USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Meriden > An historic record and pictorial description of the town of Meriden, Connecticut and men who have made it > Part 64
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WALTER L. BEVINS.
A most promising life was cut short when on January 18, 1905, Walter L. Bevins died of pneumonia con- tracted while caring for his father, LeGrand Bevins, who died of the same disease January 12. Seldom has the death of so young a man caused such a genuine grief in a com- munity. Not only was it particularly sad, coming so soon after that of his father ; but Meriden citizens felt that Mr. Bevins was a young man who could ill be spared. He had crowded much into his brief career and had made for himself an enviable position in the life of the city.
Mr. Bevins was born in Meriden, August 4, 1876, in the house in which he died, and except for a short time when he resided in Winsted had lived
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in Meriden all his life. He attended the Corner school, and later the High school, graduating in 1895. While there he was the first business mana- ger of the school paper, The Pennant, and a member of the Alpha Delta Sigma. He was also organizer of the Clio Debating Club, a school organi- zation, and after graduating, he went to Winsted, and for considerably over a year was editor of the Citizen there. He always evinced a liking for newspaper work, and had unusual talent in that direction, writing much for the local papers until his law prac- tice became too engrossing. Leaving Winsted, having decided to adopt the legal profession, he entered the Yale Law School. During his attendance there he was editor of the Yale Shin- gle and was a student there when the Spanish War broke out. With the spirit of patriotism imbibed from his father and, ancestors who had served their country in the Revolution, he enlisted in Company L, First Infantry, and was made orderly sergeant. He served with that company until peace was declared, and then resumed his law studies at Yale, graduating in 1900. In October of that year he opened his office in Meriden, meeting with deserved success. He was the first captain of the local Spanish War Veterans' Association, an active mem- ber of C. L. Upham Camp, Sons of Veterans, and was the promoter of Company L, Second Infantry. He was chosen first lieutenant of this or- ganization, having declined to serve as captain.
He had been for some years prior to his death actively identified with the Center Congregational Church, and had been chosen deacon, an unusual honor for one of his youth. Death prevented his fulfilling the duties of the office. He was at one time su- perintendent of the Sunday School, and was the organizer of the Lyceum, a successful literary and debating so- ciety of the parish.
Mr. Bevins was the attorney for the Meriden Business Men's Associa- tion, and served it most efficiently. He was president of the Young Men's Christian Association and his deep in- terest in the work, and his executive ability made him one of the best pres- idents the association ever had. He was a member of Center Lodge, A. F. & A. M., the Arcanum Club, and the Meriden Wheel Club.
In politics, Mr. Bevins, like his father, was a Democrat. He served his party as councilman and alderman from the First Ward, and in the elec- tion in the fall before his death, was the nominee for representative to the general assembly.
Attorney Bevins was one of the best known and most highly respected young men in Meriden and none had a brighter future. He was able, ener- getic, honest and reliable in every re- spect. He was the soul of honor, a most faithful and obedient son, de- voted to his home, taking interest in matters that offered rational amuse- ment, and thoroughly devoted to any- thing that tended to help or advance his native town.
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JOHN EDWARD DURAND.
Among those who were prominent in the affairs of Meriden must be reckoned John Edward Durand, de- ceased. Mr. Durand was a native of Cheshire where he was born April 9, 1833, one of a family of fourteen chil- dren. His father, George A., was of French descent and his mother, Eu- nice, a member of the Clark family.
Mr. Durand's school life was short. At the age of fourteen the desire to take his small part in the great busi- ness of life seized him and he entered the employ of his brother who was a carpenter and joiner in Meriden. During his six years of manual la- bor the longing to secure more edu- cation took possession of him and was manifest in his frugality, which enabled him to attend a select school in the Hanover district for a year.
While employed in a sash and blind factory in Waterbury there came to Mr. Durand that urgent call to de- fend the Union, and it was the pleas- ure of this loyal son and good patriot to exchange the instruments of peace for those of war. He enlisted as a soldier in Company C, 14th Conn. V. I., and was in some of the fiercest conflicts of the Rebellion, taking part in the battles of South Mountain, An- tietam, Fredericksburg and Belle Plain Landing, where he was wound- ed.
Returning to his old employers he remained with them until 1867, then
worked in a clock factory and came to Meriden in 1868. He was stock- holder, secretary and treasurer of the Steam Mill Lumber Company and its superintendent for three years.
He also traveled extensively throughout the state selling drugs and medicines for C. P. Colt until the possibilities of the real estate business claimed his attention and for twenty years in his capacity as agent for Hon. Ratcliffe Hicks, lawyer and real estate dealer, he was thoroughly convers- ant with all the vital interests con- nected with buying and selling lands and buildings.
Amid the laborious cares of his daily life Mr. Durand found time to cultivate the religious side of his na- ture. He was converted and joined the Center Baptist church at the age of fifteen years; but on his return from Waterbury he became a member of the Main Street Baptist church.
Mr. Durand was connected with Meridian Lodge, No. 77, F. and A. M .; Merriam Post, No. 8, G. A. R., of Meriden; the Knights of the Golden Eagle, and Hawley Division of the Sons of Temperance, Hartford. He was the first pension agent in Meriden and for years a notary pub- lic.
Mr. Durand's wife was Miss Rox- ana Sophia Root, daughter of a land- owner and farmer in Waterbury. She survives her husband and resides in this city. He died July 29, 1899, and was buried in the Brockett cem- etery at Waterbury.
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BIOGRAPHIES.
Q& Duand
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CHARLES A. KING.
Charles Alonzo King, superinten- dent of the gun shop of the Parker Bros., and one of the police commis- sioners of Meriden, was born in Franklin, New London county, Conn., February 10, 1837. He received his education in the schools of Franklin, Lebanon and Norwich, and in the last named city learned his trade as a machinist in the works of J. S. and S. J. Mowry. He worked at his trade next in the machine shops of Tracy & Brand where were manufactured whaling guns and projectiles for kill- ing whales. His next employment during his younger manhood was at the works of Pratt & Johnson, manu- facturers of sewing machines in Mid- dletown, Conn., afterwards securing a more lucrative position in the factory of the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Ma- chine Company, at Bridgeport.
At the age of twenty-five he en- gaged in business for himself at Mid- dlefield, forming a partnership with Otis A. Smith and at the breaking out of the Civil war leased the old John- son & Pratt works and manufactured by contract for the government, parts of the regular standard government rifles that were used in the Rebellion by the Union army. This partnership was dissolved in 1865.
Immediately after the war Mr. King devoted his attention to designing small models of the various cannon, Columbiads, Dahlgrens, Rodmans, etc., used during the strife and which, it was. thought by General Hawley
and others, were to be continued in use at the U. S. armories for military drill throughout the country. With the proffered financial support of these moneyed men a corporation was formed at Hartford of which Mr. King was the practical head. The en- terprise failed of any great success, however, owing to the lack of sup- port accorded, at the time, to the mil- itary necessities of the various states. There was sufficient demand, never- theless, to keep the plant busy until 1867 when Mr. King was called to Springfield, Mass., to become super- intendent of the Smith & Wesson Fire Arms works, it being the ambition of that company to put on the market a higher grade of goods than they had formerly manufactured. In Mr. King the company soon found they had a man who could bring about the de- sired results and the world-wide fame of the Smith & Wesson revolvers is due to his ingenuity as a designer and practical thoroughness as a superin- tendent. He designed the army size revolver now largely used in the Rus- sian and other armies and patented and sold to Smith & Wesson the im- provements that made the weapon the leading revolver of the world and as such it is still recognized.
Mr. King was called to Meriden in 1874 to assume charge of the Parker Bros.' gun shops. Since coming to this city Mr. King has devoted his entire efforts to the making and im- provement of the Parker shot gun which, under his watchful eye and studious brain, has for many years
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Caking
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been known as the best shot gun in the world and is used by leading sportsmen in every quarter of the globe.
During his residence in Springfield in 1873 and 1874 he served as a men ?- ber of the Common Council there and after coming to Meriden in 1875 was chosen a member of the local Board of Aldermen from the Third ward, where he looked well after the inter- ests, not only of his constituents, but the whole city. He was appointed to fill an unexpired term in the board of police commissioners in 1903 by May- or Seeley and the following year was reappointed by the same mayor for a full term.
Mr. King's family numbers, beside himself and wife, one daughter and three sons: Mrs. G. E. Gaskell, of Mystic, Conn .; Charles Winfield, as- sociated with The H. Wales Lines Co .; Walter A., with Parker Bros., and Raymond Earle King, a student at the Meriden High school. Mr. King's three sons all reside in Meri- den.
HENRY WARREN.
Henry Warren, a retired manufac- turer and a well known citizen of Mer- iden, was born in Watertown, Conn., September 17, 1837. He is the son of Alanson and Sarah M. (Hickox) Warren and is descended from early English and American ancestry. William De Warenne, Earl of Nor- mandy, who died in 1088, and who married the youngest daughter of
William the Conqueror, is one to whom he traces his lineage. Richard War- ren came over on the Mayflower, landed at Plymouth in 1620, and died there six years later.
In the seventeen hundreds the fam- ily moved to Woodbridge, Conn., and Abigail Warren, wife of James War- ren, died in Watertown, September 13, 1800. Edward Warren, his ancestor, fought in the Revolutionary War, was drowned in the Naugatuck river in 1814, and his wife, Mary (Steele) Warren, died in Watertown, February 26, 1849, at the age of 85 years.
Alanson Warren, father of the sub- ject of this article, was one of the founders of the Wheeler & Wilson sewing machine industry and died at Watertown, October 20, 1858.
Henry Warren, following in his father's footsteps, identified himself with manufacturing enterprises and for many years has been one of the directors of the Bridgeport Wood Fin- ishing Company. He has until recent- ly been president of the Butler & Ly- man Land Company of Meriden, a company which has done much in the development of real estate and the im- provement of property. Mr. Warren's business acumen and clear-headed foresight have made his advice in en- terprises in which he has become in- terested much relied upon by his bus- iness associates.
Since taking up his residence on Bri- tannia street, which is one of Meri- den's most comfortable abodes, he has won the esteem of the community and the respect of his fel-
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BIOGRAPHIES.
Henry Karren
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low townsmen. He is one of the at- tendants of St. Andrew's Episcopal church and has shown an active inter- est in the affairs of that parish. In recent years, with his charming wife and daughter, he has spent much of his time in travel. Mr. War- ren is a great lover of athletic sports and in various ways has encouraged baseball and other similar enterprises.
May 5, 1868, he was united in mar- riage with Josephine Griswold Lyman, daughter of William Worcester and Roxanna G. (Frary) Lyman, and they have one daughter, Miss Etta Warren, born some years after. The Warren home has for several years been much frequented by Meriden's society folk, and many delightful home affairs are arranged by Mrs. Warren and her accomplished daugh- ter for the entertainment of their large circle of friends. Miss Etta Warren inherited from her mother her artistic tastes and her skill with the violin, mandolin and piano has delighted her friends upon many occasions at pri- vate musicales. She is also possessed of a highly cultivated soprano voice and is a member of St. Andrew's church.
CORNELIUS W. CAHILL .**
Among those who may be said to have amassed a competency in the legitimate business life of Meriden, outside of manufacturing, Cornelius W. Cahill is one of many.
He was born in Ireland, Februarv 12, 1844, and his parents located in
Middletown when he was three years old. His father, now deceased, was for forty years or more a resident of Staddle Hill where he enjoyed the entire respect of the community. Cor- nelius attended the Staddle Hill school, which is still standing and one of the landmarks there.
At the age of fourteen he first com- menced to work at his present busi- ness and by driving a butcher cart in Middlefield laid the foundation for future success.
In 1865 he came to Meriden and became a clerk in the provision store of Samuel C. Paddock where by courteous attention to patrons he made himself not only valuable to his employer but popular with a large number of customers. When he was offered a more lucrative position in the same line of business he made up his mind that he could be as much value in his own store as in that of others and encouraged by his custom- ers, of whom he had made per- sonal friends, established the City Market. After carrying on the bus- iness for some time alone he took in a partner, John W. Coe, and contin- ued the business for three years. John W. Coe sold his interest to Pat- rick Cahill and M. O'Brien. It then became known as Cahill & O'Brien. Later with Bartholomew & Coe he went into the pork packing business, but within a year returned to the re- tail business at the City Market. Some time afterward he retired from the retail business, selling his interest in the City Market to B. B. Lane, and
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BIOGRAPHIES.
6. Hbahice.
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ICE
BLAIR, JEWELER
THE CAHILI BLOCK
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BIOGRAPHIES.
became again the partner of Barthol- omew & Coe, who in the meantime had become the Meriden agents for Swift's beef. At the end of a year Messrs. Coe and Bartholomew retired, selling their interest to Mr. Cahill, who for the past twenty-five years has continued the wholesale commission business in handling the Swift beef, which at the close of the first century of Meriden's history has increased to almost mammoth proportions.
In 1903 Swift & Co. erected their present handsome brick building on North Colony street which is equipped with every modern facility for receiving, keeping and handling the large amount of beef shipped daily from Chicago and supplied by Mr. Cahill to the meat markets in the vi- cinity of Meriden. Mr. Cahill, hav- ing been for so many years engaged in the wholesale beef commission busi- ness, is known to the trade and is a business man of high standing in the community.
In 1895 he erected the Cahill block, located on East Main street, one of the substantial and most frequented business structures.
He is one of the directors of the First National Bank and a trustee of the Meriden Savings Bank.
He was married in May, 1869, and has five sons and two daughters: Three of his sons, William J., Joseph and George Cahill, are associated with him in business; C. W. Cahill, Jr., is a talented musician and organ- ist of St. Joseph's church ; Walter Ca- hill is still at school; Mrs. Joseph B.
Weed, of New York, and Margaret Cahill. With the exception of one married daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Ca- hill reside in their comfortable resi- dence on Liberty street with their children, all of whom give much promise.
EDWIN BROWNSON EVERITT.
Edwin B. Everitt became a resident of Meriden in the early sixties. He was born in Watertown, Conn., Oc- tober 6, 1835, and is the son of Abra- ham and Sarah C. (Stone) Ever- itt. The family is of English origin and has been represented in New England for nearly three centuries. He attended the public schools of his native town and completed his educa- tion at the Watertown Academy. At the age of twenty he became a clerk in a jewelry house in Hartford, re- maining but a short time. Returning home he taught school in his native town and also in Northfield. He then removed to Waterbury and engaged in photography. Subsequently, he opened a studio in Meriden which he conducted with success, but on ac- count of ill health abandoned that calling and became agent for the Con- tinental Life Insurance Co., of Hart- ford. So successful was he that he was soon made the company's gener- al agent for a portion of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Some years later he accepted a clerical position with the Meriden Britannia Co. (now the International Silver Co.) which posi- tion he still retains. During the life-
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time of Horace C. Wilcox he served that gentleman in a private capacity and since his death has assisted in the management of his large estate. For more than twenty years he was presi- dent of the North American Mercan- tile Agency of New York, and at the time of the formation of the C. F. Monroe Co., of Meriden, became its first secretary, which position he still retains.
Mr. Everitt was married in Otis, Mass., to Miss Mary A. Thompson, of that town, who descended on her mother's side from Peregrine White, the first child born among the Puritan settlers of Massachusetts.
Mr. and Mrs. Everitt are people of culture and refinement and are active, consistent members of the First Con- gregational church and in 1899 Mr. Everitt was unanimously elected a deacon.
Emanuel Swedenborg is his favor- ite author and he has long been an ar- dent advocate of the beautiful truths known as the "Heavenly Doctrines of the New Church." He has always taken an interest in musical matters and for twenty-five years was organ- ist and choir master in various churches in Meriden.
In a social way Mr. Everitt has al- ways been gladly received by his many warm friends. He is one of the char- ter members of the Home Club and a member of the various Masonic bodies of Meriden, also the Scottish Rite bodies of New Haven and of Lafay- £
ette Consistory, of Bridgeport, where
he received the thirty-second degree in Masonry. He is a Past Eminent Commander of St. Elmo Command- ery, No. 9, Knights Templar, and has since 1893 filled the responsible po- sition of prelate with great credit to this organization. He has also for sev- eral years been the chairman of the committee on Necrology for the Grand Commandery of Connecticut, Knights Templar, and in this connection has written several poems appreciated by the order and copied through the oth- er grand jurisdictions of the United States. He was the poet at the fif- tieth anniversary of Meridian Lodge, F. & A. M., when he read a lengthy poem which was happily received and copied by the Masonic publications of the country.
Having been one of the St. Elmo party who visited California in 1883, he produced on his return, by request, a beautiful souvenir volume entitled "From the Nutmeg State to the Golden Gate."
Mr. Everitt has been for many years a member of the Sons of the American Revolution by reason of the service of his grandfather, Abner Everitt, who was a soldier in the Rev- olutionary army.
Edwin B. Everitt is a man of strict integrity with high business princi- ples, a good citizen, very popular with his large circle of friends, a favorite among his associates and beloved throughout the town as well as at his own fireside, where he finds his great- est enjoyment.
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BIOGRAPHIES.
E, B, Everitt
23
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ISAAC CHAUNCEY LEWIS.
The late Hon. Isaac Chauncey Lew- is, whose strong personality was felt in almost every walk of life, was one of the most public-spirited men that have ever been a part of Meriden's history. He was born October 19, 1812, in this city, and was the son of Isaac and Esther (Beaumont) Lew- is, his first American ancestor, Wil- liam Lewis, coming from London in the ship Lion arriving at Boston Sep- tember 16, 1632. He settled in "Newtown," now Cambridge, Mass., in the summer of 1636 and was, lat- er, one of a company who became the first settlers of Hartford, Conn. His name is inscribed on the monument erected by the Ancient Burying Ground Association of Hartford, in the memory of the first settlers of that town.
The subject of this sketch is a de- scendant in the eighth generation. His father, Isaac Lewis, was born in Wallingford and married Esther Beaumont. He removed to Meriden where, as an inn-keeper and later a merchant, he was held in high esteem in the community. He was chosen town clerk in 1806 soon after the day of Meriden's incorporation as a town and held that office until his death in 1823.
His son, Isaac C. Lewis, had but one term of school after his father's death, barring an occasional attend- ance at evening school. Although only eleven years of age at that time he secured employment on farms and
in stores until he entered the estab- lishment of Charles and Hiram Yale, manufacturers of britannia ware in Wallingford, in his fifteenth year. From then on Mr. Lewis engaged in business several times until 1841, when he bought the Fordred farm, about a mile east of Meriden center. He built a factory there and carried on the britannia business-the initial step in a manufacture which has made Meriden noted all over the world.
He increased his works in 1850, bought a larger factory in East Meri- den and shortly after, with Daniel B. Wells, formed the firm of I. C. Lewis & Co. After Mr. Wells' death Mr. Lewis purchased his part- ner's interests and continued alone.
In 1852 the Meriden Britannia Co. was formed and incorporated with a capital of $50,000. For nearly four- teen years he stood at the head of the new corporation, giving his constant, personal attention to the business in all its details; not only did he per- form all the onerous duties of the presidency, but he exercised a care- ful supervision over the manufacture of the company's goods which went far toward establishing the enviable reputation that the product of the factory soon gained.
At the end of this period the af- fairs of the Britannia company were running smoothly ; and its success be- came so pronounced that Mr. Lewis felt he should be partially re- lieved. He accordingly, in Jan- 1 uary, 1866, resigned from the
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Isque le Sue's
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1
presidency of the company. The office of superintendent, the du- ties of which Mr. Lewis had fulfilled most practically all these years, was then created and Mr. Lewis was elected to fill the office which he held unti 1874, which he then resigned. On the death of Horace C. Wilcox, in 1890, at the earnest solicitation of the directors, Mr. Lewis again as- sumed the office of president, thus continuing in that capacity. and until his death. Though relieved of the presidency from 1866 to 1890, Mr. Lewis, during this entire period, was a potent factor in the management of the company's affairs ; and his ex- ecutive ability and substantial views played an important part in shaping the course of the Meriden Britannia Company, whose business had grown to large proportions, which state of affairs was arrived at in no small de- gree by Mr. Lewis' practical knowl- edge of profitable manufacturing and his wise counsel as a director.
Mr. Lewis became a stockholder in a score of thriving concerns and a director in many of them. He was president of the Meriden Trust and Safe Deposit Co., the Miller Brothers Cutlery Co., one of the directors of the Meriden National Bank, the Mer- iden Savings Bank, the Wilcox Sil- ver Plate Co., the Meriden Silver Plate Co., the Manning & Bowman Co., Edward Miller & Co. and others.
Mr. Lewis was reared a Democrat, but during the War of the Rebellion, joined the Republican party and was a stalwart exponent of that party un-
til 1883, when on the sole issue of temperance, he joined the Prohibition- ists. He was an ardent advocate of woman suffrage and gave substan- tial proof of his confidence in it, "as a cause that ought to prosper and is bound to succeed."
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