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 133

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 133

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HON. GEORGE FRANKLIN HUMPHREY, of Bloomfield, was born in the town of Canton Center, Hartford county, Dec. 31, 1854, and is a son of Alfred F. and Lydia A. (Griswold) Humphrey.

Alfred F. Humphrey was born in New Hartford, Conn., in 1826, and was a son of the late George Humphrey, a farmer, also a native of New Hartford, who married Miss Frances Mills, of Canton Center, Conn. He resided in Smyrna, N. Y., from 1838 until his death. Alfred F. Humphrey was educated in New Hartford, Conn., and Smyrna, N. Y. At the age of twenty-four he returned to Canton Center from Smyrna, whither he had accompanied his fa- ther, and married Mrs. Lydia A. Mills, widow of Anson G. Mills, and daughter of Chauncey G. Griswold. To this union were born: George F.,

Fred G., William G., and Hattie (Mrs. Lamphier), all with the exception of George F. being residents of Canton Center. Mr. Humphrey was very prom- inent as a citizen, and as a Republican represented his party in the State Legislature in 1876. He served as selectman and assessor. Fraternally he was a member of Village Lodge, No. 29, F. & A. M., at Collinsville. He died in the faith of the Congregational Church, in March, 1898.

George F. Humphrey was primarily educated in the district school of Canton Center, supplemented by an attendance at the Eastman Business College, in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He remained under the parental roof until twenty-five years of age, and in the spring of 1880 married Miss Ida J. Burr, a daughter of Ambrose Burr, of Bloomfield. This happy union has been blessed with two children : Alfred A., born March 3, 1881, died Feb. 24, 1896; and George Harold, born Dec. 21, 1887.

Mr. Humphrey has been very active as a local politician, has served his fellow townsmen three terms as selectman, and is still an incumbent of this office, but he has been honored with a high office, that of member of the State Legislature, to which he was elected in the fall of 1896, and in which, as in all other official positions he has held, his services have been of the most effective character. Frater- nally he is a member of Hiram Lodge, No. 98, F. & A. M., and also a member of the Knights of the Maccabees, as well as of Tunxis Grange, No. 13, P. of H., of Bloomfield. He is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his walk through life has won for him the respect and con- fidence of all who know him.

SAMUEL G. HANCOCK. No better illustra- tion of the characteristic energy and enterprise of the typical foreign-born citizen can be found than that afforded by the career of this gentleman, now a well-known general jobber, tinner, plumber and stove dealer of Southington. Coming to this coun- try with no capital except his abilities, he has made his way to success through wisely-directed efforts, and can look back with satisfaction upon past struggles.

Mr. Hancock was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, Sept. 7, 1850, and is a son of John and Mary Ann (Grayson) Hancock, who came to Amer- ica in 1867 on the ship "Boston," and located in1 Union City, now a part of Naugatuck, Conn. There the father followed his trade, that of cutler, until 1871, when he removed to Southington, Conn., and worked at the same occupation there until 1894. He then retired on account of old age. He died Jan. 18, 1899, at the age of eighty-four years. In his family were four children who reached man- hood and womanhood: Jane; Elizabeth, wife of Harvey Gray; Samuel G .; and Emma, wife of John Fenton.

The first seventeen years of his life our subject spent in his native land, where he attended the pub-

Forgs F. Humphrey

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

lic schools for a short time, but he is practically a self-educated as well as a self-made man. At the age of thirteen he began serving an apprenticeship to the cutler's trade in England, and finished the same in Southington, Conn., after coming to this country with his parents, at the age of seventeen years. He continued to follow that vocation until 1889, when he embarked in his present business, which he has since, with the assistance of his wife, carried on with good success. In 1878 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary, daughter of William and Mary Coulson, of the north of Eng- land.

FREDERICK ELLSWORTH, one of the re- spected business men of Hartford, is a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of this part of Connecticut, and in his long successful career has maintained the reputation borne by all members of this family for honesty, integrity and the many sterling qualities which stand for good citizenship and progress, and command respect in any community, large or small. Mr. Ellsworth's ancestors have all been extensive farmers and landowners in Hartford county.

Josias Ellsworth, the first of whom we have record, settled in Windsor in 1646, and his remains rest in the cemetery in Old Windsor. His son, Lieut. John, settled on the east side of the river in what is now East Windsor, being one of its first set- tlers, and built a house there about 1694-95. He was killed some time later by a falling tree, in what is now Ellington, Tolland county. He had two sons, Capt. John and Daniel. Capt. John Ellsworth became very prominent in East Windsor. He had a son Solomon, who was born in East Windsor, and served as a lieutenant in the Revolutionary war. In 1758 Solomon Ellsworth built a house which is still (1900) standing,, and is known as the old Ellsworth homestead. He also built a gristmill, at what is called Ketch Hollow, probably about 1800.

Abner Mosley Ellsworth, son of Solomon, and grandfather of our subject, was born on the old homestead in East Windsor, in 1771. He followed farming, milling and manufacturing, and died there in 1853 aged eighty-three years. His son, Abner Mosley Ellsworth, was born on the old homestead ir. 1804, and was the father of Frederick Ellswortlı, whose name opens this article. He was associated with his father in business, and about 1826 they con- verted the old gristmill into a cotton-mill; in 1836 he built a cotton-mill at Ketch Hollow, with a grist- mill in the basement, the establishment being known as the Central Mills, and engaged in the manufacture of cotton twine, yarns and bagging, conducting. the business until the spring of 1846, when the mills were destroyed by fire, Mr. Ellsworth losing all his possessions. This misfortune doubtless contributed to his early demise, as he passed away, Sept. 24, 1846. Mrs. Ellsworth survived her husband twenty years, dying Sept. 25, 1866. She, too, was a native of East Windsor, and her maiden name was Lucy

W. Stoughton. Their family consisted of seven children : Frederick; Samuel H., who died in 1856; Lucy S., who became the wife of Rev. Samuel B. Forbes, and died in 1863; Sarah, who died at the age of four years; Lemuel S., mention of whom is miade elsewhere, a resident of Simsbury ; John, men- tioned below ; and Hugh, who died in 1872. John Ellsworth was reared on the old homestead in East Windsor, and in 1862 enlisted for service in Com- pany G, 25th Conn. V. 1 .; after the war he com- pleted his preparatory education at Williams Col- lege, and then took up the study of law, reading with R. D. Hubbard and W. W. McFarland, of Hart- ford, Conn. He was admitted to the Bar in 1867, and in the fall of that year went to California, where he has ever since remained, taking a prominent part in public affairs from the beginning. He is a well- known and successful lawyer, and for a number of years has been judge of the superior court ; his home is at Alameda.

Frederick Ellsworth was born Jan. 25, 1833, on the old Ellsworth homestead in East Windsor, which he and his son now own, a beautiful estate comprising some 430 acres of the most highly im- proved land in the town in which it lies. He was reared and educated in his native place, attending the common schools and East Windsor Hill Academy, and in the fall of 1847 went to live with John W. Stoughton, on a farm in East Windsor, remaining with him three years. He next lived on the farm of his uncle, Lemuel Stoughton, for a few years, and in the spring of 1852 went to Warehouse Point, where he clerked in the store of Roswell Kingsbury for one year. Returning to his uncle's, he made his home with him until 1854, when he went to Wilmington, N. C., clerked in a store there about a year, and then returned to Connecticut. In 1856 he again went South, locating in Central Georgia, where he remained until the Civil war broke out in 1861. In May of that year he left Georgia, and coming North went to Bloomington, Ill., where he remained until fall; and then returned to Connecticut. Soon after his arrival here he bought a farm in Simsbury, Hart- ford county, where he resided three years, selling at the end of that time. While a resident of Sims- bury he took an active interest in public affairs, and served on the board of relief. In 1862 he was ap- pointed provost marshal's chief clerk, of the First Connecticut District, with headquarters at Hart- ford. In 1863 he was appointed, by Secretary of War Stanton, commissioner of the provost depart- ment of the Fourth District, with headquarters at Bridgeport, filling that position a few months, when he returned to his former position in Hartford, which he filled about two years. In October, 1865, he again went to Georgia, and carried on a mercan- tile business there for two years, since when he has made his home in Hartford. Until 1873 Mr. Ells- worth was a member of the firm of Norman Hub- bard & Co., buyers and packers of tobacco, and for the last quarter of a century he has been engaged in

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handling fertilizers, doing a profitable wholesale and retail business. He has gained and retained an enviable standing among the substantial citizens of Hartford county, and is well and favorably known both personally and in a business way.

In October, 1860, Mr. Ellsworth was married, in Georgia, to Miss Georgia Phelps, of Forsyth, that State, and this union was blessed with one child, Georgia. Mrs. Ellsworth dying in 1866, our sub- ject, on March 6, 1867, married Miss Ellen Tuller, of Simsbury, and they have had two children, Fred- erick H., who is a civil engineer in the employ of the New York & New Haven road, living at New Haven ; and Lucy E., born July 1, IS74, who died April 15, 1880. Mr. Ellsworth is a member of the Congrega- tional Church, and fraternally he is a Free Mason, belonging to the lodge at Tariffville. His political support is given to the Republican party. He is a distant relative of Judge Shepard, of the appellate court of Chicago, whose grandfather was a brother of Mr. Ellsworth's grandfather.

MARCUS A. DODGE. Among the agricultur- ists of West Hartford who have attained success through their own unaided efforts is the gentleman whose name introduces this review. He is one of the most progressive and energetic farmers and dairymen of his section of the county, and is a complete master of the calling which he follows. His sterling integrity and honorable, upright man- hood, fully entitles him to the position which he holds in the estimation of his fellow citizens.

Mr. Dodge was born in Chenango county, N. Y., Nov. 21, 1847, and is a son of William Dodge, who was conducting a hotel in California at the time of his death, in 1853. At the age of eight years our subject left his birthplace and went to live with his uncle, Daniel Dodge, remaining with him until seventeen. He then learned the art of butter and cheese making, and for fifteen or more years devoted his time and attention to that occupa- tion. In 1884 he came to West Hartford, and managed the Highland Creamery for four years. The next season he had charge of a creamery in Pennsylvania, and then, on his return to West Hart- ford, purchased his present farm, where he has since carried on dairy farming with most gratifying results. In Chenango county, N. Y., Mr. Dodge married Mrs. Ceclia Breed, who had two children by her former marriage.

WILLIAM DWIGHT BEAUMONT is one of the few old-time citizens of Burnside avenue, East Hartford, spared by the remorseless years. Where now extends a beautiful vista of elegant homes and well-kept lawns he once saw fields of waving grain. Here as a boy he helped to cut the rye, and among the broad acres of his father's farm he planted, cul- tivated and gathered the crops, which was the task of the youth of his native place nearly three-fourths of a century ago. At the age of eighty years our

subject is a prosperous farmer and business man, unusually active for one of his years. Nature fa- vored him with a robust constitution and a rugged frame, upon which there are no corroding marks of early dissipation. Daily toil has been his lot, not idleness and folly, and the splendid type of his man- hood is that which has struggled and won in the fields of sharp prolonged activity. Not till his eightieth year did he find it necessary to use the glasses which men of half his age now so frequently find necessary.

Mr. Beaumont was born in East Hartford, July 17, 1819, son of Elijah and Electa Bemont (as his father then spelled his name). His ancestral his- tory appears elsewhere. William D., our subject, in his boyhood days attended school in the old school house which stood in East Hartford near Center cemetery. He imbibed knowledge and learning from that prince of old educators, Salmon Phelps. like many of the best citizens of East Hartford of his and a generation succeeding. This school fully re- compensed in thorough training what perhaps it lacked in the finish and variety of modern education. He also attended a select school, and was a pupil in Mr. Wells' school at East Hartford. Idle days to our subject were unknown in his boyhood and youth. It was in an age before improved machinery arrived, and toilsome work by hand was the common lot. His father was engaged in the wood business, an extensive and important industry before the days of coal, and when our subject attained manhood he became associated in business with his father as a partner. Later his younger brother, Henry G., was received into the partnership. They dealt also in ship timber, making heavy consignments to New Bedford, Mass., then the greatest whaling port in the United States. The growing and sale of melons was added to this trade, besides other lines of com- mercial activity. The able assistance of our subject and his brother extricated their father from an in- debtedness which he had contracted earlier in life. This business arrangement was conducted until early in the 'fifties, when our subject withdrew from the partnership to enter the teaming business.

Before the era of railroads teaming was an im- portant branch of transportation. In his former business with his father and brothers they had al- ways kept two teams, one of oxen and one of horses. Our subject had usualy handled the ox-team, and was quite skillful in that kind of work. Taking up general teaming and a trucking business, he con- tinued it successfully for a number of years. The hauling of powder from the mills at Burnside to other towns and railroad depots was an important proof of this transportation. In those days it was not unusual to haul powder up into New Hamp- shire, and to Rhinebeck, N. Y., and elsewhere. Many loads were hauled to New Haven, and the latter haul was often made by our subject at night. His days were usually long, and the weather was no bar to the prosecution of his business. He kept

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from three to four teams engaged in general truck- ing, and in later years the hauling of coal was an important branch of his work. He retired from active life years ago, and has since then enjoyed the fruits of his busy and successful business career. He has built an elegant home on Burnside avenue, where as a young man he was wont to cradle grain, and here the small activities about his home give that relief from idleness which to a man of his active life would prove distasteful.

Mr. Beaumont was married, Aug. 12, 1847, at Glastonbury, to Miss Julia A. House, who was born March 17, 1821, daughter of William and Julia (Chapman) House. One child, Fanny, has been born to this union. She is now Mrs. J. Frank Cowles, of East Hartford, and is the mother of two very interesting children, Ethel and Frances J., the pride and delight of their grandfather.

Mr. Beaumont cast his first vote for William H. Harrison, and in politics he has since been a Whig or Republican, though independent in local elections. Himself and wife are members of the Congregational Church. Possessing ample means, and a most comfortable home, he maintains the simplicity of his earlier years. He is courteous in bearing, kind and generous of heart, and enjoys a wide acquaintanceship in Hartford and adjoining counties. He worthily bears the name which in achievement has been made illustrious in the history of his native county and State.

PARDON AUGUSTUS WHITNEY, the well- known superintendent of the Southington shops of the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Co., was born in Wood- stock, Vt. June 10, 1844.

Mr. Whitney is a son of Aaron Warren and Harriet (Leonard) Whitney, the former a native of Schroon, N. Y., the latter of Woodstock, Vt. Grandfather Whitney served in the war of 1812. The father was reared in his birthplace, and in 1883 went to Woodstock, where he learned the machin- ist's trade, and later worked as a journeyman for a couple of years. In 1840 he embarked in the manu- facture of tinner's tools and machines, in which lie continued at that place until 1869, and the following two years was engaged in the same business in Smithville, N. J., selling out at the end of that time to the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Co. In 1871 he came to Southington, where for a time he was employed as inspector by that company, and then for several years was engaged in the grocery trade. He died in Southington, May 15, 1877, honored and re- spected by all who knew him. He was twice mar- ried, his first wife being Harriet Leonard, daugh- ter of Capt. James and Mary (Briggs) Leonard, of Woodstock, Vt., and by this union were born four children, our subject being the only son to reach years of maturity. The mother died Jan. 20, 1848, and for his second wife the father married Lucia Tucker, of Royalton, Vt., by whom he had one son, Foster A.

In his native town our subject grew to manhood, and his early education was obtained in its public schools. Subsequently he was a student at the Burnham Business College, Springfield, Mass. He served a four-years' apprenticeship to the machin- ist's trade in his father's shop at Woodstock, and continued in his father's employ until the removal of the family to Smithville, N. J., when he became a partner. When they sold the plant, in 1871, he came to Southington and entered the employ of the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Co., having charge of their bolt shop for about nine years. In 1879 Mr. Whit- ney went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he had charge of the mechanical department of the Wilcox, Tread- way Co. for three years, and when it was absorbed by the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Co., he continued with them at that place for another year. Removing to Chagrin Falls, Ohio, he was engaged in the manu- facture of racket drills at that place for a year and a half, and then went to Warsaw, N. Y., where he purchased an interest in the Variety Machine Co .. and had charge of the mechanical department of their works for three years. In the fall of 1887 he returned to Southington, and has since held his present position with the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Co., being at the head of the mechanical department of the Southington plant.

During the Civil war Mr. Whitney enlisted, in August, 1862, in Company C, 6th Vt. V. I., and participated in all the engagements in which the 6th Army Corps took part. With the exception of a two weeks' furlough he was never off duty a single day, and was honorably discharged, as ser- geant. July 31, 1865, after two years and eleven months of arduous and faithful service.

Mr. Whitney was married Oct. 2, 1870, to Miss Julia Douglass, a daughter of Reuben and Catherine ( Thomas) Douglass, of Woodstock, Vt. Her fa- ther was a farmer of that place, and a son of John Douglass, a native of Scotland, who became a farmer of Hartland, Vt. Her maternal grandparents, Phineas and Deborah ( Thomas) Thomas, were also agriculturists of Woodstock. The Thomas family was formerly of Old Middleboro, Mass. Mrs. Whitney's great-grandmother was Deborah How- land, a descendant of John Howland, who landed on Plymouth Rock from the "Mayflower" in 1620. Of the four children born to our subject and his wife only two survive: Jennie M. and Mary Louise. Mr. and Mrs. Whitney are both active and earnest members of the First Congregational Church of Southington, of which he is a deacon. Socially he is a Knight Templar ; politically he is a stanch Re- publican. As a citizen, friend and neighbor he is true to every duty, and justly merits the high es- teem in which he is held.

MANNA ALDERMAN, an honored and repre- sentative citizen of Burlington, was born there Jan. 12, 1824, and belongs to one of the oldest and most highly-respected families of Hartford county.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

The ancestors of our subject were from Eng- land, and were among the first settlers of the New England States. His grandfather, Eli Alderman, was the first of the name to locate in the town of Burlington. He was born in Granby, then a part of the town of Simsbury, Hartford county, and there grew to manhood, and engaged in farming for some years. He married Eunice Laird, and later in life they removed to Burlington, where he became a farmer and land owner. Here they spent the re- mainder of their lives, and their remains were in- terred in what is known as the Case cemetery. Their children were Eli, Eunice, John, Esther, Truman, Caroline and Chestine (twins), Polly, Manna and Sally, all now deceased.

Truman Alderman, father of our subject, was born in Simsbury, and was twelve years of age when he came with his parents to Burlington, where he attended school and later engaged in farming throughout life, becoming one of the prosperous and successful citizens of his community. He was a large land owner, and operated the farm now owned by our subject. He was noted for his in- dustry and honesty, and was well known and highly respected. In politics he was independent, and in religion was a consistent and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. During the war of 1812 he aided in the defense of the country as a soldier of the United States army. In the town of Avon, then Farmington, he married Julia Hadsell, a native of that place, and to them were born eleven children: Chestine, deccased wife of Theodore .Levensworth; Manna; Eunice ; Orpha, who died in infancy; Orpha Eunice, who died young ; Julia Antoinette, who died unmarried ; Ellen Jeannette ; Rhoda Maria, wifc of Ozias Munger ; Truman Andrew, who married Ellen Lewis; Ber- ditt, who married Augusta Lewis ; and Joseph, who died in infancy. The father died at the age of fifty-three years, and was buried in the Case ceme- tery.

The subject of this sketch is indebted to the public schools of Burlington for his educational privileges, and early in life he became familiar with the duties which fall to the lot of the agriculturist. After his father's death he took charge of the old homestead, and has since successfully engaged in general farming, stock raising, dairying, lumber- ing, and also in the distilling of cider brandy. An upright and reliable business man, he has met with well-deserved success in his undertakings, and is now quite well-to-do.

At Plainville, Conn., in 1847, Mr. Alderman married Miss Maria Howe, a native of Farmington, and a daughter of Ira and Maria Marilla (Atkins) Howe. The father was a native of Plymouth, Conn .. and a prosperous citizen of Farmington. Mrs. Alderman's maternal grandfather, David At- kins, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The children born to our subject and his wife are as follows: (1) Joseph Chauncey is now a farmer of

Montana. (2) Marilla Beatrice is the wife of Huron Henry, of New Haven, Conn., and they have three children, Fred, Myron E. and Beatrice May. (3) Truman A., a resident of Ohio, mar- ried Frances Woodruff, and has two children, Edith May and Bernice. (4) Sereno, who is engaged in farming near the homestead, married Rosa San- scll. (5) Clarence, a farmer, married Alice Bun- nell. (6) Elliott, who is engaged in farming on the homestead, married Corinna Lagerstrom, and has three children, Ernest, Arthur and Gladys. (7) Lena Belle married Philip Hodge, and has four children, Martin Ray, Ethel, Clayton and Vera Belle. For over fifty years Mr. and Mrs. Alder- man have traveled life's journey together, sharing its joys and sorrows, and in 1897 they celebrated their Golden Wedding. They are now well ad- vanced in years, but are still in the possession of all their faculties, and have reason to feel that their lives have not been spent in vain. They are widely known and highly respected, and Mrs. Alderman is a consistent member of the Congregational Church. Mr. Alderman is liberal in his religious views, and independent in politics.

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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 133

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