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 66

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 66

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In 1891 Dr. Ingalls performed the operation that, without doubt, did more to make his name prominent in connection with this branch of surgical work than any previous or subsequent performance. At that time he accomplished successfully the very difficult and dangerous operation known to the

medical world as Cesarean Section. It is rarely attempted, and is resorted to only in the most des- perate cases. A coolness and nerve is required which few practitioners, especially among the younger members of the profession, can command. In this case Dr. Ingalls was entirely successful. The case attracted a great deal of attention, and was extensively commented upon in the newspapers.

In 1884 Dr. Ingalls was appointed visiting gynecologist at the Hartford Hospital, and entered with enthusiasm into that branch of the work there. He began to perform operations in the abdominal cavity which before that time had been unfortunate in their results in this city. By careful attention to technique, and the finer details of the work, he soon brought that department at the hospital to a point where its work in this particular line will compare favorably with that of any hospital in the country. Most of his work is surgical, and he performs an average of about two hundred opera- tions per year. In 1899. after the death of Dr. Campbell. Dr. Ingalls was appointed medical ex- aminer of the Ætna Insurance Company.

Dr. Ingalls has shown much public spirit. and was appointed by Mayor Brainard to the board of police commissioners, where he served with faith- fulness and ability. He was chairman of the build- ing committee which has in charge the erection of the new police station. It was largely through his efforts that this building was started, and he takes a deep personal interest in its construction.

In 1883, after he had been in this city about a year, the Doctor joined the First Regiment as assistant surgeon, and became very much interested in the welfare of the local militia. In 1885 he was made adjutant, and in 1890 he was appointed on Gen. Watson's staff as brigade inspector. During these ycars he was enthusiastic in military affairs, enter- ing into its interests with his characteristic energy, and rendering valuable service to the State. He resigned in 1892 only because of the weight of other duties, especially in connection with his increasing practice. Dr. Ingalls finds time to respond to the demands of many phases of social life. He is a member of the Hartford Club, the Country Club, the Republican Club, the Hartford Golf Club, the Colonial Club, the Sons of the American Revolu- tion, and the Society of Colonial Wars: also the Church Club of Connecticut. He is a member and prominent supporter of Christ Church. Dr. Ingalls is a member of the City, County and State Medical Societies, but, perhaps, his greatest dis- tinction in this direction is his membership in the American Gynecologist Society, an association of specialists limited to a membership of one hundred. He was elected to this society in 1890, and is the only member in this State. He is a member of the Board of Censors of the Hartford Medical Society, and of the Alumni Association of the Woman's Hospital of New York City. Among his more im- portant medical papers is one on "Non-Surgical

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Treatment of Anteflexion," published in the "New York Medical Journal" March 27, 1886; essay, "Damages of Parturition and Their Repair," pro- ceedings Conecticut Medical Society, 1886; disserta- tion, "Uterine Cancer," proceedings Connecticut Medical Society, 1889; "Sloughing Fibroids of the Uterus," proceedings American Gynecological So- ciety, 1891; "Successful Case of Cesarean Sec- tion," "American Journal of Obstetrics," August, 1892. Dr. Ingalls takes little recreation, but is very fond of traveling, and during the month of August he allows himself full indulgence in this pleasure. This, however, is chiefly an economic measure, adopted in order to better meet the un- usual requirements and exhausting demands of a physician's life.

On May 13, 1885, Dr. Ingalls was married to Miss Mary Helen Beach, daughter of the late J. Watson Beach, and to their union has been born one child, who died in infancy.

HON. GEORGE WASHINGTON HODGE, special agent of the American Real Estate Company of New York City, former State treasurer, State senator and representative, and for many years a manufacturer of Windsor, this county, is one of the substantial citizens and useful men of Hartford county.

Mr. Hodge was born in Seymour, Conn., July 5. 1845, son of George L. and Hannah M. (Pelton) Hodge. Rev. William Hodge, our subject's grand- father, a Baptist minister, came to this country in 1823, from Scotland, with his family of eight chil- dren, and lived in Long Island and Connecticut. Mr. Hodge's maternal grandparents were settlers of western Massachusetts, moving from there to central New York. They were connected with the Peltons of the early settlement of Saybrook and East Windsor, Connecticut.

George W. Hodge was educated in the public schools, the Connecticut Literary Institute, at Suf- field, Conn., and the Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. After leaving school, at the age of eighteen, he learned the business of paper- making in the mills of his father, at Rainbow, Conn. In August, 1865, he was married to Miss Jennie A. Clark, of Tivoli, N. Y., and in 1866 be- came a member of the firm of Hodge, Son & Co .. thus continuing until 1874, when he retired ; in 1876 he purchased a one-third interest with House & Co., manufacturers of press paper ; in 1882 he pur- chased the interest of one partner and in 1890 of the other.

Mr. Hodge is known as one of the enterprising, public-spirited and progressive men of his town, and has been prominent in town, county and State affairs. He is a representative New England gen- tleman, and is highly esteemed and respected wher- ever known. He was selectman of the town of Windsor from 1876 to 1881, a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, 1881, 1882 ;

member of the State Senate from the Third Dis- trict, 1889 and 1890; and treasurer of the State of Connecticut, 1895-1896. Ile has always been a Republican. He is a Freemason, a member of the Royal Arcanum, and of the Republican Club of Hartford. When a lad of twelve years he joined. the Baptist Church, and has been connected with that body ever since. He was one of the leading. agencies in the organization of the church and in building the house of worship and parsonage, at Rainbow, his place of residence. Since Oct. 1, 1897, he has been special agent of the American Real Estate Company of New York City.

NELSON GERSHOM HINCKLEY. One does not have to carry his investigations far in the history of the New England States to find that the Hinckley family has been prominent in its develop- ment and upbuilding, and a most worthy repre- sentative of this family is the subject of this sketch.

Mr. Hinckley traces his ancestry back to about the year 1600, and to the County of Kent, England, where John Lothrop was pastor of a parish in Eger- ton. Ile (John) embraced the faith of the Puritans, but subsequently adopted the views of Robinson, at Leyden. In 1623 he renounced his orders in the Church of England, and removed to London, fol- lowed by some of his parishioners, among whom was (1) Samuel Hinckley. In January, 1624, Mr. Lothrop became second pastor of the first Congre- gational church gathered in London on the plan of Robinson, at Leyden. They held their meetings privately, in Blackfriars, but in April, 1632, were discovered by the pursuivant of Archbishop Laud, were apprehended, and eighteen only escaped. Mr. Lothrop, with twenty-four others, was imprisoned two years, some in the "Clink," some in "New Prison," and some in the "Gate House," when all but himself were liberated. Ile petitioned King Charles I, and was set at liberty in April, 1634, on condition of departing from the kingdom. Accord- ingly he in 1634 came to Boston in the ship "Griffin," with about thirty of his people, settled in Scituate, and afterward removed to Barnstable.

Samuel Hinckley was one of those who, in 1035. in the ship "Hercules," followed Mr. Lothrop to Boston and Scituate. In 1637 he was admitted a freeman, and removed to Barnstable in 1639. Moore, in his "Lives of the Governors of Plymouth Colony," says: "Some of the first settlers of Barn- stable were men of education and casy fortunes, who had left homes enviable, save in the single circumstance of the abridgement of religious liberty. The "Men of Kent' are duly celebrated in English history as men of gallantry, loyalty and courtly man- ners. Vassal, Hatherly, Cudworth, Tilden, Hlinck- ley and others had been accustomed to the elegances of life in England. They were men eminently quali- fied not only for transacting municipal concerns, but for taking an active and leading part in the gov - ernment of the colony."

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Thomas Hinckley, son of Samuel, was the last governor of Plymouth Colony. He was chosen one of the assistants in 1658, and continued in office until 1681. In that year, following the death of Josias Winslow, he was chosen governor of New Plymouth Colony, and continued in that office (ex- cept during the short period of the rule of Andross, when he was councillor) by successive re-elections until the Colony was incorporated with Massachu- setts under the charter of 1692-a period of eleven years.

While governor, Mr. Hinckley made an early effort, if not the earliest effort made in this coun- try, to establish and promote a system of free schools, and when the first school was established by law in 1672 he was "steward" of the income set apart for its support, and remained its faithful and consistent champion. It was said of him that in his religious views he resembled the rigid Gov. Prince, rather than the tolerant Winslow. A law was passed while he was governor, sometimes called "Hinckley's law," which provided that "if any ne- glect the worship of God in the place where he lives, and set up a worship contrary to God and the allow- ances of this government, to the profanation of God's holy day, he shall pay ten shillings." Gov. Hinckley took a deep interest in the propogation of the Gospel among the Indians, and in securing a competent support for ministers of religion.

(II) John Hinckley, son of Samuel, born in Barnstable May 24, 1644, called "Ensign John," took an active interest in the government and mili- tary defense of the Colony. He married Bethia Lothrop, granddaughter of Rev. John Lothrop, and died at the age of sixty-five.

(III) Gershom Hinckley, son of Ensign John, was born in Barnstable April 2, 1682. In the year 1712 he removed to Lebanon, Conn., where he had purchased lands, and became a prosperous farmer. He married Mary Buel, of Lebanon, and reared a large family. He died in December, 1774, aged ninety-two, and she passed away Feb. 23, same year, aged eighty-five, the mother of fourteen children. They were reared and educated in that patriotic town during the stern and stirring times that preceded the Revolutionary war, and were contemporary with the famous "Brother Jonathan" Trumbull. It ap- pears from the "State Records of Revolutionary Soldiers" that many of his descendants took an ac- tive part in that great struggle.

(IV) John Hinckley, son of Gershom, of Leb- anon. was born Feb. 10, 1729, and finally settled in East Hampton, Connecticut.

(V) Gershom Hinckley, grandfather of Nelson G., was born in 1754, and removed to Thetford, V't., where he was a prominent man in the town, and deacon in the First Congregational Church for twenty-six years, until his death.

(VI) Asahel Hinckley, father of Nelson G., was born Feb. 11, 1794, in Thetford, Vt., and came to Hartford in 1810. He was a printer by trade, and

worked in the office of The Hartford Courant at a period when the "art preservative of all the arts" was very different from what it now is. He not only set up the type, but was also accustomed to "pull" the entire edition of the paper on a hand press, and ink the form with the old-fashioned "balls." In 1820 he commenced the dry-goods and millinery business on Main street, near Church ; his store for many years was known in Hartford as the leading one in that line. In 1854 his son Nelson G. succeeded to the business.

On Sept. 7, 1817, Asahel Hinckley married Philinda Skinner, of Bolton, Conn., daughter of Eldad and Maria (Sackett) Skinner. Eldad Skin- ner's father, Asahel Skinner, married Sarah Trum- bull, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Brown) Trumbull, and sister of Rev. Benjamin Trumbull, D. D., the famous historian. Benjamin, Sr., father of Sarah Trumbull, was a son of Benoni Trumbull, brother of Joseph, who was the father of the famous "Brother Jonathan" Trumbull. Children were born to (VI) Asahel and Philinda Hinckley as follows : Sarah Maria, Oct. 25, 1818, died April 20, 1892 (she married Lorenzo Lane, of Chicopee, Mass.) ; Nelson G. is mentioned below; Jane Elizabeth, Oct. 19, 1822, died Jan. 1, 1898 (she married Oliver Woodhouse) ; Arthur Tappan is mentioned below. Asahel Hinckley died July 23, 1844; Philinda, his wife, died Aug. 24, 1870.

Capt. Arthur T. Hinckley was born in Hartford Feb. 9, 1830, and passed his early life in that city. In 1854 he was appointed (by Col. N. G. Hinckley, quartermaster-general) armorer at the State arsenal, holding that position until 1862, and in many ways proving his eminent fitness therefor. In 1861, at the first call for volunteers in the Civil war, he took en- listment papers from Adjt .- Gen. Williams, and, making his headquarters at the armory of the old Hartford Light Guard, in a few days recruited a full company-Company A, Ist Regiment Conn. V. I .- which was accepted at midnight, the adjutant-gen- eral keeping his office open for that purpose, and was the first company raised for the war accepted by the State. Mr. Hinckley was elected lieutenant, and went into camp at New Haven with the com- mand, but before muster-in he resigned and returned to his position at the State arsenal, at the instance of Quartermaster-General Hatheway and the earnest personal request of Gov. Buckingham, who re- marked that "at this critical time he would be of more service there than at the front." After re- maining another year at the arsenal he was, on July 9, 1862, authorized by Adjt .- Gen. Williams to enlist another company for the Federal service. He opened an office, and recruited a full company, of which he was elected captain, and which was mustered in Nov. 11, 1862, as Company B, 25th Conn. V. I .. Col. G. P. Bissell. The regiment saw active service, and Capt. Hinckley participated in Gen. Banks' expedi- tion to New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Port Hud- son, he and his company receiving the highest com-

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mendation in that campaign. He returned with the regiment to Hartford, was mustered out and hon- orably discharged. However, it soon became ap- parent that the Captain's general health was im- paired, and a chronic disease developed which eventually caused his death. As his health required constant medical aid, he chose to avail himself of the benefits to be had at the National Soldiers' Home at Hampton, Va. He died Oct. 30, 1888, and was laid to rest in the National Cemetery at Hampton.

(VII) Nelson Gershom Hinckley, the subject proper of these lines, was born Aug. 20, 1820, in Hartford, Conn., and has always resided in that city. In 1854. as above stated, he succeeded to his father's dry-goods and millinery business, and continued same until 1875. in which year he retired, the es- tablishment having retained the same name for over half a century.

On Sept. 19, 1849, Nelson Gershom Hinckley was married in New Hartford, Conn., to Minerva Rossiter Hotchkiss, who was born at New Hart- ford June 3, 1826, and is a direct descendant of John Marsh, a first settler of Hartford; of Gov. Webster, the fifth governor of the Connecticut Col- ony ; and of Joseph Wadsworth, of "Charter Oak" fame. To this union was born, Sept. 28, 1850, one son, Howard Nelson, who on Nov. 2, 1871, married Belle Eliza, daughter of Dwight Slate, of Hart- ford, and five children have been born to them, their names and dates of birth being as follows : Harriet Rossiter, May 19, 1874 ( she married Nov. 2. 1898, Ferdinand Favor Norris, of Dedham, Mass. ) ; Clara Belle, Sept. 17, 1879 ; Robert Horace, March 28, 1882; Lena Howard, Dec. 29, 1885; and Samuel Dwight, May 13, 1888 (died Jan. 23. 1891).

Nelson G. Hinckley has for many years been prominently identified with military and civic so- cicties. In 1840 he was a member of the First Company, of Governor's Foot Guard, in 1845 was elected captain, and was also captain of the Veteran Association ; in 1864 was commissioned a lieutenant in the Putnam Phalanx, under Major Allyn. In 1854 he was appointed, by the General Assembly. quartermaster-general of the State, on the staff of Gov. Dutton ; and in 1876 was tendered the office of division quartermaster, on the staff of Brig .- Gen. Guyer. He was foreman of one of the old volunteer fire companies, and a member of the Board of Fire Department ; in 1880 was elected president of the Firemen's Benevolent Society, in which incumbency he remained until 1899. He was elected a member of the city council for four successive years ( 1878- 82), and a member of the board of relief of the town for five years in succession, 1880 to 1884, both inclusive.

Fraternally Mr. Hinckley is one of the prominent Freemasons in the State, and his connection with the craft has been distinguished for rare enthusiasm throughout. The following is a brief record of his career in Masonry: Initiated in St. John's Lodge, No. 4. Jan. 18, 1860; worshipful master, 1865 :

treasurer of the lodge from 1872 to 1887, when he was again elected worshipful master ; was exalted to the degree of Royal Arch Mason, in Pythagoras Chapter, No. 17, Feb. 1, 1862; elected high priest in 1869; was elected one of the trustees of the Grand Chapter of Connecticut in 1870, and has held that office until the present time. In May, 1870, he was elected one of the trustees of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, and has held that position thirty years (still serving), acting as chairman, having custody of the funds of the Grand Lodge of Con- necticut, and also the funds of the Masonic Charity Foundation until the incorporation of the Masonic Home at Wallingford. He was received and greet- ed in Wolcott Council, No. I, at Hartford, Nov. 12, 1863, but never served that body in a working capacity, his interest centering more in the lodge and chapter.

Mr. Hinckley is a typical representative of the good old school, and, in his bearing among men, and his companions and associates, he retains many of the qualities which distinguished his early an- cestors as men of gallantry, loyalty and courtesy, and he holds the respect of those who know him for his thorough manhood, dignity of character, honesty of purpose, and gentlemanly bearing. In his business or Masonic relations he has always been distinguished for method, persistence, and a uniform correctness in all things ; while in private life he is held in high esteem and regard.

HENRY HAAB, chief engineer for the Bristol Brass & Clock Co., Bristol, is a native of Switzer- land, born Sept. 18, 1859.

John Haab, father of our subject, was also a na- tive of Switzerland, where for many years he was overseer in a silk factory ; he was also at one time an officer of high rank in the Swiss army. By his wife Magdalene ( Keller) he had two sons : Henry. our subject ; and John, the younger, who died when quite young. The parents are both deceased, the fa- ther dying when Henry was a young lad. The widowed mother came to the United States the year before her son's emigration, and lived with relatives in Ansonia, Connecticut.

Our subject received his early education in his native land. At the age of sixteen years he com- menced working on a farm, in which line of industry he continued until coming to America, in 1872. Sailing from Bremen, Germany, he landed in due course at New York, whence he at once proceeded to Ansonia, Conn., and here found employment in Wallace and Son's factory, in the lamp department. After one year there he passed the next twelve months or so in the employ of John Gardner, also in Ansonia, making clock dials, and then moved to Bristol, where for some six years he worked for S. E. Root, manufacturer of clock dials. Our sub- ject's health becoming now somewhat impaired, he commenced the study of medicine under the pre- ceptorship of Dr. Fred H. Williams ; but after three

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years he took his present position, that of chief en- gineer for the Bristol Brass & Clock Co., having charge of the entire steam plant. Mr. Haab is the patentee of a number of useful inventions, among them the Haab rotary engine, which is in successful operation. He is now completing the Mechanical Electrical course with the Technical Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

On July 13, 1884, Henry Haab was married to Miss Catherine E. Johns, of Terryville, Conn., daughter of William Johns. Mr. and Mrs. Haab have no family. They are members of the Congre- gational Church, and in politics Mr. Haab is a Re- publican. Socially he is a Freemason, member of Pequabuck Chapter, No. 32, R. A. M., the highest degree obtainable in Bristol. He is regarded as an industrious, honorable citizen, well worthy of the high regard in which he is held.

BURTON ARD HART (deceased) was born on Chippin Hill, town of Bristol, Conn., April 16, 1836, and was a son of Ard Hart. He was edu- cated in the common schools of Bristol, which he attended until about twelve years of age. He then began work in Noah Pomeroy's clock factory, walk- ing from and to Chippin Hill morning and night, and was indeed a lad of great endurance and in- (lustry. Several years later, after quitting Mr. Pomeroy, he went to Terryville, worked there ser- eral years, and then worked in New Britain during the period of the Civil war, for Russell & Erwin. He next worked for the Welch Manufacturing Co. in Forestville, learned the iron-molding trade and also brass turning, and went to Waterbury and worked three years for Benedict & Burnham, clock manufacturers. He then returned to Bristol and opened the North Side grocery, on North street, and this he most successfully conducted until 1893. when he retired from active business pursuits and devoted his entire attention to the supervision of his real-estate interests, until his death May 31, 1895.

Mr. Hart married (first) Emily Curtiss, of Harwinton, Conn., who died two years later, and for his second wife Mr. Hart married Miss Eliza- beth Cowles, who was born Jan. 20, 1845, the ac- complished daughter of Kirtland and Mary ( Dem- ing) Cowles, of Wethersfield, Conn. This felicitous union was graced with four children: Horace Bur- ton, born Aug. 1, 1869; Alice Cowles, born Aug. 2, 1871 ; Wilbur Stacy, born July 21, 1873 ; and Oliver Monroe, born Oct. 7, 1876. These children were all educated in the Bristol schools, and all are at home with their mother.

Burton Ard Hart did not belong to any of the secret orders, as he was perfectly contented with the companionship of his adored wife and children. He was of a most lovable disposition and charitable in the extreme. Kind, modest and unassuming, he never crossed any one, made many friends and probably never had an enemy. In politics he was

by conviction a Republican, but as his business and family affairs absorbed all his attention, and as he was more interested in their prosperity than in that of office seekers, he gave party affairs a wide berth. He was a member of the Prospect M. E Church, and lived strictly up to its tenets, and of this church his widow is also a devout member. He possessed no evil habits whatever, was totally abstinent as to the use of spirituous liquor and tobacco, and be- stowed in charity the sums that many squander in these so-called luxuries. His death was generally deplored, but by no one more deeply than by his estimable wife and children.

JOHN SIMPKINS BUTLER, M. D., whose death occurred in Hartford, May 21, 1890, was at that time one of the city's oldest citizens, the oldest graduate of Yale College in Hartford, and a gentle- man of wide reputation and prominence, whose friends were many.

Dr. Butler's ancestors were among the early and prominent settlers of Hartford. Steven Butler, a nonconformist English clergyman, was the father of Richard Butler, whose name appears on the records of the Puritan Colony of Cambridge, Mass., in 1632. He was one of the company who came through the wilderness in 1636 and formed the set- tlement in Hartford, and several of the family were buried in the Center Church burying-grounds. Hartford. One hundred and fifty years later, Daniel Butler, a direct descendant of Richard Butler, and the father of our subject, removed from Hartford to Northampton, Mass., and became a merchant there.

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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 66

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