Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 2, Part 106

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1172

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 2 > Part 106

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Dr. James H. Standish, the youngest son, was born in Wethersfield Dec. 9, 1871, and began his education in the district schools. Later he was graduated from the Wethersfield high schools and then entered the Collins street classical school of Hartford, where he prepared for college. In 1892 he entered the Medical University of New York

City, from which he graduated in 1895, and then spent one year in the Childrens and Infants hospital on Randall's Island (New York), after which he returned to Hartford, where he has since been suc- cessfully engaged in practice. He is a member of the City, County and State Medical Socities, and of the I. O. O. F. He was married, June 14, 1898, to Nettie Grace Adams, a native of Baltimore, and a graduate of the Western Female Seminary of that city. She is a daughter of George C. and Hannah M. (Snow) Adams. The Doctor and his wife have one child, Welles Adams, born June 7, 1899. In politics the Doctor is a Republican in religion he and his wife are Congregationalists.

HART. The branch of the Hart family of which the late George Hart, of New Britain, was a descendant, and of which the latter's son, Will- iam Henry Hart, now a prominent citizen of that city, where for years he has been identified with the manufacturing company known as the Stanley Works (of which he is president ), is a distinguished member, is one of the oldest as it is also one of the most prominent families of Connecticut.

William H. Hart is in the eighth generation from Deacon Stephen Hart, his first American ancestor, the line of his descent being through Stephen Hart (2), Stephen (3), Daniel, Stephen (4), Stephen (5), and George.

(I) Deacon Stephen Hart, born about 1605, at Braintree, County of Essex, England, came to Massachusetts Bay about 1632, and located for a time at Cambridge, Mass., being one of the fifty- four settlers at that point. He became a proprietor at Hartford, Conn., in 1639, and was one of the eighty-four proprietors of Farmington, Conn., in 1672.

(II) Stephen Hart (2), son of Deacon Stephen Hart, born at Braintree, County of Essex, Eng- land, located at Farmington, Conn., where he was made a freeman in May, 1654.

(III) Stephen Hart (3), son of Stephen Hart (2), born in 1662 in Farmington, married, in 1689, Sarah, daughter of Samuel Cowles.

(IV) Daniel Hart, son of Stephen Hart (3), born in 1707, in Farmington, married, in 1734, Abigail, daughter of Thomas Thompson, and lived in New Britain, Connecticut.

(V) Stephen Hart (4), son of Daniel Hart, born in 1744 in New Britain, married, in 1767, Rhoda, daughter of Charles Stedman, of Wethers- field, Conn. He was a farmer, and lived in Stanley Quarter at the foot of Clark Hill.

(VI) Stephen Hart (5), son of Stephen Hart (4), and the father of the late George Hart, of New Britain, was born Oct. 21, 1775, in New Britain, married, June 25, 1797, Sally, daughter of Ezra and Lucy (Stanliff) White, of Chatham, Conn., born June 14, 1775. He was a farmer, and lived at the old home of his father and grandfa- ther, at the foot of Clark Hill in Stanley Quarter.

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He died in 1816, his wife passing away in 1859. Their children were: Shephen, Edmund, George, Emily, Philip, William, Henry and Ebenezer.

The late George Hart, of New Britain, son of Stephen Hart (5), and the father of President William Henry Hart, was born March 16, 1801, in Stanley Quarter, New Britain, Conn., and there passed the early years of his life before going to West Hartford, where he passed three years in learning the shoemaker's trade. This completed, young Hart began his business career by purchasing a stock of shoes, which he conveyed by wagon to Augusta, Ga., where he sold out his stock during the winter and returned the following year to New Britain. Later, in New Britain, he engaged in the manufacture of coffee-mills, in which, however, he was not successful; then entered the employ of the brass works of North & Stanley, and worked over hours to liquidate the indebtedness of some $600.00 incurred in the previous coffee-mill ven- ture. Not content as an employe, the young man later and before the day of railroads established a daily stage express and freight line to Hartford, in which business his tact, enterprise and fidelity brought him success. For many years he carried nearly all the passengers, express and frieght be- tween these two places. He continued this busi- ness with strict fidelity and care until the comple- tion of the New Haven and Hartford railroad in 1839, when he transferred his teaming and stage line to the little station east of Rhodes place known as Green Swamp. After the completion of the Hartford, Providence & Fishkill railroad, Jan. I, 1850, Mr. Hart was appointed station master for New Britain, and did most of the trucking to and from the station. He also ran an omnibus line for a number of years to Berlin Junction until the build- ing of the New Britain branch road in 1865. By that time he acquired a competency, and was not thereafter engaged in active business, except farm- ing on a small scale. During his active life Mr. Hart was a very industrious and hard-working man. He was of temperate habits, possessed of great physical endurance, also blessed with a rugged con- stitution, and, not until the failure of his eyesight and the infirmities of age laid him aside, could he be content to give up employment.

Mr. Hart united with the Church of Christ in New Britain Aug. 6, 1831, and was one of the 120 original members who formed the South Congrega- tional Church, and was the last surviving male member of that number. Mr. Hart lived to the advanced age of ninety years, dying Oct. 27, 1891. At that time the New Britain Daily Herald said : "Mr. Hart was a man of great simplicity of char- acter, and frankness combined with a high sense of honor and the strictest integrity."

On March 2, 1826, Mr. Hart married Mary Griswold, daughter of Ebenezer and Mary (Gris- wold) Andrews. She was born Oct. 22, 1809, and died Aug. 10, 1831. To this marriage was

born one son, Charles, who died Feb. 27, 1837, at the age of ten years. Mr. Hart married ( second) Sept. 11, 1832, Elizabeth F., daughter of Cyrus and Nancy ( North) Booth. She was born Oct. 31, 1811, and died April 25, 1862. To this marriage was born one son, William Henry. Mr. Hart mar- ried (third), May 6, 1863, Elizabeth, widow of William Perry, of South Windsor, and daughter of Job Elsworth, of East Windsor. She was born Sept. 21, 1823.

WILLIAM HENRY HART, son of George and Elizabeth F. ( Booth) Hart, acquired his educa- tion in the public schools of New Britain, being a student therein at the time of the organization of the High School department. His studies were somewhat interrupted, however, as a portion of each day was spent in assisting his father in his duties as station agent of the Hartford, Providence & Fish- kill railroad, mainly in the bookkeeping department from 1850 to 1854, and in this capacity we find him selling tickets at the station in New Britain at the opening of the road from Willimantic to Bristol Jan. 1, 1850.

It is with the Stanley Works, however, that Mr. Hart is best and most widely known, as he has been connected with that company for nearly half a century. On May 16, 1854, two years after the founding of the Stanley Works, William II. Hart, at the age of nineteen years, was elected secretary and treasurer of that corporation, and has held the latter position until the present time. For forty years the general management of the business has fallen upon his shoulders. For the first twenty- five years it was a hard struggle to overcome the disadvantages of insufficient capital, undesirable lo- cation as regards freighting facilities, lack of ex- perienced workmen in sheet metal, coupled with the difficulty of securing a market for the product in competition with an old and well-established manu- facturer in a good locality and with abundant capi- tal. In later years he has been ably assisted by the officers of the company, his five sons and his son- in-law. Mr. Ilart was elected president Feb. 14, 1885. continuing in that capacity to the present time. His whole buiness life has been coincident with the growth of the Stanley Works. At the outset of their business career, the capital of the company was $30,000. This has been increased from time to time, until now the nominal capital is $500,000, but the actual aggregate is over one mil- lion dollars. It has increased its operating force from about twenty in 1852 and 1853 to about 1,200 in 1900.

Mr. Hart is a member of the South Congrega- tional Church. and was elected clerk and treasurer in 1857. He has been a director of the New Britain National Bank for more than thirty years, and is now the senior member of that body. Hle is a men- ber of the board of managers of the New Britain Institute, and was president of the New Britain Club in 1808-09. He is also a member of the ex-

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ecutive committee of the New Britain General Hos- pital, and is now president of the Young Mens Christian Association.

On Sept. 19, 1855, Mr. Hart married Martha Peck, who was born in New Britain May 12, 1837, daughter of Elnathan and Mary (Dewey) Peck. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Hart are as follows : (I) Charles W. (deceased), born Aug. 8, 1858, died July 25, 1875. (2) George P., born Aug. 22, 1860, married Mary Doen, daughter of Edward and Helen (Bassette) Doen, of New Britain ; they have three children, Margaret, Mervin Stanley and Donald Richards. (3) Howard Stanley, born July 9, 1867, married Bessie Stanley, daughter of James and Minerva Wilcox (Case) Stanley, of New Britain; their children are Alice, William H. and Stanley. (4) Martha Elizabeth, born May 9, 1869, is the wife of E. Allen Moore, son of Nelson A. and Ann M. ( Pickett) Moore, of Kensington ; they have two children, Barbara and Allen. (5) Ed- ward Herbert, born Oct. 12, 1870. (6) Maxwell Stansbury, born April 15, 1873, married Louise, daughter of Theodore E. and Louise (Lockwood) Smith, of New Britain. (7) Walter H., born Aug. 4, 1874, married Louisa Chamberlain, daughter of the late Judge V. B. Chamberlain and his wife, Anna (Smith) Chamberlain, of New Britain.

CHARLES HOOKER RISLEY. Connecticut has won an eminent place in the nation by virtue of her manufactures, superiority in which is due to the inventiveness of her people. It is not uncommon perhaps to meet within the borders of the State a "natural-born" mechanic, but wherever found they are fitly regarded as the rich material from which greatness is developed. The subject of this sketch, a well-known citizen of Berlin, is the possessor of mechanical aptitude of a high order. His life has been full of achievement, change and progress. Combined with energy, his talents have made his life a busy one, though interrupted at times by fail- ing health.

Mr. Risley was born Nov. 27, 1853, in a house he still owns and until recently occupied, located in the southern part of Berlin, on the turnpike from Meriden to New Berlin, son of William Hollister and Mary Elizabeth (Hooker) Risley, and grand- son of Shubal and Ann ( Hollister) Risley. The grandfather was a farmer of Berlin and a citizen of prominence, serving as selectman, justice of the peace, and in other local positions of trust. He was born Dec. 17, 1795, and died Oct. 29, 1852. William Hollister Risley, the father of our subject, was born in Berlin, and was a well-to-do farmer of that town, a stanch Democrat in politics, and active in public affairs. He served three times in the State Legisla- ture as member from Berlin, and was repeatedly elected selectman of the town. For his first wife he married Myrana Wilcox, of Westfield, Conn., and for his second wife Mary Elizabeth Hooker, the mother of our subject, a native of Kensington,

daughter of Seth and Electa (Leonard) Hooker, and a descendant of Rev. Thomas Hooker, who set- tled in Hartford in 1636. Her ancestors were sol- diers in the Revolutionary army. She died when her son, Charles Hooker Risley, was only nine days old, and was buried in the South cemetery, Berlin. For his third wife the father of our subject married Frances Miles, of Meriden, who is yet living, a resi- dent of Kensington.

Charles Hooker Risley attended the schools of Berlin until he was eighteen years old. He then took charge of the saw and feed mills owned by his father, and later was for eighteen months a sales- man in the hardware and crockery store of Birdsey & Miles, at Meriden. Returning home for a short time, he decided to learn the printing trade. En- tering the employment of William Kelsey, who dealt in printing material, he was given at the expiration of one year full charge of the printing department, resigning this position six months later and starting a printing establishment at Berlin. Beginning with hand power, he continued to improve until he had at Berlin a thoroughly equipped plant, which he operated successfully for several years, during which time he did all the printing for the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Co. In 1884 he removed his plant to Meriden, and in partnership with his brother, William Miles Risley, operated a large printing es- tablishment. In 1885 he purchased his brother's interest, and for another year operated the plant alone, but ill health, superinduced by overwork, obliged him to give up his business. He returned to Berlin, and after a period of time devoted to re- cuperation accepted the position of general superin- tendent and engineer in the office of the Phoenix, at Southington. Six months later he resigned his po- sition to take charge of the mill at Berlin, which he purchased, converting it into a jobbing plant, put- ting in circular saws, and operating it until 1896, when on account of ill health he closed the plant. The same year he removed to the junction of the road near his home the building he had occupied as a printing office, and converted it into a "Bicycle Rest," dealing also in confectionery, cigars, tobacco, notions, etc. In May, 1900, Mr. Risley settled in Berlin village, on property he recently purchased of Miss Kate North, known as the Booth place. He still owns his farm and the mill, both located in the town of Berlin.

On June 10, 1892, Mr. Risley was married to Miss Harriet Abigail Beckley, daughter of Ralph H. and Abigail Beckley, of Meriden, her father being the second son of Squire Luther Beckley, of Berlin. Squire Luther Beckley was born Oct. II, 1778, and was one of the best-known men of Berlin in his day. He founded the first Sunday-school ever or- ganized in Berlin, and was also prominent in Ma- sonic circles. In 1803 he married Sarah Flagg, who was born Aug. 10, 1785. He died Jan. II, 1841. The Beckleys are among the oldest residents of Berlin, and descendants of early pioneers. Will-

My Lohus Ho Paisley

Charles Hooker Rinley

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iam Beckley, of Torrington, youngest son of Squire Luther Beckley, and the only survivor of his large family, has in his possession the original grant of land given to Richard Beckley, the first Beckley who came from England, the grant being given by the King with the specification that there should be a public house kept on said land. The house was erected in the year 1658, and kept as a public house for eighty-seven years, always remaining in the Beckley family.

Our subject was an incorporator of the Berlin Savings Bank, and is one of its present directors. He was one of the chief promoters of the Golden Ridge Creamery, and is now a stockholder in the company. He is also a director in the Mattabessett Canning Co. In politics he is a stanch Democrat. Mrs. Risley is a member of the Congregational Church, of which he is an ardent and liberal sup- porter. Both are active and prominent in Grange work, members of Berlin Grange, No. 24, in which Mr. Risley has held all the offices and was master for one year, in 1898; and are also members of the State and National Grange. Among the fraternal orders he holds active membership in the Masonic Order at Meriden; the Ancient Order of Foresters at Meriden; Good Shepherd Lodge; and Pequot Council, No. 24, O. U. A. M., of Berlin, in which he holds the office of treasurer.

NEWTON R. HURLBURT, first selectman of New Britain in 1899, has, by the practice of those qualities which inspire confidence and respect among his fellow men, risen almost silently and without ostentation in the public esteem until he is now held to be one of its foremost and most sterling citi- zens. He has made his own way, unaided by ex- traneous circumstances, and, by his own force of character and the high type of patient, modest citi- zenship he exemplified, he has won a way to the hearts and esteem of his numerous friends and ac- quaintances.

Mr. Hurlburt's great-grandfather shouldered a musket and fought for liberty during the Revolu- tionary struggle. His grandfather was a substan- tial farmer of Wethersfield, Conn., who died leav- ing three sons and four daughters: Belden and John, lifelong residents of Wethersfield; James, father of our subject; Hannah; Laura (Mrs. Charles Mitchell ) ; Jerusha (who married Mr. Chappel) ; and Abigail (who married Mr. Ward).

James Hurlburt was a native of Wethersfield. He followed farming, first in his native town and then in Bloomfield, whence after a residence of two years he removed to New Britain, where, in the Stanley Quarter, he purchased a farm of about seventy-five acres and lived for ten years. Ile re- moved to North Guilford, and there spent the bal- ance of his life. James Hurlburt was a man of quiet manner, careful and prompt in business affairs, industrious and successful in the management of his land. He was a representative citizen, not

active in political life, but alive to public duty, and in political opinion a Democrat. He married Har- riet Deming, of Newington (then Wethersfield), who bore him children as follows: Fanny, who married Ralph Griswold, of Middletown, Conn .; Harriet, wife of John S. Watrous, of Middletown; Newton R., subject of this sketch; Henry, of Mid- dletown; James, who was drowned when a resi- dent of that town; Silas, a tinsmith of Dunkirk, N. Y .; Emma, deceased wife of Robert Rowland, of Hartford; Brazilla, a tinsmitli, now deceased ; Albert, who died young; and Alice, wife of Henry Parmelee, of Middletown.

Newton R. Hurlburt was born in Wethersfield Jan. 28, 1837. He was educated in the common schools, attending school in winter and working in summer. At the age of sixteen his school days enced, and in the following year, 1854, he went to Otto, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., where he served an apprenticeship to the trade of tinsmith, and for some time later worked as a journeyman. Return- ing East he lived at Hartford, New London and elsewhere, finally locating, in 1860, at New Britain, where he has passed most of the time since. He followed his trade for many years, but has also en- gaged in farming and pursued various other occu- pations. An industrious, hard-working mechanic, he has by his own sturdy efforts made his way in life. In politics he is a Democrat. In 1896 hie was elected third selectman on the town ticket with Charles H. Smith and William S. Judd, but by the death of Mr. Smith and the resignation of Mr. Judd he became first selectman, and in the fall of 1898 he was elected to that office by popular vote for the term of one year, receiving the handsome majority of 1,222, the largest ever received by any candidate in the town. In his official career. Mr. Hurlburt has been highly successful, giving it the same painstaking attention and care which he has ever bestowed upon his own private affairs.

Mr. Hurlburt married Miss Jane Slater, daugh- ter of Elam Slater, one of the old settlers of New Britain, and for many years one of its efficient and esteemed selectmen.

JOSEPH SPENCER (deceased ) descended from one of the oldest and most prominent fani- ilies of the town of East Hartford, Hartford coun- ty, and the old homestead on Silver street and Spencer street ( the latter named after the family) has been continuously occupied and tilled by five generations of the name, and is now in the posses- sion of the sole survivor of the honored old family. Miss Jane A. Spencer, at whose demise it will pass into the hands of strangers, or at least of persons who will not bear the good old family name.

The first member of the Spencer family to be- come identified with the history of East Hartford canie here at a date so remote that it has passed from the memory of man, and even his Christian name has faded into oblivion. It is known, how-

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ever, that he erected a mansion at the corner of Main and Mill streets, where the post office now stands, and that his death occurred in 1687. It is known, moreover, that he was the father of several sons, the name of one of whom is on record as Thomas, and it is also known that Thomas had three sons, Timothy, Thomas and Gideon, who, when East Hartford was still in the wilderness, settled adjacent to the present Spencer homestead, cleared the land, and wrought out a spacious farm. Gideon Spencer erected the large dwelling which still stands across the street from the present Spen- cer mansion, and which, in its day, was one of the finest in East Hartford, and is still kept, after a lapse of over one hundred and fifty years, in an ex- cellent state of repair, having never passed out of the possession of the family. Gideon died in this dwelling, and his remains were interred in the Spencer street cemetery.

John Spencer, son of Gideon, and the father of Joseph Spencer, the subject proper of this sketch, was born June 24, 1746, married Miriam McKee, and became the father of eight children: John, Jr., born Sept. 10, 1770, died unmarried in 1836, when his remains were laid to rest in the Spen- cer street cemetery, where the ashes of all the de- ceased members of the Spencer family are interred ; Merion, born Sept. 24, 1772, died Nov. 17, 1857; Sarah was born Oct, 9, 1774, and died unmarried May 4, 1843; David, born in 1776, died in 1802; Jerusha, born Oct. 21, 1778, was married to Jere- miah Killbourne in 1807, and died Jan. 10, 1858; Joseph was born Jan. 26, 1781, and is the subject of this sketch; Timothy, born Feb. 18, 1784, mar- ried Mary Goodwin March 31, 1811, and died May 30, 1855; George, the youngest, was born Nov. 15,. 1786, and died, unmarried, March 11, 1868.

Joseph Spencer received a sound education, as good as could be secured in the schools of his neigh- borhood during the winter months, and, like other rustic lads, passed his summers on the home farm. Agriculture became the occupation of his life. After the death of his father, in 1829, he assumed con- trol of the farm, his brother and sisters being single at that time and making their home in the mansion built by their grandfather, Gideon Spen- cer. On May 11, 1815, Joseph Spencer married Miss Ann Seymour, born in 1783, in Hartford, a daughter of George and Mabel (Spencer) Seymour, and the same year erected the house now occupied by his daughter, Miss Jane A. Spencer. Mrs. Spen- cer was an intelligent and kind-hearted woman. To the marriage of Joseph Spencer and Ann Seymour were born three children: Emily, born June 19, 1820, who died in 1894; Julia Marion, born March 15, 1823, who died in 1892; and Jane Annie. the only survivor of the family, born April 20. 1826, now the occupant of the old homestead.

Joseph Spencer, it will readily be surmised, was during his long and useful life a very prom- inent factor in the affairs of East Hartford, although

he was very domestic and unostentatious in his habits. A Whig in politics, he filled various town offices, and in the local management of his party's affairs wielded a strong influence, his advice never going unheeded. With his family he was a con- stant attendant at the Congregational Church, and was a most liberal contributor, financially, to its support. His farm, one of the most extensive in the town, was finely tilled at all times, and was devoted to raising the better class of products, no part of it ever having been used for the cultiva- tion of tobacco-an unusual circumstance in the neighborhood. On this estate he passed his entire life, and died, one of the most honored of men, in December, 1857.

HON. CHARLES E. HART is of the eighth generation in lineal descent from the sturdy Puri- tan, Deacon Stephen Hart, who was well-known and widely respected among the members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The direct paternal line of descent is as follows: Stephen (1), Stephen (2), Stephen (3), Daniel, Stephen (4), Stephen (5), and Ebenezer.

The first of the line to settle in New England was Deacon Stephen Hart, who was a member of that devoted band who preferred liberty of con- science to fortune, station or native land. He was born at Braintree, Essex, England, about 1605, and came to join his co-religionists and compatriots about 1632. His first location was at Cambridge, Mass., he being one of the fifty-four original set- tlers at that point. In 1639 he went westward as far as Hartford, where he became a landed pro- prietor. In 1672 he joined a party of eighty-four persons who were the original proprietors of Farm- ington. His son, Stephen Hart (2), was born at Braintree, England, and located at Farmington, where he was made a freeman in May, 1654. Stephen Hart (3), son of Stephen Hart (2), was born at Farmington in 1662, and was married, in 1689, to Sarah, daughter of Samuel Cowles. Daniel Hart, son of Stephen (3), came into the world in 1707. He was also a native of Farmington, at which place, in 1734, he married Abigail, a daughter of Thomas Thompson. He made his home at New Britain. Stephen (4), son of Daniel, was born in 1744 at New Britain. In 1767 he was united in marriage to Rhoda, daughter of Charles Stedman, of Wethersfield. He was a farmer, and his home was in what was then known as the Stanley Quar- ter, at the foot of Clark's Hill. His son, Stephen (5), who was the grandfather of Charles E., was born Oct. 21, 1775, at New Britain, and on June 25, 1797, at the age of nearly twenty-two years, married Sallie, a daughter of Ezra and Lucy (Stancliff) White, of Chatham, Conn. He was also a farmer, and made his home at the resi- dence of his father and grandfather, at the foot of Clark's Hill, in the Stanley Quarter. He passed away in 1816, his wife surviving him until the year

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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 2, Part 106

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1172

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1172