A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 50

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

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the business, which they conducted under the name of Smith, Winchester & Company until the death of the senior partner. The business has since been carried on under the name of the Smith & Winchester Company, Guilford Smith succeeding his father as the head of the business, which remains one of the important manufacturing con- cerns of this section of the state. Charles Smith also aided in the incorporation of the Windham National Bank at Windham and continued a representative of its directorate after the removal of the bank to Willimantic, serving in that capacity until his death. He was a stalwart republican from the organization of the party and was frequently called to public offices, serving as first selectman and at all times standing as a stalwart champion of interests for the benefit of the community. He attended and supported the Episcopal church at Windham Center and was regarded as one of the most valued citizens of his part of the county.

It was on the 3d of November, 1835, in North Windham, that Charles Smith was united in marriage to Miss Mary Abbe, who was born in Windham, August 14, 1816, and it is through the Abbe line that Guilford Smith traces his ancestry back to Gov- ernor William Bradford, the first colonial governor of Massachusetts. The line comes down through Deputy Governor William Bradford; Hannah, daughter of William Bradford, who was one of the first settlers of Windham and who was a practicing physi- cian and the wife of Joshua Ripley, of Windham, whom she married in 1682; Joshua Ripley, Jr., who was born May 13, 1688, in' Windham; Mary Ripley, who was born Novem- ber 18, 1716, and on the 14th of April, 1736, became the wife of Joshua Abbe, of Wind- ham, thus uniting two of the oldest families of Massachusetts, for Joshua Abbe was a descendant of John Abbe, who resided in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1637 and died at Wenham, Massachusetts, about 1690. His son, Samuel Abbe, was married in 1672 to Mary Knowlton and made his home in Wenham, where he passed away in 1698. Ebenezer Abbe, son of Samuel Abbe, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1683, became a resident of Norwich, Connecticut, in 1705 and of Windham in 1706. He resided near North Windham, in the town of Mansfield, and was married in 1707 to Mary Allen, a daughter of Joshua Allen. The death of Mrs. Ebenezer Abbe occurred in 1766. Joshua Abbe, son of Ebenezer Abbe, born in 1710, wedded Mary Ripley in 1736 and thus, as previously indicated, brought the Bradford strain into the family. Joshua Abbe was the owner of an extensive farm near the Chaplin line. He died in 1807 and his wife in 1769. They were the parents of Phineas Abbe, who was born November 22, 1746, and who in 1767 wedded Mary Bingham, a daughter of Gideon Bingham, Sr. Following her death Phineas Abbe was married in 1778 to Susannah Brown. He fol- lowed farming south of Windham Center and there passed away in 1800, while his wife, who was born in Windham, May 15, 1752, died on the 26th of April, 1804. They were the parents of Moses Cleveland Abbe, who was born November 16, 1785, and resided two miles south of Windham Center. On the 1st of February, 1809, he wedded Talitha Waldo, a daughter of Zaccheus Waldo, of Windham, and their daughter Mary became the wife of Charles Smith. There were but two children of this marriage, Guilford and Mary. The latter became the wife of P. H. Woodward, of Hartford, and had two children, Helen and Charles Guilford, the former now the wife of Rev. Stephen Henry Granberry, an Episcopal minister.

The son, Guilford Smith, occupying a prominent and honored position in busi- ness, financial and social circles in Windham county, after mastering the branches of learning taught in the public schools of South Windham, attended Hall's school at Ellington, Connecticut, and when nineteen years of age entered upon his initial business experience in a clerical position in the office of Smith, Winchester & Company. Gradu- ally he worked his way upward in that connection and upon his father's death suc- ceeded to his interests and position in the business. The interests of the Smith & Winchester Manufacturing Company have been conducted in keeping with the progres- sive spirit of the age. Modern processes have been introduced, modern machinery in- stalled and the output of the house is sent to every section of the country. Mr. Smith not only became president of the company but also succeeded to the presidency of the Windham National Bank but at the present time is leaving the active management of these concerns to others and is largely living retired. He has become the owner of large landed interests, particularly farm lands, and his investments have been most judiciously made.

On the 16th of December, 1863, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ramsdall, of Windham, who was born September 5, 1837, a daughter of Thomas and Mary Elizabeth (Lathrop) Ramsdall and a granddaughter of Isaiah and Clarissa (Col- lins) Ramsdall, the former a son of Abijah Ramsdall, of Salem, Massachusetts. Thomas Ramsdall, father of Mrs. Smith, was an active business man and the president of the Windham bank as well as a director of several other important enterprises. Through his wife, Mary Elizabeth (Lathrop) Ramsdall, Mrs. Guilford Smith also traces her ancestry back to Governor Bradford. She is a descendant of John Backus, Jr., whose

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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY

sister, Mary Backus, became the wife of Joshua Ripley, Jr., through whom comes the line of descent from Governor Bradford to Guilford Smith. John Backus, Sr., and his brother William were among the first sixteen settlers of Windham, whither they removed from Norwich. John Backus, Jr., married Sibyl Whiting, a daughter of the Rev. Samuel Whiting, the first pastor at Windham, and a son of the Rev. John Whiting, a pastor of the first church, at Hartford. Sibyl Backus, daughter of John and Sibyl Backus, became the wife of John Lathrop and their daughter, Mary Elizabeth, became the wife of Thomas Ramsdall and the mother of Mrs. Mary Smith, wife of Guilford Smith. The Lathrop line can also be traced back to a remote period. John Lathrop, the father of Mary Elizabeth (Lathrop) Ramsdall, was a direct descendant of John Lathrop, who was the second pastor of the first Congregational church in England and was imprisoned for seceding from the Established Church. He came to New Eng- land in 1634 and was the first minister at Scituate, Massachusetts. He became the progenitor of the Lathrop family in the new world. Rev. Benjamin Lathrop was a Baptist minister who early became a resident of Windham, where he purchased the house built by John Cates, the first settler of Windham. His son, John Lathrop, was the father of Mary Elizabeth Lathrop, the mother of Mrs. Smith. The Lathrop line includes many noted clergymen of New England and others who by reason of their ability and worth have left their impress in large measure upon American annals.

To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Ramsdall were born two daughters, the sister of Mrs. Smith being Anna, who was born May 18, 1834, and became the wife of Richard Good- win Watrous, of Hartford.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Smith were members of the Society of Mayflower Descendants and active in its work. Mrs. Smith also held membership with the Daughters of Colo- nial Governors and Daughters of the American Revolution. The death of Mrs. Smith occurred on the 25th of March, 1917, when she was in the eightieth year of her age, and her demise was the occasion of deep and widespread regret in this community, in which she had so long been most widely and favorably known.

In politics Mr. Smith has long been a stalwart champion of the republican party and in 1898, 1899 and again in 1904 he represented his district in the state legislature, leaving the impress of his individuality upon the laws enacted during those sessions. Prominent in religious work, he is the keeper of the church in South Windham. In his later years, especially since his retirement from active business, he has given particular attention to the matter of obtaining material having to do with the original settlement of the town of Windham. He may well be proud of an honorable ancestry and the part that his forebears have taken in shaping the history not only of Connecticut but of New England and in considerable measure of the country. Like the generations before him, he has ever stood for development, progress and improvement, actuated by a public- spirited devotion to the general good that has placed his among the distinguished names that appear upon the pages of Connecticut's history.

HON. THOMAS O. ELLIOTT.

The high regard in which Hon. Thomas O. Elliott is uniformly held in Windham county is indicated in the fact that five times has he been chosen to represent his dis- trict in the state legislature. This service has not been continuous but on three dif- ferent occasions he has been called back to the position in which he had previously rendered valuable aid in the settlement of questions of great importance to the com- monwealth. His devotion to duty and the integrity of his position has never been called in question and he is widely recognized as a man of forceful character, broad culture and marked ability. He has further left the impress of his individuality upon the history of his state as a member of the constitutional convention of 1902.

Mr. Elliott was born in Thompson, Connecticut, July 26, 1842, and in seeking out the origin of the family it is learned that the Elliotts lived on the border between England and Scotland, where they won martial fame. Their crest was a right arm with dart in hand about to be thrown, and underneath the Latin motto signifying "There is no need of a bow to throw this dart," or in other words, "I need no assistance. I am thoroughly competent to take care of myself." That the family tree was early planted on American soil is indicated by the fact that Francis Elliott and his brother Thomas were mariners in the vicinity of Salem, Massachusetts, about 1686. The latter, dying childless in 1695, left a large estate to his widow and brother. Francis. Elliott was owner of several farms near Salem and he was an active churchman who was elected deacon in 1653. On the 6th of June, 1686, he married Abigail Nichols. Their fourth son, Thomas Elliott, was married July 20, 1723, to Lucy Flint, and resided in Middle- ton, Massachusetts, but in 1749 purchased a large tract of land in Thompson parish,

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Connecticut, gave a farm to each of his two married sons and removed with them to that region. His son, Joseph Elliott, born in 1729, settled on the farm given him by his father and there spent his remaining days. He was active in developing the school system of Thompson and was prominent in military circles, belonging to the Seventh Company, Eleventh Connecticut Regiment, of which he was made ensign in 1761 and captain in 1775. When the first blood of the Revolution was shed at Lexington he marched with his company to Cambridge, his company heading the regiment. After eleven days' service he was mustered in as captain of the Killingly Company, of the Connecticut Third, Putnam's famous bodyguard in the Cambridge engagement. He participated in the battle of Bunker Hill and in recognition of his valor was asked to perform the hazardous task of covering the retreat when the ammunition of the Amer- ican troops became exhausted. The excessive exertion required by this duty brought on a fever from which he never recovered, his death occurring August 12, 1775. He had been married in 1749 to Jerusha Bary, who died March 15, 1815.

Their nine children included Thomas Elliott, who was born in Thompson, May 20. 1757, and there followed farming throughout his mature life. He, too, was for a num- ber of years identified with a military company, serving in the War of 1812, and he was long a devoted member of the Congregational church. He passed away in Thompson in 1843, after having been three times married. His son Ira was the youngest of the children of his second marriage and was born in Thompson in February, 1805. His public school education was supplemented by study in the Dudley Academy at Dudley, Massachusetts, after which he became assistant manager on the old homestead farm and continued to conduct the place for several years after his father's death. His farming interests were wisely and successfully carried on and in the spring of 1852 he purchased from his father-in-law, William Osgood, a splendid farm property of two hundred and thirty acres in Pomfret and remained as one of the prosperous agricul- turists of that community throughout the residue of his days. In early manhood he wedded Elizabeth Scott, of Thompson, who died in 1826, and he afterward married Susannah Osgood, who was born in Pomfret, April 28, 1811. They became the parents of five children. The death of Ira Elliott, the father, occurred November 7, 1871, when he was in his sixty-seventh year. He was largely instrumental in securing the build- ing of the railroad through the town of Pomfret and his public-spirited interest in the project is shown by the fact that he gave to the railroad company the right of way through some of his land and also the site for a station in that town. He, too, was a member of the state militia. His religious faith was that of the Congregational church and in political belief he was first a whig and afterward a republican.

Hon. Thomas O. Elliott, the third of the five children of Ira Elliott by his second wife, was born in Thompson, July 26, 1842, and was a little lad of about ten years when the family home was established in Pomfret, where he continued to attend school to the age of sixteen years and then became a student in a select school in Abington. Later he spent three years in the work of the home farm, but with the outbreak of the Civil war his patriotic spirit was aroused and he could no longer content himself to follow the plow. On the 12th of September, 1861, he enlisted in Windham county, joining the "boys in blue" of Company K, Seventh Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, for three years' service, under command of Jerome Tourtellotte. Of his military ex- perience a contemporary biographer has said: "This regiment went south in the Port Royal expedition, and, being one of the few armed with the effective Spencer breech- loading rifles, was especially singled out through the war for hard fights. After the capture of the forts near Port Royal, South Carolina, it was sent ashore and assigned to garrison duty. Later it fought in the seven months' siege of Fort Pulaski, upon the surrender of which it again did garrison duty. In 1863, after fighting at James Island and Pocotaligo, it went in Brannan's expedition to Fernandina, Florida, where it was stationed until April. Then it returned north, and from Morris Island, courageously did its best-though unsuccessfully-to help force Charleston into a surrender, four companies, including Company K, leading the charge on Fort Wagner. Out of the one hundred and eighty men in these four companies, one hundred and eleven were killed. Its next battlefield was Florida again. There, in February, 1864, it fought nobly in the disastrous battle of Olustee, where the Union forces lost thirty-eight per cent of their men. In the following April it was sent to Virginia, and there, in Terry's division, Tenth Corps of the Army of the James, fought in the battles of Drury's Bluff, Deep Run and Derbytown Road, in skirmishes near Bermuda Hundred and Deep Bot- tom, and finally in the battles of Cold Harbor and the siege of Petersburg. With the exception of five months spent in the hospital at Hilton Head, Mr. Elliott remained with his regiment throughout its service. His absence was the result of a broken leg, received by a shot in the ankle, July 11, 1863, during the heavy charge on Fort Wag- ner, near Charleston. After returning to his regiment, however, being unable to march, he was detailed exclusively to drive the ambulance wagon. During the siege of Peters-

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burg his term of enlistment expired, and he, with his regiment was mustered out at New Haven."

Mr. Elliott returned home with a most creditable military record, having rendered valuable aid to his country through three years of active warfare. For six years after his return to the north Mr. Elliott assisted in the management of the home farm and then, following the death of his father, purchased the interests of the other heirs in the farm, which he has since successfully, wisely and profitably managed. His farming interests are large and important and he displays all the most advanced methods of agriculture in the care of his fields and the harvesting of his crops. For some time he also conducted a profitable' lumber business.

Mr. Elliott has been most pleasantly situated in his home life. He was married December 7, 1865, to Mary L. Averill, of Pomfret, who was born November 17, 1842, a daughter of Lewis and Hannah (Burton) Averill. They traveled life's journey hap- pily together for about forty-two years, Mrs. Elliott passing away in December, 1907. On the 15th of April, 1909, Mr. Elliott wedded Miss Cassie Mckay, at Hyde Park, Massachusetts. She was born in Pictou county, Nova Scotia, a daughter of George Mckay, a native of that country and of Scotch descent. She was the youngest in a fam- ily of twelve children. By his first marriage Mr. Elliott had four children. Hannah A., born September 29, 1868, was married April 8, 1831, to Edward Peal. Mary, born Feb- ruary 20, 1870, died on the 10th of March of that year. Robert T., born June 16, 1874, was graduated from the Putnam high school in 1893 and from Amherst College in 1897 and entered upon a successful career as a teacher, being now assistant principal of the School of Commerce at Worcester, Massachusetts, while at different periods he has been a teacher in the Latin and English departments of well known schools of this sec- tion of the country. During his college days he became a member of the Delta Upsilon Society and was captain of the track team. The younger son, Joseph H., born June 21, 1877, has been prominent in community affairs, serving as a member of the republican town committee, also representing his district in the state legislature and filling the office of master of Wolf Den Grange. He conducts a large lumber business. He mar- ried Catherine Georgena MacIntosh, a native of Nova Scotia, and to them were born four children: Thomas Osgood, James MacIntosh, John Hawley and Priscilla Jane.

Fraternally Mr. Elliott is connected with A. G. Warner Post, No. 54, G. A. R., of Putnam, and thus maintains pleasant relations with his old military comrades. He became a charter member of Wolf Den Grange, No. 61, of Pomfret, and has served as its master. Politically he is widely known because of his active support of the repub- lican party and his farreaching efforts to promote its legitimate success. He has held various local offices and in 1881 he was called upon to represent Pomfret in the state legislature, where he made so creditable a record that he was reelected in 1882. He then retired from office but was again called to the position in 1891, serving through the year of the famous deadlock, and in 1893 he was again chosen representative to the general assembly and once more in 1905. Two years later, or in 1907, he was elected to the state senate and was made chairman of the agricultural committee and also chairman of the committee on forfeited rights. In 1901 he was elected on the inde- pendent ticket to represent his district in the state constitutional convention. He has long been a stalwart advocate of the cause of temperance and does everything in his power to advance the prohibition movement, which bids fair now to receive national acceptance. His career has been a most useful and honorable one, marked by a ready recognition of duty and earnest effort to meet every task that has come to him in the spirit of honorable and progressive manhood. Few men in public life make so few enemies. Those who have opposed him politically entertain for him the warmest per- sonal regard and admiration and his life record finds embodiment in the words of Pope:

"Statesman, yet friend to truth; of soul sincere, In action faithful and in honor clear; Who broke no promise, served no private end, Who gained no title and who lost no friend."

SILAS MANDEVILLE WHEELOCK.

Silas Mandeville Wheelock is the mill agent and treasurer of the Putnam Woolen Company, conducting one of the largest establishments of the woolen trade in Putnam, and thus prominently identified with an enterprise which contributes much to the material development of the city.

He was born in Putnam, March 10, 1871, and comes of English ancestry, in which connection a contemporary biographer has written: "The Wheelocks, an old dis-

SILAS M. WHEELOCK

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tinguished English family, intermarried in the early days with the Leversages. In 1285, during the reign of Henry II, Hugh de Wheelock, through his knight, Richard de Maston, secured from Roger Manning all claim to the village of Wheelock. To this estate Thomas de Wheelock fell heir and became lord of Wheelock Manor. The family possessed a coat of arms, described as follows: 'Wheelock and Leversage of Wheelock.' Wheelock Arms: Argent, chevron between three Catherine Wheels, sable. Leversage Arms: Argent, chevron between three plowshares, sable. Crest, a leopard's head, face jessant, a fleur de lis."

The branch of the family from which Silas M. Wheelock is descended traces its ancestry back to Ralph Wheelock, who was born in Shropshire, England, in 1600 and was educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, where he was graduated in 1626, winning his Master of Arts degree in 1631. He married in England and became the father of nine children. While at Cambridge he became a confirmed Puritan and upon leaving the university entered the nonconformist ministry. In 1637, accompanied by his wife and daughter Rebecca, he crossed the Atlantic and in 1639 was made a freeman. For a time he resided in Watertown, but upon the settlement of Dedham removed to that place, and when the first school was opened there in 1655 he became its master, He was one of the few honored with the title of Mr., and he held almost every important office within the gift of his town. He died in November, 1683, in his eighty-fourth year, and his wife passed away in 1680. The line of descent is traced on down through Benjamin and Elizabeth (Bullen) Wheelock, of Medfield; Benjamin and Huldah (Thayer) Wheelock; Silas and Hannah (Albee) Wheelock; Lieutenant Simeon and Deborah (Thayer) Wheelock; Jerry and Suky (Day) Wheelock to Hon. Silas Mandeville Wheelock, who was the grandfather of Silas Mandeville Wheelock of this review. Lieutenant Simeon Wheelock became a prominent figure in military circles. In the Crown Point expedition of 1760 he served as adjutant of a Rhode Island regiment under the command of Colonel Christopher Harris and later of General Amerest. On the 6th of July, 1774, he was appointed a member of the Uxbridge revolu- tionary committee, and with the outbreak of the Revolutionary war he enlisted as lieutenant of a company of minutemen and marched, upon the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775, and later participated in many engagements. He afterward was on military duty during Shay's rebellion and while thus engaged at Springfield met his death, which resulted from an injury received by a fall on the ice while descending Arsenal hill. His son, Jerry Wheelock, was among the pioneer woolen manufacturers of New England, being one of the first to manufacture and operate woolen mill machinery in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. At a later period he began the manufacturing business on his own account in Uxbridge and there continued until his death. It is said that his son, the Hon. Silas Mandeville Wheelock, probably did more for the upbuilding of manufacturing industries in his section than any other individual. He was only in his tenth year when he began work in the woolen mill, earning fourteen cents a day and board. From that time forward he steadily advanced, serving at different times as operator, foreman and mill superintendent, and eventually becoming manager and financier of private companies and corporations. In 1846 he and his brother organized the firm of C. A. and S. M. Wheelock for the manufacture of satinets, plaid lindseys and tweeds. In 1870 he organized the Putnam Woolen Company of Putnam, Con- necticut, becoming its treasurer and manager and so continuing until 1887. In 1883 he had become one of the organizers, treasurer and manager of the Calumet Woolen Company of Uxbridge, and for over sixty years he was connected with woolen mill companies in New England and did much to develop the industry in that section of the country.

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A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 50

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