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 52
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In May, 1849, Mr. Clark married Miss Cather- ine McKnight, who was born March 2, 1830, at Great Falls, N. H., daughter of Thomas and Mary (Porter) McKnight. During their fifty years of wedded life she has been an unfailing comfort to him and he acknowledges with manly pride the value of her advice and practical help as factors in his success. They have had two sons, Albert H., and Robert L., both members of the firm and thoroughly competent business men.
ALBERT H. CLARK, who was born Sept. 1, 1853, at Tariffville, was for a time engaged in mercantile business at Poquonock, but at present he devotes his entire time to the interests of the firm of Clark Bros. On April 19, 1900, he was married to Miss Ida A. Hardy, a resident of Holyoke, Mass., who was born in Poquonock, a daughter of George F. and Jane (Smith) Hardy. Iler father is dead, and her mother resides in Manchester, Hartford county.
ROBERT L. CLARK was born at Tariffville, Jan. 28, 1856, and became associated with the business at an early age. He married Miss Hattie L. Day, who died in March, 1886, leaving one son, Frank S., who was born in October, 1878, and is now en- gaged in farming in his own account. The broth- ers are aggressive and shrewd managers, and, hav- ing been trained under the watchful care of their father, there is no department of farm work with which they are not familiar. Their land is in three tracts, of thirty-one, thirty-five and one hundred acres, respectively, the latter being the homestead. All are equipped with extensive tobacco sheds and all modern improvements, and are in high state of culti- vation. Their crops of tobacco for 1900 consisted of some thirty-four acres with an average yield of about a ton to the acre, and 1800 pounds of sorted stock. As practical growers the brothers are al- ways ready to co-operate in any movement of inter- est to the tobacco trade, while they are no less help-
ful in general agricultural development, having as- sisted in organizing Poquonock Grange, of which they are still leading members, Albert H. being lecturer of same. While they vote the Republican ticket on State and National issues, they are inde- pendent in local affairs, looking only to the question of fitness of candidates, and neither of them has time or inclination for public life, their business requir- ing their close attention.
CHARLES LARUE AUSTIN, farmer, stock raiser and tobacco grower, West Suffield, is one of Hartford county's most capable, energetic and suc- cessful business men. A native of Connecticut, he was born Sept. 16, 1848, on the farm in the town of Suffield, where he is yet residing.
Gustavus Austin, grandfather of our subject, was born in Suffield, and was a son of Caleb Austin, who was a farmer and land owner in that locality. Gus- tavus Austin was for the most part a self-educated man, having attended only the district schools in his boyhood ; but he amply made up for deficiencies in this respect by home study and close observation of men and things. He was, moreover, well versed in ancient history, and deeply read in Bible lore. In his younger days he peddled Yankee notions in New York State and Connecticut, and in all his ventures was very successful. In 1819 he bought the Capt. Jonathan Sheldon farm, now owned by our subject, and there passed the rest of his days, dying in 1855, at the patriarchal age of ninety-one years. His remains are interred in West Suffield cemetery. In many respects Gustavus Austin was a remarkable man-ambitious but honorable ; argu- mentative though not quarrelsome; and possessed of the happy faculty of always making friends, and of the still happier faculty of keeping them. In politics he was an Old-line Whig, but at no time in his long career was he ever an office-seeker. In church matters he was active, as a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he was a class-leader and exhorter. He married Lydia C. Kent, who was a member of a Suffield family, and five children were born to them: Thomas J., Gus- tavus, Benjamin Franklin, Caleb and Lydia C. The mother of these, who was a good Christian woman, a member of the Baptist Church, died on the old farm in 1866, at the ripe old age of ninety-two years.
Thomas J. Austin, father of our subject, was born in 1804, in Suffield, where in the district schools he received his earlier education, later attending the Connecticut Literary Institute, after which he taught school in Suffield for a tinie. When yet a young man he clerked in a store in Windsor, in which ca- pacity he remained several years, later taking up farming on the old homestead, where he operated a tract of 200 acres, engaging in tobacco growing and general farming. His health being not of the best, however, he passed his later years in retire- ment, and lived to a ripe age, dying on the farm in 1891, at the age of eighty-seven years. His
Chas L. Auchin
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remains lie buried in West Suffield cemetery. In business he was uniformly successful, and was un- assuming, domestic and temperate in his habits, noted for the uprightness of his character and his proverbial honest dealing, living up to the golden rule. On June 2, 1847, he married Miss Charlotte L. Hayden, who was born in Hartland, Conn., Oct. 25, 1824, a daughter of Ransom B. and Hannah (Mattocks) Hayden, and granddaughter of Col. Nathaniel Hayden, of Windsor, Conn. Four chil- dren blessed this union, as follows: Charles L., the subject proper of these lines; Gustavus, who died young; Nellie L., wife of Robert M. Zug, of De- troit, Mich .; and L. Corrie, at home. The mother of this family is yet living at the old homestead, universally respected for her many virtues and hon- ored years.
Col. Nathaniel Hayden, great-grandfather of Charles; L. Austin, was born March 30, 1775, in Torrington, Litchfield Co., Conn., a son of Augustin and Cynthia Hayden. He married Sally Ransom, of Barkhamsted, Litchfield county, who died at Warehouse Point, April 26, 1873, aged ninety-two years, having long survived her husband, who had passed away June 20, 1819, aged forty-four years. At one time he was a colonel of a regiment in his district. Their children were as follows :. Betsy, born Jan. 24, 1800, married Elias Beach, of Water- bury; Ransom B. is mentioned below; Nathaniel, born in 1805, married Sarah Root; Austin, born in March, 1807, married Sarah Ann Cook; Sarah, born Jan. 19, 1810, married Orrin Olmsted River- ton; Almira, born Sept. 17, 1812, married John P. Chapin, of Enfield, and moved to Ohio; Emily, born in May, 1815, married Nathaniel Gaylord, of Hartland ; and Addison, born in 1817, married Har- riet Pierson.
Ransom B. Hayden, grandfather of Charles L. Austin, was born June 27, 1802, and died at West Suffield, in April, 1886. He married Hannah Mat- tocks, and had children as follows: Charlotte L., the mother of our subject; Osman M., born Dec. 29, 1826, now living in Laporte, Ind .; Sarah J., Mrs. F. N. Warner, born Oct. 1, 1832; Nathaniel, born May, 1834, who married Lizzie J. Todd; and Georgianna, born May 5, 1837, married to Samuel Hanchett, of Westfield, Massachusetts.
Charles L. Austin, whose name introduces this memoir, attended the public schools of his native place, and also the Connecticut Literary Institute at Suffield. On account of the impaired health of his father, he remained on the home farm, having charge of it at the early age of sixteen years, and from that time on has successfully managed it and attended to all the business pertaining to it. Ile has made many improvements upon the property, in- cluding the building of substantial and commodious barns, at the present time operating 140 acres. He makes his home with his mother and sister, being yet unmarried. In politics he is a Republican, and
in 1886 he was elected on that ticket to the State Legislature, while there serving on the committee on Roads, Bridges and Rivers. Socially Mr. Aus- tin is a charter member of the O. U. A. M. Lodge at Suffield, and he is one of the most popular citi- zens of his community.
ALBERT RALSAY SHEPARD, a prosperous and well-known farmer and dairyman of West Simsbury, is a native of the town, born Dec. 2, 1851. His father, Daniel Ralsay Shepard, was a black- smith, and for several years worked in the Collins Works at Collinsville. He then returned to West Simsbury, where he married Lydia Moses, a daugh- ter of Daniel Moses, and they had five children : Miles M., who died while serving in the Civil war from exposure after the battle of Antictam; Joseph- ine F., deceased wife of Samuel Ashwell, of Rocky Hill ; Alfred M .; Albert R .; and Amelia, who was married to Elliott H. Latimer. Both parents died in West Simsbury, in the faith of the Congrega- tional Church.
Albert R. Shepard was but two years of age when he lost his father, and he therefore began working out among the farmers in different parts of the county at an early age. He acquired his edu- cation in the district school, and at the age of eighteen years bought the Miles Moses farm, where he engaged in tobacco-growing, raising dairy stock, and general farming. In 1892 he bought the Dr. Holcomb farm, of forty acres, and is now engaged in general farming and dairying; for fifteen years he conducted the Simsbury Creamery.
Mr. Shepard married, at West Simsbury, in April, 1874, Miss Evvie Mary Brown, daughter of Lafayette G. Brown, and one child was born to this union, Carrie, now the wife of Leon R. Rowley, of Simsbury. Mr. Shepard is in politics a liberal Republican, but has never been an office-seeker ; in religion he is a Congregationalist, and he is a mem- ber of the Grange. IIe is domestic in his habits, is temperate and industrious, and is highly respected for his many excellent traits of character.
The Moses family, from whom the mother of Mr. Shepard descended, was one of the oldest to settle in Hartford county. The first of the name to come to America was John Moses, a shipwright, who sailed from England in 1630 or 1635, and landed at Plymouth, Mass. His son John settled in Windsor, Conn., prior to 1647. was a soldier in Capt. John Mason's troop of horse, and married Mary Brown May 18, 1653, his death taking place Oct. 14, 1683, and that of his wife Sept. 14, 1689. They were the parents of eleven children: John, born June 15, 1654, died Aug. 31, 1714; William, born Sept. 1, 1656, died Nov. 27, 1681 ; Thomas, born June 14, 1658, died July 29, 1681 ; Mary, born May 13, 1661, married Samuel Farnsworth ; Sarah, born Feb. 2, 1662, married Samuel But'er ; Nathan- iel : Dorcas; Margaret, born Dec. 2, 1666; Timo- thy, born in February, 1670; Martha, born March 8, 1672, died Jan. 30, 1689 ; and Mindwell, born Dec.
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
13, 1676, married Sergt. John Thrall, and died Jan. 6, 1697.
John Moses, son of John (2), settled on his father's farm in Simsbury, near Mount Phillip, and married Deborah Thrall July 14, 1680; she died May 16, 1715, the mother of twelve children : John, born April 26, 1681, died in 1759; Deborah (1), born Oct. 1, 1682, died in 1683; William, born March 25, 1684, died July 14, 1745; Thomas, born May 8, 1685, died Feb. 6, 1773; Joshua, born Oct. 3, 1689, died Feb. 6, 1773; Deborah, born Jan. 12, 1691, married Richard Roberts; Caleb ( 1) ; Othniel (1), born Jan. 10, 1696; Caleb (2), born Jan. 4, 1698, died March 24, 1787; Othniel (2), born Sept. 6, 1701, died Sept. II, 1701; Mary, born Sept. I, 1702, married Jacob Fuller Jan. 27, 1721 ; and Mar- tha, born in 1705, died July 9, 1764.
Caleb Moses, son of John (3), was born in Simsbury, was a farmer all his life, and lived to reach the great age of eighty-nine years. He mar- ried, Sept. 15, 1726, Hannah Beeman, and became the father of six children: Caleb, born May 8, 1727, died Feb. 18, 1773: Daniel, born June 22, 1729, died Sept. 8, 1776; Abel, born June 24, 1733; Ashbel, born in December, 1735; Michael, born Sept. 12, 1737, died March 14, 1797; and Lucy, born May 9, 1740, married Nathaniel Humphrey.
Daniel Moses, the second of the above family, moved to West Simsbury in 1756, and settled on a farm near Canton. He married Mary Wilcox, who was a daughter of Azariah Wilcox, born in 1732, and died in 1816. Daniel Moses was a soldier in the Revolutionary army, died in New York Sept. 8, 1776, and was buried at North Canton, Conn. To his marriage with Mary Wilcox seven children were born: Daniel, born in 1758, died in 1805; Ridger, born Feb. 13, 1761, died in 1828; Zebina, born April 15, 1764, died March 23, 1815; Lois was married to Andrew Riley in 1781; Sibyl married Mather Roberts; Charlotte married Job Phillips; Mary married Hezekiel Andrews.
Daniel Moses, eldest child of Daniel, was also a soldier in the Revolution, and later was a farmer at North Canton. He married Anne Edgerton, and to this union were born five children: Daniel, born April 17, 1791, died Dec. 7, 1836; Titus; Norman, born in 1797, died Feb. 10, 1861 ; Ann died March 21, 1876; and Anna married Grove Goddard.
Daniel Moses, son of Daniel (2), and grand- father of our subject, married Lydia Amelia, daugh- ter of Peter Frederic and Roxanna (Case) Buell, who were married April 15, 1788; he died June IO, 1827, aged sixty-three years, and she died Dec. 21, 1839, aged seventy-three years. The children of Daniel and Lydia A. Moses were: Daniel, born June 25, 1811, died Nov. 23, 1877 ; Miles, born June 12, 1813, died Aug. 19, 1864; Lydia, born June 28, 1815, died May 16, 1876, the wife of Daniel R. Shepard, father of our subject; Marcus, born Nov. 23. 1818; Uriah, born Dec. 5, 1821 ; Betsey, born July 25, 1826, now the widow of Dr. N. W. Hol- contb ; and Celia, born May 1, 1832.
Lafayette G. Brown, father of Mrs. Albert Ral- say Shepard, was born in New Hampshire April 29, 1829. His father, John Brown, was one of the twelve children born to Josiah Brown, and was but twelve years old when he left the parental abode. Until forty years of age he labored as a farm hand, and then bought a farm in New Hampshire. He married Mary S. Wilson, a daughter of Lura Wil- son, and a native of the State, and to this marriage were born five children : Harriet, who was married to George R. Hilliard ; Julia, married to John Board- man ; Catherine, married to Artemas Stephens ; Dor- cas, deceased wife of Moses Boyden ; and Lafayette G. The father was a Democrat in politics, and both he and his wife died in the faith of the Free- will Baptist Church.
Lafayette G. Brown received a limited common- school education, and was but nine years old when he started out to work, at $3 per month and board. He was variously employed in New Hampshire until eighteen years of age, when he came to Hartford, Conn., where he worked two years, and then moved to Springfield, Mass., where he became watchman for the Agawam Canal Co.'s yachts ; two years later he came to Collinsville, Conn., and worked in the ax factory at that place for fourteen years, during seven of which he had charge of the steel depart- ment. . In 1868 he came to Bushy Hill, in Simsbury town, bought the Curtis farm of one hundred acres, and engaged in tobacco-growing, general farming and dairying.
Mr. Brown married, Sept. 9, 1852, in Vermont, Miss Caroline White, who was born in that State Jan. 27, 1831, and was a daughter of Daniel White, one of the pioneer settlers of Wardsboro, Vt., from the suburbs of Boston, and his wife, Mary Durant, a descendant of the French Huguenots, who took refuge in England at the time of the persecution of Protestants in France. She died Aug. 27, 1900. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown were born four children, Mrs. Shepard being the eldest ; Emma J., born Aug. 7, 1855, was married to John T. Shaw, of Simsbury, Nov. 23, 1875 ; Harry L., born July 27, 1867, is mail agent on the railroad between New York and Springfield, and married in 1895 Josie Myers; Per- ley W., born Aug. 6, 1869, is adjuster of claims of the New Haven Consolidated Railroad Co. Mr. Brown was first a Republican in politics, but later a Prohibitionist, and has served as selectman (two years) and assessor. He is prominent as a member of the Congregational Church, and is a highly re- spected citizen.
JOSIAH WHITE, the well-known contractor and builder of Windsor, is a man whose ability and personal worth are recognized wherever he is known. He comes of good old Puritan stock, his ancestors having settled in New England at an carly period, and in his rise through discouraging circumstances to his present honorable position in life he has shown himself worthy of his nante.
The first ancestor of whom a definite record is
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
given was Elder John White, who was born in England, and came to this country only twelve years after the "Mayflower" Pilgrims. The exact place of his birth is not known, and the date, which is placed between 1595 and 1605, is only inferred from the ages of his children and other data which have been handed down. On June 22, 1632, he sailed from Land's End, England, in the ship "Lyon," accompanied by his wife, Mary, and sec- ond child, and on Sunday, Sept. 16, they landed at Boston, Mass. He settled in Newtown (now Cam- bridge), Mass., where he was admitted as a free- man on March 4, 1633. In February, 1635, at the first election in Cambridge, he was elected a select- man (one of seven). In June, 1636, he removed to Connecticut, and settled in Hartford, being one of the chief of the original proprietors there. His home lot was on Elen street (now Governor's street). Religious dissensions caused John White and others to leave Hartford and settle in Hadley, on the Connecticut river, near Springfield, Mass. He was among the founders of Hadley, and was chosen selectman in 1662, 1663 and 1665, and also served as representative (or deputy, as it was then styled) to the General Court or Legislature of Mas- sachusetts, sitting in Boston. No account of his first wife, Mary, has been preserved, but it is prob- able she died after his removal to Hartford. By his second wife, Mrs. Martha Mould, he had no chil- dren. Of the six children of the first marriage three were born in England: Mary married Jona- than Gilbert ; Nathaniel is mentioned more fully be- low ; John married Sarah Bunce; Daniel married Sarah Crow; Sarah married Stephen Taylor (she was subsequently remarried) ; Jacob, born Oct. 8, 1645, married Elizabeth Bunce.
(II) Capt. Nathaniel White, son of Elder John White, was born in England in 1629, three years before his father came to America. By his first wife, Elizabeth, he had children as follows: Na- thaniel, Elizabeth, Jolin, Mary, Daniel, Sarah, Jacob and Josie.
(III) Deacon Nathaniel White was born at Middletown, Upper Houses, Conn., July 7, 1652. He removed to Hadley about the time of his mar- riage to Elizabeth Savage, March 28, 1678, and died there Feb. 15, 1742, aged eight-nine years. His children were: Elizabeth, Nathaniel, John, Sarah, Josie, Daniel, Jacob, Mary, Elizabeth (2), William and Ebenezer.
(IV) Ebenezer White, the next in the line of descent, was born in Hadley, April 9, 1701, and resided at the homestead, where he died March 23. 1733. He was married, Oct. 28, 1730, to Ruth Atherton, and had two children, Rachel and Eb- enezer.
(V) Ebenezer White, our subject's great-grand- father, was born in Hadley in 1733, and died Oct. II, 1817. He served as a soldier in the Revolu- tionary army. His wife was Sarah Church, of Am- herst, and they had three children : Sarah, Jonathan and Elijahı.
(VI) Elijah White, our subject's grandfather, was born June 28, 1778, and died Nov. 24, 1856. He was a leading farmer of Hadley, and was active in local politics as a member of the Whig party, while he showed his patriotism by service in the army inthe war of 1812. On Dec.24, 1799, he married Lucy Pierce, who lived to the age of seventy-four years. Her mother lived to be over one hundred years old, and was the mother of eleven children, all but one of whom lived to be over seventy-five, and that one died at forty-five. Of the others, four lived to be over ninety years old. Five children were born to Elijah and Lucy White: Josiah, our subject's fa- ther ; Samuel Sumner, deceased, who was a farmer at Hadley, Mass .; Ebenezer, who removed to Ra- cine county, Wis., and died there; Margaret Smith, who married Lewis Tower, and died in New York State ; and Delia, who married Elijah Stall, and died in Hadley, Massachusetts.
(VII) Josiah White, father of our subject, was born at Hadley Aug. 1, 1800, and grew to manhood there, engaging in farming as an occupation. In 1850 he removed to Racine county, Wis., and his last years were spent at Owosso, Mich., where he died June 5, 1882, in his eighty-second year. He was married, in Chesterfield, Mass., to Hannah J. Cushing, who was born in that town Feb. 5, 1798, daughter of Abel Cushing and his wife, whose maiden name was Wilder. The Cushing family has been prominent in New England from Colonial times, and her ancestors were early settlers at Hing- ham, Mass. She died in 1863, in Carson Valley, Nov. Of their children, the eldest, Amaryllis Cas- sandra, married Alonzo Kellogg, and died in Had- ley, Mass., aged twenty-six years; Harriet mar- ried N. C. Murray, and died in Portsmouth, Ohio; Adaline married C. Frayer, of Racine county, Wis., and died in Michigan; May, who never married, died in Nevada, aged thirty years; Susan died at Hadley, aged nineteen years; Josiah, our subject, is mentioned below : Sarah married Henry Towell, and resides in Michigan; Rumina married Henry Williams, of Mason City, Iowa; and Alma Chris- tiana died when three years old.
(VIII) Josiah White was born May 18, 1831, at the old home at Hadley, and was educated in the common schools and the academy at that place, his opportunities being by no means as good as he de- sired. As a scholar he was much above the average, his work in mathematics winning special notice, and doubtless, if he could have had the education that his talents justified, he would have made a brilliant success in professional life. At fifteen he entered upon an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade with Mr. Griswold, of Unionville, Conn., at fifty dollars for the first three years, and one hun- dred dollars for the fourth and fifth. On complet- ing his term he followed the trade as a journey- man, locating first at Somers, where he spent eight- een years, and where he was in independent busi- ness. On April 20, 1869, he removed to Windsor, where he bought a farm, and during the next nine
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besides David E. his children were as follows : John R. ; Mary R .; Emmeline R., who married George Wilcox; Julia, the wife of Frederick Miller ; Abbie, married to Chatfield Russell; Harriet, now Mrs. Strickland ; and Sarah R., who died in childhood. Our subject has a book which has been in the Row- ley family for over one hundred years, and which contains dates of births in the family as far back as 1769.
David E. Rowley was also a farmer. His early years were spent at Middle Haddam, where for eight years he worked upon the farm of an uncle. Returning to the old homestead, he remained for five years, when he bought a small farm in East Berlin. He passed another five years there, and then purchased what was known as the Seldon farm, comprising about forty-eight acres, in the Beckley Quarter of Berlin town. There he spent the remaining twenty-five years of his life, devoting himself chiefly to the raising of vegetables. He was a man noted for his industry and thrift, and was reasonably successful. He died Aug. 8, 1892, of apoplexy, aged sixty-four years, four months. His political creed was that of the Democratic party, yet he was in no sense a politician. Himself and family were members of the Methodist Church.
On Nov. 27, 1853, at East Hampton, Conn., Mr. Rowley married Sarah Brainard Rich, Rev. Mr. Tawbush performing the ceremony. Two sons blessed this union: Charles Emery, whose name opens this sketch ; and John Clarence, born May 12, 1857, at Hebron. On Jan. 1, 1889, the latter was married, at Northbridge, Mass., to Mabel Vernon Adams, Rev. J. H. Childs performing the ceremony. They have one son, Stanley Edward, who was born Nov. 2, 1893, in the Beckley Quarter, town of Berlin.
Mrs. David E. Rowley was born Feb. 21, 1833, at Middle Haddam, and her family is one of the old- est and most respected in the county. Her parents were Oliver and Molanthy Rich, the former of whom died Nov. 19, 1848, aged thirty-nine years, the lat- ter Feb. 7, 1869, aged fifty-six. They had'a family of eight children: Nelson W., born June 29, 1831, died Oct. 18, 1864; Sarah B., born Feb. 21, 1833; Asel J., born Sept. 21, 1834 (deceased) ; Benjamin F., born Oct. 6, 1836: Susan E., born Oct. 3, 1840 (married Warren Wright) ; James S., born June 29, 1842 ; George A., born Aug. 11, 1844 ; and Fannie Lavinia, born June 8, 1847 ( she married Isaac Bicon, and is deceased).
Charles Emery Rowley lived at home in the Beckley Quarter, until he arrived at man's estate. His early educational advantages were not of the best, being confined to attendance upon the district schools and one year's instruction at Lee Academy. At the age of sixteen he left school to battle with the world. That he has overcome obstacles and conquered success is due to his tenacity of purpose, his unflinching courage, and his unswerving in- tegrity. After serving an apprenticeship of three years at the carpenter's trade, he followed it, for a
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