USA > Connecticut > New London County > A modern history of New London County, Connecticut, Volume III > Part 5
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George Seth Brown married, September 20, 1915, Henrietta Frances James, daughter of Charles D. James, born in Voluntown, Connecticut, May 19, 1851, died in Norwich, Connecticut, March 12, 1903, and Catherine L. (Kelley) James, born in Yantic, Connecticut, April 29, 1857. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are the parents of two children : Richard, born in Norwich, Connecticut, died in infancy ; and Henrietta Surviah, born in Jewett City, Connecticut.
A man gifted in manner, enterprising and thorough in business, Mr. Brown is personally liked most by those who know him best. He is a man of quiet force, the force that accomplishes large results with but little friction, the force that counts in the upbuilding and maintaining of large industries. A man loyal to his employers and associates which in its own turn secures the full confidence of those under him. He is an enthusiastic devotee of the rod and gun, and has penned many interesting and instructive magazine articles on hunting and fishing.
CHARLES BREWSTER PALMER-The Palmers of New London county, Connecticut, have been con- nected with the business interests of the county, manu- facturing, mercantile and agricultural, for many years. The name was first brought to the county by Walter Palmer, who finally located in Stonington, Connecticut, in 1653. In this present generation Charles B. Palmer married Fannie Ella Brown, a descendant of Joshua Brown, a Revolutionary soldier, and they reside at the old homestead owned by the old patriot. Deacon Simeon Palmer, son of Peleg Palmer, was born in the town of Stonington, Connecticut, in 1800, there spent his life and died in February, 1895. He early learned
the carpenter's trade and followed it all his life until old age called a halt, not very many years prior to his death at the age of ninety-five. He was one of the old-time carpenters who went into the woods, selected the trees, and often framed a building right in the woods; then hauled the different parts to the site of the building and put it in position without altering size, mortise or tenon. He built many houses in Stonington and the surrounding country, both for others and him- self, building and selling as opportunity offered. He continued his residence in Stonington after his retire- ment and was one of the best-known men of his town. He married Caroline E. Tiffany, who was born and lived in Salem, Connecticut, until her marriage. She died in Stonington after her husband, but at the same age of ninety-five. They were the parents of nine chil- dren, all born in Stonington : Elizabeth, married John Hammond ; Mary, married James Lee ; Henry, Ebenezer, Susan, William Hyde, all of whom have now passed away; Jerome S. A., a carpenter, of Stonington, mar- ried Lucretia Sisson, of Salem, Connecticut; Sarah Amelia, deceased, and Charles Brewster.
Charles Brewster Palmer was born near Stonington, New London county, Connecticut, April 4, 1847, and there spent his first fifteen years. In early life he went to Westerly, Rhode Island, where, at the age of fifteen, he began learning the trade of painter and paper hanger. That was in 1862, and until 1879 he worked in Ston- ington and several towns in Connecticut and Rhode Is- land. In 1879 he worked in Jersey City, New Jersey, and then moved to New London, Connecticut, finally returning to Stonington, and there followed his trade until his retirement in 1915. In 1899 he moved to the Randall Brown farm which has since been his home. He conducted the farm in connection with his painting business until 1915, but has since given his full atten- tion to its management.
Mr. Palmer married (first), at Mystic, Connecticut, July 4, 1871, Emma Jane Smith, who was born in Ston- ington and there died in 1897, leaving two daughters: Mabel B., wife of Edward Ripley, now residing at Ossining, New York; Phoebe W., wife of Thomas Cobb. Mr. Palmer married (second) at Stonington, February 28, 1899, Fannie Ella Brown, born at the Brown homestead in Stonington, daughter of Randall and Mary Ann (Holmes) Brown. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer are members of the Baptist church of Stonington. The home is the old homestead in which Mrs. Palmer was born.
RANDALL BROWN-Randall Brown, father of Mrs. Charles B. Palmer, was born at the Brown home- stead on the Stonington road near old Mystic, Con- necticut, March 28, 1807, and there died after a life of honorable, upright living, December 13, 1887. The old Brown homestead on which he lived and where his daughter, Mrs. Fannie Ella Palmer, now lives, was first owned in the family in 1786 by Joshua Brown, born in Stonington, April 8, 1740. Joshua Brown, the grand- father of Randall Brown, in 1786 bought the farm in which his great-granddaughter, Mrs. Palmer, lives, pur-
J. C. Tousley.
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chasing it from Robert Williams, and moved his family from the northern part of the town to his new home. Joshua Brown was a lieutenant in the Capt. Thomas Holmes company and served in the Revolutionary War in 1776. He married, January 24, 1761, Johanna Rogers, and they were the parents of a son, Randall Brown, who was born at the Brown homestead in Stonington, and there spent his life. He married Sally Palmer, and their son, Randall (2) Brown, was born at the home- stead near Old Mystic on the Stonington road, March 28, 1807, and there died December 13, 1887. He attended district schools, and was his father's assistant until the latter's death, then succeeded to the ownership of the homestead, on which his eighty years of life were spent. He was a good farmer and an honorable, upright citizen, scorning to take advantage of any man or to take a cent unlawfully. On the other hand, he would not sub- mit to be defrauded of a cent, but demanded the same justice for himself that he tendered to others. He was one of the most modern and progressive farmers of his day, and as fast as machinery had proved its advantage to the farm, he hastened to adopt it. He bought the first horse-drawn hay rake used in his town, also the first mowing machine. Even-tempered and kindly- hearted, he never spoke but in kindness, and lived a most exemplary life. He was a strong temperance man and used his influence to have others saved from its blight.
Mr. Brown married, January 1, 1833, Mary Ann Holmes, born in Mystic, Connecticut, died at the Brown Homestead in Stonington, February 5, 1894. Randall (2) and Mary Ann (Holmes) Brown were the parents of eight children, all born on home place, three of whom are now living. The children of Randall and Mary Ann (Holmes) Brown: I. Mary Ann, married Capt. Franklin Hancox, a whaler, deceased. 2. Sarah Palmer, wife of Hon. Elias Williams, of Mystic, both deceased. 3. Helen Elizabeth, died in childhood. 4. Jeremiah Holmes, never married, was in First Rhode Island Cavalry three years during Civil War, lived on home place all his life, died at the age of seventy-four. 5. Susan Almyra, widow of Joseph Smith, of Stoning- ton. 6. Randall, of Mystic, Connecticut. 7. Fannie Ella (Mrs. Charles Palmer). 8. Frederick Henry, was a merchant of Danielson, Connecticut, now deceased.
FRANK CROUSE MOUSLEY-At Warren Paper Mills, in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, Frank Crouse Mousley was born, son of Louis Henry and Jennie (Crouse) Mousley. Louis Henry Mousley was born at a point on historic Brandywine creek, near Wilming- ton, Delaware, and there spent his boyhood. He was first employed in the Jessup & Moore Paper Mills near Wilmington, going thence to Warren Paper Mills in New Jersey, where he married and remained a paper mill worker for eighteen years. He was next employed with the Piermont Paper Mills in Piermont, New York, and continued in paper manufacturing mills until his retirement, when he moved to New York City, where he yet resides (1921). He was a son of Curtis Monsley, who lived near Wilmington, and his wife, Jennie (Crouse) Mousley, who was born in that same section.
Frank Crouse Mousley was born February 17, 1880, and spent his youth in his native village, Warren Paper Mills, three miles from Bloomsbury post office in Penn- sylvania, the village and paper mill, however, in Hunter- don county, New Jersey. As a boy he entered the War- ren Paper Mills, first as a cutter boy, and after gaining experience took the next step upward to the job of "back tender." His second job was in the employ of the Bogota Paper Mills, where he remained for two years. He was then promoted to the rank of machine tender in the same mills, but soon afterward the mills were destroyed by fire and he was out of a position. He journeyed to Covington, Virginia, and obtained employment as a machine tender in the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, and while there married.
In 1903 he returned North and located in Piermont, New York, obtaining a position as machine tender with the Piermont Paper Company, that company having an association with the Thames River Specialty Company. Mr. Mousley was soon promoted to the rank of boss machine tender, and in all was with the company twelve years. In July, 1914, he was appointed superintendent of the Thames River Specialty Company Mills in Un- casville, town of Montville, New London county, Con- necticut, and he is now serving his seventh year in that position. The product of the company is principally folding box boards. The business under his manage- ment has shown an increase; there has been an ex- pansion in plant area and buildings, while the general trend in every department has been toward improvement.
At the close of his seven years' service with the Thames River Specialty Company (which had pre- viously passed to the Robert Gair Company) Mr. Mous- ley became general superintendent of the Federal Paper Board Company, a company with mills located in Ver- sailles, Connecticut, in Massachusetts, in New Jersey, and in Pennsylvania. Mr. Mousley makes his home in Norwich, and divides his time between the four mills under his supervision.
From boyhood, Mr. Mousley has been employed in paper mills, and he thoroughly understands the details of paper manufacture. He is an ideal superintendent, deeply interested in the men and their families, all his concern being toward having a contented, cheerful and prosperous force of employees. He holds the respect and confidence of both the officials of the company and the mill hands, the result being plants run at a high per cent of efficiency with a capable, satisfied working force.
In religion Mr. Mousley is a Presbyterian, and in politics a Republican. He is affiliated with Wawagande Lodge, No. 315, Free and Accepted Masons, of Pier- mont, New York; Rockland Chapter, Royal Arch Ma- sons, of Nyack, New York; Franklin Council, Royal and Select Masters, of Norwich, Connecticut ; Colum- bia Commandery, Knights Templar, of Norwich; and is a thirty-second degree member of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. He is also a noble of Sphinx Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Hartford, Connecticut.
Mr. Mousley married (first) in Covington, Virginia, April 14, 1903, Daisy Brooks, born in Lexington, Vir- ginia, daughter of George and Henrietta Brooks, both of Virginian birth. Mr. and Mrs. Monsley had three
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children, all students of Norwich Free Academy, namely: Louis Brooks, born March 31, 1904; Harvey Kenneth, born in 1906; Frank Crouse, Jr., born in 1908. Mrs. Mousley died January 29, 1909. Mr. Mousley mar- ried (second), August 23, 1910, Hattie Elizabeth Brooks, sister of his first wife.
HERBERT WARREN SWEET-Among the very old families of New England which have become fa- mous for some distinguishing trait, characteristic, or skill, is the Sweet family, widely known as expert bone-setters. As far back as their authentic his- tory can be traced, and from tradition, Icading still further, one finds them credited with remarkable skill in this art, and from time to time taking over and successfully performing work which has baffled trained surgeons. James Sweet, of Wales, the rec- ognized ancestor of the family, came to New England in 1630, was a resident of Salem, Massa- chusetts, in 1631, of Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1638, and later of Kingston, finally settling near North Hill, in North Kingston, Rhode Island, where he married Mary Greene, daughter of John and Joan (Tattersall) Greene, and died in 1695. His children, James, Mary, Benoni, Valentine, Samuel, Jeremiah, Renewed, and Sylvester, were all born in North Kingston between the years 1655 and 1674. From this James Sweet the Lebanon, Connecticut, Sweets are descended through Benoni (2) Sweet, he being a descendant in the fifth generation from James, through Benoni, James (2), and Job Swect. Three of the above, Benoni, Job, and Benoni (2) Sweet, are on record as having gained wide celebrity as natural bone-setters, Job Sweet having attained such eminence in that line that during the Revolu- tion he was called to Newport to set dislocated bones of the French officers, and after the war, at the urgent request of Colonel Burr, afterward vice- president, went to New York to set a dislocated hip of his daughter's.
Benoni (2) Sweet, who was born October 7, 1760, died August 26, 1840, practiced the family art in South Kingston and vicinity, but, in 1793, when he removed to Lebanon, Connecticut, he resolved to do no more setting of bones, but to give his whole attention to farming. A dislocated shoulder in his neighborhood, however, baffling the surgeons, called him back to the practice of his art, which he never again abandoned. He married Sarah Champlin, and they became the progenitors of the Sweet family in Connecticut, their tenth child being Charles, men- tioned below.
Dr. Charles Sweet was born December 3, 1810, and died in Lebanon, December 22, 1896. According to the "History of New London County," published in 1882, "he commenced bone-setting at the early age of sixteen years and for nearly forty years main- tained offices in Hartford and New London, Connec- ticut, and at Springfield, Massaachusetts, each of which he visited one day of each month, success- fully treating all kinds of bone dislocation, frac- tures, and diseases. The greater part of his time
was devoted to these things, in which he manifested an intuitive perception truly surprising. In the in- tervals he carried on farming to some extent, more for a pastime than for pecuniary profit." He mar- ried (first) Eliza W. Throop, daughter of Joseph and Polly (Clark) Throop, of Lebanon, and they became the parents of six children, among whom was Charles, Jr., father of Herbert Warren, men- tioned below. Dr. Charles Sweet married (second) Sarah Elizabeth Williams, of Mystic, Connecticut, and by this marriage had three children. He mar- ricd (third) Laura A. Anderson, who died on Thanksgiving Day, 1897.
Charles Sweet, Jr., son of Dr. Charles and Eliza W. (Throop) Swect, was born at Lebanon, Con- necticut, January 1, 1845, and died October 18, 1893. Associated with his father in Lebanon, he also became famous as a bone-setter, and for a time practiced in Hartford, returning later to Lebanon, where most of his life was spent, and where he died. He also did farm work on his father's place. He married (first) Nellie Payne, who died, leaving one child, Arthur P., who married Eudora Spencer and resides in South Windham, Connecticut. Charles Sweet, Jr., married (second) Mary Eva Manning, and they became the parents of nine children: Edith S., now the wife of Dr. Norman Drake, of Little Falls, New York; Herbert Warren, of further mention; Edward P., who died when nine years old; Leon M., of Washington, D. C .; Henry R., of Norfolk, Connecticut; Harold, who died at the age of sixteen; Ruby E., who died aged seven; Wallace Nathaniel, a physician, of Wallingford, Connecticut; and Clifton Worsley, of New Britain, Connecticut. Mrs. Charles Sweet, the mother of Herbert Warren Sweet, survives her husband and resides in Lebanon.
Herbert Warren Sweet, son of Charles, Jr., and Mary Eva (Manning) Sweet, was born January 14, 1876, in Lebanon, Connecticut, where he was reared and where he received his early education. From the schools of Lebanon he entered the State Agri- cultural College. at Storrs, Connecticut, and then farmed the old Sweet homestead, in Lebanon. Later, he became interested in another line of work, and became a clerk in the general store of F. P. Fowler. After gaining considerable experience in this position he associated himself with the general merchandise business of I. W. Stark, also of Leb- anon. Here he was very successful, and in 1916, bought the business of his employer, which he is still (1921) carrying on.
Politically, Mr. Sweet is a Republican, and both he and his family attend the Congregational church. He is a member of Wooster Lodge, No. 10, Free and Accepted Masons, of Colchester; and of the George S. Hull Lodge, Knights of Pythias, Leba- non. Both Mr. and Mrs. Sweet are members of Lebanon Grange, No. 21.
On March 30, 1897, at Tolland, Connecticut, Her- bert Warren Sweet married Katherine Hanson, daughter of Lauritz and Emily (Jewell) Hanson, and they are the parents of two children: Ruby,
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born February 28, 1898, and Charles Herbert, born October 9, 1900. Mrs. Sweet was a very successful teacher before her marriage, and is active in many lines of welfare and community work. One of her most valuable services to her town is her work on the School Board of Lebanon, of which she has been a member since 1915, being reelected each year.
ARBA BROWNING-"Agriculture is the noblest of all alchemy," says Chatfield, "for it turns carth and even refuse into gold, conferring upon its culti- vator the additional reward of health." This oldest of human vocations and noblest of them all has been honored by the successful career of Arba Browning, a lineal descendant of an ancestry that traces back in this country for three centuries, this representative of the family inheriting in large de- gree the excellent traits and characteristics of his forbears.
Nathaniel Browning, the first of the line herein traced, is of record in Rhode Island as early as 1645, a resident of Warwick and Portsmouth, and was made a freeman in 1655. The descent is traced through his son, William Browning, a resident of Portsmouth and South Kingston. His son, John Browning, a resident of South Kingston. His son, John Browning, Jr., a resident of Exeter. His son, Avery Browning, a native of Exeter, Rhode Island, born February 8, 1786, died in Norwich, Connecticut, May 9, 1865. He removed from his native State to Connecticut in 1834, purchasing a farm in Griswold, from whence he removed to Preston and later to Norwich. He married Mary Arnold, and their third son was Beriah Hopkins Browning, born September 13, 1819, in Exeter, Rhode Island, died in Griswold, Connecticut, May 24, 1890. He accompanied his parents upon their removal to Griswold, Connec- ticut, and there attended the district schools, also accompanied them upon their removal to Preston, same State, where they resided for several years, removing in 1866 to the Plain Hill District, town of Norwich, Connecticut, and Beriah H. Browning purchased the Morgan place in the town of Gris- wold, where he engaged in general farming until his death. On November 21, 1843, he married Sarah Elizabeth Campbell, daughter of Bonaparte Camp- bell, and they were the parents of nine children, the seventh of whom was Arba, of whom further. Beriah H. Browning represented Griswold in the State Legislature in 1873, also served as justice of the peace for over thirty years.
Arba Browning was born in the Plain Hill Dis- trict, town of Norwich, Connecticut, October 31, 1862. He received a practical education in the dis- trict schools of Griswold, and his leisure time was spent in assisting his father in the cultivation of the home place, which became his property by purchase after the death of his father, and whereon he has resided up to the present time (1921). He is en- gaged in general farming and dairying, to which pursuits he devotes his entire time, and the result of his energy, progressive methods, and tireless
application to all details is that he is the pos- sessor of one of the finest farms in that section of the State. Although deeply interested in his chosen line of work, Mr. Browning finds time to devote to public affairs, and has been chosen by his fellow- townsmen to act in public capacity, his tenure of office being noted for efficiency and capability. For three years he served on the Board of Selectmen, for eight years acted as justice of the peace, served as a member of the Committee for the Sale of Land, as a representative for the town of Griswold in the State Legislature in 1905-06, and for the years 1918-19 was a member of the School Board. He is a Democrat in politics, attends the First Congre- gational Church of Pachaug, and is affiliated with Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 75, Free and Accepted Masons, of Jewett City, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of Jewett City.
Mr. Browning married, September 4, 1890, Har- riet Lee Bromley, born in Lisbon, Connecticut, daughter of Charles and Sarah (Thompson) Brom- ley, of Lisbon. Children: Frank Duane, a sketch of whom follows; Sybil, born August 30, 1898, a teacher in the public schools of Jewett City, Con- necticut.
FRANK DUANE BROWNING, D.M.D. -- The professional men of New London county form a group of which any locality might be proud. In Jewett City, Dr. Frank D. Browning, the young dentist, is attracting attention as one of the most promising professional men of the day in this sec- tion.
Dr. Browning, son of Arba and Harriet L. (Brom- ley) Browning (q.v.), was born in the town of Gris- wold, Connecticut, on December 14, 1892. Receiv- ing his early education in the district schools near his home, he continued his studies at Mount Her- mon School, Mount Hermon, Massachusetts. There he prepared for Tufts College, and in 1915 entered :hat institution, in the Dental School, from which he was graduated in 1918, with the degree of D.M.D.
It was just at the time of his graduation that the need of skilled hands in this field in the United States army was most keenly felt, and Dr. Brown- ing enlisted and was called on July 24th of that year. He was commissioned first lieutenant in De- cember, 1918, and stationed at Camp Greenleaf, Georgia, then later was transferred to Camp Seneca, South Carolina. In January, 1919, he was dis- charged from the service at Camp Jackson, South Carolina. In that same year, Dr. Browning returned to his native town, and began the practice of den- tistry in Jewett City. He has already achieved a splendid start in his chosen profession, and is looked upon as one of the coming men of the county.
Dr. Browning is well known and popular in various activities throughout this vicinity. He is a member of Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 75, Free and Accepted Masons, of Jewett City, and of Franklin Chapter, No. 3, Royal Arch Masons, of Norwich. His college fraternity is the Delta Sigma Delta. He
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attends the Congregational church of Griswold, and supports its social and benevolent organizations. Politically, he reserves the right to personal de- cision, and votes independently, giving unqualified support to no party.
Dr. Browning married Mildred Louise Akerley, of Reading, Massachusetts, November 15, 1920, she a daughter of Oliver L. and Susan J. Miller. She is a graduate of Abbot Academy at Andover, Massa- chusetts, class of 1915, and also graduated, in 1916, from the Forsyth Infirmary, at Boston, an infirmary for children.
JOHN CONDON QUINLAN-In the manufac- ture of marble and granite monuments and memo- rials of various kinds, Jolin Condon Quinlan is a leader in New London county, Connecticut, and his establishment in Norwich is the largest in the city covering this field.
Mr. Quinlan is a son of Patrick L. Quinlan, who was born in County Limerick, Ireland. He came to this country as soon as he left school, when only fourteen years of age. In 1854 he located in Green- ville, Connecticut, one of the suburbs of Norwich, where he was employed in the bleachery, now the United States Finishing Company. After the death of his wife, which occurred in 1864, the young man went to Omaha, Nebraska, and settled there per- manently. In 1867 he entered the employ of W. F. Murphy, a very prominent politician of Omaha. Mr. Quinlan was thereafter, for the rest of his life, more or less closely associated with Mr. Murphy, and for twenty-four years held the position of en- gineer of the Post Office Customs House in that city. He died in Omaha, December 26, 1913. Mr. Quinlan's first wife, Catherine (Condon) Quinlan, was born in Ireland, and died in Norwich, in 1864. Of her three children, John Condon Quinlan, whose name heads this review, is the only one now living. Patrick L. Quinlan married (second) in Omaha, and six children were born of this marriage.
John Condon Quinlan was born in Norwich, Con- necticut, on August 18, 1862, and is the third child of Patrick L. and Catherine (Condon) Quinlan. He received his formal education in the public schools of Norwich, and in the Norwich Free Academy. He was a young man of artistic tastes, yet with a natural inclination to the definitely practical, and at the age of seventeen he entered the office of A. G. Cutler, then a prominent architect. He studied the business with Mr. Cutler, and became an expert mechanical draughtsman, remaining there until 1880. In that year he became associated with his uncle, P. R. Condon, who was in the marble and granite business, and the leading monument maker of the day in this section. The young man became very efficient along this line, and worked for his uncle in the capacity of foreman for several years. P. R. Condon died in 1909, and upon his death the busi- ness passed into the hands of Mr. Quinlan. The business has continued uninterruptedly ever since, and has grown in volume and importance, until now it is the largest of its kind in the city. Mr. Quin-
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