USA > Connecticut > New London County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of New London County, Connecticut > Part 18
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ILLIAM PARK BINDLOSS, coal merchant of Stonington, Conn., who was for some years in the coal business with the late J. N. Hancox, was born in the adjoining town of Groton, this State, January 10, 1854. He is a son of William and Mary Ellen (Park) Bindloss.
His paternal grandfather, William Bind- loss, Sr., born in 1794, a native of Kendal, Westmorelandshire, England, was a son of Philip Bindloss and a brother of Robert Bind-
loss. A cousin, William Bindloss, was Mayor of Kendal when he died, and left of his mill- ions a fine endowment, including city water- works, a city hall with chime bells, and the revenue from his castle. Grandfather Bind- loss came to America about the year 1846, accompanied by his wife and five of their eight children, two or more being already here. Ile was very social and generous, and spent his time chiefly as a gentleman of lei- sure. He died in the town of Waterford in 1864, aged sixty-nine. His wife was Mar- garet Palmer, daughter of Thomas Palmer. Eight of their ten children are still living, the youngest being sixty-three years of age and the eldest seventy-five.
William Bindloss, Jr., the second child and eldest son, was born in Kendal, Westmore- landshire, England, July 22, 1824. In the spring of 1844 he left Liverpool for New York City on the " Elizabeth Denison," a sailing- vessel, and was thirty days on the voyage. His younger brother, Philip George, who now lives in New London, came with him. Before leaving England William had served a five years' apprenticeship at the butcher's trade in Liverpool, receiving sixty cents per week to start with. After coming to Connecticut, he worked for seven years as a cooper in Mystic, and subsequently engaged as a ship-carpenter, first with Irons & Grinnell, then with Charles Mallory, and later with the Greenmans, fol- lowing the business for five years all together. In January, 1854, forty-four years ago, he bought his little farm of ten acres and mill site, paying fifteen hundred dollars. The water-power was the little spring brook on which his wife's grandfather Parks built a dam as early as 1750. Mr. Bindloss repaired the old dam, and put up a new mill, which is still running; and in 1868 he built his residence and barn. For
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forty years, up to 1896, he gave his personal attention to the running of the mill, which has now passed into the management of a son, Frank Miner Bindloss.
The marriage of William Bindloss and Mary Ellen Parks was solemnized on February 27, 1852. She is a daughter of William Parks and a grand-daughter of Joseph Parks, spoken of above, who was lost at sea in the memorable Christmas storm, while out in Southern waters on a fishing trip. Her father died of yellow fever in 1838, in Key West, where he was engaged in mercantile business ; and her widowed mother, whose maiden name was Catherine Mitchell, was left with six children. She now lives with Mrs. Bindloss, and, though ninety-three years of age, is re- markably well preserved, with hearing un- dulled and eyesight so good that she can thread her needle without the aid of glasses. When but ten years old, she began to learn tailoring. At eleven she cut and made a pair of trousers for her father; and, during the eighty years that have followed, her skilful fingers have fashioned a great number and variety of garments for both men and women. She was married at twenty-four, in 1828.
Mr. and Mrs. Bindloss have had eleven children; and seven, four sons and three daughters, are living. Four sons have died - three in infancy, and Roswell at the age of twelve. Those who reached maturity are : William Park, the special subject of this bio- graphical sketch; Julia Ellen, wife of James W. Pollock, a nurseryman living in Mystic, who has one son; Catherine, wife of Oliver Braman, of Newport, R. I., who has a daugh - ter; Austin Palmer Bindloss, also living in Newport, who has a daughter; Dudley, a mason by trade, who is unmarried and lives at the parental home; Margaret Ann and Frank Miner, also living at home, the latter having
charge of the mill. Mr. Bindloss is now retired from the active cares of business life. He began with small means, and was depend- ent upon his own resources until, in 1863, he received a small legacy from one of the family across the water. He has been a man of un- usual physical endurance, and his life has been a very active one. In political views he is a Democrat and an ardent advocate of the free trade policy.
William Park Bindloss, the elder of the four brothers, completed his education in Mystic High School. At fourteen years of age he began working on a farm, and continued thus employed for some years. Later he learned the mason's trade, following that about fifteen years. He has been in the coal business on his own account since January, 1897.
Mr. Bindloss and Miss Elizabeth Esther Bickley were united in marriage on April 7, 1881. They have two children : William, born January 2, 1896, after fifteen years of wedded life; and Esther Helen, born January 25, 1897. Mr. Bindloss and his family reside on Water Street, in the house which he built in 1884. Mrs. Bindloss is a native of Lee, Mass., and is a daughter of John Bickley, of England. In politics, like his father, Mr. Bindloss is a stanch Democrat. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic Lodge and Council. He and his wife are church mem- bers, the one of the Episcopal and the other of the Congregational church. A full record of the Bindloss family in England may be found in the old church in Kendal.
ILLIAM H. BENHAM, a well- known farmer of North Waterford. New London County, Conn .. was born in this town on the farm he now occu- pies, June 17, 1856. His parents were Will-
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WILLIAM BINDLOSS.
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iam H. and Sally A. (Edgecomb) Benham. His ancestors were English.
His paternal grandfather, John Benham, was a native of the Isle of Wight, being born in 1786. He was of wealthy parentage; but, as the property went to the eldest son, he came to America in early manhood, and set- tled in Groton, Conn. After serving a seven years' apprenticeship, he became an itinerant shoemaker, with his bench and tools going from house to house among the farmers, as was the custom in those days, and remaining in each, using their stock, mostly home tanned, until the family were all shod. He married Betsy Taft, of Mystic, and they reared eight children, but two of whom are now living: Austin, of New London; and James. John Benham died in 1859; and his wife died in 1877, aged ninety-seven years.
William H. Benham, Sr., son of John and Betsy (Taft) Benham, was born in the town of Groton, July 16, 1816. He was a carpen- ter by trade, and began his business career with his chest of tools and twenty-five dollars. He acquired considerable property as the years of activity went on, and purchased a farm of eighty acres for six thousand, five hundred dollars. He erected a new house in Groton, which he sold when they came to North Waterford, in April, 1848. On July 2, 1840, he married Sally A. Edgecomb, with whom he lived over fifty years. They had six children, and they reared one son and three daughters; namely, William H., Mary Emma, Sarah J., and Josephine. Mary Emma mar- ried George Payne, and lives in New London; Sarah Jane is the wife of James E. Comstock, of Quaker Hill in this town; and Josephine married Asa O. Goddard, of New London. The other children were: George H. Benham, who died at the age of six; and Walter G., who died at the early age of eighteen months.
William H., the father, died on October 10, 1893; but the mother still lives with her son, being bright and active in mind and body. Her parents were Jabez and Bridget (Chesebrough) Edgecomb. Her father was a native of Groton; but her mother was born in Stonington, Conn.
William H. Benham, Jr., attended the com- mon schools and also the business evening school in this town, remaining on the farm until his marriage. He has a good dairy farm, keeping sixteen cows of the best breeds, and sells milk in New London. His farm, which is pleasantly located on the west bank of the Thames River, has a most accessible shore and a commanding view. In politics Mr. Benham is a Republican. He has served on the School Committee. Fraternally, he is identified with the American Order of United Workmen.
On June 1, 1882, he was married to Maria S. Brooks, daughter of George A. and Mary T. (Steward) Brooks. Mrs. Benham's mother died in 1870, at the age of forty-three; and her father, who was a butcher in the firm of Steward & Brooks, died in 1894, at the age of seventy-four. They reared three children, namely : Emma A., a professional nurse, now the widow of Charles Field, and living in Montville, this county; Mrs. Benham; and Jennie C., wife of Oliver T. Collins, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Mrs. Benham was educated in the New London public schools. She has four children : Mary J. Benham, who is nine years old; Ida E., who is seven; Tryon G., aged four; and Lloyd Brooks, aged two years.
AMES A. ROWLAND, a leading mer- chant of Old Lyme, son of Asahel and Abigail (Greenfield) Rowland, was born in the town of Lyme, November 15.
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1839. His great-grandfather, Levi Rowland, was a native of Lyme, where he owned many acres of land, and carried on farming. He had several sons, among whom was Asahel, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Asahel was also a farmer of Lyme, in which town he died at the age of forty-nine, leaving a widow, two sons, and two daughters. His wife was in maidenhood Hannah Greenfield. She survived her husband many years, dying on the farm at an advanced age. Their son- Asahel was born on the old farm, February II, 1796. He was at one time a Captain of the militia, and saw a few days' service in the War of 1812. He was a prosperous farmer, and owned two hundred acres of land. By his wife, Abigail, who was a daughter of James Greenfield, he had three children : John, who is now a farmer of Lyme; Mary A., who became the wife of John De Wolf, and died in 1858; and James A., the subject of this sketch.
James Rowland was brought up on the old farm, and received his elementary education in the district schools. He subsequently at- tended the New Britain Normal School, and afterward taught in the district schools for three winters. In 1866 he began dealing in. merchandise in the town of Old Lyme at the stand of Captain Charles W. Wait, who had been in the business for many years. He was at first in partnership with George W. De Wolf, the firm being known as De Wolf & Rowland; but for the last twenty-five years Mr. Rowland has carried on the business alone. A Republican politically, he served as Town Clerk for one year. He is a Deacon in the Congregational church, of which he has been an active member for years. Mr. Rowland married Sophronia, daughter of Win- throp and Hepzibah (Anderson) De Wolf. They have one adopted daughter, Annie M.
During his business career Mr. Rowland has gained a reputation for honesty and fair deal- ing, and his trade has steadily increased. He has the good will of his. fellow-townsmen, and is regarded as a substantial and useful citizen.
LIAS PERKINS RANDALL, a retired banker of Mystic, Conn., . was born July 4, 1-821; the son of William and Martha (Chesebrough) Randall. His great- great-great-grandfather, John Randall, re- moved with his wife from Newport, R. I., to Westerly, R.I., in 1666. In 1670 he pur- chased a lot of land in what is now the east part of the present town of North Stonington, and became an extensive land-owner. He took the oath of allegiance in 1669, and was a man of prominence in public life, serving as Deputy to the General Assembly in Rhode Island and in other offices. He died in West- erly about 1685.
John Randall, second, born in 1666. son of the first John, had a son John, born December 2, 1701, who likewise had a son John, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. This fourth John Randall was born August 4, 1730. He was twice married, first to Lucy Brown, by whom he had eight children, and second to Thankful Swan, who became the mother of four children - William, Desire, Nancy, and Dudley. Of . this group all married, reared families, and lived to a goodly age, Desire being eighty-six at the time of her death; Nancy, wife of Benadom Williams, Jr., about sixty-seven ; and Dudley, seventy-nine. The father of these children died in 1802.
William Randall, son of John, fourth, and Thankful (Swan) Randall, and father of Elias Perkins, was born in Stonington, March 25, 1768, and was a man of note in his commu-
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nity, throughout his life holding many offices of trust both in civil and military affairs. He was Colonel of the Thirtieth Regiment, Connecticut Militia, and was in command when the regiment was called out in 1813 and 1814 during the second war with Great Brit- ain. During six sessions of the Connecticut legislature he was a member of the lower house; and in 1822 he was a member of the Senate, being one of the twelve Senators elected by the general election of Connecti- cut. In 1818 he was a member of the con- vention which formed the Constitution. He was from 1818 to 1833, inclusive, Associate Judge of the County Court; and he received the annual appointment of Justice of the Peace for twenty-eight years. He was a charter member of the Stonington Bank, organized in 1822, and was its first president, which office he held for two years.
His third wife, Martha Chesebrough, was the daughter of William and Esther (Will- iams) Chesebrough, all of Stonington. Will- iam Randall and his wife, Martha, had eight children, six of whom they reared: Phebe Esther, Hannah A., Roswell, Harriet N., Martha C., and Elias P. Roswell died at the age of twenty-one. Phebe Esther married Colonel Ezra Hewitt, and had three children, all of whom died in infancy. She died in September, 1839, aged twenty-nine. Hannah died when one year old. Harriet N. married Reuben E. Moss, son of a well-known Con- gregational clergyman, and had seven children, of whom six survive. Mr. Moss was long a druggist in New York City. Later he went to Elmira, N. Y., where he became a wealthy and influential citizen. He died October, 1896, aged eighty-nine. Mrs. Moss is now living in Elmira. Martha C. married Ralph H. Avery, of North Stonington, Conn. They lived in Norwich, Conn., Brooklyn and Canas-
tota, N.Y. He was appointed in 1862, by President Lincoln, United States Collector of Internal Revenue, and held the office eight years. He died in May, 1889, aged seventy- three years. His widow, Martha C., died in March, 1897, aged eighty years. They had seven children, five of whom survive, two having died in infancy. William Randall died June 17, 1841, at the age of seventy- three. His wife, Mrs. Martha C. Randall, lived until she was ninety, and died Septem -. ber 25, 1870.
Elias Perkins Randall was reared to farm life and work, and was educated in the com- mon schools and at the academy, which he at- tended for about three terms. He was subse- quently engaged in teaching for a very short time, and at the death of his father he took charge of the home farm. He settled in Mystic in 1850, and went into business with his father-in-law, whose successor he became. About fourteen years later, in :864, he was elected cashier of the First National Bank of Mystic Bridge; and this position he held up to the time of its liquidation in 1894. He is still occupied to some extent in closing up the business. He has been an active man of affairs, has served as Selectman, as Justice of the Peace, and as Notary Public many years; was Representative to the General Assembly in 1859, and Judge of Probate for district of Stonington in 1863. In politics he has been a stanch Republican since the formation of the party, which he helped to organize. Both he and his wife are valued members of the Congregational church, in which he was clerk from 1869 to the present year, 1898. He has been treasurer of the society for the past twenty-seven years, and was Sunday-school superintendent for almost twenty-five years, to January, 1894.
Mr. Randall was married March 15, 1843,
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to Hannah Fish, born June 6, 1823, daughter of Asa and Prudence (Dean) Fish, the former of Groton and the latter of Stonington. Mrs. Randall's father was a prominent merchant in Mystic for many years, and held various im- portant offices. His children were nine in number. Eight of them were reared; namely, James D., Sands H., Hannah, Silas, Asa, Prudence, Benjamin, and Fanny. Three of these, James D., Sands H., and Silas, are in New York City, the last two being in partner- ship in the ship supply business; Benjamin lives in New York and Mystic; Prudence is the wife of Uriah H. Dudley, of Brooklyn, N. Y .; and Fanny is the widow of Caleb S. Woodhull, of that place, where she still re- sides. Mr. Asa Fish died April 20, 1861, at the age of seventy-one; and his wife, Mrs. Prudence D. Fish, died in December, 1873, aged seventy-four. Mr. and Mrs. Randall have had four children. Their eldest child, Martha C., was born April 20, 1844, and died December 3, 1845. A daughter, Fanny, was born February 1, 1849, and died June 24, 1850. The fourth child was a son, who was born and died December 6, 1853. The sur- viving son, Sands F. Randall, A. B., I.L.B., who was born May 18, 1846, and is unmar- ried, is a lawyer at 99 Nassau Street, New York City. He is a graduate of Yale Col- lege and Columbia College Law School.
Mr. Randall and his wife have lived at their pleasant home on Church Street for forty-seven years. He owns the two-hundred- and-thirty-acre farm, Elm Ridge, where he was born and brought up. The most of this property was bought by his grandfather one hundred and twenty years ago. On their fif- tieth wedding anniversary, which was cele- brated March 15, 1893, Mr. and Mrs. Randall received many congratulations on their con- tinued health and activity. At the present
time, 1898, also, they remain in comfortable health.
APTAIN RICHARD K. MINER, master of the steel steamer "City of Lowell," which plies between New London and New York City, was born in the village of Lyme, Conn., August 11, 1836, son of Samuel W. Miner, Jr., by his wife, Phebe Kendrick, of Chatham, Mass.
His paternal grandfather, Samuel W. Miner, Sr., was a shoemaker, and lived in Old Lyme. He married Sarah Sill, of Lyme village, and reared four sons and four daugh- ters, all of whom lived to marry and to have families; but only one daughter survives at this date, Caroline Winslow, now a widow. Grandfather Miner died in 1856, at the age of seventy-five years; and five years later his widow died at the venerable age of ninety. They sleep in the Duck River Cemetery at Lyme.
Samuel W. Miner, Jr., son of Samuel, Sr., and Sarah (Sill) Miner, was born on February 21, 1810. He learned the shoemaker's trade of his father, but spent most of his life upon the water, principally upon the inland seas, and was for many years captain of different sailing vessels. He, however, took one voyage on a whaler. His home was for many years in Saybrook, just across the river. He married Miss Phebe Kendrick in 1833, and had six children, briefly mentioned as follows: Will- iam, the eldest-born, a mariner and afterward a hotel-keeper of Hartford, where he died in the blizzard of 1888, at the age of fifty-four years, leaving a wife and two sons; Richard K., the sea captain; Charles Miner, a loco- motive engineer, who lost his life between Black Hall and South Lyme; Julia S., wife of Rollin D. Lane in Hartford, Conn. ; Or-
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RICHARD K. MINER.
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lando, who died young; and Orlando H., who is in Hartford. The mother, Mrs. Phebe K. Miner, died September 25, 1854, at the age of forty-one; and the father married, second, Phebe Whaley, a widow. His death occurred November 18, 1894.
Richard K., the second son, attended the common schools until fourteen years of age, at that time beginning life as a cook on board a small vessel alongshore. At nineteen he was made captain of the sloop "Joel Hall," from the Portland Brownstone Quarry; and he was afterward captain and part owner of four different sailing vessels. In 1868 he became a steamboat captain on the Connecti- cut River, Hartford line, and he commanded successively the "Silver Star"; "Granite State "; "City of Hartford," which was lost on the Sound; the "City of Lawrence," then in the Hartford line; the "Laura," of Bridge- port, on the Sound line; the "City of Spring- field"; and many others. His present com- mand is the "City of Lowell," plying between New London and New York, probably the fastest boat in the country, stanch and pretty, of which he assumed charge in 1893.
In 1861, on New Year's night, the Captain was married to Mary I. Cone, of Cromwell, Conn., daughter of William Horace Brockway Cone, by his wife, Sarah Selinda Spencer, of Haddam, Conn. Mr. and Mrs. Cone had twelve children. He died in 1875, at the age of fifty-seven, leaving his widow and five chil- dren. She died in 1888, aged seventy-two, at the home of her daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Miner have one child, a son, Walter R., an electrician on the steamer "Mohegan." He married in Mobile, Ala., Mary Josephine Chappell, daughter of Ezra P. Chappell, for- merly of New London, Conn. She is an ac- complished musician and pianist.
The Captain is a Republican in politics,
and cast his first vote for Lincoln. He is a member of the Congregational church at Lyme. They resided in the charming rural village of Lyme until the winter of 1896. They have since spent much of their time with their son at 123 Huntington Street, New London, but now have their own pleasant home on Montauk Avenue in this city.
HARLES JEREMIAH SLATE, an experienced mariner residing at 94 Pequot Avenue, New London, was born here, January 2, 1845, son of Jeremiah and Sophia (Holt) Slate. The paternal grandfather, John, who was a master mariner, came to New London with the father of Sebastian Lawrence, and built a house on Pe- quot Avenue, now owned by the actor, James O'Neil.
Jeremiah Slate was born in New London in 1800. At the age of eighteen he began a sailor's life; and at thirty he was master of the "Phoenix," in which he made two voyages to the Indian Ocean, lasting three years each. Subsequently he commanded the "Corinthian" for four years. He married, and became the father of five children, of whom Charles J., Thomas Franklin, and Samuel N. are living. Samuel, born at St. Helena in 1849, while his father was master of the "Corinthian," was the first male child of American parent- age on that island. The authorities were so delighted with his advent that they borrowed him, and kept him so long that his parents were afraid of abduction. He was taken to Napoleon's grave, and laid upon it. Char- lotte Ann died in her fifth year, on September 3, 1844; and Samuel N. (first) was drowned in October of that year, at the age of six. Very successful 'in whaling, the father ac- quired a large property. Though he subse-
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quently lost a part, he left his widow in com- fortable circumstances. She was twice mar- ried, being left a widow with two children, the first time when she was only twenty years old. Jeremiah Slate died on June 25, 1860, at the age of sixty-nine; while the mother lived to be eighty-one and a half years old, dying October 27, 1892.
Charles J. Slate attended the district school for a short time. The most of his book knowledge was subsequently acquired on board ship. At the age of eleven years he shipped as cabin boy with Joshua Lyon, his half-sister's husband, sailing from New Bed- ford, Mass., in the bark "Isabella," being away three years and nine months. He made six whaling voyages, including two to the South Shetland Islands in the Pacific, being first mate on one voyage and second mate on the other. For two years he was captain. He sailed round Cape Horn, and for three years he prospected in Patagonia. He ·learned much from the book of nature by ob- servation during his forty-eight years' experi- ence as mariner. For the past six years he has been running a summer steamboat in the harbor. Captain Slate, in the capacity of diver, New York City, spent six and a half hours under thirty feet of water, examining the vessel "State of New York," which sunk off Goodspeed's Landing. He and his two brothers, all bachelors, live together in the house that formerly belonged to their great- aunt, Lucy Harris, situated just across the road from where their mother was born, and where Grandmother Holt resided most of her life. Every one in New London knows and believes in Charles Jerry Slate, who has the true heart of a sailor. He is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a Master Mason, and also a member of the Jib- boom Club.
UGUST MÜLLER, founder of the firm of August Müller & Sons, furniture dealers and undertakers, one of the most reliable business houses in Stonington, was born April 19, 1820, in Weidenhein, by Torgau, Kraes Daletzsch, Kingdom of Prussia. His father was a tailor, born Feb- ruary 24, 1786, and died at the age of ninety years and seven months. His mother was born December 14, 1784, and died at the age of seventy-five years and ten months. They had five children, four sons and one daughter.
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