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 175

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 175

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RIAL STRICKLAND, M. D. Among those who devote their time and energies to the practice of medicine in Enfield, and have gained a leading place in the ranks of the profession, is D .. Strickland. A na- tive of Connecticut, he was born in Stafford Springs,

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Tolland county, Jan. 23, 1814, and is a son of Sam- tiel and Hannah (Eaton) Strickland. His paternal great-grandfather came from England at an early day and was among the first settlers of Stafford Springs. He was a farmer by occupation, and was one of the noted wrestlers of his day. His son, Samuel Strickland, the grandfather of our subject, was born probably in Stafford. He was a promi- nent farmer, and served for three years as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His wife bore the maiden name of Esther Brooks. The father of our subject was an agriculturist, as was also the maternal grandfather, John Eaton. All made their homes in Tolland county, this State.

Dr. Strickland was reared on a farm in his na- tive county, and received a common-school and academic education. In 1834 he commenced the study of medicine in Stafford and continued his studies in Boston, Mass. : Somers, Conn. : and Pitts- field, Mass. Later he entered the Albany Medical College, where he was graduated in 1839. He first opened an office in Columbia, Conn., where he re- mained six months, and in the winter of 1839-40 located at Longmeadow, Mass., engaging in prac- tice there until the spring of 1859, when he came to Enfield, Hartford county, Conn., where he has since been actively engaged in the prosecution of his chosen profession. His skill and ability are attested by the liberal patronage he enjoys, and he ranks as one of the leading physicians of Hartford county.

For his first wife Dr. Strickland married Miss Sarah M. Luther, and of the four children born to them two are still living, namely: Myra E., widow of Albert F. Allen; and Clara, wife of Charles L. King. His second wife was Miss Elizabeth Ham- ilton, a daughter of Dr. Horatio A. and Clarissa (Peck) Hamilton. She belongs to a family that has had many able and distinguished representatives in the medical profession, being a granddaughter of Dr. Horatio Arnold Hamilton, and a great-grand- daughter of Dr. Asa Hamilton, a physician and surgeon in the Revolutionary army. Her maternal grandfather was Dr. Daniel Peck, a prominent physician of Stafford, Conn. Her father's brother, Erasmus E. Hamilton, was a physician, and her only brother, Horatio Arnold Hamilton, was a physi- cian of prominence in Perrysburg, Ohio, where her mother's brother, Erasmus D. Peck, also engaged in the practice of medicine. The son and grand- son of Erasmus E. Hamilton are both physicians, and Harry A. Hamilton, a nephew of Mrs. Strick- land and a son of Dr. Horatio A. Hamilton, is a druggist by profession. By his second marriage onr subject has two daughters: Elizabeth H. and IJelen Louise, Mrs. Frank H. Abbe.

The Doctor and his wife are faithful members of the First Congregational Church of Enfield, and have the respect and esteem of all who know them. Hle affiliates with the Masonic fraternity, the Hart- ford Medical Society, and the Connecticut State Medical Society, while politically he is identified

with the Democratic party. In 1854 he was a mem- ber of the Lower House of the Massachusetts Legis- lature, and in 1881, 1882 and 1883 represented the Third Connecticut Senatorial district in the State Senate. Although eighty-five years of age he has the vigor of a much younger man, and in spirit and interests seems yet in his prime. Nature deals kindly with the man who abuses not her laws, and though his professional duties have been arduous age rests lightly upon him.

SETH FITCH WOODFORD, who passed away May 4, 1898, at his home in the town of Avon, will long be remembered in this part of the county as a citizen who held a place second to none in the esteem of his fellow men, and whose upright life and high moral character left an impress for good which it is hoped may never be effaced.

Mr. Woodford was born Oct. 31, 1812, in Nod, Avon, Conn., and passed his life on the original homestead of the Woodford family, which has long been prominent in Hartford county as represent- ative of the best in her business, civil and social life. He was a son of Chester Woodford, and a brother of Chester Randolph Woodford, one of the oldest and mostly highly-respected citizens of the town. Our subject received his education in the pub- lic schools of the neighborhood of his home, and at the age of seventeen years began his apprentice- ship to the trade of carpenter and joiner, which he followed for a number of years in his earlier man- hood. He finally took up contracting and building, to which line, and the tobacco business, he gave the greater part of his active life, and by his ability as a financier and manager he rose to a position of recognized standing in the commercial world. His honor in all his dealings was unquestioned, and, combined with unusual judgment, energy and pru- dence in the conduct of his business interests, won for him the high place which he occupied for years among his business associates. Though never act- ive as an office-holder in the public life of the lo- cality, he exerted a marked influence in the affairs of his town and county, and was recognized as an earnest thinker and man of undoubted public spirit, one who would support any measure for the gen- eral welfare, and who had the courage of his con- victions in upholding any cause in which he was interested. He was a strictly temperate man, and an ardent worker for the Prohibition cause, being a member of the State Temperance Association, and he was always ready to assist in the moral improve- ment of his community. Liberal in his religious views, he united with no special denomination, but he gave generously to religious and charitable en- terprises, and was beloved by all his neighbors and friends, for his kind heartedness and benevo- lence, having a wide circle of friends and ac- quaintances throughout the town. Always will- ing and anxious to do what he considered right, and generous in his judgment of others, he gained a measure of loving respect from his fel-

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low men in general enjoyed by few, and his death was widely and sincerely mourned by the entire community. . He was laid to rest in Avon cemetery. Mr. Woodford was a man of unusual intelligence, and kept himself well informed on current events and matters of local importance. He was a Demo- · crat in political sentiment, but he took no part in the affairs of that organization beyond casting his vote.

On May 18, 1842, Mr. Woodford was united in marriage with Miss Harriet Tracy Rockwell, who was born Sept. 3, 1817, in East Windsor (now South Windsor), Hartford county, a daughter of Nathaniel Rockwell, a cigar manufacturer. Mrs. Woodford survives her husband, and though now in hier eighty-third year is active and in full posses- sion of all her faculties, attending to duties about the house and taking a keen interest in home and family, to which she has always been devoted. She is an intelligent, kindly, Christian woman, beloved in the domestic circle and respected by her neigh- bors and friends, who are numerous in Avon town. In religious connection she is a zealous member of the Congregational Church. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Woodford, of whom Na- thaniel died in infancy; Edward C. died young ; Joseph S. and Haley C. are engaged in the milling business and are the leading business men of Avon ; Sarah died at the age of seventeen years shortly after her graduation from Bordentown ( N. J.) Col- lege, a bright girl, whose death was deeply mourned by her family and friends. The two sons living were given a good start by their father and conduct business in partnership, engaging extensively in milling, tobacco growing and farming. Joseph S. has been probate judge of Avon for eleven years, and he and his brother are prominent among the sub- stantial and wealthy citizens of the town. Joseph S. Woodford married Miss Alice Maude North, of Florida, and they have two children, Raymond and Edna. Haley C. Woodford married Miss Sophia North, of Florida, sister of Alice M. and Dr. North, of Avon; they have two children, Ches- ter North and Grace. No family is more respected in Avon town than the Woodfords, and they hold a high position in the social life of the locality.

The ROCKWELL family, to which Mrs. Woodford belongs, is one of the oldest in Hartford county, having been identified with its interests for over 250 years. William Rockwell, the first of the line in America, was born in Dorchester, England, and on April 14, 1624, was married in his native country to Susanna Capen, daughter of Bernard Capen. They came to the New World in 1630, locating first in Dorchester, Mass., where William was one of twenty-four freemen who took the oath of fidelity on May 18, 1631. He was a deacon in the church there, and was one of the jurors in the first man- slaughter case tried in the Colony. In 1637 he removed with his family to Windsor, Conn., where he passed the remainder of his days, dying May 15, 1640. He was also a deacon in the church at

Windsor. On May 29, 1645, his widow for her second husband married Matthew Grant, and she passed away Nov. 14, 1666. To William and Susanna Rockwell were born six children: Joan, April 25, 1625, in England ; Samuel, July 18, 1627, in England ; John, March 28, 1631, in Dorchester, Mass. ; Ruth, August, 1633, in Dorchester ; Joseph, 1635; Sarah, July 21, 1634, in Windsor. Of these, Joan married Jeffrey Baker. Ruth was married Oct. 7, 1652, to Christopher Huntington, removed to Saybrook and in 1660 to Norwich, where they were among the earliest settlers. Sarah became the wife of Walter Gaylor.

Sergt. Samuel Rockwell, son of William, came to America with his parents and removed with the family from Dorchester, Mass., to Windsor, as above recorded. He was among the earliest settlers of East Windsor, where he engaged in farming until his death, in 1711. He was admitted to mem- bership in Windsor Church April 6, 1662. On April 7, 1660, he married Mary Norton, daughter of Thomas and Grace ( Wells) Norton, of Guil- ford, and we have the following record of their children : Mary, baptized in January, 1661, was married Oct. 23, 1683, to Josiah Loomis ; Abigail, baptized Oct. 23. 1664, died May 3, 1665 ; Samuel was baptized Oct. 19. 1667; Joseph was baptized May 22, 1670; John was baptized May 31, 1673-74: Abigail, baptized April 11, 1676, was married Nov. 9, 1704, to John Smith, and died Oct. 12, 1741 ; Josiah was baptized March 10, 1676.

Joseph Rockwell, son of Samuel, was born in East Windsor, where he carried on farming all his life. He married Elizabeth Drake, who was born Nov. 4. 1675, a daughter of Job and Elizabeth (Alvord) Drake, and they had a family of six children, born as follows: Joseph, Nov. 23, 1695 ; Elizabeth, Dec. 12, 1698 (died in infancy) ; Ben- jamin, Oct. 26, 1700; James, June 3, 1704: Job, April 13, 1709; Elizabeth, July 24, 1713 (married Jonathan Huntington). The father of this family passed away June 26, 1733.

James Rockwell, son of Joseph, and great-grand- father of Mrs. Seth F. Woodford, was born in East Windsor, and like his father was a lifelong farmer in that town. On Nov. 7, 1728, he was united in marriage with Miss Abigail Loomis, daughter of Eben and Jemima ( Whitehead) Loomis, and they became the parents of eight children: James and Ebenezer (twins), born Sept. 27, 1729; William, born Sept. 19, 1731, who was married in 1760 to Elizabeth Reed; Abigail, born Dec. 19, 1733, who died in February, 1734; Abigail (2) [date of birth not given]; Elizabeth, born April 9, 1742; and Nathaniel and Sybil (twins), born Oct. 14, 1746. The mother of these died June 22, 1759, the father on Oct. 15, 1776.

Nathaniel Rockwell followed in the footsteps of his forefathers, carrying on agricultural pursuits all his life, and he was a highly-respected, prosper- ous citizen of East Windsor in his day. He married Sarah Bullen, daughter of David and Ann Bullen,

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of Enfield, and the names and dates of birth of their eight children are as follows: Huldah, March 20, 1770; Nathaniel, March 21, 1772; Flora, Sept. 2, 1774 (died Sept. 15, 1776) ; John, March 9, 1777; Martin, Aug. 16, 1778; Ruth, April 20, 1782; George, Feb. 28, 1786; Sophia, June 21, 1789 (died Jan. 18, 1868, unmarried). Mrs. Rockwell passed away June 5, 1810, in East Windsor, aged sixty- eight years, and Mr. Rockwell's death occurred there Aug. 22, 1822. He was a Democrat in pol- itics.

Nathaniel Rockwell, father of Mrs. Woodford, was born March 21, 1772, in East Windsor, where he grew to manhood, receiving his education in the public schools of the day. He passed his entire life in what is now known as South Windsor, and was one of the respected citizens of his time, win- ning an enviable reputation as a kind-hearted Chris- tian man, of upright character and integrity in all his dealings. Like his forefathers he was a farmer. By his genial disposition and exemplary life he made hosts of friends in the community where he resided, and was widely and favorably known, though he was not especially active in public af- fairs, devoting his time principally to his business affairs. On July 1, 1810, he was married to Miss Sarah Charlton, who was born in 1780, in Nor- wich, a daughter of Charles and Sarah ( Williams) Charlton, and their union was blessed with six children : Joseph Henry, born May 1, 1811; Lydia Huntley, born Oct. 11, 1812, married to Horace Cornish, and died in Hartford in 1870; Sydney Will- iam, born June 4, 1814, a physician by profession ; Edward Charlton, baptized June 19, 1816 (Josephi H., Lydia H. and Sydney W. were all baptized same day as their brother, Edward C.) ; Harriet Tracy (Mrs. Woodford), born Sept. 3, 1817; and Ann Maria, born in 1819, who died when four years old. Nathaniel Rockwell died May 26, 1847, widely mourned by his family and friends in South Wind- sor. He was a Democrat in political sentiment. His wife died Aug. 25, 1854, and was laid to rest in South Windsor. She was a woman of high Christian character, and beloved by all who knew her for her many sterling traits.

RUFUS W. GRISWOLD, M. D., of Rocky Hill, a man of local prominence in the profession, and a citizen of usefulness in his community, is de- scended from one of the old and prominent families of New England.

Born Feb. 20, 1825, in the town of Manchester, Hartford county, Dr. Griswold is the son of Julius J. Griswold, and a descendant in the eighth genera- tion of (I) Edward Griswold, the emigrant ances- tor of this branch of the Griswold family in Amer- ica, his line of descent being through George, Dan- iel, Daniel (2), White and Dr. George.

(I) Edward Griswold, the emigrant, came from Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England, in 1639, and settled at Windsor, in the colony of Connecticut, later removing to the part of Killingworth now

called Clinton, Middlesex county. He had married, in England, his wife's name being Margaret, and some of their children were born there.

(II) George Griswold, son of Edward, born in 1632, in England, married in Windsor, Conn., Mary, daughter of Thomas Holcomb.

(III) Daniel Griswold, son of George, married Mindwell, daughter of Nathaniel Bissell.

(IV) Daniel Griswold (2), son of Daniel, mar- ried Sarah White, of Bolton, Connecticut.

(V) White Griswold, son of Daniel, married Elizabeth Cheney, of Manchester, Conn. He was a soldier in the Revolution, was taken prisoner at the battle of Germantown, in October, 1777, and died at Philadelphia, on board a prison ship, the same fall.

(VI) Dr. George Griswold, son of White, was born June 19, 1756, in the town of Harwinton, Litch- field Co., Conn., and married Esther, daughter of Jennings Johnson, of Southington, Conn. He studied medicine under the direction of a Dr. Ab- ernethy, of Litchfield, became a physician of skill and prominence, and was one of the original mem- bers of the Connecticut Medical Society. In 1800 he served as a representative in the General Assem- bly of the State. He died Sept. 8, 1821, in the sixty-sixth year of his age.

(VII) Julius J. Griswold, son of Dr. George, and the father of the subject of this sketch, was born Dec. 19, 1800, in the town of Manchester. When in middle life he entered the service of the United . States as a private soldier, and was stationed a part of the time in Arkansas and in Florida, his term of seven years' service expiring just prior to the Mexi- can war. He was a man of worth and usefulness, in both military and civil life, and held the esteem of a wide circle of acquaintances and friends. Dur- ing the latter part of his life he was occupied as a farmer in East Hartford. On June 5, 1822, he mar- ried Ann Arnold, daughter of Samuel and Ruth (Kennedy) Arnold, of East Hartford. He died Jan. 28, 1865. His wife, who was born in 1799, died five years previously. She was of the seventh generation from John Arnold, the emigrant ancestor, who came from England, and in 1640 had a twelve- acre tract of land south of Little River, in Hartford ; and in the division of lots on the east side of the Connecticut river, in 1664, there was set off to his son, Joseph Arnold, one of the three-mile lots in that part of East Hartford now the Hockanum Dis- trict, and running east. The line of Ann ( Arnold) Griswold's descent was through Joseph, John (2), John (3), Samuel, and Samuel Arnold (2). Of these, John Arnold (2) married Hannah, daughter of Rev. John Makin. John Arnold (3) married Lucy, daughter of Thomas Wadsworth. Samuel Arnold married Lucy, daughter of Eliab Pratt. Samuel Arnold (2) married Ruth Kennedy.

(VIII) Rufus White Griswold, our subject, went to the southeast district of East Hartford when a boy, and was educated in the public schools. At the age of seventeen he began a four-years' appren-

Rufus W. Griswold.H.D.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ticeslip to the printer's trade, in the office of the Hartford Times. He remained in the office two years longer, the last vear as foreman in the print- ing department. In March, 1848, he embarked in journalism on his own account, starting a newspa- per known as the New England Weekly Gasette, having his office in the cast wing of the old Univer- salist church at Hartford. The venture was suc- cessful so far as the circulation of the paper was concerned, but financially it did not prove profitable, for the reason that his business was conducted almost wholly on the credit system. In consequence, he discontinued the publication after two years, and in April, 1850, went to New York and began the study of medicine, in the office of a personal friend, Dr. Roger Griswold Perkins. Later he matricu- lated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in that city, where he attended lectures during the winter terms of 1852-53, 1853-54, receiving the de- gree of Doctor of Medicine in March of the latter year. His knowledge of the printing trade and newspaper work stood him in good stead. He was editor for a time of the New York Empire City, and also for several months assistant editor of the Brooklyn Morning Journal. The summer of 1853 he was assistant physician in the Colored Home Hospital. After graduating he came to Rocky Hill, Conn., where he has since remained in continuous practice.

On Dec. 23, 1851, Dr. Griswold married Esther E. Hammond, of Vernon, Conn. The issue of this union has been three sons, all of whom are prac- ticing physicians and graduates of the New York University Medical College. The eldest, Roger M., resides at Providence, R. 1. The two younger are twins-Edward H., who resides in East Hartford, and Julius E., who is located at Portland, Conn. All three sons are active and useful in the profession, and esteemed in the communities in which they re- spectively reside.

Dr. Griswold has been prominent in public af- fairs, and his fellow townsmen have several times honored him by electing him to public office. He was town clerk of Rocky Hill for four and a half years, and represented his town in the Legislature, being a member of the House in 1883, and chairman of the committee on Contingent Expenses. Among his professional brethren he enjoys a deservedly high reputation as a well-read and skillful physician. He has been a member of the Hartford County Med- ical Society and of the Connecticut State Medical Society since 1854, having twice filled the office of president in the former. For eleven years he lias been one of the board of managers of the Connecti- cut Society Sons of the American Revolution; and lie is a member of the Connecticut Historical Society. He has contributed largely to Medical Journals, many of his articles appearing in New York, Phila- delphia, Baltimore and Louisville publications. The Connecticut Medical Proceedings contain several of his papers, including an address on the Materia Medica and Therapeutics of a hundred years ago,

given at the Centennial celebration of the Connecti- cut Medical Society at New Haven, in 1892. The Connecticut Health Board Reports for 1885 and 1886 contain papers prepared by the Doctor of some forty odd pages each, on the history and etiology of the Epidemic of Malarial Diseases at that time pre- vailing in southwestern New England. These cover that matter more thoroughly and completely than anything else ever printed, and in the future will be of great value to the medical profession. Dr. Henry R. Stiles, of New York, has now in course of pub- lication a work in two large volumes on "Ancient Wethersfield," of which Rocky Hill was a part; and the Rocky Hill portion of that work, taking in what was formerly Stepney parish (now Rocky Hill), from its first white settler in 1655 down to about 1875, is from the pen of Dr. Griswold.

JAMES HOMER DARLING, M. D., a promi- nent homeopathic physician of Thompsonville, has that love for and devotion to his profession which has brought him success and won him a place among the ablest representatives of the medical fraternity in Hartford county. He was born in Cambridge, Lamoille Co., Vt., July 25, 1838, a son of Hayes Pope and Aphia ( Hubbard) Darling, natives of Pomfret, Vt., and Weare, N. H., respectively. The father was a hatter by trade, but in later life en- gaged in farming in Cambridge, Vt., and died in Johnson, that State, Dec. 22, 1843.

Dr'. Darling was reared in his native State, and received an academic education at Northfield Acad- emy. In 1856 he began the study of medicine in the office of his brother, Henry H. Darling, at Charl- ton, Mass., and in 1858 attended lectures at the Vermont Medical College, Burlington, where he was graduated in 1859. The same year he began the practice of his chosen profession at Rindge, N. H., remaining there until November, 1862, when he was appointed assistant surgeon of the 5Ist Mass. V. I., by Gov. John A. Andrews, and served nine months. In December, 1863, he was appointed acting as- sistant surgeon, United States Navy, and served two years in the East Gulf Squadron. In Decem- ber, 1865, he resigned that position and was honorably discharged from the service with the thanks of the Navy Department. He then located at Keene, N. H., where he practiced his profession for ten years, and in 1875 came to Thompsonville, Conn., where he has since been in active and success- ful practice.

Dr. Darling has been twice married, his first wife being Miss Caroline M. Burnham (daughter of Rev. A. W. Burnham, D. D. ), of Rindge, N. H., who died in 1874. Later he married Miss Caro- line M. Wilson, a daughter of Deacon Elliott A. and Almira ( Breed) Wilson, of Sullivan, N. H., and to this union two children were born, Ethel M., and Blanche J., the latter now deceased. Religiously the Doctor is a member of the Presbyterian Church ; socially he is a member of Samuel Brown Post, No. 56, G. A. R., and of the Order of United American

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Mechanics. His political support is always given to the Republican party, and for three years he has been a member of the school board of Thompson- ville. The position he has won in the medical pro- fession is accorded him in recognition of his skill and ability, and the place which he occupies in the social world is a tribute to that genuine worth and true nobility of character which are universally recognized and honored.

HERMANN AUGUST ROSER. Ever since 1659 the paternal ancestors of this prosperous tanner of Glastonbury have followed the business of tan- ning, a statement which is suggestive of the ade- quate reason for his success.

Jacob Henry Roser, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was born in Stuttgart, the capital of Wurtem- burg, Germany, in 1781. He was a lifelong tanner. He married Fredericka Veil, and of their nine children three learned the tanner's trade. One son, Rudolph, was for twenty years a missionary doctor in South Africa.

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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 175

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