USA > Connecticut > New London County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of New London County, Connecticut > Part 8
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On December 25, 1882, Mr. Caulkins mar- ried Miss Ida J. Champion, daughter of Cal-
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NATHANIEL O. HARRIS.
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vin B. and Anna. R. (Slate) Champion. Mrs. Caulkins is the tenth in order of birth of a family of fifteen children, all of whom at- tained maturity except two sons, Frederick and Israel, who died in childhood. Three daughters and a son have since passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Caulkins have an adopted son, Clarence Edgar Caulkins, a young man of six- teen years of age, and the youngest graduate of the Morgan School of Clinton, Conn., grad- uating at the age of fourteen. He is now clerk for his foster-father. He is the son of Mrs. Caulkins's sister Mary, who married Curtis Lamb, and died of consumption when her son was a lad of nine years. In 1894 Mr. Caulkins built his present commodious resi- dence, where the family have a pleasant home.
R. NATHANIEL OTIS HARRIS, manager of an invalid home at 19 North Main Street, New London, was born in Salem, this county, on May 2, IS23. His parents were Samuel and Anna (Otis) Harris.
The earliest known paternal ancestor, James, represented the fifth generation of his family in Weymouth, England. He came to America, and in 1690 removed from Boston, Mass., to New London, bringing his three sons - James, Asa, and Ephraim. The eldest son, familiarly known as Lieutenant James, was born in Boston, Mass., in 1673. He was very friendly with the Indians, especially with Owaneco, the Mohegan chief. From him he purchased valuable tracts of land on the Thames River, from New London to Norwich and Colchester, Conn. His first wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Rogers, died; and he subsequently married her widowed sister. He died at the age of eighty-four years, leaving nine children.
His son, Jonathan Harris, was born June 15, 1705. He married Rachel Otis, daughter of Judge Joseph Otis, a man of wealth and distinction and an extensive landholder, and his wife, Dorothy Thomas, who was a native of Scituate, Mass. Jonathan and Rachel Harris had thirteen children. Their son Nathaniel, born April 2, 1743, who was the grandfather of the subject of this biography, served as Captain in the Revolution. He mar- ried Mary Tozer, of Colchester, Conn., on February 1, 1764; and this union also was blessed by thirteen children.
Samuel, son of Nathaniel and Mary (Tozer) Harris, born December 10, 1780, became a farmer in East Haddam, Conn., where he lived for a quarter of a century. On Septem- ber 29, 1805, he was married to Anna Otis, daughter of Deacon Nathaniel Otis and grand- daughter of Hon. Joseph Otis. They had six children -- Rachel A., Samuel Selden, Har- riet Salome, Lydia Maria, Nathaniel O., and Elizabeth. Rachel A. married Aaron T. Niles. She died in East Haddam, May 21, IS43, at the age of thirty-seven years, leaving three children. Samuel Selden, a farmer, who was born March S, 1809, married Mercy A. Baker in 1836, and died in 1882, at Mont- ville, Conn. Harriet S., born August 3, 1812, died December 19, 1838. Lydia M., wife of James E. Swan, died in East Haddam, Conn., October 3, 1863, at the age of forty- eight years. Elizabeth C. married Ephraim Martin, a farmer of East Haddam. The father was the first Methodist in East Haddam, where he was a zealous church member. He died in that town in 1857, in the seventy- seventh year of his age. Ilis wife lived until 1862, dying at the age of seventy-three.
Nathaniel O. Harris obtained his element- ary education in the common school, remain- ing on the farm until he was eighteen years of
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age. He then attended Colchester Academy one year, subsequently taking a course of study in West Poultney, Vt., for two years. He was graduated from the New York Medical College in 1854. He gained practical experi- ence in his profession by studying with Dr. J. T. Evans, a pioneer of homoeopathy in New York City, for whom he worked perseveringly at a time when their remedies were prepared by hand. For some years he was engaged in teaching, during which time he also gave hy- dropathic treatments, gradually working into medical practice altogether. From 1854 to 1857 he lived in New London. He then settled in East Haddam, where he remained until 1884, when he returned to New London, buying his present residence and Home for Invalids. In politics he votes independently. Fraternally, he is a member of Columbia Lodge, No. 25, F. & A. M., East Haddam, and is also a Scarlet Member of Middlesex Lodge, No. 3, I. O. O. F., of East Haddam.
Doctor Harris has been three times married. His first wife, to whom he was married on November 14, 1855, was Juliette Mascn, a native of this city. She had twelve children, ten of whom reached maturity, and nine are now living, namely : Pauline Goddard, of New · York City; Ulrica Eleonora, wife of Willian IV. Gates in East Haddam; John Mason, a resident of New London; Juliette A., wife of Dr. E. E. Williams, the successor of his father-in-law, Dr. Harris, in East Haddam; Nathaniel Otis, Jr., a veterinary surgeon of Hartford, Conn. ; Florence Celestia, a trained nurse in New York City, who has won fame in the treatment of contagious diseases; Mary Christina, who married W. Von Haff, of New York City; Victor Emanuel, who is with an electric company in Hartford; and Jennie June Harris, who has been for five years the efficient post-mistress at Moodus, Conn.
Another daughter, Harriet Halsey Harris, died in East Haddam, January 13, 1887, at the age of twenty-four years. Dr. Harris lost his first wife on July 31, 1875, at the age of forty-four. He married his second wife, Miss Sarah E. Johnson, January 8, 1877. She died on April 30, 1894, leaving one daughter, Anna Otis, born July 12, 1883. On Septem- ber 12, 1895, Dr. Harris married his third wife, whose maiden name was Helen J. Trimm. Her parents were George E. and Mary E. (McArthur) Trimm, her father being a native of Spain, and her mother a native of Scotland. Mrs. Harris was instructed in the profession of nursing by her grandmother, Mrs. Jean McArthur, who was a trained nurse of Glas- gow, Scotland. Mrs. Jean McArthur was the mother of fifteen children, and during the course of her life she was nurse to over eigh- teen hundred. She died in April, 1895, at the age of seventy-eight, leaving four daughters, two of whom are trained nurses. By Dr. Harris's last matrimonial alliance there is one little son - Otis George, born June 11, 1896.
Among the Doctor's kin have been some remarkable instances of longevity. His grandfather Otis lived to be over ninety, and his grandmother Harris to be one hundred years old; while his Aunt Hannah, wife of Jared S. Smith, of New London, lived to be over one hundred and eight years old.
ORACE F. YORK, a farmer of North Stonington, was born in this neighborhood, November 14, 1829. His great-grandparents, Thomas and Deborah (Brown) York, were married November 10, 1737. His grandfather, Jesse York, born Au- gust 1, 1740, son of Thomas York, was a farmer of the same place, in good circum- stances, and served his country in the Revolu-
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tionary War. Jesse married Anna Breed on January 7, 1762. He died December 13, 1808, and his wife on April 28, 1818. They had a family of four sons and three daughters, none of whom are living.
The father of the present Mr. York was Nathan, born in Stonington, September 8, 1771. He married a Martha Breed, who was born August 19, 1791. They had fifteen chil- dren, of whom four sons and two daughters grew to maturity, and Horace F. and William O. are the only survivors. The place, com- prising about one hundred and fifty acres, had been divided between these. The father's death occurred January 5, 1854, and the mother's on March 9, 1873. She was a de- vout Baptist and a noble mother. Both rest in the family burial-ground on the farm.
Horace F. York was reared to farming, re- ceiving his education in the common schools. At the age of seventeen he engaged in teach- ing, and he subsequently taught for eight winter terms. All his life has been passed on the old farm where his father and grand- father lived and died; and he has occupied his present house since he erected it, together with the substantial barn and outbuildings, forty years ago. A member of the Baptist church for the past fifty years, he has been Deacon and clerk of the society for several years and the superintendent of the Sabbath- school for over twenty years. He was mar- ried December 1, 1850, to Deborah, daughter of John and Matilda (Brown) Main, of North Stonington. She had four brothers and three sisters. Her mother died September 1, 1844, aged fifty-four, and her father on June 3, 1854. Of her sisters, Mrs. Hannah E. Clark, a widow, living in this town, is the only sur- vivor. Mrs. York died July 5, 1896, aged seventy-one years. Her children are: Anna D., the wife of William H. Latham, of Hope,
R. I., and the mother of two daughters - Ethel and Mabel; Mary M., who is the wife of the Rev. Archibald McCord, a Congregational minister at Keene, N. H., and has two chil- dren - Beatrice and Horace M. ; and Horace F. York, Jr., a farmer at Tenafly, N.J., who has a son, Ernest W. York. Mr. York gave his children a liberal higher education, and all have at some time been engaged in the pro- fession of teaching.
ALTER FITZMAURICE, the pro- prietor of the Morning Telegraph, a popular daily paper published in New London, is a native of Providence, R. I., born in 1851. When but six months old, his parents, Michael and Mary Fitzmaurice, brought him to New London. In 1864, being then thirteen years old, he entered the employ of D. S. Ruddock, of the New London Star, with whom he began as a printer's devil. Beginning in 1868, thanks to the kindness of the Hon. Henry P. Horn, he was able to con- tinue his education for four years in the first evening school of Connecticut. From the position of devil he rose in regular grada- tion to that of the proprietor of the Morning Telegraph. The Telegraph, which has eight pages of seven columns each, and was started July 15, 1885, has become the largest news- paper in New London County, with a circu- lation of upward of five thousand.
Mr. Fitzmaurice is a Democrat and an ardent advocate of the principles of that party. During the State legislative sessions of 1891 and 1893 he served as a Representative. A prominent temperance worker, he was for two years president of the Catholic Total Absti- nence Society of Connecticut, and represented the State at many national conventions. Ile is serving his seventh year as secretary of the
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New London Board of Trade, and is a trustee of the Mariners' Savings Bank.
In 1873, at the age of twenty-two, Mr. Fitz- maurice was married to Miss Elizabeth Hogue. Six children, two sons and four daughters, live to bless their union. These are: Walter, a graduate of the Bulkeley School, now employed in the Telegraph office; Teresa, who is attending school; Frank; Bessie; Ruth; and Mary. Mary, the young- est child, is three years old. The family re- side at 563 Burk Street, which has been their home since 1891.
EZEKIAH UFFORD WILLIAMS was born August 10, 1822, on the old "Cider Hill " farm in Ledyard, Conn., and died June 21, 1891, at the home of his later years in New London, now occu- pied by his daughters, the Misses Antoi- nette A. and Jenny E. Williams. His father was Warren Williams, son of Seth and Abi- gail Williams, the grandmother Abigail being a descendant in the sixth generation of Robert Williams, who settled in Roxbury, Mass., in 1637; while the grandfather, Seth Williams, was fourth in descent from William Williams, one of the carly settlers of Ledyard, the line being William,' Henry,2 Henry, 3 Seth. 4 Warren Williams, son of Seth, married on January 12, 1815, Elizabeth Stanton Gallup. She was descended on the maternal side from Thomas Stanton, who was Governor Win- throp's interpreter in his dealings with the Indians and a man of much influence in those early days, and on the paternal side from the famous old Indian fighter, John Gallup, so that Mr. Williams could claim many brave ancestors. Ilis great-grandfather, Phineas Stanton, served in the campaigns of Cape Breton and Crown Point; and Colonel Nathan
Gallup, another great-grandfather, was a dis- tinguished officer in the Revolutionary War. Enoch and Daniel Stanton and Lieutenant Henry Williams, who fell at the massacre at Fort Griswold, September 6, 1781, were his great-uncies.
Hezekiah U. Williams was one of a family of ten children. When he was quite a young boy his parents moved to Salem, Conn., where his father kept the tavern and store. Here he was educated, helping his father in the store as he grew older. Later he went out to De- troit, Mich., entering the employ of his uncle, Gurdon Williams, who, having gone to Michi- gan in the early days, had become wealthy through large mining and railroad interests. His uncle gave him a position as conductor on one of the trains running out of Detroit, a position attended with much more danger than at present, as the old strap rails were then in use. Afterward he went into the office at Pontiac, Mich., where, with his partner, Mr. Charles B. Petrie, he had charge of his uncle's large shipping business. It was customary for one of the partners to sleep in a room ad- joining the office; and on the night of Mr. Petrie's marriage a man (supposed to be a discharged employee) thought this would be a good opportunity to rob the safe, as, of course, Mr. Williams would attend the wedding. But here he was greatly mistaken, for Mr. Will- iams, being prevented from going by extra business, was quickly awakened and ready to rush out on the would-be burglar, though, his revolver being unloaded, he had nothing better to defend himself with than a wood cleaver left that day by a carpenter. This, however, proved sufficient; for the burglar was so greatly surprised at finding any one there that he hurriedly fled.
Mr. Williams, contracting malarial fever in its worst form, was compelled to give up and
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return East in the hope of regaining his health. He very slowly recovered, and was married in Salem, Conn., by the Rev. Charles Thompson, to Celina Anna King Niles. She was a daughter of Horatio Nelson Niles, of Groton, Conn., who was descended from the Allyns, Averys, and Stantons, of this State, his mother being Anna Allyn, his grand- mother Anna Avery, and his great-grand- mother Anna Stanton.
When a young man Mr. Niles went out with his brother Edwin to what was then known as New Connecticut, afterward called the Western Reserve, taking up land in Port- age County, near the present city of Akron, Ohio. There he married Celina King, daugh- ter of Joshua King, who had left his home in the State of New York, and was among the first to settle in "Old Portage." She died July 11, 1826, soon after the birth of their little daughter; and, his brother dying of consumption, May 21, 1826, Mr. Niles, stricken with the same disease, hastened to return to the old family home, near Centre Groton. It must, indeed, have been a tedious journey in those days, and especially so to this half-sick man, with a little baby of only six months to care for. Nevertheless, Groton was at last safely reached; and here Mrs. Anna Warner Bailey ("Mother Bailey ") kindly helped him, and loaned him a pillow, so that he could more easily carry the baby, for the rest of the journey was accomplished on horse-back. He did not long survive, dying March 7, 1827, leaving his child to the kind care of his father and mother. When her grandparents moved to Salem in 1840, she, of course, went too, and thus was enabled to attend the famous old school at Music Vale, where she must have been a favorite pupil of Mr. Whittlesey's; for her children treasure several pieces of music dedicated to her, as
well as sundty notes in Mr. Whittlesey's quaint and original hand.
Mr. and Mrs. Williams went West on their wedding trip, visiting in Ohio and Michigan, intending to settle in Detroit; but, as she took a great dislike to the West, he was obliged to give up that plan, and so came East again, purchasing a farm near the village of Mystic, Conn., now the site of Mystic's beautiful cemetery. They lived there for several years, and then removed to Groton village, where Mr. Williams entered the em- ploy of his uncle, Erastus Gallup. He next purchased a farm in Waterford, on the Nor- wich turnpike, about two and one-half miles from New London. At that place three of their children were born, a son and two daughters. Their eldest daughter, Celina Camilla, was born February 4, 1852, on the farm near Mystic village. The second, Flor- ence King, was born in Groton, Conn., Feb- ruary LI, 1854. Mr. Williams became a very successful farmer, took much interest in the affairs of the town, and held many offices of trust. The death of their only son, Paul Frederic, a most promising boy, in his fifth year, was a great blow to both parents. He was born in Waterford, August 8, 1859, and died there, June 7, 1864. This loss was fol- lowed seven years later, May 17, 1872, by the death of the eldest daughter, and on April 26, 1873, by the death of Mrs. Williams. Thus bereft, Mr. Williams determined to give up his farm, and move into New London. He first located on Huntington Street; and while living there his second daughter died on December 23, 1880. Finally, he purchased the Churchill property (now the family home) in East New London, where he died June 21, 1891.
Mr. Williams was a Congregationalist, both he and his wife joining the First Church of
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Christ in New London soon after their re- moval to Waterford. He was a man of ster- ling integrity, whose advice was frequently sought in legal matters; for he had that ready grasp and comprehension of the law which characterized his brother, the late Judge Will- iams, of Pittsburg, Pa.
EORGE ROBERT HARRIS, M.D., a prominent physician and surgeon of Norwich, is a native of Preston, Conn. He was born December 20, 1864, son of George A. and Catherine Amelia (Dewey) Harris. Robert Harris, the father of George A., who was a native of Bozrah, this county, was a cabinet-maker, painter, and decorator, and worked in Norwich for N. S. Gilbert. He married Betsey Brewster, a daughter of Benjamin Brewster and a direct descendant of William Brewster, who came here in the "Mayflower." Grandfather Harris died in 1864 or 1865, when about forty-seven, and his widow in 1895, when about seventy-seven years of age. They were the parents of three sons and one daughter.
George A. Harris, born in 1839, has been employed on the Norwich & Worcester Rail- road, beginning at the bottom and working his way up through the different positions, in- cluding that of conductor, station agent at Norwich, and division freight agent for many years. In September, 1893, he was obliged to resign on account of illness. After a sick- ness lasting four years, he died August 22, 1897. His wife has borne him five children - Elijah D., George R., Hattie Augusta, Jennie Louisa, and Effie Louella -all of whom are living in Preston.
George Robert Harris spent his boyhood on a farm, and for a time drove a milk cart for his uncle. He obtained his preparatory edu-
cation in the district school and at the Nor- wich Free Academy. Then he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, from which he was graduated in 1885. After that he spent considerable time in different hospitals, first in the New York and Roosevelt Hospitals. Later he was house surgeon to the Charity Hospital for eighteen months, and, following that, to the Chamber Street Hospital for fifteen months. In April, 1889, Dr. Harris joined his uncle, Orris F. Harris, M.D., who has been in prac- tice here for thirty years. This uncle was a medical cadet during the Civil War, and was on duty at the Alexandria Hospital.
In politics Dr. Harris is a Republican. He is a member of the city, county, and State medical societies. He is a Mason of the Mystic Shrine; the Master of St. James Lodge, No. 23, F. & A. M .; and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Of an agreeable personality and skilled in his profession, no doubt can be entertained that a successful future lies before him. On No- vember 27, 1896, he was joined in matri- mony with Miss Jessie L. Hegarty, daughter of Cornelius and Nettie (Morse) Hegarty, of West Wareham, Mass. His first child, a son named . George A., was born November 27. 1 897.
RA F. LEWIS, the proprietor of the only hotel at Jewett City, was born in the town of Plainfield, this State, on May 20, 1845, son of Caleb and Patience (Johnson) Lewis. The family settled origi- nally in Rhode Island, where it has been prominent and influential. Its first represent- atives in America were two brothers, who came in the seventeenth century from Wales. One of these, John, was the direct ancestor of Mr. Lewis. Grandfather and great-grand-
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father Lewis were each named John. The former, who, born in Coventry, R.I., about 1788, died in 1813, became a man of influ- ence and prominence, and was sent to the Rhode Island State legislature. His wife, who was a Miss Jordan before marriage, sur- vived him for a number of years, and con- tracted a second marriage, by which she be- came the mother of three children. She lived to a good old age, and was buried in the cem- etery at Coventry, which was also the burial- place of her first husband.
Caleb Lewis, the only son of Grandfather Lewis, was born in Coventry, August 22, 1809, and his death occurred on September 12, 1886. He was reared by his grandfather. His wife, Patience, born in Coventry on Au- gust 26, 1819, was the youngest child of George Johnson, who died in 1823, leaving his widow with three sons and four daughters. She is still living with a daughter in Nor- wich, active in mind and body. Mr. Lewis's parents, who were married in Coventry in 1837, came to Connecticut in 1843, settling on their farm in Plainfield, Windham County, where they lived for five years. They subse- quently resided in Sterling for three years. In 1853 they came to Jewett City, where the husband was employed by J. & W. Slater for some nine years, and later was a farmer and teamster. Their six sons and three daughters grew to maturity, and had families. Of these Ira F. was the fourth-born. The eldest child, Mary J., married Stephen A. Green. After Mr. Green died of fever, she married Edwin 1 .. Ingraham. She died in October, 1872, aged thirty-six years, leaving two children. Henry W. and Rhodes K. Lewis, twins, are married and have children. James E. and Emma M. were also twins. James is living in Worcester, and Emma is the wife of Charles Olin, of this place. Edgar L. Lewis,
who was accidentally killed in Boston in Au- gust, 1892, was survived by seven of his eight children. Ida A. is now Mrs. Alfred Barrett, of Norwich, and Charles L. Lewis is in Sterling.
When eight years of age Ira F. Lewis en- tered the Slater mill. After working there until 1861, he lived at home, and drove a team for his father. At the age of twenty- one he started a store in company with his father for the sale of confectionery and fruit. In 1868 he embarked in the hotel enterprise, beginning business on his present site, his father buying the stand. The old house in which he started, and which was burned in 1878, was replaced by a much more commodi- ous one. Within the last two years this building has been enlarged and beautified. It is now ninety-three by fifty feet, four stories high, and contains forty-one guest rooms, fur- nished in a manner fitted to secure the great- est comfort and convenience of the guests. There are modern improvements throughout the house. The dining-room and parlors would do credit to a much larger hotel. The only hotel in Jewett City, it is well patronized in the summer by people who find it a de- lightful place in which to spend the heated season.
On May 13, 1869, Landlord Lewis was married to Lydia A., daughter of James and Mary (Clark) Sweet, of jewett City. Mr. and Mrs. Sweet are both deceased. Their only son, William E. Sweet, went to the Civil War in 1861 with the Twelfth Regi- ment, and was killed at the battle of Port Hudson. Besides Mrs. Lewis, there are two other daughters living, namely: Sarah, now Mrs. James M. Young, of Warren, R. I .; and Mary F., now Mrs. William II. Baker, also of Warren. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have lost an infant son, William F. They have a daugh-
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ter, Sadie F., who is fifteen years of age. Mr. Lewis is a Past Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a Democrat. He has served the town in va- rious local offices, and was its Representative to the legislature in 1896. He was Captain of Company HI of the Third Regiment, suc- ceeding Dr. Soule. Mrs. Lewis and daughter attend the Congregational church.
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