USA > Connecticut > New London County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of New London County, Connecticut > Part 25
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Frederick Denison Chesebro has been a firm Democrat all his life. He has served in some of the minor town offices, and for twelve years was Superintendent of the Highway. For about seventy-seven years he has been a mem- ber of the Baptist church, and he is now senior Deacon.
AVID ERSKINE WHITON, a manufacturer of lathe and drill chucks and machinist's tools in New London, is a native of Stafford, Conn., born October 15, 1825. His ancestor, James Whiton, who was one of the founders of Hingham, Mass., came to this country from either England or Scotland about the year
1630, and was made a freeman in 1636. Jo- seph Whiton, his grandfather, resided in Westford, was a carpenter and builder, and had charge of the erection of the Westford Orthodox Church edifice. Joseph married Miss Joanna Chaffee, of that town; and their union was blessed by the birth of several sons and daughters. Both were members of the Orthodox church. Their son, Heber Whiton, born in Westford about 1780, died in Stafford about 1827. A cooper by trade, he carried on that business in conjunction with his farm, and acquired a fair property. About 1806 or 1807 he married Miss Marcia Gay, of Stafford. After his death she remarried and moved to Monson, Mass., where she died when about sixty-three years of age. Eight children were born of her union with Mr. Whiton, of whom six sons and one daughter reached maturity. The daughter, Hannah, is the widow of Penuel Eddy, and resides in Stafford.
David Erskine Whiton, the youngest son of his parents, attended the common schools of Stafford. When about fourteen years of age he began to learn the carpenter's trade with his brother Lucius, and continued his school attendance in the winter terms until eighteen years old, working with him six years. At twenty, having spent six years in his brother's employment, he started for himself as a jour- neyman carpenter. Subsequently he was en- gaged in the millwright business for four years, and still later he worked at pattern- making. Until he took up the machinist's business, he did not feel that he had found the occupation for which his natural ability fitted him. Before this, however, in 1849, travelling by water he visited Buffalo, Chi- cago, and Milwaukee, crossed Michigan by rail, and then on horseback went to many places in Illinois and Wisconsin. He made
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a considerable stay in Beloit, which reminded im of the East, and reached as far north as Green Bay, stopping at Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, vid Appleton, where the first improvements n Fox River were being made. He worked : carpentry in different places, but the East w .. > still his preference. Returning in 1852 : . Stafford, he built his first machine shop, : r which he made the water-wheel and much vi the other equipment. After renting it some years, he occupied it for the manufact- ure of machine tools, lathe chucks, etc., which he continued there until 1886, building up a good business, and employing about twenty men. He then sold out and came to New London, where he shortly after erected a shop on Howard Street. Since 1896 he has con- ducted the business in the present large brick structure. In 1886 an incorporated company was formed, with Mr. Whiton as the presi- dent and his son as the secretary and treas- urer. About one hundred hands are employed in the establishment.
On November 13, 1856, Mr. Whiton was united in marriage with Miss Asenath Francis, of Stafford, a daughter of James and Achsah (Howe) Francis. Her father died when seventy-seven years of age, and her mother about two years later, at seventy- three. A son and four daughters survive. Mr. and Mrs. Whiton were bereft of their first-born, a daughter of four years. They have a son and daughter living - Lucius Erskine and Mary W. Lucius Erskine Whiton, who is in company with his father, married Viola King, and has two daughters - Helen King and Dorothy. His infant son, David Erskine (named for his father), died October 5, 1896. Mary W. is the wife of Leander Shipman, M. D., of New London. While a resident of Stafford, Mr. Whiton, Sr., who is a stanch Republican, served in
many of the town offices, and was twice a member of the State legislature, winning a hotly contested election. He and Mrs. Whiton are members of the Methodist Epis- copal church.
RS. MARY E. ALLEN, of Han- over village, in the town of Sprague, New London County, Conn., is a native of Canterbury, Windham County, being a daughter of Hubbard and Sabrina (Adams) Adams.
Colonel Ethan Allen, late a well-known woollen manufacturer of Hanover, to whom she was married on December 9, 1855, was born in Lisbon, this county, in 1822, and died on January 15, 1884, at the age of sixty- two years. He was the son of Deacon Eben- ezer Allen, a native of Canterbury, Conn., and was of the eighth generation in descent from Samuel Allen, who came from England about 1630, and settled at Braintree, Mass. Deacon Ebenezer was a son of Pratt Allen, a native of Scotland, Conn.
To Colonel Ethan and Mrs. Mary E. Allen were born eight children, named as follows: Ebenezer, Mary, Sarah, Thomas H., Morgan, Harriet B., Olive B., and Maud E. Sarah died April 6, 1874, at fourteen years of age. Morgan died at the age of four years. The living children are all residing in this place, and are single, except Ebenezer, who married Martha E. Gordon, of Hanover. They have been liberally educated, and are citizens of influence and prominence. Ebenezer and Thomas are graduates of the Highland Mili- tary Institute. The business of manufactur- ing woollen goods, in which Colonel Allen was engaged at the time of his death, has been continued by his sons and their uncle, Eli- sha M. Allen, who was Colonel Allen's part- ner. During the business depression of the
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past four years the factory has been closed for a considerable part of the time. Mr. Eben- ezer Allen is the present Representative of this town to the Connecticut legislature.
His brother, the Hon. Thomas Hubbard Allen, who was born September 3, 1862, has had a brilliant record as a public man. He was educated at East Greenwich Academy, Rhode Island, and at Highland Military In- stitute, graduating from the last-named institu- tion in ISSI, as valedictorian of the class, and having been Captain of the Cadet Corps. He has always been interested in military affairs, and for eight years was a member of the Third Regiment, Connecticut National Guard, retir- ing as Captain and Inspector of Rifle Practice. He served his native town five consecutive years as Selectman; and in 1885 he was elected to the legislature, being at the time he took his seat the youngest man in the house. He has been five terms in the lower branch, and one term in the Senate. During his first term in the house he was clerk of the Committee on Engrossed Bills, and during the four successive terms he was chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. In 1886 he was also elerk of the Library Committee. and in 1893 was a member of the Committee on Joint Rules. The other years in which he served were 1889 and 1895. In 1887 he was elected State Senator, and was the youngest man in the upper house. Here also he served as chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Thomas H. Allen has had many other civic honors conferred upon him. At the time of President Harrison's second inaugura- tion he was one of the aides-de-camp. In 1888 he was sent as delegate to the Republi- can convention at Chicago, and in 1896 as delegate to the St. Louis convention. In 1889 he was a delegate to the centennial cele-
bration held in New York City. Mr. Allen. record as a public man has been one of dis tinguished service and high integrity. 11. has worked faithfully for the interests of hi- constituents, and has allowed no personal cot .. siderations to deter him from carrying out what he has believed to be for the general good of bis district or of the State as a whole. He is a member of Hartford Lodge, No. 19, Brotherhood of Elks; also of Court Sprague, No. 90, Foresters of America, of Sprague, Conn.
ILLARD J. WAY, a member of the Board of Selectmen of Bozrah, was born in Salem, Conn., February 18, 1859, son of David and Sally R. (Gardner! Way. The father was a native of Salem, in which town the paternal grandfather, Joshua Way, was an early settler. The Gardners are native residents of Montville, Conn. David Way was a prominent citizen of Salem in his day. He was a Justice of the Peace for many years, held several town offices, and was a Deacon in the Baptist church. His last days were spent at the home of his son Willard in Bozrah, his death occurring in 1893. His wife, Sally, became the mother of several chil- dren, of whom Willard J. is the only survivor.
Willard J. Way was educated in the com- mon schools of Salem. His boyhood and- youth were passed in his native town; and he started in business life as the proprietor of a livery stable at Fitchville, Conn. In 1884 he settled upon his present farm in Bozrah, a val- uable piece of agricultural property, which he is cultivating with prosperous results. He also owns a tract of land in Salem.
On December 2, 1885, Mr. Way was united in marriage with Cora B. Ross, daughter of
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WILLARD J. WAY.
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Enos C. Ross, late a respected citizen of Bozrah.
Mr. Way is a Democrat politically. He served the town for one term as Assessor, was elected a member of the Board of Selectmen in October, 1896, and has represented Bozrah in the legislature. His public record is one of fidelity to his constituents and sound judg- ment in the exercise of his legislative duties, which qualities have been recognized and ap- preciated by the general community. Mrs. Way is a member of the Baptist Church of Leffingwell, Conn.
EV. EDMUND DARROW was born in Waterford, February 7, 1807, youngest son of Joseph and Hannah (Bishop) Darrow. His grandfather, the Rev. Zadoc Darrow, born in New London, Decem- ber 25, 1728 (O. S.), son of Ebenezer Dar- row, was for half a century pastor of Jordan Baptist Church. Ebenezer Darrow's wife was a Rogers, a direct descendant, it is said, of the Smithfield martyr. Zadoc Darrow early left the Congregational church, and, uniting with the Niantic church under the Rev. Mr. Howard, was chosen Deacon. He was ordained in 1769, and from 1775 to 1827, a period of fifty-two years, was pastor of the First Baptist Church, Waterford. He lived to the venerable age of ninety-nine. His suc- cessor in the pastorate was his grandson, Elder Francis Darrow; and the two pastorates covered ninety years.
In 1830, at the age of twenty-three, Edmund Darrow united with the First Baptist Church, Waterford, of which his cousin, Elder Francis Darrow, was pastor. He served as Deacon of the church and as superintendent of the Sun- day-school several years, but in 1845 he united with the Seventh Day Baptist church. He often made allusion to the remarkable co-
incidence that his birth occurred in the seventh year of the century, on the seventh day of the month, and the seventh day of the week, and that he became a Seventh Day Bap- tist. The following year he was made a Deacon; and in 1853 he was ordained to the ministry, and accepted as a non-salaried posi- tion the pastoral care of the church of which he had charge until his death, thirty-five years later. For some years also he was engaged in teaching. He was a thrifty farmer, employ- ing help, keeping his homestead property, with its large barns and the house that he built about fifty years ago, in good condi- tion. The farm contains about eighty-five acres, a part of which was handed down from his father and grandfather. Mr. Darrow's ability as a man of affairs was recognized by his townsmen, who elected him to various offices, including that of Selectman. In pol- itics he was a Republican, and he served in the State legislature. He passed away at his home in Waterford, October 6, 1888, aged eighty-one years.
Mr. Darrow was with his people at the last communion before his death, also the follow- ing Sabbath, although very feeble, coming as he said, "to set them to work." He spoke briefly from Dan. ii. 35: "The stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." One who knew him well and was a coworker with him has written of him: "Amid all his cares and labors he regarded no sacrifice too great, if thereby he might benefit others. . . . Not anxious for a great name, but modest and un- assuming, he was a man of simple habits and Scriptural faith. He was a practical and earnest friend of the temperance cause, having signed the first pledge formed in the town when a boy. No one stood higher in the esti- mation of the people for Christian character,
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as the large audience that gathered at his funeral from many miles around attested. As a friend he was hospitable, social, and true; as a pastor, genial and hopeful, having kind words for all."
On March 4, 1831, Mr. Darrow married Grace Rogers, by whom he had three chil- dren : Edmund, who was born in March, 1833; Josephine, who died November 5, 1841, at the age of three years; and Francis Newton Darrow, who was born October 10, 1842, is now a farmer in Waterford, and has one son, Earl W. Darrow, a teacher and preacher of promise. The mother of these children died nineteen years later, April 26, 1850. On March 3, 1851, Mr. Darrow was united in marriage to his second wife, Elizabeth Potter Darrow, by whom also he had three children, namely: Mary E., wife of Adrian Almy, of Altamont, Ky .; George P., a prominent mer- chant in Germantown, Pa. ; and Courtland R., a civil engineer in Waterbury, Conn. Mary E. and George P. are graduates of Alfred Uni- versity, Courtland R., of Norwich Academy and of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology, Boston. Their mother died Novem- ber 15, 1872. December 25, 1877, Mr. Dar- row married for his third wife Miss Ellen R. Walden, who survives him. She was born in Waterford, Conn., a daughter of the Rev. Hiram and Rebecca (Bird) Walden. In her girlhood she attended the common school, also studied at home under her father's direction, and later for a time she was a student at Greenwich Academy. At the age of eighteen years she taught her first school, and during the next twenty-five years until marriage was successfully engaged in teaching. Mrs. Dar- row is a widely known and highly respected resident of Waterford.
Her father, a Methodist minister, one of the old-time circuit riders of the Massachu-
setts itinerancy, was born in Montville, Conn., and spent his last days there. His marriage to Rebecca Bird took place in Stoughton, Mass., in January, 1827. She was a daughter of Abner Bird, and grand- daughter of a Revolutionary patriot who died while fighting for American independence. The Rev. Hiram and Mrs. Walden had eleven children, of whom three died in infancy, five sons and three daughters attaining maturity. Six are living, namely : Elvira, wife of Travis Douglass, of Waterford; Mary F., wife of George L. Rogers, a Montville farmer; Ellen R., widow of the Rev. Edmund Darrow ; William B., a merchant in Uncasville, Conn. ; Charles H., superintendent at the New Lon- don almshouse; and John Wesley, a resident of New London. Their brother, Edwin H. Darrow, a physician, died in Washington, Kan., aged forty-nine; and Warren N., a Bap- tist minister, died in New Jersey in 1893, aged forty-nine.
APTAIN JOSEPH J. FULLER is
a well-known mariner, who after
years of adventure on the sea, hunt- ing the whale and the seal, is living at ease in New London, Conn. He was born in Danvers, Mass., October 13, 1840, son of Jo- seph J. and Mary Ann (Glass) Fuller. The Fuller family is an ancient one in England, and one branch of it is said to have a coat of arms that denotes service in the holy wars, being a dove, three bars, and a crescent. Two brothers, Samuel and Edward Fuller, the former a physician, came to this country in the "Mayflower" in 1620. Others of this name came later, among them Thomas, who arrived in 1638. He married first in 1643 Elizabeth Tidd, of Woburn, Mass., by whom he had nine children. A number of years
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utter marriage, about 1665 it is thought, he removed to Salem, buying land, and establish- ing his home in what is now Middleton, Mass.
Timothy Fuller, Captain Fuller's grand- : ther, was born in Hudson, N. H., and reared in Danvers, Mass. He followed the sea in early manhood, and after retiring was engaged in farming in Danvers. He was fairly well- to-do. He died when about sixty-five years of age, and is buried in Middleton, Mass. Timothy Fuller was twice married. His first wife, who was the mother of Captain Fuller's father, was Lucy Field. She bore him four sons and four daughters, and one daughter is now living. in California. His second wife was Lucy Putnam, said to have been a niece or grand-niece of Israel Putnam, whose old home is still standing in Danvers.
Joseph J. Fuller, Sr., father of Captain Fuller, was born in Hudson, N. H., about 1812. He followed the sea for eighteen years, and when he retired was first mate. When between thirty and forty years of age he settled on the farm in Danvers which has been in the family considerably over two hundred years, and is now owned by his son, Captain Fuller. There he died in 1878, aged sixty-five years; and he is buried in the old town where so many of his kindred rest. When he was following the sea in his early manhood, he was taken sick at one time, and put ashore on the island of Tristan d'Acunha, in the South Atlantic, then under the juris- diction of Governor Glass, a Scotchman. The young American sailor became acquainted with the Governor's daughter, and won her for his bride, the marriage taking place on the island in 1832. Ten children were born of this union. Six sons and three daughters . attained maturity, and all but three - Maria, John, and Benjamin - are living to-day.
Benjamin Fuller volunteered at the time of the Civil War, though hardly more than a boy. He was wounded and taken prisoner at Bermuda Hundred, and, after a term of suf- fering and neglect in Libby Prison, died and was buried in an unmarked grave. His death occurred in 1863, when he was twenty years old. Mrs. Fuller, the mother, a most estima- ble woman, died an octogenarian in October, 1897.
The boyhood of Captain Joseph J. Fuller was passed on the Danvers farm. His educa- tion was limited to a few months' schooling in the year, and he began to work out at the early age of twelve. In July, 1859, in his nineteenth year, he shipped before the mast from New London on the schooner "Frank- lin," owned by Williams, Havens & Co., in charge of Captain Church, and after three years of sailing found himself forty-five dol- lars in arrears. The war was at this time fairly inaugurated, and his next berth was on the gunboat "Genesee " from Boston. He shipped as a seaman for thirteen dollars a month, and was in the employ of the govern- ment thirty months. From Boston he went to the James River, and he was subsequently engaged in the blockade of Wilmington, N.C., and later on was in Farragut's squadron on the Mississippi until Port Hudson and Vicksburg fell. His vessel was afterward en- gaged in the Mobile blockade. At the end of his term of service he engaged as boat steerer for the old firm, his first employers, on the schooner "Roswell King." His fortunes were linked with this vessel, of which he be- came master in 1870 for some time.
After taking charge as captain, he made four voyages to the South Indian Ocean in pursuit of "sea elephants," and was quite suc- cessful as a whaler. In 1880 he became cap- tain and part owner of the large, two-masted
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schooner "Pilot's Bride," of which the agents and principal owners were C. A. Williams & Co., of New London. With this vessel he sailed the same waters, and near the Ker- guelen Isles he took twelve hundred barrels of whale oil and seventeen hundred fur seais. The seal skins he shipped from Cape Town, Africa, to London, England; and the oil he disposed of in New London, Conn. On his next visit to these islands he was cast away (October 2, 1882). He had a crew of twenty- two men, and they saved only their lives and the clothing which they were wearing at the time. They spent eleven months in that out- of-the-way corner of the globe before they were found and taken away by the rescue party sent by the owners of the wrecked vessel. This was the only serious mishap in the .Cap- tain's career as a sailor. After that he made three successful voyages from New Bedford to the South Seas. In 1884 he purchased some land, and erected the pretty dwelling at 12 Freemont Street, New London, where he has since resided.
In 1870, when he was first invested with the authority of captain, he chose a mate for life's voyage, marrying Miss Jane M. Adams, daughter of James Adams, of Isleton, London, England. She was born in England in 1855. but was residing in New London when she met the Captain. Four children have been given to Captain Fuller and his wife, namely : Jennie, a talented musician, living with her parents; Joseph A., a young man who has not yet chosen his life work; Gertrude M., sixteen years of age; and Bertram R., twelve years old, both attending school. In political matters the Captain is independent. He is a Master Mason of twenty-six years' standing, and he belongs to the Grand Army of the Re- public. Mrs. Fuller and the children belong to the Episcopal church,
EL ON. ROBERT COIT, president of the New London & Northern Raii. road, is a member of an old Con- necticut family which has figured extensively in the records of Yale College, and has been prominent in business and in public affairs. Hle was born in New London, April 26, 1830. son of Robert, Sr., and Charlotte (Coit) Coit. On the paternal side his ancestry includes, it is said, William Brewster, of the " Mayflower" company, who was Elder of the church at Plymouth, and has sometimes been called "chief of the Pilgrims." Mr. Coit is lineally descended from John Coit, one of the early English inhabitants of Gloucester, Mass., who settled in New London in 1650, and was the first ship-builder in this place. Mr. Coit', grandfather, Joshua Coit, son of Joseph Coit. a substantial citizen, was born in New Lon- don in 1762. He was graduated at Harvard. became a brilliant lawyer of New London. and was serving his third term in Congress, when his life was cut short by yellow fever. He was then but thirty-six years of age. His wife, Ann Borrodell Hallan, of this city, lived to be an octogenarian, and reared seven: or eight children.
Robert Coit, Sr., son of Joshua and Ann Coit, was born in New London in 1785. He was a successful merchant and financier, presi- dent of the New London Savings Bank .. and president also of the Union Bank, th: oldest institution of the kind in Connecticut and one of the oldest in the United States. He died in October, 1874, aged eighty-eight years and eleven months, having been active to the last. He was married in 1820 to Chatr. lotte Coit, a distant relative, who was a de- scendant of Lyon Gardner, of Gardner's Island, otherwise known as the Isle : Wight. This Lyon Gardner bore the title of Lord of the Isle of Wight. Mrs. Charlotte
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coit died in 1874, aged seventy-six. She was the mother of seven children, who all grew to maturity, and of whom four are liv- Ing, namely: Fanny, widow of Dr. A. L. chapin, late president of Beloit College, Wisconsin; Robert, the subject of this sketch; the Rev. Joshua Coit, of Winchester, Mass., who was graduated at Yale in the class of 1853; and Ellen, widow of the late Rev. Dr. Thomas P. Field, of Amherst, where she resides.
Robert Coit, the younger, was graduated at Vale in the class of 1850, and was admitted to the bar of New London County in 1853. He distinguished himself in his profession, and was Probate Judge for a number of years and Registrar of Bankruptcy during the continu- ance of that office. Endowed with keen in- telligence, marked executive ability, and con- servative judgment in financial affairs, he has long held the confidence of the public, faith- fully discharging the duties of a number of important offices. In 1867 he was elected treasurer of the New London & Northern Railroad, and since 1881 he has filled the president's chair. He is also president of the Union Bank, having been elected to that office in 1894. An esteemed member of the Republican party, he served with dignity and. ability as Mayor of New London from 1879 to 1882. He was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1879, and was in the State Senate the following four years, in 1882 and 1883 acting as president pro tem. of that body.
Mr. Coit was married August 1, 1855, to Lucretia, daughter of William F. and Sarah (Prentiss) Brainard, all of this city. Mr. Brainard, who was a Yale graduate, was one of the leading lawyers of Connecticut. He died in middle life. His wife lived to be over fourscore. Two of their children besides
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