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 162

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 162

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

HON. GIDEON WELLES, statesman, Hart- ford, where his death occurred Feb. II, 1878, was a lineal descendant of Thomas Welles, a native of England, who came to this country prior to 1636 and located in Hartford, of which town he was one of the original proprietors in 1639. Later he became governor of Connecticut.

Gideon Welles was born July 1, 1802, in the town of Glastonbury. He attended for a time Norwich University, in Vermont, but was not grad- uated. He studied law, but soon turned his atten- tion to journalism, becoming editor and part owner of The Hartford Times, with which he was con- nected until 1854, though retiring from the respon- sible editorship in 1836. He made The Times the chief organ of the Democratic party in Connecticut. From 1827 to 1835 he served in the State Legis- lature. He was made, by appointment of the Leg- islature, State Comptroller in 1835, and was elected to that office in 1842 and 1843. He served as post- master of Hartford for several years between his periods of service as State Comptroller. From 1846 to 1849 he was chief of the bureau of provisions and clothing in the Navy Department at Washing- ton, D. C. He was an anti-slavery man, and in 1855 and 1856 identified himself with the Repub- lican party. He was its first candidate for gov- ernor of Connecticut. He worked hard for the election of Abraham Lincoln for President in 1860. and became his Secretary of the Navy.

The following is extracted from an article in the "Memorial History of Hartford County," imder the head of THE PRESS, prepared by Charles Hop- kins Clark :

It was in the years 1854 and 1855 that the Hon. Gideon Welles, who had been for most of the time since 1827 an editorial writer on The Times, joined the then just organ- izing "New Party," which in the last-named year took the name and shape of the great Republican party. Mr. Welles began his work for the Republicans in the columns of the Evening Press, a Republican journal, which had been begun in 1856. In building up the Connecticut Republicans 110 one voice was so powerful through the press as that of Gideon Welles. President Lincoln called Mr. Welles to his Cabinet .. It is but justice to truth, and to one of the most remarkable men who in those days of noted leaders were in any way connected with the government at Washington, to say that Mr. Lincoln trusted to no member of his Cabi- net for advice and counsel more fully than he did to Mr. Welles ; and it is also true that no one was worthier of that trust.

It was well for our country that Mr. Lincoln had such

1494

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a man in his Cabinet. More than the country yet knows, it was the saving firmness and wisdom of Gideon Welles that at critical junctures served unseen to turn the tide of fortune in favor of the government. He was not given like so many others, to blowing his own horn; but his counsel at all times was so good that the sorely-tried

President learned to value and rely upon it.

* *

Mr. Welles was also in President Johnson's Cabinet. and, after the close of the latter's administration, resumed his old-time cordial relations with The Times and its pub- lishers. He was daily in the office, as of old, reading the newspapers and making characteristic comments on men and events and the various political occurrences of the day * *

In 1872 Mr. Welles acted with the Liberal Re- publicans, and in 1876 he advocated the election of Samuel J. Tilden.

CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. In the death of Charles Dudley Warner at Hartford, Oct. 20, 1900, there passed away one of the foremost literary men of America.

Mr. Warner was born Sept. 12, 1829, at Plain- field, Mass. He came of Puritan stock. His fa- ther. Justin Warner, who was a man of culture, died when Charles was four years old. When he became eight years old the family moved to Char- lemont. The taste of the father for literature passed to the son, and even in boyhood Mr. Warner was a willing student and learned readily. He had access in his early boyhood to few books except such as might be found in the average Puritan household of the time, Calvinistic treatises, Biblical commentaries and biographies of austere divines, but he found the time and the opportunity to study and to make considerable advancement, particularly in the classics. When he was twelve his uncle, and the guardian of Charles and his brother George, took the widow and the two boys to Cazenovia, Madison Co., N. Y. He was prepared for college at the Oneida Conference Seminary, a Methodist institution of high repute, with an excellent Faculty. He was graduated from Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y .. in 1851, with the first prize in English. While in college he contributed to the "Knicker- bocker" and "Putnam's Magazine." A short time after graduation he prepared a "Book of Eloquence," which was published at Cazenovia, N. Y., in 1853. and showed an appreciative though critical judg- ment.

Although Mr. Warner thus early gave indication of liis taste and aptittide for a literary career. he spent a year in 1853 and 1854, with a surveying party on the Missouri frontier, and upon returning to the East hie went to the law school at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, and prepared himself for a legal career. He was gradtiated in 1856, and be- gan practice at Chicago, remaining there until 1860, when at the solicitation of Gen. Joseph R. Hawley, who had known him at school and at college, he came to Hartford to join Gen. Hawley in the pub- lication of the Press, which was started as a Re- publican paper. Mr. Warner asstimed control of the paper the next year, when Gen. Hawley went to

war, and he carried it through the war with emi- nent ability and the warmest patriotism. In 1867 the Press was consolidated with The Courant, by which Gen. Hawley and Mr. Warner became part owners of this paper. He continued to the time of his death one of the owners of The Courant.

Mr. Warner always had a fondness for travel, and he had seen considerable of this country when he went abroad the first time. This was in 1868, and he spent fourteen months on the other side, writing a series of bright and entertaining foreign letters to his paper, which gained him reputation and were extensively copied. He subsequently traveled much in this country, in Mexico, in Europe and the East, observing much wherever he went, and putting the result of his observations and re- flections in print. His letters and books of travel are among his most charming writings.

In 1877 Mr. Warner published "Being a Boy," in part a biography and a faithful and amusing picture of rural life in a Calvinistic New England community. Before this he had published "My Summer in a Garden," published first as a series of papers in The Courant. It combined humor, philosophy and the contemplation of affairs in a thoroughly charming manner. Retaining his posi- tion on The Courant, and his close interest in all that related to it. Mr. Warner became in 1884 co- editor of "Harper's Magazine." He for many years conducted the Editor's Drawer, the humorous de- partment of the magazine, and later the Editor's Study, another department of the magazine. He contributed frequently to the literary pages of the periodical, wrote essays, occasional addresses and lectures, and took an active interest in all matters relating to social and municipal retorm. To social science he gave a lifelong and careful study, and his voice and pen were constantly in its service.

A catalogue of Mr. Warner's published writ- ings would include, besides those already mentioned, "As We Go." "As We Were Saying." "Backlog Studies," "Baddeck and That Sort of Thing," "In the Levant." "In the Wilderness." "Mummies and Moslems." "My Winter on the Nile," "Studies in the South," "Mexican Papers." "Studies in the Great West," "Our Italy," "People for Whom Shakespeare Wrote," "Relation of Literature to Life," a series of lectures before the Yale Law School in 1884, "Roundabout Journeys," "Life of Captain John Smith." "Saunterings." "Their Pil- grimage." "Washington Irving," in the "Men of Letters" series, of which he was editor. and three novels, "The Golden House," "A Little Journey in the World," and "That Fortune." the last named published about a year ago. His lectures and oc- casional addresses included an address at Bowdoin College on "Higher Education," the address at the unveiling of Paul Gerhardt's statue of Nathan Hale in the Capitol. an address before the literary societies of Washington and Lee University in 1888, and lectures and papers before various educational and scientific societies and associations. A paper of his

1495

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

on the education of the negro in the South was rcad at the meeting of the American Social Science Association in Washington last winter. The paper was widely published and excited much comment. Mr. Warner was also editor of the "Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern," which was in preparation for several years and was published in thirty volumes. He was co-author with Samuel L. Clemens of "The Gilded Age," published in 1873.

Mr. Warner married, in 1856, Susan, daughter of William Elliott Lee, late of New York City. She survives him. There are no children. George H. Warner, of No. 49 Forest street, Hartford, is a brother. Mr. Warner received the degree of A. M. from Yale in 1872, and Dartmouth conferred the same honor upon him in 1884, as did his Alma Mater, Hamilton, the same year. Hamilton con- ferred upon him the degree of L. H. D. in 1886, and Princeton conferred the same degree in 1896. He received the degree of D. C. L. from the Uni- versity of the South in 1889.

Mr. Warner was a member of the park board of Hartford and the State commission on sculpture. He was a member of the Monday Evening Club of Hartford, of the University, Century and Play- ers' Clubs of New York, and of the Authors' and the Tavern Clubs of Boston. He was one of the early members of the Colonial Club of the city, and a trustee of Wadsworth Atheneum. He was at the time of his death, and had been for some years, a vice-president of the National Prison Con- gress, and he was president of the American Social Science Association.

Throughout all his many activities Mr. Warner was always in close touch with the affairs of The Courant, and he made a daily visit to the office when he was in the city. Gen. Joseph R. Hawley thus spoke of Mr. Warner at the time of his death :

The warm and unbroken friendship of Mr. Charles Dudley Warner and myself began about 1843-fifty-seven years ago. We lived as brothers without a single con- troversy, or passage of ill feeling, until he passed from among us Saturday afternoon, Oct. 20, 1900.

Mr. Warner's intellectual ability and his success as an author of books are known to a great public, but a smaller public has known him in his home and in the sweet daily exchange of affection. He was completely a gentleman. He lived a religious life, and said little about it. He regularly attended his church, respecting and obey . ing its observances. I never heard from his lips an in- delicate or coarse story, or an unclean idea. He abhorred injustice, meanness and dishonor. It is a cheerful spirit and a true wit and a sweet humor that we find in all his works. We may never see his equal. I cannot expect an equal friendship and love.

GEN. GEORGE E. KEENEY, whose connec- tion with various interests in Hartford and Somer- ville has brought him into special prominence in business circles in this part of the State, is well known all over Connecticut in his relation to the public life of the Commonwealth. He represents an old family of this section, his first ancestor in America, Alexander Keeney, having been made a

freeman in Wethersfield in 1667; he died in 1680. From him the General is a descendant in the sev- enth generation, his line being through Joseph, Ash- bel (1), Ashbel (2), Ashbel (3), and Rockwell.

Rockwell Keeney, the General's father, was em- ployed during his early manhood in the mills at Somerville, and there met and married a fellow worker, Miss Leonora Gowdy. Soon after their marriage they moved to Manchester, Hartford coun- ty, where they made their home until 1879, and where their children were born. Returning to Som- erville, Mr. Keeney, in partnership with his sons, purchased the mill where he had formerly been em- ployed, and the Somerville Mfg. Co., consisting of Gen. Keeney, his father and brothers, was formed and incorporated, with Rockwell Keeney as presi- dent ; he still holds that position.

George E. Keeney was born March 22, 1849, in Manchester. Until thirteen years of age he at- tended the common schools, and then began work in a woolen factory, being thus employed about five years. For a year after this he attended the Cheshire Military Academy, and he then became associated with his father in the woolen business, with which he has since been identified. He also has important business interests in the city of Hartford. In 1895, upon the formation of the Connecticut Building & Loan Association, Gen. Keeney was elected its first president, sustaining that relation until 1901. In 1899 he succeeded R. B. Parker as president of the Hartford Life Insurance Co., in which incumbency he still serves. The General has several times been the recipient of public honors, and he was a member of the State Senate in 1889-90 and 1893-94. In 1897 he was appointed paymaster-general on the staff of Gov. Cooke. His political affiliation is with the Republican party. The General became a Ma- son in 1870.

On Aug. 13, 1873, Gen. Keeney married Miss Ellen Denison, of Mystic, Conn., and they have had two children, Elizabeth E. and Raymond G. The daughter is an alumna of Smith College, class of 1897. The son graduated from Yale in 1900.

HENRY GEORGE VARNO, M. D., an able representative of the medical profession success- fully engaged in general practice in Thompsonville, was born in St. Julie, Province of Quebec, Canada, May 23, 1850, a son of John Baptiste and Ursula (Blain) Varno, also natives of Canada.

John Baptiste Varno, the paternal grandfather, was a native of Alsace, France, and a pioneer of Quebec, Canada. On the maternal side the Doctor is a descendant of the McLeods and Mortons of Glasgow, Scotland, who were also pioneers of the Province of Quebec. The maternal grandfather served in the English army during the American Revolution. His widow, Kate (Morton), died at Indian Orchard, Mass., in 1889, at the extreme old age of one hundred years. John Baptiste Varno, father of our subject, was a farmer by occupation, but for a period of ten years was a resident of

1496

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Adams, Mass., where he was employed in one of the largest manufacturing establishments of that place. In 1878 he returned to Canada, where he died ten years later.

The first thirteen years of his life Dr. Varno passed in Canada, and then went to Burlington, \'t., where he attended school for eighteen months. From there he went to Champlain, N. Y., where he pursued his studies in the public schools for five years, and in 1876 located in Adams, Mass., where he was employed as clerk in a general store for several years, during which period he commenced the study of medicine. In 1879 he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, Md .. where he was graduated in March, 1882. In April, of the same year, he opened an office in Thompsonville, Conn., where he was not long in building up the large and lucrative practice which he still enjoys. He is a close and thorough student. a man of deep research, and his investigations into the science of medicine, and skillful application of the knowledge he has thereby obtained, have won him a place in the foremost ranks of the medical fraternity.

On Feb. 8. 1869. Dr. Varno married Miss Eme- line M. Lobdell, daughter of Ulite and Squse ( Smith) Lobdell, of Adams, Mass., and to them have been born eight children, only three of whom now survive: Arthur J., a practicing physician of Rockville, Conn .: Bertha: and George William Ezra. They also have an adopted daughter. Mary E. Socially the Doctor affiliates with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias. the Foresters, Putnam Phalanx, of Hartford, and the Pilgrims, of Thompsonville. Politically he is an ardent supporter of the Democratic party, and he has taken quite an active part in public affairs, serving as assessor of Enfield in 1894, member of the board of education one year, and justice of the peace four years.

HON. CHARLES HENRY BRISCOE, one of the leading lawyers of Hartford, and for years judge of the court of common pleas of Hartford county, is a representative of one of the oldest New England families.

Judge Briscoe is in the eighth generation from Nathaniel Briscoe, the American ancestor of the family, his line being through Nathaniel (2), Na- thaniel (3), James, Lieut. Nathaniel, Isaac and Charles Briscoe.

Edward Briscoe and wife Ann, of England. Ed- ward Briscoe was baptized in Little Messenden, England, July 31. 1560, and died in 1605.

(1) Nathaniel Briscoe, son of Edward Briscoe, was baptized in 1595, and was married to Alice Taylor, a daughter of Henry Taylor. He came to America with his family in 1630, but returned to England in 1651. | Savage has him at Watertown, Mass., a rich tanner and selectman in 1648 and 1650.1

(11) Nathaniel Briscoe (2), son of Nathaniel,

was baptized in Little Messenden, England, May 18, 1629. [Savage has him at Cambridge, Mass., in 1639, and says that he probably moved to Mil- ford, Conn., where he was an early settler, without doubt before 1646.]

(III) Nathaniel Briscoe (3), of Milford, Conn., son of Nathaniel (2), was baptized in 1647, married Nov. 29, 1672, Mary Camp, and died in 1690. [Savage names his children as James, born in 1673; Mary, born in 1675; Samuel, born in 1678; Sarah, born in 1681; Abigail, born in 1684; John, born in 1687; and Dinah, born in 1690, and says Na- thaniel died the next year. ]

(IV) James Briscoe, son of Nathaniel (3), born Aug. 14, 1673, married, June 1, 1699. Elizabeth Adams.

(V) Lieut. Nathaniel Briscoe, son of James, born June 16, 1708, in Milford, Conn., married Eunice Hurd Johnson. He died in July, 1790, and she died Dec. 27, 1838, aged ninety-six years. Lieut. Briscoe removed from Milford to Newtown, Conn., and there passed the rest of his life in farming. He was quite active in public affairs, as the records show that he was selectman of the town for ten years between 1743 and 1778. In 1768 he and Capt. Amos Botsford gave the bell to the Congre- gational Church at Newtown, which is still in use. Lieut. Briscoe's children were: Eunice, Isaac and Nathaniel.

(VI) Isaac Briscoe, son of Lieut. Nathaniel, born in 1781, died June 26, 1812. In 1801 he mar- ried Anna Sherman, daughter of Lewis and Sarah (Glover) Sherman, Lewis Sherman being a de- scendant in the sixth generation from Samuel Sher- man, who was born July, 1618, in England, a son of Edmond Sherman, and who came to America in 1634, settling in Stamford, Conn .. in 1640. To this marriage were born children as follows. Amy, born June 6, 1802, married, Aug. 10. 1819, Will- iam Tomlinson; Lewis, born Ang. 23, 1803, mar- ried, Nov. 16, 1824, Jane E. Pettis, and died Jan. 27. 1880; Charles is mentioned further on; Har- riet, born Nov. 10, 1806, married, June 5. 1827, Horace B. Dibble : Polly, born April 9, 1808, mar- ried, June I, 1828, David Glover: Sally, born April 2, 1810, married Alonzo C. Frost ; and Caro- line, born Nov. 16, 1811, married, Dec. 27, 1829, Peter Warren Fairchild.

(VII) Charles Briscoe, son of Isaac Briscoe, born Feb. 7. 1805. married, in 1826, Mary David- son, of Milford, Conn. He died Nov. 28, 1843, in Newtown, Conn .. and she died March 7. 1889, in Enfield, Conn., at the residence of her son, Hon. Charles Henry Briscoe, with whom she had made her home for many years. She was a member of the Congregational Church, and a woman of many virtues. Charles Briscoe owned and carried on a tannery in Newtown Street. The Briscoe home was in Newton street. adjoining that of the late Marcus C. Hawley. Mr. Briscoe was a man highly esteemed and respected by the com- munity in which he lived. His children were : Har-

1497

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

riet, born in September, 1827, married, July 28. : 1851, Henry Mygatt, and moved to California; Mary, born in 1830, died at the homestead July 31, 1881 : Charles Henry is mentioned farther on; and George Willis, born July 4. 1834, died in Petaluma, Cal., in 1853.

(VIII) Hon. Charles Henry Briscoe, son of Charles Briscoe, was born Dec. 20, 1831, in New- town, Conn., where his boyhood was passed, and where he received his elementary education. He studied law with Amos S. Treat, and was admitted to the Bar in Fairfield county in 1854. He began the practice of law in the following fall in Enfield, Conn., and has since made his residence in that town. In 1868 he moved his office to Hartford, practicing alone until 1877, and then in partnership with T. M. Maltbie until October, 1881. From January, 1882, to January, 1894, Mr. Briscoe was in partnership in the practice of law with James P. Andrews. In 1857, 1864 and 1878 Mr. Briscoe represented Enfield in the General Assembly, and in the latter year he was Speaker of the House. In 1861 he represented his District in the State Senate, and there served as chairman of the com- mittee on Military Affairs. From 1869 to 1875 he was on the Bench, being the first judge of the court of common pleas for Hartford county, and making an admirable record. His services in the Assembly and Senate were able and valuable to the State. As a lawyer Judge Briscoe ranks high in the profession, and he enjoys a large practice, hav- ing for years been in some of the most important cases that have been tried in the State. He is full of energy, and is one of those wiry, restless men who act quickly and move rapidly. He is a genial and affable gentleman, easily approached, and has many friends and acquaintances.

On Nov. 14, 1855. Judge Briscoe was married to Anna J. Traver, of Newark, N. J., who died in March, 1875, and in June, 1878, he married Alice · E .. daughter of Hon. George W. Bradley, of New- town, Conn. The children born to the first mar- riage were: Willis A., Annie T. and Alice M.

(IX) Willis Anson Briscoe, son of Charles Henry Briscoe, was born Dec. 16, 1856. He was graduated at Hartford High School in 1873, and at Yale College in 1877, studied law with T. C. Coogan, Esq., at Thompsonville, Conn., and was admitted to the Bar at Hartford in May, 1879. For nearly a year he was in partnership with James P. An- drews, at Bristol, Conn., and while there the firm wrote, and published, the Index Digest of Con- necticut Reports, issued in Hartford in 1883. Mr. Briscoe moved to Norwich, Conn., in 1882, and be- came associated with Jeremiah Halsey, the connec- tion continuing until Mr. Halsey's death. Mr. Briscoe is still engaged in business as a lawyer there, having a large practice, and ranking high in his profession.

Mr. Briscoe has been twice married, (first) Oct. 3. 1882, to Jessie E. Drew, daughter of George W. and Betsey Cornelia ( Munson) Bradley, of New-

town, Conn., the former of whom died in June, 1900, the latter in March, same year. Mrs. Bris- coe died July 22, 1885, and for his second wife he married, on Sept. 5, 1888, Leila Rogers, daugh- ter of Henry and Ann E. Smith, of Ridgefield, Conn. She died Jan. 6, 1891, leaving one son, Traver, born Jan. 1, 1891.

MERTON SEYMOUR BUCKLAND, the present well-known and popular postmaster at West Hartford, is a native of this county, his birth hav- ing occurred in Elmwood, West Hartford, Feb. 12. 1848.

Leonard Buckland, his father, for many years a prominent business man of West Hartford Cen- ter. was born in Center Row. Hartford, Dec. 6, 1812, and was a son of Russell Buckland, who died at the early age of thirty-five years. In 1824, when about twelve years of age, Leonard Buckland was bound out to Samuel Whiting, of West Hart- ford, and did not see his mother again for over fifty years. He remained with Mr. Whiting until he attained his majority, and then worked for Capt. Flagg, a tanner in West Hartford, continuing to follow that trade for a number of years, and also engaging in shoemaking. On coming to West Hart- ford Center, in 1856, he embarked in general mer- cantile business, on the corner of Farmington ave- nue and Main street, and for thirty-eight years most acceptably served as postmaster at that place, holding the office continuously except during Presi- dent Cleveland's first administration. In politics lic was first a Whig, later a Republican, and he ever took quite an active and influential part in public affairs, serving as representative to the State Leg- islature in 1861 and again in 1887, and as town clerk of West Hartford. He was one of the lead- ing and representative men of his town, and was held in high regard by all who knew him. He at- tended Unity Church of Hartford during the latter part of his life. Mr. Buckland died Feb. 10, 1895. and was laid to rest in the West Hartford cemetery. Mr. Buckland was married five times, and died a widower. He first married a Miss Brown, while his second wife was Mary K. Seymour, daughter of Horace K. Seymour, of West Hartford. She died at the age of twenty-six years, leaving two children, Merton S. and Mary C., twins, born Feb. 12, 1848, the latter now the wife of J. T. Millard, of West Hartford. For his third wife the father married Caroline Dart ; the fourth was Harriet Pal- mer ; and the fifth Mrs. Julia Holt.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 162

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