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M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00826 2195
REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
-- OF-
CONNECTICUT
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORIAL
I
UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF
SAMUEL HART, D. D., D. C. L.
PRESIDENT OF CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY VI
EDITION DE LUXE
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEW YORK 1916
FOREWORD 1204164
T HE historic spirit faithful to the record; the discerning judg- ment, unmoved by prejudice and uncolored by undue enthu- siasm :- these are as essential in giving the life of the indi- vidual as in writing the history of a people. Each one of us is "the heir of all the ages, in the foremost files of time." We build upon the solid foundations laid by the strenuous efforts of the fathers who have gone before us. Nothing is more fitting, and, indeed, more important than that we should familiarize ourselves with their work and personality; for it is they who have lifted us up to the lofty posi- tions from which we are working out our separate careers. "Lest we for- get," it is important that we gather up the fleeting memories of the past, and give them permanent record in well-chosen words of biography, and in such reproduction of the long lost faces as modern science makes possible.
The State of Connecticut has been the scene of events of vast import- ance, and the home of some of the most illustrious men of the nation. Her sons have shed luster upon her name in every profession and calling; and wherever they have dispersed they have been a power for ideal citizenship and good government. Their names adorn every walk of life,-in art, science, statesmanship, government, in advanced industrial and commercial prosperity. Their achievements constitute an inheritance upon which the present generation has entered, and the advantages secured from so great a bequeathment depend largely upon the fidelity with which is conducted the study of the lives of those who have transmitted so precious a legacy.
The province of the present work is that of according due recognition to many leading and representative citizens who have thus reflected honor upon their State and community. It cannot but have a large and increasing intrinsic value, in its historic utility, in the interest attaching to the subject matter, and in the inspiration derived from the record of worthies of the past who have largely made the Nation and the State what they are to-day. For by far the greater part, the narratives embrace detailed information drawn immediately from family records, and publishers and readers will alike gratefully recognize the interest and loyalty to the memory of their forbears, that moved the custodians of such information to thus place in preservable accessible form records which would otherwise be lost.
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Bronsonos Juttle
Bronson Beecher Cuttle
T UTTLE is a name of great antiquity in England, being derived, supposedly, from the word Tuthill (Conical hill), a name given in earlier times to a number of localities in that coun- try. The family bearing the name, belonging to these places, was particularly prominent in Devonshire. It was from Hertfordshire, the parish of St. Albans, that William Tuttle,
the direct ancestor of Bronson Beecher Tuttle, migrated to the New England colonies in the year 1635, and from that time to the present, the members of the family have held a prominent place among the worthy representatives of their adopted land.
Eben Clark Tuttle, father of Bronson Beecher Tuttle, was born at Prospect, Connecticut, in the year 1806, and lived in that town during most of his youth and young manhood, removing to Naugatuck, Connecticut, when his son, Bronson Beecher, was thirteen years of age. Eben Clark Tuttle was the inventor and manufacturer of the modern "gooseneck" form of hoe. His business in course of time grew to very large proportions, as his invention entirely supplanted in popular favor the old form of the imple- ment. He occupied a prominent place in the ranks of manufacturers, being scrupulously honorable in all his dealings, and bearing a reputation for public and private integrity second to no man in the land. By his honorable exertions and moral attributes, he carved out for himself friends, affluence and position, and by the strength and force of his character he overcame obstacles which to others less courageous and less hopeful would seem unsurmountable.
Bronson Beecher Tuttle was born at Prospect, Connecticut, December 28, 1835, and there passed the first years of his life. At the age of thirteen he went with his father to Naugatuck, and until the time of his death made it his home. He was educated at the well known institution of Mr. Daniel Chase, in Middletown, Connecticut, and later at the excellent Naugatuck High School under the supervision of Professor Lawrence. Upon the com- pletion of his studies in the latter institution, he entered the manufactory of his father, and mastered the business both in entirety and in detail. This business formed the nucleus of what became the large Tuttle interests in many parts of the country. In 1857 the principal business was the manufac- ture of hoes, rakes, small agricultural implements, etc., and the malleable iron department was a very small concern and simply a side issue to the rest of the plant. That year the entire business was burned, agricultural works and all, and Mr. Eben Clark Tuttle, and several other men interested with him in the Tuttle Hoe Manufacturing Company, decided to turn the entire inalleable iron industry over to Bronson Beecher Tuttle and John H. Whitte- more, each about twenty-one years of age, and they rebuilt the malleable iron plant, on the same site, and achieved a high degree of success. They continued as partners until about 1894 when a stock company was formed. Afterwards they were associated together in business and held common CONN-1
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Bronson Beecher Cuttle
interests in many different things, but not in the relation of partners. Mr. Whittemore was early employed in New York City, but lost his position through panic times and conditions. Mr. Leroy Hinman, a friend of his family, induced him to come to Naugatuck, and then the question came up as to building the destroyed iron plant. Later Mr. Tuttle became the president of the Pratt Manufacturing Company, at No. 71 Broadway, New York City, handlers of railroad track supplies. He became identified with the National Malleable Iron Company and with many other industrial concerns. From these various important interests he derived in course of time a very large fortune, and became a dominating figure in the industrial and financial world. Through these concerns, he was also connected with institutions of a more purely financial character, such as the Naugatuck National Bank and the Savings Bank. He was also greatly interested in Chicago real estate.
While Mr. Tuttle's life was mainly occupied with great manufacturing problems and the industrial development of his own and other localities, he was very far from being the type of man, too often seen, who confines his abilities and interests solely within the limits of his personal pursuits. On the contrary, despite the demands made upon both time and energy by the great business interests which he represented, he gave generous thought and service to many other personal activities, especially such as would advance the welfare of the community of which he was a member. One of the valuable bequests made by him to Naugatuck was that of a tract of land situated in the immediate neighborhood for cemetery purposes. This is now controlled and managed by the Grove Cemetery Association, and it was here that four years after the death of Mr. Tuttle, a beautiful mortuary chapel was erected in his memory by his wife.
It was inevitable that one so public-spirited and so disinterestedly con- cerned in the public welfare should take a keen interest in the political ques- tions of the day. He was a member of the Republican party and very influ- ential in its councils, yet taking little part in active politics. Nevertheless he did not refuse to do his part in office. when called upon by his party, and he bore its standard as candidate for the General Assembly. Mr. Tuttle's popu- larity and prominence were of a kind to make practically certain his election from the outset, and his campaign resulted as was expected. During his term in the State Senate he held a distinguished place in that body, and worked actively in behalf of the people's interests.
Mr. Tuttle married, October 12, 1859, Mary A. Wilcox, daughter of Rodney Wilcox, of Litchfield, Connecticut. She was born October 3, 1835, at Madison, Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle were the parents of one child, a son, Howard Beecher, born October 25, 1863. He was graduated from Yale University with the class of 1887, and is now a large holder of real estate and beautiful farm lands. He married, October 24, 1888, Jeanette Seymour, of Naugatuck, daughter of Zerah and Minerva (Manchester) Sey- mour. Children: Donald Seymour, born February 4, 1890, graduate of Yale University; Muriel Seymour, born September 24, 1891, graduate of Westover School; Ruby Seymour, born October 19, 1894, graduate of Dana Hall.
The death of Mr. Tuttle left a vacancy in the community impossible to
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Bronson Beecher Cuttle
fill. He was one of the most prominent manufacturers in the State of Con- necticut. His commercial integrity was ever unquestioned. His estimable and forceful character and skilled organizing powers were given broadly and generously to the community at large. His personality with its many lovable and admirable traits was revealed to the smaller circle which com- posed his family and friends. He was a man of marked sensitiveness and quiet reserve which gave to his countenance a suggestion of sternness. The stranger might suspect him of being cold and reserved, but in truth the warmest of hearts beat beneath his breast, and he cherished a sympathy broad enough to embrace entire humanity from the highest to the lowest, and to include within it all classes and ranks. His religious affiliations were with the Congregational church, and he was a constant attendant, an atten- tive listener and devout worshiper. As in all matters with which he was connected, he was a liberal supporter of the church, both in personal service and by generous giving. In the various benevolences and philanthropies connected therewith, he was splendidly liberal. It was characteristic of him, however, to so guard his beneficence lest it appear ostentatious, that even those benefited by him rarely knew their benefactor. His death, which occurred September 12, 1903, though sudden and startling, was not unantici- pated by Mr. Tuttle for considerable time, and his friends bear witness to the unusual courage with which he faced the last dread reality without quail- ing, with a mind prepared and tranquil, and a "conscience void of offence toward God and man."
This sketch cannot be more appropriately closed than with a quotation from one who delivered the dedicatory address of the Tuttle Memorial Chapel, erected through the generosity of Mrs. Tuttle and opened for the use of the public in "God's Acre:"
He achieved success, not by accident, but by the constant application of effort, and by the continued practice of thrift. His attainment, and it was high, did not separate him from the humblest humanity if it were honorable. *
* * He could discerningly detect shams and he spared them not in sharp, sound judgment. He despised any deference to himself for his wealth and asked only to be weighed for his worth. He was absolutely loyal as a friend. He was a wholesome example as a father. He was fond and faithful as a husband. He was fine as a citizen. He lived justly, loved mercy, and walked humbly with God.
David Tells Plumb
D AVID WELLS PLUMB was a member of one of the oldest New England families, a family representative of the best type which came from the "Mother Country" and estab- lished the English people as the foundation of the social structure in the United States. Dominant and persistent in character and blood, it has given the prevailing traits to the population of this country, which no subsequent inroads of foreign races has sufficed to submerge, and has formed a base for our citizen- ship upon which the whole vast and composite fabric of this growing people is being erected in safety. The Plumb arms are as follows: Argent. A bend vaire, or and gules, between two bendlets vert. Crest. Out of a ducal coronet, a plume of ostrich feathers, proper.
It was sometime prior to the year 1634 when the founder of the Plumb family in this country came to the then scarcely established Colony of New London and settled there. This enterprising voyager was George Plumb, of Taworth, Essex, England. From him David Wells Plumb of this sketch traced his descent directly to George Plumb, of Essex, being seven genera- tions removed from this ancestor. The steps in this descent were as fol- lows: George Plumb, already mentioned; John Plumb, born in New Lon- don in 1634, married Miss Elizabeth Green about 1662; Joseph Plumb, born in Milford, Connecticut, in 1671, married Susannah Newton; Noah Plumb, born in Stratford, Connecticut, 1709, married (first) Abiah Platt and (second) Abigail Curtiss; David Plumb, born June 25, 1751, married Mary Beach, December 29, 1776. This David Plumb, who lived during the Revo- lutionary period, was also a native of Stratford, and the grandfather of David Wells Plumb. His son was another Noah Plumb, born in Trumbull, Connecticut, May 3, 1782, and was twice married. His first wife was a lady by the name of Thankful Beach, after whose death Mr. Plumb was again married, this time to Uvania Wells, the mother of David Wells Plumb.
David Wells Plumb, the oldest child of Noah and Uvania (Wells) Plumb, was born in 1809 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and in that city passed his childhood and early youth, attending the local schools and obtaining an excellent education thereat. Upon the completion of his schooling, Mr. Plumb removed from Bridgeport to Derby, Connecticut, and there entered business. He did not remain in that place, however, but soon went to Anso- nia. Derby's near neighbor, and there engaged in a woolen trade which he conducted with a high degree of success. He rapidly wrought for himself a prominent place in the mercantile world of that region, and came to be looked upon as one of the most substantial and progressive business men in the associated towns of Derby and Ansonia. He did not confine his business connections to his own woolen interests, but became identified with a number of important concerns in varying departments of industry. Among these were the Star Pin Company and the Silver Plate Cutlery Company, in both of which he held the position of president, and the Birmingham
OGFLUM
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David adells plumb
National Bank, of which he was vice-president, and director for twenty-two years. He was also president of the Housatonic and Shelton Water compa- nies. In his various business interests Mr. Plumb amassed a very consider- able fortune, which he was ever ready to expend in the most liberal and openhanded manner wherever he saw an opportunity of advancing the inter- ests of the community at large or any deserving member of it. The public interest was always in his thought and he was the principal mover in many institutions of which the people are the beneficiaries. Among these is the Riverview Park, a project carried out by himself whereby he hoped to pro- vide an appropriate playground for the public. This park was planned by him, the grounds laid out, the site selected and the name given all by him, and it was he who supplied the necessary funds for its completion. One of his chief ambitions for the community was the founding of an adequate library at Shelton, in which place he had taken up his abode, and he con- nected himself with the Library Association, an organization with this end in view. Of this he became the president, and held the office until the end of his life. At his death he willed a large fund to the accomplishment of this, his pet design. A brother of Mr. Plumb took charge of this matter and in course of time one of the handsomest library buildings in the state of Con- necticut was reared and became the home of the Plumb Memorial Library. This collection is a great benefit to the people of the town, containing, as it does, many departments of literature and art, especially one devoted to the formation of the juvenile taste and knowledge.
About all the life of Mr. Plumb hung the mantle of altruism, and even in relations which with others are apt to be wholly selfish, this could be noted. In his business and commercial interests, for instance, his own aims never obscured the rights and hopes of others from his mind, and the interest which he felt in the general industrial development of the community played at least as prominent a part in directing his acts as did the consideration of the success of his personal enterprises. Certain it is that there have been few men more directly connected with the rise of the large Derby and Anso- nia industries than Mr. Plumb. He retired from active participation in busi- ness to his charming home in Shelton, some time before his death, but to such a man as Mr. Plumb idleness was impossible and he continued to work at the elaboration of his schemes for the advancement of culture and edu- cation up to the time of his death. This sad event occurred June 29, 1893, at his home in Shelton, and caused a profound sense of loss not only among the members of Mr. Plumb's own family and his host of personal friends and admirers, but throughout the community at large, who felt only too keenly that in him they had been deprived of a sincere and active wellwisher and friend.
Mr. Plumb married, December 7, 1875, Louise Wakelee, a native of the country about Shelton, where she was born. They were the parents of no children.
In personal appearance and character, Mr. Plumb was a man of energy and force. His well developed head and firm jaw were relieved by a mouth and eye that spoke unmistakably of kindliness and humor. He was a man of much original thought, and his interest was busy with the great problems
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David duells plumb
of the ages, religious, philosophical and social, his opinions on these pro- found matters being well worthy of consideration. He was a formal mem- ber of no church or sect, but his instincts and beliefs were essentially relig- ious and moral, and it may truly be said of him that he was, in fact, a far better Christian than many of those who professed more loudly. His experi- ence with life from his earliest youth had been that stern one which teaches that nothing comes without corresponding effort, and he had accordingly ordered his life upon a system of self imposed discipline calculated to best preserve the strength and health he knew were essential to the accomplish- ment of his ends.
Perhaps no more fitting ending to this sketch of his life could be found than the tribute offered to his memory by his fellow directors of the Birm- ingham National Bank, upon the occasion of his death, when they adopted the following resolutions :
Mr. David W. Plumb, for twenty-two years vice-president and director of this bank, died at his residence in Shelton, on the evening of the 29th of June last, at the age of eighty-four years and nine months. Upon us, his associates and fellow directors, falls the duty of placing upon record our appreciation of his work and worth.
His was a long and busy life, the earlier years of which were years of trial and struggle. His courage, his patience and perseverance, and, above all, his indomitable will and intelligent determination, overcame all obstacles, and won for him a success most richly deserved. With ample resources, so worthily gained, having established himself in his new home on the heights, and, looking out from its commanding position, as he surveys the scene of his future activity, this thoughtful man doubtless outlines the plan of his life. His purpose is revealed in the important part taken by him in carrying to destined completion that great public work known as the Housatonic Water Com- pany ; in fostering and encouraging new enterprises ; in adding another name to the long list of towns made strong and prosperous by the thrift and energy of New England manufacturers; in contributing to the endowment of a hospital in the place where he was born; and in the gift which made possible and actual a public park in the place where he died.
As in adversity he had shown himself equal to all its exigencies, so his spotless integrity, sound judgment, independence in thought and action, coolness in time of financial or other excitement, and faithfulness to duty, revealed him equally equipped for the difficulties, may it not be said, greater difficulties, which prosperity brings. As adversity could not depress, so prosperity could not elate him. Mr. Plumb was a man of character, strong character, simple in his tastes and ways, of pure life, happiest at his home. His fondness for reading and a most retenitve memory made his knowledge extensive, accurate and responsive to call. His opinions were his own, and when formed were not easily changed.
Summoned many times by a confiding constituency to the legislative councils of the State, his fidelity was as conspicuous as his knowledge of the needs and aids, which wise legislation should supply, was varied and accurate. With him public office was indeed a public trust. In his death this bank has lost an intelligent, efficient, faithful officer, one who, believing that the acceptance of office involved the obligation of fulfilling strictly all its duties, was uniformally present at its meetings, and by his watchful care and wise council rendered invaluable service to this institution.
The members of this board keenly feel the loss of a courteous and most intelligent member, associating with whom has given them the highest appreciation of his character and worth. To the family of Mr. Plumb they tender their sincere condolence, and direct the secretary to transmit to them this expression of their own loss and their sympathy with them in their bereavement. (July, 1893).
John howard Wbittemore
JOHN HOWARD WHITTEMORE, whose death, May 28, 1910, deprived Connecticut of one of her most prominent and useful citizens, and the industrial world of one of its most successful organizers, was a member of an old English family which has been traced back to the twelfth century and which, from that time onward, has held a distinguished position, whether in the land of its origin or in that new world which its members, in common with so many hardy compatriots, saw fit to adopt.
The original family name of Mr. Whittemore's ancestors was de Boterel (or Botrel), and the first to bear it, of whom we have record, was one Peter de Boterel, who flourished in Staffordshire, England, during the middle part of the twelfth century. The family. not long after, were given the name of the locality where they resided, after the well-nigh universal habit of the time, and so became known as Whitemere, a name signifying white mere or lake. This spelling was gradually altered and modified, taking many forms until the present form of Whittemore was reached. This was not fixed, indeed, until after Thomas, who still called himself Whitmore, had come from Hitchin, Hertford county, England, in or about 1639, and settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts. His descendants continued to reside in that locality until 1698, when one of them removed to Mansfield, Connecticut.
This was Joseph Whittemore, the great-grandfather of John Howard Whittemore. In the following generation the family removed to Bolton, Connecticut, where they remained a considerable period, Rev. William Howe Whittemore, the father of John Howard Whittemore, having been born there in the year 1800. The career of Rev. William Howe Whittemore was a most honorable and useful one. He was a clergyman of the Congrega- tional church, having graduated from the Yale School of Divinity, and afterwards had charge of a number of important churches in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York State. For fourteen years he was pastor of the Congregational Church of Southbury, Connecticut, and it was while living in that town that John Howard Whittemore was born, October 3, 1837. He was the third of the four children born to the Rev. Mr. Whittemore and his wife, Maria (Clark) Whittemore, a member of one of the oldest New Haven families, and one which had distinguished itself in the history of Connec- ticut, both as a Colony and State.
John Howard Whittemore spent his childhood and early youth in the town of his birth, attending the local Southbury schools until twelve years of age, at which time he was sent to the well known school of General Wil- liam H. Russell, at New Haven, known as the Collegiate and Commercial Institute. He continued four years there, preparing himself for college, it being his intention to enter Yale University. This intention was, however, abandoned and he turned instead to a business career, securing a position at the age of sixteen years in the firm of Shepard & Morgan, commission
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