USA > Connecticut > New London County > A modern history of New London County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 27
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The Norwich Probate District is the largest in the State of Connecticut, and includes seven towns: Norwich, Griswold, Preston, Lisbon, Franklin, Sprague, and Voluntown. To the responsibilities of this large district Mr. Ayling brought qualifications of a high order, not the least being his faithfulness and thoroughness. He has made a close study of the working of the probate courts and of probate law, and in the annual meetings of the Probate Judges Association of the State of Connecticut, has been an earnest and largely successful advocate of
C. F. Perrine
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BIOGRAPHICAL
standardization of the application of the probate laws of the State, of ways and means management, and of probate court procedure. That the district he serves has appreciated the high quality of his work is evidenced by the fact that since his first election in 1905, he has been bi-annually re-elected without a single interim. In each of these consecu- tive elections, with the exception of the last three, he has been the candidate of both the Republican and the Democratic parties, a case of fusion which has been true of no other candidate in the history of the district. Politically, Mr. Ayling supports the Republican party, but that honest service has been appreciated by both parties is clearly shown in the elections of the last sixteen years. He works hard for the success of his party, however, and is con- sidered one of its strongest men in Norwich. In November 1902, he was elected to the Connecticut Senate from the Tenth District, where he served as chairman of three important committees: Agri- culture, Rules (Joint), and Amendments (Joint), and rendered valuable service.
Judge Ayling is a trustee of the Norwich Savings Society. With his numerous and exacting duties, he finds time for fraternal affiliations. He is a mem- ber of Somerset Lodge, No. 34, Free and Accepted Masons; of Franklin Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons; of Franklin Council, No. 3, Royal and Se- lect Masters; Columbian Commandery, No. 4, Knights Templar, Norwich; and of Sphinx Temple, Hartford, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mys- tic Shrine. He is a past commander of Harmony Lodge, No. 27, Knights of Pythias, and a member of Harmony Division, Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias, Torrington, Connecticut; now a member of Gardner Lodge, No. 16, Norwich; a member of Norwich Lodge, No. 430, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he is a past exalted ruler, having been exalted ruler when the new home on Main street was built, and chairman of the building committee that erected the new lodge room addi- tion; a member of the Past Exalted Rulers' Associa- tion, and of the Arcanum Club, of Norwich.
Judge Ayling is also president and director of the Richmond Lace Works, Richmond, Rhode Is- land; and a director of the Algonquin Company, of the Manhassett Land Company, and of the Nassau Development Company, all of Norwich, but having offices in New York City. He is also a trustee of the Norwich State Hospital, and a member of the New London County Bar Association and of the Connecticut State Bar Association.
On June 7, 1904, in Norwich, Connecticut, he married Mildred Gifford, daughter of G. Parker and Olive E. (Fisher) Gifford, of that city. They had two children: John Henry, born September 10, 1912, and died June 10, 1920; and Ruth Gifford, born De- cember 1, 1915. Mrs. Ayling died March 9, 1916.
CARLISLE FRANKLIN FERRIN, M. D., an eminent physician of New London, Connecticut, is a son of Dr. Chester Manuel Ferrin, born in Holland,
Vermont, who in youthful manhood enlisted in the Hospital Corps attached to the Eighth Regiment, Vermont Volunteer Infantry, and served with that organization all through the Civil War. In 1865 he returned to his native Vermont and became a medical student, attending Harvard Medical School and the medical department of the University of Vermont, receiving his M.D. from the last-named institution. He began professional practice in East St. Johnsbury, Vermont, but later moved to Essex Junction, Vermont, where he practiced for more than forty years. This veteran of war and medical practice then retired and now (1921) resides in the city of Burlington, Vermont, not far from Essex Junction, the scene of so much of his professional activity. For many years he has been lecturer in Fanny Allen Hospital, Winooski, Vermont, a member of the visitors' staff of the Mary Fletcher Hospital, Burlington, and also attends some of his old patients who will not allow him to retire com- pletely from professional work. He continues a deep interest in his comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, serving as secretary of his regiment organization, and in 1918 was surgeon general of the National body. He is yet secretary of the Eighth Vermont Regimental Association, member of County, State, and National Medical societies, and a man beloved and esteemed wherever known.
Dr. Chester M. Ferrin married Marion Elizabeth Benedict, born in Hinesburg, Vermont, died in Bur- lington, Vermont, in 1917.
Carlisle Franklin Ferrin, son of Dr. Chester M. and Marion E. (Benedict) Ferrin, was born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, April 22, 1868, and in Essex Junction attended the public schools and the Classi- cal Institute. He entered the University of Ver- mont, whence he was graduated A.M., class of 1891, and in 1895 was graduated M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York. He began private practice in New Lon- don, Connecticut, the same year, and there con- tinues in medical and surgical practice (1921)- spe- cializing in diseases of children. Pediatrics is a branch of medicine which has always interested him, and for many years he advocated the medical exami- nation of school children, believing and preaching the doctrines that it is more important to teach the child health rules, hygiene and physical laws than to force mental development. He was medical inspector of the New London schools for two years, and inaugurated the system of health exami- nations now in vogue. His gospel is "teach the child the proper way to health, and satisfactory mental development will surely follow, for a healthy child is a better student." For two years Dr. Fer- rin performed the labor of school inspector, and through his influence and example five other physi- cians of the city gave their services free for school health inspections, and finally it became a fixed part of New London's school work. He also served for three years as city physician.
Dr. Ferrin is an ex-president of the New London
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City Medical Society, and of the New London County Medical Society. He is a member of the Connecticut State Medical Society and of the American Medical Association. For eight years he was school visitor for New London, was on the medical staff of the old Memorial Hospital, a pres- ent member of the medical staff of Lawrence and Memorial Associated Hospital, and chief general physician in pediatrics and chief of staff in Mitchell Isolation Ward. He is a member of Jared R. Avery Camp, No. 20, Sons of Veterans; Brainard Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; and the Thames Club. He is a member of the Second Congregational Church, and in politics a Republican.
Dr. Ferrin married, in New London, June 2, 1896, Blanche Eggleston, born in New London, Connee- ticut, daughter of Julius and Catherine (Percy) Eg- gleston, her parents both deceased. For more than a quarter of a century, Dr. Ferrin has given to his adopted city his services as physician and surgcon. No phase of his work has been more important than the labor for the prevention of disease through care and instruction of school children. He is a man of learning, skill and experience, whose opinions carry weight both among his brethren of the profession and among laity. His offices are at No. 32 Hunt- ington street, New London. He was city physician for three years.
HON. FREDERICK JOHN BROWN, long one of the strong supporters of the Republi- can party in New London county, Connecticut, and widely known as an active leader, an expert lobbyist, and a faithful official, filled a prominent place in the public life of his county and State. A man of energy, tact, and discernment, he was especially skillful in piloting his local party organizations through difficult places and in adjusting delicate situations. Interested in all phases of public life, and blessed with a goodly share of that rare quality known in some localities as "horse" sense, in others as "common" sense, but styled in New England just plain "gumption," he was a power to be reckoned with in whatever work he undertook, and has left his mark upon the life of his community, his county and his State. Born of several genera- tions of good New England stock, he possessed in full measure many of the characteristic traits of which this region is justly proud, and occupied a high place in the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens.
The grandfather lived in Lyme, Connecticut, where he was a capable farmer, and was twice mar- ried, the children of the first marriage being: David, who was a farmer in Colchester; John M., of whom further; Christopher, who died in Lebanon; and Henry, a farmer, who died in Lyme, Connecticut.
John M. Brown, father of Frederick J. Brown, was born in Lyme, Connecticut, in 1807. While a small boy, he for a time made his home with a Mr. Wright in Colchester, but later returned to Lymc,
where he spent his early manhood as an enterpris- ing farmer. Several times he changed his place of residence, testing out farms in Bolton, Hebron, and Colchester, and finally, in the spring of 1866, removed to Lebanon, locating on a farm which he continued to operate throughout the remainder of his life, and which after his death, May 5, 1879, was owned by his son, Frederick J. Energy and thrift brought their reward, and at the time of his death he was in comfortable circumstances and stood high in the esteem of his fellow-townsmen.
Politically, he was one of those Whigs who, as the divergence of sectional interests throughout the country brought new issues to the front, took his stand for those principles which gave birth to the newly-organized Republican party and gave his sup- port to the candidates put forward by that party during the remainder of his life. He married Louisa Lombard who survived him until March 22, 1882, when she died at the age of seventy-six years. Their children were: 1. Cornelia Lonise, born September 16, 1833, married George Daggett, and died at An- dover, Connecticut, leaving one son, Calvin. 2. Abby Jane, born March 4, 1835, died February 28, 1883, inarried Edwin Alvard, a wealthy paper maker and prominent citizen, and has three children: Ella, married John Loomis, and died in Manchester; Ida Jane, married Mr. Bond, an attorney of St. Louis; and Edwin, a business man of Hartford. 3. Lucy O., born January 20, 1837, dicd February 23, 1838. 4. Joseph L., born April 27, 1839, married Lucy Ann Alvard, and died in Vernon, Connecticut, leaving six children. 5. Frederick J., of further mention. 6. George O., born June 25, 1846, died May 23, 1869. 7. Frank M., born March 2, 1849, married Mattic Cowles, and has a son, Frank.
Frederick John Brown was born in Lyme, Connecticut, March 27, 1844, but was taken to Leb- anon by his parents when he was three years old, and six years later again removed with his parents, this time to Colchester. He remained in the home at Colchester until he was twelve years of age and then went to live with his brother-in-law, Mr. Al- vard, with whom he made his home, at intervals, until he was twenty-one. School days over, he mar- ried early, and tried various lines of work, engaging in farming for two years, during which time he re- sided in Colchester. He then went to Hebron, where for a year he was employed by P. W. Tur- ner, of Turnerville, later returning to Colchester, where he worked for two years in the factory of the Union Wheel Company. When he left the em- ploy of the Union Wheel Company he returned to Lebanon and took over the management of the farm which he now owns, but which was then occupied by his father and owned by August Spafard. With characteristic energy and efficiency, Mr. Brown went to work, not only scientifically getting his land into shape and raising his crops, but applying systematic business methods to the important mat- ter of selling. After a time he bought the farm, and made extensive improvements, developing a
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BIOGRAPHICAL
modern scientific agricultural plant. When work- ing for others he had shown himself to be a swift, efficient worker, and now, engaged in the compli- cated business of farming for himself, he manifested equal ability and thoroughness. He carried on gen- eral farming and lumbering, and came to be gener- ally recognized as one of the leading agriculturists of the town.
But business affairs did not absorb all of the abundant energy of this capable man. Always in- terested in public affairs, and willing to devote time, energy and means to the advancement of the gen- eral welfare, Mr. Brown early took an active part in local and county affairs, soon demonstrating his ability to see clearly and to act strongly. It was not long before his fellow-citizens began to look to him for certain qualities of leadership essential to the success of party measures, and more and more they found that Frederick J. Brown was likely to ac- complish what he set out to do. They elected him to fill several town offices, including those of se- lectman, assessor, and member of the Board of Relief. They made him a member of the Republi- can Town Committee for many years. His powers demonstrated in these local offices, they chose him for larger responsibilities and sent him to represent his district in the State Legislature in 1893, where he served on the important Committee on Railroads. Later they bestowed upon him a still higher mark of confidence and placed in his keeping a still larger field for service. They elected him to represent the Eleventh District in the State Senate, and here he served efficiently and with honor. He was made Senate chairman of the Committee on Temperance, and throughout his term was active in furthering the welfare of his constituents and in seeking to promote the general good. Known to the big busi- ness interests of Connecticut as a skillful lobbyist, his influence came to be feared or desired according to the character of the ends sought, and he was recognized not only as one of the leading Republi- cans in Lebanon, but as one of the party's strongest supporters in the entire county. He was elected by New London county to serve on the Central State Committee, and at the time of his death was county commissioner.
Fraternally, Mr. Brown was a member of Leb- anon Lodge, No. 23, Ancient Order of United Workmen; of Oliver Woodhouse Lodge, No. 51, Knights of Pythias, of Colchester; and a member of the American Order of Fraternal Helpers. Sena- tor Brown died at his home, Maple Glen Farm, in the town of Lebanon, April 24, 1918, sincerely mourned by a host of friends and acquaintances, leaving vacant a place hard to fill in the life of his community.
On April 15, 1866, he married Nancy Lombard, born April 14, 1841, in Lebanon, daughter of Orienzo and Hannah (Bailey) Lombard, and three children were born to the marriage: 1. Cornelia Louisa, born March .8, 1867, married, September 13, 1892, E. H. McCall, who was born March 10, N.L .- 2-2
1868, educated at Norwich Free Academy, and East- man Business College, at Poughkeepsie, New York, from which he graduated in 1889. He is a staunch Republican, and in 1899 represented Lebanon Dis- trict in the Legislature, serving on the Committee on Appropriations. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McCall: Royce Frederick, Calvin Hale, Edwin Hobart, and Dorothy. 2. Frederick Otis, a sketch of whom follows. 3. Ernest, born April 27, 1875, died June 9, 1879.
FREDERICK OTIS BROWN, general manager of the Meech-Brown Grain Company, of Colchester, Connecticut, has shown himself to be not only a man of executive and administrative ability and an energetic business man, but a progressive citizen, an able political leader, and a faithful representative of the interests of his constitutents. He was born in Unionville, town of Colchester, New London county, July 27, 1871, son of Frederick J. and Nancy (Lombard) Brown (see preceding sketch). In 1872 his parents moved to Lebanon, New London county, and in the district school of that town Frederick Otis Brown received the beginnings of his educa- tion. He later attended school at South Windham, and then entered Morse Business College, at Hart- ford, Connecticut. Like most of the boys of his time, he assisted his father on the farm during va- cations and before and after school hours, and for a time after completing his course at business col- lege. He then engaged in the teaming and native lumber business for himself, working hard and sav- ing thriftily in order that he might buy a farm for himself. This hope was realized in 1893 when he bought the Deacon Benjamin Nye farm, near the Exeter church, in Lebanon. Here he carried on a general farming and lumbering business, succeeding in both lines, and later branching out into other lines which he carried on in addition to his first in- terests. In 1896 he engaged in the road contracting
business and built one of the first modern roads in the town of Lebanon, twenty-seven miles long, in the Exeter society district. He also built other roads and repaired poor ones, greatly benefitting that section by thus improving its means of com- munication and transportation. A man of many in- terests, he has always been able to keep several pro- jects under way at the same time seemingly without loss of efficiency, and from 1916 to 1921 he engaged in cattle dealing on a large scale, using the home farm as headquarters. From 1898 to 1912 he acted as sales manager for the C. M. Shea Fertilizing Company, of Groton, Connecticut. Of a strongly scientific bent, the chemical properties of soils and the processes by which deficiencies for special crops might be overcome by the use of properly com- pounded fertilizers early appealed to him, and be- came a special field for study and experiment. Soil conditions are of such vital importance to success- ful farming in New England, where, in many sec- tions, thin and impoverished soils sap the energies of the farmer and yield him little or no return for
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NEW LONDON COUNTY
his labor, that the enterprising mind of Mr. Brown saw in this line of endeavor an opportunity to serve his community and perhaps the entire New England section while at the same time conducting a profitable business for himself. In 1912, there- fore, he established a fertilizer business for himself in Lebanon. He had special fertilizers made to suit various soils and different crops which he sold under the trade name of Brown's Special Formulas. Prospective customers could state the crops they desired to raise, and have the fertilizer specially compounded to meet their needs. He was very suc- cessful in this work and was soon selling his spe- cial fertilizers all over New England, but in 1920 he sold out to the Piedmont-Mount Airy Guano Company, of Baltimore, Maryland, and accepted the position of sales manager of the New England dis- trict for that company. In 1918 he had removed from Lebanon to Colchester, Connecticut, and be- came manager of the Meech-Brown Grain Company, formerly known as the Colchester Farm Products Company, Inc., which had gone into bankruptcy. As manager of the Meech-Brown Grain Company, Mr. Brown has exercised the same energy, ability, and skill which had already brought him success in his various lines of business, and has built up a large and increasingly prosperous concern, of which he is still (1922) manager.
With all his various and successful business in- terests Mr. Brown has found time for public affairs, and has served his community faithfully and effi- ciently in various offices. He represented the Leb- anon district in the State Legislature, 1907-09, serv- ing on the Roads, Rivers and Bridges Committee, after having gained an earlier experience as door- keeper of the Senate in 1903-05. After the expira- tion of his term in the Legislature, he served, in 1909, as assistant superintendent of the State Capi- tol, at Hartford. From 1916 to 1920 he was a mem- ber of the Board of Selectmen, of Lebanon, but hav- ing removed to Colchester in 1918, he resigned his place on the board in 1920. In Colchester, Mr. Brown and his family attend the Congregational church, while in Lebanon he was of material aid to the Exeter church, which during the critical years of its existence found in him a generous supporter. He is a member of Wooster Lodge, No. 10, Free and Accepted Masons, of Colchester, Connecticut; of Wooster Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star; and has been an active member of Colchester Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, for thirty years. Mr. Brown's life has been a most energetic and suc- cessful one. A man of large affairs and many inter- ests, he has handled each line in which he engaged with great skill and efficiency, winning success in each. In Colchester, as in Lebanon, he is known and respected as a public-spirited citizen, ably and willingly aiding in all projects undertaken for the good of his community.
On October 1, 1895, he married Grace Webster Hazen, born June 21, 1873, daughter of Marens M. and Elizabeth (Webster) Hazen, and they are the
parents of four children, all born in Lebanon, Connecticut : Ruth Hazen, born September 21, 1899; Harold Frederick, born February 22, 1901; Clarice Eva, born January 2, 1904; and Lloyd Web- ster, born December 8, 1904.
NATHAN AUGUSTUS GIBBS- Before the Puritans came to New England, Gibbs was a com- mon name in England, William Gibbs of Lenham, in Yorkshire, being on record as having received from his King for signal service he had rendered, a tract four miles square lying in the center of the town. The younger sons of this William Gibbs came to New England and settled in Boston. One of these is believed to have been Matthew Gibbs who was living in Charlestown, Massachusetts, between the years 1650 and 1654. Thomas Gibbs who probably came from Kent, England, settled in Barnstable, Massachusetts. In New England the family in- creased, settling in every State of that section, and their descendants are now found in every part of the Union. The name graces the lists of eminent statemen, professional men, business men, and those of high military and naval rank. This review deals with the career of Nathan Augustus Gibbs of the Barnstable (Massachusetts) branch, a banker of Norwich, Connecticut, son of Nathan Perry Gibbs, one of the famed masters of ships, who, in the years now unhappily gone, carried the American mer- chant marine flag and fame in honor in every sea and into every port. Captain Nathan Perry Gibbs was a descendant of Commodore Perry, and a love of the sea was inherent in the family. Captain Gibbs was born in Wareham, Massachusetts, in 1830, and after a life of great activity died in 1911. He married Hannah Swift Churbuck of Warcham, a descendant of Stephen Hopkins and Joseph Rogers of the "Mayflower," 1620, and she was the mother of four children, two of whom are living: Nathan An- gustus, of further mention; and Edna Forest, wife of Charles F. Spooner, of New Bedford, Massachu- setts.
Mr. Gibbs was a young man of nineteen when he entered the banking field of business activity and he has never quitted it, but has gone from promotion to promotion until reaching his present position, that of cashier and director of the Thames National Bank, leading financial institution of the city of Norwich. His banking connection covers a period of forty-six years, and all but about five of these years have been spent with the Thames National Bank. He is a pleasing, effective speaker and a strong writer on financial subjects, the chapter on banks in the 1922 "History of New London County" being from his pen largely.
Nathan A. Gibbs was born in East Wareham, Massachusetts, May 21, 1857. He is a graduate of Wareham High School and Comer's Commercial College of Boston, and at one period of his school life he attended Pierce Academy in Middleboro, Massachusetts, being a schoolmate of General Leon- ard Wood. On November 21, 1876, he entered the em-
Nathanet Lille
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BIOGRAPHICAL
ploy of the Norwich Savings Society, Norwich, Con- necticut, an institution now approaching its centennial and there spent nearly five years as a clerk and book- keeper. On September 1, 1881, he transferred his allegiance to the Thames National Bank of Nor- wich, and continued there in a clerical position and as assistant teller until 1892, when he was made teller. Ten years were spent at the teller's window, a period which expired on Octoebr I, 1902, when he was made assistant cashier, a position he filled for sixteen years. On November 30, 1918, he was ap- pointed cashier, a post of great responsibility in the Thames National, which he has most ably filled until the present (1922). Since August 15, 1914, he has been a member of the board of directors of the Thames National Bank and for thirty years he has been a member of the board of trustees of the Nor- wich Savings Society, the institution in which his banking life began in 1876.
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