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 40

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 40

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

Philo S. Newton was born in Shrewsbury, Mass .. and there engaged in the gunsmith's business until 1840, when he removed to Hartford, Conn., and em- barked in the same line. Here he passed the re- mainder of his days. He married a Miss Pelton, of Wethersfield, Conn., and they had a family of two children : Anna C., Mrs. Hawley, of Hartford ; and Philo W., whose name introduces these lines.

Philo W. Newton was reared and educated in the city of his birth, attending the public schools during his boyhood, and in 1866 took up the vocation in which he has since been engaged, being with Wood- ruff & Curtiss, at the corner of Charter Oak and Main streets, until 1868. In that year he entered the employ of E. S. Sykes & Co., the "Allyn House" drug store, corner of Asylum and Trumbull streets, with whom in 1872 he entered into partnership, the firm becoming Sykes & Newton. This partnership ended in 1885. since when Mr. Newton has con- ducted the business alone, enjoying a profitable patronage. He has, by strict attention to the wants of his customers, courtesy and reliability, gained an

175

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

enviable reputation, and his success has been well deserved, having been won by hard work and con- stant devotion to the demands of his business. Mr. Newton is a member of the City, State and Amer- ican Pharmaceutical Associations, is a member of the Hartford Business Men's Asociation, and is also well known in social organizations, being a member of Lafayette Lodge, No. 100, A. F. & A. M., of which he is now a past master ; of Wash- ington Commandery, Knights Templar, of which he is past commander ; and of Sphinx Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. For many years he was a member of the C. N. G., serving for eleven years as hospital steward of the First Regiment, and he is a member of the Hartford City Veteran Guard.

Mr. Newton was married in 1890, in Worcester, Mass., to Mrs. Angelia ( Holden) Thompson, a na- tive of Worcester, Massachusetts.

CHARLES EDWARD HUNGERFORD, fore- man in the case department of the E. Ingraham Co.'s works in Bristol, is a native of that city, born Aug. 4, 1845.

The Hungerfords are of English origin, and trace their ancestry back to Sir Thomas Hun- gerford, who was in 1377 the first regular Speaker of the House of Commons. He died in 1398. James Smithson was a son of Hugh Smithson, the first Duke of Northumberland, and his mother was Mary Hungerford. He never married, and willed all his property to his nephew, Henry Hugerford, if he had issue, "either legitimate or illegitimate." Otherwise it was to goto the United States, to found an institution for the diffusion of knowledge, to be called the Smithsonian Institution. Hence the ori- gin of the famous institution located in Washington, D. C. The amount given was over $500,000. In England there are two almshouses, existing at the present time, which were endowed and founded by the Hungerfords before 1450.

(1) Thomas Hungerford, the first of the family in the New World, doubtless came to this country as a mariner. In 1639 he owned a three-cornered lot of an acre, with a house thereon, in Hartford, Conn. In 1651 he moved to Pequot, now New London, Conn .. and shortly afterward cleared the land where the fort now stands. He died in 1663, leaving three children : two by his first wife-Thomas, aged about fifteen years ; Sarah, nine years ; and Hannah, born May 1, 1659

( II) Thomas Hungerford had children as fol- lows: Thomas, John. Green, Elizabeth, Susanna, Sarah and Mary. He died between Jan. II and Feb. 5. 1713-14, aged sixty-five or sixty-six years.

(III ) Thomas Hungerford, of Haddam, Conn .. married Elizabeth Smith, and they had children : Hannah. Thomas, Benjamin, Elizabeth. John, David and Samuel.

(IV) Capt. John Hungerford, born March 4. 1718, was married Dec. 27, 1739, to Deborah Hun-

gerford, daughter of John Hungerford. She died before March 6, 1745, as on that date he married Lucy, his second wife, who died Feb. 10, 1798, aged seventy-seven years. By the first union there were two children : Levi and Thomas. To the second marriage were born: Oliver, Uriah, Amasa, Deb- orah, John, Lucy, Elizabeth, Huldah and Lydia. Capt. Hugerford was quite prominent in military affairs. In 1751-52 he moved to Farmington, and in May, 1754, was appointed. by the Assembly, en- sign in the Sixth Company, or "train-band," of that town. In May, 1757, he was appointed lieutenant of the "train-band" in the parish of New Cambridge, now Bristol ( formerly in the town of Farmington), and in May, 1758, the Assembly appointed hin cap- tain of the same. The same month the Assembly appointed him captain in the army, in the First Regiment. He died in Southington Dec. 24, 1787, and his remains lie in the old cemetery at Plain- ville, Hartford county. The epitaph on his grave- stone is as follows :

Behold and see as you pass by, As you are now, so once was I, As I am now, so you must be, Prepare for death and follow me.

(V) Thomas Hungerford, born July 19, 1742, died in 1810. He served as a captain in the Revo- lutionary war. On Oct. 29. 1764, he married ( first ) Naomy Moody, born in 1746, who died in 1769. His second wife was Elizabeth Mathews, who died in February, 1819. The children born to the first marriage were Chloe, Sabra and Zenos. To the sec- ond union came : Cynthia, one that died in infancy, Street, Sylvia, Evits, Flavil, Levinah, Alma, Street, Sheldon and Naomi.

(VI) Evits Hungerford, grandfather of Charles E., was born in the town of Bristol, Conn., Oct. 29, 1777, and was a lifelong farmer in that locality. He was also a blacksmith, and worked at the trade for years. In politics he was an ardent Democrat, in religious faith a consistent Methodist, and the first piece of timber taken from his land was used in the building of the Methodist church in Bristol. He was a charter member of Franklin Lodge, F. & A. M. On Sept. 23, 1810, he married Annah Peck, of Burlington, Conn., born Sept. 14, 1789, and chil- dren as follows were born to theni: Leander G. (a sketch of whom follows), William Ellis, Rev. Charles Lyman ( he died in 1845, in Brooklyn, where he was a Methodist preacher ), Louisa Amy, and Caroline Sally. The father of these died Sept. 17, 1867, the mother June 20, 188[.

(VII) Leander Grandison Hungerford, father of Charles E., was born July 12, 1811, in the town of Bristol, Conn., and died there Dec. 2, 1853. He was a general "trucker," dealt in wood, and also during a part of his life was engaged in farming, and became quite well-to-do. Ile was an Old-line Whig, and an active member of the Methodist Church. On April 13, 1836, Leander G. Hungerford

176

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

was married to Jennett Jones, of Bristol, and they had four children : (1) Sarah, born Dec. 3, 1837, married "( first ) Lyman Webster, of Harwinton, Conn., and (second) Wallace Blakeslee, of Bristol, Conn .; she now lives in Hartford. (2) William Ellis, born in 1839, died in 1841. (3) Charles E. is our subject. (4) Henry Wells, born May 20, 1847, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere. The mother of these died Oct. 7, 1848, and on Feb. 10, 1849, the father married Jennett Andros, who was born in Farmington, Conn., July 9, 1817, and died in 1891, the mother of one child, Annah J., born May 13, 1852, who was married May 13, 1868, and died April 18, 1884, in Michigan.

Charles E. Hungerford, the subject proper of these lines, received a common-school education, and at the age of fifteen commenced working on his grandfather's farm, where he remained until he was seventeen years of age; then for ten years found employment on various farms in the neighborhood of Bristol, after which, in 1872, he entered the em- ploy of the E. Ingraham Co., for some eighteen months working in various departments ; was engi- neer for eleven years, after which he was appointed to his present position, that of foreman of the block- ing up or sawing division of the case department in the works, having under him about twenty-five hands.

On May 15, 1870, Charles E. Hungerford was married to lda Adaliza Stone, born April 14, 1849, in Bristol, Conn., a daughter of Horace and Eme- line (Bristol) Stone, and one son, Henry Edward, was born to them Nov. 3, 1872; he graduated from the Medical School of Yale University in 1898, and is now practicing medicine in Waterbury, Conn. On March 27, 1899, he married Shirley Serviss, of Grass Lake, Michigan.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Hungerford are mem- bers of Prospect M. E. Church, and Mrs. Hunger- ford is identified with the Ladies Aid Society. In politics Mr. Hungerford is a Republican, and so- cially is respected and esteemed by all who know him.

HON. ALEMBERT O. CROSBY, now chief manager of the Crosby Manufacturing Co., of East Glastonbury, makers of woolen goods, is one of the leading citizens and prominent men of Glastonbury, and is also well known and influential throughout the State.

Mr. Crosby is descended on both sides from among the earlier emigrants to come to New Eng- land. Simon Crosby, the founder of the Crosbys in the United States, born in 1609, in England, came to America when twenty-six years of age, in the "Susan and Ellyn." with his wife, Ann, and their young son Thomas. Simon became a freeman in Cambridge, Mass., in 1636. His death occurred in 1639.

From this emigrant ancestor our subject is a de- scendant in the ninth generation, his line being

through Thomas, Simon (2), Samuel, Increase, Capt. Benjamin, Benjamin (2) and Edwin Crosby.

Edwin Crosby, the father of our subject, was born in Ellington, Conn., in 1816, and was left an orphan at the tender age of two and a half years. He made his home with an uncle upon a farm in Ellington until fourteen years of age, during which time he attended school only a few short months in the winter, but he was a very studious boy, and much of his education was obtained by reading in the evenings after his day's work was done. At the age of fourteen he left the home of his uncle to make his own way in the world, and went to Rock- ville, where he was employed in the dye department of the woolen mills there for some time. He then came to Glastonbury, where he was employed in the Eagle Mills. Later on, in connection with Sereno Hubbard, he purchased mill property in East Glas- tonbury, and they were engaged together in the manufacture of cotton and woolen goods until the death of Mr. Hubbard. Thereafter, associated with his son, Lincoln E. Crosby, Mr. Crosby continued in active business until 1884, when he was succeeded by his sons Alembert O. and Lincoln E. In the meantime the senior Crosby had come into possession of the Eagle Mills, and built another. Lincoln E. Crosby, owing to poor health, was obliged to re- tire in 1888. The business in 1881 passed into the hands of a joint-stock company, and has since been so operated.

Edwin Crosby, after a gradual decline of some ten years, died April 12, 1888, and was buried in the East Glastonbury cemetery. He was a man of medium height and weight ; was a faithful member of the East Glastonbury Methodist Episcopal Church, was very active in all its affairs, and was a large contributor to its support. He served as class-leader and superintendent of the Sunday- school for a number of years, and whether the weather was good or bad he was always in his pew on the Sabbath day. He was very domestic in his habits, and was a lover of home and family. As a business man he was very thorough in his un- dertakings, was frank and open, and kind to his employes, many of whom had been in his employ for many years, and made a great effort to please him. He was a man of strict integrity, was a con- stant reader, and broad-minded and liberal in his views. He was a stanch supporter first of the Whig and later of the Republican party, and represented Glastonbury in the State Legislature.

Edwin Crosby married (first) Altruda Andrews. a native of Glastonbury, and a daughter of David and Honorra (Sparks) Andrews. She died Dec. 5, 1843, leaving two children: (1) Lincoln E .. born April 10, 1841, died Aug. 25, 1890. He mar- ried Sarah Strong, and they had four children- Edwin Hugh, who married Ethel Clark, and is en- gaged in the newspaper business in Glastonbury ; Grace ; Eva A. ; and Florence. (2) Adario E., born July 4, 1843, died Feb. 22, 1894. He married Mary Cory, and they had one daughter, Cora, now the

D. O. Crosby

Alexander Harbison

177

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

wife of Ernest Webb, of Holyoke, Mass. Edwin Crosby married ( second) Harriet Andrews, a sister of his first wife. She was born Oet. 7, 1826, and died Jan. 3. 1899. She was a good Christian mother, and a kind and loving neighbor. To the second union were born three children: (1) William A. married Alice I. Rodda, and lives in Glastonbury. They had one child, Albert \'., now a dentist of New London, Conn. (2) Alembert O., our subject, is next in the order of birth. (3) Ada married, Nov. 14, 1899, David Gordon, a prominent manufacturer of Hazardville, Conn., and is a resident of Hazard- ville, Conn. She cared for her mother in her de- elining years.

Alembert O. Crosby, our subject proper, was born .April 24, 1848, and was educated in the dis- trict schools of Glastonbury and at Wilbrahamn Academy, Wilbraham, Mass., completing the course there in 1866. .As .his father had determined his knowledge of cloth manufacturing should be secured by practical experience he went to Windsor, Conn., after leaving school, and entered William W. Bil- lings' factory, where he was employed about three years. Later he worked in factories at Meriden, Waterbury and Rockville, and then returned to East Glastonbury, but ill health obliged him to give up work for a few years. In 1876 he entered his father's mill, where he was employed as boss weaver. engineer and machinist until 1880, when he became superintendent, and held that position until 1888. in addition to being one of the proprietors from 1881. In 1888 he quit mill work, and has since served as head manager of the company. The Crosby Mills were built in 1840, by the Roaring Brook Manufacturing Co., for making cotton and kroolen goods, and William C. Sparks was agent until its dissolution. in 1857, when the mill passed Into the hands of Edwin Crosby and Sereno Hub- ard, and was operated by them during the period of the Civil war with great profit, having been con- siderably enlarged. After the death of Mr. Hub- ard it passed to E. Crosby & Sons, now the Crosby Manufacturing Co. Steam power has been put in, is well as the latest and best machinery, and a very excellent quality of goods is made. The place has een greatly improved by the enterprise and public pirit of its proprietors. They employ a large num- ber of men, and have done much to promote the prosperity of the village. In addition to his busi- ess property our subject owns a number of dwell- ng houses in East Glastonbury.

In 1876 Mr. Crosby was united in marriage sith Miss Abbie M. Bunce, a native of South Man- hester, and a daughter of Charles and Aurelia Strickland ) Bunce. They had two children : zella, who was born in 1879, and died Dec. 20, 886; and Lysle, who was born in 1880, and died Dec. 28. 1886.

As a Republican Mr. Crosby has taken an active nd prominent part in political affairs: in 1891 he as a representative to the State Legislature, and erved on the Fishery committee; and in 1895 was 12

a member of the Senate, and served on the Military and Forfeited Rights committees. While he was serving as Senator the mnuch discussed East Hart- ford Bridge Bill was passed, and the location of the bridge was in his district. There was much opposi- tion to the bill, and as he favored it, and was ap- pointed one of the commissioners, he made a num- ber of enemies at that time, but time proved the good results of his attitude, and in 1899 he was chosen bridge commissioner by his town (Glaston- bury) by a unanimous vote. His advice is often sought on matters of public inportance, and he takes an active part in furthering any enterprises for the good of his town and community. He is a mem- ber of the East Glastonbury Methodist Episcopal Church, a leader and large supporter of the same. He is a good business man, of sound judgment and strict integrity, is plain and outspoken, and quite popular in the community where he has so long made his home.

On his mother's side our subject is a descendant of John Andrews, one of the early settlers of what is now Hartford county. He and his wife were born ( supposedly) in the County of Essex, Eng- land. Mr. Andrews was made a freeman in Hart- ford in 1658; he was one of the eighty-four pro- prietors of Farmington, Conn., in 1672. He was a farmer by occupation, and a plain though intel- ligent gentleman. He and his wife became members of the Congregational Church in 1654. He died in 1681, and his widow in 1694. From this emigrant ancestor our subject's line of descent is through John, Stephen, Charles, David, David (2) and Har- riet (.Andrews ) Crosby.

GEN. ALEXANDER HARBISON. mayor of the city of Hartford, stands prominent among the best known politicians and business men of the State of Connecticut. He is a native of the North of Ire- land, born March 31, 1842, in County Armagh.

Robert Harbison, father of our subject, also of County Armagh nativity, was a free land holder, and followed farming until coming to this country, together with his wife and seven children, and settling in Hartford Aug. 26, 1849. Here he died exactly three years later-Aug. 26, 1852-at the age of fifty-four years. He married Mary Ander- son, of the same locality he himself came from, and they had a family of eight children, seven of whom reached maturity, six yet living : Jane, unmarried ; Hugh, who for many years was secretary and treas- urer of Colt's Armory, up to 1894. when he re- signed, and is now living retired ; William, who died in the South, where he was a physician of prom- inence, actively engaged in the practice of his pro- fession for many years; John P., president of the Hartford Gas Co., with which he has been connected some forty years, having risen from the office of clerk : Alexander; Lizzie, who married Thomas Evans, secretary of the Hartford Ga> Co .; and Robert, an attorney at law in Boston, and manager for Massachusetts of the legal business of the Trav-

178 -

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

elers Insurance Co., of Hartford. The parents of this family were members of the Presbyterian Church. The mother died in 1885, at the age of seventy.

Alexander Harbison, our subject, came to this country when a boy, and has been a resident of Hart- ford for half a century. He received his education in the common schools and in the Hartford Public High School, then took a position with A. L. Sisson, proprietor of the Union Market, and remained with him up to 1861, in that year resigning in order to establish the grocery firm of Harbison Brothers, his brother Hugh becoming his partner. This business they successfully conducted for twenty years, or until 1881, when, owing to the serious injuries our subject received through a runaway horse, they sold out the business, at that time the largest in the city, giving employment to ten clerks, and for a num- ber of years doing a trade of $150,000 per annum. After recovery from his accident, our subject for three years engaged extensively in real-estate and building transactions. In 1886 he took the general agency, for the State of Connecticut, of the New York Life Insurance Co., which he has since con- clucted, doing a large business, and having a 11um- ber of agents in different parts of the State.

Gen. Harbison's political career has been a re- markable 'one. For the past thirty-five years he has taken an active part in the National campaigns, and is thoroughly posted on all the great issues of the day. In social lines he has met all the Presidents from Lincoln down to the present time, was a close friend of Garfield, and well acquainted with the others. As regards municipal offices, he was elected alderman in 1870, and served until 1874, during the last two years being president and acting mayor. Later he served in the common council four years, and for two years was its president ; was ten years on the State central committee ; was candidate for mayor in 1876, during the celebrated State contest, in which there were two other candi- dates-Judge Hammersly and Joseph H. Sprague ; and in 1896 was again candidate for mayor. In 1878 he was candidate for senator against Charles Mi. Pond, and was defeated by but a small majority,

after a contest lasting three days reducing the ma- jority of Mr. Pond some 1,500 votes. In 1900 he was nominated for mayor, against Hon. William Waldo Hyde, and was elected by a majority of about 3.500, carrying every ward in the city. His admin- istration bids fair to be one of the most satisfactory, to all parties, of any mayor who has been elected to the office for many years. He gives more time to the office than did any of his predecessors, and looks carefully after the interests of the city. He is ac- cessible at all times, to every one, regardless of station, and his frank, courteous and affable manner makes him a universal favorite.

Gen. Harbison has taken a great interest in Na- tional Guard matters, having joined the Hartford City Guard in 1860, and was an active member up to 1870, since which time he has been a member of the

veteran corps. He was appointed quartermaster- general of the State, on the staff of Gov. Bigelow, and during his administration in this office purchased the camp ground at Niantic. He also purchased the first State Armory, having drafted the bill for both of these appropriations, and was instrumental in securing its passage through the Legislature. The General is also a member of the Putnam Pha- lanx, and has for a number of years been paymaster on the staff, being now among the oldest members, in point of service, of that organization.

Our subject has been connected with the turf for a number of years, being secretary of Charter Oak Park for five years, and president six years. This is one of the most celebrated tracks in the New Eng- land States, if not in the country. From the judge's stand here for twelve years he started the horses at the fall meetings, and he has acted as judge and starter at the different National circuit meetings, also upon the tracks of the different associations from Maine to Kentucky, and moreover has started the major part of all the great races that have been trotted in the United States for the past twenty years. He is well known in this capacity, has at- tended four congresses, and drafted a large portion of the rules governing the racing track, which rules are now being used.

Socially Gen. Harbison is a member of St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M .; Pythagoras Chapter ; and Wol- cott Council ; and has been also member for over twenty years of Connecticut Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; and of Hartford Lodge of Elks, of which he is past ex- alted ruler and now district deputy of the State of Connecticut. He was a charter member of Wan- gunk Tribe, Order of Red Men, and held all the offices, including that of sachem of the tribe; and is a charter member of Cutler Lodge, K. of P. Highly respected by all in both business and social affairs, Mayor Harbison is a man of whom the citizens of Hartford may truly feel proud.

HON. EDWARD BUTLER DUNBAR, of Bristol, is a native of that borough, born Nov. I, 1842, and is the head of the extensive factory con- ducted by Dunbar Brothers. He descends from one of the oldest Scotch-American families in New England, a full recountal of whose line of descent will be made at the close of this biography, in or- der that the living members of the family may have precedence, or, at least, the living and those ! but recently deceased.

EDWARD LUCIUS DUNBAR, father of Edward Butler Dunbar, was born April 23, 1815, in Spring- ville, Penn., of Connecticut parents, and shortly after birth was brought by them to their native State, in which he grew to manhood, and May 3. 1840, married Miss Julia Warner, a daughter of Joel and Lucinda Warner, and a native of Farm- ington. To this marriage were born six children, , all of whom are still living, viz. : Winthrop W., Edward B., William A., Mrs. W. W. Thorpe, Mrs. L. A. Sanford, and Mrs. George W. Mitchell.

& LDumber

Edward B. Dunbar Winthrop of Dumber

179

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Edward L. Dunbar early engaged in the man- ufacture of clock springs and clock trim- mnings, after settling at Bristol. Conn. He was a man of strict integrity, as well as of great public spirit and enterprise, erected several dwellings, and while connected with the late Wallace Barnes in the manufacture of hoop-skirts and crinoline steel, in 1858, erected the present town hall, which for many years went under the name of Crinoline Hall. It was through his influence that, in 1853, by a subscription on the part of the business men, a hand fire-engine was secured, and this was the nu- cleus of the present efficient fire department. In politics Mr. Dunbar was a stanch Democrat, rep -. resenting Bristol in the Lower House of the Gen- eral Assembly in 1862. and died an honored and respected man, Aug. 7, 1872, his wife surviving him until May 29, 1886. The six children alluded to above were born in the following order: Win- throp Warner. Feb. 25. 1841 ; Edward Butler, the subject : William Augustus, April 5, 1844; Alice, March 28, 1847, married to W. W. Thorpe; Julia, April 18, 1849, married to Leverett A. Sanford, of Bristol. July 3. 1878; and Eva, Nov. 4, 1852, mar- ried to George W. Mitchell, of Bristol.

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

Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 1, Part 40

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