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 81

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 81

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In 1861 Dr. Manross, his fame as a man of science having been established, was appointed to the position of Professor of Chemistry and Botany in Amherst College, where he met with abundant success and became highly popular. Returning to Bristol during a vacation, he delivered a stirring patriotic speech to his fellow citizens, who there- upon besought him to lead them to the field of strife that they might help to preserve the Union. To this he consented, remarking to his wife, "You can better afford to have a country without a hus- band than a husband without a country." Pre-

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ferring service with his own people, he refused the post of major of a Massachusetts regiment, and ac- cepted that of captain of Company K, 16th Conn. \. 1. He was killed at the battle of Antietam, while bravely leading on his men to "death or glory," being struck in the side by a cannon-ball which passed under his arm, so that internal hemorrhage resulted. A powerful anodyne was administered, and he soon became unconscious, death releasing him just as he murmured the words, "Oh! my poor wife." His successor in command of the company said some time afterward to the colonel: "Those boys care more for Manross' old shoes than for the best man of the regiment." Prof. James A. Dana said of him: "His death brings a great loss to the scientific world," and Prof. B. Silliman, Jr., wrote of him: "As an explorer Dr. Manross possessed remarkable qualifications. To a rugged constitui- tion and great powers of endurance he united great coolness, a quiet but undaunted demeanor, the courage of a hero, and unyielding perseverance. Had he lived-but what need is there of conjecture Bow? The world will never know its loss, but his friends will never forget theirs." The G. A. R. post of the town was named after him, and his com- pany erected a monument to his memory.

On Nov. 25, 1857, Capt. N. S. Manross mar- ried Charlotte Royce, born in Bristol Jan. 3, 1836, and they had one daughter, Lottie Maria, born Dec. 27, 1860, who married James D. Kimball, and they now reside at Orange, Mass. She taught five years in the Sandwich Islands before her marriage. They have five children : Charlotte Manross, born Jan. 20, 1890; James Richard, Oct. 13. 1891; Newton Manross, April 23, 1894; William Lincoln, Feb. 12, 1896; and Parker Barton, April 15, 1897. Mrs. Charlotte Manross remarried, becoming the wife of Prof. Ordway, of Massachusetts. She died Dec. 5. 1874.

(IV) Elijah Manross, son of Capt. Elisha and Maria Cowles Norton Manross, was born June 19, 1827, in Bristol, Conn., at the common schools of which place he received a liberal education, which was supplemented by a two-years course of study at Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Mass. On leaving school he learned the business of clockmak- ing under his father, who about that time was mak- ing a specialty of the manufacture of marine clocks. After the death of his father, in 1856, he continued the business until 1867, in which year, owing to ill health, he was obliged to retire and give himself over to absolute rest. After careful treatment, in- cluding a year and a half passed in the wilds of the Adirondacks, he regained his strength and health. For several seasons he was engaged in the wool and fur business in partnership with Orin Brown, of Forestville, and during the past few years he has employed his time in the factory of his son Fred- erick N., making hair springs.

In politics Elijah Manross is a stanch Repub- lican, has acted with that party since its formation,

and for three years was a member of the Repub- lican town committee. He has filled several offices of honor and trust, the gift of the people: In 1880 and 1882 he was elected as representative in the State Legislature from Bristol; also served as jus- tice of the peace one term; and lias been constable continuously since 1882. For the past fifteen years, in order to have outdoor work, he has been sexton of the Forestville cemetery.

On Nov. 2, 1848, Elijah Manross was married to Ellen Sophronia Woodruff, who was born Sept. 21, 1828, a daughter of John B. and Mary F. (Neale) Woodruff, of Southington, Conn., and three children were born to them, as follows: (I) Martha Angeline, born Aug. 1. 1850, married, Oct. 29, 1869, Albert M. Sigourney, of Bristol, born Aug. 1, 1850. She died Feb. 7. 1898, leaving a daughter, Belle Manross, Sigourney, who is a fine violinist, and is in Europe, studying under the mas- ters, at the present time. (2) Mary Lanette, born Dec. 27, 1854, married, Feb. 19, 1878, George A. Burr, born Sept. 15. 1854. and they have one son, Edward Manross Burr, born at Bristol Dec. 14, 1879. (3) Frederick Newton is fully spoken of below.

(V) Charles Hayden Manross, born July 30, 1829, was educated at Williston Seminary, East- hampton, Mass. On Nov. 25. 1851, he married Charlotte E. Norton, who was born in Southington May 30, 1831, daughter of Harmon Norton, of Southington, Conn. He was a clock manufacturer in the employ of Manross Brothers until his death, May 3, 1861. His first wife died Nov. 20, 1858, and he subsequently married Hannah Norton, of Bris- tol. Two children survived him: (1) Edward A., born Nov. 22, 1852, on Nov. 17. 1881, married Laura M. Pratt, of Waterbury, who was born Dec. 1, 1855, at Mott Haven, N. Y., and they have four children-Newton Cook, born May 2, 1884, at Waterbury: Susan Platt, born May 30. 1886, at Waterbury : Lottie May, born July 28, 1888, at Bris- tol: and Martha Dickerman, born Jan. 18, 1891. at Bristol. (2) Grace E., born Sept. 14, 1855. is residing in Bristol.

(VI) John Manross died at the age of six months.

(VII) Eli (Sergt.) Manross, born Aug. 30, 1833, was a clock manufacturer, of the firm of Man- ross Brothers. He also invented the conipass jewel, competing with foreign manufacturers in altering and repairing compass jewels from all parts of the world. On Sept. 9. 1858, he married Gertrude Camelia Altisidora Dequiones Manross, born Tuly 21, 1834. a daughter of John and Mary Ellen (Wooters) Manross, of Denton, Md .. and they have had four children : (1) Archie Wooters, born July 24, 1859, died May 12, 1863: (2) Adelaide Scott, born June 23, 1861, died May 19, 1863: (3) Rev. William Doane is mentioned below : and (4) Maud Camille, born Aug. 6, 1869, graduated from the Baltimore high school, and finished her studies at the

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New England Conservatory of Music. She married, .Sept. 12, 1893, William North Bunce, superintendent of the Hartford Woven Wire Mattress & Iron Bed Co., born Oct. 31, 1865, a son of Thomas and Mary Bunce, of Berlin, Hartford county, and they had one son, Graeme Montrose, who died in infancy. Mrs. Manross is a graduate of the Clinton ( N. Y.) Col- legiate Institute, and taught in the public schools of Utica (N. Y.), New York City, and also in the Normal schools of that city. She then accepted a professorship in St. Mary's Hall, New Jersey, where she taught vocal and instrumental music. She sang at Trinity Church and Chapel, and was a micmber of the Mendelssohn Union in New York several years, and was one of the most prominent alto singers in that city in 1853-54. For several years she taught vocal music in the West Middle District school, Hartford, was a member of the Beethoven Society, and had private classes in various parts of Hartford county ; also taught in California, fourteen years in Baltimore, and seven in Frederick, Ad. Mrs. Manross now lives in East Berlin. Rev. William Doane Manross and Maud C. ( Manross) Bunce are the youngest of their generation, and are descended through intermarriages from Elijah, Elisha and Theodore Manross, sons of Nehemiah (I). Sergt. Eli Manross was an expert fisher- man, trout being his specialty. He was the cham- pion bowler for the States of Connecticut and Mas- sachusetts in the game of wicket, in the year of 1858.

Sergt. Eli Manross was the first man to enlist from the town of Bristol ( 1861), first as a member of Col. Colt's regiment of selected men (of certain height, weight, etc.). The Colonel having had some "difference" with the administration, the regiment was disbanded, but nearly all the members, includ- ing Sergt. Manross, re-enlisted, this time in the 5th Conn. V. I. Sergt. Manross was wounded at Chancellorsville in 1863. He also fell from exhaus- tion at the battle of Dallas, in 1864. After the Civil war he purchased the homestead, "Manross Place," but failing in health was soon after obliged to sell out and travel. After spending six months in the Adirondacks his physician ordered him to Cali- fornia, where he died Jan. 19, 1872, at San Mateo. He was buried by proxy at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church. Six months later the remains were sent to Forestville ( Bristol). to rest beside his family.

Rev. William Doane Manross, son of Sergt. Eli Manross, was born Nov. 19, 1865, in Bristol, and educated in part at the public schools of Baltimore, Md., afterward studying the classics under the pre- ceptorship of Rev. Dr. Lewis De Lew. He was a born soldier ; was identified with the Sons of Vet- erans at Baltimore, Garfield Camp. No. I, for thir- teen years ; served in the 5th Regiment, Maryland State Militia, three years ; also in the Ist Maryland six years ; and ranked as sergeant when his regiment was assisting in suppressing the riots at Frostburg. He became professor of violin and orchestral music,

also teacher of military tactics, at Manlius, N. Y., where he was promoted to a captaincy on the col- onel's staff. Finally choosing the church for his life work, he was prepared for ordination bv Rev. Dr. Babcock, of Manlius, and graduated from St. Andrew's Divinity School, Syracuse, N. Y., under Rev. William Dexter Wilson, D. D. He was 01- dained deacon, then priest, by Bishop Frederic Dan Huntington, of Central, N. Y., and was given charge of the Church of the Good Shepherd, at Onondaga Castle, N. Y., where he has done noble work among the Six Nations Indians for the past four years. He has just been called (Dec. I, 1900) to St. Mary's Hall, Rosebud Agency, S. Dak., where he will be superintendent, and his wife will be the matron. Rev. William Manross will also have to travel ex- tensively among the Sioux, doing mission work un- der Bishop Harc. When Mr. Manross was a youth he traveled considerably on account of his delicate health, among other places visiting the East Indies in a merchant vessel, and when near the island of Java, just at the time of the terrible volcanic erup- tion there, they found themselves sailing over An- gier Point with dead human bodies and lava floating by, and covering the ship's deck. His next voyage was to Australia, during which a mutiny broke out among the ship's crew, causing twelve of the sea- men and one of the mates to be put in irons. The captain, first mate and one boy ( W. D. Manross) managed the vessel a whole week, until they suc- ceeded in getting a fresh crew, when they sailed for the Philippine Islands. There Mr. Manross visited beautiful caves filled with the most wonder- ful stalactites conceivable, and was kindly treated bv the natives. Rev. Mr. Manross was married, June 16, 1897, to Martha Elizabeth Wilson, of Syra- cuse, N. Y., and they had one son, John Graham, who died in infancy.

(VIII) John Manross, born April 5. 1837, was married Nov. 12, 1860, to Lena Gale, who was born May 22, 1839. at Wayne, Maine, and they had one daughter, Juanita, born Jan. 29, 1862, who died Dec. 9, 1884. John Manross was a clock- maker, a famous hunter, and a noted ball player. He served as a private in Company I, 2d Conn. Heavy Artillery, during the war of the Rebellion, and was disabled at Cold Harbor. He died Oct. 24, 1865, from the effects of exposure, which devel - oped scrofula on the brain. He was a born soldier, and a remarkably brave man.

(IX) Henry Manross, born March 19, 1839, was a clock maker, and died unmarried Dec. 14, 1862. He was a champion ball player and success- ful fisherman.

There was also an adopted daughter, Cora Marguerite Reynolds, born in Farmington, Conn., and reared in the Manross family.

FREDERICK NEWTON MANROSS was born Sept. 28, 1857, in Bristol, Conn., and received a liberal education at the common schools of the place, lay- ing aside his books at the age of sixteen years.

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At that time he entered the employ of S. E. Root, at clockmaking, with whom he remained about three years, and then for thirteen years was en- gaged in the clock factory of the E. N. Welch Man- ufacturing Co., Forestville, where he had a contract for some ten years in the timing and adjusting de- partment. Resigning his position here, Mr. Man- ross commenced the manufacture of hair springs, in Bristol, in which he has since successfully con- tinued, having within the past few years built it up to a thoroughly good paying business, now giving employment to about ten hands. In 1894 he formed a partnership with Henry W. Porter, in the manufacture of clock trimmings and special train work, which concern was in 1899 converted into a joint-stock company, with Mr. Manross as secretary-treasurer.

Socially Mr. Manross is affiliated with the F. & A. M., Franklin Lodge, No. 56, of Bristol; Ste- phen Terry Lodge, No. 59, I. O. O. F., of Bristol ; Improved Order of Red Men, Compounce Tribe, No. 15, of Bristol ; and is a member of the Coit Gun Club, of Hartford, of which he was captain of the team one year. In politics he is a stanch Republi- can, and has served on the board of selectmen since 1896. On Nov. 6, 1900, he was elected, on the Republican ticket, State representative from the town of Bristol. Together with his family lie at- tends the services of the Congregational Church.

On June 24, 1876, Frederick N. Manross mar- ried Sylvia Esther Smith, who was born Aug. 17, 1857, a daughter of Andrew and Jerusha ( Thomp- son) Smith, of Bethlehem, Litchfield county, and they have two children: (1) Arthur Newton, born March 26, 1878, graduated from the Bristol high school in 1896, and is now an electrician in the employ of his father. On May 16, 1900, he mar- ried Della Tuttle, daughter of Eliada S. Tuttle, of Bristol, and they have one son, Paul Newton, born Dec. 6, 1900, who is the first of the seventh generation, and is twice descended from Nehemiah Manross. The line has been unbroken in regard to the town of Bristol, not one of the seven genera- tions in direct line having moved from the town. (2) Robert Hayden, born Aug. 22, 1885, grad- uated from the Bristol common schools in 1900, and is now attending Huntsinger's Business Col- lege.

GEORGE W. WATROUS, superintendent of the jobbing department of the William Rogers Manufacturing Co., Hartford, also secretary of the company, is a native of the city, born Sept. 23, 1828. For generations the Watrous family have resided in Hartford and vicinity, the more remote ancestor having come from England in the early stages of the settlement of New England. Jonathan Wat- rous, our subject's grandfather, and Rufus Watrous. his father, were both born in and remained residents of Hartford, and were occupied in agricultural pur- suits, the father giving a great deal of attention to

the raising of vegetables for the city markets. The grandfather married Abigail Cadwell. Rufus Watrous married Julia A. Rogers, a daughter of the late Asa Rogers and his wife Nancy, who reared a family of eleven children, all now deceased. Asa Rogers was the first in this country to engage in the plating business ( 1844), and his name and fame, along with that of his brothers and sons, in the line of silver plating are known far and wide. Rufus Watrous lost his life when fifty-four years of age, by a moving train of cars, having been run over and killed. Of the thirteen children born to Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Watrous the following named are yet living: George W., William H., Henry, Simeon, Edgar, and Arabella, nearly all of whom are identi- fied with the silver-plating business. The mother of these children died in 1881, aged seventy-eight years. She and her husband were members of the M. E. Church.

George W. Watrous, our subject, attended the public schools of Hartford, and when his school days were over he learned the art of making coin silver, an occupation he was engaged in until 1864. For the next ten years he was employed in a nut shop at Unionville, Conn. In 1878 he entered the employ of the William Rogers Manufacturing Co., of Hartford, as an assistant in the plating depart- ment, of which he was made foreman three years later. In 1889 he was made superintendent of the cutlery works at Norwich, a branch of the Hartford concern, where he remained until 1896, and then re- turned to Hartford. During his stay at Norwich Mr. Watrous had under his care 125 men. He thoroughly understands all branches of the plating business, has good executive ability, and has per- formed valuable service for his employers for a long period, being now the oldest man in the service of the company among upwards of 100 men. Since 1896 he has been superintendent of the jobbing de- partment, which in 1899 did over $800,000 worth of business. Mr. Watrous is an obliging and kindly disposed man, considerate of his men, and popular among them. For many years he has been the sec- retary of the Rogers Manufacturing Co. In his po- litical views he is independent, voting generally for the man he believes the best for the place, regard- less of politics.

In 1850 Mr. Watrous was married (first) to Hannah H. Andrews, of Farmington, Conn., who died in 1874, and later he married Mary G. Deming. of Hartford. To the first marriage were born chil- dren as follows : Ada married Walter Hart, who is now employed in the cutlery works, at Unionville, Conn., and they have two children, Mabel and Walter A., the latter a dentist in that place. Oliver is practicing dentistry in Middletown.

BENJAMIN MYRICK DESJARDINS, a man of genius, whose inventions at this time are filling a large space in scientific journals, and a mechanical engineer and manufacturer of his own devices, at

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Hartford, is of French origin in both paternal and maternal lines.

Born in Tyre, Mich., Oct. 10, 1858, Mr. Des- Jardins is a son of Gregoir and Mary (Trudeau) Des Jardins, and grandson of Zacharie DesJardins, who was a farmer by occupation, at Sainte Therese de Blainville, Quebec. He was prominent among the early French settlers, statesmanlike and deter- mined; he lived during the disturbed period when many of the Catholics were becoming Protestants, sympathizing with the latter. Gregoir DesJardins, having joined the Protestant Church, and being of a quiet and retiring disposition, left his native home in Canada and became a pioneer in the yet unde- veloped country at Tyre, Mich., where the little farmhouse with its artistic garden and walks showed many traces of taste and ingenuity. He was a man of good intelligence, read a great deal, was a lover of art and of nature, and possessed consid- erable mechanical ability. He lived to be seventy years of age, dying in 1888. He had a remarkable family, was married three times, and by the third wife, the mother of our subject, had thirteen chil- dren, nine of whom are still living. Of the fifty grandchildren belonging to the family only one has died of disease, and one was drowned. Of the children of Gregoir DesJardins, Samuel E. is a prominent architect at Cincinnati, Ohio, of the firm of Des Jardins & Hayward. Paul is a Methodist minister at Owosso, Mich. Philomene is the wife of L. E. Rivard, who until recently has been con- ducting a French-American newspaper at Spring- field, Mass. Joseph M. is a farmer of Tyre, Mich. John Z. is a blacksmith at Tyre. James is an in- surance agent at Cincinnati, Ohio. Ernest T. H. is a traveling salesman, residing at Bad Axe, Mich. Persis (deceased) was the wife of James M. White. Mary is the wife of James Shepherd, and is a resident of Tyre, Mich. Harriet L. married Will- iam HI. Carey, who is engaged in the grain and coal business at Bad Axe, and near them, with a granddaughter, quietly away from the confusion of a large family, the mother, now aged eighty years, has her home.

Benjamin M. DesJardins remained at home until seventeen, his early instruction being received partly from his mother and older brothers, and partly at the Tyre and other public schools, which at that time were very poor. In 1875 he left home, going to Kalamazoo to work his way through col- lege. In that place he formed the acquaintance of Senator Burrows, in whose family he lived for a number of years, having the use of his private library, and here he carried on a series of mechan- ical studies in addition to his regular college work. During the years he attended college he was vari- ously occupied, largely doing newspaper work as a means of paying his way. It was while connected with one of the Kalamazoo daily papers that he became impressed with the tediousness by which type was set by hand, as compared with that now

perfected condition of the machinery by means of which a daily newspaper is produced.

In the carly winter of 1882 the thought of setting type by machinery began to mature. The idea of a type-setting and justifying machine be- came Mr. DesJardins' dream, he litte knowing that other inventors had successfully labored for years to accomplish the same purpose. From this time on his life became a struggle, with the one object in view. His college work was neglected and finally abandoned, and every effort directed toward the ac- complishment of the one bent of his mind. In his early struggles he had associated with him for a period George W. O'Hara, an electrician ; and Hler- bert S. Wilson, a mechanic and draftsman, this trio forming the first details of construction, young Des- Jardins furnishing the ideas while the others en- deavored to give them shape. Much of the early work of our subject and his associates was per- formed during spare hours and evenings, but finaliy all lost their positions through giving too much time to the construction of the machine.

Stopping for a time to work long enough to ac- cumulate money to maintain him while he worked at the problem, Mr. Des Jardins was variously en- gaged. He purchased a steam laundry at Kalama- zoo, and in the course of a brief period he had as many as three different partners. He next compiled a directory of that city and county (1883), which included a map and history of the city and adjacent country, it being one of the most complete works in that line ever prepared in that part of Michigan. This he sold to publishers, and with the proceeds of the sale, together with those from the laundry enterprise, he renewed work on his invention. His capital, however, proved insufficient, and was soon exhausted, and he again took a position on the Kalamazoo Gasette, ever giving his spare moments to the construction of the machine. Later, becoming ambitious to further his education, he again en- tered college, and for a time pursued his studies, after which he traveled through Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

In Louisville he succeeded in interesting in his project Dr. W. L. Breyfogle, former president of the Monon route; R. W. Meredith, of the Cour- ier Journal; and E. A. Maginness, secretary of the exposition then held there. These parties, becoming conversant with the extreme difficulties which oth- er inventors had met in this line, were led to give up the enterprise, and Mr. DesJardins, returning to Kalamazoo, again became employed on the Gazette of that city. Persistent, however, in his effort to complete and perfect his invention, he went to Chicago in the fall of 1884 and opened an office for drafting and designing machinery. His ability as an expert was soon recognized. He became secretary of the Inventors Association of the State of Illinois, and was variously occupied and con- sulted on important mechanical subjects, and wlien, a few years later, he was sent to New York by

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capitalists to report on a new process and ma- chinery for producing illustrations, he advised the company against the new project, foretelling the success of the half-tone plate, then coming into use. With financial assistance from the late Sen- ator Frank B. Stockbridge he succeeded in con- structing a fair experimental machine at the Chi- cago model works, and later with a partner opened a model shop, but as previously failure to produce a perfected machine awaited him, and he was forced to abandon for a time his work in this direction of his ambition.

Following this experience Mr. Des Jardins be- came employed on the Chicago Inter Ocean, and later on the Mail, having charge of a section of the ad- vertising department of the paper. He remained with the Mail two years, during which period he de- voted some time to the furtherance of his invention, getting out a model of a new and improved machine. He next traveled for a time for the "Farm, Field and Fireside" of that city, and in 1887 he began the con- struction of a machine that would set. justify and distribute not less than 20,000 ems per hour. By this time he had succeeded in interesting in his enter- prise William H. Rand, the founder of Rand. Mc- Nally & Co., who furnished the capital to build this machine. On Nov. 30, 1891, our subject met with another backset, his work and place of operations, with all the machinery, being destroyed by fire. The same strange impulse that had driven him on in the earlier stages of his struggle still buoyed him up at this critical moment, and although hindered by fire and adverse financial circumstances, and the discouragement of friends, who were fearful of his ever reaching the goal, he stuck persistently to the pursuit of the object of his life, and after eighteen years of labor, anxiety and trial he succeeded where all others failed. He has now the satisfaction of seeing his efforts crowned with success after a struggle with adverse circumstances that would have overwhelmed a less determined nature.

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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 81

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