USA > Connecticut > New London County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of New London County, Connecticut > Part 19
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August, the subject of this sketch, was the second child. He attended school until four- teen years of age, when he went to Torgau, where he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker, with whom he remained five years to learn cabinet-making. The next six years he spent in Leipzig, where was being built at that time the first Catholic cathedral, in which he built the pulpit and altar in Gothic style. He then visited the Rhine and several large cities, in- cluding Nürnberg, Frankfort on the Main. Mannheim, Strasburg, St. Goar, and Mainz, where the finest cabinet-makers' shops were located. Here again he stayed for six years. The outlook for starting in business for him- self not being of the best, he decided to try his fortune in America. So he visited his parents once more on the 28th of September, 1852. He then went via Leipzig and Magde- burg to Hamburg, where on the first day of October he took passage on the steamer "Vic- toria " for Hull, England. He arrived there on October 4, after a very stormy voyage, the steamer losing two of her masts. On October 5 he travelled by rail to Liverpool, and taking passage on the sailing-ship " Australia,". Oc- tober 8, after a pleasant voyage arrived in New York, November 10, 1852. He very soon found employment with the firm of Fraede & Kamp, who were cabinet-makers lo-
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AUGUST MÜLLER.
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eated on Broadway, where he was employed until September 19, 1854, when the business was destroyed by fire.
He was married in New York, October 26, 1853, to Barbara Scheinlein, of Langenfeld, Bavaria, Germany. In the fall and winter of 1854 business was dull everywhere; and he was out of employment until the middle of April, 1855, when he was induced by a friend to locate in Stonington, Conn., where a cabi- net-maker by the name of Dayton was in need of help. He accordingly went to his relief ; and after working for him two weeks he made an agreement with Mr. Dayton for steady em- ployment, and returned to New York for his family, consisting of his wife and son Henry, who came to Stonington with him on May I. Work at Mr. Dayton's becoming slaek, in September he started out for himself, repair- ing furniture in a small room in the house in which he lived, still standing on the corner of Main and Church Streets. After several months, his business increasing so that he had to have more room, in the spring of 1856 he removed with his family to the Arcade Build- ing on Water Street, where he lived and did business until May, 1861. At this time the only furniture dealer in town moved away, and he hired of Dr. Ira H. Hart the building vacated by them on Gold Street. There he remained until 1866, when a stock company that was formed for the manufacture of furnit- ure went to Dr. Hart, and offered him twenty- five dollars more rent. Mr. Müller thereupon bought the Eagle Hotel, corner of Gold Street and Railroad Avenue, and on February 6, 1867, removed there with his business and family, which consisted of two sons and two daughters.
In 1887, having the opportunity to secure a piece of land, corner of Gold and Pearl Streets, he purchased the same, and erected thereon a
modern three-story business house, now known as the Müller Block, into which he moved his business, November 1, 1887. He here keeps furniture of all descriptions and any variety of house furnishings, and also all that pertains I to the undertaking branch of the business. His sons, Henry and Edward, have been re- ceived into partnership; and they are not only doing a large business in furniture, but for a number of years have been the leading under- takers in Stonington.
Mrs. August Muller died January 28, 1875, aged fifty-two years. The four children that survive her are: Henry, who was born in New York; Mary, Barbary, and Edward, who were born in Stonington, Conn. Henry A. Müller was married May 16, 1389, to Miss Lizzie Owen, of Springfield, Ohio, and has three children, two sons and one daughter.
Mr. August Müller is a Master Mason of thirty-five years' standing. He is a member of the Second Congregational Church, with which his family are identified. His wife was also a consistent member of the same eliurch.
EV. ALBERT A. KIDDER, a Methodist minister of Mystic, Conn., who has been on the supernumerary list for the past two years, after an active ser- vice of fourteen years, was born in Berlin, Mass., July 19, 1858. His early years were passed on a farm. He attended the high school; and, after preparing for college at East Greenwich Academy, he was graduated at Drew Theological Seminary. While there and subsequently he devoted much time to the study of different languages, including Latin. French, Hebrew. and Hindustance, also Gujarati, one of the several languages spoken in India. He then spent two years, from
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1879 to 1881, in Hindustan, studying the language. The journey out was made through the Mediterranean Sea and Suez Canal; and the return trip, which was made leisurely for his health, took him through Italy. While in the East, his first pastorate was in Baroda, where he was engaged in missionary work. Here he broke the ground with his own hand, digging out the dirt for the corner, and plac- ing in the corner-stone the recording relics, which included a Testament and a copy of the Methodist Discipline, with an historical sketch of the church and Mr. Kidder's name as founder and pastor. The edifice was of the Gothic style of architecture, and built of American brick. The funds for erecting this church were largely secured through Mr. Kidder's own efforts, he soliciting one-third of the amount from the natives themselves, and about one thousand rupees from the palace or government. After his return to this country he held charges as pastor succes- sively on Staten Island, in South Orange, N. J., and at Silver City, N. M. While in the West he made a lecturing tour through California and the Pacific Coast. He took with him a fine illustrative apparatus, and his audiences were large and appreciative. His lectures included one before the University of Southern California. Subsequently he had charge of a church in Canon City. His next pastorate was in East Weymouth, Mass., where he remained four years, from IS88 to 1892. His last settled charge was at Mystic, Conn., where he served the church for two years.
Mr. Kidder was married November 13, 1882, to Miss Hattie L. Kinsman, of Au- gusta, Me., daughter of F. W. and Octavia A. (Greeley) Kinsman, her father being a druggist and pharmacist by occupation. Mrs. Kidder was educated in the high school of
Augusta, at Kent's Hill Academy in that town, and at East Greenwich Academy. She also studied music in Boston, Mass., and, having a fine soprano voice, developed into an accomplished vocalist. Before her marriage she was engaged in the profession of teaching. During Mr. Kidder's pastorate in Mystic, Conn., his wife's failing health induced him to cease his itinerancy, and become a super- numerary. Mr. and Mrs. Kidder have a fam- ily of four children, namely: Florence, who was born on Staten Island, fourteen years ago, and is now attending school; Frank, born in New Mexico, and now eleven years of age : Albert A., Jr., who is now in his ninth year: and Ralph W., who is four years old.
Mr. Kidder has recently established a church publishing business at Mystic, making a specialty of collection helps, an invention of his own which is novel and taking, as well as practical. He is a Master Mason and Com- mander of the Golden Cross. Having scarcely reached the prime of life, it may well be hoped that he is but in the beginning of his career of usefulness.
HOMAS E. PACKER, a real estate and insurance agent of Groton, Conn., the son of George and Delight (EI- dredge) l'acker, was born in Groton, April 11, 1827. The family are of English descent, coming to America in the early days. John Packer, Jr., grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born February 7, 1753. He was a soldier of the Revolution, and enlisted in February, 1778, for three years in Captain Amos Stanton's company, of Colonel Sher- burn's and S. B. Webb's regiment. He ap- plied for a pension in 1816, which he received sixteen years later. He died February 8, 1835, eighty-two years of age. His wife was
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in maidenhood Hannah Gallup, of Stoning- ton, who survived him a number of years, re- taining her faculties up to the day of her death. They had six children, three sons and three daughters. Their son George was born in Groton, December 26, 1794. He was a farmer of Groton, and died in 1872, aged seventy-eight years. His wife, Delight El- dredge Packer, died in 1864, aged sixty-three years. They were married July 17, 1820. They had nine children, of whom three sons died young: William Henry died on his twenty-first birthday; Thomas is the subject of this sketch; Mary Delight, widow of Gil- bert S. Bailey, and Prudence Helen, widow of Erastus William Denison, are living in Mys- tic; John Green married Frances Park; Han- nah Gore married Alexander Irving, of Groton.
Thomas E. Packer spent his early life on the farm. He received a common-school edu- cation, and at the age of seventeen began to teach in the district schools, which he taught sixteen years. This included, however, some time spent in the Brandon (Miss.) College. Thirty-two years ago he engaged in the gen- eral insurance business with Charles H. Deni- son. In 1875 they took William H. Potter into the firm, which became Denison, Packer & Co. Seven years later Denison and Potter went out of the firm, and Mr. Packer contin- ued the business, taking his son-in-law, Frank W. Batty, into the firm with him. Mr. Packer is a Prohibitionist in politics, and has voted for every Presidential candidate of his party since its inauguration. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and is Past Master of Charity Lodge in Mystic. He was married July 4, 1849, to Emma J., daughter of Daniel and Mary (Hempstead) Burrows. They have two children : Teresa Kossuth, who married Anos Grinnell; and Addie B., who married Frank W. Batty, mentioned above. Mr. Packer was
the superintendent of the Baptist Sunday- school for a number of years. He is a man of quiet, studious habits and sound business integrity.
LFRED H. VAUGHN, who was one of the oldest business men in Nor- wich, was born in the city of Provi- dence, R.I., on February 26, 1828, son of Christopher and Ruby Ann (Briggs) Vaughn.
Ruby A. Briggs was born in Assonet, Mass. Her grandfather was Benjamin Read, Captain of the First Company of Freetown militia from 1776 to 1781, during the Revo- lutionary War.
Alfred H. Vaughn's boyhood was spent in Assonet ; and he always retained a great fond- ness for that town, and with characteristic generosity gave it help in many ways. At the age of eighteen Mr. Vaughn came to Nor- wich, and entered the employ of Abner T. Pearce, who was conducting an iron foundry. Mr. Vaughn showed great aptitude for the business, and became thoroughly skilled in every department. In 1854 he, with two others, started the Norwich Iron Foundry on Ferry Street, in which he afterward became so successful and so well known. In 1861 the original firm was dissolved, Mr. Vaughn buying out the interest of his partners. He continued the business; and, as it increased, he enlarged the premises and added new build- ings, until he had covered the square lying be- tween Ferry Street and Rose Place, and em- bracing an acre of land. His sons, A. N. II. Vaughn and C. W. Vaughn, learned the business, and in ISSI were admitted to part- nership, the firm name being changed to A. II. Vaughn & Sons. In 1884 Mr. Vaughn built a handsome four-story building on Ferry Street. He was a very successful business
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man, but his success was largely owing to his energy and careful supervision of details. As a citizen Mr. Vaughn was genial, social, and ever mindful of the highest interests of the community in which he lived. In poli- tics he was a Republican, and was at one time a member of the Common Council; but he was never a political office-seeker. He attended the Broadway Congregational church. His death occurred April 6, 1886, at the age of fifty-eight years, after an illness of about three months.
Mr. Vaughn was married December 10, 1849, to Eliza, daughter of Jefferson and Mary (Crandal) Lamb. Jefferson Lamb was born in Ledyard. His daughter Eliza was born in Norwich, and in the public schools received her education. Her residence is on Broad- way. The children are: Alfred N. H .; Charles W .; Helen, wife of Foster Wilson; Frank. J., who died at the age of three years; Eugene A., of Buffalo, N.Y. ; Rufus H. ; and Annie E. Vaughn.
UCIUS DWIGHT BROWN, late a prominent resident of North Stoning- ton, Conn., his native town, a well- known speculator in real estate and horses, was born on May 21. 1839, and died April 9, 1897. He was a son of Jedediah and Eunice (Bailey) Brown, and belonged to one of the old families of this locality. His grand- father, Elias Brown, was a farmer of Stoning- ton, where he was born about 1760, and died about 1840. IIe married Rhoda Williams, and had a large family of sons and daughters.
Jedediah Brown, the father of Lucius Dwight Brown, was born in 1806, and died in 1886. He was twice married. His first wife was Betsey Irish, of Preston, who bore him four children, two sons and two daughters.
All married and had families, and all are now dead. The last survivor was Obadiah Brown, who was born in 1829, and in 1855 went to California, where he kept a hotel and carried on the livery business, dying there in 1896, and leaving considerable property to his widow and two sons. Jedediah Brown's sec- ond wife, Eunice Bailey, of North Stonington, a daughter of Elijah Bailey, was born in 1816, and died in 1874. She was the mother of ten children, of whom the first-born, a daughter named Elizabeth, died at the age of ten, and the elder son, Lucius D., died about a year ago, as above mentioned. The second daugh- ter, Almeda, died in Norwich, iu 1866, leav- ing a husband, Abner Geer, and one daughter. The living are: Abbie, wife of William Rose, of Norwich; Governor H. Brown, of Norwich : Mrs. Ann Eliza Copp, a widow, living in Nor- wich; Margaret F., wife of Stephen Wilcox, of Norwich ; Charles N. Brown, of New Lon- don, who keeps a livery and sale stable; Daniel Miner Brown, of Providence, R. I. ; Mary, wife of William Arnold, a hotel-keeper at Olney- ville, R.I.
Lucius Dwight Brown, the subject of this sketch, was brought up to farm life, receiving his education at the common school, a mile and a half from home, which he attended until he was sixteen. After leaving school, he worked on his father's farm until he was twenty, when he entered the machine shop of Cottrell & Babcock at Westerly, R.I., where he worked one year. Soon after he hired a farm of Dr. Kinney; and he subsequently owned and occupied several in North Ston- ington, buying and selling some thirty or more. He owned at the time of his death about eleven farms, located in towns in Con- necticut and Rhode Island. Mr. Brown was a great lover of horses; and he speculated largely in them, owning in the course of his
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life several thousand. He left about seventy, which was a moderate stock for him to winter. He was widely known among horsemen all through New England and in the West. His new barn, which he built in 1894, at a cost of thirty-five hundred dollars, is a model one and the finest in the town.
Mr. Brown was married December 25, 1864, to Mary Eliza Sisson, of Westerly, R.I., a daughter of Clark E. and Susan H. (Hall) Sisson, of that place. Mr. Sisson was a farmer and fisherman, born in 1814, and died in 1880. His wife died at the age of forty- nine, leaving twelve children, eight of whom are now living.
Commencing life without capital, Mr. Brown by good judgment in his business dealings attained great financial success. The losses sustained by many of his neigh- bors, who were tempted by large interest to invest in Western securities, he escaped, tell- ing them he preferred to see his property, and could find his horses. Mr. and Mrs. Brown had no children. In April, 1875, they moved into the fine residence now occupied by Mrs. Brown.
SAAC GILLETTE, a prominent farmer of Lebanon and the Judge of Probate was born on the farm which is his pres- ent home, June 10, 1841, son of Milo and Mary (Wilson) Gillette. The family is an honored one in this town, and has long been resident here. Great-grandfather Ebenezer Gillette, who was a farmer, lived to be a very old man. His son Isaac, who was born on Liberty Hill, February 2, 1749, died Febru- ary 21, 1840. Isaac's wife died July 20, 1824, at the age of seventy-two years. They reared a family of eleven children, eight sons and three daughters. One son was drowned at the age of twenty-one years.
Milo Gillette, son of Isaac, was born here in February, 1802, and was a lifelong farmer of this town. While a quiet and unassuming man, he had good judgment. He served the town in various public offices, and always with the strictest loyalty to public interests. His death, which occurred on February 28, 1874, at the age of seventy-two, removed a highly esteemed citizen. His wife, who was born in New York in 1802, and reared in Cov- entry, Conn., died on the day before Christmas in 1866. Her children were: Mary Jane, who was born September 25, 1836, was the wife of Albert G. Lyman, and died November 16, 1897; George, who was drowned in 1863, at the age of twenty-four; and Wealthy, who is the wife of E. F. Reed, of Willimantic, Conn.
Isaac Gillette grew up here on the home- stead, which has been partly in the possession of his family since the settlement of the town. After passing through the district schools, he studied for a number of terms at the high school. Subsequently he taught school for more than twenty-five years through both the fall and winter terms. He has been a School Visitor of this town for more than thirty years, and was for fifteen years the secretary of the School Board. Much of the advance- ment made in the schools of this town during the period Mr. Gillette has been officially connected with them has been due to his timely and wise suggestions. He has also served his fellow - townsmen as Assessor, Treasurer of the Town Deposit and School Fund, and as their Representative in the State legislature. Fourteen years ago he was elected Probate Judge, which office he has since filled with strict impartiality. Al- though he is not a regularly qualified lawyer, he is well read in law and thoroughly in- formed in all matters coming under his off ;-
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cial notice. In politics he is a Republican, in religion a Baptist. He has been a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen for five years, and has occupied all the chairs in that organization. He is also a Master Mason. His home, one of the neatest and most attractive places in Lebanon, located on the green, with a beautiful environment, was built by him in 1880.
On October 25, 1866, Mr. Gillette was united in marriage with Mercy F., daughter of Thurston and Amy (Tucker) Tucker. Her parents, who were not related, came to this place from Rhode Island. The father is still living near; but the mother died October 6, 1884, at the age of sixty-four. Mrs. Gillette is a member of the Baptist church. She has one sister, Phoebe, now the wife of George Irish; and a brother, Orlando C. Tucker, of this town.
EV. LEWELLYN PRATT, D.D., the pastor of the Broadway Congrega- tional Church, Norwich, was born August 8, 1832, in Saybrook, now Essex, Conn. Selden M. Pratt, his father, was born in the same place, March 4, 1805, son of Ezra Pratt, whose birth occurred on December 5, 1757. Jared Pratt, the father of Ezra, was born in 1711, son of Benjamin Pratt, who was born June 14, 1681, a son of Captain William Pratt. Captain Pratt, born May 15, 1653, was a son of Lieutenant William Pratt, who came from England in 1633, with the Thomas Hooker colony. Three years later Lieutenant Pratt settled in Hartford, Conn., whence he removed in 1645 to Say- brook, which has been the birthplace of all the succeeding generations in this branch of the family. He was a son of the Rev. Will- iam Pratt, who for thirty years served as rec- tor of the old parish church in Stevanage,
England. The father of minister Pratt was Andrew Pratt, of Baldock; and his grandfather was Thomas Pratt, of the same place, whose will bore date of February 5, 1538. Lieuten- ant Pratt was for many years in the General Court, and held other public offices. When the first court in New London County as- sembled at New London on September 20, 1666, Major Mason, Thomas Stanton, and Lieutenant Pratt occupied the bench; and on May 9, 1678, the last-named gentleman at- tended as Deputy for the twenty-third time. He died in that year.
Ezra Pratt, the grandfather of the subject of this biography, was a farmer. He married on January 22, 1783, Temperance South- worth, a native of Saybrook. Eleven children were the fruit of the union, eight sons and three daughters, of whom Selden M. was the youngest. Ezra died soon after the birth of Selden, leaving the mother, who was known as "Aunt Tempe," with a large family and but limited means for its support. However, one of the noblest types of womanhood, she brought up her children in a manner that made them an honor to their name. She lived to be an octogenarian. Two of her sons, Ezra and Alfred, migrated to the Western Reserve (Ohio), where they became large land-owners and influential and public-spirited citizens. Horace and Nathaniel were educated for the ministry at Princeton after graduating from Yale College. The former became a Presby- terian preacher in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and the professor of belles-lettres in the university there. The latter became a preacher, and labored in Marietta, and in Roswell, Ga. Henry acquired much wealth as a New York merchant. Amasa and Lyman were sea cap- tains, the latter dying a young man. All but two of these sons married and had chil- dren, some of whom are filling positions of
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distinction, one of the number being a recent Mayor of Minneapolis, Minn.
Selden M. Pratt spent the active years of his life occupied in carrying on his farm at Saybrook. Appreciating his ability and worth, his townsmen conferred various official honors upon him. He served as Town Clerk, Judge of Probate for many years, and in the State legislature for several terms. On Janu- ary 15, 1828, he was married at Saybrook to Rebecca Nott, daughter of Clark and Wealthy (Pratt) Nott. They had nine children, six sons and three daughters, all of whom reached maturity. Selden, the seventh child, after a year's serviee in the Civil War as a volunteer in the Connecticut Infantry, was stricken with a fever, and died in Baton Rouge, at the age of nineteen years. He was brought to Saybrook for burial. The living children are: Lewellyn, the second son and ehild; Jane, who for many years was a missionary teacher in New Mexico, under the New West Commission; Amasa, now residing in Colum- bus, Ohio, who was for a number of years the superintendent of a deaf-mute institute; James M., a successful business man of Phila- delphia, Pa .; and Abram Nott, who is en- gaged in the lumber business in Eddy, N. M. Heriry Lyman Pratt, the first-born, after graduating from Williams College, studied law, and subsequently practised at the bar in Essex. He was Judge of Probate, and represented the town in the lower house of the State legislature. In addition to his law practice, he carried on the manufacture of bits and augers for a number of years. He died in 1894, aged sixty-four years, having sur- vived for 'some time his wife and two chil- dren. Selden M. Pratt died in 1881, aged seventy-six, and his wife in 1869, aged sixty- two years.
Lewellyn Pratt, after preparing in Durham
and Essex Academies, entered Williams Col- lege in 1848, and graduated in 1852, with a class of over fifty, having one of the orations. Soon after his graduation he became the pro- fessor of natural science in Gallaudet College, Washington, D.C. In 1869 he went to Galesburg, Ill., to take the position of pro- fessor of Latin in Knox College. After re- maining here until 1871, he was installed as pastor of the Congregational church at North Adams, Mass. Five years later he accepted the chair of rhetoric in Williams College, his Alma Mater; and in 1880 he became the pro- fesser of practical theology in the Theological Seminary, Hartford, Conn. From the semi- nary he came to the Broadway Congregational Church in 1888. In this, the largest Protes- tant church of Norwich, he has ministered most Receptably during the past eight years. Thoroughly practical himself in all depart- ments of church work, his lectures while pro- fessor of practical theology could but win the indorsement of those he taught. His success as a teacher and preacher lies, not so much in special talents, as in a happy and rare combi- nation of natural traits. A man of command- ing presence, he is at the same time distin- guished by the uniform courtesy of a thorough gentleman. Williams College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1877, and later elected him a trustee. Hartford Theological Seminary has also received him on its Board of Trustees. He has published many magazine and review artieles, which have been very favorably received.
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