USA > Connecticut > New London County > A modern history of New London County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 35
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been given by the splendid new lines of instruments already put out and which have won such favor in the trade, while a larger number of representative dealers of standing and repute have taken on the agency of the different divisions of the American Piano Company since it was formed. Special honor accrues to the American Piano Company through the perfection of the Ampico Reproducing Piano, a mechanism, the invention of Charles Fuller Stod- dard, which preserves for all time the art of the pianist of today. The financial and commer- cial standing of this corporation is unquestioned. Through its unusal facilities and expert organization, the company has given special attention to the de- velopment of the player-piano, being one of the first companies to furnish its clientele with a complete line of player mechanisms as well as pianos.
For ten years Mr. Maxson continued in the piano business, then withdrew and returned to West Mys- tic, where he now resides. There he has engaged in the real estate development of this section, particu- larly at Willow Point, where for five years he man- aged the Casino. He is a Republican in politics, and a man highly esteemed in his community.
Silas Maxson married Maria McGaugher, born in Westerly, Rhode Island, daughter of James and Letitia (Campbell) McGaugher. Mr. and Mrs. Max- son are the parents of four children: 1. William El- lery (2), married (first) Caroline Grower, (second) Olive V. Evans. 2. Letitia, married Frank Gardner, of New London. 3. Silas (2), married Zelma Bur- dick. 4. Irene, married Courtland Pierce.
ADAMS P. CARROLL-On February 1, 1843, Lucius Wyman Carroll located in Norwich, Connec- ticut, and in a store on Water street began business as a dealer in manufacturers' supplies. In 1876, Adams P. Carroll, oldest living son of the founder, was admitted to a partnership. L. W. Carroll, whose death occurred on September 20, 1900, was at that time the oldest business man on Water strect. The business has since been carried on by his son, Adams P. Carroll.
The Carrolls are descendants ot Colonial and Revolutionary ancestors on both sides, paternal and maternal, Nathaniel Carroll, the first of the family of whom there is any definite record, was born in 1638, in Salem, Massachusetts, where he lived and died. He married Mary Haines, of Beverly, Massachusetts, and they were the parents of five sons. The descent from Nathaniel and Mary (Haines) Carroll is through their son, Nathaniel (2) Carroll, and his wife, Pris- cilla (Downing) Carroll; their son, Nathaniel (3) Carroll; his son, Amos Carroll, and his wife, Lucy Hosmer (Barrett) Carroll, a widow. Amos Carroll moved to Thompson, Connecticut, where he served in the Revolution and attained the rank of licuten- ant. The line continues through their son, Wyman Carroll, and his wife, Sarah (Crosby) Carroll: their son, Lucius Wyman Carroll, of Norwich, and his wife, Charlotte Lathe (Pope) Carroll; their son,
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Adams Pope Carroll, of further mention.
Lucius W. Carroll was born at Thompson, Connec- ticut, January 22, 1815, and died in Norwich, Connec- ticut, September 20, 1900. He entered business life and spent seven years with Wiswall & Stockwell, of Webster, Massachusetts, becoming a partner in the firm while yet a minor, having a one-fourth interest in three stores. He continued in business in Mass- achusetts until February 1, 1843, when he opened the store on Water street, Norwich, previously re- ferred to, and there he spent fifty-seven years, until his death. He conducted business alone until 1865, then he admitted E. P. Jacobs and Loren A. Callup as partners, under the firm name L. W. Carroll & Company. In 1876 Mr. Carroll admitted his eld- est son Adams P., to a partnership, and as L. W. Carroll & Son the business has been continued ever since.
Lucius W. Carroll was one of the promoters of the water power at Taftville and Occum, and owned a cotton mill at Griswold. He had large banking in- terests, was president of the Quinebaug Bank, which became the First National Bank of Norwich, of which he was also president from 1856 to 1866. He was a Baptist in religion, and for many years a member of Central Church, Norwich. In politics he was a Re- publican, but never sought public office, although keenly alive to every duty of citizenship, and was intensely public-spirited. He served a term in Nor- wich Common Council, took an active interest in furthering the Union cause during the Civil War, 1861-65; and in his quiet way accomplished a great deal of good. He was one of the incorporators of Norwich Free Academy, and was not only a friend of that school, but of the cause of education generally, Although he lived to the age of eighty-six he re- tained his fine memory and was unusually active until the last. He was laid at rest in Yantic Ceme- tery.
Lucius W. Carroll married, May 17, 1843, in Mili- bury, Massachusetts, Charlotte Lathe Pope, born January 18, 1819, died December 29, 1897, daughter of Jonathan Adams and Olive (Lathe) Pope, of the seventh generation of the family founded in New England by Thomas Pope, born in 1608, who was an inhabitant of Pylmouth, Massachusetts, in 1631. The line of descent to Mrs. Lucius W. Carroll from Thomas Pope was through his son, Lieutenant Seth Pope, of Dartmouth, Massachusetts; Captain Lemuel Pope, of Dartmouth; Captain Louis Pope, of New Braintree, Massachusetts, an officer of the Revolu- tion, West Pope, of Providence, Rhode Island: Jonathan Adams Pope, of Oxford and Milbury, Massachusetts, and Norwich, Connecticut; Charlotte Lathe Pope (Mrs. Lucius W. Carroll).
Lucius W. and Charlotte L. (Pope) Carroll were the parents of five children: Charlotte Augusta, died at the age of sixteen years; Charles Lucius, lost at sea in 1864, aged seventeen; Adams Pope, of fur- ther mention; William Crosby, died in infancy; and Gen-wo Wyman, a sketch of whom follows.
Adams Pope Carroll was born in Norwich,
Connecticut, June 20, 1850, and there resides at the present time (1922). He attended Norwich public schools, then prepared for college at Norwich Free Academy, being graduated from the academy as valedictorian of his class, 1868. He then entered Brown University, whence he was graduated with the degree of Ph.B., class of 1871. After the death of E. P. Jacobs, and the retirement of Captain Loren A. Gallup, in 1876, Adams P. Carroll was taken into the business which then became L. W Carroll & Son, manufacturers' supplies, Nos. 17-21 Water street, Norwich, Connecticut. For nearly a quarter of a century father and son continued a prosperous business connection, the senior partner surrendering the greater part of the burden of management to the son during the later years, and in 1900 finally closed his long connection with the business he had founded fifty-seven years earlier. Since 1900, Adams P. Carroll has continued the business, with which he has now been connected for forty-six years, 1876- 1922.
In politics Mr. Carroll is a Republican, and has long been an official member of the Central Baptist Church, serving as trustee and president of the board. As trustee of Otis Library and of Norwich Savings Society, he has rendered valued service, and he is a man thoroughly esteemed and respected.
GEORGE WYMAN CARROLL, youngest son of Lucius W. and Charlotte L. (Pope) Carroll, was born in Norwich, May 4, 1859, and resides there still. He was educated in the public schools of Nor- wich and entered business life as an employe of L. W. Carroll & Son, a firm with which he was as- sociated for a number of years and from which he withdrew in 1902 to enter the bond, stock and real estate business in Norwich, in which he is at the present time engaged. In politics, Mr. Carroll is a Republican, and a member of Central Baptist Church.
He married, October 1, 1884, Emma Frances Briggs, born January 27, 1861, daughter of Ira Greene and Lydia (Andrews) Briggs, her father a wealthy textile manufacturer and a man of affairs, of Voluntown, Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Carroll are the parents of a son, George Wyman, Jr., born May 9, 1886, and educated in the public schools, Nor- wich Free Academy; Dr. Holbrook's Military School, at Ossining, New York; St. Paul's School, Garden City, New York; and Brown University, class of 1908.
LEWIS J. SAXTON-A story of indomitable energy and dauntless ambition is told in the story of the life of Lewis J. Saxton, late of the Saxton Woolen Corporation, of Norwich, Connecticut.
Lewis J. Saxton was born in Saltzweidel, Germany. He was educated in the National schools of that country, and learned the trade of the cabinet maker there. From boyhood his ambition was to become a manufacturer, and he studied and worked con- stantly to that end. While still a young man, he came to the conclusion that the United States offered
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L. Henry Saxton
Charles a Saxton
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greater opportunities of success than any other country, and he left his native land and came to America. He located in New London county, Connecticut, and for several years worked at his trade. Early in the Civil War period he enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Connecticut regiment, which served in the Army of the Gulf, under General Ben- jamin F. Butler, and participated in the capture of New Orleans, Louisiana. With his regiment, Mr. Saxton subsequently served under General Nathaniel P. Banks in the siege of Port Hudson, Mississippi, which was in progress while General Grant was be- seiging Vicksburg. Vicksburg surrendered to Grant on July 4, 1863, and Port Hudson to Banks on the 9th. These two great events were closely related, and were the most important in the West of all that great war year. Mr. Saxton's service comprised a period of fifteen months of great activity.
In 1875, Mr. Saxton became paymaster for the Clin- ton Mills Company, of Norwich, manufacturers of woolen fabrics. From the first he made the most of every opportunity to learn the business. His great efficiency and tireless industry won him one promo- tion after another, until in 1906 he became agent for the company. All this time he had practiced the most rigid economy and saved a large proportion of his income. In 1910 he realized his life ambition by buying out the concern by whom he had been em- ployed for thirty-five years. As an example of tenacity of purpose and final achievement this record is rarely equaled. The business was now incorporated under the name of the Saxton Woolen Corporation, with Lewis J. Saxton as president. He lived but a comparatively short time to enjoy the fruits of his success, but long enough to see his ambition fully realized, to see his sons filling responsible positions in the organization, and to read a future of continued success for the industry which he had made his own. His death occurred in Norwich on November 13, 1912.
Lewis J. Saxton married Sarah Bingham, of New London county, who now resides in Norwich. They were the parents of six children, of whom five are living, and are as follows: Carroll, deceased; Alice D., who resides at home; Louis Henry, a sketch of whom follows; Eliza L., who is now the wife of Charles B. Bartlett, of Washington, D.C .; Charles A., (q. v.); and Mabel S., who is now the wife of Charles H. Standish, of Norwich.
LOUIS HENRY SAXTON, son of Lewis J. and Sarah (Bingham) Saxton (see preceding sketch), was born in South Windham, Connecticut, on September 5, 1873. He received his education in the public schools of the city of Norwich, and the Norwich Free Acad- emy. He made his start in life as a clerk in a groc- ery store, continuing, however, for only a short pe- riod. In 1906 he became assistant superintendent in the mill with his father. From that time on he was constantly associated with his father, and when the plant was taken over by the elder Mr. Saxton, he re- mained with the new corporation, becoming treas-
urer and general manager, which offices he still holds.
Louis Henry Saxton fills a position of prominence and dignity in the community. He is a director of the Merchants' National Bank of Norwich, and has been a director of the Chamber of Commerce for two years, also an incorporator in the Chelsea Sav- ings Banks. In political affiliation he is a Republican. He is a member of the Somerset Lodge, No. 34, Free and Accepted Masons; of the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks, Lodge No. 430; also of the Nor- wich Golf Club, and the Arcanum Club, of which lat- ter he was a director for three years during the World War. Mr. Saxton married, on June 17, 1896, in South Windham, Maine, Minnie E. Hayman, of Webster, Massachusetts, and they have one child, Olive M. The family have always been members of the Congregational church.
CHARLES ADAMS SAXTON-At the head of the Saxton Woolen Corporation, of Norwich, stands Charles Adams Saxton, a representative manufact- urer of New London county, Connecticut.
Charles Adams Saxton, son of Lewis J. and Sarah (Bingham) Saxton, (q. v.), was born en Norwich, on November 5, 1879. He received his early education in the public schools of the city, then prepared for a business career in the Norwich Commercial School. He then entered the mill with his father, but instead of taking a desk position, went into the various de- partments, making himself acquainted with the routine of each, and its relation to the office and the outside market, in fact, making himself thoroughly familiar with woolen manufacture, down to the small- est detail. Next Mr. Saxton took up outside lines of business to become acquainted with general busi- ness principles and methods. He went to New York City in 1900, where he was employed for four years in the offices of the American Agricultural Chemical Company as clerk. Following that he became a salesman on the road for the Underwood Typewriter Company, winning from this experience a vast amount of valuable business knowledge, to say noth- ing of the intimate understanding he gained of the problems which, later on, his own salesmen would meet. Still further, Mr. Saxton went into the real estate business in New York City . This was in 1906, and he continued along this line until 1910, when Lewis J. Saxton bought the plant of the Clinton Mills Company, and the Saxton Woolen Corporation was formed. Mr. Saxton then returned to Norwich, to become secretary of the company, and upon his father's death in 1912, he became president. This splendid equipment, and long, definite training for such an executive position, have since told amazingly in the success of the company under Mr. Saxton's presidency.
Mr. Saxton does not allow all of his time to be absorbed in business. He has accepted public re- sponsibility along various lines which need the bal- ance of business judgment and executive ability. He was a member of the Board of Education from 1918
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to 1920, and also is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a trustee of the William Buckus Hospital, of Norwich, and a trustee of the Norwich Dime Savings Bank. He has long been affiliated with the Republican party, and a sane, but enthusias- tic leader in its ranks. He has wide social and frater- nal connections; is a member of Crescent Lodge, No. 402, Free and Accepted Masons, of New York City; a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 430, of Norwich; a member of the Ar- canum Club, and of the Golf Club. He also is chair- man of the house committee of the Young Men's Christian Association. He has not declined to be- come identified with Christian work, and is a member of the Washington Heights Methodist Episcopal Church of New York City.
Mr. Saxton married, in New York City, on October 19, 1905, Eleanor S. Bailey, daughter of James H. and May (Mulford) Bailey, of New York City.
CAPTAIN JOHN KNIGHT BUCKLYN, A.M., LL.D .- As an educator, preacher and lecturer, Cap- tain Bucklyn was well known in civil life, his mili- tary title being an added honor, gained through va- lorous service in the Civil War. He is best known as the founder and long time head of Mystic Valley In- stitute, an institution from which many young men passed out to lives of usefulness and honor.
Captain John K. Bucklyn was born in Foster, Rhode Island, March 15, 1834, died in Mystic, Con- necticut, March 15, 1906. He attended the public schools and Smithville Seminary, then entered Brown University, whence he was graduated class of 1861. There he became a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and was highly rated as a student and young man of promise. On September 1, 1861, he enlisted in Battery E, First Regiment, Rhode Island Light Artillery, and until the close of the war he was con- tinuously on field and staff duty, compiling an ex- cellent record of patriotic service. Among evidences of his record was the Congressional Medal of Honor conferred upon him under Act of August 23, 1899, for "conspicuous bravery." He was commissioned sec- ond lieutenant, March 1, 1862; first lieutenant, Octo- ber 9, 1864, and was brevetted captain for gallant, meritorious and often distinguished services before Richmond, and in the Shenandoah Valley. In 1865 he was commissioned a full captain and at the close of the war was honorably discharged. He was en- gaged in forty-five battles and severe skirmishes; was wounded at Frederickburg and also at Gettys- burg, where he commanded his battery. In 1864 and 1865, he was on staff duty at headquarters of the Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac, then under command of the distinguished General Sedgwick.
After his return from the army in 1865, Captain Bucklyn began his career as an educator, serving as principal of Mystic public school until 1868, when he established at Mystic the institution of which he was the honored head until his passing thirty-eight years later-the Mystic Valley Institute. The
institute received a charter from the State of Connecticut in 1880, and that year Dr. Buck- lyn also toured Europe. He traveled extensively in the United States and was a well known figure upon the lecture platform. He gave himself wholly to professional work, and was one of the foremost edu- cators of his day.
Captain Bucklyn was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States; member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and commander of Williams Post for years; member of the Society of Soldiers and Sailors; Rhode Island Historical Society; New London County Historical Society; was for thirty years superintendent of the Sunday school of the Union Baptist Church of Mys- tic, and an official member of that church. His pro- fessional standing was high, and as a citizen his rec- ord was above reproach.
Captain Bucklyn married, January 9, 1864, in Cen- tral Baptist Church, Providence, Rhode Island, Rev. Dr. Swain officiating, Mary McKee Young, daughter of Edward R. Young. Captain and Mrs. Bucklyn were the parents of two sons: John Knight (2), a sketch of whom follows; and Frank Abbott, a grad- uate in medicine, but not a practitioner, who died December 27, 1918. He married Elizabeth Beckwith, of New York City, and left a son, Harold E., who resides with his uncle, Dr. John K. Bucklyn, in Mystic.
Thus a useful life was passed, spending and being spent in service. The results of such living cannot be estimated, but that great good for humanity was accomplished by the many young men who went out from under the teaching of Dr. Bucklyn cannot be doubted.
JOHN KNIGHT BUCKLYN, M.D., eldest son of Captain John K. and Mary McKee (Young) Buck- lyn (see preceding sketch), was born in Mys- tic, town of Stonington, Connecticut, July 31, 1865. He attended the public schools of Mys- tic until the opening of Mystic Valley Institute, of which his honored father was founder and head, and after graduation from that institution entered New York College of Homeopathy, whence he was graduated M.D., class of 1887. In that year he located in Mystic, his native village, and there for three decades has practiced his profession, built up a large practice, and been very successful. Dr. Buck- lyn specializes in electrical treatments, the X-ray, Violet-ray, and other modern methods of treating disease, those methods having proved their value. He has won high reputation as a physician of skill and learning, and is held in the highest regard bv both the profession and laity.
In politics, Dr. Bucklyn is a Republican, and in religious faith a Baptist. For years he served on the Mystic School Board, and is a member of Stoning- ton Lodge, No. 26, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, of Mystic. His professional societies are the New London County, Connecticut State Medical, and the American Medical Association.
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John Ki Buchlyn, 21.00
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Dr. Bucklyn married, June 25, 1891, Mary Emma Hall, of Plainfield, Connecticut, daughter of Nathan S. and Permelia Hall, her parents born in Rhode Island.
TRAVER BRISCOE, a son and grandson of former eminent members of the Connecticut bar, prepared for the same profession, and is now en- gaged in practice, but his plans were swept aside by the World War of 1917-18, in which he bore a part, serving with the United States. Two years were thus passed and he is now building anew his inter- rupted practice in Norwich, Connecticut, the city of his birth, and the seat of his honored father's law practice.
The Briscoe family traces in New England to Na- thaniel Briscoe, son of Edward and Ann Briscoe of England, who was baptized in 1595, married Alice Taylor and came to New England in 1639, but re- turned to England in 1651. Savage gives him as a rich tanner and selectman of Watertown in 1648-50. The line of descent is traced from Nathaniel and Alice Taylor Briscoe, through their son Nathaniel (2) Briscoe, who was baptized in Little Messenden, England, May 18, 1629. Savage gives him at Cam- bridge, Massachusetts, in 1639, and says he prob- ably moved to Milford, Connecticut, where he was an early settler without doubt prior to 1646. The line continues through his son Nathaniel (3) Briscoe and his wife Mary Camp; their son James Briscoe and his wife Elizabeth Adams; their son Lieutenant Nathaniel (4) Briscoe and his wife Eunice Hurd Johnson; their son Isaac Briscoe and his wife Anna Sherman; their son Charles Briscoe and his wife Mary Davidson; their son Charles Henry Briscoe and his wife Anna J. Traver; their son Willis Anson Briscoe and his wife Leila Rogers Smith; their son Traver Briscoe and his wife Margaret Clark Alt- house Atterbury.
In all these generations, Milford, Newtown and Enfield, Connecticut, were places of family settle- ment, Willis Anson Briscoe of the ninth generation moving in 1882 to Norwich. All the heads of genera- tions were men of ability and thrift, highly regarded in the communities in which they resided. Particu- lar attention is paid in this review to Judge Charles Henry Briscoe of Enfield and Hartford, Connecticut. His son, Willis Anson Briscoe of Norwich, and his grandson, Traver Briscoe, all members of the Con- necticut bar, the first two, eminent in the profession, the last named just on the threshold of his career.
Charles Henry Briscoe was born in Newtown, Connecticut, December 20, 1831, died in Hartford, Connecticut, January 21, 1918, having been for sixty- four years engaged in the practice of law as attorney and jurist. He was educated in Newtown schools, prepared for the practice of law under a local law- yer, Amos S. Treat, and in 1854 was admitted to the bar of Fairfield county, Connecticut. In the fall of that year, he began practice in Enfield, Connecticut, and there ever made his home. In 1868 he moved his law office to Hartford, there practicing alone until 1877, when he formed a partnership with T. M.
Maltbie, that association terminating in October, 1881. From January, 1882, until January, 1894, Mr. Briscoe was in law partnership with James P. An- drews. He then practiced alone until his passing, but of course during the last two decades of his years, eighty-seven, he surrendered all but the lighter burdens of legal practice.
As a lawyer, he ranked high and his practice was large and important, he having been connected with some very celebrated cases. Full of energy, quick, wiry and alert, he moved, thought and acted quickly. As a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Hart- ford county (the first judge of that court), he com- piled a wonderful record. During the six years he sat on that bench, 1869-75, but nineteen appeals were taken from his decisions and upon review by the higher court, fifteen were sustained and but four reversed.
His public service was notable. He was a Repub- lican in politics and represented Enfield in the Con- necticut General Assembly in 1857, 1864, and 1878, being speaker of the House in this last term. In 1861 he represented the district in the State Senate, and served as chairman of the committee on mili- tary affairs. In 1869 he was elected judge of the . Court of Common Pleas for Hartford county, hold- ing until 1875, when he returned to private practice.
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