USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Litchfield County, Connecticut > Part 32
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Augustus Bradley, Mrs. Weeks's father, was born in Litchfield, and passed his earlier years in that town. In 1859 he purchased a farm in Chenango County, New York, upon which he spent the rest of his life. He died at the age of seventy-eight. He married Julia Clemons, only daughter of Harvey Clemons, of Litchfield. Her father was an carly settler in Bantam, and lived to be nearly eighty-two years old. Mrs. Augustus Bradley died at seventy-eight years of age. She was
the mother of five children, as follows: Helen, who married Thomas Dickinson; Maria T., who is now Mrs. Weeks; Anna, who married Lewis C. Hotchkiss, a prosperous farmer of Litchfield; Henry A .: and Julia A., who married Nelson Bennett. Mrs. Weeks's par- ents were members of the Universalist church.
Mr. and Mrs. Weeks are communicants of the Episcopal church, of which he is the Senior Warden. They occupy a most desir- able residence, situated upon an elevation overlooking the village, which he erected in 1891. The excellent portrait of Mr. Weeks accompanying this sketch of his career is sure to be widely recognized and appreciated, as he is, without doubt, one of the best-known life insurance agents in Connecticut.
HESTER THOMAS, the veteran car- riage trimmer of Bantam, Conn., was born in Woodbridge, New Haven County, April 18, 1819, son of Perley and Elmira (Addiss) Thomas. His father was a native of Woodbridge, and was there brought up on a farm. Later he moved to Litchfield, where he purchased a small piece of property, and followed the trade of a shoemaker until his death, which occurred when he was thirty- eight years of age. His wife. Elmira Addiss. one of the thirteen children of Thomas Addiss, a prosperous farmer of Litchfield. died at the age of fifty-eight years. She was the mother of four sons, who all grew to min- hood and became identified with the carriage- maker's trade, and of whom Chester, the sub- ject of this sketch, is the only survivor.
Chester Thomas resided with his mother until reaching the age of thirteen, when he went to Hartford to work on a farm. At siv- teen he began to learn the carriage trimmer's trade, and in 1844t he came to Litchfield. He
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was employed as a journeyman by William Rogers for nineteen years, during which time he purchased a residence on Lake Street; and for the succeeding thirteen years he worked for a carriage company in Torrington. Re- turning to Litchfield, he bought some stock in the Litchfield Carriage Company, whose fac- tory was located in Bantam; and, selling his Litchfield residence, he erected his present comfortable home, which is one of the finest houses in the village of Bantam. When the firm of Flynn & Doyle established their pres- ent business, Mr. Thomas was secured for the trimming department; and he has since re- mained with them. He has been a practical carriage trimmer for sixty years, and is with- out doubt the oldest representative of that trade in the State. Mr. Thomas is a Repub- lican in politics. He is a Master Mason, and has been a member of the Lodge in Litchfield for many years.
Mr. Thomas has been twice married. His first wife, whom he wedded in 1841, was Jane Waters, daughter of Chauncey Waters, a carpenter and farmer of Hartford, Conn., and by this union there were three children, namely: Charles, who became a soldier in the Civil War, and died soon after leav- ing Libby Prison; Mary, who died aged thirty years; and Edward, who still survives. Edward Thomas enlisted as a private in the Nineteenth Connecticut Regiment, and served until the close of the war. He is now connected with a boot and shoe establish- ment in Newark, N.J., where he has resided for the past thirty years. He married for his first wife Annie Churchill, and had by this union one daughter, Cora, who married Charles Garribrane. His first wife died at the age of twenty-seven; and he married a second wife, by whom he has five children.
Mr. Chester Thomas's first wife having died,
he wedded for his second wife Catherine Smith, a native of Ireland, daughter of Sir Frank and Lady Rosa (Fox) Smith. Sir Frank Smith died at the age of thirty-five years, leaving five children, three of whom are still living: Catherine, Christopher, and Isa- bella. After the death of her husband, Lady Smith came to the United States, where she resided for a few years, and then returned to- Ireland. She died at the age of seventy- seven years. In religion she was an Episco- palian. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have two chil- dren, namely: Edith, who married Charles Flynn, of Litchfield, and has one daughter, Maude; and William Chester, who married Mary Gladding, and has two children, Cath- erine and Kenneth. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas attend the Episcopal church.
RI CHURCH, for many years a promi- nent agriculturist of Winchester and one of the representative citizens of the town, being the son of John Church, a pioneer of the locality, was born on August 4, 1792.
John Church was born in Connecticut, the historical town of Saybrook being the native place of both himself and his father, Simeon Church, the latter being a lifelong resident. John with two older brothers served three years in the Revolutionary army, being under Arnold at Quebec and later at Saratoga. In 1780 the marriage of John Church and Deb- orah Spencer was solemnized in the town of Chester, then included in the limits of Say- brook, that having been the place of nativity of the bride. The young couple, who had previously decided on building up for them- selves a home in more newly settled regions, started on horseback for Winchester, a jour- ney of sixty miles, taking nearly two days to
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perform. A few years later the wife made her first visit to her old home in Chester, going and returning as she first came, on horseback, carrying a baby the whole distance in her arms.
John Church on reaching Winchester soon purchased a tract of uncleared land, which ex- tended for a considerable distance around the shore of Crystal Lake, and which included the land on the north shore, where now the water coming through the Gilbert Tunnel flows into the lake. On a slope of land on the east side, in full view of the lake and about eighty rods distant from it, a log house was built ; and here house-keeping was com- menced, this being the first home of the Church family in Winchester. They lived in the log house for eight years. In the mean time another tract of wooded land a half mile further north was purchased; and on this was erected a frame house, which overlooked the Mad River valley. In the spring of 1788 the family moved into the new house, which ยท is still standing, with quite an enlargement subsequently added to the first, the entire building being a real type of primitive archi- tecture. Like all uncultivated lands, this large tract needed much labor to bring it under cultivation; and the young farmer, anxious to succeed, set himself at once to work felling trees, clearing away timber, brush, and stumps, ploughing and planting, setting out fruit trees, and with his characteristic energy and perseverance making other needed improvements. Meadows, too, must be brought into grass for winter's hay; and, needing grass sced to sow, he went into New York State to buy. Seed was brought home and sowed, he not knowing that with the grass seed were mixed a few seeds of the ox-eye daisy, so that, when the grass began to grow, to the farmer's great surprise and dismay there also appeared
here and there a daisy plant; and from this seed-sowing has been dated by the older in- habitants the first introduction of daisies into the town of Winchester. But, if true, Mr. Church did his best to eradicate and prevent a further spreading over the land; for he had such a dislike to the weed that liis boys used to say that, if their father spied a daisy plant in any meadow, he sent one of them at once to dig up and destroy it, saying, "No grass can ever grow with daisies." But the whitened fields in June of to-day, a hundred years later, show that a few plants must have escaped his notice and been left to ripen, their seeding from year to year producing fully its hundredfold. Mr. John Church cleared a large farm, and continued to till the soil until the time of his decease. December 6, 1834, being among the most successful farmers of this part of the county. He and his wife enjoyed more than a half-century of wedded life on earth, and in going hence were not long separated, her death occurring but thirty-six hours before his own. Their bodies were laid to rest in the same grave. They reared a family of eight children; namely, Hannah, Eunice, Jonathan, Isaac, David, Uri, Lucy, and Wealthy.
Uri Church was a young man of fine mental ability. He was given excellent educational advantages, and began his career as a teacher in the district schools of New York State. On his return to Winchester Mr. Church bought a farm on the east side of Mad River. and lived there for a short time. He subse- quently disposed of that property, and pur- chasing land on the west side of the river, about a mile and a half above Winsted. erected substantial france buildings, which oc- cupy a beautiful site, overlooking the Mad River valley. On this farmi he engaged in general agriculture, adding from year to year
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to the improvement of the estate, making it his permanent abiding-place until called from earth on August 12, 1856. He was a man of excellent business tact and good judgment, possessing sterling virtues that rendered him a valued citizen, a desirable neighbor, and one of the best of friends. He was united in mar- riage December 18, 1822, with Miss Eliza Brooks, a native of Chester, a daughter of Simeon and Lois (Church) Brooks. Mrs. Church passed to the higher life June 17, 1860, Icaving the only child of their union, Amanda E. Church, who has succeeded to the ownership of the valuable estate, now called the Mountain Home Farm. Hcre she resides, surrounded by all the comforts of life, taking much pleasure in her library of choice books and the companionship of congenial friends.
EORGE W. ANTHONY, the pro- prietor of a successful laundry in New Milford, was born in Newtown, Conn., October 9, 1837, son of John H. and Alice A. (Walker) Anthony. William An- thony, the grandfather of George W., who was born in Providence, R.I., was for many years successfully engaged in the manufacture of hats, making a specialty of silk hats. At his death, which occurred in Providence, he left two sons and three daughters; namely, Henry E., Mary, Abbie, Amanda, and John H.
John H. Anthony, the youngest son of his parents, was born in Providence, R.I. Hav- ing learned early in life to make horn combs, he availed of the first opportunity to start for himself in that industry in Sandy Hook, Conn. Afterward he worked for a number of years as a journeyman. In 1862 hc enlisted for service in the civil strife with Company E of the Fifteenth Connecticut Volunteers, and
served until honorably discharged on account of ill health. He died in New Milford, seventy-six years of age. His wife, Alice A. (Walker) Anthony, who was born in Plain- field, Conn., bore him the following children; George Walker; Joseph Henry, who died in childhood; Helen J., the wife of G. H. Lines; John Henry, Jr., who enlisted in 1864 in Company G of Engineer Corps, First Regiment of New York Volunteers; and William A., residing in Worcester, Mass.
When but twelve years old, George W. An- thony left home to live with James Fitts, a manufacturer of woollen cloth and satinets. He remained with Mr. Fitts for four years, during which time he attended the winter school. He then obtained a position as clerk in a hotel at Brookfield, Conn., where he was employed for eight years. Following that he conducted a hotel, and later on took a posi- tion as station agent and telegraph operator, which he retained for five years. In 1868 he came to New Milford, and entered into part- nership with A. H. McMahon. The firm of Anthony & McMahon did a thriving business in stoves, tinware, paints, oils, and agricult- ural implements for sixteen years. At the end of that space of time Mr. Anthony sold his interest to Mr. McMahon, and in company with D. E. Soule and H. Schovrerling erected a large three-story building, in which they began the manufacture of ivory buttons in 1884. Here a very successful business was carried on until July 15, 1889, when the fac- tory was destroyed by fire. Four days after Mr. Anthony was appointed Postmaster. He served in that capacity for four years, in the course of which time he fitted up the finely equipped office the town now possesses, and which is by far the best it has ever had. At the expiration of his term of office he pur- chased the old fire-engine house, put in it a
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fine Troy steam laundry equipment, and in a short time built up a large trade, not only in New Milford, but in all the surrounding towns. On August 25, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, Twenty-third Regiment, Connecticut Vol- unteer Infantry. Although he started as a private in the ranks, when it was found that he was a competent drummer, he was given an instrument, and from that time served with the musicians. On January 23, 1863, he was taken prisoner at Fort Buchanan. He was mustered out on August 31, 1863, after thir- teen months of faithful service.
In 1864 he was united in marriage with Miss Laura C. McMahon, a daughter of George and Laura C. (Hill) MeMahon. They lost one child in infancy. They have one son living, Wesley Morton, born May 29, 1868, who is associated with his father in the laundry business, and is married to Miss Jo- sephine A. Mead, a daughter of John A. and Josephine (Beardsley) Mead.
Mr. Anthony is a staneh Republican. He served two years as Deputy Sheriff, has held the offices of Assessor and Tax Collector, and has been a member of the Board of Relief. While acting as Deputy Sheriff, it fell to his lot to arrest seven horse thieves. Among these was Oliver Wood, who stole a horse in Bedford, N. Y., was arrested in Massachusetts, and brought to New Milford for trial, and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. For his services on this occasion Mr. Anthony re- ceived one hundred dollars' reward from the owner of the horses, besides his regular fees. For fifteen years he has been a Director of the New Milford Savings Bank. He is one of the sixteen charter members of the New Mil- ford Water Company, incorporated for supply- ing New Milford with wholesome water. Among the fraternal orders with which he is connected are St. Peter's Lodge, No. 21,
A. F. & A. M .; Housatonic Chapter, No. 33, Royal Arch Masons; the Knights of Honor; and Upton Post, No. 14, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is Commander. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony are influential members of St. John's Episcopal Church of New Milford. They reside on South Main Street, where he owns a fine house and barn.
ILLIAM F. ABELING, of Tor- rington, who owns and manages a large saw-mill and a cider-mill, was born in Sommerfeld, Germany, November 23. 1849, son of Julius and Augusta (Miliseh) Abeling, both natives of Germany. Julius Abeling was a manufacturer of woollen cloth in Germany in his early manhood. In 1869 he came to America, and settled in Torring- ton, obtaining employment in a woollen-mill, where he worked until advaneing age necessi- tated his retirement. He is now seventy- three years old, and is living with a daughter in Torrington. His wife was the daughter of Traugott Miliseh, a wealthy citizen of Som- merfeld, Germany, who lived in the troublous times of Napoleon Bonaparte. When the great conqueror passed through that section, he pillaged the town so thoroughly that no financial resources were left. At the time he was exiled to St. Helena, Herr Milisch, who had replenished the town's empty treasury several times during the war, had not even the means to carry on his business. When he died, in 1837, he had little to bequeath his three children. Mrs. Abeling was fatally burned by the overturning of a kerosene lamp. December 24, 1890. She and her husband were members of the German Lutheran church in the Fatherland; and, when they became residents of Torrington, they joined the Con- gregational denomination, whose teachings
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most nearly resembled those of their former church. They were the parents of eight chil- dren, five of whom are living, namely: Her- man H., who is employed in the brass foundry of the Coe Brothers, Torrington; William F., the subject of this sketch; Otto, a mining engineer in British Columbia; Charles, a wood-turner in Meriden, Conn .; and Martha, who married Jacob Fritz, an employee in the Torrington Needle Factory.
William F. Abeling received his education in Germany, and came to this country when a youth of nineteen. Familiar with the manu- facture of woollen cloth in Germany, where he worked for his father, on settling in Tor- rington he was able to take employment in the woollen-mill. After a while he went to work for the Union Hardware Company, in whose employ he remained seven years, travel- ling at intervals through the United States, studying the country and the ways of the people. His next venture was in the wood- turning business at Burlington, Conn .; but this shop burned down after eight months, whereupon he purchased the place he now owns. Situated about a mile and a quarter from the village of Torrington, it has proved a favorable site for his business. The saw- mill was first erected. The cider-mill was not built until some time after. Mr. Abeling is also an artist of fine crayon drawings. He has sketched the view of Torrington from the hillside twice with good success; and, if he lives, he will take another sketch of that town in 1900. His undertakings have turned out very successfully, and he is now one of the wealthiest men of Torrington. His resi- dence, which he erected in 1894, is the finest house on the street, and is equipped with all modern conveniences.
In 1880 Mr. Abeling was married to Rosa Beecher, of Torrington, daughter of David
Beecher, a farmer, who is now in Minnesota. Mrs. Abeling was born in Germany, but has lived in America since she was eight years of age. She was one of seven children. Her brothers and sisters are located as follows: Augusta, who married Clemence Katzele, lives in Minnesota; David is in the employ of the Union Hardware Company, and lives in Winchester, Conn .; Fred is a farmer in Win- chester, but works also with his brother for the Union Hardware Company; Emil like- wise is in the employ of that company ; Emma is with her father in Minnesota; and Julia is with her brother in Winchester. Mrs. Abeling's mother died in Minnesota in her fifty-fourth year. She was a member of the German Lutheran church. Mrs. Abeling bore her husband five children: Annie, Adele, Elsie, Theodore, and Rheinhardt.
In politics Mr. Abeling is independent, favoring the Republican party. He has been Auditor of the German Aid Society since his election to membership. He attends the Ger- man Lutheran church, of which his wife and family are members. Mr. Abeling is a well- read man, with a thorough understanding of current topics, and is highly respected in the community of which he is a member.
R ILEY IVES, a retired manufacturer and one of the oldest residents of Plymouth, was born in that town January 15, 1809, son of Truman and Eunice (Peck) Ives. Mr. Ives's grandfather, El- nathan Ives, was an early settler of Plymouth, where he owned a good farm, which he culti- vated successfully for many years. He was a sturdy, patriotic citizen, and served as a sol- dier in the Revolutionary War. He lived to the age of ninety-four years.
Truman Ives, Mr. Ives's father, was born in
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Plymouth, and resided at the homestead until he attained his majority. He then went to New York State, where he was employed in surveying for a time. Returning again to Plymouth, he purchased a farm, and thereafter was chiefly occupied in cultivating it. He was well known to his neighbors, was esteemed by them for his general intelligence and readi- ness to serve the community, and died at the age of ninety-four years. His wife, in maidenhood Eunice Peck, who was a native of Bethany, became the mother of eight children, four sons and four daughters. Of these the only survivors are : Betsey, wife of Henry D. Stanley, of Plainville; and Riley, the subject of this sketch. An elder sister died in Au- gust, 1895, aged ninety-four years The mother also lived to the age of ninety-four, dying at the homestead in Plymouth. Both parents were members of the Congregational church.
Riley Ives was educated in the common schools of Plymouth, and assisted his father in carrying on the farm. On reaching the age of twenty-one he went to Terryville, where he entered the employ of a clock manufacturer. Here by his cleverness as a mechanic he worked his way step by step until he became superintendent of some of the departments. He remained in that business for ten years, and then bought a farm, which he worked to good advantage for several years. However, he finally relinquished farming, and once more engaged in the business of mechanician, mak- ing steel springs; but later he invented and manufactured musical devices for toy purposes. The enterprise proved profitable, and he car- ried it on until his retirement.
Mr. Ives has been twice married. His first wife, whom he married in 1834, was before marriage Mary A. Judd, of Orange, Conn. She reared two children, namely : Catherine
A., who is no longer living; and Edward R., a toy and novelty manufacturer of Bridgeport. The latter married Jennie M. Blakeslee, daughter of Joel Blakeslee, of Plymouth, and has had six children, four of whom are living ; namely, Harry C., Alice I., Edward L., and Royal M. Catherine Ives married Arthur Blakeslee, and left one daughter, named Ade- line, who became the wife of Augustus J. Du Bois, of Yale College. Mr. Ives's first wife died at the age of thirty years, and he wedded for his second wife Julia S. Stoughton. She is a daughter of Andrew and Julia (Hooker) Stoughton, the former of whom was a native and a prosperous farmer of Plymouth, who died at the age of fifty-four. His wife, Julia Hooker, was a native of Bristol and a de- scendant of the old Hooker family that was prominent in the carly history of the colony. Andrew Stoughton raised a family of eight children, five of whom are living, and are as follows: Julia S., who is now Mrs. Ives; Catherine, who became Mrs. Ansel Gaylord, and is now a widow; George A., who resides in Thomaston; Ira H. ; and Justin O. The mother died in Terryville, aged eighty-six years. By his second union Mr. Ives has one son, namely : Charles A., a resident of Bridge- port, who is married and has children. Mr. Ives is a Republican in politics, but has never aspired to public office. He has been a very successful business man, and is now passing his time in ease and tranquillity at his pleasant home, having the hearty good will of his neighbors. Both he and his wife are members of the Congregational church.
ENRY C. STEVENS, of Est Canaan, superintendent of furnaces for the Barnum, Richardson Com- pany, was born in Sheffield, Mass., October
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24, 1829, son of Jonathan and Roxana (Dun- ham) Stevens. Mr. Stevens's paternal grand- father was Stephen Stevens, a lifelong resi- dent of Sheffield. His son, Jonathan, Mr. Stevens's father, was born in Sheffield, and was reared to agricultural pursuits. He pur- chased a farm adjoining the old homestead, and followed farming for a time, but relin- quished that occupation to enter mercantile business, in which he was engaged for a period of twelve years. At the expiration of that time he resumed his former ealling, and in addition operated a saw and grist mill and a thrashing machine. Jonathan Stevens died in Winsted, December 14, 1875, at the age of eighty-four years. His wife, Roxana Dun- ham, was a daughter of William Dunham, of Canaan. She became the mother of ten chil- dren, as follows: Elmira J .; Ensign D .; William S .; Ashel D .; Dennis W .; Henry C., the subject of this sketeh; Laura M .; Ed- ward C .; Roxana D .; and Herbert, who died in childhood. The mother died in Jan- uary, 1883, at the age of eighty-six years.
Henry C. Stevens was educated in the schools of his native town, and after complet- ing his studies he learned the earpenter's trade. He has followed that oeeupation the greater part of his life, and is well known as a skilful and reliable workman. He con- strueted the furnaees for the Barnum, Riehard- son Company of Canaan, also those at Miller- ton, N.Y., and Lime Roek, Conn., and for the past fifteen years has been superintendent of that department at the company's works. Mr. Stevens is the owner of a valuable pieee of farm property, consisting of one hundred and forty acres. He has been active in pub- lic affairs, having served as a member of the Board of Selectmen in 1861; and he is a member of the local agricultural society, of which he was the first master and an ineorpo-
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