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 123

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 123

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Ralph Cone was educated in the common schools, and early in youth went to work in his father's fac- tory, where he learned the trades of wood-work- ing and carriage-painting. At the age of t.venty- one he was admitted into partnership, Daniel Wads- worth becoming a member of the firm at about the same time. In 1898 Mr. Cone purchased Mr. Wads- worth's interest, and has since operated the factory on his own account.

On May 13, 1844, Ralph Cone married Miss Esther Wells Woodbridge, one of the twelve chil- dren of Dudley Woodbridge (his sister was the mother of the Cheney brothers, of South Manches- ter). To this union were born two children: Ar- thur and Mary W. (Mrs. Jenney). Arthur, a farmer, who lives at the old homestead, married Emily Jackson, of Boston, and five children were born to them, Carrie, Marion, Rachel, Helen and Ralph. Arthur Cone and liis sister are both mem- bers of the Congregational Church, Mrs. Jenney being identified for many years with the music of the church in the choir, and giving her service as or- ganist for thirteen years.

Dudley Woodbridge, father of Esther Wells Woodbridge (Mrs. Cone), kept the public house on

the Green, which was a notable stopping place, being an important route for the stage line running from Boston and Providence to New York, as it was in the direct course from Hartford to Lebanon, the headquarters of military operations for the State, the home of Gov. Trumbull. Mrs. Betsey Wood- brdge here gave, in her childhood, a glass of water to Gen. Washington at his request, and received his thanks for the favor.

Ralph Cone was elected to the Legislature in 1865, and again in 1866. He cast his first Presiden- tial vote for William Henry Harrison, and when the Republican party became the residuary political leg- atee of the "Old-line Whigs" he cast in his fortunes with that organization. Since 1832 he has been an active member of the Congregational Church, both he and his wife being connected with the First Con- gregational Church of Manchester Center.

AUGUSTINE M. LEWIS, proprietor of a meat market in Plantsville, and a leading repre- sentative of the business interests of Southington, was born in that town, Feb. 4, 1837.

Mr. Lewis belongs to an old Connecticut family, which was founded in America by William and Felix Lewis, who came from England in the ship "Lion," landing in Boston, Sept. 16, 1632. Will- iam Lewis was admitted a freeman in the following November, and joined the Braintree company, which in August, 1633, removed to Newtown (Cam- bridge). In 1636 he came with a company to Hart- ford, and in 1659 became one of the founders of Hadley, Mass., which town he represented in the General Court in 1662. He resided in Northamp- ton in 1664, and prior to November, 1677, removed to Farmington, Conn., where he died August 2, 1683, leaving one son, William, who was born in England. In 1644 the latter was a resident of Farmington, and he was the first recorder of the town after its incorporation in 1645. His first wife was Mary Hopkins, of Windsor, and his second was Mary, daughter of the celebrated teacher, Ezekiel Chewer, of New Haven and Boston. He died Aug. 18, 1690. Samuel Lewis, a son of Will- iam and Mary (Hopkins) Lewis, was born Aug. 18, 1648, and died Nov. 28, 1752. He held the mil- itary rank of sergeant. His son, Nathan Lewis, was born Jan. 23, 1707, and lived in the Marion District of Southington. On July 28, 1730, he wedded Marv daughter of Samuel and Mary (Humphrey) Gridley. He died Sept. 7, 1799, and his wife passed away May 20, 1784, aged seventy- seven · years. Their son, Capt. Nathaniel Lewis, was the great-grandfather of our subject. He was born in Southington, in December, 1747, and lived on the mountainside in the eastern part of Wolcott, after it was set off from Southington. He was quite prominent in town and church affairs. He died Feb. 24, 1839, and on his gravestone is in- scribed "An honest man." On Feb. 15, 1769, he married Sarah Gridley, who died Aug. 11, 1809,

AM Lewis

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

aged sixty-eight years, and for his second wife he married Mrs. Lydia Frisbie. Appleton Lewis, the grandfather of our subject, was born Aug. 18, 1774, and lived in Wolcott, where he died July 29, 1820. He was married, Nov. 15, 1797, to Mrs. Lois Hall, of Waterbury, Conn., who died March 23, 1860, aged eighty-three years. Their children were Rufus ; Millie A., wife of James Wightman ; Edward; Alfred; Julina, wife of Truman Daily ; Lloyd; Dennis; Lois M .; and Jared A. Lloyd Lewis, the father of our subject, was born in Wol- cott, Jan. 15, 1810, and was married, March 25, 1832, to Miss Diadamia, daughter of Martin and Mary ( Munson) Phinney, of Plainville. The chil- dren born of this union were Augustine M. (of this review), Mary Jane and Julina S.

Our subject passed his boyhood and youth in Southington, and received a good practical educa- tion in the common schools and the Lewis high school. Prior to 1869 he was engaged in farming, and in the fall of that year he opened a market in Plantsville, which he has since conducted with marked success, having built up an excellent trade.

In 1861 Mr. Lewis was united in marriage with Miss Harriet Buckingham, daughter of James and Annie (Smith) Buckingham, of Oxford, Conn., and to them were born four children, of whom two are living: Mortimer M., who is a graduate of Hahnemann Medical College, New York, and is now engaged in the practice of his profession; and Anita. For his second wife our subject married Miss Ellen Tuttle, a daughter of Samuel Tuttle, of Cheshire, Conn., where she was born, the de- scendant of long lines of Puritan ancestry. Mrs. Lewis was for many years a teacher in Plantsville, and a member of the school board at Southington for Plantsville.

Mr. Lewis is a prominent member of the Baptist Church of Plantsville, of which he is now one of the trustees, and he also belongs to Friendship Lodge, No. 33, F. & A. M., Southington. In his political affiliations he is an ardent Republican, and he has served as a member of the Southington school board for twenty-one consecutive years, and as selectman for fourteen years. He has taken deep interest in the "good-roads" movement, and five miles of macadamized road in the town show the practical result of his efforts, the Clark Farms being built under his sole direction.

CAPT. DANIEL GOULD FRANCIS, an hon- ored veteran of the Civil war, who now makes his home in West Hartford, was for many years one of the active and progressive business men of Hart- ford county, as well as one of its most reliable and highly esteemed citizens, and now in his declining years he is enjoying a well-earned rest, free from the cares and responsibilities of business life.

Capt. Francis was born in the town of Benson, Rutland Co., Vt., March 27, 1835. His father, Daniel D. Francis, was a native of the same State,

born in the town of Wells, and was educated for the ministry, being a graduate of Middlebury College and Burlington University. He had charge of a Cong'1. church at Benson, Vt., for many years, later resided for some time in North Canaan, Conn., and subse- quently made his home on a farm near Palmyra, N. Y. He engaged in preaching at Fairport and Ro- chester, N. Y., and was highly respected not only by his own congregations, but by all who witnessed his devotion to his noble calling. Returning to Sharon, Litchfield Co., Conn., he spent a few years, and then went to Chicago, remaining a few years. Subse- quently he made his home in Hartford, Conn., with our subject, until the summer of 1872, when he died at West Lebanon, N. H., whither he had gone for luis health. At Sharon, Litchfield Co., Conn., May 15, 1832, Mr. Francis was married to Miss Elizabeth Gould, a native of Litchfield county, and a daughter of Major David Gould, and to them were born three children : Daniel G., our subject ; Amelia E., wife of Edward Nevers, who is connected with Marshall Field & Co., of Chicago, Ill. ; and James Lathrop, who died in Vicksburg, Miss., from wounds re- ceived in the Civil war.

In his native town Daniel G. Francis was reared and educated until nine years of age, accompanied the family on their removal to North Canaan, Conn., where he attended school, and completed his educa- tion at a boarding school in Kent, Conn. Later he clerked for several years in a hardware store at Pal- myra, N. Y., and was then employed in the pay- master's department of the New York Central rail- road at Rochester, N. Y. Subsequently, on account of ill health, he spent two years in northwestern Illinois, and southern Wisconsin, and on his return East, in 1855, came to Berlin, Hartford Co., Conn., where with his father, he operated a small farm for two years.

In 1858 Capt. Francis accepted a position with the firm of Talcott & Post, of Hartford, and remained with them until the outbreak of the Rebellion. He assisted in raising a company at Hartford, and went to the front as second lieutenant of Rifle Co. A, Ist Conn. V. I., under command of Gen. Hawley. At the expiration of his three-months' term of enlistment he was discharged at New Haven, but later recruited Company A, of the 7th Conn. V. I., and was com- missioned captain of that company. On account of ill health he was forced to resign at the end of four- teen months and return home.

Going to Chicago, Il1., Capt. Francis became con- nected with the wholesale house of Cooley, Farwell & Co., and remained in their employ for several years. While thus engaged he was married, in Hartford, Conn., to Miss Lizzie A. Crane, a daugh- ter of Mrs. O. H. Crane. On his return East he en- gaged in the insurance business with the Connecticut General Life Insurance Co. for a while, and then entered the employ of Wetherbee, Knous & Pelton, whose dry-goods store was then in Hill's block, Hartford. Subsequently he was again with the firm

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of Talcott & Post, for a time, and when Gen. Will - iam H. Bulkeley purchased the "Bee Hive" store he went with him. In the spring of 1882 he removed to West Hartford, where he has since lived retired, enjoying a well-earned rest. Here his estimable wife died in 1895. The Captain is a prominent member of Robert O. Tyler Post, No. 50, G. A. R., of Hartford, and is a charter member of the Grange. He has been honored with various town offices, in- cluding those of grand juror and justice of the peace, and his official duties have always been most satisfactorily performed. Religiously he is a men- ber of the Ecclesiastical Society of the Congrega- tional Church.

LOREN DWIGHT PENFIELD. The subject of this sketch, who is now town clerk of New Britain, has for many years been prominently identified with the social history of that city. He has been repeatedly elected to an office which came to him unsolicited. He is a native of the city, and his ancestry dates back through many generations of Connecticut citizens into Colonial history. Two of his great-grandparents bore arms for the strug- gling colonies during the Revolution, and our sub- ject was a veteran during the Civil war.

Mr. Penfield was born at New Britain June 15, 1840, son of Harvey and Lucy E. (Sanford) Penfield, grandson of Phineas and Ruth Judd (Hart) Penfield, and great-grandson of Phineas and Lucy (Osgood) Penfield. The parents of Phineas Penfield, Sr., were Nathaniel and Lydia (Barnes) Penfield, and his grandparents were Na- thaniel Penfield, Sr., and his wife Hannah. Na- thaniel Penfield, Sr., was a member of the New Haven Colony, and settled at Wallingford, dying in January, 1776. Nathaniel Penfield, Jr., was a farmer, and settled in Meriden. He married Lydia Barnes June 9, 1755, and died at Meriden May 18, 1777. His widow Lydia, married for her second husband Jeremiah H. Osgood, April 23; 1778; she died Jan. 31, 1811, aged seventy-six years.

Phineas Penfield, Sr., the great-grandfather of our subject, and son of Nathaniel and Lydia (Barnes) Penfield, was born June 6, 1756. He was in actual service as a private in the Connecticut troops during the Revolutionary war for twelve months and twenty-three days, enlisting at Farm- ington, Conn., and serving a part of the time under Capt. Curtis and Col. Enos. He married, April 9, 1778, Lucy Osgood, daughter of Jeremiah H. and Lucy (Churchill) Osgood, and died March 28, 1834, in Hartford county, aged seventy-seven years. Nathaniel Penfield, the brother of Phineas, Sr., and four years younger, also enlisted at Farm- ington, Conn., as a private in the Connecticut troops, and served eighteen months and twelve days as a private, a part of the time under Captain Bray and Colonel Butler.

Phineas Penfield, Jr., the grandfather of our subject, was born Oct. 18, 1785. He married, Nov.

25, 1812, Ruth Judd Hart, who was born May 3, 1793, daughter of Linus Hart, of Farmington, and who died Dec. 11, 1848, aged fifty-five years. Phineas Penfield, Jr., was a farmer and cooper by occupation ; he died Aug. 3, 1845, aged sixty years. Harvey Penfield, father of our subject, and son of Phineas and Ruth J. (Hart) Penfield, was born June 7, 1815. He married, Oct. 21, 1839, Lucy Ellen Sanford, who is now living at the age of eighty-two years. She is the daughter of Edmund and Lydia (Beckley) Sanford, of Wethersfield, and the granddaughter of John Beckley, Jr. The roster in the adjutant-general's office, Connecticut [pp. 25 and 381], shows that John Beckley, Sr., was a third lieutenant in Capt. Chester's company, and marched to the relief of Boston in April, 1775, after the "Lexington alarm." He was the father of John Beckley, Jr., and the son of Sergt. Richard Beckley, who was at the "Lexington alarm." Rich- ard Beckley came from the New Haven Colony, and settled at Beckley, Hartford county. He owned 300 acres of land by grant from the Indians and consent of the General Assembly. Harvey Pen- field died April 1, 1873, aged fifty-seven years.

Loren Dwight Penfield was educated in the pub- lic schools, but when a boy of twelve years he bade good-bye to school books and entered the shop of the Russell & Erwin Manufacturing Co. as an em- ploye. Here he remained for seven years, and gradually improved his position. For a time, dur- ing the illness of his uncle, he was foreman of the knob room. When a young man of twenty-one years Mr. Penfield left the service of the above named company to enter the United States vol- unteer army. He enlisted Dec. 11, 1861, for three years, in Company A, Thirteenth Connecticut Regi- ment, which was assigned to the command of Gen. B. F. Butler and Gen. N. P. Banks. Mr. Penfield was with Gen. Butler in the capture of New Or- leans, and with General Banks at the siege of Port Hudson. He was one of the thousand volunteers in the "forlorn hope," 250 of the volunteers step- ping forward from the ranks of the Thirteenth Connecticut. After the surrender of Port Hud- son he was detailed, on July 15, 1863, as clerk at headquarters, Department of the Gulf, corner of Carondalet and Julia streets, New Orleans. There he remained until July, 1864, when his regiment was transferred to the command of Gen. Phil. Sher- idan, for service in the Shenandoah Valley. He took part in the battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek. Through all his engage- ments Mr. Penfield escaped without injury. He was mustered out Jan. 5. 1865, and for nearly a vear thereafter was employed as a clerk in the United States provost-marshal-general's office at Hartford, Connecticut.

In April, 1866, Mr. Penfield engaged at his trade of house painting, and contracted for tlie painting of some of the finest residences of New Britain and other cities, employing from ten to

Trenntenfield 1

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

sixteen men. In October, 1893, he was elected to his first term as town clerk, assuming the duties of the office in January, 1894. Ile did not attend the caucus which placed him in nomination, nor did he seek the office. He was elected to his sec- ond term in 1895, and has held the office contin- uously ever since. In 1894 he was elected clerk of the probate court for the district of Berlin, and was re-elected town clerk in 1895, serving from Jan. 1, 1895, to the present time. In politics Mr. Penfield is a Republican. On account of his ab- sence from home in the army he did not vote until at the second election of President Lincoln. For many years he has been prominent in the fraternal affairs of New Britain, being a member of Har- mony Lodge, No. 20, F. & A. M .; Giddings Chap- ter, No. 25, R. A. M .; Doric Council, No. 24, R. & S. M .; Washington Commandery, No. 1, K. T .; Sphinx Temple, N. of M. S. of Oasis of Hart- ford, Desert of Connecticut; has taken several de- grees in the Scottish Rite Masons, and is a mem- ber of Norwich Consistory, Thirty-second degree ; of the Martha Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, in which he is a worthy patron; of Stanley Post, No. II, G. A. R., in which order he has filled every chair in the post, being now junior vice-commander of the department, and was delegate from Con- necticut to the National convention at Pittsburg in 1894. Mr. Penfield is also a member of the Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revo- lution ; the Army and Navy Club; Trumbull Col- ony, No. 173, United Order of Pilgrim Fathers ; Washington Camp, No. 9, Patriotic Order Sons of America; Winthrop Council, No. 7, Daughters of Liberty ; New Britain Council, No. 8, Order United American Mechanics; New Britain Club, and Put- nam Phalanx. For six years he was a member of Company D, First Connecticut National Guard, and was commissioned second lieutenant by Gov. Jewell; was elected first lieutenant, but declined the commission. He is local treasurer of the Balti- more Building & Loan Association.

Mr. Penfield was married, June 20, 1866, to Miss Carrie W. McNary, daughter of William Mc- Nary. Of their two children, Nellie Ruth, born Oct. 20, 1867, is now the wife of Warren W. Mar- shall; Arthur Eugene is deceased. Mr. Penfield is a member of the First Baptist Church of New Britain, and for many years was librarian of the Sunday-school.

WARD HUBBARD GRISWOLD. The family of Griswold is one of the oldest and most highly esteemed in Connecticut. There are three branches in this country-the Windsor, the Lyme and the Wethersfield, descended, respectively, from Edward, Matthew and Michael. The residence of the fam- ily in England was in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. There were three sons in the family, Edward, Thomas and Matthew. The younger, Matthew, came to America with Rev. John Warham, landing

in Massachusetts Bay, May 30, 1630, when eighteen years old. In 1639 Edward came over in a vessel sent out by William Whiting, and in company with Rev. Ephraim and others. This party soon moved to Windsor (that year), and Matthew with them. He married a daughter of Henry Wolcott, soon after went to Saybrook to work on the fort, and ac- quired a tract of land on the opposite side of the river at Lyme, which has been the home place of that branch of the family. From Matthew, in the fifth generation, came Gov. Matthew Griswold, and his son, Gov. Roger Griswold, of the sixth genera- tion

Edward Griswold was born about 1604, was married before he came to America, and brought with his wife, Margaret, and five or six children. He settled in Windsor, and remained there until 1664, when he moved to that part of Killingworth, now known as Clinton, and gave to the town the name of his home in England-Killingworth, a corruption of Kenilworth. Margaret, wife of Edward, died Aug. 23, 1670 (old style), and her tombstone is in the yard at Clinton. The next year he married the widow of James Bemis, of New London. He died in 1671. The children of Edward and Margaret Griswold were : Edward, Francis, George, John, Sarah (these five being born in England), Ann, Mary, Deborah, Joseph, Sam- uel and John, eleven in all.

George Griswold, born about 1633, was a large land holder in Windsor, living in Poquonock, on the Farmington river. He married Mary, daughter of Thomas Holcomb, Oct. 3 (presumably), 1655. He died Sept. 3, 1704, and his widow died April 4, 1708. The children of George and Mary ( Hol- comb) Griswold were: Daniel, Thomas, Edward, Mary, George, John, Benjamin, Deborah, Thomas Moore, Abigail, Samuel, eleven in all.

Daniel Griswold, born in October, 1656, mar- ried Feb. 3, 1680, Mindwell, daughter of Nathaniel Bissell. She was born Oct. 3, 1663, and died in 1728. Their children were Daniel and Nathaniel (twins), Peletiah, Mary, Edward, Deborah and David, seven in all. Date of the father's death is not known.

Daniel Griswold, born Feb. 14, 1684 (old style), married Sept. 16, 1716, Sarah, daughter of Capt. Daniel White, of Bolton. He moved to and was married in Bolton, where his wife died Feb. I, 1738, aged forty-three. His tombstone is in the Bolton yard. He married a second time, but left no children by the second wife. Date of his death is not known. The children of Daniel and Sarah (White) Griswold were: Sarah, Ann, Bathsheba, Mindwell, Daniel, Hannah, White, George, Seth, an unnamed daughter, and Reuben, eleven in all.

White Griswold was born Oct. 26, 1727, and married Feb. 14, 1751, Elizabeth Cheney, of Man- chester, sister of Timothy and Silas Cheney. He moved to Harwinton. In 1775 he joined the Amer- ican forces for the invasion of Canada; later en-

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

listed as a soldier in Capt. Theophilus Munson's Company, of the 8th Conn. Line; was in the battle of Germantown, Penn., under Washington, Oct. 4, 1777 ; was taken prisoner, and died on board a prison ship at Philadelphia, probably that fall, exact date being uncertain. The children of White and Elizabeth (Cheney) Griswold were: Sarah, Eliza- beth, George, Asa, Eunice, Louisa, Thomas White and Daniel. White Griswold's widow is supposed to have remained in Harwinton and to have died there.

Daniel Griswold was born March 26, 1769, and married Sept. 30, 1792, Esther, daughter of Joseph Case. There were born to this marriage Edward, Mary, Nancy, Daniel, Ann, Roderick, Esther and George Gilbert. Daniel Griswold died in 1833, his wife Esther on Nov. 9, 1850.

George Gilbert Griswold, son of Daniel and Esther (Case) Griswold, was born April 18, 1815, in Manchester. He married Susan Jane Hubbard, daughter of David E. Hubbard. They had four children : Fannie, Ward Hubbard (who is men- tioned below), Emma and Esther. After the death of his first wife Mr. Griswold married Mary Miner Case, a widow, and to this union was born one child, Gilbert M. Griswold.

Ward Hubbard Griswold was born in Manches- ter Green, Aug. 4, 1846. He received his early education at the common schools and the academy of Manchester, where he acquired the rudiments of the sound business training which he found of such great value in after life. His first business experience was as a clerk in the general store of Basset & Belden, at Chatham, N. Y., where he was employed for about two years. On Sept. 9. 1864, he enlisted at Albany, N. Y., in Company G, 9Ist N. Y. V. I., which regiment was first stationed at Baltimore, but was afterward sent to Petersburg, Va. There it was attached to the Fifth Army Corps under the immediate command of Gen. Sheri- dan, and was subsequently present at the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. On his return from the war Mr. Griswold took up his residence at Walton, N. Y., where he rented one hundred acres of land, and for two years led the life of a farmer. For the next five years he worked as a stone mason for his brother-in-law. Tiring of this employment, he moved to Talcottville, Conn., where for nearly ten years he was a clerk in the general store of Tal- cott Bros., thence going to New Britain, where he opened a grocery store of his own, on South Main street. After a few years, however, he discontinued this enterprise to enter the plating department of the P. & F. Corbin Co., there remaining until the spring of 1894, in which year he bought a farm adjoining the Town Hall, on Berlin street, Berlin, Conn. On this land he erected a modern residence, and conducts a produce and poultry farm.

At first Mr. Griswold's success appears a cause for surprise, yet an analysis of the causes which have led to it readily demonstrates the fallacy of

such a conjecture. Inheriting the vim, the indus- try, the perseverance, the physical and moral cour- age of a long line of honored ancestors, he has shown himself no unworthy scion of a lineage noble alike in its fidelity and its achievements. He has hewn out his own way through honest toil, and can look upon the years of his life with a pardonable pride. The heritage of such a life is in itself a legacy to one's children.

On Feb. 16, 1870, Mr. Griswold was married to Frances Adelia Howland, of Walton, Delaware Co., N. Y., daughter of Elias Butler and Fanny (Mallory) Howland. By this marriage two of the oldest families in the country were united, the ancestors of Frances Howland having come over to this country in the "Mayflower." To this union have been born five children: Fannie Hamutal, Dec. 30, 1871; George Gilbert, Jan. 17, 1873; Emma Jane, April 23, 1874; Laura, June 3, 1877 (died Jan. 15, 1883) ; and Mary Esther, Sept. 23, 1879.

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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 123

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