Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 1

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago : Beers
Number of Pages: 1502

USA > Connecticut > Middlesex County > Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 1

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GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01104 3160

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COMMEMORATIVE 6

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD

MIDDLESEX COUNTY,

CONNECTICUT

CONTAINING

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS, AND OF MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLED FAMILIES.

ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO: J. H. BEERS & CO. 1903

Goodspeed , 7.50

PREFACE

12C4252

HE importance of placing in book form biographical history of representative citizens-both for its immediate worth and for its value to coming generations- is admitted by all thinking people; and within the past decade there has been a growing interest in this commendable means of perpetuating biography and family genealogy.

That the public is entitled to the privileges afforded by a work of this nature needs no assertion at our hands; for one of our greatest Americans has said that the history of any country resolves itself into the biographies of its stout, earnest and representative citizens. This medium, then, serves more than a single purpose; while it perpetuates biography and family genealogy, it records history, much of which would be preserved in no other way.

In presenting the COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD to its patrons, the publishers have to acknowledge, with gratitude, the encouragement and support their enterprise has received, and the willing assistance rendered in enabling them to surmount the many unforeseen obstacles to be met with in the production of a work of this character. In nearly every instance the material composing the sketches was gathered from those immediately interested, and then submitted in type-written form for correction and revision. The volume, which is one of generous amplitude, is placed in the hands of the public with the belief that it will be found a valuable addition to the library, as well as an invaluable contribution to the historical literature of the State of Connecticut.

THE PUBLISHERS.

William Walter Wilcox.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

ILLIAM WALTER WILCOX, a retired man- ufacturer of Middletown, Conn., is not only one of that city's best known and most honorable and ven- erable citizens, but as well TE.K one of the most success- ful business men-one whose start in life was his energy and push, and these traits, combined with excellent business acumen and inventive skill, have long since secured for him a position of affluence, and caused the firm, of which he was for so many years the head, to become one of the best known in its line in this country.

Mr. Wilcox is descended from old and sturdy New England ancestry, the line being as follows: (I) John, of Hartford; (II) John, of Middletown; (III) Ephraim, 1672-1713; (IV) Janna, 1701; (V) Aaron, 1745-1820; (VI) Asahel, 1771-1817; (VII) William W., 1802-1824; (VIII) William W., 1825, the subject of this memoir.

(I) John Wilcox, of Hartford, was one of the original proprietors of that city, and died in 1651.

(II) John Wilcox (2), son of John, was the first of the family to come to Middletown, and he settled in the "Second Ecclesiastical Parish," or Middletown Upper Houses, where he died in 1676. He was four times married : first in September 1646, at Hartford, to Sarah Wadsworth, who bore him one child ; second in January, 1650, to Catherine Stoughton; third, to Mary Farnsworth, who died in 1671 ; and fourth to Esther Cornwall ( daughter of William( Cornwall), by whom he had three children, Ephraim, Esther and Mary.

(III) Ephraim Wilcox (spelled on the

records "Wilcock"), son of John (2), was born in Middletown, July 9, 1672, and was the first of the name to locate in East Middle- town, where he owned one of "The Long Lots," and in later years his sons and grand- sons occupied land of his tract. He was one of the petitioners for schools in East Middletown, on petition of 17II, addressed to the mother town across the river. On August 23, 1698, he married Silence Hand, of Guilford, Conn., and had children: Esther, Janna, Thankful, Mary, Jane, Ephraim and John. The father of these died January 4, 1713, and his widow married in July, 1715, John Warner, Sr., by whom she had two children, Hannah and John.

(IV) Janna Wilcox, son of Ephraim, was. born in East Middletown, September 30, 1701, and was a lifelong farmer there. He became prominent in the Church, with which he united in full communion in 1734. His wife was Rachel Boardman, of Wethersfield, Conn., and their children were: Silence, Janna, Jr., Mehitabel, Rachel, Waitstill, Ephraim, Mary, John and Moses and Aaron ( twins), the last named being the great-grandfather of our sub- ject.

(V) Aaron Wilcox, son of Janna, was born June 13, 1745, in what was known as East Middletown. In 1797 he bought from Jesse Johnson the farm on which he passed the re- mainder of his life, and which is now owned by his descendants. Aaron Wilcox married Sarah Bell, who was born February 19. 1745- and who died May 18, 1820; he passed away March 18, 1820, and both were buried in Cen- ter cemetery. Portland. Their children were as follows: Asahel, mention of whom is made farther on: David, born October 30, 1772. went to Cherry Valley, N. Y., where his de- scendants are to be found: Aaron. Jr., born

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

January 4, 1775, died May 1, 1808; Sarah, born March II, 1777, died in infancy ; Sarah (2), born February 7, 1778, died at the age of forty years; Luther, born January 26, 1780, was a farmer and miller, living on the farm bought by his father from Jesse Johnson, and he died March 12, 1864, leaving six children.

(VI) Asahel Wilcox, grandfather of our subject, was born May 9, 1771, in what is now Portland, Conn., near Somasick Mountain, and he was a lifelong farmer. On October 2, 1791, he married Lucy Crittenden, and children as follows were born to them: Sarah married a Mr. Lindsey and lived and died in Ohio; Emily married John Churchill; Lucy married Asahel Penfield, and removed to Kansas in 1860; Catherine wedded a Mr. Hitchcock for her second husband, and died in California; Asahel Bulkley went West when a young man ; William W. is mentioned below ; Ruth A. mar- ried Ira K. Penfield; Aaron went West and all traces of him are lost. The father of this family died October 31, 1817, the mother on October 25, 1811, aged thirty-nine years, and both are buried in Center cemetery, Portland.

(VII) William W. Wilcox, the father of our subject, was born in 1802, in what is now Portland, and there learned the cabinet maker's trade. He married Miss Mary P. Rand, who bore him' one son, William W., the subject proper of this sketch. The father died November 6, 1824, before the birth of the son, and the mother was called from earth No- vember 4, 1826, both being twenty-two years of age at the time of their decease.

( VIII) William W. Wilcox, whose name appears at the opening of this sketch, was born in Middletown May 23, 1825, and as will be seen, was left an orphan in his infancy. Until he was six years of age he was reared by his grandmother, and was then taken into the family of his aunt, Mrs. Ira K. Penfield, of Portland, Conn., where he remained until he was nineteen years old, in the meantime at- tending the district school of Portland (then called Chatham, the district being what is now Gildersleeve). He made good progress in his studies, a portion of his time being under the preceptorship of Erastus O. Haven, at that time a Wesleyan student, who taught in win- ters, and who afterward became president of Syracuse University. Being in delicate health, the result of an attack of measles, Mr. Wilcox, thinking the change would do him

good, engaged with the New York Book Con- cern, of Robert Sears, on Nassau street, and traveled through the South as far as Charles- ton, S. C. This was in 1846-47, when much of the travel was done by stage and steam- boat. In 1847, having regained his health, Mr. Wilcox returned to Middletown and entered the employ of Eldredge H. Penfield, who in 1847 had patented a brass grommet, and had begun to make them by hand and foot presses, in the small rooms at the rear of a drug store, on the corner of Main and William streets, in Middletown. He gave employment to Mr. Wilcox at five shillings per day. Mr. Pen- field's means being small, his uncle, Ira W. Penfield, in 1848, consented to take an inter- est in the business, the firm becoming E. H. & I. K. Penfield. In 1849 the firm was dis- solved, owing Mr. Wilcox $133, for wages. Up to this time the business had been of slow growth, a great discouragement to E. H. Pen- field, so that he sold his interest to Ira K. Pen- field for a small sum. A new' firm of Penfield & Wilcox, consisting of Ira K. Penfield and William W. Wilcox, commenced business in 1849, the latter's investment in the business be- ing the $133 owing him from June 1, 1849, when the former firm was dissolved. As stated, up to this time the business had not been a suc- cess, the firm, depending upon the establish- ment of agencies for the sale of their goods. This system;, however, was abandoned, and they began to deal directly with sail makers. Mr. Wilcox at once started on the road with trunks full of grommets and tools to insert them, his intention being to visit all the sail lofts along the coast as far north as Halifax, N. S., and to show the use and utility of the new metallic grommets, while to those whom he could not induce to buy he would present a gross or two. In this way an impetus was at once given to the business and it became a success. Soon afterward Mr. Wilcox invented a new round edge sail thimble, cast of malleable iron and galvanized, which came into general use, and he was among the first in this country to in- troduce galvanized iron work in ship chand- lery. Penfield & Wilcox did a profitable busi- ness for ten years, and in 1859 Mr. Wilcox sold his entire interest to Ira K. Penfield, and leased of Ambrose Wolcott, rooms with water power at the south end of the city, for $75 per year. Soon after this he formed a co-

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

partnership with Joseph Hall, Jr., of Portland, Conn., and with an increase of capital, the business gradually increased from' year to year until 1869, when Mr. Hall sold his entire interest in the business to Mr. Wilcox, who then formed a new co-partnership composed of W. W. Wilcox, E. Bound Chaffee, A. R. Crittenden and Homer Churchill, under the firm name of Wilcox, Crittenden & Co., which name has ever since been retained. About the time of Mr. Wilcox's entry into the business world on his own account he invented an im- proved grommet, made in three parts, which he patented, and also added to his business a variety of sailmakers' supplies and ship chand- lery goods. He also invented another grom- met, which was patented in 1884. This was the spur tooth grommet (now in general use, both in America and Europe), which was a great improvement over anything of the kind then known. The plant of Wilcox, Critten- den & Co. is fully equipped in every way for the general manufacture of ship chandlery hardware, and the con- cern is now one of the largest in this line of business in the United States. The brass and iron foundries are located in the old Stroud factory in Mill Hollow, and are practically a part of the main plant. For a number of years water power was used ex- clusively, but later it became necessary to use steam' power, while at present the entire plant is operated by electricity, generated by means of both water and steam power. The firm is constantly increasing and enlarging a busi- ness which has acquired a world-wide reputa- tion. Their goods are used in all parts of the globe. The United States and British na- vies both use some products of this firm. The introduction of their product in the European markets was made by Mr. Wilcox. In 1884 he first visited England, and presenting him- self to Admiral Brandreth, of the British navy, he was referred by him to certain officials at Chatham dock yard, where the merits of the spur tooth grommet were given a most severe test ; it was found to be vastly superior to anything of the kind known .. An immense amount of business resulted from this visit. The grommet was adopted by the British Navy, and has been used ever since. Mr. Wil- cox arranged for the manufacture of this ar- ticle with Hipkiss & Co., of Birmingham, Eng- land, whence European customers were

supplied, and this arrangement continued until the expiration of the patent. The article was also introduced into France and Italy by Mr. Wilcox, who made a sec- ond trip to Europe in 1885, accompanied by his wife and daughter.

On November 17, 1853, Mr. Wilcox was married to Miss Elizabeth Shepard Critten- den, who was born March 5, 1835, in what is now Portland, Conn., a daughter of George and Ann Eliza (Sellew) Crittenden. Three children were born of this union, of whom the eldest died in infancy. Those liv- ing to adult age are: (1) William Walter, Jr., born April 11, 1862, was educated at Will- iams College, graduating in the class of 1885, and for some years has been a member of the firm of Wilcox, Crittenden & Co. On Novem- ber 3, 1886, he married Miss Mary Root, of Hartford, who was born August 23, 1865, a daughter of G. Wells Root, and three children have been born to this union: Pauline Root (August 3, 1891) ; Elizabeth (September 10, 1896), and William Walter (3) (December 27, 1901). (2) Mary C., born August 8, 1866, was married October 1, 1890, to Heman C. Whittlesey, and they have two children : Percival Wilcox, born at Foo-Chow, China, September 1, 1891, and Winifred Hamilton, born October 30, 1892. Mr. Whittlesey grad- uated from Yale in 1880. For ten years, 1881-1891, he was engaged in the Imperial Maritime Customs Service in China under Sir Robert Hart. During that time he was sta- tioned at Shanghai, Wuhu, Chefoo and Tien- tsin, and he also spent one year at the port of Foo Chow after his marriage. In 1892 he re- turned with his family to the United States and located at Middletown, where he has since been a member of the firm of Wilcox, Critten- den & Co.

Mrs. Elizabeth S. (Crittenden) Wilcox is related to, or connected by marriage with, many of the old and prominent families of Connecticut, among them being the following : Lord, Bulkeley, Sheperd, Robbins, Chauncey, Kimberly, Sellew, Pynchon and Crittenden. She is a descendant, in the sixth generation. of (I) Philip Sellew, who married Elizabeth Barin, and died May 15, 1773 (he is buried in Harwich, Mass. ) ; (II) John Leland Sellew. who married Hannah Hamilton ; ( III) Philip Sellew, who married Elizabeth Kimberly Smith: (IV) Thomas Sellew, who married

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Lucy Bulkeley Lord; (V) Ann Eliza Sellew, who married George Crittenden; and (VI) Elizabeth Shepard Crittenden ( Mrs. Wilcox).

Mrs. Wilcox is also a descendant in the ninth generation from Abraham Crittenden, as follows: (I) Abraham. Crittenden, who came from the County of Kent, England, to America, in 1635-37, was early at New Haven, Conn., and became one of the founders of Guilford Colony ; (II) Abraham, who married Susannah Greigson; (III) Abraham, who married Susannah Kirby; (IV) Dr. Daniel, who married Patience Bradley ; (V) Dr. Hopestill, who married Mary Bacon, daughter of Nathaniel and Hannah ( Wetmore) Bacon (Dr. Hopestill was ordered by Gov. Trum- bull to inspect the silver mines below Middle- town, in order to ascertain if the metal could be used for bullets for the Continental army, and the silver was actually used for that pur- pose ) ; ( VI) Daniel, who married Rhoda Try- on; ( VII) David, who married Elizabeth Shepard; (VIII) George, who married Ann Eliza Sellew; and (IX) Elizabeth Shepard Crittenden ( Mrs. Wilcox), who was one of the following named children: Randolph, Elizabeth S., Mary Lee, Francis and Albert Randolph, the latter of the firm of Wilcox, Crittenden & Co. Mrs. Wilcox is also a de- scendant of Thomas A. Kimberly, who in his day was a prominent man in the Colony of New Haven, and secretary of State thirteen years. Mrs. Wilcox belongs to the Huguenot Society ; Wadsworth Chapter, D. A. R., of Middletown, of which she was regent ( 1901- 1902) ; and the Mary Washington Memorial Association, of which she was vice-president, for Connecticut, and in which association she has rendered distinctively able and valuable service.

Mr. Wilcox, our subject, although he al- ways confined himself to business, has yet found time to devote to the affairs of his native town. In 1877 he was elected on the Repub- lican ticket a representative from Middletown to the Legislature, and again in 1879. In 1880 he was nominated for State Senator, but was defeated by a small majority, his opponent being Dr. J. W. Alsop. He has also served the city in both branches of its government. In 1883 he was chosen as one of the directors of the Middletown National Bank. Mr. Wil- cox has uniformly held the esteem and confi- dence .of the community in which he has so

long lived as a gentleman of cultured manners and sound understanding. While one of the most successful men of his city, he is also one of the most democratic and approachable, and is a generous contributor to charitable objects. One of his prominent characteristics, that can- not fail to impress the most casual interviewer, is his genuine fondness for his home and fam- ily. In 1891, he with his wife, visited the far East, spending a year in China and Japan, and since 1892 he has lived retired. Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox are regular attendants at the South Congregational Church, of which Mrs. Wilcox is a prominent member and worker, and where Mr. Wilcox has for years been a liberal contri- butor.

WOODWARD. In the city of Middle- town the name Woodward has for a great many years enjoyed a respect second to none in Middlesex county, and such an honored citizen as Henry Woodward would be a credit to any family or community.

(I) Henry Woodward, the first of the family in this country, came from England, and settled in Dorchester, Mass., about the year 1635, uniting with the church there prior to 1639. In 1659 he removed to Northamp- ton, Mass., where he was killed by lightning in 1685, while in his gristmill. He built the first gristmill in that place. Henry Woodward was a physician. By his wife Elizabeth he had one son, John.

(II) John Woodward, son of Henry, lived in Northampton until after the death of his father, when he moved to Westfield, and later to Lebanon, Conn. He married Anna Dewey, of Westfield, daughter of Thomas Dewey, a native of England, and one of the early settlers of Windsor, Conn., who finally made his home in Westfield. John and Anna ( Dewey ) Wood- ward had one son, John (2).

(III) John Woodward (2), born in 1674, removed with his parents to Lebanon, Conn., where he married Experience Baldwin, and among their children was a son Israel.

(IV) Israel Woodward, born in Lebanon, Conn., married. Abigail Bayard, of Hunting- ton, Conn., and they afterward removed to that part of Waterbury called Watertown. Is- rael served in the French and Indian war, and bore the rank of captain. Among his children was a son named Samuel.

(V) Dr. Samuel Woodward was born No-

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

vember 20, 1750, in Watertown, Conn., and was attending Yale College when the Revolu- tionary war broke out. Before he was twen- ty-one years old he had served an apprentice- ship to the trade of tanner and shoemaker, his father being of the opinion that his sons should all learn trades. Finally he took up the study of medicine, first under Dr. Hastings, of Washington, Conn., afterward under Dr. Daniel Sheldon, of Litchfield. He began the practice of his profession in 1799, in Torring- ton, Conn., where he continued twelve years, thence returning to his native place. After re- maining at Watertown two years he removed to the original field of his practice, which soon became extensive, arduous and lucrative. He had a well organized and developed brain, strong intellect, quick perception, good sense, sound judgment, and independence of thought and expression. To temperance, industry, in- tellectual and moral culture, and practical re- ligion he rendered homage, and to public and private schools, and the academy of Torring- ton, the influence of his character was always a quickening power. To whatever cause he allied himself with he became a power. His na- tive strength of organization and acquired abil- ities shone forth conspicuously with great effect. Dr. Woodward was for his day a great man, a physician beloved and a philanthropist. He died January 26, 1835. His sons, three of whom adopted the medical profession, became men of distinction and note.

On February 10, 1782, Dr. Samuel Wood- ward married Mary Griswold, born in 1747, daughter of Capt. Shubael Griswold, who saw service in the Revolution. The children born to this union were as follows: ( 1) Mary mar- ried John Gillette, of Torrington. (2) Laura died young. (3) Dr. Samuel B. was a noted authority on insanity, and when Massachusetts concluded to have a State hospital for the in- sane he was given first charge of the insti- tution, which was located at Worcester. (4) Elijah died young. (5) Griswold was a farmer on the old homestead in Torrington, where he lived, and was a prominent citizen. (6) Rufus, a highly educated man, was a tu- tor at Yale for some time, but much of his life was passed abroad. He died in Scotland, and a monument erected to his memory in that country bears the following inscription: "To the amiable American stranger." (7) Henry, a physician, studied medicine under his father

and brother, Samuel B., and for a time prac- ticed with the latter, afterward in Wethers- field, thence removing to Middletown, by the invitation of Dr. Tully, who was about to leave that locality. There Dr. Woodward succeeded in securing an extensive practice, and for years "his business was equal to any doctor's in Connecticut, both as to respectabili- ty and extent." He was twice chosen to the Legislature from Middletown; and was promi- nent in the Episcopal Church, serving as ves- tryman and as warden. He was one of the original incorporators of the Middletown Sav- ings Bank, in 1825, and was one of the most respected citizens of that place-none better. Dr. Henry Woodward died in 1832, after a few months' illness. (8) Dr. Charles is re- ferred to farther on. (9) Laura, who never married, died in Torrington, Conn. Of this family, Charles bore the greatest resemblance of any to the father, and was like him in many ways.

Mary (Griswold) Woodward, the mother of the above mentioned family, was a sister of Hon. Stanley Griswold, who was born in 1763, was graduated from Yale College in 1786, and for a time was a lieutenant under his father (as captain) in the Revolutionary war. Later Lieut. Griswold was secretary of the Territory of Michigan, a senator of the United States and Territorial judge of Illinois. He died at Shawneetown, Ill., in 1815.

The Griswold family is one of the most illustrious in New England. The Black Hall branch, referred to farther on, with its con- nections, embraces twelve governors of States and thirty-six judges. [See Mag. of Amer. Hist., Vol. IV, 1884.]

Mary (Griswold) Woodward was in the sixth generation from Edward Griswold, who with his brothers Mathew and Thomas, came to Windsor, Saybrook and Lyme, Conn., as first settlers of those places and original propri- etors. Edward died in 1691, in his eighty- fourth year. The line of Mrs. Woodward's descent is through Joseph (born March 2, 1647, married in 1670, Mary Gaylord), Jo- seph, Jr. (married Mary Griswold), Shubael (born in 1701, married in 1722, Phebe Cor- nish), and Capt. Shubael (born in 1724, mar- ried Abigail Stanley, of Litchfield, Con .. where he was a leading citizen and prominent man ).

Mathew Griswold, alluded to in the fore-

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

going, first settled at Saybrook, Conn., as the agent for Gov. Fenwick, and became an orig- inal proprietor of Lyme, which was set off from; Saybrook. He was a man of large wealth and landed estate. His seat was Black Hall, where he died in 1698, and he was buried at Saybrook. His grandson, Judge John Gris- wold, born in 1690, at Lyme, married, in 1713, Hannah Lee, and through him descended the noted Black Hall branch of Griswolds.

(VI) DR. CHARLES WOODWARD, born Au- gust 16, 1798, in Torrington, Conn., studied medicine under the direction of his father, and later with his brother, Samuel ,B. Woodward. He also attended Yale Medical School. At the age of twenty-four he commenced the practice of his profession at Windsor, Conn., and in 1832 came to Middletown to nurse his brother, Dr. Henry Woodward. He married in that city, and there passed the rest of his life. As a practitioner he was held in high esteem by his brethren in the profession, and was great- ly beloved by his patients. The goodness and benevolence which were prominent traits in his character found expression in the follow- ing extract from an address which he delivered before the State Medical Society, of which he was president, in 1868:

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Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 1

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Chicago : Beers Number of Pages: 1502

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago : Beers
Number of Pages: 1502