USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County, Vol. II > Part 34
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On the 16th of July, 1882, in Meriden, Mr. Lanone was united in marriage to Miss Philomena Maguy by whom he has thirteen children, as follows: Willie, who is married and lives in Meriden; Eva, also married and a resident of Lowell, Massachusetts; Anrea and Ernest, both of whom are married and reside in Meriden; Laure, who is married and lives at North Adams, Massachusetts; Sybil and Raymond, who reside in Meriden; and Omer, Rachel, Jeannette, Clair, Leona and Norman, all of Meriden. All of the children were educated in the schools of Canada and Meriden.
Mr. Lanone is a member of St. Laurent's Roman Catholic church. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and he also has membership with the New England Protection Order, the St. John the Baptist Order, the French American Society and the Turners. His political endorsement is given to the democratic party and he has been fire marshal since January 1, 1917.
He is neglectful of no duty of citizenship but holds to the highest standards in public affairs and cooperates with many well defined plans and measures toward upholding those interests which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride. As a self-made man he certainly deserves great credit for what he has accomplished and his life illustrates the fact
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that it is under the pressure of adversity and the stimulus of opposition that the best and strongest in man is brought out and developed. Having no assistance, he developed a self- reliant spirit and undertook with thoroughness every task that came to his hand, and as the years have gone by he has made for himself a substantial and creditable position among the contractors of Meriden.
ROBERT RENSSELAER CHAMBERLAIN.
The name of Chamberlain has long been an honored one in commercial circles in New Haven, where it has stood as a synonym for business enterprise and integrity. Through successive generations no blot has fallen on the family escutcheon and today the Chamberlain Company carries forward its business interests with the same rules of integrity and re- liability that characterized the establishment at its inception.
Robert Rensselaer Chamberlain was born November 15, 1881, in New Haven, a son of the late George Rensselaer Chamberlain and a grandson of Abel Childs Chamberlain, who was the founder of the Chamberlain Company, which was established in 1835 and in point of time is the oldest as well as the largest retail house furnishings business in New Haven and probably in the state. The Chamberlain family is of English lineage, the founder of the American branch being Edmund Chamberlain, who came to the new world about 1640 and settled at Roxbury, Massachusetts, whence he afterward removed to Woodstock, Connecticut, where the records show that he was married in January, 1646, by Joan Elliott, the celebrated apostle to the Indians. Edmund Chamberlain there engaged in agricultural pursuits and was classified as a planter. Among his descendants were those who, loyal to the cause of the colonists, bore arms in the Revolutionary war and aided in winning American freedom.
George Rensselaer Chamberlain was for many years regarded as one of the valued and honored citizens of New Haven. He was a man of deep religious views, honorable in all his dealings, sympathetic and kindly and most charitable wherever aid was needed. He was strictly a home man and his greatest happiness was found at his own fireside. He had no connection with clubs or secret organizations and his rules for life's guidance were found in the Plymouth Congregational church, of which he was an active worker and for many years served as deacon. In his business he prospered and to his descendants left a very substantial estate, but more than that, he left to them the priceless heritage of an untarnished name which was the development of true Christian character. He passed away January 14, 1910, at the age of sixty-one years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Anna Mary Parsons, is a native of Northampton and a descendant of an old Massachusetts family that was founded in America in the days of the earliest settlement of that state by Cornet Joseph Parsons. Loyal at all times to American interests, his descendants participated in the early colonial wars, in the Revolutionary war and the War of 1812. Mrs. Chamberlain still sur- vives her husband and resides in New Haven. In the family were a son and daughter, the latter being Mrs. Charles H. Porter, also living in New Haven.
Robert R. Chamberlain has practically spent his entire life in New Haven save for the periods devoted to the acquirement of his education. After leaving the high school of this city he attended the Taft School of Watertown and later completed his studies in the Sheffield Scientific School, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale with the class of 1910. As early as 1903, however, he entered his father's store and began to acquaint him- self with the business which had been founded by his grandfather. Parental authority was not exercised to win him advancement but upon him devolved the necessity of working his way up through the various departments by a thorough mastery of each. He was employed in the store during vacation periods ere he had completed his education and as the years passed on he became more and more familiar with the business and progressive commercial methods. On the 1st of July, 1915, associated with Donald Adams Hallock, he purchased the entire business of the Chamberlain Company, of which he became president and treasurer. This is the largest and most important store of the kind in New Haven, covering a floor space of fifty thousand square feet and handling a complete line of house furnishings of every description. They also conduct a large storage warehouse and they employ forty-one
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people. They draw considerable trade from neighboring cities and in fact their patronage comes from a wide territory. They are most careful in the personnel of the house, in the methods employed in the selection of goods and in treatment accorded patrons, and their business, measuring at all times up to the highest standards, has won for them notable and deserved success.
Mr. Chamberlain has three children. They are: John Rensselaer, Mary and Robert Rensselaer, Jr.
RALPII J. MINER.
The origin and early ancestry of the Miner family in England is given thus: Edward III of England, going to war against the French, marched through "Somersetshire, came to Mendippe hills, where lived Henry Miner, who with all carefulness and loyalty, having con- vened his domestic and menial servants armed with battle axes, proffered himself and them to his master's service, making up a complete hundred." For this service he was granted the coat of arms: Gules a fesse between three plates argent.
(1) Henry Miner, mentioned above, died in 1359. His children: Henry, mentioned below; Edward; Thomas; and George.
(II) Henry (2), son of Henry (1) Miner, married Henrietta, daughter of Edward Hicks, of Gloucester. Their children were: William; Henry, who served in 1384 under Richard III.
(III) William, son of Henry (2) Miner, married a Miss Hobbs, of Wiltshire, by whom he had two children: Thomas, mentioned below; and George, who lived in Shropshire.
(IV) Thomas, son of William Miner, lived in Herefordshire. Ile married a daughter of Cotton Gresslap, of Staffordshire, and their children were: Lodovick, mentioned below; George; and Mary.
(V) Lodovick, son of Thomas Miner, married Anna, daughter of Thomas Dyer, of Staughton, Huntingdonshire. Their children were: Thomas, mentioned below; George (twin), born in 1458; and Arthur (twin), who served the house of Austria.
(V1) Thomas (2), son of Lodovick Miner, was born in 1436. He married Bridget, danghter of Sir George Hervie, of St. Martin's, Connty Middlesex. Ile died in 1480, leaving two children to the tutorage of their mother, Bridget, but she resigned them to her father and turned to monastic life in Datford.
(VII) William (2), son of Thomas (2) Miner, married Isabelle Harcope de Folibay and lived to revenge the death of the two young princes slain in the tower by their uncle, Richard III. The children were: William, mentioned below; George; Thomas; Robert; Nathaniel; John: and four others. John and Nathaniel went to Ireland in 1541 when Henry VIII was proclaimed king of Ireland.
(VIII) William (3), son of William (2) Miner, was buried at Chew Magna, February 23, 1585. His children were: Clement, mentioned below; and Elizabeth.
(IX) Clement, son of William (3) Miner, died March 31, 1640, at Chew Magna. His children were: Clement; Thomas, mentioned helow; Elizabeth; and Mary.
(X) Thomas (3), son of Clement Miner and the immigrant ancestor, came to Stoning- ton, Connecticut, in 1683. His children were: John, Thomas, Clement. Ephraim, Judah, Manasseh, Joseph, Samuel, Ann, Maria, Eunice, Elizabeth and Hannah.
(XI) Deacon Manasseh, son of Thomas (3) Miner, was born at New London in 1647, the first boy born of white parents in that town. He resided on the old homestead at Quiamhang and was buried at Wequetequod. He was a soldier in King Philip's war. He married Lydia Moore on the 26th of September, 1670, and their children, born at New Lon- don, were: Elnathan, who was born December 28, 1673, and is mentioned below; Samuel, born September 20, 1675; Hannah, born December 8, 1676; Thomas, born September 20, 1683; and Lydia, who married Sylvester Baldwin.
(XII) Elnathan, son of Deacon Manasseh Miner, was born at New London, December 28, 1673. He lived at Stonington. He married (first), on the 21st of March, 1694, Rebecca Baldwin, who died March 12, 1700. On the 17th of March, 1702, he wedded Prudence (Richardson) Hallam, a widow. He married (third), on the 14th of October, 1718, Tamsen Wileox. His children, born at Stonington, were as follows: Samuel, who was born Decem-
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ber 12, 1694, and is mentioned below; Manasseh, born December 1, 1695; Elnathan, born June 24, 1697; Rebecca, February 13, 1699. The child by his second wife was Richardson, who was born November 24, 1704.
(XIII) Samuel, son of Elnathan Miner, was born at Stonington, December 12, 1694. He was there married on the 3d of December, 1719, to Elizabeth Brown. His children were as follows: Elizabeth, born Angust 18, 1720; Rebecca (twin), August 18, 1720; Samuel, March 14, 1723; Nathan, July 16, 1724, mentioned below; David, September 26, 1726; John, December 22, 1728; Elizabeth, November 24, 1730; Jonathan, February 18, 1733; and Anna, June 26, 1735. All were born at Stonington.
(XIV) Nathan, son of Samuel Miner, was born July 16, 1724, at Stonington. On the 7th of March, 1751, he married Sarah Smith. His children, born at Stonington, were as follows: Deborah, December 24, 1751; Richardson, September 10, 1753; Sarah, December 7, 1755; Elizabeth, July 15, 1759; Robert, November 13, 1763, mentioned below; and Nathan, September 23, 1764.
(XV) Robert, son of Nathan Miner, was born in Stonington, November 13, 1763. He lived at Stonington and was there married on the 10th of February, 1788, to Mary, daughter of Christopher and Mary (Randall) Miner, who had been joined in wedlock on the 11th of August, 1765. Charles Miner, father of Christopher Miner, was born November 14, 1709. Christopher Miner was born March 16, 1745. James Miner, father of Charles Miner, married Abigail Eldridge on the 22d of February, 1705. Ephraim Miner, father of James Miner, married Hannah Avery on the 20th of June, 1666. He was baptized at Hingbam, Massa- chusetts, May 1, 1642, a son of Henry and Henrietta (Hicks) Miner. The children of Robert Miner, born at Stonington, were as follows: Robert, born March 7, 1789, and mentioned below; Gilbert, who was born December 26, 1791, and married Mary Ann Frick; Betsy, February 18, 1795; and William, January 12, 1803.
(XVI) Robert (2), son of Robert (1) Miner, was born at Stonington, March 7, 1789. He married Alura, daughter of Captain Spicer, of Stonington, Connecticut, and their children were: Robert Tyler, who married Lydia Baldwin; Alura Ann, who married (first) Julius Harrison, of New Milford, Connecticut, and (second) Jacob Eaton, of Meriden, chaplain during the Civil war of the Seventh Connecticut Regiment, who died at Newbern, North Carolina, in the service; Gilbert Smith, who married Virginia Windsor; Mary Elizabeth, who married Joseph North; George L., who married Jane Guild; Emily Frances, who married Colonel Ira Pettibone; Fred William, who married Belle Fayer, of Texas; Frank S., who married Mary Honston; Lueretia Victoria, who married Erastus Hubbard, of Wallingford, Connecticut ; Sarah Eleanor, who died unmarried; and Ralph Jay, mentioned below.
(XVII) Ralph Jay, son of Robert (2) Miner, was born in Cornwall, Litchfield county, Connecticut, January 16. 1844. He attended the district schools of his native town. He began his business career as clerk in the general store at Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut, in 1861, and in the spring of 1862 entered the employ of the Cornwall Bridge Iron Company. In 1862 he enlisted in Company G, Nineteenth Regiment, Connecticut Infantry, and served in that regiment until it was changed to the Second Heavy Artillery. In 1863 he was mustered out of service, being discharged on account of physical disability. Later in the year he entered the employ of John Ives at Meriden, Connecticut. He came to New Haven to work for the firm of Yale & Bryan, wholesale grocers on State street in New Haven, and continued there until 1869. Then for four years he was in the dry goods trade with James H. Bunce, of Middletown, Connecticut, returning to Yale & Bryan, where again he was a salesman for a period of about nine years. He was then in business for himself for two years in New York city as partner in the firm of Hollway, Wright & Miner, manufacturers' agents, at 167 Chambers street. He returned to the firm of Yale, Bryan & Company and subsequently Bryan, Miner & Read, wholesale grocers. After Mr. Bryan died the firm name became Miner, Read & Garrette, which continued until the present firm was instituted January 1, 1910, under the style of Miner, Read & Tullock. Gifted with a natural wealth of common sense and rare good judgment, Mr. Miner could be depended upon for wise, sound counsel or advice at any time either in business or personal matters.
Mr. Miner was a member of the Country Club of New Haven; the Center Lodge, No. 97, Free and Accepted Masons, of Meriden; and of the United church of New Haven. In politics he was independent. He was a director of the Yale National Bank.
On the 28th of November, 1866, Mr. Miner married Sarah Ellen Yale, of Meriden, who was
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born September 14, 1846, a daughter of Julius Yale. They had no children but brought up a son of Mr. Miner's brother, Frank Spicer Miner, born January 14, 1872, son of Frank S. Miner, of Cornwall. Frank Spicer Miner married Betsy Hosmer, of New Haven, and their children are: Edward Hosmer, born March 14, 1903; and Frank Erastus, born September 28. 1904. Ralph J. Miner died on the 20th of February, 1917, at his residence in New Haven.
EDGAR LEON HARTPENCE.
In the year 1904 Edgar Leon Hartpence became a resident of New Haven in connection with the organization of the Acme Wire Company, of which he is the first vice president and general manager. In the intervening years the business has grown to extensive and gratifying proportions and is now one of the profitable industrial concerns of the city. While enjoying a comfortable competence as the result of his well directed efforts and energy, Mr. Hartpence knows what it is to struggle through difficulties and obstacles. He started out in the business world at a salary of but four dollars per week and from that point has steadily progressed. He was born in Trenton, New Jersey, March 30, 1873, and is a son of John H. and Keziah (Van Syckel) Hartpence, both of whom have passed away.
Their son pursued his education in the State Model School of New Jersey and when a youth of sixteen started out to provide for his own support, being ambitious to make his way in the world. He was first employed by the Holmes, Booth & Haydens Company, brass and copper manufacturers of Waterbury, Connecticut, in the clerical department of their New York office, there remaining for a period of three years. He afterward spent a similar period in the sales department and then engaged in the insulating wire and cable business for a number of years. In 1904, after organization of the Acme Wire Company, he became vice president in charge of sales. One year later he assumed the position of general manager as well as that of vice president, and is also the treasurer and a director of the Oven Equip- ment & Manufacturing Company. Ilis interests are thus important and extensive and he has made for himself a creditable place in the business circles of his adopted city. His entire business career has been marked by steady progress-that progress which follows per- sistent, earnest effort, fidelity and capability.
On the 19th of January, 1897, in Newark, New Jersey, Mr. Hartpence was united in marriage to Miss Mary L. Harris, a native of New Jersey and a daughter of Elwood C. and Adelaide (Duncklee) Harris. The father has passed away, but the mother is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Hartpence have two living children: Marion and Adelaide.
In his political views Mr. Hartpence is a republican, giving stanch support to the party where national questions are involved but casting an independent local ballot. He has served as health commissioner of New Haven but has not been a politician in the sense of office sceking, preferring to concentrate his time, thought and activity upon his business affairs. He is well known in Masonic circles, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He belongs to the Quinnipiac Club and to the New Haven Country Club. His military experience covers five years' service with the National Guard of New Jersey as a member of the Light Artillery. What he has accomplished in a business way indicates the fit utilization he has made of his time, talents and opportunities. He has worked persistently and energetically as the years have gone on and his diligence has brought its reward.
LESTER J. NICHOLS.
Lester J. Nichols, who for over half a century has been identified with the Malleable Iron Fittings Company of Branford and now occupies the responsible position of secretary of the company, was born in Middlebury, Connecticut, on the 17th of February, 1849, and is a son of Joel S. and Avis (Hoag) Nichols. The father was a native of Naugatuck, Con- necticut, where he followed farming after reaching manhood, later engaging in the same occupation in Middlebury, and in 1858 removing with his family to New Haven, where he
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died when our subject was only twelve years old. The mother was born in Windsor, Delaware county, New York. The Nichols family is lineally descended from Sergeant Francis Nichols, who was one of the historical settlers of Stratford, early in the settlement of this country, among those coming from England.
Reared in New Haven, Lester J. Nichols was educated in the city schools until the age of seventeen years, when he went to Branford and secured employment with the Malleable Iron Fittings Company as shipping clerk. Later he became accountant and subsequently he represented the company on the road as traveling salesman, and in 1902 was chosen sec- retary, in which office he has since served. On joining the company in 1866 there were only sixty employes, but at the present time there are over thirteen hundred. The business has steadily grown until it has now assumed extensive proportions and it ranks among the leading industrial concerns of New Haven county. Mr. Nichols is one of the five direc- tors of the company and all of the men at its head are good reliable business men who command the confidence of those with whom they have dealings.
On the 8th of December, 1870, Mr. Nichols was married in Branford to Miss Alice E. Cook, a native of Branford, which was also the birthplace of her parents, Captain Samuel S. and Caroline Celinda (Page) Cook. Her father was a sea captain, Mr. and Mrs. Nichols have one child, Elsie Lauretta,, who was born in Branford and married Merle E. Towner, also a native of Branford. Mr. Towner entered the employ of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company as clerk and rose to assistant purchasing agent for the marine department of that road. On leaving the company he became purchasing agent for the St. Louis & San Francisco & Southwestern Railroad and resigned that position to engage in the railway supply business for himself at St. Louis, but he is now purchasing agent for, and on the advisory board of, the Western Maryland Railroad with headquarters at Balti- more, Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Towner have two children, Winthrop Hoadley and Lester Nichols, both born in Brooklyn, New York.
At national elections Mr. Nichols supports the republican party but at local elections, where no party issue is involved, he votes for the men whom he believes best qualified to fill the positions for which they are candidates. He has never cared for the honors or emoluments of office, preferring to devote his undivided attention to his business interests. Ilis religious faith is that of the Congregational church, with which he holds membership, and he is also a member of the Home Club of Branford and the Union League Club of New Haven. Since starting out upon his business career he has been identified with but one concern and has labored untiringly for its interests with most excellent results. As the years have passed prosperity has come to him and he is now one of the substantial as well as one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Branford.
FRANK ALONZO KIRBY, M. D.
Dr. Frank Alonzo Kirby, a physician and surgeon, with offices at No. 355 Whalley street, was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts, July 24, 1870, a son of George Hiram Kirby, who was also a native of Sheffield. His ancestors, coming from England, were among the earliest settlers of Massachusetts. He hecame a successful farmer but at the time of the gold rush to California he was among those that went to the Pacific coast, rounding Cape Horn in 1851. There he remained until 1864, when he returned to Sheffield, where he remained until his death at the age of seventy-six years. In early manhood he had married Jemima Bar- tholomew, who was also born in Sheffield, Massachusetts, and belonged to one of the oldest families of that state of English descent. They were married after Mr. Kirby returned from California and they became the parents of four sons: John A., a miller by trade, residing at Hull, Illinois; George A., a salesman living in New Haven; Frank A .; and Joseph B., who occupies the old family homestead.
As a pupil in the public and high schools of Sheffield, Massachusetts, Frank A. Kirby pursued his education and also attended the Great Barrington high school and Columbia University, now the George Washington University, of Washington, D. C. He pursued his professional course in the last named institution and won the M. D. degree upon graduation with the class of 1895. His early life, to the time of his entrance into the university, was Vol. II-13
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spent upon the home farm, save for a year which was devoted to teaching in the public schools of Sheffield and Great Barrington. Following his graduation he became an interne in the Bushwick Hospital of Brooklyn, New York, and was also connected with the General Hospital at New Haven. After spending two years in hospital work, during which time he gained valuable knowledge and experience, he entered upon the private practice of medicine in which he has since been actively engaged, and his work has demonstrated the fact that he is fully competent to cope with complex professional problems.
Dr. Kirby was married in New Haven to Miss Leota Grace Maiden, a native of Iowa, and they have become parents of two children, Leota Grace and Samnel B.
Dr. Kirby holds membership in Trumbull Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in Lafayette Consistory of Bridgeport. He is like- wise a member of the Mystic Shrine and he belongs to Relief Lodge, I. O. O. F., of New Haven. Something of the nature of his recreation is indicated in his membership in the Win- chester Arms Rod & Gun Club and his interest in the city's welfare is evidenced in his membership in the Chamber of Commerce. For four years he was a member of the Gov- ernor's Foot Guard, serving on the hospital corps until it was dishanded. Along strictly professional lines he has connection with the New Haven, the New Haven County, the Connecticut State and the American Medical Associations, and through the proceedings of these societies he keeps abreast of the most advanced thought bearing upon professional activities.
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