USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Litchfield County, Connecticut > Part 45
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In November, 1870, he was joined in mar- riage with Miss H. Abbie Todd, daughter of Almon Todd, of Cornwall, where she was born. They have two children: Eva F. and Harold DeWolf. In politics Mr. Hotchkiss is a Republican. Among the organizations of which he is a member are: Union Lodge, No. 96, A. F. & A. M .; Granite Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Franklyn Lodge, No. 42, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and Columbian Encampment, No. 30, in which he has held the various offices of the Lodge. Hle and Mrs. Hotchkiss are communicants of Trinity Episcopal Church of Thomaston, and she is actively interested in the various socie- ties of that body.
DWIN E. CLARK, a business man of New Hartford, was born in Winchester, Conn., January 24, 1833, son of Joel and Candace (Bown) Clark. Mr. Clark's father was born in Bloomfield, Conn., and was reared to agricultural pursuits. He resided with his parents during his carlier years, but later settled upon a farm in Winchester, Conn., the cultivation of which yiekled him a comfortable income until his death, at the age of sixty-five years. Joel Clark married Can- dace Bown, daughter of Joseph Bown, of Tor- rington. Joseph Bown, who was of English birth, emigrated to America and settled upon a farm in Torrington. Here he passed the re- mainder of his lite, and died at the age of seventy-seven years, having raised a family of ten children. Mrs. Joel Clark. became the mother of thirteen children, of whom ten grew to maturity, and seven are now living, namely : Lyman, a resident of Washington, Conn. ; Marilla, widow of John Woodruff, of New Hartford; Sidney, a resident of Dakota; Tru man P., who resides in Goshen; Sahra, who is
unmarried and resides in Winsted; Edwin E., the subject of this sketch; and Amelia H., wife of Luman E. Harris. The mother died in Winchester, aged sixty-two.
Edwin E. Clark was educated in the com- mon schools and resided with his parents until he reached the age of seventeen. lle then went to Torrington, where he learned the trade of a granite cutter and resided for some years. He then worked in Plymouth for four years. after which he went to Waterbury, where he remained for a time. Ile next settled in New Hartford, and engaged in the manufacture of sugar hogsheads for the West India trade. Having continued in that business some eight years, he sold out and for the next eight years was engaged in the carriage business in the same town. He then became a travelling salesman, in which capacity he was last em- ployed by a water-wheel concern, representing it through the Southern States. In all he spent about eight years on the road. Ile finally settled upon a farm in Norfolk, Conn .. which he cultivated successfully for twelve years. He then sold his farm, and since 1802 has lived in the village of New Hartford. Mr. Clark is a Republican in politics, and has been officially connected with the Board of Relief. He was made a Mason in New Hait ford when he was twenty seven years old, and formerly held some of the offices in the Lodge. He later became a member of Western Star Lodge of Norfolk.
In 1858 Mr. Clark was united in mariage to Ruth A. Benjamin, his first wite. She was born in New Hartford, daughter of David Benjamin, a carpenter of that town, who also was engaged in agricultme. Mr Clark's first wite having died at the age of forty six, he subsequently wedded Mis. Frank Loomis, whose maiden name was Mary E. Pendleton. She is a daughter of Hobart and Emeline
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(Bailey) Pendleton. Hobart Pendleton, who was a native of Goshen, moved from that town to Norfolk, where he was a prosperous farmer for forty years, and died at the age of seventy- nine. His second wife, also born in Goshen, became the mother of three children, as fol- lows: Schuyler, who enlisted as a private in Company F, Twenty-eighth Regiment, Con- necticut Volunteers, and was killed in the Civil War at the age of twenty-four years ; George, who was a member of Company E, Second Regiment, Connecticut Heavy Artil- lery, and was also killed in the war at the age of twenty-three; and Mary E., who is now Mrs. Clark. The mother died aged sixty- eight years. Mrs. Clark's parents were mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. Clark attend the Congregational church.
ENRY O. WARNER, an extensive land-owner and tobacco dealer of New Milford, Conn., was born in this town, August 18, 1834. He is a son of Henry S. and Eliza (Hill) Warner, and grand- son of Orange and Lucy (Sanford) Warner, whose history will be found in the sketch of Stanley L. Warner on another page of this volume.
He made his first acquaintance with text- books and lessons in the district schools of New Milford, and subsequently continued his studies at Nine Partners, Dutchess County, N. Y., and the high school at New Britain, Conn. The responsibilities of life were early thrust upon him, for at the age of sixteen he was called upon to assist in the management of his father's farm; and at seventeen and eighteen he took charge of a school in the winter seasons, attending to the work of the farm in the summers. At his father's death he became proprietor of one of the farms his
father had owned, and immediately took up the culture of tobacco, devoting seven acres to the profitable weed. He was eminently suc- cessful in this branch of agriculture, and has made great improvements on the farm, erect- ing two large tobacco sheds, one one hundred and twenty by thirty-six feet, and the other ninety-six by thirty feet, and remodelling many of the old buildings, besides building a large basement barn three stories high, dimen- sions eighty by thirty-six feet. In 1869 he purchased the Dr. James Hine residence, one of the best on Main Street, which he fitted with modern conveniences, and, building a large warehouse, he engaged in buying and packing tobacco, at the same time conducting another warehouse in Hartford. While living on the farm he was extensively engaged in stock-raising, breeding full-blooded Holstein- cattle and blooded horses. He owns some of the finest trotting horses produced, in the county, more than one making a record of 2. 1512 ; and at present he has some fine stall- ions and roadsters.
November 13, 1854, Mr. Warner was mar- ried to Mary J. Briggs, daughter of Willis and Jane (Sherwood) Briggs, of Sherman, Conn. Mrs. Mary J. Warner was born September 6, 1832, and died in her twenty-third year. July 14, 1856, Mr. Warner was married to his first wife's sister, Sarah W., who was born March 15, 1838, and by this union he has three chil- dren : Fred H., born September 21, 1861, who lives on his father's farm, attending to the stock-raising and tobacco growing, married Minerva L. Irwin, and has two children - Harry B. and Josephine; Mary J., born Feb- ruary 20, 1868, who married C. F. Shoveling, and has two children - Caroline W. and Matilda D. ; and Charles B., born May I, 1866, with the firm of Joseph Meyer & Son, tobacco dealers in New York City.
SAMUEL F. CLARK.
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Mr. Warner votes the Republican ticket. Though very public-spirited, he has never sought office, but was County Commissioner in 1892-93, and has served in various minor offi- cial capacities in the town. He is a member of St. Peter's Lodge, No. 21, A. F. & A. M., which he has served as Master six years, be- longs to the Chapter of New Milford, and is now serving his second term as Most Worship- ful Grand Master of State.
Mr. Warner is one of the most successful business men of the county, and is a citizen of whom New Milford may well be proud.
ILLIAM S. WITHERELL, a sub- stantial and highly respected citi- zen of Thomaston, Conn., employed as foreman in the rolling-mill of the Plume & Atwood Company at this place, was born in Northampton, Mass., on April 27, 1830.
Mr. Withrerell's father, Erastus Witherell, son of John Witherell, was a native of Chesterfield, Mass., and there spent his early years on his father's farm; but, when he had grown to manhood, he removed to Long Island, and worked at the trade of a stone mason. He afterward returned to Massachu- setts, and settled on a farm in the town of Northampton, where he followed the vocation of an agriculturist throughout the remainder of his active life. He died at seventy-eight years of age. His wife, Phoebe Smith, was a daughter of James Smith, a successful farmer of Flushing, 1 .. 1., and was one of a family of sixteen children. Nine children were the fruit of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Erastus Witherell, of whom seven grew to adult life ; namely, Miriam, William S., Benjamin, Albert, John, Alphonso, and Eliza J. The mother lived in Northampton up to the time of her death, at seventy five years of age.
She was a communicant of the Methodist Episcopal church.
William S. Witherell spent his boyhood days on a farm in South Hadley, Mass., where he acquired a good common-school education. He began life for himself by working on a farm by the month, and later on he rented a farm at shares. For two years after leaving that place he worked in a paper-mill; and in 1864 he settled in Thomaston, where he has since been engaged in the rolling-mill. By faithfulness and attention to his work he ad- vanced gradually from one department to another until ten years ago he was made fore- man, and has since acted in that capacity with excellent satisfaction to his employers and those under his supervision.
He was married in 1861 to Miss Emma Smith, a daughter of Harry and Harriet ( Moody) Smith. She was born in South Hadley, Mass., where her father, who lived to be eighty-four years old, was a well-known and successful farmer. Her union with Mr. Witherell has been blessed and brightened by the birth of four children, of whom two are now living, namely: Hattie, who married C. A. Dickinson, a successful farmer and milkman of South Hadley, and has siv chil- dren - Harry Allen, Willie II., Esther .1 .. Lottie I .. , Ashley W., and Stanley B. ; and Alice E. Witherell.
Mr. Witherell casts his vote with the Re- publican party. He is affiliated with Union Lodge, No. 96, A. F. & A. M., of Thomas ton; and he and his wife are active and in- fluential members of the Congregational church.
AMUEL F. CLARK, a prosperous merchant of Southville, Conn., who has held the office of Postmaster for the past thirteen years, was born in the town
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of Bridgewater, August 4, 1834, son of Sam- uel R. and Hetta P. (Evitts) Clark. Mr. Clark's great-grandfather, Daniel Clark, who was a native of Milford, Conn., settled in Northville, in the town of New Milford, Litchfield County, where he bought a large farm. He married Esther Platt, and reared six children; namely, Esther, Daniel, Han- nah, Samuel, Abigail, and Sally. Mr. Clark's grandfather, Samuel Clark, inherited a part of his father's property, upon which he settled. He erected a new house and other farm buildings; but, after residing there for some years, he moved to Bridgewater Society, and purchasing a farm situated upon Second Hill passed the remainder of his life there as a prosperous farmer. He married Martha Seeley; and their children were: Avis, Polly, Minerva, Selah, Evelyn, Samuel R., Sarah A., and Harriet M.
Samuel R. Clark was born on his father's farm in New Milford, August 23, 1810. When a young man, he bought the Daniel Booth farm of one hundred acres, situated in Bridgewater; and he erected new buildings thereon, and otherwise improved the prop- erty. He carried on general farming and tobacco-raising with good results, and also engaged in other occupations in connection with agriculture. He was a Democrat in pol- itics, holding some of the minor town offices; and, being a liberal and public-spirited man, he was highly esteemed by all who knew him. He died in 1886. His wife, Hetta P. Evitts, who was born in 1815, daughter of Caleb and Betsey (Thayer) Evitts, became the mother of three children, namely: Samuel F., the sub- ject of this sketch; Hattie M .; and Walter R. Mrs. Hetta P. Clark still resides at the homestead, and is bright and active.
Samuel F. Clark received his education in the district and select schools, and at the age
of sixteen years he engaged in manufacturing hats in company with his father. After fol- lowing that business for a short time, he bought the Philo Beers farm of eighty-five acres, adjoining his father's property; and for the succeeding twenty years he was exten- sively engaged in the nursery business. He then rented a store in Southville, and in com- pany with his son, David N., carried on mer- cantile business in connection with farming for four years. At the end of that time he built a store on his farm, in which he dealt in general merchandise and produce; and he also ran a team through the surrounding country. His store being destroyed by fire four years later, he immediately purchased the J. S. Beers store in Southville, which he has since conducted with success. He rented his farm, and, devoting his entire time and attention to mercantile pursuits, has succeeded in estab- lishing and maintaining a steady and profit- able trade.
In politics he is a Democrat, and has long been prominent in public affairs. He was a member of the Board of Selectmen for eight years, has acted as Justice of the Peace, and held other town offices; and in 1886 he repre- sented his town in the legislature, in which capacity he displayed ability of a high order. . He has held the office of Postmaster for the past thirteen years; and in this, as well as in all other official positions which he bas been called upon to occupy, he has served the pub- lic well and faithfully.
On April 9, 1852, Mr. Clark married Mary A. Nettleton, who was born in Milford, Conn., daughter of David Nettleton, a farmer of that town. David Nettleton was born in Milford, February 16, 1807, and was a son of Samuel and Mary (Andrews) Nettleton, the former of whom was a thriving agriculturist. Mrs. Clark's father died at the age of sixty-
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two years. His wife, formerly Mchitabel Platt, was born July 2, 1806, and lived to reach the age of fifty-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have reared four children: Addie M., David N., S. Willis, and Minnie S. Addie M. Clark, who was born July 9, 1853, married for her first husband H. H. Hatch, who died, leaving one son, named Frank M., and she married for her second husband D. J. Botsford, by whom she has two children, namely -- Mary E. and Frederick B .; David N., born June 15, 1856, a hardware merchant of Shelton, married Alice Smith, and has one daughter, named Marguerite; S. Willis, born March 25, 1861, a florist and seedsman of Washington, D.C., married Anna Lawlor, and has two children - Elsie and Mary A .; Minnie S., born July 29, 1863, married Will- iam B. Roe, and has one child, named Jessie M. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are members of the Congregational church.
A portrait of Mr. Samuel F. Clark accom- panies this sketch.
OSEPH R. GILLETTE, a well-known farmer of Bakersville, in the town of New Hartford, and a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives for: 1895, was born in Ohio, March 28, 1848, son of Harlow and Sophia ( Field) Gillette. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Gillette, for whom he was named, was an early settler of New Hartford. An extensive land-owner and a man of energy and enterprise, he operated a saw and grist-mill, and also engaged in wool- carding. He occupied a prominent position in the community, and, living to reach an advanced age, was a Deacon of the church at Town Hill for many years. He was three times married.
Harlow Gillette was his son by his first
wife. He was born in New Hartford, and was reared on the home farm, learning to make himself useful, as most farmers' boys clo. In carly manhood he travelled through the South, selling clocks, and later went to Ohio, where he resided for a time, and from there to Pennsylvania, where he acquired a tract of land under the Homestead Act. He finally returned to New Hartford; and here he engaged in farming until his death, which occurred in 1870, at the age of sixty-two. His wife, Sophia Field, a distant relative of Cyrus Field, of Atlantic cable fame, was a native of Westfield, Mass. She became the mother of five children, four of whom grew to maturity, namely: Rachel, who married John A. Breck, of Ohio: Joseph R., the direct sub- ject of this sketch: Julia, his twin sister. who died at the age of twenty-two; and George, a machinist of Torrington. Mrs. Sophia F. Gillette lived to reach the age of sixty-four.
Joseph R. Gillette passed his early child- hood in Pennsylvania, and at the age of nine years came to New Hartford. He was clu- cated in the common schools, and at home helped his father in carrying on the farm until reaching the age of twenty-one, when he bought the grist-mill property formerly owned by his aunt. After operating the mill for four years, he engaged for some years in team- ing: and on relinquishing that occupation he purchased his present form of one hundred and sixty-six acres in Bakersville, where he has since given his attention to dairving, with good results.
On January o. 1877, Mr. Gillette 119 united in marriage with Isadore Risley, daughter of Charles W. Risley, a teamster and mechanic of Berlin, Conn. Mr. and Mrs. Gillette have one adopted son, named Edward. Mr. Gillette is known as a man of intelli
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gence and sound judgment. He is a Repub- lican in politics, and has filled with ability the various public positions in which he has been elected to serve. He was Constable from 1880 to 1890, has been a member of the Board of Relief since 1890, and is at the present time, 1895, a Representative to the State legislature. He is a member and a Trustee of Amos Beecher Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and is connected with Eureka Grange of New Hartford, of which his wife also is a member. Mr. Gillette and his family follow the example of his parents and grandparents in attending the Congregational church.
ILLIAM H. MORRISON, a highly respected and much esteemed citi- zen of Torrington, Conn., success- fully engaged in business as a plumber, steam - fitter, and tinsmith, was born in Thompson- ville, Conn., November 9, 1866. He is of Scottish descent on both paternal and mater- nal sides, being a son of William and Mary (Hood) Morrison.
The father, William Morrison, was a son of John Morrison, of Scotland, who, having left his native land to establish for himself and his descendants a home in America, settled in Thompsonville, Conn., finding employment in a carpet manufactory. He died in Thomp- sonville at about fifty years of age. William Morrison learned the trade of a machinist, and, securing a position as foreman of one of the carpet-mills in that town, there spent the remaining years of his short life. His death occurred in 1867, when he was in his twenty- seventh year. His wife, Mary (Hood) Mor- rison, daughter of David and Agnes Hood, of Kilmarnock, Scotland, was left a widow with one child, William H., the subject of this sketch. She afterward remarried, becoming
the wife of Mr. George E. Roswell, of Wood- bury, Conn., by whom she had two children: Weston E. and Charles D. Mr. and Mrs. David Hood were the parents of ten children, of whom four are now living, namely: John Hood, foreman of the blacksmithing depart- ment of the Holyoke Machine Company, Mas- sachusetts; Helen McCaw; Elizabeth, Mrs. J. P. Davis; and Mary, mother of Mr. Morrison.
William H. Morrison was but eleven months old at the time of his father's death. He made his home with his mother until eighteen years of age, acquiring a good prac- tical education in the common school and in the academy of Woodbury, Conn. He then learned the trade of a tinsmith and plumber, and for six and a half years worked at his chosen vocation in Woodbury, after which he secured a position in Waterbury, with Barlow Brothers. A year later, in 1891, he came to Torrington, where he was engaged to take charge of the plumbing department for W. L. & F. B. Judson; and, after remaining with them a year, he purchased his present busi- ness, which he has successfully conducted alone, doing general plumbing, steam-fitting, and tinsmithing. He has the contract for laying the water pipes for the town, and during the summer of 1896 will lay about four miles of water pipe.
In June, 1892, Mr. Morrison married Miss Ina M. Burton, one of three children of Nathan and Jeannette Burton, of Woodbury, the former of whom is a prosperous business man and a wholesale lumber dealer. This union has been blessed by the birth of a son, Burton Hood Morrison.
In political matters Mr. Morrison is a firm supporter of the Republican party. In fra- ternal circles he is very popular, and favor- ably known as a member of King Solomon's
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Lodge of Woodbury, Cyrus Chapter of Tor- rington, Knights of Pythias, and Harmony Division of Torrington. The latter took the two first prizes in 1893 and 1895 in competi- tion with all others of the State. He is also a member of Ridley Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Torrington. Mr. Morrison and his wife are communicants of the Third Congregational Church of Torring- ton, in which they take an active and promi- nent part ; and, while living in Woodbury, he very acceptably filled the office of superin- tendent of the Sunday-school, and also served as President of the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor.
ORACE MANVILLE, late a vener- able and highly esteemed citizen of Woodbury, Conn., who passed away at his home in this town, November 15, 1895, after rounding out a full century of existence, was born March 19, 1795, and was therefore for almost five years of his life a contempo- rary of Washington. He was of French ances- try, his grandfather, John Manville, being the first of the family to settle in America. Mr. Manville's grandmother on the paternal side was Elizabeth Weed. His parents were Simeon and Electa ( Benham) Manville, the former of whom was a farmer. The mother lived to the advanced age of ninety-seven years.
Horace Manville received more than a com- mon-school education, spending several terms in the academy at Middlebury, Conn. He carly acquired a knowledge of farming, and, when a young man, bought a farm near Quas- sapang Lake, in the town of Middlebury, in this county. Ile then commenced operations as a dealer in cattle, driving or shipping his stock to New Haven, to be exported thence to
the West India market. He subsequently sold that farm, and purchased another in the west part of Middlebury, where he carried on the same business for many years, but mak- ing more of a specialty of sheep and small stock. In 1870 he sold out, and bought a small farm at North Woodbury. In 1893 he sold that property, and retiring from busi- ness rented a place on which he spent his closing years.
Mr. Manville's century birthday celebration was quite a notable event. More than one hundred prominent residents of Woodbury and neighboring towns called in person to pay their respects, shaking hands with the venera- ble centenarian and registering their names. Each left as a present a silver dollar. Mr. Manville was all his life a temperate man, seldom using narcotics or alcoholic stimu- lants. He was a man of Christian principles and upright life, a member of the Congrega- tional church seventy-nine years. He was interested in public questions, and never failed to cast his vote at each Presidential election during his entire life after attaining his majority. He enjoyed remarkably good health to the last, having never been visited by any serious sickness, and departing quietly and without pain.
He was a Republican in politics, and held many of the town offices during the long period of his active existence.
Mr. Manville was married at the age of twenty-one years to Katherine Bowers, a daughter of Michael and Katherine Bowers, formerly of Philadelphia. Mis. Manville died in 1879 at the age of eighty fom years. Their three children were: Maria F., who has been married twice, and is now a widow; Emily J., who died at the age of twenty six; and Katherine Manville Parker, widow of Otley M. Baker, of North Woodbury, who
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cared for her father in the last years of his life. There are only two grandchildren liv- ing and one great-grandson. Horace Manville was the last of a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters, the youngest of whom died May 9, 1895. Their great-grand- mother lived to be one hundred and two years old.
HOMAS W. KIMLIN, of New Mil- ford, one of the leading architects and building contractors of Litchfield County, was born at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., on April 7, 1844, and is a son of Richard and Eliza J. (Smith) Kimlin.
Thomas W. Kimlin, having received his education in the public schools of Poughkeep- sie, learned the trade of a carpenter with William Harlow, the first work on which he was engaged being Vassar College in that city. He came to New Milford in 1869, and twelve years later started a general contract- ing business, with a shop on Railroad Street that is supplied with steam - power and equipped with modern machinery for the plan- ing and sawing of lumber and the manufacture of special work required in his building. He also carries a large and complete line of builders' hardware. Among the numerous buildings that he has erected are All Saints' Memorial Episcopal Church, the David Hunt Memorial Library at Falls Village, Mrs. William D. Black's residence, the fine rectory connected with All Saints' Church, Ingleside School, Everett College, and many of the best dwelling-houses in the village. He also does quite an extensive business as a dealer in brick, lime, and lumber. He has won a repu- tation for thorough workmanship, and in designing and executing anything of a special nature he gives most excellent satisfaction.
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