A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 48

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

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In a word, his activities have been of a far-reaching nature and have brought him into close connection with all the well organized efforts for church development and moral progress. It would be tautological in this writing to enter into any series of statements showing him to be a man of broad scholarly attainments, of wide intelligence and genuine public spirit, for these have been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. Strong in his individuality, he never lacks the courage of his convictions, but there are as dominating elements in this individuality a lively human sympathy and an abiding charity which, as taken in connection with the sterling integrity and honor of his character, have naturally gained to him the respect and confidence of men. His influence has been most widely felt and throughout his entire career he has been actuated by a recognition of a truth that Lincoln voiced in the words: "There is something better than making a living-making a life."

WILLIAM S. ORMSBEE.

William S. Ormsbee, trainmaster at Dayville for the Shore Line Electric Railroad, was born in Penacook, New Hampshire, April 5, 1889, his parents being Edison Joseph and Mary (Swinger) Ormsbee. The father was a native of Dannemora, New York, where he acquired his early education and became an iron worker. He afterward worked in woolen mills in Penacook, New Hampshire, and on coming to Connecticut settled at Dayville, where he secured employment in the Assawauga Woolen Mills. After a time he returned to Penacook, where he is still connected with woolen mill manufacturing. His wife was born in Saranac, New York, and she, too, survives, they being well known and highly respected residents of Penacook.

Spending his youthful days in his native city, William S. Ormsbee of this review acquired his early education there and afterward continued his studies in the schools of Dayville, whither he removed with his parents. In 1907 he entered the employ of The Connecticut Company, which then operated the Shore Line Electric Railroad. He secured the position of conductor and spent a year and a half in that capacity on the Putnam division, after which he was transferred to the office of the company at Norwich, Connecticut, and was appointed to the position of assistant cashier and dis- patcher of the Putnam division. Through the intermediate years he has held various positions, including those of dispatcher and inspector, and in July, 1916, he was advanced to the position of superintendent of the Putnam division, while on the 1st of January, 1917, he was made trainmaster of the Putnam division at Dayville and has since con- tinued to discharge the duties of that important position. He is a practical man in connection with the operation and management of electric railway lines and has spent his entire business career in connection with the Shore Line Electric Railway Com- pany, starting in as conductor and working his way steadily upward. The steps in his orderly progression are easily discernible and are indicative of his efficiency, capa- bility and fidelity.

On the 21st of June, 1913, Mr. Ormsbee was united in marriage to Miss Elsie M. Burns, of Dayville, Connecticut, who was born at Windsor Locks, this state, a daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Beyer) Burns, who were natives of Warehouse Point, Con- necticut, where her father engaged in business as a dealer in horses and other live stock. Both he and his wife have now passed away. To Mr. and Mrs. Ormsbee were born two children, Russell William and Barbara Audrey, both born in Dayville.

Mr. Ormsbee votes with the republican party, of which he is a stalwart champion. Fraternally he is connected with Putnam Lodge, No. 574, B. P. O. E., and is serving as scribe of the lodge. Those who know him, and he has a wide acquaintance in his section of the county, esteem him highly as a man of genuine personal worth and enter- tain for him that warm regard which is always the outgrowth of sterling qualities.

JOHN E. BRICK.

John E. Brick, actively identified with the shoe trade in Willimantic as a member of the firm of Brick & Sullivan and also secretary and treasurer of the Watts Laundry Machine Company, was born in Alfred, New York, July 4, 1859, a son of Edward and Bridget (Brown) Brick. The family removed from Alfred, New York, to Hornellsville, now Hornell, New York, when the son John was but four years of age. Both parents are now deceased.

During the period of his residence in Hornell, New York, John E. Brick was a pupil in the public schools and also attended school at Almond, New York, until he reached

Vol. II-21

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the age of twelve years, when he started out in the business world, securing a position as messenger boy on the Erie Railroad. He afterward learned telegraphy and became a telegraph operator for the same road. In 1885 he became a resident of Willimantic, Connecticut, and accepted a position of telegraph operator in a brokerage branch office representing a very prominent firm. He was ambitious, however, to engage in business on his own account and in 1890 he established a boot and shoe store, which he success- fully conducted alone until 1895 and then admitted Jeremiah E. Sullivan to a partner- ship, under the firm style of Brick & Sullivan, an association that has since been main- tained. At the start Mr. Brick had but one employe and something of the growth of his trade is indicated in the fact that the firm now has five employes and occupies two thousand square feet of floor space. Mr. Brick has built up his business along safe and substantial lines, placing his dependence upon enterprise and fair and honorable deal- ing. He has also extended his efforts into other fields, becoming secretary and treasurer of the Watts Laundry Machine Company, which has recently established a new factory in Willimantic.

On the 18th of October, 1888, Mr. Brick was united in marriage to Miss Ida Potter, of Willimantic, and they have one child, Margery, the widow of Lewis F. Church and the mother of one son, Firman. Mrs. Church was educated in the public schools and in Wellesley College.

Mr. and Mrs. Brick are widely and favorably known in Willimantic, where they have membership in the First Congregational church. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks and is one of the trustees of the local lodge. He is associated with the board of trade and is also a director of the Willimantic Trust Company. In politics he is an independent voter, nor has he been an office seeker, yet for one term he served as tax collector. He has always preferred, however, to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his business affairs, which have been steadily developing and growing under his wise guidance, and his energy and close application have brought him to a prominent position in commercial circles in his adopted city.

HON. CHARLES OTIS THOMPSON. .

Hon. Charles Otis Thompson occupies the old Thompson homestead, which has been the home of the Thompsons of Pomfret for over one hundred years, and is there devoting his attention to farming and stock raising. Business affairs, however, have constituted but one phase of his life's activities, for he has figured prominently in connection with public interests and has three times been chosen to represent his district in the state legislature, serving in both the house and senate. There is much that is of intense general interest in his own career and in those of his ancestors, for he is a representa- tive of some of the oldest New England families.

He is a great-grandson of General Israel Putnam, whose physical prowess and per- sonal valor as well as his knowledge of military tactics employed at that day constitutes one of the most interesting and brilliant achievements of the Revolutionary war history. In the Thompson line the ancestry is traced back to Ebenezer Thompson, who was born at Providence, Rhode Island, March 8, 1773, and who in turn was a descendant of Anthony Thompson, who was one of three brothers who were numbered among the first of the colonists in the new world. It is believed that he came to America in the spring of 1638 and it is known that he was one of the first planters of New Haven. His son, John Thompson, was the father of Joseph Thompson, who in 1679 married Elisabeth Smith and died December 10, 1719. They were the parents of the Rev. Ebenezer Thomp- son, who was born June 21, 1712, and wedded Esther Stevens, who was born May 17. 1715, and passed away July 21, 1813, while the death of Rev. Thompson occurred Novem- ber 20, 1775. He was a Yale graduate and in the work of the ministry was located at Scituate, at Hanover, Massachusetts, and at several other places during the years between 1743 and 1775. He was ordained to the priesthood in London, August 24, 1743. His son, Ebenezer Thompson, was born in New Haven, January 15, 1735, and mar- ried Lydia Kinnicut, a daughter of Coe Edward and Mary (Tillinghast) Kinnicut. In 1754 they removed to Providence, Rhode Island, where Mrs. Thompson passed away August 30, 1770, and later Ebenezer Thompson married her sister, Elizabeth Kinnicut. The eldest child of the second marriage was Ebenezer Thompson III, who in 1806 mar- ried Ruth Stockbridge, of Scituate, Massachusetts. The family has ever been one of marked mental capacity and intellectual strength and his training was that which would naturally be accorded a representative of this family. He was graduated from Yale, entered upon his business career in his native city of Providence and eventually engaged in merchandising in connection with the foreign trade, making extensive shipments to the West Indies and owning the vessels used for the purpose. When thirty-seven

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years of age he retired from commercial pursuits and purchased two hundred and seven acres of land at Pomfret, on which he erected an attractive home, afterward devoting his attention to the improvement and adornment of his farm. He was one of the foun- ders of the Episcopal church in Pomfret and died in that faith March 23, 1837. His widow afterward lived upon the old homestead with her son, Ebenezer Thompson IV, until his death in 1842 and then, finding the care of the place too much for her, sold it to her son-in-law, Dr. Vinton.

Charles Otis Thompson, the second son in the family of Charles S. and Sarah Thompson, and still occupying the old family homestead, has devoted his entire life to the occupation to which he was reared and has become one of the most progressive of the agriculturists of this section, his business affairs being conducted along advanced lines indicative of his progressive spirit. On the 14th of February, 1889, he wedded Caroline Wadsworth, a daughter of Charles Massi Wadsworth, of New York, and they became the parents of two children: Dorothy Otis, born August 29, 1890, a stenographer and expert typewriter operator, and Elisabeth Wadsworth, born July 20, 1892, a graduate nurse of the Massachusetts General Hospital of Boston. They are young ladies of liberal education and that their lives are actuated by a broad humanitarianism and a marked spirit of patriotism is shown in the fact that they took a course at the Perkins Institute for the Instruction of the Blind, in order to be prepared to teach returning American soldiers, who may have lost their eyesight on the battlefields in France.

Mr. Thompson has always been a stalwart republican in his political views and has been an active worker in the party because of his firm belief in its principles. In 1887 he was elected to the lower house of the state legislature and in 1911 popular vote returned him to the general assembly, where he was made chairman of the committee on public health and safety. In 1915 he was elected to the senate and was made chairman of the labor committee and served on the woman's suffrage committee. He has been public health and safety officer of Pomfret since the office was created in 1894, has been grand juror of the town of Pomfret for the past thirty years, and in 1906 was elected judge of probate in the town of Pomfret, which position he filled until June 20, 1919, when he retired on account of the law which provides that the age limit be seventy years. He also retired as town judge, having held that office too. None ques- tions his devotion to the general good. It is the same spirit which actuated his ances- tors and prompted their service in the War of the Revolution and which has character- ized the family through all the intervening generations down to the present time, being again manifest in his daughters.

A. NEWTON VAUGHN.

A. Newton Vaughn, a representative of commercial interests in Willimantic, is now conducting one of the fine modern grocery stores of the city, having a well appointed establishment with a large and growing trade. He was born in Putnam, Connecticut, September 9, 1876, and is a son of Patrick and Anna (Mara) Vaughn, both of whom were natives of Ireland, whence they came to America in early life. They were not acquainted, however, until they met in Connecticut. Both are now deceased.

A. Newton Vaughn was a pupil in the public schools of Pomfret, Connecticut, and for three years pursued a high school course. He then entered upon his business career by securing a position in the store of C. H. Brooks at Abington, Connecticut, and there he remained for three years. He afterward pursued a commercial course in the Bryant & Stratton Business College at Providence, Rhode Island, and following his graduation from that institution accepted the position of bookkeeper in Meshanicut Dye Works. At a later period he served as bookkeeper with the American Steel & Wire Company at Worcester, Massachusetts, and subsequently he returned to Abington, Connecticut, as manager of the first store in which he had been originally employed. He was appointed postmaster of Abington in 1902 and occupied that position for two terms or for eight years. He purchased the store which he had been managing, thus becoming proprietor of the establishment in which he had made his initial step in mer- cantile circles. On the expiration of his term as postmaster, however, he disposed of his store there and served as messenger in the lower house of the Connecticut legis- lature in 1909 and 1910. In the meantime he had purchased the grocery business of M. Hall at Willimantic, the store being then located almost directly across the street from his present fine establishment. He became owner of the business in July, 1909, and since 1912 has occupied his present location, where he has a most modern grocery store with new and fine fixtures and an extensive stock of staple and fancy groceries. The store is twenty-four by eighty feet and he has five employes and utilizes two auto

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delivery wagons. The business has grown to large and gratifying proportions and Mr. Vaughn has made for himself a most creditable position in commercial circles.

Mr. Vaughn was married to Miss Angela Dietzman, of Clinton, Massachusetts, and they are members of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church. Mr. Vaughn is also con- nected with the Knights of Columbus and has held all of the offices in the subordinate lodge and is now serving as deputy of District No. 4. He is likewise connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, which he joined at Pomfret, Connecticut. On the organization of the lodge at Willimantic he transferred his membership thereto, being one of five who were given a special dispensation for that purpose. Since becom- ing identified with the Elks lodge at Willimantic he has served as its treasurer. He was also master of Wolf Den Grange at Pomfret for several terms. His high position in commercial circles is indicated in the fact that he has been elected to the presidency of the Mercantile Association of Willimantic and he has also been vice president of the board of trade. In politics he is a republican and is now serving as alderman from the second ward. He was made chairman of the sewer assessment committee and a member of the committees on streets and police. A self-made man, he has gradually worked his way upward in a business way and his recognized ability and worth have led to his selection for public honors and offices, the duties of which he has discharged with marked capability.

FRANK W. BENNETT.

Frank W. Bennett has since 1914 been the secretary of the Assawaga Company of Dayville, the successor of the Dayville Woolen Company. Throughout his entire business career le has been identified with this undertaking and has steadily worked his way upward from a humble position to one of official responsibility.

He is numbered among the native sons of the town of Killingly, Connecticut, his birth having there occurred on the 30th of August, 1859. He is a son of Samson and Abby R. (Kelley) Bennett and a grandson of Samson Bennett, who was a resident of Brooklyn, Connecticut, where he engaged in milling and in farming. He reared a family of six children, the youngest of whom was Samson Bennett, whose birth occurred at Brooklyn, Connecticut, and who in young manhood learned the mason's trade. Following his marriage he removed to Killingly and for many years was regarded as the leading contractor in that section of the state. He was not only highly esteemed by reason of the importance and extent of his business interests but also owing to his sterling integ- rity and upright life. In early manhood he wedded Abby R. Kelley, a direct descendant of Deacon William Kelley, the latter born in Barrington, Rhode Island, in 1747 and a descendant of John Kelley, who was the first of the name in the new world and became an early resident of Massachusetts. Deacon William Kelley followed carpentering and farming and in 1789 removed to Killingly. In the meantime he had rendered active military aid to his country during the war for independence. He passed away in 1831 and was laid to rest in the old cemetery at Putnam, Connecticut. To him and his wife, Rebecca, were born four children, the eldest being Ebenezer Kelley, who was born in 1780 and departed this life in 1864. He, too, displayed the characteristic military spirit of the family, serving with the rank of captain in the American army during the War of 1812. He married Esther Alexander, a daughter of Neil and Esther (Smith) Alex- ander, and they reared a family of six children. Ebenezer Kelley gave his political allegiance to the democratic party and was one of its leaders in the state. For four terms he represented his district in the general assembly and left the impress of his individuality for good upon the legislation enacted during that period. He became a prominent contractor and builder, being identified with the building of a number of mills at Chestnut Hill, and he accumulated a substantial fortune. The fifth member of his family was Abby R. Kelley, who became the wife of Samson Bennett and the mother of Frank W. Bennett of this review. The death of Samson Bennett occurred in Killingly, September 14, 1891, while his wife survived until the 14th of January, 1892. They had a family of three children: Frederick Alexander; Herbert W., who was born in 1851 and died in Killingly, November 17, 1865; and Frank W. The eldest son was born in 1840 and was a brilliant scholar and a man of notable artistic talent, which he developed through study at Cooper Institute in New York, there taking up steel engraving. Before the completion of his course, however, his country was at war and his patriotic spirit prompted his enlistment in the One Hundred and Forty-ninth New York Volunteer In- fantry. He was wounded in the campaign before Atlanta, Georgia, was sent to the gen- eral hospital at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and there passed away August 4, 1864. He had won the love of his comrades and the highest respect of his officers by reason of his. Christian character and his splendid attainments.

FRANK W. BENNETT

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Frank W. Bennett, born in Killingly, pursued his education in the public schools of his native town and also in the high school at Exeter, New Hampshire, which he attended for a year. Later he took a commercial course in Eastman's Business College and he made his initial step in the business world as an assistant in the office of the Sabin L. Sayles Manufacturing Company at Dayville when a lad of but fifteen years. In 1880 and 1881 he was connected with the manufacturing interests of T. E. Hopkins at Elmville, but with this exception has been continuously identified with the business of which he is now an officer. Several changes in ownership have occurred and with the reorganiza- tion of the business under the name of the Dayville Woolen Company he was made assistant treasurer. In 1903 the business was incorporated under the name of the Assa- waga Company, of which Mr. Bennett became accountant, and in 1914 he was elected to the office of secretary and is filling that position of responsibility at the present time. His long connection with the business through its various changes has made him thor- oughly familiar with every phase of the work and he is now concentrating his efforts and attention upon administrative direction and executive control.

On the 20th of May, 1885, Mr. Bennett was united in marriage to Miss Carrie W. Williams, a daughter of Asa and Ellen Williams, of Killingly, and to them have been born three children: Ruth, whose birth occurred August 2, 1890; Wayland W., born December 2, 1891; and Merrill Kelley, born February 13, 1897. The elder son enlisted in the United States army and is now a member of the Seventh United States Engineers, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, now serving in France. The younger son, who was a member of the class of 1919 at Brown College, put aside his textbooks in May, 1917, to join the One Hundred and Third Field Artillery of the Twenty-sixth Division and is now also in France. Thus again has the dominant spirit of loyalty and patriotism, that has ever characterized the family, shown forth, not only in defense of American interests but in the great attempt that is being made by the allies to make the world safe for democracy.

Mr. Bennett has always been a stanch republican in his political views and has served as selectman of Killingly and for many years was town auditor of Killingly, con- tinuing in that position until 1917. He belongs to Assawaga Lodge, No. 20, A. O. U. W., to John Lyon Lodge, No. 45, K. P., and to Moriah Lodge, No. 14, F. & A. M., while both he and his wife attend the Congregational church. His aid and influence are ever on the side of progress and improvement in public affairs and his cooperation can ever be counted upon to further movements for the general good.

REV. DANIEL CLARKE FROST.

Rev. Daniel Clarke Frost devoted forty-three years to the active work of the min- istry and during much of this period was closely associated with efforts to advance the moral development and progress of Windham county. He worked not only for his church but for all those agencies which have to do with the uplift of the individual and the adoption of high moral standards, and the worth of his work was widely acknowledged.

He was born in Windham, Maine, June 14, 1812, a son of Hon. Daniel Frost, a grand- son of Hon. Stephen Frost, and his great-grandfather was probably the Stephen Frost who became the founder of the family in Canterbury, where he was known as "one of the seven pillars of the Canterbury church," which was organized in 1711. He passed away in that town in 1728. Hon. Stephen Frost married Phebe Farnham, of Han- over, Connecticut, and they became the parents of two sons, Hezekiah and Daniel.

The latter, born in Canterbury, mastered the branches of learning taught in the public schools and afterward became a student in Brown University, from which he was graduated. He determined upon the practice of law as a life work and with that end in view studied in the office of Judge Greenleaf, of Newburyport, who directed his reading until he was admitted to the bar, at which time he opened an office in Canter- bury, where he successfully practiced from 1813 until 1833. At one time he was also. for a short period a member of the bar in Windham, Maine, and for a time was a resi- dent of Franklin county, Massachusetts, during which period he served as a trial jus- tice. The high character of his professional attainments won him prominence at the bar and he became also widely known as a temperance lecturer not only in his home locality but throughout New England and other sections of the country, being frequently heard upon the question of temperance in Boston and in New York city. His political allegiance was given to the whig party until its dissolution, when he joined the ranks of the new republican party, and later he was elected on its ticket to represent his dis- trict in the general assembly. He was a member of the Congregational church and his life was guided by high and honorable principles and commanded for him the respect of all who knew him. While residing in Canterbury, Connecticut, he wedded

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A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 48

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