USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Litchfield County, Connecticut > Part 6
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Dr. J. L. Buel was a pupil of the schools of this town until seventeen years of age, and then spent two years at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. After this he took a four years' course at Yale College, going thence to the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, from which he received his diploma in 1888. Following in the footsteps of his honored father, Dr. Buel spent the suc- ceeding two years in the New York Hospital. Returning then to the place of his birth, he entered upon his profession, acquiring in the ensuing year a considerable practice. At the expiration of that time he engaged as an as- sistant to his father at the Spring Hill Home, remaining in that capacity until the father's decease, since which time he has had full con- trol of the institution, meeting with eminent success. In addition to conducting the home
he also finds time to attend to a good general practice outside the institution.
On May 28, 1895, Dr. Buel was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth C. Barney, daughter of Newcomb C. Barney, a well- known broker of New York City. She was born at Irvington on the Hudson. where her father and grandfather were prominent resi- dents for many years. The Doctor is quite popular in society. Among the organizations he has connection with are the college society of Psi Upsilon and the Wolfhead of New Haven, the University Club of New York, the Graduates' Club of New York and of New Haven, the Litchfield Club, and the Litchfield County Medical Society. He is also a mem- ber of the Litchfield Mutual Insurance Com- pany and a Director of the Echo Farm Company. In politics Dr. Buel is an uncom- promising Republican; but, owing to the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow- townsmen, who are mostly Democrats, he was elected a Burgess of the borough. He is very liberal in his religious views, but attends and supports the Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Buel is a conscientious member.
EV. GEORGE FOSTER PREN TISS, pastor of the First Congrega- tional Church in Winsted, was born in Windham, Vt., September 20, 1858. son of Asahel and Hannah (Johnson) Prentiss. He is of the same family branch as Dr. George Prentiss, of New York, and the late Sargent S. Prentiss, of New Orleans. His grandfather was Reuben Prentiss, a native of New Hampshire and long a resident of West- minster, Vt. In this town, while conducting his farm, he also worked at the shoemaker's bench, a common thing in the early days of New England, when almost every farm-house
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had a little shoe shop attached. The maiden name of Grandmother Prentiss was Roxanna Upham. She died at threescore and two, and her husband lived to be seventy-seven. They had six children, of whom two sons and two daughters are yet living. Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Prentiss are buried in the Centre Cemetery at Windham.
Asahel Prentiss, father of the Rev. Mr. Prentiss, who was born in Westminster, Vt., in 1830, has a fine farm of three hundred acres in Windham, and deals largely in prod- uce. He is a prominent man, and has filled several town offices, also working zealously for the interests of the Congregational church, of which he has been Deacon for twenty years. His wife, to whom he was married in Windham in March, 1857, was a native of Lincoln, Me., and was reared in Jackson, Me. Her father was Cyrus Johnson, a man of some literary talent, the author of poems and other writings of local interest. The greater part of his time, however, was devoted to farming. He died at the age of fifty-six, leaving thir- teen children, twelve of whom are yet living, scattered from Maine to the Pacific Coast. One is a preacher in St. Louis, and one was in the first State legislature of Washington. The first to die was Henry Johnson, who passed away at sixty-five. Mr. and Mrs. Prentiss have had six children, of whom the Rev. Mr. Prentiss is the eldest. His young- est brother, Cyrus Holmes Prentiss, who was preparing for the ministry in the University of Vermont, was cut off from a promising ca- reer in his twenty-second year, dying August 28, 1894, of spinal meningitis. Carrie Keziah is the wife of Edgar M. Butler, of Jamaica, Vt .; Mary Hattie married Emery H. Jones, and lives in Windham; Julia May is the wife of George M. Butler, of New York City; and Charles Reuben is inspector of
tuning in the Estey Organ Works at Brattle- boro, Vt.
The Rev. George Foster Prentiss studied at Oberlin and at Monson, graduating in 1880 as valedictorian of his class. He graduated from Amherst in 1884 with the degree of A.B. and at Yale in 1887 with the degree of S.T.B. His first pastorate was that of the West End Church at Bridgeport, Conn., where he was stationed from 1887 to 1893, coming in the latter year to his present charge. Mr. Prentiss is an enthusiastic and zealous worker in his chosen vocation, and an ardent lover of music, giving time and study con amore to the work of training choirs and choruses. He is one of the Vice-Presidents of the Connecticut State Music Teachers' Association.
On June 28, 1887, he was married to Sarah A., daughter of Lucius Gilbert, of Derby, Conn. Mrs. Prentiss is a lady of scholarly at- tainments, and was a teacher of Latin and Greek before her marriage. Mr. Prentiss is a member of the Beta Theta Pi, a society founded in Miami in 1839, which has grown to large proportions in the South and West, and now has some fifty chapters in the United States.
OLONEL GEORGE B. SANFORD, a retired officer of the regular army, formerly Colonel of the Sixth United States Cavalry, and now an honored and esteemed resident of Litchfield, was born in the city of New Haven, June 28, 1842, son of William E. and Margaret S. (Craney) Sanford. Colonel Sanford is descended from one of the oldest families of the State. His ancestors for a period of two hundred and fifty years, embracing nine generations, lived and died in New Haven County, within a
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radius of fifteen miles from the city of that name.
Harvey Sanford, paternal grandfather of the Colonel, was born in Bethany, and was the first of the family to abandon farming. Up to then the Sanfords had been large land- holders and thriving agriculturists, beginning with their first progenitor in this country in 1639. Grandfather Sanford established a banking business, in which he showed himself a most successful financier. He was sub- sequently President of the National New Haven Bank for forty years, and was one of the organizers, a stockholder, and an influen- tial Director of the New Haven County Bank. He retained the office of bank Presi- dent until the time of his demise in 1869, at the advanced age of eighty-five years. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Lyman, was born in New Haven, daughter of an officer in the Continental army. He was descended from a prominent family of Northampton, Mass., whither the emigrant progenitor of the Lyman family located in 1651, and where many of his descendants are still living. The wife of Harvey Sanford also attained a venerable age. She died at New Haven in the same year as her husband, having lived four score of years. She was the mother of eight children, one of whom, James, is yet living.
William E. Sanford was educated in the city of his birth, and began his life career as clerk in a store in New York City. He afterward established himself in business in New Haven, and conducted it until 1855, when he retired. Later he engaged in manu- facturing, running factories in different local- ities, and also undertook steam-fitting and other work. In 1865 he retired from active business, and thereafter spent much of his time in travelling, both in this country and Europe. He also changed his residence to
New York City, where his death occurred May 25, 1895, aged eighty.one years. He was a noble man, and always remained true to the principles in which he was reared. Both he and his wife were conscientious members of the Protestant Episcopal church. He married Margaret S. Craney, the daughter of John and Susan Craney, of New York City. where her father was a distiller, she being the only one of the six children born to her par- ents that is now living. She bore her hus- band ten children, five of whom are deceased. Those living are as follows: Keitty G., mar- ried to Charles H. Woodruff ; George B., the subject of this sketch; Charlotte T., the wife of Morris W. Seymour; Elizabeth S., the wife of William B. Hornblower; and Frederick C., a grape-grower in California. The mother is a resident of New York, making her home with her son, the Colonel.
Colonel Sanford spent the first seventeen years of his life with his parents, receiving a thorough preparation for college. He then entered Yale, and was industriously prosecut- ing his studies when the Civil War began. Young and ardent in the cause of the Union, he could not resist President Lincoln's call to arms; and he offered himself for service. His offer was accepted, and he was appointed Second Lieutenant of the First Dragoons in the regular army. By the close of the war. in recognition of his gallant conduct, he had been advanced to the rank of Captain. He participated in many engagements, being with the Army of the Potomac through its cam- paign and a member of Sheridan's cavalry. After the close of the Rebellion, Colonel San- ford went with his regiment to the Pacific Coast, where for eighteen years he was en- gaged in warfare with the Indians, under the command of General Crook and General Miles. He participated in all of the Indian
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campaigns of that period, being at the fore- front in the more important Indian fights north of Texas and west of the Mississippi River. The record of his promotions is as follows : he was commissioned Second Lieu- tenant of First Dragoons April 26, 1861, First Lieutenant July 20, 1861, Captain Oc- tober 1, 1862, Major in March, 1876, Lieu- tenant Colonel of the Ninth Cavalry August 20, 1889, Colonel of the Sixth Cavalry July 22, 1892. Having served his country faith- fully for thirty-two years, the Colonel then made application for a retirement, and it was granted.
On September 15, 1874, Colonel Sanford was married to Gertrude Minturn, of Bristol, R.I. Mrs. Sanford is a daughter of Jons Minturn, formerly a well-known importer of goods from China, but later in life a resident of California, where he departed this life in 1884. Colonel and Mrs. Sanford have two children, Margaret and Gertrude M. The Colonel is a member of the Sons of the Revo- lution, of the Order of the Cincinnati, and President of the society formed by the sur- vivors of the War of 1812 and their descend- ants. He is also a member of the Loyal Legion, having been Vice-Commander of the Kansas Commandery, and is President of the Connecticut Society of the Order of Cincin- nati. At the time of his entry into ser- vice Colonel Sanford had not completed his studies at his Alma Mater; but the faculty of Yale College subsequently bestowed upon him the degree of A. B., as a compliment to his high standing in military and private life. He is a man of great force of character, clear- headed and firm in his convictions, thor- oughly accomplished, and broad and liberal minded. He is a true Christian in every sense of the term, and with his family is a valued member of the Protestant Episcopal church.
9 DWARD T. COE, Treasurer of the Coe Brass Company, whose plant is at Torrington, was born in Waterbury, May 1, 1848, son of Lyman W. and Eliza Coe. His grandfather, Israel Coe, the founder of the brass works in Torrington, was born in Goshen, December 14, 1794, and was the son of Abijah and Sybil (Baldwin) Coe. When a boy of thirteen, the accidental dis- charge of a gun caused him to lose his right arm. So maimed for life, the fact in a meas- ure set him apart from his playmates. Only a boy can realize what his deprivation was when he could no longer use the right hand, always kept so busy in boyish sports and pleasures. Israel Coe attended the common schools and Winsted Academy, and in 1813 entered the Torrington cotton factory as clerk, remaining till the company failed. From 1819 to 1820 he was Collector and Constable in Goshen; and in 1821 he purchased a hotel in Waterbury, which he conducted till 1826. He was in the employ of Aaron Benedict as agent for gilt buttons for some time, and later was partner with Mr. Benedict, the firm name being Benedict & Coe. In 1834 he sold his interest, purchasing the Willson mill prop- erty, and established the Wolcottville Brass Company in Wolcottville (now Torrington). Mr. Coe was at that time living in Waterbury, but later he removed to Wolcottville. Asso- ciated with him in the business were Anson G. Phelps, of New York City, and John Hun- gerford, each owning one-third of the stock. The first effort to manufacture brass kettles by the battery process was made in their factory. The work included rolling the brass. Some difficulty having been experienced in mixing the metal, Mr. Coe in 1842 went to England in quest of further knowledge on the subject. On this trip he visited the most reputable brass works in that country, and at length
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learned the right materials and proper propor- tions of the compound. On May 19, 1841, the original copartnership was dissolved; and a joint stock company was formed under the name of the Wolcottville Brass Company, with a capital of fifty-six thousand dollars, Israel Coe being President of the company and Lyman W. Coe, his son, Secretary and Treasurer. Israel Coe finally retired from active business, spending his last years with a daughter in Waterbury, and died at the age of ninety-six. To his sagacity and energy the State of Connecticut owes a most flourishing industry, that is reckoned among the largest of its kind in the world.
Lyman W. Coe, son of Israel, was born June 20, 1820, at Torrington Hollow. He worked as clerk in Terryville until 1834, when he entered the store of Wadhams, Coe & Co., remaining two years. Then he was employed by Lewis McKee & Co. at Terry- ville, merchants, and the builders of the first lock manufactory in the country. He was three years here, when in 1841 he was ap- pointed Secretary of the Wolcottville Brass Company. This position he resigned in 1845; and in the following year he received charge of a brass wire mill at Cotton Hollow, owned by the Waterbury Brass Company. He was subsequently appointed Secretary and Treasurer of the same company, and was its general business manager until 1863, when he resigned. He then bought up the stock of the Wolcottville Brass Company, and formed a new corporation under the name of the Coc Brass Company, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. In this way the father's business passed into the hands of the son, and under his efficient management prosperity continued to smile upon the enterprise. A good business man by inheritance, and with a vision widened by experience, his methods of
management always bring the best results. Lyman W. Coe was elected to the legislature in 1845, to the lower house in 1858, to the Senate from the Fifth District in 1862, from the Fifteenth District in 1876, and re-elected for two years in 1877. He was pre-eminently the leading man of Torrington, both socially and commercially, and was generally liked and respected. At his death, which occurred in 1893, when he was in his seventy-fourth year, the entire force of men in his employ, eight hundred or more, attended the funeral in a body; and all Torrington mourned as for an irreparable loss. Intelligently philan- thropic, he was always ready to aid a worthy cause, whether for private or public benefit. Mr. and Mrs. Coe attended the Episcopal church, in which he was Warden many years. Mrs. Coe is still living, having reared three children, namely: Adelaide, who married W. H. K. Godfrey: Edward T. Coe: and Ella.
Edward T. Coe, the subject of this sketch, attended a private school in Waterbury, the Gunnery School in Washington, and General Russell's School in New Haven. When eigh- teen years of age, he entered his father's man- ufactory to learn the practical part of the work, and after remaining some time in the work-rooms entered the office as book-keeper. He has now held the position of Treasurer some fifteen years, giving adequate proof that his father's mantle has not fallen on unworthy shoulders. A thorough business man, Mr. Coe is also a true gentleman ; and his courtesy and consideration for all with whom he is brought in contact have won for him universal esteem. In 1873 he married Lilly A. Wheeler, daughter of Amos Wheeler, for- merly a leading merchant of Avon. During the last years of his life Mr. Wheeler was a resident of Torrington, where he died. Mrs.
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Coe was one of six children, the rest of whom were: Frank M. Wheeler, a shipping clerk ; Pearly A., station agent at Collinsville; Nelly W., who married Edward T. Holly ; Homer C., a merchant; Leonard, in the employ of the Coe Brass Company. Mrs. Wheeler attends the Congregational church, of which her husband was also a member. Politically, Mr. Coe supports the Republican platform. He was in the legislature in 1886. He is prominent in Masonic circles, being a member of Seneca Lodge of Torrington and of Royal Arch Chapter; and he is also a member of the association of Knights of Honor. His religious belief is that of the Episcopal church, and his wife is a Congrega- tionalist.
CHILLE F. MIGEON, a prominent manufacturer of Litchfield County, President of the Union Hardware Company of Torrington and a leader in other industrial enterprises, was born in Millbury, Mass., February 7, 1833, son of Henri and
Marie Louise (Baudelot) Migeon. Mr. Migeon's father was born in Haraucourt, France, September 11, 1799. He was en- gaged in the manufacture of woollen goods, and in 1828 came to the United States for the purpose of introducing French machinery for the woollen manufacturing industries of this country. He was provided with a letter of in- troduction from General Lafayette to Philip Hone, the Mayor of New York City, by whom he was courteously received; and, being fa- vorably impressed with the outlook for future prosperity, he decided to settle permanently in America.
Henri Migeon returned to France, bearing messages of grateful acknowledgment to Gen- eral Lafayette from many leading citizens, and in 1829 brought his family to this coun-
try. He was urged by Governor Wolcott to settle in Wolcottville, Conn., now Torring- ton; but, more favorable financial induce- ments being offered him in Millbury, Mass., he decided to locate there. In 1833, how- ever, he moved to Torrington, where he was employed in the woollen mills for a few years, and then established his residence in Litchfield, Conn., where he became the owner of the Dr. Oliver Wolcott estate, the spacious grounds of which enabled him to gratify his taste for horticulture. In 1837 Mr. Henri Migeon introduced an invention of his own, a method of refinishing broadcloths, which com- pletely revolutionized the trade. He estab- lished his headquarters in New York City, and was eminently successful in liis new enter- prise. He retired in 1854, and passed the remainder of his days in Torrington. As a citizen he was loyal and public-spirited. He did much toward beautifying the streets of the town by setting out shade trees. He was deeply interested in the public schools, and was accustomed to give annual gifts to the pupils, in the Centennial year presenting each with a bright new coin, bearing the date 1876.
Mr. Henri Migeon possessed intellectual attainments of a high order, and was not only well informed upon important political issues of America and Europe, but was familiar with the current literature of his day. He paid many visits to his native country, and was presented at the court of Napoleon III. when that emperor was in the height of his prosper- ity. Henri Migeon died in 1876, aged sev- ' enty-seven years. His wife, Marie Louise Baudelot, who was a native of France, be- came the mother of seven children, six of whom are living, and are as follows: Pau- line, wife of Hiram W. Hayden; Florentine S., wife of Frederick Seymour (both de- ceased); Eliza, wife of G. B. Turrell;
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Achille F., the subject of this sketch; Ar- cenc, Mrs. Henry Munson; Adele, wife of Francis V. Baudelot ; and Louise, wife of Cap- tain Brahy, who received the decoration of the Legion of Honor. Mrs. Marie L. Migeon died on board the steamship "Lafayette," while returning from Europe.
Achille F. Migeon passed his boyhood in Torrington, where he resided until 1843, when his parents moved to Litchfield; and he commenced his education in the schools of that town. He later attended school in Tarrytown, N. Y., and after a course at the Irvington Institute completed his studies at the Hampden Institute. At the age of six- teen he entered mercantile pursuits as clerk in a store in Waterbury, Conn., where he re- mained for two years; and he then went to the Middlesex Mills in Lowell, Mass., for the purpose of acquiring a knowledge of the woollen manufacture.
After eighteen months of practical observa- tion in the woollen mills Mr. Migeon became connected with his father's business in New York City; and in 1854, when he was twenty- one years of age, he, in company with his brother-in-law, Mr. Turrell, purchased the enterprise, which they conducted until 1864. He then sold his interest in the business to his partner, and devoted his entire attention to the development of what is now the Union Hardware Company of Torrington, in which he had already become interested. He moved the plant to its present location, adding to its capacity by the erection of new buildings as business increased; and at the present time the company, of which Mr. Migeon is Presi- dent, employs three hundred and fifty work- men. Under his energetic management the Union Hardware Company has expanded into large proportions ; and their specialties, which consist of roller and ice skates, dog collars,
gun implements, tackle blocks, police sup- plies, such as belts, clubs, handeuffs, shackles, etc., are used extensively throughout the country.
Mr. Migeon is President of the Eagle Bi- eyele Company, of which he was one of the principal promoters, President of the New Process Nail Company, and is actively inter- ested in the Excelsior Needle Company, of which he is also President, and which from a small beginning has developed into the largest industry of its kind in the world. Mr. Migeon is a large stockholder and a Director of the Parrot Silver and Copper Mining Com- pany of Butte, Mont. Of the Bridgeport Copper Company of Connecticut he is Presi- dent, and he is a Director of the brass works. He is a stockholder in the Torrington Water Works. He was made a Mason in the Charter Oak Lodge of New York City in 1854, and is now a member of the Seneca Lodge and of the Chapter, the Council, and the Commandery.
In 1858 Mr. Migeon was united in marriage with Elizabeth Farrell, daughter of Almon and Ruth E. (Warner) Farrell, of Waterbury, Conn. Almon Farrell was the founder of a large foundry and machine shop, and was ex- tensively engaged as a millwright, many of the most important mills in the Naugatuck valley having been erected by him. He was for many years prominently identified with the industrial enterprises in the vicinity of Waterbury. He died in 1857, aged fifty- seven years. Hle and his wife were the parents of seven children, four of whom are still liv- ing, namely : Franklin ; Juliet, wife of William Knowles: Elizabeth; and Eleanor, wite ot Leverett Bowen. The mother died at the age of seventy-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Migeon have two children, as follows: Virginia Baudelot, who married Dr. Edwin Swift, of New York City, and has one child, named
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Elizabeth; and Clara Louise (Chérie), who resides at home. Virginia was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City ; and Clara Louise (Chérie) attended Dr. West's school in Brooklyn, N. Y.
Mr. Migeon is a Republican in politics, and has served as Town Agent and Assessor. He represented his district in the legislature in 1877 and again in 1879, and has held other offices of public trust. Mr. Migeon and his family occupy one of the finest residences in Torrington, erected upon a desirable piece of ground, which he purchased in 1867. They attend the Episcopal church.
The foregoing sketch of Mr. Achille F. Migeon will be highly appreciated by the readers of the "Review," both on account of the character, ability, and enterprise of the Messrs. Migeon, father and son, and also by reason of the gratitude and reverence cherished by all true Americans for the memory of the distin- guished friend of the elder Migeons in France, Lafayette-the noble "knight of liberty."
RS. ELIZA P. WETMORE, one of the most respected residents of Winsted, is the widow of John Grinnell Wetmore, a wealthy manufacturer of Winsted, who died in 1887. The name of this family was originally Whitmore, then Witmore, and finally Wetmore. Thomas Whitmore came from the west of England to Boston in 1635; and John Whitmore was in Wethersfield, Conn., in 1640. The Wetmore Genealogy states that Samuel was the great- great-grandfather, John the great-grandfather, Seth the grandfather, and John the father of Mrs. Wetmore's husband.
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