A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 23

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

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On the 23d of October, 1897, Mr. Torrey was united in marriage to Miss Helen Martha Porter, a daughter of George W. and Mary (Washburn) Porter, of Hebron, Connecticut. They occupy an enviable social position in Putnam.

In 1907 Mr. Torrey was a member of the state legislature, serving on the im- portant judiciary committee. The cause of education has always found a champion in him and he has served for many years as a member of the school board. He also was appointed a member of the exemption board and discharges his duties with fidelity and conscientiousness. He is a man of pronounced ability, his native powers and talents having been developed through his liberal educational facilities and broad experience along the line of his profession. He is a worthy scion of his race -a race that has furnished many a substantial citizen to Connecticut, identified for many years with its material, intellectual, social, political and moral development.

TIMOTHY EARLE HOPKINS.

Timothy Earle Hopkins, of Danielson, is in his eighty-third year but looks to be a man several decades younger and in spirit and interests seems yet in his prime. Old age need not necessarily suggest idleness nor want of occupation. There is an old age which grows stronger and brighter mentally and morally as the years go on and gives out of its rich stores of wisdom and experience for the benefit of others. Such has been the career of Timothy E. Hopkins, who, never an office seeker, yet has done more perhaps to influence and shape the policy of the republican party than any other man in the state. His has been the dominating spirit back of many movements which have been of the greatest benefit to the commonwealth and at all times he has been actuated by marked devotion to the general good. He is still officially and financially interested in a number of important financial enterprises and other business projects, being the presi- dent of the Crystal Water Company of Danielson, vice president of the Killingly Trust Company, president of the Windham County National Bank and a director of the Federal Trust Company of Boston, of which he was formerly vice president. The story of his

J. E. Hopkins

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life is one of earnest endeavor crowned with notable success and his activities have ever been of a character that have contributed to general progress and improvement as well.

Mr. Hopkins is a native of Burrillville, Rhode Island, born December 5, 1835, and he is descended from one of the oldest New England families, the ancestral line being traced down from William Hopkins, whose son, Thomas Hopkins, was born in 1616 and who was a resident of Providence, Rhode Island, in 1640. He was one of the thirty-nine signers, of an agreement for a form of government for the town and in 1655 was made a freeman. He held several offices, including that of deputy to the general court in 1665, 1666, 1667 and 1672. At the outbreak of King Philip's war he removed to Oyster Bay, New York, where he died November 10, 1684. He had married Elizabeth Arnold and their second son was Thomas Hopkins, who in 1678 wedded Mary Smith, daughter of John and Elizabeth Smith. They resided at Providence, where he was made a freeman May 1, 1672, and there lie passed away April 21, 1718, the death of his wife occurring in the same year.

The line of descent comes on down through Thomas Hopkins III, who was one of the twelve children of Thomas Hopkins II and who lived at Scituate, Rhode Island, where his death occurred in 1746, while his wife died February 1, 1751. They were the parents of Timothy Hopkins, who was born July 25, 1725, and married Lillis Hinds or Summers. Their son, Timothy Hopkins II, was born in August, 1751, and on the 7th of March, 1781, married Sarah Carver, who was born April 25, 1762. Timothy Hopkins II served as a sergeant in Captain Stevens' Company, in Colonel Daniel Hitchcock's Regi- ment, of the Army of Observation, in 1775 and died March 18, 1812. His son, Carver Hopkins, was born October 26, 1799, in Scituate, Rhode Island, and there after attaining his majority he followed agricultural pursuits for several years. Eventually he removed to Burrillville, Rhode Island, and developed a large business in the manufacture of Spindles. After retiring from that undertaking he erected a mill in Burrillville, devoted to the manufacture of cotton goods, and carried on the business for a considerable period. He voted with the whig party until 1856, when he joined the ranks of the new republican party, which he supported until his death, which occurred in Burrillville, December 14, 1868. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Abby K. Manchester, was born August 6, 1805, and departed this life on the 30th of July, 1880. Their children were as follows: Israel M., born May 13, 1824, resided at Providence, Rhode Island, and died July 8, 1887; Florinda A., born June 24, 1826, became the wife of John A. Field; Sarah C., born October 23, 1828, married Alden P. Field, of Los Angeles, California; Abby E., born April 25, 1831, . was the wife of Charles T. Place, of Danielson, Connecticut; Ann Eliza was born July 14, 1833, and never married; Timothy Earle is the next of the family; Lillis P., born May 14, 1838, became the wife of Dr. Lemuel Hammond, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and died February 4, 1895.

After mastering a district school education at Burrillville, Rhode Island, Timothy E. Hopkins earned the money that enabled him to meet the expenses of a nine months' course in the New Hampton (N. H.) Academy, after which he made his initial step in the business world as an apprentice in the machine shop of his uncle, Augustus, with whom he remained for a year. He was afterward employed in a machine shop in Worcester, Massachusetts, until the plant was destroyed by fire, when he became con- nected with the operation of the mill owned by his father. In 1858 he went to Millbury and after spending a year there and a summer in Iowa was again employed for a brief period in his uncle's shop. He then entered into partnership with D. F. Salisbury for the conduct of a general store at Burrillville, and on disposing of his interest in the business in 1862 removed to Providence, where he carried on mercantile pursuits until 1865. He afterward concentrated his attention upon the manufacture of cotton goods at West Thompson, Connecticut, as a member of the Chase Manufacturing Company, of which he was made treasurer. When the business was discontinued in 1870 he returned to Burrillville and successfully engaged in woolen goods manufacturing there, until the plant was partially destroyed by the disastrous floods of 1876. He later removed to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, where he continued in the same line of business until 1880. In January of that year he established his home in Killingly, Connecticut, where he devoted his attention to the manufacture of woolen goods until 1896. Ten years before he or- ganized and incorporated the Jesse Eddy Manufacturing Company of Fall River, Massa- chusetts, in which Mr. Hopkins owned half of the stock, and was treasurer until 1898, when the business was sold to the American Woolen Company. In September, 1898, he was largely instrumental in organizing the Pennsylvania Furnace Company of Reading, Pennsylvania, operating two blast furnaces and turning out sixty thousand tons of pig iron annually. Of this company Mr. Hopkins became the treasurer. In May, 1885, he was active in promoting the Crystal Water Company of Danielson and has continuously served as its president. He is now concentrating his efforts and attention most largely upon the direction of that business and by reason of his executive force, administrative ability and keen discernment he has developed a business of large proportions with a

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splendidly equipped plant that furnishes to Danielson and its citizens an unlimited supply of pure water. He has also become identified with financial institutions as the vice president of the Killingly Trust Company and as president of the Windham County National Bank and his name is still on the directorate of the Federal Trust Company of Boston, of which he was formerly vice president.

On the 18th of May, 1859, Mr. Hopkins was married to Miss Marcella S. Cook, a. daughter of James S. Cook, of Burrillville, Rhode Island, and their children are as fol- lows: Elsie M., born April 7, 1867, in Thompson, Connecticut, was married October 27, 1892, to John E. Young, of Portland, Oregon, and they have one child, Elsa Hopkins, who was born in Portland; Earle Cook, the son, was born February 8, 1869, and is an officer in the Pennsylvania Furnace Company at Reading. He was married March 15, 1898, to Clara Louise Bates, of Danielson, a daughter of Loren E. Bates, and they have two chil- dren, Timothy E. and Phillip Bates.

For thirty years or more Mr. Hopkins has been a power in republican politics in Connecticut. He represented Thompson in the state legislature in 1868 but has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking and his work has been rather for the benefit of others and for the success of his party than for the aggrandizement of self. He served for some time as a member of the republican state central committee and he has been back of many important plans and measures which have resulted most bene- ficially to the commonwealth. There are few men better acquainted with the inside history of political activities in Connecticut and none who stand more loyally for progress and improvement along the lines of political reform and advancement. Fraternally he is a Mason, having taken the degrees of lodge, chapter and commandery, and his life is an exemplification of the beneficent spirit of the craft. The cause of education has ever found in him a stalwart champion and he has done much important work in that con- nection, having served as chairman of the building committee at the time of the erection of the Killingly high school and also as a member of the committee that built the Bugbee Libary of Danielson. He is a most interesting man, thoroughly familiar with the history of Connecticut and this section of New England through more than three-quarters of a century, and his activities have been so directed that community and state have con- tinuously been a direct beneficiary of his efforts.

ROBERT H. FENTON.

Robert H. Fenton, secretary of the Windham Silk Company and thus identified with one of the most important of the productive industries of Willimantic and of Connecticut, was born in Mansfield, this state, on the 17th of October, 1872, a son of Charles and Cornelia (Hall) Fenton. The father is a native of Crown Point, New York, and is still living in Willimantic, but the mother passed away in 1880, when her son Robert was but a young lad. The father has devoted his entire life to the silk trade and is well known in that connection.

Robert H. Fenton attended the schools of Westbrook, Maine, and of Willimantic and entered Tufts College, where he won the Bachelor of Science degree, completing the civil engineering course with the class of 1897. In that year he entered the employ of the Berlin Iron & Bridge Company as a draftsman and engineer and was connected with the corporation until 1900. In the following year he came to the Windham Silk Company as secretary, being one of the stockholders and directors of the concern. In his present official position he looks after the details of the silk manufacturing, shipping and correspondence. The company manufactures dress silks, tailors'. linings and tie silks, and sells extensively to jobbers and dealers from New England to the Rocky mountains, being represented upon the road by a number of traveling sales- men, while the interests of the trade are further promoted by a New York house, which brings the sales into closer connection with the trade. In addition to his connection with the silk manufacturing interests Mr. Fenton is a stockholder of the Willimantic Trust Company. His attention, however, is concentrated on the business of the Wind- ham Silk Company, with which he has acquired thorough familiarity in every detail. A well equipped plant produces a large line of attractive goods and the work has been so thoroughly systematized in every department that maximum results are achieved at a minimum expenditure of time, labor and material.

In 1901 Mr. Fenton was united in marriage to Miss Jessie Stone, a daughter of E. L. Stone, a conductor on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, making the run between Hartford and Boston. There was one child of that marriage, Jessica. In 1912 Mr. Fenton was again married, his second union being with Miss Harriett Bass, a native of Scotland, Connecticut, and a daughter of Egbert Bass, a prominent

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farmer of Scotland who is now living retired, spending a part of the time with Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. In politics he is a stalwart advocate of democratic principles.

Mr. Fenton gives his political allegiance to the republican party and from 1914 has served as a member of the school board. He is keenly interested in the develop- ment of the town and in all of its educational and civic affairs and cooperates heartily in all movements for the general good. He belongs to the Congregational church and while at Tufts College be became a member of the Delta Upsilon, a college fraternity. He is also first scout master of Troop 1 of the Willimantic Boy Scouts. In a word his interests are broad and varied and he feels it to be a matter of individual concern wherever the welfare and progress of the community can be enhanced through his cooperation and support. Those who know him esteem him as a man of high moral worth and of upright character as well as a progressive manufacturer.

HON. ARTHUR GORDON BILL.

The legal profession in Windham county finds a prominent representative in Hon. Arthur Gordon Bill, who maintains a law office at Danielson, where he is also engaged in the insurance business. A Yale man, he has practiced continuously in Danielson since 1877 and his ability and forty years' experience have placed him in the front ranks of the attorneys of this section of the state.

Mr. Bill was born in Chaplin, Connecticut, May 29, 1856, a son of Lester and Mary (Goodell) Bill. The father was born near Braintree, Vermont, and in young manhood removed to Chaplin, where he followed the occupation of farming and became exten- sively engaged in stock raising, his business interests being carried on along large lines that made for success. He specialized in the raising of oxen and steers and won a well earned reputation for the fine oxen which he handled. He served as a selectman in his town and also as town clerk and justice of the peace and in the dis- charge of his duties was ever prompt, faithful and capable. His wife was born in Chaplin, Connecticut, and was a daughter of Isaac and Chloe (Hammond) Goodell, the former a native of Chaplin, while the latter was born in Hampton. Her father followed farming in Chaplin.

Arthur G. Bill became a student in the Woodstock Academy after completing his district school education in Chaplin and later continued his studies in the Killingly high school. In a review of the broad field of business, with its varied opportunities for industrial, commercial or professional activity, he decided upon the practice of law as a life work and in preparation therefor entered Yale University as a law student and was graduated with the class of 1877. Thus thoroughly trained, he came to Daniel- son and entered upon the practice of his profession, forming a partnership with Ed. L. Cundall, under the firm style of Cundall & Bill, his partner having been his pre- ceptor in law before he entered Yale. This association was pleasantly and profitably maintained for eight years or until 1885, when the partnership was severed by the death of Mr. Cundall. Mr. Bill has since practiced alone and has won for himself very favorable criticism for the careful and systematic methods which he has followed. He possesses remarkable powers of concentration and application and his retentive mind has often excited the surprise of his professional colleagues. As an orator he stands high, especially in the discussion of legal matters before the court, where his comprehensive knowledge of the law is manifest and his application of legal principles demonstrates the wide range of his professional acquirements. The utmost care and precision characterizes his preparation of a case and has made him one of the most successful attorneys in Windham county. In addition to caring for the large interests of an extensive clientele he also engages in the insurance business.

On the 11th of August, 1880, Mr. Bill was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Estelle Chase, the wedding being celebrated at Danielson. Mrs. Bill was born at Pascoag, Rhode Island, and was educated in Thompson, Connecticut, to which place she removed in her childhood days with her parents, Nelson and Alsada (Harris) Chase, who were likewise natives of Rhode Island. Mr. and Mrs. Bill became the parents of three chil- dren, all of whom were born in Danielson. Katherine H., a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, was connected with the publicity department of the Liberty Loan committee in New York city and in October, 1918, became the wife of William T. Mullally of New York. Marjorie G. is a graduate of Miss Wheelock's School of Boston and in September, 1919, became the wife of Ralph E. Woodbury, of Bristol, Connecticut. Lester A. Bill, the only son, enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve Force during the war. He took a special course in the United States Naval Academy, was commissioned an ensign and served on the U. S. Ship De Kalb as engineer officer. He was married December 31,

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1919, to Miss Ruth M. Skinner, of Orleans, Vermont. The death of Mrs. Lillian Bill occurred April 28, 1918. On the 14th of August, 1919, Mr. Bill was married to Mrs. Cora B. Stoddard at Dover, New Hampshire.

Mr. Bill is an active member of the Westfield Congregational church, doing all in his power to advance its interests and promote its growth. He is secretary of the Westfield Cemetery Association, a position which he has filled for thirty years. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and several times he has been called upon to serve in positions of honor and trust. For twelve years he filled the position of judge of the probate court for the district of Killingly and "won golden opinions from all sorts of people" by his fair and impartial rulings. He has been coroner of Windham county since 1885 and is still filling that office. He belongs to the Windham County Bar Association and enjoys the high regard of colleagues and contemporaries in the profession. A man of scholarly attainments, he keeps in touch with the trend of public thought along all vital questions, and when he gives his support to any public measure it is an indication that he has thoroughly studied the question and recognizes the value of the course which he is pursuing.

AUGUSTUS IRVING MORSE.

Through three generations the name of Morse was prominently identified with textile manufacturing in Putnam and the Morse mills furnished employment to hundreds of people. Augustus Irving Morse, however, was not simply an employer in his relations to those in his service, but was a friend and benefactor as well. His aid was most freely, helpfully and unostentatiously given to any of his employes in need or distress and he was continually reaching out a helping hand or speaking an encouraging word. He did not believe that there was an unbridgeable gulf between the man of wealth and the laborer, but on the contrary his life exemplified a belief in the universal brotherhood of man.

Augustus I. Morse was born in Providence, Rhode Island, December 8, 1855, and is a descendant of one of the oldest Massachusetts families, the earliest authentic record being of Samuel and Elizabeth Morse, who with their son Joseph came to America from England in 1635 as passengers on the ship Increase. They were among the founders of Dedham, Massachusetts, where Samuel Morse took an active part in the public life of the community, serving as selectman and as treasurer from 1640 until 1642. He was born in England in the year 1585 and his life record covered the intervening years to 1654, when he passed away in Medfield, Massachusetts. His son Joseph was born in 1615 and in 1638 married Hannah Phillips of Watertown, Massachusetts. They lived in Dedham, where Joseph Morse passed away in 1654 and his wife in 1676. They were the parents of Jeremiah Morse, a wheelwright of Medfield, who was born April 10, 1651, and died February 19, 1715-16. He was the father of Jeremiah Morse II, who was born October 31, 1679, and was married November 19, 1700, to-Mehetabel Cheney and resided in Medfield and Oxford. He passed away October 10, 1717, and his wife died on the 4th of October, 1727. Their son, Josiah Morse, representative of the family in the fifth generation, was born July 1, 1701. His son, Josiah, was born January 31, 1728-29, and was married twice. He resided in Walpole and in Sharon. He was the father of Oliver Morse, who married Waitstill Stratton and was a resident of Foxborough, Massachusetts. Milton Stratton Morse was born December 25, 1799, in Foxborough, and in boyhood removed to Wrentham, Massachusetts, where he began work in a small cotton factory, his first task being that of picking cotton and placing it on the cards. He was then apprentised by his father to a blacksmith but when thirteen years of age returned home, the family then being residents of Attleboro. He soon secured work at braiding straw and picking cotton in Pawtucket and in 1815 accompanied his father to a farm in East Providence, assisting in the cultivation of the land for a year. He then went to live with an uncle in Foxborough and a year later secured employment in a cotton mill at Attle- boro, where he was soon advanced to the position of overseer of the card room. From that time on his progress was continuous. He not only mastered the duties assigned him, but he gave the closest attention to the study of methods of manufacture and thought out many ways of improving these methods. At length he assumed charge of a mill at North Attleboro devoted to the manufacture of cotton thread, a mill which was in competition with the Coates mill. Here he taught inexperienced operatives the busi- ness of thread making and as manager of the enterprise made it a most successful under- taking. After identification with other mills he began business on his own account, and purchased the Abbott Run mills at Cumberland and took charge of the property, where he installed new machinery and made substantial improvements. As the years passed on he was identified with various cotton milling interests in New England and in 1844

Augustus & More

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machinery from the Valley Falls mills was removed to a brick mill built at Putnam, Connecticut, and owned by George C. Nightingale, of Providence. In 1857 machinery was brought from a factory at Greenville, Rhode Island, to the present stone mill be- longing to Mr. Nightingale and these mills were successfully operated by Mr. Morse under contract. In 1848 Messrs. M. S. Morse, G. C. Nightingale and S. Dorr, Jr., of Providence, built and operated a large stone mill known as the Morse mill, and their business developed rapidly. In 1862 Mr. Morse and his brother Alfred purchased a cotton mill at Holden and also one at Farmersville, Massachusetts, but afterward he disposed of the latter and became sole owner of the former, which he continued to operate until his death. In 1872 the firm of Morse & Nightingale erected the Powhatan mill above Putnam and Mr. Morse continued actively in business until the time of his death, which resulted from an accident on the 17th of May, 1877, when he was almost eighty years of age. Few men have done so much to develop the cotton manufacturing interests of this section of the country. He was not only constantly improving mills in construction and in methods of manufacture, but he was constantly looking out for the welfare of em- ployes, one thousand of whom felt that they had lost a true friend and benefactor when he passed away. He was married September. 30, 1824, to Susanna Blake, of Wrentham, Massachusetts.

George Milton Morse, the second son in their family of four children, was born in Central Falls, Rhode Island, August 25, 1830, and pursued his education in Providence. After his father established business at Putnam, Connecticut, he became a clerk in the company's store, but later returned to Providence. In the spring of 1850 he again came to Putnam and in 1854 was made superintendent of the Morse mills, acting in that capacity until 1877, when he assumed entire management of the property. He became the company's agent in that year and succeeded his father in the presidency. The Pow- hatan mills were erected under his personal supervision, and of the three corporations located at Putnam, Milton S. and George Milton Morse were the managers, the entire responsibility devolving upon the latter at the death of his father. He was president of the Morse and Powhatan Companies and also of the Abbott Run mills, and of the last named was also treasurer. He was likewise a third owner and manager of the Holden cotton mills at Holden, Massachusetts, but sold his interest there in 1893. It would be to give a partial and one-sided view of the character of George M. Morse if reference were not made to his activities along other lines. He ever recognized the duties and obligations as well as the privileges of citizenship and was a stanch advocate of the republican party, which in 1891 and again in 1896 elected him to represent his district in the Connecticut legislature, where he served as chairman of the committee on con- stitutional amendments and as a member of the committee on finance. He would have been accorded senatorial honors had he not persistently refused nomination to the office. The cause of education enjoyed his stalwart championship and he served as one of the building committee of the high school of Putnam and in many other ways did much to further educational progress. His Christian faith, dominating all that he did, made him a man of the highest personal honor and prompted his many acts for the amelioration of hard conditions of life for the unfortunate. In April, 1858, he joined the Baptist church of Putnam and became one of its deacons in 1880, serving in that office for many years. He held Christianity above denominationalism and ever recognized the good in others. On Friday evening and at five o'clock on Sunday afternoon he held union service in his own church and these meetings constituted an agency which brought many fol- lowers to the cause of Christianity. He was ever a most liberal contributor to religious work and after attending a camp meeting in 1875 he recognized the desirability of es- tablishing a permanent camp meeting place. Accordingly he purchased land, whereon he erected several suitable buildings, including a dining hall, office and dormitory, and there developed camp meeting grounds on which have been held many meetings which have been of the greatest benefit in the moral development of this section of Windham county.

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A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 23

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