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 19

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 19

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Gro. P. MLeau

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the election for State officers that year resulting in what is known as the "dead-lock." In 1892 upon rec- ommendation of the entire Connecticut Congress- sional delegation, President Harrison appointed him United States Attorney for the District of Connecti- cut. He filled that office four years, and filled it so well that he won for the government every criminal case that was tried, and every civil case for the State Comptroller four years, and for the State Treas- urer two years.

At the State Republican Convention held at New Haven on Sept. 6, 1900, Mr. McLean was made the nominee of that party for Governor of Connecticut, by being placed in nomination by the distinguished lawyer and orator, Hon. Joseph L. Barbour, of Hartford. In the election which fol- lowed in November, Mr. McLean was elected by something like 11,000 majority, and was inaugur- ated Governor of Connecticut Jan. 9, 1901.

"To Mr. McLean for his tact, forbearance, court- esy and gentlemanly bearing all through the un- comfortable days of a trying campaign much credit is due. His course under the fire directed upon him commanded respect, and made for him friends. His administration will be brilliant and a credit to the State as well as to himself."

Gov. McLean's first message is considered as al- together out of the ordinary-a brilliant State paper. one in which there is not a dull or superfluous word, while it is full of ideas. In it he has said what he thinks, and has dodged nothing. The sources of its real strength are courage, wisdom and foresight. It is a paper that will mark, not to say make, an epoch in Connecticut history. Gov. McLean's ver- satility of gifts as an orator has often been illus- trated before critical audiences, and on more than one occasion he has received distinguished compli- ments from eminent sources, of which he would be justified in feeling proud.

LIEUT .- GOV. GEORGE GRISWOLD SILL, well and favorably known, not only throughout the length and breadth of Hartford county, but largely throughout the State of Connecticut and adjoining States, comes of an honored and honorable New England family, of English descent. He is a de- scendant in the seventh generation from John Sill, his line beng through Capt. Joseph, Joseph, John (2), John (3), and Henry

(I) John Sill about the year 1637 emigrated from Lyme, England, to Cambridge, Mass. (II) Capt. Joseph, of Lyme, after 1675. (III) Josepl- (2). (IV) John (2). (V) John (3), son of John (2), born at Silltown (Lyme), Conn., in 1744, married (first) Mary Anderson, of Windsor ; mar- ried (second) in 1785 Elizabeth, daughter of George Griswold, of Lyme. John Sill (3) settled in Wind- sor about 1775, and died there in 1827.

(VI) Henry Sill (father of our subject), son of John (3), born Aug. 25, 1786, in Windsor, married in May, 1809, Almeda Marshall, of Wind- 6

sor, and their children were: (1) Henry G., born i11 1810, died in 1835; (2) Eliza A., born in 1814, died in 1859; (3) John M., born in 1816, died in 1834; (4) Julia, born in 1819, married Samuel Mather, and died in 1885; (5) William R., born in 1822, married Mary G. Edgar, and is a prominent man at LaCrosse, Wis., a civil engineer of note ; (6) Emily, born in 1824, married E. S. Alford, of Windsor, and died in 1865; (7) Mary A., born in 1827, marricd O. R. Holcomb, of Windsor; (8) George Griswold, our subject, was born Oct. 26, 1829; and (9) Jane H., born in 1833, died in 1859. The father of this family was a life- long farmer, also followed surveying ; he was a lay judge of the probate court, a man of prominence in Windsor, and held all the offices of the town ; set- tled a large number of estates, and transacted a great deal of legal business. He died July 21, 1870, at the age of eighty-four years, highly respected and greatly esteemed by all. His wife was a lineal de- scendant of Capt. Samuel Marshall, who was killed in a fight with the Narragansett Indians. in 1675. She was called from earth in October, 1858, at the age of seventy-two, a member of the Episcopal Church.

George G. Sill, of whom we write, was educat- ed at Ellington Academy, and prepared for college by private tuition; graduated in 1852 from Yale College with the degree of A. B .; attended lectures for a year in Yale Law School, and afterward be- came a student in the law office of the late Gov. Richard D. Hubbard, at Hartford. In 1854 he was admitted to the Bar, and has since continued in the active practice of his profession. For over forty years he has been a prominent member of the Bench and Bar, and for more than half a century has taken an active part in the court, social and political affairs of the county. For forty odd years he has been a justice of the peace, for many years a prosecuting grand juror, and a side judge of the Hartford City Court, while from 1871 to 1873 he was recorder, or judge, of the same court. Among the many cases that have been tried by him none, perhaps, is of more general interest than the celebrated "Fox will" case.

During the Civil war Mr. Sill was especially active in the Union cause, and it was in his office that the first company of Connecticut volunteers was formed. Until 1872 he had been an active and prominent Republican, but in that year, under the leadership of Horace Greeley, he became a liberal Republican, believing that a more conciliatory policy should be pursued toward the Southern States. In 1872 he voted for Greeley. He has been a delegate to a number of county conventions, and has dc- livered many platform addresses, being noted for his success as a public speaker.

In 1873 Mr. Sill was nominated for lieutenant- governor on the ticket headed by Charles R. Inger- soll, of New Haven, and was elected by a hand- some majority; in 1874-75-76 he was re-elected to

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the same office. In 1882 he was elected to the Gen- eral Assembly as representative from Hartford, and was the Democratic nominee for Speaker of the House. In March, 1888, he was nominated, by President Cleveland, as United States district attor- ney for the District of Connecticut, and his appoint- ment was confirmed by the Senate. In 1859 he was a member of the Fremont Club ; in 1860 was a mem- ber of the Lincoln Club, and upon the occasion of Lincoln's visit to Hartford he introduced him to the people of the city. In municipal affairs he served three years in the Hartford common council, part of the time as alderman. In commercial and financial circles he has always been prominent, and is identified with some of the most important finan- cial and commercial concerns of Hartford and vicinity.

On Dec. 18, 1861, our subject married, at Rock- ville, Conn., Mrs. Mary J. ( Preston) Peek, a native of New York, widow of De Witt C. Peek, of that city, and daughter of Esek J. Preston, a flour and coal merchant in Hartford, and at one time connected with William H. Imlay. Children as follows were born to this union: (1) George Eliot, born in 1862, and who died in 1896, was a prominent lawyer in Hartford. (2) Grace P., born in 1865, died April 14. 1893. (3) Ellen B., born in 1866, married Hubert Kip Wood, of Cleveland, Ohio, an inventor, and now superintendent of a factory at Windsor for making shells for the government. (4) William Raymond, born in 1869, was a prominent editor and newspaper man "out west," and is now on the staff of the New York Evening World; he recently re- ported for that paper the celebrated "Molineux" trial, which lasted some ten weeks ; he married Cora Ankins. The mother of this family died April 13. 1894. at the age of sixty-nine years. The fam- ily attend the services of Trinity Episcopal Church, Hartford.

Although having now reached the allotted age of man, our subject is still actively engaged in the arduous pursuits of his profession, and of the men, who, by personal effort and application, have done much to make the city of Hartford what it is to- day. none are more deserving of the highest encom- iums of praise than Lieut .- Gov. Sill.

NATHAN LOOMIS BIRGE, deceased. For more than 250 years the Birge family has re- sidled in Hartford county, and during these two and one-half centuries its members have been promi- nent as farmers, manufacturers and business men, as well as in public life and in the church.

The earliest member to settle within the present county limits was Richard Birge, one of Windsor's pioneers, who came from Dorchester, Mass., with Rev. John Warham, of whose church he was a member. The early records-in which the family name is variously spelt Burge, Birdge, Birydge and Birge-show him to have been an extensive land owner as early as 1640. In addition to a home

lot in the settlement of Windsor, he had acquired title to sixteen acres "beyond the second pine plane," on the west side of the mill brook, besides eight acres south of the mill brook, eight and one-fourth acres on the side of "Pine Hill," and many other parcels of land, on both sides of the river, the deeds antedating 1646. Most of this was afterward owned by his son Daniel. Among his grantors were Nathan Gillett (in 1644) and James Eno (in 1647). Richard, Sr., was Richard, Jr., in 1649. He was a large farmer, but of his personal traits of character very little can be told. That he was a God-fearing man, and a devout Puritan, is shown by his connection with Rev. Mr. Warham; and that he was prudent, careful and successful is evidenced by his continued acquisition of wealth.

On Oct. 5, 1641, Richard Birge married Eliza- beth, a daughter of Hon. William Gaylord, and their children were: John, born in 1642, died in 1643; Daniel, born Nov. 24, 1644; Elizabeth, born July 28, 1646, died in infancy : Jeremiah, born May 6, 1648; John (2), born Jan. 14. 1649; and Joseph, born Nov. 2, 1651, died in July, 1705. Richard Birge died in 1651, and his widow became the wife of Thomas Haskins, of Windsor. Jeremiah. the third son of Richard, entered into an agreement with his step-father to the effect that he would serve him faithfully and well until he reached the age of twenty-one, the consideration to be the con- veyance to him by Haskins of a stipulated piece of land; it being also provided that, in the event of the death of Jeremiah before attaining his majority, his brother John should serve the unexpired term. The elder brother died at the age of twenty years and six months, and the younger son, on completing the contract, received the reward agreed upon.

The death of Jeremiah left two sons of Rich- ard Birge yet living: Daniel and John. Daniel, who was propounded for a freeman in May, 1670, married, Nov. 5, 1668, Deborah Holcomb, by whom he was the father of three sons and six daughters : Elizabeth, born April 25, 1670 (died in infancy) ; Deborah, Nov. 26, 1671; Elizabeth (2), Feb. 3. 1674: Mary, Dec. 25, 1677 (married before her father's death) : Daniel, Sept. 6. 1680; Abigail, 1684: John, 1690; Cornelius, July 30, 1694 (died in 1697) ; and Esther, 1697. Daniel Birge died Jan. 26, 1697-98, his wife surviving him.

It is, however, with the younger branch of the family, that of which John Birge, son of Richard, was the founder, that this biography is more par- ticularly concerned, since it is to this that the late Nathan L. Birge belonged. John Birge, who, as lias been said, was born Jan. 14. 1649, married Hannah Watson (or Wratson) March 28, 1678, and (lied Dec. 2, 1697. Four children were born to them: John, Jr., Feb. 4, 1679: Hannah, June 17, 1682: Jeremiah, Sept. 22, 1686; and Mary, Sept. 9, 1688.

Jeremiah Birge, the second son and third child of John Birge, Sr., married Mary Griswold, of

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Windsor, in 1718, and was the father of children as follows: Jeremiah, born Dec. 23, 1719; Mary, Aug. 23, 1721 ; John, April 25, 1723; Ann, Oct. 28, 1720; Peletiah, Sept. 8, 1728; Hannah, March 18, 1730; Mindwell, March 24, 1732; and Lucia, Sept. 23, 1736. Jeremiah, Sr., the father, died in 1775.

John Birge, known as Capt. Birge, because of his military rank, married Mary Kellogg, who bore him six children : Mary, Oct. 31, 1752; John, March 15, 1753; Simeon, Dec. 26, 1756; Isaac; Roswell; Anna.

John Birge, the second child, was the grand- father of Nathan L. Birge. The place of his birth cannot be fixed with absolute certainty, but is be- lieved to have been Torrington. On March 23, 1779, he married Lydia Hopkins, of Canaan, and to this union six children were born : Polly, Feb. 22, 1781 ; Aranda, Sept. 17, 1782; John, May 4, 1785 ; Chester, July 23, 1788; Hopkins ; and Marella, Dec. 27, 1797. After the death of his first wife he married, on Feb. 5, 1824, Lucy, the third of a family of twelve children born to Ebenezer Good- win, of New Hartford. She died in February, 1858, without issue.

John Birge, second son of John, above, and the father of Nathan Loomis, was born at Torrington. After leaving school he learned the trade of a carpenter and builder, and assisted in the erection of Harwinton church. About 1800 he removed to Bristol, where he settled on a farm near the old North burying-ground, and adjoining the "Gad Lewis" farm, and at the same time began business as a manufacturer. His first venture in that line was in the building of wagons, in which he was very successful. He had a natural fondness and aptitude for agricultural pursuits, taking a deep interest therein until the time of his death. He was a man of sound, practical sense, which he brought to bear upon the affairs of everyday life, and of excellent judgment, and to these two qualities his success in life may be largely attributed.

After conducting the business of wagon making for several years, Mr. Birge purchased a patent covering the right to manufacture rolling-pinion eight-day clocks. He was already the owner of a building in which to install a plant, having pre- viously bought the old woolen-mill, in the eastern part of the town, upon a portion of the site of which stand the works of the present Codling Manufacturing Co. Here, in connection with a partner, he began the manufacture of clocks, the firm being Birge & Mallory. Their goods met with a ready and large sale from the very inception of the enterprise, and gained for Mr. Birge a reputa- tion throughout the United States and in Europe. Peddlers were sent through the South and West; the domestic demand steadily increased, while the export trade assumed very considerable propor- tions : and even to this day not a few of his clocks may be found in Bristol homes, ticking away the hours with the regularity and accuracy of more

modern and more costly timepieces. Some of these clocks have been running over sixty-five years in the South and West. Mr. Birge continued in this line of business until within a few years of his demise, when he retired, having accumulated a moderate fortune. At one time he owned and ran for a number of years the stage route between Bristol and Hartford. He was a man of prominence in the community ; a public-spirited citizen, always ready to contribute money or time toward the ad- vancement of the general welfare. He served as a soldier during the war of 1812, carrying a cap- tain's commission, and adding luster to the family name. He took a deep and active interest in po- litical affairs, and was prominent in the councils of the "Old-line" Whig party. His fellow towns- men, appreciating his capability, integrity and fear- lessness, honored him by electing him to several offices of responsibility and trust.

From early life Mr. Birge was an earnest worker for the advancement of religion, freely contribut- ing of his wealth, and unselfishly devoting his best personal efforts to the cause of his Master. And in this connection it may be added, that this spirit of generosity toward the church, and this readiness to aid in the dissemination of Gospel truth, yet remain characteristics of his descendants. He en- tered into rest June 6, 1862, at the age of seventy- seven, full of years and of good works, trusted and honored by all who knew him, and most of all by those who knew him best. In 1810 he was married to Miss Betsey Loomis, who was born at Torring- ford in 1786, a daughter of Brigadier Loomis.

Nathan Loomis Birge, son of John, was born on his father's farm in Bristol Aug. 7, 1823. After graduating from the high school of his native town, at the age of sixteen, he prepared for Yale Col- lege at the Berlin Academy and at Deacon Hart's school, Farmington, and then matriculated at Yale College ; but after passing through the Sophomore year he found himself compelled to abandon his studies on account of impaired eyesight. He was, nevertheless, able to accept a position as teacher in the old Pearl Street Academy, in Albany, N. Y., which he filled with marked ability for two years, having as many as ninety boys, whom he instructed in the higher Mathematics, and in the Languages. Some of those who were under his pedagogic care at this period afterward attained National, if not world-wide, celebrity, among them being a son of William H. Seward, Gen. Massey, and Rev. Morgan L. Dix, of New York. After severing his connection with the Academy Mr. Birge entered the office of Stevens & Cagger. at Albany, where for a time he read law. The legal profession, however, did not commend itself to his favor, and going to New York he became a part- ner in a wholesale dry-goods house. The firm was shortly after dissolved, owing to the death of one of the partners, and he began to think of engaging in business as a manufacturer. At this

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

juncture his father, whose trade with Great Britain and the continent of Europe had grown to such dimensions as to require the presence of a repre- sentative abroad, offered him the position of Lon- don agent, which he accepted. His management of the business entrusted to his charge was em- inently successful, and in 1848 he returned.

At that period of his life Mr. Birge was im- bued with a young man's fondness for change of scene, and the predilection for adventure which often accompanies a daring, courageous spirit, as one of its attributes. He joined a party of traders, bound for what was then the "Far West." Sep- arating himself at once from the comforts and the restraints of civilization, he followed the course of the Arkansas river, buying skins and furs from the aboriginal sons of the forest in exchange for mer- chandise of a miscellaneous sort. He had a regular trading store, and always got along very well with the Indians. The life was hard, yet it possessed the charm of novelty, and the venture proved a finan- cial success. The following year occurred the epi- demic of the California gold fever, and Mr. Birge proved an easy victim. His journey to the gold fields (actual and prospective) occupied seven months, and was attended by a constant recur- rence of privations and sufferings, which might well have caused a weaker or less resolute man to drop by the way. There were no bridges across any of the rivers, and he and his party were com- pelled to swim every river they same to; ten times they swam the Colorado river, ferrying their per- sonal possessions across on lightly constructed rafts. During the entire trip they were more or less among hostile Indians, and parties in front of Mr. Birge's train were cut off, as well as those following, while other parties were completely annihilated. Only one man attached to his train was lost, although they had almost daily skirmishes with the hostile Indians, who would attack them at every oppor- tunity.

On reaching San Francisco, well-nigh destitute of ready money, Mr. Birge found even the most ordinary necessaries of life commanding prices too exorbitant for him to pay. Under these circum- stances, he accepted the invitation of a friend to pass the coming winter in Hawaii. Early in the succeeding spring he returned to California, and after one summer spent in the mining camps he resolutely set his face toward Bristol. After his return he made the home of his childhood the home of middle life and old age, identifying himself with all its public interests, and always keenly sym- pathetic with every project which tended for its real betternient.

Soon after his return, in 1850, Mr. Birge found- ed the Bristol Knitting Mill, locating his plant in the northern part of the town, in a large factory building which had been erected by Benjamin Ray, in 1845. Several changes in the personnel of the firm occurred during the succeeding years, Mr. I

Birge finally becoming sole owner, and managing the business alone unul 1882, on Feb. 10 of which year the mill was destroyed by fire. A new and more complete one was immediately erected, and in operation before the fall of the same year, the main building alone being 165x35 feet, and four stories high. About this time he admitted his son John into partnership. In 1893 a younger son, George, was taken into the firm, and after that time the business was conducted under the firm name of N. L. Birge & Sons, until the death of Mr. Birge, Oct. 29, 1899, when it was changed to the N. L. Birge & Sons Co. The enterprise prospered from the beginning, and has proved very profitable. The firm's new mill is one of the best equipped, best constructed and best managed in New England, and gives em- ployment to more than one hundred hands. All descriptions of knit underwear are manufactured here, and the superior quality and fine finish of the output creates for it a steady demand throughout the country, the trade universally considering the firm's goods as among the best on the market. The New York office and salesroom of the house is at 346 Broadway. The policy of the firm toward its employes has been a liberal one, and the wages paid have always been equal to the highest, and sometimes in excess of those paid by other concerns in the same line.

For many years Mr. Birge was prominently iden- tified with the public affairs of Bristol. In 1888 he was chosen a member of the school board, and filled that position at the time of his death. It was during these eleven years (1890-91) that the hand- some, new, high school building was erected. He was one of the incorporators of the Bristol Na- tional Bank, and was for many years its vice-presi- dent, having declined its presidency, which was offered him after the death of John H. Sessions. He was also a director of the Bristol Savings Bank, and vice-president of the Bristol Water Co. A member of the Congregational Church, he was a remarkably regular attendant upon its services, rarely missing a Sunday during a period of forty- one years, and he contributed freely toward its sup- port and the advancement of its work. In fact, he regarded his wealth as a trust to be administered for the benefit of religion and humanity. His purse strings were never drawn against a call for a worthy charity, public or private, while the amount of his personal benefactions to the needy, unostentatiously bestowed, is known only to Him who said, "let not your left hand know what your right hand doeth." He was universally beloved and his kind smile and cheery word seemed to spread light and comfort as he went about his daily vocations. His home was an ideal one, in every sense. His residence was, prob- ably, the most costly in Bristol, having involved an outlay of $50,000, and standing in the midst of extensive grounds, the beautiful arrangement and adornment of which told of the wealth and artistic tastes.

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

For several years before his death, Mr. Birge's health was not good, yet he fought against illness with the same courage and grit which had sustained him during his seven months of hardship while crossing the mountains and plains of the "Far West." A serious disorder of the heart manifested itself, however, in October, 1899, and on the twen- ty-ninth of that month he passed away, aged sev- enty-six years. He was a very bright, able man, and could speak French and Spanish fluently, as well as the Cherokee Indian language.

Mr. Birge was married, May 19, 1852, to Ade- line, a daughter of Samuel B. Smith, of Bristol, who survived him. He was the father of three sons and one daughter : John, the eldest, was born Aug. 25, 1853: Ellen Smith, now the widow of Charles Wightman, was born Aug. 12, 1855; George Wallace, on June 8, 1870; and Frederick Morton, on Dec. 2, 1860. The last named died in 1862.

HON. JOHN BIRGE, the eldest son of Nathan Loomis Birge, was educated in the Bristol com- mon schools, and at the academy at Lake Forest, Ill. His preference was for a business life, he hav- ing inherited his father's love of an active life, as well as his capacity for affairs. On leaving Lake Forest he returned home, and after receiving a thorough commercial training in his father's mill, and under his affectionate, careful guidance, he was admitted into partnership in 1882, as has al- ready been told. When his father died he was elected to fill the vacancy on the board of directors of the First National Bank. He takes a lively and active interest in local, State and National politics, and is a firm believer in the necessity of maintain- ing a high standard of purity in the conduct of political affairs. He has represented the Fourth district upon the Republican State Central Com- mittee, a post for which his keen judgment of men, and his readiness in devising and adapting measures for the securing of a given end eminently qualify him. He has also been chairman of the town com- mittee for several terms. Mr. Birge believes in the "young men's movement," and was several years chairman of the Young Men's Republican Club, which is affiliated with the State League. In 1894 he was elected to the State Senate from the Fourth Senatorial district, sitting in that body during the session of 1895-96.

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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 19

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