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 35

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 35

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Michael B. Roldan

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPIIICAL RECORD.

to change his name to Cowles, in order to avoid the inconvenience of being taken at times for another John Cole, living in the same place. From that time the descendants of his eldest son, Samuel, have spelled the name Cowles. John Cole was a farmer, and a deputy to the General Court in 1653 and 1654. In 1662 he removed to Hadley, Mass., where he died in September, 1675. Hle married Hannah - -, who died in Hartford, March 6, 1683. aged seventy years.

The subject of this sketch passed his boyhood in Plantsville, where he attended the common schools, and later he was a student in the Amenia (N. Y.) Academy. Since 1876 he has been engaged in the coal, livery and truck business in Plantsville, and now enjoys an excellent trade. His political sup- port is always given to the men and measures of the Democratic party, and he has been called upon to serve as a member of the board of selectmen of Southington, and also represented the town in the State Legislature. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias. On Sept. 21, 1881. Mr. Cowles was united in marriage with Miss Mary K. Messenger, a daughter of John and Mary ( Schupp) Messenger, of New York, and to them have been born two children, Clarence AA. and Harold L.

STEPHEN F. CHURCHILL ( deceased) was born Sept. 10, 1851, in the town of Wethersfield, Hartford county, son of Justus and Abigail ( Harris ) Churchill, and was reared upon his father's farm, where he remained until he attained the age of twenty-one.

On Jan. 15. 1873. Mr. Churchill was united in marriage to Miss Ella F. Williams, and to their union were born two children : Frank W .. and Mabel, both of whom are at present living at home with their mother. Our subject was noted for his untir- ing industry, and it was commonly said that he for many years performed more work than any other man in the town of Rocky Hill. In addition to his general farm work he was extensively engaged in the making and sale of dairy products, besides being one of the few successful tobacco growers in the town. Each year he cultivated from five to seven acres of this crop.

Politically Mr. Churchill was a Republican, but never an office-seeker. In religious connection he was a devout Congregationalist. He died Nov. 5. 1892, leaving a large estate, and was most deeply mourned by those who knew him best. Since his demise his widow has continued to live upon the farm, where she was born and married, and where she has spent the greater part of a life full of ac- tivity and usefulness.

Mrs. Churchill is a descendant of one of the old families of the county, who have for three genera- tions occupied the old homestead farm where she low resides. Her grandfather. Washington Will- iams, was a native of Rocky Hill, as was also her father, Moses Williams, who was born Dec. 13. 1819.

and was a man held in high esteem by his neighbors and friends. In October, 1841. he married Abigail Smith, a native of Rocky Hill, and their union was blessed with the following children : Henry C., who resides in New Britain : Catharine, who died at the age of five years; Ella F., the wife of our subject : and Margaret, who died in 1870. Moses Williams always lived on the old homestead, with the excep- tion of one year when he made his home in Middle- town, Conn. In politics he was a stanch Republi- can, and was held in high regard by the people among whom he lived and by those who knew him best. For twenty years he served as first selectman of Rocky Hill, being frequently re-elected without any political opposition. He was a faithful member of the Congregational Church for sixty years, and an exceedingly liberal contributor toward its main- tenance and work.

In 1801 Mrs. Churchill's parents celebrated their golden wedding, and six years later, on Dec. 20. 1807. her mother entered into rest, her father fol- lowing her ( who had been his helpmate and the partner of his jovs and griefs for more than half a century ). Jan. 8. 1898, a little more than a year later.

HON. VIRGIL EATON VIETS, a farmer of East Granby, is of the sixth generation in de- scent from Dr. John Viets. He is the owner of the homestead of his great-great-grandfather. Capt. John Viets, which farm property is situated in East Granby, opposite the Old Newgate Prison.

HON. THOMAS KIMBERLY BRACE (de- ceased), who through a long lifetime was one of the conspicuous characters in the business life of the city of Hartford, was descended from an early and prominent Connecticut family.

Stephen Brace, the emigrant ancestor of the family, came from London, England, and settled in Hartford, Conn. From this ancestor our sub- ject was in the fifth generation. Lieut. Jonathan Brace. the grandfather of Thomas K., settled in Harwinton, Litchfield Co., Conn., in 1733, where his son, Jonathan Brace, the father of Thomas K., was born Nov. 12, 1754. The latter was graduated from Yale College in 1779, studied law, and ac- quired a large practice in central Vermont, but re- turned to Connecticut, and after residing for a time in Glastonbury took up his abode in Hartford, in 1794. He was in public life forty-two years, less from choice than from the solicitation of his fellow citizens.

Thomas K. Brace, our subject proper, was born Oct. 16, 1779, and was graduated from Yale Col- lege in 1801. He located in Hartford, where he built up the wholesale grocery house of T. K. Brace & Co. He was mayor of the city from 1840 to 1843, and in the latter year consented to run for Congress on the Whig ticket, but was beaten by Col. Thomas H. Seymour. Mr. Brace was nomi-

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nated for a subsequent term, but declined in favor of James Dixon, who was elected. Mr. Brace, who was the real father of the enterprise, was chosen the first president of the Atna Fire Insurance Co. of Hartford on its organization, in 1819, but owing to pecuniary embarrassment resigned in the fall of the same year. In March, 1821, he was again chosen president, and sustained such relations to the company until in 1857, when, warned by the infirmities of age. he resigned. "Mr. Brace be- longed to the safe and trusty order of men to whom others instinctively turn for guidance." He died June 14. 1860, when in the eighty-first year of his age.

On Aug. 25. 1807, Thomas K. Brace married Lucy Mather, and they had a large family, of whom Thomas K .. Jr., was born Oct. 14. 1825, in Hart- ford. On Jan. 18. 1853. he married Mary Jane Buel, daughter of Samuel and Minerva (Wad- hams) Buel : the Buels were early settlers of Litch- field county. To this union were born four daugh- ters: Mary Buel, wife of Atwood Collins; Emily Maria, residing in Hartford: Julia Wadhams ; and Lucy Mather, widow of Joshua Wilson Allen, re- siding in Hartford. Mrs. Allen has three children, two sons and one daughter. Thomas K. Brace, Jr., was identified with the Ætna Co., and was secretary when he resigned because of ill health. He died in March, 1890, his wife, March 21, 1884.

HON. JOHN HENRY HALL, of Hartford, vice-president and treasurer of Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co., was born in Portland, Conn., March 24. 1849.

Mr. Hall is a descendant in the ninth genera- tion of John Hall. born in the County of Kent, Eng- land, in 1584, who came to this country and settled in Roxbury, Mass., in 1633. In September of the same year he, with John Oldham and two others, explored the region bordering the Connecticut river. and their report, dated Jan. 20, 1634, led to mi- grations from Dorchester to Wethersfield, and from Cambridge to Hartford. In the year 1635, it is recorded, he was made "freeman" in Boston. In 1636 he joined the Hooker and Stone colony, and went to Hartford, removing his family thither in 1639. He owned and occupied as his place of res- idence a tract of six acres west of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad, and now known as the Sigourney (or Catlin) Place. In 1650 he moved to Middletown (then called Mettabesick ) , being one of the original purchasers of land from the Indians. Samuel Hall. of the third generation in this country, in 1719 moved to East Middletown ( afterward known as Chatham, and now as Port- land ), and down to the present generation the fam- ily has continued to reside there.

Alfred Hlall. of the eighth generation, father of the subject of this sketch, entered Washington ( now Trinity ) College the first day the bell rang for prayers, and his eldest son, Samuel, was the first

son of a graduate to enter the same college. After his graduation Alfred Hall selected the law as his profession, and completed the course of study at the Harvard Law School. At the request of his father, however, he then returned to Portland, and engaged with him in the direction of the affairs of the brown-stone quarry, known as the Shaler & Hall Quarry Co., organized during the Revolu- tionary war by Nathaniel Shaler and Samuel Hall. the latter being the father of Alfred, and grandfather of John H. Hall. The following advertisement, taken from the Middletown Gazette or Federal Ad- vertiser, published in Middletown, Oct. 13, 1781, save in its quaint spelling, would satisfy to-day in its energetic promise :

The Free Stone Quarry at Chatham (known by the name of Johnson's Quarry), is now worked under the direction of Shaler and Hall, who will supply the stone at the Shortest Notice, and at the lowest prices either in the Rough or fin- ished, and in such Dimensions as may be required. They will contract to furnish any quantity, for public or private Buildings, Flags, Grave Stones or Monuments, and deliver them at any Port in North America. orders directed post- paid) to Shaler and Hall at the Quarry, Chatham, will have due attention.

October 13th, 1781.

Alfred Hall succeeded his father in the pres- idency of the Quarry Co., and for many years took an active interest in its affairs. The position is and has been for some time past held by John H. Hall, who by his energy and progressive management has revolutionized its working, introducing machinery up-to-date, keeping it abreast with the times, and causing it to enter upon a new era of prosperity. In 1896 he formed a new company, called the Brain- erd. Shaler & Hall Quarry Co., which bought the Shaler & Hall Quarry Co. and the Brainerd Quarry Company.

John H. Hall attended the public school in Port- land, went thence to Chase's school, in Middletown, and completed his course of study at the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, at Cheshire. He pre- ferred business to a professional career, and entered into the employ of Sturgis, Bennet & Co., Nos. 125 and 127 Front street, New York, at the time the largest importers of tea and coffee in the United States, where he remained five years, enjoying rapid promotion, attaining at the age of nineteen to the charge of foreign and insurance departments. In December. 1877, he returned to Portland with his family, having purchased a large interest in the Pickering Governor-at that time in a very de- pressed condition-under the firm name of T. R. Pickering & Co. Owing to his tireless energy and wise business management the enterprise became a rapid success. In five years from the time of his association with the firm, the manufacture and sale increased from less than five hundred a year to five thousand. Successful in his competition on this side of the water, he engaged in competition with English manufacturers, and the sale of the Picker- ing Governor to Great Britain and her colonies now

Moststalf

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represents per annum four times the original output.

During his ten years' residence in Portland, from 1878 to 1888, Mr. Hall was prominent in the interests of the town. He was elected president of the Shaler & Ilall Quarry Co. in 1884. and refused nominations to both branches of the State Legis- lature, tendered him by the dominant party. In 1888 his business, which had been carried on under a partnership, was organized as a corporation, Mr. Hall retaining his proprietary interest, and holding the position of treasurer. About this time the con- tinuous ill health of R. W. H. Jarvis, president of the Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co., and his consequent retirement from active manage- ment in the concern, together with the general de- pression of its business, and the resignation of Gen. William B. Franklin, determined its board of di- rectors to offer to Mr. Hall the position of gen- eral manager of the corporation. AAn arrange- ment was made satisfactory to both parties, and Mr. Hall entered upon the duties of his office with the business acumen and untiring zeal and energy so characteristic of him. Although Mr. Jarvis re- tained the presidency, it was understood, owing to his condition of health, that he was to be relieved of all the responsibility and care attaching to the office. Caldwell H. Colt. the vice-president, was absent from Hartford the greater portion of the time, so that almost from the beginning of his connection with the corporation the entire direc- tion of affairs, both within the manufactory and in its relations with the business world at large. devolved upon Mr. Hall. The directors, soon as- sured of his ample capability and worth, support- ed him loyally in the changes he advocated, and under his vigorous direction the company has been strengthened at home and abroad. In 1890 he was elected vice-president and treasurer.

During his residence of twelve years in Hart- ford. Mr. Hall's geniality and business ability have received a flattering recognition on the part of its citizens. He has declined nomination to munici- pal office, but from 1890 to 1896 served on the city board of water commissioners. He was State sen- ator from the First District of Hartford in 1895- 96. His political affiliations are with the Demo- cratic party, and in 1896 and 1900 he supported the gold wing of that party. Ile is a director in several of Hartford's corporations, namely: The Phoenix Fire Insurance Co., the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Co., the Hartford National Bank, and the Dime Savings Bank, and was one of the organizers of the Board of Trade, and a member of its first board of directors. He is also a direc- tor in the Neptune Meter Co. of New York. He enjoys membership in the Hartford Club, the Man- hattan Club, the Engineers' Club and the New York Yacht Club, of New York City, and the Metropolitan Club of Washington; is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, also of

the "Mayflower" Society, and is a Mason of the thirty-second degree.

On Feb. 9. 1870, Mr. Hall was married to Miss Saralı G. Loomis, of New York, who is descended on her father's side from Quaker stock, and from the Hopkinses of Rhode Island. Her ancestor. Stephen Hopkins, was a very prominent citizen of that honored Commonwealth during the Revolu- tionary period. He was chief justice of both the court of common pleas and the superior court. governor of Rhode Island, and Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was twice elected to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, and was one of the Signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. Their union has been blessed with the birth of four children, two of whom survive: Clar- ence Loines and Miss Grace Loines.

Mr. Hall has always been a member of the Episcopal Church, and is now senior warden of the parish of the Good Shepherd in the city of his residence. He is lovally faithful to the interests he represents, whether of a public or private char- acter, and has steadfastly declined calls to a wider field for the display of his energies with promise of a more lucrative employment.

ALVAA WEST SPAULDING. The Spaulding family is of Puritan stock, and the subject of this biography, a well-known resident of Hartford. is of the eighth generation of the family in this country. tracing his descent from Edward Spaulding. an early settler in Braintree, Massachusetts.

The name was formerly spelled Spalden or Sparl- den, but after passing through the mutations to which so many family names are subject it has been spelled Spaulding almost entirely from the first record we have of it in America. The Spaulding genealogy has this to say of the family : ".As a race they are possessed of great physical vigor, and for most part are tillers of the soil. There are, however. many successful and wealthy men of business among them. About fifty have graduated at different col- leges, and about forty have graduated from different schools of law, medicine, science and theology. The practice of medicine has been the leading preference. next to this the ministry, and then the law." The family has also taken an active part in the civic and military history of the country. Edward Spauld- ing, mentioned above, came to Massachusetts among the first colonists, probably between 1630 and 1633. his name appearing first in the records of Braintree. He and his wife, Margaret, had three children : John. Edward and Grace.

John Spaulding, born in 1633. died in 1721. He was a tiller of the soil, and a soldier under Capt. Manning in King Philip's war. On May 18, 1658. he married Hannah Hale, and they had the following children : John, Eunice, Edward, Hannah, Samuel, Deborah. Joseph and Timothy.

John Spaulding (2), born Feb. 15, 1659, was married first to Ann Ballord, of Andover, Mass .. 1

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Sept. 21. 1681. Late in life he removed to Plain- field. Conn., with his children, who were named as follows: Anna, Samuel, Jonathan, Deborah and Eleazer (twins), Dinah and William.

Eleazer Spaulding, born Aug. 13, 1690, married Abigail Kingsbury, daughter of James Kingsbury, Nov. 17. 1712. He resided in Plainfield, Conn., and their eight children were born there : Dorcas, Eunice. Anna, Hezekiah, Pennel. Eleazer, Timothy and David.

David Spaulding, of Plainfield, Conn. [see Plain- field Records], was born Dec. 25, 1731, and died Aug. 23. 1803. He married Elizabeth Barrett, who was born Oct. 28, 1736, daughter of Joseph and Lydia Barrett. Their children were Barzilla, Milli- cont. Abigail, Eunice, Phineas, Simon, Alva and Elisha.

Barzilla Spaulding, our subject's grandfather, was born April II, 1757, and resided many years in Plainfield. N. H. He was a private and drummer boy in the Connecticut militia in the Revolutionary war, and drew a pension. He married Elizabeth Spaulding, a daughter of John Spaulding, and a descendant of Edward, the line being traced through John. Ephraim. Edward. Benjamin and Edward. They had ten children: Jared. Annah, Elizabeth. Levi, Ozias, Alvah, John. Lucinda, Annah (who married a Mr. Sinclair and moved West), and Eli- zabeth { who married Joseph Coll, and also moved West ).

Alvah Spaulding, our subject's father, was born in Vermont, in 1794. He died July 29. 1837. aged forty-three, and his wife, Emma Cooke. died Jan. 9. 1837. aged forty-one. They had a large family of children, as follows: Emma, who died July 28. 1843. aged twenty-five: Fanny B., who married Horace Darling, of Morristown, Vt .: Mary, who

Alva West Spaulding was born March 1, 1825, in Morristown, Lamoille Co., Vt., and was educated in the common schools of that State. attending until he reached the age of eighteen. Having lost his par- ents during his boyhood. he was early thrown upon his own resources, and about 1847 he located in New Britain, having gone there to take a span of horses for Charles M. Lewis. On his arrival he had but twenty-five cents in his pocket, but soon found em- ployment with George Hart, father of William Hart, and for a number of years worked for him in differ- ent capacities, eventually taking entire charge of the livery business. At first his wages were $14 per month, but they were gradually increased to $35. With the aid of Mr. Hart he bought a livery busi- ness of Mr. Woodworth, made needed changes for an enlarged trade, and the venture proved entirely

successful. He continued in the livery business until early in the 'eighties. a period of over thirty years, and had as partners Horace Bailey, Fred Sey- mcur, son of Deacon Orson S. Seymour, and later Merrill Roberts. Politically he was first a Whig. but became a Republican on the organization of that party, and his fellow citizens have frequently called him into official life. For some years he was constable in New Britain, and for ten years he served as deputy sheriff under Sheriff Westell Russell. In 1870 lie represented New Britain in the Legisla- ture, his colleague being Timothy W. Stanley, and did efficient work, especially on committees. He also held office as chief of police for ten years, pre- ceding Washington L. Morgan, and in 1881 the Republican nomination for sheriff was forced upon him by his friends, resulting in his election by a handsome majority. He served two terms of three years and one term of four years, retiring in 1891. In the meantime he removed to Hartford, and had charge of the Hartford county jail, and about 1889 he became interested in the firm of C. C. Fuller & Co., furniture dealers, of which he is still a member. In religious faith he is a Congregationalist, having first united with the Center Church at New Britain, and since his removal to Hartford he attends the Windsor Avenue Church. At one time he belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, but is not now affiliated.

On Sept. 4. 1854, Mr. Spaulding was married to Miss Josephine A. Beckley, of Berlin, who was born Oct. 26, 1838, daughter of Horace Beckley. They have had no children, but have adopted a son, Clinton Edgar. a child of Mrs. Spaulding's brother, Edgar Beckley.

DART FAMILY. The name is variously spelled Dart, Darte and Dort, but the first form is the generally accepted one, the second appearing only in old English records, and the third being the Dutch or German form.

The earliest mention we find of the name in New England records is at New London, whence members of the family seem to have gone to Bol- ton, Middletown, Chatham, Hebron, Windham and Stratford, Conn., and to Gilsum and Surry, New Hampshire.

(1) Richard Dart, of New London, married in 1664, his wife's name being Betliia. He died Sept. 24, 1724, aged eighty-nine years. Children: (I) Dinah, born Jan. 13, 1665; (2) Daniel. May 3, 1666: (3) Richard, May 7. 1667; (4) Roger, Nov. 22, 1670; (5) Ebenezer, Feb. 18, 1673; (6) Ann, Feb. 14. 1675; (7) Bethia, July 30. 1677: (8) Elizabeth, Dec. 15, 1679; (9) Sarah, June 10, 1681 ; and (10) Mary, 1685.

(II) Daniel Dart, of New London, born May 3. 1666, married Aug. 4, 1686, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of William Douglas, and removed to Bolton about 1716. Children: (1) Thomas, born July 8. 1687; (2) Elizabeth, Oct. 14. 1689; (3)

Joseph Dart

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Daniel, Aug. 31, 1691; (4) John, Dec. 2, 1693; (5) Maria, Nov. 13, 1695; (0) Ebenezer, May 16, 1698; (7) Abiah, Dec. 2, 1701; (8) Lidia, Nov. 4, 1703; (9) Samuel, Dec. 12, 1705; (10) Jabez, March 12, 1708; and ( 11) Ruth, Aug. 26, 1711.

(111) Daniel Dart, born Aug. 31, 1691, mar- ried April 13, 1719, Jemima, daughter of Abel Shayler. [For brief record of the Shayler family see farther on. ] Daniel Dart died Feb. 19, 1791, at Bolton.

(IV) Jonathan Dart, born Jan. 10, 1733, mar- ried June 16, 1755, Lucy Whitney, of Canaan. He was admitted to Bolton Church May 28, 1758. Children : (1) Timothy, born Nov. 15, 1756; (2) Jonathan, Oct. 8, 1758; (3) Lucy, Oct. 27, 1700; (4) Asahel, Sept. 30, 1702; (5) Levi, July 25, 1704; (6) Abiel, April 7, 1760; (7) Aaron, Jan. 12, 1768; (8) Daniel, baptized Dec. 30, 1769; (9) Amos, baptized Sept. 1, 1771, died March 19, 1778; (10) Mabel, baptized Dec. 19, 1773; and (11) Joshua, baptized Aug. 10, 1777.

(V) Aaron Dart, born Jan. 12, 1768, in Bol- ton, Conn., resided in what is now the town of West Hartford, where he was an extensive farmer. He married Sarah Shayler, and had a large family, of whom are named: (1) Chester, born March 5, 1790; (2) Avis, born June 10, 1792; (3) Phæbe ; (4) Sarah; (5) Edmund, born March 10, 1797; (6) Harriet ; (7) Philinda; (8) Iliram.

(VI) Edmund Dart, father of Joseph Dart, the subject proper of this sketch, was born March IO, 1797, in Tolland, Conn., where he passed his early school days. In Hartford he married Mary Ann Bartram Withenbury, a native of Hartford, born of English descent, and a daughter of Benja- min Withenbury. The children born to this union were as follows: (1) Benjamin lives in East Hart- ford; (2) Marie (deceased) married E. R. Hall, of Chicopee, Mass .; (3) Caroline married Leon- ard Buckland: (4) Edmund lives in Hartford ; (5) William and (6) James are both deceased ; (7) Mary J. is a resident of Hartford; (8) Joseph is the subject proper of this sketch; (9) Freder- ick is deceased ; (10) Franklin is an inmate of the Soldiers' Home at Noroton, Conn. ; ( II) Robert lives in Newington, Conn. ; and ( 12) Lillian married N. L. Hope, of Hartford, and they have one child, Bessie, married to F. W. Wakefield, of Meriden, Conn. The father of this family, who was a life- long farmer of Hartford and West Hartford, died March 8, 1861.

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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 35

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