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 154

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 154

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In politics Mr. Sheldon is a Republican, formerly a Whig, his first Presidential vote having been cast for Henry Clay, and has missed but one Presiden- tial election since, which was in 1860, when he was absent in Minnesota. He has served his town in various offices of trust, such as assessor for seven years, trustee, also justice of the peace, although he "never tried a case," invariably succeeding in per- sauding contesting parties to settle their differences "out of court." He is much averse to litigation, and has never been either plaintiff or defendant in any kind of suit, but has served in both United States and county courts as juror. He represented his town in the General Assembly in 1858, 1881, 1887, and 1889. Mr. Sheldon is a stockholder in the First National Bank at Suffield, and for seven years was vice-president of same. He has been a contributor to many newspapers and magazines, and in historical matters is considered a reliable authority in his town,

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but his eyesight has been failing for the past twenty- five years, and he is unable now to either read or write, though in all other respects he is compara- tively well preserved. He is the author of a num- ber of valuable local histories, the most important being his "Documentary History of Suffield," which required a great amount of labor and research. He also wrote an interesting "History of the Connecticut Literary Institute," and "The Connecticut River and Its Islands," besides compiling a genealogy of the Sheldon family.

On Nov. 1, 1843, Mr. Sheldon was married in Suffield, to Miss Almira C. Rose, a native of that town, daughter of Barlow and Clarissa ( King) Rose. They commenced housekeeping Jan. 1, 1844, in the house which he had built the previous year, in West Suffield, and where he is yet living. His wife was called from earth Aug. 30, 1887, and is buried in West Suffield cemetery. She was a member of the Congregational Church, and highly respected, as is also her husband, who is one of the best-known and most highly-honored men in his part of the State.

DANIEL T. DYER, of the Dyer Farm, in the town of Canton. On this farm is located the Dyer Mine, yielding gold, silver, lead and zinc, and is beautifully situated near "Rattlesnake Mountain," while under the able management of our subject it is kept in a high state of cultivation. The mines have been operated, and valuable deposits are found on the estate. Mr. Dyer, the proprietor, is one of the leading business men of his locality, and the most extensive distiller of cider brandy in the State, the product of his plant at the farm being sent to different parts of the United States.

The Dyer family has been identified with this section from an early day, and the name has always been associated with thrift, enterprise and public spirit. The first ancestor of whom we have record was Thomas Dyer, who was born about 1612, at Shipton Mallet, near Glastonbury, England, and came to America in early manhood. He settled at Weymouth Mass., where he died Nov. 5, 1676. He was there married to Agnes Read, a native of Rutley, near Glastonbury, England, who died in Weymouth in 1667. He married (second) Eliza- beth Frary, a widow, who died at Weymouth in 1678, aged fifty-six years. By his first marriage he had eight children, as follows: Mary, born July 9, 1641, married Samuel White, and died in Wey- mouth Oct. 23, 1716; John, born July 20, 1643, died in Boston June 2, 1696; Thomas, born March 29, 1645. died July 16, 1647 ; Abigail, born July 9, 1647, married James Nash, of Weymouth; Sarah, born March 10, 1649, married John Ruggles, and died at Roxbury, Mass., Aug. 2, 1687; Thomas (2), born May 5, 1651, died in 1673; Benjamin and Joseph (twins) were born Nov. 6, 1653, and the latter died Oct. 12, 1704.

Benjamin Dyer, born Nov. 6. 1653, at Wey- mouth, Mass., located in Boston in early life, and

died there in 1718, his remains being interred in a local cemetery. His wife, Harriet Odlin, daughter of Elisha Odlin, of Boston, was born in July, 1640. They had ten children: Harriet, born Sept. 27, 1692; Thomas, born Nov. 7, 1693, died Feb. 22, 1722; Abigail, born April 7, 1695; Margaret, born Nov. 21, 1696, married Jeremiah Hall, and died in 1735; John, born Nov. 21, 1696, married Jeremiah Hall, and died in 1735; John, born Nov. 21, 1698, died in 1723, unmarried; Benjamin is mentioned below; Joseph, born Sept. 25, 1702; Mary, born in 1704, died of smallpox in 1721; Elisha, born March 21, 1707, died at Hartford, April 10, 1739; and Sarah, born Dec. 13, 1708, married James Raymer.

Benjamin Dyer (2) was born in Boston March 27, 1700, and learned the trade of tallow chandler. On Nov. 22, 1825, he was married to Margaret Clapp, and in 1735 he removed to Hartford, re- maining about ten years. In 1745 he settled in West Simsbury (now Canton), purchasing a large tract of land (over 600 acres) near the Farming- ton river, known now as the Page place. He died there in 1775, and is buried in Canton cemetery. He was a man of culture and refinement, and was a classmate and roommate of Benjamin Franklin dur- ing their school days. He had the following chil- dren : Thomas, born in Boston in 1728, married Azubah Humphrey, daughter of Samuel Humphrey, and died in 1803; Mary married Elisha Cornish ; Benjamin F. died in 1746, at an early age; Joseph was a soldier in the French and Indian war, and died in the French war; Margaret, born in 1738, married Eliphalet Curtis, and died in 1812; John died in 1793; Sarah married (first) John Hutching- son and (second) a Mr. Edson; Hannah married Benjamin Adams ; Benjamin (2), born in 1747, mar- ried Anna Northway, and died in 1815 ; and Daniel, born in 1749, is next in the line of descent.

Daniel Dyer, born in 1749, was well educated, becoming a civil engineer. He was a lifelong resi- dent of West Simsbury (now Canton), followed farming and stock raising, and was highly respected as a citizen. He served in the Revolutionary army. He died at his farm in 1814, his remains being buried in the Canton cemetery. A great Bible student, he was so familiar with his Bible that if any two verses were repeated, with the name of the book, he could tell the chapter in which they oc- curred. Mr. Dyer married Sarah Northway, who was born in 1748, and died in 1819, was a daugh- ter of Samuel and Ann Northway, and granddaugh- ter of Mrs. Sarah Woodford, who lived to the patriarchal age of 101 years. Of the seven children born to Daniel and Sarah Dyer one died in infancy in 1780; Sarah, born in 1776, married Dr. Enoch Leavit; Chloe, born in 1778, married Uriah Hop- kins, and died at New Hartford in 1863 (she was buried in Harwinton) ; Candace, born in 1782, mar- ried Ashbel Moses, and died in 1877 (she was buried in New York) ; Norman, born in 1786, mar-

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ried Diantha Roberts, and died in Indiana in 1848: Zenas, born in 1788, is mentioned below; Panthie, born in 1793, died in 1878, and is buried in Hunter, N. Y. (she married first Theophilus Dyer, and second Fisk Beach).

Zenas Dyer, our subject's grandfather, was born on the old homestead in Canton in 1788, and for many years resided at our subject's present farm. For twenty-nine and a half years he conducted a hotel, and he engaged extensively in the business of distilling cider brandy. He was a man of or- dinary education and intelligence, and served as captain of the local military company. He and his son Daniel broke the ground for the erection of the Collins Company's plant at Collinsville. He was an active member of Village Lodge, No. 29, F. & A. M., at Collinsville, and for a number of years the meetings were held in his house. On Nov. 27, 18II, he married Sally Chidsey, who was born Aug. 4, 1794, daughter of Timothy Chidsey, and granddaughter of Joseph Chidsey. His death oc- curred Dec. 10, 1856, at his farm, and he was buried in the Dyer cemetery ; his wife passed away July 7, 1887. Of their children, (1) Charlotte, born in Canton, Feb. 20, 1815, died Juy 30, 1888. She married first Edmund Bidwell, Sept. 19, 1836, and second, Dec. 25, 1852, F. J. Garrett. (2) Daniel is mentioned below. (3) Lucia Ann, born Oct. 5, 1818, was married Sept. 11, 1839, to the late E. F. Bidwell, and now resides in Collinsville. (4) Sarah, born Feb. 28, 1823, was married Sept. 4. 1853, to J. F. King, of New Hartford, who died June 2, 1900. (5) One died in infancy unnamed.

Daniel Dyer, father of our subject, was born at the present homestead March 8, 1817, and received a common-school education, and as he was fond of reading he kept well informed upon the issues of the day. As a young man he went to St. Louis, Mo., by team; in the party were thirty-two two- horse teams, taking thirty-one days to make the trip, and for two years he was engaged in selling clocks in the West for Wadsworth & Peck, meeting with fair success. In boyhood he worked with his father at the foundation of the Collins Company's works in Collinsville, and on his return from the West he settled on the homestead, and conducted the hotel for several years. He made many im- provements on the place, which contains 300 acres of land, and in addition to general farming, stock raising and dairying he conducted the business of distilling cider brandy. He was also a contractor for repairing and building roads, and held for thir- teen years the contract for keeping the Albany & Hartford turnpike, from Hartford to New Hart- ford, in general repair. He was noted for his hon- esty as well as for his industry and business tact, and he was much esteemed in the community. Po- itically he was a Democrat, and in his religious views he was liberal, although he made the Golden Rule the guide for his conduct. Mr. Dyer died May II, 1876, and was buried in the Dyer cemetery.

On May 6, 1852, he was married in Canton to Susan Lyon, who was born July 10, 1820, in Gustavus, Ohio, daughter of Aaron Lyon, a native of East Haddam, Conn., and his wife Harriet (Bidwell), a native of Canton. Mrs. Dyer died Feb. 23, 1892. She was a lady of refinement, a student at Oberlin College, and taught in a public school in Ohio pre- vious to her marriage. She made many friends.

Our subject was born at the homestead June 4, 1853, and being an only child inherited the farm. He secured his literary education in the district schools of Canton, the high school at Collinsville, Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Mass., and the Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Since taking possession of the farm he has devoted special attention to stock raising, dairying and to- bacco growing, and has made extensive additions to the distillery and farm, now owning about 500 acres. He is a stockholder in the Canton Creamery Association, and helped to organize the Cherry Park Agricultural Association, in which he is a director. He is liberal in religious belief, and his progressive ideas, genial disposition and upright, honorable char- acter have won him high standing as a citizen. He is a stanch Democrat, and has served as selectman, road commissioner and school committeeman. Fra- ternally Mr. Dyer is a thirty-second degree Mason, belonging to Village Lodge, No. 29, F. & A. M., Col- linsville; Washington Commandery, No. I, K. T. (the oldest commandery in the United States) ; the Supreme Council; and Sphinx Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is also a member of the Order of Red Men; Grange No. 34, Canton; and the State Grange.

On June 13, 1876, Mr. Dyer married Miss Har- riet Maria Case, who was born in Canton Jan. 21, 1857, daughter of Franklin Case, and sister of Ben- jamin F. Case, of Canton. She was educated in the district schools of Canton and the Connecticut Literary Institute, Suffield, and her intelligence and good judgment make her a true helpmeet. She is a member of the Congregational Church, and takes an active interest in its work. Nine children have brightened our subject's home: Susan Lyon, born Sept. 29, 1878, died Jan. 17, 1889; Sarah, born Sept. 4, 1882, graduated in 1900 from the Collinsville high school, and is now at Lasell Seminary, Au- burndale, Mass .; Daniel T., born April 25, 1885, died Oct. 2, 1887; Hattie Case, born Sept. 6, 1886, is now attending the Collinsville high school; Mary H., born Dec. 30, 1890; Josephine, born Feb. 27, 1892; Margaret, born June 26, 1893; Dora, born June 6, 1895, died June 6, 1896; and Jasper Norman, born Nov. 6, 1898.

JAMES TANNER was born in Manchester, England, April 15, 1844, and is of Irish descent and parentage. After receiving a common-school edu- cation he attended a commercial college, and at the age of fifteen was apprenticed to the joiner's trade. Mr. Tanner was married Aug. 24, 1862, at the

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early age of eighteen years and five months, to Miss Fannie Smith, the daughter of English parents, and born in the same city as himself March 6, 1844. In September of the following year ( 1863) Mr. and Mrs. Tanner, with their infant daughter, Elizabeth Jane, set sail for New York. The voyage was saddened by the death of their first born, whose baby form they were compelled to consign to the waters of the Atlantic. Failing to secure work at his trade Mr. Tanner found employment in the Lorillard tobacco manufactory, in Brooklyn, where he gained not a little knowledge of the business, so that it was not long before he became overseer and inspector in the making-up department of Watson & Co.'s factory, a position which he secured through an advertisement in the New York Sun, and the high testimonial as to character and ability given him by the Lorillards' superintendent.

The country was then passing through the ex- citement of the Civil war, and the government ad- vertised for men for its civil service at Nashville, Tenn., which city was then under martial law. A desire to travel and a love of adventure led Mr. Tanner, who was still a very young man, to aban- don his position and respond to the call. Hle went to Nashville in a company of seven hundred. There he found the quantity and quality of the food furn- ished the employes so small and so poor that he remained but a short time. Proceeding to Fernan- dina, Fla., he found practically the same state of affairs, with the poor quality of water, which was causing much sickness among both troops and civil- ians. He returned to Brooklyn, and taking his wife and child (a son, William) with him, went back to England, where he obtained employment in a packing-box factory. While living there two more children were born to him, James F., and Elizabeth A. In time Mr. Tanner grew dissatis- fied with his surroundings, and resolved once more to seek for better fortune in America. Accordingly, in 1870, he again crossed the ocean, leaving his family behind, and landed in New York on May 16. His brother John was at that time a member of the Eighth United States Infantry, stationed in North Carolina, and his mother and sister were living in North Manchester, Conn. He determined upon going to the latter place. There he sought work in the packing-box department of Cheney Bros.' mills, and, failing to secure it, entered the spun silk sizing department. Soon after he re- ceived the melancholy intelligence of the death of his son Earnest, who had been born since his leav- ing England. By 1872 he had saved enough to enable him to build a home and send for his family to join him.

Since their final settlement in Manchester Mr. and Mrs. Tanner have had seven children, making the issue of their marriage twelve in all. Seven of these are yet living: William, who resides at Stonington : James F., a graduate of the Baltimore Medical College, and a practicing physician of Man-

chester; Elizabeth A., wife of William Gates, of South Manchester; John C., also a graduate of the Baltimore University Medical College, and is at present assistant surgeon at the Soldiers Hospital, Noroton, Conn .; Ann J., Mary Edith, and Fannie Irene are living at home.

For twenty-eight years Mr. Tanner continued in the employ of Cheney Bros., remaining in the same department, of which for twenty years he was overseer. During this long term of faithful service he suggested and adopted many important improve- ments in the machinery of which he had supervis- ion ; but in 1898, owing to an accident which in- duced nervous prostration, he found it necessary to abandon further application to business. His life has been a notable illustration of the success which may be achieved through industry and thrift; when directed by integrity and sound judgment. Since coming to Manchester he has erected six tenement buildings, three of which (double houses with modern improvements, located on School street ) he still owns. He also owns a modern brick and stone apartment house, containing six suites, on one of Hartford's principal streets. His handsome competence he has accumulated through his own unaided efforts.

Until 1884 Mr. Tanner was a Democrat in poli- tics, but the declaration in favor of free trade made in the national platform of that party in 1884 caused him and many other Irish-Americans of Manchester to desert their former stand and enroll themselves under the Republican banner. They connected themselves with the Irish-American Anti-Cleveland Union, whose headquarters were in New York. Mr. Tanner was in constant communication with its secretary, William J. Gleason, and cast his first Re- publican ballot for James G. Blaine. Since then he has been a stanch member of that party, and an earnest worker for its success. He was elected a justice of the peace, served as grand juror, and has been repeatedly chosen a delegate to Senatorial and Congressional conventions. He has also been an oc- casional contributor to the Press, and an article from his pen which appeared in the New York Press, under date of May 6, 1886, attracted much attention, and won for him some warm congratulation. He has been secretary of the Emmet Branch of the Irish- American National League. In religious faith he is a Catholic, a member of St. James' Church, of South Manchester.

ORSON FOWLER CURTIS, of New Britain, is one of the best-known citizens of that place. He is yet a comparatively young man, but in various business relations he has attained a prominence beyond his years. He is a descendant of an old Colonial family, and has in recent years been closely allied with the material interests of New Britain as a contractor of buildings and a dealer in real estate. Mr. Curtis was born Feb. 4, 1852, in New Brit- ain, and is a son of Joel and Abigail (Dodge) Cur-

Orson F. lliit's

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tis. The family is of Scotch-Irish Protestant origin, and his earliest American ancestors came to this country about two hundred years ago, settling in Massachusetts. The great-grandfather of our subject, Lemuel Curtis, located at Antrim, N. H., and at the outbreak of the Revolutionary war took up the cause of the struggling Colonists, being one of the first men to enlist from the village of Antrim. The history of Antrim, N. H., by W. R. Cochrane ( 1880), says of the ancestors of Mr. Curtis: Two brothers, Lemuel (the great-grandfather of our subject ) and Stephen, sons of Jacob and Mary (Styles) Curtis, of Amherst, previously of Box- ford, Mass., came here in 1784, soon after the close of the Revolutionary war, during the whole of which they served, and began to clear on Windsor Mountain, near Antrim North Line. Lemuel mar- ried Mary Smith, and had children as follows : Anna, who married Levi Curtis April 1, 1816; Sarah, who married James Walker June 22, 1813, and lived and died in Windsor : Mary, who married John A. Lyon, Dec. 30, 1824, and lived a while at North Branch, after his death removing to Wind- sor, where she died; Hannah, now ( 1880) living alone in Windsor, at an advanced age; David, who married Betsey Swett, whose children all died young ( his second wife was Sally Swett, and they now (1880) live in Windsor) ; Lemuel, grandfather of our subject, married Pamelia Webster Feb. 28, 1822, and lived on the old homestead, where he died.

The children of Lemuel and Pamelia ( Webster) Curtis were as follows: (1) Joel, the father of our subject : (2) Luther S., who married (first) Sarah C. Smith, of Hillsboro, and (second) Mrs. Sarah H. Burnham, of Hillsboro, Nov. 20, 1876 (he has one daughter, Mary, born May 29, 1856) : (3) Luke, who married Lydia E. Drew, went to Kansas, and died in 1864: (4) Washington, who went to Kansas in 1856, and died in 1863, in the United States service : (5) Nathan, who married Hannah Twiss, and lives in Stoddard; and (6) Harlan, who died in Kansas in 1857.

Joel Curtis, the father of our subject, married, Nov. 28, 1849, Abigail Dodge, who was born in Hopkinton, N. H., June 25, 1828, and died April 20, 1896. Their family consisted of three children : Orson F., our subject, born Feb. 4, 1852: George W., born March 11, 1'860; Lestor P., born Aug. 22, 1867. Joel Curtis was a veteran of the Civil war, having served in 1861-63.

Mr. Curtis' maternal ancestry has been famous in history, the line of the Dodge family being traced back to the year 1450. One of his forefathers was Richard Dodge, who in 1638 migrated from England and settled in Salem, Mass. He held vari- ous public offices in his day, and his descendants down to the present time have ever been identified with their country's history. The maternal line of descent of Mr. Curtis is through Richard, John (I), John (2), Phineas, Ebenezer, Ephraim, and Asa Dodge. (I) Richard Dodge came over from

England, and arrived at Salem, Mass., in 1638. (II) Lieut. John (I) Dodge, his son, was born in England in 1631, and died in 1711. (III) John Dodge (2), born April 15, 1662, died Jan. 18, 1703- 04, in his forty-second year. He married (first) Martha Fisk, and (second) Ruth Grover. (IV) Phineas Dodge, born in Wenham, May 23, 1688, died at Wenham July 19, 1759. He married Martha Edwards. (\) Ebenezer Dodge was born prob- ably in Wenham, date not known. He married March 27. 1750-51, Mary Dodge, of Wenham. (VI) Ephraim Dodge, born July 12, 1772, at New- buryport, Mass., married in 1797 Hannah Symonds, of Topsfield, moved to Henniker, N. H., in Feb- ruary, 1803, and died June 2, 1862. (VII) Asa Dodge, born Sept. 28, 1798, married Anna Rice, and died Sept. 6, 1881. (VIII) Abigail Dodge married Joel Curtis.

Until he reached his sixteenth year Orson F. Curtis, our subject, was a school boy, who was ex- pected to devote his attention chiefly to his books, and then, when his school days ended, he began life for himself, securing work on a farm. Soon after he began an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, and, not content with the superficial knowl- edge which ends the training of too many tradesmen, he applied himself to the mastery of the trade, with a success that his future career has demonstrated to be most complete. But though pre-eminently a man of action Mr. Curtis has not neglected the advantages which come from a close acquaintance with books and their contents. He has by system- atic and close reading kept himself informed both upon current thought and upon occurrences of general note, and upon those matters which relate more especially to his own business. He followed his trade for a number of years in various places, thus gaining a wide experience, and in 1883 he launched in business for himself at New Britain. He gave special attention to contracting, and in a short time, by the ability he displayed, found him- self in command of a reputation and patronage that was unexcelled. He has erected not only several of the best private residences in New Britain, but has also been entrusted with the construction of many of the principal public buildings, and is now acknowledged to be one of the leading builders of the city. In recent years he has turned his attention to real-estate matters on a large scale, and also to the renting and sale of improved property.

Mr. Curtis is not a stranger in political circles. His sympathies have always been with the Repub- lican party, and his first Presidential vote was cast in 1876 at Raleigh, N. C., where he was then re- siding, for Rutherford B. Hayes. In 1896 he was elected alderman from the Third ward, in the fol- lowing year he was unanimously re-nominated and re-elected, and in 1899 was again nominated (by acclamation) and elected. In 1897 he was made president pro tem. of the city council. He was delegate to the State conventions of 1896 and 1898,

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has been member of the Republican town committee, etc. During his connection with the city govern- ment Mr. Curtis has been intrumental in securing several needed public improvements, and in bring- ing about better management in the transaction of city business, insisting on having competent men to handle it. He is associated with various promi- nent clubs and societies including the I. O. O. F., the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Red Men, O. U. A. M., etc.

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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 154

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