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 89

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 89

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(II) John Hollister (2), son of Lieut. John, the emigrant, born about 1644, in Wethersfield, married in 1667 Sarah Goodrich. He was one of the lead- ing men in Glastonbury.

(III Thomas Hollister, son of John (2), was born in 1672 in Wethersfield, and married Dorothy, daughter of Joseph Hills, of Glastonbury, where Thomas Hollister lived and died.

(IV) Thomas Hollister (2), son of Thomas, born in 1707 in Glastonbury, married in 1734 Abi- gail, daughter of Sergt. Nathaniel Talcott, of that tow11.

(V) Josiah Hollister, son of Thomas (2), born in 1756, in Glastonbury, married (second) Asenath, daughter of Israel Sweetland, of South Manchester, Conn. Mr. Hollister settled in what is now South Manchester. He was a patriot of the Revolution, serving under Gen. Washington, and used to enter- tain his descendants with stories of his commander, and especially of Lady Washington, for whom he once made a wardrobe, which gave her great satis- faction, but him still more, as he never tired of tell- ing of it. Mr. Hollister was tall, straight, active, strong and ambitious. He enjoyed vigorous health until he was past seventy, and retained a considera- ble degree of strength and his sight, hearing and memory until his death, Sept. 8, 1849, when in his ninety-fourth year.

(VI) Asenath (Hollister) Spencer.

Ogden Spencer, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born March 16, 1801, in South Manches- ter, Conn. He became by occupation a woolen man- ufacturer, and carried on the business extensively. Later in life he was in business with his son Chris- topher M., in South Manchester, where they were engaged in the manufacture of Spencer rifle models. Ogden Spencer in his political views was a Demo- crat, and ever manifested a deep interest in public affairs, but though active never aspired to or held office. He was independent in his views. Both himself and wife were identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was a trustee. On May 7, 1823, he was married to Asenath Hollister,. born June 21, 1801, in South Manchester, daughter of Josiah and Asenath (Sweetland) Hollister. Mr. Spencer died in Hartford in 1882, and his wife passed away in 1883. To them were born children as follows : Harriet H., born Dec. 8, 1824, died Jan. 28, 1825; Harriet A., born July 1, 1826, died un- married March 18, 1844; Aaron O., born Dec. 26, 1828, married Lavantia, daughter of Dr. Perry, of South Manchester; Celia C., born March 15, 1831, married Clinton D. Perry; Christopher M. is re- ferred to farther on ; Wilber F., born April 26, 1835, married Mary Bennett ; Mary J., born July 18, 1837,

lotte Spencer

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

married Judson Strong; and Emma F., born June 20, 1841, married George Herriott. All are now deceased excepting Christopher M., Celia, Mary J. and Emma, who reside in Hartford.

Christopher Miner Spencer, son of the late Og- den and Asenath (Hollister) Spencer, and the sub- ject proper of this sketch, at the age of twelve, in 1845, went to live with his grandfather Hollister, then ninety years of age, a patriot of the Revolution, and there the youth first developed a fondness for mechanical work. The grandfather had on the place an old foot-lathe, upon which the boy passed most of his spare time. From early childhood he had a passion for firearms, and the first gun he owned was his grandfather's old musket, a relic of the Revolution, which the boy improved by saw- ing off the barrel with an old case knife, converted into a saw by hacking it on the edge of an axe, lit- tle dreaming while remodeling the old flint-lock that this branch of mechanical work was to form so large a part of his life work. He left his grandfather's farm in 1847 and went to work in Cheney's silk mill, South Manchester, and in 1848 entered upon an eight-months apprenticeship in the machine shop of Samuel Loomis, at Manchester Centre. During the winter following he went to school, and in the spring began another eight-months apprenticeship with Mr. Loomis, at the end of which time he entered the employ of Cheney Brothers, as journeyman ma- chinist, remaining there some three years. During this period he made a good deal of experimental machinery under the supervision of Frank Cheney, whose kindly interest in the young man's mechanical ingenuity led him into the line of invention. In 1853, desiring to become better acquainted with the methods of different shops, he went to Roches- ter, N. Y., working six months in making machin- ists' tools, and six months in locomotive repairing. Returning to Hartford, Conn., he worked one year in the repair shops of the Colt Fire Arms Co., where he first conceived the idea of improvements in re- peating firearms. Later he became superintendent of the machine shop of Cheney Brothers, and while with them obtained his first patent on an automatic silk-winding machine, which they regarded as a great achievement, and manufactured a large num- ber of them, paying him a royalty. Mr. Spencer exhibited the device to the Willimantic Linen Co., and in company with Hezekiah Conant, who was then in that company's employ, perfected a ma- chine that was adopted by the company for their entire system of thread-winding.

For several years previous to that time Mr. Spencer had been at work during spare hours in the line of firearms, and through the means of his fa- ther he was enabled to perfect a model, and obtained, in 1860, a patent on the "Spencer seven-shooter," in return for which the father was given a half- interest in all profits to be derived from the patent. Charles Cheney, of Cheney Brothers, became inter- ested in the patent, and at the outbreak of the Re-

bellion a company was organized to manufacture the gun for war purposes. In company with Mr. Cheney Mr. Spencer went to Washington with a sample of the gun, which resulted in an order from the Navy Department for 1,000 guns. The Cheney Brothers then purchased the patent, paying for it a sum of money and a royalty on every gun man- ufactured. This first lot of guns sold to the Gov- ernment was used in arming some of the Massa- chusetts, Connecticut and Michigan volunteers, who soon had ample occasion to put the new arms to practical use, the effective result of which is now a matter of history. In the meantime the Cheney Brothers, along with some Boston parties, organized the Spencer Repeating Rifle Co., and prepared to manufacture the Spencer rifle at Boston, on a large scale. The war department soon gave an order for 10,000 of the rifles, and from that time the de- mand for the new gun was so great that the com- pany was taxed to its utmost limit, making about 200,000 guns. Mr. Spencer became superintendent of the Boston company. In August, 1862, he went to Washington, taking with him a rifle for pres- entation to President Lincoln, who was greatly in- terested in it, and gave Mr. Spencer a very cordial reception. A practical test was made by Mr. Lin- coln on the grounds below the White House, the target being a rough board with a black bull's eye two inches in diameter. Mr. Lincoln fired the gun off-hand, doing good work, and the target was preserved by Mr. Spencer, who afterward sent it to the Historical Rooms at Springfield, 111., where it is supposed to be at this time.

Mr. Spencer took several trips in the interest of the company, visiting the armies in the field, and instructing the soldiers in the use of the gun. In 1863 he was at the headquarters of the Army of the Cumberland, where he met Gen. Rosecrans and Col. Wilder, of the 17th Ind. V. I., command- ing the Ist Brigade Mounted Infantry, which at the Colonel's request was furnished with the gun. From Murfreesboro Mr. Spencer went by way of Louisville and Nashville to Cairo, thence down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Yazoo, just above Vicksburg, where our gunboats under the command of Commodore Foote were co-operating with Gen. Grant in the siege of Vicksburg. His trip down the Mississippi was made on a government dispatch boat, he having been provided with letters from the Navy Department granting him every facility for access to the gunboats, which were all provided with Spencer rifles. He reached Vicksburg four days before the fleet ran the batteries, remained there one day, meeting Gen. Grant on board Commodore Foote's flagship, and gave an exhibition of the rifle. Returning to Boston, he gave his time to the further improvement of the gun until the close of the war, when the demand for the gun ceased.

From the Boston factory Mr. Spencer went to Amherst, Mass., where, in company with Henry F. Hills, of that place, he formed the Roper Repeat-

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ing Arms Co., and engaged in making the Roper shotgun, patented by S. H. Roper, of Boston. This venture was not a success, and in it Mr. Spencer lost about all the money he had. In 1869, in com- pany with his father, he purchased the entire plant and moved the machinery to Hartford, where, with Charles E. Billings, under the name of the Billings & Spencer Co., they began the manufacture of drop forgings, sewing machine shuttles, etc. This com- pany is still in existence, and is one of the most successful and flourishing enterprises in Hartford. Mr. Spencer is a stockholder and director in the Billings & Spencer Co. at this time.

At the end of the last gun venture Mr. Spencer turned his attention to the turret machine and made it automatic. He was the first to comprehend clearly the vast savings in machine-part production which are rendered possible by converting the semi- automatic turret machine into a full automatic tool, capable of producing almost any shape of small metal piece, without human intervention beyond the placing of a bar of metal within reach of the feed- ing mechanism of the machine. The practical re- sult of this invention was to largely reduce the cost of manufacture, one man being required to attend to from ten to fifteen machines, instead of one to each machine, as before. Having obtained his patent, and severing active connection with the Billings & Spencer Co., he determined to com- mence the manufacture of screws automatically as a new enterprise, and in 1874 set the first ma- chine at work. New machines were added as fast as they could be made, but his business increased faster than his ability to fill orders. George A. Fairfield, then superintendent of the Weed Sewing Machine Co., became interested in the new enter- prise, with others, and in 1876 was formed the Hartford Machine Screw Co., with a capital of $40,000, of which Mr. Spencer was superintendent. Three years later the business had so developed as to result in the formation of one of the largest business enterprises in the city of Hartford, with a plant valued at $400,000. The field of this busi- ness was so large that in 1882 a company was or- ganized and established at Elvria, Ohio, to operate the machine in the Western States. Mr. Spencer was now on the high road to wealth when he was unlucky enough to conceive the idea of the "trom- bone" shotgun, the most rapid-fire sporting gun known. He sold out the Hartford Screw Co., and in 1882, in connection with his old friend, S. H. Roper, of Boston, obtained joint patents as a re- sult of their mutual study and experience on the Spencer repeating shotgun. Their system was also adapted to the military rifle, and their model was subjected to severe practical tests, before a board appointed by the Secretary of War under an ap- propriation of Congress for the inspection of re- peating arms. The result was most satisfactory in every respect-a complete success for the rifle, a rapidity of firing being attained of eighty-six shots

in two minutes, or more than double that of the old Spencer seven-shooter. In 1883 a company was formed for their manufacture, of which Mr. Spencer was treasurer and general manager. It was known as the Spencer Arms Co., and had a capital of $400,000, with works located at Wind- sor, Conn. In 1883 Mr. Spencer, in company with the president, L. A. Bartlett, and another, visited Europe, and exhibited the rifle to the military au- thorities of England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Denmark with uniform success. This venture, however, failed in the end of success, and by it Mr. Spencer lost heavily.

This enterprise over with, we again find Mr. Spencer turning his attention to the automatic screw machine. In an article which appeared in the No- vember, 1899, number of the "Engineering Mag- azine," prepared by Henry Roland, under the head of "The Revolution in Machine Shop Practice and the Development of the Automatic Screw Ma- chine," Mr. Spencer's identity therewith is treated fully, and his name coupled with those of Maudslay and Stone-the former bringing out the slide rest, which is the foundation of the toolmaker's art, and which placed the English toolmakers for about half a century in advance of all others, leading the world in 1845; and the latter being the first to comprehend the advantages of applying to Mauds- lay's slide rest a revolving head carrying a number of metal-working tools, and capable of being either revolved or locked to the slide at the will of the operator, Stone thus making the first great step in advance in machine shop tools after Maudslay's introduction of the slide rest ; he took out patents on the turret machine in about 1858. "The mag- nificent economical result of the full automatic tur- ret machines, now seen busily engaged in the pro- duction of small machine parts without a single workman in sight, is due to the work of Maudslay, supplemented by that of Stone, and placed beyond the hindrance of human intervention by Spencer. From Maudslay to Stone covered a period of nearly fifty years, and from Stone to the final completion of Spencer's work, now only put fairly on the mar- ket, nearly fifty years more were consumed, so that it may be said, with tolerable accuracy, that a whole century of observation and effort. on the part of by far the best and most intelligent me- chanics ever known in the history of the human race, has been consumed in perfecting the slide rest and utilizing the full scope of its powers."

To show Mr. Spencer's connection with the au- tomatic turret machine and its use, we quote the following from the article referred to in the fore- going : "Mr. Spencer produced a double-turret ma- chine which can make almost any small machine part, of generally circular outline, without human intervention. In the operation of the semi-auto- matic turret machine the workman has to move the turret-conveying slide toward and away from the work-carrying spindle varying distances at

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varying rates of travel, and to move the cross slide in various directions. The full-automatic machine must, of course, make approximately the same mo- tions, and these motions vary in sequence and ex- tent for every different piece made. These motions of the machine parts must be given, in the full- automatic machine, by means of cams placed on a shaft which makes one revolution during the pro- duction of each piece of work, and at first sight the full-automatic turret machine would seem im- possible because of the vast number and cost of the different sets of cams required to adapt the ma- chine to anything like general use. Spencer met this seemingly insurmountable obstacle by invent- ing a blank cam cylinder of large diameter, to which small pieces of plain iron bais of rectangular section could be screwed in any desired position, so as to constitute an endless succession of different cams, suited to produce any required movements of the turret machine members, at no cost beyond the small expenditure of time required to 'set up' the cam strips on the cam cylinder. The importance of this form of cam was wholly overlooked by the patent attorney who prepared Spencer's application for patent on the automatic screw machine, and so was never covered by any claim whatever. The universal cam was, and is, however, one of the most important of all the inventions ever made in metal-cutting machines, and deserves to rank with Maudslay's slide rest and Stone's adaptation of the turret to the general requirements of machine part production. Here then, at last, three-quarters of a century after Maudslay had shown that a lathe could hold and guide its own cutting tools better than any workman would hold them, Spencer produced the lathe which could take a bar of stock and work it up into small machine parts wholly without human intervention. Parkhurst, of Middletown, Conn., had in the Pratt & Whitney shops applied the hand-operated push collet to feeding and holding rods in the turret machine. Spencer took the draw-back collet for the same purpose, both the draw-back collet and the push col- let for holding work in rotating tool spindles being before known as the Parkhurst invention. - With the collet for holding the bar of stock in the live spindle and the protean cam, the full-automatic screw machine became a universal tool, of as gen- eral application to the production of machine parts as the lathe, planer or drilling machine, and made more, better and cheaper work than was ever be- fore possible. This was seemingly the end of the possibilities of machine production in small work.

"The full-automatic turret machine was not, however, the limit of the possibilities of the metal- working lathe when viewed by a mind as compre- hensive as Spencer's. His final inventions in turret machines reached the superlative degree of the double turret screw machine which has vastly greater powers than the single turret machine. The

single turret lathe can do everything that the most skillful turner can do-a piece chucked in the live spindle and running 'in the air,' as the shop ex- pression has it. A piece of metal so held has its sides and outer end fully exposed, and these may be given any desired shape, without removing the work from the chuck. But many pieces require cuts to be made on the third surface, which is not accessible, being inside the chuck of the live spindle, or otherwise supporting the piece as it is worked. To meet this case Spencer introduced a sec- ond chucking spindle, opposed to the live spindle, and capable of moving toward the live spindle, and grasping a piece of partly completed work while yet held by the live spindle, and, when the work is released from the live spindle, this second chuck- carrying spindle is made to move backward away from the live spindle, carrying the incompleted piece to a new location, where it can be fully com- pleted by tools carried in the double turret. Thus a screw which requires a slotted head may have its thread, body and head formed while chucked in the live spindle; its second spindle comes forward and surrounds and grasps the screw up to the head, and as soon as the screw is cut off from the bar held in the live spindle, the second spindle travels backward and stops in such a position that tools carried by the second turret can shave and slot the screw head, or bore a cross-hole through it and drill and tap the head to form a combined screw and binding post, for electrical work, for example. Thus it produces completed on a wholly automatic machine pieces which could only be made by two, three and four operations on as many different machines by the first practice known before Spen- cer's magnificent inventions, which have great powers of cost reduction coupled with the surpris- ing simplicity of construction which is the hall- mark of genius." Mr. Spencer is identified with the Spencer Automatic Screw Co., formed by him in the early years of his development of the useful turret machine. He is now perfecting what gives great promise of being one of the most modern and complete steam motor carriages in the market.

In June, 1860, Mr. Spencer was married to Theodora Peck, who died without issue Nov. 7, 1881, and he married, July 3, 1883, Georgette Tay- lor Rogers, of Norwich, Conn., born there Oct. 2, 1859, a daughter of George W. and Fanny L. (Tay- lor) Rogers, who were born in Orleans, Mass. To the second marriage of Mr. Spencer have come Ves- ta, born at Windsor, Conn., Ang. 5, 1884 ; Roger M., born Sept. 8, 1886; Luzette T., born Jan. 31, 1889, who died Dec. 29, 1894; and Percival H., born April 30, 1897.

WILLIAM JOSEPH TRACY, one of the best known meat dealers in Bristol, was born in that borough in the homestead on Curtis street, Nov. 16, 1869.

James Tracy, father of William J., was born in

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County Westmeath, Ireland, April 12, 1839, and assisted his father on the home farm until he came to America. On April 8, 1857, he landed in New York, and thence came direct to Bristol, Conn., where he worked in various factories until 1868, in that year being employed as engineer by N. L. Birge, with whom he remained for twenty-seven years or until 1895, when he started a meat and vegetable stand on Curtis street.

James Tracy first married, May 7, 1860, Marga- ret Burke, who died in July, 1863. Mr. Tracy's second marriage took place May 5, 1865, to Kath- erine Baggett, who was born in Limerick, Ireland, April 7, 1843. The children born to Mr. Tracy by his first wife were three in number, viz. : Ellen and Mary (twins), born Jan. 11, 1861, and of these Ellen died Feb. 22, 1861, and Mary on March 10, 1885; Annie, born May 19, 1863, died Dec. 13, 1863. The second marriage of Mr. Tracy has been blessed with ten children, viz .: James, born Marchi 21. 1866, is employed in J. H. Sessions & Son's fac- tory: John, born March 27, 1867, died April 10, 1867: Margaret, born July 18, 1868, is married to David M. Barry, of Bristol; William Joseph is the subject; Lucy, born Sept. 26, 1871; Thomas, born June 2, 1873, graduated from Yale College with honors in 1896, and is now in Chicago, Ill .; Cather- ine, born Jan. 2, 1877, is a teacher in the Chippin Hill school ; Agnes, born Aug. 19, 1878, was a mem- ber of St. Joseph's Catholic Church choir, and died April 13, 1897; Ellen, born April 21, 1880, is still at home ; and Edward, born March 24, 1883, is em- ployed by the E. Ingraham Co. James Tracy and his family are devout members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, and in politics he is a Democrat.

Michael Tracy, father of James, was born in County Westmeath, Ireland, and was a farmer. He married Mary Moore, and had a family of six sons and one daughter. John Tracy, father of Michael, was also a farmer. He married Mary Gannon, and had a family of five children.

William Joseph Tracy attended the common schools of Bristol until fifteen years old, then en- tered the employ of the E. Ingraham Clock Co., and learned and worked at gilding for nine years, when that class of work was discontinued by the company as no longer in vogue. Mr. Tracy then formed a partnership with James Hefferman in the meat trade on Laurel street, under the firm name of Tracy & Hefferman ; but ten months later the firm dissolved and Mr. Tracy started alone, in the same line, on Curtis street, where his father now carries on the trade, William J. having relinquished it at the close of ten months. William J. Tracy next entered the employ of H. E. Kilborne & Co. as clerk, and at the end of two years bought out the firm. He still conducts the business on North Main street, at the old stand, and has the largest, best equipped and most prosperous shop in the town.

Mr. Tracy was joined in matrimony June 12, 1895, with Miss Ellen B. Lacey, who was born in

Palmer, Mass., April 19, 1873, a daughter of John Lacey, and this marriage has been blessed with two children: William, born April 17, 1897; and Francis, born April 2, 1900. The family reside at No. 282 Summer street, where Mr. Tracy erected his modern dwelling in 1896.

Mr. and Mrs. Tracy are members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, to the support of which they liber- ally contribute. He is a member of the A. O. U. W., and of the Y. M. T. A. and B., of which he was one of the organizers and the first president, hold- ing the office for three years. At the last conven- tion of this association, held in 1899, he was elected county director, but resigned after six months ser- vice, though he still retains his position as trustee of the society, an office he has held ever since its organization. He is likewise a member of the A. O. H., of Bristol.

Mr. Tracy is a stanch Democrat, and served as constable from 1893 to 1896; was also a member of the board of burgesses from May, 1897, to May, 1899, and during that period was a member of the committees on Sewers and Buildings. He has for years been a member of the Democratic Town Com- mittee. In 1899 he served on the grand jury of the Superior Court of Hartford. He is very popular as a citizen and party man, and he and his wife enjoy the respect of all who know them.

SENATOR ELIZUR STILLMAN GOOD- RICH, president of the Hartford Street Railway Co., and of the Hartford & New York Transporta- tion Co., and a director in the City Bank, descends from one of the oldest of New England families. which is traced to William Goodrich, who was born in England, probably in or near Bury St. Ed- munds, County of Suffolk, was the first of the name to come to America, and married, in 1648, Sarah, daughter of Matthew Marvin, of Hartford. He was admitted as a freeman of the Colony of Con- necticut in 1656, served as deputy to the General Court at Hartford from Wethersfield in 1662, and was also one of the grand jurors. He died in 1676, and through one of his sons-John, William, Ephraim or David-the subject of this sketch is in the seventh generation.

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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 89

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