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 67
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Prof. Camp enjoys a wide personal acquaintance in Meriden, the home of earlier days, and which has ever been proud to claim him as one of its own.
JOHN IVES.
John Ives, of Meriden, is perhaps the oldest dry goods merchant in Con- necticut, having been a proprietor in continuous business either alone or with others since 1847. He was born December 25, 1825, on the old Ives homestead in the southeast district of Meriden, the fifth son of a family of ten children, is a member of the Con- necticut Sons of the American Revo- lution, is descended from one of the oldest and most influential families of this vicinity, and is now, with his younger brother, Frederick Wight- man Ives, the only survivor of his father's family. His father, Othniel Ives, was twice married ; first October 8, 1800, to Sarah Yale and to whom four children were born ; she died No- vember 24, 1814. On October 26, 1815, he was again married to Rosetta Yale, sister of his first wife, to whom six children were born. John Ives, the fourth child of the second mar- riage, was left an orphan at the age of four years, and with an older brother, Othniel, continued to live on the home place until he was sixteen years of age. He then went to live with Squire Eli C. Birdsey whom he had chosen as his guardian. His school education was acquired in the southeastern district and at Post's Academy. Shortly after the death of his guardian, in 1844, he went to New York City, to seek employment which he obtained from Simpson & Ben- ham, a firm engaged in the tin and britannia trade, composed of the late
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Hon. Samuel Simpson, of Walling- ford, and Darius Benham, formerly of Meriden. Later he accepted a posi- tion as clerk in the then famous hat store of Leary & Co., located under the old Astor House in New York City, where his brother, Isaac I., was formerly employed, and a concern in which his Ives relatives were finan- cially interested. Two years later, upon the advice of his brother-in-law, Eli Butler, he went to Alabama, where the latter conducted a general store in Perry county, and where Mr. Ives remained until 1847. He then returned to Meriden and engaged in the dry goods business in the store formerly carried on by Squire Birdsey and in partnership with Linus Bird- sey, under the style of Birdsey & Ives. In 1853 the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Ives built a new store on Broad street, in which, with his brother, Russell Ives, as Ives Brothers, and afterward alone, he continued business until 1865. In that year when Colonel C. L. Upham and Lieutenant Philip C. Rand, who had previously been clerks for Mr. Ives, returned from their service in the Civil war, Mr. Ives with them both as partners, formed the well known dry goods firm of Ives, Upham & Rand. The firm continued on Broad street and also opened another store on Col- ony street, in the location now occu- pied by Howard Bros., which was then known as West Meriden. Both of these stores were carried on for some years and until the up-town store on Broad street was finally dis-
posed of. The firm gradually out- grew their first Colony street loca- tion, and upon the completion of the Winthrop Hotel block, in 1883, they removed thereto and have retained that location, which, although exten- sively enlarged, was then thought to be amply spacious for many years to come. In addition to looking after his mercantile business, Mr. Ives served efficiently as town clerk of Mer- iden from 1854 to 1865, when he de- clined longer to serve in that office. He has continuously been one of the directors of the Meriden National bank since 1863; was one of the founders of the Meriden Cemetery Association, owners of the Walnut Grove cemetery, and from its organ- ization in 1875 has held the offices of director, secretary and treasurer of that corporation. From 1353 he has been a member of the First Baptist church. In politics, while he was born and raised a Democrat of the old school, he has been identified with the Republican party since the strong pro-slavery demonstrations of 1858-9, to which he was strongly opposed. Mr. Ives was married first to Alina, daughter of the late Eli C. Birdsey in 1847; she died in 1856. He was again married December 5, 1858, to Wealthy Sage Merwin, of Durham, Conn., and to whom two children were born: Leland Howard, asso- ciated in business with his father, and Harriet W., wife of Judge James P. Platt, of Meriden. Mr. Ives' resi- dence on Broad street comprises the buiding erected and many years oc-
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cupied by him as a store but in after years remodeled for residence pur- poses.
WILLIAM JACKSON IVES.
Perhaps no deceased resident of Meriden left behind him to a fuller extent the respect of the community than William Jackson Ives. He was born in Meriden July 28, 1815, and was a worthy representative of one of the oldest families in this vicinity. Watrous Ives, son of Amasa and Re- becca Ives who September 15, 1809, married Polly Yale and had ten chil- dren,' William Jackson Ives being the third.
He was brought up on the old Ives farm, attended the district school, and as a young man drove a peddler's team from Meriden to the Southern states and sold the goods made by the then small factory of Charles Parker which was conducted under the name of Parker & White, and being considered an extra good salesman, his services were highly appreciated by the concern. He afterwards be- came a manufacturer, engaging in making suspender webbing in East Meriden, but his factory was de- stroyed by fire, and he afterwards opened a general store at Benton, Ala. This store was conducted with re- markable profit to himself and later with his two partners, who consisted of his brother Stephen and his book- keeper, William Sayre. After the partnership was formed he spent much of his time in the North buy-
ing goods for the store and still con- tinued to carry on his farm in Meri- den. The Civil War made many poor debtors of their customers, composed of large plantation owners of the South; and the firm on account of this, sustained a great pecuniary loss, including a large store and warehouse, none of which was recovered by Mr. Ives. After the town had been burnt by the Union armies he returned to Meriden, abandoning his interests in the South and remained here the bal- ance of his life.
At his well cultivated farm he raised many valuable horses which oc- cupation was very congenial to him ; as he was not only a great lover of well bred animals but understood thoroughly their successful raising. As a stock farmer he was no less for- tunate than in any other of his un- dertakings ; and many were the val- uable specimens of the equine race which he sold at handsome figures.
Mr. Ives was widely respected by his fellow townsmen and a man who held to the fullest extent their con- fidence. During his life he settled many estates, and he seems to have been a most natural personage for oth- ers to go to for advice in business and other matters. He was generous to the worthy poor, public spirited and very considerate of his neighbors by whom he was highly regarded. An active member of the First Baptist church, he took a deep interest in the welfare of that society. He was a Democrat in his political sympathies. He served in both branches of the
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BIOGRAPHIES.
city government and April 2, 1850, was elected a representative to serve Meriden in the state legislature.
He was married September 1, 1841, to Lucy Julia Birdsey, daughter of Gershom and Lucy (Coe) Birdsey, and their children were as follows: William Birdsey, born October 27, 1843; Ellena Lucy, born March 24, 1847, deceased; Elizabeth and Carrie, both of whom died in infancy, and George W., born August 8, 1861, and died April 17, 1889. William B. Ives, an influential man of affairs, and from his birth a resident of Meriden, is the only one surviving. William Jackson Ives, his father, and the sub- ject of this sketch, died at his home in Meriden May 16, 1887, and was buried in the East cemetery.
BENJAMIN H. CATLIN, M. D.
Benjamin Hopkins Catlin, M. D. (deceased), eldest son of Benjamin and Rhoda (Catlin) Catlin, was born August 10, 1801, in the town of Har- winton, Litchfield county, Conn. Dr. Catlin came of a long line of distin- guished ancestry, one de Catlin hav- ing been a follower of William the Conqueror, and the first American an- cestor having come to Hartford in 1632, where he and his son were very prominent in colonial affairs.
Dr. Catlin had more than the usual educational advantages of a country boy of his day, the district school work being followed by study at an academy in his native town under the tuition of the Rev. Luther Hart, and
medical training under several prom- inent physicians, and at Yale, where he was graduated March 4, 1825. On July 12 of the same year he opened an office at Haddam, Conn., filling a vacancy made by the death of Dr. Andrew Warner. He soon had a large practice and remained over six- teen years. Then, at the request of some of the leading citizens of Meri-
BENJAMIN H. CATLIN, M. D.
den, he came to this city to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Dr. Wyllis Woodruff. His fee in his early practice was but fifty cents. He practiced during the latter period of Dr. Hough, with whom he held consultations in serious cases, and who extended him not only all the usual courtesies of the profession but
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a warm personal friendship as well.
Dr. Catlin was early elected a Fel- low of the Connecticut Medical Socie- ty. In 1854 he was elected vice-pres- ident of the society, re-elected in 1855, appointed president in 1856, and elected in 1857. In 1840 he was given the honorary degree of M. D. by Yale. He was always very active in both state and national medical cir- cles, being a prominent member of the American Medical Association from 1853 until his death, and often attending its annual meetings as del- egate from the state society. In 1860 he was elected an honorary mem- ber of the New York Medical Socie- ty, and in 1869 a corresponding mem- ber of the Gynaecological Society of Boston. In 1871 he was president of the annual meeting of the Ameri- can Medical Society. He was the chief promoter in the establishment of the state Board of Health, and his writings upon the subject of sanitary conditions were widely read and had much influence in the prevention of disease.
Dr. Catlin held many important po- sitions in the community aside from those connected with his profession. He was director of the Home Nation- al Bank, and was either president or vice-president of the Meriden Savings Bank from the time of its organiza- tion. At the time of the removal of the First Congregational church to West Meriden he was elected deacon for life and held the office of treasurer of the church until the January before his death.
As a physician Dr. Catlin enjoyed i the fullest confidence and esteem of the whole community. As a man he was unassuming but earnest and up- right, firm in principle and consistent in every deed.
His death, which occurred Febru- ary 18, 1880, brought a sense of per- sonal loss to all Meriden, and his. memory will live for many years to come.
On September 9, 1835, Dr. Catlin was married to Amelia Deborah Spen- cer, born November 4, 1811, daughter of William and Deborah (Selden) Spencer. To this marriage came: (1) Benjamin Spencer Catlin, born September 14, 1837, died February 15, 1871 ; he was in the Civil war from 1862 to 1865, serving as surgeon of the Second N. Y. V. I. and Twenty- first N. Y. V. Cav. (2) William Hop- kins Catlin. The mother died Au- gust 7, 1883.
WILLIAM HOPKINS CATLIN.
No mention of the prominent citi- zens of Meriden would be complete without the name of William H. Cat- lin, who was born in this city, August 24, 1842, and has always been fore- most in both financial and religious circles. If any one can boast of an illustrious American ancestry, that man is Mr. Catlin. Twenty-five of his forbears fought in the Indian wars and were members of the General Court ; five served as soldiers in the Revolutionary War, one, Colonel Sam- uel Selden, being captured at the tak-
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ing of New York City in 1776, and dying soon after in prison. Mr. Cat- lin's great-grandfather enlisted in 1777, when he was fifteen, and re- ceived a pension for his services.
The subject of this sketch is a di- rect descendant of Rev. Thomas Hooker, founder of Hartford ; of Rev. John Wilson, who came to America in 1630, and was pastor of the First
Mr. Catlin was fortunate in receiv- ing a good education at the district school in Meriden, and afterwards at the Hopkins Grammar school in New Haven. His first work was teaching school during the winter of 1861-62 at Northeast, Erie Co., Pa. But he soon felt that the place for him was in the army helping to preserve the Union, and, returning to Meriden, he
'KATLYN KOTTAGE," WEST PEAK.
Church of Boston; of Rev. Roger Newton, first pastor of the Farming- con church; of Rev. John Warham, who came from Plymouth, England, n 1630, and was first pastor of the church at Windsor, Conn .; and of Chad Brown, who in 1642, was or- lained as the first settled pastor of he Baptist church at Providence, R. I.
was one of the first half dozen to form Company A, Fifteenth Connecticut Volunteers. His company was mus- tered into the army August 25, 1862, and in a few days left for Washing- ton. Mr. Catlin, with the rest of his company, fought valiantly during many important engagements for over three years until the end of the war, and was mustered out in June, 1865.
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Mr. Catlin then found himself in Erie, Pa., and from 1865 to 1867 he acted as bookkeeper in the hardware store of John C. Selden. After a winter spent at his old home in Mer- iden he felt the call of the West and went out to Missouri, where he bought a ranch in Barton county. In 1873 he returned to Meriden, in 1877 entered the Meriden Savings Bank as clerk, and in 1890 was chosen sec- retary and treasurer, which position he still occupies.
In 1880 Mr. Catlin was chosen dea- con of the First Congregational church and has always been most ac- tive in everything pertaining to the welfare of the church, and most gen- erous in its support. He is inter- ested in all philanthropic works both at home and abroad. He was for two years president of the local Y. M. C. A., and has been one of the leading spirits in the maintenance of the Boys' Club. He is a member of the Board of Park Commissioners, and, in fact, promoters of any good work may look to him for sympathy and co-opera -. tion.
Mr. Catlin was married September 13, 1871, in Barton county, Mo., to Helen Mar Bailey, who died June 23, 1880. His second wife was Jane Winslow, of North Brookfield, Mass., daughter of David Lilly and Dolly Powers (Harwood) Winslow. Mrs. Catlin's father was a direct descend- ant of Kenelm Winslow. This Ken- elm Winslow is supposed to have come over in the Mayflower on her second voyage. Mrs. Catlin's great-
grandfather, Major Peter Harwood was in the Revolutionary War and was officer of the day when Andre was hanged. She is also a direct de- scendant of Governor Prence and E/- der William Brewster.
RANSOM BALDWIN, SR.
Ransom Baldwin, Sr. (deceased) was born in Cheshire, Conn., March I 1793, the son of James Baldwin, o: that place, then a parish of Walling ford. His mother's name was Bethia Goodsell. She was a daughter of Ja- cob Goodsell and Lydia Denison o: East Haven.
The family of which Ransom was a member moved to Meriden when he was about two years old and settled on the Westfield road a little way be yond the present Baldwin's mills' The house is still standing at the crown of the hill and seems likely to last for an indefinite period.
The father succeeded to the run ning of the Hough mill which fron that time has been known as the Bald win mill.
Ransom, at the age of twenty-one donning his freedom suit, started ou for himself as a traveling salesman of peddler, his business taking him, af ter fitting out at Squire Yale's, dowi through Virginia, North and South Carolina.
He followed this business for abou twelve years when he retired from it: activities and settled upon a farm 01 the east side of the town, at presen occupied by his descendants. In his
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political sympathies Mr. Baldwin was a life-long Democrat of the Jackson- ian type.
On November 10, 1823, he married Sarah Twiss, daughter of Joseph
RANSOM BALDWIN, SR.
ind Lois Austin Twiss, and remained n Meriden on his farm until his deathı on November 3, 1870, leaving four children : Sarah, who married William Briggs; Ransom, who married Mary HIall, of Wallingford; Mary E., the wife of Russell Hall; Justina C., the vife of Benjamin C. Kennard, of Mer- den.
RANSOM BALDWIN, JR.
Among the citizens who stand out prominently as business men of the
past century is the late Ransom Bald- win, Jr., who died December 25, 1897, at 277 Wall street, Meriden. An ob- server of men naturally falls into the habit of segregating a personality here and there and collecting around it as a center the events that lead to the making of a successful man. Mr. Baldwin furnishes material for such a study not alone by reason of his con- spicuous business career but because of his high position as a private citi- zen.
He was the son of Ransom and grandson of James Baldwin, who es-
RANSOM BALDWIN, JR.
tablished the saw and grist mill at Baldwin's pond. The old homestead where James Baldwin lived is still standing in the eastern part of Meri-
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den. James Baldwin was stirred by and took active part in the Revolu- tionary war. If there was any other goal to the ambition of this sixteen year old boy it was buried under the exciting events of the times. War had reared its ugly head and the de- mand was for soldiers. There were other members of the family who par- took of the resistless tendency toward fighting for liberty. Ransom Bald- win's maternal grandfather, Joseph Twiss, enlisted with James Baldwin and both made gallant records for themselves.
In addition to farming Mr. Baldwin conducted a flour and grain business, the one working in with the other and bringing Mr. Baldwin into closest touch with the resources of Meriden and its business men. The result was natural, he became a large property owner, and, in consequence, a large taxpayer.
But he is greatly mistaken who thinks Mr. Baldwin was limited to business interests. He read much and thought earnestly on the problems of the day, especially on those prob- lems that pertain to the uplifting of the : people. His opinions were not formed to accord with the drift of public opinion but were held with a marked individuality of conviction. He had large humanitarian sympa- thies but believed that a deep religious life should be the vital energy of wise and effective humanitarian effort. He was for many years identified with the First Baptist church, Meriden, to which he was a liberal contributor.
In 1867 Mr. Baldwin was married to Miss Mary Hall, of Wallingford, who has always been in the worthiest sense of the word, the "partner" of his business prosperity, and has shared to the fullest measure in his higher thoughts and purposes. Mrs. Bald- win still survives him as also a daugh- ter, Alice A., now Mrs. Charles Mor- gan, and a son, Ransom Leland, one of the leading business men of the town, whose sketch appears following. Two children have died, Flora C. and Henry H. He left two sisters also who are well known in Meriden, Mrs. B. C. Kennard and Mrs. Russell Hall.
RANSOM LELAND BALDWIN.
The foundation for the thriving grain business of Ransom Leland Baldwin was laid by his father, the late Ransom Baldwin, a sketch of whose life appears above in this volume. The son has successive- ly enlarged his business as the years have brought new experience and strengthened the old, until he has be- come one of the most substantial and promising of the younger men of this city.
Mr. Baldwin, whose mother was Mary Hall, was born January 29, 1870, in the house where he has lived ever since. He attended the common schools and then instead of marching into a new and untried field, he made his father's interests his own and learned the grain business on the home farm consisting of 100 acres.
The mastery of a business is the
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ability to meet new conditions and make them a prominent factor of the old. Accordingly when Mr. Bald- win's increasing trade, in 1899, de- manded better shipping facilities he built a large elevator on North George street-a commercial depot possess- ing excellent railroad facilities and connected with the N. Y., N. H. & H. railroad by a spur track. He is able to receive and ship goods in a manner
RANSOM LELAND BALDWIN.
satisfactory to himself and his pat- rons.
The elevator is a brick structure built with every convenience for the handling of grain and it is only nec- essary to visit the big repository whose capacity is from 12,000 to 15,- 000 bushels and look at the shutes to get a slight hint of the large quantity
of grain and hay that is handled every day under the owner's capable man- agement.
Mr. Baldwin has never been satis- fied to follow a narrow business ca- reer, his field widens yearly, a con- dition due to his well balanced com- mercial faculties, tempered with the elements of organization and execu- tion-elements that are whetted by his close attention to business.
His interests in life are not one- sided. While the goddess of agricul- ture has smiled blandly upon his acres he has also grappled with the prob- lems of finance and conducts a suc- cessful brokerage business in the Byx- bee block. Thus he is brought into close relations with many public men whom he might meet in his regular work. His interest in the welfare of his town is always at heart.
He belongs to Meriden Center Lodge, F. and A. M., the Royal Ar- canum, the Meriden Lodge of Elks, the Grange and the Meriden Business Men's Association. Like his father, he is a member of the First Baptist church.
WALDO C. TWISS.
Waldo Clinton Twiss, extensive land owner and one who has built and sold a great number of dwellings in Meriden, was born in Montreal, Can., in 1829, and is, therefore, just the age of the railroad industry. His parents were Ira and Vincie (An- drews) Twiss, and his ancestor, Jo- seph Twiss, fought at the battle of
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Saratoga. His father was a clock-mak- er by trade, and he and his brothers were the first Yankees to manufac- ture clocks in Canada. As a boy the subject of this sketch was of deli-
Photo by Akers & Pigeon.
WALDO C. TWISS.
cate health which, however, he out- grew. His parents removed to Meri- den when he was seven years old and he was educated in the district schools and Meriden Academy, at- tending later the institute at Suffield. His father, who kept the old tavern at the corner of Broad and East Main streets from 1839 to 1843, became the owner of extensive lands, mostly in the northern section of the town and after erecting saw mills at Twiss pond, gave his son, Waldo, the management of them. The mills, somewhat com-
plicated, proved a success and he and his father were the pioneers in bag- ging wheat flour of their own manu- facture, the quality of which was very superior to any made. The work of the mills attracted customers from great distances, some of its patrons passing by three others to have their grinding done at Twiss Mills.
In 1870 he engaged in the lumber business and the building of houses on his own land and at one period of his operations as many as twenty cars of lumber were due at a time for his use. On Twiss street Mr. Twiss has erected many houses, while Britannia,
IRA TWISS.
Murray, Clinton and Pearl streets also show the results of his enterprise in building up the town. For many years Mr. Twiss also carried on a
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building moving business and while he was thus engaged practically all the buildings moved were by him and his men, including the old Baptist and Episcopal churches. In moving the latter a gas pipe was broken, the only breakage of that kind that ever oc- curred in the twenty-five years he was engaged in business.
He began to purchase land on an extensive scale during the Civil war time and first bought a large tract for $1,200, and after selling a portion of it sufficient to get his money back, still owned more than he had bought it for, owing to the generous old-fash- ioned measurement. He afterwards bought twenty-three acres from Wil- liam J. Ives, for which he paid $6,- 000, and by whom he was not re- quired to give any security other than his word and whom he paid out of his sales to others. His next purchase was twenty-three acres, also outside the city limits in the eastern section of the town and where he still owns much land desirable for building pur- poses.
He was married in 1860 to Cor- nelia, daughter of Watrous Ives, of Meriden, who died in 1900, after a happy married life of nearly forty years. He has no living children.
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