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 142

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 142

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Farrell, a well-to-do gardener of that ocality. The children born to this union were as folows: Paul Francis, born Nov. 15, 1877, died at the age of three days; the second child died in infancy ; Susan Agnes, born June 12, 1881, died March 16, 1882; Katie May, born July 17, 1883, is attending Mt. St. Joseph Seminary in Hartford; Henry Michael, born Nov. 14, 1886, William Joseph, born June 22, 1888, and John Timothy, born May 5, 1891, are at- tending the New Britain schools; Stephen Patrick, born Nov. 20, 1894, is in the Kindergarten, and Irene Margaret, born June 17, 1897, died at the age of one year.

In November, 1898, Mr. Donnelly was taken ill with the "grippe," which resulted in an abscess at the base of the brain. An operation was per- formed, but too late to be of any benefit. Against the advice of his physician he continued to attend to his business until confined to his bed. He died July 21, 1899, and his remains were interred in St. Mary's cemetery, New Britain. He was a mem- ber of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, on South Main street, and of Putnam Phalanx and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His political sup- port was given to the men and measures of the Democratic party. He was a man of sound judg- ment and good business and executive ability, pos- sessed great energy and force of character, and through his own well-directed efforts achieved a wonderful success in life. He was one of the prin- cipal brick manufacturers of Berlin, and the prom- inent place which he occupied in business circles was certainly justly merited.

LOWELL H. BREWER, one of the most en- ergetic, progressive and thrifty tobacco growers of Hockanum, town of East Hartford, was born Nov. 27, 1847, in the house now occupied by his father, Deacon Ashbel Brewer.

Ashbel Brewer was born in East Hartford Aug. 4, 1810, eldest of the eight children born to Allen and Velina ( Bidwell) Brewer, the latter a daughter of Ashbel Bidwell. Deacon Brewer's father was a private in a military company which was raised in 1814 to repel a British movement on New London, and which marched overland to that place. Among the most highly-prized treasures in the good old Deacon's house is a cannon ball fired by a British frigate off New London.

Deacon Brewer's boyhood was spent on his fa- ther's farm, and his early education was obtained in the old school house, which in the opening years of the century stood on High street, on the hill just north of Pewter Pot Brook. Cooper McKee, a famous pedagogue of those days, wielded the birch. The little temple of learning contained but one room. Scholars found their seats on settees which stretched parallel with the walls, the teacher's desk being in the middle of the room. In winter a stove stood near the desk, and the faces of the scholars roasted while their backs froze. Arith-

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metic was not taught in the school, and this branch Mr. Brewer picked up at a night school.

Mr. Brewer followed farming as his occupa- tion until 1849. He grew potatoes, corn and rye, and raised live stock, native beef being then profit- able. Tobacco was then little grown. "I doubt if there were over fifteen acres of tobacco in the town in 1849," Deacon Brewer said lately, in speaking of the weed, "and what there was grown was in patches of a third or half an acre or so." In the spring of 1849 he built a grocery at the foot of Ash street, on land which he leased of Samuel Kellogg. The following winter he discontinued the grocery business and resumed farming, and during the last thirty years he has grown tobacco extensively. His farm includes nearly 125 acres, and he is one of the largest owners of land in Hockanum Meadow. At the age of seventeen years Ashbel Brewer joined the Congregational Church, and was speedily put in the choir, in which he remained for nearly fifty years. Violins, bass viols and flutes gave the in- strumental music when he entered the choir. Nearly a generation passed before they gave way to organs. In cold weather church-goers carried with them small foot-stoves, on which they "toasted" their toes comfortably. In 1837 Mr. Brewer was chosen sexton of the Hockanum cemeteries, and discharged the duties of that position for twenty-three years. In 1870 he was chosen deacon of the First Church, and held that position until 1876, when he became one of the original members of the Hockanum Con- gregational Church. For three years he was a dea- con in this church, and he is now deacon emeritus.

Mr. Brewer was for six years a member of the Putnam Phalanx. He has been school committee- man five times. He was town surveyor some years under the old district system of roadmaking. In 1845 he was tax collector. When Mr. Brewer came of age it was the law that a citizen, in order to be- come an elector, should be an owner of land. His father, to meet this requirement, gave him eight acres. In politics Mr. Brewer started out as a Democrat, but since 1856 has been a solid Repub- lican. He has voted for five Democratic, one Whig, and ten Republican candidates for President.

Mr. Brewer was married, in 1833, to Mary Whaples, of Newington, and this union was blessed with eight children: Jane E., born May 10, 1835, was married to Jacob Dix, of Newington, had five children, and is now deceased ; Joanna, born March 16, 1837, is the widow of Joshua C. Luce, has four children, and is living in Newington, of which place her husband was a native; Adelaide L., born July 12, 1839, married Charles W. Roberts, of East Hartford ; Martha A., born June 27, 1841, was mar- ried to George Bidwell, of East Hartford, where she is now living a widow, with two children, How- ard E. and Mrs. Winne Stoughton ; Marietta, born July 15, 1843, is married to E. W. Griswold, and is living in California, the mother of one child, Laura May, born in Virginia City, Nev., July 3. 1879:

Cornelia, born Sept. 4, 1845, was married to Horace B. Hicks, of Bristol Ferry, R. I., had two children, Fred and Nellie, and died in 1899; Louise H., born Nov. 27, 1847, married Jacob Dix, and is deceased ; and Lowell H. (twin of Louise H.) is the subject of this sketch. Mrs. Mary (Whaples) Brewer, the mother of the above family, passed away in 1858, and in 1863 Deacon Brewer married Margaret Barnard, who survived until 1890. The Deacon, who is of medium stature, has led a long, honorable and useful life, is still prominent in his church, but is now confined to his bed in a weakened condition.

Lowell H. Brewer was educated in the brick school house in Hockanum, and was a pupil under Henry Fox. At the age of seventeen years, being the only boy in the family, he withdrew from school, returned to the home farm and practically began its management, and, as an example of his industry, executive ability and his thorough knowledge of tobacco culture, it is only necessary to cite the fact that he has improved the quality, increased the product per acre, and extended the area then under cultivation from an ordinary farm to one of the largest as well as one of the finest tobacco planta- tions in the town of East Hartford, if not in Hart- ford county. He has the reputation of always net- ting as good a price as any grower of tobacco in the neighborhood, and in many intances has re- ceived a much higher price. He has packed an- nually about 170 cases of his own product for some time past, and this year ( 1900) has forty-six acres of the staple under cultivation. He is teaching his sons, by actual experience, the best methods of cul- ture and curing, and will turn over the business to them in the near future.

Mr. Brewer was united in marriage, by the Rev. William Turkington, of the Methodist Church, Jan. 29, 1874, to Miss Charlotte Edna Vibberts, who was born April 14, 1852, a daughter of Capt. Charles H. and Jane M. ( Babcock) Vibberts, na- tives of East Hartford and residents of Hockanum, and of whom more detailed mention will shortly be made. Mrs. Brewer was educated at the Hockanum public school, the New Britain High School and State Normal, and was a successful teacher for a few years prior to her marriage. To the happy marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Brewer have been born five children: (1) Miller V., who was born Dec. 7, 1874, attended the Hartford Public High School, also Huntsinger's Business College, and is now «S- sisting on the home farm; (2) Lowell H., born Dec. 4, 1876, passed through the same course of instruc- tion ; (3) Harry F., born Sept. 22, 1879, was edu- cated in the same manner; (4) Ashbel A., born Dec. 27, 1882, was educated in the same institution which his brothers attended, and reached the high- est record in spelling ever attained in the school (3,000 words without a miss), which elicited from the principal a congratulatory letter to the father ; (5) Charles H., born Nov. 5. 1885, is a graduate of the South school of Hartford, and is now a stu-

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

dent at Huntsinger's Business College, Hartford. Lowell HI. Brewer has led a happy married life, as well as a successful one from a business stand- point. He has reared his children "in the way they should go," and the sons, like himself, have made a fine reputation for their remarkably indus- trious habits and moral rectitude. No family within the limits of Hartford county are more highly es- teemed for their personal merits.

A few words will now be devoted to the ancient VIBBERTS family, of which Mrs. Lowell H. Brewer is a descendant.

Capt. Charles H. Vibberts, father of Mrs. Brew- er, was a grandson of Jesse Vibberts, who was born Jan. 30, 1759, and became one of the heroes of the Revolutionary war, and, it is supposed, was one of Washington's bodyguard, as he left Virginia at the same time that the commander-in-chief did. He had a brother, John, from whom he was almost inseparable. At the conclusion of hostilities Jesse settled in Hockanum, married, Aug. 7, 1783, Martha -, who was born Aug. 19, 1759, and reared a large family, to-wit: Jessie, born March 3, 1784; Clara, Oct. 24, 1785 ; Olive, Oct. 27, 1787 ; Eliphalet, Sept. 16, 1789; Patte, Sept. 28, 1791 ; Phene, Aug. 26, 1793; Stephen, Sept. 20, 1795: Mary, May 5, [797; Alvin, Jan. 26, 1801. In the old account- books of the grandfather are found some such en- ries as these: "Moaed hay for 6oc a day ; butcher- ng, 4oc a day ; helping cut two loads and loading vood, for 4oc ; three days at oil mill, at 5oc a day.' Grandfather Jesse was of a powerful build, as was is brother John, and was so very broad that he vas compelled to pass through ordinary doors side- vays. He followed farming, hewing timber, ship- building, etc., but in the latter days of his life became Quite blind. He was laid to rest in Buckland cem- tery in 1831.

Alvin Vibberts, father of Capt. Charles H. Vib- erts, was born in Hockanum. He was a carpenter n a rude way, and also worked on farms, and after marriage he and wife made cigars for the Southern rade, Mr. Vibberts manufacturing the cases from utternut wood. In 1820 he was married to Miss Emily Brewer, who was born in 1799, and to this nion came the following named children: George, who was born June 2, 1821, married Harriet Dailey, f Farmington, and afterward wedded Harriet Vetherell, of Manchester; he lived all his days in Iockanum, and died in 1879. Capt. Charles H., he father of Mrs. L. H. Brewer, was born March 4, 1825. Albert L., born Oct. 15, 1829, first mar- ied Cornelia Pratt, and later Augusta Smith ; he ; now a successful real estate dealer of New Brit- in. The mother of this family died June 9, 1853, le father in June, 1855, and the remains of both e interred in Hockanum.

Capt. Charles H. Vibberts, father of Mrs. Brew- r, married. April 15, 1849, Jane M. Babcock, who ras born Sept. 30, 1829, and died Aug. 12, 1900; le was a daughter of Elisha and Charlotte (How-

lctt) Babcock, natives of Hartford. The three chil- dren born to this union are as follows: Charlotte Edna (Mrs. Brewer) ; Charles Floyd, who was born Sept. 29, 1857, married Mary Cortner, of Windsor, and is living in Hockanum; Burden Gideon, the youngest, born Oct. 11, 1866, still makes his home with his father.

NEWELL ST. JOHN, one of Simsbury's most progressive citizens, an extensive farmer and to- bacco grower, was born near Hoskins Station March 19, 1851, and is a representative of an old New England family.

Elijah St. John, his grandfather, was a native of Rhode Island, where he learned the trade of tailor. He removed to Simsbury, Hartford county, and here for a time he followed his trade, then engaged in farming; he died Aug. 10, 1836, aged forty- three years, being killed in a fall from a scaffold in his barn, and was buried in Simsbury. He mar- ried, Oct. 26, 1786, Elizabeth Delibah, and to their union the following children were born: Elijah, born Nov. 20, 1787, died in November, 1788; Elizabeth, born May 15, 1789, married, Aug. 9, 1820, Reuben Miller; Cornwall; Susan; Zopher, father of our subject, born Oct. 17, 1799; Hilpah, who married, Oct. 21, 1828, Hiram K. Steel; Caro- line, who married, Nov. 7, 1833, Henry Ely.

Zopher St. John, the father of our subject, was born on the farm near Hoskins Station, Oct. 17, 1799, was educated in the public schools of Sims- bury, and at the age of sixteen years started on the road, peddling Yankee notions, traveling afoot in the New England States as far east as Cape Cod. He also engaged in selling clocks. In 1840 he started in the jewelry business, traveling for a jewelry firm in Owego, N. Y., and continued in that business until 1865. He was a successful salesman, and while he lost at times he preserved and gathered about him many comforts in the de- cline of life. He ended his traveling days in 1865 and for seven years thereafter made farming his principal occupation, engaging also in tobacco grow- ing, dairy farming, etc. He was self-educated, a keen observer, and possessed a very genial dispo- sition, while in his habits he was temperate. In his political views he was a Whig, and at the advent of the Republican party he became a stanch sup- porter of its principles, though he never sought political honors or office ; however, he served on the board of relief one term, and took a deep interest in education. He and his family were consistent members of the Congregational Church. Mr. St. John died on his farm at Hoskins Station Feb. 20, 1872. He married, in Suffiield, Conn., Eunice La- vina Harmon, who was born in Suffield, Jan. 17, 1809, daughter of Paul and Eunice (Remington) Harmon, of that town, and died Jan. 5, 1899.

The HARMON family is one of the oldest and most illustrious of New England. It has descended from three brothers, one of whom, John Harmon,

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was born in England in 1611, and came to Boston about 1636. One brother removed later to Penn- sylvania, and one to Maine, while John became one of the first settlers of Springfield, Mass. Ten of his descendants in the third and fourth generations were soldiers in the Revolutionary army, among them being Capt. John Harmon, of the 4th Regi- ment, Connecticut Line, Gen. Washington's favorite captain, who received special mention for gallant conduct in the capture of Boston. The line of de- scent to the mother of our subject is as follows : (I) John Harmon, born in England, in 1611, died in Springfield, Mass., 1661. (II) Nathaniel Har- mon, born in Springfield, Mass., March 13, 1653, became a noted Indian trader, married Mary Skin- ner, and died in Suffield May 2, 1712. (I]1) Na- thaniel Harmon, born July 30, 1695, died Feb. 10, 1774. (IV) Phineas Harmon, son of Nathaniel and Sarah (Smith) Harmon, born June 4, 1720, died in Suffield, May 31, 1802. (V) Paul Harmon, the grandfather of our subject, boin April 22, 1768, son of Phineas and Dorcas (Hastings) Har- mon, died Nov. 13, 1852. He married Eunice Rem- ington. The eleven children of Paul and Eunice (Remington) Harmon were as follows: Julius, who died young; Julia, who died young; Zenas (1798-1867), who lived at Warren, Vt .; Julia, who married Frederick Gillett; Phineas (1802-1833), a farmer of Suffield; Paul ( 1804-1883), a carpenter and farmer of Omaha, Neb .; one who died in in- fancy in 1806; Eunice L., mother of our subject ; Martha F. (1810-1877), wife of Thomas Gillett ; Chloe (1812-1837), wife of John Talbott; and Hannah M. (1814-1840), who married Lucius A. Cutler.

To Zopher and Eunice L. (Harmon) St. John were born the following children: Martha L., born Feb. 16, 1831, died unmarried June 26, 1898; Mary, born April 30, 1832, is the widow of George W. Har- mon, and mother of George A. Harmon, of Suffield, Conn .; Hilpah, born Aug. 30, 1834, died Feb. 2, 1867, was the wife of Marvin D. Hoskins; Eunice, born Dec. 14, 1836, died from the effects of poison, Jan. 13, 1837 ; Edward Francis, born May 23, 1839, is a farmer of Simsbury, Conn .; Louise, born Feb. 2, 1841, is the widow of Prof. Rufus C. Hitchcock (she is principal of the high school at New Or- leans) ; Chloe, born May 22, 1845, is unmarried, and was a school teacher in the public schools of Springfield for over thirty years; Sanford Z., born May 9, 1849, is a druggist of Pittsfield, Mass .; Newell, our subject, was born March 19, 1851.

Newell St. John received his education in the district schools in the Westover Plains District, also at Simsbury and Tariffville Select Schools, and at Suffield, in the Literary Institue. under Prof. Andrews. Our subject was about of age when his father died, and he settled down to farming on he homestead, where for the past twenty-eight years he has been engaged in tobacco culture, dairying and general farming and stock raising. He has made

improvements on the farm, which is a tract of fifty acres, and there his mother spent her widowhood, our subject caring for her in her old age. She at- tained the ripe old age of ninety years, and her death closed the life of a good Christian woman and a devoted wife and mother. Our subject has been a life-long Republican, and for the past eight years has been a member of the board of selectmen of Simsbury. He fills the position of trust and responsibility with honor to himself and with satis- faction to the people, is popular and very highly respected. He has served on the board of relief for two terms, and also on the school committee, having always taken a deep interest in the cause of edu- cation.

In 1874 Mr. St. John was married, in Bloomfield, Conn., to Addie L. Cushman, born in East Granby, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Cushman. To our subject and wife five children have been born: Isabelle, who was educated in the district schools, at McLean Seminary, Simsbury, and at the Normal School in New Britain, and who has successfully taught for the past five years; Helen Grace, who died in 1892, at the age of sixteen; Charles N., at school ; Clarence Wardell; and Lucile. Mr. and Mrs. St. John are active members of the Congre- gational Church.

DEACON ALFRED NORTH was of the eighth generation in the family from John North, whose name appears in 1640 as one of the original proprietors and settlers of Farmington, a Colony which was the first offshoot from the church of Rev. Thomas Hooker, of Hartford. John North came to America in the "Susan & Ellen," in 1635, at the age of twenty years, landing at Boston. His land in Farmington was entered to him in 1653. He married Hannah Bird, a daughter of Thomas Bird, and to them were born nine children. Him- self and his two sons, John and Samuel, were in- cluded in the eighty-four original land owners among whom were divided, in 1676, the unoccupied lands of Farmington. His house lot of three-fourths of an acre at the north end of Farmington street was purchased from John Steel. Himself and wife were members of the Farmington Church, she join- ing in 1656. John North died in 1691, aged sev- enty-six years. The line of descent to our subject is as follows :

(II) Thomas North, born Jan. 30, 1649, mar- ried Hannah Newell, who was born in 1656, and to them were born ten children. He served in the Indian wars, and for his services received a grant of land. He settled in the north part of Farming- ton, now Avon, and died in 1712, his wife surviving to Nov. 4, 1757, as appears in the Newell genealogy. One of his descendants, through his son Joseph, was Prof. Henry Carrington Bolton, of Trinity Col- lege, Hartford.

(III) Thomas North, son of Thomas and Han- nah North, was born in 1673. He married, Dec.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

I, 1698, Miss Martha Roys (or Royce), who was born June 1, 1679, a daughter of Isaac and Eliza- beth (Lathrop) Roys, of Wallingford, Conn., and on her mother's side was a great-granddaughter of Rev. John Lathrop, who came from England to Scituate, Mass., in 1634. He settled first in Ken- sington, and later lived in the eastern part of Farm- ington, now Berlin. He united with the church in 1707, was one of the seven founders of the Con- gregational Church of Berlin, and was a man of wealth and influence; he died in 1725. He was the father of eight children; James. his third son, was the ancestor of the branch of the North family who settled at New Britain.

(IV) Deacon Isaac North, son of Thomas and Martha North, was born Sept. 27, 1703. He mar- ried Mary Woodford, who was born March 2, 1709, and they had eight children. He was the first enrolled member and the first deacon of the Second Congregational Church of Berlin. He died Dec. 20, 1788, his wife surviving until 1798, when she passed away at the age of ninety-one, and was buried in Beckley. Isaac North, Sr., lived in a house situated about one mile north of the village of Berlin. It is still standing, and is in good con- dition. Its back door is close upon the street, the highway having been changed from the front to the back of the house soon after it was built.

(V) Jedediah North, son of Isaac and Mary North, and the great-grandfather of our subject, was born in Berlin Jan. 16, 1734. He married, Jan. 27, 1757, Miss Sarah Wilcox, daughter of Daniel Wilcox, of East Berlin, born Dec. 31, 1739. To them were born eight children. Mrs. North died Oct. 5, 1775, and Mr. North afterward mar- ried Abigail Andrews, by whom he had three chil- dren. He was a man of deep religious faith, and in his early life exemplified that faith. He died Dec. 16, 1816, and was buried in Beckley cemetery. (VI) Simeon North, son of Jedediah and Sarah North, and the grandfather of our subject, was born in Berlin July 13, 1765. He married, in 1786, Lucy Savage, who was born in Middletown May 19, 1766, and died Feb. 24, 1811, the mother of eight children. For his second wife Simeon North married Lydia Huntington, daughter of Rev. Enoch Huntington, of Middletown. and the only child of this marriage, the ninth child of her fa- ther, became the wife of Rev. Dwight M. Seward, pastor of the First Congregational Church of New Britain from 1836 to 1842. From 1811 to 1813 Mr. North served as lieutenant-colonel of the 6th Conn. Regiment. He engaged at Berlin, and later at Middletown, Conn., in the manufacture of pis- tols and bayonets. He died Aug. 25, 1852. Dr. Simeon North, youngest son of Simeon and Lucy (Savage) North. born Sept. 10, 1802, graduated from Yale College, and was connected with Hamil- ton College, Clinton, N. Y., as tutor and professor of ancient languages from 1822 to 1839, and as president of the college from 1839 to 1857.

(VII) Reuben North, the father of our subject, was born in Berlin Dec. 11, 1786. He married, Jan. 9, 1811, Lynda Wilcox, of Berlin, who was born Oct. 31, 1786, daughter of Josiah and Huldah (Savage) Wilcox, and granddaughter of Daniel Wilcox, of East Berlin, who died in 1789; the lat- ter was the owner of a landed estate on the Mat- tabessett river one mile square, large enough to give to each of his thirteen children an ample farmn. Mrs. Lynda North died March 17, 1817, leaving three children, of whom our subject was the eldest. For his second wife Reuben married, in May, 1817, Huldah Wilcox, a sister of his first wife, and by her had five sons. For many years he continued the business of his father at Spruce Brook, in Ber- lin-the manufacture of pistols and bayonets. He was quiet in manner, but was noted for his strong temperance views, and was one of the first citi- zens of Berlin to actively promote the cause of temperance. He died April 4, 1853. One of his sons, Dr. Edward North, born in 1820, graduated from Hamilton College in 1841, was elected to the chair of ancient languages there in 1843, and for over fifty years has filled the position of professor of the Greek language and literature in that in- stitution.

(VIII) Alfred North, our subject, was born in Berlin Oct. 3, 1811. He obtained his education in the public schools of his native town, and in the Berlin Academy, and before entering business life taught in the public schools in Berlin and in Ohio. He then entered his father's factory, and was there employed until after his marriage, May 8, 1834, to Mary Olive Wilcox, who was born in Berlin Aug. 7, 1812, daughter of Richard and Olive (Porter) Wilcox, residents of Berlin, who died respectively Sept. 23, 1839, and May 27, 1827. His health fail- ing, he left his father's factory, and in 1840 started a store at Litchfield. He returned to Berlin eight- een months later, and there began a mercantile career, which continued until 1886. He was a li- censed pharmacist. In 1844 he was elected town clerk at Berlin, and was for over forty years an- nually re-elected to that position, until he resigned in 1886 on account of loss of eyesight. Twice he was elected to represent the town of Berlin in the State Legislature, 1849 and 1855.

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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 142

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