USA > Connecticut > New London County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of New London County, Connecticut > Part 12
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Elisha Post was reared on the old farm, and received his education in the district school. His leisure moments in early youth were few, as, when not employed on the farm or in at- tending school, he found plenty of occupation in the shop and grist-mill. In 1877 he left home to engage in farming in Norwich, where he remained some years. Coming to New London in the spring of 1888, for four years he was occupied in teaming and jobbing. In
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1892 he began taking contracts for stone work, grading, and concrete walks. He owns two quarries in this vicinity, employs regu- larly ten or twelve men and not unfrequently forty or more. He has established a reputa- tion for reliable work, and has a large and growing business. In 1892 he bought a piece of land, and erected thereon his present resi - dence. In politics he is a Republican. Feb- ruary 28, 1878, Mr. Post married Lilly A. Chapman, of Salem, an adopted daughter of William A. and Tabitha Chapman. Mrs. Post is a member of the Baptist church. Both she and her husband are much respected in New London, where they have many friends.
HIE NIANTIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY, a joint stock concern lo- cated in East Lyme, Conn., consists of three of the best known woollen manufacturers in the United States: David R. Campbell, president of the company; William Park, agent and treasurer of the mills; and Angus Park, secretary.
William Park, first, the paternal grand- father of the Park brothers, was a Scotchman, and was engaged in lead mining in that coun- try throughout his life. He reared four sons and two daughters. The sons, named respec- tively James, John, Thomas, and William, are now living. All four became woollen manu- facturers, James pursuing this occupation in Australia, John and Thomas in their native town, Galashiels, Scotland.
William, second, the youngest son, and the father of Messrs. William and Angus Park, of East Lyme, is also a woollen manufacturer, now retired. He was born in Scotland in Oc- tober, 1830. He married in 1852 in Gala- shiels, Scotland, Catherine Campbell, who
was born in Elgin, Scotland, in 1836. Her father, Angus Campbell, who was a woollen spinner and a master at his trade, was a brother of David R. Campbell, the president of the Niantic Company. Mr. William Park, second, left Scotland with his family in the fall of 1872, and settled in Sherbrooke, Can- ada, where he was engaged with his sons in the manufacture of woollen fabrics for twenty- one years. His children were ten in number. Six of them are now living; namely, Angus, William, James, George, Thomas, and Eunice. Angus and William are mentioned above; James and Thomas are employees of the Niantic Manufacturing Company ; George is a designer of patterns in Pittsfield, Mass. ; Eunice is the wife of William T. Mountain. and resides in Sherbrooke, Canada, the home of her parents.
William Park, the third of the name in di- rect line here recorded, began work at the age of twelve in the factory of the Paton Manu- facturing Company at Sherbrooke, Canada, the largest woollen manufacturers in this country. He was promoted in due course, and at the age of twenty-five became a designer. Five years later he was appointed superintendent of the mill, which contained thirty sets, and manufactured all kinds of wool fabrics, in- cluding fancy Pullman rugs, worsted suitings. overcoating, tweeds, etc .; and in two years' time, upon the death of the former incum- bent. he was made manager of the concern. He continued in charge of the Paton mill until 1894, when he came to East Lyme as the treasurer of the Niantic Company.
He was married in Sherbrooke in 1887 to Emma Whitcher, of that place, daughter of John and Jane (Crawford) Whitcher, both of Canada. Her grandfather, John Whitcher. was an Englishman, and was a purser in the royal navy of Great Britain. Mr. and Mrs.
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William Park, of East Lyme, have four chil- dren, two daughters and two sons, comprising .i very interesting family. Eunice, the eldest child, is nine years of age; Mabel is seven; Angus, five; and Raymond, three years old. Mr. William Park is a member of the 1. O. O. F., and is connected with the Cana- dian Order of Foresters. All the members of the family are Presbyterians.
Angus Park, secretary of the Niantic Manu- facturing Company, began, as did his younger brother, at the very foundation of the busi- ness. He was placed in a woollen-mill in Scotland at the age of thirteen, and by his own industry worked his way up to his present responsible position. While still a resident of Sherbrooke, he was married in 1880 to Elizabeth Eadie, of that place. Her father, Nathaniel Eadie, who was a manufacturer of woollen goods in Preston, England, came to Canada in 1872, and is now a dry-goods mer- chant of Sherbrooke. The children of Mr. Angus Park are: Margaret Alice, Catherine Campbell, and William George. He is a member of the Order of Foresters.
David R. Campbell, the great-uncle of the Park brothers, is one of the oldest and most successful manufacturers in the United States. lle began life in New York at the lowest round of the ladder. Deeming honest toil ennobling and idleness a disgrace, he took ad- vantage of the earliest opportunity for work which offered itself, and, though not reduced by financial straits, was first employed as a hod-carrier. But few men have made a grander success in life than has Mr. Camp- bell, the president of this company; and he refers with commendable pride to his youthful struggles in America.
This mill was originally started seventeen years ago by A. P. Sturtevant, and was oper- ated on ladies' cloths. The mill property was
purchased by these gentlemen in 1894, and many and expensive improvements have since been made, until it is now ranked among the best manufactories of the country. It is an eight-set mill, with forty looms and one hun- dred and ten hands. Cassimeres and cheviot goods for men's wear are manufactured exclu- sively, the company carrying a capital stock of seventy-five thousand dollars. Mr. Camp- bell and his nephews own handsome resi- dences, bought soon after coming here; and each has taken an active part in the business, social, and educational affairs of the flourish - ing litcle hamlet of East Lyme.
AMES S. WILLIAMS, an ex-conductor on the New London & Northern Rail- road, a resident of New London, Conn., was born on September 13, 1827, in Stonington, this county. His parents were Thomas W. and Lucy Ann (Fairfield) Will- iams. His paternal grandfather, James, Sr., was a descendant of the Williams family in Roxbury, Conn. He was by occupation a farmer. He died young, leaving his wife, whose maiden name was Wheeler, with seven children. They have all since passed to the life immortal. James, Jr .. who was unmar- ried, was lost at sea in middle age.
Thomas W. Williams, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Stonington in 1803; and his wife was born in 1807 in Wood- stock, Windham County. They were married in 1825. Eight children blessed their union, and four of them are now living; namely, Lydia Ann, James S., George, and Mary E. Lydia Ann, widow of Angel Wheaton, resides in Wheaton, Conn. George Williams is a conductor on the West Shore Railroad of New York. Mary E. Williams is abroad, travel- ling in Egypt. A Mary, earlier born, died in
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infancy. Thomas Williams, a brother, now deceased, was a farmer in Pomfret, Conn. Another brother, David F. (also deceased), was a conductor on the New London & Western & Palmer Railroad, and the New York Central, and was also superintendent of the Troy & Saratoga Railroad. He was a clear-headed man, with much force of character. While on the New York Central Road he showed his bravery and self-possession by successfully combating three or four sporting men who annoyed and intimidated a carload of passen- gers and also made an assault on him. The sum of one hundred dollars and fifty cents, which was raised for him on the train in grate- ful acknowledgment of his valor, he declined to receive; but, the testimonial later taking the form of a chair, he accepted it. After- ward the same sporting men presented him with a purse of five hundred dollars and a handsome diamond pin, which he finally accepted and utilized. The chair he left to his brother James, the pin to his sister Mary.
James S. Williams in his boyhood acquired a common-school education, and at the age of seventeen began life on his own account, his father having given him his time. For a while he was engaged in farming. Then going to Dennisonville, now Dennison, he was em- ployed three years as clerk in a store. In 1852 he entered the railroad service as bag- gage-master on the train, and two weeks later he was made conductor of a freight train. In less than two years he was appointed conductor of a passenger train, and this position he con- tinued to hold for nearly forty years. During his long service no accident and no damage to the railroad property was ever chargeable to him. Since his retirement from the rail- road he has officiated as agent of the Steam- boat Company.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1850, he was united in marriage with Mary E. Adams, of Pomfret. Conn., where his parents lived and died on the farm, and where he had his home from 1830 to 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Williams then removed to Palmer, Mass., remaining fifteen years, thereafter coming to New London. Since 1891 they have resided at 4 Pleasant Street. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have had four children, two of whom are living, namely : Charles C., a trainman residing here, who is married and has two daughters and one son; and Jennie, who is the widow of Judge John G. Crump, lives in this city, and has two sons. Mr. and Mrs. Williams lost an infant daughter and a daughter Nellie, who died at the age of two and a half years.
In politics Mr. Williams affiliates with the Republican party. Fraternally, he is a Mason, belonging to Brainard Lodge, No. 102, F. & A. M .; and to the Royal Arch Chapter. He and his wife are highly re- spected members of the Second Congregational Church of New London. Personally, Mr. Williams is a man of fine mental and physical strength.
ON. JOHN T. WAIT .- Among the many things for which Norwich is notable, is the fact that she has within her borders an honored resident who is the oldest practising lawyer in the State, the Hon. John Turner Wait, for nearly sixty years a member of the bar, and still not only active in his profession, but keenly alive to the in- terests of the community which he has so effectively served in his long and distin- guished public career.
Born in New London, Conn., August 27, 1811, Mr. Wait lost his father by death while yet very young, and removed with his mother
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to Norwich, here obtaining his early educa- tion. Reaching a suitable age, he received nearly three years' mercantile training, after which he decided to adopt the profession of law. Resuming his early studies, he there- fore passed a year at Bacon Academy, Col- chester, and two years at Washington, now Trinity, College, Hartford. Ile then studied law with the Hon. Lafayette S. Foster and the Hon. Jabez W. Huntington, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1836, beginning practice in Norwich, which has since had in him a most conspicuous figure. In 1842 he was ap- pointed aide-de-camp on the staff of the late Governor Cleveland, while in 1842-44 and 1846-54 he was State's attorney for New Lon- don County. When the Bar Library Asso- ciation of the county was organized in 1874, he was elected as president, to which position he has been re-elected every year since. In the years 1854, 1855, 1856, and 1857 he was the candidate for Lieutenant Governor on the Democratic ticket, which each time failed of election. In 1864 he was chosen as a war Democrat to be first elector at large on the Lincoln and Johnson ticket, the Republican Convention nominating him by acclamation. He was a member of the State Senate in 1865 and 1866, serving at both sessions as chair- man of the Judiciary Committee, and the last year as President pro tempore. During the years 1867, 1871, and 1873 he was a mem- ber of the Connecticut House of Representa- tives, serving the first year as Speaker, for which position his party nominated him by acclamation. In 1874 he was candidate for Lieutenant Governor on the Republican ticket, which was unsuccessful. In 1876 he was elected to fill a vacancy in the Forty- fourth Congress; and he was also re-elected five times, thus serving eleven years, after which he declined a further renomination.
While a member of Congress Mr. Wait served on some of its most important committees, and he looked after the interests of his con- stituents with such untiring vigilance that his popularity became as widespread as it was enduring; and it may be truly said that no man in the State to-day has more and firmer friends than the Hon. John T. Wait.
In his law practice Colonel Wait has been eminently successful, his commanding influ- ence at the bar bringing in hundreds of im- portant cases, which he has conducted with signal ability in the county, State, and United States courts. As a public speaker his ser- vices have always been in active demand; and his literary acquirements have been duly recognized in the degrees of Master of Arts, bestowed upon him by Trinity and Yale Col- leges, and Doctor of Laws by Howard Univer- sity and Trinity College.
Mr. Wait is a member of the New London County Historical Society and the Sons of the American Revolution, an honorary member of the Norwich Board of Trade and the Arcanum Club, and has been president of the I. K. A., a Trinity College society, since its incorpora- tion. He is also one of the incorporators of the William W. Backus Hospital, the founda- tion of which institution he was active in pro- moting. He has, too, been president of the Eliza Huntington Memorial Home since its establishment, and has been prominently identified with numerous financial and trust institutions.
As an indication of the respect and affec- tion felt for Mr. Wait by all classes of people, we need only mention that his every public appearance has been greeted with enthusiasm, the warmth of which has been amply attested by his numerous elections to public office. It may be added, too, that, on his retirement from the speakership at the session of 1867,
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he was presented by the members of the house with a handsome silver set suitably inscribed, "as a testimonial of their appreciation of his ability, urbanity, and impartiality in discharg- ing his duties of the chair." From Sedgwick Post, No. 1, G. A. R., of which he was chosen an honorary member, he also received in 1887 a richly engraved badge of solid gold, denominating him "the soldiers' friend "; while a history of Connecticut's part in the Rebellion was formally dedicated to him by the author. The Military and Civil History of Connecticut was dedicated to Mr. Wait in these words: "To John Turner Wait, late Speaker of the House of Representatives, a patriot whose only son fell in defence of his country, and whose many acts of kindness have endeared him to the soldiers of Connecticut, this volume, the records of their services and sufferings, is cordially dedicated."
Colonel Wait comes of good old Revolution- ary stock, and is connected by blood with many of the leading families in Connecticut. He married in 1842 Mrs. Elizabeth Harris, who died in 1868; and he has not remarried. Of his three children two survive. His son, Lieutenant Marvin Wait, left college at the age of eighteen, enlisted in the Union army, served with distinguished courage on the field, and fell mortally wounded in the gallant charge of the Connecticut Brigade at
Antietam.
Hale and hearty at the age of nearly eighty- three, Colonel Wait is still seen daily upon our streets and at his office, as active as most men twenty years his junior. A courteous gentleman of the old school, he is a respected neighbor, an honored friend, and a welcome visitor wherever he goes; and Norwich is proud to own him as one of her foremost citi- zens. (From the souvenir edition of the Nor- wich Evening Record, 1894.)
RS. LOUISA B. GILLET, Colchester, widow of Solomon T. Gillet, was born and reared i Hebron, Conn., daughter of Abel Bissel an. Lucy (Post) Bissel. She is the last living member of a family of two sons and six daugh- ters. Her brothers were Abel and Benjamin; Bissel. The former was a merchant and! farmer of Cazenovia, N. Y., where he died in July, 1885, at the age of eighty years. Ben- jamin, who was a farmer, kept up the old home in Hebron, which, in the days when Mrs. Gillet lived there, was one of the best estates in that section of the country.
Mrs. Gillet's marriage with Solomon T. Gillet took place October 18, 1832. He was a farmer of Colchester, where, after the cere- mony, they resided on a farm about two miles east of the village. Mr. Gillet's parents were Caleb and Civil (Huntington) Gillet. The first representative of the Gillets in Colches- ter was Josiah, who came from Windsor, Conn., and, with the family of Strongs, set- tled in the eastern part of the town. His de- scendant, Eliphalet, was the grandfather of Solomon T. The father, who was born in Colchester in 1763, died in 1830. Solomon T. died January 26, 1868, at the age of sixty years. His children were: Abel Bissel Gillet, who died September 20, 1860, in Ver- non, Conn. ; and Louisa, now the widow of the late Phineas Rollin Strong. Phineas R. Strong, who was a son of Ebenezer and Electa (Foster) Strong, followed the trade of machin- ist. At one time he was an undertaker in Colchester. He was a reader: and he took much pleasure in genealogical research, on which subject he was an authority. He was a member of the Genealogical Society. llis wife was an able and enthusiastic assistant in his researches. He took an active part in public affairs, and was for twenty-five years
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superintendent of the cemetery. He was a Master Mason in the lodge of Colchester. At his death, which occurred February 12, 1895, he was sixty-six years old. He was twice married. His daughter by the first marriage, Miss Fannie M. Strong, is unmarried, and lives at home. Both she and Mrs. Strong are members of the Congregational church, with which Mr. Strong was connected during his life. The old house, which has been their home for the past twenty-nine years, was built in 1776. It was thoroughly remodelled in 1897, and is now one hundred and twenty-two years old.
Mrs. Gillet is a woman of great natural in- telligence and refinement. She is one of those rare persons who never grow old, though she is now approaching her eighty-ninth birthday.
ILLIAM HENRY BURDICK, a well-known boat-builder of New London, was born in Hopkinton, R.I., April 26, 1848, son of William Robin- son and Catherine (Champlin) Burdick. His grandfather and father were millwrights. The latter was drowned in 1849. The mother, who married again, and by her second husband, Captain Dudley Brand. has had three sons and a daughter, survives both husbands.
William H. Burdick, the only child of his father, was reared by Joseph Burdick, receiving a common-school education. In 1866 he went to sea before the mast with Captain Charles Jeffres, in the bark " Acors Barnes," on which he served for three years, and became ship's carpenter. Fifteen years later, in 1881, he became quartermaster of the steamer "Metro- politan." In the following winter he ran the tug-boat "S. N. Briggs," and during the year after the tug "T. W. Wellington." Subse-
quently he was master for a time of the "A. E. Burnside." He then spent six years in command of the steam pleasure yacht "Sur- prise," of W. W. Billings. After that he was captain of the steamer "Gypsy " for two years and of the sloop yacht "Lady Anna," which he left in 1892; and he was Inspector of Dredges for the government for two seasons. Since that time he has lived on shore, follow- ing his present business of boat-building, hav- ing acquired the necessary experience during past winters in the employment of George W. Belgers. A partnership with R. R. Green, under the style of Burdick & Green, lasted until the fall of 1896, since which time he has successfully conducted the business alone.
In 1871 Mr. Burdick was married to Mi- nerva Gardner. His son Joseph died at the age of three years, and an infant daughter, Pearl, at the age of six months. In politics he is an Independent. He is a member of the Jib- boom Club and of the American Association of Masters and Pilots. Formerly he was a member of the Grand Harbor American Pilots and Masters. His present residence at 21 Howard Street was built by him in 1887. Besides this he owns the house 7 Howard Street. In 1887 he built his wharf, sixty-five by twenty-two feet. He builds yachts and fishing-boats thirty feet in length. In 1896 he built a boat for the federal government.
ARRIS PENDLETON, of New Lon- don, the senior member of the firm Pendleton & Son, undertakers, is well known in the community as a man of integrity and business ability. His birth occurred July 15, 1845, in Brooklyn, N.Y .; and he is a son of Ilarris and Sarah A. (Chester) Pendleton. His grand- father Harris, son of Amos, was born in Ston-
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ington, November 19, 1786, and died June II, 1863. The father, who was born in Stoning- ton, February 25, 1811, became a mariner. During the gold excitement in 1849 he went to California with Captain Chester, and there purchased real estate, which he held for two years. IIe also owned a large amount of property in Stonington. His wife, Sarah A., was a daughter of Captain Josiah Chester, who was the commander of a whaling-vessel, making his home between voyages in New London, and who died here at an advanced age. Harris and Sarah A. Pendleton had eight children, of whom seven are living: Sarah, the wife of Clarence A. Gould, lives in Providence, R.I .; James, Lucien, Charles, and Millard, reside in Stonington; Jennie was married to Wert A. Breed, of Painesville, Ohio, and resides there. The father died April 19, 1890, aged seventy-nine, and the mother on August 10, 1883, aged sixty-three years.
After attending the common schools of Stonington, the present Harris Pendleton took a course at the Eastman Business College. He began his business career as a telegraph operator, after which he took up civil engi- neering, in which he was employed for a time on the construction of the New England Railroad. Following that he held a position as clerk in a drug store in New York City, learned the business, and in 1869 opened a drug store in Guilford, Conn., where he car- ried on a profitable business for twenty years. He came to New London in 1888, and estab- lished his present business, with Wilmot L. Parlow as partner, under the firm name of Pendleton & Parlow. In 1892 Harris l'endle- ton, Jr., succeeded Mr. Parlow in the firm, the style of which since then has been Pendle- ton & Son.
On November 10, 1871, Mr. Pendleton
married Mary B. Burch, of Stonington. She is a daughter of Billings Burch, a retired sea captain residing at Stonington. Iler mother was Nancy M. (Chesebrough) Burch, a daugh- ter of the Rev. Elihu Chesebrough, a Baptist minister. He went into the pulpit to preach when ninety years old. Mr. and Mrs. Pen- dleton lost two infant sons. Their living children are: Harris, Bessie, Coddington, and May Belle. Harris is in business with his father; Bessie is at home, attending the Young Ladies' High School; and May Belle was born May 15, 1889.
In politics Mr. Pendleton is a Republican. In 1886 he represented the town of Guilford in the State legislature. He served as Alder- man for two terms, and at present is senior Alderman and chairman of Finance Commit- tee. Also he was Treasurer of the town for ten years, was Borough Warden for a time, and served in other minor capacities. A prominent Mason, he is a Past Master of Union Lodge, No. 31, and District Deputy Grand Master of New London County, having jurisdiction over all the lodges in the county. He is also Past Grand Marshal of the Grand Lodge of the State of Connecticut, I. O. O. F. ; holds a retired commission as Major of the Patriarchs Militant; and he is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men.
AMES ALLYN, late an honored citizen of New London, for some years County Commissioner. was born in Ledyard, Conn., October 22, 1822. At the age of ten he removed with his parents, Charles and Lois (Gallup) Allyn, to Montville, in this county. He completed his education at Bacon Acad- emy in Colchester, Conn., and subsequently engaged in farming. He was a man of liter- ary tastes, owned a fine library, and was well
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read on current topics, his general knowledge being also augmented by travel. He was a man of strong convictions, and inspired the respect and confidence of his fellow-men. In politics he affiliated with the Republican party. Officially he was prominent, serving as County Commissioner and as Representa- tive to the legislature from Montville. He dicd on March 17, 1893, at the age of seventy, survived by his second wife, Mrs. Harrict U. Allyn, and his two brothers: Robert, who was a clergyman and president of an educational institution in Carbondale, Ill .; and Calvin Allyn, a resident of Norwich, Conn. Mr. Allyn and Harriet U. Allyn, daughter of Captain Lyman and Emma (Turner) Allyn, of New London, were married December 11, 1889.
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