USA > Connecticut > New London County > A modern history of New London County, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 43
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Mr & Mrs nathan filman
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ful whalers of that time. To Mr. and Mrs. Caroly have been born five children: William Peter, who married Susan Maud Bogart, of Brooklyn, New York, and has two children, William Cornelius and Helen Arline; Bertha Estelle, who married Frank McCarthy, of New Haven; Edna Maude, who mar- ried Arthur Lockwood, of Stanford, Connecticut; Mary Josephine, who died in infancy; and James A., who also died in infancy.
NATHAN GILMAN-Among the life stories of successful men of this country there are none that surpass, and few that equal, for inspiring courage in the face of difficulties, for loyalty and devotion to family ties, and for final achievement, the won- der stories of those who have come as immigrants, bringing nothing with them but their ambitions, their faith, their courage and their willingness to work. The story of Nathan Gilman is one of those inspiring wonder stories-the story of a Russian immigrant and of his wife, a good woman, a noble character, and a great helpmate.
There lived in Soroke, Bessarabia, Russia, now Roumania, a poor, struggling tobacco grower, Mor- ris Gilman, and his wife, Rebecca (Partnay) Gilman. Times were hard, and toil as they might there was little chance of making headway. The government took a cruel share of what could be raised, and what the "little white father" and his government left, the church required. But, even though times were hard at home, it takes courage and energy and imagination of a high order to leave the known places and venture ont into the great unknown. And so they struggled on. Four children were born to them-and the struggle grew harder. They had once been rich in faith and courage, no doubt, but the cruel hopelessness of their lot wore them down. There was only the long, dusty road ahead, the end- less toil with no hope of enjoying the fruits of labor. Others, who toiled not and knew not hunger, ate of the fruits of the struggle.
But nature repeats her miracles, and in the son, born February 22, 1879, had been renewed the faith and courage of their earlier years. As he grew and came to understand the hopeless injustice of the situation his strong young spirit, inured to hardship, rebelled. He had ambitions, he wanted to get ahead. He loved his family and hated the hopelessness of their struggle. Moreover, he had a strong and steady will, so he looked about him and turned his eyes toward America. When one is young, the great unknown may be tried, and so he came to America, arriving in New York City in 1897. He found work in a mattress factory, where for nine months he worked like a slave and hoarded like a miser. At the end of that time he went into busi- ness for himself under the firm name, Greater New York Bedding Company. The Fairbanks & Plain- field Mill, located in Bozrahville, Connecticut, sup- plied much of his cotton mattress materials, and he freely used the products of the mill.
These beginnings of success, however, had not dulled his love for the little struggling family in Russia, and in 1898, one year after his own arrival in the land of opportunity, he welcomed to New York City, Morris and Rebecca (Partnay) Gilman, his parents, Harry and John, his brothers, and his sister, Eva, having sent them money to pay the cost of their coming. They lived in New York City until 1905, the two brothers and the sister finding work. The father having reached an advanced age, did not work, but enjoyed a placid eventide, freed, for the first time in his life, from fear of the wolf which howls at the Russian peasant's door.
In 1905, Mr. Gilman sold his Greater New York Bedding Company and bought the mill in Bozrah- ville which had been operated by the Fairbanks & Plainfield Company. He bought the entire holding, including the employees' tenement houses, practi- cally every house in the village, much land, and a reservoir located on higher ground in the adjoining town of Lebanon, which supplies water power for the mill. He organized and incorporated the Gil- man Brothers Company, which took over all this property, put in new equipment and began the manu- facture of shoddy. The village of Bozrahville took on new life, the mill offering employment to all who wished to work, and became once more a thriving village. At this time the father, mother, and chil- dren, Harry, John, and Eva, came to Bozrahville, where the father died, May 15, 1919, and the mother is still living, enjoying a peaceful old age. Harry Gilman married Sarah Solomon, and is now a farmer in Colchester county, Connecticut; John Gilman was accidentally drowned at Bozrahville, in July, 1907; Eva Gilman married her cousin, Nathan Gil- man, of New York City, thus marrying without change of name.
Nathan Gilman and his wife worked hard, she working in the mill and conducting the mill store. Both practiced strict economy and denied them- selves all but the necessities of life. They began to prosper, the new business seemed to have passed its critical time, when along came the financial panic of 1907 which meant hard pulling again for the Gilman Company. In March, 1908, came another blow. The mill was gutted by fire, the loss of machinery, of stock on hand, and of raw and manu- factured material amounting to $75,000, and not a cent's worth of insurance on the property. Such was his reputation as a business man, however, that his creditors not only extended the time of payment of bills due, but voluntarily loaned him the money necessary for a new start. He salvaged all he could of the wreckage and, with the encouragement of his wife, went to work again. They soon met with another disaster, a second fire, and while trying to stop the fire by opening a water valve, Mr. Gilman was so badly burned that he was laid up in the hospital for a long time. In seven years, however, he paid every creditor in full, and since then the business has steadily grown and prospered.
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In December, 1919, the store building, then rented to a merchant, was destroyed by fire, causing Mr. Gilman a big loss.
Politically, Mr. Gilman is a Republican. He is postmaster of Bozrahville, having taken that posi- tion in order to keep the postoffice in the place. Since 1903 he has been a member of Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 27, Free and Accepted Masons, of New York City. He is also a member of Uncas Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Norwich Lodge, Royal Arcanum; and he and his wife are members of the Grange.
Mr. Gilman married, in New York City, February 21, 1904, Clara N. Stern, a native of Moliff, Russia, and daughter of Manuel and Mildred Stern. Mrs. Gilman is an active welfare and community worker, was very active in all the war drives during the World War, and is president of the Bozrahville section of the Council of Jewish Women. Mr. and Mrs. Gilinan have seven children: George, born in New York City, December 15, 1904; Lucy Ruth, born at Bozrahville, July 25, 1906; Martin John, born in Bozrahville, November 18, 1907; Lawrence Milton, born in Bozrahville, November 21, 1909; Seymour Irving, born at Norwich, Connecticut, February 9, 1912; Pearl Alice, born at Norwich, Connecticut, August 12, 1914; and Charles Murray, born in Nor- wich, Connecticut, July 22, 1921.
ANSON RICHMOND GROVER-A decade and a half ago Anson R. Grover, then a young man under thirty years of age, located in Norwich, Connecticut, and became a part of the city's business life. From that day until the present he has been a successful business man, although in 1915 hie retired from the wholesale candy business to enter the business founded in 1866 by a Mr. Noyes, the first man to manufacture and place upon the market sugar-coated popcorn. This business, conducted by Mr. Grover and his partner, Noe E. Caron, under the trade name, the Connecticut Pop Corn Company, is known throughout the United States, their product going into many states.
Anson R. Grover is a son of Charles D. and Jennie (Davis) Grover, who at the time of the birth of their son, Anson R., were residents of Hartford, Connecticut. Charles D. Grover, born in South Coventry, Connecticut, spent his active years as a railroad man and contractor, he now living retired in Norwich, his home with his son, Anson R. He married Jennie Davis, who died in Willimantic, Con- necticut, in 1889. Two sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Charles D. Grover: Anson R., the principal character of this review; and Raymond D., a resi- dent of New London, Connecticut.
Anson R. Grover, born in Hartford, Connecticut, December 9, 1876, was educated in the public schools of different towns in which his parents resided dur- ing his youth. He was variously employed during the years of his early manhood until 1905, when he located in Norwich and began his very success-
ful mercantile career. In 1905 he established in Norwich a wholesale candy business, which he con- ducted alone and under his own name until 1908, when it had reached so important a stage that more capital was required to properly conduct it. A partner, William F. Herrick, was admitted in 1908, the firm operating as Grover & Herrick, wholesale confectioners, until 1911, when Mr. Herrick retired, Mr. Grover purchasing his interest and continuing alone until 1915.
In that year he retired from the candy business, as he had been conducting it, substituting therefor the business bought from W. H. Vincent, known as the Connecticut Pop Corn Company. That business had been established in Norwich in 1866, and under Mr. Grover's careful and efficient management had reached a greater degree of prosperity than ever before. The product of the plant, sugar-coated pop- corn, is a favorite confection, and is sold every- where.
In politics Mr. Grover is a Democrat, and is now serving the city of Norwich as alderman, a position to which he was elected in June, 1920. He is affili- ated with St. James Lodge, No. 23, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; Franklin Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons; Franklin Council, No. 3, Royal and Select Masters; Columbian Commandery, Knights Temp- lar; and all Scottish Rite bodies, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Connecticut Consistory of Norwich. He is also a noble of Sphinx Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; a member of Norwich Lodge, No. 930, Loyal Order of Moose; the Spanish War Veterans of Norwich; and the Arcanum Club. The family are members of Christ Episcopal Church of Norwich.
During the war with Spain in 1898, Mr. Grover saw ten months' service in various Southern camps, being a private of Company C, Third Regiment, Connecticut National Guard, which was called into the Federal service.
Mr. Grover married, in Norwich, in July, 1900, Mary Elizabeth Butler, daughter of Roswald But- ler, of Norwich. Mr. and Mrs. Grover are the par- ents of a daughter, Viola Mary, born in Norwich, in June, 1901.
ELMER JOHN CARTER-One of the prominent business men of South Lyme, Connecticut, who, after a varied experience, has made this place his home and has located his business here, is Elmer John Carter, successful merchant, active citizen, and loyal supporter of all efforts for civic betterment. Mr. Carter is a son of Charles Emery Carter, who was born December 2, 1846, at Wadhams, New York, on the old home farm, where five generations of Carters have been born. Charles Emery Carter en- gaged in farming in various places until 1907, when he moved to South Lyme, Connecticut, and in 1911 went into the general merchandise business in that place, but is now retired and living in South Lyme. His wife, Vinnie (Bowen) Carter, died while Elmer
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John was a child, July 27, 1897. They were the par- ents of two children: Elmer John, an account of whose life appears below; and Laurence Erwin, born at Wadhams, January 28, 1892, who married, in 1916, Isoline O'Brien, of Old Lyme, Connecticut.
Elmer John Carter, son of Charles Emery and Vinnie (Bowen) Carter, was born at Wadhams, New York, May 23, 1887. He attended the local district schools until 1900, when he went to Boston with his parents, where for one term he en- tered one of the schools of that city, returning in 1901 to Wadhams, where he remained one year and then, his father having sold his farm, moved to Moretown, Vermont, where he completed his edu- cation. After leaving school, he went to work for the Central Vermont Railroad Company, at Middle- sex, Vermont, passing his final examinations for telegraph operator in 1906, when he became night telegraph operator at Waterbury, Vermont, which position he held until December of that year, when he accepted a more promising position with the Boston & Maine railroad at Belchertown, Massachu- setts, where he remained for two months, and then came to South Lyme as telegraph operator and station agent for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, holding that position until the station was closed by the railroad com- pany in March, 1921. He then entered into partner- ship with George G. Emerson, purchasing the busi- ness of his father, Charles E. Carter, dealing in general merchandise, under the firm name of the Carter & Emerson Company. Politically, Mr. Car- ter is a Republican. He is a member of the school board and a member of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers, New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad, Division No. 29.
Mr. Carter married, June 29, 1910, Lucy Watrous Chapman, daughter of Frederick Way and Marie Louise (Griswold) Chapman, and two children have been born to the union: Grace Chapman, born at South Lyme, July 19, 1911; and Robert Charles, born at South Lyme, January 24, 1914.
PATRICK FRANCIS SWEENEY-Among the broadly successful men of the city of Norwich, Con- necticut, is numbered Patrick F. Sweeney, who stands at the head of an important contracting busi- ness, and also conducts a thriving planing mill.
Mr. Sweeney is a son of John Joseph Sweeney, who was born in Ireland and educated in the Na- tional schools of his native land, coming to the United States in his youth. John J. Sweeney set- tled in the town of Lebanon, in this county, secur- ing employment in the paper mill, which was some years ago destroyed by fire. He lived on a farm and carried on farming operations on a small scale, working in the mill as long as he lived. His death occurred in Lebanon in 1900. He married Margaret Lynch, who was born in Ireland, and still survives her husband, residing in Fitchville, in the town of Bozrah, in this county.
Patrick Francis Sweeney, third of the nine chil- dren of the above couple, was born in Lebanon, January 5, 1886. Reared in his native place, he at- tended the district school near his home, gaining a practical grounding in the essentials of education. In 1901 Mr. Sweeney went to New Haven, Connecti- cut, where he served an apprenticeship as carpenter with Allyn & Henderson, general contractors of that city. Remaining with them for four years, he then returned to New London county, and entered the employ of C. M. Williamson, a prominent Nor- wich contractor, with whom he was associated until 1910. He then became identified with Peck & Mc- Williams, general contractors of this city, in the capacity of foreman. Remaining with this concern for about three years, Mr. Sweeney then accepted the position of superintendent of construction with Fenton & Chanley, of Norwich. With this exten- sive practical experience, in 1916 Mr. Sweeney es- tablished a contracting business under his own name, which has since grown to be a large and prosperous interest. In 1917, in connection with his contract- ing business, he opened a large and well equipped planing mill in Norwich, which he still operates. doing considerable custom work as well as filling his own requirements in this line. He now holds a leading position in this field in Norwich, and com- mands a generous share of the contract work in this vicinity.
In the public life of the city, Mr. Sweeney holds a deep interest, and is a leader in the Democratic party, fearless in his advocacy of its principles. He was elected alderman June 5, 1922, and has for a number of years been a member of the Democratic Town Committee. He is a member of the Norwich Chamber of Commerce, and fraternally holds mem- bership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 430, and in White Cross Council, No. 13, Knights of Columbus, of Norwich. He is a member of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church.
Mr. Sweeney married, in Norwich, on January 29, 1918, Rev. Father John A. Broderick officiating, Julia A. McKay, daughter of Charles Mckay, for- merly of Meriden, Connecticut, the ceremony taking place in St. Patrick's Church.
CLARENCE GEORGE THOMPSON, M. D .- Dr. Thompson after completing his course in medi- cine and surgery began private practice in the city of Norwich, Connecticut, and there is building up a general practice. He is the only son of George and Ellen (Harting) Thompson, his father a New York City man and a hotel proprietor until his death there in 1891. Mrs. Thompson survives her hus- band and still resides in New York City.
Clarence G. Thompson was born in New York City, January 11, 1889. Two years later his father died, and he was reared under the guiding hand of his capable mother. After completing grammar courses he entered Morris High School, New York City, and there was graduated, class of 1911. For
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four years he was a student in Fordham Univer- sity, at the end of which period he entered the Medical School of Flower Hospital, New York City, receiving his medical degree at graduation, with the class of 1919. During the period of his prepara- tion for professional practice, he served as interne in Flower Hospital for one year, and then served in the same capacity in the Metropolitan Hospital on Blackwell's Island, New York City Department of Charity, and still later served as an interne in Backus Hospital, in Norwich, beginning his period of service there November 15, 1919. In May, 1920, he began general practice in Norwich, where he is now located.
He is a member of Norwich Medical Society; New London County Medical Society; of the Ameri- can Medical Association; of Norwich Lodge, No. 430, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and of Norwich Lodge, Loyal Order of Moose. In politics, Dr. Thompson is a Republican; in religious faith an Episcopalian.
WALTER M. BUCKINGHAM-Holding a re- sponsible position in the financial world of New London county, Connecticut, and widely prominent in fraternal circles, Mr. Buckingham is a thoroughly representative citizen of Norwich. He comes of an old Norwich family, and is a son of William Alfred and Mary Day (Reynolds) Buckingham, long resi- dents of this city.
Walter M. Buckingham was born in the city of Norwich, Connecticut, January 25, 1876. His early education was acquired at the Broad street and Broadway public schools, and he was graduated from the latter in June of 1892. Entering the Nor- wich Free Academy in the fall of the same year, he was a student there until carly in the fall of 1895, when he left school to accept a position with the Thames National Bank. Entering the employ of this institution on September 9, 1895. Mr. Bucking- ham was first active in a subordinate capacity, but advancement from time to time has been the result of his faithful and efficient service, and on Novem- ber 30, 1918, he was made assistant cashier of the institution with which he has now been connected for nearly twenty-seven years. He has devoted his life to the welfare of the bank and the interests of its patrons, and is looked upon as one of the solid, conservative men of the day in business affairs in this city. In public affairs Mr. Buckingham keeps in touch with the general march of events, but has always declined political honors, although a sup- porter of the Republican party.
Fraternally, he is a member of St. James Lodge, No. 23, Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has held all offices except treasurer and tyler. He is a member of Franklin Chapter, No. 4. Royal Arch Masons, and has held most of the minor offices in this body, also that of high priest. He also is a member of Franklin Council, No. 3, Royal and Select Masters, which he has served as recorder; and Nem-
rod Grotto, Mystic Order Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm, of which he is secretary. Mr. Buckingham is a member of the Chelsea Boat Club, of Norwich, of which he has been treasurer for fourteen years, and is a member of the Gales Ferry Country Club, of which he has been treasurer for the past six years. He also is a member and the treasurer of the Village Improvement Association of Gales Ferry, and is affiliated with Christ Episco- pal Church of Norwich.
Mr. Buckingham married, on April 24, 1912, in Norwich, Mabel Schofield Clark, of this city, daugh- ter of J. Frank and Isabelle (Schofield) Clark. They reside at Gales Ferry, Connecticut.
FREDERICK NELSON TAYLOR-To follow the occupation of farming successfully a man must be of good physique, must possess the qualities of industry, application, and perseverance, must be of an even temperament, so that he will meet failure of crops and other things which fall to the lot of the farmer philosophically, and yet be of optimistic vision so that he can see the result of his labor long ahead of harvest time. Such a man is Frederick N. Taylor, a well known and highly esteemed resi- dent of Lebanon.
The immigrant ancestor of that branch of the Taylor family of which Frederick Nelson Taylor is a member was one, Daniel Dawson, of English birth, who, being kidnapped and pressed into the service of the British navy, came to this country in- voluntarily. One day when he was a lad of about twelve years, playing on the English coast with his little sister, a naval officer of one of the English men-of-war lying in the nearby harbor asked him aboard the vessel. Young Daniel accepted the in- vitation only to find himself pressed into the serv- ice of the English navy on board a vessel, which promptly weighed anchor and set sail for America. Arriving in New York, by hiding among the bales of cotton on the wharf, he escaped, and in fear of being recaptured by the British officer, made his way to Long Island and assumed the name of Wil- liam Taylor. There he hired himself out as a farm boy, and there, too, he met and married Sarah Brayman, soon after, taking up his residence at Mys- tic, Connecticut, where the remainder of his days were spent. Obsessed by the horror of being re- taken by the British, he never left his home in Mystic, and not until shortly before his death, which occurred about 1839, when he was about eighty years of age, did he make public the circum- stances of his coming to America. He lived about half-way between Upper and Lower Mystic, and there engaged for many years in fishing and lobster- ing. He was the father of nine children: Sarah, married a Mr. Eggleston and removed to New York, where she died; William, married Sarah Eldridge, died in Lower Mystic in 1877; John B., mentioned below; George, married Mary Brightman, he sup- posed to have been lost overboard from a vessel
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in Charleston, South Carolina, harbor; Frank, mar- ried Lucy - -, enlisted during the Revolution, and died during service; Polly, married Jason Brooks, and died in Mystic; Maraby, married Thomas Brooks, and died in Mystic; Abby, died in infancy; Nancy, became the wife of Christopher Eldridge, of Mystic.
John B. Taylor, son of William Taylor, was born in Mystic, Connecticut, in 1797. He farmed in va- rious parts of New London and Windham counties, and then bought a farm in Lebanon, which he oper- ated until he died, June 22, 1874. He married, in Windham county, May 17, 1820, Prudence Avery, daughter of David Avery, who served in the Revo- lutionary War. She was born in Preston, and died at Lebanon, October 6, 1884. One of their children was Nelson Taylor, of whom further.
Nelson Taylor, son of John B. and Prudence (Avery) Taylor, was born August 13, 1830, in Franklin, Connecticut. His parents removed to Lebanon, Connecticut, when he was about five years of age, and he continued his residence there until his death. He attended the district school, and dur- ing his youth assisted his father in the work upon the home farm. With the exception of seven months, when he was employed on the farm owned by Squire Jesse Wright, lie was his father's assistant from boyhood, until the year 1869, when he removed to a piece of property which he had purchased the pre- ceding year from L. L. Lyman. This farm, lying on the west of Lebanon Green, was known as the Maxwell place, and to its original acreage he added from time to time until it embraced sixty-five acres of land, which he cultivated with a high degree of success, devoting his attention to general farming and dairying. He was a member of the Congrega- tional church, and a Republican in politics. He mar- ried (first) September 12, 1854, Helen A. Topliff, of Willington, Connecticut, who died January 2, 1861. No children were born to this union. He married (second) December 25, 1862, Mary L. Kil- bourne, born May 6, 1837, in East Hartford, daugh- ter of Nathan and Lucy (Burt) Kilbourne. Their children were: I. John Clifton, born March 18, 1869, in Lebanon, graduated with the degree Doctor of Medicine from the Medical School of the Univer- sity of Michigan in 1891, and practiced his profes- sion in various places in Connecticut, namely, in Scotland, in Manchester, and in New London, where he now resides, a noted specialist in diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat. He married (first) Jen- nie Stofer, of Cleveland, Ohio, (second) Margaret Stevens, of Montgomery's Ferry, Pennsylvania. 2. Frederick Nelson, of whom further mention. Nel- son Taylor died at Lebanon, December 2, 1910, and his wife, Mary L. (Kilbourne) Taylor, died October 14, 1913.
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