Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 1, Part 10

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1336

USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 1 > Part 10

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In his private life Mr. Perkins was accustomed to lay aside his severe habits of business, and give himself to the genial pleasure of social intercourse. He was a man of much wit and humor, and greatly engaged them in others, drawing always for the entertainment of his friends upon a large store of anecdotes and a wide range of reading. He was a man who concealed his charities and avoided a display of sympathy, but a tale of distress never failed to move him, and he gave liberally where his gifts were known only to himself and the receivers. He looked habitually on the bright side of life, and never liked to talk of that which was unpleasant or disagreeable. No man was truer or deeper in his attachments, though he sought society in a limited circle of friends. He was a Christian gen- tleman, of the old school of courtesy and kindness. He died, after a short and painful sickness. Oct. II, 1870.

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

"The death of Mr. Perkins deprived the Hart- ford Bar of one of the last of the old fraternity of distinguished lawyers whose names, during the thirty or forty years prior to his death, had given it honorable distinction. Within eighteen months from that time the deaths of Toucey, Chapman and Perkins had occurred. Hungerford and Waldo alone remained of the older members, and the latter practiced chiefly at the Bar of another county. Ells- worth, Parsons and other distinguished lights of the Hartford Bar had died during the few preceding years. Hungerford, at that time the oldest sur- viving associate of the old members of the Hart- ford Bar, and in some respects the most remarka- ble lawyer whom Connecticut or New England has ever produced, survived our subject at eighty or upwards, and had then of late years entirely with- drawn from active practice. One, who would have won a deservedly wide fame at the Bar, died in his fresh prime; and the Bar of Hartford county, as well as the community, lost a valuable member in the death of the late Lucius F. Robinson. Mr. Perkins' death, like the loss of Mr. Chapman, was particularly felt."

The quotations preceding are from the Hart .. ford press at the time of the death of Mr. Perkins, and those following are from the resolutions of speakers at the Hartford Bar meeting held at that time :

"As a genial lawyer, conducting causes froni their earliest consultation, through their prepara- tions in his office and conflicts at the Bar, to the final engrossment after the last decree of the last tribunal, he was systematic, patient, vigorous and powerful. He was an associate most valuable, an antagonist most powerful.

"His well-disciplined intellect, his retentive mem- ory, his unequalled self control, and his many years of industrious application to all branches of profes- sional practice, rendered him a bright ornament to that Bar which not even the offered highest judi- ciary honors of our Commonwealth could induce him to forsake, and in whose advance he died, with courage unabated and pulse unwearied."

"The death of Mr. Perkins was not merely the loss of a great lawyer and of a Christian gentleman, but it would be peculiarly felt by the Hartford County Bar. . For the last few years he had been regarded as the leader of this Bar. Taking a prom- inent part in almost all the important trials, he was always cautious, always honorable, always fair. The influence of his example had had much to do in giving to our Bar its enviable reputation of being one of the most honorable and courteous in New England. The younger members, with his daih- example before them, were led to know that trick- ery, dishonesty and sharp practice have no place in the qualifications of a great and successful lawyer. Mr. Hyde felt sure he expressed the feel .. ings of the younger brethren present when he de- clared that to the Hartford County Bar his loss was irreparable."

Mr. Perkins' children were: (1) Frederick B., Perkins, born Sept. 27, 1828, in Hartford, Conn., married May 21, 1857, Mary Westcott, of Provi- dence, R. I., and a daughter of Henry and Clarissa ( Perkins) Westcott. Their children were : Thomas H. (deceased), Thomas A., Charlotte A., and Julia De WV. (deceased).

(2) Emily B. Perkins, born Nov. 23, 1829, in Hartford, Conn., married Oct. 13, 1852, Rev. Ed- ward Everett Hale, D. D., of Boston, Mass., son of Hon. Nathan Hale. Their children were: Al- exander, (deceased) ; Ellen D., born Feb. 11, 1855; Arthur, born Aug. 12, 1859 ; Charles A. ( deceased) ; Edward E., born Feb. 18, 1863; Philip, born May 21, 1865; Herbert, born July 22, 1866; Henry K., born June 6, 1868 (deceased) ; and Robert, born Sept. 5, 1870 (deceased).

(3) CHIARLES E. PERKINS, born March 23, 1832, in Hartford, married, Aug. 29, 1855, Lucy M. Adams, of Boston. He graduated from Williams College, Massachusetts, in 1853, then studied law with his father in Hartford, and was admitted to the Bar in 1855. He has resided in Hartford ever since as a partner with his father while he lived, and after his death alone until 1892, when his son Arthur was admitted to a partnership. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins have had children as follows : Mary R., born July 22, 1857, married in 1887 Rev. Sidney D. Hooker, of Dillon, Mont. ; Emily H., born Jan. 23, 1861, married in 1888 Howard H. Knapp, of Bridgeport : Arthur, born May 16, 1864, graduated at Yale College in 1887, was admitted to the Bar in 1889, and since 1892 has practiced law with his father under the firm name of Perkins & Perkins (he married Miss Amy Dennison, of Philadelphia, and has one daugh- ter. Helen Perkins) ; Lucy A. was born Oct. 23, 1865; and Thomas C. was born May 16, 1873.

(4) Catherine B. Perkins, born May 3. 1836, married in 1859 William C. Gilman, of New York. She died Nov. 15, 1879. Their children were : Theodora (deceased) : Bessie (deceased) ; Hough- ton, born Aug. 8, 1867 ; and Francis, born Dec. 15, 1870.

ALBERT P. PITKIN (deceased). for many years a leading business man of Hartford, was a rep- resentative of one of the oldest families, tracing his descent from William Pitkin, a pioneer of East Hartford.

The name has long been identified with a high order of citizenship, and among other members of the family who have attained distinction are Will- iam and Ozias Pitkin, sons of the pioneer, who were among the most noted lawyers and politicians of their time : William Pitkin, governor of the colony from 1766 to 1769: Col. John Pitkin, brother of the governor, who was lieutenant-colonel in 1755 and colonel in 1756, and led his command against Crown Point in 1755 in the expedition under Gen. Lyman : and Col. William Pitkin, son of the governor, who was in 1758 appointed major of the Connecticut forces raised for the expedition against Canada,

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

served through the campaign, under Gen. Aber- crombie, and acquired the reputation of a faithful and gallant officer ; during the greater part of the Revolutionary war he was a member of the Council of Safety.

William Pitkin, the pioneer, was born in 1633, at Marylebone, near London, England, and came to Hartford in 1659. A year later he began teaching school, being thereto encouraged by votes and grants of money by the town. He was appointed attorney for the colony in 1664. He bought land on the east side of the river, and was one of the most prominent planters. He bequeathed in his will nearly 800 acres of land, after having given his two older sons a portion of it. William Pitkin filled many public offices with ability, and was conspicuous and influ- ential in the affairs of the colony. He annually represented Hartford in the Colonial Assembly for a period of fifteen years, from 1675 to 1690. His sister Martha married Simon Wolcott, and was an- cestress of five governors. He married Hannah Goodwin, only daughter of Hon. Ozias and Mary ( Woodward) Goodwin, the progenitors of the Goodwin family in Connecticut. Mr. Goodwin was born in England in 1596, and came to America with Rev. Thomas Hooker.

Roger Pitkin, the next in the line of descent, married Hannah Stanley. Jonathan Pitkin married Rebecca Smith. Jonathan Pitkin (2) married Lucy Steele. Ezekiel Pitkin married Euphemia Chap- man. Dennison Pitkin, our subject's father, married Phoebe Dunham Turner.

Albert P. Pitkin was born Feb. 27, 1829, at East Hartford, on the original homestead purchased from the Indians in 1684 by William Pitkin, the pioneer. When a young man he went to Hartford and entered the employ of Gilbert & Cowles, tinners and furnace makers, of whom he learned his trade. He was afterward employed by the Culvers of New York, the leading furnace manufacturers of the country at that time. Returning to Hartford in 1849, he went into partnership with D. L. Bidwell, under the firm name of Bidwell, Pitkin & Co. In 1858 he formed another co-partnership, with his brother Norman T., for the manufacture of steam goods, etc. At this date the heating of buildings by steam was but little known. This was the only concern of the kind, of any considerable note, between Boston and New York, and Mr. Pitkin was one of the leading steam engineers in New England. Not long after- ward the firm of Pitkin Brothers & Co. was formed, consisting of A. P. Pitkin ( senior member), N. T. Pitkin and Charles A. Pitkin, and George C. Root. Mr. Root shortly afterward withdrew from the firm and removed to Detroit, where he died ; C. A. Pitkin also severed his connection with the firm, be- cause of failing health, and is now in Arroyo Grande, Cal. A. P. Pitkin was the directing spirit in this firm, whose work stands as high as any of its kind throughout the country. He was for more than forty years a director of the Farmers & Me- chanics Bank, having been first appointed to the

position by the State. From 1866 to 1871 he was a member of the board of water commissioners, and was instrumental in securing the establishment of the present system of water supply. Ile was also instrumental in founding the Hartford Light & Power Co., of which he was a director at the time of his death, and he also took an active interest in the Hartford Board of Trade. He was one of the original members of the Putnam Phalanx, and was a Freemason of long standing, having taken the thirty-second degree in that fraternity. Mr. Pitkin was a member of the Connecticut Historical Society, and the author of the Pitkin Genealogy, which was published in 1887, and for which membership in the Harleian Society of Blackheath, Kent, England, was conferred upon him. This work, which stands high among the genealogical literature of the day, was a lifelong labor of love with its author, and is an en- during monument to his energy and devotion, es- pecially as it was compiled in the midst of a life of unusual business activity. Mr. Pitkin was a liberal supporter of the churches of the town, and had been a regular attendant at the First Church for many years. He was a kind, genial, generous man, devotedly attached to his family, and beloved and respected by all who knew him. He was a man of sterling business qualities, scrupulously upright, and always careful for the welfare of everyone in his em- ploy. He believed in the right of every man to his freedom in the broadest application of the term, and was a stanch supporter of the Republican party from the time of its formation. His death, which occurred Feb. 21, 1892, caused sincere mourning among a wide circle of acquaintances in Hartford and elsewhere, and called forth many tokens of re- spect and affection. The funeral, which was held at his residence, was largely attended.

On Nov. 4, 1851, Mr. Pitkin married Miss Jane Ann Hastings, who was born Dec. 8, 1828, daugh- ter of Capt. Henry and Sarah Ann (Dewey) Hast- ings. Capt. Henry Hastings was a leading citizen of Hartford for many years, and he and his father, Benjamin Hastings, were elected collectors of the taxes of the town and city of Hartford, Conn., for thirty consecutive years. Mrs. Pitkin died Feb. I, 1876, leaving three sons: Albert H., of Hartford ; Howard S., of East Hartford; and William T., of Hartford, all yet living. In 1889 Mr. Pitkin mar- ried Miss Julia Louise Goodwin, daughter of Horace Ely Goodwin, of Hartford, and she sur- vives him.

EDWARD H. SMILEY. A. M., for a decade past connected with the Hartford Public High School, and its efficient principal since 1895, is well and favorably known to the educators of New Eng- land, among whom he has taken high rank.

Born Aug. 17, 1852, in Winslow, Maine, Mr. Smiley is a son of Reuel and Laura (Webber) Smi- ley, who were natives of Sydney and Vassalboro, Maine, respectively, and were farming people of the vicinity of Vassalboro, where the former died

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

at the age of fifty-nine years. The mother sur- vived him many years, attaining the advanced age of eighty-three. Both were identified with the Con- gregational Church of their community, and were inost estimable people, and held in high regard by their acquaintances and friends.

The boyhood of our subject was passed on the farm, at work, and in attendance at the common school of the neighborhood. At the early age of sixteen he began teaching a district school, and continued so occupied more or less for several years before completing his scholastic education. He furthered his studies in the Coburn Classical Institute, at Waterville, Maine, then entered Colby University, from which he was graduated in 1875, after this event returning to Waterville, Maine, where a high school had just been opened ; he be- came its first principal, a position he held for eight years. Following this, for six years, he was first classical teacher in the Springfield (Mass.) High School. From Springfield he came to Hartford, and in September, 1890, began his relations with the Hartford Public High School as vice-princi- pal, continuing in such position until May, 1895, when he was made principal, since which time he has proven himself the right man in the right place. He is a man of liberal education, thorough, pos- sesses the requisite tact for management and disci- pline, and the ability necessary to the successful teacher and principal that he is, as is evidenced in his work of a decade with the one institution.

The schools of Hartford from almost the very dawn of its settlement have been of a high order- in keeping with the superior intelligence and high character of the city's founders. The Colonial records of Connecticut show that a Classical School was in existence in Hartford as early as the year 1638, and before 1662 ten graduates of Harvard College, from Hartford, had received their prep- aration for college in this school. During that period two sons of Gov. John Winthrop were in Hartford as pupils. Another historic name, that of Gov. Edward Hopkins, is associated with the early schools of Hartford. The high school of the city was established in 1847, under the energetic and untiring efforts of such men as James M. Bunce, Amos M. Collins, D. F. Robinson, Rev. Dr. Bur- gess, Dr. Henry Barnard, and Rev. Dr. Bushnell. The first high school building, a plain three-story brick, was erected in 1847; another was built, in a different locality, in 1869, and enlarged in 1877. This building was destroyed by fire in 1882. and in May of the same year the first stone of the foun- dation of the present fire-proof structure, built in the secular Gothic style, was erected: to it in 1896 an extension was made, and it stands to-day the largest and best equipped high school building in New England. Among the principals of the school have been Joshua D. Giddings, Thomas K. Beecher, McLauren F. Cook, Cephas A. Leach, T. W. T. Curtis. Samuel M. Capron, Hiram A. Pratt, Joseph Hall, Charles H. Douglas and Edward H. Smiley.

In the report of the board of school visitors of the town of Hartford, 1899, it is set forth that : "Our High School, from the standpoint of equipment, teaching, force and far-reaching potentiality, stands to-day, as in the past, amongst the foremost high schools of the country. The Board, the citizens of Hartford, and the thousands of children who will enjoy the educational advantages of this school, owe a debt of gratitude to the members of the build- ing committee, and especially to Mr. Charles E. Thompson, the chairman, and Mr. Edward H. Smiley, the principal of the school, for their intel- ligent and self-sacrificing efforts in planning and supervising the erection of this building." In the school there are in attendance some nine hundred pupils, and forty teachers are employed.

EVERETT JAMES MCKNIGHT, M. D., Hartford, is one of the leading physicians and sur- geons in the county. A native of Connecticut, he was born June 12, 1855, in Ellington, Tolland coun- ty, and traces his ancestry to John McKnight, the emigrant, through James Dixon, Horace and John (2).

(I) John McKnight (1) was born about che year 1712, in Scotland, whence when nineteen years of age he came to this country, first locating in New Haven, Conn., where he became a merchant, later moving to Hartford, and finally to Ellington, and here he resided on a farm in the northwest part of the town until his death, in 1785. While on a trip to England for a cargo of goods, he married Je- rusha Crane, an Englishwoman, and by her had six children as follows : Thomas, (II) John, Mary, Je- rusha, Esther and Sarah. The father of these died March 16, 1785, the mother in September, 1783. . (II) John McKnight, born June 18, 1739, mar- ried (first) Nov. 20, 1762, Charity Abbe, who died in 1798; he married ( second) May 27, 1799. Jerusha Kent, born May 25, 1772, died Aug. 11, 1842. He passed away Nov. 12, 1837. the father of thirteen children, as follows: Roxia, born Sept. 8. 1788, married Parley Chapman ; Timothy (twin of Roxia) died Oct. 30. 1788; Horace was born Oct. 23, 1790; Harvey (twin of Horace) died March 10, 1806; Polly, born May 23, 1792, married Flavel Whiton, died June 30, 1860; Chauncey was born Jan. 21, 1796; Betsey was born Sept. 12, 1798. Children by second marriage : Charity, born April 15. 1800, mar- ried Jabez Chapman; Jerusha, born June 24. 1802, married Deacon Simon Chapman, and died in Wis- consin Aug. 1I, 1842: Miranda, born Oct. 1. 1804, married Harvey White, and died in Vermont Feb. 24, 1843; John, born March 2, 1807, married Sarah M. Abbe ; Sarah, born Jan. 14, 1810, married Helms Terry; and Gilbert, born Nov. 16, 1812, married Roxianna Abbe, and died in Worcester. Massa- chusetts.

(III) Horace McKnight was married Nov. 26, 1817, to Asenath Kimball, who was born Sept. 27, 1795, daughter of Daniel and Miriam (Allworth) Kimball; he died Dec. 27, 1856, she on Jan. 17,

Nicknight Ing

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1857, the parents of seven children, as follows : Horace Kimball, born Oct. 20, 1818, died June I, 1828; Alanson Abbe, a farmer, born March 25, 1821, died Oct. 28, 1822 ; Henry, born Oct. 20, 1823, married Levia P. Chapman, and died Dec. 5, 1896, in Springfield, Mass. (he was a farmer) ; James Dixon was born Aug. 9, 1826; Louisa Asenath, born Jan. 30, 1829, died March 10, 1832; Frances Ro- selle, born May 14, 1832, married Joseph Woods, a banker, and died July 17, 1865, in New Haven, Conn .; and Adrian Kimball, born Nov. 29, 1836, died Oct. 1, 1841. The father of this family was a tavern-keeper at Enfield, also a farmer, and a well-known teacher in Hartford county ; he was a Whig, and a representative in the State Legislature from Ellington, Conn., one term, also serving as selectman, justice of the peace, and school visitor, for many years. He was a member of the Eccle- siastical Society of the Congregational Church.

(IV) James Dixon McKnight, born Aug. 9, 1826, in Enfield, married Oct. 10, 1850, Mary Fi- clelia Thompson, who was born May 22, 1827, in East Windsor, daughter of John and Ann ( Ells- worth) Thompson, and granddaughter of Ben- jamin Ellsworth, a revolutionary soldier, who was present at the execution of Major Andre. John Thompson, born in 1798, died in 1874; his wife, born in 1800, died in 1833. Their children were: Sabra Ann, born in 1824, who married Fitch Stoughton, of Vernon: Mary Fidelia, Mrs. Mc- Knight; Julia Salina, born in 1829, who married Newton Booth, of East Windsor ; Edwin Franklin, born in 1831, who married a Miss Morrell ; Martha Aurelia, born in 1833, who married Allen Pascoe, of East Windsor: Sophronia, born in 1835 ; Emily Eleanor, born in 1838, who married James B. Stiles, of East Windsor ; John, born in 1840; and Elizabeth Mabel, born in 1842, who married a Mr. Newell. Children were born to Mr. and Mrs. McKnight as follows : Mary Louisa, born Aug. 31, 1852, married George Booth, a farmer of Enfield (no children) ; Everett James, our subject, sketch of whom follows; John Thompson, born May 29, 1860; married Julia Kimball, and has three children (he is city engineer of Rockville) : Nellie Elizabeth, born Sept. 20, 1863, died Aug. 20, 1890. unmarried ; and Howard Horace, born Aug. 13. 1865. is married and has four chil- dren (he manages his father's farm). All the fam- ily unite with the Congregational Church.

Dr. E. J. McKnight received his carlier educa- tion at Hall's family school in his native town, El- lington, Conn., and his preparation for college was made at the Hopkins Grammar School, in New Haven. From there he went to Yale, entering the class of 1876, in which among others were Arthur Twining Hadley, now president of Yale, William Waldo Hyde and others. While in Yale Dr. Mc- Knight took great interest in athletics, and during his course had much to do with developing interest in football, being one of its carly advocates. He was connected with the club in an official capacity during almost his entire course, being treasurer of

the organization in his sophomore year, secretary in his junior year, and president in his senior year, personally making most of the ararngements for the first game between Yale and Harvard. After his graduation from the regular course at Yale our subject took one year at Yale Medical School, and then at once proceeded to New York in order to further prepare himself for the medical profession. After three years of hard painstaking study at the College of Physicians and Surgeons he received his degree of M. D., in 1879. At once locating at East Hartford, he for fourteen and one-half years prac- ticed his profession with much acceptance to the people ; indeed, it has been truthfully said of him that his success was that of a painstaking physician, who drew to himself the patronage of the very best fam- ilies as well as that of the great masses of the com- munity. His practice having increased so largely in East Hartford, Dr. Mcknight opened an office in the Batterson building, on Asylum street, at the corner of High street, Hartford. For several years he remained in that location, and in July. 1807, he came to his present quarters, No. 110 High street, where he has a very convenient office.

On Feb. 8, 1881, Dr. McKnight was united in marriage with Miss Aletha T. Lindsley, of New Haven, Conn. They have one daughter, Rachel, born Aug. 9, 1889. The Doctor has filled and is- now filling a large number of responsible profes- sional positions in the societies and with railroads and life insurance companies. He is a member of the City, County and State Medical Societies. In 1898, by virtue of his long service as railroad sur- geon for the New England Railroad Co., he was chosen a vice-president of the International Asso- ciation of Railroad Surgeons. In 1899 he became attached to the Hartford Hospital in the very re- sponsible position of orthopedic surgeon, and was later first assistant surgeon in that institution, of which, on the death of Dr. M. Storres. June 9. 1900, he was appointed visiting surgeon. He is also con- sulting surgeon to the Hartford Orphan AAsylum. In November, 1899, our subject became medical director of the Hartford Life Insurance Co .. under its new management, a position which he fills with the utmost satisfaction to the company and its pol- icy holders.

Dr. McKnight represented the town of East Hartford in the General Assembly during the ses- sion of 1893. and was House chairman of the com- mittee on Fisheries and of the committee on Public Health. His professional cares of necessity restrict him from actively participating in affairs of a po- litical character, but he nevertheless has the welfare of the city in mind .. He is a man of social leanings, but has been too busy to connect himself with any secret organizations.

Dr. McKnight is a member of the Yale Alumni Association of the city of Hartford, of the well- known Colonial Club, and of the Twentieth Century Club. He is a great admirer of the ceramic art, and has one of the finest collections in the city.

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

HON. ALFRED EDMUND BURR, the founder of The Hartford Daily Times, and for sixty years its editor and publisher, and in whose deatlı, on Jan. 8, 1900, Hartford lost one of its foremost citizens, and the State and Nation one of the forceful and most influential molders of public opinion through the Press, had the distinction of being the oldest editor in New England, if not in the United States.

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Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 1, Part 10

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1336

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1336