USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II > Part 2
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Mr. Bushnell is a member of the Union League Club and the Railroad Club of New York city; the Quinnipiac, Graduates', Lawn and Country Clubs of New Haven; the Hart- ford Club; the Waterbury Country Club; and the Pine Orchard Club, of Pine Orchard, where he resides in the summer. In politics Mr. Bushnell is an independent republican. He is a member of the Center church, New Haven. In June, 1911, he married Harriet Elizabeth, daughter of the late Captain Levi T. Scofield, a prominent architect of Cleveland, Ohio, and he has two daughters, Elizabeth, born April 22, 1912, and Ann Cornelia, born January 6, 1918.
During 1917 Mr. Bushnell was state chairman of the executive committee of the Young Men's Christian Association, which undertook to raise in Connecticut one million dollars of the thirty-five million dollars national budget for war work. In this campaign Con- necticut was the first state to raise its quota, lifting it finally to one million four hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Bushnell was also chairman of the executive committee in the June campaign, same year, New Haven American Red Cross, which accepted a budget of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and raised four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, for war work. He is a director of the Young Men's Christian Association of New Haven, and member of the executive committee, New Haven Chapter, American Red Cross. With due appreciation of out-of-door life he is an ardent lover of golf, and in 1916 and 1917 was captain of the New Haven Country Club golf team. He has won some personal trophies, the best being the club championship in March, 1917, of the Ormond Beach Country Club, Ormond, Florida. In winning this open competition among one hundred entries without handicap, Mr. Bushnell modestly admitted that he had more "nerve" than "seience." Some say this victory marked the zenith of his prowess as a golfer. If true, he never will admit it.
HENRY LUCIUS HOTCHKISS.
The name of IIenry Lucius Hotchkiss has long figured prominently in connection with manufacturing and financial interests of New Haven, his native city. He is identified with various corporations, including The L. Candee & Company, of which he is the president. He represents a family that has been connected with the development of New Haven for more than two hundred and fifty years. It was in 1641 that Samuel Hotchkiss, a native of Essex county, England, crossed the Atlantic and became a resident of New Haven.
In a review of the commercial development of the city it is found that Justus Hotchkiss, who died in 1812, was a prominent lumber merchant on Long Wharf in the nineteenth century
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and there the lumber business was continued until 1850 by Henry and Lucius Hotchkiss, who were sons of Justus Hotchkiss. On the 7th of September, 1843, these two entered into a partnership with L. Candee to undertake the manufacture of rubber boots and shoes under the . Goodyear patent, and in 1852 the business was incorporated under the already well known firm of L. Candee & Company. In February, 1863, Henry Hotchkiss was elected president and treasurer of this company and in the development of the business displayed marked executive ability. He possessed the qualities of leadership in business and financial affairs and was gifted with exceptional capacity for controlling large enterprises. He displayed notable sa- gacity and keen insight into business situations, together with the power of coordinating seemingly adverse interests into a complex and unified whole. He figured not only as one of the foremost manufacturers of the state but also as a prominent factor in many other business lines, being called to the presidency of various corporations, while in financial circles he was widely known as the president of the New Haven County Bank for twenty- one years. He died on December 14, 1871. He married Elizabeth Daggett Prescott, a daughter of the senior member of the well known shipping firm of Prescott & Sherman and a descend- of John Prescott, who came from England in 1640, settling in Boston. Among his descend- ants were Colonel William Prescott, one of the heroic commanders at Bunker Hill, and the historian, William H. Prescott.
Henry L. Hotchkiss was born in New Haven, December 18, 1842, and became actively in- terested with his father in his various business interests in 1860. For three years thereafter he was paymaster on the New London Railroad, of which his father was a trustee, and he also assisted his father in the management of the United States Pin Company, of which the senior Hotchkiss was president. In February, 1863, Henry L. Hotchkiss hecame the secre- tary of The L. Candee & Company and soon afterward was elected treasurer as the suc- cessor of his father, who resigned that position. He continued in the dual office until Decem- ber, 1871, when upon his father's death, he was elected to the presidency and continued to serve as treasurer also for a number of years. On the 19th of November, 1877, when the business was at its height, the entire plant was destroyed by fire. Quiek in action and at all times resourceful, Mr. Hotchkiss at once leased temporary factories and immediately began rebuilding on a much larger and finer scale.
No New Haven enterprise has done more for the city and none has made its name more widely known abroad. Realizing the value of centralization in industrial management, The L. Candee & Company in 1892 merged their interests with those of other prominent rubber corporations of America in forming the group which is now known as the United States Rubber Company of New Jersey, in which Mr. Hotchkiss has continuously been a director. For the first seven years of its existence he also actively served on the executive committee but retiring from that position in 1899 he spent some time in travel abroad. After the death of his father he became the president of the Union Trust Company of New Haven and since its consolidation with the New Haven Trust Company under the name of the Union & New Haven Trust Company he has been a vice president of the more recently cre- ated organization. Since 1874 he has been a director of the New Haven Bank. It has been largely under his direction and control that The L. Candee & Company has been developed to its present mammoth proportions, giving employment to nearly two thousand hands and occupying, in the conduet of the business. twelve substantial brick buildings.
In February, 1875, Mr. Hotchkiss was married to Miss Jane Trowbridge, a daughter of Henry and Mary Webster (Southgate) Trowbridge. She was a lineal descendant of Governor William Bradford of Mayflower fame and a great-granddaughter of Noah Webster, the lex- icographer. She died April 20, 1902, leaving three children. Henry Stuart, a graduate of the Yale Scientific School in the elass of 1900 is the present vice president of The L. Candee & Company. In September, 1917, he became chief of supplies, Inspection Equipment Division, Signal Corps, with rank of captain, in the United States army, and is stationed at Washing- ton, D. C. Helen Southgate, the wife of Elisha Ely Garrison, is a graduate of Yale, class of 1897. Elizabeth Trowbridge, the wife of Carl Brandes Ely, was graduated from the Yale Scientific School in 1900.
Such, in brief, is the life history of Henry L. Hotchkiss, whose ability in manufacturing lines has brought him prominence and leadership. Although patriotic and public-spirited, he has always avoided public office, preferring to do his public service as a private citizen. He
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A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN
has given loyal support to many progressive projects for the general good and as a factor in the business life of New Haven has contributed in substantial measure to its develop- ment.
RUTHERFORD TROWBRIDGE.
Since 1639 the name of Trowbridge has figured in connection with the history of New Ifaven and probably no other family has had a more continuous or prominent identification with the progress and development of the colony and later the town and city. The first of the family to settle in New Haven was Thomas Trowbridge (II), who was born in Taunton, England, where the history of the family dates back to the time of William the Conqueror. Thomas Trowbridge (II) brought his family to America in 1636 and settled at Dorchester, Massachusetts. In 1639 he removed to New Haven and was engaged in the foreign shipping business, with extensive trade connections with England and the West Indies.
Ilis son, Thomas Trowbridge (III), was baptized in Exeter, Devonshire, England, Decem- ber 11, 1631 and was but a child when his parents emigrated to America and settled in New Haven. He became one of New Haven's successful merchants and ship owners and was also active in politics. On the 1st of October, 1653, he was chosen watch sentry; in 1667 became county treasurer; and was made a freeman of Connecticut, May 20, 1668. He was confirmed a lieutenant of the New Haven Troop, May 20, 1675, and doubtless saw service in King Philip's war. He was treasurer of the town in 1679, justice of the peace in 1687 and acted as agent for the town in the purchase of much land from the Indians. He was commissioner of New Haven from 1690 to 1693 and he was also actively interested in educational matters. He died August 22, 1702, and his grave is now included in the crypt of Center clinrch. He was married June 24, 1657, in New Haven, and his first wife, Sarah Rutherford, daughter of Henry and Sarah Rutherford, was born in this city July 31, 1641, and died January 5, 1687. Their son, Thomas Trowbridge (IV), was born February 14, 1663, in New Ilaven, was graduated from Hopkins grammar school and later learned the cooper's trade. Ile also became interested in trade with the West Indies. He served as a trustee of the New IIaven grammar school from 1695 until his death, which occurred Septem- ber 15, 1711, and he was its treasurer from 1703. On the 16th of October, 1685, in New Haven, he wedded Mary, daughter of John Winston, of New Haven. She was born June 24, 1667, and died September 16, 1742.
Their son, Daniel Trowbridge, the direct ancestor of Rutherford Trowbridge in the fifth generation, was born in New Haven, October 25, 1703, and after attending the Hopkins grammar school was graduated from Yale College in 1725. For a number of years he com- manded vessels and afterward became a merchant. On the 8th of April, 1731, in New Haven, he married Mehitable Brown, a daughter of Francis and Hannah (Alling) Brown. She was born April 9, 1711, and died October 1, 1797, having for forty-five years survived her husband, whose death occurred August. 4, 1752.
Their son, Rutherford Trowbridge, was born February 3, 1744, in New Haven, and here spent his entire life. He early learned the mason's trade and after the Revolutionary war began he petitioned the government to allow him to manufacture saltpetre and re- ceived the first bounty for that commodity. He was an earnest patriot and fought with the volunteers of New Haven in repulsing the British. He was married July 9, 1760, to Dorcas Hitchcock, a daughter of Captain Amos and Dorcas (Foote) Hitchcock. She was born in Woodbridge, Connectient. November 10, 1746, and died February 12. 1788. The death of Rutherford Trowbridge occurred April 6, 1825.
Henry Trowbridge, son of Rutherford and Dorcas (Hitchcock) Trowbridge, was born July 30, 1781, in New Haven, and became a sailor on the ship Betsy, sailing for Pacific waters and China. September 17, 1799. On his return to this country he became first officer of the West Indiaman. He later embarked in the West India trade and subsequently or- ganized the firm of Henry Trowbridge & Son, being joined in this undertaking by his eldest son, Thomas R. This firm was more extensively engaged in the West Indies trade than any other house in Connecticut. In 1837 the second son, Henry Trowbridge, became a part- ner in the firm. Subsequently the younger sons, Ezekiel H. and Winston G., entered the
THOMAS R. TROWBRIDGE
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firm. After the father's death in 1849 the four brothers established the firm of Henry Trowbridge's Sons, in which all were active until their deaths save Ezekiel H., who retired in 1885. Henry Trowbridge was married January 1, 1806, in New Haven, to Harriet, daughter of Ezekiel and Mary (Hemingway) Hayes. She was born March 1, 1789, and died November 21, 1851, having for two years survived her husband, who died October 7, 1849. Their eldest son was Thomas Rutherford Trowbridge, who was born July 17, 1810, in New Haven, and in its schools received his early scholastic training, completing his education, however, in Partridge's Military Academy, at Middletown. After his school days were over he entered the counting house of his father, and from that year (1826) until his death, May 26, 1887, he was, with the exception of occasional absences in the West Indies and elsewhere, always at his office in the unpretentious Trowbridge counting room on Long Wharf. Through his long, active business life of upwards of sixty years in New Haven he was a man of upright character and integrity, and held in the greatest degree the confidence of his fellow citizens, of all who knew him, and with whom he had business dealings. He was broad, liberal and just. He was fitted for positions of high trust and responsibility in city and state, and was often obliged to decline them owing to numerous family trusts and his own large business affairs. During the Civil war he made a record that was envi- able, having shown himself a true and generous friend to the soldiers and their families, responding liberally to constant calls upon his purse and sympathies. From 1847 until his death he was a valued director of the Mechanics Bank, and it was at his suggestion that the bank tendered the use of fifty thousand dollars to Governor Buckingham in the dark days of the Rebellion. Among the various other financial and industrial interests on whose directorates he served were those of the New Haven Bank, the Hartford & New Haven Rail- road Company until its consolidation with the New York & New Haven in 1872, the Security Insurance Company of New Haven, while for many years he was secretary and treasurer of the Long Wharf Company and secretary of the Tomlinson Bridge Company. He was em- phatically a merchant of farseeing and wide views.
Mr. Trowbridge was the choice of the republican committee as candidate for lieutenant governor of Connecticut, with Hon. William A. Buckingham for governor, in 1858, an honor which he positively and persistently declined. At the breaking out of the Civil war he threw his whole soul into the cause of liberty, and although too far advanced in life to enter the field actively, aided in sustaining the government in every possible way by his influence and wealth. When the Tenth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry broke camp, with orders to proceed to their rendezvous, a beautiful state flag was presented to them by Mr. Trowbridge, made expressly for the regiment by his wife and daughter. He afterward presented flags to several Connecticut regiments, and swords to numerous officers, and was the first to provide a flag which was raised and kept flying on the steeple of the Center church. He was one of the most active citizens in New Haven in the formation of the Sanitary Commission, and contributed greatly to its success by pecuniary assistance, as well as by personal service. At one time in order to raise New Haven's quota of men without a draft, he paid fifteen dollars each for thirty enlistments. He was a friend of the soldiers and the soldiers' families, always ready to respond to the constant call upon his purse and sympathies. Mr. Trowbridge had a taste of historical research, was one of the founders and a life member of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, and was instrumental in having prepared and published the history of the Trowbridge family. He served for some time as president of the New Haven Chamber of Commerce. "In his business relation Mr. Trow- bridge showed a breadth of mind which joined with farseeing prudence and a high standard of commercial honor brought him well deserved wealth."
On September 11, 1834, Mr. Trowbridge was married to Caroline Hoadley, who was born in New Haven, April 30, 1818, and was a daughter of Captain Simeon and Polly (Harri- son) Hoadley. Their children were: Henry, Thomas Rutherford, William R. H., Caroline H., Rutherford and Emily. E
Rutherford Trowbridge, the second youngest son of Thomas Rutherford Trowbridge, was born in New Haven, December 1, 1851, and now ranks with the honored citizens and. the capitalists of this section. In his youthful days he attended the popular school con- ducted by Stiles French in New Haven and there prepared for Yale, but instead of entering college he was induced, in 1868, to accept a position in the West Indies branch of the house of Henry Trowbridge's Sons in the island of Barbados. In 1885 he was admitted to a
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A MODERN HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN
full partnership in the business with his father and brothers and so continued until the firm was dissolved by mutual consent. He is now engaged in the care of numerous family trusts and in the management of a number of important corporations with which he is identified. He is a director of the National New Haven Bank and the Carrington Publish- ing Company, proprietors of the Morning Journal-Courier, the oldest newspaper in Con- nectieut.
On the 8th of January, 1891, Mr. Trowbridge was married to Miss May Wells, a daughter of Franklin and Julia Lockwood (Smith) Farrel, of Ansonia. They are members of Trinity Episcopal church of New Haven. In Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where they have spent many summers, Mr. Trowbridge is a director of the Golf Club and of the Casino Club. He also belongs to the Quinnipiac Club of New Haven, the Union League, the Country Club, the Yale Archaeological Society, the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a life member and director of the New Haven Colony Historical Society. He is also a member of the Union League Club and the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts of New York city, of the National Geographical Society of Washington, D. C., of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and is an associate member of the New Hampshire Society of the Cincinnati.
Mr. Trowbridge has long been deeply and helpfully interested in matters of public weal and has taken active part in promoting civic welfare and in supporting and advancing educational and charitable institutions. He was the founder of the Thomas R. Trowbridge course of lectures on architecture in the Yale School of Fine Arts, which he established in 1889. As a memorial to his father he placed a window in Center church illustrating the arrival of the first settlers in New Haven in 1638. As a memorial to his father he also founded the Rutherford Institute in the Young Men's Christian Association of New Haven, which is designed to give a technical education to poor boys, and he also founded the Ruth- erford Trowbridge, Jr., scholarship in the Hopkins grammar school. Mr. Trowbridge is vice president of the New Haven park commission and a director of the New Haven Hospital, the New Haven board of associated charities and the Connecticut Humane Society. His inter- ests are broad and varied and his activities do not arise from a mere sense of duty hut from the keenest interest in the welfare and progress of his fellowmen. He has back of him an ancestry honorable and distinguished and has shaped his life in harmony therewith. In person, in talent and in character he is a worthy scion of his race and his activities have continued the name of Trowbridge as a synonym for all that is most worth while to the individual and to the community.
ILARVEY BALDWIN, M. D.
Dr. Ifarvey Baldwin was a native of Connecticut, born in Norfolk, October 12, 1818, and there spent the period of his boyhood and youth. After acquiring a public school education he determined to prepare himself for a professional career and decided upon the practice of medicine as a life work. He then went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he entered a medical college. Upon his return to Connecticut he located in the town of Goshen, where he entered upon the practice of medicine and surgery. At length he removed his family' to New Haven and gave up professional work to enter upon manufacturing, forming a partnership with a Mr. Goodman. They began the manufacture of musical instruments, giving their attention largely to melodeons and cabinet organs, and with that undertaking Mr. Baldwin was associated for several years. Preferring outdoor life, how- ever, he withdrew from manufacturing eireles and removed with his family to Watertown, where he purchased a small farm that he continued to cultivate and improve until his death.
At Goshen, in Litchfield county. Dr. Baldwin was united in marriage to Miss Esther Starr, who was born in Goshen and by her marriage became the mother of a daughter, Mary Eliza, who is now living in New Haven. An older daughter, Lucy Starr, passed away in childhood. The death of the husband and father occurred on the home farm at Water- town. February 26, 1859, when he was forty years of age, and his remains were interred in Oak Grove cemetery. For a few years after his demise Mr -. Baldwin remained in
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Watertown and then returned with her daughter to New Haven, where she continued to reside until she passed away on the 31st of March, 1886, when her remains were interred by the side of her husband in Oak Grove cemetery. Mrs. Baldwin was a Christian woman, holding membership in the Center Congregational church of New Haven. Her daughter, Miss Mary E. Baldwin, is living on St. Ronan street in New Haven.
THOMAS HOOKER.
For all that the name of Hooker stood in the early and later history of Connecticut, the name of Thomas Hooker has stood for more than a quarter-century in the financial and business life of New Haven. Though born in the city of Macon, Georgia, September 3, 1849, he is a direct descendant of the Rev. Thomas Hooker, who in 1636 led his congrega- tion to the founding of Hartford. His father was the Rev. Richard Hooker, a native of Massachusetts, who entered the Presbyterian ministry, and was for many years pastor at Macon, Georgia, and other southern points. Richard Hooker was a graduate of Yale in the class of 1827. After a long service as a pastor, he passed away at New Haven in 1857, aged forty-nine years. His wife, whose maiden name was Aurelia Dwight, a native of Connecticut and a descendant of John Dwight, one of the historie settlers of the state, survived him to 1874, dying at the age of fifty-seven years.
Thomas Hooker was the only child of these parents. He received his early education at the Hopkins grammar school. and was graduated from Yale College with the class of 1869, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He won his Master of Arts degree in 1872, and later spent five years completing and liberalizing his education by study and travel abroad and in this country. He returned to New Haven in 1877 and entered upon a business and financial career. In 1895 he became connected with the First National Bank, and in 1902 he was elected its vice president. In 1909 he was chosen president, which position he has sinee filled. From 1895 to 1902 Mr. Hooker was vice president of the New Haven Trust Company and afterward became its president, remaining in that position until 1909. Since the merger into the Union & New Haven Trust Company, he has been one of its vice presidents.
On June 30, 1874, Mr. Hooker was married to Miss Sarah A. Bowles of Springfield, Massachusetts, daughter of Samuel Bowles, founder of the Springfield Republican, and Mary D. (Schermerhorn) Bowles, the former from a representative old Massachusetts family and the latter from one of the old families of New York. Two sons have been born to them : Richard, who is editor and general manager of the Springfield Republican; and Thomas, a graduate of Yale Academic and Yale Law Schools and a member of the law firm of Bristol & White.
Mr. Hooker is a member of Center church and belongs to the Graduates Club, the New Haven Yacht Club, the New Haven Country Club and the New Haven Lawn Club. In polities he is an independent republican, always vitally interested in political and civic affairs but above the limitations of narrow party ties. For ten years, from 1894 to 1904. he was a member of the New Haven Board of Education.
REV. ROBERT CHARLES DENISON.
Rev. Robert Charles Denison. pastor of the United church at New Haven, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, July 22, 1868, a son of George and Emma (Webster) Denison. The father, who was an attorney, has passed away but the mother is still living. She is a native of New Hampshire, while the birth of George Denison occurred in Vermont. In young man- hood he went to the west, becoming a resident of St. Louis, Missouri, and died there in 1899. at the age of sixty-six years. He was a member of the Connecticut Denison family of the Stonington line, descended from Captain George Denison, who removed from Massa - chusetts to Stonington, Connectieut, before the settlement of New Haven and was a promi-
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