A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 35

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

USA > Connecticut > Windham County > A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II > Part 35

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

On the 5th of November, 1865, in East Killingly, Judge Tucker was married to Miss Almira Bartlett, who was here born and spent her entire life in East Killingly, passing away November 17, 1917. She was a daughter of Waldo and Mary Ann (Covell) Bartlett, natives of East Killingly, her father being identified with the operation of a grist mill. He was a son of Reuben Bartlett, the builder of the Bartlett grist mill and also a large landowner. Reuben Bartlett, in company with his son Waldo, in 1834 erected a small mill on the Whetstone brook near the site of present International Mill and engaged in the manufacture of woolen and cotton goods. He was a son of Richard Bartlett, representing one of the oldest families of East Killingly.

In his political views Judge Tucker has always been an earnest republican, stanchly supporting the measures of the party and doing all in his power to secure their adop- tion. Throughout his entire life he has been a member of the Union Baptist church. Although he has now passed the Psalmist's allotted three score years and ten, he seems a man but in middle age, is vigorous and active, operating the home farm and taking a helpful interest in all that pertains to public welfare. He has always been a broad reader and is a well educated man whose judgment is sound and discrimination keen. While he filled the office of deputy judge for more than twenty-one years, the judge was seldom active in the work of the court, leaving Judge Tucker to preside, which he did in the majority of cases tried in his court during that long period. He has written largely, especially on historical matters pertaining to the town of Killingly and Wind.

Vol. II-16

1186

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY

ham county. He belongs to one of the old, representative and honored families of Windham county and bears worthily a name that through many generations has been an untarnished one on the pages of New England's history.

GEORGE W. HOLT.

No history of the business development of Putnam would be complete without extended reference to George W. Holt, for many years a prominent manufacturer and a representative of that class of men of wealth who fully recognized their duties and obligations to their fellowmen. The conditions which he instituted in his mills, favorable to the interests of his employes, marked him as a model employer and one whose course would do much toward solving all labor problems. He ranked equally high in financial circles and for a long period was president of the Putnam Savings Bank. Death called him September 26, 1913, and in his passing Windham county lost one of its most valued, representative and honored citizens. He had every reason to feel proud of the ancestry from which he came, for on the family records appear many names that are synonymous with business enterprise, public spirit and high-minded citizenship.

It is said that the name of Holt is of English derivation and means "a grove or small forest." The ancestral line in America can be traced back to Nicholas Holt, who came from Romsey, England, where he was probably born in 1602. He became a passenger on the ship James, of London, which sailed from Southampton. England, under com- mand of William Cooper on the 6th of April, 1635, and reached Boston after a voyage of fifty-eight days, on the 3d of June. Nicholas Holt was undoubtedly accompanied by his wife, Elizabeth, and at least one child. The same year he removed to Newbury, Massachusetts, where he remained for a decade, and his remaining days were passed at Andover, Massachusetts. After the death of his first wife he married Mrs. Hannah Rolfe, the widow of Daniel Rolfe and a daughter of Humphrey Bradstreet. After her demise he married Martha Preston, and on the 30th of January, 1685, passed away, having attained a ripe old age. He was prominent in church work and it may have been religious persecution in his native country which brought him to the new world.

His son, Henry Holt, born in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1644, was married Feb- ruary 24, 1669, to Sarah Ballard and died at Andover. November 25, 1733. On the 3d of June, 1716, they united with the Andover church. Henry Holt was a prominent citizen of his community and in 1686 received permission to erect a mill on Ladle brook. His son, George Holt, born at Andover, March 17, 1677, was married May 10, 1698, to Elizabeth Farnum, who died September 28, 1714, and on the 22d of February, 1715, he married Priscilla Preston, who died January 29, 1716. His third marriage, on the 7th of June, 1717, was to Mary Bixbee. George Holt died in Windham, Con- necticut, in 1748, having removed to this state in 1726. Zebediah Holt, son of George Holt, was born January 25, 1700, in Andover, Massachusetts, and in 1726 accompanied his parents to Windham. He was married August 14, 1732, to Sarah Flint, daughter of Joshua Flint. His son, Jonathan Holt, born in Windham, January 3, 1758, was married October 19, 1780, to Anna Faulkner, who was born November 23, 1761, and passed away August 31, 1842. Jonathan Holt was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and died August 10, 1833. His family of eleven children included Josiah Holt, who was born April 10, 1784, in Hampton, Connecticut, and passed away in Plainfield, Connecticut, November 14, 1846. He was married March 11, 1804, to Mary Prior, of Plainfield, Connecticut. He was a machinist by trade, and in 1821 removed with his family to Natick, Rhode Island, and lived in Valley Falls from 1823 until 1830, while the following year he became a resident of Slatersville. His last days were spent in the home of his sisters in Plainfield, Connecticut.

George Washington Holt, the father of George W. Holt whose name introduces this review, was born March 15, 1816, in Plainfield, Connecticut, and in 1831 removed with the family to Slatersville, Rhode Island, and in his youth entered the mill in which his father was employed. Gradually he worked his way upward, passing through con- secutive promotions to the position of manager, and for a number of years he was thus connected with the mill of Amos D. Lockwood & Company at Slatersville. After 1853, in the reorganization of the mills in that vicinity, he became superintendent for J. & W. Slater, with whom he remained until 1860, when he became one of the organizers of the Forestdale Manufacturing Company, and under his direction the Forestdale mills was planned and built. He continued as its manager until 1870 when he sold his interest in the business and removed to Providence, Rhode Island. There, in 1871, he entered into partnership with Estus Lamb in the organization of the Monohansett Manufacturing Company of Putnam, Connecticut, and he succeeded

1187

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY

Mr. Lamb in the presidency of the company and continued as such until his demise. In 1878 he was appointed by Governor Van Zandt, of Rhode Island, a member of the commission to examine and report upon the reservoirs and mill dams on the Woonas- quatucket river, but because of his age declined to serve. He took a deep interest in everything pertaining to the welfare and progress of his community and cooperated heartily in all well defined plans for public improvement. He was a devoted member of the Congregational church and was ever most generous in its support. He aided in organizing the Slatersville Cemetery Association and providing a fund for the permanent care and improvement of the grounds and there he was laid to rest. He had been a resident of Providence, Rhode Island, for twenty-three years. His political allegiance was given the republican party, and from 1864 until 1866 he was a member of the state legislature. On the 3d of September, 1839, he had married Miss Lucy Dodge, who was born January 14, 1815, in North Smithfield, Rhode Island, a daughter of Barney and Mary (Mann) Dodge, of Smithfield. They became the parents of but two children, George W., and Ellen Porter, the latter a resident of Providence. The mother passed away October 21, 1880, while the death of G. W. Holt occurred on the 16th of November, 1893.

Their only son, George W. Holt, Jr., was born in Slatexsville, Rhode Island, July 21, 1840, and there acquired his early education, while in 1857 he matriculated in Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, and afterward became a student in the scientific department of Brown University, where he completed a two years' course of study. His father was at that time manager of the Slatersville mills and was also active in the establishment of the Forestdale mills, of which the son became assistant superintendent, his liberal education and his thorough training under the direction of his father well qualifying him for the responsibilities of that position, in which he continued for a decade. On the 30th of October, 1871, he removed to Putnam as superintendent of the Monohansett Manufacturing Company, which had leased certain manufacturing properties and water power in Putnam. The business had been estab- lished, as previously stated, by his father and Estus Lamb, of Providence, and was incorporated under the name of the Monohansett Manufacturing Company in 1882. With his removal to Putnam, Mr. Holt assumed entire charge of the property, installed the machinery and continued to act as superintendent of the mill until 1888. In that year he became agent and so continued until his father's death, when he succeeded to the presidency of the company. He continued, however, to act as superintendent until 1899, when his son, William F., was called to that position. The Monohansett Manufacturing Company became widely known throughout the country in connection with the manufacture of the plain sheetings and shirtings. Mr. Holt continued active in the management of the mills until 1911 and in 1912 disposed of his interest in the business. He was often spoken of as an ideal employer. During his ownership and management of the mills they were made a model factory for labor conditions, also for neatness and cleanliness. The lawns around the buildings were always kept cut and the shades at each of the many windows of the mill were always kept evenly drawn, thus presenting a neat appearance. Mr. Holt carefully looked after the comfort and welfare of employes, establishing conditions which added to their comfort when they were at work, and was always fair and just in his treatment of those who were in his employ. Moreover, they recognized chat faithfulness on their part would win promotion, and there was a hearty cooperation between the company and the operatives in the factory.

Aside from his active connection with manufacturing interests in Putnam, Mr. Holt was well known in financial circles. In 1873 he became a member of the board of trustees of the Putnam Savings Bank, was elected to the presidency in 1896 and continued to act as chief executive of the bank until within a year and a half of his death, although it was his desire to retire some years before. His associates in the bank, however, refused to accept his resignation. He tempered progressiveness with a safe conservatism and displayed keen judgment in the conduct of the affairs of the bank, avoiding all those unwarranted risks which often result in failure and yet never hesitating to take a forward step when the way seemed openl.

Mr. Holt was married twice. On the 6th of November, 1865, he wedded Marion Augusta Burdon, a daughter of Estes and Abby (Warfield) Burdon, of Blackstone, Massachusetts. She passed away on the 30th of November of the same year, and on the 27th of April, 1872, Mr. Holt was married to Rosalie F. Dyer, a daughter of Samuel F. and Sally ( Austin) Dyer, of North Kingston, Rhode Island. They became the parents of two children: William Franklin, who was born October 4, 1873, in Putnam; and Mary Florence, born in Putnam, February 25, 1875. The son pursued an academic course in Greenwich, Connecticut, and then entered the mill in order to learn the business of cotton manufacturing, working his way steadily upward until he became superintendent in 1899. He held that position until his death on December

1188

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY

29, 1905. During the Spanish-American war he responded to the country's call for troops and was connected with the Third Connecticut Volunteer Infantry for nine months as quartermaster sergeant of Company G. The daughter attended the Woodside Seminary of Hartford after completing a course in the Putnam high school and was graduated from the seminary in 1894. She possessed marked musical talent and became a pupil of Dr. Jedliczka in Berlin, Germany, who had received instruction from the great Rubenstein. She afterward taught instrumental music and she is now the ' wife of Herbert James Smith, a son of Lebbeus E. Smith, mentioned elsewhere in this work.

In his political views Mr. Holt was ever a stalwart republican and in 1889 was elected on the party ticket to the general assembly and became house chairman of the committee on manufactures. He always stood for progress and improvement in relation to the material and educational development of his community and for more than a decade was secretary of the high school board, and gave his aid and influence to many measures calculated to advance the standard of public education. He belonged to the Putnam Business Men's Association, of which he was one of the first vice presi- dents, and later he was recalled to that office. In 1886 he served as chairman of the electric light committee of his town and continued to act in that capacity for several years until Putnam was incorporated as a city. He was one of the prime movers in the organization of the Putnam Library Association and served for many years as one of its directors. In 1894 he became one of the incorporators of the Day-Kimball Hospital, of which he remained for an extended period as a director and a member of the executive committee. He belonged also to the Ecclesiastical Society of the Second Congregational church of Putnam and served at various times on the society's committee.

The simplicity and beauty of his daily life, as seen in his home and family rela- tions, constituted an even balance to his splendid business ability. Because of the, innate refinement of his nature he rejected everything opposed to good taste. Mastering the lessons of life day by day until his postgraduate work in the school of experience placed him with men of eminent learning and ability, he figured for years as one of the most prominent representatives of public life and business activity in Putnam.

HON. JEROME TOURTELLOTTE.

Hon. Jerome Tourtellotte may well be termed the "grand old man" of Putnam, so prominent a part has he played in the development of the city. He has reached the age of eighty years still quite vigorous in body and alert in mind, living not in the past. as do so many who have attained advanced years, but in the present with its opportunities and its interests. Soldier, statesman and financier, he has left the im- press of his individuality and ability in marked manner upon the history of his city and state.

Connecticut is proud to number him among her native sons. He was born in the town of Thompson, June 11, 1837, his parents being Joseph Davison and Diana (Mun- yan) Tourtellotte. The family tree was first planted in America in the soil of Rhode Island. Abraham Tourtellot, a mariner of Bordeaux, France, arrived in Boston as a passenger on the ship Friendship in 1687. He wedded Mary (or Marie) Bernon, a daughter of Gabriel and Esther (LeRoy). Bernon, and resided for a time in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and in 1697 became a resident of Newport, Rhode Island. The line comes down through their third child, Abraham Tourtellot, who resided at Newport and Gloucester and who married Lydia Ballard, who was born March 29, 1700. On the 29th of June, 1743, he married his second wife, Mrs. Hannah Corps, and afterward married Mrs. Welthian Williams. He became a freeman of Providence in 1722 and was deputy to the Colonial General Court in 1747. His death occurred November 23, 1762. Abraham Tourtellot (III), born February 27, 1725, married Phebe Thornton, at Scituate, Rhode Island, and removed to Thompson, Connecticut, where he settled about 1770, becoming the first representative of the family in this state. His son, Israel Tour- tellot, was born December 16, 1754, and accompanied his father's family to Thompson, his death occurring March 4, 1846. He was twice married and his children included Jesse Tourtellotte, who was born in 1779 and married Lois Dike, a daughter of Deacon Thomas Dike, of Thompson. He died September 19, 1836, while the death of his wife occurred on the 9th of June, 1867. Their fourth son, Joseph Davison Tourtellotte, was born in Thompson, May 11, 1811, and wedded Diana Munyan, of Thompson, a descend- ant of Edward Munyan, who was of English birth and, on coming to America, settled in Salem, Massachusetts, whence he removed to Thompson about 1722. Mrs. Tourtellotte was also a descendant of Anthony Dix, Dike or Dicks, who was one of the first settlers

HON. JEROME TOURTELLOTTE

1190

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY

of Plymouth, Massachusetts, having arrived on the ship Ann in 1623. Deacon Thomas Dike, grat-grandfather of Colonel Tourtellotte of this review, served as a sergeant in the Eleventh Connecticut Regiment during the Revolutionary war. The death of Joseph D. Tourtellotte occurred October 28, 1898, while his wife passed away January 29, 1887. Their children were Amy M., Jerome, Marshall Irwin, James Edgar, Georgianna Frances and Orrin E.

Throughout all the long years of their connection with America the members of the Tourtellotte family have been characterized by patriotism and loyalty that has been manifest in active military service in all of the wars in which the country has been engaged. Among the representatives of the name in the war for independence was Abraham Tourtellot, who served as ensign and later was advanced to the ranks of lieutenant and captain in the regiment of Colonel Daniel Hitchcock, forming a part of the Army of Observation, which went to the front from Providence in 1775; in Captain Hoppin's Company, Colonel Zippitt s Regiment, in 1776; and in Colonel Archibald Crary's Regiment, in 1776. Reuben Tourtellot was also a member of Captain Hoppin's Company, in 1776, and of Colonel Crary's Regiment in that year, and the same name appears as a recruit from North Providence in 1782. A Joseph Tourtellot served for a time in 1775 in a company commanded by Captain Joseph Elliot, of Killingly, Con- necticut. This Joseph's name appears on the roll of United States pensioners of Connecticut in 1832 and 1840, his residence being given in 1840 as at Thompson, Con- necticut, and his age as eighty years. The name of a William Tourtellot also appears in Rhode Island as identified with service in the Revolution. The name of Reuben Tourtellot as a private in the Rhode Island Line appears on the United States Pension Roll of 1820 and as a resident of Penobscot county, Maine; and Orono and Lieutenant Abraham Tourtellot's names appear on the roll as pensioned in 1819, for Rhode Island service.

The life history of Jerome Tourtellotte is a most interesting one, indicating marked strength of character, adaptability and enterprise. His father was a poor man when he removed with a large family of children to Putnam, and Jerome had to begin work at the age of thirteen years, securing employment in a shoe factory at a time when he had to stand on a box in order to reach the work bench. His educational advantages were necessarily limited and it has been through lessons learned in the school of ex- perience that he has reached his present position as one of the well informed, broad- minded men of the state. He has read broadly, thinks deeply and has studied closely many matters of public concern and importance.

At the outbreak of the Civil war he was among the first to respond to the call for troops. The smoke from Fort Sumter's guns had scarcely cleared away when on the 22d of April, 1861, he joined Rifle Company B of the Second Connecticut Volunteer In- fantry, which company had been known in the state organization as Rifle Company A. With his command Mr. Tourtellotte participated in the first battle of Bull Run on the 21st of July, 1861, and on the expiration of his three months' term of enlistment was mustered out on the 7th of August. Returning to his home in Connecticut, he took active part in recruiting Company K of the Seventh Connecticut Volunteer Infantry and reenlisted on the 26th of August, 1861, being out of the service only nineteen days. On the 2d of September he was commissioned a first lieutenant and with that rank went with his command to the front, receiving promotion to the rank of captain on the 21st of March, 1862. He participated in the first assault on Fort Wagner, in Charleston Harbor, on the 11th of July, 1863, and was there severely wounded and, being left on the field, was taken prisoner. He spent the following twenty months in southern prisons, chiefly at Columbia, South Carolina, and was paroled on the 28th of February, 1865. On the 21st of March of that year he was commissioned major and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on the 24th of July, being finally discharged with his regiment on the 11th of August of that year. His was indeed a most creditable military record, char- acterized by marked bravery in the face of danger and notable loyalty to the cause at all times.

When the country no longer needed his military aid Colonel Tourtellotte returned to Connecticut and in March, 1866, accepted the position of outside superintendent of the A. & W. Sprague Manufacturing Company at Cranston, Rhode Island. He there remained until July, 1873, when he returned to Putnam and was engaged in the man- ufacture of slippers until 1880, when he concentrated his efforts and attention upon bank- ing interests, being chosen treasurer of the Putnam Savings Bank. His efficient service as treasurer continued for thirty-four and a half years or until 1914, when he resigned. When he entered the bank the deposits were seven hundred thousand dollars and some- thing of the growth of the business is indicated in the fact that when he resigned they amounted to three million dollars. Mr. Tourtellotte is now practically living retired but for the past half century has been manager of the estate of N. W. Wagner.

On the 18th of November, 1874, was celebrated the marriage of Colonel Tourtellotte

1191

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY

and Miss Eliza Emily Husband, in the town of Cranston, Rhode Island. Mrs. Tour- tellotte is a daughter of Edward and Sarah (Booth) Husband and by her marriage has become the mother of three sons. Leroy Edward, born January 20, 1877, enlisted in Company G of the Third Connecticut Volunteer Infantry for service in the Spanish- American war. He married Miss Alice W. Derr, a daughter of William L. and Lillian (Kies) Derr, and in 1902 removed to Limona, Florida where he purchased a large citrus farm and has since made his home thereon. He was a prominent factor in che organ ization of the Citrus Growers' Association of that state. Arthur, born October 31, 1881, married Ethel Clark, of Putnam, and has two children, Jerome Clark and Raymond. Harry, born December 14, 1884, is a member of Company K of the Twenty-sixth United States Infantry. He served with the American troops on the Mexican border and is now a member of General Pershing's expeditionary forces in France, having responded to the call to the colors with the wonderful army of America's young manhood that has rallied to the nation's standard to take part in the struggle against Germany's militarism and barbarous methods of warfare in order to make the world safe for democracy. Mr. Tourtellotte may well be proud of the military record of his sons, which is in keeping with that of their ancestry, for it is a well known fact that the Tourtellotte family have always fought on the side of right, liberty and justice, always fighting for democracy -against the monarchical rule of England in America during the Revolutionary war, for the rights of the black men in the Civil war, in opposition to the spread of Spanish monarchical rule on the western hemisphere in the Spanish-American war and now against the self-defined plan of the kaiser to force German kultur, which to other peoples has become a synonym for barbarity, upon the nations of the world.

Colonel Tourtellotte is a republican of the pronounced type, unfaltering in his al- legiance to the party, and he has been quite prominent in its local and state ranks. He has never consented to accept office save when called upon at a time of political crisis, as he did on the two occasions when elected to the state legislature, being chosen to represent his district in the general assembly in 1875 and again in 1880. He displayed a statesman's masterly grasp of affairs and did much to hold the commonwealth to the course which fair-minded men felt should be pursued. Colonel Tourtellotte is a strong-minded man who has fought in the army and in life for what he has believed to be right and he has ever been a man of keen discrimination and notable sagacity, splendidly preserved at eighty years-one to whom the words of Shakespeare are par- ticularly applicable: "His are the blest accompaniments of age-honor, riches, troops of friends." After a life of seventy years spent in Putnam he has perhaps more friends than any other resident of the city and is held in the highest respect not only in his home community put throughout the state and wherever he is known.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 35

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