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 85

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 85

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Mr. Dillingham is a close student of men and affairs, and has proven a successful business man. Courteous and polite, he has won a host of friends throughout Hartford and Hartford county, and can truly be said to be a representative of its best in- terests, socially, religiously and commercially.

SAMUEL ANDREWS WELDON, senior member of the widely and favorably known firm of S. A. Weldon & Son, dealers in hardware, Bris- tol, is a native of Connecticut, born March 22, 1831, in New Britain, Hartford county.

Luther Weldon, grandfather of our subject, was born in 1764 in Wallingford, Conn., and most of his life was devoted to agricultural pursuits. He married Jerusha Hurlburt, who was born March 22, 1767, in Wallingford, and by this union there were seven sons: Oliver, Samuel H., Hart (born June 7, 1811, died at Torrington, Conn., Aug. 16, 1895), Aaron, two who died in infancy, and Walter. Samuel Hurlburt Weldon, father of Samuel A., was born Feb. 3. 1799, in Argvle, N. Y., and throughout life followed the trade of wagonmaker, for several years conducting a wagon shop in New Britain, and later working for various firms. On Oct. 15, 1823, he married Sally Bartholomew An-

drews, daughter of Ursula Andrews. She died Sept. 17, 1837, aged thirty-five years, and he then wedded Sarah M. Keach, of Wethersfield, Conn .. who passed from earth Aug. 3, 1847. Subsequently, on Feb. 3, 1848, Mr. Weldon wedded Mrs. Mary Gridley, widow of Walter Gridley, and daughter of Roswell Hunter; she was born Sept. 3, 1802, at Newington, Conn., and died Feb. 9, 1870. Mr. Weldon died of apoplexy Feb. 5, 1872, at his resi- dence by the Black Rock, in Southwest District. His children were as follows: By first wife-Caro- line, born Nov. 26, 1824, married Elias Barnes, of Bristol, Con11. Eli Everest, born Aug. 8, 1826, married Mrs. Delia Fuller, a widow. George, born Aug. 19, . 1829, is a house painter in Torrington, Conn. ; he married, Nov. 25, 1869, Juliette Bently, of Goshen, Conn. Samuel A. is our subject. Sarah E., born April 2, 1833, married Thomas F. Hart, of Bristol, after whose decease she wedded Henry Wright, now also deceased. Munroe, born Oct. 5, 1834, married Catherine E. Buckley, of West Hartford. Mary Ann, born June 30, 1836, married Francis Goodale, and after his decease wedded Elisha Williams. By second wife-Washington, born Jan. 31, 1841, died March 7, 1841. Oliver Hurlburt was born April 18, 1842. Walter Au- gustus, born June 8, 1844, died Feb. 21, 1853, at Newbern, N. C., while serving in Company D, 46th Conn V. I.

Samuel A. Weldon, whose name introduces these lines, received a liberal common-school education during the winter seasons, in summer time, till he was sixteen years old, working for four years on the farm of Francis Hart, in New Britain. He then went to work in his father's shop, making harness, and so continued until he was eighteen years of age, at which time he worked for about one year with Russell & Erwin and Oliver Judd. At the age of nineteen he commenced to learn the trades of painting and upholstering with Nathaniel Dickinson, carriage manufacturer, New Britain, con- tinuing until 1856: then worked for Horton & Noble one year, after which he formed a partner- ship with Franklin Graham, under the firm name of Graham & Weldon, carriagemakers. This ar- rangement continued until 1869, when our subject sold his interest to Mr. Graham, who has since con- tinued the business alone Mr. Weldon then re- moved to Bristol, and by way of a change, his health being not very good, engaged during one summer in the raising of poultry, after which he commenced in the carriagemaking business for his own account. and being a thoroughly practical mechanic did an excellent trade until 1882, when he closed up his shop. His next experience was in the carriage factory of Watson Giddings, and for some five years was there engaged on his own account in painting and finishing carriages, at the end of that time retiring from the business. In 1878, along with his son. he bought the Clark Davis hardware store, located on North Main street, where the Cen-

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tral meat market is now located. In 1871 they re- moved from here to the Gridley block, a new struc- ture, where the store has since been successfully conducted, the style of the firm being S. A. Weldon & Son.

On Dec. 27, 1855, Samuel A. Weldon was united in marriage with Susan Frances Smith, who was born in Prospect, Conn., March 26, 1835, a daugh- ter of Isaac George and Marilla ( Hotchkiss) Smith, of Waterbury, Conn. One son has blessed this union, Mortimer Emory, born April 17, 1858, in New Britain, Conn., who was married, Nov. 18, 1885, to Nellie Baldwin Sweet, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Their children are Arline Chichester, born Feb. 17, 1887; and Chichester Percival, born June 21, 1891.

Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Weldon are members of the Congregational Church of Bristol, but were formerly identified with the Center Church, New Britain, and Mrs. Weldon is a member of the Foreign and Home Missionary Societies, and has always been a member of the Sunday-school, either as a teacher or pupil ; she is at present a member of the Bible class. In politics Mr. Weldon is a Re- publican, but takes no special interest in the affairs of the party. He owns a very fine cottage at Madi- son, Conn., on Long Island Sound, where he and his wife usually spend their summers. Mr. Wel- don is always true to the duties of both public and private life, and is a gentleman of genuine worth.

EDWARD CHANNING ALLEN, the leading merchant of Hazardville, and one of its most wide- awake and progressive citizens, was born in the vil- lage of Scitico, town of Enfield, Dec. 4. 1853, a son of George E. and Nancy A. ( French ) Allen, natives of Scitico and East Windsor, Conn., respectively.

The paternal grandfather of our subject, George Allen, was a native of Enfield, Hartford Co., Conn., and by occuption was a shoemaker and grocer. His wife bore the maiden name of Mary Coy. The ma- ternal grandfather, Daniel French, was a farmer of East Windsor, Hartford county. George E. Allen, father of our subject, who was a clergyman of the Universalist Church, had charge of a congregation in Poquonock for fourteen years, and also preached in Somers and other towns in the vicinity. He also bought and sold horses and cattle quite extensively, and was widely and favorably known. He died in Scitico in 1867, at the age of forty-two years. Of his four children, two are still living: Mary Eliza- beth, wife of Eli G. Stiles, of Melrose, Conn .; and Edward C., our subject.

Edward C. Allen was reared in Scitico, and re- ceived a common-school education. At the age of sixteen he began his business career as clerk in a tea store in Springfield, Mass., where he remained over a year, and then became a dealer in organs and sewing machines, following that business for several years. In 1875 he accepted a position :s clerk and book- keeper in a general store at Hazardville, and served in that capacity until 1881. when, with A. W. Gowdy,

he embarked in general merchandising, under the firm name of Allen & Gowdy. This partnership existed one year, at the end of which time Mr. Allen purchased Mr. Gowdy's interest. He has since con- ducted a successful business alone, and now has the principal store in Hazardville. His patronage comes from a large territory, and his establishment would do credit to a much larger place than Hazardville. Mr. Allen is methodical and systematic in business, and the plans which he has pursued commend them- selves to the judgment and respect of all.

Mr. Allen was married, Sept. 12, 1888, to Miss Ella C. Pitkin, a daughter of Evelyn and Esther (Stiles) Pitkin, of South Windsor, and they have two children : George Edward and Herbert Walden. Socially Mr. Allen affiliates with the Order of United American Mechanics, and politically he is identified with the Republican party. That his fellow citi- zens place in him the utmost confidence is shown by the fact that he has been often called upon to settle estates. He is popular, progressive and enterpris- ing, and has been elected fire commissioner, mem- ber of the board of relief, and a member of the school board.

JEWELL. The Jewell family of Hartford, whose present representatives are the children and grandchildren of the late Pliny Jewell, the founder of the great leather industry which has given the name and city of Hartford a world-wide reputa- tion, and one member of which family-the late Hon. Marshall Jewell-has added fame to the family and city, is an old New England one, the residence in America reaching back to 1639, when there lived in Boston, Mass., one Thomas Jewell, the American ancestor of the family. He came from England about the year mentioned. Joseph Jewell, son of Thomas Jewell, lived at Charlestown, Mass., and owned the ferry between that place and Boston. The family gradually scattered through the New England States, after the shifting New England custom. For generations the ancestors of the Hart- ford branch of the family lived at Winchester, New Hampshire.

Pliny Jewell, whose death occurred in his resi- dence on Washington street, Hartford, Aug. 28, 1869, was through a long period of years identified with the business of his adopted city. He was born Sept. 27, 1797, in Winchester, N. H. His father and grandfather were tanners, and the son was bred to that business. He worked in the tannery in the summer, and attended and taught school in the win- ter, having had the advantage of study at a country academy. He remained in Winchester, working at his trade, and carrying on the general business of tanning, until he moved to Hartford, Conn., in 1845. He continued in the leather business in Hartford, with little interruption, from 1845 until his retire- ment from the prosperous firm of P. Jewell & Sons. three years prior to his death.

Mr. Jewell was a man of great strength of will,

le. allen

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force of character and decided convictions. In his religious opinions, which were always warm and active, he was a strict Calvinist. His connection in Hartford was with the South Congregational Church until not long before his death, when he united with the Center Church. He was secretary and treasurer of the Windsor Theological Seminary, and was very active in procuring its removal to Hartford. Mr. Jewell had alfvays been a great reader of books, delighting especially in the study of Eng- lish and French history and biography. We doubt if there was any man in New England, not profes- sionally educated, so thoroughly conversant with English history as he was, and he knew American history, particularly that of politics, fully and ac- curately. He never forgot what he once read. Nor was his study confined to history; it extended to Old English literature as well, as an example of which we recall his familiarity with Shakespeare ; he had studied plays with reference to ascertaining what characters were historical and what fictitious, and had written at length concerning them. He left very voluminous notes upon English history, and particularly criticisms upon the men and women who figure most prominently in it. He had this re- course, too rare among business men, in his ad- vanced years, and when he had relinquished the care of active business in a great part to his sons. He had a good, strong, analytical mind, and liked to sift questions of historical evidence, and unravel in- tricacies of character. He was not a mere reader of history, but he studied the philosophy of it, the motives and animus of the characters who figure in it, and the action and re-action of events upon actors in the great drama. He talked well on such subjects, showing always a memory tenacious of facts and a clear grasp of principles. He had a fondness for rare books upon the subject in which he was interested, though he was not a collector. It thus happened that he had no sense of nothing to do in life when his active business life was over : for he had a world in the past which was always fresh to him. We mention this trait in his character be- cause it is uncommon to see a man who was not liberally educated, and was for a good part of his life a working man, with a taste for books and his- torical studies so developed as to be a great pleasure of his life, always and especially when wealth had brought the leisure for enjoyment.

Mr. Jewell took an active part in politics in New Hampshire as a Webster and Clay Whig (to which party he was faithful until he cast his vote for Fre- mont in 1856), and he was quite prominent, being a member of the State Legislature, and active on committees. Indeed, he was the leading man of the town, in business, politics, and in all Church matters, and greatly respected for his probity and sagacity.

On Sept. 19, 1819, Mr. Jewell was married to Miss Emily Alexander, of Winchester, N. H. She was born Feb. 12, 1801, and died March 19, 1889. Of the ten children born to this marriage two died

in infancy ; and Arthur died in 1848, aged fourteen years. The seven children living to mature age were :

(1) Charlotte A. Jewell, born Sept. 20, 1836, is still living in Hartford.

(2) Maria Jewell, born Oct. 14, 1821, mar- ried J. E. Coleman, and died in Paris, France, on June 26, 1878. She was graduated at Mount Holyoke Seminary, and for some years was a teacher in the Hartford Female Seminary. She was a prominent worker in the local charities of Hart- ford, and was at the time of her death president of the Woman's Home on Church street. For a long time she was the superintendent of the infant class in the Sabbath-school at the Asylum Hill Con- gregational Church. She was an energetic and use- ful woman, and an amateur artist of marked ability. Mr. Coleman, her husband, was a native of Ohio. and came to Hartford some years prior to the Civil war, becoming associated in business with the Jewells. In 1870 he went to New York, and there died on Sept. 2, 1890.

(3) Hon. Marshall Jewell was born Oct. 20, 1825, in Winchester, N. H. After receiving a com- mon-school education, at the age of eighteen, he went into the service of John Cummings & Son, of Woburn, Mass., tanners, and mastered that trade. In about 1847 he turned his attention to telegraphy, working at same, first in Rochester, N. Y., then at Akron, Ohio, where he had charge of an office. Later he went South, where he was engaged in con- structing lines between Louisville and New Orleans. He had charge of offices in various parts of the South. In January, 1850, he returned to the leather business and went into partnership with his father, as P. Jewell & Son, in the manufacture of leather belting. By improved processes, and by business skill and intelligent management, they soon found themselves in possession of a business of very large proportions. P. Jewell & Son, which afterward be- came P. Jewell & Sons, has for many years been one of the foremost manufacturing concerns of Hart- ford or of the State, and its business relations have spread all over this country and through Europe. Marshall Jewell spent much of his time between 1852 and 1857 in traveling through the country, extending the business of the firm and watching its interests. In 1859 and 1860 he was in Europe en- gaged in extending his business there, which has since become one of great magnitude abroad as well as at home. In 1865, '66 and '67 he was in Europe again, made the Nile journey, and also traveled through the Holy Land. He attended the Paris Exposition in 1867. Mr. Jewell remained all his life an active member of the firm of P. Jewell & Sons, which included in the late years of Marshall's life all the surviving Jewell brothers-Pliny, Lyman B. and Charles A .- as well as himself. Marshall Jewell was one of the incorporators of the Phoenix Fire Insurance Co. of Hartford, and from its be- ginning was one of the active directors in its notable

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successful career. He was also from its beginning a director of the Travelers Life Insurance Co., and from 1855 until his death he was a director in the Hartford Bank. He was connected also with a number of other corporations, some of which were out of the city. He was part owner of the Hartford Evening Post, was president of the Jewell Pin Co., of Hartford, and president of the United States Telegraph Association.

MIr. Jewell first took an active part in politics in 1867, being in that year the Republican candidate for State senator from the First District, and ran well ahead of his ticket, although sharing the Re- publican defeat of that year. The vigor and skill exhibited by him in this campaign, and as chairman of the local Republican committee, so favorably im- pressed the Republicans of Hartford county that they presented his name to the next State conven- tion, and in 1868 he was nominated for governor, but was unsuccessful, Gov. English being re-elected. .The following year ( 1869) Mr. Jewell was vic- torious over Mr. English, and also in 1871, these gentlemen being pitted against each other for four consecutive years. In 1872 Gov. Jewell was elected for a third term, carrying the State by twenty-eight majority over the Hon. Richard D. Hubbard. As governor of the State Mr. Jewell proved a faithful, intelligent, and clear-headed executive officer. His messages showed that he had carefully studied the various interests of the State, and his recommenda- tions were practical and judicious. He had the sat- isfaction of seeing a number of valuable recom- mendations approved by the General Assembly and the people.

Gov. Jewell retired from the office in May, 1873, and the following month, much to his own surprise, was nominated by President Grant as minister to St. Petersburg, and in July he sailed for Europe with his family. Mr. Jewell, although entirely new to diplomatic work, proved a very satisfactory and useful minister. After one year's residence at the Court of the Czar Mr. Jewell was invited home by President Grant to take the position of Post- master-general, made vacant by the retirement of Mr. Cresswell. In his management of the post office department of the nation Mr. Jewell exhibited the same traits of character which marked his business career through life, energy, systematic attention to details, and strict integrity. He did much toward rooting out the pernicious system of fraudulent contracts and straw bids, and initiated the fast-mail service between New York and Chicago. He was also instrumental in securing a common postal sys- tem between the United States and Canada. In July, 1876, Mr. Jewell resigned from the cabinet and afterward remained in private life, busily engaged in caring for the many interests with which he was so actively identified. In 1879 and again in 1881 Mr. Jewell was a candidate for the United States Senate, and on the former occasion lacked but a few votes of receiving the Republican nomination.

In 1880 he was chosen chairman of the Republican National Committee, and worked earnestly in that campaign1. He remained chairman of the committee until his death. For twenty years Mr. Jewell had been an earnest worker for Republican success, and during the four Presidential campaigns pre- ceding his death went actively into campaign work, addressing political meetings in different parts of the country. As a public speaker Gov. Jewell was easy and natural, using chiefly the conversational style. He probably had never attempted to make a public speech until after his nomination for governor. During the campaigns of 1876 and 1880 he ad- dressed some of the largest meetings held in the country, in New York, New England, and the West.

Gov. Jewell's personal appearance was striking. He was a stout man, something below the average height perhaps, with fine silver-gray hair, a singu- larly friendly and genial expression, a pleasant voice, and a thoroughly cordial manner, so easy withal as to make those whom he met feel at ease also. He was a member of the Congregational Church.

In October, 1852, Gov. Jewell was married to Esther Dickerson, of Newburgh, N. Y., and to the marriage were born two daughters, the widow of Arthur MI. Dodge, of New York, and Mrs. Will- iam H. Strong, of Detroit. The mother of these children, born June 6, 1832, died Feb. 26, 1883. She was a woman of many social graces and in- tellectual gifts, was a student and a reader, and a person of quick and clear perceptions, which gave her remarkable conversational powers. As the trus- tee of Gov. Jewell's hospitable home in Hartford and in Washington, and during his residence abroad, she entertained very many guests and made many friends.

(4) Pliny Jewell, president of the Jewell Belt- ing Co., was born Sept. 1, 1823, at Winchester, N. H. He was reared and trained in the business of his father, and with him and his brothers shared in the developing of its interests at Hartford. The firm, after the father's death, continued under the old stlye of P. Jewell & Sons until its organization as a joint-stock company in 1883. There have been developed from the original industry the Jewell Belt Hook Co., the Jewell Pad Co., and the Jeweil Pin Co., Pliny Jewell being a stckholder in and president of all these corporations. He is also a director of the Hartford National Bank and the Travelers' Insurance Co., and a trustee in the Hart- ford Trust Co. His whole active life has been spent in the leather business, with all the details of which he is intelligently familiar, and in which he has been very successful. In politics Mr. Jewell is a Republican. He was one of the original or- ganizers of the party in Connecticut, and has since been prominently identified with it. He is identified with the Pearl Street Congregational Church ; is a member of the Hartford Club; and has served as vice-president of the Board of Trade.

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On Sept. 5, 1845, Mr. Jewell was married to Miss Caroline Bradbury, and to the marriage have come two children: Edward, born Jan. 26, 1847, now of Boston, Mass. ; and Emily M., now Mrs. Walter Sanford, of Hartford.

(5) Hon. Harvey Jewell, late of Boston, Mass., whose death occurred in December, 1881, was a leading man in the affairs of Massachusetts. He was a law partner of ex-Governor Gaston, and was on the Alabama Claims Court in Washington, D. C. For several successive years he was speaker of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts.

(6) Lyman B. Jewell, vice-president of the Jewell Belting Co., was born Aug. 29, 1827, in Winchester, N. H. He there received a common- school education in the district schools, attending until fifteen years of age. Some years after attain- ing his majority he became engaged in the dry- goods commission business, which he followed in New York and Boston from 1856 to 1872. He moved to Hartford in 1873, and joined his brotliers in the firm of P. Jewell & Sons, which is now the Jewell Belting Co., of which he is vice-president and a director, and is also similarly officially connected with the other three corporations developed from the Belting Co. Mr. Jewell is treasurer of the De- troit Leather Co. He is a director in the Phoenix Insurance Co., the American National Bank, and the Southern New England Telephone Co., and a member of the Hartford Club. Politically he is a Republican, in religion an Episcopalian.

In January, 1856, Mr. Jewell was married to Miss Charlotte Willianis, of Boston.

(7) CHARLES A. JEWELL was born March 29. 1841, in Winchester, N. H. Coming to Hartford with the family in 1845, when only four years of age, he was here educated in the public schools and high school of the city. He then entered the leather business of P. Jewell & Sons, first as a clerk and ap- prentice, and subsequently as a partner. During the first year of the Civil war he entered the Union army as adjutant of the Twenty-second Conn. Vol. Inf., and served until the expiration of his term of enlistment. Since the organization of the Jewell Belting Co. as a joint-stock company, in 1883, Mr. Jewell has been its treasurer. He is also treasurer of the Jewell Pin Co .; and is officially connected with other corporations bearing the Jewell name. He is a director in the City Bank, has served official- ly in the Hartford Chemical Co., and is vice-presi- dent of the Hosmer Hall Choral Union. Mr. Jewell is active in all religious work, being a mem- ber of Center Congregational Church, and for years he was the superintendent of its Sabbath-school. For fourteen or more years he has been president of the Y. M. C. A. of Hartford, also served as vice- president, and has long been one of the chief pro- moters of its religious activities, as well as one of its most liberal benefactors. The association is largely indebted to his prudent councils and wise direction, as well as his personal influence, for its

high standing before the public, and the compara- tively prosperous condition of its finances. In his political views he is a Republican. He is a member of the Loyal Legion.

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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 85

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