USA > Connecticut > Biographical encyclopaedia of Connecticut and Rhode Island of the nineteenth century > Part 27
USA > Rhode Island > Biographical encyclopaedia of Connecticut and Rhode Island of the nineteenth century > Part 27
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Immediately after the receipt of his diploma, Dr. Shew presented himself before the army examining board, and was appointed assistant surgeon of United States Volunteers. Three days later he was ordered to report to the medical director of the Department of the South, and was by him assigned to duty as port surgeon and health officer at Hilton Head, South Carolina. Six months passed away in the efficient discharge of his special duties at that post, and Dr. Shew was then ordered to Beaufort, to assume the charge of the port hospital. In this position, which he held till the close of the war, he illustrated marked executive ability, and received the commendations of the department.
On his return to Philadelphia, Dr. Shew was appointed one of the resident physicians of the Philadelphia (Blockley) Hospital. While there his carly inter- est in mental disorders was reawakencd, and led to the decision to make mental pa- thology the specialty of his professional life. There, too, he became acquainted with that excellent and most useful philanthropist, Miss Dix, who had already done much to alleviate the sufferings of the insane. In the spring of 1866 he received the appointment of assistant to Dr. Buttolph, superintendent of the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum, at Trenton. In that relation he gave special attention to plans of hospital buildings and methods of construction, and the best modes of providing for the wants of different classes of patients. The results of his studies were then embodied in plans of an ideal hospital, which attracted the notice of specialists, and were finally adopted by the board of trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insanc.
In September, 1865, Dr. Shew was appointed to superintend the construction and organization of this institution, and entered upon the performance of his functions on the 15th of the following month. Since then he has been the executive head of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane. Responsibilities in connection with this grand Christian establishment have been particularly onerous, but his strength and resources have also been abundantly competent to cope with and control them. Miss Dix, his old Philadelphia acquaintance, lent efficacious assistance in the creation of the institution. Mainly through her earnest and judicious efforts, the General Assembly of Connecticut, at the session held in New Haven in 1866, passed " An act to create a hospital for the insane in the State of Connecticut."
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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
The preamble to the bill recites that the report of the committee appointed by the General Assembly of 1865 "shows that there are seven hundred and six insane persons in the State of Connecticut, of whom two hundred and two are in the 'Retreat' at Hartford ; two hundred and four are in the almshouses, and three hundred outside of both;" that " it is impossible to secure suitable care and medical attention for this large and deeply afflicted class, either in the 'Retreat,' or in the almshouses, or in private houses ;" and that "considerations of humanity and of truc economy, as well as of public welfare, and of our holy religion, all alike demand that thesc persons should be liberally provided for by the State." Therefore, it was resolved to erect that truly beneficent asylum, "The General Hospital for the Insane of the State of Connecticut."
A board of eleven trustees was appointed in conformity with the provisions of the act, and entered upon its duties at once with unanimous zeal. The offer from the town of Middletown of about two hundred acres of land, as a gratuity to the State, for the foundation of the hospital, was formally accepted. An addition of about one hundred adjoining acres was subsequently effected by purchase. The site of the institution is about one mile and a half south-east of the city of Middletown. It borders on the "Connecticut River, is dry and healthy, casy of access by land and water, commanding on all sides extended views of a beautiful region, and-what is of special mark-includes the absolute control of a living stream called Butler's Creek, which furnishes an abundant supply of pure soft water, adequate to all the requirements within the walls, and sufficient for the mechanical and ornamental uses of engines and fountains."
During the winter of 1866-7, Dr. Shew, as superintendent, was engaged in elaborating the details of plans which he had submitted, and which were adopted unanimously, with approval by the board of trustees. On the 20th of June, 1867, the corner-stone was laid by Governor James E. English, in the presence of the State officers, members of the Legislature, and a large concourse of interested spectators. Addresses were duly delivered by distinguished orators, and the super- vision of the rising building was then remitted to the indefatigable superintendent. The work was vigorously pushed by him, parts of the edifice were inclosed before winter set in, and on the 29th of April, 1868, the first male patient was admitted. The formal opening of the hospital took place on the 30th, and twelve additional men were received for treatment. The official returns since then exhibit a gratifying increase of public confidence in the skill of Dr. Shew and his laborious assistants. The fountain of healing over which he presides has become known to the common- wealth, and hundreds flock thither for relief and cure.
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BIOGRAPHIICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
" The daily average number of patients during the first twelve official years is shown in the subjoined table :
OFFICIAL YEAR.
MEN.
WOMEN.
TOTAL.
I 863-69
79.35
6.12
85.47
1869-70.
110.03
114.54
225.17
1870-71
115.97
117.72
233.69
1811-72
124.21
118.44
2.42.65
1872-73.
132.1I
132.43
264.54
1873-74.
146.43
193.29
339.72
1874-75.
198.54
227.19
4-5.73
1875-76.
225.60
227.02
452.62
1876, April Ist to November 3d.
228.39
228.58
456.97
1876-77
231.45
232.43
463.88
1877-78.
236.11
238.06
474.17
1878-79.
244.57
253.76
498.34
Up to December Ist, 1879, the number of admissions reached eighteen hundred and thirty-seven. The first appropriation for this hospital was made by the General Assembly in 1866. Additional appropriations followed from ycar to year until January, 1874, when the last wing was completed, and formally opened for the reception of male patients. The entire sum appropriated by the State for this beneficent work- including the purchase of land, construction of dam, reservoir, and water-works, and for the erection and furnishing of the hospital buildings - was $640,043. Ample accommodations for four hundred and fifty patients, and necessary attendants, arc thus provided at the average rate of about fourteen hundred dollars per capita."
Dr. Shew's name and famc are imperishably identified with this impressive and practical embodiment of the highest and best form of modern Christian civilization. Like the profession of which he is an eminent member, it is unostentatiously instinct with the spirit of that Great Physician to whom the sick in body and mind resorted, and of whom it is recorded that " He healed them all." From 1872 to IS76, and since, "a partial trial of the 'cottage system' has been made; two dwelling-houses, situated a few rods south of the main building, were refitted and furnished in a plain manner for the occupation of fourteen male and sixteen female patients, selected from the class of quiet chronic cases. The buildings are simple wooden structures, heated by coal stoves, and lighied by oil lamps. Our experience is," continues Dr. Shew, " that under favorable circumstances, a system of cottages may become an important part of a regularly organized hospital. Cottages sub- stantially constructed of brick or stone, situated sufficiently near the main buildings to be properly heated by steam, and lighted by gas from the common centre, would be a very desirable addition to the present methods of caring for the insane. The superintendent could, from day to day, transfer to cottages such patients as he found to require less and less restraint upon personal lil erty."
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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
During the year 1877 Dr. Shew made a brief visit to California and the Sand- wich Islands, in search of rest and recuperation from over-work. In 1878 he spent three months abroad, visiting asylums in England, Germany, Belgium, and France. He is a member of the American Medical Association ; of the Connecticut Medical Society; of the Middlesex County Medical Society, of which he was president during the year 1874; of the Association of Superintendents of American Institu- tions for the Insane; of the Philadelphia Hospital Association ; and of the Middle- town Scientific Association. To the medical journals of the country he has made many valuable contributions. His annual reports are models of concise, compre- hensive, and valuable information. His History of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, because of its intrinsic importance, possesses a permanent place in the history of American medical literature. He has also published papers on the following sub- jects, viz. : Responsibility in Mental Disease ; Mechanical Restraint in the Treatment of the Insane ; The Insane Colony at Ghent; What can be Done for the Idiotic Insane ? and A Glance at the Past and Present Condition of the Insane.
Dr. Shew's eldest brother, Joel Shew, M.D., was one of the earliest hydropathic practitioners in the United States. Soon after obtaining his degree, in 1841, he spent several years at the water-cure establishment of Priessnitz, in Germany, adopted the views embodied in it, and on his return home commenced the prac- tice of hydropathy. Besides superintending a large establishment, visiting numerous patients at remote distances, and contributing to the Water-Cure Journal (which he established), and other hydropathic periodicals, he published a work entitled Hydropathy, or Water-Cure, in New York, 1848; the Water-Cure Manual, in 1850; Management of Children in Health and Disease, in 1852; Midwifery and Diseases of Women, in 1852 ; Hydropathic Family Physician, in 1854; and other works.
On Wednesday, January 27th, 1869, Dr. Abram Marvin Shew was married to Elizabeth Collins Palmer, eldest daughter of the Hon. Lewis Palmer, of Watertown, N. Y. She was a lady of amiable disposition, strong and cultivated intellect, rare musical abilities, and exercised very powerful influence for good both in the insti- tution and in society. Her death, on the 19th of January, 1874, at the birth of her second child, brought sorrow and desolation to her own home, and unusual grief into a wide circle of loving friends.
On the 12th of June, 1878, Dr. A. M. Shew was again married, to Clara Loomis, only daughter of S. L. Bradley, Esq., of Auburn, N. Y. This union, auspiciously consummated and productive of much happiness to both parties, was suddenly broken by the unexpected death of Mrs. Shew, from diphtheria, on the 22d of September, 1879. Without premonition, and after an illness of only a few days, the lovely Christian mother was called from a bright and beautiful home on the change- ful carth to that heavenly home where none of the inhabitants say, " I am sick."
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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
INGSBURY, FREDERICK JOHN, was born in Waterbury, Conn., Janu- ary Ist, 1823. His ancestor, Henry Kingsbury, came from England to Boston, with Governor Winthrop, in 1630. He settled at Ipswich, but removed later to Haverhill, whence his son Joseph removed with his family . to Norwich, Conn., in 1708. His son, Joseph, Jr., married, before leaving Haverhill, Ruth Denison, a great-granddaughter of Major-General Daniel Denison, of Ipswich, a man of much note in the Massachusetts colony. John Kingsbury, the grandson of Joseph, Jr., graduated at Yale College in 1786, and immediately afterward went to Waterbury to teach ; he afterward settled there in the practice of the law and was for many years one of the judges of the court for New Haven County, and for thirty years and until disqualified by age the probate judge for that district. He married Marcia, daughter of Deacon Stephen Bronson, a descendant through a line of deacons of one of the first settlers of Waterbury. Charles Denison, son of John, is the father of Frederick J. Kingsbury, and is still living in good health at the age of eighty-four. His only other child is the wife of Professor Carter of Yale College.
The mother of Frederick was the daughter of Dr. Frederick Leavenworth, and great-granddaughter of Rev. Mark Leavenworth, who was pastor of the First Con- gregational Church in Waterbury from 1739 to 1797.
Frederick resided with his parents in Waterbury, with the exception of about a ycar and a half spent with his maternal uncle, Rev. A. J. Leavenworth, at Warrenton, and Petersburg, in Virginia, until 1842, when he entered Vale College, where he graduated in 1846. He spent the following year at the Yale Law School, then under the charge of the late Chief Justice Storrs, of Connecticut, and Isaac H. Townsend, Esq. He then entered the office of Hon. Charles G. Loring, at Boston, and was admitted to the bar of Suffolk County at the March term, 1848. On account of the declining health of his mother, he being her only son, he decided to return to Connecticut, and after having spent some months in the office of Hon. Thomas C. Perkins, of Hartford, he opened an office in Waterbury in the spring of 1849.
In 1850 he represented Waterbury in the Legislature, and thinking that a savings bank would be a benefit to the people of that growing manufacturing town he obtained a charter for one. There being no one then in Waterbury familiar with the management of such an institution he investigated the subject, and was appointed its treasurer, and has successfully administered its affairs since that time. This turned his attention to the business of banking, and in 1853, in connection with the late Abram Ives, Esq., he established the Citizens' Bank, now the Citizens' Na- tional Bank of Waterbury, of which he is still president.
Again in 1858 and in 1865 he represented the town in the Legislature, acting
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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.
on both occasions as chairman of the Committee on Banks, and in 1865 as a member of the Committee on the Revision of the Statutes.
In 1868 he was elected president of the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, and since then has given a considerable portion of his time to its affairs. In 1868 he was also elected treasurer of the Bronson Library Fund (a fund of $200,000 left by the late Silas Bronson for maintaining a free library in Water- bury). He is also a member of its Managing Board, and chairman of the Library Committec.
He holds a variety of offices in the several manufacturing, railroad and other business corporations with which he is connected, to a number of which he devotes considerable time and thought.
He served on the Centennial Board for Connecticut, and has held several minor offices of a public character. In 1876 he declined, on account of pressing business engagements, to allow his name to be used as nomince for governor of the State, but allowed its use for the second place on the ticket, which, however, was not elected.
He is a member and officer of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and is treasurer of the diocese.
Mr. Kingsbury married, April 29th, 1851, Alathea Ruth, eldest daughter of the late Wm. H. Scovill, Esq., and great-granddaughter of the Rev. James Scovill, the first rector of the Episcopal Church in Waterbury, who graduated at Yale College in 1757, was ordained in England, and appointed a missionary of the venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Mr. Kingsbury's children are four in number, three daughters and a son. He says they are the lineal descendants of all the clergymen of all denominations who were settled in Waterbury for the first hundred years after the founding of the town.
Mr. Kingsbury is fond of literary pursuits and of historical and philosophical studies. Amidst engrossing business cares he has found opportunity for no little research in the various fields which attract scholarly men ; so that while his judgment is regarded as of great value in matters of business and finanec, his opinions are at the same time habitually deferred to on questions of literature and art. He has furnished occasional articles for magazines on a variety of subjects, and has con- tributed to several other publications. He has always been much interested in the growth and prosperity of his native town, and has taken an active part in all plans for its improvement and the promotion of the well-being of its people. At the same time his indirect and silent influence has been great, not only in his own town but beyond it; for in a city devoted to manufactures and trade he has long stood as a conspicuous representative of the best American culture-illustrating the practicability
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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
of combining an intelligent interest in literature, art and science, with fidelity to important business trusts and to constantly accumulating duties.
VERILL, ROGER, of Danbury, Conn., lawyer, and ex-Lieutenant-Governor of the State of Connecticut. Born in Salisbury, in Litchfield County, Conn. His father, Nathaniel P. Averill, and also his grandfather, Samuel Averill, were natives of Washington in the same county, and followed agricultural pursuits. In common with most of the inhabitants of that region, the Averills were of English His mother, Mary Whittlesey, was a daughter of John Whittlesey of the same county. Her six brothers all attained social prominence and distinction. The youngest of them, Elisha, was a well-known member of Congress from Ohio. In the History of Ancient Woodbury are many particulars concerning these eminent Connecticut families. The father of Governor Avcrill died in 1856 at the mature age of cighty-six. His mother also departed this life in the same ycar at the age of cighty-fivc.
One of seven children, young Averill's early education was received in the family, and in the excellent common schools of his native town. A thirst for knowledge, and endowed with unusual energy, he eagerly availed himself of the aid afforded by two well-furnished libraries then in existence in Salisbury. The first established before the revolutionary war became an enduring monument of the sagacity and generosity of its founders. An association of gentlemen was formed avowedly for "the promotion of virtue, education, and learning, and the discourage- ment of vice and immorality," and money was raised for the purchase of books which was confided to an English gentleman named Smith, then a resident of the town. This moncy was expended in London in procuring a choice collection of works on divinity, philosophy, history, ctc., which was forwarded to New York frec of charge for commissions or freights. Out of respect for the man, and in recogni- tion of the service he then rendered, the proprietors called the library after his name.
Many of the most substantial and successful business men and families of that and other localities have been greatly indebted to that collection of books. Among these was the late Caleb Bingham, Esq., of Boston, Mass., who in 1803 sent one
16
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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
hundred and fifty volumes from the shelves of his own bookcase for the sole use of the children of Salisbury between the ages of ninc and sixteen years. This collection was styled and known as " Bingham Library for Youth." It was from timc to timc largely increased by donations of books from individuals, and by money generously voted by the town to purchase new books as they were needed. It is believed that this was the first youth's library in the State, and perhaps in the country.
Young Averill's love of reading was greatly stimulated and increased by the use of these volumes. They contributed largely to furnish him with useful infor- mation in early life, and made him keenly appreciative of the pleasures and advantages of knowledge.
He passed from the common schools of his native town to the Academy in Southington, in Hartford County. Thence he repaired to Bethany, in Wayne County, Penn., taught school in that place, and at the same time continued his studies preparatory to entering college. After a year of teaching and study at Bethany Mr. Averill returned to Salisbury and prosccuted his studies under the guidance and instruction of his brother Chester Averill, who was then the professor of chemistry and botany in Union College, Schenectady, New York.
Entering the Sophomore class of that institution in 1830 he graduated in 1832 with the highest honors of the college, and subsequently received its diplomas. He again returned to Salisbury, and opened a select school which proved to be the origin of a highly successful academy at that place.
Among his pupils were several who have distinguished themselves in social, professional, and official life, and whose justly acquired reputation has reflected honor upon the Academy and its founder.
Between the pursuits of the teacher and of the practical lawyer a natural alliance is manifest. The first often proves to be an admirable preparation for the second. Both aim to effect decisive action, through instruction and conviction. Superiority in the school augurs superiority in the forum.
Mr. Averill prepared for the practice of law by diligent and thorough study in the office of the late Chief Justice Church, who was then a resident of Salisbury. Admitted to the bar of Litchfield County in 1837, he began professional business in his native town and commanded the respect and confidence of the citizens from the outset, Various public offices of trust and responsibility werc successively and satisfactorily filled. In 1843 he was elected a member of the House of Representa- tives in the State Legislature, in which he served on various important commit- tces, including that of Claims, of which he was chairman.
He removed to Danbury in 1849, where he has since resided in full practice of
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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.
the duties of his ehosen profession. In 1851 and 1852 he was elected Judge of Pro- bate for the District of Danbury.
In April 1862 and annually thereafter at four successive elections he was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Connectieut on the same tieket with that excellent war Governor William A. Buckingham. Together they rendered most efficient service to the State and country until after the elose of the Rebellion.
At his own residence he was the first to raise the Stars and Stripes on the arrival of the tidings that the nation's flag had been subjected to insult and outrage at Fort Sumter. Throughout the whole of the momentous struggle that ensued he powerfully aided by personal influence and patriotie liberality to keep the Stars and Stripes aloft at the head of the national armies. He presided at many public meetings, and by word and deed in various ways encouraged enlistments into the military service of the United States. He presented a beautiful stand of colors to a company of volunteers raised in Danbury, which assumed the name of " Averill Guards." In 1868 he was again elected to the Legislature and served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Averill has been a director in the Danbury National Bank for fifteen years and of the Savings Bank of Danbury for upward of ten years. He has also acted as director and treasurer of the Danbury Mutual Fire Insurance Company since its organization in 1851. In educational as well as in fiseal affairs of the town and State he has always exhibited the deepest interest, and for thirteen years sustained the office and performed the duties of trustee of the State Normal Sehool.
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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.
ANFORD, LEONARD J., M.A., M.D., of New Haven. Born in that eity November 8th, 1833. His father, Elihu Sanford, was a native of Wood- bridge, Conn., and a merchant in New Haven. His grandfather, Elihu San- ford, was a farmer, and served with distinction in the war of 1812. He was one of the first to volunteer in defence of his country, and aeted with such effieieney that when he retired to eivil life it was with the nobly won rank of eolonel. The mother of Dr. Sanford, nee Susan IIowell, was the daughter of Leverett Howell, a native of New Haven and a sea eaptain in the merchant serviee, who died of yellow fever at St. Thomas, in the West Indies, at the age of forty years, while in pursuanee of a trading voyage.
The preparatory education of young Sanford was obtained in the publie and private schools of New Haven. Ilis professional education began in the office of Dr. N. B .. Ives, of New Haven, was continued by attendance on his first course of leetures at the Medical School connected with Yale College, and was completed at Jefferson Medieal College in Philadelphia, from which he received the diploma of M.D. in March, 1854. He then spent one year, subsequent to graduation, in elinieal study at the different hospitals in New York.
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