or her dying advice, " be good to
the children." Mr. Noble traces his ancestry to Thomas Noble, the
emigrant ancestor of the largest family of the name in the United
States, who was born in England about 1632 and was an inhabitant of
Boston in 1653. Thomas Noble's son, John, was the first white settler
of the tovm of New Milford, where he took up his residence in 1707
and built a palisade house as a protection from the Indians. He was
prominent in the affairs of the town and was a frequent representative
in the General Assembly. Another of Mr. Noble's ancestors, Zadoch
Noble, was a member of the New Milford Committee of InspectioB
and Correspondence, and still another, Josiah Lacey, of Bridgeport,
served in the Continental Army as private, ensign, second lieutenant,
captain, and regimental quarter-master. He is also a direct descend-
ant of Clement Bottsford of Newtown, Connecticut, who served as
sergeant and ensign in the Eevolutionary Army.
Having received a public school education, supplemented by a
course in business college, Mr. Noble went to work as clerk in a general
store in his native town. This was in 1860, and three years later he en-
tered the Bank of Litchfield County, in New Milford, as a " bank boy,"
and remained there, passing through several promotions, until 1878,
when he resigned his position of assistant cashier to become assistant
to Hon. Andrew B. Mygatt, National Bank Examiner for the district
of Connecticut and Ehode Island. He remained with Mr. Mygatt until
August, 1879, and was in his service again from 1883 to 1887, when
Mr. Mygatt was succeeded by the Hon. James W. Hyatt. Mr. Noble
354
CHARLES HENEY NOBLE. 355
was retained in the same position by Mr. Hyatt, and when the latter
was appointed treasurer of the United States, Mr. Noble went with
him to Washington to represent him on the committee and count the
fimds in the treasury preparatory to his giving a receipt to his pre-
decessor. Before leaving Washington Mr. Noble was appointed bank
commissioner for the State of Connecticut to fill a vacancy, and his
term expired June 20th, 1889, For the two years following he was em-
ployed in the Savings Bank of Danbury. In 1893 he again acted on
a committee to count the funds of the United States Treasur}', a most
responsible and delicate task, requiring the utmost accuracy and in-
volving laborious pains. In 1897 and again in 1901 and for a
fourth term in 1905 Mr. Noble was appointed Bank Commissioner for
Connecticut. His present term of office will expire in 1909.
In the intervals between these different financial engagements
Mr. Noble has practiced as an accountant, having banking, insurance,
publishing, and manufacturing concerns to audit and examine. He
has also held various town offices, having been assessor of New Mil-
ford in 1880 and 1881, auditor in 1894 and 1895, and town treasurer
in 1896. He has been a member of the "Board of Trustees of the
Library and Memorial Fund " of New Milford, and its secretary and
treasurer since its organization in 1893, having charge of its building
and trust funds. He has been secretary and treasurer of the New
Milford Water Company since its organization in 1873, and a director
in that company since 1887. He is greatly interested in all the affairs
and interests of the town which his ancestors founded. He is a mem-
ber of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Eevolution.
In politics he is a Eepublican and in creed a Congregationalist, being
a member of the First Congregational Church of New Milford. Mr.
Noble has never married.
ANDREW WHEELER PHILLIPS
PHILLIPS, ANDEEW WHEELEE, Ph.D., Dean of the Gradu-
ate School and professor of mathematics at Yale University,
is one of those instructors who put their impress upon the
minds and character of their students, who make their branch of
instruction interesting, and who assure for themselves forever a warm
place in the hearts of the men, even the world's busiest, who have
known them. It might be said of him that he was a bom teacher
and the review of his career shows that his earliest and always fondest
ambition was to learn in order that he might have the power to im-
part instruction.
He was bom in Griswold, New London County, on March 14th,
1844, the son of Dennison Phillips and Wealthy Browning (Wheeler)
Phillips. His father was a typical New England farmer, endowed
with hard-headed common sense, sturdy integrity, patient industry,
and tireless energy. His mother, encouraging lofty ideals, did much
to direct both his intellectual genius and to promote his moral and
spiritual aspirations.
With all his fondness for study, it was only by hard personal
effort that he could secure the opportunity. He could get what learn-
ing the public and private schools of his native town could afford him,
but when it came to anything beyond that, his best energies had to be
called into exercise. Thus, after leaving the preliminary schools, he
entered upon a course of teaching in the public schools of eastern
Connecticut, for which he was well equipped, but at the same time
pursued the higher studies by himself. After four years of this teach-
ing he became instructor in mathematics — his favorite branch — at
Cheshire Academy, where he remained from 1864 to 1875. Mean-
time, by studying mathematics with Professor Hubert A. Newton, at
Yale, he obtained the degree of Ph. B. there in 1873, to be followed by
the degree of Ph.D. in 1877, after a course in mathematics, physics,
political and social sciences, and philosophy. Trinity College gave
him the honorary degree of M. A. in 1875.
856
ANDREW WHEELER PHILLIPS. 357
In 1876, he was called to Yale to serve as tutor in mathematics.
In 1881 he was appointed assistant professor, in 1891 professor, and
in 1895, in addition to his position as professor, he was chosen Dean
of the Graduate School of the University. All these appointments
were recognitions of his skill as a teacher and administrator, and also,
to the minds of those who knew him, of his wide popularity with the
faculty, the student body, and the alumni. In 1883, he was chosen
trustee of the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut at Cheshire, in 1886
trustee of the Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven, in 1891
trustee of the Hotchkiss School at Lakeville (since 1900 he has been
president of that board), and in 1903 trustee of the Cheshire School
(incorporated) at Cheshire.
His mathematical writings cover a wide field. They include " The
Graphic Algebra" (in conjunction with Professor Beebe), "The
Elements of Geometry" (in conjunction with Professor Fisher),
"Trigonometry and Tables" (in conjunction with Doctor Strong),
editing the Connecticut Alumni for thirteen years, 1883-1894, a bio-
graphical sketch of Professor Hubert A. Newton, and various papers
on higher mathematics and astronomy for scientific and educational
journals.
Among the societies of which he is a fellow or member are the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American
Mathematical Society, and the Connecticut Academy of Arts and
Sciences.
In politics he is a Republican. He is a member of the Protestant
Episcopal Church. He was married to Maria Scoville Clarke, on
April 22d, 1867. She died February 22d, 1896. His home is at No.
209 York street. New Haven.
The lesson Professor Phillips would teach to all young Americans
aspiring to success with high motives is : " In whatever work one is
engaged, let him do it with all his might and be fitting himself at the
same time for something higher."
JOHN D. BROWNE
BEOWNE, JOHN D., president of the Connecticut Fire Insur-
ance Company of Hartford, son of Gurdon Perkins and
Esther (Dean) Browne, was bom in Plainfield, Windham
County, Connecticut, in 1836. The old homestead, first occupied
by his great-great-grandfather, has remained in the family nearly
two hundred years. His grandfather, John Browne, enlisted in the
patriot army in 1776, and with two of his brothers served through
the long and trying period of the war and endured the privations
and hardships of that cheerless winter at Valley Forge. On the
headstone which marks his grave in the little " Green Hollow "
cemetery is this simple inscription, " A Soldier of the Revolution."
Mr. Browne's father was a hard-working farmer, a justice of the
peace, and an assessor in his native town, who reared his family
in habits of industry and frugality, and did not forget to inculcate
by precept and example those principles of robust morality and pa-
triotism in which he himself had been trained. He was also a school
teacher of considerable local celebrity, beginning to teach, at the
age of seventeen, the district school in his own and neighboring
towns, and continuing in that profession through thirty-six winters.
He was an ardent Democrat of the old school, always performing
his duties as a patriotic citizen and voting at every election in his
town imtil the very close of his long life. He died at the age of
eighty-three years. Mr. Browne's mother was a woman of rare quali-
ties, deeply solicitous for the intellectual and spiritual culture of her
children. The keynote of her character was, " Walk humbly, deal
justly, love mercy." She died at the age of eighty-seven years.
In youth Mr. Browne's life was devoted to the farm and the
district school, and at the age of nineteen he taught the schools
in his native town. But the duties of a school teacher were not con-
genial as a life work. Having, in 1855, made a visit to the then far-
off territory of Minnesota, he made a second journey thither in the
spring of 1857, and located in Minneapolis, where, after varying
358
i-''.'- *
'^T^^^-^^'^yy^^
JOHN D. BEOWNE. 361
occupations — including the duties of associate editor of the weekly
paper — he engaged in the service of the Minneapolis Mill Company,
and for two years aided in the development and improvement of
the magnificent water power at that point, which has since brought
wealth and power to that beautiful city. When the work was com-
pleted Mr. Browne was selected by the Little Falls Manufacturing
Company to undertake the development of the fine water power at that
point. He was elected a director and secretary, and appointed agent
to carry on the work. Little Falls was at that time a small village
of a few hundred inhabitants, on the extreme border of civiliza-
tion, about one hundred miles north of Minneapolis. Here he spent
a year, with a crew of forty men, constructing a dam across the
Mississippi Eiver, under great difficulties successfully completing
the work. This point was about three hundred miles north of the
nearest railroad (LaCrosse) and nearly all supplies for the crew
had to be hauled overland from Minneapolis or St. Paul. This
work involved a large responsibility and was no small undertaking
for a young man of twenty-four.
While in Minnesota Mr. Browne was actively prominent in
local and state politics, aided in the organization of the Eepublican
party in Minnesota in 1855 (territorial days), and held intimate
relations with the dominant party at the National Capital through
the administration of President Lincoln, for whose election he had
been an enthusiastic and effective worker. He was often a delegate
to county and state conventions, and was elected an alternate delegate
to the National Eepublican Convention which nominated Mr. Lin-
coln at Chicago, in 1860. At the close of the presidential campaign
he was elected messenger to take the first electoral vote of the state
to Washington, — an office regarded as highly complimentary at that
time. He remained in Washington during the eventful winter pre-
ceeding the withdrawal of the seceding states, and during his stay
there received an appointment in the Interior Department, under
Joseph Wilson, Commissioner of the General Land Office. For
four years, during Lincoln's administration, he was chief clerk in
the office of Surveyor General of Public lands in St. Paul, to which
city the office had been recently removed from Detroit. He was
appointed with the rank of major on the staff of General Daley, then
in command of the state militia. When the call to arms came in
362 JOHN D. BROWNE.
1861, he, with others, enlisted and recruited a company for the Second
Kegiment, and reported at Fort Snelling, but was rejected by the
examining surgeon on accoimt of physical disability.
In 1865 Mr. Browne returned to his native state and engaged
in the business of fire insurance. In 1867 he became connected
with the Hartford Fire Isurance Company, as its general agent and
adjuster. In 1870 he was elected secretary of that company, in the
duties of which he was engaged until called to the presidency of
the Connecticut Fire Insurance Company in 1880. This company, '
under his leadership, has marched steadily forward to its present
position as one of the large and solid financial institutions of ;
Hartford. In the year ending January 1st, 1880, its premium in- ^
come was $399,348; the assets, $1,483,480. In the year ending
January 1st, 1906, the premium income was $3,147,059.57; the
assets, $5,813,619.36. During this period the semi-annual divi-
dends, regularly paid, amounted to $2,500,000, — figures which
speak for themselves. The Connecticut met the great disaster in San
Francisco with unflinching courage. It immediately announced to
claimants in San Francisco, policy-holders and the public generally,
that aU claims in San Francisco and elsewhere would be promptly
paid and the Connecticut would continue business as usual. As an
indication of confidence in the management, and the courage of their
convictions as to the future of the business, the stockholders unani-
mously voted, and promptly paid in, one million dollars in cash, to
strengthen the company beyond " the possibility of critical scrutiny."
The handsome building of the company, at the comer of Grove and
Prospect streets, was largely the result of Mr. Browne's planning and
taste.
In politics Mr. Browne is independent. He cut loose from the i
Eepublican party at the time of the nomination of Blaine and ad-
vocated the election of Cleveland, whose administration he cordially
approved. He is an uncompromising foe to centralization, paternal-
ism, and imperialism in government. He believes in the Declaration
of Independence, the Eights of the States, and the Constitution as
imderstood by the fathers. He is interested in many Hartford busi-
ness, charitable, and social organizations and associations; is a
director in the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company, the Na-
tional Exchange Bank; director, member of the Finance Committee
JOHN D. BKOWNE. 363
and chairman of the Board of Managers of the Hartford Estreat;
director, member of the Finance and Executive Committees of the
Connecticut Humane Society; director of the Charity Organization
Society; president of the Hartford Charitable Society; member of
the Connecticut Historical Society, the Hartford Board of Trade, the
Hari;ford Club, the Hari;ford Golf Club, the Sons of the American
Eevolution, the Eeform Club of New York, formeriy a member of the
Visiting Committee of the Connecticut Prison Association, and a
cheerful suppori;er of all legitimate, charitable, and educational work.
He was married in 1861, to Miss Frances Cleveland, daughter
of Luther and Lydia (Woodward) Cleveland, of Plainfield, Connecti-
cut. She died in 1893, leaving two daughters, Alice Cleveland, wife
of Francis E. Cooley of Hartford, and Virginia Frances Browne.
NELSON JAMES WELTON
W ELTON, NELSON JAMES, civil and hydraulic engineer,
was bom in Waterbury (Buck's Hill), Connecticut, Feb-
ruary 15th, 1839. The Welton family has had a prom-
inence in the history of Waterbury dating from the town's earliest
days and well maintained by its present representative. He is a
lineal descendant of Eichard Welton (son of John Welton of Wales,
England), who was the first English male child of European parents
born in Waterbury. The house which he built and in which he lived
after 1708 was also the birth place of Nelson James Welton, having
passed through five generations of Weltons by inheritance. Eichard
Welton, a builder by trade, was a Bachelor's Proprietor before 1700
and one of the first Episcopalians of Waterbury. He was Sergeant
of the Township and Freeholder's Courts were held in his house.
His great-great-grandson, Mr. Welton's father, was Lyman Welton,
a farmer and musician, and a man esteemed for his integrity. His
wife, Mr. Welton's mother, was Minerva Judd, granddaughter of
the Eev. Chaimcey Prindle. The Judd family is descended from
Deacon Thomas Judd, who came from England in 1634.
Mr. Welton was reared on his father's farm and brought up
to do all kinds of farm labor. His entire youth was spent in the
country and filled with so much hard work that his education was
obtained under great difficulties. He attended the district school
until he was sixteen when he went to the Waterbury Academy and
studied land surveying under Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fabrique. In
the summers he worked on the farm and at surveying and at all
times read all the engineering and mathematical works available.
At eighteen he taught school, continuing to teach in the winter
for five years.
In June, 1850, being then twenty-one, Mr. Welton was appointed
County Surveyor for New Haven County. He opened an office in
Waterbury, where he has been engaged ever since in land surveying,
•civil and hydraulic engineering, the settlement of estates and civil
364
^lA^^^. /^£^^^^
NELSON JAMES WELTON. 866
offices. In January, 1869, Mr. Welton married Mrs. Frances R.
(Phillips) Lyon of Sm3rrna, New York. She died in 1900, leaving
no children. In 1870 Mr. William W. Bonnett became associated with
Mr. Welton, and the firm of Welton and Bonnett still exists, though
as consulting engineers only.
As a public official Mr. Welton has served his city in many
capacities. In 1853, when the city of Waterbury was incorporated, he
was the first city clerk. He was street surveyor and city engineer for
thirty-two years, grand juror for four years, and justice of the peace
for twenty-eight years. He has also been town clerk, probate judge
and recorder of the city court. In 1861 he was Democratic represent-
ative of the town in the State Legislature. In 1867 he built the
city water works. He was president of the city water board for
twenty-seven years and engineer and superintendent of the depart-
ment for thirty years. In 1883 and 1884 he had charge of the
construction of the city sewerage. He is a member of the Con-
necticut Association of Civil Engineers and a Fellow of the American
Society of Civil Engineers, and for twenty-five years has served on
the State Board of Civil Engineers. He has been superintendent and
secretary of the Eiverside Cemetery Association since 1853 and treas-
urer since 1865. He has also been Councilman, Alderman and Acting
Mayor of Waterbury, and was a member of the first board of trustees
of the Bronson Free Library. He is a director in the Waterbury
National Bank and the Waterbury Savings Bank, and treasurer of
St. Margaret's Diocesan School in his city.
j Mr. Welton's family have always been staunch Episcopalians and
supporters of St. John's Church in their native city. He was con-
nected with the Sunday School of that Church for fifty-two years and
since then has been Senior Warden and Parish Agent. He is a
prominent Free Mason. He was made a Mason in Harmony
Lodge, No. 42, Waterbury, in 1856, and Woj'shipful Master of
the Lodge in 1865 and 1866, a Royal Arch Mason in Eureka
Chapter, No. 22, in 1858, and High Priest of the Chapter in
1863 and 1864. He is a Charter Member of Continental Lodge, No.
76, and a member of Waterbury Council, Royal and Select Masters,
No. 21. In 1865 he was knighted in New Haven Commandery, No.
2, K. T., became a Charter Member of Clark Commandery, No. 7,
and served as Eminent Commander in 1873 and 1874. In 1881 he
18 365
366 NELSON JAMES WELTON.
passed through the grades of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Eite in
E. G. Storer Lodge of Perfection, Elm City Council P. of J. and
New Haven Chapter K. C, and the next year received the Consistory
grades in LaFayette Consistory S. P. E. S. at Bridgeport. He is also
a memher of Pyramid Temple Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the
Mystic Shrine at Bridgeport and an honorary member of Mecca
Temple, New York City. Sir Welton has served one year, 1881 to
1882, as Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery, Knights:
Templar of Connecticut. He is an Honorary Life Member of thel
Masonic Charity Foundation of Connecticut. He was created an
Honorary Member of the Supreme Council thirty-third and last degree:
for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction U. S. A., September 16th,l
1902, at Providence, E. I.
Mr. Welton considers the strongest influence upon his life to be
home, private study, the Church and Masonry. His message to young'
Americans is most practical. " Earn your own living, live on eighty
per cent of your earnings, give regularly ten per cent of your earnings
to Charity and lay by ten per cent as an investment. In this way
one can accumulate property and learn the pleasure of giving."
ROBERT WATKINSON HUNTINGTON, JR.
WHEN Eobert Watkinson Himtiiigtoii, Jr., left Yale Univer-
sity with the degree of B.A., in the class of 1889, he was
ready to do with all his might what his hands found to do.
And what his hands found to do, in his native city, was the work of
runner or errand boy in the home office of the Connecticut General
Life Insurance Company. The company then had assets amoimting
to $1,820,994, and 5,690 policies in force, representing $7,500,000
insurance. January 1, 1906, the company had assets of $5,940,379.10,
and 19,785 policies, representing $30,224,431. And Mr. Huntington
is the company^s president.
This represents the effort and attainment in the present genera-
tion of a family which includes Simon Huntington, Puritan emigrant
in 1634, the Lothrops who came in 1620, Jonathan Trumbull,
" Brother Jonathan," the Hon. Hezekiah Huntington, the Hon. Sam-
uel Howard Himtington, and Colonel Eobert Watkinson Huntington.
Colonel Huntington began " at the bottom " in the United States
Marine Corps, early in the Civil War, and with fresh laurels won in
the Spanish-American War, the hero of Guantanamo, he was holding
the commission of colonel in the Corps when he was retired in 1900.
Jane Lothrop Trumbull, the coloneFs wife and the mother of Eobert
W. Huntington, Jr., was the great-granddaughter of Governor Jona-
than Trumbull.
Mr. Huntington was bom in Norwich, Connecticut, November 9th,
1866, and at an early age went to Hartford where his paternal grand-
father. Judge Samuel Howard Huntington, was living. He was able to
indulge to its full his fondness for outdoor sports, particularly hunting
and fishing, and thereby to establish that physique which in later years
was to take him through the period of hard study and into the place
where he could carry the burden of large responsibility without diminu-
tion of youthful spirit and energy. Necessarily his reading and study
have been largely along mathematical and economic lines; but in his
367
368 ROBERT WATKINSON HUNTINGTON, JR.
recreation he has found pleasure and in his labor refreshment in the
poetry of Robert Browning.
Mr. Huntington was prepared for college in Hartford, a pupil
in the West Middle District and a graduate of the Hartford Public
High School, whence he went to Yale, graduating in 1889. He was
a member of the Senior society of Scroll and Key and of other soci- .
eties in college. It was in November, after graduation, that he entered ti
the office of the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, and he t
had held nearly every position in it, including the offices of actuary i|
and secretary, when he was chosen president in 1901. He is a fellow »'
of the Actuarial Society of America.
In politics he is independent. He is trustee or director in some of >
Hartford's strongest financial institutions. In religion he is a Protes-
tant Episcopalian.
C^ifex-z^SMf 1^0 O^^-^^-^^
ATWOOD COLLINS
COLLINS, ATWOOD, banker, former broker and lawyer, presi-
dent of the Security Company and a prominent local office-
holder of Hartford, Connecticut, was bom there September
19th, 1851. He is descended from John Collins, who came from
England to Boston before 1640 and later settled in Braintree, Massa-
chusetts. Another ancestor, Col. Moses Lyman, served in the Eevo-
lution. Mr. CoUins' father, Erastus Collins, a man of sterling char-
acter, conservative habits and charitable deeds, was engaged in the
wholesale dry goods commission business. Mr. Collins' mother was
Mary Atwood Collins.
After preparing for college at the Hartford Public High School,
Atwood ColHns entered Yale College, where he received his B.A. de-
gree in 1873. During his college course he was elected to three Greek
letter societies. Kappa Sigma Epsilon, Delta Beta Xi, and Delta
Kappa Epsilon and to the senior secret society Scroll and Key. He
was a speaker at class day and in many ways a class leader. As soon
as he left college Mr. Collins entered his father's company that he
might master the wholesale dry goods commission business and in a
few years he was given an interest in the business. In 1876 the busi-
ness was wound up and he became occupied with real estate and family
trusts. He decided to study law and entered Columbia Law School
for that purpose in 1879. He became a member of the Hartford
County Bar, but upon his father's death, in 1880, he gave up the law
and entered into partnership with Daniel E. Howe, dealing in stocks
and bonds. In 1895 he was made vice-president of the Security Com-
pany of Hartford and at the end of one year became president of this
large trust and banking business and he has remained in this responsi-
ble office since that time.
Mr. Collins is vice-president of the Society for Savings of Hart-
ford, director in the United States Bank, in the Farmers and Mechan-
ics National Bank, in the ^tna Insurance Company, in the Hartford
Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, in the Hartford
371
372 ATWOOD COLLINS.
Electric Light Company, in the Gas Securities Company and in the
Farmington Eiver Power Company. He is president of the Americar
School for the Deaf, of the Charity Organization Society, a trustee
of the Hari;ford Theological Seminary, and a director in the Connecti-
cut Humane Society. He has served his city as councilman, alder-
man, health commissioner and charity commissioner. He was stafl
oflBcer on the Governor's Foot Guard imder Majors Kinney and Hyde,(
In 1896 he was a state delegate to the National Congress of IrrigatioE
held at Phoenix, Arizona. He has always held allegiance to the Eepub-i;
lican pari;y and been an active member of the Congregational Church.!
Mr. Collins is a great lover of outdoor life and sporis and is particu-:
lariy devoted to bicycling, tennis and hunting. In June, 1880, he'
married Mary Bu el Brace, by whom he has had five children, four of
whom are living.
THEODORE SEDGWICK GOLD
GOLD, THEODOEE SEDGWICK, late a^culturist, writer
and educator, of Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut,
who was for half a century one of the chief promoters of
agriculture in Connecticut, was bom in Madison, New York, March
2d, 1818, and died in Cornwall, Connecticut, March 20th, 1906. He
belonged to a very old and prominent family, whose early members
were connected with the earliest settlement of Connecticut. Major
Nathan Gold came from Bury St. Edmonds, England, in the reign
of Charles II, settled in Fairfield, Connecticut, and was one of the
signers of the charter of Connecticut. He was also a member of the
council in 1657. Nathan Gold, Jr., was lieutenant-governor of Con-
necticut for fifteen years, recorder of the town of Fairfield for many
years, and chief justice of the supreme court in 1712. Erastus Cleve-
land, Mr. Gold's maternal grandfather, commanded at Sacketfs Har-
bor in the War of 1812 and was a member of the New York legis-
lature, while Colonel Abraham Gold, another paternal ancestor, lost
his life in the Eevolution. In Mr. Gold's ancestral line there are
names of many other men who made their mark in the professions, in
patriotic service, and in pursuing agriculture because of a strong love
of the soil. Mr. Gold's father, Samuel Wadsworth Gold, was a physi-
cian who served his fellow men as state senator and presidential elec-
tor, and whom his son described as " an educated gentleman, hospita-
ble and philanthropic, serving the poor as weU as the rich, and in-
tensely patriotic." Mr. Gold's mother was Phebe Cleveland, a woman
of strong mind, spirit and faith.
The love for the fields and woods was stronger in the boy Theo-
dore Gold than for studies and books and, therefore, the reading that
he chose for himself was chiefly natural history, chemistry and agri-
cultural works. He was an industrious boy and at a very early age
took care of the horse, the cow and the garden. He prepared for
college at Goshen Academy and then entered Yale College, where he
took his A.B. degree in 1838 and his A.M. degree in 1841. After his
373
874 THEODORE SEDGWICK GOLD.
graduation from the academic department he taught school in Goshen
for two winters and in Waterbury for one winter and took the courses
in medicine and natural history which gave him his A.M. degree.
In 1842 Theodore Gold took possession of the Cream Hill farm
in Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut, and in 1845 he and his
father established the Cream Hill Agricultural School. He gave the
rest of his life to the pursuit and study of agriciilture and became one
of the most experienced, thorough, scientific and useful agriculturists
in the state. He taught in the Cream Hill School for twenty-four
years, that is, from 1845 to 1869. From 1866 to 1901 he held the
responsible and influential oflfice of secretary of the Connecticut Board
of Agriculture. He was trustee of the State Agricultural College
from 1881 to 1901 and a member of the board of control of the Con-
necticut Agricultural Experiment Station from 1887 until his death
in 1906. He edited thirty-four reports of the Connecticut Board of
Agriculture and wrote many articles on agricultural topics for local
and agricultural papers.
Mr. Gold took a generous and active interest in all movements
and institutions connected with the public good and in 1864 he was
one of those who secured a charter for the Soldiers' Orphans Home
and was its secretary for the subsequent ten years. He was deacon
in the Congregational Church in Cornwall for twenty-seven years and
vice-president of the Connecticut Historical Society. He was not
interested in Masonic or fraternal orders, but was a member of the
Litchfield County University Club. He was also a member of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American
Pomological Societ}'^, the American Forestry Association, the Con-
necticut Forestry Association, the National Geographical Association,
the American Historical Society, the Connecticut Historical Society,
the Society of Founders and Patriots, and the Society of the Ameri-
can Revolution.
One of his most creditable and permanent public services was
his " History of Cornwall," a careful, accurate and interesting his-
tory of his home town which will keep his name as freshly honored
by generations to come as his work and personality is by his contem-
poraries. In politics Mr. Gold was a Republican of strong convictions,
though he was too busy with his life work in agriculture to seek or
hold political office.
THEODORE SEDGWICK GOLD. 375
The underlying principle of Mr. Gold's life was the determination
to serve his fellow men with useful, unselfish service, and this purpose
bore much fruit. He was a farmer because he loved farm life and
work and his achievements in the advancement of agriculture were
very great. Of his own life and ideals he said, " I have enjoyed a
reasonable degree of success in my plans in life. A little more energy
at times might have secured better results. An honest, pure life is
conducive to health and happiness all along the way and of happy
memories in old age." He lived to the ripe age of eighty-eight and
could look back upon a life of rare usefulness, purposefulness and
accomplishment.
Mr. Gold is survived by a wife, six children and nineteen grand-
children. Mrs. Gold was Mrs. Emma Tracy Baldwin, whom he mar-
ried in 1859 and who was his second wife. His first wife was Caro-
line E. Lockwood, whom he married in 1843 and who died in 1857.
FRANK LOOMIS PALMER
PALMEE, FRANK LOOMIS, who, as president of the Pahnen
Brothers Company, manufacturers of bed comfortables, is
at the head of one of the largest industries of its kind in thiej
country, was born in Montville, Connecticut, June 9th, 1851, and be-i
longs to a family who have been engaged in the manufacture of cotton
goods for seven generations. He traces his ancestry to Walter Palmer,
the emigrant ancestor of the family, who came to America in 1629,'
settled in Salem, Massachusetts, and was afterwards a founder of
Charlestown, Massachusetts, and the builder of the first home in that
town. In 1633 he located in Stonington, Connecticut, and the family
name and business has been in that neighborhood ever since. Deacon
Gershom Palmer, son of Walter Palmer, was a soldier in the Colonial
Wars. Gideon Palmer, in the next generation, was an extensive land
owner in Montville and the inventor of a method of extracting oil from
cotton seed and of an oil press on which the present baling press is
modeled. He built paper mills and was greatly interested in pubUc
improvements. His son, Frank L. Palmer's father, was the Hon.
Elisha H. Palmer, a man of remarkable business ability and integrity,
who was a leader of the anti-slavery movement and of many important
moral reforms and who was state senator, representative, and the in-
cumbent of many town offices and public commissions. Mr. Pahner'e.
mother was Ellis Loomis of Lyme.
After two years' study at Claverack-on-the-Hudson, for which he
was prepared in the district schools of Montville, Frank L. Palmer
entered immediately upon the career of a business man. At sixteen
he went west on an extended business trip and a year later he returned
home and entered the manufacturing business with his brothers. They
have continued in the manufacture of bed quilts and other cotton
goods and have built up a business second to none of its kind in the
world. The company has large mills in Montville on the Oxoboxo
stream, in Oakdale, Palmertown and Fitch ville. In 1900 the firm
876
FRANK LOOMIS PALMEE. 377
of Palmer Brothers was incorporated and Frank L. Palmer was made
president, a position he still holds.
In politics Mr. Palmer affiliates with the Eepublican party and
in creed he follows the belief of the Episcopal Church. He is a mem-
ber of the Manhattan Club, the New York Yacht Club, and the
Thames Club of New London, in which city he makes his residence
and home. His family consists of a wife, Louisa Townsend of Vicks-
burg, Miss., whom he married in 1876, and of a son, Charles Town-
send Palmer, and two daughters, Theodora and Virginia Palmer.
ROCKWELL HARMON POTTER
POTTER, EEV. ROCKWELL HARMON, pastor of the Fiiet-
Church of Christ in Hartford, Connecticut, one of the best-:
known, most active and eloquent ministers in that city, is a
native of Glenville, Schenectady County, New York, where he was
bom on October 1st, 1874. He is the son of Spencer S. Potter, a
farmer, and Catharine Harmon Potter, a woman of strong characteit
and a marked influence for good on her son's personality. On his
father's side Mr. Potter traces his ancestry to Nathaniel Potter, who
emigrated from England to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in 1636, andi
on the maternal side he is descended from John Harmon, who also!
came from England and settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, and;
Suffield, Connecticut, about 1650. He is also descended from Thomas'
Romeyn, who came from Holland, was graduated from Princeton in
1750, and was a clergyman of the Reformed Church on Long Island
and in the Mohawk valley.
Although a farmer's son and a healthy, vigorous lad, Harmon
Potter greatly disliked the farm duties which fell to his lot in boy-
hood. He was naturally studious and thoughtful and determined at
a very early age to become a minister. He prepared for college at the
Union Classical Institute in Schenectady, New York, and after com-
pleting the course pursued there he entered Union College, where he
was graduated in 1895 with the degree of A.B. He then studied for
a year at the Yale Divinity School and another year at the Union
Theological Seminary. In 1898 he took the degree of B.D, at thei
Chicago Theological Seminary.
The year 1898 chronicled other important events in Mr. Potter's
life besides the completion of his professional education. On May
12th of that year he married Jean A. Gilchrist of MarshaUtown, Iowa,
by whom he has had three children. In 1898 also he entered upon
his first pastorate, the Reformed Church in Flushing, New York,
where he remained two years, that is, until his call to his present i
pastorate in Hartford.
878
ROCKWELL HARMON POTTER. 379
Since 1900 Mr. Potter has been pastor of the Center Congrega-
tional Church of Hartford, for that is the name by which the First
Church of Christ in that city is best known. It is the oldest and
leading church of its denomination in the city and as its head Mr.
Potter has a position of great influence and responsibility in the
religious life of Hartford. Though a very young man, his influence
is wide, not only in his own parish, but in the social, civil and intel-
lectual life of his community, and his interest in and influence upon
young men is especially strong and fruitful. Earnest and eloquent
in the pulpit, humane, sympathetic, tactful and untiring in parish
work, and consistent and steadfast in his Christianity, Rockwell Har-
mon Potter stands in a position of great influence and force and is
accomplishing a great work for the good of his fellow men.
In his social relations Mr. Potter is a man of few but strong in-
terests. Politically he is identified with the party of " Patriots." He
is a member of the Twentieth Century Club of Hartford, of the college
fraternity Chi Psi, and of the Hartford Golf Club. He is intensely
interested and active in all public matters and is an influential and
zealous citizen of his adopted city.
CASPER FREDERICK GOODRICH
GOODEICH, CASPAE FEEDEEICK, officer in the United
States Navy, president of the Naval Institute, and at present
Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Squadron,
whose life-long service in the Navy has won him an international repu-
tation as a patriotic, distinguished, capable, and valiant naval officer,
was bom in Philadelphia, Pa., January 7th, 1847, and his present
home when on land and off duty is in Pomfret, Windham County, Con-
necticut. His parents were William Goodrich, a merchant and a man
of great generosity, and Sarah A. Bearden Goodrich. Of his earUer
ancestors there are authentic and interesting records, tracing the Hne
through eight generations and revealing many worthy names. The
earliest of these was Ensign William Goodrich, who came from Suffolk
County, England, in the brig Abigail, settled first in Watertown,
Massachusetts, and later in Wethersfield, Connecticut, where he died
in 1676. He served in the Pequot War. In 1630, another ancestor,
Lieutenant-Colonel Eichard Cocke came from Devonshire, England, to
Virginia. Among the Admiral's most noteworthy progenitors were
Eev. Charles Chauncey, president of Harvard College in 1654; Major
William Chittenden (1593-1660), the principal military man in the
Colony of Connecticut at that time; Eev. Gershom Bulkeley (1636-
1713), chaplain of the Connecticut troops in King Philip's War;
Captain Thomas Standish (1612-1692), keeper of the fort in Weth-
ersfield; Hon. John Doming and Hon, Eichard Treat, patentees of
Connecticut in the royal charter of 1662 ; Ensign William Goodrich
(1661-1737), who served in Queen Anne's War; William Cocke, who
fought at King's Mountain, and was a member of the legislatures
of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi, and was also
first United States Senator from Tennessee, and Major-General John
Cocke, member of Congress and an officer who took part in the Creek
War.
Fishing, mineralogy, and books were Caspar Goodrich's chief
interests in boyhood. He spent his youth in New Haven, and acquired
880
(%
^z^^^^^
t^, ^<v5j^:^^^4>iu>^r;^
CASPER FEEDEEICK GOODRICH. 381
his preliminary education at the L. A. Thomas Private School and
Russell's Collegiate and Commercial Institute in that city. Outside of
his school work he read professional works with great zeal. He was very
patriotic and ambitious and chose for himself a career in the Navy.
After completing his studies in New Haven he entered the United
States Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1864, at the head of his
class, after which he became a midshipman in the United States Navy.
His first work as a young officer was on board the steam frigate
Colorado and the tender Frolic in Europe from April, 1865, to De-
cember, 1868, during the latter part of which period he was associated
with Admiral Farragut.
In 1869, his promotion having brought him to the rank of
Lieutenant-commander, he went to South America on the sailing
sloop Portsmouth. In 1871 he became instructor in Physics and
Chemistry at the Naval Academy, and held this position until 1874,
when he went to Germany to take a special course in physics at the
Polytecknicum in Stuttgart. The following year, 1875, he went to
China in the Tennessee and returned home in the old Kearsarge in
1877. He was then assistant at the Torpedo Station until 1880, when
he took a year's leave in Europe. In 1881 he became second-in-com-
mand of the flagship Lancaster, on a cruise in Europe which lasted
until February, 1884, and during which he commanded the detach-
ment of sailors and marines landed from the American men-of-war in
July, 1882, to preserve order in Alexandria, Egypt, after its bombard-
ment by the British fleet. It was during this same period of three
years, from 1881 to 1884, that he was foreign naval and military
attach^ on the staff of Sir Garnet Wolseley in the Tel-el-Kebir
campaign. In 1884 he brought to the United States the purchased
Thetis and the Alert (the latter a gift from the British government),
both vessels were destined for the relief of the luckless Greeley, then at
death's door at Cape Sabine. From 1884 to 1885 Commander
Goodrich was Inspector of Ordnance (gun builder) at the Washing-
ton Navy Yard, and the following year he became Special Inspector
at the Bureau of Ordnance, Navy Department, and naval member
of the Endicott Fortifications Board. From 1886 to 1889 he was
in. charge of the Torpedo Station, and this service was followed
by his going to sea again, this time in command of the sloop-of-
war Jamestown, the sailing frigate Constellation and the gun-
382 CASPER FREDERICK GOODRICH.
boat Concord, which commands lasted until 1895. From 1895 tc
1896 he was busied as lecturer at the Naval War College, and h(
was president of that institution in 1897 and 1898. In April, 1898
he established the Coast Signal Service, and then took command of th(|
auxiliary cruiser St. Louis of the American Line, in which he had th(
first engagement with the forts at Santiago, and saw constant anc
active service, cutting cables, under fire and otherwise, carrying dis-l
patches and capturing blockade runners. He landed General Shafter'gi
army, brought Admiral Cervera north with seven himdred Spanish
prisoners, carried out General Brooke, his headquarters staff and ai
regiment of Illinois volunteers to Porto Eico, and did many other
brave and "telling deeds." In command of the cruiser Newark at
Manzanillo he fought the last naval action of the Spanish-AmericaD'
War, and he afterwards received a well-deserved battle medal witb;
two bars. After the war he took command of the Iowa for a year andf'
then, in 1900, resumed his lectures at the Naval War College. In
1901 he took command of the receiving ship at League Island and re-
tained this command for two years at the end of which, in 1903, he
became Commandant of the Portsmouth Navy Yard. In February,
1904, he was promoted to the rank of Eear Admiral, and in August, ;
1904, he hoisted his flag on board the New York as commander-in-
chief of the United States Pacific Squadron, in which capacity he is
now serving. In September, 1904, he took charge of the Russian
cruiser Lena, and dealt with the matter to the great satisfaction of
everyone concerned. His management of the investigation into the
causes and incidents of the unfortimate boiler explosion on board the
U. S. S. Bennington, in July, 1905, was characterized by firmness,
tact, and a determination to get at the truth at all costs. A painful
duty was most conscientiously performed. Eecently, hearing while
at sea, through a wireless dispatch, that San Francisco was in sore
distress, he pushed on at top speed with all his available vessels. The
Nav/s admirable record at that time and place was in no small meas-
ure due to his energy, promptness, and professional experience.
Admiral Goodrich is the author of many professional articles.
His report of the " British Naval and Military Operations in Egypt
in 1883," published in 1883 by the Intelligence Officer of the Navy De-
partment, is still the standard and accepted history of that campaign.
He is permanent president of the Naval Order of St. Louis, a member
CASPEK FREDERICK GOODRICH. 383
of the Pomfret Club of his home town, of the Metropolitan, Century,
Players, and Yacht Clubs of New York, of the University Clubs of
Philadelphia and San Francisco, of the Army and Navy Club of
Washington, and the Naval Academy Club of Annapolis. He is a
member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Golf, riding, shooting,
and bridge are his favorite diversions, and he has always encouraged
athletics on every ship he has ever commanded, and is now instru-
mental in fostering pulling and sailing matches, football, baseball,
and track athletics in his squadron. In 1888 Yale University con-
ferred upon him the honorary degree of M.A. In 1873 he married
Eleanor Milnor, by whom he has had five children, three of whom are
now living.
A life full of successful achievement and significant activity needs
no apologies for its failures, but Admiral Goodrich believes that
wherein he has in any measure failed it has been due to too great
independence of attitude, and he thinks that if he had "bent the
pliant knee" more frequently his career would have been more suc-
cessful. His advice is as sound as his own success has been, for he
counsels, " First of all, absolute rock-ribbed honesty, both of act and
thought ; second, industry, for the workman who drops his tools after
and not before the closing bell becomes a foreman and an owner."
19
ERNEST DE FREMERY MIEL
MIEL, EKNEST DE FEEMERY, M.A., S.T.B., rector oi
Trinity Church, Hartford, and one of the most active and
prominent clergymen of the Protestant Episcopal Church in
the Diocese of Connecticut, was bom in San Francisco, March 7th,
1868. His family tree is a very interesting one, having French,
Flemish, and Irish branches near its roots. Among his ancestors is
Jan Miel, the distinguished Flemish artist, who lived from 1599 to
1664, and whose paintings are in the Louvre. On his mother's side
Mr. Miel traces his descent from the Northumberland Percys. Hisl
father, Charles F. B. Miel, was a native of Dijon, France, and camei
to America and settled in Boston in 1856. Charles F. B. Miel was a
clerg3Tnan in the Protestant Episcopal Church, a lecturer on Romance
Languages and Literature at Harvard in 1860 and at the University
of Pennsylvania from 1878 to 1882. He foimded the French Church
of St. Saviour in Philadelphia, and was its rector from 1871 to 1902.
Mr. Miel's mother, Frances G. Neail Miel, was born in Dublin, Ire-
land, and came to Boston in 1854. Hers has always been a strong
and vital influence for good upon his mental and spiritual life.
Out-of-door sports, books of adventure, and music were EmeBt
Miel's chief interests in boyhood. He was a robust and active lad
and did everything with a hearty energy, whether it was home duties,
school work, or football and cricket. His boyhood and most of his
college days were spent in Philadelphia, the seat of his father^s minis-
terial duties. He prepared for college at the Episcopal Academy in
Philadelphia and evinced special interest in history and science. His
Freshman year in college was spent at Trinity College, Hartford,
where he became a member of the I. K. A. fraternity. He returned
to Philadelphia and entered the University of Pennsylvania with the
class of 1888, then beginning the Sophomore year. During his col-
lege course he was active in every phase of the college life and was
particularly interested in athletics and in the publication of the college
paper. He was at different times member of the class cricket, base-
384
ERNEST DE FKEMERY MIEL. 386
ball, and football teams, and, in 1887, he was captain of the 'Varsity
football team. He was a member of the Glee Club, of a number of
college choruses and chairman of many important committees. He
served on editorial boards of " The Pennsylvanian " during his entire
course and was its editor-in-chief in 1887. Both during and after
his college course he was a special reporter on the Philadelphia Public
Ledger, and this was one of the ways in which he earned his way
through college. After finishing his academic course and receiving
his B.A. degree in 1888 he studied at the Berkeley Divinity School in
Middletown, Connecticut. In 1891 he received the degree of S.T.B.
at the University of Pennsylvania, taking the Pierre Jay Prize at
Berkeley that same year. In 1893 he received his M.A. degree at
i Pennsylvania and had the Master's Oration at Commencement.
! The first call which Mr. Miel received was as assistant to the
Eev. Dr. W. S. Eainsford, rector of St. George's Church, New York
City. He remained with Dr. Rainsford from 1891 to 1893, when he
received the call to his present parish. Trinity Church, Hartford.
It was in Jime, 1893, the year of his coming to Hartford, that Mr.
Miel married Marion Scribner, daughter of the Hon. G. Hilton Scrib-
iner, former Secretary of the State of New York, and originator of
the Scribnerian theory of the Place of the Origin of Life. They have
been blessed with four children. Since making Hartford his home
and the center of his work, Mr. Miel has identified himself with
church and philanthropic work, with movements for civic progress,
land with the intellectual and religious life of his city. He is Chap-
lain of the 1st Infantry, C. N. G., a trustee of the Church Home, the
Widow's Home, the Open Hearth Association, and since 1905 has
served as an Examining Chaplain of the Diocese. He votes with
the Republican party. He maintains a marked and active interest in
ithletics and is the true comrade of the young men of his church. Iii!
his great sociability, his youthful interests, his genuine enthusiasm'
and earnest Christian force he makes of his position as rector of one of
the largest churches in the State a stronghold of Christian influence
:and activity.
FREDERICK TALLMADGE TOWNE
TOWNE, FREDERICK TALLMADGE, late general superin
tendent of the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company oi
Stamford, Connecticut, was one of the strongest, most thor-i
ough, capable and progressive, as well as one of the youngest, cap-
tains of industry in his State and time, as well as one of the most
noble gentlemen and consistent Christians. His brief but remarkably
fruitful, purposeful, and exemplary life was one devoted to good work,
good deeds and good living, and was, through his wonderful ability,
purposefulness, and industry, more full of commendable and endur-
ing achievement in its shori; course of thiri;y-four years than that of
many who attain to three times that age with much credit. He was
bom in Stamford, March 5th, 1872, and died there February 4th,
1906. He was of the tenth generation of descent from William
Towne of Yarmouth, England, who came to America in 1640 and
settled in Salem, Massachusetts. Edmund Towne, second son of
William, participated in King Philip's War. John Towne, bom in
1787, the late Mr. Towne's great-grandfather, was a man of unusual
mental development and business ability and a patron of the fine
arts. He managed the gas works of Boston at one time, and for a
number of years engaged in steamboat traffic of sugar and cotton. '
His son, " Fred " Towne's grandfather, was John Henry Towne, a
partner in an extensive iron foundry in Philadelphia, builders of
well-known war vessels, and the founder of the Towne Scientific !
School of the University of Pennsylvania. " Fred " Towne's father <
was Henry Robinson Towne, who began life as a mechanical en- 1
gineer, and in 1868 formed, with Linus Yale, Jr., the partnership of
Yale and Towne, lock manufacturers, of which he soon afterwards
became president. He was president of the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers, and is a prolific writer on subjects connected
with engineering. His wife, the mother of Fred Towne, is Cora •
White Towne, a descendant of Hon. David Hall, first governor of
Delaware, of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge, an aide-de-camp of General
386
FEEDERICK TALLMADGE TOWNE. 387
Washington and of Gen, William Floyd, a signer of the Declaration
of Independence.
The complex character, the unusual stability, self-control, and
purposefulness, the charm of personality, and the remarkable capacity
for leadership in the highest sense of the word showed themselves as
dominant traits in Frederick Towne from earliest boyhood. Though
I delicate in general health and the frequent victim of many trying
iUnesses he was patient, imcomplaining and brave, and cultivated a
great capacity for hard work in spite of all physical drawbacks. By
rigidly training himself to fight physical ills, and by steady exercise
.and intelligent indulgence in horseback riding, golf, tennis, and
swimming, he became stronger and more equal to the great amount
;of work he desired to do, though he was never very robust. After
a brief experience at a child's school he entered, at the age of
ten years, the day school of Mr. H. U. King in Stamford and re-
mained under the guidance of that helpful teacher for five years.
In 1885 he entered St. Mark's School at Southboro, Massachusetts,
where he spent three ye&Ts. In the fall of 1888 he matriculated at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Boston for the purpose
I of specializing in mechanical engineering. He was eager and im-
patient to begin the actiial work of life and did not stay at " Tech "
for the last year's work of a course which would otherwise have led
I to a degree. Though not a brilliant or " hard student," and by no
means the head of his class, he worked in an earnest, broad-minded
! way, and cultivated to a rare degree his exceptional powers of concen-
1 tration and analysis, his facile and thorough solution of problems and
easy mastery of essentials. He was a prominent member of the Delta
Psi fraternity and was a leader in all college matters. The secret of
I his magnetism, the force that held and guided his fellows in college
work and play, lay then as in his later work in his control of self, his
mature judgment, his helpfulness, humor, tact, sincerity, honor,
and kindliness.
; In the fall of 1892 he entered the works of the Yale & Towne
Manufacturing Company and began to work his way up from a sub-
S ordinate position, mastering each department of the works with quick
insight and thorough, diligent labor, working shoulder to shoulder
with the men in each stage of the industry, himself the hardest worker
■ of them all. Three years later, in January, 1896, he was appointed
388 FREDERICK TALLMADQE TOWNE.
assistant to the president, and began an equally eflScient mastering
of the organization and management of the industry whose opera-
tions he had learned. In December, 1898, he was appointed general
superintendent of the works, and he held this responsible position
with remarkable success until his death seven years later. In this
position he had the sole control of over twenty-five hundred em-
ployees, many of whom were more than twice his age. He proved
an ideal captain of this army of workmen, disciplining them with firm- ,
ness and strength, yet helping them with such tact, sympathy, democ- )
racy, and brotherliness as can only come from the heart of a Chris- i
tian. His guiding principle was that of their unity with the com-
pany and among themselves, and he proved as strong in executive
as he had been capable in subordinate work. He succeeded in incid- 1
eating a unique spirit of loyalty and cooperation, and by his free i
training classes, clubs, and system of awards for useful suggestions i
from employees he secured from his band of men an efficient and i
loyal service that rarely prevails in the industrial world. Through
his originality and work he increased the quality of the products,
the equipment of the plant, and the skill and ease of the processes
many fold. In 1900 he was elected a member of the Advisory Council
of the National Founders' Association, and was president of the
organization in 1903. Not long before his death he organized the
Manufacturers' Association of Stamford of which he became presi-
dent.
Even so full, fruitful, and thorough a business life is not an ade-
quate measure of Frederick T. Towne's activities, achievement, and
usefulness. He was a member of the Stamford Board of Appropria-
tion, a vestryman and active member of St. John's Episcopal Church,
a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, of the
Engineers' Club of New York, and of the St. Anthony Club of Boston.
He was an ex-president of the Suburban Club of Stamford and a
governor of the Wee Bum Golf Club. His sincere love of outdoor
life, his rare capacity for fellowship, and his strong character and
magnetic personality made him a leader in social as well as in busi-
ness life. In a quiet, practical way he did much valuable "welfare
work," always in a spirit of brotherhood and helpfulness, never in
ostentatious or pauperizing charity. One of his chief interests was
the Boy's Club of St. John's Church, which he helped to organize
FEEDEEICK TALLMADGE TOWNE. 389
and maintain, and which was greatly strengthened by his unselfish
'service and hearty interest.
On May 4th, 1898, Mr. Towne married Mary Constance Gibbons,
who with two sons, Meredith and Frederick Tallmadge, survives him.
His home was on Glenbrook avenue, Stamford, and was the center
of a domestic life as imselfish, cheerful, and wholesome as his busi-
ness life. Christian love and courtesy, broad culture, and sound
'judgment made him an ideal host, husband, and father.
It was fitting that a life of such abundant service, strength, and
force should end in the heart of its labor, even though its brevity
causes infinite sorrow. On February 3d, 1906, he made a most bril-
liant, vigorous, and inspiring address before the employees of his
company upon the occasion of awarding prizes for their plans and
suggestions in behalf of the company's advancement. At the close
of the speech he fainted, and the following morning he died from an
attack of acute nephritis, and his life of love, labor, and usefulness
was closed.
Frederick Tallmadge Towne was one of the strongest men, in
every sense of the word except the physical sense, that Connecticut or
any state has ever known. He was courageous and capable in work,
a faithful Christian to his fellowmen and to his God, and his life
was one of highest purpose and broadest achievement. Men admired
his ability and industry, followed his leadership and praised his
culture, but they loved his heart and reverenced his character.
CHARLES xMORRIS UPSON
UPSON, CHAELES MOERIS, president of the Upson, Singletojij
and Company, mercantile firm, and in many ways a prominem
citizen of Waterbury, was bom there on the fifteenth of June
1850. Thomas Upson, his first ancestor in America, settled in Harbj
ford in 1638, and was one of the original proprietors of Farmingtow
Stephen Upson, son of Thomas Upson, was one of the original
proprietors of Waterbury and very active in the public affairs of hiil
time, being surveyor, grand juror and deputy to the General Court
and his son Stephen Upson 2d, Mr. Upson's great-grandfather
was a representative in the Colonial Assembly in 1743 and was a\&.
a Captain. Mr. Upson's ancestors on his mother's side were early
settlers of Woodbury, Connecticut. Mr. Upson's father was Thomafi
Clark Upson, a carpenter and builder who was justice of the peace anc
selectman of Waterbury. Mr. Upson's mother was Harriet Morris.
a woman of great piety and sweetness of character, who died when
he was but four years old. Until he was fifteen years old the boy
Charles Upson spent his days in the country attending the district
school, working on the farm, and enjoying its healthy exercise. He
then attended the Rev. A. N. Lewis' Private School in Woodbury,
Connecticut, and recited to a private tutor. During the vacations
he helped his father in the building business.
At the close of his school days Mr. Upson began work in a civil
engineering corporation engaged in railroad work. Soon, however,'
he became engaged in the clothing business which has been his chief
business interest ever since. From 1871 to 1877 he was identified-
with Giddings and Upson in New Britain and the following year with
Upson, Singleton and Company of Waterbury, a joint stock company
being formed with Mr. Upson as secretary and treasurer. He held
these offices for many years during which time the company grew
rapidly and established a store in New York as well as Waterbury.
In 1891 he became president of the corporation.
In 1889 Mr. Upson was one of a committee of two who organized
the Waterbury Board of Trade and was its second president in 1891.
390
CHAELES MORRIS UPSON. 391
In politics he has always stood by the Republican party, but he has
never sought or held office. He attends the Congregational Church
and is a member of the leading clubs of Waterbury. His greatest
enjoyment in the line of outdoor sports is found in golf and auto-
mobiling. Mr. Upson was married on September 15th, 1880, to
Jennie Alice Baldwin, who is prominent socially and a member of
the women's clubs of Waterbury.
Mr. Upson considers the three greatest influences upon his success
in life to have been exerted by home, school, and the men he has been
associated with in his business life. As a watchword for others he
Bays, " Have a purpose and follow it to a finish "
ISAAC MORRIS ULLMAN
ULLMAN, ISAAC MOERIS, manufacturer, general manager
of Strouse, Adler and Compan}^, was born in New Haven,
Connecticut, August 29th, 1863. He is of German ancestry.
His father, Morris Ullman, who came from Germany in 1847 to engage
in business in America, was a man of varied occupations, and his
death in Mr. Ullman's early boyhood made it necessary for the latter
to help towards the maintenance of the household. Mr. Ullman's
mother was Mina Ullman, a woman of fine character and great
capability. Mr. Ullman went to work regularly at the age of twelve,
and in doing his share towards supporting the family he learned
habits of industry and perseverance which have been of lifelong
helpfulness. His education was acquired at the New Haven schools
and stopped when he was but twelve years old. From that time Mr.
Ullman was self-instructed, devoting his leisure time to acquiring
further knowledge. He was fond of reading and was particularly
interested in history and the biographies of famous men.
In 1877, when he was thirteen years old, he entered the employ
of Mayer, Strouse and Company, corset manufacturers, in the humble
capacity of office boy, and has been connected with the manufacture
and sale of corsets ever since his first employment in the Mayer
Strouse factory, holding almost every position in that factory
from office boy to superintendent and general manager. In 1899
the Company was reorganized and became Strouse, Adler and Com-
pany with Mr. Ullman as a member of the firm and general manager.
Mr. Ullman's strong personality and capacity for leadership
has made him active in public affairs and in social and fraternal
organizations. He was an aide on Governor Loimsbury's staff, and
has always been an active member of the Eepublican party. He is
a Mason, a member of Hiram Lodge, Franklin Chapter, of Harmony
Council, of the Lotus Club of New York, Army and Navy Club of
New York, Wool Club of New York, the Republican Club of New
York, the Union League Club of New Haven, the Harmonie Club
892
ISAAC MORRIS ULLMAN. 393
of New Haven, the Hartford Club of Hartford, and the Young Men's
Eepublican Club, also of New Haven. In religion he is a follower of
the Jewish belief. His favorite diversions are fishing and camping.
In 1892 Mr. Ullman married Flora Veronica Adler, by whom he has
had one child, Marion B. Ullman, who is now living.
" Sobriety, faithfulness, perseverance, loyalty to one's ideals and
to friends, truthfulness and frankness" are the virtues which Mr.
Ullman believes every truly successful man must cultivate and he
adds this sound advice — " Make your word respected and never
practice deceit. Study American institutions and take an active
part in the political life of the community."
CURTIS HUSSEY VEEDER
VEEDEE, CUKTIS HUSSEY, president of the Veeder Manu-i
facturing Company of Hartford, mechanical engineer and the
inventor of many standard electrical instruments and me<j
chanical appliances, was bom in Allegheny, Allegheny Comity, Pemwj
sylvania, January 31st, 1862. He is the son of Herman Veeder, a
mining engineer and manager, and of Hannah Adair Veeder, a strong-i
minded and estimable woman who left him many good influences by
inheritance, though she died when he was but ten years old. MrJ
Veeder is of Dutch ancestry and is in the eighth generation of descent,
from Simon Volkertse Veeder, bom in Holland in 1624 and an emi-i
grant to New Amsterdam in 1652, who settled in Schenectady, New
York, in 1662. Maritie, wife of Dirk Van Eps, came from Holland
to Schenectady in 1664, and from her Mr. Veeder is a descendant in
the ninth generation. Another ancestor, Claas Frederickse Van Pat-
ten, came from Holland to Schenectady in 1664. James Adair, a
maternal ancestor, came from Ireland to Big Spring, Ohio, in 1773,
and Major John Irwin, another Irish ancestor, fought in the Kevolu-
tion, and was a member of the original Society of Cincinnati. Mr..
Veeder's grandfather was an engineer and contractor and built por-f;
tions of the Erie Canal and of the railroad from Newburyport to
Boston and from Boston to Providence.
It was at the early age of six that Curtis Veeder began his me-
chanical experiences by running a water wheel in a brook near his
house. That same year the family moved to Plattsburg, New York,,
and he built a portable play house, dug a miniature mine and contrived
a water wheel which afforded him much profitable amusement. He
learned the use of many tools at an early age and spent much time
watching the machinery at his father's mine. Though not strong he
was devoted to outdoor life and athletics, but never to the neglect of
books and study. At ten he learned to use a wood-turning lathe andi
constructed some small furnaces in hard sand banks in which he burned
soft coal. He read all available literature on science and mechanics
894
CURTIS HUSSEY VEEDEB. 395
and found the "Scientific American/' "Ewbanks Hydraulics and
Mechanics/' and " 507 Mechanical Movements/' most helpful and in-
teresting.
In 1874 he built a successful and complete jig saw run by foot
power which was in use for two years. In 1876 his father took him
to the Centennial Exposition and he was intensely interested in the
wonders of Machinery Hall. Upon his return to Plattsburg hia
father purchased him a set of unfinished iron castings for a steam
engine which he finished and assembled during the three following
summers. He attended school during the regular terms and pre-
pared for college at the Plattsburg High School. During the winters
of 1879 and 1880 he built a bicycle from pictures in the " Scientific
American/' and spent most of his time out of school riding and re-
pairing it. In the summer of 1880 he took a ten mile trip over the
sandy roads near Plattsburg and, as his was the first bicycle seen
in that locality, the experiment aroused much interest. The saddle
which he made for his machine was so successful that he had it
patented in 1881, and this was the first of his long list of patents.
In 1881 he went to work in the Horse Nail Factory in Plattsburg,
' but left the following year to enter Lehigh University, where he took
, the degree of Mechanical Engineer in 1886. In addition to the
, regular course he took a special course in electricity. Meanwhile in
the vacations he had made bicycle ball bearings, a two-speed gear for
tricycles, numerous pieces of electrical apparatus, and some photo-
graphic shutters. During this period also he sold out both his Eng-
Hsh and American saddle patents, the latter to the Pope Manufac-
turing Company for $1,000.
After graduating second in his class from Lehigh University in
1886 he became a draughtsman in the Weed Sewing Machine Com-
pany, but in the employ of the Pope Company. He left in October
, to become chief draughtsman in the Calumet & Hecla Mining Com-
pany in Michigan, remaining in that position until 1889. During
that time he became interested in electrical machinery and designed
an electric hoist and an electro-magnetic clutch. From July, 1889,
to August, 1893, he was draughtsman for the Thompson-Houston
Company at Lynn, Massachusetts, to whom he sold his patent for the
clutch and hoist. While in Lynn he designed automatic regulating
apparatus for naval projectors or search-lights which were used on the
396 CUETIS HUSSEY VEEDER.
Intramural Kailroad at the World's Fair. He also designed several
mining locomotives and a large electric locomotive for hauling freight
cars, which was the first electric locomotive to be put in regular use
on a steam railroad in the United States. It was about this time,
too, that he designed the first commercial three phase electric motors
built by the General Electric Company.
In September, 1894, Mr. Veeder became a draughtsman in theji
Hartford Cycle Company with whom he remained for one year. In]
the meantime he had designed a bicycle cyclometer and, as he couldi
not find a manufacturer for it, he decided to form his own companyt
for that purpose. On August 15th, 1895, a small company was
formed, one of the chief ones interested being Mr. D. J. Post, former
treasurer of the Hartford Cycle Company. During the season ofi
1896 the new concern turned out about fifty thousand instruments.!
The following summer Mr. Veeder made fruitful experiments ini
making castings in metal moulds, which finally led to the perfection
of automatic casting machines, which are now used for making parts
for cyclometers, odometers, counters, voting machines, cash registers,
and many other devices. Early in June, 1901, he undertook the de-
signing of a tachometer or speed indicator which he has since per-
fected for use on automobiles and other electrical machines. In all
Mr. Veeder has taken out thirty-two United States and forty-three
foreign patents, the most important being those for casting machines.
Mr. Veeder is president and Mr. Post is treasurer of the new com-
pany, now widely known as the Veeder Manufacturing Company.
Mr, Veeder is a member of the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers, of Franklin Institute, the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, the American Geological Society, the Na-
tional Geological Society, the American Forestry Association, the i
League of American Wheelmen, the American Automobile Associa-
tion, the American Motor League, the Aero Club of America, the
Hartford Club, the Musical Club of Hartford, the University Club
of Hartford, and the Laurentian Fish and Game Club of Quebec.
In politics he is a Eepublican. Bicycling, automobiling, walking, and
fishing are his favorite recreations. He is unmarried.
C ■
WILLIAM HENRY WILLIAMS
THE Hon. William Henry Williams, State's Attorney for New
Haven County and for many years now recognized as one of
the ablest lawyers of Connecticut, illustrates in his life that
while there is no "royal road to learning," there is none so rough
that perseverance cannot master it. He was born in the little town
of Bethany, New Haven County, June 7th, 1850, the son of Elisha
Johnson Williams, a shoemaker, and Laura Baldwin Brooks Wil-
liams. He was a sturdy, energetic lad, benefiting physically by his
country life, but not content with the restricted possibilities there
afforded. He had an ambition to get out into the world of affairs and
to be a part of it.
He imbibed what learning he could from the district schools in
Bethany and Durham, a neighboring town, meantime working on a
farm. His regular labors as a farm boy began when he was only
seven years old and, what with early chores and late chores and all
that goes to make up the cares of farm life, there was scant allowance
of hours for the pursuit of knowledge. In this particular, however,
Mr. Williams' experience was not much different from that of other
Connecticut men, and particularly lawyers, who have risen to promi-
nence. Not all the preparation for life is to be gained from books.
One thing deeply impressed upon his young mind was the value of
making the best of one's opportunities. Finding what he believed to
be a better opportunity, he gave up regular farm work for plodding
toil in a woolen mill and then in a grist mill, seeking where he might
further improve his estate. After his experience in the grist mill,
not all to his taste by any means, he took up the peddling of tinware
through the country. That in itself may not have been more agree-
able, but it was something, and it broadened his horizon. Moreover,
it gave him early an insight into human nature which, increasing as
the years have gone by, and especially in his present responsible
position, has compensated in large measure for what he may have
lost from hours vrith his books. " Schooling " he had to abandon be-
397
400 WILLIAM HENEY WILLIAMS.
and those who know the record know that that is saying much, though
none too much.
He never was especially active in politics. His party was the
Democratic up to 1896, since which time he has voted as he thought
best, without partisan bias. With it all, however, his counsel always
is sought by legislators when subjects of particular weight are before
them, — like the ballot law, the corrupt practices act, the indetermi-
nate sentence, employers' liability, reformatory measures, taxation, and
matters having to do with the general welfare of the State. He is an
exceptionally busy lawyer and turns off in the course of a year an
amoimt of work that would prostrate a man of less sturdy physique
or less equable temperament.
In religion Mr. Williams is a Congregationalist. He belongs to
three of the leading fraternities, being a member of the Knights of
Pythias, of the Odd Fellows, and of the New Haven Commandery,
No. 2, Knights Templar.
On May 5th, 1874, he married Miss Iris E. Munson, daughter of
Judge Munson of Seymour. She died in September, 1876. His
second wife, whom he married in 1878 and who died March 30th,
1900, was Miss Nellie Johnson of Oxford. On September 18th, 1901,
he married Miss Helen E. Bailey of Groton. They live in a charming
residence, built in 1887-1888, on a commanding site, at No. 115
Atwater Avenue, Derby, in a locality where meet in daily life a
proportionally large group of men who have won distinction in their
noble profession.
LyLA/Vf/t^ yJULcijsyy-sjLu^^v^^-)
cLeyy-Siixj^
'j/^e^
OLIVER GILDERSLEEVE
GILDEESLEEVE, OLIVER, was bom March 6th, 1844, in that
part of the Town of Portland which is now called Gilder-
sleeve, Middlesex County, Connecticut. In the list of his
maternal ancestors appear the names of Samuel Hale and Sargeant
William Cornwall, in the Pequot War in 1636 ; Ensign Jared Spencer
in King Philip's War, 1675; Ralph Smith and Ezekiel Kellogg in
the Revolution. In the paternal list is the name of William Dixon,
a soldier in the Revolution, and a descendant of the old Scotch Cove-
nanters. Richard Gildersleeve, bom 1601, came from Hempstead,
Hertfordshire, England, and is first mentioned in Colonial Records
in 1636, as the owner of 255 acres of land in Wethersfield, Connecti-
cut. In 1641 he was one of the first settlers of Stamford, which town
he represented as Deputy in General Court at New Haven. In 1644
he was of the company that settled Hempstead, Long Island, and
was one of the leading men of that town for nearly fifty years. He
was a magistrate under the Dutch, and later, English, authorities for
forty years. He died in 1691. Richard Gildersleeve, 2d, bom 1637,
was one of the Proprietors of Hempstead, as had been his father be-
fore him, was Town Clerk 1665 to 1682, and Lieutenant in Joseph
Smith's Company of Militia in 1690. His two sons were Thomas Gil-
dersleeve, Town Clerk 1710 to 1740, and Richard Gildersleeve, 3d,
who moved to Huntington, Long Island. From Thomas is descended
Henry A. Gildersleeve, now Justice of the Supreme Court of the State
of New York, who was born in 1840, fought in the Civil War
as captain, major, and lieutenant-colonel, attended Columbia Law
School, and was admitted to the bar in 1866. He was president of the
National Rifle Association, and captain of the company of American
riflemen sent to Great Britain in 1875, where they defeated all comers.
He was a Judge of the New York Court of General Sessions from
1876 to 1890; a Judge of the New York Superior Court from 1891
403
404 OLIVER GILDERSLEEVE.
to 1896; and is a Justice of the New York Supreme Court since
January 1st, 1896.
Kichard Gildersleeve, 3d, had two grandsons, Benjamin and
Obediah. From Benjamin descended Lieutenant Finch Gildersleeve
(who served in the Kevolution), also the present Professor Basil lian-
neau Gildersleeve, M.A., Ph.D., LL.D., D.Litt, bom October 23d,
1831, graduated from Princeton in 1849, studied in German univer-
sities, and is now Professor of Greek at the Johns-Hopkins Univer-
sity, Baltimore, Maryland ; editor and founder of the " American
Journal of Philology : " author of the Gildersleeve Latin Grammar,
and many other books.
Obediah Gildersleeve was born in Huntington, Long Island, 1738,
moved in 1776 to the place now called " Gildersleeve " on the Con-
necticut Kiver, where he established the present ship-building business,
and where, in 1890, his son Philip built the United States warship
" Connecticut." In 1818 Philip's son, Henry, moved to Kings-
ton, Canada, where he married in 1824. He was very successful
in steamboat building and management, and the Gildersleeve
name has ever since been prominent in that locality. He had
three sons (3), viz: Overson S., bom 1825, died 1864; Charles
P., bom 1833, died 1906; and James P., born 1840. Overton
and Charles each served several terms as mayor of Kingston. Overton
took up the steamboat business left by his father, operating on Lake
Ontario, River St. Lawrence, and Bay of Quinte, and continued it
most successfully until his own death. He was also for years vice-
president of the Canadian Navigation Company, the predecessor of
the present Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Company.
Charles F. Gildersleeve was the promoter and first president of
the Kingston and Pembroke Railroad; president and principal owner
of the Lake Ontario and Bay of Quinte Steamboat Company, Limited,
He was general manager of the Richelieu and Ontario Navigation
Company from March, 1894, to March, 1904. For eight years before
he assumed the management the company had paid no dividends and
the equipment had been deteriorating. It paid six per cent, annually
and much improved its equipment under Mr. Gildersleeve's manage-
ment, and when, from pressure of his own personal interests, he
resigned, no doubt it was the finest steamboat line in Canada. Today
OLIVER GILDEESLEEVE. 406
it is again on the non-dividend list. His son " Harry " is manager
of the Northwestern Navigation Company, operating on Lake Huron,
Georgian Bay, and Lake Superior.
James P. Gildersleeve, the youngest son of Henry Gildersleeve,
was born in Kingston, Canada, in the year 1840. He graduated as
LL.B., at Queen's University, and was called to the Bar in 1863;
practised law for several years; was Alderman of his native city for
several successive terms ; Chairman of Parks, etc. ; has served as
director and president of various local industries, and in 1884 was ap-
pointed Eegistrar of Deeds for the city of Kingston, which office he
still holds. He has two sons, Arthur M., born in 1869, general super-
intendent of the Colorado National Life Insurance Company, and
Ernest C, born 1871, manager of the Kingston Milling Company.
The present firm of " S. Gildersleeve and Sons " was founded
by Philip's son, Sylvester Gildersleeve, bom in 1795, who was influen-
■ tial in establishing the first " Regular Packet Line " of fifteen sailing
ships (all built by S. Gildersleeve and Sons), between New York and
Galveston, Texas. One of these ships, named " S. Gildersleeve," was
burned by the Alabama and liberally paid for by England.
Sylvester was succeeded in the management of the ship-yard by
'his son, Henry, who in turn was succeeded by his son, Oliver, the
subject of this biography, who has since been succeeded by his ron,
Alfred, the present manager. No doubt, as soon as Alfred's baby boy,
Alfred, Jr., can walk he will begin "kicking chips" preparatory to
his succession as the seventh generation of ship-builders at Gilder-
sleeve.
Oliver Gildersleeve received his education at the district school
in Gildersleeve, the Chase Private School in Middletown, and the
Tublic High School in Hartford. He was eager for high standing
at school, and this purpose was a forerunner of his determination
to succeed in later life. In his early boyhood he evinced a deep
interest in reading, travel, and the church, and these interests have
been broadly developed, as his present habits and pursuits show. The
books which Mr. Gildersleeve found most helpful and influential
were books on marine architecture, commerce, and the biographies of
successful men. At the age of seventeen Mr. Gildersleeve began the
active work of his life as an apprentice in his father's shipyard, and
406 OLIVER GILDEESLEEVB.
for ten years he interspersed his labor with annual trips in the United
States, Canada, and Europe.
The combination of practical labor and extensive voyages made
him a competent ship-builder. His travels tended to broaden his
ideas and equip him with knowledge and experience for his career as
a business man.
In 1861 S. Gildersleeve and Sons built the United States gunboat i
Cayuga, which led the fleet up the Mississippi Eiver at the capture of
New Orleans in the Civil War. The Cayuga was the " No. 83 " of the
vessels built at the Gildersleeve ship-yard; today, "No. 231'* is in i
process of construction, making 134 vessels built since Oliver " started ?
in.'*
From 1881 to 1884 Mr. Gildersleeve was interested with his ;
brother, Sylvester, in the shipping commission business at 84 South r
Street, New York City. In 1897, in order to facilitate his ship-build- •
ing interests, Mr. Gildersleeve established at No. 1 Broadway, New (
York City, an agency for selling and chartering vessels constructed I
at the Gildersleeve ship-yard. Up to the present time there have been
sixty-three vessels, of from 400 to 1250 tons burden, sent from the
Gildersleeve ship-yard, and either sold or profitably employed through
the agency, which is managed by his son Louis, who has developed
much of the business tact and energy characteristic of his father.
Mr. Gildersleeve was mainly instrumental in securing the fran-
chise of The Portland Water Company, and The Portland Street
Railway Company, and the construction of their plants. In 1903 he
assisted his brother-in-law, Charles L. Jarvis, in establishing at Gilder-
sleeve the Ideal Manufacturing Company which, under the manage-
ment of Mr. Jarvis, employed forty-five hands in 1905, in the manu-
facture of machine tools and wire goods. In 1905 the Portland plant
of The National Stamping and Enamelling Company of New York
had been idle for a number of years and was rapidly deteriorating.
This plant comprises eighteen acres, and its buildings cover over
135,000 square feet of land, and formerly employed over 600 hands.
Mr. Gildersleeve, in connection with New York parties, bought the
entire property, organized The Maine Product Company, and installed
their machinery in a portion of the Portland plant, leasing the balance
and greater part to The New England Enamelling Company of Mid-
OLIVER GIIiDERSLEEVE. 407
dletown, Connecticut, who are rapidly rehabilitating the plant and
promise soon to have 500 hands at work, and later to do more than was
ever done there before. Thus Mr, Gildersleeve's energy and enter-
, prise bid fair to be the means of regaining for the town of Portland
a large industry, the loss of which the town has been for a long time
lamenting. The Maine Product Company have a mica mine at Frye,
1 Maine, which has been operated during the past season by Oliver's
son, Walter Gildersleeve, who is now engaged in shipping the product
i to the Portland factory. The Maine Product Company will be the
largest consumer of scrap mica in the United States, having taken
over the mica business of the National Gum and Mica Company of
New York City, which company now acts as selling agents and
promises to give the Portland factory a large business in the grinding
of mica and the manufacture of mica products.
Among the many business positions that Mr. Gildersleeve has
held have been the presidencies of the following : The Portland Water
Company of Portland, Connecticut, from 1889 to date; The Portland
Street Kailway Company of Portland, Connecticut, from 1893 to 1896;
The Portland Electric Light Company of Portland, Connecticut, from
1890 to 1892 ; The Middletown Street Eailway Company of Middle-
town, Connecticut, from 1902 to 1905; The Gildersleeve and Crom-
well Ferry Company of Cromwell, Connecticut, from 1887 to 1891;
The Middlesex Quarry Company of Portland, Connecticut, from 1904
to date; The Phoenix Lead Mining Company of Silver Cliff, Colo-
rado, from 1900 to date; The Brown Wire Gun Company of New
York City, from 1903 to 1905; vice-president and treasurer Maine
Product Company, from 1905 to date.
He is also director of the First National Bank, Portland, Con-
necticut, from 1895 to date; The Alabama Barge and Coal Company,
Tidewater, Alabama, from 1902 to date; The TJ. S. Graphotype Com-
pany of New York, 1902 to date; The Bradford Telephone Manufac-
turing Company, Bradford, Vermont, from 1900 to 1904; the Texas
and Pacific Coal Company of Thurber, Texas, from 1897 to 1899;
The Ideal Manufacturing Company of Gildersleeve, Connecticut,
from 1903 to date; and trustee of the Freestone Savings Bank of
Portland, Connecticut, from 1887 to date; of property under the
will of Henry Gildersleeve, deceased, 1894 to date; and of S. Gilder-
sleeve School Fund of Gildersleeve, Connecticut, 1887 to date.
408 OLIVER GILDEESLEEVE.
In creed Mr. Gildersleeve is an Episcopalian, and his ecclesias-
tical offices have been numerous and responsible. He has been warden
of Trinity Church, Portland, Connecticut, since 1884; delegate to
Annual Diocesan Episcopal Convention from 1884 to date; member
Diocesan Committee to Co-operate with General Board of Missions;
member Diocesan Committee on Finance; member from 1905 to date
of Diocesan Committee to raise " The Missionary Thank Offering,
to be presented at the General Convention in Richmond by the men of
the church in gratitude for 300 years of English Christianity —
Jamestown, 1607, — Richmond, 1907"; superintendent of Sunday
school, Trinity Church, Portland, from 1873 to date; chairman of
Building Committee John Henry Hall Memorial Parish House, Port-
land, 1903 to 1905. In 1900 Mr. Gildersleeve established a Memorial
Fund in connection with Trinity Church, Portland. He has been a
member of the Church Club of Connecticut from 1897 to date.
In politics Mr. Gildersleeve has always been a Democrat, but
never taking a very active part, except in 1900, when he was the nom-
inee of his party for representative in Congress and received more
than the full party vote.
He is a member of the Fish and Game Club of Portland, Con-
necticut; member of the Middlesex County Historical Society of
Middletown, Connecticut; member of the Civi Federation of New
England; member of the National Geographic Society of Wash-
ington, D. C. ; member of the Association of the Descendants of
Andrew Ward, of which Association General Joseph Wheeler was the
president at the time of his death. On the list of descendants are
the names of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Aaron Burr, Admirals Foote
and Paulding, U. S. A., and many other distinguished men.
Mr. Gildersleeve was married November 8, 1871, to Mary Ellen,
daughter of Hon. Alfred Hall, a representative of an old family in
Portland. They had eight children : Alfred, bom August 23, 1873 ;
Walter, born August 23, 1874; Louis, born September 22, 1877;
Emily Hall, born June 9, 1879 (died August 12, 1880) ; Elizabeth
Jarvis, born June 6, 1883 (died January 18, 1883) ; Charles, bom
December 11, 1884; Nelson, born September 14, 1887; and Oliver,
Jr., born March 9, 1890.
Mr. Gildersleeve's success in life is due not only to his splendid
business qualifications, to his ability and energy, but to steadfastness
OLIVER GILDERSLEEVE. 409
of purpose that defies discouragement. In his own words: "Every
one must expect some failures and should not be discouraged by them.
Many a shot goes wide of the mark, but that is no reason for the good
soldier to stop firing." His advice to young men of America is sing-
ularly pertinent, coming from a man who is not only a " soldier," who
has fired many telling shots, to use his own figure of speech, but who
is the father of six sons. Mr. Gildersleeve says : " Study the future ;
success largely depends on ability to correctly forecast the future.
Deal honestly, live sensibly, work intelligently, and trust the rest to
Providence."
GENERAL WILLIAM HUNTINGTON
RUSSELL, M.A.
RUSSELL, GENERAL WILLIAM HUNTINGTON", M.A.,
(Valedictorian Yale, 1833) educator, was descended from two
founders of Yale College, and from a remarkable Puritan and
earlier English ancestry. He was a descendant of Rev. Thomas Hooker
(1586-1647), the most distinguished of the Puritan pastors, a grad-
uate of Cambridge, England, in 1611, who in England " won renown
as an eloquent preacher," the founder and first pastor of Hartford, and
the founder of Connecticut. Historians concede to Thomas Hooker
the honor of being the father of the first Constitutional government
the world has ever known, and of American Democracy which, accord-
ing to Professor Johnston of Princeton College, had its origin " under
the mighty preaching of Thomas Hooker." Langdon's Constitutional
History of the United States records concerning Thomas Hooker : " He
grasped the true idea of popular government, and through the first
constitution of Connecticut gave it to the world." " Hooker's clear
conception of the idea that all governmental power is derived under
God from the people was remarkable for that age." Fiske in his
Beginnings of New England, shows how the present form of govern-
ment of the United States is a lineal descendant of that " of which
Thomas Hooker deserves more than any other man to be called the
father," Bancroft, in his History of the United States, writes:
" Hooker had no rival in public estimation but Cotton whom he
surpassed in force of character, in liberality of spirit, in soundness of
judgment, and in clemency," and " They who judge men by their
services to the human race will never cease to honor the memory of
Hooker." Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts wrote of Thomas
Hooker in his History of New England, Vol. II, 310, " who for pioty,
prudence, wisdom, zeal, learning, and what else might make him
serviceable in the place and time he lived in might be compared with
men of greatest note ; and he shall need no other praise ; the fruits of
his labours in both Englands shall preserve an honorable and happy
remembrance of him forever." Palfrey^s History of New England
410
^^^^^^^"^2^-^^^:^
GENERAL WILLIAM HUNTINGTON RUSSELL, M.A. 413
' states of Thomas Hooker: "His death was keenly felt throughout
New England as a general calamity." A Massachusetts Chronicler
wrote, "the whole land sustained a great loss by the death of that
most eminent servant of Jesus Christ." Holmes in his History of
Cambridge writes of Thomas Hooker as " the first minister of Cam-
bridge, and the father of the Colony, as well as of the churches of
Connecticut." The celebrated Dr. Ames, author of Medulla Theolo-
giae, declared that " though he had been acquainted with many scholars
of divers nations yet he never met with Mr. Hooker's equal either for
preaching or for disputing." Hollister's History of Connecticut states
"no minister in New England possessed such unbounded sway ever
popular assemblies as did this truly wonderful man." Eev. Cotton
Mather in his life of Thomas Hooker (printed in 1695), styles him the
" incomparable Hooker," and writes, " I shall now invite my reader to
behold at once the Wonders of New England and it is in one Thomas
Hooker that he shall behold them; even in that Hooker whom a
worthy writer would needs call ' Saint Hooker '." Cotton Mather
devotes twenty pages of his Magnalia (81-83, 332-352) to a tribute
to Thomas Hooker, whom he styles, " The Light of the Western
Churches." Timothy Dwight (the elder), president of Yale College,
wrote of Thomas Hooker (Dwight's Travels, Vol. I, 239) : " If I may
be allowed to give an opinion; he was the wisest of all those distin-
guished colonists who had a peculiar influence on the early concerns of
this country." Eev. Mr. Whitfield wrote, " he had not thought there
had been such a man on earth ; a man in whom there shone so many
excellencies as were in this incomparable Hooker." (McMillan's
Dictionary of National Biography; Bancroft's History of the United
States, Vol. I, 245, 246, 265, 268-271, 363, 364; Prof. Woodrow Wil-
son's History of the American People, Vol. I, 141, 142, 145, 148, 149,
155, 156, 170, 204; Vol. Ill, 85; Elson's History of the United
States, 112, 113; Landon's Constitutional History and Government
of the United States, 24-26; Eggleston's The Beginnings of a Na-
tion, 269, 292, 316-327, 332-334; Short History of the English Col-
onies in America by Henry Cabot Lodge, 346, 247, 373, 424; Prof.
Alexander Johnston's Study of a Commonwealth Democracy, 19,
70-74, 221, 222, 320-322, 365; The Beginnings of New England, by
Piske, 124-128; Palfrey's History of New England, Vol. I, 367,
444-448, 453, 581, 582; Vol. II, 45, 91, 173, 185, 239, 263, 264;
414 GENERAL WILLIAM HUNTINGTON EUSSELL^ M.A.
Hollister's History of Connecticut, Vol. I, 22-25, 29-31, 109, 204
212, 447, 456-458, 510, 511; Winthrop's History of New England^
Vol. I, 88, 108, 109, 115, 118, 140, 160, 187, 238, 304; Vol. II, 213'
310, 349; The Pilgrim Fathers, by Brown, 319-321; History of
New England, by Neal, Vol. I, 289, 290 ; Sanf ord's History of Con-
necticut, 19-20, 33-34, 57-58; Dwight's Travels, Vol. I, 237-239.
For a brief, interesting account of characteristics of Puritans from
English standpoint see portion of Macaulay's Essay on Milton) ; of
Eev. Samuel Hooker, who graduated at Harvard in 1653, and was
afterwards trustee of Harvard College, of whom Eev, Cotton Mather
wrote in his Magnalia, " thus we have to this day among us, our dead
Hooker yet living in his worthy son, Mr. Samuel Hooker, an able,
faithful, useful, minister," of Lion Gardner (1599-1663), an English
officer who was " master of works of fortification in the legers of the
Prince of Orange in the Low Countries ; " " while there certain emi-
nent Puritans acting for a company of Lords and Gentlemen in Eng-
land approached him with an offer to go to New England and construct
works of fortification and command them. The offer was accepted."
He arrived in New England in 1635 and constructed a fort at Say-
brook, Connecticut, which he commanded during the early Indian
wars. Prof. Woodrow Wilson's History describes him a " stout sol-
dier bred to war." The large bay and island south of the east end
of Long Island Sound, between it and Montauk Point, still bear his
name. (Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. II,
595-596; Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History; Winsor's
History of America, Vol. Ill, 331, 349; Palfrey's History of New
England, Vol. I, 451, 461, 469; Woodrow Wilson's History of the
American People, Vol. I, 147, 148; Doyle's English Colonies in
America, Vol. I, 149, 157, 168, 225; Hollister's History of Connecti-
cut, Vol. I, 47-49, 51-53, 55; Fiske's The Beginnings of New Eng-
land, 129; Sanf ord's History of Connecticut, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 28;
Lamb's History of New York, Vol. I, 570) ; of John Brown, magis-
trate of Plymouth, elected annually one of the assistant Governore
of Plymouth for eighteen years from 1636, and one of the Colonial
Commissioners for twelve years from 1645. He was styled "the
grand old man " and " the great pioneer " in The Pilgrim Eepublic
(by Goodwin), 420, 515, 517-520, 526, 608; of Capt. Thomas Willet
(1605-1674), who came from England in 1629, and was for fourteen
GENERAL WILLIAM HUNTINGTON RUSSELL, M.A. 415
years (1651-1665) annually elected one of the assistant Governors
of Plymouth Colony, commander of the military forces, and magis-
trate in Plymouth Colony, and founder of the town of Swansey.
Immediately after the English conquest converted New Amsterdam
into New York, Thomas Willet, who on account of his high char-
acter " was more acceptable to both Dutch and English than any other
person," was appointed in 1665 first head of the government of New
York as its first mayor. When his term expired he was re-elected.
Later, he was a member of the Council of Lovelace, Governor of the
Province which included New York; (see Life of Thomas Willet;
Magazine of American History, Vol. XVII, 233-242; McMillan's
Dictionary of National Biography; Appleton's Cyclopedia of Amer-
ican Biography; Hollister's History of Connecticut, Vol. I, Chap.
VIII; Lamb's History of New York, Vol. I, 149, 151, 209, 210, 221,
330, 238, 243; Wilson's History of New York, Vol. I, 222, 310, 318,
319, 337, 338; Lossing's The Empire State, 58, 85, 86); of Rev.
Andrew Willet, D.D. (1562-1621), a graduate of Cambridge (Eng.),
in 1580; Proctor of Cambridge College, 1585; chaplain and tutor to
Prince Henry; Preacher to King James; appointed Prebend of
Ely on Presentation of the Queen. He was famous as a powerful
preacher and as the most learned and prolific author of his time. He
was the author of more than forty treatises on Scriptural interpreta-
tion and church history, one large work passing through eight edi-
tions. His contemporaries spoke of him as a "walking library," as
"one that must write while he sleeps it being impossible he should
do so much waking." Bishop Hall of Exeter styled Willet as " Stu-
por Mundi Clei-us Brittanicus ;" of Eev. Thomas Willet (1511-1598),
Rector of Barley, Prebend of Ely and subalmoner to King Edward
VI. General Russell was also descended from the " ancient and illus-
trious" family of Gray (or Grey) in England, of which family was
" Gray, Earl of Kent," " from which are descended and branched
the Barons of Rotherfield, Codmore, Wilton, Ruthem, Groby, and
Rugemont, the Viscount of Lisle, the Earl of Stamford, the Mar-
quise of Dorset, and the Duke of Suffolk — all of that surname de-
rived from the honour and Castle of Gray (or Croy as some write)
in Picardy, their patrimony before the Conquest." (Nesbit's Her-
aldry.) "The Grays were closely allied with the Royal House of
England and were near the throne." "King Edward IV married
416 GENERAL WILLIAM HUNTINGTON RUSSELL, M.A.
Elizabeth Gray the widow of Sir John Gray." " Sir Edward d
Gray married dau. and heiress of Henry, heir apparent of WilUam.
" The union of the Grays with the royal line of Tudor was by the inai
riage of the Duke of Suffolk with Mary, daughter of Henry VII, sisto
of Henry VIII, and widow of King Louis XII of France who ha^
died Jan. 1, 1515."
William Eussell, the American ancestor, came from England ii
1638. He left only one son, an infant only one year old, and (hi
wife having previously died) directed in his wiU that his " son b
devoted to God in the way of learning, being likely to prove a usefu
instrument in the good work of the ministry," and designated the per»
son to be his guardian. This son, Eev. Noadiah Eussell, graduated ai
Harvard in 1681, was tutor in Harvard College (Short History of Eng-;
lish Colonies in America, by Henry Cabot Lodge, p. 436), and was on(
of the ten foimders of Yale College, and one of the original trustee!
of Yale College during twelve years (1701-1713). (TrumbuU'i
History of Connecticut, [reprint 1898] Vol. I, 402, 410, 419; Hoi-
lister's History of Connecticut, Vol. II, 577, 578.) He was pastor oi
the First Congregational Church in Middletown (Conn.), twenty-
five years, until his death, and it was written of him that he "waf
accounted a man of weight and wisdom throughout the Colony.''
John L. Sibley, Librarian Emeritus of Harvard University, piib-
lished a sketch of Eev. Xoadiah Eussell, from which the following
are quotations : " How well he performed his work, how effectually
he moulded the character, and formed the habits of the people, and
how much he had of their grateful affection, may be inferred from the
fact that when he died, in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and twenty-
ninth of his pastorate, his son became in a few months his successor,'
and labored there for almost fifty years, — the entire period from)
the ordination of the father to the funeral of the son being more than
three-quarters of a century." " Eussell was one of the founders and
trustees of Yale College and one of the framers of the Saybrook
Platform and of course held high rank among his brethren." Other
published memorials prove how much Eev. Noadiah Eussell was hon-
ored. Noadiah married Mary, daughter of Hon. Giles Hamlin, i
who came from England and was one of the first settlers and priD-i|
cipal proprietors of Middletown, and styled " one of the pillars of
the Colony." The prominent and honorable record of Giles Hamlin .
GENERAL WILLIAM HUNTINGTON RUSSELL, M.A. 417
and family for more than one hundred years may be found in Holh's-
ter's History of Connecticut, Vol. I, 510; and in the historical ad-
dress of Eev. David Field, D.D., at the second centennial of Middle-
town, Nov. 13, 1850. Eev. William Eussell, M.A., son of Noadiah,
also a clergyman, was graduated from Yale in 1709, was sometime a
tutor at Yale, and trustee of Yale College sixteen years, from 1745
to 1761. Eev. Mr. Whitfield wrote concerning him : " I think him
' an Israelite indeed and one who has been long mourning over the
deadness of professors. Oh, that all ministers were like minded."
Trumbull, the historian, describes his as "A gentleman of great
respectability for knowledge, experience, moderation, and for pacific
measures on all occasions." (Trumbull's History of Connecticut
■ [reprint 1898], Vol. II, 86, 87, 98, 100, 101, 264, 422, 425, 449.)
He was offered the position of rector or president of Yale College,
" and was the first of the alumni to receive that honor from his alma
' mater," but could not accept because "negotiations with the people
of Middletown for the removal of their pastor were ineffectual."
(Kingsley's History of Yale College.) For a period of forty-six years,
■ until his death in 1761, he was pastor of the First Congregational
Church in Middletown, to which he was called immediately upon the
death of his father. Eev. William Eussell married Mary, oldest
' daughter of Eev. James Pierpont (Harvard, 1681), also one of the
ten founders of Yale College, and one of the original trustees of Yale
College thirteen years (1701 to 1714), and during a period of thirty
' years until his death (1685-1714), pastor of the First Congregational
Church in New Haven. Another daughter, Sarah Pierpont, married
Eev. Jonathan Edwards, D.D. (Yale, 1720), the distinguished theo-
• logian and president of Princeton College, and ancestor of three
presidents of Yale (Timothy Dwight, president 1795-1817; Theo-
^ dore D. Woolsey, president 1846-1871; Timothy Dwight, president
1886-1899), and whose granddaughter married Eli Whitney, inventor
of the cotton-gin. These Pierponts were descended from Sir Hugh
de Pierrepont, of Picardy, in France, A. D. 980, whose grandson. Sir
Eobert de Pierrepont, went from France to England as commander
in the army of William the Conqueror in 1066, and was ennobled
' for distinguished conduct at the battle of Hastings (1066), and from
' him descended the dukes and earls of Kingston. (Genealogical Ab-
■ stract of the Family of Pierrepont, Yale College Library; also Hoi-
418 GENERAL WILLIAM HUNTINGTON EUSSELL, M.A.
lister's History of Connecticut, Vol. I, 458-459, 510.) Eev. Noadiah
Kussell, M. A. (Yale, 1750), son of William and Mary (Pierpont)
Eussell, was pastor of one Congregational church thirty-seven years.
He married Esther Talcott, daughter of Joseph Talcott, treasurer
of the Colony of Connecticut thirteen years (1756-1769), and grand- (
daughter of Joseph Talcott, Speaker of the House, Judge of the !
Supreme Court, and Governor of Connecticut seventeen years (1724- ■
1741), until his death while in office. He was the first governor of i
Connecticut horn within its limits. Henry Cabot Lodge, in his li
Short History of English Colonies in America, page 382, makes I
special mention of Governor Talcott's "long term,'' and concludes i
with the statement that he carried on a steady, frugal government
which was probably " one of the best the world has ever seen."
The Connecticut Historical Society devoted two entire volumes i
(over nine hundred pages) to Governor Talcott and his official
papers. Esther was also great-granddaughter of Major (Lieut.-Col.)
John Talcott, a magistrate in the Colony, and treasurer of the Colony
twenty-six years, from 1652 to 1678. He commanded the "stand-
ing army" of Connecticut and their Indian allies in King Phihp's
War, and was one of the patentees named in the Charter which
King Charles II. granted to Connecticut, and was one of the three
to whom it was intrusted for safe keeping. Palfrey, in his History
of New England, styles him the " indefatigable Major Talcott," and
states that he " was appointed Commander-in-Chief.'' It was written
of him that "he was always victorious and obtained great renown
as an Indian fighter." (Palfrey's History of New England, Vol.
Ill, 197, 198, 203; Hollister's History of Connecticut, Vol. I,
209-211, 284-287, 476-483; Trumbull's History of Connecticut
[reprint, 1898], Vol. I, 46, 55, 179, 184, 194, 205-207, 211, 213,
214, 226, 230, 292, 293.) His father, John Talcott, came from Eng-
land with Eev. Thomas Hooker, in 1632, and was one of the chief
magistrates of the Colony until his death, one of the wealthiest of
the original settlers and proprietors of Hartford, and his name is in-
scribed upon the monument erected to perpetuate the memory of the
founders of the Colony of Connecticut. (Talcott Pedigree, 22-34,
32-35, 39-51, 66-80; Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, ,
Vol. VI, 23.) Matthew Talcott Eussell, son of Noadiah and Esther,
graduated form Yale in 1779, and was tutor in Yale College four
GENEEAL WILLIAM HUNTINGTON RUSSELL, M.A. 419
years. He entered the legal profession, was State's Attorney, and dur-
ing thirty years was Deacon in the First Congregational Church
in Middletown, He married Mary, oldest daughter of EeV. Enoch
Huntington (Yale, 1759), and a niece of Samuel Huntington, M.A.,
iLL.D. (Yale), signer of the Declaration of Independence, unan-
imously elected president of the Continental Congress, 1779, 1780,
tod 1781 (until impaired health compelled him to resign), Chief
Justice of the Superior Court, and during ten years until his death
in office (1786-1796), annually elected Governor of Connecticut.
Mary's father and two brothers all won the Berkeley prize for schol-
arship at Yale. Rev. Enoch Huntington was a fellow (Trustee)
Df the corporation of Yale College twenty-eight years (1780-1808),
md Secretary of the Yale corporation from 1788 to 1793. He was
pastor of the First Congregational Church in Middletown forty-
seven years commencing 1762. Three of his brothers were prom-
inent (Congregational) clergymen. He was described as a man of
remarkable scholarship, and it was recorded that " on the death of
President Stiles, of Yale College, in 1795, Mr. Huntington was
prominent as a candidate to succeed him, but his failing voice obliged
aim to decline the honor." (See interesting account of the Clergy
in Connecticut previous to 1818 in Short History of English Colonies
m America, by Henry Cabot Lodge, 423-425, 429-434; Hollister's
History of Connecticut, Vol. I, 427, 428, 447, 448; Sanford's His-
tory of Connecticut, 124.) Simon Huntington (ancestor) came
from England, and was one of the original proprietors, first settlers,
md deacons of Norwich, Conn. (See Old Houses of the Ancient
Town of Norwich, Yale College Library.) The only son of Matthew
Palcott Eussell who married was Gen. William Huntington Eussell,
M.A. (Yale, 1833), who was valedictorian of the class of 1833,
sometime tutor, and founder of the famous Skull and Bones Society
'it Yale, and that society perpetuated his name by being incorporated
'IS the "Russell Trust Association." He married Mary Elizabeth
Hubbard, daughter of Thomas Hubbard, professor at Yale from
1829 until his death, in 1838, whose only other daughter, Frances
Harriet Hubbard married Eev. Simeon North, D.D., LL.D., val-
edictorian of the class of 1825 (Yale), professor of Greek and Latin
(1829-1839), and president of Hamilton College eighteen years
(1830-1857).
21
420 GENERAL WILLIAM HUNTINGTON RUSSELL, M.A.
Gen. Eussell was born August 12th, 1809, in Middletow]
Conn., where three of his ancestors had been pastors of tl
First Congregational Church a continuous period of one hundre.
and eighteen years, and his father deacon for thirty years. BefoT;
entering Yale he was for several years a cadet in the famous militai
academy founded and conducted by Capt. Alden Partridge (U. S. A.'
a graduate of West Point, and for twelve years previously professo
and military superintendent at the National Academy at West Poini
This academy was similar to West Point, having as an object th,
preparation of young men " to command in time of need the hastiliij
raised troops of a great and growing nation," and General Sherman
stated that it at one time almost rivalled the National Academy a,
West Point. It was these years of strict military discipline tha;l
gave General Eussell such a knowledge of military affairs and influl
enced his life work. The death of his father, aged sixty-eight, fron
acute erysipelas, and changes ia the fortunes of the family threw thd
the care of his mother (who had vigorous health to the age of eighty-
seven), upon him, and he subsequently entered Yale under circum-
stances of severe financial adversity. He was self-supporting in col-
lege, and in all his frequent journeys between New Haven and hit
home in Middletown (twenty-six miles) was obliged to go on foot,
owing to financial necessity. Such was his ability and industry,
that, in spite of these impediments, he graduated as valedictorian in
1833, at the head of a class which in Sophomore year numbered
one hundred and twenty-two students, among whom were manyi
who attained much distinction in their life work. He had hoped to
enter the ministry. Urgent financial necessity, and the need of
assuming responsibilities left by the death of his father, forced
him to give up his earnest desire to study theology, and he then begani
teaching, to obtain immediate income. In September, 1836, he
opened in a small dwelling house a new private school for boys,
preparatory for college. With only a few pupils at first, and no
assistance from anyone, and owing only to his personality and schol-
arship, his school rapidly became large and famous, and when it
closed at his death. May 19th, 1885, there were said to have been four
thousand young men from all parts of this and some foreign coun-
tries under his care as pupils. During about half a century there
were at Yale young men who had prepared for college under his care.
GENEEAL WILLIAM HUNTINGTON RUSSELL, M.A. 421
'Never seeking to lay up riches, giving away freely of what he had,
he was ever ready to assist many young men who without means
sought an education. It was written of Gen. Eussell that "he was
a striking example of the New England life and character;" that
" his personality was a remarkable one, and fitted him to train youth
for an upright, independent, and conscientious manhood;" that
"he ranked with Dr. Thomas Arnold, master of Rugby School;"
'that "by his transparent integrity and native vigor of intellect he
impressed himself on all his pupils and on every order of mind
with which he came in contact." Gen. Eussell's greatest service
was the impression which he made by his character and scholar-
ship and influence upon the thousands of young men who, dur-
ing nearly half a century, came from all parts of the country to
be his pupils. It was written that " Hon. William H. Russell
was a Whig representative in 1846-1847. Upon the repeal of the
Missouri Compromise in 1854 he became active as one of the
'leaders of the movement which resulted in the organization of the
'Republican party." He was a strong Abolitionist and a personal
friend of John Brown, the anti-slavery martyr, and in a will which
Brown made William H. Russell was named as one of the trustees.
'He was the Connecticut representative on the National Kansas
' (anti-slavery) committee before the war, and John Brown was
many times a guest at his house. Rev. E. S. Lines (Bishop
of diocese of Newark), president of the Historical Society, wrote
of Gen. Russell, that he had " a New England ancestry than which
one more distinguished could hardly be named." " He had the
respect and regard of all men. He commanded a feeling akin to
• reverence." " Because he wanted justice for all men he threw himself
' into the anti-slavery movement with all his heart," and that he " has
a high and influential place among those who made the anti-slavery
: sentiment of the North, and especially of New England." Congress-
man Sperry wrote, " If there ever was a man who labored faithfully
and efficiently for the cause of the anti-slavery party and the elec-
tion of Abraham Lincoln, that man was General Russell. He put
his heart and soul into the cause. Those who knew him best during
the days of the anti-slavery excitement and the rebellion which fol-
lowed, will admit that he had no superior in loyalty, earnestness,
and devotion to the cause." Believing civil war to be inevitable, he
422 GENERAL WILLIAM HUNTINGTON RUSSELL, M.A.
introduced, about 1840, very thorough military drill and discipline
into his school to fit every pupil to serve his country in war as well
as to furnish a sound education for times of peace. In 1861, at
the outbreak of the Eebellion, military instructors were so difficult !
to obtain that even the younger boys from his school were in de-
mand at the encampment as drill instructors for the new recruits i
for army service. It was stated that over 300 men who had been his i
pupils fought in the Union Army, In 1861, at the commencement of
the Civil War, Governor Buckingham relied upon William H. Rus-i
sell, as the man best qualified by early training and knowledge of i
military affairs, to organize the militia of Connecticut for army t
service, and first by appointment of the Governor and later by act of <
the Legislature he was appointed Major-General. Such was his
earnestness in the prosecution of the war that, it being impossible
to send his five sons into the army (as he otherwise would have ;
done), because the oldest was only about thirteen years of age, and .
the youngest an infant, he hired five men to represent them in the <
army who otherwise would not have enlisted. Both he and his
wife were earnest Christians in every day's work. Always ready to
help the weak and unfortunate, the last act of his life (and cause
of death) was characteristic of him. In May, 1885, he saw from
his window numerous street boys throwing stones at the birds in the
park. He ran out to protect the birds from being injured by the
boys, but the boys were active and numerous, the park was large,
and he was too old for such active, prolonged effort. Overcome by
the effort he fell unconscious from a fatal rupture of a blood-vessel
(apoplexy) and died May 19th, 1885, aged seventy-six years. He had
never had a day of illness previously since childhood. Investigation
of old records proves that his ancestry was especially conducive to
vigorous mental and physical health and longevity, and freedom from
any tendency to disease. His wife died December 11th, 1890, aged
seventy-four years, having had good health until her last illness.
Immediately after his death the veteran soldiers of Admiral Foote
Post, G. A. R., passed the following resolution : " Eesolved, That on
Saturday next, May 30th, and on all future Decoration Days in
which we may participate, we will decorate the grave of Major
General William Huntington Russell in the same spirit of affection-
ate respect with which we lay our garlands upon the graves of our
GENERAL WILLIAM HUNTINGTON RUSSELL, M.A. 423
comrades." Sixteen years after General RusselPs death the New
Haven Colony Historical Society held a meeting commemorative
of his public services at which addresses were made by President
Lines (now Bishop of the diocese of Kewark) and others, and his
portrait was hung in their hall. Donald G. Mitchell of Edgewood
(Yale, 1837), the well-known author (related to William H. Rus-
sell, through ancestry), wrote of him that he was one of "those
who had left reputations and traditions behind them at Yale," " and
stories of his brilliant and effective speech-making were very cur-
rent about the corridors of the old Lyceum," and that "he did
enough to sway into higher and conquering ways of thought, the
minds of hundreds of young people with whom he was brought into
professional contact, and of older ones, too, who responded to the
touches of his magnetic influence." Henry Holt, the publisher
(Yale, 1857), one of General Russell's old pupils, wrote that he
regarded him " as a very remarkable personality. When he smiled
his eyes glowed with a silvery light that I have never seen in any
other eyes than Herbert Spencer's," and that he knew of no one
whom he would put in advance of him as a model of prompt and
inflexible allegiance to duty. Another old graduate of Yale, refer-
ing to William H. Russell, wrote, " I thought him to be the best
speaker and scholar I had seen." His sons are: Talcott Hunting-
ton Russell, B.A., Yale 1869, LL.B., Columbia 1871, Instructor on
Municipal Corporations in Yale Law Department 1892 to 1900.
He practices law in New Haven, where he has resided since birth;
Thomas Hubbard Russell, Ph. B. Yale 1872, M.D. Yale 1875, Pro-
fessor in Yale University from 1883 to the present time; Philip
Gray Russell, B.A. Yale 1876, LL.B. Yale 1878, who after a very
successful career in the legal profession died without issue in Wash-
ington, D. C, July 21, 1900, age forty-six, from acute inflammation
of kindneys resulting from severe appendicitis; Edward Hubbard
Russell, Ph.B. Yale 1878, inventor of Russell Processes for Silver
Ores, who lives abroad; Robert Gray Russell, who died from acute
dysentery during his Sophomore year at Yale.
A sketch of his son, Thomas H. Russell, Ph.B., M.D., Pro-
fessor in Yale University from 1883 until the present time, can be
found on page 424 in this volume.
THOMAS HUBBARD RUSSELL
RUSSELL, THOMAS HUBBAED, Ph.B., Yale 1872, M.D.I
Yale 1875, Professor in the Medical Department of Yale
University from 1883 to the present time, was born in New
Haven, December 14th, 1851. He was descended from two founders!
of Yale, and from a distinguished Puritan and earlier English
ancestry; every male ancestor was a college graduate since a date*
previous to the founding of Yale. Since Yale was founded every
male ancestor graduated from Yale. His four brothers also graduated ^
from Yale, excepting one who died from acute dysentery in Sopho-;
more year. His mother was Mary E,, daughter of Thomas Hubbard,
a Professor in Yale University from 1829 until his death in 1838.
Some account of his illustrious ancestry for several hundred years
may be found in the sketch of his father. General William Hunting-
ton Eussell, valedictorian of the class of 1833 (Yale), on page 410
of this volume. Until 1868 he received his education in the large
preparatory school established and conducted by his father in New
Haven. In 1868 he resided in the home of his uncle, Eev. Simeon
North, ex-president of Hamilton College, and there continued his
preparations for Yale. Although prepared to enter the Academical
department in 1869, he preferred the Scientific course, and having
obtained his father's consent to the change, passed the entrance exam-
ination without conditions and received the degree of Ph.B. in 1872.
In 1872 he was assistant to Professor 0. C, Marsh on his
paleontological expedition. He performed all his duties in such
a thoroughly satisfactory manner that Prof. Marsh endeavored to
persuade him to take up Paleontology as his life work. This Dr.
Russell did not consider advisable, as he was unwilling to longer delay
medical studies. A year later Prof. Marsh urged him with addi-
tional inducements to go with him on another expedition, and told
him he would always leave his proposals open for acceptance at
any future time. Professor Marsh showed his complete confidence in
Dr. Russell's work by depending upon him as his physician and inti-
424
O^HOMAS HUBBARD BUSSELL. 427
mate friend until his death in 1899. His father having sultered
severe losses from depreciation in real estate. Dr. Kussell was self-
supporting by teaching during his professional studies and subse-
quently until his medical practice furnished sufficient income. He
received the degree of M.D. in 1875, and commenced practice in
February, 1875. While studying medicine, and during six or eight
years afterward, he was assistant to Prof. Francis Bacon. In 1875
he was resident physician and surgeon to the New Haven Hospital,
and was for some years physician to the New Haven Dispensary.
From 1877 to 1879 he was assistant to Professor David P. Smith,
and from 1880 to 1883 was Lecturer on surgical subjects in the Yale
Medical Department. He has been attending surgeon to the New
Haven Hospital from February, 1878, to the present time. He was
Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics at Yale from 1883
to 1891. In 1891 he was appointed Professor of Clinical Surgery,
and still occupies that position. In 1886 he went abroad. On Decem-
ber 21st, 1882, he married Mary K., daughter of Lyman E. Munson,
formerly Judge of the United States Court of Montana by appoint-
ment from President Lincoln. Mrs. EusselFs ancestors, through
both parents, were Puritans, and left a notable record of success,
health, and longevity. Both of her parents are still living, in good
health, aged 84 and 79. His five children, Mary Talcott, Thomas
Hubbard, Jr., William Huntington, Eleanor, and Edward Stanton,
are all living. The doctor, his wife, and three oldest children are
members of the First Congregational Church. The other two chil-
dren are as yet too yoimg to become church members. His practice
has extended, in consultation and otherwise, over a considerable por-
tion of the state. He has written many papers on professional sub-
jects which have been read before medical associations or published.
He owes much to the help and companionship of his good wife, who
has been all that a Christian wife and mother could be, who never
tires of doing good, and has always had perfect health, sound com-
mon sense, and all the most lovable qualities of mind and heart.
She had the advantage of education in both European and Amer-
ican boarding schools. Their home life has been as happy as pos-
sible. Like his brothers, who have all been successful in their pro-
fessions, he had by inheritance absolutely no money, but what was
far better, sound health and a good name. As a foundation for his
428 THOMAS HUBBARD RUSSELL. ;
!
life work he received from both parents a most careful religious
common-sense training, a college education, freedom from bad hab
its, and an ability and willingness to do hard and successful pro
fessional work.
His reply to the question as to success is that it, like all othei
desirable objects, can only be obtained by paying the price, which is
asking God's help, a strictly upright life, seeking all useful knowledge^
from books and from advice of others, and doing the best, most thor-i
ough work which one's ability and strength permit, systematically!
and continuously, in some one definite line, however unpleasant the
task or inconvenient or long the hours.
He is a member of the foUowirig societies: American Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Science; Connecticut Academy of Artst
and Sciences; New Haven Colony Historical Society; American i
Medical Association; Connecticut Medical Society; New Haven i
County Medical Association; New Haven (City) Medical Associa-
tion; Graduates' Club.
LIST OF BIOGRAPHIES
VOLUME n
, Page
(john C. Adams 192
i Joseph Anderson 150
Francis Atwater 288
I Lewis J. Atwood 147
1 Benj. W. Bacon 77
Josepli L. Barber 297
Joseph L. Bartlett 249
! Wm. L. Bennett 45
jl Theo, A. Bingham 75
jjohn Birge 236
[ Edward G. Bourne 154
[ Thos. D. Bradstreet 295
Wm. H. Bristol 347
Chas. F. Brooker 59
James F. Brown 234
John D. Browne 358
Jonathan B, Bimc© 68
Wm. Butler 193
Wm. S. Case 28
Geo. L. Chase 52
Samuel H. Chittenden 223
Levi N. Clark 197
Atwood Collins 371
Alfred W. Conyerse 299
Albert S. Cook 109
Philip Corbin 91
Wilbur L. Cross 84
Howard J. Cxirtis 43
Edward L. Curtiss 184
Chas. H. Daris 203
Clarence Deming 86
Edward B. Dunbar 251
Augustus J. DuBois 175
Wm. T. Elmer 21
Samuel E. Elmore 123
Ralph H. Ensign 125
Geo. H. Ford 266
Edwin B. Gager 35
Page
Oliver Gildersleeve 403
Geo. S. Godard 49
Theo. S. Gold 373
Thos. D. Goodell 136
Casper H. Goodrich 380
S. J. Hall 275
Atemas E. Hart 307
Buell Hemingway 311
Andrew B. Hendryx 261
Ludwig Holmes 321
Edward W. Hopkins 313
Wm. F. Hopson 315
Henry L. Hotchkiss 170
Leverett M. Hubbard 324
Robert W. Huntington, Jr 367
Chas. M. Jarvia 95
Albert D. Judd 337
Geo. E. Keeney 318
Geo. T. Ladd 340
Chas. M. Lewis 330
Lewis A. Lipsette 343
Wm. DeLoss Love 332
Wm. E. Mead 263
Alexander R. Merriam 117
Ernest deF. Miel 384
Edward Miller 283
Henry G. Newton 247
James Nichols 63
Chas. H. Noble 354
Elisha L. Palmer 143
Frank L. Palmer 376
Lewis B. Paton 168
Tracy Peck 166
Samuel L. Penfield 240
Wm. L. Phelps 271
A. W. Phillips 356
Louis V. Pirsson 255
James P. Piatt H
Rollin J. Plumb 207
David S. Plume 138
Frank C, Porter 285
Rockwell H. Potter 378
W. H. Preseott 189
Joel H. Reed 31
Silas A. Robinson 23
Cephas B. Rogers 179
Alberto T. Roraback 15
Thos. H. Ruger 106
Thos. H. Russell 424
Wm. H. Russell 410
John H. Sage 326
John C. Schwab 214
Edwin L. ScoJSeld 242
Chas. E. Searls 225
Ernest T. Seton 144
Wm. C. Sharpe 291
Milton A. Shumway 39
Harold W. Stevens 121
Benj. R. Stillman 257
Andrew J. Sloper 113
Friend W. Smith 211
James D. Smith 133
John B. Talcott 102
John M. Thayer 18
Geo. F. Tinker 129
Percy R. Todd 217
Jerome Tourtellotte 232
Fredk. T. Towne 386
Wm. K. Townsend 9
Justus A. Traut I5g
Chas. S. Treadway 2I8
Julius Twiss 229
Joseph H. Twitchell 277
Augustus C. Tyler 209
Isaac M. Ullman 392
Chas. M. Upson 387
Evelyn M. Upson 160
Curtiss H. Veeder 394
Homer L. Wanzer 305
Herbert C. Warren 162
Wm. H. Watrous 199
Nelso J. Welton 364
Meigs H. Whaples 65
Geo. W. Wheeler 25
Ralph Wheeler 33
Richard A. Wheeler 182
John H. Whittemore 57
Amos Whitney 303
Horace J. Wickham 71
Marcellus B. Willcox 119
Wm. H. Williams 397
W. T. Woodruff 98
Henry Woodward 351
P. Henry Woodward 81
Theo. S. Woolsey 299
LIST OF FULL PAGE PORTRAITS
VOLUME n
Page
Francis Atwater 288
Lewis J. Atwood 147
John Birge 237
Thos. D. Bradstreet 294
W. H. Bristol 246
John D. Brown 359
William Butler 196
William S. Case 28
Geo. L. Chase 62
Atwood Collins 370
Philip Corbin 90
Howard J. Curtis 42
E. B. Dunbar 251
William T, Elmer 20
R. H. Ensign 124
Goo. H, Ford 267
Edwin B. Gager 35
Oliver Gildersleeve 402
George S. Godard 48
Casper Goodrich 381
S. J. Hall 274
A. B. Hendryx 260
Buell Hemingway 310
H. L. Hotchkiss 171
Chas. M. Jarvis 94
A. D. Judd 336
G«o. E. Keeney 318
Edward Miller 282
H. G. Newton 247
James Nichols 62
Page
A. W. Phillips 357
E, J. Plumb 206
David S. Plume 139
W. H. Prescott 188
Cephas Rogers 178
Alberto T. Roraback 14
W. H. Russell 411
Thomas H. Russell 425
John H. Sage 327
A. J. Sloper 113
J. D. Smith 133
F. W. Smith 211
J. B. Talcott 103
W. K. Townsend 8
Justus Traut 157
C. S. Treadway 219
Julius Twiss 228
Isaac Ullman 391
C. M. Upson 391
H. C. Warren 163
W. H. Watrous 198
N. J. Welton 365
Ralph Wheeler 32
Amos Whitney 302
H. C. Wickham 71
W. H. Williams 397
W. T. Woodruff 99
P. H. Woodward 80
Henry Woodward 351
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
0 007 194 578 9