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 149

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 149

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25, 1796, and died in Canaan, Dec. 7, 1891. He was married Jan. 21, 1819, to Mabel Morgan, daughter of Daniel and Mabel ( Bissell) Morgan. She was born Aug. 28, 1795, and died May 7, 1867. The great-grandfather, William Page, was born Dec. 14, 1765, and died in 1856. He married Nancy Bissell, who was born June 11, 1769, daugh- ter of Benjamin and Mabel Bissell, of Milton, Conn., and died in 1834.

William H. Mansfield, whose name introduces this sketch, was born in Canaan June 2, 1835, and received a good academic education, attending school in Stockbridge, Mass., and in Norfolk and Goshen, Conn. He has been a resident of West Hartford since 1887, and is successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits. He has always been a stanch Republican in politics, voting for every Presi- dential candidate of that party from Fremont to Mckinley. In 1861 he was made mail agent from Bridgeport to Pittsfield, and from 1868 to 1883 was station and express agent at Great Barrington, Mass. Since coming to West Hartford he has been a mem- ber of the school board, is now selectman, and in 1897 and 1898 represented the town in the State Legislature, where he served as a member of the committee on Insurance. His admirable qualities gained for him many warm friends in the General Assembly, and wherever known he is held in high regard. He is a Knight Templar Mason, and for several years served as treasurer of Monument Chapter, R. A. M., of Great Barrington. He has been County Vice-President of the Pomological So- ciety of Connecticut.

T. S. LOOMIS, first selectman of the town of Windsor, is one of the best-known citizens of the locality, and his efficient discharge of duty in official life has won him the appreciation of the progressive classes of the community.

Mr. Loomis is a representative of an old and honored pioneer family, and is of the eighth generation in direct descent from Joseph Loomis, an Englishman, who was born about 1590, and be- came a woolen draper in Braintree, County of Essex. He had a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters: Joseph; Mrs. Nicholas Olmsted ; Elizabeth, wife of Josiah Hull; Deacon John ; Thomas ; Nathaniel ; Mary ; and Samuel. On April II, 1638, he sailed from London with his family on the ship "Susan & Ellen." On July 7, following, he landed at Boston, and it is supposed that he came to Windsor as early as the fall of 1639, the town records showing that he bought land there on Feb. 24, 1640. His wife died Aug. 23, 1652, and his death occurred Nov. 25, 1658.

(II) Deacon John Loomis, the next in the line of lescent, was born in 1622, and was a lad of sixteen when the family came to the New World. On Oct. 11, 1640, he was admitted to membership in Windsor Church, and, although he resided at Farm- ington from 1652 to 1660, he seems to have spent

the greater portion of his life in Windsor, where he was much respected, serving for years as deacon in the church. He represented the town in the Gen- eral Assembly in 1666 and 1667, and again from 1675 to 1677. On Feb. 3, 1649, he married Eliza- beth Scott, daughter of Thomas Scott, of Hartford, and his death occurred in 1688 at Windsor, where his monument is still to be seen in the cemetery.

(III) Sergt. Daniel Loomis, son of Deacon John, was born at Farmington June 16, 1657, and died June 25, 1740. He married (first) Mary Ellsworth, daughter of Josiah Ellsworth, and ( second) Hannah Drake, a widow.

(IV) Benjamin Loomis, son of Sergt. Daniel by his first wife, was born at Windsor, Feb. 7, 1699, and died Jan. 2, 1763. On Dec. 9, 1725, he married Joanna Alford.

(V) Serajah Loomis, our subject's great-grand- father, was born Dec. 4, 1740, and died in 1811. He married Sybil Loomis, and made his home in Windsor, where he owned an immense tract of land, of which our subject's present farm is but a portion.

(VI) Nider Loomis, the grandfather of our subject, was born April 9, 1768, and died April I, 1814. His ability as a mathematician made him famous in his day, and for many years he taught school successfully. On Dec. 5, 1789, he married Anna Anderson, who died June 3, 1840. They had five sons, of whom our subject's father, Spencer Loomis, was the youngest. Lyman, who died at the age of seventy-five unmarried, resided with his brother Spencer for many years. Guy, who died at Erie, Penn., was a jeweler by occupation. Simeon died in infancy. Frederick, who followed the blacksmith's trade at Windsor Center, died some years ago, leaving no descendants.

(VII) Spencer Loomis was born at our subject's present homestead Aug. 25, 1806, and was educated in the common schools of the vicinity, and the academy at Windsor Center. He inherited a por- tion of his father's estate, but afterwards bought out the other heirs, including our subject's farm, and in addition to the care and cultivation of the property he was engaged in brickmaking for a num- ber of years, being at one time foreman of a large brickyard in Dutchess county, N. Y. Politically he was first a Whig and then a Republican, and while he was not a politician in the strict sense of the term, he was always ardent in the support of his be- lief. At the time of the agitation of the "Know-Noth- ing" issue he espoused that doctrine, being one of the first members of the party in Windsor. He and his wlfe were devout Methodists, and for years he was trustee of the Windsor Church. On April 17, 1833, he married Miss Emeline Loomis, daughter of George Loomis, of Windsor. She died in 1866, and he survived her eleven years, dying Feb. 27, 1877 ; the remains of both now rest in the old ceme- tery at Windsor.

(VIII) T. S. Loomis was born Jan. 29, 1838,

Isloomis

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in the house now owned by Mrs. Susan A. Loomis. As a boy he attended school in District No. 2, of Windsor, and among his early teachers were Miss Curtis, Col. Oliver Holcomb and Col. E. N. Phelps. After completing the course of study offered there he pursued more advanced studies in the academy at Windsor Center. On leaving school he engaged in brick-making with his father until the latter's health failed, when he gave up brick-making and attended to the farm: during the last years of his parents he gave them his thoughtful care. The land is very productive, and in addition to excellent crops of tobacco, Mr. Loomis raises a large amount of "garden truck." In 1872 he built a new resi- dence on a substantial plan, and other improvements have been made by him from time to time. He is quiet and modest in disposition, and while he has never married he is much esteemed socially, having the gift of making many friends and few enemies. As a member of Grace Episcopal Church at Windsor Center he is active in religious work, and as a loyal citizen all projects for the promotion of the public good receive his support. In politics he has been an adherent of the Republican party since he cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. For ten years he served as assessor, and in the fall of 1895 he was chosen to the office of first selectman, which he has since held continuously through re-election, his fel- low citizens thus indicating, in a most convincing way, their confidence in his ability and fidelity.

JOEL HILLS BREWER is an honored and dis- tinguished member of one of the oldest and most highly-esteemed families in Hartford county. He was born on Brewer street, in East Hartford, April 19, 1851, and since early manhood has been one of the town's influential residents. By occupation he is a general farmer and tobacco grower, and in both lines of agriculture has been eminently successful. That his fellow townsmen hold him in high esteem is evidenced by their electing him to the responsible office of selectman, an honor rarely conferred where both acumen and integrity are not recognized as co-existing.

Mr. Brewer is a son of Henry P. an 1 Susan ( Hills) Brewer. Both the Brewer and Hills fam- ilies are among the oldest in East Hartford. On another page of this volume the Brewer family genealogy may be found, given in considerable de- tail, but a brief resume of the same will prove in- teresting in this connection. The family located in East Hartford during the latter part of the seven- teenth century, and has given to the town, county and State some of their best and most distinguished citizens. Joel H. is in the seventh generation from Thomas, who was the first of the name. so far as known, to cross the line from Massachusetts to Connecticut. From Thomas the lines run as fol- lows: Daniel, born March 25, 1699, married Elea- nor Goodale : Daniel (2), born May 31, 1731, was twice married, his first wife being Anna Vansant,

and his second Ruth Strickland; Daniel (3), born May 14, 1751, married Mary Risley, who was born Jan. 8, 1755; Reuben, of the fifth generation, born Feb. 25. 1755, married Eunice Hills ; and Henry P., the father of Joel H., born Dec. 14, 1816, in Hock- antim.

The boyhood and youth of Henry P. Brewer were passed on a farm, and his educational ad- vantages were of the limited sort enjoyed by farm- ers' boys in the New England district schools early in the century. As has already been said, he married Susan Hills. She was born in Hillstown Jan. 5. 1817, daughter of Joel and Nancy (Couch ) Hills. In her girlhood she was an operative in a cotton mill. After his marriage Henry P. Brewer moved to Hockanum, where he lived in a quiet way on a small farm for several years. Early in 1852 he began farming on a tract of land now owned and culti- vated by Joel H. Brewer. There he passed the latter years of his life, and it was there that he died, in November, 1858, being buried in the Spencer street cemetery, in Manchester. In person he was tall and spare, and his complexion was dark. He was of a rugged constitution, and noted for his physical strength ; but in a reaping contest held at Hillstown he overtaxed his powers, and was seized with an attack resembling sunstroke, from the effects of which he never recovered, his health being totally undermined. He was a man of tireless industry, a good farmer, and by dint of hard work was be- ginning to get ahead in the world when overtaken by this misfortune. Like many of his neighbors in those times it was his custom to make cigars for dealers at his home, after the work of the day was over. The work was fairly profitable, and he carried it on extensively. being assisted by his wife. He bore a high reputation for integrity and energy in the community in which he lived, and where he was highly respected. In politics he was an ardent and lifelong Democrat. He left a widow and five chil- dren : Sophia, who became Mrs. Charles E. Hurl- burt, of Hillstown ; Mahlon E., a machinist of Meri- den : Henry P., Jr., who died in Hillstown at the age of forty-two, leaving one son, Palmer : Joel H., the subject of this biographical sketch; and Rose, now Mrs. Bartlett, of Wapping. Conn. After her husband's death the sterling qualities of Mrs. Brew- er's character shone forth. Her children were young. and the farm at that time was far from being a comfortable home. Yet she kept her family to- gether, and carefully reared her fatherless children, displaying self-reliance, energy, and a courage which attest her extraordinary worth. She is yet living ( 1900), hale and well-preserved, enjoying a serene old age, honored and loved by her children for whom she was ever ready to sacrifice herself. She resides chiefly with her son Joel upon his farm, which was the theater of so many of her early joys, labors and sorrows.

Joel H. Brewer received his early education in

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the Hillstown district schools, his first teacher be- ing Miss Lucinda Roberts. The necessity resting upon him to aid his widowed mother compelled him to quit school at the age of fifteen, vet he cherishes to this day a warm regard for those schools of forty years ago, and bears willing testimony to the thor- oughness of the instruction there imparted. As a boy he worked upon the farm learning to "bear the yoke in his youth." When he was sixteen years old he began to learn the trade of a bootmaker from Mr. Hurlburt, following that vocation for two years. That was before the gigantic modern factory, with its nicely-adjusted machinery and its thousands of operatives, had been conceived, and most of the bootmaking was done at the workmen's own homes. On Feb. 14. 1875. at South Manhester, he was married to Miss Laura Cushman, who was born in Hillstown April 15. 1851. She was one of three children born to Sydney A. and Maria. ( Wallace) Cushman. Her sister. Mary, died in childhood, and her brother, Joseph S., is a farmer of Man- chester.

A genealogical sketch of Mrs. Brewer's family will be found elsewhere. She traces her descent from Robert Cushman ( who landed at Plymouth in 1621), through Solomon, the son of Isaac. Solo- mon Cushman was the father of nine children : Alameda, born Oct. 7. 1803; Isaac, Oct. 7. 1805 ; Lorinda, March 10, 1808; Gustavus, Aug. 12, 1810 (died in June, 1858) : Ambros :, Feb. 18, 1813 (died in the same month as Gustavus) : Sabrina, in Sep- tember, 1815: Monroe, Oct. 18, 1818: Sydney A. ( the father of Mrs. Brewer), March 28, 1822; and Josiah, Aug. 21. 1826. Solomon Cushman, Mrs. Brewer's grandfather, died Jan. 15. 1856. in his seventy-eighth year. Mrs. Brewer attended the high school in Hartford two years, and the State Normal School at New Britain also two years. For four years she taught school in Manchester, East Hart- ford and Bolton Center with marked success, her ripe scholarship and rare administrative capability insuring success. These qualities, which were dis- played so strikingly before marriage, she has still more fully developed in married life. She is gentle, vet energetic, a devoted wife, and sage counsellor. In philanthropic work and in every rational move- ment for the elevation of her sex she takes a deep interest. She has been secretary and treasurer of the Hillstown Ladies Aid Society since its organization.

Mr. Brewer is a prominent member of various fraternal organizations. He belongs to Orient Lodge, No. 62. F. & A. M., of East Hartford: is a charter member of the I. O. O. F. lodge. Glaston- bury : and is a member of the Royal Arcanum. He is also prominently identified with both the local and State Granges, in both of which he takes a deep in- terest, and in whose councils his voice is potent. Both he and his wife have been active in Hillstown Grange, No. 87. since the date of its organization, and he was its first master hokling that office three years. Since then he has been master of Pomona

Grange, a central body in which nineteen local. granges are represented, and of this body Mrs. Brewer has been secretary for six years. Their identification with and prominence in the Order have given Mr. and Mrs. Brewer an acquaintance nearly co-extensive with the limits of the State, and the very existence of the Hillstown Grange is due in a great measure to their patient, unwearied efforts.

One son has come to Mr. and Mrs. Brewer, Harry Joseph, who was born Feb. 2, 1883, and is a graduate of Morse's Business College. Hartford, As has been said, Mr. Brewer owns the farm which was the homestead, and since the property came into his hands he has greatly improved it ; in fact, there is not a building standing on the premises to-day which he has not erected. He acquired title to the original property by purchase from his co-heirs, and has added to it from time to time by the acquisition of additional acres. His views on farming, as on every other subject of current interest, are broad and progressive, and his place is one of the best in- proved, best stocked, most thoroughly up-to-date of all the farms in the broad fertile valley of the Con- necticut. His success has been well-nigh phenom- enal, and he can point to it to-day with the proud thought that it is due to his own untiring efforts, patient industry, sound sense and unassailable hon- estv.

In politics Mr. Brewer is a Democrat, although in no sense a rock-ribbed partisan, having voted for McKinley in 1896. In addition to the office of se- lectman he has held that of justice of the peace, and his standing among the people of East Hartford is deservedly high. In addition to general farming and tobacco growing he has embarked in the busi- ness of selling fertilizers as a manufacturer's agent, in which line of trade his keen, shrewd business sense has largely ministered to his success.

HORTON ZEBULON HOSKINS. a greatly- respected farmer, and carpenter of Bloomfield, was born in that town March 17, 1824. and is a son of Zebulon and Polly ( Phelps) Hoskins, who were the parents of five children, two of whom now sur- vive : Mrs. Amanda Marsh, of New Haven, and Horton Z.

Horton Z. Hoskins when an infant but three months old was bereft of his father, and thus be- came the peculiar care of a tender mother. He attended the public schools in Bloomfield until he had attained the proper age, when he was appren- ticed to a Mr. Dudley, at the Center, and thor- oughly learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, which he has followed in conjunction with farm- ing these many years, making a success of both vocations.

Mr. Hoskins was first married to Julia A. Dor- man, at Farmington, Conn., and to their union were born five children: Henry P., William H .. Ella E., Hattie J. and Katie L. To his second mar- riage, which also took place in Farmington, the

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bride in this instance being Frances L. Hart, have been born two children: Fred A. and Robert S. Mr. Hoskins has never sought public office, be- ing content with developing his farm and in ex- ecuting the multifarious details of his trade, but .he has in one instance yielded to a sense of public luty and acted as town assessor. He has won the esteem of all who know him, and he and family are classed among the most respected residents of the town of Bloomfield.

HENRY EDWARD GWATKIN, one of New Britain's business men, was born in England, as were also his parents. His father, a brass-founder by trade, left his native land shortly after Henry's birth, with the intention of making a new home for his family in America.

Henry E. Gwatkin was born in London April 23, 1847. He was yet very young when he came with his mother across the ocean to join the hus- band and father of the family at Hartford, where he had found employment with a Mr. Whitmore. After a year spent at Hartford the family removed to New Britain, where Henry E. Gwatkin attended the common schools until he reached the age of sixteen years. He then entered the employ of Churchill, Stanley & Co., jewelers, with whom he remained fourteen years. During the next four years he was unemployed, and at the end of that time accepted the position of superintendent of the National Wire Mattress Co., of New Britain. Here he displayed those sterling qualities of mind and heart which have proved the foundation of his suc- cess through life. Fidelity to duty and scrupulous integrity brought their fitting reward in his reten- tion by the company in this responsible position for seventeen years. In 1898 the concern was re- organized under the name of the National Spring Bed Co., with a capital stock of $10,000, Mr. Gwat- kın still retaining the superintendency. The cor- poration does a large and remunerative business in the manufacture of iron beds and springs, employ- ing on an average twenty-five men. The other of- ficers of the company are John H. Minor, presi- dent. and F. A. Porter, manager.

On June 28, 1871, Mr. Gwatkin married Miss Hattie Ella Payne, who was born in Prospect, Conn., May 17, 1849, daughter of Edward and Mary E. Payne. Her father is dead, and her mother makes her home with her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Gwatkin. Two daughters have blessed their union, only one of whom is living. The elder, Maude Mav, born Nov. 16, 1873. died March 18, 1874. Bessie Louise was born Jan. 16, 1870. Her education was obtained at the grammar and high schools of New Britain, and she was married, Jan. 16, 1900, to Fred W. Loomis, of the business firm of Hjerpe & Loomis, plumbers, of New Britain.

In political faith Mr. Gwatkin is a Democrat. although not a party worker. He is a member of

St. Elmo Lodge, No. 21, K. P., and has filled many of the chairs. He is an amateur naturalist, and al- though a very busy man has managed to find time to gather and classify an extensive and valuable en- tomological collection, devoting many of his leisure hours to the study and practical investigation of this branch of science, in which his attainments are of a high order. He is a man of genial and gen- erous disposition, of kindly and unselfish instincts, and of affable manners. He attracts friends read- ily, and retains them through the affection and re- spect which he inspires. Although not a commun- icant of any Christian body, both he and his wife are regular attendants at the Methodist Church, of which their daughter is a member.

HIERMAN BIRK, a prosperous and well-known tobacco grower and cigar manufacturer of the town of East Hartford, is a native of Prussia, born Sept. 22, 1848, and is a son of Frederick and Minnie Birk, the former of whom was by trade a carpenter.

Herman Birk was educated in the common schools of his native land, learned carpentering from his father, served the allotted term in the army, and in 1872 sailed for America, paying his passage with money saved from his earnings. He was eleven days crossing the ocean to New York, came thence directly to Connecticut, and immediately found employment in the gas works at Hartford. He was next employed at chopping wood on the land which he now owns in the town of East Hart- ford, and was thus engaged until he married his employer's daughter, which happy event took place Dec. 30, 1877.

Mrs. Louisa W. Birk, the lady alluded to above, was born in East Hartford Aug. 2, 1855, and is a daughter of Valentine and Anna M. (Wagner) Ferner, natives of Germany, but old and respected residents of East Hartford town. They were mar- ried in Germany, but soon afterward came to Con- necticut, and of their six children Mrs. Birk is the only survivor. In 1870 Mr. Ferner purchased the "Fish Pond Farm" from Austin Dunham, of Hartford, who, with Mr. Kellogg and Mr. Ives, had maintained it as a pleasure resort for several years, and had expended considerable money in im- proving and ornamenting it, and this is the prop- erty now owned by Mr. Birk. It is handsomely situated, and contains a fine dwelling, excellent to- bacco lands, a fruitful orchard and a well-stocked trout pond : on this place the father of Mrs. Birk passed away at the age of eighty years, preceded tc the grave by the mother, who died when seventy- two years old. The family is now composed of Mr. Birk, his wife, and a brother of our subject, Otto Birk. Mr. and Mrs. Birk had two children, both of whom died in infancy.

Mr. Birk has made many improvements in his farm buildings, availing himself of his knowledge of the carpenter's trade, which he had learned in

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Germany, and in which he has never lost his skill. A few years ago he embarked in cigar manufactur- ing. and has built up a very lucrative trade, his factory being known as No. 115, District of Con- necticut.

Mr. and Mrs. Birk are quiet, unpretentious peo- ple, and are very industrious, Mrs. Birk being a valuable helpmeet to her husband. They are both regular attendants at the Lutheran Church, which they aid liberally, both in a financial way and other- wise, and are highly respected by the entire con1- munity. In politics Mr. Birk is a Democrat, but has never been an office seeker, preferring to give his attention to his farm and factory, through which he receives a sure and bounteous reward, than to the seeking of a doubtful recompense for his time through the precariousness of politics. Socially he is a member of the I. O. O. F. and of the Grange.

WILBER PITKIN BUNNELL, M. D., is one of the younger practicing physicians of New Britain whose professional career has been marked with generous success. He is wedded to his profession, and by a thorough preparation has fitted himself eminently for its practice, but he is interested also in the social and public affairs of the city of his adoption, and his personality has won for him a wider recognition than his mere professional status. however eminent that may be.

Dr. Bunnell is a descendant of one of the first families who settled at Burlington, Conn., coming originally from Cheshire. His grandfather, Heze- kiah Bunnell, was a native of Burlington, and a farmer by occupation, becoming one of the wealthi- est agriculturists in that region, and he was promi- nent in the public affairs of the town. Hezekiah Bunnell married Amanda Shepard, of Burlington. and they had children : Theade, who married Grove Judson, and lives at Bristol : Lyman B., who is now engaged in an extensive law practice at No. 170 Broadway. New York City: Seymour, father of our subject: Ai, living on the old homestead at Burlington : Cherilla, who married a Mr. Turner. of Waterbury : Jeanette, deceased : Marcus.deceased ; and Charles, living at Burlington, on the old home- stead. Hezekiah Bunnell died in 1880, at the age of eighty-three, surviving his wife many years.

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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 149

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