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 57

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 57

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tered the insurance business as solicitor, working I:is way up to the position of general manager of Connecticut, for the Massachusetts Mutual Insur- ance Co., of Springfield, Mass., having charge of all agents in that State.

On Dec. 31, 1879, F. Willson Rogers was united i:1 marriage with Lizzie E. Haff, who was born in New London, Conn., a daughter of the late Joel Haff, a well-known hatter of Hartford, where he died in 1886, at the age of sixty-eight years. Mr. Haff married Elizabeth Marble, of East Hartford, and they had two children, Lizzie E. (Mrs. F. W. Rogers) : and Joel P., also a resident of Hartford. The mother died in 1880 at the age of fifty-eight years. To Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have been born four children, Erle, Harold, William I., and Grace I.

In politics Mr. Rogers is a Republican ; socially be is a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 4, F. & A. M., of Hartford, in which he has held all the offices, being now past master ; also a member of the Masonic Club, and is a member of the Royal Ar- canum, having been secretary of that society some four and one-half years. At one time he was a di- rector in the Rogers Manufacturing Co. The fam- ily attend the services of the Baptist Church. Taken all in all, Mr. Rogers is one of the busiest men in Hartford, and one of the most highly respected cit- izens of the county, a worthy son of a worthy father.

HON. ELISHA NILES WELCH, late of For- estville, in the town of Bristol, in which he passed sixty years of a most active, useful and successful business life, was one of the foremost manufactur- ers in New England.

Mr. Welch was born Feb. 7, 1809, in East Hamp- ton Society or Parish, of the town of Chatham, Conn., son of sturdy New England people who reared a number of children to become useful men and women, several of the sons becoming eminent business men, whose careers reflected great credit to the name they bore. One of these, the late Hon. Harmanus M. Welch, was one of New Haven's fore- most citizens and business men, a man of great force of character, who achieved honor and amassed over a million dollars.

During our subject's boyhood his father's fam- ily removed to Bristol, where the father became en- gaged in the foundry business, and with him young Elisha worked until reaching his majority. This happened on a Sabbath, and the following Monday his career as a business man on his own account began, as an associate with his father. The output of the foundry was chiefly clock weights, and not very extensive either, the business being hardly large enough to entitle it to the term. Their facili- ties were exceedingly limited. The blast for their cupola was produced by an ordinary blacksmith's bellows, worked by hand, and the cupola itself is still humorously spoken of by the old residents of Bristol as a "porridge pot." The weights were sold

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to clockmakers, and payment taken in finished clocks, which were disposed of to such customers as they could find. some of them being carried to Philadelphia by the junior member of the firm. Old iron was not infrequently taken in exchange. Such was the beginning of the boy. Elisha N. Welch, seventy years ago. Starting in this humble way, but imbued with a laudable ambition for a successful business career, the young man applied himself, and as the years came and went the business grew, other branches being added to it, until he was on the high- way to success and fame, reaching that goal which so many strive for but fall short of.

As the years sped on changes came, the father dropped out and others came in. For many years, as a partner in the foundry and machine business, our subject had associated with him the late Harvey Gray, and as a firm these gentlemen did much work for the Bristol Copper Mining Co. Mr. Welch withdrew from the business about 1856, Mr. Gray continuing to carry it on until he was burned out, a year or two later. As a result of the panic of 1857 the clock business of J. C. Brown, at Forest- ville, came into the hands of Mr. Welch, who had previously, in 1854, bought the home of Elisha Man- ross, and earlier than that his factory, also. He now became a resident of that village, and organized the E. N. Welch Manufacturing Co., of which he him- self was made president. Under his leadership the business was pushed vigorously, and the company went on, with a constantly increasing volume of business, without any material changes except in connection with the firm of Welch, Spring & Co., until 1881, when a brick factory building was erected on the opposite side of the street from the old Brown shops, 40x110 feet, and two stories high, which is known as the brick "movement shop." It is occupied in the manufacture of the finer grades of movements which the company produces, both marine and pendulum. The entire plant of the company now includes five separate factories, at the village of Forestville. This company has had a most successful career, and is to-day one of the largest clock concerns in the country. Mr. Welch remained its president until his death.

Mr. Welch also founded, in 1850, the Bristol Brass & Clock Co., which, too, has been a great financial success. Of this company he became presi- dent in 1851, and so remained until his death. In 1857 the company purchased its silver department, succeeding the Holmes & Tuttle Manufacturing Co .. and in 1868 its lamp department, succeeding George W. Brown & Co. The branches of the company's business are : A rolling-mill for the man- ufacture of sheet brass, located between Bristol & Forestville: a lamp burner factory at Forestville : and a spoon and fork factory at Bristol.

Mr. Welch was also the principal stockholder in the Bristol Manufacturing Co., which was one of the oldest establishments in Bristol, organized in 1837. for the manufacture of satinet. Later the

company was reorganized, and its attention given to making knit underwear, in which it has ever since been successfully engaged. Of this concern Mr. Welch was president at the time of his death, and for many years before. Besides being president and the leading spirit in these three large institu- tions Mr. Welch was a large stockholder in manu- facturing establishments in Waterbury, New Britain, Plainville and other places. He was also one of the five stockholders of the First National Bank in New Haven, of which his brother. Hon. H. M. Welch, was president, each of the five stock- holders putting in $50,000 at the organization of the bank. Mr. Welch was also a director in the Bristol National Bank, and in the Travelers and National Insurance Cos. of Hartford. He held stock in Mon- tana mines. His financial success was very great, his estate at the time of his death being estimated at three millions of dollars.

Mr. Welch was a man of great industry and business sagacity. His was a steadfast course. He chose his life work, and the principles that were to guide it. then adhered to them with undeviating tenacity. The same was true of his religious life. While yet a young man he made up his mind that he must live in relations of filial obedience toward God, and titis was the beginning of his religious experience. He took his position fairly, openly, and before men, casting his lot with the people of God. and never swerved from his position. It was this fixedness of purpose in a chosen course that as much as anything contributed to his great success. He had almost superhuman energy, with which he mas- tered the vast details of an extensive business, keep- ing all well in hand, in spite of disease and the in- firmities of age, up to the very morning of the day on which he died.

The heights by great men won and kept Were not attained by sudden flight; But they while their companions slept Were toiling upward in the night.

Steady work has in it an element of self-denial : that sturdy virtue that puts aside to learn that it may grasp the greater good ; that says No! to the crav- ings of appetite and the pleadings of ease and in- dulgence, that it may carry out the higher behests of the soul.

Mr. Welch reared monuments to his life work in and about the town of his adoption, raised the town to a high rank, doubled it in value of its pro- ductive industries by the impetus given to its half- score of industries, and made possible the score of comfortable homes surrounding them. The hand that so wrought was no feeble hand. During the sixty years of his active, busy and useful life in Bristol Mr. Welch made his forceful character felt. and left his impress upon the community.

Mr. Welch's religious affiliations were with the Baptist Church at Bristol, of which church he was a liberal supporter, aiding greatly in the building of the new church edifice. Politically he was a Dento-

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crat, and he took an active interest in political and public affairs. He represented the town in the Legislature in 1863, and again in 1881, and in 1883 and 1884 was in the Senate from the Fourth Dis- trict.

In 1829 Mr. Welch was married to Miss Jane Bulkley, of Bristol. She died in 1873, and he was later married to Mrs. Sophia F. Knowles, of Canan- daigua, N. Y. His children were: Mrs. Frederick Stanley, of New Britain, now deceased; Drusilla, who married George H. Mitchell, of Bristol; Helen M., who married Andrew F. Atkins, of Bristol; and James H. Welch, born in 1840, who succeeded his father to the presidency of the E. N. Welch Manu- facturing Co., and has since sustained such rela- tions to the company, and is also president of the Bristol Brass & Clock Co. Elisha N. Welch died at his home in Forestville in August, 1887.

ANDREW FULLER ATKINS, whose death occurred May 9, 1893, at his Hartford home, was for many years one of Bristol's foremost citizens and business men, a man, too, that was beloved by a wide acquaintance, and whose loss seemed an irreparable one to the community in which he had been so uni- versally esteemed and respected.

From the inscriptions on the family monument in West cemetery, Bristol, it is learned that Rev. Irenus Atkins was born Nov. 15, 1792, and died April 19, 1882; and that Eunice Beckwith, his wife, was born Feb. 20, 1791, and died Feb. 25, 1877. These were the parents of our subject. While Rev. Mr. Atkins was a regularly ordained minister, and served as the regular pastor for a period of the Baptist Church in Southington, Conn., and preached more or less through life, he was a business man and manufacturer of Bristol for many years, a man, too, of considerable force of character, and a useful citi- zen, and both he and his wife were highly respected members of society. The manufacturing company of which Rev. Mr. Atkins was a member kept a gen- eral store in Bristol, and he was in charge of it.

Andrew F. Atkins was born Oct. 28, 1828, in the town of Bristol, where, and at Southington, his boyhood was passed. He attended the common schools of those towns, and for a period the Con- necticut Literary Institute, at Suffield. After leav- ing school he went into the store with his father, in Bristol, and soon showed a fondness for business and developed an ability that became more marked as opportunities enlarged. From the very start, such was his engaging manner and courtesy, he won the esteem and friendship of all with whom he had to deal. In 1851 Mr. Atkins left the business of his father to enter upon the duties of secretary and treasurer of the Bristol Brass & Clock Co., an office to which he had been chosen Dec. 27, of that year, and one which he filled with marked ability and great acceptance until his death-a period of forty and more years; on the death of E. N. Welch, in 1887, he succeeded to the presidency, and continued

therein up to the time of his death. Their works, were, perhaps, the most extensive in this section. . The branches of the business were a rolling mill for the manufacture of sheet brass, located between Bristol and Forestville; a lamp burner factory at: Forestville ; and a spoon and fork factory at Bristol .. The management of these three large branches of business involved no small amount of labor on the part of Mr. Atkins. The concern prospered under his administration. Mr. Atkins on the death of E. . N. Welch was trustee of that gentleman's large es- ; tate. Mr. Atkins possessed excellent ability and / sound judgment, and his foresight and enterprise were often displayed in his business career. Person- ally he was a genial, whole-souled fellow, a man ) whom everybody liked and respected. The poorest shophand in his employ was certain that he had a. friend in the president of the company, who had the ) happy faculty of putting everybody about him and the works at ease. He was a man, too, of decided / views, yet tolerant and kindly in his judgment of ; others. He had no taste for public life, never seeking : office or notoriety, or distinction of any kind. He was both enterprising and public-spirited, and ever mani- : fested a deep interest in the welfare of Bristol. i "Brightwood," his delightful summer home in Bris- ; tol, stands as a monument to his taste and public ; spirit. He also had a residence in Hartford, where-[ he made his winter home.

Mr. Atkin's religious affiliations were with the.l Baptist Church of Bristol, of which he had been , an influential member since 1850. He was a true.[ man, manly in the whole tone and fibre of his. character, one whose integrity, honesty, charity and I patience were great. He was manly in his bearing, ) in his deportment, and in the sentiments which he cherished. His character and life were such as to. bear the closest inspection.

On May 6, 1849, Mr. Atkins was married to» Helen M. Welch, daughter of the late Hon. Elisha : N. Welch, of Bristol, who, with one daughter. sur-, vives him.

MAJOR WILLIAM J. WOOD (deceased) in- his day was one of the most progressive citizens of Hartford, of which city he was a resident from 1873 until his death, Oct. 25, 1885. A native of New Jersey, born March 28, 1836, in Rockaway, Morris county, he was a son of Freeman and Mary Burwell (Jackson) Wood, the former of whom was a prominent iron manufacturer of Rockaway.

Mr. Wood received a preparatory education at Flushing, Long Island, and was graduated from Princeton College in 1856. He then took up the study of law, was admitted to the Bar, June 9,. 1859, and practiced in New Jersey, until 1862, in ! which year he served in the State Legislature. In 1863 Mr. Wood enlisted in the Union army, serving in various capacities throughout the war, with marked ability, both on Gen. Gilmore's staff and' as disbursing officer at Hilton Head, South Caro-

ANDREW F. ATKINS

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lina. He was subsequently stationed at Ilartford and Boston for the payment of discharged New England volunteers. At the close of the struggle, in 1865, he entered the iron business in Troy, N. Y., in connection with Corning, Winslow & Co., and two years later was appointed vice-presi- dent and manager of the Collins Company at Col- linsville, Conn. While with the firm in Troy he, in company with Alexander Holley and others, was instrumental in introducing the Bessemer steel rails for railroad use. In 1884, on the death of E. B. Watkinson, Mr. Wood was made president of the Collins Company, and continued in that position until his death. Before closing his business record it should be mentioned here that at one time he was cashier of the Iron Bank of Rockaway, N. J., and in 1859 served as clerk of that town.

In 1873 Mr. Wood moved to Hartford, and passed the rest of his life there, at his home No. 675 Asylum avenue. He filled many offices of trust in the city, among them being those of presi- dent of the Connecticut Trust & Safe Deposit Co .; director of the National Exchange Bank; of the Connecticut Fire Insurance Co .; of the American School for the Deaf, and vice- president of the Hart- ford Library Asociation. In addition to his varied engagements he yet found time to aid in the re- ligious and social development of the community, was a member of Asylum Hill Congregational Church, and by his kindness of heart, and ofttimes opportune advice, exerted a great influence over the young men with whom he came in contact. His fidelity to all the trusts imposed upon him, together with hard work and indefatigable zeal in everything he undertook, no doubt hastened the illness which cut off in the prime of life a man of sterling prin- ciple, and highly respected by all. In politics he took great interest, and was a close friend of Gen. Haw- ley. In art, and in the development of the iron and steel industry, he was deeply interested, and one of the best metallurgists in this section, often being quoted as an authority, and was about to publish a work on the subject at the time of his death.

In 1866, Mr. Wood married Frances P. Howe, daughter of Edmund G. Howe, for many years a prominent resident of Hartford, and at one time president of the National Exchange Bank. Major Wood's wife and one daughter survive him.

SYLVESTER WOODHOUSE ( deceased), who during life was one of the best known citizens of Wethersfield and a prominent business man, was born on the old Woodhouse homestead in that town, and baptized in the Congregational Church March 23. 1794. His parents were Samuel and Abigail (Goodrich) Woodhouse. [ Further mention of the family is given in the sketch of Samuel Woodhouse, elsewhere. ]

In his native town Sylvester Woodhouse grew to manhood, and in early life aided his father in the

operation of the home farm. He was a self-edu- cated man, one who through his own efforts ob- tained a good practical knowledge of men and affairs. Ile became extensively interested in the produce business, shipping and carrying produce to New York and other markets, and in that under- taking was eminently successful. Endowed by nature with a sound judgment and an accurate dis- criminating mind, he feared not that laborious atten- tion to the details of business so necessary to achieve success, and this essential quality was ever guided by a sense of moral right which would tolerate the employment only of those means that would bear the most rigid examination, by a fairness of inten- tion that neither sought nor required disguise. In daily life and action he was ever genial and affable, and made many warm friends. Politically he was a Whig. He died in Wethersfield, Aug. 27, 1838. and there his remains were interred.

On Jan. 31, 1819, Mr. Woodhouse was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Harris, who was born Dec. 25, 1797, and died in Wethersfield in November, 1828. Five children were born of this union: (I) Charlotte was married, Dec. 24, 1845, to Winthrop Buck, of Wethersfield, and died Jan. 15, 1896. (2) Sarah Harris lives on the old homestead in Wethers- field. (3) Celia M. married (first) a Mr. Watson, and (second) a Mr. English. (4) Delia resides with her sister on the old homestead. (5) Jane is the wife of Z. B. Brockway, of Elmira, New York.

The Harris family was founded in Wethersfield Ly Thomas Harris, who, it is believed, sailed from New London, Conn., with his brother, John, and landed at Middletown, where they traded their boat for land in Wethersfield. They located on what is now known as Harris Hill. Thomas was married Dec. 28, 1729, to Ann Nott, who was born July 29. 1699, a daughter of John and Patience ( Miller) Nott. Their son, Thomas Harris, was born in Wethersfield May 7, 1742, and there engaged in farming throughout his active business life. He died Dec. 27. 1774, and was buried in Wethersfield cemetery. On July 26, 1770, he married Abigail Robbins, who was born April 29, 1749, a daughter cf Joshua and Mary ( Welles) Robbins. She was again married, March 25, 1778, her second husband being Dr. Josiah Hart, who was graduated from Yale College in 1762, and was a surgeon in the Rev- clutionary war. She died Aug. 8, 1796, and the Doctor afterward removed to Marietta, Ohio, where he died in August, 1812. Thomas Harris, a son of Thomas and Abigail (Robbins) Harris, was born Feb. 8, 1771, and throughout life engaged in agri- cultural pursuits upon the home farm, where he died Feb. 2, 1829. He was one of the prominent citizens of the community in which he lived, and was highly respected by all who knew him. On Feb. 8, 1797, he was married in Wethersfield to Sarah Crane, a daughter of Hezekiah and Mary ( Dix ) Crane. She was born May 7, 1772, and died Feb. 7, 1829, her remains being interred with her husband's

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in the old cemetery of Wethersfield. Their daugh- ter Sarah, born Dec. 25, 1797, was married Jan. 21, 1819, to Sylvester Woodhouse, our subject, as al- ready related.

RUFUS RISING (deceased) was for many years a leading agriculturist of West Suffield, Hart- ford county, and by his high character and upright life won the lasting esteem of all who knew him.

Mr. Rising was born Sept. 11, 1797, in that lo- cality, and belonged to one of the honored pioneer families of the town, being a lineal descendant of James Rising, a native of London, England, born about 1617, who came to America at the age of eighteen, locating in 1635 in Massachusetts. In 1646 this worthy pioneer was enrolled as a student in Harvard College, and after his marriage, in 1657, to Elizabeth Hinsdale, of Medfield, Mass., a daughter of Robert Hinsdale, he made a trip to the Bermuda Islands. After a brief stay he returned to Massa- chusetts and settled at Salem, in 1668 coming to Windsor, this county, and in 1679 making his per- manent home upon a farm in Suffield, where he died in 1688. His first wife died in Windsor in 1669, and in 1673 he married Martha Bartlett, a widow, who died in 1674. He had two sons, John and James, the latter dying unmarried.

John Rising resided upon a farm on High street. Suffield, was a prominent citizen in his day, and died Dec. 11, 1720. By his two marriages he became the father of eighteen children, his descendants being now numerous in Suffield.

Samuel Rising, the father of our subject, was a native of West Suffield, and became a prosperous farmer there. As a citizen he was highly respected, and for many years he and his estimable wife, Sarah King, were active members of the Baptist Church at Zion's Hill, their remains being now at rest in the cemetery adjoining that church. They had eight children : King, Aretus, Rufus, Lester, Henry, Em- aline (who married David Phelon), Alvin and David.

Our subject received a district-school education in his youth, and was reared to farm life, much of his time in boyhood being spent at the home of Jonathan Pomeroy, of Sufficld. As a young man lie took charge of his father's old homestead, a fine farm of ninety acres, which he operated until his death. He was successful in his management, being industrious and thrifty, and acquired a comfortable competence. While he at no time sought political prominence, he took an intelligent interest in the questions of the time, first as a Whig and later as a Republican. In religious belief he was broad- minded and liberal, and in his daily life he showed moderation and self-control, being strictly temper- ate from boyhood. His death occurred April 6, 1876, at the homestead, and was regarded as a loss throughout the community. He married Miss Se- lucia Phelon, daughter of Isaac Phelon, and she sur- vived him but a few years, dying in 1884, both

being buried in West Suffield. Mrs. Rising was a devout member of the Baptist Church, and the mem- ory of her useful life and Christian influence will long be cherished. Their only child, Miss Lucia M. Rising, still resides at the homestead, and her culture and refinement make her a favorite in a select social circle. Her kindliness of heart is man- ifested in her wide, though unostentatious, char- ities, her abundant means enabling her to follow her generous impulses when a case of need comes to her notice.

NOAH POMEROY (deceased) was born in Somers, Conn., Dec. 20, 1819, and died in San Francisco, Cal., June 9, 1896, but "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die," and such a man was Noah Pomeroy, whose well-spent life and manly character of themselves erected to his memory a monument of love perpetual.

Mr. Pomeroy descended from a line of ances- try equal in every respect to that of any family in New England, and was of the sixth generation from Eltweed Pomeroy, who came from England to America in 1630, under the auspices of Gov. Win- throp, and landed at Nantucket, Mass., in March, but soon removed to Dorchester, where he at once took part in public affairs. On Oct. 22, 1633, when the town government was established, he was se- lected chairman of the board. In 1638, with his family and many others from England, Eltweed Pomeroy removed to Windsor, Conn., where he owned two houses-one on the Palisade and one on the Sandbank road.

Joseph Pomeroy, born 1652, the twelfth child of Eltweed, and great-great-grandfather of Noah, our subject, was one of the eight original owners of Colchester, Conn., under grant from the Crown. He was a farmer, contractor and builder, and a man of affairs generally. He married Hannalı Lyman, daughter of Richard Lyman, of Northamp- ton, Massachusetts.

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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 57

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