A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 57

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

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Oscar D. Baker pursued his education in the schools of his native town and when his textbooks were put aside entered his father's store, being then about sixteen years of age. He has since been connected with the business and took entire charge at the time of his father's death .. He is a progressive merchant, alert and energetic, and his per- sistency of purpose has brought to him a measure of success that is most gratifying. He is at all times accommodating, and the farmers and people of Ashford always find him a good friend in time of emergency. Not only has he extended the credit of the store to many to assist them in an hour of need but has also loaned money to various customers, and on the whole his confidence has never been betrayed. On the 1st of June, 1919, he admitted his son Raymond O. to a partnership and thus the business is being carried forward by the third generation of the family.

At Eastford, Connecticut, on the 6th of May, 1893, Mr. Baker was united in marriage to Miss Anna E. Buell, who was born in that place, a daughter of William H. and Abbie Buell. Their children are: Raymond O., who was born in Ashford, March 18, 1896, and wedded Mary M. Karhan, by whom he has two children, Ida Marie and Carl Raymond; Norman D., who was born in Ashford, June 18, 1899; and Julia E., born September 22, 1902.

HON. RAYMOND O. BAKER

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Mr. Baker has not only followed in his father's footsteps in a business way but also in a political way, for he was reared in the democratic faith and his mature judgment has sanctioned the policies and teachings of the party. Like his father, too, he has again and again been called to public office, serving as town clerk, while previously he was judge of probate for ten years. In 1907 and in 1915 he was a representative to the state legislature and under appointment of President Cleveland he served as postmaster for several years. He became the successor of his father in the position of postmaster and like his father was called to serve in the state legislature, so that the name of Baker has figured prominently upon the pages of Connecticut's history for many years. It is a notable fact that his father, himself and his son have represented Windham county in the general assembly, for the son Raymond is now a member of that body. Oscar Davis Baker has added new laurels to an untarnished family name by his acceptable public service, capably and conscientiously discharging every duty that has come to him and fully meeting the obligations that have devolved upon him in this connection. He is a member and treasurer of Ashford Grange, in which connection he has served since its organization. He attends the Baptist church.

HON. RAYMOND OSCAR BAKER.

The student of history cannot carry his investigations far into the annals of Wind- ham county without recognizing the prominent part the Baker family has played in the public life of this section of the state. In the year 1919 Raymond O. Baker represented his district in the general assembly, a position which had previously been filled by his father and his grandfather, and all three have left the impress of their individuality and ability upon the laws of Connecticut to the benefit of the commonwealth. The name, too, has figured prominently and honorably in connection with the commercial development of the village of Warrenville, where today the firm of Baker & Son is conducting one of the leading general mercantile establishments in this part of the state, the business being now owned by Oscar D. Davis and his son Raymond Oscar, while the founder of the business was Davis Arnold Baker, the grandfather of him whose name introduces this review.

It was in the town of Ashford that Raymond O. Baker was born on the 18th of March, 1896. He is a son of Oscar Davis and Anna (Buell) Baker, of whom mention is made on another page of this work. He spent his youthful days in Ashford and acquired his education in the district schools, while later he worked in his father's grocery store for several years, thus gaining his initial business experience. In June, 1919, he pur- chased a half interest in the business and is thus engaged at the present time, devoting · his energies to the conduct of a grocery and general merchandise establishment that is to- day one of the leading commercial enterprises of this section of Windham county. They carry a good stock and their progressive methods, their earnest efforts to please their patrons and their alert and enterprising spirit in business affairs have constituted the basis of their growing success. The firm buys many thousands of dollars worth of furs in the fur season, being among the largest handlers of native furs in the state. Three generations of the family have been connected with the store, for the business was founded by the grandfather, Davis A. Baker, in 1875. He remained the proprietor until his death, although his son, Oscar D. Baker, was for many years associated with him in its conduct. Upon the death of the founder in 1908 the son became the owner and manager and remained sole proprietor until the 1st of June, 1919, when he admitted his son Raymond to a partnership and the firm style of O. D. Baker & Son was assumed, although through usage and custom the place is still known as "D. A. Baker's Store."

On the 14th of February, 1913, at Warrenville, Raymond O. Baker was married to Miss Marie Karhan, a daughter of August and Josephine Karhan, who were natives of Bohemia. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have two children: Ida Marie, born February 27, 1914; and Carl Raymond, born May 1, 1915.

In his political views Mr. Baker is a democrat, and in 1919 he represented his town in the state legislature, being the youngest member ever sent from this town. It is a. matter of note that three successive generations of the family have represented Wind- ham county in the general assembly, the grandfather being four times elected to the house of representatives. The father, Oscar D. Baker, was also chosen by Windham county to aid in framing the legislation of the state, and that the public recognized the splendid service given by the father and grandfather was indicated in the election of Raymond O. Baker, who in 1919 served on the fish and game committee and who gave the weight of his support to many constructive measures. He is a prominent and in- fluential citizen and is a valued member of Ashford Grange, No. 90, of Quinebaug Pomona and also the State Grange. He has the regard of his fellow townsmen in an

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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY

eminent degree and is an influential citizen of the community. He and his family attend and support the Baptist church of Warrenville, and he gives his support to every cause that tends to promote the material, intellectual, social and moral progress of the community.

JAMES P. MUSTARD.

James P. Mustard, who is a partner in the firm of D. A. Lyman & Company, insur- ance agents of Willimantic, was born in Milton, Delaware, on the 15th of November, 1877, a son of John Hammon and Martha (Hickman) Mustard. The. father is now deceased, but the mother is still a resident of Milton.

Mr. Mustard was educated in the public schools of Milton and of Wilmington, Delaware, and was graduated from a business college with the class of 1896. After leaving school he was in the law office of the Hon. Willard Saulsbury, United States senator from Delaware, for about a year, and then entered the employ of the American Sugar Refining Company. He was afterward connected with the firm of Potter, Parlin Company, tea and coffee importers, and later he went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as secretary to the traffic manager of the National Tube Company. His next removal took him to New York, where he was secretary for the firm of The W. C. Prather Company, tea and coffee importers. In 1903 he arrived in Willimantic, and was engaged in the tea and coffee business for the next ten years. He then turned his attention to the life insurance business, representing the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany, and on the 1st of June, 1914, he entered into partnership relations with Dwight A. Lyman, under the firm style of D. A. Lyman & Company. This company has built up a large clientage and represents the following well known insurance corporations: Home Insurance Company of New York, United States Fire Insurance Company, Ameri- can Eagle Fire Insurance Company, Firemen's Insurance Company, National Liberty Insurance Company, Northwestern National Insurance Company, London Assurance Cor- poration, Rhode Island Insurance Company, Security Insurance Company, Farmers' Fire Insurance Company, City of New York Insurance Company, Providence Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Merrimack Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Pawtucket Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Traders & Mechanics Insurance Company, Lowell Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Middlesex Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Fitchburg Mutual Fire Insurance Company, National Surety Company, Ocean Accident & Guarantee Company and the Royal Indemnity Company.

On the 26th of December, 1912, Mr. Mustard was united in marriage to Miss Ida Wilhelmina Potter and they have become parents of two children, William Niles and Robert Hammon. Mr. and Mrs. Mustard attend the Baptist church. He is a prominent Mason and has filled all the offices in the blue lodge and council and at the present time is eminent commander of St. John's Commandery, No. 11. For sixteen years he has been identified with the order as one of the worthy exemplars of the craft and he has membership not only in the lodge, chapter, council and commandery, but also in the Mystic Shrine and the Eastern Star. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, Politically he is a democrat, and is serving his third term as assessor, while for two years he was selectman. He is secretary of the Willimantic Chamber of Commerce, and he is the secretary of the Willimantic Building and Loan Association. He formerly belonged to the Nipnet Canoe Club, of which he was commodore, and he was also fore- man of the Alert Hose Company. His interests are broad and varied, touching the general welfare in many ways, and his support can always be counted upon to further any plan or measure that has to do with the progress and upbuilding of city and of state.

D. A. LYMAN.

D. A. Lyman is the senior partner in the firm of D. A. Lyman & Company, a well known insurance firm of Willimantic.

Dwight Alfred Lyman was born in the town of Barrie, now Albion, Orleans county, New York, November 11, 1843. He was the oldest son of Samuel Edson and Fanny Charlotte (Clark) Lyman, both of whom were Columbia, Connecticut, people and are now deceased.

His parents came back to Columbia in the spring of 1850 and it was in the Center district school in that town that the subject of this sketch obtained his education. He resided at home until he was about eighteen years old, attending the district school during winters and working on his father's farm in the summers.

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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY

In the fall of 1862 he went to Fort Trumbull to enlist in the cavalry, but before he was enlisted he was taken sick, with what developed into typhoid fever which un- fitted him for military service. In the winter of 1862, not being able to work out- doors, he engaged in the manufacture of willow furniture with a man who had started the business near his home and in the following spring he went to Hartford and engaged in the same business with the Colt Willow Ware Company, where he remained two years.

Early in 1871 he was appointed station agent at Lovetts, now Versailles, a station on the old H. P. & F. Railroad, remaining there until the spring of 1873 when he removed to Willimantic and took charge of the local clerical work for that company and the Air Line, which had just started.

In the spring of 1874 he engaged with the American Basket Company of New Britain as traveling salesman, remaining with that company two years, completing his work as traveling salesman with the Williams Manufacturing Company, manufac- turers of baskets at Northampton, Massachusetts. In the fall of 1876 he went to Baltimore, Maryland, to start a basket shop for a contractor in the Maryland peni- tentiary, acting as overseer and instructor there until the early winter of 1877, when he returned to Willimantic, where his family had resided since 1873, preparatory to taking the position of superintendent of the Windham Almshouse, which he did on April 1, 1878. The almshouse was burned in March, 1879, and the work of supervising the rebuilding fell very largely to him. He remained there until the spring of 1890 and while there all the present buildings and handsome stone walls, both about the almshouse and the cemetery, were planned and the construction supervised by him.

While in charge of the Windham Almshouse, which also included the outside poor, he instituted many reforms, took an active interest in pauper legislation, being the author of the anti-auction and contract pauper law. During the last five years of his being at the almshouse he acted as clerk of the board of selectmen and was the creator of the present system of keeping the selectmen's and pauper accounts.

He was appointed census enumerator for Willimantic for the 1890 census and after completing that work he was assigned to take the manufacturing statistics for Wind- ham and Tolland counties which occupied his time until well into the winter of 1890-91.

In the spring of 1891 he opened a fire insurance office and the present business of D. A. Lyman & Company is the outgrowth of that start. About the same time he began newspaper work as the local correspondent of The Hartford Courant, covering a large part of eastern Connecticut. He remained with The Courant until about 1907, when he accepted the editorship of the Willimantic Journal until it was sold about three years later.

In 1891, in connection with George E. Stiles, he organized the Willimantic Building and Loan Association and was elected its first secretary. He held that position for twenty-five years and saw it grow from a small beginning to a membership of six hundred with assets of more than a quarter million dollars. In the spring of 1916 he declined to hold the position longer and his partner, James P. Mustard, was elected his successor.

He became deputy judge of the Willimantic police court in May, 1897, holding that position until May, 1901, when he became judge and held the position for two years, being the only lay judge the court has ever had.

In the spring of 1915 he took up his legal residence in Columbia, where he had built him a cottage, but no sooner had he become a fixture in that town than he was enlisted in public affairs, he was elected a selectman for four consecutive years, three of which he was first selectman. He has always taken an active interest in politics and since age conferred upon him the right of franchise he has given unfalter- ing support to the republican party, serving on town committees for several years. Aside from these offices, which he has ably filled, he has concentrated his efforts and attention upon business affairs and has built up a large insurance agency, the extent of which is described in greater detail in connection with the preceding sketch of J. P. Mustard.

On the 19th of September, 1865, Mr. Lyman was united in marriage to Miss Abbie M. Hunt, of Columbia, Connecticut, and they have become the parents of four children: Lizzie Doten, who is the wife of William H. Tharp of Louisville, Kentucky; Miss Lillian, who resides with her parents; and Hollis Hunt, of Willimantic, and Samuel Edson, of New York city. There are three grandchildren, Richard Lyman, Hardy and Lillian Margaret, children of Mr. and Mrs. Tharp.

Mr. Lyman has been a spiritualist since 1864 and a member of the First Spiritualist Society of Willimantic since 1873 and for the past ten years has been the first trustee of that society; he is also a member of the Connecticut State Spiritualist Association and up to May, 1918, he had served four years consecutively as president of that association.

He joined the Masonic fraternity in 1868 and is a member of Eastern Star Lodge,

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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY

No. 44, of Willimantic, and for the past thirty years he has been a member of the Grange, being a past worthy master of that order. His has been an active life in which he has done good service in public office, while in his business connections he has developed interests of importance, becoming one of the well known representatives of insurance activities in Windham county.

HON. JOHN EBEN PRIOR.

Hon. John Eben Prior, judge of probate for the district of Plainfield since 1902, was born in Plainfield on the 23d of September, 1862, a son of Havilah Mowry and Jane ( Phil- lips) Prior. On the paternal side he is a descendant of Lieutenant Thomas Tracy, one of the first settlers of Norwich, Connecticut, and on the maternal side, of Thomas Hazard, of Boston and Portsmouth, Rhode Island; of Jeffrey Champlin, of Kingston, Rhode Island; and of Edward Perry, of Sandwich, Massachusetts. His great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Williams, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war.

Judge Prior acquired a public school education in Plainfield and supplemented his early training by study in the Plainfield Academy. He entered business circles as a travel- ing salesman for textile mill supplies and was thus active for a considerable period, In 1902 he was elected judge of probate for the district of Plainfield, and through the inter- vening period of sixteen years he has continuously occupied that position. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. Fraternally he is a Mason, having attained the Knight Templar degree in the York Rite and the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite.

On the 8th of January, 1888, at Moosup, Connecticut, where he resides, Judge Prior was married to Miss Grace A. Putnam, a daughter of Alexander M. and Emma C. (Finkel) Putnam. Mrs. Prior was a descendant of Captain Archalaus Putnam, of Sutton, Massachu- setts, who was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. She died in 1901, leaving a son, John Alexander Prior, who is a graduate of Yale University, class of 1916, and is now with the American expeditionary force in France.

JOHN C. LINCOLN.

John C. Lincoln, a furniture dealer of Willimantic, to whom the call of opportunity is ever the call to action, was born in North Windham, Connecticut, February 22, 1851, a son of Mason and Hannah (Clark) Lincoln, who are now deceased. After attending the district school in North Windham he continued his studies at Chaplin, to which place the family removed when John C. Lincoln was a youth of fifteen years. He also pursued his studies for a time in the old Natchaug school in Willimantic and on start- ing out upon his business career was first employed in the jewelry store of Andrew Chester. After leaving that store he bacame teller in the old Willimantic Loan & Trust Company and subsequently was an employe of the Willimantic Saving Institution but was obliged to discontinue his labors there on account of his eyes. In 1874, in associa- tion with a partner, he purchased his present business, which was conducted under the firm name of Abel Clark & Company. The business had been established about 1870 by George W. Burnham and Mr. Lincoln has been sole proprietor of the business since the death of his partner, Mr. Clark. He occupies a building four stories in height and one hundred and thirty by twenty-four feet and he also has a separate storehouse. He employs eight people and uses auto delivery. He carries a large and carefully selected line of furniture of attractive design and his stock, together with his honorable deal- ings and earnest desire to please his patrons, has constituted one of the strong elements in liis growing trade.

Mr. Lincoln was married February 22, 1877, to Miss Carrie L. Burnham, of Wil- limantic, and they have become the parents of six children: Ida, the wife of Fred B. Grant, by whom she has two children, John and Frederick; Mrs. Grace Blanchard, who is living in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and has two children, Dana and Catherine; Harold C., who married Sadie Livingston and has three children, Mason, Spencer and Janet; Arthur B .; Lillian B .; and Evelyn, who died when ten months old. The children were educated in the public and high schools of Willimantic and the daughters, Ida and Grace, were also students in the normal school.

The religious faith of the family is that of the Congregational church and in his fraternal relations Mr. Lincoln is an Odd Fellow. He has membership with the Chamber of Commerce and he is progressive in all matters of citizenship, looking ever to the interests and upbuilding of city and county. His political endorsement is given to

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the republican party and he stands for improvement in all those things which have to do with the general welfare. He is today one of the oldest merchants in years of con- tinuous connection with trade interests in Willimantic, having embarked in his present business in 1874. That he has enjoyed a growing trade and followed enterprising meth- ods is indicated in the fact that he has conducted a profitable business through all these years and he has among the best families of Willimantic many who have been his patrons for more than a third of a century.

RIENZI ROBINSON, M. D.

Dr. Rienzi Robinson, who died January 31, 1919, actively engaged in the practice of medicine in Danielson and with ready recognition of the heavy duties and responsi- bilities that devolved upon him as a member of the profession, he came to the starting point of his career well qualified for active work and he kept pace with the trend of general progress and improvement in professional methods.

He was born in Canterbury, Connecticut, May 31, 1842, his parents being Ralph Webb and Mary Elsie (Williams) Robinson. The father was born in Scotland, Con- necticut, in 1812 and his life covered the intervening period to the year 1892. He was a distinguished school teacher of the town of Canterbury for many years and also devoted his attention to the occupation of farming. A man of good judgment and keen discrim- ination, he was often called upon to handle and settle estates and all who knew him entertained for him the highest confidence and regard. He afterward removed to the town of Hampton, where he followed farming to the time of his demise. He was a son of Abner Robinson, a native of Scotland, Connecticut, where he, too, followed the occu- pation of farming. All were descendants of the Rev. John Robinson, of England, who because of his religious views was banished to Holland, whence he afterward crossed the Atlantic to Massachusetts with his family. The line of descent comes down from the Rev. John Robinson through Peter, Peter, Abner and Ralph Robinson to Dr. Rienzi Robinson of this review. The maternal grandparents of the Doctor were Beinjamin and Betsy (Smith) Williams, natives of Canterbury, Connecticut, where their daughter, Mrs. Robinson, was born, while her last days were spent in Hampton, this state.

Dr. Robinson was a little lad of but three summers when his parents removed from Canterbury to Hampton, taking up their abode upon a farm a mile from Hampton Center. He pursued a district school education, supplemented by study in the high school, and afterward he was instructed by a private tutor. With the intention of becoming a member of the medical profession, which he believed would prove congenial and which he hoped would prove profitable, he entered the Long Island Hospital Medical College at Brooklyn, New York, and was there graduated in 1869 with the M. D. degree. The same year he located in Danielson, opening an office, and for a half century continued in practice. in that city. Throughout the entire period he enjoyed the confidence and high regard of his fellow townsmen by reason of his professional acquirements and his personal worth.

In September, 1866, Dr. Robinson was united in marriage to Mrs. Jane (Douglas) Prentice, of Griswold, Connecticut, who was born in Plainfield, Connecticut, a daughter of Harry Douglas, who was a cotton mill man. The death of Mrs. Robinson occurred in Danielson in October, 1892, and on the 22d of February, 1894, Dr. Robinson was united in marriage to Miss Morinda Catherine Butler, of Hudson, New York, who was there born and reared, spending also a part of her girlhood in New Haven, Connecticut. She is a relative of the well known Butler family of the latter city, prominent in connection with banking interests there.

Dr. Robinson was a republican in his political views, and while not a politician in the sense of office seeking, he gave earnest and active support to many plans and measures that had to do with the welfare and progress of the community in which he lived. No plan or measure for the general benefit sought his aid in vain. He was chair- man of the building committee for the free public library and for about twenty years was secretary of the library board. He was a trustee of the Brooklyn Savings Bank, with which institution he was connected for an extended period. Fraternally he was identified with Moriah Lodge, No. 15, A. F. & A. M., of which he was a past master. Along strictly professional lines he was connected with the Windham County Medical Association, of which he was president, the Connecticut State Medical Association, which also honored him with its presidency, and the American Medical Association. He was a man of high professional standards and acquirements, interested in anything which tends to bring to man the key to the complex mystery which we call life, and his reading and study kept him abreast with the most advanced professional thought and scientific investigation. While he did not hastily discard the old and time-tried methods, the

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A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 57

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