A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 54

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

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On the 2d of January, 1862, in Chaplin, Mr. Sibley was married to Miss Kate Badger Noble, of Eastford, Connecticut, who was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, August 21, 1842, a daughter of Samuel Wesley and Almena Maria (Badger) Noble. Her father

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was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, April 16, 1819, was a fine machinist and was employed by the Colt Fire Arms Company of Hartford, Connecticut. As an expert machinist he went to London, England, with Colonel Colt and they engaged in the manufacture of guns in that city. Subsequently he returned to his native land but died in New York city shortly after his arrival. His wife was born in Coventry, Con- necticut, December 21, 1819, and passed away in Keene, New Hampshire.

Mr. and Mrs. Sibley became the parents of three children, all born in Eastford. Lewis Preston, born July 25, 1869, is now with the Barrett Manufacturing Company of New York as assistant manager and at the present time is on a business trip in Europe. He married Lenore Britton on the 2d of January, 1901, and they have a daughter, Gladys Sibley, who became the wife of Elliot Reed. Frederick Samuel, born April 11, 1873, is credit manager of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company of Providence, and formerly for sixteen years was superintendent for Bradstreet's Agency for Rhode Island and a part of Massachusetts. He was a secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association with the American Expeditionary Force in France in 1918. On the 10th of October, 1895, he married May Etta Hall, of Danielson, Connecticut. Mary Maria, the third member of the family, was born December 24, 1875, and on the 28th of June, 1898, became the wife of Herbert Norton Loomis, director of the Smith Agri- cultural School of Northampton, Massachusetts. They have two children: Phillip Sibley, born in January, 1900, at Danielson, who was accidentally shot and killed at Alexander lake, Killingly, Connecticut, in 1910; and Kathryn Noble, who was born in New Britain, Connecticut, January 12, 1907.

Mr. Sibley was most devoted to his family, finding his greatest happiness at his own fireside. One of his marked characteristics was his broad humanitarianism. His philanthropic spirit was constantly manifest in charitable deeds, in which, however, he followed the Biblical injunction not to let the left hand know what the right hand doeth. To him the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes might well be applied:

"You see that boy laughing, you think he's all fun, But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done. The children laugh loud as they troop to his call, But the poor man that knows him laughs loudest of all."

If the historian were to set forth in a single sentence the achievements of Hon, Preston Bishop Sibley, it would perhaps best be done in the words: the splendid record of an honest man, in whose life business ability, loyalty and humanitarianism were well balanced forces.

ALDEMAR ANTOINE BRODEUR.

Aldemar A. Brodeur, head salesman in the Blanchette furniture store in Putnam, was born in St. Cesaire. Canada, September 7, 1879, his parents being Frank and Anastasia ( Normandin) Brodeur. The father came to the United States when his son, Aldemar A., was but seven years of age. The family home was established in Putnam, Connecticut, and Frank Brodeur, who had learned the mason's trade in early life, turned his attention to work of that character in Putnam, being thus engaged until 1918, when he retired from active business.

Aldemar A. Brodeur was educated in the common schools of Putnam and, start- ing out to provide for his own support, was employed for a short time in a mill. He afterward became connected with the Putnam Steam Laundry and there remained for about twelve years. In 1916 he entered the Blanchette furniture store and has worked his way upward in that connection, being now head salesman. Since attain- ing his majority he has been continuously connected with the business interests of Putnam and is well known in the city, his sterling worth being recognized by all with whom he comes in contact.

On the 7th of January, 1901, in Putnam, Mr. Brodeur was united in marriage to Miss Clarinda Miller, who was born in Putnam, a daughter of Roderick and Mary (Labassier) Miller. They have one child, Juliette Clarinda, who was born in Putnam, July 8, 1904. The parents are Catholics in religious faith and are communicants of St. Mary's church, of which the father is collector. Mr. Brodeur is the president of Union St. John Baptist Society of Putnam, is the treasurer of Court City of Putnam No. 116, Foresters of America and a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. In 1919 the retail clerks of Putnam organized the Retail Clerks' Association of Putnam and upon perfecting the organization elected Mr. Brodeur president. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he is a recognized leader in its ranks. He served as a member of the city council from the third ward for a period of four years and in 1915 was elected to represent his district in the state legislature and was reelected

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in 1917. During his first term he was clerk of the committee on railroads and in 1919 served on the military committee. He has been connected with much important con- structive legislation and has always given his aid and influence in behalf of those laws which he has deemed of vital worth to the commonwealth at large. In politics he has always placed the general good before partisanship and the public welfare before personal aggrandizement.

WILLIAM S. GANE.

William S. Gane is at the head of Gane & Son, printers and embossers, conduct- ing business in Willimantic since 1914. He was born in Ontario, Canada, on the 2d of June, 1882, and is a son of the Rev. William H. and Emily (White) Gane, both of whom are natives of Canada and are now residents of Willimantic, the former having reached the age of sixty-two years and the latter of fifty years. The father is a retired Congregational minister, his last pastorate being at Jewett City, in Canada. He devoted forty years to the work of the Methodist ministry in Canada and was also especially active in behalf of civic and educational interests. He was a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has led a most active, busy and useful life, one whose labors have been farreaching and resultant. The degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Doctor of Divinity and Doctor of Laws have been conferred upon him by Canadian educational institutions. He also received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Oberlin College and the honorary degrees of D. D. and LL. D. were conferred upon him by Oberlin. In 1913 he removed to Willimantic, where he is now living retired.

William S. Gane completed his public school education by a course in the high school at Peterboro, New Hampshire, where his father was engaged in preaching. His first experience in the line of printing was acquired in- his own home, his father having a printing press in order to print church pamphlets and other religious litera- ture. In his boyhood days Mr. Gane worked at the printer's trade in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and learned linotyping at the plant of the Singer Manufacturing Com- pany. In 1909 he went to Rutland, Vermont, where he occupied a position as a linotype operator. In 1914 he came to Willimantic, where he entered business as a partner in the firm of Gane & Son, printers and embossers. They do all kinds of job work of the finest grade and William S. Gane gives his entire time and attention to the business, which has reached very gratifying proportions.

On the 1st of February, 1911, Mr. Gane was united in marriage to Miss Ethel Durant, of Danbury, Connecticut, their wedding being celebrated in Rutland. She is a daughter of Henry W. Durant and by her marriage has become the mother of one child, Sylvia.

Mr. and Mrs. Gane hold membership in the Congregational church, but he has no lodge or club relations, preferring to give his undivided time and attention to his business, in which connection he is building up a substantial and gratifying trade that has placed him within a short space of time in the front rank among the leaders in his line in Willimantic.

LUTHER MARTIN SMITH.

Luther Martin Smith, who is living retired in East Killingly, was born in the village of New Boston, in the town of Thompson, Connecticut, January 8, 1855, his par- ents being Martin Luther and Sybil Avery (Franklin) Smith. The father was born at Foster. Rhode Island, and in young manhood removed to Daniels village in the town of Killingly, Connecticut, where he worked in the Howe factory. While there he mar- ried and afterward removed to New Boston, where he was again a mill worker. Later he returned to Daniels village and was once more employed in the mills there, passing away at that place, May 6, 1857, at the age of forty-two years. He was a son of John and Ruth (Shippee) Smith, who were natives of Foster, Rhode Island. The mother of Luther Martin Smith was born in the northern part of the town of Killingly and was a daughter of George and Abbie (Avery) Franklin, the Avery family coming from Groton, Connecticut, and sending its representatives to the Revolutionary war. The maternal grandfather, George Franklin, was born in Holland, Massachusetts, and be- longed to the same family that claimed as one of its members Benjamin Franklin, the distinguished American statesman and journalist. George Franklin was a farmer and butcher of Killingly, removing there in young manhood.

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Luther Martin Smith was a young lad when he accompanied his parents on their removal from New Boston to Daniels village, where he attended a country school. After his father died in 1857, the mother with her five children took up her abode in East Killingly, Connecticut, where Mrs. Smith afterward passed away. It was in East Killingly that Luther M. Smith completed his education. He was a youth of eleven years when he began working in the Whitestone Mills of East Killingly, starting out there in the business world on the 3d of April, 1866, as a roving boy in the mill. He continued there until 1873, when he secured a situation in the grocery store of M. M. Reynolds at East Killingly, with whom he continued until 1876. He was next employed in the International Cotton Mill at East Killingly, of which John L. Ross was the owner, and there became a mule spinner, continuing his connection with that mill until 1885, when he went to the Lynwood Mills at Whitinsville, Massachusetts, where he was again a mule spinner. There he remained until 1892, in charge of the mule spinning room, after which he became a resident of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and had charge of the mule spinning room in the social mills of the Mandeville Company up to the time of his retirement from active business in January; 1915. In February of the pre- vious year he had purchased a farm at East Killingly, Connecticut, to which he removed on the 16th of January, 1915. He has here twelve acres of land situated within the corporation limits of the village and thereon has since made his home, being now most pleasantly located, his former industry enabling him to now enjoy all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life.

On the 20th of April, 1878, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Ida Amelia Russell, a native of East Killingly and a daughter of John and Thankful (Avery) Russell. Her father spent his entire life in East Killingly, where he engaged in farming and in stone cutting. He was a son of Isaac and Mary (Baker) Russell, also natives of East Killingly.

In his political views Mr. Smith has maintained an independent attitude, never allying himself with any party but voting according to the dictates of his judgment. For more than twenty years he has been a deacon of the First Baptist church of Woon- socket, Rhode Island, and he attends the Union Baptist church at East Killingly. He was also a teacher in the Sunday school at Woonsocket. Fraternally he is connected with Granite Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Whitinsville, Massachusetts, of which he is a past mas- tei, and with Eureka Lodge, No. 28, I. O. O. F., of Woonsocket. His has been an active and useful life, in which diligence and enterprise have constituted the founda- tion of his present day success, while the course which he has pursued has ever com- mended him to the goodwill and confidence of his fellow townsmen.

GEORGE A. VAUGHAN.

George A. Vaughan is the secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Bowditch Dye Works, Inc., of Putnam and has been largely instrumental in developing this business to its present extensive proportions. Alert and enterprising, he is watchful of all indications pointing to legitimate success and he never fears to venture where favoring opportunity indicates the way. At the same time his progressiveness is tempered by a safe conservatism that ensures permanent and desired results in the development of the business.

Mr. Vaughan is a native of Providence, Rhode Island. He was born on the 3d of April, 1869, of the marriage of William P. and Sarah Elizabeth (Dodge) Vaughan. The father, also a native of Providence, was a practical cotton mill man who for many years was employed in the cotton mills of his native city and afterward removed to Putnam to become agent for the Putnam Manufacturing Company, having charge of the cotton mills of that corporation. He continued in the position for a number of years and then retired from active business and returned to Providence, where he is now living, enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves. His wife was born in Linekin, Maine, where she remained until she reached the age of sixteen years, when she became a resident of Providence. They were married in that city, where they now make their home and where they have a very extensive circle of warm friends.

George A. Vaughan was educated in private schools of Providence and, starting upon his business career, entered the cotton mills of the Putnam Manufacturing Company to learn the business. He made it his purpose to thoroughly acquaint himself with every duty that devolved upon him and worked in every department of the mill during his long association with that undertaking. Eventually he was advanced to the position of agent of the mill and so continued until September 1, 1916, most acceptably filling that place of large responsibility. At the date indicated, however, he resigned in order to organize the Bowditch Dye Works, Inc., of which Dexter Elliott, of Thompson, Con- necticut, became the president, Fred Ashton, the vice president, and Mr. Vaughan was

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chosen secretary, treasurer and general manager. The company secured cotton mills in East Putnam and entirely remodeled the plant, which they equipped with every modern facility for the dyeing of raw cotton and wool stock. They now carry on an extensive business in dyeing raw materials for the cloth manufacturing mills of this section of the state. Their patronage is very extensive and the business has become one of the prominent industrial enterprises of Putnam.

On the 7th of July, 1892, Mr. Vaughan was united in marriage to Miss Blanche Patience Morse, of Putnam, a daughter of George M. and Melora Morse. They have become the parents of one child, George A., Jr., who was born in Putnam on the 24th of August, 1894, and is now a member of the Ambulance Company, No. 4, of the Twenty- sixth Division, U. S. A., under General Clarence E. Edwards, having voluntarily enlisted a few days after war was declared-a soldier boy of whom the parents have every reason to be proud.

Mr. and Mrs. Vaughan make their home in Thompson, where they occupy a fine residence, one of the leading features of the place being their extensive library, with the contents of which they are widely familiar. Mr. Vaughan votes with the republican party. His wife is a member of the Baptist church. He is identified with no lodges or clubs and his membership relations extend only to the Home Guard. His interest cen- ters in his family and he finds his greatest happiness in promoting the comfort and welfare of his wife and son. His is a record of successful achievement. He has steadily worked his way upward since starting out in the business world in a humble capacity, and the steps in his orderly progression are easily discernible. He is now at the head of one of the important industrial interests of Putnam and, keenly alive to the possibilities of every new avenue opened in the natural ramifications of trade, he passes over the pitfalls into which unrestricted progressiveness is so frequently led and has been enabled to focus his energies in directions where fruition is certain. In his business life he has been a persistent, resolute and energetic worker and the results which he has achieved have been most creditable.

HON. CHARLES EDWIN SEARLS.

Hon. Charles Edwin Searls, a well known representative of the Windham county bar, practicing as senior partner in the firm of Searls, Russell & Bradford, with offices at Putnam, belongs also to that class of honored citizens of Connecticut in whom the state has expressed public confidence by election to high office. He has represented his district in the general assembly and in the fall of 1880 was elected secretary of state. Several times he has been connected with the legislature and the senate and has been a recognized leader in shaping public thought and action in the halls of legislation. Richly endowed by nature, he has used his talents wisely and well for the honor of his profession and for the benefit of the commonwealth. He was born in Pomfret, Windham county, Connecticut, March 25, 1846, and is a son of Edwin Clarke Searls and a grandson of Bela Searls. The latter, a native of Chaplin, Connecticut, became a merchant of Pomfret. His son, Edwin C. Searls, was born in Chaplin and in young manhood entered into partnership with his father in the conduct of a general store at Pomfret under the style of B. Searls & Son. He continued active in the business for thirty-eight years or until 1850, when he removed to New York city, where he engaged in the stock brokerage business, his death occurring in the metropolis on the 3d of October, 1857. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Caroline Mathewson, was born in Pomfret, Connecticut, and passed away April 3, 1907, during the latter part of her life residing at Thompson, where her death occurred. She was a representative of one of the old families of Wind- ham county.

Charles E. Searls, after enjoying the benefits of instruction in a private school in New York city and in an academy at Thompson, Connecticut, entered Yale and won the Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation with the class of 1868. He then became a student in the law office of Gilbert W. Phillips, of Putnam, Connecticut, a prominent attorney, who directed his reading until he was admitted to the bar in 1870. He then opened an office in Windham county and without invidious distinction he may be termed one of the foremost lawyers not only of this county but of the state. His success in a professional way affords the best evidence of his capabilities in this line. He is a strong advocate with the jury and is concise in his appeals before the court. Much of the success that has attended him in his professional career is undoubtedly due to the fact that in no instance will he permit himself to go into court with a case unless he has absolute confidence in the justice of his client's cause. Basing his efforts on this prin- ciple, from which there are far too many lapses in professional ranks, it naturally follows that he seldom loses a case in whose support he is enlisted. His is a natural discrimina-

HON. CHARLES E. SEARLS

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tion as to legal ethics and he is so thoroughly well read in the minutiae of the law that he is able to base his arguments upon thorough knowledge of and familiarity with precedents and to present a case upon its merits, never failing to recognize the main point at issue and never neglecting to give a thorough preparation. He practiced alone until 1892, when he was joined in a partnership relation by Frank F. Russell under the firm style of Searls & Russell, and in 1917 they admitted Howard C. Bradford to the firm, under the present style of Searls, Russell & Bradford. While Mr. Searls maintains his residence at Thompson, he has always had his office at Putnam and the consensus of opinion on the part of his fellow townsmen and the profession a's well is that he is one of the foremost lawyers of Connecticut.

On the 8th of October, 1902, Mr. Searls was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Alice Fell, who was born in Boston and spent the period of her girlhood in that place and in Cambridge, Massachusetts, her parents being Thomas Fell and Elizabeth (Fairelough) Fell. Her father was born in England and engaged for many years in the cooperage business in Cambridge.

In politics Mr. Searls has always been a stalwart republican and the first public office which he ever filled was that of town clerk of Thompson. From the age of twenty- one to the age of seventy he continuously filled the office of justice of the peace and then retired by reason of the fact that he reached the age limit for that office. In 1871 he was called to represent Thompson in the state legislature and while a member of the house was chairman of its committee on new towns and probate districts. He was again elected to the state legislature in 1886. In 1880 he was the candidate of his party for the office of secretary of state of Connecticut, won the election and served under Governor Bigelow during the succeeding two years. He was a delegate from Connecticut to the republican national convention in St. Louis which nominated William Mckinley, and in 1897 and 1898 he was counsel for the comptroller of currency of the United States for New England. In 1903 he was appointed state's attorney for Windham county and is still in office, having been reappointed again and again. In 1909 he was made the representa- tive of the twenty-eighth district of Connecticut in the state senate. While serving in the house in 1886 he acted as chairman of the appropriations committee and was chairman of the committee on constitutional amendment. In 1909, while in the senate, he was chairman of the judiciary committee, thus becoming the recognized leader of the senate. He was also chairman on joint rules and on senate rules and was prominently associated with much constructive legislation which has had to do with shaping the history of the state. " Along strictly professional lines he is widely known as the president of the Windham County Bar Association, serving in the office at the present time, He belongs to the State Bar Association, has been a member of its committee on jurisprudence and at the annual meeting of the association in January, 1918, was elected its president. He is likewise a member of the American Bar Association and for several years was a member of the local council for Connecticut. He attends the Congregational church, belongs to Kappa Sigma Epsilon, Theta Psi and Psi Upsilon, three Greek letter frater- nities, and to the Wolfs Head fraternity. He is appreciative of the social amenities of life and enjoys meeting with his brethren of these different organizations.

While undoubtedly he is not without that honorable ambition which is so powerful and useful as an incentive in activity in public affairs, he regards the pursuits of private life as being in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts. His is a noble char- acter,-one that subordinates personal ambition to public good and seeks rather the benefit of others than the aggrandizement of self. His is 'a conspicuously successful career. Endowed by nature with high intellectual qualities, to which are added the discipline and embellishments of culture, his is a most attractive personality. Well versed in the learning of his profession and with a deep knowledge of human nature and the springs of human conduct, with great shrewdness and sagacity and extraordinary tact, he is in the courts an advocate of great power and influence, and whenever he addresses the public his auditors listen to him with attention and deep interest.

DANIEL NEWTON MEDBURY.

Daniel Newton Medbury, who throughout his entire life has been identified with farming interests in Pomfret, is the youngest of the twelve children of Daniel and Sarah L. (Sawyer) Medbury. He is a representative of one of the old families of Rhode Island. His grandfather, Daniel Medbury, was born in that state, March 5, 1781, and there learned the tanner's trade. In 1802, having attained his majority, he became a resident of Pomfret, where he purchased a fifty-acre tract of land, a part of which constitutes the old homestead upon which his grandson, Daniel Newton Medbury, now resides. He devoted his life to general agricultural pursuits and made many improve.

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A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 54

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