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 54

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 54

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While passing through the Edison Electric Works in 1886 Mr. Billings noted the existing method of making commutator bars. These are "L"-shaped pieces of copper set at an angle to each other. Horizontal bars, thin and wedge-like, sep- arated by some non-conducting substance, are placed side by side around the shaft of the dynamo and bound firmly together. Electricity is generated by the friction of metallic brushes revolving at high speed against the edges of the bars. These bars were then made in two pieces, united by pins and solder, and, as the current was partly broken, the best results could not be obtained. Mr. Billings

here saw an opportunity, and returning home he cut the dies, and in less than three weeks sent to the Edison Co. an invoice of bars forged in a single piece from pure copper, and having a homogeneous molecular structure throughout. The material is of the greatest possible density. By this invention of Mr. Billings the cost of bars was greatly dimin- ished, and their efficiency increased in like degree. A good proof of their success is the fact that they almost immediately sprang into favor with the elec- tric companies.

The catalogue of the Billings & Spencer Co. embraces a large variety of standard articles, made of sizes to suit the trade, and carried in stock. It includes screw-plates, dies, reamers, wrenches, ratchet-drills, lathe-dogs, clamps, lathe tools, com- bination pliers admitting a wide range of adjust- ment, vises, surface guages, sewing machine shut- tles, thumb-screws, pistol frames and barrels, breech-loading shot-guns, solid eye bolts, carbon tongs, magazine screw-drivers, spinning rings, and similar articles, many being the invention of Mr. Billings himself. His adjustable pocket wrench, grad- uated to one-thirty-second of an inch, is specially suited to the bicycle, and one million have been sold. Manufacturers of electrical apparatus, sewing ma- chines, gas fittings, guns, pistols, pumps, and other standard goods, have many pieces which enter into their product forged here at the works of tlie Billings & Spencer Co. The company has made frequent enlargements in the endeavor to keep up with the demand for its goods. In 1889 they built a new forge room, 40x90 feet, and the next year continued it to Lawrence street with an "L," 40 feet square, for a repair shop. At the same time the ca- pacity of the steam plant was doubled. In the sum- mer of 1892 they broke ground for a new building, which extends 228 feet on Lawrence and 170 feet on Russ street, with a breadth of 40 feet. Two stories of brick rest on a brown-stone basement. At the corner, where the offices are located, the struc- ture rises to three stories, surmounted by a tower. Everywhere in the new construction careful pro- vision has been made for the confort and health of the occupants; the forge rooms are very high, and ventilated under the roof. The offices are high, spacious, and finished in hard woods. Besides these, nearly every season brings less conspicuous additions. At the close of 1896 the floor space ex- ceeded 81,000 square feet.

The appliances in use have been so modified and improved by the patented inventions of Mr. Billings that other concerns, requiring drop ham- mers as part of their outfit, come hither for their equipment. The company make and keep on hand a full line. The rapid growth of electric traction, and the demand for safe and durable equipment, led the company to enter this field also, and they are now furnishing a full line of drop forged ma- terial. This company is up-to-date in every par- ticular, and uses the utmost care in every depart-

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ment of the great works. Their dies are stored in fire-proof brick vaults, warmed sufficiently by steam to prevent rust, and separated by a safe distance from the other buildings. The manufactured stock is also stored in another fire-proof vault, similarly kept dry and warm.

An all-pervasive force in the development of this great business and enterprise has been the inventive talent of Mr. Billings. The drop forging business owes much to his genius and persistency. His suc- cess as a manager of industries is phenomenal. He is president of the National Machine Co., of Hartford ; of the C. E. Billings Manufacturing Co., of Rocky Hill, Conn .; vice-president of the Ameri- can Specialty Co., of Hartford; trustee of the Hartford Trust Co. and the State Savings Banks, and a director of the Hartford Board of Trade. For a half dozen or more years he has been a member of the board of fire commissioners, and is now president of the board. He is not only a man of much local prominence, but is also well known throughout the country. On Oct. 2, 1895, he was elected president of the American Society of Me- chanical Engineers, to complete the unexpired term of E. F. C. Davis, who was accidentally killed. Of this society Mr. Billings was at the time serving as senior vice-president. The society now numbers two thousand members, including many of the best mechanical engineers in America and Europe. At one time Mr. Billings was identified with the Na- tional Guard of Connecticut, being a member of the Ist Regiment. He has served in both branches of the city government, and while in the council was chairman of the Ordinance committee. He was an alderman for four years. Politically he is a Republican. He is a prominent representative of the Masonic Fraternity, having received all of the York and Scottish degrees, and is a Past Grand Commander, Knights Templar, of Connecticut, his local membership being with Washington Com- mandery. His religious connections are with the Second Congregational Church at Hartford. He is a member of the Hartford Club, the Home Mar- ket Club of Boston, and the American Protective Tariff League, of New York.

Mr. Billings has been twice married. His first wife was Frances M., daughter of Willard Hey- wood, and to their union came two children Fred- eric C., and Harry E., the latter deceased. Fred- eric C. is associated with his father in business, as superintendent of the Billings & Spencer Co. Our subject was married (second) to Eva C. Holt, by whom he has had two children, Lucius H. and Mary E.

FREDERICK SPENCER BROWN (de-

ceased). Until his death, a few years ago, the sub- ject of this sketch was for a long term of years one of Hartford's most representative business men. His interests were directed mainly to tobacco, but his nature was broad and public-spirited, and in

various political and social relations he evinced a deep concern for the public weal and the progress of society. He was born in East Hartford, Conn., Feb. 5, 1822, son of John and Cynthia (Fuller) Brown. His mother was a native of Deerfield, Mass. John Brown became a member of the book firm of Hammersley & Co., as traveling agent. To himself and wife were born five children : Louise, who married Mr. Darrow ; Susan, who married Will- iam Holt; Cynthia, wife of Mr. Buck; Frederick Spencer, our subject; and John, all now deceased.

Frederick S. Brown spent his early school days in Hartford and Boston. When a young man he went to New Orleans, and there became interested in the tobacco trade. Returning to Hartford, he formed a business connection with Daniel Seymour, wholesale tobacco dealer, and shortly before the Civil war he opened at Hartford an office for him- self under the "American Hotel," his store-house being located on Dutch Point. His business in- creased rapidly, and for many years he was a prom- inent factor in the trade.

Mr. Brown also became prominent in local and State politics. For seventeen years he was town and city collector, and at one time was chairman of the Democratic State Committee. He served as chairman of the Park Commissioners, and in that capacity planted in Bushnell Park acorns from the "Charter Oak." For several years he was chair- man of the board of street commissioners. His tastes were studious, and in many of the natural sciences he gained wide proficiency. He was es- pecially fond of botany, and had a beautiful col- lection of pictures of the native trees of Hartford county. He kept on file many of the leading period- icals of his day. He was a member of the Hart- ford Club, and served as its treasurer.

In 1843 Mr. Brown married Miss Almera O. Treat, daughter of William and Emily (Brown) Treat, of East Hartford. Mr. Brown died May 6, 1894. His wife surviving until Aug. 23, 1899. Their only child Kitty Louise, is the wife of J. H. Morse, who is a charity commissioner of Hartford and president of The Morse Society of America.

ADNA HART (deceased), through the long years of his identification with Hartford county, enjoyed the highest respect of his fellow citizens by reason of his strict integrity and sterling worth. His devotion to the public welfare made him a valued factor in public life, and by his death the community was deprived of one of its best citizens.

Mr. Hart was born in the town of Avon, Hart- ford county, in 1790, and was a representative of one of its oldest families, being a descendant of (1) Stephen Hart, who was born in Braintree, Eng- land, in 1605, and came to Hartford with the Hooker colony in 1635. He died in Farmington in 1632. From him our subject traced his ancestry through (II) Stephen Hart, Jr., who died in Farmington in 1689. (III) Thomas Hart, the next in direct de-

Free, I, Brown

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

scent, was born in 1666, and died in 1727. He married Elizabeth Judd, a daughter of John and Mary (Hawkins) Judd. (IV) James Hart, a son of Thomas, was born in Avon in 1707, and mar- ried Thankful North, daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Woodford) North. (V) Elnathan, son of James, and a resident of Avon, was born in 1735, and died in 1831. He married Ruth Judd, daughter of Joseph and Ruth (Thompson) Judd. (VI) Linus O. Hart, son of Elnathan, was the father of our subject. He spent his entire life in Avon, engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was born in 1761, and died in 1810. He wedded Miss Mary Ann Wilcox.

(VII) Adna Hart was reared and educated in Avon, whence at the age of twenty he removed to East Farms, in the town of Farmington, where he passed the rest of his life, dying there in 1871. Hc, too, followed the occupation of farming. As a prominent and influential citizen of his community he was called upon to serve in many town offices. Religiously he was a faithful member of the Con- gregational Church. In Farmington he was mar- ried, by Rev. Dr. Noah Porter, to Miss Lucy Wood- ruff, a daughter of Solomon and Chestina (Curtiss) Woodruff, and to them were born five children : (I) Dolly (now deceased) married George M. Hale, of New Haven, and one child, Henrietta H., was born to them. She is the wife of George Morrell, and they have one son, George Hale. (2) NEWTON HART, a bachelor, for many years a well- known resident of Farmington, now ot West Hart- ford, was born in the East Farms District of Farm- ington, Jan II, 1821, and began his education there, later attending `the Farmington Academy, then u.1- der the direction of John Hooker, and still later the academy in Southington. He engaged in business as a tallow chandler with his father until taking up farming on the old homestead, which he continued until 1874, living there seventy-four years, and held many town offices in Farmington. He was a mem- ber of the Congregational Church of that town, and one of its most highly respected citizens. On Jan. 11, 1901, this hale and hearty gentleman will be an octogenarian. (3) Clarissa, born May 29, 1825, married D. E. Stoddard, and three children were born to them-Mary, now Mrs. F. L. Tuttle, who has four children, Albert, Edythe, Clara and Frank; Charles, married to F. A. Frost, who has two children, Claude and Lela; and Nettie, Mrs. W. L. Nichols. (4) Lucy, born March 28, 1827, married Blinn Francis, who was born March 10, 1824, and died Nov. 5, 1895, and nine children were born to them, as follows-(a) Julia married Henry Butler, of West Hartford, and they have one son, Joseph Henry. (b) Laura is deceased. (c) Mary Jane ("Jennie") married Niles C. Beck- with, and five children were born to them, William M., Annie, Emily, Edward and Hiram. Of these, Annie married Frederick Dosh, of Wyoming. Minn., and had one son, Earl Francis, now deceased. (d)

Henry, a civil engineer, and superintendent for an asphalt paving company of Providence, R. I., mar- ried Emily Pettis, and has two children, Carl and Paul. (e) John, a resident of Southington, mar- ried Minnie B. Harris, and had seven children, Emma, Addic, Willie, Frederick, Harry, Howard and Charles. (f) George Blinn, engineer in charge of the construction of the Boston depot, married Florence Louise Green, and has one child, George Blinn, Jr. (g) Hattie Lillian, single, is a resident of West Hartford. (h) Frank is deceased. (i) Lucy Alberta married Henry D. Atwater, of Plants- ville, Conn., and they have four children, Ruby Louise, Esther Lillian, Florence May and Kirtland Francis. (5) Mary Hart, the youngest child of our subject, married Newton Peck, a farmer of Farmington, and they have two sons, Edward (married to Carrie A. Hall) and Albert N. (un- married).

ANTON BANTLY (deceased), an honest, in- dustrious and successful farmer and respected citi- zen of Hockanum during his long residence in the town of East Hartford, was born in Witten- berg, Germany, June 13, 1833. His father, John Bantly, was a farmer, and had a large family, of whom one daughter, married to John March, is living in Hockanum ; one son, John, resides in Bos- ton, Massachusetts.

Anton Bantly received the usual compulsory German education, left school at the age of four- teen years, and worked out for about one cent per day and board. At the age of nineteen he sailed from Havre for New York, and landed after a rough voyage, with ninety cents in his pocket. For a short time he was employed by a farmer on Long Island, cutting turnip tops, then by some means reached the Connecticut shore, and on a cold day, with two companions, started to walk to Hartford, sleeping in sheds at night, and arriving in the city on a Sunday morning. Mr. Bantly searched the town to find a German, to whom he could im- part the fact that he was hungry, and finally found a Mr. Miller, near the bridge, who fed him and his companions and sheltered them over night. Next morning he pointed out the way to Naubuc, where the boys found work in the polishing depart- ment of the Curtis factory, but at the end of a couple of months were defrauded of their wages by the contractor. Anton Bantly was next em- ployed in a brickyard by a Mr. Wright, who paid him $80 a year, and presented him with $5 bonus for faithfulness.

In 1854 Anton Bantly married Mary Smith, who died Jan. 2, 1863, the mother of four children : John, born April 8, 1856, married Amelia Ruoff June 9, 1881, and is now living in South Man- chester : Annie, born Dec. 23, 1857, died Dec. 5, 1865; Emma, born Nov. 22, 1859, was married to Oscar Arnurius Dec. 11, 1879, and is now living in Windsor; Minnie, born June 30, 1861, was mar-

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ried to Watson Goslee Nov. 15, 1882, and now re- sides in South Manchester.

On Feb. 6, 1864, Mr. Bantly married Christina Geiger, who was born in Wittenberg, Germany, March 5, 1838, a daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Kittleberger) Geiger, and this union was blessed with seven children : Anton, born Oct. 23, 1864, died Feb. 21, 1887; Lillie, born Feb. 25, 1866, was married to Frank Swift Nov. 26, 1896, and died in Hartford Aug. 5, 1899; Francis, born Feb. I, 1869, married Lizzie Wolfort April 5, 1893, and is living in Glastonbury; Jacob, born May 5, 1872, married Marian Hall Oct. 12, 1898, and is also liv- ing in Glastonbury; William, born July 23, 1873, married Mamie Hodge Oct. 14. 1896, and they are living on the homestead; Esther, born Jan. II, 1880, lives with her mother ; and Annie, born March 25, 1882, died Feb. 5, 1883.

After his first marriage Mr. Bantly lived on the farm now occupied by Mrs. John March; it was on that farm his first wife died, and while still liv- ing there he married Christina Geiger, who sur- vives him. When he sold his farm to John March he purchased the "Talcott Brothers farm," in Man- .chester ; but as he was offered the position of over- seer on the "Cheney Brothers farm" he moved thereto, and there lived about ten years, the pro- prietors, in the meantime, building a dwelling for him. On account of failing health he at this time came to East Hartford and purchased the Winslow place, consisting of eighty acres, made many im- provements, and engaged in tobacco growing until his lamented death, which occurred Aug. 31, 1897. Politicaly he was a Democrat. He was an excellent business man, and successful in all his undertak- ings-thoughtful as well as provident and sa- gacious.

DAVID NELSON CAMP, M. A., educator, was born in Durham, Conn., Oct. 3, 1820, son of Elah and Orit (Lee) Camp. On his father's side he was a descendant of Nicholas Camp, of Nasing, Essex county, England, and, on his mother's side, of Theophilus Eaton, the first governor of the New Haven Colony.

From 1840 to 1850 Mr. Camp taught in public schools and academies, and in the latter year was made professor in the Connecticut State Normal School. He became associate principal in 1855, and principal and State Superintendent of Schools in 1857, holding the latter position until 1866, when he resigned on account of ill health and with the intention of devoting some time to visiting several of the principal educational institutions of Europe. He visited the more important universities, col- leges and training schools in England, Scotland and Ireland, and several on the continent. While in Paris he was appointed professor in St. John's College, in Maryland. After a year's service in this position he resigned to engage in work with Dr. Henry Barnard in the Bureau of Education at

Washington, and subsequently was engaged in lit- erary and educational work in Connecticut. Mr. Camp's work as an educator extends over forty years, interrupted twice by ill health, and was finally relinquished on the advice of his physicians. He is the author of the "American Year Book," the "History of New Britain," and several school text books and maps.

Mr. Camp was chosen alderman of the city of New Britain in 1872, serving until 1876, and was mayor in 1877-1879. He was also a member of the General Assembly in 1879, in which he served as chairman of the committee on Education. He was secretary of the National Teachers' Association in 1864, and was president of the Connecticut State Teachers' Association several years; has been auditor of the Missionary Society of Connecticut since 1882, and auditor of the National Council of Congregational Churches since 1883. He is president of the Adkins Printing Company, the Skinner Chuck Company, and vice-president of the New Britain National Bank. He was president of the Connecticut State Temperance Union for ten years, and is a member of the American Board of Foreign Missions, the American Missionary As- sociation, American Bible Society, Congregational Home Missionary Society, Connecticut Missionary Society, Connecticut Humane Society, Connecticut Bible Society. Connecticut Historical Society, and Connecticut Congregational Club.

Mr. Camp married, June 25. 1844, Sarah Ada- line Howd. They had two children : Ellen R. Camp and Mrs. Emma Camp Rogers.

EDWARD BLAIR WATKINSON (deceased) was in his day one of the most prominent business men and successful financiers in the city of Hart- ford, where he was born, on Prospect street, Feb. 24, 1813, a son of Edward Watkinson. He died in Hartford March 21, 1884.

Mr. Watkinson passed his school days in Hart- ford and in Mount Pleasant Classical Institute, at Amherst, Mass. After leaving school his first ex- perience was as a clerk in the wholesale house with his father and uncles. He then went to New York and engaged in business, remaining only a few years. however, when he returned to Hartford and entered the employ of the Collins Co., on State street. About 1844 he became agent and manager for the Union Manufacturing Co., whose mills were in Manchester and Marlborough, Conn. In 1871 he was made chairman of the building committee in the construction of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co.'s immense and costly edifice. He left the Union Manufacturing Co. in the fall of 1871, and became president of the Connecticut Trust and Safe Deposit Co., an office he held until his death, and on the death of Samuel Collins he became president of the Collins Co., an office he likewise held at his demise. He was also vice-presi- dent of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co.,

Edward BWatkinson

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a director in the Hartford Fire Insurance Co., a director in the Farmers & Mechanics Bank, a trus- tee of the American School at Hartford for the Deaf, and a member of the State Historical Society.

At a special meeting of the directors of the Collins Co., held in Hartford March 22, 1884, the following memorial was unanimously adopted :

On the morning of March 21, 1884, Edward B. Watkin- son died at his residence in Hartford, aged seventy-one years. For nearly fitty years he had been more or less identified with this company.

He was secretary from April, 1844, to October, 1848. He became a director in 1865, and has been a member of the executive committee of the board of directors since 1867. He was elected president June 14, 1871, upon the death of the founder of the company, Mr. Samuel W. Collins, and on February 10, 1874, upon the decease of Mr. Elsha Colt, the treasurership was added to his duties. At the time of his death, unexpected and untimely, he was the representative and head of this company, and had acceptably filled a large place in its affairs.

His experience as a manufacturer was of utmost value. His judgment was sound. He was prudent and cautious, and at the same time progressive. He never feared to take his full share of responsibility. His relations with the direc- tors and executive officers of the company have always been peculiarly pleasant and agreeable. He always carried him- self with modesty and dignity. No disagreement or jar has occurred to mar the intercourse of many years. And now that he has gone, it becomes impressive what the loss is, not only to this company, but to the community at large, and this record is entered upon the minutes as a slight recogni- tion of his devotion to duty and loyalty to trusts, his unsullied reputation and blameless life.

At a special meeting of the board of trustees of the Connecticut Trust & Safe Deposit Co., of Hartford, held March 22, 1884, a similar tribute of respect was passed unanimously, couched in the following language :

By the death of its president, Edward B. Watkinson, this company is deprived of one who has been its principal manager from its incorporation, and whose watchful care of its industries, and whose strict integrity, and whose kind and quiet ways of dealing with its patrons, have contributed largely to its success.

As a board of trustees we mourn a companion to whom we were attached by warm feelings of personal regard, and for whose clear judgment we hold unqualified respect.

Having thus depicted in a feeble and inadequate manner the business career of one of the most pro- gressive and successful of Hartford's native-born citizens, it becomes necessary to make some allusion to his domestic affairs. At about the age of twenty- one years Mr. Watkinson married Miss Jane E. Abernethy, a daughter of Dr. Andrew Abernethy, of Harwinton, Conn. She died childless in 1874. The second marriage of Mr. Watkinson occurred Oct. 18, 1876, to Miss Louise Stone, daughter of Rev. Collins Stone, of Hartford, and principal of the American School for the Deaf for many years. To this happy union were born three children : Helen, Grace and Mary, the last named of whom died June 18, 1898. In the death of Mr. Watkinson Hart- ford lost one of its worthiest citizens, whose place can never be satisfactorily filled.

HENRY B. HALE, editor of The Weekly Ga- sette, East Hartford, was born in that town NOV. 18, 1864, a son of Jason F. and Sarah J. Hale. His mother is also a native of the town, and his father was one of the famous Hale family of Glas- tonbury. Jason F. Hale was for seventeen years a bookkeeper for the Colt's Patent Firearms Co., but when high prices were being paid for tobacco he resigned his position and began cultivating the weed, which industry he continued until his death, in 1879.

The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of his town, passed through the Brown school of Hartford, and afterward attended a private school. Being a young man full of am- bition and energy, he desired to learn a trade for the foundation of life, and entered the factory of the Pratt & Whitney Co., where he stayed his full time, learning the machinist's trade. On the com- pletion of his apprenticeship at the factory he was given a position on one of Hartford's leading dailies, and for a year worked under different de- partments of the paper, serving in various positions from reporter to assistant business manager. In 1885 he started The Weekly Gasette, in East Hart- ford, and published it for five large towns with a population of over twenty thousand people. He opened a little office in one corner of a room at his residence, and a year later moved to quarters in a small room, 8x15, over a drug store on Main street, where he remained for another year. From there he moved to a new building, occupying a floor in the Garvan block for ten years. From 1898 he has been established in his own building, on Rector street, in the immediate center of the town, where he has a finely fitted printerv. His efforts have been crowned with success from the very first issue, which shows that constant labor has been exercised in bringing the paper to the front as one of the leading country weeklies of his State.

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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 54

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