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 117

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 117

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(II) Deacon John Loomis, the fourth child and second son of Joseph, was born in England, in 1622, and was admitted Oct. 11, 1640, to member- ship in the church at Windsor, where he made his permanent home, his death occurring there Sept. 1, 1688. He married Elizabeth Scott, of Hartford, daughter of Thomas Scott.

(III) Sergeant Daniel Loomis, the next in the line of descent, was born June 16, 1657, and died June 25, 1740. He was married (first) to Mary Ellsworth, daughter of Josiah Ellsworth, and (sec- ond) to Hannah Drake, a widow.

(IV) Benjamin Loomis, through whom the line of descent is traced, was born Feb. 7, 1699, and died Jan. 2, 1763. On Dec. 9, 1725, he married Joanna Alford, and they had the following children : Joanna, who married Gideon Loomis; Benjamin, who died in infancy; Tabitha; Benjamin, Jr., who married (first) Elizabeth Barber, and (second) Lydia Drake; Rachel; and Serajah.

(V) Serajah Loomis was born Dec. 4, 1740, and died in 1811. He married Sibyl (Loomis), and had sons as follows: Nider, Ira, Asher and Horace.

(VI) Ira Loomis, cur subject's great-grand- father, was born Feb. 13, 1770, and died Jan. 9, 1842. On March 5, 1798, he married Rosamond Warner, of Scotland, Conn., who died Sept. 18, 1849. They had four children: Gurdon, born Feb. 14, 1799, married Miriam Warner ; Ira is mentioned below : Wealthy P., born Jan. 29. 1806, died Aug. 29, 1826; and Ruth R., born April 19, 1815, mar- ried Noah Griswold, of Bloomfield, Connecticut.

(VII) Ira Loomis, Jr., grandfather of our sub- ject, was born May 2, 1802. He taught school in early manhood, later becoming a farmer and brick- maker, his industry and sound business methods enabling him to acquire a good old age: he died in September, 1891, much respected by his fellow citizens. On Feb. 12, 1834, he married Eliza Shel-

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don, of Suffield, who survived him only ten months. They had three children: Newton S., a farmer, who resided in Windsor throughout his life, with the exception of a few years in Bloomfield ; Ed- mund W., our subject's father ; and Mary A., now Mrs. Ira Goddard, of Brooklyn, New York.

(VIII) Edmund W. Loomis, father of our sub- ject, was born May 13, 1837, at our subject's pres- ent homestead, and was educated in the academies at Windsor and Suffield. As a boy he became fa- miliar with the details of farming and brick-mak- ing, and for many years he was engaged in the manufacture of cigars in Suffield and Windsor. After his marriage he made his home upon a tract of ten acres of land, which he had purchased ; but as his father's health declined it was thought best for him to remove to the homestead, where he resided from 1872 until his death, the farm being under his sole charge for seven years. In politics he was a Republican, but he never sought office, and be- yond casting his vote regularly was not active in partisan work. He was of average height and spare in build. He died in the prime of life, Sept. 23. 1882. On Feb. 18, 1863, he was married, in Windsor, to Miss Susan A. Camp, who survives him, and of their four children three are still liv- ing. E. Howard, born March 16, 1864, was drowned June 23, 1883, having been taken with cramps while bathing at the mouth of Farmington river. George Arthur, our subject, was the second in order of birth. Miss Susie H., born Feb. 14, 1871, and Harry S., born March 14, 1876, reside in Windsor.

Mrs. Susan Loomis, who still resides at the homestead, is a devout member of the Methodist Church at Windsor, and is greatly respected for her womanly qualities. She was born June 1, 1841. in Windsor village, where she grew to womanhond, her education being gained in the district and high schools of that town. Her father, Charles Camp. was born in Hartford, a son of Stephen Camp and his wife (a Miss Webster ), and for many years followed the blacksmith's trade in Windsor. In politics he affiliated with the Democratic party, but did not aspire to office. Physically he was short and compactly built, but was not as robust as he seemed, and his death occurred in the thirty-fiftli year of his age. His wife, Hannah ( Loomis), a daughter of George and Ilannah ( Wilson ) Loomis, died Dec. 10, 1893, in her eightieth vea". They had six children: Delia L., who married Austin Ranney, and died in Hartford; C. Henry, a book- binder, at Hartford : Susan A., our subject's mother ; George W., who died when nine years old : James IV., a cigarmaker : and Julia A., wife of Silas Chap- man. Tr., of Hartford.

(IX) G. A. Loomis was born July 13, 1867. near the present homestead, where he has resided since the age of three and one-half years. For some time he attended the school in Stony Hill District of Windsor, his aunt, Miss Mary A. Loomis, being his first teacher, and later he studied under Prof.

W. I. Twitchel, at Windsor Academy. When he was about thirteen years old his father had a para- lytic stroke, and as the older son, E. Howard, was drowned when only nineteen years old, our subject became the mainstay of the family, while a mere boy. He met the responsibilities of the situation with a courageous spirit, and his success in manag- ing the estate reflects great credit upon him, in- dicating unusual ability. Tobacco culture is a spe- cialty with him. His methods are intelligent and systematic, and, although his manners are plain and unassuming, he might well take pride in the high reputation which he has won among the business men of Windsor. He has always been a Republican, but does not crave official honors, and as a good citizen he is interested in all that pertains to the welfare of his town. On Dec. 19, 1894, he married Miss Harriet E. Filley, daughter of William H. and Julia A. ( Buckland) Filley, a sketch of whom is given elsewhere. George F., the only child of this union, born July 28, 1898, was a premature birth, but his life was saved by the most careful and skillful nursing. Mrs. Loomis is a native of Windsor, where her family is well known, and is noted for her accomplishments and social gifts, while as a member of the Congregational Church she is active in religious and philanthropic move- ments.

JOHN W. CARLETON, chief engineer of the fire department of New Britain, has frequently been called to positions of responsibility, and in the work of organizing the fire department of that city he wes probably done as much as any other one man. The fine record of the department in controlling fires speaks well for the efficiency of its management. He is also superintendent of the Union Manufactur- ing Co., of that city.

The Carleton family is of good old Massachusetts stock, and our subject's grandfather, Dean Carleton, was for many years a prominent resident of Ando- ver, that State. He married a Miss Ingalls, and they had two children : Elizabeth ( Mrs. Birchmore, of Boston) : and John D., the father of our sub- ject.

John D. Carleton was born in Andover, Mass., and was educated there, afterward becoming a music teacher. Ile followed the profession successfully, and for a time was employed as a clerk in the "United States Hotel." New York City, but he died in 1844, in eariy manhood, before he had fully man- ifested his abilities. He married Miss Hannah Clement, who survived him many years, her death occurring Dec. 29, 1898, in her eighty-third year. She was a daughter of Benjamin Clement. a well- known contractor and builder of Andover, Mass .. and later of Nashua, N. Y., whose last years were spent in retirement upon a farm near Greenfield, Mass. His wife was a Miss Clement. and thev had the following children: Hannah, our subject's mother ; George C., formerly a carpenter, but now a

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farmer at Peterboro; Benjamin C., a carpenter and contractor ; Moses C., a carpenter, now deceased ; Andrew Jackson, a successful farmer ; Harriet, who married George Campbell; Elizabeth, who married George Whitmore: Catherine, who married Reuben Lawton, and Mary, who married Bailey Lovejoy.

Our subject was born June 17, 1842, at the old home in Andover, Mass., where he attended public and private school during boyhood, receiving a good practical education. About the age of eighteen he left school and entered upon an apprenticeship to the machinist trade at Manchester, N. H. At the end of his term of three years he became a "journey- man," being employed at his trade in Boston, Law- rence. Lowell, Worcester and Hartford, but he fin- ally, in 1870, located in New Britain, where he en- tered the employ of the Union Manufacturing Co .. of which Warren Tuck was then at the head. Ilis skill and faithfulness were soon recognized, and he was promoted to the position of foreman, which he held for many years, and since 1894 he has been superintendent, with about 300 men under his direc- tion in all departments of the factory. His interest in local affairs has been manifested in many ways, and for four years he served on the board of fire commissioners, being the first chairman of that body. He was an active member of the fire department, and in 1888 was elected to his present post of chief engineer. Politically he is a Republican, and he served as councilman from the Second ward of New Britain for two years ( 1880-81), and as alderman in 1882-83. He and his family are much esteemed socially, and he belongs to Harmony Lodge, No. 20, F. & A. M., in which he has served as master several times.

Mr. Carleton married ( first ) Miss Emma Mor- lev. of Glastonbury. Conn .. by whom he had one son, John W., Jr., and his present wife was formerly Miss Julia Roberts, of New Britain. John W. Carle- ton, Jr., who resides in Hartford, married Miss Mabel Buffington, and has one daughter, Elizabeth.

HENRY MANFRED DOWD is of the seventh generation in direct lineal descent from Henry Dowd. the American progenitor of the family, who came to this country from England in 1639 as a member of a colony under the leadership of Rev. Henry Whitfield. Whether this Henry Dowd orig- inally came from Surrey or Kent is somewhat uncer- tain. although it appears probable that his English home was in Guilford, in the county of Surrey, sev- enteen miles southwest of London. Mr. Whitfield and his followers settled at Guilford, Conn., and Mr. Dowd established himself on land lying about one-quarter mile northeast of what is now the Green. The site of his dwelling was not far from the house now occupied by William Dowd, one of his descend- ants. The town and parish records contain but little concerning him. No mention of his wife's maiden name is found, from which the inference is drawn that he had been married before leaving Eng-

land. It appears, however, that her baptismal name was Elizabeth, and that he was the father of eight children. He died in 1668, although the place of his death and burial is unknown. His widow died in 1713.

Henry Dowd's eldest son, Thomas, the next in the descending line of primogeniture of Henry M. Dowd, is believed to have been born before his par- ents left England, as no record of his birth can be found in Guilford, although, on the other hand, the records of an early settlement are necessarily imper- fect. He married Ruth Johnson, probably in 1678 or '79, and both died in 1713. He early removed to the eastern part of Guilford, locating on the thoroughfare afterward known as Liberty street. His first house was probably a log cabin, the under- pinning of which has been found on a little knoll directly in the rear and to the north of what is now known as the Dowd house. He probably vacated this cabin for a better house, which he built between the Dowd and the Timothy Dowd houses, directly to the east of his original site. Not much is known of his characteristics, but that he was an earnest sup- porter of the cause of religion in a new and sparsely settled territory is evidenced by the recorded fact that his name appears as one of the signers of a petition addressed to the Guilford Society praying that East Guilford might be set off as a Society by itself "for greater convenience in attending public worship." He and his wife were the parents of five. children. His son Thomas (2), the great-great- great-grandfather of Henry Manfred, was born in 1684. He lived and died in the old homestead on Liberty street, passing away in 1711. He married Silence Evarts, who bore him three children. Of these this narrative is more especially interested in Ebenezer, the great-great-grandfather of the gentle- man who is its subject. He was born in 1707, and attained the ripe old age of eighty-two years, dying in 1789. His wife, Mary Dowd, was twenty years his junior, having been born in 1727, survived him until 1807. No stone has been found to designate his grave, although he was a large land owner and prominent citizen. His home, too, was on Liberty street, in that part of Madison known as Hammon- assett. His real-estate holdings were in the form of a belt, reaching from a point near the eastern end of Boston street nearly to the Hammonassett river. He had but three children, and he wished to divide his estate between his two sons, Ebenezer and Timothy. He cared little for the formality of a "last will and testament," and so one day, accom- panied by his boys, on horseback, he rode to the point from which he proposed to commence the di- vision. He himself drove the stakes which fixed al north and south line of demarcation. Then, turn- ing to one, he said, "the land this side is yours," and to the other, "on the other side of the line the property is yours." Such was his utterly anomalous mode of conveying real property by gift or dona- tion, yet the brothers never questioned the equity of

A.M.Wood

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the division, and the property thus irregularly ap- portioned among grantees without deed, has re- mained longer in the same family than any other realty in Madison.

Ebenezer Dowd(2), one of the heirs, was Henry M. Dowd's great-grandfather. He was born in 1744, and in 1765 was married to Tamson Wilcox, who was born in 1747. In the division of the prop- .erty above described Ebenezer's portion included the homestead in Hammonassett, and there he and his wife reared their family of eight boys, of whom Capt. Timothy Field is reported to have said that "their equal was not be found in Madison." Eben- ezer Dowd served for many years as an officer in the army of the Revolution. Exposure while in military service brought on rheumatism, which inca- pacitated him for active work for several years be- fore his demise, in 1805, fifteen years before his wife. Luther Dowd, his son, and the grandfather of Henry M., was born in 1771. In 1793 he mar- ried Mina, daughter of Timothy Field, and sister of Rev. Dr. David D. Field, of saintly memory. She was his junior by two years, having been born in 1773. Her mother was a daughter of Deacon David Dudley, a scion of a noble house. The lat- ter's wife was the daughter of Mrs. Peter Tall- man, who traced her maternal line upward through Mrs. Andrew Merriam, Mrs. Lieut. Gov. Jones, to Gov. Jones himself. Not long after his marriage Luther Dowd removed to Saybrook. He succeeded there so well financially that he returned to his old home and purchased of his father-in-law the old Field place, situated in the Wood's school district of Madison. There he made his home and there he reared his family of eleven children, all of whom at- tained years of maturity, married, and had families of their own. While not yet far past the prime of life, Luther Dowd was attacked with typhoid fever which resulted in his death in 1820. His widow was left with a young family, and the care of the homestead. She was, however, a woman of sound sense, excellent judgment and unwavering courage. Her eldest son, Wyllys Wedworth, the father of Henry M. Dowd, proved a wise counsellor and trust- worthy coadjutor.

Wyllys Wedworth Dowd deserves a more ex- tended mention than it is possible to make of him in the necessarily restricted limits of the present memoir. He was born in 1794, and after a well- spent life of eighty-three years entered into rest in 1877. As a youth he learned the trade of a shoe- maker, and when he received his allotment of the paternal acres (which consisted of one-half the house, with some acres adjoining) he put up a sho? and began work at his chosen calling. In 1819 he married Rebecca Graves, and a better, truer help- meet in prosperity and adversity, in sunshine and in storm, he could not have found. She came of the "true blue" Puritan stock, one of her ancestors, John Graves, having removed from Guilford to Hartford in the earliest davs of that settlement where he was

a deacon in the church, and from that day to this no generation of the family has been without one or more representatives in the deaconate. Her mother, Hannah Crane, was a direct lineal descend- ant from the Lord Chamberlain of James II of England. In the simple, familiar parlance of the early days her husband and herself were commonly called Wyllys and Rebecca, but they were known far and wide for those virtues dear to the New Eng- land heart-temperance, industry, thrift, patience and piety. Having enjoyed but limited educational ad- vantages themselves, they were all the more anxious to promote education among the generations which should follow them, and as God blessed them with abundance they were all the more ready to aid the less fortunate. Such lives as theirs could scarcely fail to exert a hallowing if not a sanctifying and vivifying influence upon the community among which they were spent. Wyllys Dowd prospered in business, adding, in 1832, a tannery to his shoe business, and carrying on a fairly good trade as a manufacturer of leather, a large portion of his trade being with the South. In that year he moved his place of business to the "cross roads," near the school house, and two years later erected a commodious dwelling on the land ad- jacent, and opened a large country store. Well- constructed farm buildings followed in due course, and the general outlook grew brighter until the panic of 1837 settled down upon the country like a pall. In vain did Mr. Dowd struggle against the inevita- ble with all the courage, grit and determination of generations of hard-headed, hard-fisted Puritan an- cestors. In vain did he summon to his aid the man- ual and mental assistance of wife and children. There could be but one end, and it came all too soon. After repeated unsuccessful efforts to retrieve his shattered fortune, he finally gave up the unequal contest, and in 1846 accepted the position of post- master at East Berlin. This office he held until his death. All through his life he was afflicted with deafness, an infirmity which always sadly inter- fered with his business, social and official relations.

Mr. Dowd's home was thoroughly permeated with those principles and practices of vital religion which have leavened the entire life of New England. From the family altar the incense of prayer ascended daily, and on Sundays the entire family might be seen at both morning and afternoon services in the plain country church, while the younger members received instruction in the Sunday-school during the intermission at noon. In the conduct of the house- hold, in the care of her children, and in the example afforded by her daily life Mrs. Wyllys Dowd was a woman among ten thousand. Self-sacrifice was the rule of her life, she being always the first to as- sume a burden, and the last to lay it down. Her energy was indomitable, and her Christian faith shone brightest when the hour of trial was darkest. Her duties as a wife and mother were performed with a fidelity which sprang from tender love, il- lumined and sanctified by a deep religious sense.

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To her children the prayers and example of such a mother are a benediction. She passed to her re- ward in 1873.

Wyllys Wedworth Dowd and his wife were blessed with a family of four sons and four daugh- ters, the sexes alternating in the order of birth. The first-born, John Luther, was born in 1821, and in 1846 married Mary Coe ; ten years after her death, which occurred in 1856, he took, as a second wife, Mrs. Henrietta ( Houston) Loveland. Tamson Eliza, the second child and eldest daughter, married, in 1845, Henry M. Galpin, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere; she was born in 1823, and died ir 1846. Charles Ferdinand, born in 1825, married Harriet M. North in 1852. Jane Rebecca was born in 1827, and is now the widow of William L. Heald, whom she married in 1845 and who died in 1869. Wyllys Wedworth, Jr., was born in 1829, and twice married, his first wife, to whom he was united in 1854, being Augusta A. North; she died in 1866, and two years afterward he led to the altar Lucy A. Atkins. Harriet Ann was born in 1831, and died in 1865; she was the second wife of Henry M. Galpin, the husband of her eldest sister, Tamson Eliza. Henry Manfred, the youngest son and seventh child, whose name appears in the opening of this sketch, was born May 17, 1835. Nancy Amelia, the youngest of the family, was born in 1838; she was never married.

Henry Manfred Dowd was born in Madison, and received his early educational training in the common schools of that town, later graduating from a private academy and a public school at Berlin. On leaving school, at the age of eighteen, he became a clerk for Galen & Dowd, of Saybrook, the junior member of which firm was a cousin of his father. After two and a half years spent in this employ he went to Baltimore, Md. There he took a posi- tion as teacher in the preparatory department and general bookkeeper in Newton University. He filled this responsible post for five years, with that intelligence and fidelity which he has brought to bear on all the duties of life. From Baltimore he went to North Granville, N. Y., where for seven years he was a partner with his brother, Charles F. in the North Granville young ladies seminary Being offered the post of general business manager of Temple Grove Seminary, at Saratoga, N. Y., he severed his connection with the Granville Seminary, and remained at Saratoga for another seven years, when his father's failing health admonished him of his duty as a son. Resigning his position, he re- turned to Berlin, carefully tending and caring for his father, and assisting him in his duties as post- master, until he passed away. After his father's death Mr. Dowd was tendered and accepted the position of general passenger and freight agent of the N. Y. & N. H. Railway Co. at East Berlin. The responsibilities attaching thereto have steadily increased, the present daily receipts exceeding those for a month when Mr. Dowd first took charge of

the station. In the conduct of his responsible duties he is aided by his son, Henry Walter, who has been his assistant for ten years.

On Aug. 21, 1856, Mr. Dowd married Miss Susan Amelia Penfield, who was born on the well- known Penfield place, in East Berlin, Sept. 5, 1835. Her parents, Titus and Julia ( North) Penfield, are both dead, and : est in the Wilcox cemetery. Her father cultivated a small farm, and was by trade a wheelwright At times he worked as a turner of wagon spokes in the shops, but his specialty was the construction and sale of spinning wheels. To Henry MI. Dowd and wife have been born two children: Henry Walter and Julia Eliza; the daughter, born May 21, 1861, died Jan. 9, 1868, in her seventh year.

Henry Walter Dowd was born July 6, 1859. He has been an experienced and successful hotel clerk, having been connected with summer hostelries at the Thousand Islands and Long Beach, as well as with the "Murray Hill" and "Brunswick" hotels, New York City On June 24, 1895, he married Miss Jennie Geer, who was born in 1859, daughter of Henry and Martha (Chambers) Geer of Middle- town, and to their union has come one son, Jarvis Geer, born Sept. 25, 1896.

Both H. M. Dowd and his son are Republicans, but neither is in any sense a politician. The former united with the Congregational Church at Berlin, but he and his wife attend the M. E. Church of East Berlin, of which Mrs. Dowd is a communicant.

JUSTUS WELLES GRISWOLD (deceased) was a prominent citizen and progressive farmer of Wethersfield. He was a great-grandson of Ozias Griswold, who in turn, was a great-grandson of Michael, a pioneer settler of Wethersfield in 1645. The line of descent from Michael to Ozias is fully traced in the biography of Thomas Newton Gris- wold, to which the reader is referred.

Justus Griswold, the grandfather of Justus Welles Griswold, was the fifth child and second son of Ozias, and passed his life upon his farm in Two Stone, now Griswoldville, where he died Aug. 15, 1805. He married Prudence Welles, who was born i 1 the same town Oct. 30, 1766, a daughter of Joshua and Experience (Dickinson) Welles, and grand- daughter of Joseph and Hannah ( Robbins) Welles. She bore her husband three children: Justus Gris- wold, the eldest of the family, and the father of Justus Welles, was a farmer, as had been his father and grandfather. He was born, and lived and died, in Griswoldville, where he was universally known and honored. He was a Whig until the for- mation of the Republican party, when he affiliated with that organization. He married Jeanette Kirk- ham, who was born at Newington, in which town they were married, and three children were born to them, of whom Justus W. was the eldest; Charles K. married Martha Porter, and resides at Cromwell ; Jennette C. became Mrs. Simeon Havens. Justus

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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 117

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