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 53

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 53

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time, at New Britain, going to Waterbury in 1875. In 1883 he began taking contracts as a carpenter and builder in his own name, but after two only moderately successful years this spent he entered the employ of Tracy Brothers, of Waterbury, with whom he remained for several years. The firm was doing an extensive business, and he worked for them later at New Britain, living in Plainville, when he again began business on his own account. His success has been remarkable. During the last five years he has erected sixty houses, the first being at the corner of Dwight and Stanley streets, and at present (October, 1900) he has four contracts under way, and several upon which he has not yet commenced work.

Mr. Rowley is recognized as one of the leading, solid men of New Britain. For him the "day of small things," which marked the incipiency of his business career, has become a mere memory of the past. Industry, integrity, and sound judgment and common sense, have been the foundation stones upon which he has built his success. Politically he is a Democrat, although on local issues he is no blind partisan. He is a regular attendant upon the serv- ices of the Methodist Church, of New Britain, and is a member of Harmony Lodge, No. 20, A. F. & A. M.

Mr. Rowley was married, in Waterbury, March 8, 1884, to Adah Leona, a daughter of. Myron C. and Susan H. Teeter, Rev. Dr. Joseph Anderson performing the ceremony. To this union came one daughter, Adah Susan, born July 9, 1885, in Water- bury, who died there Feb. 17, 1886.

Mrs. Rowley was born Sept. 17, 1848, in the town of Salisbury, daughter of Myron C. Teeter, who was born Aug. 16, 1817, in New York State, and died June 9, 1883, in Waterbury, Conn. He was a carpenter by trade. On Oct. 9, 1843, he was married, by Esquire Barlow, of Oblong, to Susan Husted Barlow, who was born July 7, 1828, in Salis- bury, and is still living, married to her third litis- band. Mr. and Mrs. Teeter had a family of three children: John Milton, born July 7, 1844, served in the Civil war, and was killed June 9, 1863, at the battle of Cold Harbor; Adah Leona is the wife of our subject ; Susie Angeline, born July 3, 1852, at Cornwall Bridge, town of Sharon, Litchfield Co., Conn., was married, April 14, 1870, in Winsted, to Edward Scott Wheeler, of Southbury, Conn., Rev. Charles Weatherby performing the ceremony. Mr. Wheeler is a pinmaker in the New England Pin Factory, Winsted, where he has been employed for thirty-three years, and is a very industrious work- man. His father, the late William Wheeler, of Southbury, carried on blacksmithing.

WILLIAM BROWN DE BLOIS, late an offi- cer of the Connecticut State Prison at Wethers- field, and a worthy citizen of that town, was born in Newport, R. I., Jan. 15, 1830, of French de- cent, being able to trace his ancestry back to Stephen, king of England. His grandfather, Stephen De

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Blois, was a native of France, and belonged to a Huguenot family. He was a gentleman of leisure, and on coming to this country made his home in Newport, Rhode Island.

John De Blois, father of our subject, was also a man of leisure, was a Whig in politics, and an Episcopalian in religious belief. He made his home in Newport, and was numbered among its most highly respected citizens. He married Miss Sarah Scott, who was of Scottish descent, and died in New- port in 1835, she passing away in 1835. Their chil- dren were John and Louis George, both sea captains ; Jane, wife of Seth Scott; Edward T., a merchant planter ; and William B., our subject.

William B. De Blois was only five years of age when his father died. He was educated in the schools of his native city, and there learned the cab- inetmaker's trade. For some time he was employed as instructor in the cabinet department of the State prison of Rhode Island, and in the same capacity became in 1856 connected with the Connecticut State Prison, with Capt. William Willard. Later he was appointed an officer in that institution, which position he most capably and satisfactorily filled until 1898, when, after thirty-six years' connection with State prison work, he retired, and is now spending his declining years in ease and quiet at his beautiful home in Wethersfield.

During the Civil war Mr. De Blois served in the Union army four years, first as a member of Com- pany D, Ist R. I. V. I., under Capt. Nathaniel Brown and Col. Burnside, with which command he participated in the first battle of Bull Run, and later as a member of Company B, 12th Conn. V. I., under Capt. Grannis and Col. H. C. Deming. He took part in the battle of Georgia Landing, Oct. 27, 1862; was present at the capture of the gunboat "Cotton," Jan. 14, 1863 ; was in the siege of Port Hudson from May 23 to July 7, 1863; at the battles of Win- chester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864. Fisher's Hill, Sept. 22, 1864, and Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864; and several other engagements. He also participated in the grand review at Washington, D. C., at the close of the war, and was mustered out with the rank of corporal. He is now an honored member of John M. Morris Post, No. 66, G. A. R., of Wethersfield, in which he has served as commander, and is one of the most highly esteemed citizens of his com- munity. In his political affiliation he is a Republi- can, and his support is never withheld from any enterprise which he believes will prove of public benefit.

In Wethersfield, in December, 1860, Mr. De Blois married Miss Martha Coleman, and to them were born two children: (1) Edward A., a gentleman of good business ability and genial disposition, for many years connected with the Pope Manufacturing Co., in whose interests he traveled extensively, sever- ing his connection with that firm July 5, 1900, to assume control of the De Blois Manufacturing Co. He is a cyclist of note, and has won a number of prizes as a rider .. (2) Hettie Griswold is now the

wife of Lewis N. Crane, principal of the high school at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, N. Y., and they have two children, Frances Marian and Lewis De Blois Crane.

THE COLEMAN FAMILY, to which Mrs. De Blois belongs, was founded in Wethersfield by John Coleman, who was married in 1695, to Hannah Wright, a daughter of James Wright. She died Aug. 1, 1741. Their children were Mary, born Dec. 13, 1695; John, May 12, 1698; Thomas, June 6, 1701; Hannah, Sept. 25, 1704; and Elisha, Oct. 8, I707.

Elisha Coleman, of this family, became a farmer and land owner of Wethersfield. He married Ann Rose, and they had three children : Peleg, born Aug. 19, 1738; Ann, Dec. 22, 1739; and Zadock, Aug. 27, 1746.

Peleg Coleman, the next in direct descent, spent his entire life as a farmer in Wethersfield, and died April 12, 1823. He married Rebecca Dickinson, who was born Feb. 23, 1741, and died 1775, both be- ing laid to rest in Wethersfield cemetery. They had seven children: Thomas, born Feb. 10, 1761, died June 1, 1818; Sarah, born Jan. 2, 1763, died May 20, 1848; Elisha, born Jan. 2, 1765, died June 23, 1823; George, born Feb. 4, 1767, died ycung ; Anna, born Feb. 23, 1769, died Oct. 9, 1850; George, born July 10, 1771, and John, born July 10, 1773.

Elisha Coleman, a son of Peleg and Rebecca (Dickinson) Coleman, was a lifelong resident of Wethersfield, and a farmer bv occupation. He married Hannah Loveland, who was born in 1755, and died May 5, 1819. They had eleven children : John, born Jan. 22, 1788, died Aug. 13, 1819; Horace, born Oct. 23, 1700, died Oct. 16, 1805 ; Hannah, born Jan. 17, 1792, married Samuel Wood- house, the grandfather of Samuel N. Woodhouse, of Wethersfield; Elisha, born Sept. 10, 1794, died Sept. 6, 1795; Elisha (2d), born March 3, 1797, died Oct. 20, 1798; Abigail, born Nov. 29, 1799, married Nathan Pelton ; Eliza, born Nov. 20, 1801, married Henry Buck, of New Haven, Conn .; Sally, born Dec. 17, 1803, married A. Holmes ; William, born Dec. 1, 1805, married Mehitable Griswold, daughter of Simeon Griswold, and died Aug. I, 1839 (these were the parents of Mrs. De Blois) ; Chauncey, born Dec. 3, 1807, married (first) Sarah Rose Willard, and (second) Sarah Coleman, and had one child, Mary Robbins, who married John H. Phelps, of Wethersfield, and had one child, Ruth; and Maria, born Dec. 25, 1810, died un- married.

HENRY DENISON ALDEN. One of the busiest, most energetic and most enterprising men of Enfield is Henry D. Alden, an extensive brick manufacturer. He bears in his veins some of the best blood of the early colonists, and is in every way a splendid type of our best American citizen ship.

Mr. Alden was born in Enfield, at the home stead where he now resides, Oct. 7, 1850, a son o

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Edmund B. and Frances Augusta (Denison) Alden, the former a native of Enfield, the latter of Orwell, Bradford Co., Penn. The paternal grandfather, Seth Alden, was a son of Col. Amos Alden, who was among the carly settlers of Enfield, where he became a large land owner. The Colonel was a son of Jonathan Alden, who was a son of Eleazur and grandson of Joseph Alden (2). The father of the last named, who also bore the name of Joseph, was a son of Capt. John Alden, who came from England in the "Mayflower" in 1620, as the list of passengers shows, and located in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

William G. Denison, our subject's maternal grandfather, was born in Stonington, Conn., in 1788, married Esther Strickland, and died at Staf- ford, Conn. His parents were George and Abby (Palmer) Denison, and he traced his ancestry back through the following to George Denison, the pro- genitor of the family in America : George and Jane (Smith) Denison ; George and Lucy (Gallup) Deni- son; William and Sarah (Stanton) Denison; and George and Ann (Borodell) Denison. George Denison, the last mentioned, was a pioneer of Roxbury, Mass. His first wife, Bridget Thomp- son, died in 1643, and he then returned to Eng- land, where he served under Cromwell in the army of the Parliament and won distinction. Being wounded at Naseby, he was nursed at the home of John Borodell by the latter's daughter, whom he afterward married. With her he returned to Roxbury, Mass., and finally settled in Stoning- ton, Conn. He died at Hartford, Conn., Oct. 23, 1694, at the age of seventy-six years, while visit- ing that village on special business. His wife, Ann Borodell, died Sept. 26, 1712, at the advanced age of ninety-seven years. They were both remarkable for their magnificent personal appearance, and so- cially were quite prominent in Stonington, where Mrs. Denison was known as "Lady Ann." Mr. Denison was a captain of a company of militiamen, and had no equal in any of the Colonies in success- fully conducting war against the Indians. Miss Calkins, in her early history of New England, says of him : "Our carly history presents no character of bolder and more active spirit than Capt. George Denison. He reminds us of the border men of Scot- land. In emergencies he was always in demand, and he was almost constantly placed in important public positions."

Edmund B. Alden, our subject's father, spent his entire life in Enfield, where he owned and op- crated a farm, and also engaged in the manufacture of brick. He died Feb. 15, 1895, honored and re- spected by all who knew him. His children were Henry D., our subject ; Julia A., wife of Rockwell B. Wilson ; and Martha J.

The boyhood and youth of Henry D. Alden were spent on the old homestead, where he has always lived, and his education was acquired in the public schools of Enfield and a private school of Long- meadow, Mass. He began his business career by learning the art of brick-making under the able in-

struction of his father, and, including the period he was associated with him, has been engaged in the manufacture of brick for thirty years. The capacity of his plant is 2,000,000 brick annually, and the product is of the very best quality that can be made. Mr. Alden is public-spirited and progressive, and takes an active interest in all affairs that pertain to the welfare of the community in general. He gives his support to every worthy enterprise for the public good, and is now most efficiently and acceptably serving his third term as first selectman of Enfield. Politically he is an ardent Republican, and religiously is a member of the First Presbyterian Church.

CHARLES F. STRUNZ, the efficient superin- tendent of F. D. Glazier & Son's woolen mill at South Glastonbury, and a highly-esteemed citizen of that place, was born in Saxony, Germany, April 27, 1854.

William Strunz, his father, was a native of the same Kingdom, where he was employed at fac- tory work until his emigration to America, in 1855. On landing in this country he took up his residence at Warehouse Point, in the town of East Windsor, Hartford Co., Conn., where he was employed in a woolen mill for a time. He then removed to Broad Brook, and for many years was boss weaver or overseer in the weaving room of the Broad Brook Woolen Mills, but spent his last years in retire- ment from active labor. He died in Broad Brook, and his remains were interred in Windsorville. In his native land he married Miss Louise Deisner, who was also born in Saxony, and died in the town of Enfield, Hartford county, near Broad Brook, her remains being interred beside those of her husband. Their children were as follows: Adolph, a paper- hanger and decorator. living in Broad Brook : Her- mena, who died unmarried ; Otto, who married Addie Thompson, and is engaged in the coal and wood busi- ness in Bristol; Charles F., our subject : Frank, who married Lena Shaynach, and is a millwright in the Broad Brook mills; Albert, who is employed as bookkeeper in a railroad office in San Francisco, Cal. ; Henry, a lawyer, who resides in Florida ; and William, a photographer of California.

Our subject was but a mere infant when brought to this country and is indebted to the clistrict schools of Broad Brook for his educational privileges. After leaving the school room he en- tered the mill at that place, finding work in the carding room, and he steadily worked his way up- ward until he became a wool sorter. Subsequently he spent a few months in Colorado, and on his return East located in Maynard, Mass., where he was employed for a couple of years. At the end of that time he went to Plymouth, same State, where he remained two years, and was next employed as loom fixer in a mill at Worcester, Mass., for a short time. In 1884 he came to Glastonbury and entered the service of F. D. Glazier & Son, as loom fixer, but in 1894 was appointed superintendent, succeeding Frederick Dixon, and is now most credit-

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ably and acceptably filling that position. He is an expert mechanic, one who thoroughly understands every department of the work, and is therefore well qualified to fill the responsible position which he now holds.

In 1882 Mr. Strunz was united in marriage with Miss Mary Grant, of Maynard, Mass., who was born in New York. They have one of the most pleasant homes in South Glastonbury, and here their many friends are always sure of a hearty welcome. They are prominent members of the South Glaston- bury Congregational Church, and Mr. Strunz has held the office of chairman of the Society committee. Politically he is a Republican.

CHARLES FORGOSON MORRISON, fore- man of the carding department of the Hartford Carpet Co., of Thompsonville, and a prominent and influential citizen of that village, was born at New Mills, near Ayr, Scotland, Oct. 3, 1831, a son of John and Elizabeth ( Barber) Morrison, who came to America in 1832 and located in Craftsbury, Vt. For about five years the father engaged in farming at Peacham and Barnet, that State, and in 1837 came to Thompsonville, Conn., and entered the employ of the Thompsonville Carpet Co. as a weaver, remaining there until 1839, when he re- moved to Saxonville, Mass., where he held a similar position for two years. He afterward worked in Norwich, Conn., North Grafton and Roxbury, Mass., and finally returned to Saxonville, where the last five years of his life were spent, and where he died in 1848.

It was during his infancy that Charles F. Mor- rison was brought to the United States, and his boyhood and youth were passed in New England at the various places where his parents resided. To a limited extent he attended the common schools, but is practically self-educated. He learned the trade of a worsted spinner at Greenville, now a part of Norwich, Conn., where he started a mill as manager for Ripley, Cannon & Co., and was in their employ and others for six years, six months of this period being in business on his own account. In the fall of 1860 he went to Rifton Glen, Ulster Co., N. Y., where he was employed as superintend- ent of the Rifton Glen Worsted Mills for eleven years. In 1871 he came to Thompsonville and en- tered the employ of the Hartford Carpet Co., hav- ing now served as foreman of their carding and spinning department for twenty-eight years. He is thoroughly familiar with every department of the work, and is also a most capable business man, therefore well qualified to fill the important posi- tion which he holds. He is a stockholder in the Phoenix National Co. and the Orient Fire Insurance Co., of Hartford, and also in the Canadian South- ern railroad.

Mr. Morrison was married, Oct. 1, 1854, to Miss Mary, daughter of Nathan and Betsey (Shat- tuck) Lawrence, of Pepperell, Mass., and to them

were born four children: Elizabeth; Charles, de- ceased ; Agnes, who married Addison Brainard, and died leaving one child, Agnes; and Ida, deceased. Mr. Morrison and his family are active and promi- nent members of the First Presbyterian Church, and he is also affiliated with Doric Lodge, No. 94, A. F. & A. M., of which he has been treasurer twenty-three years. His political support is always given to the men and measures of the Republican party, and he served as justice of the peace of Enfield from 1874 for about twenty consecutive years, also represented the town in the State Legis- lature during the session of 1877. Success is not measured by the heights which one may chance to occupy, but by the distance between the start- ing point and the altitude he has reached ; therefore Mr. Morrison has gained a most brilliant success- a just reward of meritorious, honorable effort, which commands the respect and admiration of all.

WILLIAM MORGAN LASBURY, a native of Broad Brook, Hartford county, and superintend- ent of the Broad Brook Woolen Mills, was born Nov. 15, 1857, is a son of George and Sarah (Mor- gan) Lasbury, and paternally is of English de- scent.

George Lasbury was born in Bradford, England, Sept. 25, 1819, the eldest in a family of thirteen children. At the early age of nine years he was obliged to leave home and school, in order to earn a trifle to aid in supporting himself and parents, who were not wealthy, and whose family expenses were constantly increasing. He was first employed as a mill hand, and later as an overseer of fulling in the woolen-mills of his native town. In 1840 he married Miss Fannie Sylcox, and one year later sailed alone for America. After a voyage of six weeks he arrived in Boston, Mass., on the same day his eldest child was born in England, and a year and a half later was joined by his wife and child in Webster, Worcester county, same State. To this, his first marriage, were born four children: Edwin, living in Hartford, Conn .; Elizabeth, now deceased ; Emma, married to H. O. Willey, and living in Broad Brook ; and Addie, deceased. Mrs. Fannie Lasbury died about 1853, and in 1855 Mr. Lasbury married Miss Sarah Morgan. This union was blessed with three children : Mattie, living in Broad Brock; Will- iam M., the subject of this sketch; and George B., now engaged in the real estate business in Omaha, Neb. Mrs. Sarah Lasbury was called from earth in September, 1865, and Mr. Lasbury afterward married Mrs. Esther Allen, widow of John Allen, who had been a soldier in the Civil war. Mrs. Esthier Lasbury is a native of Broad Brook ; she has borne Mr. Lasbury four children, in the following order: Charles J., living in Cleveland, Ohio; and Ralph C., James and Harry, still living with their parents.

George Lasbury was employed as overscer of fulling in the Broad Brook Woolen Mill for twenty- two years, was temperate, capable and attentive to

Charles H. Morrison

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

s duties, and, moreover, frugal, saving sufficient om his salary to purchase a neat little farm in the uth part of Broad Brook, on which he is now re- ding in peace and comfort. He is a highly- ·spected citizen, and a stanch Republican in pol- cs.

William M. Lasbury was educated in the public hools, later attending the Eastman Business Col- ge at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., from which he grad- ited in February, 1877. He then returned to road Brook, and for two years was engaged with s brother, Edwin, in a general store; in 1880 he irchased from G. D. Winslow a grocery store 1 the corner of Main and Canton streets, in Hart- rd, but at the end of two years, on account of health, sold the business to a Mr. Peard and ac- pted a position as bookkeeper for Belding Brothers Co., silk manufacturers of Rockville. In May, 384, he resigned his position, and in June came Broad Brook and entered the Broad Brook Toolen Mills, first as bookkeeper, from which po- tion he was advanced to that of clerk and pay- aster, and in 1888 was promoted to the position assistant superintendent under Alexander Sem- e ; he also served in the same capacity under Su- rintendents Buttery, James Gilmore, L. C. Werner id B. B. Hanson, and at the death of Agent Han- n, Jan. 11, 1898, was appointed to his very re-

ponsible position. The Broad Brook Woolen ills Co., it may be added, is a very extensive con- rn, employs about 350 hands, has a very large itput, and owns most of the larger business places the town; so some idea may be formed of the terous and complex duties which Mr. Lasbury is lled upon to perform.

Mr. Lasbury was united in marriage, at Hart- rd, Sept. 27, 1880, to Miss Nellie P. Davenport, native of Broad Brook, and a daughter of Henry and Parmelia (Landon ) Davenport, which union is been crowned with two very bright and amiable tildren: Alma Louise, born Dec. 31, 1883, and oward Alonzo, born Dec. 24, 1885, both still at- nding school. Mr. Lasbury and family worship the Congregational Church, of which he is clerk, id of which his daughter is also a member, and to e support of which they contribute most liberally.

Politically Mr. Lasbury is a Republican. Fra- rnally he is a member of Oriental Lodge, No. I, A. F. & A. M., of Broad Brook. Socially he id his wife, a most estimable lady, with their chil- 'en, stand very high in the esteem of the residents Broad Brook, and deservedly so, as Mr. Lnsbury taught his children the sublime moral lessen hich has been the rule of his life, and which is culcated by the motto "What is worth doing is orth doing well."

F. W. DANKS, train dispatcher on the Central ew England railway, at Hartford, and founder id proprietor of the Puritan Bottling Works at ariffville, was born in the latter town Feb. I. (6), and is a son of Moses M. and Mary ( Green )

Danks, natives of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England.

Moses Danks in youth learned carpet-weaving, for which industry Kidderminster is most famous, was married there, and in 1859 came to the United States, followed in a short time by his wife. He located in Thompsonville, Conn., and later came to Tariffville, as an expert on the particular line of velvet carpet weaving. He had a brother, Walter, who died in Lowell, Mass., and a sister who was married, reared a family and died in Philadelphia ; and he also has two brothers and a sister still resid- ing in England, the entire family following the car- pet industry. Mr. Danks enlisted in 1861, in Com- pany D, Conn. V. I., at Hartford as private, was wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., and was mustered out in 1865, as corporal. After making a visit to Kidderminster, England, he re- turned to Tariffville and started a hotel, and was conducting this hostelry at the time of his death, in 1880, at the age of forty-five years, his widow surviving until 1884, when she died at the age of fifty. In politics Mr. Danks was a Republican, in religious faith an Episcopalian.

F. W. Danks, the only child born to his parents, was educated in the district schools of Tariffville, with Miss Mary Richards as his first teacher. Soon after leaving school, at the age of twelve years, he entered the railway office at Tariffville (the Hart- ford and Connecticut Western), to learn telegraphy and agents' work, O. W. Merrill being the agent. When he had become competent to take charge of an office he was appointed agent at Chapinville, in Litchfield county, Conn., for the Hartford & Connecticut Western road, but after a few months work in that village he returned to Tariffville and worked as extra agent for heart ' a year. Upon the death of his mother he went West, and worked in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri, in both railway and commercial departments of telegraph business. A year later he returned East, and accepted a situation with the Baltimore & Ohio Telegraph Co., at New Haven as operator. Later he went to Boston and other places in New England, being employed in stock brokers' offices, for eighteen months, then went West again, and for one year worked for the C. B. & Q. Railway Co., at Kansas City, Mo., as clerk in the local freight department. On returning to the East he was en- ployed in stock brokers' office work in Providence, R. I., and Newburyport, Mass., until appointed to a position in the dispatcher's office of the New York & New England railroad, at East Hartford, as op- erator and dispatcher, later engaged with the Phil- adelphia & Reading railroad, at Hartford, as op- erator, and in March. 1895, became train dispatcher on the Philadelphia, Reading & New England rail- road, at Hartford, which position he still holds.

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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 53

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