USA > Connecticut > New London County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of New London County, Connecticut > Part 22
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® OBERT PALMER, SR., ship-builder, president of the Robert Palmer Company at Noank, Conn., in the town of Groton, his native place, was born on May 26, 1825. His parents were John and Abby (Fish) Palmer. His paternal grand- father, Elihu Palmer, a mariner, died before reaching middle age; and his grandmother, Mrs. Annie Palmer, was left a widow with one child, John Palmer, named above. Mrs. Palmer afterward married a Mr. Ashby, and
had five children, four sons and a daughter, of whom two sons are living.
John Palmer, who was born about the year 1786, was quite young when his father, Elihu, died; and he went to live with his grandfather Palmer. Early in life he began a successful career as a boat and ship builder, building principally vessels of from fifty to sixty tons' burden. Of the twelve children born to him and his wife, formerly Abby Fish, whom he married in 1809, four sons and five daughters grew to mature years. But two of these are now living: Robert, the tenth child; and Lucy, widow of Captain Jerry Wilber, the uncle of her first husband, William A. Wil- ber. Mrs. Wilber was born in 1811, and is now in her eighty-sixth year. Her only child, Robert T. Wilber, is a stockholder in the Robert Palmer Company. John Palmer died in July, 1869; and Abby, his wife, died in 1856, aged sixty-six years.
Robert Palmer, Sr., received only an ordi- nary district schooling in his childhood, and at ten years of age went on the water here. When but thirteen years old he went on a fishing trip to Nantucket; and for several years after he went on fishing trips regularly to different places, being for two years on a vessel that his brother John commanded. At eighteen years of age he went to Stonington, where for a year and a half he was employed in a boat builder's shop. He then came to Groton, and worked for some years for his father, whom he succeeded in the business, about ten years prior to his parent's decease. It is now fifty-one years since he set up for himself in the ship-building business in a modest way. His career has been a very suc- cessful one; and he is a leader in his spe- cial line, having the largest yard for wooden ship building in this country, from which he has turned out as many as thirty-three craft
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of various styles in a single year. The three Sound steamers, "Rhode Island," "Nashua," and "Connecticut," of from twenty-four to twenty-six hundred tons' burden, were built here. He still owns his father's old yard, in which boats have been built for eighty years; and he has established two others. In 1879 he started the marine railway.
In his twenty-first year, October 15, 1845, Robert Palmer, Sr., married Harriet Rogers, daughter of Ebenezer and" Grace (Gallup) Rogers and grand-daughter of Gurdon Gallup. Seven children were born of their union, and a son and two daughters grew to maturity, namely : Jane, widow of Benjamin Humphrey, living in Noank, mother of one daughter; Harriet, wife of the Rev. William L. Swan, of Auburn, N. Y., who also has one daughter; and Robert, Jr.
Robert Palmer, Sr., is a Republican, but has never participated in political affairs. He has been a member of the Baptist church since 1839, a Deacon forty-five years, and superintendent of the Sunday-school fifty years. He is president of the public library, called the Mystic and Noank Library, given to Groton by Captain Elihu Spicer, who named Mr. Palmer as one of the trustees. In 1885 Mr. Palmer erected his present residence near his ship-yard.
Robert Palmer, Jr., was born on February 15, 1856. He was educated in the schools of Noank and Mystic and at Schofield Business College at Providence, R.I., completing his studies at the age of twenty-one. He then entered his father's employ, and has thor- oughly familiarized himself with every branch of the business. In 1877 he was admitted to partnership, the firm name being Robert Palmer & Son, which was afterward changed to Robert Palmer & Sons; and on December 10, 1894, when a stock company was formed
with Robert Palmer, Sr., as president, Robert, Jr., became the secretary and treasurer. The son has proved himself a genius as a ship- wright ; and under his direction the company has built several fast boats of unique design, which have carried off a number of regatta prizes. The "Irma," built in 1894, and now owned by Fred Allen, of Galveston, Tex., was one of the first of these prize winners, showing remarkable adaptability for racing in both the calm waters of the Bay and the rough waters of the Gulf. She is thirty-seven feet long, twelve feet wide, and has a shoal draught. She has thrice carried off the prize, and is known as the "Queen of the Gulf." The "Novice," built a year later, a sail-boat twenty-seven feet long and ten feet wide, proved a wonder, easily distancing all class boats, and taking the prize over all the noted boats and yachts in Southern waters. She is of the skimming-dish type, with an overhang- ing end, and is both fast and seaworthy. She is of original design, with a centre-board, and demonstrates that a boat can go faster over the water than through it. The "Jennie," a steam yacht thirty-three feet long, and having an eight-foot beam, has been the object of much attention to yachtsmen along the At- lantic coast; and the "Gleam," a cat-boat, twenty-four feet long, but entering the twenty-foot class, built in 1895, won the first three of a series of races at Bushby Point, July 11, 25, and 31, 1896. Mr. Robert Palmer, Jr., is likewise a designer of lobster steamers, of which the company has built three, and now has in process of construction at Rockland, Me., a seventy-foot boat de- signed to go outside in any kind of weather, and bring in a cargo of eight thousand lob- sters. He is now building a new boat for racing, with which he hopes to win new trophies in 1897. This one is to be thirty
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feet long, eleven feet wide, and is to draw not more than nine inches of water.
In March, 1881, Mr. Robert Palmer, Jr., married Elizabeth L. Murphy, of Noank. She is a daughter of Charles and Nancy Murphy, the former of whom died a number of years ago, leaving his widow with a son and three daughters, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer have been bereft of their only son, Bernard Ledyard, who died March 5, 1885, aged two years and eleven months. Their dwelling is the old Baptist church, which Robert Palmer, Sr., remodelled.
In political affiliation Robert Palmer, Jr., is a Republican. In 1886 he served as a Rep- resentative to the Connecticut legislature, and was a member of the Committee on Ap- propriations. In 1889 he was again a nomi- nee, but was defeated by one vote, by John Morgan, the opposing candidate. Mr. Palmer is a member of the Baptist church.
ATHAM HULL, one of the most ca- pable and progressive farmers of New London County, son of the late William B. Hull, resides at the old Hull homestead, now known as the Westwood Stock Farm, of which he is the proprietor. The original owner of this valuable property, which is situated in North Stonington, was one Latham Hull, an ancestor of the present Latham IIull, several generations removed; and from Latham, the first, the land and the name has been handed down from one genera- tion to another until the present time, the only exception being in the name of the im- mediately preceding owner, William B. Hull, above mentioned.
Latham Hull, grandfather of the present Latham, spent his entire life on the home- stead, living to an advanced age. He was
a Democrat in politics, and was quite promi- nent in public affairs, serving several terms as Representative to the State legislature. and was one who helped divide the old town of Stonington when North Stonington was set off to form-a town by itself. He mar- ried Elizabeth Browning, of Stonington; and they reared two children - William B. and Latham. The latter, an able business man, and for many years president of a bank in Kalamazoo, Mich., died there in 1890, leav- ing one daughter and a large estate. The grandmother lived a widow for a long time, dying in 1886, at the venerable age of ninety- one years.
William B. Hull in his early manhood was engaged in mercantile business in New York City; but from his birth, which occurred in IS16, until his death in 1894, he lived at in- tervals on the home farm, following the occu- pation in which he was reared. A man of energy and foresight, he made many substan- tial improvements on the estate, which is one of the best as regards appointments and equip- ments in this vicinity. He married Miss Susan Wattles, daughter of Dr. Wattles, of this town, and was the father of four chil- dren - Thomas, Anna, Lucy, and Latham. Thomas Hull, who was educated in a military school, and afterward spent a year abroad, is now a newspaper reporter in Boston. He is married and has a daughter. Anna, with whom the widowed mother makes her home, is a woman of culture and accomplishments. She was educated in Claverack, N. Y., and at Grand Rapids, Mich., and is now living in Norwich, Conn., where she has a select kin- dergarten school.
Latham Hull, the subject of this sketch, was born in North Stonington, Conn .. Febru- ary 6, 1870. He acquired a good education, attending Storr's Agricultural College, where
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LATHAM HULL.
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lie was graduated with the class of 1890. Putting into practice the useful knowledge he there acquired, he has since been extensively and profitably engaged in general farming, dairying, and stock-raising at the old home- stead, which he has named Westwood Stock Farm. He keeps about sixty head of stock, principally Jerseys, some of which are regis- tered ; and he has thirty cows in his dairy, which partly supplies the residents of Wes- terly, R.I., with milk. He has a fine silo for the preservation of fodder. In 1896 he built his handsome horse barn, in which he keeps six horses for his own use. All of his barns and stables are furnished with water, the power also supplying water for the house, which is over one hundred years old, but is in excellent condition. His stock is well known throughout this region, and at the fairs held in New London Mr. Hull has received many premiums. Politically, he is an active and loyal Democrat ; and in 1893 he represented North Stonington in the State legislature, being one of the youngest legislators in that body.
In September, 1895, Mr. Hull married Miss Angie Brown, of North Stonington, a daughter of the late Stephen E. and Mary (Green) Brown. Mr. and Mrs. Hull have one child, Ethel Louise, who was born in April, 1896.
LONZO HI. HARRIS, business man- ager, secretary, and treasurer of the Bulletin Company, Norwich, was born in this town, September 18, 1854, his parents being Henry and Sarah W. (Dodge) Harris. Henry Harris was born in Bozrah in 1817, and died in September, 1857. He and his wife, Sarah, had three children, of whom one daughter died in early childhood, and one is still living.
Alonzo H. Harris was educated in the com- mon and high schools. At the age of four- teen he became a clerk in the bookstore of Morgan Safford & Co., in whose employ he re- mained for four years. In March, 1873, he entered the Bulletin Company's office as clerk. Seven years later, in May, 1880, he was made business manager, which position he occupied for four years. He then retired from the man- agement, but still remained in the employ of the company. In June, 1888, he was re-elected secretary, treasurer, and business manager, and up to the present time has continued to attend to the duties of these several offices, in which his fine executive ability has found a wide scope for exercise. The fidelity he has shown to the interests of the company has further proved his fitness for his present posi- tion. Mr. Harris is a Mason, belonging to St. James Lodge, Franklin Chapter, and the Council. Politically, he is a Republican ; but, although interested in local affairs and well informed in regard to all public move- ments, he has had no wish to enter politics.
On October 27, 1880, Mr. Harris was united in marriage with Ida F., daughter of Stephen and Margaret S. (Frink) Sylvester. Mr. Sylvester is no longer living, but his widow is a resident of Norwich. She has one daughter besides Mrs. Harris. Mr. and Mrs. Harris have a pleasant home at 93 Union Street.
HARLES H. BABCOCK, superin- tendent of the public schools of Westerly, R. I., a position for which he is well fitted by natural abilities and scholarly acquirements, is a resident of the village of Pawcatuck, on the opposite side of the river, in the town of Stonington, New London County, Conn. He was born July 16, 1838, in the town of Groton, this State, but
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is of Rhode Island stock, his father, the late Charles Babcock, of Stonington, having been a native of Westerly and a lineal descendant, it is said, of John and Mary (Lawton) Bab- cock, pioneer settlers of that locality.
Among the twenty-four free inhabitants of Westerly, R. I., in 1669, the year in which the town was incorporated, were James Bab- cock, Sr., James Babcock, Jr., and John Bab- cock, the two latter, no doubt, sons of the elder James. John Babcock, born in 1644, married Mary Lawton; and their son James is · said to have been the first white child born in the new settlement.
Henry Babcock, great - grandfather of Charles H., born in Westerly in 1755, son of Daniel Babcock, was a grandson of Captain James Babcock, and is reputed to have been a near kinsman of Colonel Harry Babcock of Revolutionary fame. He and his wife Pru- dence had eight children. The eldest of these, Henry Babcock, Jr., a master mariner, who commanded a merchant vessel, and for many years was engaged in the West India trade, was born at Westerly, R.I., in 1779, and died at his home in that town in the sev- entieth year of his age. His wife, Fanny, who was a daughter of Timothy West, of Rhode Island, an officer of some note in the Revolution, died in 1866, at the age of three- score and ten, having reared two sons and four daughters, one son being Charles, the father above named. One child is now living - Rhoda, widow of the late Matthew Barber, of Westerly.
Charles Babcock, son of Captain Henry and Fanny (West) Babcock, was born in Westerly, in April, 1815. After his marriage, which took place in 1835, he removed to Stonington, where he was engaged as a tiller of the soil during his active years. His wife's maiden name was Lovisa Brown. She was born in
1812, in the town of Ledyard, this county, and was a daughter of Samuel Brown, who married a Miss Latham. Ten children, four sons and six daughters, were born to Charles and Lovisa B. Babcock; and of these three have passed away, one having died in infancy, and John W. and Abbie J. in mature life. John W. Babcock went to Kansas for his health, and died there when about thirty years old, in 1871, leaving a widow. Abbie J., the widow of John H. Cross, of Stonington, died at the age of thirty years. The children now living are as follows: Charles H., the special subject of this biographical sketch; William, a physician in Connecticut; Erastus W., a resident of Stonington borough ; Amanda M., of Stonington ; Mary N., the widow of Rowse P. Babcock, of Stonington borough; Sarah F., wife of Captain Amos Dickens, of this town; and Helen M., wife of Captain Jesse W. Hall, also of Stonington. The mother, Lovisa B. Babcock, died in Stonington in 1886; and the father, Charles Babcock, died there in 1889.
Charles H. Babcock was graduated from the East Greenwich Academy when about nine- teen years of age, in 1857. Choosing the profession of teacher, he met with marked success, not only in imparting knowledge, but in winning the love and respect of his pupils and as a disciplinarian, and has since contin- ued his labors in the educational field, teach- ing more or less in this vicinity. Since 1872, or for twenty-four consecutive years, he has been a member of the Stonington School Board, an office in which he has rendered the town most valuable aid; and for the past five years he has been superintendent of the schools of Westerly, R. I., the home of his ancestors for several generations. Mr. Babcock has also served in the various township offices. He has been Assessor a number of terms and Jus-
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tice of the Peace fifteen years. In 1871 he was nominated on the Republican ticket as a Representative to the State legislature, but was defeated. Fraternally, he is a Master Mason, belonging to Pawcatuck Lodge, A. F. & A. M.
On March 30, 1863, Mr. Babcock married Miss Abbie H. Hinckley, a daughter of Ilenry and Prudence Mary (Chesebro) Hinck- ley, of this town. She died March 14, 1883, aged forty-two years. She had been the mother of four children, namely: a son that died in infancy; Harry H., a druggist, who died at the early age of twenty years; Anna Lincoln, who is the wife of Dr. John H. El- dredge, of Norwich, and has four children ; and Edith Vincent, a graduate of the Norwich Business College, and a teacher, who now has the care of her father's house, having given up her personal ambitions to devote herself to him and a half-sister, Mary Emma. This child, a bright and winning little girl, is Mr. Babcock's daughter by his second wife, for- merly Mary Emma Gardner, whom he married in August, 1884, and who died in July, 1892, aged thirty-seven years. Mr. Babcock has occupied his pleasant home at Pawcatuck since 1872.
HEODORE F. POWERS, whose an- cestors were among the early settlers of Connecticut in the seventeenth cen- tury, is a well-known and honored resident and native of Waterford. He was born in 1839, on the Powers homestead, son of Phillip M. and Abbie Maria (Havens) Powers. The father, born on the same farm in 1814, was a son of Joshua, who was born in Lyme, Conn., October 24, 1783, son of Joshua and Elizabeth Powers. The founder of the family, Joshua Powers, came from Ireland in 1674. Joshua, the grandfather of Theodore F., settled on
this farm nearly a hundred years ago. He married Wealthy Morgan, of Waterford, and had two sons and four daughters, all of whom married, had families, and lived to nearly threescore years of age. Wealthy Morgan Powers died at a comparatively early age, and Joshua Powers at the age of sixty-three years. One of their sons, Joshua, who was a carpen- ter by trade, went to Minnesota when a young man. He died there at sixty-nine years of age, leaving three children.
Phillip M. Powers was a successful agricult- urist, and in later years ran the Jordan grist- mill. He and Abbie Maria Havens were married June 8, 1836, when he was twenty years old, and she was eighteen. She was a daughter of Silas Havens, of Lyme, and his wife, Sabra (Griffin) Havens. Mrs. Havens died in 1826, leaving five children; and he afterward married her sister, who had by him twelve children. Mrs. Abbie Maria Powers has but one own sister living, Mrs. Eliza Crocker, of Clinton. John Havens, the father of Silas, and his two brothers came from Eng- land. One of the brothers settled on Long Island, and the other went to the West. John was with General Israel Putnam on his famous ride. His wife, Mary Havens, who was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, died aged ninety-nine years and seven months, and the inscription on her tombstone is the oldest in the cemetery. Phillip M. and Abbie Maria Powers had eight children, three sons and five daughters, of whom Theodore F., Phillip H., and Fannie C. are living. Theo- dore was the first son and second child. Phillip II., who was formerly first mate on a steamship, is in the employ of the Russian Fur Company, and now resides in Kobe, Japan, where he went with the Japanese em- bassy in 1860. He has a wife and four chil- dren. Fannie C. is the wife of James G.
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Marthers, and resides in Middletown, Conn. The father died in June, IS89.
Theodore F. Powers received a common- school education. When fourteen years old he engaged in the fishery business. At six- teen he went on a whaling bark, the "Tenedos," as harpooner or boat steerer, and was gone three years. He was subsequently on the schooner " Emma Rooke," of one hun- dred and fifty-seven tons' burden, built by Samuel Miller in New London for Thomas Hobron, for service as a packet between Hon- olulu and Latrina, and which he steered for half the voyage from New London to Hono- lulu. Having followed the sea for twelve years all together, he in 1865 went to Will County, Illinois, and there purchased a farm, which he carried on for nine years. Then he returned in 1874 to his native town, where he has been the miller of the Jordan grist-mill. This mill, which was erected by James Rogers, an ancestor of Mr. Powers, was the outcome of a controversy between Mr. Rogers and Governor Winthrop. Built in 1812, it was chartered in New London, December 26, 1709; and it was conducted by James Powers, an uncle of Mr. Powers, for many years. Mr. Powers opened the Great Neck stone quarry now owned by Booth Brothers, who are doing a large business.
On October 9, 1861, Mr. Powers married Sarah S. Briggs, of Waterford. Two daugh- ters have been born to them, namely: Nellie A., the wife of William H. Rogers, a locomo- tive engineer on the New London & Northern Railroad, residing in New London; and E. Willimene, who became the wife of George E. Ryley, and died April 15, 1896, when but eighteen years old. In politics Mr. Powers is a Republican. He has served for one year in the legislature, has been Town Treasurer for three years and Town Auditor for two years.
He was a charter member of Relief Lodge, No. 37, A. O. U. W., of Waterford, and served the organization in the' capacity of re- ceiver for the first eight years. Both he and Mrs. Powers are members of the First Baptist Church. While a resident of Plainfield he was the Sunday-school superintendent for eight years, and since he came to Waterford he has served in the same capacity for ten years.
OSEPH HALL, senior member of the firm of Hall Brothers, manufacturers of woollen goods at Hallville, in the town of Preston, Conn., was born in Hudders- field, England, on May 8, 1840, son of Joseph and Ann (Ague) Hall. His paternal grand- father was James Hall, who died at Hud- dersfield, at the age of eighty-seven, and is buried at Thornhill, England. He was a farmer by occupation.
Joseph Hall, first, son of James, was born in England, and there grew to manhood, and was married. He came to America in 1841 ; and his wife and children followed him a year later, coming in a sailing-vessel of the Black Ball Line, and being eleven weeks on the pas- sage from Liverpool to New York City. The unusual length of the voyage was on account of the detention of the ship for having smug- gled goods on board. Mr. Joseph Hall, first, was a weaver by trade; and, though he came to this country without cash capital, he was soon engaged in establishing a small mill at Cedar Hill, Dutchess County, New York. After being there for about two years, manu- facturing carpet yarn, he removed to Wash- ington Hollow in the same county, where he established and carried on for nine years a manufactory for carpet yarns. His plant was then burned ; and upon that event he removed, in 1852, to Poquetanuck, New London
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County, Conn., where he worked as a shoddy picker for about four years in the mill of Frank Loomis. Going then to Cooktown in company with Isaac Cook, he was there em- ployed in the carpet yarn factory for four years. At the end of that time he came to Preston, where about a hundred years previous a cloth-mill had been established on the site of the present mill, by a Mr. Kennedy, and began in a small way the manufact- ure of carpet yarn. Joseph Hall, first, died in 1861, at the age of fifty-four, leaving his widow with six children, four of whom were born in England and the other two in New York. A brief record of the family is as fo !- lows: Sarah, widow of Henry Mccrary, now residing at Poquetanuck; Elizabeth, widow of Charles W. Bedent, also at Poquetanuck; Jo- seph, Benjamin, and George, constituting the firm of Hall Brothers; and Harriet, who died in 1880, in the prime of life, the wife of Gardiner Wilcox. Their mother, Mrs. Ann A. Hall, died in 1868, aged forty-seven years.
The subject of this sketch has an aunt, Mary, now living in England, a well-pre- served lady of seventy-six years, and the wife of James Brown. . Another aunt, Eliza, is the widow of Joseph Oile, of Dewsbury, England. Two uncles, George and James, both lived and died in England. The former was one of the wealthy citizens of Dewsbury, England.
Joseph Hall, of the firm of Hall Brothers, began working in his father's yarn-mill when only eight years of age. Ilis early educa- tional opportunities were limited, and he at- tended school after he was sixteen years of age only two winter terms. At twenty-two years of age he became associated in the man- ufacturing business with Dwight Cook, who had been his father's partner for two years. The building then used by the company was about thirty by forty feet, two stories in
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