A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 131

Author: Lincoln, Allen B
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke publ. co.
Number of Pages: 960

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Mrs. Marland and her children now reside in Danielson. Her maiden name was Hannah King, and she too was a native of England, being a daughter of Stephen King. Mr. and Mrs. Marland had a family of six children, but the firstborn, Earl, died in infancy. Rupert is the manager of the Kresge Five & Ten Cent Store at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Myrtie is a school teacher at Killingly and resides at bome. Sidney P. married Ruth Johnson, of Wauregan, Connecticut, and they are tbe parents of two children, Sidney P. Jr., and Robert T. William S. married Anna Campbell of Bridgeport, Connecticut. John R. is tbe overseer of the winding depart- ment of the Connecticut Mills Company in Danielson. He served in the World war as a seaman in the merchant marine service and made several cruises to different ports of South America and Africa and with his brother, William S., was a private at tbe Edgewood arsenal. The Marland family has figured prominently in connec- tion with the basketball team of Danielson, which in 1908 won the championsbip in New England. In fact they gained the championship for four consecutive years. Sidney P. Marland played center and was captain of the team, while his brother, William S., played forward, the other members being Charles Myers, who also played forward, and Wallace Paine and Dr. Warren Tanner, who played back. These young

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men indeed made a notable record for their work as basketball players, being unde- feated in New England and also playing some of the most prominent teams of the entire country. During the period of the World war Mrs. Marland and her daughter were very active in Red Cross work and the family also took a helpful part in promoting the Liberty Loan drives. All are members of the Episcopal church of Danielson and in the social circles of the city occupy a very prominent position.

In his political views Mr. Marland was a republican and he served the borough of Danielson as warden for two years. He was a most public-spirited and progressive man and it was through his efforts that an appropriation was made for a new fire station, which was built during his term of office as warden. He also was instrumen- tal in building a new schoolhouse in Williamsville, now Goodyear, Connecticut, in the town of Killingly. A prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, he served at one time as master of Mysia Lodge, No. 15, A. F. & A. M., and he was also connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Danielson. No man was held in higher esteem by his fellow citizens and his family share in the warm regard which was ever extended the husband and father, who throughout his entire life displayed most sterling qualities in his devotion to his family and his friends, in his progressiveness in business and in his loyalty in citizenship.

LEON NAPOLEON MERCIER.

Leon Napoleon Mercier, general manager of the clothing department in the Mercier store at Plainfield, was born in Taftville, Connecticut, August 20, 1881, a son of Napoleon and Mary Agnes (Mann) Mercier. The father was a native of the province of Quebec, Canada, and when a child accompanied his parents on their removal to Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, while later he established his home in Taftville, Con- necticut, where he worked in the cotton mills for a number of years. He afterward became a resident of Plainfield, where he is now employed as a weaver in the Lawton Mills. He was married in Taftville in 1880 to Mary Agnes Mann and they became the parents of three children: Leon Napoleon; Edmond Louis, who wedded Marilda Juneau, of Norwich, Connecticut; and Isidore Wilfred, who married Exina Mary Caron, of Taftville.

At the usual age Leon N. Mercier became a public school pupil at Taftville and, after completing his studies, started out in the business world. He was employed in cotton mills for two years and next secured a situation with the Reid & Hughes Company, in the clothing department of their store. When he left that establishment he went to Hartford, Connecticut, where for a number of years he was employed by the firm of Brown & Thomson, becoming assistant buyer in the drapery department. He next worked for Porteous & Mitchell for a number of years, representing that house as assistant buyer of the carpet department. When he left that position he removed to Plainfield and entered the employ of his brother, Edmond Mercier, who had established a drug store and who later extended the scope of his business by the establishment of a clothing department, of which L. N. Mercier was given full charge as general manager. He is now in control of this branch of the business and has made it a paying concern. Mr. Mercier was united in marriage to Miss Eva Pageau, of Willimantic, and they have become the parents of three children: Hector, deceased; Eneas E .; and Richard W. In his political views Mr. Mercier is a democrat and is a recognized leader in party ranks in his section of the state. He has served as tax collector of the town of Plainfield and his fellow citizens, appreciating his worth and ability, called him to represent his district in the state legislature in 1919, so that he is now a member of the Connecticut general assembly. He holds to the religious faith of his family- that of the Catholic church.

MISS MATTIE EMMA GIBSON.

For fourteen years Miss Mattie Emma Gibson has been the efficient principal of the Moosup school and has been identified with professional work altogether for a quarter of a century. She was born in Eagleville, Connecticut, January 24, 1871, a daughter of Otis Ira and Phebe Susan (Hassell) Gibson. The father was born in Sterling, Con- necticut, and there attended the public schools. In young manhood he worked in the cotton mills of Sterling and afterward removed to Danielson, where he obtained em- ployment in the finishing department of a shoe factory. He afterward removed to Put- nam, Connecticut, where he was employed along the same line for a number of years,

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or until his health became impaired, when he took up work as a book agent in order to be more out of doors. He represented publishing houses throughout the southern part of New England for a number of years and eventually retired from active business, making his home at Sterling Hill to the time of his death, which occurred on the 2d of August, 1896.

Mr. Gibson was married twice. He first wedded Naomi Batcheler and to them were born two children: Addie; and one who has passed away. Having lost his first wife, Mr. Gibson afterward wedded Phebe Susan Hassell at Holyoke, Massachusetts, December 25, 1865, and they, too, became the parents of two children: Mattie Emma and Charles Otis. Mrs. Gibson and her two children still occupy the old family home on Sterling Hill in the town of Sterling.

The daughter of the second marriage began her education in the public schools of Moosup and afterward attended the public school at Sterling Hill. She therein mastered the elementary grades and later became a high school pupil at Conway, Massachusetts. In September, 1889, she was appointed teacher in the West Greenwich, Rhode Island, school and later taught at Coventry, that state. In 1893 she went to Conway, Massa- chusetts, where she taught until 1896, and the following year taught in the fifth grade at Moosup, Connecticut, where she remained for two years. She was then assistant principal of the same school from 1899 until the close of the school year in 1905, and the following September became principal, which position she is still filling. From the beginning she has manifested the utmost zeal and interest in her work and as principal has the faculty of inspiring teachers and pupils under her with much of the same zeal. She is constantly alert to attain the mastery of new methods that will contribute to her success in the educational field and agrees with President Eliot of Harvard that "What is needed is continuous education which lasts through life." She has labored with the idea that the purpose of teaching is to develop capacity and among her former pupils are many who have proven the worth of her instruction. Miss Gib- son is a loyal member of the Baptist church of Sterling Hill and her influence has ever been a potent force for intellectual and moral progress in the community where she has lived and labored.

CARL ARTHUR CARLSON.

Carl Arthur Carlson is engaged in general farming and dairying in the town of Brooklyn. His experiences in life, however, have been broad and varied and have covered considerable residence in Sweden, which is, moreover, his native country. He was born in Aalborg lan, in the state of Westergotland, Sweden, April 1, 1882, his parents being John and Hannah T. (Salberg) Carlson, who were also natives of the place where the birth of their son Carl A. occurred. The father was reared and edu- cated in the public schools there and in young manhood was employed as a farm hand. He likewise worked in a gin mill with his father and in 1868 he came to the United States, making his way to Pontiac, Rhode Island, where he was employed as a mason and painter. He afterward became a boss painter for the Pontiac Manufac- turing Company, continuing in that position until 1873, when he returned to Sweden and engaged in business in the same town in which his birth occurred, becoming a grocery merchant there. He continued in the business in Sweden until 1892, when he once more crossed the Atlantic and began work as a painter at Pontiac, Rhode Island. In 1900 he went once more to Sweden, where he was again engaged in the grocery business for three years. In 1903 he took up his abode at Pontiac, Rhode Island, and purchased a farm upon which he has since lived, giving his attention to the further development and improvement of the place. To him and his wife have been born seven children. The first two were named Gertrude and both have passed away. Lydia, the third in order of birth, is at home with her parents. Carl Arthur is the next of the family. John is also at home. Olga is the wife of Jesse Steele, a traveling salesman. Karen is also under the parental roof.

Carl A. Carlson spent his youthful days in his native town to the age of ten years, when he accompanied his parents on their trip across the Atlantic, the family home being established in Pontiac, Rhode Island. There he began earning his living by working in the Pontiac cotton mill, in which he was employed for six years. In 1900 he went to Sweden with his father but returned in 1903 and was employed along various lines until 1908. That year he again went to Sweden, where he was employed as a railroad man for two years. In 1910 he arrived once more in the new world and for a year worked with his father upon the farm. In 1911 he took up the business of

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contracting and building, in which he engaged until 1918, when he removed to Brooklyn, Connecticut, and purchased the farm upon which he now resides. He has since given his attention to the cultivation of the soil and to the conduct of a dairy and both branches of his business are proving a source of substantial profit.

Mr. Carlson was married to Miss Florence B. Holmes, a daughter of James E. and Eldora E. (Kegg) Holmes, natives of New England. Mr. and Mrs. Carlson have two children, Beatrice H. and Carl B. In politics Mr. Carlson maintains an independent course. He belongs to the Vasa Lodge of America, No. 52, and he has membership in the Lutheran church of Pontiac, Rhode Island. He has throughout his life been an industrious and energetic young man whose labors have been prompted by an unfalter- ing spirit of industry, enterprise and ambition and thus as the result of his well directed labors he has attained a substantial measure of success.

JAMES HENRY MARRIOTT.

James Henry Marriott, one of the proprietors of a stone quarry in the town of Sterling, has spent the greater part of his life on American soil although born in Littlethorpe, England, February 20, 1876, his parents being Richard B. and Ada (Hunt) Marriott, who are natives of Mount Sorrel, England. A sketch of the father appears on another page of this volume.

James H. Marriott began his education in the public schools of Westerly, Rhode Island, and afterward attended school in various parts of the country according to his father's removals. He learned the business of stone quarrying in early life through assistance rendered his father and eventually they became connected in business under the present firm style of R. B. Marriott & Son. They are now suc- cessfully quarrying stone in Sterling and their output finds a ready sale on the market.

On the 29th of May, 1898, Mr. Marriott was married to Miss Elizabeth Ann Cumming, of Sterling, Connecticut, a daughter of Robert F. and Agnes (Leach) Cumming. They have had a family of twelve children, nine of whom are yet living, namely: Ada, Zillah M., Christina F., Richard B., Violet E., James H., Doris V., Gertrude E. and Ethel M.

In politics Mr. Marriott is a republican and for five years has served on the board of relief. He is well known in Masonic circles, belonging to Moosup Lodge, No. 113, A. F. & A. M .; Warren Chapter, R. A. M., of Danielson; Montgomery Council, R. & S. M., at Danielson; Columbia Commandery, K. T., of Norwich, Con- necticut; and Sphinx Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Hartford. He is also identified with the Odd Fellows Lodge at Sterling and he and his family attend the Methodist church at Oneco. His life is guided by high and honorable principles which find expression in his relations with his fellowmen. Those who know him, and he has a wide acquaintance, speak of him in terms of high regard, and Sterling classes him with her valued and representative citizens.

LEVI N. CLARK.

Levi N., Clark is a well known resident of Canterbury. His father, Francis Clark, was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, July 22, 1815, and there acquired his educa- tion. Desiring to obtain thorough equipment for life, he hired out as an apprentice to a tanner and currier when but fourteen years of age, and during the succeeding seven years, developed great proficiency along those lines. Having completed his apprentice- ship, he came to America in July, 1836, and being a skilled workman, he found no difficulty in securing positions. He first followed his trade in the Fry tannery at Plainfield, Connecticut, and later he worked at various places in New London county and finally located in the tannery of Earl Warner at Brooklyn, Connecticut. On March 4, 1841, he married Sarah M. Heath, who was born June 30, 1823, a daughter of Amos and Mary (Chapman) Heath, of Groton, Connecticut. She passed away in Brooklyn, February 3, 1905. She had become the mother of eight children. Francis B., who was born February 4, 1843, married Elizabeth Leach, a school teacher, and they had two children: Clarence, who was born February 16, 1880; and Cora E., who was born August 27, 1881, and died February 9, 1897. Francis B. Clark resides in Hyde Park, Los Angeles county, California, and is one of the successful agriculturists of the southern part of the state, having thirty-five hundred acres under cultivation at one time. He has now retired from business, with the exception of supervising his

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properties. He is a man of great liberality, and in Hyde Park built at his own expense and supports a church as a memorial to his daughter, Cora. In this church is also a memorial window to his father, mother, brother, sister and his wife's mother. During the Civil war he served in Company K, of the Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and became a lieutenant and afterward a captain of a colored regiment.

William H. Clark, the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Francis Clark, was born March 23, 1845, and became a private of Company K, Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and was wounded at Drury's Bluff. He married a daughter of Lyman Chapman, of Stonington, Connecticut, and later settled in Napa City, California, where he died, leaving a daughter, Ada, who is now married and resides in San Jose, California. George W., the third of the family, was born February 16, 1847, and died on the 14th of December, of the same year.

Sarah E., the fourth child, was born March 13, 1849, and became the wife of Samuel T. Cooper, of Danielson, Connecticut, and they had six children: Mrs. Jose- phine Hestor, a registered nurse; Frank S., who married Nellie Wilkerson and has two children living; Mildred E., born in April, 1895, and now the wife of Herman Goetz, of Chatham, New York; and Samuel T., who was born August 11, 1902, and is now a member of the United States Navy, having about a year more to serve. Annie L., married Albert Kilpatrick, September, 1892, and they had one son, Robert Edison, who was born August 11, 1894, and married Gladys Baumer, of Groton, Connecticut, who was a direct descendant of one of the Mayflower Pilgrims, and they have four children: Evelyn Gladys, born July 23, 1913; Ralph, born July 18, 1915; Grace, April 4, 1917; and William Curtis, July 17, 1919. Mrs. Annie Kilpatrick became the wife of William C. Sprague, of Moosup, Connecticut, August 24, 1911. Gladys B., born August 1, 1879, married Charles H. Newton of New London, January 29, 1899. Aaron G., born May 9, 1881, was married in April, 1912, to Carolyn Richter, of Tarrytown, New York, and has one daughter, Carol, born in December, 1914. William, born March 3, 1882, married Helen Smith, of New London, in September, 1903, and they have three children; William, born August, 1904; Roberta in 1906; and Raymond in 1908. Mr. Cooper was an en- gineer on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and was killed at Port Chester, New York, August 7th, 1916, when on his engine. His wife, Sarah (Clark) Cooper, died in June, 1920, at Chatham, New York.

John Clark, the fifth member of the family of Francis Clark, was born, March 13, 1852, and died the following day. John F. Clark, the sixth of the family, was born October 7, 1853, and resides in Azusa, Los Angeles county, California. Benjamin Clark, seventh of the family, was born April 19, 1859, and resides in East Brooklyn, Con- necticut. He married Nettie Shepard, and has one child, Ada, who married Mr. Wells, and resides on Long Island, New York. The other member of the family is Levi Nelson Clark, mentioned below.

Steady work and thrift, enabled Francis Clark, in the course of time to purchase the tannery of Earl Warner and to carry on the business by himself, continuing in this line until his death, November 22, 1875. He was a member of the Baptist church, a consistent Christian, and highly respected.

John Chapman, the progenitor of the family of that name, in and near Stonington, was of English origin. He was the son of John and Joanna (Sumner) Chapman, who resided about fifty miles from London. Tradition has it that John was forced into the British navy by a press gang, and after a while the ship visited Boston, Massachusetts, where he then embraced the opportunity of gaining the liberty of which he had been deprived. He fled and found succor in the abode of Samuel Allen, in what is now called Wakefield, Rhode Island. A weaver by trade, he worked at North Stonington through the remainder of his life. He was married February 16, 1710, to Sarah Brown, and died in 1760. Their children were: Sarah, who was born November 25, 1710, and became the wife of Ichabod Brown; Jonah, born February 2, 1712; John, who was born September 9, 1714, and was married April 28, 1742, to Mary Boardman; William, who was born December 19, 1716, and was married January 31, 1740, to Abigail Plumb; Andrew, born March 3, 1719, married Hannah Smith; Thomas, born about 1721, had a wife, Mary, surname unknown; Sumner, born about 1723, married Elizabeth Herrick; and Eunice completed the family.

Mrs. Mary (Chapman) Heath, grandmother of Levi N. Clark, was a daughter of John Chapman and a granddaughter of Levi Chapman, who served in the Revolution from Groton. John Chapman, married Bethany Button, a sister of Colonel Button, of Jewett City, and Charles Button, of Hampton, the latter of whom had two sons, Charles and Linden. The children of John Chapman were as follows: Sarah, who married Billings Lamb, of New London, and had seven children: Reuben, of Mystic, who married Emily Lamb and had three children, Emma, William and John; Roswell, who married Mary Ann Wilcox, and had four children, Marion, who married and went

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west, Amos, Everett and Martin; Albert, who became the father of three sons and two daughters; Lyman, who was twice married, had children and went west; Betsey, who married Nathan Lamb, of Mystic and had three children, namely: Betsey Emeline, who became the wife of Henry Myers, and had children, and Frank and Edwin; Mary, who became the wife of Amos Heath; Amos, who died unmarried; and Levi, who mar- ried Lavinia Lamb, and had eleven children.

Levi Nelson Clark, was born in Brooklyn, Connecticut, September 6, 1863. His education was acquired in the graded school of Brooklyn Village and for a vocation he chose farming, which he followed for some time on the family homestead. On the 11th of January, 1882, he married Cary E. Larkham, who was born in Voluntown, Con- necticut, a daughter of William H. and Hannah E. (Palmer) Larkham. Of this union there were three children: Mabel Larkham, who was born October 30, 1882, and died September 13, 1884; Sarah Hannah, who was born August 14, 1884, and is the wife of Frank R. Burdick, of Hampton, Connecticut, now living at New London, Connecticut, and they have two children; and Bertha Maud, born June 25, 1886, who was married January 14, 1914, to Henry N. Davis, and they have three children, Kenneth Newton, born March 31, 1915, Addison Clark, born August 7, 1916, and Elsworth Levi, born October 15, 1919.

On the 9th of October, following his marriage, Levi N. Clark came to Canterbury, and November 4th, of the following year, purchased the Baldwin farm, a seventy-five acre tract, in the southern part of the town. There he engaged in farming, paying special attention to the raising of small fruits and vegetables and to the breeding of poultry. For some time he also had the agency for agricultural implements and fertilizers.

In the political field Mr. Clark is an out and out republican, and is chairman of the republican town committee. He has been honored with nearly every office in the town. In 1901-2 he represented Canterbury in the state legislature, where his sound judgment and forceful character secured his appointment to two important committees, constitutional amendments and state prison, on the last of which he served as clerk. Special evidence of his wide popularity was shown by the fact that he was elected delegate to the constitutional convention of 1902. The last convention of this kind had been held in 1818. In 1900 Mr. Clark took the census for the town of Canterbury. Socially he has exerted quite as wide an influence as politically. He affiliates with the Quinebaug Lodge, No. 34, I. O. O. F., and Unity Encampment, No. 21, of Danielson, in which he has filled nearly all of the chairs, having been high priest for three years and chief patriarch for one year. He also attended the grand encampment of the state, and belongs to the Veteran's Association, I. O. O. F. of Connecticut. He is a charter member of Canterbury Grange, No. 70, which was organized October 27, 1887, and in which he has filled nearly all of the chairs, having been worthy master two years and secretary twenty-three years. He is a member of the Quinebaug Pomona Grange, No. 2, of which he was overseer three years, and is also a member of the Con- necticut State Grange. He is also health officer of the town of Canterbury.

It is not unlikely that the Heaths of Groton or vicinity, from whom Sarah M. (Heath) Clark, the mother of Levi N. Clark, of Canterbury, descends, are from a Haverhill family. At least in support of this, is the fact that John Heath is early of record at Norwich, Connecticut, and from Haverhill. His wife, Hannah, was re- ceived into the church at Norwich, and a son, Josiah, baptized in 1715. Bartholomew Heath, born in 1600 and early at Newbury, Massachusetts, had John, Joseph and Josiah. Of these, John, born August 15, 1643, was married November 4, 1666, to Sarah, daughter of William Partridge, of Salisbury, and removed to Haverhill. Josiah wedded Mary, daughter of John Davis, of Haverhill and had one son, Josiah. In the absence of family records and direct knowledge on the subject the similarity of family names is in further support of the theory of connection between the Newbury, Haverhill and Norwich families. William Heath, grandfather of Mrs. Heath, was a drummer in the revolution and was killed in battle. He married Miss Culver and among their children was a son named Amos.

Amos Heath, father of Mrs. Clark, became a soldier in the War of 1812, serving in the summer of 1813 in the company commanded by Stephen Billings. He married Mary Chapman, who died in 1886, and had eleven children: Levi Nelson, the eldest, married Mary Phillips, and lived at Norwich, Connecticut, and died of typhoid fever at the age of forty. Amos F., member of Company K, Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, was killed in the engagement of Bermuda Hundred, May 6, 1864. Hudson + died of yellow fever on a return trip from New Zealand. Lucy became the wife of Thomas Riley, of Norwich, Connecticut, but died at Mystic, leaving five children: Sarah, who married Captain Charles Wheeler; Mary, the wife of Arthur Maxson, of west Mystic, Connecticut, and the mother of three living sons; Lizzie, who married Oscar

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A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 131

Author: Lincoln, Allen B Publication date: 1920 Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke publ. co. Number of Pages: 960

Author: Lincoln, Allen B
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke publ. co.
Number of Pages: 960