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 118

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 118

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Hector Chapman

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

married Mary Ann Stevens, and settled in Glaston- bury, where he followed the joiner's trade ; Hester, born July 4, 1832, married William Stevens, a farmer in Glastonbury; Hector, our subject, was third in the order of birth; Charles, born April 26, 1843, married Henrietta Wright, and resides in Glastonbury. He is mentioned more fully below.

Hector Chapman, our subject, was born March 23, 1836, in Matson Hill District, where his fa- ther owned a farm. The family moved to the hotel when our subject was four years old, and he at- tended a district school in that locality. On leav- ing school he spent a year at home and then, at the age of twenty, entered a general store in South Manchester. His entrance upon mercantile life was at an unfortunate time, the panic of 1857 interfer- ing with business, so that after a year and a half he returned to Glastonbury, and for four years managed a farm which he had purchased. He then went to Hartford, and was in mercantile business with W. S. Bronson, on Asylum street, for ten years, when he withdrew from the firm and bought a store in New Haven, continuing in the same line. Two years later he sold out this business, and re- moved to Glastonbury, where he built a store on Colchester avenue, and engaged in a stove and tinware business, a furniture line being added later. After some years he bought the "Thaddeus Wells place" from W. E. Gates, and in 1890 he erected his present business block, the finest in the town of Glastonbury. He is an industrious worker and his pleasant manners have won for him many friends.

Mr. Chapman was married, April 20, 1857, to Miss Ellen Winslow a native of East Hartford, and a daughter of Daniel Winslow, a prominent citizen of that town. Three children have blessed the union : (1) Alice married Alfred A. Welles, a mechanic in Glastonbury; (2) Arthur died young ; and (3) Lela married Dr. Julius E. Kinney, of Denver, Colo., a successful specialist in lung and stomach diseases. The family is identified with the Episcopal Church, our subject and his wife being active members. Politically Mr. Chapman is a stanch Republican, and at present he is serving as justice of the peace. He is a member of Daskam Lodge, No. 86, F. & A. M., also of Elm Lodge, I. O. O. F., and has held offices in both, being District Deputy Grand Master in the I. O. O. F. at the present time.

CHARLES CHAPMAN, a highly-respected resident of Glastonbury, was born April 26, 1843, in a house that stands north of his present home. Mr. Chapman received a district-school educa- tion, while assisting in the work of the home farm, and later he practically took charge of the place, relieving his father from care in his old age. Since the death of the latter he has conducted the farm, devoting his attention, as before, to tobacco culture and general farming. He resides in a house which was occupied by his father as a hotel for many

years. His genial disposition is appreciated among a large circle of acquaintances, and socially he is identified with Elm Lodge, No. 53, 1. O. O. F., at Glastonbury. In religious belief he is liberal, and in politics he affiliates with the Democratic party, his interest being limited, however, to voting reg- ularly. Mr. Chapman married Miss Henrietta Wright, a native of Glastonbury, and daughter of Charles and Caroline (Foster) Wright. They have children as follows: (I) Robert Azel, born May 24, 1872, was married, on Nov. 30, 1896, to Anna Lee, of Glastonbury, and has one child, Olive, born Nov. 7, 1898; (2) Bertha L., born Sept. 26, 1878; and (3) Lena, born June 5, 1881, are at home.

FREDERICK W. PECK, M. D. If Puritan and early Colonial ancestry mean anything in the achievement of men of the present generation there is every reason why the life of the subject of these lines should be prosperous and successful, for in various lines his ancestry extends back to the times when the eastern shores of the continent were first peopled with carnest, liberty-loving colonists. Achievement has already come to this young physi- cian, not merely in the practice which he has at- tained in a brief period of time but in the acquire- ment of a thorough medical education by his own unaided efforts.

Dr. Peck is eighth in the line of descent from Deacon Paul Peck, who emigrated from England to Massachusetts, and about 1635 came with Thomas Hooker from that Colony to Connecticut, and set - tled at Hartford. The old Peck homestead was lo- cated just back of the capitol. The line of descent comes through (2) Samuel Peck, (3) Samuel Peck and (4) Zebulon Peck to the latter's son Lament Peck, the great-grandfather of our sub- ject. Zebulon Peck settled at Bristol and there Lament Peck was born. The latter was a farmer, and became one of the largest landowners of the town. He married Rachel Tracy, of Marlboro, who bore him six sons and three daughters, as follows : Richard, Tracy, Epaphroditus, Nehemiah, James Ghoram, Neoman, Sally ( who married Cap- tain Bunnell), Susanna ( Mrs. Sylvester Rich, of Bristol) and Rachel ( Mrs. Israel Russell, of Mid- dletown).

Nehemiah Peck, grandfather of our subject, was born in 1793 at Bristol, Conn. He followed farming through life, and like his father became an extensive landholder. He married Miss Mar- tha Scoville, daughter of Seeley Scoville, of Plym- outh, descendants of the Waterbury Scovilles. To Nehemiah and Martha Peck were born eight chil- dren, as follows: James, who died in infancy ; Mary, who married Charles Shumway; Nehemiah, deceased ; James G., father of our subject ; David Brainard, formerly colonel of the Seventh Regi- ment, Vermont Volunteer Infantry, and now re- siding in Cleveland, Ohio; Susan, who died young ; Sarah Bunnell, who married Percey Rice, of Cleve-

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land, Ohio; and William Henry Harrison, born in1 1841, captain in the 7th Vt. V. I. Nehemiah Peck, father of this family, in addition to his agri- cultural interests seized the meager commercial and manufacturing opportunities of his day, and made frequent trips to the South, selling clocks. He was a thrifty man, and one of the substantial citi- zens of Bristol, noted among other things for his accurate and extensive geographical knowledge. He died in 1861, aged sixty-eight years, surviving his wife twelve years.

James G. Peck, father of Dr. Peck, was born May 28, 1831, at Pompey, Onondaga Co., N. Y. When six years old he settled with his parents in North Haven and thence came in 1843 to New Britain. He was educated in that city, and also attended the schools in Hartford and Williston for a short time. His school days ended when he was twenty years of age, but not his education, for he has not only learned the practical lessons of life but has dipped constantly into books and current literature, and thus become one of the well-in- formed men on all matters of public interest. He was reared a farmer, but, acquiring the trade of house carpenter, has followed same for over thirty years. From 1852 to 1861 he lived in the western part of Illinois, but since that time has been a resi- dent of New Britain. Inheriting Whig political predilections from his father, he voted for General Scott, and has been a Republican since the organi- zation of that party in 1856. He is a member of the Congregational Church of New Britain. Mr. Peck married Rebecca Smalley Clark, who was born in February, 1832, and died Dec. 30, 1891. She was a daughter of Dan and Mary ( Whittlesey) Clark, and both lines of her ancestry extend back to the beginning of American history. The paternal line descends from John Clark, one of the earliest emi- grants from Scotland to America, and the line comprises (2) John Clark, of Berlin, Conn., (3) John Clark, (4) Dan Clark, (5) Mathew Clark, (6) Dan Clark, and (7) Rebecca Smalley Clark. The maternal ancestry of Rebecca S. (Clark) Peck is as follows : (1) John Whittlesey, (2) John Whit- tlesey, (3) Eliphalet Whittlesey, (4) Eliphalet Whittlesey, (5) Eliphalet Whittlesey, (6) David Whittlesey, (7) Mary (Whittlesey) Clark and (8) Rebecca S. (Clark) Peck. Mary (Wittlesey) Clark was the granddaughter of Rev. John Smalley. Dan Clark, father of Mrs. Rebecca S. (Clark) Peck, was a prominent citizen of Hartford county. Hle was a colonel of militia, and quite eminent in. military circles. He was a farmer by occupation, and later in life removed to Boone county, Iowa. To James G. and Rebecca S. (Clark) Peck were born four children : Charles Scoville, Martha Eliza- beth, James Stanley (a hardware merchant of New Haven), and Frederick W., subject of this sketch.

Frederick W. Peck was born in New Britain Oct. 28, 1866. ITe was educated in the public schools of New Britain, finishing the prescribed

course at the age of seventeen years, and at once entered the shops of Landers, Frary & Clark, where he served an apprenticeship of four years at the pat- tern maker's trade. He then worked at Corbin's for more than five years. During the period of about ten years which he thus spent at his trade Dr. Peck was a constant student of mechanics, and became proficient in all branches of the mechanical arts which had reference to his trade. But he de- termined to practice the healing art, and diligently set himself to perfect his preparation for that pro- fession. He attended the New York Homeopathic College for two years, and then spent one year in the University at Cleveland, from which he was graduated in 1897. He has supplemented his pro- fessional education with a summer course at Long Island.

In April, 1897, after receiving his diploma, Dr. Peck began practice at New Britain, and he has since met with most gratifying success. If self-education is the best, the most lasting and thorough, and there is good reason for believing that it is, the success of Dr. Peck carries with it a sufficient explanation. He is a member of the American Institute of Ho- meopathy, and of the Connecticut Homeopathic So- ciety. In politics he is a Republican, and in relig- ious faith a member of the Congregational Church.

Dr. Peck married Miss Sarah Babbitt, a daugh. ter of Herbert Babbitt, of Morris, Conn., and they have one son, James F., born Dec. 19, 1899.

CARROLL LIVINGSTON DUDLEY. This versatile, successful and well-known business man of East Berlin has inherited from his father a ca- pacity for work and the management of enterprises, but has devoted his attention largely to milling, in which line he has won deserved distinction, gained by a thorough and comprehensive mastery of its details.

Julius Dudley, the father, was born in 1804, and was one of the political, social and commercial leaders in East Berlin a generation ago. Possessing an active temperament, and an aptitude for busi- ness affairs, he managed for a time a vessel trade between the coasts of New Jersey and New York. For a time he operated a tannery. In politics he was in ante-bellum days an unswerving Democrat, but when the smoldering fires of civil war broke out he espoused the principles of the Republican party. He was county surveyor from Killingworth, and for two sessions represented the town in the State Legislature. He was a brigadier-general in the Connecticut State militia, commanding the New Haven and New London companies. He married Jerusha Stevens, and both are buried in Wilcox cemetery, East Berlin.

Carroll Livingston Dudley, our subject, was born at Killingworth Aug. 23, 1843. He received his early education in the schools of New Bruns- wick, N. J., to which city the parents removed when he was four years of age, later attending a

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private school on Staten Island. At the age of six- teen Mr. Dudley began work in his father's tan- nery and leather works at Durham, Conn., where he remained about a year. He then started for himself a gristmill at Durham, which he operated for a year or longer. With that experience he came to Berlin and leased the old Beckley gristmill, in the Beckley Quarter, which he managed for about two years. Removing to East Berlin, he purchased the J. & E. North gristmill, in that city, and has operated it continuously ever since, in connection therewith operating also a jobbing blacksmith shop. Mr. Dudley in 1892 purchased property from F. C. Wil- cox, on Main street, East Berlin, and also owns sev- enteen acres of land adjoining his home. He takes pleasure in farming as a diversion from what has been his long and successful career as a miller.

Mr. Dudley married Miss Julia Isabelle Dick- enson, daughter of Ferdinand Dickenson, of Ber- lin. He and his wife are attendants of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church of East Berlin. In politics he is a stanch supporter of Republican principles, but he is not a politician in the sense of seeking office or of participating actively in the political af- fairs of the town. He is a member of Mattabessett Lodge, No. 25, K. of P., of East Berlin, and also a prominent member of R. O. Clark Uniformed Rank, K. of P., officiating as captain of the latter organi- zation in 1897-98, and filling offices in the K. of P. lodge. He is a prosperous business man, and de- serves individual credit for his success, for financial reverses which befell his father in later years com- pelled our subject to begin his business career pen- niless, and to carve out his future for himself.

EDWARD F. PARSONS, M. D., has occupied a conspicuous position in civil life as well as in the circle of his profession for nearly forty years, and he has never been found wanting, in either the pub- lic spirit to advocate beneficial changes, or the abil- ity to carry his projects to a successful end.

The Doctor is descended, on both paternal and maternal sides, from the best of that sturdy stock which has given New England birth and New Eng- land training a significance in itself a recommenda- tion of good citizenship and high mental and moral qualities, and his successful career as a physician has given new distinction to a name already honored throughout the State of Connecticut, and specially in Hartford county. Philip Parsons, the first of whom we have record, was born in Massachusetts, and came to Enfield. Conn., when seventeen years old. His fourth son, Nathaniel Parsons, was the Doctor's great-grandfather. He married Alice Col- lins, who was of the fourth generation in direct descent from Gov. Bradford, and a daughter of Rev. Nathaniel and Alice (Adams) Collins, the for- mer the first Congregational clergyman who set- tled in Enfield. Their son, Shubael Parsons, mar- ried Lucy Pease, and they had a son, Eben, who was the father of our subject. Shubael and Eben

Parsons both followed the wheelwright's trade. Eben Parsons married Maria Raynolds Parsons, and through her the Doctor is also descended from old Congregational stock, her great-grandfather, Rev. Peter Raynolds, having been the second pastor of the First Congregational Church of Enfield. He came hither in 1725, being the first of the name to settle in the town, and made his home in Enfield tin- til his death, in 1766. Mrs. Maria Ravnolds Par- sons traced her ancestry from Capt. Nathaniel Ray- nolds, the first American ancestor, throughi Capt. Peter, Rev. Peter, Peter and Capt. Samuel.

Edward Field Parsons was born Nov. 21, 1833, in Enfield. At the age of thirteen years he went to Farmington, this county, where he prepared for col- lege in the private school of Simeon and Edward L. Hart, in 1850 matriculating at Williams College, from which institution he was graduated in 1854. He commenced the study of medicine June 15, 1855, at Saint Johnsbury, Vt., and was graduated in 1858 from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, having attended lectures one year at Dart- mouth College, one year at Jefferson Medical Col- lege, Philadelphia, and one year at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York. The first six years of his professional life were spent in New York City, whence in 1864 he returned to Hartford county, making his home in Thompsonville, where he has remained to the present day. Dr. Parsons' abilities and learning, no less than the skill which he has shown in the active duties of his calling, have made him prominent among the successful physicians of the period, and he now stands among the most prominent members of the profession in his county and State.

Though thoroughly devoted to his life work, Dr. Parsons has nevertheless kept in touch with the various lines of progress in which intelligent minds are interested, and he has found time to serve his fellow citizens in different capacities, his ability proving no less valuable when exercised in matters of public welfare than it has in his private affairs. For twenty-five years he was a member of the board of school visitors of Thompsonville, public educa- tion being a special object of his attention and care, and it was no doubt due, in part at least, to his in- fluence that the town of Enfield voted to consolidate the school districts, as he was an enthusiastic cham- pion of the town management of the schools. In 1887 he was honored with election to the State Leg- islature on the Republican ticket, and during his term served on the committee on Insurance. In professional connection the Doctor is a member of the American Medical Association, and of the Con- necticut State Medical Society, and socially he unites with the Temple of Honor. He attends the First Presbyterian Church of Thompsonville, of which he is an active member and an elder.

Dr. Parsons has been thrice married. In 1860 he wedded Miss Mary H. Bowman, daughter of Col. Amory H. Bowman, of New Braintree, Mass., and,

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she dying in 1875, he married, for his second wife, in 1876, Miss Ella Bates, of Worcester, Mass. Her death occurred in August, 1879, and in 1881 he married Miss Margaret J. Harrison, daughter of William and Isabella Harrison, of New York City.

EMERSON ELIHU OLCOTT. The career of this well-known resident of Glastonbury affords an excellent example in industry and enterprise, as he started in life without capital, and has attained substantial success.

Among the first settlers of the town of Hart- ford was Thomas Olcott, an Englishman. Well- educated, and bringing with him the ripe experi- ence and substantial rewards gained in years of mercantile business in England, he was well fitted to assist in the building up of the commerce of the new colony, and as a dealer in furs established an extensive and profitable trade. On arriving in America he spent some time in Massachusetts, vis- iting the various seaboard settlements, and resid- ing last in Newtown (now Cambridge). The ad- vantages of this section were apparent to his far- sighted judgment, and he located permanently in Hartford, purchasing from Edward Hopkins the lot now occupied by the "American Hotel," on the east side of the Public Square, fronting on Main street, and bounded on the other sides by Pearl, Trumbull and Asylum streets. The title was trans- ferred to him by Edward Hopkins, to whom it was given in the original distribution of land in the town, and remained for many generations in the possession of the Olcott family. Thomas Ol- cott died in 1654, when about forty-five years of age, leaving three sons and two daughters. His wife Abigail died May 26, 1693, aged seventy- eight years, and was interred May. 29, following. Their children were as follows: Thomas, Samuel, John (baptized Feb. 3. 1649), Elizabeth (baptized Dec. 7, 1649) and Hannah.

(II) Thomas Olcott, of Hartford, son of Thomas, the pioneer, is supposed to have been living in 1719. His wife Mary survived him, and died May 3, 1721, at Windsor, Conn. They had the fol- lowing children : Abigail, who died March 14, 1688, at Springfield, Mass., while on a visit to relatives; Mary; Thomas; Samuel, who died May 10, 1696 ; and John, who was drowned in the river while bathing.

(111) Thomas Olcott, third in the line of de- scent, was born in 1712, and died in 1788. He mar- ried an attractive young woman named Phoebe who survived him many years, dying at Canton, Conn., in 1814. By this marriage there were eight chil- dren : Isaac, Thomas, Abel, Phincas, Isaiah, Lydia, Elizabeth, and Rachel.

(IV) Isaac Olcott, our subject's great-grand- father, was born at New Hartford, Conn., in 1762. On March 10, 1778, he enlisted in the Revolution- arv army, where he served for four years under the following officers: Capt. Herman Robinson, Col.

Swift, Capt. Not, Capt. Smith, and Gen. Waterbury. He took part in the skirmish at Putnam's Steps, and was probably an eye-witness to Putnam's ride down the steps. On May 6, 1833, he made application for a pension, but the claim was not allowed until after his death, which occurred April 23, 1834. He married the widow of Elihu Smith, and had only one child, Isaiah.

(V) Isaiah Olcott, our subject's grandfather, was born in Glastonbury in July, 1799. He was one of the first pilots on the Connecticut river, and was on the "Oliver Ellsworth" when that vessel blew up. In his later years he was employed in the Curtis factory, the last year of his life being spent in retirement. On Feb. 3, 1830, he married Julia Waterman, daughter of Jahez and Anna Water- man, and they had four children: (I) Isaac Isaiah, a well-known resident of Glastonbury (to whom we are indebted for much of this information), born Sept. 11, 1831, married Ellen E. Risley, of Madi- son county, N. Y. (2) Jahez Waterman, born Nov. 6, 1823, married Louis Ferguson; they had one son, Isaac Waterman, a very bright and prom- ising young man, who was instructor of manual training at the school at Norwich at the time of his death, June 1, 1894. (3) Elihu Smith, born Sept. 13, 1835, is mentioned below. (4) George Henry, the youngest son, born Nov. 7, 1837, died in 1856.

(VI) Elihu Smith Olcott, our subject's father, was born Sept. 13, 1835, in Naubuc, Conn., in the house now occupied by Isaac Olcott. He received a common-school education in an old frame build- ing since replaced by a brick structure. After leav- ing school he was employed by the Curtis Manu- facturing Co. in various capacities until his en- listment in August, 1862, in Company G, Twenty- fifth Connecticut Volunteers. Under command of Capt. Charles Talcott, and Col. George Bissell, president of the bank that bore his name, they first went into camp at Hartford, later proceeding to Long Island, where they remained until December. They then went on a steam vessel to New Orleans, and after encamping a short time above that city they wintered at Baton Rouge. In the following March they moved toward Port Hudson, where they lost the first man in their regiment in a picket skirmish. Later they marched to Donaldsonville and then to Red River, fighting on the way a spir- ited battle at Irish Bend, in which they were vic- torious. For forty-five days they were at Port Hudson, the city being under continued bombard- ment, and after the surrender, which took place July 8, 1863, they returned by boat to Donaldson- ville. The Rebels were endeavoring to fortify, but they dislodged them. They then started for Hart- ford, where Elihu Olcott was mustered out Aug. 26, 1863, his time having expired. Returning to Glastonbury, he has since been almost continuously in the employ of the Curtis Manufacturing Co., now known as the Williams Manufacturing Co.

E. S. Olcott

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On Nov. 29, 1855, Mr. Olcott married Miss Jane Adams, who was born in 1831. She is the adopted daughter of Russell and Mercy M. (Griswold) Adams, the former a miller and farmer of South Wethersfield. Four children were born of this union: (1) Emma G. (deceased), born Dec. 13, 1856, married Perkins C. Bennett, now a resident of Providence, R. I .; (2) Emerson E. is mentioned more fully below; (3) Harry E., born July 21, 1869, is mentioned elsewhere; and (4) Frank L., born Jan. 15, 1872, died Sept, 12, 1892, and was buried in Glastonbury.

Emerson E. Olcott was born Dec. 7, 1859, in Naubuc, and during his early years attended the common and select schools of the locality, work- ing in the long summer vacations to pay his ex- penses. On leaving school he became a burnisher in the American Sterling Co.'s shops, at Naubuc, his father being the overseer in that department at the time. The work was paid for "by the piece," and our subject's industry enabled him to make excellent wages. After a short time he went to Wallingford to take a position in the shop of Wallace & Sons. On returning to Glastonbury he worked at various occupations, and in 1886, having saved his earnings carefully, he bought four or five acres of land, upon which he built his present residence. This tract formed the nucleus for his farm of fourteen acres, where he now carries on general farming and a stone quarry on the place also promises well as an investment. After the fire of 1894 destroyed a business block in Glastonbury, he purchased the land and built a store, which he opened in 1895 with a stock of groceries. He and his brother Harry E. conducted this business in partnership until 1898, when our subject with- drew, preferring to give his attention to agricult- ure and the management of his quarry, in connec- tion with which he keeps several truck teams constantly employed in hauling stone. Mr. Olcott is a Republican in politics, and has served as first selectman two years (1894-95), and was second selectman in 1896. Socially he belongs to the I. O. O. F., Elm Lodge, No. 53, has held offices in the same, and is also a member of Monitor Council, No. 62, O. U. A. M. He and his wife are members of the Congregational Church at Glastonbury, and the family takes an active interest in church work.

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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 118

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