A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 28

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

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ISAAC NEWTON MILLS

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who afterwards became distinguished in the various professions, notably Gillette, the present speaker of the house of representatives.

Mr. Mills then went to the Columbia Law school, being attracted to it by the great fame of Judge Theodore W. Dwight, its dean, who was one of the best law instructors this country ever had. He was graduated there in the spring of 1876; and in the fall of that year, having been admitted to the New York bar, he settled in the practice of law in the then village (now city) of Mount Vernon, Westchester county, New York. That county is one of the most important in the state-large, populous, and wealthy. It comprises the territory lying between the Hudson river on the west, Connecticut on the east, New York City and Long Island Sound on the south, and the highlands of the Hudson on the north. He soon established a good reputation as a lawyer, especially in trial work, of which he made a specialty. In the fall of 1883, at the early age of thirty-two, he was, as the candidate of the republican party to which he has always belonged, elected to the important office of county judge of that county, although the county was then normally democratic by about three thousand majority. In the fall of 1889 he was reelected to that office for a second term of six years by a large majority. At the expiration of that term, 1895, he declined a renomination which was unanimously tendered to him by his party.

During the following eleven years he attended most assiduously to legal practice, almost exclusively as trial counsel. Few lawyers in any equal period have actually tried as many cases in the higher courts as he then did. He was regarded as emi- nently successful with the jury. In the fall of 1906 he was elected, in the ninth judicial district of the state, a justice of the supreme court. As such he served at trial term work up to May, 1915, when he was, by the governor, designated to appellate work as one of the associate justices of the appellate division of that court, in and for the second department, which includes the former city of Brooklyn, all of Long Island, Staten Island, and the Hudson river counties of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange and Rockland. He is still serving as such associate justice, being now the senior one of that court. At the recent New York primaries he was unanimously nomi- nated by both the democratic and republican parties for reelection at the coming November election to succeed himself for another term; but owing to the New York constitutional age limitation he will be able to serve only one year of the new term, as he will become seventy years of age on September 10, 1921.

As a judge he bears an excellent reputation for legal learning, industry, good sense, fairness, and courtesy. By his conduct of the test trial of the sanity of Harry Thaw he acquired an enviable national reputation. In appeal work his opinions are published in the volumes of the New York Appellate Division Reports, beginning with No. 168. They are regarded as models of terseness, clearness, directness, and sound legal reasoning, being based more upon the fundamental principles of the law than upon the citations of many decisions. They are not numerous, as it is his belief that too many opinions are written and published, and that, where, as in New York, the writing of opinions for publication is optional with the appellate judge, none should be published except those which relate to important cases or involve some novel proposition of law.

He is, and for many years has been, fond of general reading, especially on historical subjects, and perhaps would have attempted some authorship in that line had his professional and official duties been less exacting. In the years when he was not upon the bench, he gained some local fame as a political speaker, although he never held any political office except a single term as state senator during the years 1901 and 1902. He has, however, delivered several non-political addresses, especially upon anniversary and memorial occasions. Some of those were given in Thompson, notably one on July 4, 1918, at the dedication of the monument to the Revolutionary dead in the old cemetery at West Thompson, of whom his great-grandfather was one; one on "The War and Its Results" at a Grange meeting and patriotic rally on Thompson Hill, August 9, 1918; and one on April 13, 1919, in the Tourtellotte Memorial high school, at exercises in memory of the late Mrs. Harriet Arnold Tourtellotte, one of the donors of that institu- tion. Upon the special invitation of the Hon. Charles E. Searls, then president of the Connecticut State Bar Association, he delivered the leading address at the annual ban- quet of that association at Hartford, on January 19, 1920.

At the commencement in 1911, Amherst College conferred upon him the degree of LL. D.

On December 18, 1876, he was married to Cara M. Burnett, oldest daughter of Dr. Elisha G. Burnett and Roxana M. (Eaton) Burnett of Webster, Massachusetts. They have four living children. The oldest is Nona Burnett, the wife of James Graham Hardy, a professor at Williams College. The second, LeRoy Newton, is a lawyer practic- ing in Mount Vernon, New York. He married Anita Wightman, and they have a

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daughter, Helen Alden. The third is Priscilla Alden, who is the wife of Elbert Van Cott. They have one child, a son, named Elbert Mills Van Cott. The fourth is Nathaniel, a physician, who married Gladys Josephine Capen. They have three. children, viz., Nathaniel, Albert Capen, and Priscilla Alden. All, except the Hardys, reside in Mount Vernon.

In 1865 Isaac Newton joined the Thompson Congregational church, to which his ancestors for four generations and many other of his relatives belonged. Later he transferred his membership to the First Congregational church of Mount Vernon, of which he is still a member.

In his vacation seasons he has been, and still is, devoted to hunting and fishing, and has made several excursions to Canada and the far south for those purposes.

While his mature life has been spent remote from Thompson, he still has a warm affection for the old town and takes great interest in all her affairs, ancient and modern. He still takes "The Putnam Patriot" and, however pressing his engagements, never fails to read in it each week the local news, and especially the Thompson Items.

HECTOR MCCONNELL.

Hector McConnell, superintendent of the Ballouville mills of the Attawaugan Com- pany, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, December 12, 1859, a son of Duncan and Mar- garet (McLeish) McConnell. The parents were also natives of Glasgow, where the father was a cotton mill man, working in the mule spinning department of the cotton mills of that city to the time of his death. At his demise he left his widow with five children. She struggled along as best she could in Glasgow until 1869, when she de- termined to try her fortune in America and with her children sailed for the new world, taking up her abode at Norwich, Connecticut, where eventually she passed away.

Hector McConnell was a little lad in his tenth year when he accompanied his mother and the four other children of the family to the United States. Up to that time he had been reared in Glasgow and had attended the public schools of his native city. He continued his education in the schools of Norwich, Connecticut, until he felt it necessary to start out in the business world, which he did by securing employment in the Shetuchet mills at Norwich. He worked in the spinning department and con- tinued in that employ for twenty-seven years but worked through that period in several departments of the mill, thus gaining a thorough knowledge of the cotton textile manu- facturing business. He was advanced through successive promotions until he was made overseer of the weaving and beaming departments, holding that position of re- sponsibility when he resigned in 1896. He afterward went to Montville, Connecticut, to take charge of the cloth room in the mills of a manufacturing company, a position which he retained for a year. Resigning in 1899, he accepted the position of superin- tendent of the Uncasville Manufacturing Company Mills at Versailles, Connecticut, where he continued for five years, leaving there to become paymaster in 1904 of the Totoket Manufacturing Company at their mills in Occum, Connecticut. In 1909 he was made superintendent of the mills of the Danielson Cotton Company at Danielson, Con- necticut, where he continued for six months, when he was offered and accepted the position of superintendent of the Ballouville mills at the Attawaugan Company, of which he still has charge. As superintendent of the mills he occupies a beautiful resi- dence in the village near the mills, and under his able management the mills have made a substantial increase in production and there has been a remarkable absence of any labor trouble. He is fair and just to his employes and is greatly interested in their social welfare, in connection with which he has organized and is the president of the Ballouville Club, which is a social organization composed of the employes of the mills. The Ballouville mills of the Attawaugan Company make plain cotton goods in the gray and use water and steam power in the operation of the plant. Employment is furnished to two hundred people and the mills and the homes of the mill hands con- stitute the little village.

At Norwich, Connecticut, on the 15th of October, 1884, Mr. McConnell was married to Miss Martha Agnes Sevice, who was born at Worcester, Massachusetts, but was reared and educated at Norwich, Connecticut. She is a daughter of James and Eliza- beth (Torrence) Sevice, who are natives of Scotland. Coming to America, the father engaged in merchandising first at Worcester, Massachusetts, and afterward at Nor- wich, Connecticut, where he and his wife now reside. To Mr. and Mrs. McConnell have been born three children. Margaret Mcleish, born in Norwich and educated in the public schools of the city and the Norwich Free Academy, is now a teacher in the schools of Attawaugan, Connecticut. Isabelle Torrence, born in Norwich end enjoying

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similar educational opportunities as her sister Margaret, is now at home. Mary Eliza- beth, born in Norwich, was educated in the Killingly graded and high schools and is now a school teacher at Attawaugan.

Politically Mr. McConnell is a republican and for six years was a member of the school board of the town of Killingly, while for two years of that period he was acting chairman of the board. He and his wife are earnest members of the Attawaugan Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which they take an active part, and he is serving as recording steward and as a member of the official board of the church. While a thoroughgoing business man, he is at the same time a man of broad humani- tarian spirit, keenly interested in the uplift of the individual and the upbuilding of the community. To this end he cooperates in all plans and projects for the general welfare and has instituted many movements which have been of direct benefit to the people among whom he lives.

CURTIS DEAN.

Curtis Dean, a practicing attorney, was born in South Coventry, Connecticut, Oc- tober 7, 1856. His youthful days were spent in the home of his parents, Henry S. and Charlotte (Curtis) Dean, both of whom have been called to their final rest. He at- tended the district schools and supplemented his preliminary education by a course in the Worcester Academy, from which he received a diploma in 1880. He afterward pursued post graduate work in that institution and then decided upon the practice of law as a calling to which he wished to devote his entire life. With that end in view he entered Amherst College and won the Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation with the class of 1885. He was then out of school for a year but pursued the reading of law under private instruction and in 1887 he matriculated in the law school of Columbia University, from which he was graduated in 1889, winning the LL. B. degree. He was then admitted to the bar in Tolland county, Connecticut, and in 1891 he opened a law office in Willimantic, where he has now practiced continuously for twenty-six years.

Mr. Dean is a member of the Congregational church, in the work of which he has taken an active and helpful part. He has served as church treasurer and trustee, is now filling the position of deacon and is superintendent in the Sunday school. His political faith is that of the republican party and he was clerk of the board of select- men for five years. He has likewise served as justice of the peace. He was the first deputy judge of the city court and is now local attorney for the American Surety Com- pany of New York city. He has ever been interested in the cause of education and served on the high school committee, acting as its secretary for five years. He is also a member of the town school committee, of which he was chairman for four years.

SELDOM BURDEN OVERLOCK, M. D.

Dr. Seldom Burden Overlock, one of the most distinguished surgeons of Connecticut and widely known to the profession throughout New England, practices at Pomfret, where he makes his home, and is also chief surgeon of the Day Kimball Hospital at Putnam. A native of Maine, he was born in Washington on the 13th of November, 1860, his parents being Nathaniel R. and Mary A. (Hannan) Overlock, who were also natives of the Pine Tree state. There the father has been engaged in farming and in the lumber business. and is now living in Maine, his wife having passed away in 1905.

Dr. Overlock, having pursued his education in the district schools of Washington, Maine, to the age of sixteen years, then entered upon a course in a preparatory school at Kents Hill, that state, and afterward was graduated from Colby College with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Having thus acquired broad literary learning to serve as the foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of professional knowledge, he entered the Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York city and there won his pro- fessional degree in 1889. He afterward took up hospital work in New York city and later practiced medicine in Steuben, Maine, for five years. In 1894 he opened an office in Pomfret, Connecticut, where he has since engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery, making a specialty of major surgery, in which connection he has won well earned fame and success. He is regarded as one of the best known surgeons of the state and has a very extensive practice. He is serving as chief surgeon of the Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam, Connecticut, and he was formerly a member of the state board of health. He has ever kept in close touch with the advanced thought, purposes, researches and investigations of the profession and he is a valued member of the Wind-

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ham County Medical Society, of which he has served as president, the Connecticut State Medical Society, which honored him with the presidency in 1908 and 1909, the Maine Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the New England Sur- gical Association, while in 1914 he was elected a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Aside from his former service as a member of the state board of health he has served for over six years on the board of pardons of the state of Connecticut, having been twice appointed by Governor Baldwin and also by his successor, Governor Holcomb, and is at present a member of this board.

In 1892 Dr. Overlock was united in marriage to Miss Cora C. Smith, a native of Steuben, Maine. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and fra- ternally he is well known as a Mason, having membership in lodge, chapter and com- mandery. His home is one of the old and interesting historic places of Windham county. It was originally a tavern on the Hartford-Boston stage coach road in early . colonial days, but while the exterior still shows the colonial style of architecture, there is much in the interior that contributes to modern comfort and its conveniences make it a most attractive residence. Here Dr. Overlock retires from the onerous duties of his profession and finds delight in the companionship of family and friends. His is a well earned distinction in surgical circles, for his comprehensive study, his wide expe- rience and his notable native talent have gained him a most creditable and enviable place among Connecticut's ablest surgeons.

WILLIAM PRESCOTT BARSTOW.

William Prescott Barstow is the secretary, general manager and assistant treasurer of the Smith & Winchester Manufacturing Company of South Windham, and as its general manager has contributed in marked measure to the success of the business in recent years.

He was born in the town of Canterbury, in Windham county, June 24, 1851, a son of Luther and Mary (Kingsley) Barstow. The father was born in Canterbury in 1817 and passed away in 1894, at the age of seventy-seven years. The mother's birth occurred in Canterbury in 1827 and she had attained the age of forty-eight years when called to her final rest in 1875. Mr. Barstow was a farmer of Canterbury and was active in public affairs of the community, filling various local offices. He was living retired at Scotland at the time of his death.

After mastering the branches of learning taught in the public schools of Canter- bury, William P. Barstow attended the normal school at New Britain and later became a pupil in the Plainfield Academy. At nineteen years of age he went to Worcester, Massachusetts, where for seven or eight years he was employed as bookkeeper by a wire goods manufacturing company. Gradually he formulated the plan of engaging in business on his own account and with that end in view he removed to Tama, Iowa, where he managed an agricultural implement manufacturing plant, which he conducted under the name of the Tama City Plow Company, manufacturing plows, harrows and cultivators, and was general manager of the factory and foundry, in which connection he represented Worcester interests. Mr. Barstow was one of the officers and directors of the company and remained in the middle west until 1885, when he returned to South Windham and became bookkeeper for Smith, Winchester & Company. In 1888 he was made acting secretary of the Smith & Winchester Company, Incorporated. A reorganization of the business led to the adoption of the name of the Smith & Winches- ter Manufacturing Company and Mr. Barstow became its secretary and assistant treasurer in 1905. He is now general manager of the business, which in recent years largely through his efforts, supported in finances by Mr. Guilford Smith, has been devel- oped to its present extensive proportions. He has the faculty of winning the cooperation of others and of readily seeing and utilizing any advantageous ideas which are advanced. He is not desirous of taking all the credit for the success of the concern- in fact, he is quick to recognize the ability of others and the assistance obtained from his colleagues and also from his employes. But those who know aught of the history of the business recognize the fact that he has made valuable contribution to its success in the last several years.

In 1872, in Brooklyn, Connecticut, Mr. Barstow was united in marriage to Miss Mary Elizabeth Allen, of Brooklyn, a daughter of Arba and Mary (Prentice) Allen, the former a native of Brooklyn, while the latter was born in Griswold, Connecticut. The father made farming his life work. To Mr. and Mrs. Barstow have been born two children. Byron Prescott, who is engaged in the laundry business in Englewood, New Jersey, is married and has three children: Mary E., William P. and John A. The

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younger son of the family, Cassius Allen, is a resident of Williamstown, Massachusetts. Mrs. Elizabeth Allen Barstow died in October, 1918, and Mr. Barstow has since married Mrs. Hattie Kingsley.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Barstow have taken a very active part in the work of the Congregational church and have stood for all that is worth while in civic affairs, their influence ever being on the side of progress and improvement in this connection. Mr. Barstow was very influential in creating a sentiment for the building of the church in South Windham, although he and his wife have been members of the Brooklyn Baptist church for more than thirty years and never forgot their obligations there. He has been a most active and earnest worker in the support of prohibition for more than thirty-five years and has been the candidate of his party for congress and for secretary of state. In 1910 he was one of the incorporators and is at present vice president of the Connecticut Prohibition Trust. He is active in all civic, religious and educational movements looking to advancement and progress along those lines and in these connections has made valuable contribution to the world's work.

A modern philosopher has said: "Not the good that comes to us, but that good that comes to the world through us, is the measure of our success," and judged by this standard Mr. Barstow has been a most successful man, while at the same time, in business affairs, he has made for himself a most substantial and creditable position.

HUGH C. MURRAY.

No history of the business development and commercial progress of Willimantic would be complete without extended reference to Hugh C. Murray, who died in this city, June 17, 1919. He had recently retired from the presidency of the H. C. Murray Com- pany, in which connection he was actively engaged in the conduct of an extensive dry goods store. He also had other important business connections and was a cooperant factor in various interests which have been of value in the business development of the city. He seemed almost intuitively to recognize opportunities which others passed heed- lessly by and his keen discrimination and sagacity were not only factors in his individual success but proved of the utmost worth in the successful conduct of various corporations which have constituted a basic element in general prosperity in Windham county. Honored and respected by all, no man occupied a more enviable position in public regard, not only by reason of the success he attained but also by reason of the straightforward business methods which he ever followed. His activities ever measured up to the highest standards and his record is proof of the fact that prosperity is not the outcome of genius, as held by some, but is rather the result of indefatigable energy, clear judgment and experience.

Mr. Murray was a native of Scotland. He was born at Catrine, in Ayrshire, March 1, 1849, a son of Thomas and Mary (McMinn) Murray, who spent their entire lives in the land of hills and heather, where they reared a large family, but Hugh Clark Murray was the only one who crossed the Atlantic to the United States, nor had he any relatives of the name on this side of the water.

Up to the age of twelve years Hugh C. Murray attended the public schools in his home locality and then started out in the business world, accepting a clerkship in the dry goods store of Archibald Thompson, a Catrine merchant, who paid him a wage of two shillings per week. Some time afterward he obtained a clerkship in Glasgow, where he resided until 1871, when being assured that better business opportunities might be obtained in the new world, he took passage on the steamer Baltic, which sailed from Liverpool to the United States. He made his initial step in business circles in the new world as a clerk in the employ of Hogg, Brown & Taylor in Boston. Some time after- ward he removed to Providence, Rhode Island, where he became connected with the house of Collender, Macauslan & Troup, with whom he continued until his removal to Willimantic. His capital was quite limited when he took up his abode in this city, but his credit was good, for he had already become widely known in commercial circles. He never hazarded his credit through the non-payment of bills at the time they were due, and his promptness and reliability were basic elements in the upbuilding of his success. From the outset of his connection with Willimantic until his retirement in February, 1918, he remained one of the leading merchants in this section of the state. His long experience in leading dry goods houses of Boston and Providence had given him a knowl- edge of the trade which proved most valuable. He opened a small store in the Card building and afterward removed to the corner store in the Opera House block in 1880. The Opera House block originally contained five stores. These he acquired one after the other and still his business outgrew its quarters, so that he determined to erect a building for his purposes. This plan he successfully carried out and on the 17th of March, 1894, he opened the Boston Store in the Murray building, a substantial three-

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A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 28

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