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 38

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 38

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

The early days of William P. Wickham were spent in the district schools near the residence of his parents ; later he attended the East Academy at Manchester. He was reared on the farm, and except for a short time spent in New Haven re- mained at home, assisting his father, until his mar- riage, Oct. 8, 1861, to Miss Ann S. Sanders, who was born in Windham county, Vt., May 30, 1839, a daughter of Oren and Sally ( Canedy ) Sanders. She was the youngest of nine children, all of whom except one, Aaron, who died at the age of eighteen months, lived to maturity, as follows : Susan, de- ceased; Thomas, of Hadley, Mass .; Sarah, de- ceased; Benjamin, of Canton, Conn .; Joseph, de- ceased; Lucy, deceased; Fylura, now Mrs. H. J. Wickham, of Manchester, Conn .; and Ann S., the wife of our subject. Oren Sanders, the father, lived to the age of seventy-seven years; his wife died at the age of sixty-seven. Ann S. began her own support at the age of nine years. At fourteen she began teaching school at the salary of one doi- lar per week, and "boarded round," often walking one and one-half miles between temporary home and school house. Later she received one dollar and a half per week for her educational work. She was employed when a young lady in New Haven, and worked in a factory where cases for daguerreotypes were made.

Mr. Wickham lived with his parents, and en- gaged in farın work for some time. For a year lie lived at Sturbridge, Mass. He was night watchi- man for two years at the Government Envelope Works in Hartford. Returning to Manchester he conducted a farm for his brother for some time, and in 1888 he removed to the property which he now occupies, known then as the Jeremiah Strong farm. After renting it for a year Mr. Wickham purchased the place, and here he has ever since most successfully followed farming. To Mr. and Mrs. Wickham have been born the following children : Almeron W., of Burnside, Conn., foreman in a pa- per-mill, for two years State representative from East Hartford, and a prominent citizen of that town ; Edward J., a dairy farmer of Manchester ; Anna M .; Neva L. ; and Horace C. Of these Almeron W. married Margaret McCabe, in April, 1885, and they have two children, William E. and Martha E. Ed- ward J. married Ada Dawes, in June, 1887, and they have four children, Hattie A., Edna A., Raymond E., and Leila S. Anna M. married George E. Churchill, of Newington, in August, 1888, and they have two children, Almeron S. and Louisa A. Mr. Churchill was representative in 1899, from the town of Newington in the State Legislature. Neva L. married Charles P. Cummings, in April, 1893, and their children are George W. and Horace C. Horace C. married (first) Grace M. Hills in March, 1896; she died in July, 1897, and he wedded (second) Ida F. Bancroft, in April, 1900.

In politics Mr. Wickham is a stanch Democrat. In 1899 he served as treasurer of the school district. Himself and wife are members of the Hillstown

Grange. They are attendants at the Congregational Church, and are good Christian people, kind-hearted and hospitable, and have reared a family which is es- sentially creditable. Mr. Wickham has one of the best kept farms in Hillstown, and is a self-made man in the fullest and best sense of the term.

JOHN EDWARDS TRYON. Our rural com- munities are noted for a high type of citizenship, and the subject of this sketch, a leading agricult- urist of the town of Glastonbury, furnishes an ex- cellent example. His fine homestead, which is beautifully situated on the bank of the Connecticut river, in the southwestern part of the town, shows wise and energetic management, and in the various movements which make for progress in his locality he has always taken a prominent share.

The Tryon family is of good Colonial stock, and Elizur Tryon, our subject's grandfather, was a well-known agriculturist in Glastonbury in his day, and was also interested in river traffic. He built the old house which stands near our subject's residence. He reached the age of ninety-one, while his wife, whose maiden name was Lucy Kilbourn, lived to be ninety-four. They had a large family of children.

Noah Tryon, our subject's father, was born in the house mentioned above, and his life was spent mainly in farming at the homestead, although he was at one time engaged in fishing along the Con- necticut as a business. He received in his youth such educational advantages as were afforded in the district schools and the local academy, and as a citizen he was highly esteemed for his excellent qualities of character, serving with ability in various town offices, and in 1842-43 as a member of the State Legislature. In political sentiment he was a Democrat. Mr. Tryon was a captain in the State militia, and offered his services during the war of 1812. He died at the age of eighty-two years, while his wife, Elizabeth (Goodrich), a native of Chatham, was ninety-one at the time of her death, and the remains of both now rest in the old Church cemetery in South Glastonbury. Mr. Tryon was an Episcopalian in religious connection. Our sub- ject was the youngest in a family of five children, the others being: Henry R., a mason in Hartford, married (first) Jane Stevens and ( second) a Mrs. Gregory: he died March 18, 1898. Noah G. lo- cated in the South, and died in Shreveport, La., in 1862. Elizabeth married Nelson Shephed, a farmer of Portland. Ann J. married Joseph Wil- cox, a farmer of Cromwell.

Our subject was born Aug. 31, 1828, in the house in which he now resides. As a boy he at- tended the district schools and the academy in South Glastonbury, then conducted by Orange Judd, and he also studied at the "Grist Mill Sem- inary" for a time. He relieved his father of mucli of the care of the homestead until the death of the latter, when he took sole charge of the place, carry- ing on general farming. Mr. Tryon owns some 300 acres in the town. His genial nature is un-

John 6, Tryon

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

affected by his close attention to business, and he finds time for active work in the local Grange, in which he has served as master. In politics he was a Democrat until 1855, and in 1856 he helped to organize the Republican party in Hartford. He represented his town in the Legislature in 1863- 64, and has served four terms as selectman and seven years as road commissioner. He and his family are members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church at South Glastonbury, and at present he holds the office of vestryman.

In 1850 Mr. Tryon married Miss Julia Stevens, daughter of Joseph Stevens, a well-known agri- culturist of Glastonbury. She died in 1853, and Sept. 17, 1856, he married Miss Ruhamah F. Sparks, a native of East Glastonbury. By his first mar- riage he had two children: Julia E. married Al- bert H. Clark, of Glastonbury, and has three chil- dren, Herbert F., Mabel and Elizabeth Goodrich ; John G. is at home. By the second marriage there were four children: James H. is at home; Charles Osmar, who married Annie Hollister, resides in South Glastonbury, and is an energetic and enter- prising fruit grower and a leading citizen, hav- ing served as representative in the Legislature in 1897; Anna P., who is at home, is an accomplished young lady, having finished her education at Mt. Holyoke Seminary ; Edward S. is engaged in busi- ness in Hartford as a joiner and builder.

J. BURDETTE HUBBARD. This prominent citizen of Hartford county was born in the town of Glastonbury Jan. 4, 1844, his father, Jonathan Hub- bard, being a native of the same place. He is a grandson of Ira Hubbard, a cabinet-maker by trade, who was a farmer in the later years of his life. Mr. Hubbard's mother was Mary Andrews, daughter of Elisha Andrews, a large owner of real property in Manchester, and it was there that Mrs. Hubbard was born. J. Burdette Hubbard was the only child of his parents. Jonathan Hubbard removed from Glastonbury to Manchester in 1854. He, like his father, was a cabinet-maker, but had supplemented his knowledge of that trade by learning painting as well. Yet he, too, loved the soil, and after coming to Manchester he took up his residence on the farm now owned by Conrad Kish, where he died in 1880, at the age of threescore. Both he and his first wife were members of the Congregational Church. Af- ter her death he married again, his second spouse being Miss Mary Willis, who bore him two chil- dren, Mary and Jennie, both of whom are still liv- ing in Manchester.

J. Burdette Hubbard was ten years old when his father moved from Glastonbury to Manchester. At the age of sixteen he went to New Britain, to learn the trade of a painter with his uncle. Seven years later he and his uncle removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where they engaged in business, and where, after fourteen months, his uncle died. Mr. Hun bard thereupon returned to Manchester, and began working at his trade in the employ of Cheney Bros.

in the spring of 1868. In 1871 he was made fore- man of their painting department. He remained with this firm until the spring of 1893, when he en- gaged in business for himself. He has a well- stocked store, carrying wall-paper as well as paints and painters' supplies, and in addition to this is an extensive contractor in painting and paper-hanging.

On Nov. 29, 1868, Mr. Hubbard was married to Miss Emma J. Kenney, the only child of Chester WV. and Sarah (Evans) Keeney, and granddaugh- ter of George W. Keeney, all of whom were born in Manchester. Her father began life as a poor boy, and rose to be a successful, prosperous manu- facturer of paper, having learned the practical trade in his youth. His first mill was at Buckland's Corners. Later ne formed a partnership with Patrick Fitzgerald, and established a factory in the western part of the town of Manchester. He sub- sequently disposed of his interest in the business to Mr. Fitzgerald and associated himself with Hud- son White, their copartnership continuing until Mr. Keeney's death, on Sept. 22, 1896, at the age of seventy-six years.

Mr. Hubbard is a member of King David Lodge No. 31, I. O. O. F., Manchester ; Manchester Lodge No. 73, F. & A. M .; Pythagoras Chapter No. 17, R. A. M., Hartford; Wolcott Council No. 1, Hart- ford; Washington Commandery No. I, K. T., of that place ; and the Mystic Shrine, Sphinx Temple. He is a Republican in politics, and was a member of the Legislature in 1887. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard are members of the Episcopal Church of South Manchester.

EDWIN G. LEWIS, a leading citizen, promi- nent merchant and popular official of Southington, was born in that town June 1, 1858, a son of Henry and Sarah H. ( Gridley) Lewis, representatives of pioneer families of Southington, being descendants of the Roots, Gridleys and Harts.

The progenitor of the Lewis family in America was William Lewis, a native of England, who came to this country on the ship "Lion," landing in Bos- ton Sept. 16, 1632. He was admitted a freeman the following November, and joined the Braintree company which in August, 1633, removed to New- town (Cambridge). In 1636 he came with a com- pany to Hartford, but in 1659 again moved, be- coming one of the founders of Hadley, Mass., whichi town he represented in the General Court in 1662. In 1664 he lived in Northampton, Mass., and in the fall of 1677 removed to Farmington, Conn., where he died Aug. 2, 1683.

(II) William Lewis, son of the founder of the family in the New World, was born in England, and in 1644 was a resident of Farmington, where he served as the first recorder after the incorporation of the town. His first wife was Mary Hopkins, his second Mary Cheever. He died Aug. 18, 1690.

(III) Samuel Lewis, son of William, Jr., was born Aug. 18, 1648, and died Nov. 28, 1752. He held the military rank of sergeant.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

(IV) Nathan Lewis, son of Samuel, was born Jan. 23, 1707, and was married July 28, 1730, to Mary Gridley, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Humphrey) Gridley. He lived in the Marion dis- trict of Southington, where he died Sept. 7, 1799.

(V) Job Lewis, a son of Nathan, was born April 20, 1731, and was married Nov. 13, 1755, to Han- nah, daughter of Rev. Jeremiah and Hannah ( Burn- ham) Curtiss, of Southington. He was a tanner and shoemaker by trade, and lived in the northern part of Southington, where he died Dec. 5, 1813.

(VI) Selah Lewis, son of Job, was baptized Sept. 2, 1764, and was married Jan. 1, 1792, to Mary Carter, daughter of Abel and Rhoda (Lewis) Car- ter. He was a large land holder and merchant, and lived in the northern part of Southington, where he died Sept. 12, 1827.

(VII) Henry Lewis, son of Selah, and grand- father of our subject, was born Dec. 1, 1806, and married for his first wife Elizabeth Root, a daugh- ter of Nathaniel and Sally ( Dunham) Root. Sne was the grandmother of our subject. For his sec- ond wife he married Nabby C. Carter, daughter of John and Esther ( Tinker ) Carter.

(VIII) Henry Lewis, the father of our subject. was born in Southington May 28, 1832, and was there reared and educated, graduating from Lewis Academy. On Dec. 24, 1854, he married Sarah Gridley, daughter of Edwin and Esther (Hart) Gridley, and by this union three children were born : Rosella, wife of Charles S. Judd; Edwin G., our subject; and Laura E., wife of E. E. Crawford. After his marriage the father engaged in farming for a time, and later was in the employ of Peck, Smith & Co. On July 19, 1862, he commenced re- cruiting a company in Southington, which was mus- tered into the United States service as Company E, 20th Conn. V. I., and of which he became second lieutenant. On Sept. II, of that year, they left New Haven, and joined the Army of the Potomac. Mr. Lewis participated in the battles of Chancellors- ville, May 3, 1863, and Gettysburg July 3, 1863, af- ter which his regiment joined the Army of the Cumberland. In January, 1864, he was commis- sioned first lieutenant of Company K, same regi- ment, and May 15 of that year he was slightly wounded at the battle of Resaca. Four days later he participated in the capture of Cassville, and a month later was taken ill and removed to the hos- pital in Nashville. He rejoined his company Aug. 15, and accompanied Gen. Sherman on his march to the sea, arriving in Savannah Dec. 11, 1864. While there engaged in cutting a road for a bat- tery, with his company, he was struck by a stray shot and wounded below the knee, from the effects of which he died Dec. 26, 1864. His remains were brought back to Southington, and interred in Oak Hill cemetery. He was a brave and conscientious officer, and was honored and trusted by his com- mand.

(IX) Edwin G. Lewis, whose name introduces this sketch, was reared in Southington and com-

pleted his education at the Lewis high school, from which he was graduated in 1875. He then engaged in clerking in the shoe store of C. D. Barnes, and while thus employed gained an excellent knowledge of every detail of the business. He served in that capacity until 1885, when he purchased a half inter- est in the business, and in 1895 he became sole pro- prietor, being now at the head of a large and flour- ishing business, and numbered among the leading business men of the town.

On Nov. 19, 1885, Mr. Lewis married Miss Min- nie J. Dunham, a daughter of Robert C. and Joseph- ine (Park) Dunham, of Southington, and they have one daughter, Marian H. Mr. Lewis is a promi- nent member of the First Congregational Church, and has been clerk and treasurer of the Society for over fifteen years. Socially he affiliates with Friendship Lodge No. 33, F. & A. M .; Triune Chapter No. 40, R. A. M .: S. S. Woodruff Cam1) No. 21, S. of V. ; and the Order of United American Mechanics. Politically he is a supporter of the Re- publican party and its principles. In June, 1879, he was appointed assistant town clerk; was elected clerk of the borough in 1889; and town clerk and treasurer in 1896, still serving as town clerk and treasurer, and borough clerk. His official duties are always conscientiously discharged, and he is numbered among the valued and useful citizens of his community.

CHARLES H. ROSE has during his twenty- eight years' residence in Manchester, become well- known to the citizens of that town and the surround- ing country as a successful business man, and as a citizen of integrity and upright character.

Mr. Rose was born July 15, 1857, in the town of Bolton, Conn., where he lived up to the age of nine years, after which his home was in Willimantic, this State. He received his education in the latter place, attending the public schools, and when thir- teen years of age began working in the silk mills of that town, remaining there until his removal to Man- chester, in 1872. For a time he was employed in the Cheney silk mills here, and subsequently for a year was engaged as clerk in the Union Manufacturing Co.'s store in Manchester, in 1877, entering the drug store of Moses Scott, with whom he clerked for three years. At the end of this period, on April I, 1880, he purchased the business of Mr. Scott, con- tinuing same in the original building until it was de- stroyed by fire, on Jan. 4, 1889, when he bulit the fine three-story brick block in which lie is now lo- cated, on the same lot. His building is one of the finest modern structures in the town, and his drug store is one of the most completely equipped in Hart- ford county to be found outside the city of Hart- ford. Mr. Rose is manager of the Telephone Ex- cl:ange and Postal Telegraph Cable, which are lo- cated in his store, and in the other store in the build- ing he carries on a well-stocked news stand. As a progressive and obliging business man he has made an enviable reputation throughout this part of the

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county, and his success has been well deserved, for he has risen by his own efforts, widening his inter- ests until he has made for himself a firm footing among the substantial citizens of this locality. Un- til Cleveland's administration Mr. Rose was acting postmaster of Manchester under Mr. Scott, and in 1898 he was appointed to the office, which he is now holding to the satisfaction of all concerned.

In December, 1880, Mr. Rose was united in mar- riage with Miss Jessie Tuffs, and they have had a family of five children: C. Harold (who is de- ceased), Bessie M., Ernest L., Arline W. and Leslie C. They attend the Methodist Church, of which Mr. Rose has been a member for about twenty years. Fraternally he holds membership with King David Lodge No. 31, 1. O. O. F., and A. O. U. W., of Manchester. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party.

CHARLES MARION SMITHI, the pioneer coal dealer of East Hartford, and that type of a citizen whom any community might feel proud to claim, was born in East Haddam, Conn., Nov. 25, 1851. He was brought by his father to the home of his grandparents in East Hartford in the sum- mer of 1854, and is the only male representative of his generation of the family now living in the town.

Elihu Smith, grandfather of our subject, was a farmer, and lived on Forbes street, East Hartford, south of Maple street, on the same farm which is now owned and occupied by Charles M. He was born in Glastonbury, however, in 1801, a son of Ebe- nezer Smith, who conducted a grist-mill where Clark's paper-mill now stands. Elihu Smith mar- ried Mrs. Sophronia (House) Porter, widow of Anson Porter, of East Hartford, and to them were born two children, Augustus Stanley and Elihu, the latter of whom went to California in 1849, and is now a resident of Georgetown, that State. Elihu Smith was a short, straight man and weighed from 125 to 130 pounds. He was a good farmer, a man of good business ability and strict integrity, and his advice was often sought by his neighbors, by whom he was frequently entrusted with the settlement of estates. He was quite prominent in public affairs in East Hartford, and filled a number of offices, serving as assessor, selectman, justice of the peace ( for a number of years) and representative in the State Legislature. He died Jan. 1, 1879, and his remains were interred in the Hockanum cemetery, Mrs. Elihu Smith died at the age of eighty. She was a daughter of John House, of Glastonbury, By who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. her marriage to Anson Porter she became the mother of two sons: Albert, a millwright, of East Hartford, and Anson, who first located in Bloom- field, and next in Farmington, where he is now fol- lowing his trade of wagonmaker.

Augustus Stanley Smith was born April 6, 1825, in East Hartford, on the place where our subject now lives, but when a young man went to Fast Had- dam, and there married Electa Swan. In early

manhood he learned the trade of shoemaking in New Hartford, Conn., after which he went to East Haddam, and for years worked for Silliman Bros. To his marriage with Miss Electa Swan, Charles Marion was the only child born, and he was a mere infant at his mother's death in March, 1854. Au- gustus S. Smith married a second time, but within a few years again lost his wife, after which he sold his home in East Haddam, and removed to New London, where he engaged in the retail shoe trade. In that city he married Sarah M. Chipman, who has borne him one son, Stanley A., now yardmaster for the Central Vermont Railway Company, in that city.

Charles M. Smith was reared from infancy in East Hartford town by his grandfather, Elihu Smith, on the farm he now owns, and first attended the South Middle district school, with the Misses Julia Bidwell and Silena Stevens as his teachers. He was thoroughly trained by his grandfather in general farming, which was generally followed un- til the cultivation of tobacco was introduced. At the age of twenty-five years he married Miss Emma . Smith, a native of New Hartford, and a daughter of Edmund Smith. To this union were born five sons : Edmund S., a printer by trade, and married to Julia Wolcott, of East Hartford; Frank E., at home : Charles D .; G. Robbins ; and Joseph J. Mrs. Emma Smith passed away June 27, 1885, a sincere member of the Congregational Church. Mr. Smith's present wife, whom he married Dec. 3. 1890, bore the maiden name of Ida Lee Ensign, and is a daughter of Owen L. and Anna Eliza Ensign, of Willow Brook. To this union has been born one child, Marion E.

In September, 1882, Charles M. Smith em- barked in the coal trade in East Hartford, and was the first to receive shipments of coal by rail. He also handles fertilizers, and carries on farming and tobacco growing, owning a total of 117 acres, partly in Glastonbury and partly in East Hartford. In politics Mr. Smith is a Republican, and he has filled several offices, having served as selectman two or three terms, being first elected in 1879 ; as chairman of the board of assessors, for three years ; has been on the town committee, and has served as its treas- urer several years, and is secretary and treasurer of the South Middle school district; he was treasurer of a committee of the Congregational Society of Hockanum before the organization of the congrega- tion, and although not a member of the Society, yet handles its funds. Mr. Smith has also been a mem- ber of the Putnam Phalanx since March, 1886, and holds the rank of sergeant. He is a useful, enter- prising, public-spirited citizen and business man, and none is better or more widely known, and few as highly esteemed.

CHARLES KELLOGG ATWOOD is one of the leading and influential citizens of Newington. and has taken an active part in promoting its sub- stantial improvement and material development.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

For many years he has been prominently identified with the agricultural interests of the community, and still owns and operates a fine farm of ninety acres, which is under excellent cultivation and well improved.

Mr. Atwood was born Dec. 24, 1820, in the house where he still lives, the farm having been in the possession of the family for several generations. Dr. Thomas Atwood, a native of England and a captain in Cromwell's army, was the founder of the family in the New World, and settled in Wethersfield, Conn., where he died. His son Josiah was the first to lo- cate on the farm in Newington town (in what was then Wethersfield), Hartford county, where our subject now resides. There the birth of Asher At- wood, our subject's great-grandfather, and Ezekiel Atwood, grandfather of our subject, occurred; the latter was a soldier for a short time during the Revolution, being only sixteen years old at the time of his service. The father, Josiah Atwood, was born on the same place, and spent his entire life there, owning at the time of his death 400 acres of land. He died in 1863, at the age of sixty-nine years, and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Prudence Kellogg, died in 1868, at the age of seventy-seven years. She was born on the Kellogg homestead in Newington, a half-mile west of the church, and was a daughter of Martin and Hannah (Robbins) Kellogg. Josiah Atwood was a promi- nent man in his day, served as county commissioner for three years, and was once candidate of his party for State senator, but was defeated. He was a major in the Connecticut militia. Charles K., our subject, is the eldest in his family of seven chil- dren. Josiah Elbert, a farmer, was killed on the third-rail road in the western part of Newington in August, 1898. Thomas Robbins is engaged in farming with our subject. John Mitchelson, now living on a farm near Wichita, Kans., was graduated from Trinity College in 1849, as valedictorian of his class, and later engaged in the practice of law in Princeton, Il1., finally removing to Wichita, Kans., where he was judge of the city court. Harriet Pru- dence married John S. Kirkham, of Newington, and is now deceased. Mary Kellogg is the present wife of John S. Kirkham. Julia Norton, who was in- jured at the time her brother was killed, makes her home with our subject.

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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 38

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