USA > Connecticut > New London County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of New London County, Connecticut > Part 32
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OHN BRUCE SIZER, the steward of the Old Ladies' Home in New London, was born here, July 12, 1839. His father and paternal grandfather, both named Jonathan, were also residents of New London. The Sizers, who are an old and respected fam- ily, originally came from Salem, Mass. The father had the first and the only brass foundry in Connecticut at that time. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Way, had eight chil- dren, of whom John B. and Rose -who is the wife of George l'otter, of this city -are liv-
ing. Mary married David A. Pollock, and died at the age of thirty-two. By a second marriage, contracted with Thomas H. Brooks, the mother had twins, Henry and Thomas, both now deceased. After Mr. Brooks's death a third marriage united her to Altred Hemp- stead, who survived her, and left a noble rec- ord besides property. Mr. Hempstead was niuch sought for in the settlement of estates. Both were kind to the poor, and had a large circle of admiring friends.
On November 3, 1869. Mr. Sizer was mar- ried to Mrs. Mary Esther Stevens Lyons, a native of this city and a daughter of Captain Daniel and Sophia Rogers (Holt) Stevens. Her grandfather, Giles Holt, was a well- known sea captain of New London. Her father at the age of twenty-six was the com- mander of a line steamer plying between New York and Liverpool. Born in Saco, Me., he was a man of fine physique, measuring six feet, four inches, and weighing two hundred and twenty-five pounds. He died at the age of twenty-six. In her childhood Mrs. Sizer made several voyages abroad. She was first married at the early age of sixteen to Captain Joshua Lyons, and by him had one child, William Edgar Lyons, a fine young man, who died at the age of twenty-one years. Mrs. Sizer has three half-brothers - Jeremiah Slate, Franklin Slate, and Samuel Norris Slate - who are all sea captains and residents . of New London.
Mr. and Mrs. Sizer have held their joint positions of honor and responsibility as matron and steward of the Old Ladies' Home for over ten years. This institution, which was estab- lished almost thirteen years ago, occupies a three-story brick structure, with accommoda- tions for thirty inmates. The efficient Board of Directors are: the Hon. Robert Coit (presi- dent), the Ilon. Augustus Brandagee, the IIon.
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Thomas Waller, Henry R. Bond, Dr. Bixter, and Dr. Blake. Drs. Bixter and Blake are pastors of Congregational churches. Dr. Braman is the attending physician, and Mrs. Helen Spencer is the head nurse. Mrs. Sizer has conducted her household so harmo- niously that few changes have been necessary. She settles her bills monthly, and is respon- sible to the president, Mr. Coit, alone.
APTAIN JOSEPH WARREN HOLMES,* whose home is in the village of Mystic, Conn., was born here on April 1, 1824. His parents were Captain Jeremiah and Ann B. (Denison) Holmes.
Jeremiah Holmes, Sr., the father of Cap- tain Jeremiah, was a farmer in Stonington. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Deni- son, was a descendant of George Denison, one of the early settlers of New London, Conn., who came to this country from Eng- land in 1631 in the ship "Lion," and lived for some time at Roxbury, Mass.
Captain Jeremiah Holmes was born in Mill- town, Conn., September 6, 1782. He was but eight years old when his father died. Remaining with his mother until fourteen years of age, he then went to live with his brother-in-law, Thomas Crary, in Norwich, Chenango County, N. Y., where he worked and attended school. In the winter of 1800 he went to New York City, walking to Cats- kill on the Hudson, and going from there by a packet boat. Naturally of a restless spirit and possessing a strong desire to see the world, he shipped in the schooner "Four Sis- ters" for Falkland Islands; but the unlawful smuggling scheme of her commander, Cap- tain Peleg Barker, landed them instead in Para, Brazil, in a Portuguese dungeon that
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was hot, dark. and damp. Two months later they were transferred to a frigate, and subse- quently taken to Lisbon on a Portuguese ves- sel, which was one hundred and thirty days on the way, though ordinarily the trip required but fifty. Lacking sufficient food and water, without bread and meat, and suffering for want of clothing and cleanliness, their condi- tion can be better imagined than described. Of their treatment on reaching Lisbon, no de- tails are given ; but Jeremiah Holmes eventu- ally reached New York again, and, undaunted by his experience, continued his seafaring life, and rose to the position of captain. One memory of his adventure was always dear to him, that of his true and generous sailor friend, Hans, of Norway. For his gallant service in the War of 1812, Captain Jeremiah Holmes won the title of Hero of Stoning- ton. He lived to be ninety years of age, and his wife to be ninety-nine. They were the parents of nine children, of whom four sons and two daughters grew to maturity. One son, Isaac D., is now living in Mystic; his sister, Mary Ann, wife of Randall Brown, died in 1894; and Esther C., wife of Captain Latham, died in 1895, leaving one daughter.
Joseph Warren Holmes attended school here in Mystic until thirteen years old. He then went to sea as cabin boy on the "Ap- palachicola," commanded by Captain Latham, and was gone nine months. During the next three years he went with his father summers in the packet "Leeds" from New York to Mystic, and in the winter attended school. The summer he was sixteen he was mate of a sloop. The following winter he spent in Suffield, and in the spring shipped on the bark "Leander," under Captain Bailey, with whom he made his first voyage around the world, completing the circuit in twenty-two months. The "Leander" was engaged in
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whale fishery in the South Atlantic, South Pacific, and Indian Oceans. At twenty-one he became master of the same bark, on which he made three voyages, the second and third of twenty months each. Leaving the " Lean- der" in 1847, he went in the "Coriolanus" on a whaling trip to the Indian Ocean, followed by a voyage to the Arctic Ocean, where the ship was filled in sixty days. He continued to engage in the whale fishery until 1854.
After leaving the "Coriolanus," Captain Holmes was successively commander of the "Fanning," "Frances," "Haze," "Twilight," and "Seminole "; and for the past ten years or more he has had charge of the "Charmer," a full-rigged merchantman, which sails from New York to San Francisco and foreign ports. She is of about nineteen hundred tons' burden, and when fully manned has a crew of twenty-eight men, and in the eyes of her cap- tain is as fine a ship as sails from New York Harbor. She is owned by John Rosenfeldt, of San Francisco; and it is between these two ports that most of her trips are made, bring- ing wine, wool, and other products to New York, and taking back Eastern manufactures for the Pacific coast. Occasionally, when the markets are favorable, she crosses the At- lantic with a cargo of grain, etc., for Euro- pean consumption, and returns laden with rare and beautiful as well as useful wares. Many of the furnishings in his home have been gathered from various quarters of the globe, beautiful rugs, china, bric-à-brac, cabi- nets of shells, and other sea treasures making it a storehouse of pleasure to the lover of curios. Several very handsome centre tables deserve special mention. The tops were made by himself, with the aid of a jig-saw, in his hours of leisure when on board ship, and consist of a great variety of woods artisti- cally set together. He was once offered three
hundred dollars for one of these tables, but they are more to him than their money value. It is doubtful if Captain Holmes's record as a mariner is paralleled by that of any other. For nearly or quite sixty years he has fol- lowed the sea. No vessel under his command has ever been lost or shipwrecked, and not a man of all his crews was ever lost.
Winds have not always been favorable, how- ever, as the following, quoted from an article published in a Providence paper in October, 1896, will show: "Yes," replied the Captain in answer to a question as to his experience, "I have seen some pretty bad blows. Let me see," and he mused a moment with a retro- spective look in his eyes. "About four years ago we ran into a couple of typhoons on our way out from San Francisco to Hong-Kong. It was about off Yokohama when they struck us, one right after the other; and there were lively times aboard the good ship 'Charmer' for a while. We lost our rudder, and were in a tight place for a spell ; but, fortunately, the gales passed on before we were swamped, and we put into port for repairs. On my very last trip from Japan two storms struck us in the Pacific; but we weathered them success- fully, and dropped anchor off quarantine three weeks ago. When I was in the ‘Semi- nole' in 1868, we encountered a white squall six days out of New York, and were dis- masted; but we put back, and, after making repairs, sailed again, and met with no more mishaps that voyage." In his journeyings Captain Holmes has been three times around the world, has doubled Cape Horn seventy- three times and the Cape of Good Hope six- teen times.
Captain Holmes was married September 3, 1847, to Miss Mary O. Denison, his second cousin. One son was born to them, Edwin Warren Holmes, who for several years sailed
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with his father as mate. He died of pneu- monia in 1883, at the age of twenty-seven, leaving a widow and one son, Edwin Warren, who reside in San Francisco. Mrs. Holmes accompanied her husband on his voyages. She died at their home here in Mystic in 1887, aged. sixty years. Captain Holmes pur- chased this place in 1865. Many a seafarer has had his home in this village, but no name will be remembered longer or more pleasantly than that of Captain Holmes.
ILLIAM PALMER SMITH, a re- tired gentleman of New London, was born October 19, 1823, in a house on Bank Street, a few doors removed from his present home. His parents were Sabin King and Joanna (Beckwith) Smith. Joseph Smith, of Montville, this county, the paternal grandfather, married Sally Smith, a daughter of Paul and a grand-daughter of Nehemiah Smith. By this union there were four sons and three daughters, all of whom became octogenarians. Anson, the last mem- ber of the family, died at the age of ninety-six.
Sabin King Smith was a successful mer- chant in New London from his youth to his death. At one time he owned the valuable business property extending from the Cronin Building on State Street around to Hemp- stead's store on Bank Street, with the excep- tion of a single building. One of the moneyed men of the place from 1830 to 1840, he subse- quently met with heavy reverses. He was a Mason of high degree. The maiden name of his first wife was Joanna Beckwith, who made him the father of nine children. She died in 1829, leaving four sons and three daughters. Of these the only other survivor besides William Palmer is Sabin, a resident of Chi- cago, who is now nearly eighty years old.
By Sabin's second marriage there were two children - Joseph Ledyard and Adelaide Jo- anna. Joseph is now deceased. Adelaide is the wife of P. G. Freeman, of Indepen- dence, Ia.
Leaving school at the age of fourteen, William Palmer Smith entered his brother's employ as clerk. Six years later he was in business for himself within a few doors of his present store. He continued in trade from 1843 to 1850, when he went to California by way of the Isthmus, returning six months thereafter. During the Civil War he was en- gaged in New York City, exporting butter and cheese to England and Germany. In politics he has affiliated with the Democratic party, but he voted for McKinley in 1896. A prom- inent Mason, he belongs to Union Lodge of New London; to the Royal Arch Chapter, of which he has been High Priest ; and to Pales- tine Commandery, Knights Templar.
Mr. Smith has been twice married. On the first occasion he was united to Sarah Fuller, of Norwich, who died in 1853. She left an only child, Clarence, who died in the South in middle age. The second marriage was contracted with Sophia Peck Marsh, a widow, who had three sons by her first mar- riage. The latter are: Daniel S. Marsh, who is a music dealer in New London, and has two children; Frank A. Marsh, of Chicago, a wealthy man and unmarried, who is the pur- chasing agent for the Rock Island Railroad; and Eben J. Marsh, a lumber manufacturer in Georgetown, S.C., who is married and has one daughter. The second Mrs. Smith died in 1893, at the age of seventy-four years. Mr. Smith retired from business over twenty years ago, and resides over his stores at 52, 54, and 56 State Street, which have a frontage of forty feet, and were purchased by him in 1855.
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"ON. JOHN D. PARK, ex-Chief Jus- tice of the Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut, died at his home on River Avenue in Norwich, New London County, on the fourth day of August, 1896. He was born in the town of Preston, in the same county, on the twenty-sixth day of April, A.D. 1819. He was a direct de- scendant of Sir Robert Parke, who, with his wife and three sons, came from Preston, Lan- cashire, England, to Massachusetts in 1630, and later removed to New London, Conn.
He had three sons. In England the gene- alogy of the Parke family has been traced with the line of the late Earl of Wensleydale, who was of the English Parke ancestry. Sir Robert Parke's youngest son was Thomas Parke, who was the father of Robert Parke, who was the father of Hezekiah Parke, who was the father of the Rev. Paul Park (the great-grandfather of the Hon. John D. Park), who was born in Preston, and lived and died in the same town. The family name was spelled with an "e" (Parke) until the Rev. Paul Park dropped that letter. He was a man of large intellect, broad-minded in his views and very influential. He became a preacher, and for over half a century he preached in the parish where he was born, receiving no re- muneration for his labors; and he also was as- sessed for the standing order of the clergy.
Elisha, son of the Rev. Paul Park, was also born in Preston. He married Miss Margaret Avery, of Groton, Conn., by whom he had two children - Ephraim and Lucy, both of whom grew to maturity and married. For his second wife Elisha Park married Miss Hannah Belton, who lived to be over eighty years old. Their union was blessed by four children - Niles, Margaret, Joseph, and Benjamin Franklin.
Benjamin Franklin Park, father of John D., was born January 17, 1782. He was a success-
ful farmer of Preston ; and he also conducted a country store, where he dealt in general mer- chandise. He married Miss Hannah Avery, daughter of Colonel David Avery, a farmer of Preston. Of this marriage eight children were born, all of whom reached adult years; and for many years there was no death in this family of ten persons. Only two of its mem- bers, however, are now living: Albert Frank- lin, the second child and eldest son, born De- cember 11, 1814, and a resident of Norwich; and Hannah Cornelia, wife of James Wood- man, who resides on a part of the old farm, at a place where one of the earliest American progenitors of the family settled about 1630, coming thither from Boston. The mother died January 17, 1855, in her sixty-second year, being the first to pass away. The father survived her some years, dying October 8, 1863, in his eighty-second year.
John D. Park passed his boyhood on his father's farm. At sixteen he taught his first term of school, and he followed teaching sev- eral winters. In 1845, when twenty-six years of age, he entered the law office of the Hon. Lafayette S. Foster, the lawyer and statesman who held the office of Vice- President after Lincoln's death. Mr. Park pursued the study of law with such diligence that in Febru- ary, 1847, he was admitted to the bar. He at once opened an office in Norwich, and engaged in practice. In 1853 he was nominated as Senator to the General Assembly, and the following year was elected Judge of the County Court, New London County. In 1855 he represented the town of Norwich in the State legislature, and served with distinction in the controversy between rival gas com- panies. During this session of the legislat- ure there was a radical change in the courts of the State, the county courts being abolished. and their business transferred to the Superior
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Courts; and Mr. Park was elected one of the Superior Court Judges. In 1863 he was re- elected Judge of the Superior Court for the regulation term of eight years, and in 1864 he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court of Errors, being re-elected to that office in 1872. The same year he was made a Chief Justice of the State. This office he held for fifteen years and seven months, and on his retire- ment from the Supreme Court, having reached the age limit, seventy years, he was appointed State Referee, an office created for him. The degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by Yale College in 1861, and that of Doctor of Laws in 1878. His death brought to a close one of the most brilliant legal careers that has ever been wrought out in this State. The high mark attained in his profes- sion was gained by an industry that overcame all obstacles. He was a clear and logical rea- soner, weighing well every detail; and his de- cisions in matters of law will stand as a mon- ument to his ability.
On July 6, 1864, Judge Park was married to Emma Wainwright Allen, of Middlebury, Vt. Their four children all died in infancy. Mrs. Park died September 17, 1884, at forty- four years of age. In politics Judge Park was first a Whig and later a Republican. In re- ligious views he was an Episcopalian.
HESTER W. BARNES, an enterpris- ing grocer of Preston, was born in Norwich, March 16, 1841, son of Avery W. and Lucy (Sherman) Barnes. His grandfather, Avery Barnes, who was born in Groton, married in 1804 Abigail Cook, a daughter of Elisha Cook, of Preston. In the following year they settled on their farm. They had eleven children, of whom six are now living. Nabby, the first-born, became
the wife of Reuben Cook, and died when ninety years of age. Eunice married Albert Holmes, and died in 1887, at the age of eighty. Lucy is an octogenarian, and resides in Preston City. Prudence is the wife of Hiram Browning, of this place. Ruth Ann is the widow of Charles Eaton, and lives in Norwich. Almeda, born in 1824, is the widow of Nehemiah Cook, and lives in Franklin, Conn. Chester M., born June 6, 1826, owns a farm adjoining the old home- stead. Mrs. Avery Barnes, after surviving her husband three years, died December 21, 1878, in the ninety-fourth year of her age. Some time before a family reunion took place in celebration of the eighty-ninth birthday of Avery Barnes, when he and his wife had then been united in matrimony for sixty-six years, when their first-born was sixty-five years old, and seven of their children, twenty-three of their grandchildren, and fourteen great-grand- children were present, the sum of whose ages, with those of their eleven children, was seven hundred and eighty-nine years. Two inter- esting poems, previously prepared for the pur- pose, were read on this occasion.
Avery W. Barnes in 1833 married Lucy, daughter of Moses Sherman. She died in 1869, at the age of fifty-seven, leaving three children. Their daughter Harriet had died at the age of eighteen. Those now living are Lucy, Chester W., and George. Lucy is the widow of Harley A. Bromley, and resides in the neighborhood. George has lived for twenty years in the South. The father is now in his eighty-ninth year.
Chester W. Barnes was reared to farm life, living with his grandparents until fifteen years old. When twenty-seven years old he mar- ried Emily Dean Le Noir, the widow ot Henry Le Noir, and a daughter of Nathan and Emily Hovey Dean, the ceremony taking
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place December 15, 1868. They have had six children, as follows : Harriet, who died at the age of five years; Charles, born February 7, 1873, who assists his father in his grocery business; Frank, who died in infancy ; Eleanor Bell, who is a graduate of the Nor- wich Broadway School; Philo, a youth of six- teen, who is also in his father's store; and Minnie, a bright girl of twelve years.
Mr. Barnes is a Mason of the thirty-second degree, and he has taken all the degrees in the I. O. O. F. He is a Democrat, as all his forefathers have been. He has served as Con- stable, was First Selectman and Town Treas- urer for one year each, and was re-elected to the latter office, but resigned. He has been a grand juror, and was a Representative in the State legislature in 1882, and in 1883 and 1884 was State Senator. Mr. Barnes has been a very successful business man. He has been in the grocery business for thirty-one years in his own name; and he is a large dealer in fish, including oysters and clams. He has his own fishing-smacks and seines, and supplies all the local trade.
LMARIN T. HALE, the genial and popular landlord of the Crocker House, New London, is a native of Norwich, Conn. Born September 1, 1853, he is a son of Almarin R. Hale, who was a native of Glastonbury, Conn., born in the year 1822. The mother, who was a native of Nor- wich, had four sons, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest. The others are: Henry, William, and Wallace, all residing at Watch Hill, R. I. The father owned the Watch Hill House, a favorite summer resort since 1872, and enlarged it three times. Since his death in May, 1894, his widow and the three younger sons have had charge of it.
Almarin T. Hale spent his boyhood in Nor- wich and Bridgeport. He was educated in the town schools and at a boarding-school. Since he was twenty-five years of age he has been interested in a number of hostelries, in- cluding the Union House of Green Cove Springs, Fla., the Florida House of St. Au- gustine, and the Sanford House of Sanford, Fla. For many years he was the managing clerk of the Watch Hill House for his father. In 1881 he and his father came to New Lon- don, and purchased the Crocker House, which they conducted together until 1890, when the elder Mr. Hale retired. Of this hostelry a local sheet speaks as follows: "The largest and best hotel in the city, and one of the best in the State of Connecticut, is the es- tablishment known as the Crocker House, of which Mr. A. T. Hale is proprietor. The building is a handsome structure, five stories in height. It is constructed in a thoroughly modern manner, and is as complete in all its appointments as the requirements of the hotel-frequenting public at the present day demand. The Crocker House is most eligibly situated on State Street, the principal busi- ness street of the city, at a convenient dis- tance from the railroad depot and within easy reach of all points of interest to visitors, whether on business or pleasure bent. It is only three minutes' distance from the Union Railroad Station: and electric cars, which provide excellent street transportation service, pass the doors every few minutes. The city post-office is on the ground floor in the hotel building, affording advantages which will readily suggest themselves. The office of the hotel, the bar, and billiard, writing, and smok- ing rooms are also on the ground floor; while the dining-room and parlors are on the second floor. All the public and private rooms are tastefully furnished, and an air of elegance
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and comfort pervades the entire establishment. . .. The establishment has grown steadily in public favor, and it may safely be said that there is no hotel anywhere that possesses a more cheerful or home-like atmosphere. It is the headquarters of the college crews and their admirers during the race season each summer, and is a favorite resort for commercial trav- ellers and business men all the year round." Mr. Hale is also the manager for the owners of the Munnatauket and Mansion Hotels at Fisher's Island and of the Mitchell House of Thomasville, Ga.
In 1877 Almarin T. Hale married Hattie A. Wallace, of Bridgeport, Conn., a daughter of A. W. Wallace, of that place. Their only child, a son, died in infancy. In politics Mr. Hale is a Democrat, and has served as chair- man of the Democratic Town Committee. In March, 1894, President Cleveland appointed him Collector of Customs for the New Lon- don port, with jurisdiction extending from Noank to the Connecticut River. He is a Master Mason. In the Odd Fellows he is a member of the encampment. He is connected with the Improved Order of Red Men and a member of the Great Council of the State. For two seasons he was manager of the Ly- ceum Theatre without pay, and he has also been the president of the Thames Club. Ren- dered eligible in more than one line, on his mother's side through Lieutenant Thomas Tracy, who was one of the original proprietors and settlers of Norwich, he is a member of the Sons of the Revolution.
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