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 141

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 141

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Lieut .- Col. Thompson is one of the most re- spected citizens of Hartford. He has been active and influential in social and religious life. For half a dozen years or more he was assistant superintend- ent of the Center Congregational Church Sunday- school, and was treasurer for one year of the Con- necticut Temperance Union, of which the late Gov. Buckingham was the first president. He declined a second term on account of increasing business duties. Col. Thompson has been treasurer since 1878, and a member of the board of deacons of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church for eighteen years. He is now a director, and was president for four years from 1894 of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion of Hartford. He is president of the City

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Missionary Society of Hartford, and an auditor of the Connecticut Humane Society.

Col. Thompson has always taken a keen inter- est in the prosperity and advancement of the Hart- ford High school, and served as its treasurer for the year 1895, and as chairman of the committee four years until June, 1900. The new addition and man- ual training building connected with the school building were built and equipped while he was chairman.

On Sept. 14. 1868, Col. Thompson was married to Miss Abby Frances Allen of Hartford, daugh- ter of Charles and Harriet R. (Sharpe) Allen, and three children have blessed the union, namely : Arthur R., Harriet M. and Emma J. Arthur R. was grad- uated from Yale College in 1896, and was the "Class Poet ;" he is special agent in Hartford for the Con- necticut Mutual Life Insurance Co., and has just completed, and published from the press of Little, Brown & Co., Boston, a work entitled "Gold Seek- ing Along the Dalton Trail." In 1894 he went to Greenland with Dr. Cook's Arctic expedition. Harriet M., a graduate of the high school, married on July 17, 1900, Prof. Alfred M. Hitchcock, in- structor of English in the same school, and Emma J. is a senior in the high school.

The mother of Col. Thompson was a descendant of Governor Roger Wolcott of Connecticut.

MARY HALL. A long line of sturdy, intelli- gent New England ancestry could not fail to prove a priceless heritage, but it also entails a heavy respon- sibility, inasmuch as the present generation must, in the natural order of things, ever maintain an unusually high standard, that future generations may find the family escutcheon of undimmed lustre. For generations the name of Hall has been familiar in the history of Connecticut, and Miss Mary Hall, who was until two years ago the only woman practic- ing law in the State, (for thirteen years being the only woman lawyer in the State) is a gifted expo- nent of a highly esteemed and widely known fam- ily. In 1630, Dr. John Hall left the old family home in Warwickshire, England, and sailed for the New World, where he located in Charlestown, Mass. His son, Elisha, became the father of Ebenezer, who settled in Yarmouth, Mass. Seth, the son of Eben- ezer, was the first of the direct line to leave the old Bay State, and he settled in Tolland county, Con- necticut, where also lived his son, Amos. Amos Hall grew to manhood and married, and in his fam- ily was a son, Ezra. Ezra Hall passed his life in the vicinity of his home in Tolland county, but he was highly educated and for a number of years was a teacher. He married Phila Ford, and was the fa- ther of Gustavus Ezra.

Gustavus Ezra Hall was born in Tolland coun- ty, and passed his early life on a farm in what is now Marlborough, Hartford county, but at that time was in Tolland county. He was educated in the public schools and for a time attended a private school. On reaching man's estate he began the

lumbering business, and successfully followed that. business for many years. In politics he was an ar- dent supporter of the Democratic party, but on the- breaking out of the Civil war he gave his support to the Republican party and so continued until his death in 1875. He took an active interest in all that pertained to the affairs of his town, and shirked no duty, however inconvenient, if he felt it his duty as a loyal citizen. He married Louisa Skinner, a nìative of the same town, and a daughter of David and Mary (Lord) Skinner, the former of whom was a teacher and a merchant in East Haddam, later a farmer in Marlborough, where he died. Mrs. Mary. (Lord) Skinner was born in Marlborough, and was descended from the first Colonial Governor, John Haynes, and also from Elder William Goodwin; on the paternal side she was descended from Thomas and Richard Lord, first settlers of Hartford, having come over with Hooker, and also can the line be traced to Peter Bulkley, of Concord, Massachusetts, whose son, Rev. Gershom Bulkley, was one of the early settlers of Wethersfield. Mrs. Skinner was the mother of four children, and died at the advanced age of eighty-seven.

To Gustavus Ezra and Louisa (Skinner) Hall were born ten children, seven of whom reached man- hood and womanhood, and four of whom are yet living : Mary is the eldest ; Joel makes his home in Hartford ; Elizabeth married James T. Mather, and lives in Rockville; and David S., is with our subject in Hartford. Of these who have entered into rest, Ezra was a lawyer in Hartford, attaining a posi- tion of eminence in the profession ; he was gradu !- ated from Wesleyan University, and became very prominent in the affairs of the State, being twice elected to represent his district in the Senate, but his death occurred just as he was entering on a career that gave promise of making his name as familiar to the Nation as it was to the State. Mar- tin, Charlotte and Daniel died in infancy; Martin Luther in early manhood, and Charles, when he was aged fifty-four years.

Miss Mary Hall was born in Marlborough. Conn., and her education was acquired in Wilbra- ham Academy, in Massachusetts. After teaching at Wilbraham Academy and LaSalle Seminary she began her legal studies with her brother, and when death claimed him, she continued under the direc- tion of John Hooker. She passed the examination for admission to the bar on March 24, 1882, and on October 3, following, was formally admitted Two years later Gov. Waller made her a notary public. This was an unusual position for a woman but the ability and rare intelligence of the lady forced down every barrier placed in her way. She makes a specialty of probate law, and transacts a large amount of business. With a natural love of her pro fession, she has read widely. Legal training, rar intelligence and womanly intuition have gained high place for her in her profession, and would mak her a formidable adversary in any branch of th work. She has traveled extensively, and in 190:

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passed three months in the British Isles and in conti- nental Europe, and was one of the delegates from this country to three congresses of people interested in charity and penal institutions. The International Organized Charities Congress met in London. The Conference of Charities and Corrections was held in Paris, and the International Prison Congress in Brussels, Belgium. Miss Hall was also a represen- tative of the Organized Charities of this city, and made the most of her time while abroad in visiting institutions on the continent of Europe and in Eng- land.

Miss Hall is president and treasurer of the board of directors of the Good Will Club, and its superintendent, and as this is her greatest life work it is fitting that a brief mention of the origin and object of the Good Will Club should close this sketch.

The origin of the Good Will Club, as is often the case with good works, was the result of a very small beginning. Twenty years ago Miss Mary Hall gathered a few boys together and read to them stories, furnished games, talked upon natural his- tory, geology and other subjects. The boys were delighted. and she met with them once a week, the number of boys gradually increasing. They soon had to seek larger quarters, and in April, 1880, the boys under her supervision organized, adopted a constitution and by-laws, and selected officers from their own number. The work widened and devel- oped as time went on. and several ladies, learning what she was doing, came to her assistance. The pian had nothing in it of the day-school or Sunday- school. The idea was simply to entertain the boys with interesting games, stories, illustrated papers, etc. No religious views or sectarianism were allowed to be broached. It was simply an evening's enter- tainment once a week for the boys, thus drawing them from the bad life of the streets.

They were taught good morals and the ordinary courtesies of life. These evenings had such attrac- tions for the boys that they usually came with rein- forcements from their circle of playmates, and again their quarters soon grew too small. Larger rooms were procured ; they were opened two or three even- ings a week, and finally every evening except Sun- days. Every boy, before receiving his membership badge, lias to take a pledge of good conduct, and should he violate this pledge, he forfeits both badge and membership. Boys are received from eight years of age to twenty-one. The membership roll shows several hundred names. The volunteer corps of workers has increased from half a dozen to about eighty. The majority of these are ladies, but some helpers are from Trinity College and the Theolog- ical Seminary. The work has been so divided and systematized that a certain number go on certain nights. each attending to the particular duties she has chosen to come under her supervision. The directors have found that this division of forces works admirably.

Lessons in gymnastics, elocution, singing and

military drill, have been given by the volunteer teachers, and the begining of an industrial depart- ment is contemplated. For this purpose entertain- ments and plays are frequently given to the boys in their own hall-one of the pleasantest in the city. It has been asked if the club has authority to hold boys by legal restraint. It has not. The boys have perfect liberty to come and go as they please. They are graded and entertained in different rooms.

At the dedication of the Good Will Building, Feb. 22, 1889, Miss Hall closed her address with the following words : "And may I add that my work in and for the Good Will Club is a memorial work, and in perfect harmony with the large and small sums given here, because too sacred to be given else- where. I should be ungrateful to the memory of a noble brother, whose boyhood was of the noblest type, and whose active life began and closed in your beautiful city, did I not acknowledge in this presence that the little I have done, and the more I hope to do is in loving memory of Ezra Hall."

CHAUNCEY RHODES. After an active and successful life, spent in business in the city of Hart- ford and in the far West, Chauncey Rhodes, the subject of this sketch, is now living retired in his pleasant home at No. 51 Buckingham street, Hartford.

Mr. Rhodes was born at Wethersfield, Conn., Jan. 12, 1815, son of George and Mirinda ( Morris ) Rhodes. The father also was a native of Wethers- field, and by trade was a carpenter. He was a man of unusual mechanical skill, even for a region so generously blessed with inventive genius as Hart- ford county, and in addition to carpentering he found profitable employment in general mechani- cal work. He remained a lifelong resident of Wethersfield, and attained the good old age of eighty-four years, where he acquired not a little celebrity for his talents and his many estimable qualities. His wife lived to the age of seventy- eight years, a noble Christian woman, whose good deeds were almost innumerable, and whose minis- trations of kindness and aid made her an angel of mercy in that locality. Both parents of our sub- ject were members of the Presbyterian Church. Of their six children he is the only survivor.

Chauncey Rhodes spent his early years in Weth- ersfield, where he acquired a good common-school education. AAt the age of seventeen years he came to Hartford to learn the carpenter's trade, which he followed for many years, during which time he built many of the business houses and residences of the city. employing from ten to twenty men, and laying the foundation of his future success, Later he became interested in land in the West, and be- came the possessor of a large ranch located near the Yellowstone river. and well stocked with horses, cattle and sheep, in which he took an active interest for many years. He was actively engaged in the management of this ranch for some twenty Years, and there remained until his retirement to

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llartiord. His present home is an old landmark. It was erected in 1845, on a farm, and was then the only residence in that part of Hartford, which is now one of the fine residence parts of the city. Alr. Rhodes has seen the city grow from 5,000 to 80,000 inhabitants, and very few remain of those who were here when he first cast his fortunes with the growing and prosperous city.

In 1841 Mr. Rhodes married Julia Tryon, a native of Niagara county, N. Y., born July 19, 1813. daughter of James fryon, and one of a fam- ily of twelve children, of whom she is the sole survivor. To Chauncey and Julia Rhodes have been born six children, of whom only one is liv- ing. Chauncey E. He was born April 16, 1857, educated in the schools of Hartford and at Han- num's Business College, and began his business ca- reer as a salesman in a crockery and fruit store. In 1882 he started in business for himself as a manufacturer of general factory supplies, and he now travels for a millsupply company. He mar- ried Miss Laura S. Seagrave, of Amherst, Mass., who was born in San Francisco, Cal., Feb. 17, 1860, and they reside with his father, our subject.

lit politics Chauncey Rhodes, our subject, is a Republican, and he is one of the oldest voters of Hartford. Many years ago he was a member of the I. O. O. F. He is highly respected by his many friends and acquaintances, to all of whom his sterling and admirable qualities of mind and heart commend and endear him.

HENRY HUBBARD GOODWIN, member of the firm of Tucker & Goodwin, was born Sept. 13. 1857, at Hartford, and is a descendant in the eighth generation from Ozias Goodwin, as fol- lows :

(I) Ozias Goodwin, the head of the pioneer Connecticut family of that name, married Mary Woodward, daughter of Robert Woodward. of Braintree, England. In 1639 he became a resi- dlent of Hartford, Conn. He died before April, 1683. Children: (1) William, born in 1629. whose wife was named Susannah; (2) Nathaniel, sketch, of whom follows: and (3) Hannah, born in 1639, who married William Pitkin.

( [1) Nathaniel Goodwin, born about 1637, was admitted a freeman by the General Court of Con- nectient in October, 1662, and was one of the towns- men of Hartford 1660-78-82. He married (first) Sarah Coles, daughter of John and Hannah Coles, of Hatfield. Mass., formerly of Farmington, Conn. She died May 8, 1676, aged twenty-nine years, and her monument, still to be seen in the Center Church burying-ground, is the oldest one now ex- tant in Hartford bearing the name of Goodwin. Nathaniel Goodwin married ( second ) Elizabeth Pratt, daughter of Daniel Pratt, of Hartford. He died Jan. 8, 1713: his widow died after Ju'y, 1724. Children by first wife: (1) Nathaniel, born in July, 1665, who married (first ) Lois Porter and (sec- ond) Sarah Easton: (2) Sarah, born in April,

1668; (3) John, sketch of whom follows. Chil- dren by second wife: (4) Samuel, born Aug. 22, 1682, married Mary Steele; (5) Hannah, born Dec. 6, 1685, was buried Jan. 31, 1693; (6) Ozias, born June 26, 1689, married Martha Williamson ; (7) Elizabeth, born Oct. 14, 1691, married John Cole.

(Il1) John Goodwin, baptized May 19, 1672, was the first of the Goodwins who settled on the east side of the Great River, in what is now East Hartford. The old Indian fort, traces of which still remain, was situated on his land. Like his father and grandfather, he was by trade a weaver. He was a thrifty citizen, and prominent in local affairs; was collector of the Ecclesiastical Society in 1706, and for over twenty years a deacon of the church. His first wife, Sarah, died in May, 1735. He married (second), before Jumne, 1740, Mary (Hosmer) Olmsted, daughter of Stephen and Hannah Hosmer, and widow of Nicholas Olmsted, of East Hartford. She died March 2, 1760, he on Feb. 6. 1757. Children : (1) Hannah, born April 17, 1698, married Timothy Por- ter ; (2) Damaris, born Feb. 11, 1699, died in August, 1723: (3) Mary, born Jan. 18, 1701, married Joseph Cowles; (4) Sarah married Samuel Smith: (5) John, sketch of whom follows ; (6) William died Feb. 18, 1744; (7) Joseph died Feb. 28, 1737; (8) Caleb died April 12, 1769; (9) Susannah married Timothy Forbes; (10) Richard died March 3, 1745; (II) Ruth married John Abbe.

(IV) John Goodwin, born Aug. II, 1706, mar- ried Dorothy, daughter of Caleb and Dorothy (Hill) Pitkin, of East Hartford. Mr. Goodwin was a large landholder, by trade a tanner, and was of honorable repute in Hartford. He was deacon in 1780. A small-pox hospital was erected on his land in 1761, on Pock House Hill. He was taxed for keeping a chaise, an article of luxury in those days. He died Sept. 14, 1793, his wife on Aug. 17, 1789. Children: (1) Damaris died Oct. 18, 1773: (2) Dorothy married Benjamin Roberts, Jr. : (3) John, sketch of whom follows: (4) Jo- seph married Hannah Olmsted : (5) William mar- ried Mary Rockwell: (6) Hannah married Moses Smith: (7) Sarah, born Dec. 2, 1750, married John Wyles : (8) Richard, born June 12, 1753, married Ruth Roberts: (9) Thankful, born Dec. 22. 1755, died Dec. 13. 1771 : (10) Levi, born May 8, 1757, married Jerusha Drake: (11) Mary, born Oct. 26, 1760, married Timothy Hall ; and (12) Anne, born Dec. 4, 1762, died Jan. 14. 1780.

(V) John Goodwin, born Nov. II. 1742, mar- ried Elizabeth Olmsted, daughter of William and Flizabeth (Pitkin) Olmsted, of East Hartford. He resided in East Hartford, and died June 10. 1784, at Sag Harbor, L. I., whither he had removed on account of ill health. His widow married Tim- othy Cowles, of East Hartford, and died July 16, 1822. Children of John Goodwin: (1) Elizabeth, born Oct. 8, 1769, married Moses Forbes, Jr .;

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(2) John, sketch of whom follows; (3) Caleb, born May 8, 1774, died Oct. 13, 1774; (4) George, born May 8, 1783, married Eunice Olcott.

(VI) John Goodwin, born April 7, 1772, in East Hartford, removed to Hartford about 1800, and was a manufacturer of boots and shoes on Main street, near Pearl. He married Dec. 16, 1807, Anna Belden, born Sept. 13, 1778, daughter of Nathan Belden. He died March 14, 1828, she on April 1I, 1849. Their children: (1) John H., born March 2, 1809, married (first) Nancy S. Stanley and (second) Lucina Hart; (2) Russell Belden, born Dec. 18, 1810, married Eliza Steele ; (3) George W., born March 15, 1813, married Martha Wadsworth; (4) James Belden, born Feb. 26, 1817, married (first) Maria Holbrook and ( sec- ond) Isabella Nichols; (5) Charles S., born Jan. 8, 1819, married Mary E. Lincoln; (6) Alfred, born April 4, 1821, died Nov. 28, 1847; (7) Henry Augustus, sketch of whom follows.

(VII) Henry Augustus Goodwin, born Oct. 5. 1823, married (first) May 18, 1847, Louisa Hubbard, born in Bloomfield, Conn., Aug. 8, 1824, daughter of Alvan and Polly (Colton) Hubbard. She died Aug. 26, 1866, and he married (second) Ellen Pinney, born March 17, 1842, daughter of Ebenezer and Mary Ann (Lee) Pinney, of South Windsor. Mr. Goodwin was a druggist in Hart- ford many years. Socially he was a Freemason ; treasurer of St. John's Lodge, and was a member of South Church, later of Pearl Street Church. He died Nov. 2, 1871 ; his widow married John A. Stoughton, and resided in East Hartford. Children of Henry A. Goodwin: (1) Charles Hen- ry, born March 17, 1851, died April 29, 1851; (2) Mary Louisa, born Sept. 7, 1852, married Henry W. Hurlburt, and resides at No. 576 Farm avenue, Hartford; (3) Lester Henry, sketch of whom fol- lows; (4) Henry Hubbard, sketch of whom fol- lows.

(VIII) LESTER HENRY GOODWIN, who con- tinues his father's drug business in Hartford, was born in that city Oct. 18, 1854, and there received his education. At the age of seventeen years, on the death of his father, he took charge of the store, located at the corner of Main and State streets. On Dec. 12, 1876, he married Esther Campbell, who was born in North Manchester March 28. 1854. daughter of James and Esther ( Griswold ) Campbell, and three children graced their union : Hattie Louise, born Sept. 5, 1877; James Lester, Jan. 12, 1880; and Howard, Jan. 5. 1884. The mo- ther passed away March 9, 1900. Mr. Goodwin has been treasurer of the State Pharmaceutical Association for many years; also of St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M .: is a 32d degree Freemason, and member of the Mystic Shrine. In religious faith he is a member of Asylum Hill Congrega- tional Church. In politics he is a Republican, and is superintendent of a P. O. Sub Station.

(VIII) Henry Hubbard Goodwin, born Sept. 13. 1857, in Hartford, was educated in the public

schools of that city. In 1872, after laying aside his books, he entered the office of Smith, Northam & Robinson, with whom he remained two years; then took a position with H. A. Botsford & Co. later Botsford & Ingraham), dealers in hay, straw and refrigerator dressed beef. With this firm he continued seven years, or until 1882, in October of which year he accepted a position with the firm of Keneys & Roberts, as bookkeeper and cashier, in 1889 became a member of the firm, and was con- fidential clerk for Mr. Keney. On April 1, 1896, the firm of Tucker & Goodwin was organized, as already related. He was one of the executors of Henry Keney's will, and one of the trustees of the estate.

On Oct. 19, 1892, Henry H. Goodwin was mar- ried in Hartford to Emma L. Rood, daughter of David A. Rood, for many years proprietor of the "United States Hotel." Children as follows have come to this union: Henry Rood, born Nov. 2, 1894; and David Keney, born June 27, 1898.

CHARLES E. TAFT, M. D., physician and surgeon of Hartford, was born in Dedham, Nor- folk Co., Mass., July II, 1863, a son of Josephus Guild Taft, who was born in Uxbridge, Mass., in 1831, and a grandson of Ezra Wood Taft, also a native of Uxbridge, born Aug. 24, 1800.

Josephus Guild Taft received a high-school education in Dedham, Mass., and early in life en- gaged in the saddlery business, but later was ap- pointed cashier of the Shawmut National Bank at Boston. He is a Freemason, a Republican in poli- tics, and in religion a Congregationalist. He was married in Uxbridge to Miss Ann Eliza Shaw, who was born Jan. 19, 1834, a daughter of Franklin King Shaw, who was born Nov. 23, 1805, and died May 22, 1845; his wife, Catherine ( Pollock) Shaw, was born July 14, 1804, and died when sixty-nine years old. Mrs. Shaw's father, John Pollock, was born April 6, 1770, and died Nov. 8, 1843; his wife, Anna (Lynd) Pollock, who was born Oct. 25, 1770, died July 14. 1857. Mrs. Ann Eliza Taft died in January, 1899, the mother of three chil- dren: Charles E., the subject of this sketch; Ade- laide, who died when two and one-half years old; and Arthur Guild, who was born July 12, 1869, and died in 1889.

Charles E. Taft graduated from the high school in Dedham in 1880. and from Chauncey Hall Col- lege, in Boston, in 1881. In the fall of the same year he matriculated at Harvard College, from the Medical Department of which he graduated in 1886. with the degree of M. D. In 1885 and a part of 1886 he held the position of house surgeon in the Boston City Hospital, and later that of house surgeon at the Woman's Hospital in New York, until 1888, in the spring of which year he was ap- pointed medical inspector on the New York board of health, this being a civil service appointment. In March, 1888, Dr. Taft came to Hartford, Conn., and opened practice alone, although he later occu-

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pied the same office with Dr. Jarvis for eight years. He lias given special attention to surgery and dis- cases of women, but at the same time follows a general practice, and does considerable life-insur- ance work, being examining surgeon for several of the standard companies. He is a member of the State Medical Society, the Hartford City and the Boston City Hospital Alumni Associations, and of the New York Woman's Hospital Alumni Associa- tion, and has contributed many valuable papers and professional themes to the State and Hartford City Associations. He has also served as secre- tary of the Hartford City Medical Society, and as one of its censors, and has been a fellow of the State Society. In politics he is an ardent Repub- lican in his predilections, but takes no particularly active part in the work of the party.

Dr. Taft married Martha Louise Jarvis, only daughter of Dr. G. C. Jarvis, of Hartford, and this marriage has been crowned with three children : George Jarvis, born Sept. 9, 1893; Elizabetlı, born June 12, 1895 ; and Eleanor, born Jan. 1, 1901. The family stand very high in the social circles of Hart- ford, while professionally thie Doctor has attained the front rank.

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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 141

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