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 158

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 158

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was also acting ordnance officer. His connection with the Connecticut National Guard has been un- broken from his enlistment therein in 1883, he be- ing only on leave of absence therefrom, through grant of the State, while in the United States ser- vice. Since 1894 Capt. Johnson has served as ad- jutant, on the staff or Colonel Edward Schulze, of Hartford, commanding officer of the First Regiment of Connecticut National Guard.

Socially Capt. Johnson is a member of the Co- Ionial Club and of the Hartford Golf Club. He has kept up his membership and interest in his old college Greek letter fraternity -- Psi Upsilon. He is a genial fellow, and popular in the community and throughout the State. His religious connec- tions are with Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church. He has served, as did his father, as clerk of the church, and in the corner-stone of the new edifice his name appears, as did that of his father in the corner-stone of the old edifice. In the past, for ten or more years, Capt. Johnson was a member of the church choir.

In 1889 Capt. Johnson was married to Miss Mary E. Pattee, of Lebanon, N. H., a daughter of the late Lewis C. Pattee, of that place, but who, with his wife, formerly Rebecca Perley, later was living retired in Winchester, Mass., where Mr. Pattee died on Thanksgiving Day, 1900. Mr. Pat- tee's other children living are Fred L. and Alice R. To Capt. Johnson and wife was born one child, Harold T. The mother died in 1891.

DAVID DANIEL, one of the proprietors of "The Greater Daniel Stores," No. 76 Trumbull street, Hartford, and Nos. 277-279 Main street, Springfield, Mass., is a native of the State of Miss- issippi, born April 12, 1871, in the town of Beau- regard.

Morris Daniel, his father, came to this country from Prussia when quite young, and was very suc- cessful as a merchant in Beauregard, Miss., till a cyclone, in 1883, destroyed the town, an event that convinced him it would be "healthier" to cast what remained of his fortune in the North. Conse- quently, in 1884, he removed with his family to Philadelphia, Penn., where he embarked in the wholesale shirt manufacturing business, which was soon changed into a retail enterprise. The estab- lishment of three stores was the result, and for many years they prospered under the management of David Daniel and his two brothers. In 1893, the elder Mr. Daniel retiring, and the brother Gustav having engaged in the wholesale clothing business, the subject of this sketch and his brother Harry took up the retail clothing business in the East, David Daniel directing the destinies of the Hartford establishment, the Springfield ( Mass.) store being under the controlling influence of his brother Harry. The Hartford store has become famous to all buyers in that vicinity as a convenient emporium for cloth- ing, shoes, hats, etc. When David Daniel com- menced his business career he laid down the princi-

ple, an iron-clad one, that in every establishment with which his name might be connected spot cash must be the propelling and governing power, and it is not necessary to here dwell upon the advantages such a system gives to the customer. The store at No. 76 Trumbull street is a conspicuous success, and reflects much credit upon the youthful but ag- gressive mind that planned its course.

In 1892 Mr. Daniel married Miss Katherine Galloway, of Philadelphia, and a handsome little daughter, Pauline, born July 23, 1899, has blessed this union. Mrs. Daniel's parents are still enjoy- ing life's blessings, at an advanced age. Her fa- ther, John Galloway, was a member of the famous 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry during the Civil war, and was breveted several times for conspicuous bravery, besides receiving a medal of honor from the Pres- ident.

While Mr. Daniel is not essentially a fraternal society man, still he is an active member of Hart- ford Lodge, No. 88, FF. & A. M., of the Hartford Lodge of Elks, of the Hartford Board of Trade, and of the Hartford Business Men's Association.

Mr. Daniel's mother is a sister of the celebrated Southern jurist, the late Hon. Morris Marks, New Orleans. The Daniel family is one of great lon- gevity, our subject's grandparents on both sides having passed more than fourscore milestones on life's journey, and his father and mother both enjoy good health at the age of sixty years.

ERASTUS S. GILBERT. The name of Gil- bert has been identified with Connecticut from its early settlement. The first of the name, on this side of the Atlantic, were four brothers, Jonathan, Thomas, Obediah, and Josiah, who came from Dev- onshire, England, in 1640.

Benjamin Gilbert, great-grandfather of E. S. Gilbert, born Sept. 25, 1737, in West Hartford, died May 21, 1807. On Aug. 21, 1762, he married Anna Butler, who was born Nov. 16, 1745, and died Dec. 1, 1782. Their son Charles, born Jan. 3, 1763, owned a large tract of land in West Hartford. He married, in 1787, Ruth Cadwell, born Oct. 3, 1763, who died March 29, 1823 ; he died Oct. 7, 1812.

Benjamin Gilbert, son of Charles, and father of E. S. Gilbert, was born Nov. 13, 1791. He came into possession of part of his father's land, and built the house still standing there, just beyond Van- derbilt Hill. He engaged in the market business and also carried on butchering. In 1815 Mr. Gil- bert married Rhoda Kellogg Cadwell, born May 27, 1796, and died Aug. 19, 1862. Of their eight chil- dren, all are deceased but Seth L. The father at- tended the Friends meetings held in Quaker Lane. He died Dec. 11, 1868, aged seventy-eight years, and his remains rest in the Quaker burying-ground.

Erastus S. Gilbert was born Feb. 10, 1822, in West Hartford, the fourth child in the family. At the age of eighteen he came to Hartford, to engage in the meat and grocery business on State street, fill- ing a vacancy made by the death of his brother

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Benjamin. After continuing there a number of years, he removed to the southern part of the city, where he carried on the same line of trade. By econ- omy, honesty and strict adherence to business princi- ples, coupled with sound judgment and strong will, he accumulated a handsome fortune. The last five years of his life were spent in retirement. Mr. Gil- bert, passed away April 15, 1891, at the age of sixty- nine years. He attended the French Church, and later the South Church, in Hartford.

Erastus S. Gilbert married Nov. 16, 1843, Eliza- beth Seymour, of Rocky Hill, now known as Fair-' field Avenue, and to this union were born two daughters, both of whom survive: E. Louise Bod- well, widow of J. Herbert Bodwell : and Dellie G., wife of John W. Titcomb. Mrs. Gilbert lived to the age of seventy-nine, passing away Jan. 17, 1899.

James Seymour, father of Mrs. Gilbert, born Aug. 26, 1782, married Nov. 2, 1806, Mary Butler, of Wethersfield, who was born June 19, 1785, and died Sept. 28, 1826, aged forty-one years. He (lied May 30, 1844, aged sixty-two. Of his six children, Elizabeth, who married Erastus S. Gilbert, was the last to pass away.

ANDREW SAMUEL DICKINSON, the owner of one of the best-kept farms in the town of East Windsor, descends from one of the oldest families in New England, but it will suffice the purpose of this sketch to state that his grandfather, John Dick- inson, was born, lived and died in Haddam, Middle- sex Co., Conn. He married Polly Archer, and to their union were born nine children: Amos, who was a sailor of Killingworth: William, who died at Deep River: Mary, Mrs. Ventress, who lived in Haddam; Hettie (Mrs. Williams), whose hus- band was lost at sea; Ely, who lived in Chester ; Nancy, who married Aaron Avers: Hannah, who with her husband died at Deep River : Sophia, who became Mrs. Asahel Tyler ; and Samuel, father of our subject.

Samuel Dickinson was educated in a public school, learned the trade of stone-cutting, and in his alter years became a farmer, though he worked at butchering in the winter season. He married Miss Elizabeth Burr, who was born in May, 1825, and of whose family mention will be made farther on. To this union were born seven children, in the following order: Lydia, who was first married to George Burr, and after his decease was wedded to Joseph Spencer: Andrew S., the subject of this biographical notice: Eleanor, wife of Charles Johnson, of Deep River; George, in Haddam : Mary, married to Merritt Doan, of East Windsor : Hattie, wife of Albert Brainard, of Haddam: and Ellsworth, of the same town. Samuel Dickinson, the father of this family. died in Haddam in 1864. from sickness contracted while serving in the Union army during the Civil war, and his widow is still a resident of that town.

Mrs. Elizabeth Dickinson is a daughter of David and Polly ( Blatchley) Burr, and a granddaughter

of David Burr, the former of whom served in the war of 1812, under Gen. Brainard, and was at Saybrook during the burning of the town of Essex by the British. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Burr numbered seven, and were born in the fol- lowing order: Henry, who died in Haddam; La- vina, wife of Darius Skinner; Stephen, who mar- ried Fanny Lane; Benjamin, in Haddam: Eliza- beth, mother of subject ; Lydia, of North Guilford ; and Leander, in Middletown.

Andrew S. Dickinson, the subject of this arti- cle, was born in Haddam, Nov. 26, 1848, and was educated in a public school. He lived with his parents until fourteen years of age, then worked three years for his uncle Henry Burr, next worked a while at Deep River, then went to sea, and for five years sailed in the Atlantic coast trade, con- tributing in the meanwhile to the support of his mother, brothers and sisters. On returning home from his sea-faring life, he married at East Wind- sor, Conn., Oct. 9, 1873, Miss lda Clark, who was born March 2, 1854, a daughter of John and Eliza (Snow) Clark, natives of East Windsor. Mrs. Eliza Clark passed away in April, 1887, and in June, 1889, Mr. Clark married Libbie Clark. Mr. Dickinson's family consists of seven children : Edna, born July 22, 1874, now the wife of Robert Wood, of East Windsor ; Anna, born Oct. 30, 1877, now living in Rockville; John S., born Aug. 18, 1879; Mabel, July 2, 1881 ; Andrew C., Jan. 5, 1887; Harris C., March 20, 1891; and Imogene, Aug. 14. 1895-all five under the parental roof.

In 1876 Mr. Dickinson purchased his present farm of fifty-seven acres (known as the Capt. Oli- ver Clark farm), and on this he has made substan- tial improvements. He has the place under a high state of cultivation, keeps it neat and clean, and it is recognized as a truly up-to-date homestead. Mr. Dickinson and his family worship at the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and are regarded as among the most respected residents of the town. In poli- tics Mr. Dickinson is a Democrat, and is very popular with his party, having been elected to the positions of constable and justice of the peace, but in each instance declining to serve. Fraternally he is a member of Central Lodge, No. 12, I. O. O. F., of Middletown, which order he joined in 1872. In 1874 he joined Oriental Lodge, No. 111, Free and Accepted Masons, at Broad Brook, and has held several important offices in the lodge. He is also a member of the Grange. In the business sense of the phrase Mr. Dickinson is emphatically a self-made man, and well deserves the high esteem in which he is universally held.

CHARLES W. EATON, the talented young editor of the Bristol Daily Journal, was born Feb. 14, 1869, at Harwinton, Litchfield Co., Conn., and is a representative of an honored Puritan family, being a descendant of Theophilus Eaton, the first governor of the New Haven colony, who settled at New Haven in 1638.

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Joseph Eaton, our subject's grandfather, was born in Stafford, Conn., in December, 1800, and was married in 1821, to Miss Lyman, also a descend- ant of an old Connecticut family. After his mar- riage he settled in Bolton, Conn., where he died in 1884. He was a cousin of the late Hon. W. W. Eaton, of Hartford, formerly United States Sen- ator.

Willard B. Eaton, our subject's father, was born at Bolton, March 8, 1843, and served three years as a private in Company H, 16th Conn. V. I., dur- ing the Civil war. In 1868 he married Miss Maria T. Warren, and made his home upon a farm at Harwinton, which he had purchased shortly after his return from the army. In 1875 he removed to Bristol where he now resides.

During boyhood Charles W. Eaton attended the public school in District No. 1, Bristol, for about five years regularly, and then he was for some time employed in various factories. In the winter of 1883 hie again attended school for a few months, completing the course with the first class to gradu- ate from the common-school course. In 1887 his eyes failed him, probably through excessive read- ing, and for a year he was unable to carry on any active work. In 1889 he married Miss Lilian A. Woodhull, of Dover, N. J., and settled in Morris county, N. J., where he remained about eight years. For two years he was employed by the For- cite Powder Co., as foreman in their shipping de- partment, and in 1892 he engaged in teaching, which he followed very successfuly for four years. In the meantime he continued his private reading and study, resulting in his receiving the highest first and second grade teachers' certificates ever granted in Morris county. For three summers, be- gianing with 1894, he was also employed as super- intendent by the Hopatcong Steamboat Co., with an office at Landing, N. J. For some time he was connected with the Methodist Church as a local preacher, but the study and research required for that work interfered so seriously with his school (luties that he was compelled to withdraw. On Jan. 1. 1807, he returned to Bristol, accepting a posi- tion as bookkeeper and expert accountant, and in June, 1898, he assisted in founding the Bristol Daily Journal, being appointed editor of the paper and sec- retary of the Bristol Journal Publishing Co. The campaign of 1896 aroused him to an active interest in politics, and he served as secretary of the Demo- cratic delegation from Morris county, N. J., during the Congressional campaign, and represented Rox- bury township at both the County and Congressional conventions. At present he is secretary and treas- urer of the Bristol Democratic Club.

In the winter of 1898 Mr. Eaton built a hand- some cottage at Fairview Terrace, and since the following April he has resided there with his family, consisting of three children : Alice May, aged eleven vears ; Grace Lillian, aged eight, and Harold, aged four. He is prominent socially, and is a member of Pequabuck Lodge, 1. O. O. F .; E. L. Dunbar En-

campment, I. O. O. F .; Morris Council, Jr. O. U. A. M., of Dover, N. J .; the Bristol Grange; T. B. Robinson Camp, Sons of Veterans; P. C. R. of the Forresters of America; P. C. T. of the Good Tem- plars ; past archon of Bristol Conclave, I. O. H., which he represented at the supreme conclave at Buffalo in 1898; and is a member of Brightwood camp, Modern Woodmen, which he represents in the State camp.

Mr. Eaton is at present secretary, treasurer and manager of the Bristol Journal Publishing Co., and editor of the Bristol Daily Journal, and of the For- estville Weekly Journal. During the campaign of 1900 he was again actively interested in politics as a Democrat, and was unanimously nominated as the candidate for State Senator by the Democrats of the Fourth Senatorial District of Connecticut. He made an active canvass, speaking in most of the towns in the district, but was defeated by Andrew J. Sloper, of New Britain, the Republican candidate, by a majority of 1,851, although his vote exceeded that of the Democratic National ticket in all of the fourteen precincts in the district, except two wards in New Britain.

Mr. Eaton also maintains an active interest in religious matters, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Forestville, Connecticut.

HENRY BARNARD, LL. D., the veteran educator and editor, whose death occurred July 5, 1900, in Hartford, in the house in which he was born eighty-nine years before, was well known throughout this country and Europe in connection with the common schools, and in his death Con- necticut lost one of her most distinguished sons- a man whose whole life was one strenuous effort to better his kind.

Mr. Barnard was born Jan. 24, 1811, coming of a family which had lived in Hartford from its first settlement. He attended the district schools of his boyhood, and was graduated with high hon- ors from Yale College in 1830. He began read- ing law in the office of Hon. Willis Hall, after- ward attorney-general of New York. and W. H. Hungerford, of Hartford. He was admitted to the Bar in 1835. He had also pursued a course of general reading, and early gained a broad knowl- edge of ancient and modern literature. He was a member of the Connecticut Legislature from 1837 to 1840, and there advocated various reforms, chief among them in the common schools. For four years prior to 1842, when the Board of Commis- sioners for Common Schools was abolished, he was its efficient and zealous secretary. It had been through his efforts that this board-which intro- duced school-houses of improved construction, high schools, teachers' institutes, a normal acade- my and new methods of instruction-had been re- vived. In 1843 he became superintendent of edu- cation in Rhode Island, filling the position until 1849. From 1850 to 1854 he was superintendent of the Connecticut State schools. By this time he

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was considered one of the ablest living educators, and Thomas Rainey, editor of the Ohio Journal, wrote in 1852: "He has done more than any other ten men in New England for education." From 1857 to 1859 Dr. Barnard was president of the State University of Wisconsin; in 1865 and 1866 of St. John's College, at Annapolis, Md. . He was United States Commissioner of Education from 1867 to 1870. During the incumbency as secre- tary of the Board of Commissioners for Common Schools he established the Connecticut Common School Journal, and while in Rhode Island ( 1845- 49) he edited the Journal of the Rhode Island In- stitute of Instruction. In 1855 he began the publi- cation of the American Journal of Education, a quarterly, which has been the medium of bringing out a series of educational tracts and treatises, which constitute a library of education of fifty-two volumes, of 500 pages each, containing over 800 titles, making it the largest issue of such a char- acter in print.

Dr. Barnard published numerous reports, doc- umments and other writings, historical and biographi- cal. bearing on the general subject of education. He was the first United States Commissioner of Education, and the great organizer of the public school system of this country, and every home in the land feels the impress of his work.

BURR KELLOGG FIELD, in whose death at his home in Berlin, Conn., Jan. 13, 1898, there passed away in the prime of a most active, busy and useful life to the community in which he lived, one of the guiding spirits of the Berlin Iron Bridge Co., of which he had been the vice-president for nearly a decade, was a representative of one of the old and prominent New England families.

The history of the Field family is traced back to the year 823 to Wottelsheim, near Colmar in Alsace-Lorraine, formerly in France, until the Franco-Prussian war, and now in Germany. The name was originally De la Feld, and it was at their castle near Colmar that they entertained Pope Leo the Ninth and his court while on their way to consecrate the cathedral at Strasburg. Sir Hu- bertus De la Feld went to England with William the Conqueror in 1066, and for his services at the battle of Hastings, in which the Norman chief- tain fought the decisive battle, was granted lands in that country. For years the name was De la Feld, but owing to the wars between France and England, in the fourteenth century. the former prefix was dropped by one branch of the family and the name became Feld, Feild, and Field. The other branch changed the name from De la Feld to Delafield. The history of the family is farther traced through England to America, where emi- grant ancestors settled in Massachusetts, New York, Long Island, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vir- ginia. It is extremely doubtful if another family in America has produced as many illustrious de- scendants as the Field family.

Mr. Field, the subject proper of this sketch, was born May 5, 1856, at Auburn, Ind., a son of Francis Kellogg and Frances A. (Burr) Field, and a descendant in the ninth generation from Robert Field, the emigrant ancestor of this branch of the American Fields, who was in the third generation, through William and William (2), from John Fields of Horton, parish of Bradford, England. Robert Field, baptized in 1605, came to New Eng- land with Winthrop and Saltonstall in 1630, was at Newport, R. I., from 1638 to 1645, patentee of Flushing, L. I., in the latter year, and a proprie- tor of Newtown in 1655. He, in 1630, at Bradford, married (second) Elizabeth Taylor.

From this Robert Field the late Burr K. Field's line of descent is through Anthony, Benjamin, Anthony (2), John, John (2), Stephen and Fran- cis K. Field.

(II) Anthony Field, son of Robert the emigrant, was of Flushing as early as 1657. He was named in the patents of the town in 1666 and 1685. and married Sussannah

(III) Benjamin Field, son of Anthony, mar- ried (first), in 1691, HIannah, daughter of John Bowne, of Flushing.

(IV) Anthony Field (2), son of Benjamin, born in 1698, in Flushing, married, in 1730, Han- nah, daughter of William Berling, of Flushing, and removed to Westchester county. New York.

(V) John Field, son of Anthony (2), mar- ried, in 1763, Lydia, daughter of William Hazard, of Jamestown, and lived in Westchester county, New York.

(VI) John Field (2), son of John, born in 1766, married, in 1786, Fannie Perry, a sister of Commodore Perry, of Lake Erie fame.

(VII) Stephen Field, son of John (2). born in 1794, at Ferrisburg, Vt., married at Troy, N. Y., in 1825, Frances Bonton Kellogg, born in 1801, at Norwalk, Conn. Mr. Field died in 1850, at Cha- gres, New Grenada, and Mrs. Field died in 1829, at Montreal, Lower Canada, now Province of Quebec, Canada. Mr. Field was a very energetic and successful business man. At one time he owned and controlled all the tanneries in Lower Canada, and was there estimated to be worth £75,000.

Francis Kellogg Field, son of Stephen, and the father of the late Burr K. Field, born March 13, 1829, in Montreal, L. C., married Oct. 14, 1854, at Auburn, Ind., Frances A. Burr, who was born in Rapides Parish, La., daughter of Platt Burr, a prominent physician of that place, and Frances, daughter of Josiah Danforth, a prominent man in public affairs, who at one time served on the staff of one of the governors of Massachusetts [?], and was a member of the Society of Cincinnati.

Francis K. Field was educated in the Rensselaer Polytechnical School at Troy, N. Y., from which he was graduated when only fifteen years of age. His young years prevented his receiving a diploma at that time, although he was thoroughly proficient

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in the art of civil engineering. At that period the school was under the direction of Prof. Eaton, who was very much interested in the bright boy. From the time of his leaving school at fifteen, until he was twenty-one years of age, young Field was engaged in mercantile business in UIster county, 3. 1. He took up his profession and followed it for a time, when he again engaged in business, this time in that of quarrying stone on the ilud- son river, a business in which he was quite success- ful. In 1873 he returned to his profession, and from 1880 to 1885 his field of operation was in Colorado. Returning to the East in 1885, he be- came connected with the Berlin Iron Bridge Co., performing clerical work and as a salesman, and has continued in the employ of that corporation from that time to this, which speaks for itself of of liis fidelity to duty and his efficiency in his field of labor. MIr. Field in his religious connections is a member of the Episcopal Church. His politi- cal affiliations are with the Democratic party.

To Francis K. Field and Frances A. Burr were born children as follows: Burr Kellogg, born May 5. 1856, Ellen Mary married Newton F Hawley, a promising attorney of Minneapolis, Minn .; and Walter Danforthi, born Nov. 10, 1864, who was a chemist and connected with a large drug house in Newark, N. J., and died when thirty-six years of age. He made much original investigation, and his work on "explosives" has been quoted as au- thority by German writers.

Burr Kellogg Field, son of Francis K., and the subject proper of this sketch, was reared and at- tended private school at Livingston Manor-on- Iludson, where his father's family removed when he was an infant. He was prepared for college at Sing Sing. N. Y., and was graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale in the class of 1877, with the degree of C. E. He soon after entered the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad Co., remaining several years, then became engaged with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe road, and still later with the Northern Pacific, and was pres- ent at its completion and witnessed the driving of the golden spike. Subsequently he was assistant superintendent of public works at Philadelphia. and there entered into communication with C. M. Jarvis (Mr. Field graduated as high stand man from Yale in class of 1877, and was a classmate of Mr. Jarvis), and when he requested him to ally lis forces with him in the enterprise in East Ber- lin, Conn., in 1886, he at once accepted, became miost energetically connected with the enterprise, and for nine years prior to his death was its vice- president, and at the time of his death had full control of all contracts made by the company in all parts of the world. He played a conspicuous part in developing the business of that corporation. He was a man of great energy, an indefatigable worker and successful in his undertakings. His position with the Iron Bridge Works brought him in contact with many of the most important busi-

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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 158

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