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 71

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 71

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Our subject was mainly educated in the public schools, completing his studies in the private school of the late Rev. O. S. Taylor, in Simsbury. His father was, during this period, town clerk of Sims- bury, this fact in itself opening to him the best opportunities for obtaining a satisfactory educa- tion. At an early age Mr. Preston exhibited a decided taste for ornamental painting, and his busi- ness career has been shaped in the main by that fact. His father was the proprietor and mana- ger of a carriage shop, and the ornamental work in painting offered special attraction to the son. He learned the trade, and at the age of nineteen removed to Hartford, engaging in the railroad shops of the New York & Hartford road. In 1870 he accepted a position of responsibility in the works of John Markham, at Pleasant Valley, in Barkham- sted, being placed in charge of the painting depart- ment, and remaining there three years. In 1873 he returned to Hartford and entered the employ of the Highland Line, New York, New Haven & Hartford road, as an ornamental painter. After spending five years in the company's shops he de- cided to engage in business for himself, and in 1878 bought out the place owned by Theodore Thorpe, Jr., at the corner of Pearl and Trumbull streets. Benjamin W. Kenyon was admitted to partnership with him, the firm being Preston & Kenyon, and they have developed a business of large proportions. They unquestionably have the largest amount of sign work of any house in New Eng- land outside of Boston. The Presidential cam- paign of 1880 opened an interesting and profitable field of work, as the new campaign banner became an indispensable adjunct of the canvass, and Mr. Preston caught the idea and developed an admirable specialty in connection with it. In 1881 house painting was added to the firm's business, employ- ing a considerable corps of workmen. The Bon- ner-Preston Co., which conducts one of the largest decorative trades in the city, was established Feb. 4, 1889, its place of business being in the Hills block, opposite Exchange corner. The house car- ries a large stock of artists' materials, also an ex-

tensive line of photographic supplies, and they de- vote special attention to wall papers and decora- tions, and altogether employ a force of fifty hands. Mr. Preston is an active participant in both of these firms, being one of the busiest managers in the city.

Our subject was one of the founders and vice- president of the Hubbard Escort, the best political organization in this locality. He has been a men- ber of the Putnam Phalanx for twelve years, and at present occupies the position of quartermaster on the staff of Major O. H. Blanchard. He is a member of Amos Beecher Lodge, F. & A. M., of New Hartford, and belongs to the higher orders of Masonry in Hartford, being a member of Wol- cott Council, Pythagoras Chapter, and Washington Commandery, K. T. He is past chancellor ofWash- ington Lodge, K. P., and is a member of Hartford Lodge, B. P. O. E., and of Trumbull Council Nation- al Provident Union. His political career has been as honorable as it has been successful. For a num- ber of years he was chairman of the Democratic committee in the First ward of Hartford, and al- though the precinct is a Republican stronghold it gave Mr. Preston a majority of forty-one for sher- iff in November, 1890. He was not a resident of the ward at the time, and had not been for a con- siderable period, but the tribute was a recognition of his manliness and integrity of character, and was the more gratifying as it was spontaneous and unsought. Mr. Preston was one of the East Hart- ford bridge commissioners at the time it was transferred to the towns of Hartford, East Hart- ford, Manchester, Glastonbury and East Windsor. During the administration of President Cleveland he held the responsible position of deputy United States marshal in this State, receiving the appoint- ment from Marshal N. D. Bates, of Norwich, who made him chief deputy. It was in this incumbency that Sheriff Preston's best official work was exe- cuted. He showed marked ability for his duties, and performed them with exceptional success. When he retired from the deputy's office in 1890 it was with the knowledge that he had won and received the fullest approval of the public. His nomina- tion for sheriff added strength to the Democratic ticket from the outset, and his election was by the largest majority of any candidate on the general ticket. In April, 1896, Mr. Preston was elected mayor of Hartford, was re-elected in April. 1898, and was tendered a unanimous nomination in April, 1900: but the death of his business asso- ciate, J. D. Bonner, having brought the entire care of the Bonner-Preston Co. upon him, made it im- possible for him to accept further public official position. During his term as mayor the improve- ments in Hartford were many and noted, as a largely increased expenditure of monies for im- proved pavements, police quarters, high schools and parks was met without increasing the tax rate, by a thorough and healthy reassessment of property,

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increasing the grand list over ten million dollars. Mr. Preston is a member of the First Methodist Church in this city, and is connected with the Y. M. C. A.

Mr. Preston's first wife, Miss Hattie H. Sey- mour, daughter of ex-Sheriff O. D. Seymour, of Hartford, died sixteen years ago, and the two chil- dren of this marriage died in infancy. On Feb. 26, 1890, Mr. Preston married Miss Nellie F. Dole, of Springfield, Mass., step-daughter of Francis H. Richards, of Hartford, the patent ex- pert and mechanical engineer. The rapid prog- ress which Sheriff Preston has attained during the past twelve years, in both business and politics, has been the result of personal merit. He is pro- foundly interested in the measures and reforms that have been instituted for the advancement of work- ing men, and his sympathies and counsel will in- variably be in favor of improving their condition.

HON. DWIGHT LOOMIS, LL. D., an em- inent lawyer and judge of Hartford, who for up- ward of forty years has made his home at Rock- ville, Tolland Co., Conn., has descended from one of the old and prominent families of the State.

Joseph Loomis, of Windsor, Conn., born in England about 1616, came to the New World with his father, Joseph Loomis, a woolen-draper in Braintree, County of Essex, England, in 1638. The father became one of the first settlers of Windsor. Joseph Loomis, Jr., married (first) in 1646 Sarah Hill, who died in 1653, and he married ( second) in 1659 Mary Chauncey. He died in 1687. Hon. Dwight Loomis is a descendant in the seventh gen- eration from Joseph Loomis (2), the line of his descent being through Joseph Loomis (3), Joseph (4), Benoni, Benoni (2), and Capt. Elam Loomis.

(11) Joseph Loomis (3), son of Joseph (2), born in 1649. married (first) in 1681 Lydia, daugh- ter of John Drake. She died in 1702, and he mar- ried (second) in 1702-03 Abigail Birge. He re- moved to East Windsor in 1700, and died in 1715.

(III) Joseph Loomis (4), son of Joseph (3), born in 1684, married in 1708 Sarah Bissel, and lived in Lebanon as late as 1733.

(IV) Benoni Loomis, son of Joseph (4), of Lebanon, born in 1715, married in 1735 Hannah Woodward, who died in 1786. He died in 1789. (V) Benoni Loomis (2), son of Benoni, of Lebanon, born in 1749, married (first) in 1781 Grace Parsons, who died in 1801, and ( second) Es- ther Crocker, who died in 1817. He died in 1811.

(\1) Capt. Elam Loomis, son of Benoni, of Lebanon, born Aug. 3, 1783, married Feb. 27, 1812. Mary Pinneo, a daughter of James Pinneo, of French ancestry. She was born in Hanover. N. H., and died April 12. 1866. Capt. Loomis died Sept. 11. 1855. The children of Capt. Elam and Mary ( Pinneo) Loomis were: Ormend P., born April 22, 1813, died Oct. 6, 1830: Mary, born Sept. 19, 1815, died Aug. 21, 1857; Aurelia, born Jan.

19, 1819, died June 15, 1851; Dwight is referred to farther on; and Emily, born Jan. 22, 1827. died Dec. 31, 1862.

Ilon. Dwight Loomis, son of Capt. Elan! Loomis, was born July 27, 1821, in Columbia, Tol- land Co., Conn. He attended the common schools of his native village, then a few terms at the Mon- son and Amherst (Mass.) Academies, the circum- stances of his father not warranting a college course. There existed in the youth of young Loomis a flourishing literary and debating society in his native town, the advantages of which he eagerly improved, and in the exercise of which he frequently exhibited those rare qualities of mind which afterward made him so eminent and suc- cessful. After leaving school he taught for a num- ber of years, meeting with marked success. He was more than ordinarily endowed with the faculty of imparting knowledge to others, and inspiring them with laudable ambition. Having decided upon the profession of law, young Loomis in the spring of 1844 began its study, under the direction of John H. Brockway, of Ellington, Conn. Later he at- tended Yale Law School, at New Haven, from which he was graduated in 1847, and was admitted to the Bar of his native county. In the autumn of that year he began practice at Rockville, as an associate of his preceptor, who was then a leading lawyer and politician of Tolland county. The young lawyer had been a hard student, loved the law, and started out admirably well equipped and fitted for the profession which he in later years so richly adorned.

Mr. Loomis was the first lawyer to establish himself at Rockville. His quiet and pacific ways. coupled with his ability and untiring energy and industry, soon won the confidence of the people. and placed him in command of a large practice, in which he had remarkable success. As the years passed he grew in popularity, and his fellow citi- zens elected him to the General Assembly of the State in 1851. Here he earned distinction as a legislator, and as a speaker and parliamentarian. He was in sympathy with the movement that op- posed the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the extension of slavery into free territory, and was sent as a delegate from his State to the Na- tional Convention held in Philadelphia in 1850. at which the Republican party was organized. He was elected to the State Senate from the Twenty- first District in 1857, and became chairman of the Judiciary committee of the two Houses, a position of the highest honor and responsibility, reserved for those only whose legal attainments, efficiency and personal worth befit them for its arduous du- ties. Mr. Loomis had taken an active part in the State in the Presidential canvass, where he won on the stump new laurels and a more extended acquaintance, and in 1859 he was elected to the XXXVIth Congress from the First Congressional District-a district that was considered by his

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party a doubtful one. So great wa his popularity that, notwithstanding this and the fact that a disappointed aspirant for the nomination took the field as an independent candidate, Mr. Loomis was triumphantly elected, and served so efficiently and faithfully that he was unanimously re-nominated by his party and returned as representative to the XXXVIIth Congress, having been re-elected by an increased majority. His Congressional career covered a stirring and important epoch in the his- tory of this county-that of the closing years of Buchanan's administration and the opening years of President Lincoln s. During this period the labors of the patriots in the National Congress were heavy with responsibility, and to their credit it must be said that they were unflinching in their dievotion to duty, and heroic in their defiance of treason and rebellion. Mr. Loomis bore his full share in introducing, advocating and supporting the patriotic measures rendered necessary by se- cession and armed rebellion. He was a member and chairman of the committee on Expenditures in the Treasury Department, and also a member of the very important committee on Elections. As a member his record was faultless. Seldom absent. very rarely missing a vote, strong in debate, highly esteemed by his associates, and honored in all his social relations, the power and beneficence of his influence were fully felt and recognized.

In the spring of 1864 the eminent legal attain- ments and high character of Mr. Loomis were honored by lis election as a judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut, for a term of eight years. and in 1872 he was re-elected to the same high office, for another term. In the spring of 1875 he was elected associate justice of the Supreme Court of the State, and served as such until he reached the constitutional limit of age : upon his retirement, in 1891, he was appointed by the General Assembly to. be State referee. "As a judge he gave the most unbounded satisfaction. His mental and temperamental qualities admirably adapted him to the Bench. With acute perceptive and analytic faculties, a good memory, rare powers of discrim- ination, a full measure of forbearance, patience and courtesy, with suitable firmness and dignity, and no pretension or pride of opinion, and withal an hon- esty and integrity and a conscientious and inflexible fidelity to the duties of his position, rendered him a model judge-one of the best upon the Bench, and one who universally commanded the highest esteem." Judge Loomis was one of the committee to whom the Legislature referred the matters in dispute between the State, Yale University and the Storr's Agricultural School. It is to his credit to state that his political and judicial preferment came to him unsouglit, and without effort on his part. His high honors have been reached through the force of his personal merits. The degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by Yale University in 1896. Associated with J. Gilbert Calhoun, of

the Hartford Bar, he edited "The Judicial and Civil History of Connecticut," published in 1895.

On Nov. 26, 1848, Judge Loomis was married to Mary E., daughter of Josiah Bissell Bill, and sister of Judge Benezet Hough Bill, of Rockville. She was born Feb. 14, 1822, in Susquehanna coun- ty. Penn., and died June 1. 1864. Judge Loomis married for his second wife Jennie E. Kendall, born July 10, 1841, who died March 6, 1876. His only child. Jennie Grace Loomis, was born Oct. 21, 1874.

THOMAS H. BISSELL, residing at No. 95 Ann street, Hartford, was born March 23, 1819, in South Windsor, Conn., where his family has been continuously represented since 1635.

The originator of the family in America was one John Bissell, a French Huguenot, who came to this country from England. He was the first man to set- tle on the east side of the Connecticut river, oppo- site Windsor, and for many years he and his descend- ants held the ferry right in the old hand ferry which bears their name, and which still plies back and forth between Windsor and East Windsor Hill. The Bis- sell family has always been highly respected and somewhat prominent in the State. It boasts of two governors, one of Connecticut and one of Illinois, a judge, and other public men.

Jerijah Bissell, our subject's grandfather, was born in East Windsor, Conn., and was a farmer there for many years, dying at the age of ninety-five. His wife, Lydia Bartlett, who lived to the age of eighty-one, was also born in East Windsor. They had three sons-Jerijah, Thomas, and Asahel-and three daughters. The two elder sons served in the Revolution, the former for three years, the latter for six months, Thomas serving under three dif- ferent captains, and being stationed in Rhode Isl- and and on the Hudson, where he tried to sink the English fleet with shots from his musket.

Thomas Bissell, our subject's father, was born in what is now South Windsor (then East Wind- sor ), and he and his younger brother remained on the old homestead. The brother removed later to Amherst, Mass., and Thomas Bissell conducted the farm alone until his retirement on account of ad- vanced age. He lived to be ninety-eight years of age, and to the last was vigorous and well-pre- served. His life was exceptionally pure, and it is said that he never made an enemy. His farm of 300 acres was the largest in the town, and he owned two stores on Morgan street in Hartford. For many years he was active in local politics, and also in relig- ious work, being a member of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Bissell married twice, his second wife being Eleanor Mills, and two children were born of this marriage : Eleanor Porter, who became the wife of Josiah S. Rice, and died leaving no children ; and Thomas H., the subject of this sketch. Mrs. Bis- sel attained the age of eighty years. She was one of several children of Roswell Mills, a wealthy real-

Tho A Bissel

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estate owner and prominent citizen in South Wind- sor ( then East Windsor ), who served many years as justice of the peace. He lived to be eighty years of age.

The Mills family, of which Mrs. Eleanor Bissel! was a member, is of Holland-Dutch origin. The founder of the family was Peter Van-de-Molyn, who in 1650 came from Amsterdam, Holland, to New York, and removed to Windsor, Conn. His father. Sir Peter Van de Molyn, disinherited him. The name meant "man of the mill," and the de- scendants assumed the name of Mills. Mrs. Bissell traced her descent through Peter (3), Peter (4), and Roswell.

Our subject remained at home until he reached the age of fourteen, when he began his business career as clerk for a brother-in-law in one of his father's stores in Hartford. At this time nearly all the houses in the city were east of Trumbull street, and there was but one place of amusement. For the first year he received no wages, but during the second he received $12 per month and board, and at sixteen he bought a quarter-interest in the busi- ness, having been given $1,000 by his father. At eighteen he became a half-owner in the store, re- taining his interest until he reached liis majority. Returning to the farm, he conducted it until his fa- ther's death. in 1855, increasing its products more than three-fold, and greatly improving the property. In 1855 he began a real-estate business in Hartford, and after the death of his mother, in 1860, he made his home there. His operations in real estate have extended to a number of the western and north- western States, as well as to several towns in the State of Connecticut, and he has now been forty- eight years in the real-estate line ; he also conducts a loaning business, and has made many successful loans for others in the West. He is one of the old- est business men in the city.

On Oct. 28, 1867, Mr. Bissell married Miss Josephine Davis, daughter of Rev. Samuel and Mary ( Partridge) Davis, the former a Universalist min- ister, who preached many years in Pennsylvania. Ohio, Massachusetts and Vermont, and spent his last years in Hartford. He was a grandson of John Davis, who lived in Shirley, Mass. John Davis was a soldier in the French and Indian wars, and took part in the expedition to Louisburg. He also went through the Revolution, being one of the minute-men. He was ploughing in the field at Shirley when he heard of the battle of Lexington, and leaving his oxen and plough in the furrow, like Israel Putnam, started for Boston. He was at Val- ley Forge. His brother, Capt. Isaac Davis, of Acton, Mass., who is mentioned in all histories of the war, was in command of the company of Amer- icans who took part in the skirmish at Concord Bridge preceding the battle of Concord, and was the first man to fall, thus being one of the earliest martyrs of the Revolution. Jonas Rice, great- grandfather of Mrs. Bissell, was a native of Sud-

bury, and a man of prominence in his time. He was the first settler of Worcester, Mass., settling there in 1713, was justice of the court of common pleas in 1753, and held many other public offices. The Partridge family was descended from Henry Adams, who canie from England in 1632, as were also Samuel Adams, John Adams and John Quincy Adams.

Our subject has two children, Arthur Thomas and Mary Eleanor, the latter a graduate of the Hartford Public High School and Smith College. Mrs. Bissell died in 1897, aged nearly sixty years.

In politics Mr. Bissell is independent. He took a prominent part in local affairs during his resi- dence in South Windsor, serving as justice of the peace and notary public for many years. In 1855 he was in the Legislature, and voted for a Bill to allow public amusements which had previously been prohibited by law. His interest in public questions has led him to be a frequent attendant of caucuses and conventions. His prompt assistance has always been given to the various progressive movements in the community, but he has taken special interest in giving a helping hand to ambitious young men, many of whom are now in prosperous circumstances. Mr. Bissell is an active member of the Sons of the American Revolution. He attends the Unitarian Church, but his daughter is a Universalist, and takes an active part in the work of that church.

WALLACE H. MILLER, the able and enter- prising editor of the Bristol Press, has had charge of the paper since December, 1893, and under his skillful management it has made marked progress.

The Press was founded March 9, 1871, with a subscription list of about 200, and in less than one year, through the efficient work of C. HI. Riggs, manager at that time, it was found necessary to remove into larger quarters and greatly increase its facilities. Through the panic of 1873. when financial straits led many journalistic ventures to an untimely end. notwithstanding all the discour- aging emergencies, the Press clinibed steadily up- ward. After seventeen years of continuous labor Editor Riggs retired, and in 1888 Editor C. S. Haviland, of the Southington Phoenix, and Thomas HI. Duncan purchased the property, Mr. Duncan becoming editor and manager. This partnership continued until 1891, at which tinte the Bristol Press Publishing Co. was organized and incor- porated with a capital of $10,000. This corpora- tion is composed of a number of Bristol's most prominent business men, its officers being O. F. Strunz, president and treasurer; J. 11. Sessions. vice-president : W. 11. Miller, secretary, editor and manager. George A. Beers is connected with the news editing, Francis Trevelyan Miller is the liter- ary editor and book reviewer.

Editor W. H. Miller was born April 3. 1860. in East Hartford, son of Elijah H. and Janette E. ( Hull ) Miller. His education was acquired in the

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public schools of East Hartford, and in the high schools of Manchester, N. H., and other places. He learned thie printer's trade in the office of the Register, at Torrington, Conn., and for twenty- three years has been continuously engaged in news- paper work, having served on newspaper staffs in Cleveland, Ohio, Kansas City, Mo., Hartford, New Haven and New Britain, Conn., before taking his present position as editor and manager of the Bristol Press.

Mr. Miller was married in Springfield, Mass., Aug. 12, 1877, to Louise W. Thomas, daughter of George H. and Mary Thomas, of Springfield. So- cially he and his wife are much esteemed, and he is an active member of E. L. Dunbar Encamp- ment, No. 32, of Bristol, and the Knights of Pythias. In politics he is an independent Repub- lican.

JOHN CLAFLIN BARKER, one of the most prominent and populuar citizen of Hartford, well known as a promoter and dealer in real estate, as well as carrying on farming, is well worthy, by vir- tue of his practical patriotism in connection with the Campfield monument, of prominent place within the pages of this work.

Mr. Barker is a native of Kirkland, Scotland, born Oct. 24, 1823, a son of Alexander Barker, Jr., and a grandson of Alexander Barker, Sr., who was an active business man in Methel. Scotland, where Alexander, Jr., was born. The latter was a weaver by trade, making the fabric called "duck" from which the lighter sails for ships are made. In 1835, he came to America, settling in Vermont, being one of the earlier pioneers of that part of the State, where he followed agricultural pursuits the rest of his days, dying at the age of seventy-five years. By his wife Grace (Lockard), also a native of the "Land of Burns," and who died at the age of sixty-one, he had a family of seven children, all of whom are now deceased except the subject of this sketch. The parents were members of the Presby- terian Church.

John C. Barker was twelve years of age when he came with the family to this country, and up to the age of twenty years he worked on a farm in Vermont, coming then to Hartford. Here he readily found employment in Col. Ward's lumber yard and sawmill, remaining there for the long period of thirty years, during a considerable por- tion of which time he was foreman of both the yard and mill. In 1873 he commenced a similar line of business on his own account, buying and selling lumber, in connection with which he also carried on an extensive trade in produce, buying in Vermont, New Hampshire and Canada, his of- fice being on Governor street, Hartford. In 1890, however, he retired from both these industries, and has since devoted his time to the real-estate business as well as farming.

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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 71

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