A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 65

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

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He came to the United States in 1879, arriving on the 23d of November, in company with his brother. The brothers made their way to Rockville, Connecticut, but could not get work there and then went to Hartford, where they entered the employ of James Clark. After a year spent at Hartford, Henry Fryer returned to Rockville, where he resided for two and a half years. In September, 1884, he took up his abode in Willimantic, where he embarked in business on his own account in a partnership relation under the firm style of Roberts & Fryer. This firm was later succeeded by Tilden & Fryer and in Janu- ary, 1889, Mr. Fryer purchased his partner's interest and thus became sole owner of the business, which is today the oldest tailoring establishment in the county. From the beginning he has enjoyed a liberal patronage. The thoroughness and excellence of his work, his reliable business methods and his earnest desire to please his patrons have been strong elements in his growing success. When Mr. Fryer arrived in Willimantic his cash capital consisted of but one hundred dollars. Now, in addition to the extensive business which he owns and conducts, he is also the owner of two farms.

On the 10th of October, 1888, Mr. Fryer was united in marriage to Miss Nellie E. Finley, of Bolton, Connecticut, and they became the parents of two children. The elder, Minot S., is a plumber of Willimantic and was educated in the public and high schools of this city and in the Massachusetts Business College. He wedded Mary Packer and they have two children, Minot Packer and Merle S. Minot S. Fryer has made for himself a creditable position in the trade circles of his native city, where he owns a well appointed plumbing establishment. The younger son, H. Douglass, was liberally educated and after studying in the public and high schools and in the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion school he pursued a special course in Brown University and also at Clark University and is now an instructor at Camp Green, a Young Men's Christian Association institution in North Carolina.

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Politically Mr. Fryer is a republican and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day but does not seek nor desire office as a reward for party fealty. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and for thirty-five years has been a Mason, serving at one time as secretary of Rockville lodge. He is also a consistent and helpful member of the First Baptist church, of which he has been a trustee for many years. While his business interests have grown in volume and importance, he has never neglected his public duties nor his moral obligations in relation to the church but has cooperated in many plans and movements which have led to the progress and improve- ment of the city along material, intellectual, social, political and moral lines.

CHARLES E. LEONARD.

Charles E. Leonard, who is engaged in contracting and building and also in truck- ing in Willimantic, was born in Taunton, Massachusetts, June 21, 1854, a son of Horatio and Elizabeth (Weatherill) Leonard, both of whom are now deceased. They left Taunton when their son Charles was but four years of age, removing to South Hampton, Con- necticut, where he attended the public schools for a short time but the period covered less than a year. He has been dependent upon his own resources from the age of eight years and in his youth worked at any employment that he could get which would yield him an honest dollar. He is truly a self-made man in the broadest and best sense of the term. He became a resident of Willimantic in 1872 and secured a position in the shop of the Willimantic Linen Company. He afterward learned the machinist's trade at Stonington, Connecticut, there spending three years, and in 1903 he established his present business. At the beginning he had two employes and something of the growth of his patronage is indicated in the fact that he now has twenty-five employes and uses twenty-six horses in the conduct of his business, together with one auto truck. In the beginning he had only four horses for hauling purposes. He has the contract for taking care of thirty miles of state road and has been engaged in that work for a number of years. His plant now occupies a plat of ground one hundred and eighty-four feet on Walnut street and ninety by seventy-six feet on Meadow and Valley streets.

On the 2d of July. 1878, Mr. Leonard was united in marriage to Miss Minnie L. Brewster, of Stonington, Connecticut, and to them have been born two children: Mary, the wife of Elmer B. Stone; and George S. B., who wedded May Reed and is engaged in the practice of dentistry in Mystic, Connecticut. The children were educated in the public and high schools and in normal school and the son is a graduate of the Pennsyl- vania Dental College.

Mr. Leonard gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day but does not seek nor desire public office. He is a Mason and is a member of the Congregational church. His has been an active and useful life in which there have been few idle hours. He has made wise use of his time, his talents and his opportunities, and step by step he has advanced, reaching a creditable position as one of the prominent business men of his adopted city. Willi- mantic numbers him among her valued residents and his fellow townsmen entertain for him high regard and admiration by reason of what he has accomplished. For a period of fifteen years he ably served as chief of the Willimantic fire department.

WILLIAM E. CLARK.

William E. Clark, bottler of the Hosmer Mountain Spring Water, and manufacturer of various carbonized beverages and other soft drinks, has built up a substantial business, for which he has an excellent equipment. He was born in Portland, Connecticut, March 29, 1877, and is a representative of one of the old families of Hebron, Connecticut, his parents being Ralph B. and Betsy A. (Chamberlain) Clark, in whose home his youthful days were passed while he was a student in the district schools at Hebron. Later he had the advantages of further instruction in Bacon Academy at Colchester, Connecticut. With the putting aside of his textbooks he made a survey of the business world and took his initial step as a clerk in the grocery store of John Condon, with whom he remained for a year. On the expiration of that period, in connection with his brother he established a grocery store at North Colchester, Connecticut, and while thus engaged in commercial pursuits there, he also acted as postmaster of the village. He sold his busi- ness in 1900 and in the same year came to Willimantic, where for five years he engaged in clerking in a meat market. He next went upon the road for the firm of Erbling Brothers of New York city, engaged in the sale of malt extracts. After devoting three

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years to that business he located at Putnam, Connecticut, and entered the employ of Bradley & Company, wholesalers, whom he represented as a traveling salesman for a year. On the 1st of April, 1912, he turned his attention to his present business, which was established by the firm of Clark Brothers but is now owned solely by William Clark. They started out with no assistance. They had a one-horse delivery wagon and but limited equipment, but as the years have gone by, Mr. Clark has developed the business until it is now splendidly organized and he has excellent equipment for the conduct of his bottling business. He has three employes and utilizes two large auto trucks for delivery. His output is sold throughout this section of the state and he not only bottles the pure spring water from Hosmer mountain but also manufactures ginger ale, coca cola, root beer, birch beer, sarsaparilla, orangeade, cream soda, lemon and strawberry extracts, Royal Nerve Tonic, grape juice and seltzer. The most sanitary conditions prevail at the plant, so that the output is perfectly pure, and the excellence of his prod- ucts insures a ready sale on the market.

On the 21st of October, 1901, Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Anne Bob- bington of Willimantic, and they have two living children, Bernice E. and Thelma B., who are pupils in the schools of Willimantic. They also lost one child, Helen, who died at the age of eighteen months.

The parents are consistent members of the Congregational church and Mr. Clark is also connected with the Knights of Pythias and is a charter member of the Improved Order of Red Men. He is likewise a charter member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and in politics is a republican. Upon the party ticket he was elected to the office of alderman for the fourth ward, serving for the two years' term, and during that period he exercised his official prerogatives in support of various well devised plans and measures for the general good. He stands at all times for those things which are beneficial to the community and has ever found opportunity to aid in advancing the general welfare, while never neglecting his business interests. He has worked his way steadily upward in a business way, taking advantage of the opportunities which have legitimately come to him, and as the years have passed he has made steady progress, controlling now an important business enterprise.

JAMES HAGGERTY.

Eventful and varied has been the career of James Haggerty, who is now serving as truant officer in Willimantic, his native city. His activities in former years, however, have carried him into various sections of the country. He was born December 25, 1849, a son of John Haggerty, who passed away in August, 1898, and for about two years was survived by his widow, who bore the maiden name of Mary Jordan and who died in 1900.

At the usual age James Haggerty was sent to school and pursued his studies until the 1st of January, 1864, when, at the age of fourteen years, he ran away from home and joined Company H of the Eighteenth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, enlisting for three years' service, or during the war. He joined his regiment in Virginia and with it participated in all of the battles in which the regiment took part until the battle of New- market, Virginia, in which he was taken prisoner. He was incarcerated at different periods at Richmond, in Andersonville and in Charleston, South Carolina, and in the last named place he became a victim of yellow fever and was sent to Florence, South Carolina. There he was released, after which he went to Annapolis, Maryland, to recover from illness and later he rejoined his regiment and remained in the war until Lee surrendered at Appomattox. He was mustered out at Hartford, Connecticut, and when the country no longer needed his aid he returned home and again attended school for a year.

On the expiration of that period Mr. Haggerty went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he joined the regular army, becoming a member of Company B, Second Battalion of the Twelfth United States Infantry. This was in September, 1866. He was first sent to the south, where he was engaged on duty in reconstruction days. In 1867 he was sent with his command across the plains to fight the Indians and he served out his term of enlistment, which continued until 1869. Mr. Haggerty then returned to Willimantic and afterward went to New Haven, where he engaged in blacksmithing. Later he joined a minstrel troup, with which he remained for two years. He won fame in that way, being widely known as one of the leading minstrel men of the country, and he was able to command a high salary. Later he returned to Willimantic, where he entered the employ of the Willimantic Linen Company, and for a time he was also engaged in the retail tobacco business. His store became a favorite resort with political leaders and Mr. Haggerty naturally became interested in politics through the discussions which were held in his establishment. Later he disposed of his store and accepted the position

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of deputy sheriff, in which capacity he long continued, having but recently resigned his office. He has been truant officer for five years, but aside from this position is now living retired. He is well known as a contributor to papers and was correspondent for the New York Mercury for fifteen years. He was also correspondent for the Connecticut Catholic.

In Willimantic, in 1875, Mr. Haggerty was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Gillholy, of New York city, and they have become the parents of seven children: Lawrence J., of Willimantic, who is a veteran of the Spanish-American war; George F., of Philadelphia, who likewise served in the Spanish-American war and is now manager of a large mer- cantile establishment; Mary Jordan and Alice Jeannette, at home; Elizabeth, who died in 1900; James De Brincker, who is superintendent of the State Hospital of Massachu- setts; and Leo Peter, who is superintendent of elevators at the Union Metallic Cartridge Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The family are communicants of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church and Mr. Hag- gerty is serving as one of its trustees and is secretary of the board. He is a past com- mander of the Grand Army Post of Willimantic and is serving on the staff of the present post commander. In politics he is a democrat and for three terms he filled the office of burgess of the borough. After the incorporation of the city he was elected alderman from the third ward and acted in that capacity for three terms. Later he was chosen alderman from the sixth ward and for eight years he filled the office of register of voters. His military experience not only covers service with the Union army in the Civil war and service with the regular army on the western plains, but also includes eight years' con- nection with Company E of the Third Connecticut Regiment, National Guard, and when he retired he was holding the rank of first lieutenant. During his army life in the west he was present when the last spike in the Union Pacific Railroad was driven, thus com- pleting the first transcontinental line. His experiences in the west would fill a volume, so interesting, varied and ofttimes hazardous were they. His life has ever been one of activity and usefulness and his reminiscences are of a most interesting character, touching as they do many even'ts which figure on the pages of national history.

AMOS MORIN.

No record in this volume indicates more clearly the possibilities for successful achievement on the part of the individual than does the history of Amos Morin, su- perintendent of the Connecticut Mills at Danielson. Starting out in life with abso- lutely no advantages, having never attended school for a day, he has steadily worked his way upward, developing his powers through the exercise of effort and utilizing every opportunity to gain knowledge and promote his efficiency. Today he occupies a position of large responsibility and importance, being superintendent of a mill that now furnishes employment to more than seven hundred people.

He was born at Redford, in Clinton county, New York, March 28, 1870, a son of Oliver and Mary (Kental) Morin. The father was a native of St. Gabriel, in the province of Quebec, Canada, and was there reared and educated to the age of sixteen years, when he removed to Clinton county, New York. While there he enlisted for service in the Civil war as a member of Company C, Forty-eighth New York Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for twenty-nine months in the Army of the Potomac, participating in a number of hotly contested engagements. He proved a brave and valorous soldier on the field of battle and after the close of the war he returned to Redford, New York, where he engaged in the business of handling native timber, cordwood, etc. While there he was married and afterward became a contractor on the building of a railroad in that section of the country. He contracted to supply the railroad with timber for ties and also took the contract to cut down the timber on the right of way. With the as- sistance of his wife he likewise conducted the boarding house where the construction gang was furnished meals. In 1884 he removed with his family to Oakdale, Massachu- setts, where for nineteen years he engaged in road construction work. He afterward became a resident of Leominster, Massachusetts, where for several years he was em- ployed in the comb shops of the town that manufactured the rubber hair combs. After three years' residence in Leominster he retired from active business life and removed to Montreal, Canada, where he likewise spent three years. On the expiration of that period he returned to Leominster and subsequently removed to Danielson, Connecticut, making his home with his son Amos, and there passed away March 20, 1915. His wife was born at St. Romain, in the province of Quebec, and still makes her home with her son Amos at Danielson. Amos Morin is a representative of one of the old Canadian families. His grandfather was Anthony Morin, a native of the province of Quebec, where he engaged in business as a laborer and lumberman. With his family he removed to

AMOS MORIN

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Redford, New York, and afterward to Plattsburg, New York. In his later years he re- tired from active business and spent the evening of his days in the home of a daughter at St. Gabriel, in the province of Quebec, where his death occurred. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Morin were the following children, all but one of whom are living: Louis; Amos; Oliver, who has passed away; Mary, the wife of Edmund Girardin; Israel, boss weaver in the Connecticut Mills at Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada; Margaret, the wife of Edward Hammond, a railroad man; John, a policeman of Danielson, Connecti- cut; Anthony, a teamster of Danielson; Lucy, the wife of Henry Chartier, a weaver in the Connecticut Mills at Sherbrooke, Canada; Exias, of Danielson, Conecticut; Dora, the wife of William Vaillette; Mary Louise, the wife of Theodore Peloquin, a loom fixer in the Connecticut Mills at Danielson; and George, living at Leominster, Massachusetts.

Amos Morin resided at Redford, New York, the place of his birth, until he was fourteen years of age and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Oakdale, Massachusetts. He began to earn his living when very young. He never had the op- portunity of attending school and it was after he had reached manhood that he learned to read and write. While at Redford he worked in the lumber camps and in other ways and following the removal to Oakdale, Massachusetts, he secured a position in the weav- ing department of the West Boylston cotton mills, owned by the J. H. Lane Company. He was continuously employed there for sixteen and a half years. The establish- ment was one of the pioneer mills in the making of tire duck fabric-the second mill in the industry to take up this line of weaving tire duck. It was there that Mr. Morin obtained his first experience in the manufacture of tire duck fabric and was one of the first weavers in the industry to receive instruction in that class of work. He served as second hand in the weaving room of this mill but afterward resigned his position to become loom fixer in the Brighton cotton mills at Passaic, New Jersey, mills that were devoted exclusively to the manufacture of tire fabric. There he was also promoted to the position of second hand and after five years he resigned and removed to St. Gabriel, Quebec, Canada, where he purchased a farm which he cultivated for a year and a half. He was then called on by the Passaic cotton mills to accept a position at Wor- cester, Massachusetts, and assist in starting the mills there-a plant being developed at that point for the manufacture of cotton tire fabric and developed under the name of the Worcester Duck Weaving Company. After six months' experience in Worcester the company removed the business to Passaic, New Jersey, and changed the name to the Passaic Cotton Company. Mr. Morin went with them to Passaic as second hand of the weaving department and later was overseer of the tire fabric weaving department, re- maining there for four years.

On the 27th of September, 1910, Mr. Morin removed from Passaic to Danielson to set up the machinery, looms and equipment for the Connecticut Mills, which had recently leased a building in the north part of the city for the manufacture of tire duck. After getting the machinery installed and in operation, the work of turning out the first sample piece of tire duck ever manufactured by the Connecticut Mills was begun. Mr. Morin's wife and son Amos wove the first piece of tire duck ever made in the plant, while Mr. Morin attended to the machinery. The three were the only employes of the mill at that time and something of the development of the business is indicated in the fact that employment is now furnished to more than seven hundred people. The first tire duck made was a five-yard piece and a half hour after it was completed it was taken to New York by special messenger. The quality of the fabric assured success from the start and more looms and other equipment were added and the output was gradually increased. With the demand for its goods, new buildings were erected and the business soon became a flourishing manufacturing concern. Mr. Morin was appointed overseer of the mills, with William B. Fitts as the superintendent, and when the latter retired in October, 1915, Mr. Morin was made superintendent of the mills and continues to occupy this position at the present time. Familiar with every phase of the business, Mr. Morin has contributed in substantial measure to its development through his opera- tion of the mills, the methods there employed in manufacture and the systemization of the work.

On the 17th of July, 1893, Mr. Morin was married at West Boylston, Massachusetts, to Miss Exima Pearreault, who was born at Roxton Falls, Quebec, Canada, a daughter of Meador and Exima (Bone) Pearreault, who were also natives of Quebec. Mr. and Mrs. Morin have became parents of five children, of whom four are yet living. Amos, jr., born at St. Gabriel, Canada, is a medical student in the Pointe Aux Trembles Medical College of Montreal, Canada. He served in the medical detachment of the Twenty-first United States Engineers, A. E. F., and was in France and Germany for eighteen months, while his entire connection with the army covered twenty-three months. He was on active duty on many of the important battle fronts and saw some of the hardest fighting of the war. Exima, born in Oakdale, Massachusetts, is the wife of George Bizaillon, a loom fixer in the Connecticut Mills, at Danielson, and they have one child, Gerald.

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Cora, born in Oakdale, Massachusetts, died in Danielson, Connecticut, at the age of sixteen years. Eva is a student in the Villa Maria convent in Montreal, Canada. Romeo is at home.

The religious faith of the family is that of the Roman Catholic church. Mr. Morin is also connected with the Catholic Foresters of America and with the Artisans Français and the Union St. John the Baptist. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is a firm believer in its principles. He occupies a beautiful home in the Connecticut Mills village, where one of the thoroughfares has been named Morin avenue in his honor. The Connecticut Mills village is well termed "The Village Beautiful." The mill owners have developed a village which has adequately solved the housing problem. They have given to their employes the opportunity to live in beau- tiful homes amid attractive surroundings, erecting dwellings which they sell at cost to their employes. There are no two dwellings alike and everything has been built with an eye to beauty as well as convenience and comfort. Mr. Morin has ever been active in efforts to promote the welfare of the operatives of the mills and his influence is al- ways on the side of progress and improvement. He is justly proud of the fact that he is the first and oldest employe of the Connecticut Mills and his advancement has come to him as the merited reward of his fidelity and capability. His record is a notable one of steady advancement and successful achievement and should serve to in- spire and encourage others, showing what may be accomplished through individual effort.

RUSSELL PERKINS.

One of the beautiful estates of Windham county is the property of Russell and G. L. Perkins, the work of development and improvement there having been carried for- ward to a high point.

Russell Perkins was born in Germantown, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 14th of October, 1876, a son of Benjamin and Josephine Evans (Welsh) Perkins. He attended St. Marks School at Southboro, Massachusetts, and then entered Harvard, being numbered among its alumni of 1899, in which year he won the Bachelor of Arts degree. His father, Benjamin Perkins, in 1888 purchased the old Thurber farm in Pomfret and erected thereon a mansion which he made his summer home. It is now the summer home of Marcus Kimball, a Boston attorney, who married a daughter of Benjamin Perkins. In 1896 G. L. and Russell Perkins, brothers, purchased five hundred acres of land adjoining the Marcus Kimball farm and in 1897 erected thereon a gray stone mansion at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars, while they spent a fortune in beautify- ing the grounds. Upon the place they have since resided. The name of the house is Ufton, which was the name of the home of the Perkins ancestry in Pomfret, England. G. L. Perkins is now Young Men's Christian Association secretary in France, while Russell Perkins resides upon the farm. He has a splendidly developed place, a thor- oughly organized household and is a great lover of outdoor life, especially hunting. He finds ample opportunity to indulge his taste in this direction and frequently makes hunting excursions to various sections of the country, At the same time he directs the interests of his property, which is today one of the finest farming tracts in this section of the state. There is no facility to add to the productiveness of the farm or to enhance its comfort, convenience and beauty that has been omitted and it is today one of the showplaces of this section.

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A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume II, Part 65

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