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 60

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 60

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MILO LEON NORTON, journalist and poet, was born April 23, 1849, in Bristol, where he still resides, although his birthplace was a farm outside the built-up portion of the borough. He is of the eiglithi generation in America, and the family can be traced to England and France by undisputable documentary evidence, covering a period of over 800 years.

Leonard Andrews Norton, father of Milo L., was born Aug. 9, 1813, and died July 16, 1895; his life career is given in full in the biography of M. 11. Norton, on another page. To cach of the

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paternal ancestors is given, in order of birth, a separate paragraph, as follows :

Asahel Hinman Norton was born in 1778, in what was known as New Cambridge, now Bristol, Conn., and became a stone-cutter. On Oct. 10, 1803, he married Rene Sperry, who was born July 3, 1783. Their children were Asahel Hinman, Jr., born Aug. 2, 1804, who married Mary Byington April 2, 1822; she died March 21, 1861, in Hart- ford, and he on Sept. 23, 1871. The second child, Leonard Andrews, was the father of subject. The third, Salome Gaylord, born Sept. 12, 1818, died May 19, 1845. Jerry, the fourth, died in infancy. Asahel H. Norton, the father of this family, was at first a Congregationalist, but later became a Baptist. He was injured in a forest fire, was an in- valid for a number of years, and died Sept. 15, 1836.

Aaron Norton was born in Durham, Conn., in 1749, and died July 27, 1832. He married Rhoda Hinman, a native of Goshen, Conn., who was born 1745, and died May 10, 1812, the mother of six children : Truman, Rhoda, Asahel Hinman, Ches- ter. Samuel, and Aaron. Aaron owned several hundred acres of land in Bristol, more, probably, than any other man of his day.

Isaac Norton, born in Durham in 1711, died in January, 1793. He was a farmer, and one of the first settlers of Bristol, having come here about 1760. He married Mary Rockwell, of Windsor, who was born Nov. 23, 1719, and died in 1809, the mother of the following named children: Abi- gail. Mary, Lydia, Silvanus, Anna, Isaac, Jr., Aaron, Joel and Zipporah.

Joseph Norton was born in Saybrook, Conn., Nov. 6, 1681, was a farmer, married Deborah Crittenden, and died in Durham in 1756, the fa- ther of children as follows, all born in Saybrook : Deborah, Joseph, Isaac, Joel and Thomas. The mother died in Durham in 1756.

Thomas Norton, Jr., was born in England in 1626, came to Guilford, Conn., with his father in 1639, removed to Saybrook in 1661, and married Elizabeth Mason May 8, 1671. She died at Say- brook Jan. 31, 1699. The children of Thomas (Jr.) and Elizabeth (Mason) Norton were: Eliz- abeth (who died in infancy), Thomas, Elizabeth, Joseph and Samuel (twins), Abigail and Ebenezer (twins), and John.

Thomas Norton, Sr., was born in 1582, near Guildford in Surrey, England, came to Guilford, Conn., from Ockley, England, in 1639, was the first town miller, and died in 1648. To his marriage with Grace Wells, in 1625, were born four chil- dren : Thomas, Jr., John, Grace and Mary. Of these, Grace was the first to be married in Guil- ford Colony, accepting for her husband William Seward, who had charge of the military forces in the New Haven Colony.

The father of Thomas Norton, Sr., was Rich- ard Norton. The family descended from John Nor-

ton, of Sharpenhoe, Bedfordshire, England, was quite prominent, and was allotted an estate by King Henry VIII.

The main line of Mr. Norton's family belongs to the English peerage, his ancestors coming from Normandy with William the Conquerer. They are allied by marriage to the royal family of France, and to the Saxon kings. The title of the present member of the peerage is Lord Grantley. The original French name of the family was Norville, that being Norman-French for North town, ah- breviated to Norton.

Milo Leon Norton, the subject proper of this article, received his preliminary education in the common schools of Bristol, which he attended until fourteen years of age ; then attended a higher grade class in East Haven one year, and next entered the Eastman Business College at Poughkeepsie. N. Y., from which he graduated in 1867. He then served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade in New Britain, worked thereat about three years, and in 1872 became bookkeeper for A. R. Warner & Co., grocers, in 1873 buying out that firm; he sold out the following year.

Mr. Norton had always had a taste for literature and a natural gift for writing-not exactly what is known as cacoethes scribendi, but a genuine talent for descriptive and didactive literary com- position. He had already been a correspondent for and contributor to several magazines and news- papers, and in 1874 fully entered upon the field of journalism by becoming editor of the Water- bury Inder, a position he vacated the following year, and for several months was connected with the Republican, of Meriden. His connection ex- tended that year also to the Hartford Post and one or two other papers. In 1876 Mr. Norton launched the new A I first-class clipper-built newspaper, the Bristol Gasette, upon the sea of journalism, and successfully breasted the storms of adversity and steered clear of its shoals and shallows for three years, when he relinquished the helm. Since then he has continued to pursue his course as contrib- utor to and correspondent of sundry magazines and newspapers, principally published in New York. Boston, Hartford, New Haven., Waterbury, and various other parts of New England. He has for several years been especially identified with the "Connecticut Magazine," to which he has contrib- uted a number of poems and prose compositions far in excess of mediocrity. He still continues his literary labors, although he had charge of the old homestead on Fall Mountain from 1881 until 1897, when it was sold, and he built for himself an ele- gant home at No. 26 Upson avenue, Bristol, where he now resides.

Milo L. Norton was married, Nov. 24. 1870, to Emma Lillian Dayton, who was born June 17, 1842, in Buckinghamshire, England, and this mar- riage has been graced with two children: (1) Addie Martha, born June 20, 1872, was married,

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May 1, 1895, to Herbert J. Atwood, who is engaged in the ice business in Bristol ; they have had two children, Ralph Herbert, born May 14, 1897, and Leslie Milo, born Nov. 8. 1900. (2) Dewey Milo. born April 6. 1874, is now employed at H. J. Mills' paper-box factory. The family attend the Meth- odist Church, and in politics Mr. Norton is inde- pendent, but his proclivities are Democratic. He has been clerk and treasurer of school district No. 12, and has always taken an active part in educa- tional affairs. Fraternally Mr. Norton is a mem- ber of Ethan Lodge, No. 9, K. of P., of Bristol : of the Pilgrim Fathers, of whose society he is sec- retary ; and has been a past lecturer and secretary of the Grange.

It is related of Thomas Norton, of Sharpenhoe, England, that he was the first man to write a tragedy in the English language: that it was en- titled Gorbodue, the name of a suppositional king, was written for the Christmas exercises before Queen Elizabeth in 1561, and that Norton was as- sisted in its construction by Thomas Sackville, afterward Lord Buckherst, a fellow student at In- ner Temple, London-Norton writing the first three acts and Sackville the last two. Thomas Norton also translated the Psalms into English metre.

CALEB METCALF HOLBROOK. deceased. The Holbrook family is one of the oldest in New England, and in the history of the town of Milford. Mass., we find the following: "Our Holbrooks are believed to be descendants of Thomas Holbrook. through Thomas (2), whose residence was in Scituate, Weymouth and Braintree, prior to 1653. When Thomas made his will, July 25, 1695, he gave his son Peter 'all that estate of lands and meadows in Mendon' which he purchased of his brother William. Peter settled in Mendon and was known as Deacon Peter. He died in 1712, and willed his real estate, mostly in what became Bell- ingham, to his children."

The subject of this memoir, who was numbered for years among the representative citizens of Hartford, was of the eighth generation in descent from Thomas (1). the line being traced as fol- lows: Thomas (2) : Peter ; Eliphalet, born Jan. 27, 1095, who married Johanna Rockwood; Eb- enezer, born June 3. 1717, who married Keziah White : Ziba, born Aug. 8. 1752, who married Re- becca Kimball; and Joel, our subject's father.

Joel Holbrook was born July 11. 1792, and made his home in Milford, Conn., for some time, en- gaging in farming and the manufacture of straw bonnets. Later he removed to Hartford, where he died in 1871. His wife, Roxanna Howes, died in 1882. They had three children, of whom ( 1) Caleb M .. our subject, was the eldest. (2) Abigail mar- ried Gardner P. Barber ( of the firm of Hunt, Hol- brook & Barber), who died in 1879. (3) George Albert was for many years a member of the firm of

Clark & Holbrook, shoe manufacturers of Hart- ford. He died in December, 1889, leaving two daughters, Ellen Goodrich, now Mrs. Dr. Calvin F. Barber, of Brooklyn; and May Abbie H., who married Arthur S. Hyde.

Caleb Metcalf Holbrook was born Nov. 20. 1822, in Milford, Mass., and died Jan. 10. 1896. at Hartford. He was educated in Shelburne Falls, Mass., and at the age of twenty-two removed to Hartford, but later went to Cincinnati, Ohio. The gold excitement of 1849 led him to the Pacific slope, the voyage being made by way of Cape Horn in the ship "Henry Lee," and in passing the Horn a gale was encountered that lasted thirteen days, sweeping the vessel 400 miles from the course. The trip from New York to San Francisco lasted 207 days, and the distance from the Golden Gate to Sacramento was made in an open boat. Mr. Holbrook spent fourteen months in the mines, and was absent three years. He came back with about $2,500, the nucleus of his future fortune, and in 1852. after forming a partnership with Milo Hunt. he engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes and in the leather business. The hrm of Hunt & Holbrook subsequently became Hunt, Holbrook & Barber, continuing under that name until the death of Mr. Barber, in 1879, when a return was made to the original name. The factory was located on Union Place, opposite the station, and Mr. Hol- brook gave personal direction to the business until his death, the mechanical details being under his especial charge. He was also a director of the Travelers Insurance Co. for twenty-five years, and became one of the best-known business men of the city. He attended the First Baptist Church, to which he contributed regularly, and was a public- spirited man, taking much interest in the welfare of his city. He was quite a traveler, having gone abroad three times, and his broad information and high character made his friendship sought by the best. In politics he was a Republican, and for three years he served in the common council of Hart ford.

In January, 1854, Mr. Holbrook married Fanny Hollister, of Hartford. and they had one son, George. born in December, 1854, who died aged nine months. The mother died in 1854, and in 1859 Mr. Holbrook married Elizabeth Crocker Nelson, by whom he had four children: (1) Frank Nei- son, born Nov. 7. 1860, who died May 26, 1874: (2) Grace Hawes, born Aug. 24, 1863. who mar- ried Henry C. White, of Hartford, and has two sons-John Holbrook, born April 10, 1890. and Nelson Cook, born June 11, 1900: (3) Minnie II .. born in 1865, who died in infancy; and (4) Annie Metcalf' HI., born Oct. 12, 1868, who died Oct. 13. 1893. Mrs. Elizabeth C. Holbrook died June 7. 1873, and our subject was married, in January, 1875, to Anna E. Nelson, sister of his second wife. She survived him, and died April 20, 1898.

The Nelson family is of pioneer stock, the first

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of the line in this country having been William Nelson, who was married, in 1640, to Martha Ford. The Fords came over in the ship "Fortune." and Martha Ford was born in 1621, the first white female child born in New England. William Nel- son. the next in the line of descent, was born in 1645, in Middleboro, Mass., and married Ruth Foxel. born in 1640. Thomas N. Nelson, son of William, was married, in 1676. to Hope Higgins. Lieut. Thomas Nelson, son of Thomas N., mar- ried Judith Pierce. Thomas Nelson, son of Lieut. Thomas, was a resident of West Middleboro, Mass. Rev. Stephen S. Nelson, son of Thomas, married Emelia Rivers, and had a son Stephen R. Stephen R. Nelson married Elizabeth Crocker, and was the father of the second and third wives of our subject.

JAMES H. NAYLOR, M. D., one of Hart- ford's successful physicians, was born Aug. 3, 1869, at Schuylerville, Saratoga Co., N. Y. He comes of good New England ancestry. and his father, a native of Vermont, was for many years a well- known business man of Schuylerville. The mother. whose maiden name was Elizabeth Wood, was born in Warren county, New York.

Dr. Naylor completed a course in the high school of his native place, and after two years in the academic department of the University of Ver- mont entered the Medical Department of that in- stitution. On graduating, in 1895, he became house surgeon and physician in the Hartford Hospital. his two years of service giving him invaluable training, and in 1897 he began general practice in Hartford. He is a member of the City, County and State Medical Societies, and socially is prom- inent as a member of Sphinx Temple, Order of the Mystic Shrine, and other Masonic societies: the I O. O. F. : the Knights of Pythias : the Ancient Order of United Workmen; and the Phi Chi Fra- ternity.

ERASTUS ELY CASE. M. D., a well-known physician of Hartford for twenty-five years, is a lineal descendant of John Case, the first settler of Simsbury in this county, and a grandson of Noah and Olive Case, both of whom were born and lived throughout their lives in Granby.

Norton Case, the Doctor's father, was born Dec. 26, 1815, in Granby, where he spent his boy- hood, and was a lifelong farmer in Canton and East Granby. He was honorable in all his deal- ings, and highly respected. He represented East Granby in the State Legislature, besides filling at different times the most responsible offices in Can- ton and East Granby, a record which in itself speaks for his trustworthiness and efficiency. In Canton he married Miss Eliza Case (born May 21, 1815: died Sept. 22, 1859), daughter of Anson and Rachel Case, and they had two children : Anson Miles and Erastus Ely. The former married Miss Lucia A. Case, of Canton, by whom he had one son, Winthrop

Tracy, now a civil engineer in the employ of the city of Boston, and died at the age of forty. Nor- ton Case died Oct. 6, 1899. at the age of eighty- three, surviving his first wife over forty years. In October, 1860, he contracted a second marriage, with Miss Charlotte E. Case, who survives him.

Erastus Ely Case was born May 28, 1847, in Canton Centre, where he received his early educa- tion, later attending Williston Seminary, East- hampton, Mass., whence he was graduated in 1868. In 1872 he completed the classical course in Yale College, and in 1874 he graduated from the New York Homeopathic Medical College, the following vear commencing practice in Hartford, where he has ever since been located. Dr. Case has, by his skill and ability, secured a large and lucrative prac- tice. He is a member of the Dunham Medical Club, of Hartford, the Connecticut Homeopathic Medical Society, of which he was president in 1888-89, the American Institute of Homeopathy. and the Inter- national Hahnemannian Association, of which lat- ter he is now ( 1900-1901) president. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar, a member of Washington Commandery, No. I, of Hartford. Since his first establishment in Hartford he has been a member of, and much of the time an office-bearer in, the Fourth Congregational Church.

On Oct. 14, 1874, the Doctor was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Maria Griswold, born in East Granby Aug. 29, 1846, daughter of James MI. Griswold, a native of Windsor, and three chil- dren blessed this union, namely: Herbert Monroe, born Sept. 28, 1875. graduated from the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology in 1899. now an electrical engineer with the General Electric Co., Schenectady, N. Y .: Helen Eliza. born Nov. 15, 1876; and Clarence Norton, born Sept. 29, 1880, now a student at the Connecticut Agricultural Col- lege. The mother of these passed away Jan. 15, 1883. and on Feb. 24, 1886, Dr. Case wedded, in Hartford, Mrs. Emorette Holcomb. They have had one child, Everett Erastus, born Sept. 9, 1888.

WILLIAM HENRY POST (deceased), mer- chant and philanthrophist, whose death in 1899 cast a gloom over the city of Hartford, traced his line of descent from Stephen Post. an English gentle- man, who was born in Chelmsford, County of Essex.

This American progenitor of the family crossed the ocean, with his wife and four children. in the ship "Griffin," in September, 1633, landing in Bos- ton. He was a devout Puritan, and was one of the devoted flock which Rev. Mr. Hooker led through the wilderness in June, 1636, to found the new colony of Connecticut, his name being inscribed on the monument erected by the citizens of Hartford in honor of the city's founders in the ancient burying-ground of Center Church. Mr. Post, however, did not remain in Hartford, re- moving to Saybrook, where he built a house at a

Erastus Enlease

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place called Oyster River, some two miles from the fort. There he died Aug. 16. 1659. his wife. Eleanor, surviving him until Nov. 13, 1670. To Stephen and Eleanor Post were born three sons and one daughter: John, 1626; Thomas, 1628; Abraham, 1629: and Catherine, 1631. All were born in England.

Abraham Post, the third son, was the great- great-great-grandfather of the gentleman whose life forms the subject of this memoir. He was the father of ten children, all born in Saybrook: Stephen (2). Dec. 3. 1664: Ann, May 4, 1667; Abraham (2). June 9, 1669: James, March 14, 1671: Esther, Dec. 14, 1672; Daniel. Nov. 28. 1673: Gordon, May 29, 1676: Joseph. Feb. 6. 1678; Mary. Feb. 21. 1680; and Eleanor Feb. 10. 1682. Of this large family the eldest. Stephen, was the next in line of descent toward William H. In 1708 he removed from Saybrook that he might se- cure his share of a tract of land nine miles square donated by an Indian named Uncas, a Mohegan sachem, to a party of whites from Saybrook who had rescued him from a fort on the Thames river, in which he was besieged. The portion allotted to Stephen Post was some 4,000 acres. His name ap- pears as one of the signers of a petition presented to the General Assembly in 1707. praying for the establishment of a township named Hebron, and he appears by the carly records extant to have been one of the new town's most respected citizens, noted for his exact justness and his firm decision of char- acter. His first home was a log cabin, and stood on what is known as Post's Hill, now in Columbia town. but at that time forming a part of Hebron. On June 14. 1692, he married Hannah Hosmer. who died in Hebron Jan. 25, 1751. He followed her to the grave May 16. 1752. They were the parents of five sons and five daughters, whose names and the dates of whose births are as follows : Hannah. March 29, 1693: Stephen Sept. 8, 1695; Mary. March 13, 1697; Hester, May 16, 1699; Thomas (in later life a deacon), Feb. 10, 1701 ; Gideon, Feb. 10, 1703; Phineas, Dec. 2, 1704; Sybil. Oct. 10, 1706; Dorothy, Jan. 29, 1708; Israel ( who was also made a deacon ), May 13. 1709. The fourth son and seventh child. Phineas, was the great-grandfather of William H. Post. Ile married Anna Post, a distant relative, who bore him four children: Phineas (2), Jan. 3, 1743; Anna, 1744; Amy. 1746; and Lucy, 1748.

Phineas Post (2), the next in the descending line, married Sybil Barber. They were the parents of eleven children : Elihu, born Aug. 10, 1775; Phineas ( 3), Aug. 24, 1777; Bela, Aug. 28, 1779; Sybil. Feb. 13, 1782; Abner, Nov. 1. 1783; Anna. Sept. 6, 1785; Dudley Barber, Nov. 27. 1788; Erastus, Aug. 17, 1791 : Augustus, July 26, 1793 : Ralph. Jan. 3. 1795 : and Charles, July 2. 1798.

Augustus Post, the ninth child of Phineas (2). and the father of the late William H. Post, was married to Betsey Gordon Strong. Their children,

all born in Hebron, were seven in number: Sybil Rebecca, Lydia Elizabeth, Charles Augustus, Mary Gardner, Amos Strong, William Henry and Mary Amelia. The eldest daughter, Sybil Rebecca, was born Aug. 26, 1819, and on Nov. 25, 1843, became the wife of Gurdon Young Robertson, of Colum- bia, Conn. Lydia E., born April 15, 1821, married Norman Henry Clark, of Columbia, on Dec. 7. 1848. Charles Augustus was born Sept. 21, 1822, and was united to Lucy Ann Bill, of Columbia. Oct. 24, 1850. Mary G., born April 25, 1825, died Sept. 25, 1842. Amos Strong was born Nov. 24, 1827, took up his residence in Hartford, became a merchant, and was a member of the firm of Tal- cott & Post at the time of his death, Sept. 24. 1857. Mary Amelia was born July 8. 1844, nearly two years after the death of her sister. Mary Gardner ; on May 23. 1866, she married Daniel T. Fuller, and died Sept. 20, 1888.

William Henry Post was born April 1, 1833. He attended the common schools until he reached the age of sixteen years, when he entered a store in Hebron as a clerk. He manifested a marked apti- tude for business, and after a year his brother, Amos S., then a partner in the dry-goods firm of Talcott & Post, took him into his establishment at Hartford, located at the corner of Main and Pratt streets. He found mercantile life congenial, and from the day on which he entered his brother's service until his death he was conspicuously iden- tified with the city's commercial and financial in- terests. He succeeded his brother as a member of the firm on Jan. 1, 1858, and so continued until his dissolution, in 1881. In the spring of that year he founded the house of William H. Post & Co., the junior member of the firm being E. S. Yergason, who had been associated with him in the old con- cern. For several years business was conducted on Main street, but when, a few years ago, the William H. Post Carpet Co. was organized, new quarters were found in the Goodwin building, at the intersection of Asylum and Haynes streets. The success of the business proved unexpected and unusual, and an enlargement of the premises oc- cupied was found necessary. Mr. Post's guiding hand was ever at the helm : and to his quick, keen perception, watchful care and sagacious foresight the singular success of the enterprise is largely due. In addition to his mercantile business Mr. Post was prominently identified with various other corporate financial interests. He was for several years a director of the Connecticut General Life and the Phoenix Life Cos., as well as a director in the Hart- ford National Bank, and one of the auditors of the Society for Savings.

In private as in business life Mr. Post was widely known, universally esteemed and unhesi- tatingly trusted. His circle of acquaintances ex- tended far beyond the city whose development and prosperity were so dear to him. He was cultured in his tastes, and in manners showed the courtesy

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which comes only from the true instinct of a gen- tleman. He was always affable, and equally easy of approach by the millionaire in broadcloth or the artisan in overalls or fustian. His domestic life was ideally happy, and his home was a social center of refinement and culture. He was a member of St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M., and active in pro- moting the interests of the Governor's Foot Guards, being always prominent at the governor's recep- tions given by that organization. In religious be- lief he was a Congregationalist. He was long con- nected with the Park Church, and was for many years an active member of both church and society committees, as well as always a generous contrib- utor toward its support and the propagation of its work.

As a citizen Mr. Post was public-spirited and liberal, yet perhaps his most salient characteristics were generosity and charity, in the exercise of which virtues few, if any, men in Hartford excelled him. Few suspected the extent of his private ben- efactions, and none but himself and his Master knew the number of pensioners upon his individual bounty. He was the first to whom the promoters of any wisely planned, well-directed charitable en- terprise looked for aid, and few appealed to either his sympathy or his purse in vain. His generosity did not overlook his old home in Tolland county, and the handsome font in the Congregational church at Columbia is his memorial to his parents. He also contributed most liberally toward the Sun- clay-school library, which was then virtually the circulating library of the town. To Colt's Band he was accustomed to donate generously, and in ac- knowledgment thereof that organization annually serenaded him at his home on some evening in June. Children and animals he dearly loved, and they in turn loved him. Such traits as these show the tenderness of his heart, his capability for affec- tion, and his nobility of soul.

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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 60

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