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 65

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 65


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The subject of this review began his educa- tion in the public schools of Barkhamsted, and after the removal of the family to West Granby he at- tended the Granby Academy. On laying aside his text books he aided his father in the operation of the home farm, and after the latter's death took charge of the place, which he has since success- fully managed. Economical, industrious and enter- prising, he has succeeded in adding to his landed possessions until he now has 245 acres of valuable land, under a high state of cultivation. He is one of the most extensive tobacco growers in his sec- tion, and is also interested in general farming and dairying. He keeps a fine herd of Jersey cattle, and also considerable poultry. He was married, May 14, 1878, to Miss Betsy Matilda Messenger, a native of Granby, and a daughter of Mrs. Sally (Seymour) Messenger. They have two children : John H., born May 26, 1881 ; and Anna, born Aug. 26, 1883, both now attending school.


During the Civil war Mr. Case enlisted, at Hart- ford, in October, 1861, as drummer boy in the regi- mental band, 10th Conn. V. I., and spent one year i11 the service, being with the army at the battles of Roanoke and Newbern. He was i'l in the regi- mental hospital for a short time, and was discharged at Newbern in 1862. He cast liis first Presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, in 1860, and has always been a stanch supporter of the Republican party.


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He filled the office of school director, and in 1882 was elected to the State Legislature. Socially he is a member of St. Mark's Lodge, No. 91, F. & A. M., while in religious faith he and his family are connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is a trustee, and in which he has served as choir leader for over a quarter of a century.


CHARLES NELSON COLBURN, powder- maker, was born in Brooklyn, Conn., Jan. 17, 1858, a son of Nelson Royal and Lucinda De Lacey (Colburn) Colburn. His paternal grandfather, Royal Spaulding Colburn, who was a carpenter by trade, and in later life a farmer, spent all his life in Brooklyn. He married a Miss Sherman. The maternal grandfather of our subject was Charles Dwight Colburn, a resident of Dayville and Killing- ly, Connecticut.


Nelson Royal Colburn, the father of our sub- ject, was a carpenter by trade, and for many years was head carpenter for the Hazard Powder Co., at Hazardville, where he located in 1862, and where he died Feb. 4, 1897. His children were Charles Nelson, James Alfred, Sarah Emeline (now Mrs. Edgar French), Benjamin Warren and Caroline Isabelle.


Charles N. Colburn was reared in Hazardville from the age of four years, was educated in the public schools, and began life for himself as a teamster and farmer. On attaining his majority he spent a year on a stock farm in Nebraska, then re- turned to Hazardville and engaged in farming and teaming up to 1883. He was then in the employ of the Hazard Powder Co. for two years, follow- ing with three years employment at Pomfret, Conn., where he had charge of fitting machinery for road- scrapers. In 1886 he returned to Hazardville, and has since been in the employ of the Hazard Powder Company.


On Oct. 27, 1886, Mr. Colburn married Nella Frances, daughter of Welcome Baker, of Putnam, Conn., and of the children born to this union three survive: Lucinda De Lacey, Nelson Royal and Shirley Louise. Mr. Colburn is politically a Re- publican. He is an attendant and supporter of the Episcopal Church, and is one of the most popular and respected citizens of Hazardville.


THOMAS NEWTON GRISWOLD. Perhaps no family name among those of the early settlers of Connecticut can be called more talismanic, or better calculated to awaken memories of distinguished ser- vice, faithfully rendered, than that of Griswold. It is intimately and inseparably associated with every stage of the State's history, and indissolubly im- pressed upon every phase of the progress of the Commonwealth, since the earliest days of Colonial history.


The lineage of the family may be traced, in an unbroken chain of descent, from Humphrey Gris- wold, a "Lord of the Manor" who flourished in the


sixteenth century. The Malvern estate came into his possession in 1600, and the heritage still re- mains with the English branch of the family. In 1679 Malvern Hall, with the Coat of Arms, was mentioned in English records as belonging to Humphrey Griswold. He died in 1671, and was succeeded by his brother, Rev. Henry Griswold, who died about 1720. From him the title passed to his eldest son Humphrey, and on the latter's death, in 1772, to his younger son, Henry. Henry dying without male issue, the estate and title passed to Rev. Matthew Griswold, a justice of the peace for the County of Warwick. On his death, in 1778, he left a daughter, Mary, who became the wife of David Lewis. She died without surviving male issue, but leaving three daughters, Magdalene, Anne Maria and Eliza. The eldest married the fourth Earl of Dysart, Anne Maria, the fifth, and Eliza died a spinster. A male heir in the direct line being still wanting, the Malvern estate and the Arms of Gris- wold passed to Henry Griswold Lewis, a son of David Lewis by a second marriage. The next heir was Lieut .- Col. Edmund Meysey Griswold, who was succeeded by his uncle, Henry Wigley, M. A., who assumed the surname of Griswold, and whose descendants are still owners of the ancestral estate and Arms.


The American branch of the Griswold family claims as its first known English progenitor Mat- thew Griswold, Esq., of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, an uncle of Humphrey Griswold, the first Lord of the Manor above named. He had three sons, Thon- as, Edward and Matthew. Of these, Matthew, the youngest, was the first to come to America. While yet very young he joined a company of pilgrims col- lected from Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Somer- setshire and Devonshire, under the leadership of Rev. John Warham, which left England during the reign of Charles I, and landed on the shores of Mas- sachusetts on Dec. 30, 1630. Nine years later Ed- ward Griswold joined his brother Matthew, and the two removed from Massachusetts to Connecticut, Edward settling at Windsor and the younger brother at Saybrook.


In 1645 another member of the Griswold family, Michael by name, emigrated from England to Con- necticut, and settled at Wethersfield. His descend- ants are numerous, and many of them are among the most prominent citizens of that section of the State. He himself may be reckoned among Weth- ersfield's pioneers. He was born in 1610. He bought land, and, being by occupation a mason, erected thereon a fine house, besides making other improvements. There he passed the remainder of his days, dying Sept. 26, 1684, highly esteemed for his many admirable qualities. He married Ann


, by whom he was the father of three sons and five daughters: Thomas B., born in 1646; Hester, May 8, 1648; Mary, Jan. 28, 1650; Michael, Feb. 14, 1652; Abigail, June 8, 1655; Isa, Sept. 30, 1658; Jacob, April 15, 1660 ; and Sarah, Sept. 30, 1662.


Thomas A Griswold,


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Jacob Griswold, the youngest son, located on that portion of his father's land now known as Griswold- ville, was an extensive land owner, and carried on general farming. He was a member of the First Congregational Church of Wethersfield. He died at his home on July 22, 1739, and his grave is in the Wethersfield cemetery. On Dec. 10, 1685, he mar- ried Mary Francis, a daughter of Robert Francis, also of Wethersfield. She died April 25, 1735. The children of Jacob Griswold and his wife were: John, born Sept. 25, 1686; Mary, June 19, 1688; Jacob, March 20, 1690; Ann, Aug. 14, 1693 ; Sarah, March 19, 1696; Hester, March 13, 1697; Josiah, Jan. 4, 1701 ; Eliza, Oct. 25, 1702 ; Ephraim, Sept. 23, 1704; and Lydia, Sept. 4, 1707.


Josiah Griswold, the third son and seventh child, was a man of considerable prominence. He served as major of the First Connecticut Regiment during the French and Indian war, taking a conspicuous part in that struggle. He had large holdings of realty, and was a successful farmer, as was his fa- ther before him. He built a handsome residence, and his farm was well improved. He was a church member, and an upright and useful citizen. He died May 9, 1760. He married, Aug. 17, 1727, Mabel Belding, of Wethersfield, whose parents were Josiah and Mabel (Wright) Belding. She was born Feb. 9, 1707. The issue of Josiah Gris- wold's marriage was twelve children, of whom we give names and dates of birth of nine: Josiah, Jan. 30, 1728; Mabel, May 6, 1730 (died Dec. 13, 1736) ; John, April 30, 1732; Jacob, June 30, 1734; Ozias, Jan. 16, 1735; Justus, Dec. 26, 1737; Mabel (I), June 13, 1740; Mary, March 5, 1741 ; and Daniel, Dec. 24, 1748.


Ozias Griswold was the great-grandfather of Thomas Newton Griswold. His birthplace was Griswoldville, and he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, becoming a farmer and passing his entire life in Wethersfield. He was a member of the Congregational Church. He died Dec. 4, 1815, having completed his eightieth year. He was twice married, and was the father of fifteen children. His first wife, whom he married in 1760, was Anna Stanley, and his second was Mary Fran- cis, who died Puly 26, 1825. The children by first wife were: Anna W., born Sept. 12, 1762, married Samuel Welles, and died Sept. 15, 1828; Mary W., born March 18, 1764, married Elisha Welles, and died Nov. II, 1834; Lucy, born April 20, 1765, died Sept. 1, 1773 ; John, born Nov. 30, 1766, died Aug. 7, 1774; Justus, born April 26, 1768, married Pru- dence Welles, and died Aug. 1, 1803; Samuel, born Jan. 26, 1770, married Eunice Collins, and died Nov. 21, 1833 ; Lydia W., born Oct. 6, 1771, became Mrs. John Woodbridge, and died April 26, 1826; Ozias, born Aug. 7, 1773, married Joanna Steele, and died Oct. 22, 1815; Thomas, born July II, 1775, died Feb. 24, 1850; Lucy M., Mrs. Ephraim Willard, born April 17, 1777, died June 20, 1865 ; John, born April 9, 1779, married Esther Welles, and died Feb.


26, 1826; Sarah, born March 20, 1781, died in July, 1800; James, born Aug. 21, 1783, married Lucy Robbins ; Mabel, born Feb. 26, 1786, died in June, 1805; and Nancy Clark, the wife of Guy Morgan, born Sept. 16, 1788, died Oct. 2, 1853.


Thomas N. Griswold is a grandson of the Thomas above named, the ninth child and fifth son of Ozias Griswold. He was a prominent citizen of Griswoldville, a member of the Congregational Church, and noted for his scrupulous integrity. His farm covered a large area, and in addition to farm- ing he was engaged, with his brother James, in the business of dressing cloth. He was a Whig, and active in promoting his party's success. His fellow townsmen held him in great respect, both for his probity and for his capability in counsel and action. He died Feb. 24, 1850.


On Jan. 22, 1799, Mr. Griswold was married to Mary Wolcott, who was born at Wethersfield Aug. 24, 1779, a daughter of Elisha and Mary ( Welles) Wolcott, and granddaughter of Joseph Welles. She died June 4, 1847. Their seven children were: Thomas, born Dec. 7, 1799; Franklin, born Dec. 27, 1801, died June 27, 1814; Stanley, born June 22, 1804, died in August, 1862; Mary Welles, born Aug. 11, 1806, who married Welles Adams, and died April 27, 1865 ; Mabel, born Nov. 20, 1810, died Sept. 19, 1811 ; Mabel (2), born Aug. 18, 1812, who became Mrs. George Stillman; and Franklin \V. (2), born March 28, 1815, died Sept. 21, 1886.


Thomas Griswold was the father of the gentle- inan whose name appears at the opening of this sketch. His early educational advantages were lint- ited to attendance upon the district schools of his day, but these he improved to the utmost, and sup- plemented them, throughout his life, by well-directed reading. He was a man of superior native ability, with a well-stored, well-disciplined mind. He was an agriculturist, and besides being a successful gen- eral farmer, was one of the pioneer seed-growers of Wethersfield, his carefully selected, well-packed out- put selling all through the United States and Can- ada. The business was carried on under the firm name of Thomas Griswold & Co., and is at present conducted by his son, Thomas Newton. Mr. Gris- wold was one of the solid nien of his town. He was progressive in his ideas, and upright in his dealings ; enterprising, industrious, public-spirited and charitable ; a true friend, and faithful and loving in every domestic relation. In religious faitli lie was a Congregationalist; politically he was a stanch Whig in early life, and later a Republican. He died Oct. 13, 1878, having lived to see the country which he loved pass triumphantly through three wars-that of 1812, the struggle withi Mexico, and the contest of 1861-65. On May 4, 1830, lie mar- ried Jerusha, a daughter of Joseph and Lucy ( Rob- bins) Welles, and a granddaughter of Thomas Welles, who carried a musket through the war for Independence. Mrs. Griswold was born Feb. 28, 1811, and died Dec. 27, 1898. She bore her lius-


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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


band five sons and two daughters: (1) Joseph Welles, born Aug. 24, 1831, removed from Wethers- field to Milwaukee, where he engaged in the cloak manufacturing business, later removing to Chicago, Ill. He married Mary Chapman in September, 1857. (2) Thomas Newton, the subject of the pres- ent article, was the second child. (3) Charles Fay- ette was born March 22, 1836. (4) Edward Pay- son, born Aug. 6, 1838, went to Milwaukee and en- tered into partnership with his brother Joseph, in the cloak business, and removed with him to Chicago; he died in Evanston Jan. 19, 1899. (5) Mary Ann was born March 3, 1841, and died Dec. 3, 1875. (6) Robert Southgate was born Feb. 9, 1849. (7) Je- rusha Frances, the youngest, was born May 30, 1851, and died Aug. 16, 1854.


Thomas Newton Griswold was born Jan. 30, 1834, and was reared upon the paternal farm. His educational opportunities were better than those af- forded to most boys of his time. His course in the Wethersfield common schools and academy was sup- plemented by attendance at the schools of Hartford, and during the winter months he taught school at New Britain and Wethersfield. In due time he was taken into partnership by his father, and after the latter's death he and his brothers conducted the busi- ness as partners for several years. Mr. Griswold and his sons finally purchased their interest, and since then have conducted the business under the original style of Thomas Griswold & Co. In addi- tion to seed growing he cultivates peaches and small fruits, of which he is one of the heaviest shippers at Wethersfield. He had his home in Griswoldville until 1856, in which year he bought the Coleman farm, on Huckleberry Hill, where he erected a fine residence, with commodious farm buildings, and a large, well-arranged warehouse. Mr. Griswold en- joys the unqualified respect of the community. His business methods are clean and honorable, and his private life is without reproach. In politics he is a Republican, has been a member of the school board for many years, and (in 1888) was elected a member of the Legislature. He is a man of deep and earn- est religious convictions, attesting his faith by his works. For four years he was a deacon in the Con- gregational Church, and has been a teacher in its Sunday-school from boyhood. For many years he was a member of the choir, and at no time has he failed to shoulder his due share of the weighty re- sponsibilities resting upon the few who are fitted to assume the positions of leaders in church work.


On March 10, 1858, Mr. Griswold married Jen- ette, a daughter of Henry Goodrich Butler, of Weth- ersfield, and seven children have blessed the mar- riage: Henry Wilson, born Jan. 26, 1859, died June 6, 1868; Fanny Augusta, born March 25, 1861, died Dec. 1, 1865; Frank Newton, born March IO, 1864: Frederick Irving, May 3, 1867; Wallace But- ler, Jan. 27, 1869 (married Ava Lee Howard, and is at present a grower and shipper of seed at Lin-


coln, Neb.) ; Jennie Welles, Jan. 18, 1872 (unmar- ried and living at home) ; and Thomas Henry, May 5, 1875 (died Jan. 21, 1881).


Mrs. Griswold's family (the Butlers) are also among the oldest and most highly-respected in Wethersfield. The first of that name in the town was Ensign Samuel Butler. His son James mar- ried Hannah Edwards, and from this union sprang William Butler, who was born Feb. 8, 1715, and died May 7, 1786. He married Lucy Goodrich, by whom he had five children: William, born April 16, 1741, died Jan. 3, 1799 ; Margaret, born Dec. 22, 1742, died Sept. 30, 1750; Theodore, born Sept. 26, 1744; Roger, born April 20, 1746, died July 28, 1799; and Chloe, born Nov. 7, 1850, married to William Welles.


Roger Butler, the great-grandfather of Mrs. Griswold, was a Wethersfield farmer, a man of sub- stantial means, and held in high repute. On Feb. 24, 1776, he married Hannah Hanmer, of Wethers- field, who died Feb. 23, 1780, and three children were born to this union: Lucy; Roger, who died unmarried ; and Hannah, wife of Samuel Wolcott, who died in New York. For his second wife he married Lucretia Pratt, who was born May 31, 1755, and two children were born to them: Char- lotte, who married Sluman Welles; and Harry Goodrich, Mrs. Griswold's grandfather. The last named of the Butler family married Mary Letta Woodhouse, by whom he had children, viz .: Hen- ry, the father of Mrs. Thomas N. Griswold; Mar- tha, who married Andrew Southworth; Mary, who became the wife of Otis Belden; Eliza Ann, who married Chauncey Winship, of Hartford; William ; Frances M., who married Walter Havens, of Hart- ford; and Charles.


HON. JOHN E. GRISWOLD (deceased). The Griswold family is one of the oldest and most prominent of this section-as old as the settlements at Windsor and Hartford. Edward Griswold, the emigrant ancestor of the Windsor (Conn.) branch of the family in America, to which our subject be- longs, came from Kenilworth, Warwickshire, Eng- land, in 1639, and settled at Windsor, in the Colony of Connecticut. Later he removed to the town of Killingworth (now Clinton), in Middlesex county.


Elihu Griswold, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Windsor, where his ances- tors before him had lived. He married in that town, and children were born as follows: John E., born Dec. 8, 1803, is referred to farther on; Mary C., born March 3, 1806, married Elihu Mar- shall, a farmer of Windsor, whose family history with a portrait of himself appears elsewhere; Eliz- abeth married Charles Hollister, of East Hartford; and Rebecca married Sidney Secton, of Simsbury. The parents of these children both died at the old Griswold homestead, and their remains rest in one of the graveyards of Windsor town.


John C. Griswold


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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


The old Griswold house, which has sheltered several generations of the family, and where now are residing the Griswold sisters, daughters of the subject of this sketch, has something of a history itself, and it is still regarded with curiosity as some- thing widely different from the houses built in the early days when its plans were drawn. It is said that upwards of a hundred years ago one Pinney, an Englishman of dignity and supposed wealth, purchased the land on which the present home stands, and began the erection of what he termed a house of the old English style. There was con- siderable mystery surrounding his movements, and at last it was discovered that he was a counter- feiter of money, and was carrying on his' opera- tions in the cellar of his new home. Finally, be- coming alarmed, he fled the country, leaving every- thing behind him. The property was subsequently purchased by Elihu Griswold, and the unfinished old English house was completed on an American plan, and stands to-day a combination of the two styles of architecture. A spacious hall, twelve feet high, runs entirely through the house, while the old- time parlor or reception room of the same height, spacicus and inviting, speaks of a generous old- time hospitality.


John E. Griswold, our subject proper, was born Dec. 8, 1803, in the town of Windsor. He passed his boyhood alternating between work on the farm and attendance through the winters at the neigh- boring district school. He married Nov. 4, 1832, Miss Caroline Griswold, daughter of Warren and Caroline Griswold, and though of the same name not a relative. They settled after their marriage on the old homestead, where they passed the re- mainder of their lives, and where their children were reared. Here the mother died March 27, 1866, aged fifty-eight years, the father on Jan. 26, 1888, aged eighty-four years, and the picture of him appearing in this volume was taken the year before he died. Mr. Griswold had been occupied throughout life in farming, and was a model farmer, too, keeping his place in good order, and was ever abreast of the times in scientific methods of agriculture, being especially accomplished in the best methods of tobacco growing. He was a man of good information and practical ideas, and gen- erally succeeded in whatever he undertook. His political affiliations were with the Democratic party, and though not an office-seeker he filled positions of trust and honor, among them that of representa- tive from his town in the General Assembly of the State, giving to the discharge of his duties in that body intelligence and dignity. He also served as treasurer of the school board. His children, only two in number, Harriet B. and Sarah E., are still living, and reside, as is stated in the foregoing, at the old home, where they have been in charge of the household affairs since the mother's death and cared for the father in his declining years; both are re-


spected and esteemed by their many friends and acquaintances. The farm for years has been and is still under the management of Jerome E. Fuller, whose wife, formerly Miss Estelle Marshall, daugh- ter of the late Elihu Marshall, is a cousin of the Griswold sisters.


JULIUS H. COTTON, one of the most re- spected residents of East Hartford, and the ex- tremely popular floor-walker for the well-known firm of Brown, Thomson & Co., of Hartford, is a native of the town of East Hartford, and descends from a family that has been identified with the his- tory of the town for generations past and gone, but will here be traced only from his grandfather down.


David Cotton, grandfather of our subject, was a sea-faring man, and in all probability died at sea. Ile had married Anna Jones, who was born in East Hartford in October, 1760, and to this union were born seven children: David, Jr., born Jan. 1, 1788, was a cordwainer by trade, and lived in Hartford. Anna, born Feb. 14, 1790, was married to Calvin Elton, a merchant at Hartford. Mabel, born May 5, 1791, died young. Jerusha, born March 29, 1793, was first married to a Mr. Miller, and after his death to Nathan Cobb, then lived for a time in Ver- mont, and later moved to Janesville, Wis., where she died. Harry was the father of our subject, of whom mention will be made further on. George, born July 12, 1797, first married Esther Kilbourne, and second Mary Griswold, of Manchester ; he was a carpenter, lived for some time in East Hartford, and died in Manchester, his remains being interred in East Hartford. William, born April 28, 1799, died young.


Harry Cotton, father of Julius H., was born in East Hartford Meadow April 19, 1795, received a district-school education, and after his marriage to Clarissa H. Kingsley opened a tavern, in 1832, his sign reading, "H. Cotton, Entertainment." In a his- tory of East Hartford, compiled by J. O. Goodwin, it is said, under the head of "Public Houses and Sale of Liquors," that "Cotton's tavern and store, on the corner of Tolland turnpike and Burnside ave- nue, was formerly owned by Euodias Bidwell, and, probab'y, by his ancestors before him. One Biddell is put down in an almanac of 1763 as keeper of a public house in East Hartford. It was bought by Mr. Henry Cotton in 1832. In the good old times, before the days of railroads, this was quite a sta- tion on the road, and the jocund spirits of the neighborhood passed many a sociable evening here." Of course, the "Mr. Henry Cotton," mentioned in the above extract, means "Harry" Cotton, father of cur subject.


Clarissa H. Kingsley, whom Harry Cotton mar- ried, was a daughter of Alpheus and Eunice (Will- iams) Kingsley, the former of whom was a drum- major during the Revolutionary war, and in the latter years of his life received a pension from the Government of the United States for services ren-


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dered. To the marriage of Harry Cotton and wife were born the following named children : Han- nah Jerusha, born Aug. 15, 1828, died Jan. 31, 1829; Harriet J., born Jan. 22, 1830, was married June 18, 1862, to John N. Standish, a machinist, who died in New York in 1887 (their one child, Carrie De Witt, died in infancy, Aug. 25, 1863) ; Summer H., the third child of Harry Cotton, was born April 25, 1832, married Mary Hatch, and served as a locomotive engineer on the Boston & Albany railroad; the fourth child, Julius H., is the subject of this sketch; Leander, the fifth child, born Feb. 1, 1837, was toll collector on the bridge at the foot of Hartford avenue for many years, and later became a hotel-keeper in Virginia; Henry B., the youngest of the family, was born Feb. I, 1839, is a machinist by trade, is married to Judith Howe, and is living in Boston, Mass. The later years of the father of this family were passed in retirement at the home of our subject, where he died Feb. 7, 1876, at the advanced age of eighty- one years, his widow surviving until April 17, 1881, when she expired, at the age of eighty-two years.




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