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 171

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 171

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Mr. Taft is a Bryan Democrat, a firm believer in the Chicago Platform, and in the national cam- paign of the fall of 1896 made seventeen speeches. He has held the office of constable and second se- lectman in East Hartford, and now holds the office of justice of the peace. He is a man of fine in- telligence. combined with a ready flow of language. and has pleaded a number of cases successfully in the justice court. He held the office of railroad policeman for a number of years. Mr. Taft has also served on the school committee of East Hart- ford, and has taken a very active interest in the schools, exercising great care in the selection of the best teachers. He liberally supports both churches and schools, and is ever ready to forward any en- terprise for the benefit of East Hartford. For many years he has been a member of the First Com- pany Governor's Horse Guard, in which he ranks

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as lieutenant, and he is a member of the Veteran Firemen's Association, having previously served with No. I Company as a volunteer. He was the organizer of the fire department of East Hart- ford, and was chosen foreman of the company, and was later elected second assistant and then chief engineer of the department. Socially he is a mem- ber of Crescent Lodge, K. of P.

ANDREW FRINK GATES is a prominent and successful lawyer of Hartford, where he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession since 1889, and he has won wide recognition in public service, as well as in the private pursuit of his chosen calling.

Mr. Gates was born Oct. 22, 1862, at Lebanon, New London Co., Conn., son of William F. and Ellen (Ford) Gates. After a thorough preliminary education he entered Yale College, whence he was graduated in 1887, and in 1889 he completed the course in Yale Law School, being admitted to the Bar in New Haven county in the same year. For four years-1889 to 1893-Mr. Gates served as prosecuting attorney of Hartford county; n 1889 and 1891 he was assistant clerk of the House of Representatives of the State; was clerk of the House in 1893; and clerk of the Senate in 1895. In all these positions he acquitted himself with a fidelity and true sense of the responsibilities of his trusts which could not fail to win him the hearty commendation of all concerned, and his many sterling characteristics, combined with legal skill and acumen, have gained him an enviable standing in the ranks of the legal profession in his city and county. In 1893 he was elected a member of the board of school visitors for a term of. six years, during the latter half of which he was acting visitor.

On Nov. 9, 1893, Mr. Gates was united in mar- riage with Miss Alice Louise Welch, daughter of Dr. John and Elizabeth ( Bell) Welch, of Hartford.

HENRY S. AVERY, a well-known resident of Bristol since 1854, was born in Groton, New Haven county, Conn., April 6, 1826, and is a son of Al- ford and Martha (Smith) Avery, the former of whom was born Sept. 12, 1792, a son of Dennison and Hannah ( Babcock) Avery, and the latter born in 1799.

Henry S. Avery, three days after birth, lost his mother, and for one year was cared for by a lady friend of the family. He was then taken to South Coventry, Conn., by his grandfather, and at the proper age was sent to the public school and cared for until he was nine years old, when he was taken to Mystic, Conn., and bound out, until twenty-one, to Nathaniel Lewis. The relationship was not pleasant, and three years later young Henry S. went to live on the farm of an uncle in North Stonington, where he remained one year. He next worked on the farm of Eleazer Bill, at Columbia, for four and a half years, then carried on the farm

of Dr. Andinijah White at Andover, for two years, for the six months following he worked for Silas Loomis, on Hop river, near Andover, thence going to Rockville, where he worked in the Spring- ville and other cloth mills for twelve years. In 1854 Mr. Avery came to Bristol and worked in the Dunbar spring factory a year, and about eight months in a satinet factory, when ill health caused him to withdraw. Ilis next employment was as a silver burnisher for the Bristol Brass & Clock com- pany, but a year and a half later, burnishing was abandoned, and Mr. Avery worked as a spinner in N. L. Birge's stockinet factory.

On Sept. 17, 1862, Mr. Avery enlisted in Co. K, 16th C. V. 1 .; and took part in the battle of An- tietam, but in fording the river contracted a severe cold, and lost his luggage. After the battle was over he was sent to a hospital in Maryland, but later transferred to another in Alexandria, Va., where he wasconfined until honorably discharged, Jan. 29, 1863. Mr. Avery worked for nine years at drillings for clocks for Wilfred Nettleton, and then started the fish and oyster trade, which he conducted from 1873 until 1890, when he retired. His old stand on Main street is now conducted by C. U. Bornes. Although retired, Mr. Avery cannot live in idle- ness, and passes a great deal of his time in can- vassing for the "Happy Hour," a family story pa- per, published at Portland, Maine.

Mr. Avery was married, May 24, 1849, to Miss Cynthia A. West, who was born July 20, 1824, at Marlborough, a daughter of Roswell and Betsey (Sumner) West. No children have been born to this union. Mr. and Mrs. Avery, however, have an adopted daughter, Nellie Eva, born July 4, 1873, who is now the wife of George Linstead, of Bris- tol, and the mother of one child-Freeman Avery, born Sept. 6, 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Avery are mem- bers of the Congregational Church. They cele- brated the golden anniversary of their wedding day last May. Mr. Avery is a member of Pequa- buck Chapter, R. A. M., of Bristol. In politics he was first a Whig, but on the disintegration of that party became a stanchi Republican.

FRANK SEWALL CORNISH is a most fitting representative of the young progressive business men of Glastonbury. He has attained success and is still engaged in furthering the commercial inter- ests of that town. With energy, integrity and am- bition as his capital, he began his business career, and has found these qualities an excellent invest- ment, yielding a steady and satisfactory income. Mr. Cornish is of the ninth generation from James Cornish, the founder of the family in Connecticut, who was the representative of an old Massachu- setts family, was the first schoolmaster at North- ampton, Mass. ; was appointed clerk of the courts in Hampshire county, Mass., in 1667, later removed to Connecticut and died at Simsbury October 29, 1698. The line of descent to our subject is as fol- lows: (2) Deacon James, born in 1663, settled in

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Simsbury about 1695, died April 2, 1740; (3) Capt. James, eldest son of Deacon James and Elizabeth (Thall) Cornish, born Oct. 30, 1693, died March 22, 1784. (4) Sergeant Elisha, son of Capt. James and Amy (Butler) Cornish, was born June 5, 1720, and died April 27, 1794; (5) Capt. James, son of Sergeant Elisha and Hepsibah ( Humphrey) Corn- ish, was born Dec. 16, 1744, and died July 9, 1813; (6) Colonel James, son of Capt. James and Rhu- hama (Bidwell) Cornish, was born in 1776, and died Jan. 30, 1836; (7) Charles E., son of Col. James and Cynthia (Russell) Cornish was born April 13, 1805, and died Feb. 14, 1882. (8) Charles H., son of Charles E., and Mary N. (Vin- ing) Cornish, was the father of our subject.

Charles H. Cornish was born in Simsbury, May 17, 1837. He was educated in the schools of Sims- bury, Tariffville and Hartford, and about 1860 re- moved with his parents to Glastonbury. As a young man he entered the factory of Ames & Co., at Naubuc as burnisher, and later engaged in farm- ing in Glastonbury. His death, the result of an accident, occurred Feb. 14, 1873. While driving a fractious colt he was thrown to the ground, his head striking on a stone and resulting in fatal in- juries. Charles H. Cornish was twice married. His first wife was Sarah Cook, who died Nov. 2, 1857, leaving no issue. For his second wife Charles H. Cornish, on July 15, 1861, married Harriet E. Risley, who was born Oct. 20, 1838, daughter of Elihu and Harriet Waterman, of Naubac. By this second marriage there were three children, Charles A., who was born Sept. 6, 1862, and married Jessie Peck and lives at Glastonbury; Frank Sewall ; and Robert, born Aug. 26, 1871, a resident of Ware, Massachusetts.

Frank Sewall Cornish, was born July 19, 1865, in Naubuc. He was only eight years old when orphaned by the death of his father, and thus de- prived of a father's guiding help, was at an early age obliged by circumstances to win his own way in life. He attended the district school in winter, and worked hard in summer to earn his way through school, and to contribute to the support of his widowed mother. Later he attended Han- num's Business College, and on returning to Glas- tonbury he entered the factory of Williams Bros., where he remained for a time, resigning his posi- tion in 1891 to start the stage line between Glas- tonbury and Hartford. Mr. Cornish continued in this business for four years, and then purchased from William W. Brown his present place, where he opened the livery and meat business, which he has since conducted most successfully. He has the largest meat route in Glastonbury, and his livery business is equally prominent. Mr. Cornish also owns a blacksmith shop. Realizing the need of a hotel at Glastonbury, in 1899 he began the construc- tion of a fine modern structure which is a monu- inent to his energy and enterprise.

On Jan. 1, 1891, Frank S. Cornish was mar- ried to Miss Mary Isleit, who was born March 7,

1872, daughter of Andrew and Kate (Hopsang) Isleit, natives of Germany. Two children have blessed this union : Dayton, born Jan. 5, 1893, and Ruth, born June 1, 1895. In politics our subject is a Democrat, and he is now serving as constable. He is a member of Midian Encampment, No. 53, I. O. O. F., and of Monitor Council, No. 61, N. A. M. He is self-made in the best sense of the term, and his property and business are the cre- ation of his own unaided effort.

MATTHEW G. ANDERSON, farmer, town of Enfield, Hartford county, Connecticut.

CHARLES LEONARD MILLARD is of Eng- lish descent. His grandfather, Leonard M. Millard, was born July 22, 1801, and was a successful ma- chinist of Bangor, Maine, but toward the close of his life abandoned work at his trade and pur- chased a farm at Indian Orchard, Mass., where he died April 7, 1861. On June 22, 1822, he mar- ried Amy Stearns, who survived him for seven years, dying on July 12, 1868. They were the par- ents of seven children, of whom we give a neces- sarily brief mention : The eldest, Adeline E., was born Aug. 29, 1825, married in November, 1842, to Henry Denslow, and died Nov. 23, 1857 ; Leonard Clark was the father of Charles L., and his life story will be more fully told in a succeeding para- graph; Charles H. was born Oct. 1, 1832, became a dealer in boots and shoes in a Massachusetts town, and died Jan. 5, 1893; Stephen M. was born March II, 1835, was a stone mason by trade, and died June 3, 1896; George S. was born Sept. 27, 1837, and died on Dec. 12, following; Georgiana was born Aug. 16, 1839, became the wife of Hora- tio Marsh in October, 1856, and is still living in Massachusetts; William F., the youngest of the family, was born Aug. 21, 1842, and is at present a successful business man of Massachusetts, where he is engaged in the iron trade.

Leonard Clark Millard, father of Charles L., was born at Bangor, Maine, Sept. 17, 1827. He learned his trade from his father, and his natural mechanical aptitude enabled him to become an ex- pert machinist, he being considered, in his day, one of the best in New England. His services readily commanded $5 per day. He was an assistant of Elias Howe, and rendered valuable aid to the "Father of the Sewing Machine" in his experi- mental work. He was in request at many places be- cause of his recognized skill. For many years hewas in the employ of the Ames Company, at Chicopee, Mass., going from there to Meriden, and later to New Britain, where he resided until 1868 or '69. He then accepted a proposal to become foreman and general manager of the Malleable & Gray Iron Co., of St. Louis, which position he continued to fill until 1881. In that year he returned to New Britain, and began work in the old Stanley Works. While his political faith was that of the Republican party, he was in no sense a politician.

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On Nov. 19, 1848, Mr. Millard married Eliza- beth Burrows, who bore him three children, as fol- lows : Emma E., who was born May 5, 1850, and died Jan. 29, 1852; Emma S., born Feb. 20, 1852, married to John F. Herne, and now living at Larchmont, N. Y .; and Charles Leonard, who was born at Thompsonville, Hartford county, on April 15, 1854. Leonard C. Millard died Feb. 12, 1893, his wife having preceded him to the better land on July 14, 1863.

Charles L. Millard was educated in the common schools of New Britain, and was also a student under Professor Peck. He received on excellent training in the rudimentary branches of an English education, and left school when he was about fifteen years old. He learned the trade of a machinist under the instruction of his father, at St. Louis, virtually serving an actual apprenticeship thereat. In 1876, he went to New York, where he obtained work at his trade in the Higgins Carpet Factory, or. 42nd street. Being naturally fond of change, he, in 1879, went to California, working at his trade in the cities of San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles. He found some difficulty in overcoming the latent and sometimes expressed hos- tility to mechanics from the East, and in 1882 he left California for the Black Hills, where he en- gaged in prospecting. In Sept., 1884, he returned to New Britain, and was for thirteen years in the employ of S. H. Beard, his work consisting of the installment of steam and hot water heating apparatus. His technical knowledge and recognized skill secured for him, in 1897, the appointment as janitor of a high school, which position he has ever since held.

Mr. Millard is a Republican, but he takes no active part in politics. He is a member of the Or- der of United American Mechanics and of the Red Men. He married Minnie Louise Potter, a daugh- ter of Prof. Joseph M. Potter, formerly an in- structor in music in the old high school. Five children have been born to them: Milton Potter, Leon Pierpont, Amelia Burrows, Ann and Marie Herne.

HENRY E. BILLINGS. This well-known citi- zen of Hartford, who has gained a prominent place in business circles as the head of the Billings Side- walk & Masons' Supply Co., was born May 3, 1824, in Chatham, Conn. He comes of an excellent fam- ilv, and his grandfather, Zadock Billings, was one of the leading farmers of Chatham, where he died. His wife, whose maiden name was Chase, was a native of Rhode Island, and rounded out a full century of life. This worthy couple had eight chil- dren, all now deceased.

Samuel Billings, our subject's father, was born in Chatham, and received a common-school educa- tion, meanwhile assisting in the work of the home- stead. After engaging in farming for a time he went West, and he died in California at the age of sixty years. He married Anna Hale, a native

of Portland, Conn., one of the family of four daughters and three sons of Ephraim Hale, a well- known agriculturist of that section. She lived to the age of eighty-four, and for many years she and her husband were active workers in the Episcopal Church of Chatham. They had eight children, of whom two are living besides our subject: Betsy A., Mrs. Wheeler, a widow, resides in Hartford, Conn .; and William E. is a farmer near Glaston- bury, Connecticut.

Our subject remained in Chatham until fourteen years old, gaining his education in the common schools of that town. He then went to Glaston- bury, where he continued to attend common school while working on a farm, and later was engaged in a tannery. At twenty he engaged in the milling business, which he carried on for five years at Glastonbury and two years at East Hartford. Wish- ing to test the advantages of agricultural life, he purchased a farm at West Hartford, but after three years' trial he sold the place and resumed the mill- ing business, at Glastonbury. In 1862 he removed to Hartford, and took a position with a brother-in- law in his present yard, No. 154 Charter Oak street, remaining two years. For six years he operated the Leonard Daniels mill, at Hartford, and spent the next seven years conducting a meal store at the corner of Sheldon and Main streets. On sell- ing out he again took a position with his brother- in-law, and after the death of the latter, in 1884, he took charge of the business, which he has great- ly enlarged. The company is regularly incorporat- ed as a joint-stock concern, and their business is the largest in that line in the city. They are sole agents for the Alpha Portland Cement, and make a spe- cialty of laying sidewalks and factory floors. Their stock includes a full line of North River and Penn- sylvania blue-stone flagging, granite curb, gutter, crosswalks, paving stone, lime, cement, plaster, hair, sea sand, mortar color, drain and land tile, chimney flue linings, extension chimney tops, and King's Windsor cement and dry mortar. They have laid many ferrolithic concrete walks, and samples of their work in this line may be seen at the Na- tional Fire Insurance Co., Unity building, Baller- stein's, "Hotel Hartford," Billings & Spencer Co., Hartford Gas Light Co., Hartford Life Insurance Co., Wise Smith & Co., D. E. Strong's building on Church street, and elsewhere in the city. Among some of the work in asphalt done by them we may mention the driveways in the rear of the Hartford Gas Light and Connecticut Fire Insurance Cos'. buildings, on Grove street, numerous walks and washstands about the city, and the basement of the Pope Manufacturing Co.'s new office building. The business keeps twenty-five or thirty men employed in summer, and ten horses are needed the year round, from two to four being added in summer. An extensive business is done in teaming also. dur- ing the summer season.

In 1848 Mr. Billings married Miss Celestia P. Brewer, daughter of Allen Brewer, a prominent ag-

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riculturist near East Hartford, who died in 1864. Her mother's maiden name was Valina Bidwell. In 1898 Mr. and Mrs. Billings celebrated their Golden Wedding. She passed away Sept. 27, 1900, Of their three children, (1) Helen is the widow of James A. Kennedy, formerly in the dry-goods busi- ness, and has three daughters, Addie, Maud and Grace. (2) Grace B. married J. D. Candee, treas- urer of the company. (3) Henry F., secretary of the same company, was born in Glastonbury April 13, 1861, and was educated in the common schools. He entered the office of the Charter Oak Insurance Co. as an errand boy, and rose to be bookkeeper, remaining there eleven years. While there he learned stenography, and subsequently was engaged three years as stenographer for Mr. Shepherd, su- perintendent of the New Haven & Hartford Rail- road Co. He then went into business with his fa- ther, and since 1893 he has held a position as clerk in the railroad commissioners' office, at the State Capitol at Hartford. He is a member of Hartford Lodge, F. & A. M. On April 15, 1891, he married Miss Minnie Evans, a native of Hartford, and they have two children, Beth and Forrest. The family is prominent in social life, and our subject has been a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 54. F. & A. M., since 1860, and was formerly connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his family attend the Congregational Church. but he has declined to accept office in the society. His unwillingness to undertake official duties extends to municipal affairs, and when urged by his fellow workers in the Republican party to accept a place on the ticket he has refused, much to the regret of his friends in both political organizations.

BENAJAH HITCHCOCK, one of the most re- spected retired business men in the town of Bristol was born in Cheshire, Conn., Dec. 24, 1824. a son of Chauncey and Sarah ( Bristol) Hitchcock.

Chauncey Hitchcock was a native of Walling- ford. Conn., was a shoemaker by trade, and after his removal from Wallingford to Cheshire contin- ued to work at his trade and also engaged in farm- ing. He was a man of straightforward character, unpretentious in manner. In Cheshire he married Miss Sarah Bristol, a daughter of Augustus Bris- tol, known to many as Augustus Brister, a hero of the Revolutionary war. To this marriage were born six children, as follows: Rebecca, who was married to George Wiloth, died in the State of New York: Matilda, who was married to a Mr. Cooper, died in Southington, Conn .: Sarah, who married Robert Sloper, also died in Southington : George, who married a Miss Hart, died in New York State, where he had been engaged in farm- ing : Mary Ann married Jacob Curtiss, and died in the West : and Benajah, the youngest, is the sub- ject of this sketch.

Benajah Hitchcock has had a varied career. In his younger days he was taken from place to place by his father, and was educated in Southington and

Kensington. Leaving school at the age of sixteen years, he was employed in making bolts, buttons and small hardware in the vicinity of Kensington and Southington for several years; later worked seven or eight years making cars for kettles in the factory of Isaac Botsford, at Berlin, and about the year 1849 came to Bristol. For two years after coming here he worked in the match factory of E. Clark, in New Haven. His next employment was the making of picture frames for four or five years for Byington & Graham, in Bristol. He then bought and fitted up with the most improved apparatus a match factory in Stafford, Conn., whither he re- moved, and most successfully managed the plant five or six years, when he sold it, returning to Bristol and establishing a paper-box factory on Divinity street ; this he also profitably conducted ten years, and then disposed of it to Herbert J. Mills, retiring from active business pursuits.

Mr. Hitchcock was married, Sept. 4, 1849. to Miss Nancy Anna Mix, who was born July 1, 1831, a daughter of Asahel and Anna (Judd) Mix, of Bristol. This marriage has been blessed with two children : (1) Delia Eleanor, born March 27, 1851, is the wife of David Allyn, of Montgomery, Mass., and has five children, Louis B., Winifred (married to Clinton Clark). Walter D)., Edith and Rachel. (2) Ellen Louise, born July 13, 1861, married to Rev. Samuel G. Neil, a traveling evangelist and mis- sionary, sent out by the Baptist Society for chapel- car work in the central West: Mr. and Mrs. Neil have one child, Anna, born Aug. 5. 1888. Mr. Hitchcock has been very active as a member of the Second Advent Christian Church, is a pro- found Bible student, and has preached in every town and city in Connecticut ; for several years he was pastor of the AAdvent Church in Wallingford. He is a Republican in his political views, but has never taken an active interest in party affairs.

THEODORE H. KEIRNS, who for nearly twenty years prior to his death, Jan. 4, 1900, had- been a prominent citizen of Bristol, was a man who, through his own efforts and force of character. had risen to a creditable position in society and the business world. Mr. Keirns was born May 29, 1850, at Ashland, N. Y., son of Thomas E. and Helen Keirns, who were the parents of nine chil- dren, only three of whom are now living : Thomas E., who is a substantial citizen and farmer residing in Union Society. N. Y .: Mrs. Mark E. Butts, of East Windham, N. Y. : and Mrs. Charles A. Munn, of Union Society. N. Y. The father of these was a blacksmith by trade and occupation. The mother still survives.

Theodore H. Keirns learned the blacksmith's trade, beginning with his father when very young. and so small that he had to stand on a box in order to reach the forge. The father dicd when the son was only eleven years of age, and at twelve the latter went out into the world to do for himself, making his home from twelve until twenty-one with

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John P'. Lewis, a farmer of Unionville, Conn. ; while with him he learned the trade of wood-working. Upon attaining his majority young Keirns left Mr. Lewis, and went to Plainville, where he learned the business of laying concrete walks, under a Mr. Woodruff. He came to Bristol in 1873, and en- gaged in that line of work, as the years passed developing an extensive business in this line, which embraced street curbing. the laying of flagging pavements, etc. While living with Mr. Lewis he had experience in the woods in working with tim- ber, and so during the winters, when his main busi- ness was at a standstill, he employed a number of men in getting out timber for railroad ties and other purposes, using a portable sawmill. He was energetic and active, and never being content un- less busy, he generally had a number of irons in the fire at once. For a period he carried on street sprinkling in connection with his other business, and was in the ice business, too. He laid many of the walks and did much of the work in his line that was done during the time of his stay there. He did large jobs for the Berlin Iron Bridge Co. in all parts of the State. At the time of the building of the reservoirs of the Water Co. of Bristol Mr. Keirns was placed in charge of the work, and later, in 1886, became superintendent of the company, a position which he held at the time of his death. He was also vice-president of the Bristol Journal Publishing Co. He was enterprising and public- spirited, and the life of any enterprise with which he was connected, or any gathering favored with his presence. In politics he was a Democrat, and but for the fact that his party was greatly in the minority in his community, he would doubtless have been frequently in public life. He served as as- sessor of Bristol, as well as in other town offices. Socially, he was prominent, rising to the thirty- second degree in Masonry. In Lodge work he was an active member of Franklin Lodge, F. & A. M., Pequabuck Chapter. R. A. M., and the Council, of New Britain, and of Bristol Grange No. 116, taking an especially active interest in the work of the Grange, and being frequently heard in their debates. His wife, too, was a member of the Grange, and both were members of the Order of the Eastern Star. In earlier life he was identified with the K. of P.

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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 171

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