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 47

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 47

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Frank B. Bradley

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

plates and steam-fitters' specialties, but in 1899 they sold out their interest in that line, and have since engaged in business at Hartford as commis- sion brokers, under the firm name of F. B. Bradley & Son.

Mr. Bradley was married, June 16, 1869, to Miss Julia A. Arnold, a daughter of Ethan and Mary A. (Thompson) Arnold, of Manchester, Conn., and to them have been born one son, Amon Edward, who is now associated with his father in business. The wife is a member of Hannah Wood- ruff Chapter, No. 36, D. A. R., was its organizing regent, and by it was presented a gold medal, the certificate of an hereditary life membership in the National Mary Washington Association. Mr. Bradley belongs to Friendship Lodge, No. 33, A. F. & A. M .; Triune Chapter, No. 40, R. A. M .; and Temple Council, No. 32, R. & S. M. In his re- ligious views he is liberal, and in political sentiment he is a Democrat. He has held various local offices, the duties of which he has most capably and satis- factorily discharged, and as a public-spirited and progressive citizen he gives his support to every enterprise calculated to prove of public benefit.

PHILO B. COE, a retired merchant of Tariff- ville, and one of its most substantial and highly respected citizens, has throughout his long and pros- perous life ever been identified with the best in- terests of Hartford county. He is a native of the county, as was his father before him.

Phineas Coc, his grandfather, one of the pio- neers of Hartland, was born in Durham, Conn., in 1753. As a young man he was prominent, and in 1770 he was quartermaster of the Fourth Regiment in the Revolutionary war. Possessing the true pio- neer spirit, he came with his brother, Asher, to Hart- ford county from Durham, and cleared up a farm in the woods near Hartland Hollow. He married, Oct. 15, 1780, Miss Rhoda Banning, who was born in 1761, and when four years of age was brought by her parents from Haddam, Conn., to Hartland. She made the journey on horseback, with her fa- ther, clinging to a strap which he had fastened around his waist. In Hartland Phineas Coe raised his family and lived to a good old age, representing his district in the Legislature nine terms. He was a well-known and skillful timber hewer, and he hewed much of the timber for the old church at Hartland. His grandson, our subject, when a boy, scored timber for him. Phincas Coe died in Sept- tember, 1832, his wife surviving until Feb. 3, 1839. Their children were as follows: Elijah, who was drowned in the "Narrows," in Hartland Hollow ; Miles, the father of our subject ; Anson, who mar- ried Hannah Haines. and in 1818 migrated to Ver- non, Ohio; Polly, who married De Witt Clark, and lived and died in Hartland ; Sally, who married Hor- ace Emmons ; and Elijah, who at the age of eleven years, while returning from school, jumped over a fence, fell on a snag, and sustained injuries from which he died.

Miles Coe, the father of our subject, was born in Hartland Jan. 5, 1783. As a pioneer farmer boy he was reared at Hartland, living on the place of his birth until eleven years of age, when with his parents he moved to the farm where he remained through life. He was known as Deacon Coc, al- though he had never held that office in church, but his Christian character was so clear, his every act so characterized by honesty and fairness, that the name came to nim naturally, and was always applied by his friends and neighbors in the highest terms of respect. Himself and wife were members of the Congregational Church, and were active in church work. Miles Coe was a lieutenant in a regiment of State militia, but a cut which he received in the knee prevented further official advancement in mil- itary organizations. He acquired considerable prop- erty, and was a successful and well-known farmer of Hartford county. In 1801 he married Lucy Bor- den, who was born in Hartland March 1, 1784, daughter of Russell Borden, who migrated with all his family except Lucy to Ohio, going by ox-team, the journey consuming six weeks. To Miles and Lucy Coe were born children as follows: (I) Phin- eas, born Jan. 23, 1802, died July 3, 1812. (2) Elijah, born Aug. 24, 1804, was a farmer and later a boarding-house keeper at Ware, Mass., near which town he died April 16, 1880. (3) Rhoda, born June 24, 1806, married Francis Clark, and died in Hartland April 20, 1861. (4) Fanny, born June 26, 1808, married Anson Burnham, and died in Dixon, Ill., July 31, 1883. (5) Louisa, born Nov. 12, 1810, married Kuel Stevens, and died May 15, 1855, from the effects of an accident, being thrown from a buggy. (6) Betsy, born Nov. 25, 1812, married Milo Miller, and died at West Granville, Mass., Aug. 4, 1859. (7) Minerva, born Oct. 12, 1814, married William Moss, and died at Peoria, Ill., in January, 1879. (8) Phineas, born Nov. 7, 1816, was a farmer early in life, then moved to New Haven, where he died Nov. 30, 1893; he married Elvira Banning. (9) Abigail, born Feb. 21, 1819, now lives at Great Barrington, Mass., the widow of David Merwin. (10) Philo B. is the subject of this sketch. ( II) Charles, born Nov. 9, 1823, was a farmer in carly life and later worked in a mill at Cheshire, in which town he died Nov. 5, 1876 ; he married Julia A. Roe. (12) De Witt, born Sept. 12, 1826, was a soldier in Company E, 29th Conn. V. I., during the Civil war, and died at Westfield, Mass., July 3, 1887 ; he married Dollie A. Hamil- ton. The father died Feb. 14, 1853, the mother on Sept. 26, 1870, and they were buried at Ilartland.

Philo B. Coe was born at Hartland Oct. 26, 1821. In his boyhood days he attended the district schools, where discipline bordered on tyranny, and wherein the desks were ranged around the sides of the room. He also had the advantage of a train- ing in a select school at Hartland, and at the age of nineteen years, naving successfully passed an ex- amination in spelling, geography, grammar and arithmetic, he began teaching school for eleven dol- lars per month, and "boarded around." Ile was a

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product of the pioneer farm. He was brought up to work in a day when boys had to work, and when a Connecticut farmer raised everything consumed in his home except sugar and spices. He remained at home until he was twenty-one, when he went to Granville, Mass., and in partnership with his brother-in-law, Ruel Stevens, embarked in the lum- ber business, reducing native timber. For three years he was thus engaged. He then, with his brother Phineas, purchased a farm in Hartland Hol- low, and they operated the place jointly until 1850. In that year he bought the hotel at East Hartland, which had been conducted by Watson Gibbons.

Mr. Coe married, Jan. 2, 1850, Miss Ann F. Moses, who was born in Canton, Conn., Nov. 5, 1830, a daughter of Festus and Amanda ( Miller) Moses, the former a native of Canton, the latter of Avon. Festus Moses was a farmer, and in early years had taught school. His family consisted of six children, four of whom lived to adult age, and two of whom are now living: Ann F., the wife of our subject; and Emily, widow of William M. Clark, of Granby, Connecticut.

Mr. Coe continued in the hotel business for five years, then entered into partnership with Watson Gibbons, under the firm name of Gibbons & Coe, and they conducted a general merchandise store at Hartland until 1867, in which year Mr. Coe re- moved to Tariffville and engaged in the mercantile business with Frederick Pickett, under the name of Coe & Pickett. Mr. Coe continued actively and suc- cessfully in business until March, 1893, when the partnership was dissolved, his interest being sold to Henry Higinbotham, and he retired from active life. Since then he has enjoyed the fruits of a successful business career. In the fullest sense of the term he has been a self-made man, beginning life with no financial resources of his own.

In politics Mr. Coe has been a Whig and Repub- lican, and in his younger years he was active in po i- tics. For twelve years he was postmaster at Hart- land. In 1868 he was appointed postmaster at Tar- iffville, and served continuously, except during the first term of President Cleveland, as long as he re- mained in business. For over thirty years Mr. Coe has been a member of St. Mark's Lodge, F. & A. M., at Simsbury. Himself and wife are believers in the Christian Science faith. They have a pleas- ant home, where they live in comfort, and enjoy the highest esteem of their many friends. Mr. Coe has spent many years of active life in business, and has well typified by his keen mind and well-pre- served physique the material blessings of industry and energy. He has been in close contact with his fellow men in various public and business relations, and through them all has borne a name and a char- acter of the highest integrity. Mr. and Mrs. Coe have adopted one child, Nellie R., born Aug. II, 1856. She married Joel Loomis, of Tariffville, and has three children: Ida, Katie and Nellie M. Ida Loomis married Fred M. Davis, and has two children : Ruth L. and Howard C., the great-grand- children of our subject.

ALBERT E. HOLCOMB, a thoroughly repre- sentative farmer and one of the better class of citi- zens of the town of Windsor, was born Oct. 25, 1843, on the farm he now owns and occupies.

Elihu Holcomb, his father, was born in Hart- land, Conn., Feb. 28, 1803, a son of Moses and Hannah Holcomb, who were both representatives of well-to-do and prominent families, and reared a family of which they had reason to be proud, the sons being Wells (died in Hartland), Elihu, Uri, Elijah B. and Enos. The grandfather was a farmer by occupation, and died in Hartland, while his wife spent her last days at the home of her son, Elihu, and died there Oct. 10, 1847. The other children of their family were as follows: Uri, a wagon- maker by trade, died in Granby; Elijah B. (known as Billings) was a merchant of Peoria, Il. (he had a son who was killed in the Custer massacre) ; Caroline married George D. Lane, and died in Ohio; Emiline married Daniel Chapman, and died in Wis- consin ; Catherine married a Mr. Waters, and died in Hartford; Cornelia died unmarried, when seven- teen, and is buried in Hartland; Laura married a Mr. Downs, and died in Chicago, Ill .; and Enos died in Cuba when comparatively a young man.

The first sixteen years of his life Elihu Holcomb spent in Hartland, and attended the district schools which were much inferior to those of the present day. He then learned the wagonmaker's trade, which he followed until ill health forced his re- tirement. For some time he was a partner in a silk mill that was operated by water power at Ladd brook, it being the pioneer mill of the kind in Windsor, to which place he removed from Hartford. He worked at his trade as a journeyman in several Connecticut towns, but finally settled down to farm- ing upon the place now known as the Holcomb farm. He was a thorough and systematic agriculturist, but did not confine his attention solely to that oc- cupation, as he conducted a grocery store for thirty years in connection with the operation of his land. In Poquonock, March 20, 1832, he was united in marriage with Miss Miriam Phelps, who was born near that place, in the town of Windsor, Dec. 18, 1812, a daughter of Eli and Miriam (Case) Phelps. Her father, whose sketch appears elsewhere, was born Aug. 16, 1746, and died in 1829. Mr. and Mrs. Holcomb became the parents of five children : Cornelia E., born Oct. 1, 1834, married Nathan Prouty, and died in Spencer, Mass .; Sarah A., born March 23, 1838, lives with our subject on the old homestead; Helen A., born Feb. 12, 1841, is the wife of William Best, of Windsor; Albert E. is next in the family ; and Wells F., born June 21, 1850, resides with our subject. The father died Nov. 30, 1885, the mother on Oct. 6, 1852, and the re- mains of both were interred at Poquonock. Po- litically he was a Democrat until the Maine law agitation, when he joined the Whig party, and on its dissolution became a Republican. He always took considerable interest in political affairs and

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

was a regular voter, but he was no politician in the sense of office seeking, though he served at one time as justice of the peace in the town of Windsor. He was an active and prominent member of the Methodist Church at Windsor Center, and always attended church and Sunday school as long as he was able to ride a distance of three miles to the house of worship. He was a quiet man, who never sought publicity, but was always doing good, and was one of the valued and honored citizens of the community in which he lived.

During the winter months, when his services were not needed on the home farm, Albert E. Hol- comb attended school in District No. 8, town of Windsor, and completed his education by a short at- tendance at a select school in Poquonock. With the exception of a few days in a season, when work- ing for neighboring farmers, he spent his boyhood and youth under the parental roof, and under the able direction of his father obtained a thorough knowl- edge of every department of farm work.

On March 2, 1869, Mr. Holcomb married Miss Martha J. Keney, who was born in Bloomfield, Conn., Aug. 2, 1847, a daughter of Osmyn and Elizabeth J. (Huntley) Keney. Her father died in 1866, her mother in May, 1853. In their family were only two children, the younger being John M., a carpenter of Windsor. Mrs. Holcomb supple- mented her district-school education by a course in the Bloomfield Academy. By her marriage to our subject she has become the mother of five children : Clara, who died when nearly two years old; Louis E., who is engaged in farming on his father's place in Poquonock; and Alice M., Bertha J. and Herbert A., all at home.

After his marriage Mr. Holcomb located on a farm adjoining the old homestead, where he re- mained until, in the spring of 1886, he purchased the interests of the other heirs in the home place, which he now owns with the exception of the residence. He is a substantial farmer, and a quiet, unassum- ing and conservative man, whose opinions carry weight. The neat and thrifty appearance of his place denotes his careful supervision, and shows conclusively that he thoroughly understands his chosen calling, while as a tobacco grower he has been most successful. He is a member of Po- quonock Grange. Since casting his first Presiden- tial vote for Abraham Lincoln, in 1864, he has been a stalwart supporter of the Republican party, is now most efficiently serving his seventh year as as- sessor, and in 1889 ably represented the town of Windsor in the State Legislature.

JOHN M. THOMPSON. This gentleman's name, like a giant tree in a forest of weather-beaten oaks, stands prominent among those of representa- tive citizens of East Windsor. The family in Hart- ford county traces its ancestry to a mother and cight children, natives of the North of Ireland, were Scotch-Irish, Protestants in religion, and who came

to this county in 1720, settling in Irish Row, now known as Melrose.

Samuel Thompson, one of the children alluded to above, was born in 1691, and died in 1782. His wife, Elizabeth, whose maiden name was presum- ably McKnight, was born in 1686, and died in 1776, and among their children was a son named James, born in 1724, and died June 20, 1790. He married Elizabeth Betty, who was born in 1739, and died in 1825, the mother of a large number of children, among whom were the following: Col. William, who was born in 1762, and died in 1829, the father of Deacon W. H. Thompson, now living in Mel- rose ; Samuel, born 1763; John McKnight, the grandfather of our subject; Charles, born in 1776; James, born in 1780, died in 1829; and Elizabeth, born May 20, 1778.

John McKnight Thompson was born Jan. 8, 1768, and dicd Feb. 22, 1841. He was one of the stalwart pioneers of East Windsor, cleared away the brush and erected the first house on the Thomp- son homestead, and became one of the most promi- nent and influential citizens of the town and a factor in its progress. He married Miss Sabra, a daugh- ter of Samuel and Elizabeth ( Wells) Allen, born July 29, 1774 ; she died March 28, 1858. They had the following children: Chauncey, born Oct. 24, 1794, died Dec. 18, 1869, who first married So- phronia Chapman Nov. 16, 1819, and later, on April 6, 1845, wedded Anna Coy ; Robert, born Jan. 12, 1796; John, April 22, 1798; Elizabeth, Sept. 10, 1800; James Allen (father of our subject), Sept. 4, 1802; Mabel, Oct. 20, 1804; Sabra, March 2, 1807 : Samuel Wells, Dec. 18, 1809 (dicd March 12, 1811) ; Samuel Wells (2), Jan. 12, 1812; and George, Aug. 1, 1816.

James Allen Thompson was born on the home- stead Sept. 4, 1802, was educated in the district schools, and followed the vocation of farming throughout lifc. He was a gentleman of more than ordinary mental caliber, and stood very high in the cstcem of his fellow citizens. On Jan. 8, 1829, he married Miss Maria Barber, a daughter of George and Betty ( Wolcott) Barber, and to this union canc five children: Harrict, born Scpt. 1, 1831, mar- ried Deacon George Dart, and is living in Vernon, Tolland Co., Conn .; John M., the subject of this sketch, born Sept. 26, 1833; two children, both named Jamcs Allen, died in infancy; and Albert James, born July 12, 1845, is now a resident of Oregon. Mrs. Maria Thompson was called from carth July 28, 1845, dying in the faith of the Con- gregational Church, deeply mourned by her husband and surviving children, and, indeed, by all who had known her. Her husband then made his home with his daughter, with whom he lived in South Windsor until he closed his eyes in death Sept. 6, 1864. In politics Mr. Thompson was first a Whig, and after the distintegration of that party he be- came a consistent Republican. He served as a cap- tain in the local volunteer cavalry, but his advanced age at the opening of the Civil war precluded his taking a part in that struggle.

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At the death of Mrs. Maria Thompson the fam- ily separated, and John M. Thompson entered upon life's struggle at the early age of twelve years. He was first employed as a farm hand in Ellington, Tolland county, by John McCray, and after three and one-half years of this work returned to East Windsor, Hartford county, and found employment in a grist and saw mill. Later he purchased the old homestead on which he had been born, and which, at the time of his purchase, comprised only thirty- five acres, but by economy and skill he increased its dimensions to sixty acres, materially improved it, and converted it into one of the best farms of its size in the town; it is now occupied by his son, Howard A.

In 1859 John M. Thompson married Miss Eme- line Bradley, who was born in Ellington March 3, 1836, a daughter of Elijah and Lorenza (Taylor) Bradley. To this union came two children : Henry, born May 23, 1860, died Oct. 5, same year ; How- ard A., born June 3, 1875, married, Dec. 25, 1897, Miss Eudell S. Busher, a native of South Windsor, and a daughter of David and Anna ( White) Busher. Mrs. Emeline Thompson died Dec. 27, 1875, her remains being interred in Windsorville, and Oct. 3. 1876, Mr. Thompson married Miss Maria Dart, a native of Wapping, Hartford county, and a daugh- ter of Adron and Wealthy (Avery) Dart. This worthy lady died Dec. 22, 1895, and her remains also lie at rest in Windsorville. Mr. Thompson's third marriage took place in East Windsor Oct. 20, 1898, Miss Sarah M. Bowen becoming his wife. She is a cultured and refined lady, a native of Rhode Island, and a daughter of Willis and Lura (Aldrich) Bowen, the latter a native of Willington, Conn. After his last marriage Mr. Thompson re- moved from the old homestead to his present farm, near Broad Brook, purchased in 1898.

In politics Mr. Thompson is a Republican, and has been ever since the formation of the party; in religion he is a Congregationalist. His life has been one of industry and thrift, as well as of pur- ity, and should serve as an inspiration to the boy who is situated as he was when but twelve years of age. His early educational advantages were meager, but with a strong intellect he has seized every available opportunity to improve himself, and to-day stands, as a man and citizen, second to none in Hartford county.

EDWARD NEWTON SMITH is a leading representative of the business interests of Thomp- sonville, where for the past eight years he has suc- cessfully conducted a drug store. Of good executive ability and sound judgment, he has won success by liis well-directed, energetic efforts, and the pros- perity that has come to him is certainly well de- served.

Mr. Smith was born Aug. 29, 1855, in the village which is still his home, a son of John Cotton and Julia A. (Reed) Smith, natives of Suffield and Windsor, Hartford county, respec- tively. The paternal grandfather, Newton Smith,

was a farmer of Suffield, and also a peddler of clocks, but the later years of his life were spent in Boston, where his death occurred. The ma- ternal grandfather, Nelson Reed, was a native of Granby, Hartford county, and a farmer by occupa- tion. John C. Smith, our subject's father, estab- lished the first livery stables at Windsor Locks and Warehouse Point, and one of the first at Thompson- ville, where he located in 1850. A few years later he retired from the livery business to devote his entire attention to veterinary surgery, in which ca- pacity he is widely remembered. He died in 1891, leaving a widow and two children: Mary C., now Mrs. J. P. Townson, and Edward N., our subject. Mrs. Smith was born in Windsor, in 1818, and early in the '3os located in Thompsonville, where she opened a millinery and dressmaking establish- ment, engaging in active business there until 1884- a period of over half a century. When the railroad was extended trom Hartford to Springfield she was among the passengers on the first train to go over the road. For fifty years she owned and re- sided in the house where her death occurred Dec. 2, 1894.

Reared in Thompsonville, Edward N. Smith pursued his early studies in the public schools of the village, and later took a course at the Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he was graduated in 1876. During the winter of 1876- 77 Mr. Smith attended the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, and again during the winter terms of 1879-80 and 1880-81, and was graduated from that institution in pharmacy March 10, 1881. In 1869 he began his business life as clerk in the drug store of Dr. L. H. Pease, at Thompsonville, remaining with him two years, and then accepted a similar po- sition with William A. Campbell, for whom he worked five years. Subsequently he conducted the same store for N. M. Pease for fourteen years, and in 1891 purchased the store which he has since so successfully conducted. He is one of the most popular business men of Thompsonville, and a leader in public affairs.

On Jan. 26, 1893, Mr. Smith was united in mar- riage with Miss Sarah, a daughter of James and Elizabeth Crossley, of Thompsonville, formerly of Highland. Socially he is quite prominent, being a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, a thirty-second-degree Mason, and past master of Doric Lodge, No. 94, A. F. & A. M., of Thomp- sonville. Politically he is identified with the Re- publican party, and as a public-spirited citizen he is thoroughly interested in whatever tends to pro- mote the welfare of his town or county.

HON. JAMES C. GOURLEY, the present rep- resentative from the town of Windsor Locks in the State Legislature, is a man whose talents and energy have brought him up from the ranks of an enviable position in business, political and social circles, and the following brief account of his life will be of more than usual interest.

Mr. Gourley belongs to a race which has pro-

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duced many men of enterprise and ability, both his parents having been natives of the North of Ire- land. James Gourley, his father, was educated in the North of Ireland, and came to America in early manhood, locating first in Thompsonville, Hart- ford Co., Conn., where he learned the trade of jack- spinning, at which he was employed for some years. In 1871 he removed to Windsor Locks to take a po- sition in the mills of the Medlicott Co., with whom he remained until failing health compelled him to resign ; he died Dec. 17, 1896. He was an excellent citizen, and always took an active interest in the issue of the day, being a stanch Republican politic- ally. He and his estimable wife, Mary ( Chestnut), to whom he was married in Thompsonville, were for many years active members of the Episcopal Church at Windsor Locks ; she died April 26, 1896. They had seven children : Emma J., wife of Charles Longden, of Bridgeport; James C., whose name opens this article; William, Albert, Samuel, Frederick and George, residents of Windsor Locks.

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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 47

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