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 150

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 150

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Seymour Bunnell was born at Burlington Sept. 15. 1833, and there passed his boyhood days. At the age of seventeen years he went to Hartford and en- tered on an apprenticeship with Woodruff & Beach, manufacturers of stationary engines, at the close of which, before the Civil war, he went South to set up an engine on a sugar plantation, and the planter, acquiring a liking for the sturdy young me- chanic, induced him to remain for a year. Re- turning to Hartford, Seymour Bunnell, as contract- or, had a large number of men in his employ in the Colt's patent fire-arms factory. He was quite suc- cessful, and continued in that business relationship until about 1889, since which time he has followed

his trade as tool-maker, being now with the Whit- ney Co., Hartford. He has been active in Free Masonry, and is a member of Hartford Lodge, Chapter and Commandery, being a past master and past commander. He is also a member of St. Ber- nard Lodge, K. P. At one time he was a director of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Co. He has always been a Democrat, but has not taken an active part in politics. Seymour Bunnell married Miss Arvilla M. Pitkin, daughter of Dennison Palmer and Phoebe Dunham (Turner) Pitkin, a prosperous farming family of East Hartford. Her brothers are engaged at Hartford as extensive manufacturers of steam boilers, under the firm name of Pitkin Bros. To Mr. and Mrs. Bunnell came the follow- ing named children: Frank, born May 29, 1858. died Nov. 3, 1861 ; Wilber P., subject of this sketch ; Edith L., born Sept. 17. 1864, wife of George Put- nam, a descendant of Israel Putnam; and Ernest Palmer, born Nov. 12, 1867, now a machinist in Hartford.

Dr. Wilber P. Bunnell was born in Hartford March 27, 1860. He attended the public schools of that city, and after completing the grammar- school course was for three years under private tutors, with a view of preparing for college. In 1880 he entered McGill University, Montreal, where he remained for two years, receiving the foundation of his professional education, and in 1883 entered the University of the City of New York, from which he was graduated March 14. 1884, the medi- cal course which he completed having reference to a general practice. In these latter years supple- mentary medical education and hospital practice are deemed desirable for the medical college gradu- ate, and Dr. Bunnell obtained both in New York City. At the Homeopathic College he studied homeopathic materia medica and therapeutics, spending much of his time in the hospitals. Dr. Bunnell located at New Britain June 8, 1885, and has since then been engaged continuously in the practice of medicine, building up an extensive practice, the result of his own ability and application. He is a member of the New Britain Medical Society, of which he is now serving as vice-president : of the Hartford County Medical Society : and of the State Medical Society. He is a member of Centennial Lodge. F. & A. M., of the Royal Arcanum and the Loval Additional Benefit, being examiner of both organizations : be- longs to the Order of Red Men. the Knights of St. George and the Knights of the Golden Eagle, and is medical examiner of the last two named. He has served as chairman of the city board of health for one year, and has been town physician eight years. Dr. Bunnell was formerly a Democrat in politics, but is now independent. He is not a politician, and it is a tribute to his worth and faithfulness that he has held the office of town physician. which is a political appointment, through shifting political administrations.

On June 12, 1890, Dr. Bunnell wedded Miss

657

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Hattie L. Charter, daughter of Gen. William M. and Charlotte (Smith) Charter, the former of whom was a prominent citizen of Hartford.

PAUL G. LEUPOLD. Thrift, industry and sound judgment have been so constantly shown among the numerous representatives of the Father- land who have settled in this country that we nat- urally look upon these qualities as characteristics of the race. Among the individuals in whom they cen- tainly. exist in a marked degree is this well-known resident of New Britain, who holds a responsible position in a large manufacturing establishment, and is also influential in municipal affairs, being the present city auditor.

Mr. Leupold's ancestral home is Lupochow, in the Province of Posen, Germany, and his grand- father, Johan Gottlieb Leupold, was a native of that place, where he passed his life as a prosperous blacksmith, owning his own shop and enjoying a fair custom. In religious faith he was a Lutheran, and his descendants have also adhered to that church. He married Anna Justine Schmidt, and had four sons, Karl, Friedrich, Johann and Ludwig, and one daughter, Emilie.

Friedrich Leupold, our subject's father, was born Nov. 26, 1833, at the old home, Lupochow, and was educated in the public schools of that town. As a young man he learned the joiner's trade, serv- ing four years as an apprentice. In 1856 he located in Berlin, Germany, where he worked until 1865, when he left for Warsaw, Russia, the next year returning to Berlin, where he went into business for himself. He continued successfully until 1881, when he gave up the business and went to Brazil, South America. The following year he again returned to Berlin, and in 1883 lie came to the United States, locating at once in New Britain, Conn., where he is employed as a patternmaker for J. A. Traut, in the Rule & Level Co., being considered an expert in that line. On his journeys to the different coun- tries Mr. Leupold was always accompanied by his family. As an intelligent citizen he takes keen in- terest in the questions of the day, and, while he is not an aspirant for political honors, he is a strong Republican. His estimable wife, whose maiden name was Augusta Diecke, is a native of Torgau, Province of Saxony, Germany. They had eight children : Otto, a gilder by trade, but now a suc- cessful business man; Adolph, a contractor and builder, who has built many important structures, in- cluding three German churches in New Britain ; Charles, a carpenter, who was in partnership with his brother Adolph, but is now deceased .; Adelheid, deceased; Paul G., our subject; Albert, who is in the employ of the Stanley Rule & Level Co., at New Britain ; and Emma and Bertha, both deceased.

Paul G. Leupold was born May 5, 1867, in the city of Berlin, Germany, where he attended the pub- lic schools until he reached the age of fifteen. There he laid the foundation for a good practical educa-

tion, and by subsequent reading and study he has added much to his store of knowledge, having be- come an excellent bookkeeper, mainly through his own efforts. He learned the joiner's trade, and soon after the arrival of the family in New Britain he was employed in the joiner's department of the Stanley Rule & Level Co., where he remained until 1893, but since then he has held a position in the Minor & Corbin Box Co., having charge of the case making department. Politically he is a Republican, and as he is an able and effective speaker he be- came prominent in the councils of the local or- ganization at an early age. In April, 1898, he was elected city auditor for the term of two years, re- ceiving the third largest majority, while in 1900, when he was re-elected for the same position, he received the highest majority on the ticket.

In 1893 Mr. Leupold married Miss Anna Schlueter, of New Britain, and they have one son, Henry. Mr. Leupold and his wife are popular so- cially, and lie belongs to the New Britain Turner Society, the sick benefit society Concordia, and Gerstæcker Lodge, No. 96, I. O. O. F., in all of which he was prominent for a number of years; he also belongs to Comstock Encampment, No. 42, I. O. O. F. He was president of the Connecticut State Turnbezirk.

JOHN OSKAR JOHNSON was born in Sweden Oct. 3, 1852, son of Joseph Johnson and his wife Catherine. His father was born May 18, 1814, and died Dec. 27, 1861, in the land of his birth. His occupation was that of a cloth sales- man, traveling with a horse and wagon from town to town. His widow, who was born in 1820, still survives him, making her home with her son John Oskar, in Kensington. Early in life Mr. Johnson's father was well-to-do, but before the close of his days he saw his accumulations swept away, and died leaving his family in rather straitened circumstances, when John O. was but nine years old.

Our subject was the eldest of four children, and for him the battle of life began early. For two years he was "hired out" to one Jonas Johanson, and at the expiration of that time he found em- ployment with Swening Nagunson, with whom he remained for seven years. During this period he was permitted to attend school, and it was thus that he 'obtained a well-grounded knowledge of those rudimentary branches which form the foundation of all education. His next employer was Lorin Dor- henson, with whom he remained for about six months. In 1871, before reaching the age of twenty years, he formed the determination to woo fortune in a new clime, toward the setting sun. In that year he sailed from Goteborg, landing in New York on May 1I, and remained in that city a few days. He soon found employment as a railroad section hand, and continued in that line of work for nearly a year, six weeks on a branch line in Westchester county, N. Y., three months at Port Jervis, in the

658

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

same State, four months at Lumberville, Delaware county, and three months for the New York, Os- wego & Midland Co., at Paris, N. Y. From the place last named he went to Long Island, where for about a month he was employed as a farm hand. Returning to the metropolis, he worked for a time at any description of labor which presented itself, and on July 15. 1872, setting his face eastward, he reached Hartford. Horace Williams, of East Hart- ford, and Benjamin Hamilton, of West Hartford, were his first employers, he remaining nine months with the former and four months with the latter. Six months he spent in the employ of Lawrence Flagg, and two or three months with a Mr. Whit- ing. The three months following he worked for a Mr. Crampton, a farmer of Farmington, Return- ing to East Hartford, he found a situation with the Olmsteads, and during the five months that he re- mained with them attended school. His next move was to Forestville, where for three months he worked in a clock manufactory. Being offered the charge of E. M. Welch's farm he accepted the po- sition, the responsible duties attaching to which he discharged with fidelity and success for about two years. By this time he had become tired of a mi- gratory life, and when he entered the works of the Bristol Brass & Clock Co., of New Britain, it was to remain with that concern for fifteen years, four- teen of which were passed in the lock department.

During all his mutations of employment, how- ever, Mr. Johnson had never ceased to display, in a marked degree, those mental and moral qualities which have characterized his ancestral race for centuries. Economy and sobriety, industry and pa- tience, perseverance and pluck, had transformed the penniless Swedish immigrant of 1871 into the land owner and man of modest fortune. Without ad- ventitious aid, with no trade, and possessed of only the ground-work of scholastic training, he had suc- ceeded, through the intense force of his own char- acter, and because of his determination to know no such word as failure. He had become the owner of a home in New Britain, and in 1895 he exchanged this for the Leander Bunce property, a farm of ninety acres, situated in the "Blue Hills" district of Kensington. Here he leads the comparatively quiet, yet congenial, life of a produce and dairy farmer. His place is known as the "Springdale Dairy Farm," and besides disposing of the yield of his cows he handles a considerable quantity of milk and cream for others, disposing of most of the out- put at retail in New Britain.

Mr. Johnson was married, April 27, 1876, to Miss Caroline Christina Gustemson, who, like him- self, is a native of Sweden, born Sept. 10, 1852. Their marriage has been blessed with nine children : Carl Frederick, the eldest, was born Aug. 22, 1877. is married, and has been in the employ of Th. D. Stanley, of New Britain. Anna Louisa, born Jan. 22, 1879, died March 26, 1882. Eda, born Nov.

30, 1880, resides at home, as also do the younger children-Francis Albert, born Sept. 21, 1882; Au- gust Robert, Sept. 23, 1884; John Edward, Oct. 6. 1886: David Oskar (2), Aug. 4, 1890 ; and Anna Catherina, Jan. 2, 1892. David Oskar (1), born Feb. 10, 1889, died June 20, same year.

Both Mr. Johnson and his wife are members of the Salvation Army, he holding the rank of ser- geant-major. He joined the organization in 1885, having been previously a member of the Methodist Church at Plainville. He takes a deep interest in the cause of religion, and devotes to its advance- ment the same untiring effort which he has ex- pended in manual toil. His conversion was the re- sult of a dream, or vision, in which the rewards and penalties of the future life were made clear to hini. His children attend the Congregational Church of Kensington. His political affiliation is with the Pro- hibition party.

WILLIAM ORR, a leading farmer and dairy- man of Southington, was born in Crossford, Lanark- shire, Scotland, Oct. 19, 1856, a son of Adam and Margaret (Dickson) Orr, who came to America in 1886, and have since resided in Southington. Their children are: William, John, Ann, Adam, George, Minnie and James.

Our subject was reared in his native land, and acquired his literary education in the public schools there. In the spring of 1881 he emigrated to the New World, and took up his residence in Southing- ton, Conn., where he was employed in the wrench department of the works of the Peck, Stow & Wil- cix Co. for three years, since which time he has engaged in farming and the dairy business, and has met with most gratifying success. He is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry in Southington, and is highly respected and esteemed by all who know him.

On April 24, 1895, Mr. Orr married Miss Julia Sloper, daughter of David Root and Augusta E. (Woodruff) Sloper, of Southington, representatives of old and prominent Connecticut families. The fa- ther was born in Southington Feb. 12, 1801, and was twice married, first on Oct. 6, 1831, to Cornelia Bristol, daughter of George A. Bristol. By that union he had two children, Ambrose and Cornelia. The mother of these died Feb. 24, 1837, at the age of twenty-four years, and on Nov. 20, 1842, Mr. Sloper married Eliza A. Woodruff, daughter of Daniel S. and Eliza ( Bristol) Woodruff, of South- ington. Three children were born of this marriage: Mary E .: Cornelia, wife of Lloyd O. Neal; and Julia, wife of our subject. David R. Sloper was a prominent farmer of East street, and formerly a manufacturer of cement.

Ambrose Sloper, the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Orr, was born March 28, 1774, and wedded Mary, daughter of Isaac and Mary ( Bristol) Wood- ruff. He'lived on the homestead now occupied by our subject and his wife, and there died Feb. 23,

659

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1810. He was a son of Ambrose Sloper, Sr., who was born in Branford, Conn., in 1734, and came to Southington with his parents. He married Sarah Root, daughter of Stephen and Sarah ( Hart) Root, of Southington, and located on East street, where our subject now resides. He served as captain in the Revolutionary war, and died April 13, 1822, at the age of eighty-seven years. His father, Robert Sloper, was a resident of Branford, where he was married, Jan. 9. 1717, to Experience Johnson, daugh- ter of Edward and Esther ( Wheadon) Johnson, of Branford. Later he removed to Southington, where he died April 5, 1767. He was a son of John Sloper, of whom but little is known except that he was born Jan. 13, 1661, and was a son of Richard Sloper. The latter was born in November. 1630, and was married, Oct. 21, 1658, to Mary Sherburne, daugh- ter of Henry and Rebecca (Gibbons) Sherburne. Hle was an early settler of Dover, Mass., and re- moved from there to Portsmouth, N. H., where he died Oct. 16, 1715, at the age of eighty-six years.

Mrs. Orr's maternal grandfather, Daniel S. Woodruff, was born in 1792, and married Eliza, daughter of George and Abigail Bristol. He lived on East street, and died July 9, 1844. He was a son of Urbana Woodruff, who was born in 1766, and married Silence Sloper, daughter of Capt. Daniel and Rachel (Langdon) Sloper. Ile also lived on East street, where he died Nov. 11, 1798. His father, Isaac Woodruff, was born in October, 1737, and was married, Feb. 11, 1762, to Mary Bristol, of Cheshire. He made his home on East street, and there died Dec. 13, 1813. Ilis father, Samuel Woodruff, was born in Farmington, Conn., Jan. 20, 1686, and was married, July 10, 1718, to Esther, daughter of Samuel and Esther ( Wood- ford) Bird. He held the military rank of captain, and died in February, 1766. He was a son of Samuel Woodruff, Sr., who was born in Farming- ton Aug. 26, 1661, and was married, in 1685, to Rebecca Clark, daughter of John Clark. This Sam- uel Woodruff was the first settler in what is now the town of Southington, locating there in 1698, and there he died Jan. 8, 1742. His father, Mat- thew Woodruff, removed from Hartford to Farm- ington about 1640, was admitted a freeman in 1657, and was one of the eighty-four proprietors of the town in 1672. He died in 1682, at an advanced age. Mrs. Orr is a member of Hannah Woodruff Chap- ter, No. 36, Daughters of the American Revolution.

WILLARD ELISHA HOWE, a well-known and highly-respected citizen of Glastonbury, is a great-grandson of Elisha Howe, an early settler in the town of Glastonbury. Elisha Howe and his elder brother, John, came from England, and after a short residence in Framinghan, Mass., removed to Glastonbury, locating near cur subject's pres- ent home. John Howe was married, in 1755, to

Mary Holden, and had two sons, John and Elisha, who served with the militia during the Revolu- tionary war. Elisha Howe also took part in the struggle for independence. He was married about 1750.

Elisha Howe (2), our subject's grandfather, married Anna Hollister, and had the following chil- dren: Mary married David Holbrook, and settled in Ohio ; Ann married James Sawyer, and resided in Berlin, near Montpelier, Vt. ; Rebecca married Col. Robert Gates, of Derby, Conn .; Elisha married Fannie Arnold, of East Hartford; John became the father of our subject; Judith married Samuel French, and settled in Derby, Conn. : Jemima mar- ried Deacon Chester Hills, of Glastonbury.

John Howe was born in 1791 in the town of Glastonbury, where his boyhood days were spent. He received a common-school education and learned the cooper's trade, and for some years he farmed in summer and worked at his trade in winter, in his later years, however, following farming ex- clusively. He died in 1867, his remains being buried in Buckingham. John Howe married Mary Wads- worth, a native of Hartford, and daughter of James and Mary Wadsworth, the former a shoemaker. Of the children born to John and Mary Howe, William Hanford, who is not married, resides on the home- stead; Willard E. is next in the order of birth; Eliza Ann, and Mary and Martha (twins) are liv- ing at the homestead; and John W., a merchant in South Glastonbury, married Emma Tryon ; James and John died young.

Our subject was born Sept. 19, 1824, at his pres- ent farm, in a house which he replaced in 1854 with a more modern building. As a bov he attended the district schools, and also spent one term at Wilbra- ham Academy, and on leaving school he engaged with his brother, William H., in the manufacture of powder kegs, suppyling Ilanmer & Forbes, in Scot- land, now Burnside ; later they made staves for the Dupont Powder Co., of Delaware. They continued in that line of business for a number of years, but for some time before selling their mill, to the East Hartford Water Co., they operated it as a saw- mill. Since the sale of the mill our subject has de- voted his attention to farming, and as a citizen he ranks among the leaders, his courteous manners being allied to a sound judgment which wins gen- eral respect. Ile is an active worker in the Con- gregational Church at Buckingham, having served as clerk for forty years. In politics he is a Repub- lican, and he served as a representative in the Legis- lature in 1860, and has been assessor many times. He also did efficient work as a member of a com- miittee, in company with Jolin A. Hale, Thaddeus Welles, Andrew T. Hale, Henry Welles and Charles Hollister, all prominent citizens, to assist Rev. A. B. Chapin in gathering material for a complete his- tory of the town for the second century anniver- sary. The celebration, which fell on May 8, 1853,

660

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

commemorated the bestowal of the first corporate power on this side of the river two hundred years before.

On Oct. 5, 1853, Mr. Howe was married to Miss Hannah F. Treat, who was born in Glaston- bury Jan. 15, 1830, daughter of Jerad and Anne (Wadsworth) Treat, of Hartford. Three children blessed the union: Alice May, who died in child- hood; Miss Edith W., who is at home; and Anna 1., who died in early womanhood.

AARON W. HALL. In the life of this gentle- man we find an example of a self-made American citizen, and the exemplification of the progress that an ambitious foreigner can make in this country of unbounded opportunities. He came to the United States practically empty-handed, but is to-day the owner of a fine farm of 185 acres in Berlin, Hart- ford county, his success being due to his own per- severance, industry and energy.

Mr. Hall was born in Yorkshire, England, Dec. 16, 1868, and is a son of George and Hannah ( Ken- dall) Hall, also natives of Yorkshire, the former born Nov. 20, 1840, the latter on Nov. 5, 1845. They were married in July, 1866. In England the father engaged in farming for other people. He came to America in 1893, sailing from Liverpool, and land- ing in New York. After spending about nine months in Bristol, Conn., he came to Kensington, and he and his wife, together with two of their sons, Charles and James, reside on the same farm as our subject. In their family are nine children, five of whom came to this country. All are pro- gressive farmers and hard-working men.

On coming to this county, in 1889, Aaron W. Hall worked on farms in Newington for a time, and then removed to Kensington. He worked for George D. Boyer for a year and a half, and was subsequently with Samuel D. Newell, of Bristol, for a year. Returning to Kensington, he purchased 185 acres of land on the Meriden road to New Britain, of Mr. Boyer, and upon the place he has since made many useful and valuable improvements, including the erection of two houses. He keeps a fine grade of stock, and in connection with general farming is engaged in the dairy business, having a large milk route in New Britain. He is an enter- prising, reliable business man, and his success has been most worthily achieved.

On Nov. 17, 1897, Mr. Hall was united in mar- riage with Miss Alice Graves Lyman, of Talcott- ville, Conn., who was born March 11, 1874, a daughter of Horace S. and Esther M. (Graves) Lyman, who are still living. Our subject and his brothers Charles and James took cut their naturaliza- tion papers in Hartford, and are now identified with the Republican party. The elder Mr. Hall and his sons Charles and Aaron W. were members of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows in England, and they expect to renew their membership in this coun-

try. Our subject and wife are members of the Con- gregational Church, and the remainder of the fam- ily are inclined to the Methodist belief ; they are held in high regard by all who know them.

REV. HENRY THOMAS WALSH, pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, Plainville, is widely known and respected, not only among men- bers of the Catholic Church, but among all denomi- nations alike.

Father Walsh is a native of Connecticut, born June 1, 1855, in Ansonia, New Haven county, a son of Matthew Walsh, who was born in 1820 in Ireland, coming thence to the United States in 1844, and settling in Ansonia. For several years he fol- lowed the business of stone mason, and for thirty years that of contractor in Ansonia, where he lived half a century. He was a stanch Democrat, and a champion supporter of the schools, having served efficiently on the school board. In 1846 he married Mary McCabe, who was born in 1825, and died in Ansonia in 1897; he passed away in Ansonia in 1892. They had a family of four children, the sub- ject of this sketch being second in the order of birth.

Henry T. Walsh received his earlier education at the public schools of Ansonia, and in his fifteenth year entered Holy Cross College, Worcester, Mass., in order to prepare himself for the priesthood ; thence, after eighteen months, went to Niagara University, Suspension Bridge, N. Y., at which insti- tution he graduated in 1875, in the philosophical course. He then took a three-years' theological course in the same university, graduating from same in 1878, after which he was assigned as assistant pastor to Rev. Thomas Smith, who had temporary charge of St. Patrick's Church, at Thompsonville, Conn. Here Father Walsh remained four months, and was then transferred to Stamford, Conn., as as- sistant to Rev. W. H. Rogers (pastor of St. John's Church there), holding this curacy some six and one-half years, and in February, 1885, he was as- signed to the pastorship of the Church of Our Lady of Mercy at Plainville. The parish at that time comprised Plainville and Farmington, Fosterville being, Sept. 20, 1891, transferred from the parish of Bristol to the jurisdiction of Plainville.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 150

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