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 136

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 136

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(IV) Benjamin Cheney, son of Peter Cheney (2), born 1698-99, in Newbury, married in 1724, in Hartford, Conn., Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Elmer) Long. Benjamin Cheney bought an interest in a sawmill in East Hartford, Con., in 1721. He was a carpenter and joiner and wheelwright, and his sons inherited the ability to work with tools which they applied in clockmaking, boat-building and other ingenious ways. He ac- quired considerable land, carried on farming opera- tions on a large scale, and amassed a large prop- erty. His children were: Benjamin, Abiel, Eliza- beth, Timothy, Silas and Asahel.

(V) Timothy Cheney, son of Benjamin Cheney, · born May 10, 1731, in East Hartford, Conn., mar- ried (first), in 1758, Mary, daughter of Nathaniel and Hannah (Pitkin) Olcott. She died in 1786, and in 1787 he married (second) Martha, daugh- ter of Mathew and Martha ( Perkins) Loomis, and widow of Lemuel White, of East Hartford. Tim- othy Cheney's home was in the "Five Mile" Dis- trict, which first became entitled "Orford," and later was incorporated as Manchester. He was clerk of Orford Ecclesiastical Society at its establishment, in 1792. Ile was captain of a militia company, and, as tradition has it, was detailed. by request of Gen. Washington, to make powder-sieves for the army. He died Sept. 27, 1797. His children were: Timothy, Elizabeth, Mary, Asahel, George, Clarissa and Polly.

(VI) George Cheney, son of Timothy Cheney, was born Dec. 20, 1771, and married, Oct. 18, 1798, Electa Woodbridge, who was born Jan. 2, 1781, daughter of Deodatus and Esther ( Wells) Wood- bridge, and descended from Rev. John Woodbridge, of Stanton, England, through Rev. John (of New- bury, Mass.), Rev. Benjamin, Rev. Samuel, Russell and Deodatus. The children of George and Electa Cheney were: George Wells, John, Charles, Ralph, Seth Wells, Ward, Rush, Frank and Electa, of whom Frank is the only son living at this time ( 1900). Electa, now Mrs. Richard Goodman, of Lenox, Mass., also survives.

(\'11) George Wells Cheney, son of George Cheney, born in 1799, married, in 1824, Mary, daughter of Calvin and Lovina ( Wilson) Cheney, and died in 1841. He was highly esteemed for his upright character, and greatly respected by his fel- low citizens, holding the offices of town clerk and justice of the peace from 1828 until his death, and his decisions were so just and equitable that no appeal was ever taken in a case he once decided. His children were: George Wells, John S., Mary E., Charles E., William H., Emily F., James W., and Caroline W. Of these, John S. was State senator and has served as judge of probate, also as member of the State Sewage commission. James W. has

been active in the politics of State, county and town ; is one of the directors of the Connecticut State Prison, and is a member of the Connecticut River, Bridge and District Commission.

( VII) Charles Cheney, son of George Cheney, born Dec. 26, 1803, married ( first ), in 1829, Waitstill Dexter, daughter of Mason and Mary Brown ( How- ell) Shaw, of Belchertown. His children, all by this marriage, were: Frank Dexter, Frank Wood- bridge, Mary Howell, Sarah Shaw, Knight Dexter and Anna Wells. The mother of these died in 1841, and in 1847 the father married ( second) Harriet .A., daughter of Henry Bowen, of Providence, R. I. She died in 1870. Charles Cheney died June 20, 1874. He was a most systematic business man, and took an important part in organizing the Silk Man- ufacturing Co. which he and his brothers founded at South Manchester, Conn., in 1836. At his death the Hartford Courant observed: "The deceased for a time resided in this city, and won the highest respect of every one with whom he was acquainted. He will be remembered here as one always gen- erous and prompt in acts of benevolence, doing good for the love of it, and modestly shrinking from any unnecessary prominence. His loss will be deeply mourned here and in the village which his business enterprise has helped to build up, and which his taste and generosity, with the harmonious co-operation of others of his family, have done much to beautify."

(VII) Ralph Cheney, son of George, Cheney, born Jan. 13, 1806, married, in 1833, Jerusha D., daughter of Stephen B. Goodwin, of Wethersfield, Conn. She died in 1860. They adopted two chil- dren, Mary and Richard Otis. Ralph Cheney died in March, 1897. He was fond of agricultural pur- suits, and devoted most of his life to farming, being also interested in the development of the silk in- dustry, and a partner with his brothers in that business.

(VII) Seth Wells Cheney, son of George Cheney, born Nov. 26, 1810, married (first), in 1847, Emily Woodbridge, daughter of Horace Pit- kin, of Manchester. She died in 1850, and in 1853 he married (second) Ednah Dow, daughter of Sergeant Smith and Edna Parker (Dow) Little- hale. Seth Wells Cheney died in 1856. Most of his life was spent in travel and in the study of engraving, crayon work and oil-painting. He worked with his brother John in engraving, and, beginning with home-made tools. rose to command the respect of the artistic world, producing many portraits and paintings which are highly prized to- day. His only child, Margaret S., born in 1855, (lied in 1882.

(VII) Ward Cheney, son of George Cheney, born Feb. 23, 1813, married Caroline Jackson. She died in 1865, and he passed away in 1876. He was a man of great executive ability, of splendid physique and personal magnetism, much beloved by all who came in contact with him in business or the social circle. He took an active part in

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the introduction of the Chinese mulberry into this country, and in the raising of silk worms, and was largely identified with his brothers in the busi- ness of manufacturing silk in South Manchester. His children were: Louis, Alice and Arthur.

"Mr. Ward Cheney was of a peculiarly genial and sunny disposition, cordial and hospitable in his nature, and of such bright and cheerful pres- ence as to inspire all who came in contact with him and to win irresistibly the love of those about him. Mr. Cheney was born in Manchester, where most of his business life was passed. When a young man he went to Providence to clerk in the store of his brother Charles, then in mercantile business, and there received an excellent business training. He was a man to rely upon at all times and in all places, one fitted for any public position to which his fellow citizens might have called him. He only once consented to take a political position, serving in the House of Representatives in 1854. His kindly heart and genial character were not shown alone in his beautiful home-many other homes having been made brighter by his presence, and in times of suffering and sorrow, or distress of any kind, there was all of manly strength and womanly tenderness in Ward Cheney which any emergency might call for."

(VII) Rush Cheney, son of George Cheney, born April 25, 1815, married, in 1847, Julia A., daughter of Horace W. and Bridget (Grant) Goodwin. She died in 1867, and he in 1882. He possessed inventive talent as well as capability in the application of mechanical principles to manu- facturing, and thus contributed a very important element to the building up of the silk manufacture, in which he was engaged most of his life. His children were: Anne Wells, Harry Grant, Louise and Robert. At the death of Mr. Cheney the Press said :

"Rush Cheney was born and brought up in Manchester, and, with the exception of a brief sojourn in New Jersey for the sake of an experi- ment in mulberry culture in 1836, and of periods of travel in Europe and California, his whole life has been spent in the neighborhood of his early home, among the quiet domestic surroundings which he preferred. Until quite recently he has been en- gaged in the business of the silk company he had helped to create, and of which he has been since the death of Mr. Ward Cheney, in 1876, the pre- siding officer. But though he was by habit a busi- ness man, all his natural tastes and endowments fitted him for the life of an artist. Lover of nature, of art and music, he illustrated each in the simple beauty and harmony of his life. Those who have lived near him have recognized in him a fineness and transparency of nature, through which, as through the medium of a clear glass, his modest and retiring virtues have shone with a pure radiance. He has been greatly honored and beloved by all about him, and no one could approach him without feeling his gracious and kindly influence."

(VII) Frank Cheney, son of George Cheney, born July 5, 1817, married, in 1853, Susan J., daugh- ter of Daniel C. and Susan (Jarvis) Cushing. She was born May 9, 1827, at Providence, R. I. A natural mechanic, he joined with his brother Rush in the invention and construction of ma- chinery which made the family business success- ful. His children are: Katherine S., Mary, Alice B., Frank and Paul H.

(VIII) George Wells Cheney, son of George Wells Cheney, and the eldest of his generation, was born Aug. 14, 1825, in Manchester, and there re- ceived his education, being reared in his native place. Up to within fifteen years of his decease he was connected with the silk business, and he ably sustained the family reputation for ability of a high order. He took an active part in public af- fairs, serving for many years as justice of the peace, and as chairman of the town committee, and was deeply interested in benevolent work, though un- ostentatious in his benefactions. In religious con- nection he was a member of the Catholic Apostolic Church of Hartford. In 1850 Mr. Cheney was married, in Marlboro, this county, to Miss Harriet Richmond, daughter of William Wadsworth Rich- mond, and a descendant of Elder William Brewster, of Plymouth Colony. Three children were born to this union : : Wells Wadsworth, Louis Rich- mond and George Herbert, all mentioned below. The father died at South Manchester Dec. 29, 1893, and the mother passed away at her home there Sept. 10, 1900, after enjoying the same high respect which was accorded her husband by all who knew him.

(IX) Wells Wadsworth Cheney, born in South Manchester May 30, 1857, was educated at the schools there, also at Hartford Public High School, and at Wilbraham, Mass. He is connected with the silk mills. On April 19. 1887, he married Lucy Compton Street, of Ormond, Fla., and they have one son, George Wells, born Aug. 9, 1888.

(IX) LOUIS RICHMOND CHENEY was born April 27, 1859, in South Manchester, and passed his early life there, receiving his primary educa- tion. Subsequently he attended the Hartford Pub- lic High School, from which he was graduated. His business career was commenced in the Cheney Brothers mill at Manchester, where he remained three years, later spending seven years in the fac- tory at Hartford, and four years in New York City, in the sales department. He has since made his home in Hartford, where he has engaged some- what in the real-estate business, and he has also acted as trustee for several estates. The public affairs of his adopted city have received a due share of his time and attention, and he is at present serving as alderman from the Tenth ward. Under Gov. Coffin he served as assistant quartermaster- general of the State, and he is commanding officer of the Governor's Foot Guard. Socially he holds membership in the S. A. R., Society of Colonial Wars, and in various clubs; also being a director

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in the Connecticut River Banking Co., the Hart- ford Hospital and the American School for the Deaf. On April 16, 1890, Mr. Cheney married Mary .A., daughter of Lucius F. and Eliza ( Trum- bull ) Robinson, and they have one child, Eliza Trumbull.

(1X) George Herbert Cheney, born Sept. 3, 1861, in South Manchester, was educated partly in the schools there, and was graduated from the Hartford Public High School. He is a broker in New York City. On Dec. 20, 1893, he married Isabel Bartlett, of Brooklyn, New York.

GEORGE ELLIS, late secretary of the Tray- elers Insurance Co. of Hartford, who died June 25, 1898, after a brief illness, at his home in Weth- ersfield avenue, came of old and prominent New England stock. He was a man of great social charm, widely esteemed throughout Connecticut, and as an insurance man known throughout the country.

Mr. Ellis was a son of Benjamin F. and Rulina (Perry) Ellis, and was born in Hartford Sept. 27. 1843. He was educated at the Hartford Pub- lic High School, and entered Trinity College in 1860 (class of '64). Volunteering his services in the defense of the Union, he was appointed by Secretary Welles assistant engineer in the navy, left college in 1861, and entered the service, hold- ing that position until 1868. He was with Farragut at Mobile, and in the engagements at Galveston and on the Rio Grande. Leaving the navy, Mr. Ellis was appointed civil engineer in the construction of the Southern Minnesota railroad, residing in La Crosse, Wis., until 1871, when he returned to Hart- ford. There he came in contact with James G. Batterson, president of the Travelers Insurance Co., who offered Mr. Ellis the position of actuary in that company, a position which he held until the day of his death. He was unanimously elected secretary and director of the company Jan. 27, 1897. He was a member of the Loyal Legion, Army and Navy Club, Sons of the Revolution, American Society of Actuaries, and Church Club of Connecticut, and a number of clubs in other cities. A lineal descendant of Gov. Bradford, of Plymouth Colony, he was a member of the New England Society of Mayflower Descendants. He was also a member of the Hartford Club and the Connecticut Historical Society. As a member of the board of police commissioners he served the city of Hartford for fourteen years under different administrations. At the time of his death he was a director in the City Bank and The Society for Savings, and senior warden of Christ Church. On the day of his death, in a public letter, President Batterson thus wrote of him:

The business period of his life was devoted to the inter- ests of the Travelers Insurance Co .; and twenty-four years of honest, faithful service endeared him to his associates by ties which sweeten the memory of a faithful servant and a loyal friend. He was a patient listener to the opinions of

others, but firm in his convictions of duty and adherence to truth. With a pure heart and clean lips, he was never heard to use profane or angry words under any circumstances. For many years the senior warden of Christ Church, his filial devotion to her services and ministrations was a marked characteristic of his Christian life. He could truthfully say: " Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honor dwelleth." The company, the community, and the various fraternities with which he was affihated, have suffered a great loss, for his busy, helpful hand is still. Through the last long night he hungered for the light and air; when morning came he slept-but his new life had begun.

Mr. Ellis was married, May 13, 1868, in Albany, N. Y., to Janet Stevens, daughter of John and Agnes Gordon ( Lauder ) McEwan. She was born in Glasgow, Scotland, Aug. 1, 1847, and died Dec. 4. 1896. The children born to them were: (1) George William, born Dec. 6, 1870, in Albany, N. Y., was graduated from Trinity College, Hartford, in 1894, and is now connected with the Travelers Insurance Co. He married Miss Aimee Freeland Corson, a granddaughter of the late William R. Cone, and has one son. George Corson Ellis. (2) Alfred Lauder, born April 21, 1877, in Hartford, was graduated from Trinity College in the class of 1898, and is now in the Cornell Medical School, in New York. (3) John McEwan, born Nov. 3, 1881, in Hartford, now a student at Cornell Uni- versity.

Benjamin Franklin Ellis, father of the late George Ellis, was born Nov. 3. 1814, in Glaston- bury, Conn. He was married, Nov. 19, 1840, to Rulina, daughter of John and Sally (Belcher) Perry, of Wales, Mass. He removed to Hartford, where for many years he was a contractor and builder, retiring from business in the early 'eighties. He was a vestryman of Christ Church for many years. He survives at this writing ( 1901), at the advanced age of eighty-seven. His father, Benja- min Baker Ellis, was born at Norwich, Conn., and was for many years a ship builder-of privateers and vessels in the West Indies trade-at South Glastonbury. On May 13, 1798, in Enfield, he mar- ried Alice, daughter of Lemuel Kingsbury.

Dr. Benjamin Baker Ellis, of Norwich, Conn., the father of Benjamin Baker Ellis, was a direct descendant in the male line of the old Ellis family of Dedham, Mass. His wife. Alice (Kingsbury) Ellis, was a descendant in the seventh generation from (I) Henry Kingsbury, who came to America from Groton, County of Suffolk, England, in com- pany with Gov. John Winthrop, in 1630. His name stands No. 25, and his wife's No. 26, among the members of the First Church in Boston. (II) Henry Kingsbury (2), born in England in 1615, married Susannah . (III) Joseph Kings- bury, son of Henry (2), born at Ipswich in March, 1657. married Love Ayres, of Haverhill, Mass., April 2, 1679. In 1708 he removed to Norwich, Conn., where he died in 1741. (IV) Nathaniel Kingsbury, son of Joseph, was born at Ipswich Aug. 23. 1684. married, in Haverhill, Hannah, daughter of Rev. John Denison, in 1709. In 1712

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he removed from Norwich to Windham, and in 1725 to Coventry, Tolland Co., Conn., where she died in 1772. (V) Joseph Kingsbury (2), son of Nathaniel, born March 27, 1721, in Windham, mar- ried, in 1745, May Loomis, of Bolton, Conn. Oni April 7, 1757, he removed to Enfield, Conn., hav- ing bought 500 acres of land in that town. He was a member of the Assembly from that town from 1778 to 1785, and a delegate from Enfield for the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.

(VI) Lemuel Kingsbury, son of Joseph (2), born Sept. 14, 1752, married. Dec. 23, 1773, Alice, daughter of Samuel Terry, of Enfield, an account of whose ancestry is set forth elsewhere. He was a minute-man in 1776, and a cornet in the 5th Regi- ment of Light Horse. He was a Jeffersonian, casting the only vote for Jefferson in the town of Enfield, for which action he was requested to resign his church and public offices. His wife died March 25, 1831, and he died Sept. 14, 1846, aged ninety- four years.

Through Ann Collins, wife of Ephraim Terry, Mr. Ellis traced his ancestry through Rev. Na- thaniel Collins, the first pastor of the church of Enfield: Rev. Nathaniel Collins, pastor of the church in Middletown from 1668 to 1684: to Dea - con Edward Collins, of Cambridge, Mass., 1636.

Through Alice Adams, wife of Rev. Nathaniel Collins, Mr. Ellis traced his ancestry through William Adams, Jr., second minister of the church at Dedham (who came with his parents in the "Ann" from London, in 1635), to William Adams, the pioneer ancestor of the family in Cambridge, in 1635.

Through Alice Bradford, wife of Rev. William Adams, and daughter of William Bradford, deputy governor of Plymouth Colony from 1682 to 1687, Mr. Ellis traced his ancestry to Gov. Bradford, of the Plymouth Colony.

THEODORE M. LINCOLN (deceased), for many years a prominent and successful business man in Hartford, was a native of that city, born March 16, 1830, a son of Levi and Malinda (Miles) Lincoln, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere.

Our subject was educated in Hartford, in early manhood removing to New York, where he was em- ployed as a bookkeeper for a time. Returning to Hartford he embarked in the manufacture of fancy iron fences, in which he continued until his death, Feb. 25. 1863. For many years he was a member and trustee of the Pearl Street Congregational Church, and his life was a practical illustration of what ability, energy and force of character can ac- complish : while promoting his own interests he materially assisted in the advancement of the wel- fare of the community at large. In his political preferences he was a Whig and Republican. In Hartford, April 2, 1857. Mr. Lincoln married Mary J. Winship, who was born Nov. 25, 1833.

Mrs. Theodore M. Lincoln is a daughter of Joseph and Mary ( Ives) Winship, the former of

whom was a son of Joseph, a leading farmer of Hartford, where he died at the age of fifty years; he married Mehitabel Rhodes, of Wethersfield, and had a family of five children, all now deceased. Grandmother Winship lived to the patriarchal age of ninety years, and their son Walter, Mrs. Lin- coln's uncle, reached the age of ninety-one, dying in Hartford in 1890. He was employed by Rob- bins & Winship.

Joseph Winship, the father of Mrs. Lincoln, learned the trade of cabinetmaker, and in partner- ship with P. F. Robbins conducted a furniture man- ufacturing business for many years in Hartford, theirs being the oldest establishment of the kind in the city, turning out the finest line of furniture, much of which may still be seen in the homes of the wealthier families of Hartford and other places. He died in 1888, at the age of seventy- nine, having been in business for over forty years, and was much missed in the community, where he was held in the greatest respect and esteem as a man of strict integrity. An influential and devout men- ber of the South Baptist Church, he was senior deacon in same, and held other offices. His late home, where still reside Mrs. Lincoln and her sis- ter, Mrs. Whitelaw, is one of the finest and most comfortable in the city, and in the grounds sur- rounding it he was wont to spend many a pleasant sunny day, attending to his fruit trees, shrubs and vines, for he raised a considerable quantity of fine fruit, especially grapes, celebrated all over this sec- tion, and for which he invariably took prizes at ag- ricultural shows and other occasions. Mrs. Lin- coln's sister, Cornelia E., living with her, was mar- ried, May 19, 1875, to William H. Whitelaw, at present a collector, but formerly in the grocery busi- ness in Hartford. They have had one son, Theo- dore W., who died Feb. 25, 1886, aged five and a half years. Mr. Whitelaw enlisted, at Watertown, Conn., in July, 1862, in Company D, 19th Conn. V. 1., afterward the 2d Conn. Heavy Artillery, and did garrison duty at the fortifications in Washington until the last of May, 1864. He was then assigned to the 6th Corps, and his first fight was at Cold Harbor, June 1, 1864. The regiment was trans- ferred to Washington from City Point in July. in time to save Washington from the attack of Gen. Early, and from that time on was between Washing- ton and the enemy. He was wounded at the battle of Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864, and was discharged May 18, 1865, at the New Haven Hospital, for wounds received. Mr. Whitelaw is a member of Robert O. Tyler Post, No. 50, G. A. R.

ROBERT WARDELL ROLLINS. general manager of the Hartford Electric Light Co., Hart- ford, and one of the most prominent young business men of the city, comes of old New England stock.

John A. Rollins, the progenitor of this numerous and widely scattered family, came to this country from England in 1632. Edward A. Rollins, grand- father of our subject, was from Wolfboro, N. H.,

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and located in Newbury, Vt., when about twenty years old. He married Nancy Meserve, and set- tled on a small farm in the Wallace district, fol- lowing lumbering during the winter. He was a noted ox teamster during that early period, when ox-teams and bob-sleds were exclusively used in hauling in the immense first growth of pines. Ed- ward .A. Rollins reared a family of eleven children, ten of whom arrived at maturity, and only one, Henry G., now remains in the town.

Henry G. Rollins was born in 1832 in New- bury. Soon after attaining his majority he en- gaged for five years in the lumber business at Bol- tonville, with his brother Samuel. In 1857 he mar- ried Harriet Wardell, of Boltonville. Returning to his farm, he displayed unusual energy, doing a lively business in the winter in the delivery and sale of logs, bark and cordwood. This farm, to which the elder Rollins moved the year before Henry was born, is a fertile upland tract, and has been increased by subsequent purchases until now it contains more than 300 acres. Some fifteen years since Mr. Rollins built his present fine residence. Formerly interested in sheep and young stock, which he fitted for an early market. he has recently given his attention to dairying, keeping from fifteen to twenty cows. When the Civil war broke out he "left the plowshare in the mold" and enlisted in the 12tl Vt. V. I., Col. A. P. Blunt, and served faith- fully until his discharge. Members of the Rollins family have aided their country faithfully as soldiers since the early days, and there is a record of twenty- three of the name who served in the old French war ; of fifty who served their country in the army of the Revolution : of many who fought in 1812; and of more than one hundred who defended the flag in tlie great Rebellion, among others Henry G., as al- ready noted ; his brother Justin L., who enlisted in an Ohio regiment and passed through nineteen bat- tles unharmed : and another brother. Jonas M .. of Danvers, Mass., who was wounded at Antietam. Such a record of loyalty and patriotism is not often equalled, and would do honor to any name.

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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 136

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