Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 241

Author: H. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1899
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1795

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The home of our subject was brightened by eight children, of whom six survive: (1) Mary Louisa, born August 14, 1840, died May 27, 1851. (2) Almira E., born October 27, 1842, married Daniel G. Wood, a farmer of Redding, this county, and has had five children-Enoch K., Floyd, Ida, Viola and Fred. (3) Sarah T., born May 25. 1846, was married October 27, 1 1 1866, to Wait Brush, a farmer near Rome, N. Y .. and they have had three children-Ernest. 1 Dwight and Charlotte. (4) Charlotte L., born July 3. 1851, is a lady of marked ability. and ranks among the leading artists of the country. Her education was begun in the schools of New Fairfield, and after taking a complete course in the State Normal School at New Britain, Conn., she entered the Packer Collegiate Institute at Brooklyn Heights, N. Y., where she studied art. |

She then went to Paris, France, to pursue her art studies under Professors LaHaye and Lazar, two famous teachers, and on the completion of her course there she returned to the United States. In 1882 she accepted the position of principal of the Art Department of Packer Col- legiate Institute, filling this responsible post with marked ability and success. She resides in New York City, where she has a studio, and speci- mens of her works are often on exhibition at the Academy of Design in that city, and at art ex- hibits in Philadelphia and other centers of cul- ture. (5) Isaac S., born July 27, 1853, died September 21, 1855. (6) Mary C., born April 11, 1855, was married in January, 1873, 10 Charles W. Claggett, son of Rev. E. B. Clag- gett, of Boston, Mass. They have one son, Clifton K., born September 2, 1879. (7) Isaac S. (2), born November 26, 1856, is now engaged in farming at New Fairfield, and is a member of the Legislature. He was married March 25, 1894, to Miss Luella M. Dayton. (8) FREDERICK E., born January 5. 1859, was educated in his native town of New Fairfield, and at Chappaqua, N. Y. From boyhood he has given his attention to farming and stock raising, and he now con- ducts the old homestead, "Sunny Side Farm," being the third in direct line of descent to own the estate. He is active and influential in pub- lic affairs, and in 1889 was elected to the State Legislature on the Republican ticket, an evidence of popularity which is the more remarkable from the fact that he was the first Republican repre- sentative from his district in thirty-two years. He has also held a number of local offices, in- cluding those of tax collector and town clerk. On November 14, 1888, he married Miss Fannie M. Taylor, who was born August 4, 1859, the daughter of Emory and Mary (Cowles) Taylor; her father is a gunsmith of Unionvale, Hartford county, Connecticut.

S AMUEL E. DUNHAM, proprietor of the Dunham Machine Works at Danbury, be- lieves in the efficacy of hard work as a means of securing success in life, and his own experience amply demonstrates the correctness of his theory. He does an extensive business, manu- I facturing boilers, engines and machines of all kinds, including special machinery built to order, and furnishing mill supplies, such as shafting. hangers and pulleys, also Babbitt, and all grades | of anti-friction metals.

Mr. Dunham was born April 6, 1861, in Dan- bury, the son of Frederick N. Dunham, a native of St. Lawrence county, N. Y. The father fol-

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lowed the carpenter's trade all his life, and be- fore the Civil war was foreman of the D. & J. Stevens Planing-mill at Danbury. After the close of the struggle he took charge of the wood- working department in the same establishment, and continued there for many years, his death occurring in 1892. His wife Mary E. (Dibble), a native of Newtown, Conn., died in 1867. Our subject was one of two children, his sister. Carrie 1., being the elder, she married (first) Edward Layman, and after his death became the wife of Charles Orr.

Samuel E. Dunham was educated in the schools of Danbury, and at the age of seven- teen began to learn the machinist's trade, spend- about five years in the establishment of Fanton Brothers. He then worked in various places as a journeyman, and for two years was in charge of a machine shop in Danbury. In 1889 he be- gan his present business in a small way, with a capital of $800, the venture succeeding so well that in 1893 he built his establishment on Rose street, and his property is now valued at about $17,000. This success has not been gained without severe labor, however, and he considers fifteen hours per day a fair allowance.

In 1880 Mr. Dunham married Miss Fannie N. Starr, a member of one of the oldest families of Fairfield county; her father, Capt. Frederick Starr, a native of the county, died a soldier's death while serving in the Union army during the Civil war. No children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dunham. Politically, our subject is a Republican, as was his father before him, but in local affairs he is not a strict partisan, supporting the best man according to his judg- ment. Socially, he and his wife are prominent, and he has been a member of the I. O. O. F., and the Masonic Fraternity, but the claims of his business have prevented him from taking an active part in fraternal work.

J OHN ]. HOVER, who, since September, 1895, has been the principal of the Franklin street school in Stamford, Fairfield Co., Conn., is a native of the Empire State, born June 17, 1869, in Linlithgow, Columbia county. His ancestry is German, his great-grandfather, John B. Hover, having been a native of the Fatherland. Grandfather John N. Hover was born in Linlithgow, N. Y., where he was a large property owner and a prominent citizen.

Martin H. Hover, father of John I. Hover, was born and reared in Linlithgow, and has always made his home there. He has been a lifelong agriculturist, and being a man of unusual

intellect and progressive ideas has run his farm on scientific principles with gratifying results. He married Martha E. Wagner, who was born in Hollowville, Columbia Co., N. Y., the daught- er of Levi Wagner, and four children blessed this union-Welcon E., Cora A., Cornelia A., and John I.

John I. Hover received his early literary training in the public schools of Linlithgow, N. Y., later attended the Northeastern Ohio Col- lege (in Mahoning county, Ohio), where he took a special course, and began his professional career in Columbia county. He subsequently took a course at the New Paltz (N. Y.) Normal School, after which he taught in the Polytechnic, at Brooklyn, N. Y., for two years. In September. 1895, he entered upon the duties of his present position, which he has since discharged with a faithfulness and zeal highly appreciated by all who have felt his influence in this direction. Ten instructors besides Mr. Hover are engaged in the Franklin street school, where there are nine grades, besides the kindergarten. He is a pro- gressive man in every sense of the term, and personally he is constantly working and studying to prepare himself for higher work in his profes- sion, keeping well-informed on modern views in thought and method, especially in the line of education. At present he is taking a course of lectures on psychology at Yale University, He is a member of the County and State Teachers Associations.

Mr. Hover was married, in 1890, at Canfield, Ohio, to Miss Aurelia M. Boycott, who is the daughter of William Boycott, and the grand- daughter of the originator of the term " boycott." To Professor Hover and wife was born a daugh- ter Dorothy Alletta, August 2, 1898.

EO DONATELL. This well-known former resident of Stamford is a son of Italy, and since coming to America some years ago he has found a wide field of effort in the direction and oversight of his fellow-countrymen who are em- ployed in railway construction and other enter- prises. For this useful work he is peculiarly fitted, being held in sincere regard by the men in his employ, who, naturally, can best understand and be understood by one of their own com- patriots. With a knowledge of their needs, their likings, and their aspirations, no less than of their language, Mr. Donatell wields great influ- ence among them, and of late years he has been frequently called upon to act as interpreter in the Fairfield county courts in cases where his country- men were concerned.

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Mr. Donatell was born December 16, 1860. | the Campanella Lodge, at Stamford, a mutual and was educated in the schools of his native | benefit association for Italians. He is also identi- land. Like most of his race he possessed fine | fied with several other societies including the musical gifts, of which he made use for a time in Knights of Pythias, at Scio, Ohio, and the 1. 0. O. F., at New York City. He was married in | West Virginia to Miss Wolfe, a resident of Clarksburg, and two children have blessed the union. earning a livelihood; but he afterward learned the shoemaker's trade as a more certain means of support. In 1883 he came to America, landing at New York City, and after spending some time there and in Amsterdam, N. Y., he went to the Province of Quebec, Canada, to take a place as foreman on the Canadian Pacific railroad, then in process of construction. In January, 1887, L JEUT .- COL. CHARLES W. HENDRIE, one of the leading dry-goods merchants of Stamford, and for ten years prominent in the National Guard of Connecticut, as well as in business circles, is a native of Greenwich, Fair- field county, where he was born October 29, 1862. he returned to New York City, where he was employed for a few months by the Inman and Red Star lines of steamships as a foreman, his duties being to oversee the loading and unloading of goods. In the spring of the same year he took six hundred men to Duluth, to work upon the Colonel Hendrie descended through Joshua Beal Hendrie, his father, from Charles Hendrie, who was a native of Scotland, whence he came to this country prior to the birth of his son, Johua Beal, which occurred at Stamford in 1832. The latter has thus far passed his life in the town of Stamford, having been engaged in agricultural pursuits. He married Sarah E. Newman, of Greenwich, Conn .. and to the Union were born: Charles W., Sarah E., and Lucy (Mrs. Stanley T. ! Jennings). The father of these is a member of the Congregational Church. Duluth & South Shore railroad, and later he | came to Connecticut to take a position as fore- man for Nolan & Co., who were then construct- ing a branch railway between Meriden and Waterbury. During one winter he was engaged in shoe making at Waterbury; but in the spring he went to Chicago, Ill., where he was appointed to take charge of two hundred men on the Zanes- ville & Ohio River railroad. He then worked for a time for Stanley & Co., on the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad, and on leaving that company he went to Clarksburg, W. Va., to assist in the construction of the Monongahela railroad. On December 25, 1889, he embarked for Italy, to visit his beloved mother, and that winter he spent under the sunny skies of his own land.

In April, 1890, Mr. Donatell returned to the United States, and soon afterward he located in Pottsville, Penn., to carry out an arrangement for supplying a number of his fellow-countrymen as laborers for Mr. Gaynor, who was then engaged in the construction of the Shenandoah branch of the Norfolk & Western railroad. Later he fur- nished laborers for Fred Jones, of Brinkhaven, Ohio, and for the West Virginia & Pittsburg railroad. and then, after spending a short time in the employ of Mr. Gaynor, in Pennsylvania, he undertook to secure laborers for building the res- ervoir on the Girard estate in Pennsylvania, the contract being held by P. M. Queen. His next enterprise was the supplying of laborers for the Consolidated railroad at Sound Beach. Conn., and for a time he resided at New Haven in order to facilitate his work. In 1894 he settled at Stamford, and for four years past he has fur- nished laborers for Mr. Ryan, the contractor for the Consolidated line in that locality. Mr. Don- atell is interested in all that concerns the welfare of his countrymen, and he is now president of

Charles W. Hendrie was reared on his father's I farm, and attended the schools of the neighbor- | hood. Later he went to the Stamford High School and also to the Williston Seminary at East Hamp- ton, Mass., spending three years in the latter in- stitution. In 1882 he began clerking in the store of C. O. Miller at Stamford, and remained so oc- cupied for ten years. In 1892 he started in the dry-goods business for himself, forming a partner- ship with George G. Goulden, under the firm. name of Hendrie & Goulden. This partnership lasted until in March, 1896, at which time M. Goulden retired. Since that period the business has been carried on by Colonel Hendrie alone. The Colonel has been a careful and judicious business man, and is prospering. He is one of the enterprising and progressive citizens of Fair- field county. On April 29, 1886, he became identified with Company C, 4th Regiment Con- necticut National Guard, and on December 2 ;. 1889, he was made quartermaster sergeant. He was promoted to second lieutenant June 27. 1800: to captain, July 20, 1891; to major, June 28. 1893; and to lieutenant-colonel, January 18. 1897. Socially, Colonel Hendrie is prominent in various orders. among which may be mentioned Union Lodge, F. & A. M., of which he is senior deacon; Rittenhouse Chapter No. 11, and Wash-

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ington Council No. 6; Excelsior Lodge No. 49, K. of P., being past chancellor; is also vice- grand of Puritan Lodge No. 43. 1. O. O. F .; and he is a member of the Order of Red Men, and of the Business Men's Club. Colonel Hendrie has been twice married, the first time, at Stamford, to Miss Lucy C. Dean, a daughter of George W. Dean, of Stamford, and their issue is: Emily C. The wife and mother died July 20, 1887, and Colonel Hendrie afterward married Rebecca M. Smith, a daughter of James Smith, of Stamford.

F RED MILLER, a prominent resident of the town of Greenwich, is one of the thrifty, pros- percus, German-born citizens, and in making his way to success, in spite of an unpromising begin- ning, he has shown the characteristic energy of his race.

Mr. Miller was born May 7. 1858, in Han- over, Germany, the third son and fifth child of Louis and Margaret Miller. The mother died when he was but three years old, but the father is still living at the old home, and now occupies an official position similar to that of selectman in this country. He came to the United States, but returned to the Fatherland after spending a couple of years here. Our subject was educated in the schools of his native province, and in the spring of 1874 came to America to seek his fort- tune, setting sail from Bremerhaven on the ves- sel " Necka." The voyage lasted fourteen days, and on landing in New York City the young lad found employment as a confectioner with his brother-in-law, Mr. Koenig. Having had no pre- vious knowledge of the trade, he began as an ap- prentice with low wages, but as time passed, bringing better returns for his work, he managed to lay by enough money to establish a business of his own, which has been continued success- fully ever since. In 1891 he purchased from Andrew Burns a small farm at Riverville, known as the Samuel Peck homestead, and he has since resided there, with the exception of two years, when he rented it and returned to New York to attend to his confectionery business. The estate contains forty-five acres of excellent land, pleas- antly located, and Mr. Miller's judicious improve- ments have made it a valuable and attractive homestead.

In 1883 Mr. Miller married Miss Susie Feifeer, ; city, also one season. He then went to Pomp- ton, N. J., where for a while he followed the trade of file making; then returning to New York again took up the milk business. Once more, after a few months, we find him in Michigan, where he commenced to learn carpentry; but

that will promote the welfare of his adopted coun- try, he has not taken an active part in public affairs.

S SYLVESTER B. WILSON, a leading con- tractor and builder, and one of the most en- terprising citizens of Norwalk, Fairfield county. of which city he has been a resident some thirty years, is a native of New York State, born on New Year's Day, 1849, in Kingston, Ulster county.

Job Wilson, father of our subject, was born in Dutchess county, N. Y., whence in early man- hood he moved to Ulster County, and at King- ston followed contracting and carpentry for many years. He married Sallie G. Taylor, born in the town of Wilton, Fairfield county, a daugh- ter of Moses Taylor, a native of Westport, Fairfield county, and a carpenter and contractor by trade. Like the Wilsons, the Taylor family is of English lineage. After marriage Job and Sallie G. Wilson resided at various places in New York State-New York City, Ellenville, and finally in Kingston. Ten children were born to them, five of whom died in infancy, the names of the survivors being: Mary E., Billings G., Hally B., Armida A., and Sylvester B. Of these, Mary E. married Joseph Bowman, of Kingston; Billings G. wedded Eunice Sherman, a contractor and builder, of Lowell, Mich .; Hally B. is living re- tired in New York; and Armida A. married Charles M. D. Marks, of New York, who had served as a soldier in the Civil war. After carry- ing on his trade some fifteen or twenty years at various places, as already related, the father of this family came to Connecticut, and in 1864 commenced farming in the town of Wilton, Fair- field county, where he died in 1875; his wife had passed away in 1861. They were devout mem- bers of the M. E. Church; in politics he was first a Whig, later a Republican, on the organization of that party.

S. B. Wilson, our subject, passed his boy- | hood days in Kingston, N. Y., until he was thir- teen years old, when he went to Michigan, and there attended school for some time. On his re- turn to Kingston he commenced boating on the Hudson river, but at the end of one season he went to New York and drove a milk route in that

who was born in New York City, May 27, 1867, the daughter of Matthew and Theresa (Lam- bert) Feifeer. Five children have blessed this union: Lillie, Minnie, Theresa, Annie and Fred- erick, Jr. As a citizen, Mr. Miller is held in high esteem, but while he approves of all movements | again he went to New York and peddled milk.

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In 1866 he came to Norwalk, and commenced learning the trade of machinist; at the end of about a year, however, he abandoned the notion, and in 1867 he concluded to finally settle in Nor- walk and follow his regular trade, that of car- penter. He first worked for E. K. Street (two weeks), then for Thomas Sanford (about six months), then for Platt Price (some nine years). After this, in 1879, Mr. Wilson commenced con- tracting and building in Norwalk, for his own ac- count, and has since successfully conducted an extensive business in that line. Among the many buildings he put up in Norwalk, alone, may be mentioned the Norwalk Club, several churches and residences, including two fine ones which he owns, one of them being occupied by himself and family.

In 1868 Mr. Wilson was married in Norwalk to Miss Anna Smith, a native of that city, and a ! ster, and in his youth received an excellent edu- cation. For some years he was engaged in I teaching, but later he followed agricultural pur- I suits on the old homestead, a portion of which | he inherited from his father. He was a success-

daughter of Dr. Tocket Smith, who was killed at Port Hudson, La., during the Civil war, and six children graced this union, namely: Edward L. (who married Georgia Street, foreman for our subject in Norwalk), and Edith M., Ira B., Ar- | ful manager, and as time passed he added to his thur C., Mabel ]. and Gladys, all at home. In I inheritance until he owned a farm of two hun- his political preferences Mr. Wilson is a stanch | dred acres. Possessing positive convictions, and Republican. while socially he is prominently identified with the I. O. O. F. He is practically a self-made man, one who, by indomitable per- i severance, prudent economy and sound judgment, has surmounted all the difficulties incident to a lack of capital at the outset of his industrious career, and to-day he has the pleasurable satis- faction of looking back, with no small degree of proper pride, on a life of honest toil.

D' ANA PUTNAM RICHARDSON, M. D. This able and popular physician located at Sandy Hook in 1890, but he had previously won an enviable standing in his profession, and his skill met with prompt recognition from the people of Sandy Hook and vicinity, where he built up an extensive practice. As he is a constant student, keeping well abreast of the scientific movements which have done so much to improve medical practice of late years, he has been unusually suc- cessful in his work, and in fact, he deserves credit for some original researches in connection with his labors. especially in electricity as ap- plied to the treatment of disease.

In both paternal and maternal lines the Doc- tor is of English descent, but his ancestors came to this country at an early period. The Richard- son homestead at Leominster, Mass., has been in the family for several generations, and the house is one of the oldest in the State, having

been built originally as a stockade or fort. Moses Richardson, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was a native of Medway, Mass., but in his later years made his home in Leominster. By occupation he was a farmer, blacksmith and wheelwright, and he was regarded as one of the I successful men of his locality; during his resi- dence in Leominster he was quite prominent in local affairs, holding various offices. In politics he was a Whig, and in religious faith he was a Baptist, his activity in Church work being indi- cated by the fact that he served as deacon for a number of years. Moses Richardson was the father of four children, of whom we have record of three: Horace, a mechanic of Leominster; Silas, a farmer and real-estate dealer; and Moses D., our subject's father.

Moses D. Richardson was born in Leomin-

the courage to express them, he was always among the leaders in local movements, and for a number of years he served on the board of selectmen of his town. In his political affilia- tions he was a Republican after the organization of that party, and he took much interest in re- ligious work as a member of the Baptist Church, in which he held numerous offices, including those of deacon and clerk. He died in July. 1887. Moses D. Richardson was married three times. His first wife left no children, and by his second marriage he had one daughter, Mary, now the wife of Putnam Simonds, of Fitchburg, Mass., and one son, George, who died when about fourteen years old. For his third wife Mr. Richardson married Abbie W. Putnam, daughter of Israel Putnam, of Fitchburg, Mass .. and a member of the distinguished Colonial fam- ily to which Gen. Israel Putnam belonged; she still survives and enjoys good health. Our sub- ject is the younger of two children by this mar- riage. The elder, James Albert, is now in the employ of the government in connection with the salmon fisheries in Alaska, and is also en- gaged in mining there.

Doctor Richardson's birth occurred October 1 14, 1858, at the old homestead in North Leo- minster, and he received his academic education in the schools of that place. On graduating from i the high school in 1876 he entered Harvard Col- lege, where he pursued the scientific course for

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two years, and then began his professional studies in the medical department of the same institution, entering in 1878 for the regular course of four years, including practical work in the Boston City Hospital and the Children's Hospital. In June, 1882, he received the de- gree of M. D., and for the next five years he was engaged in general practice in his native town, being admitted during this time to membership in the local medical association, the Worcester County Medical Society and the Massachusetts State Medical Society. In 1886 there was a favorable opening for a practitioner at Gloucester, Mass., and the Doctor removed there. The Cape Ann Granite Company, of that place, em- ployed about four hundred men, being then in the height of its prosperity, with Gen. Ben But- ler and Colonel French as members of the cor- poration, but after the death of the former the business declined, and all local interests suffered. The Doctor again looked about for a suitable field for his efforts, and in December, 1890, he came to Sandy Hook and purchased the practice of Doctor Stiles, which he continued with marked success until, in 1899, he returned to his native place on account of the poor health of himself and family. He is living at No. 600 Main street, retired for the present. He became a member of the State and County Medical Societies, and for five years was the physician of the local board of health. He has never taken an active part in politics, and while his sympathies are with the Democrats on many questions of Na- tional policy, he is inclined to use his judgment independently at election time. He attends the Episcopal Church, and socially is identified with the 1. O. O. F., Leominster Lodge No. 86, and with the Independent Order of Foresters, Sandy Hook Lodge No. 54, of which he has been the official physician.

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 241

Author: H. H. Beers & Co. Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1795

Author: H. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1899
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1795