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 55

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 55

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The children of George W. and Jane Eliza- beth (Adams) Sanford were as follows: (1) Jane Geraldine, born June 16, 1831, married Charles L. Roberts, both dying at Tariffville. (2) George Ambrose, born Nov. 26, 1832, died of typhoid fever at Tariffville Feb. 5, 1851. (3) Joseph Willis, born Sept. 1. 1835, is now factory foreman at Water- bury, Conn., having charge of all outside work for the Scoville Manufacturing Co. He married Emma Woodward, of Hartford, by whom he had one child, Frank Willis. She died Nov. 17, 1867, and for his second wife he married, Oct. 24, 1871, Susan Goodman, who bore him one daughter, Mary Ellen. (4) Marvin H., born Sept. 20, 1837, died Dec. 8, 1896. (5) James Homer, born May 8, 1840, died March 25, 1892, at Meriden, Conn., where for many years he was connected with the street department.

(6) Ophelia, born April 15, 1842, died of typhoid fever Sept. 16, 1860. (7) Morton is the subject o this sketch. (8) Mary, born July 11, 1846, dier Feb. 8, 1847. (9) Mary Alice, born Nov. 27, 1847 died July 11, 1848. (10) Henry W., born Feb. 4 1850, a resident of New Haven, was for many year keeper of the almshouse there, and is now super intendent of the New Haven Ice Co. (II) Georg Ambrose (2), born Aug. 15, 1852, is a resident o Winsted, Conn. (12) Ellen B., born Oct. 28, 1855 died Aug. 19, 1870. The first wife of Dr. Sanford died March 9, 1872 and for his second wife he mar ried Ada L. Eno, who now survives, a resident o New Britain. Dr. Sanford died at Tariffville Sept 23, 1892, aged eighty-five years, and in his death the town lost one of its most valuable residents.

Dr. Sanford commanded universal respect. H. was kind and benevolent in disposition, and his deliberate judgment and advice were greatly sought He stood foremost in the community as a public, spirited man, in ecclestiastical and municipal af- fairs, as well as in his profession. He was very popular, and unselfish to a marked degree. He de- lighted in rendering a service to others, though often at great inconvenience and expense to him- self. His faculties were unimpaired to the last, anc, he retained through life the kind regard and re- spect of the people whom he had known and served for over sixty years.

Morton Sanford, our subject, was born at Tar- iffville July 16, 1844. He received in his boyhood a good common-school education, and among his early teachers were D. B. Rice, Miss Mary Pease and Miss Ellen Holcomb. He attended the academy at Tariffville at the time Norman Sackett was at the head of it, and then became a student at the Bloom- field Academy, where Mr. Shumley taught. When not attending school he was working on the farm. At seventeen years of age, on the breaking out of the Civil war, ne went away from home, and at Meriden endeavored to go out as hostler in the First Connecticut Light Artillery. The following year he enlisted, becoming a private in Company E, 25th Regiment, Conn. V. I., Col. George P. Bissell. His first engagement was a skirmish at Baton Rouge, La. Leaving that city, the regiment made a feint at Port Hudson, and there our subject saw the entire fleet pass up the river, and saw Lieut. George Dewey blow up the gunboat "Mississippi." He remained with his company and regiment through all its campaigns and engagements, until discharged at the expiration of his term of service, Aug. 26, 1863. He had been promoted to corporal at Irish Bend, April 14, 1863.

Returning to Tariffville, Mr. Sanford clerked one year in the store of D. C. Hayes. Thence lie engaged in farm work, but later accepted a posi- tion as clerk with J. F. Smith & Co., New Hartford, where he remained five years. After again working on the farm for a short time he returned to New Hartford, and took charge of the town poor, re- maining in that work until November, 1896, when

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he resigned to take charge of the institution at Tar- iffville where the State poor are sheltered and cared for, a well-known institution, which had previously been in charge of his brother, Marvin H. Sanford. In February, 1898, after filling this position for more than a year, he entered into a contract with the State to keep the State poor for a period of three years. In connection with this work he carries on a farming and dairying business, and in 1899 ile en- gaged also in the ice business at Tariffville.

Mr. Sanford married, Jan. 22, 1866, at Bloom- field, Miss Mary A. Goodman, who was born at West Hartford Jan. 5, 1844, eldest of the two daughters of James and Sally (Tuttle) Goodman. Her father was a farmer, and her sister, Susan A., married Joseph W. Sanford, of Waterbury. Before her marriage Mrs. Sanford had attended the Bloom- field Academy, and taught school at Bloomfield and West Hartford. To our subject and wife were born five children: Jane E., wife of Rev. W. W. West, a Baptist minister ; Edward M., at home; Frederick MI., a medical student at Western Penn- sylvania Medical College; Ada L., at home; and William A., who died in infancy.

In politics Mr. Sanford is a Republican. He served three years as constable, and was re-elected, but declined to serve longer. He is an active mem- ber of Joseph Toy Post, G. A. R., at Simsbury. Himself and wife are prominent members of the Baptist Church, in which he has filled various of- fices, and for years was superintendent of the Sab- bath-school. He is an earnest, influential, highly- respected citizen, and his family is a prominent factor in the social life of Tariffville.

WILLIAM H. PEASE. The biographies of successful men teem with illustrations that those traits of character which seem most widely dis- tributed, and most easily acquired, are most fruit- ful of prosperity and progress. Energy and good judgment, application and intelligence, are the weapons with which adverse fate can be fearlessly faced and vanquished. These dominant traits won for the father of our subject a position of worth and independence. They have happily marked the con- tinued success of his son.

Our subject was born in the town of Simsbury (now Bloomfield) March 15, 1845, son of Edward and Mary (Kenworthy) Pease. Edward Pease was born in County Kildare, Ireland, May 15, 1810, son of English parents. His father, William Pease, grandfather of our subject, was the son of an Eng- lishman, who at one time owned a large tract of land, upon which now stands the city of Leeds, England. William lived at Norwich, England, and there married Isabella Barker. He removed to Ireland to take charge of a factory as superintend- ent, and there died when Edward, the father of our subject, was but six weeks old. Edward Pease was well educated in the schools of Ireland, and at the age of seventeen years came to America. A hand weaver of broadcloth by trade, he found em-

ployment at Middletown, Conn. A few years after his arrival in America, on June 9, 1832, at Ware- house Point, Conn., he married Mary, daughter of John Kenworthy. She was born in England, and came to the United States with her father from Yorkshire, England.

After his marriage Edward Pease settled in Tar- iffville, and remained there until the panic of 1837 closed the woolen mills and threw him out of en- ployment. Possessing some means, the acquisition of a western farm seemed the most attractive course for him to follow. By canal-boat and other crude methods of transportation he made his way slowly westward with nis little family, and at Jackson, Mich., built a log cabin, in which he lived four years. The country was new, and its hardships and priva- tions were seriously felt. He returned to his old home in Tariffville for a year, then once more es- sayed a life in the western wilderness. Conditions were more intolerable than before, and again the ambitious mechanic packed his worldly goods, turned his face toward the rising sun, and regained the attractive environment of Hartford county. He located temporarily at Tariffville, and soon after- ward removed to near Scotland church, in Bloom- field. There he wove rag carpets, and conducted a small general merchandise store. In 1848 he opened a grocery and drug business at Tariffville, contin- uing same successfully until 1864, in which year he purchased a farm in Bloomfield and engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred Dec. 31, 1873. His widow still survives, and resides in Bloomfield, an active and well-preserved old lady. Edward Pease was a man of sturdy self reliance, was thoroughly self-made, and prospered financially in his business undertakings. He was a heavy stockholder in the Ætna Insurance Co., and the de- structive conflagrations at Boston and Chicago bore heavily upon that company and its members, the as- sessments of Mr. Pease to meet those losses ag- gregating over $13,000. In politics he had been a Democrat previous to the Civil war, but when the first gun was fired at Fort Sumter he became a stanch Republican and supporter of the administra- tion. For several years he was postmaster at Tar- iffville, and he was a most highly-respected citizen, prominent and public-spirited. He left at his death considerable property, all of which had been ac- cumulated by his own efforts. To Edward and Mary Pease were born six children: Jane, who died aged eighteen years; Isabel, who died in Mich- igan, at the age of four years; Mary, who married George F. Ables, and died at Granby ; William H., our subject ; Franklin, who died at Tariffville, aged six years ; and Edward T., a druggist at Hartford, and a resident of Bloomfield.

William H. Pease, our subject, was born in the "Old Mitchelson homestead," and attended the schools of the district until the age of twelve. He then attended a private school for three vears, taught by a Mr. Sackett, in Tariffville, and his education was completed in the Connecticut Literary Institute,

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at Suffield, Conn. He remained at home with his parents, and as a young man, when not in school, he always had work to do. When he was about twenty years of age his parents removed to the farm in Bloomfield, and there he began farming. In 1870 he married Miss Jennie L. Smith, of South- ington, Conn., daughter of Lester Smith, and after his marriage located on his father's farm, in con- nection witn its cultivation conducting a grocery business at North Bloomfield for about fifteen years, in which he was eminently successful. For several years he was during that period postmaster at North Bloomfield. In 1883 he disposed of his grocery and went into the undertaking business at North Bloom- field, in which he has ever since been engaged. In 1890 he removed the business to Tariffville, erect- ing all the necessary buildings, and constructing a commodious home on Church street. Of his two children, Franklin E. is manager of the paper and curtain department for Caulkins & Post, of Middle- town, Conn .; he married Eva L. Lumis, and has one child, Herbert R. Nellie M., a graduate of the State Normal School, is teaching.

Mr. and Mrs. Pease are active members of the Baptist Church, and very prominent in religious life of the community. He has been junior deacon of the church for years, and is superintendent of the Sabbath-school. In politics he is a stanch Repub- lican, but not an office seeker. He is unostentatious in manner, and a thoroughly good business man, one who possesses the good-will and esteem of his fellow men, and who enjoys a large measure of success. Besides attending to his undertaking busi- ness he also grows tobacco. Socially he is a mem- ber of St. Mark's Lodge, F. & A. M., at Sims- bury, and ranks high among the better type of citi- zens in Hartford county.

C. EDWARD BUCKLAND. One of the most enterprising and popular young business men of Glastonbury is the subject of this sketch, who is general agent of the Mutual Life Insurance Co., of New York, at Hartford. He has had an ex- tensive experience in his line at Hartford, and his business career has been attended with marked success.

Mr. Buckland is a representative of an old New England family. His grandfather, Timothy Buck- land, was born in East Hartford Nov. 13, 1780, and in that town followed through life the trade of joiner. He married Typhena Hills, who was born March 8, 1785, daughter of Jonathan Hills, an East Hartford farmer. Their five children were as follows: Julia, born March 20, 1805, married Tallman Ryder, a farmer of Willington; Frances, born July 4, 1810, married William Shelton, a hat- ter of Windsor ; Cornelia, born Dec. 20, 1814, mar- ried William Kellock, a mechanic of New Jersey ; Lee H., born Feb. 6, 1821, married Cornelia Ryder, a sister of Tallman Ryder, and lives on Franklin avenue, Hartford, the sole survivor of the family ; Charles, the youngest of the family, was the father

of our subject. Timothy Buckland died June 16, 1864, his wife surviving him eight years.

Charles Buckland, the father of our subject, was born June 17, 1828, in East Hartford, neal the river, on what is now Governor street. He attended the district schools, and in his youth ac- quired the trade of silversmith, which he followed until he attained his majority. Then, seeking a more active life, he went on the Connecticut river as master of a schooner which his father owned. Later he was first mate on various freight and pas- senger steamers, including "The City of Hartford" and the "Granite State," and was aboard the latter steamer when she sank. In later life Charles Buck- land left the water, and returning to Glastonbury there followed farming and dealt in fertilizers, in partnership with Samuel Hardin, until his death, Oct. 17, 1894. He was buried in St. James cem- etery, Glastonbury. On Feb. 4, 1852, he had mar- ried Miss Ann Eliza Gaines, who was born Dec. 23, 1830, at Glastonbury, daughter of Chauncey and Betsey (Hurlbut) Gaines. To Charles and Ann Eliza Buckland were born two children: Eva, born March 23, 1853, died Nov. 1I, 1892; and C. Edward, our subject.

The latter was born in Glastonbury Feb. 4, 1859, and was educated in the Glastonbury schools and at Glastonbury Academy, then under Prof. L. T. Brown. His school days ended, our subject re- turned to the old homestead, and there engaged in farming until 1888. In that year he went to Hartford and engaged in the insurance business with his brother-in-law, F. A. Griswold, under the firm name of Griswold & Buckland, No. 721 Main street, representing the Northwestern Life Insur- ance Co., of Milwaukee, Wis. This business was most successfully continued for eleven years, Mr. Buckland retiring July 1, 1899, to accept at a hand- some salary his position of general agent at Hart- ford, for the Mutual Life Insurance Co., of New York, a position which he has filled ever since.

Mr. Buckland was married, Nov. 22, 1882, to Miss Mary R. Griswold, who was born at Wethers- field July 20, 1863, daughter of Albert C. and Caro- line L. (Goodrich) Griswold. The Griswold family is one of the oldest in Wethersfield. James Gris- wold, the grandfather of Mrs. Buckland, was born in Griswoldville or Wethersfield, son of Ozias and Anna (Stanley) Griswold. James was a cloth dresser at Griswoldville, and a farmer, owning a tract of land in Wethersfield. In politics he was a Whig and later a Republican, and he and his wife were members of the Congregational Church. He married Miss Lucy Robbins, a native of Wethers- field, daughter of Capt. Waite Robbins, an officer in the Revolutionary army, and their children were as follows : Lucy Robbins, born Nov. 9, 1812, mar- ried George Smith, of Wethersfield ; James Stanley, born Nov. 1, 1815, was a farmer of Wethersfield, and married three times (his wives were Prudence Wells, Lucy Swift and Eunice Clark) ; Martha

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Amelia, born Oct. 21, 1817, died in 1833; Waite Robbins was born June 15, 1820; Nancy, born Jan. 13, 1823, died unmarried; Mary Morgan was born Dec. 2, 1825; Albert Clinton, the youngest child, was the father of Mrs. Buckland.

Albert C. Griswold was born in Griswoldville Sept. 4, 1827, and received a good education in the schools of Wethersfield, and at the Connecticut Literary Institute. He taught at the Wethersfield Military Academy, at Hartford, and elsewhere, and after his marriage removed to Durham, where he' engaged in farming. After his father's death he occupied the old homestead for many years, and then removed to Rocky Hill, where he died Dec. 20, 1893. At Rocky Hill he had married Miss Caroline Louise Goodrich, daughter of William Goodrich. She still survives, a resident of Wethers- field, and a lady of refinement. To Albert C. and Caroline L. Griswold were born six children: Will- iam G., born May 4, 1854, married in 1879 Minnie G. Adams, daughter of William W. Adams, a farmer of Wethersfield, and has seven children ; Frederick Albert, born March 30, 1856, married Mary F. Stillman, daughter of Henry A. Stillman, and has nine children (he is engaged in the insur- ance business at Hartford) ; Alma L. married Dr. Julius Griswold, a resident at Portland; Mary R. is the wife of our subject; Samuel married Susie C. Day, of Hartford, and resides at Rochester, N. Y. ; and Nellie M. is the wife of Rev. R. H. Macy, a Congregational minister of Newington.

The family of our subject and wife consists of six children : Malcolm G., born Dec. 31, 1887; May Louise, born July 12, 1889; Edward, Jr., born Nov. 4, 1891 ; Frederick Albert, born Feb. 16, 1896; Mar- jorie, born June 7, 1898; and one whose name is not given.

For several terms Mr. Buckland has served as tax collector, and he is now a member of the school committee. Earlier in life he was a Democrat, but he now votes the Republican ticket. He is a promi- nent Freemason, a member of Daskam Lodge No. 86, F. & A. M .; Pythagoras Chapter; Wash- ington Commandery, Knights Templar, of Hart- ford ; the Mystic Shrine; Lodge of Perfection A. A. S. R .; Cyrus Goodale Chapter, Rose Croix; and Consistory. Mr. and Mrs. Buckland are active members of the Congregational Church, of which he has been librarian for the past twenty years, and of which he is now clerk. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Buckland is one of the cheeriest and most hospitable in Glastonbury. They have a wide cir- cle of friends and acquaintances, and both are most highly esteemed.

EDWARD BREWER, well-known as one of East Hartford's enterprising business men since 1873, was born in East Hartford Meadow Sept. 16, 1849, and is a descendant of the old Colonial Brewer family to which many allusions are made in this volume, and in some instances biographies in de-

tail are given, and who have been prominently identified with East Hartford for over two hundred years.

Janeway Brewer, father of our subject, was born in Hockanum, Conn., April 24, 1810, and was a son of Reuben and Eunice Moriah ( Hills) Brewer, and a twin of Jane, who was married to Ralph Hills, of Hockanum. Reuben Brewer was born Feb. 23, 1778, and died Nov. 8, 1844, and his wife, a daugh- ter of James and Mehitable Hills, was born Sept. 19, 1778, and died in May, 1853. [A more extended mention of Reuben Brewer will be found in the biography of Hoadley C. Brewer, elsewhere.]

Janeway Brewer learned the carpenter's trade under Noah Wheaton at Hartford, and on Feb. 7, 1833, was married to Sarah Marble, who was born July 20, 18II, and by whom he had the following named children : William E., born Jan. 19, 1834, now residing at East Hartford Meadow; Charles M., born June 14, 1836, living in Hartford; Ralph C., born Dec. 15, 1839, a resident of East Hartford Meadow ; Frank J., born Nov. 9, 1846, who lived in Hartford, and after marriage died in that city; and Edward, whose name opens this sketch, the youngest of the family. Mr. Brewer was an excellent car- penter, and one of the prominent residents of East Hartford Meadow. He built three houses for him- self, and resided in all of them at different times. In politics he was a Democrat, and an earnest sup- porter of Stephen A. Douglas, but was never him- self an office seeker. At the age of eighty years he was a well-preserved man, and lived until Jan. 14. 1892, his wife having died Dec. 16, 1857, in the faith of the Congregational Church.

Edward Brewer was born in the second of the three houses erected by his father, and this house is still standing on Pleasant street, East Hartford Meadow. He was educated in the village school, and among his teachers were Joseph O. Hurlburt, Salmon Phelps and Ephraim Rood. He still has a great regard for the schools of his boyhood, and believes that their thoroughness will compare fav- orably with the schools of to-day.

In 1857 Mr. Brewer lost his mother, and at the age of thirteen years he went to live with Ira Hills, with whom he remained two years, doing chores, and in the winter attending school under J. O. Hurlburt at Church Corners ; later he lived with Samuel Kel- logg, doing such work as his age permitted. He next entered the grocery store of George W. Darlin as clerk, and two years later went to Hartford to learn carpentering with James T. Porter, at forty dollars and board for the first year, and eighty dol- lars for the second year ; but he left at the end of thirteen months and returned to his father, under whom he finished learning his trade. Just after serving out his apprenticeship, instead of follow- ing carpentering he went into the butcher business, in partnership with Charles E. White. Albany, N. Y., was headquarters for New England cattle buy- ers, and from that city steers were driven to Hart- ford and here slaughtered. At the close of a year he sold his interest to Mr. White, removed to East

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Hartford from East Hartford Meadow, and then with F. B. Clark followed butchering in East Hart- ford ten years and six months, when he sold his share in the business to Mr. Clark April 1, 1885, and formed a partnership with William A. Foley, under the style of Brewer & Foley ; this partnership lasted ten years and three months, when, on July 1, 1895, the firm dissolved, since when Mr. Brewer has con- ducted business on his sole account, and Oct. I, 1899, was the twenty-sixth anniversary of his en- trance into the butcher trade. Mr. Brewer has erected two houses on Central avenue, and Sept. I, 1899, moved into his present handsome dwelling.

On May 12, 1873, Mr. Brewer married Miss Ircne Smith, at Hartford. She is a daughter of Philander Smith, was born June 30, 1853, in West Davenport, Delaware Co., N. Y., and has borne her husband five children : Sarah F., Janeway E., Will- iam E., Edward ( deceased at the age of five months ) and Herbert G., the survivors all at home.

In politics Mr. Brewer is a Democrat on general principles, but is not partisan in matters of conse- quence, as, for instance, on the question of National finances, he voted for Mckinley and sound money. Fraternally he is a member of Orient Lodge, No. .62, F. & A. M., of East Hartford. As a business man his methods have always been fair and hon- torable, and his honesty has stood the test of years. His name is one of the most respected in his town, and his individual merits have won for him the un- feigned friendship of the whole community.

JOHN S. TAFT. Three times during the Civil war the subject of this sketch, then a boy, sought to enlist. His youth and the opposition of his par- ents led to his rejection thrice, but the fourth time, toward the close of the memorable struggle, and while he was yet a boy of only sixteen years, he succeeded in getting to the front and seeing some active service before the conflict ended.

Mr. Taft was born in Leicester, Worcester Co., Mass., Aug. 20, 1848, the only son of Joseph and Ann Taft, who came from England in 1847. When seven years of age our subject came with his par- ents to Connecticut, but two years later returned to Massachusetts. He received a fair common-school education, and when fifteen years of age began working for himself in a woolen mill at Merrow Station, Mansfield, Tolland Co., Conn. He con- tinued to work in the mills until he succeeded in en- listing, at Hartford, in December, 1864, in Company E, Ist Connecticut Heavy Artillery, for three years or during the war, and joined the battery at Peters- burg, Va., Fe). 8, 1865, where ne participated in his first engagement. He remained at Petersburg until April 3, and was finally mustered out at Fort Oroke, Alexandria, Va., Sept. 25, 1865, being discharged at Hartford Oct. I.

After his discharge from the army Mr. Taft lo- cated at Willington, Tolland county, and a year later he entered the factory in that town, continuing to work in the mills until 1880. In 1884 he came to South Windsor and settled on the farm which he

now occupies. He is engaged in gardening and to- bacco growing.

Mr. Taft has been twice married. His first wife, whom he wedded in 1876, was Clara E. Brewin, and to them were born four children: George B., Joseplı r., Edith M. and Clara E. The second and pres- ent wife of our subject was Miss Mary M. Bond, whom he married Aug. 20, 1887. Mr. Taft is a Republican in politics, and is a member of G. A. R. Post No. 71, of Rockville. He is one of the rep- resentative citizens of South Windsor, and is highly esteemed for his many estimable qualities.

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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 55

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