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 67

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 67

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JOSEPH ALBISTON, one of Manchester's successful farmers, is a son of Rev. Roger Albiston, a Methodist clergyman, who settled in Manchester in 1854, when Joseph was a boy of five years. He was a farmer, as well as a preacher. He was twice married, his first wife (our subject's mother) be- ing Lavinia Bowker. By her he had six children, Joseph being the fourth. The others were: Roger WV., at New Bedford, Mass .; John B., now living at New Britain ; Lavinia, for several years a teacher in the Manchester public schools, but now deceased ; Esther A., of New Britain; and James H., also a farmer in the town of Manchester. Rev. Roger Albiston's second wife was Mrs. Irene Loveland, of Glastonbury. He died in East Glastonbury, in 1893, at the age of seventy-five years, and his widow then went to live with her son in Glastonbury, where she still makes her home.

Joseph Albiston was born April 14, 1849. in the town of Mansfield, Tolland county, and his edu- cational advantages were such as were afforded by the public schools of Manchester. He re- mained with his parents on their farm until his marriage, to Miss Rose M. Avery, which took place Sept. 1, 1875, he being then twenty-six years old. The first years of his married life were devoted to farming. His father being well advanced in years, he then returned to the paternal domicile, assumed the management of the farm, and has lived there ever since. Here his first wife died in 1885, leav- ing two daughters, Gertrude L. and Martha A. In 1888 he married Miss Ella M. Griswold, of Man- chester. The property, which is now his, embraces twenty acres of the best land in Hartford county, is highly improved, and is one of the very few farms in the county which is irrigated. Mr. Al- biston devoted himself almost wholly to fruit cul- ture, in which he has been eminently successful, raising some of the choicest fruits and vegetables that come upon the market.

CYPRIAN H. HART is a native of Bristol, Hartford county, born March 10, 1830, son of Joel and Sarah (Bowers) Hart, who had a family of six children: Lucy, Nancy, Sabina, Calvin, Cyp- rian H. and Almon. Of this family Cyprian H. is the only survivor.

When our subject was eight years of age his parents removed to New Britain, but five years afterward returned to their old home, where the father died in 1844. After the death of his father, Cyprian H. Hart found himself obliged to begin the battle of life in earnest, and his first experience

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was at Burlington, where he worked during one summer for seven dollars per month. From there he went to the town of Newington, where he worked during the succeeding winter for Oliver Richards, receiving only his board by way of compensation, although he was permitted to attend the district school. In the spring, there being no session of the school to take up his time, he received eight dol- lars per month. Becoming dissatisfied, he deter- mined to seek better fortune in the town of Ply- mouth, whither he walked all the way from New- ington, as his slender means would not permit him to indulge in any other mode of locomotion. There he secured employment with a clockmaker, who paid him seven dollars a month, but in a short time he returned to Burlington. There he found work with a maker of baby carriages and hand sleds, from whom he received ten dollars per month and his board. From Burlington he removed to South Meriden, and there for five years was employed in a cutlery establishment, at the expiration of that period going to New Britain, where he was in the service of the Corbin Manufacturing Co. four years. His next departure was the purchase of a farm of 114 acres, eighty of which he still owns, and on which he yet makes his home.

Mr. Hart was married, April 4, 1852, to Miss Eliza Perdue. They are the parents of two chil- dren, the elder of whom, C. C. Hart, is a member of the firm of Hart, Wells & Co., wholesale seeds- men of Wethersfield. The younger son, Arthur, is also a merchant in the same town.

Mr. Hart conducts a general farm and dairy business, in which he has been very successful. He is held in high regard throughout the community, and has served for eighteen years as selectman, al- though not continuously, his first election having been in 1871. He is a Democrat in politics, and was elected by that party to the Legislature, in 1863. He is a member of the Wethersfield Grange.

NEWTON WELLES BALDWIN'S family, like many other of the old families of the town of Berlin, is of English descent. His grandfather, Ira Merritt Baldwin, a farmer, was a native of New Hartford, and married Rhoda Welles, of Newing- ton, whose family owned extensive tracts of land in the West. Both are deceased, and both have their last resting-place in Berlin.

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Newton Henry Baldwin, one of eight children of Ira Merritt Baldwin, and the father of Newton Welles Baldwin, was born in Kensington, April 19, 1842. He received his education in the common schools of his birthplace, and at the Edward Robbins private school in the same town. He was reared upon his father's farm, and in the autumn of 1862 enlisted, together with his brother Ira, in Com- any A, of the 25th Connecticut Volunteers, a nine- months' regiment. His experience in the life of a soldier was in camp in East New York, from which point the regiment was sent to Louisiana, where

it took part in some severe engagements. His brother received several wounds, but he himself passed through his term of service unscathed. After being mustered out at Hartford he returned to the paternal farm, where he continued to reside until his father's death. Some seventeen years ago he purchased 135 acres of land from Albert Viberts, on which he still makes his home. In politics he is a Republican, having left the Democratic party many years ago. He has held the offices of justice of the peace and constable, and is deservedly held in high esteem in the community, no less for the uprightness of his character than on account of the keenness of his intellect and the soundness of his judgment. Both he and his wife, as well as his older children, are members of the Congregational Church, of which he is a liberal supporter.

Mr. Baldwin married Ellen M. Hurlburt, a daughter of George and Clarissa ( Langdon) Ilurl- burt. She was born in Kensington, where both her parents are buried. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin are the parents of eleven children: Ira Merritt, Newton Welles, George Hurlburt, Julius, Rhoda Antoinette ( deceased ). Delia Angeline, Wilbur, Lena Viberts, Laura, Ellen and Reuben.

Newton Welles Baldwin, the second in this family, was born Sept. 15, 1870, at Kensington. In his boyhood he attended the Third District school of Kensington. his preceptors being Miss Alice Peck, Zana Stocking, Inez Upson, and James Roche, now Judge Roche, of New Britain, a pop- ular and successful lawyer. He grew to manhood upon the farm, and on March 23, 1892, six months before his twenty-second birthday, was married to Miss Carrie, a daughter of Harry and Lizzie Mead, who was born in New York City, May 7, 1873. He has been a successful business man, industry and probity, energy and perseverance having character- ized his career from the outset. Although yet a young man, his fellow townsmen have shown their confidence in his worth by twice electing him to office, having chosen him constable in 1897, and justice of the peace in 1898. The last named posi- tion he still holds. He bought his present honie in 1894, a fertile, well-cultivated farm of sixty-six acres, on which he raises a large quantity of produce, besides considerable live stock, in the propagation and rearing of which, as in all his other under- takings, he has met with remarkable success. In the winter months hie dresses stock, which he sells through the surrounding country. For two years past he has also conducted a milk business, and in October, 1898, was given the agency of the Bradley Fertilizer Co., of Boston. He has quite a reputa- tion as an honest dealer in fancy new milch cows, of which he handles a large number. In connection with his farming interests he has been in this busi- ness four years, and is becoming known in Berlin and surrounding towns as "Young Baldwin the cow trader."

From what has been said, it may be seen that

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Mr. Baldwin is a young man of remarkable activity and energy. He is essentially a self-made man, having commenced the battle of life for himself while a mere youth of twenty years, without other capital than a clear brain, indomitable purpose, a sound physique, and a high sense of moral recti- tude. All that he has he owes to his own tireless industry and good business sense. Both himself and Mrs. Baldwin are consistent and valued mem- bers of the Congregational Church, and Mr. Bald- win is a teacher in the Sunday-school. In politics his affiliation has always been with the Republican party.

JAMES BLINN REED. It is to chance that the town of Berlin is indebted for one of its most estimable citizens. As an English lad of twenty- two years the subject of this sketch, in 1859, made an excursion trip from his home to Liverpool, and while there an acquaintance pursuaded him to em- bark for America.

Our subject was born July 18, 1837, in Bucking- hamshire, England, about sixty miles from London, a son of James and Elizabeth (Whaffles) Reed. The father, born in 1804, was a wholesale and retail butcher, supplying the London markets, and lived to the age of seventy-five years; the mother sur- vived until 1885, both dying in England. James B. Reed attended the public schools of England to the age of sixteen years, then for two terms was a pupil in the Newport high school, and later took special instruction in night school. His father wished him to continue his studies, but the boy's tastes were for work. He acquired his father's trade, and worked at it until his departure, Sept. 5, 1859, for America, in the "Benjamin Adams." They had a stormy passage, one of the roughest voyages within the experience of the sea-faring captain, but finally reached New York. For a time the friendless emigrant boy worked in a meat- market in New York, and he held various tempor- ary positions until Febuary, 1860, when he came to Newington, Hartford Co., Conn. For two years he worked on the farm of Deacon Whittlesey, after which he rented the Charles Francis farm for one year, and then the Henry Butler farm for five years. In 1871 he became a renter of the Mrs. Emily Bower farm, in Kensington, where he remained three years. Then, after renting successively the Horace Dun- ham farm for a year, and the Edward Cowles farm for five years, he in 1880 came to "Lower Lane," Berlin, and purchased the W. W. Norton farm of fifty acres, where he has since resided, engaged in active farm life. He has greatly improved his property, constructed barns and sheds, and now owns and operates a most excellent farm, raising general products.

Mr. Reed was married, Nov. 13, 1861, in New- ington, to Miss Eliza Keyes, a native of Scotland, and to our subject and wife have been born six children : Elizabeth Amelia, wife of William S.

Brandegee, of Berlin; Annie, who died, aged three months ; Jean Mary, Emma Louise, and Anna, all three at home; and George James, an art-student in sculpture at Hartford. Mr. Reed, our subject, is a member of the Congregational Church.

HON. LOUIS J. MULLER is one of the pros- perous young men of New Britain, who has been not only successful in his business affairs, but has attained considerable eminence in the public and social relations of life. He is a native of the city of Bremen, Germany, born Jan. 20, 1856, son of John Muller, and grandson of Michael Muller, a native of Bavaria. The grandfather, Michael Mul- ler, was a weaver by trade, and was supervisor for his brother, John, a wealthy man, who was the owner of many looms. The Mullers were one of the leading families of Bavaria, and the grand- mother of our subiect, the wife of Michael Muller, ivas a graduate of Erlangen College. Michael Mul- ler died in Germany.

John Muller, father of our subject, was born in Bavaria about 1821, and there received a thorough' education. He learned the trade of his father. traveling extensively throughout Bavaria and Aus- tria as a weaver. He enlisted in the German army for the Schleswig-Holstein war, and during his term of service acquired the trade of cigarmaker, which he followed for a time in Bremen, where he married Miss Sophia Myer. In 1860, with his wife and family, he emigrated to America, establish- ing a cigar business in New York, which he con- ducted until the spring of 1866. He then removed to Cromwell, and became a member of the firm of Kirby & Company, engaging extensively in the manufacture of cigars and tobacco-packing. In 1871 he removed to New Britain, where he estab- lished a cigar factory, and operated it until 1877, when he disposed of it to his son, Louis J., our subject. John Muller was a man of energy and good business ability. In politics he was a Demo- crat. He had six children who reached maturity, two sons and four daughters, as follows: Jennie, who married Herman Witte, a foreman of West- field; Henrietta, wife of Charles Witte, a veteri- nary surgeon ; Louis J .; Augusta, wife of Paul R. Vogelgesang ; Annie, wife of J. C. Lincoln, a coal dealer ; and William G., a vocal teacher. John Muller, the father, died in 1880, his widow in 1893.

Louis J. Muller was four years old when brought by his parents across the ocean to the new land. He was educated in the public schools on North Moore street, New York City, and was grad- uated from the academy at Cromwell, which has since become a public school. Our subject was an apt pupil, and when at the age of fifteen his school days ended he was well equipped mentally for the battle of life. His education has been con- tinuous from boyhood through the extensive course of reading he has followed, in history, in current

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literature and in events of the day. Entering the cigar factory of his father in 1874, at Cromwell, he readily acquired the trade, and in 1876 went to New York as a salesman of leaf tobacco. Return- ing home he gave active attention to the cigar man- ufacturing trade of his father, and the latter soon shifted to his young and capable shoulders the en- tire business. Mr. Muller has applied himself dili- gently and faithfully to the work, and has long since established his footing as one of the most efficient young business men of the city. He has erected a new factory, and now employs about twenty men in the manufacture of Havana and domestic cigars. Without neglecting his business he has mingled prominently in the political affairs of New Britain. His allegiance is given to the Democratic party, and he was successively elected to the Legislature in 1889, 1891 and 1893, during his service acting as clerk of the committee on Capitol Furniture and Grounds, one of the most important committees of that body. Healso served for six years as member of the school board, being elected in 1891 and again in 1893. In whatever work or duty he undertakes, Mr. Muller applies himself to a whole-souled de- gree, and the public affairs which thus received his attention were most commendably conducted.

Mr. Muller is a large social factor in the city. He is affiliated with many of the local orders and fraternities, including the Elks, and the I. O. O. F., both lodge and encampment, Rebekah and uni- formed degree, serving for two years as captain of the latter. He is a member of the Independent Order of Red Men, and of the Turner Society, The Gentleman's Driving and Wheel Club, and Putnam Phalanx.

In 1882 Mr. Muller married Miss Louise Sier- ing, of New Britain, and they have three children : Louise, Maud and Margaret. The family are members of the First Congregational Church of New Britain. The record of Mrs. Muller's family will be found in connection with the sketch of Will- iam Siering, elsewhere.

EDWARD KILLAM, a well-known citizen of Thompsonville, and a prominent representative of the agricultural interests of Enfield, was born in that town Nov. 9, 1829, a son of Henry and Abigail ( Pease) Killanı.

Mr. Killam comes of Puritan stock, and both his grandfathers fought for American independence in the Revolutionary war. His paternal grandfather, Eliphalet Killam, was a native of Enfield, and a farmer by occupation. He traced his ancestry back through Lot and James Killam, one of the first set- tiers of Enfield, and a descendant of Austin Killam, of Salem, Mass., the founder of the Killam family in America. All the ancestors of our subject who have been residents of Enfield were farmers, and his father and grandfather both owned a large tract of land on Enfield street, now divided into lots and

small farms. The grandfather married Submit Abbe, and to them were born ten children, as fol- lows: Lot; Eliphalet ; Tabitha, wife of John Olm- sted; Jemima, wife of James Ingraham; George; Submit, wife of John Abbe; Henry; Timothy ; Sarah, wife of Roswell Abbe ; and James. Of these, Henry Killam, the father of our subject, was born on the old homestead on Enfield street, Oct. 15, 1789, and died Sept. 28, 1863. In early manhood he married Abigail Pease, daughter of Edward Pease, who was a descendant of John Pease, one of the first settlers of Enfield. Eleven children were born of this union: Harriet, wife of George W. Lloyd; Evaline, wife of Theodore Pease; Abigail, wife of Samuel Bidwell; Ann, wife of Henry C. Farnham ; Henry ; James ; Julia, wife of John Rob- inson ; Edward; Eliphalet ; Frederick ; and William,

Edward Killam, our subject, passed his boyhood and youth on the old homestead, and received a common-school and academic education. In early life he started out to make his own way in the world as a peddler of tinware, and followed that vocation for five years with good success, although he began business with a whip and fifty cents as capital. In 1854 he removed to Woodstock, Wind- ham Co., Conn., where he purchased a farm and resided until 1876. He then returned to Enfield, and is now successfully engaged in business as a dealer in fruits and vegetables in Thompsonville.

Mr. Killam has been twice married, his first wife being Hannah Child, a daughter of Charles and Almira ( Holmes) Child, of Woodstock, Conn., and a second cousin of Oliver Wendell Holmes, the poet. Two children were born of that union : Charles H. ; and Julia E., wife of Burdette Rowlee. For his second wife Mr. Killam wedded Miss Mary R. Alden, daughter of Seth and Mary Ann (Grover) Alden, of Enfield, and a direct descendant of Capt. John and Priscilla ( Mullen) Alden, who came to Plymouth, Mass., in 1620, in the "Mayflower." Both Mr. and Mrs. Killam hold membership in the First Presbyterian Church of Enfield, and are justly deserving of the high regard in which they are uniformly held. He casts his ballot with the Re- publican party, and has served as clerk of School District No. 2, of Enfield, for about ten years. He bears a high character for sterling integrity, and his life has ever been such as to commend him to the confidence and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact.

GARRETT WORTHINGTON SMITH, a dealer in sporting goods, bicycles, etc., and one of Southington's enterprising business men, was born in Plymouth, Litchfield Co., Conn., Dec. 12, 1862, and is a son of Frederick Byington and Fannie E. (Morey) Smith, natives of Naugatuck and Kent, Conn., respectively.

Mr. Smith's paternal grandfather, Horace Smith, was also a native of Naugatuck, and a blacksmith

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and machinist by trade. He was the originator of the wood back suspender button, and was one of the first manufacturers of buttons in New England, being engaged in that business for several years. He married Polly Webster, of Southington. Our subject's maternal grandfather was Alfred Morey, of Kent, Litchfield county. Frederick B. Smith, the father of cur subject, was reared in Naugatuck, and in early life learned the machinist's trade. In 1880 he located in the Milldale District of South- ington, where he engaged in farming until his death, which occurred in 1887. His children were Garrett W .; Mattie M., wife of Eben F. Francis ; Benjamin E .; and Alfred M.

In his native State our subject grew to manhood, and was provided with a good common-school ed- ucation. He began his business career as a shop hand in the bolt shop of Clark Brothers, Milldale, where he was employed for three years, and in 1884 entered the employ of the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Co., remaining with them on day and contract work until 1893. On Sept. 29, of that year, he embarked in his present business in Southington, and has built up a large and lucrative trade. He is an en- ergetic and progressive business man, and the suc- cess that he has achieved is certainly well merited.

On Sept. 20, 1894, Mr. Smith married Miss Allene M. Brown, a daughter of Wesley and May Brown, of Newark, N. J., and they have three chil- dren, Frederick and Fannie, twins, and Mattie Maud. In his political affiliations Mr. Smith is a Democrat, and he most capably served as constable of Southington two years. In religious faith he is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

AARON COOK, JR., is a well and favorably known resident of the town of Manchester, and a son of Aaron Cook, Sr., who in his early years was one of the prominent men of this section of Hart- ford county in both business and public circles. Maj. Aaron Cook, the founder of this family in America, was an officer in the British army, and a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The grandfa- ther of our subject was also named Aaron.

Aaron Cook, Sr., was born Dec. 7, 1808, at Ashford, Windham Co., Conn., and learned the blacksmith's trade with his father, following same in his native place for a number of years. On June 3, 1837, he was united in marriage with Miss Mabel Lyman, daughter of Benjamin Lyman, and in 1839 they removed to Manchester Green, where Mr. Cook opened a blacksmith shop in connection with his father-in-law, who about the year 1820 invented the first cast-iron plough. About 1830 he had invented a cast-iron hub for wagons, etc., and they manufactured hubs and ploughs for a number of years, the building which they used as a factory standing to-day in Aaron Cook's vard ; it is now used as a storehouse. The partnership lasted until 1854, when Mr. Cook embarked in business with Patent Fitch, working granite and

stone quarries in Bolton. In 1864 he sold his in- terest in this line to Seth Belden, and returned to the farm in the town of Manchester, where the family had been living during this period. In his connection with different interests in and around Hartford county Mr. Cook became widely known, and gained an enviable position among the able and successful business men of his day, and his good judgment and efficiency made him the choice of the people as representative to the State Legis- lature on three different occasions. He also served several years as justice of the peace, and in his career as a public official gave evidence of the high order of executive ability which marked his man- agement of his private affairs, discharging the duties of his incumbencies with credit to himself and entirely to the satisfaction of his constituents. In political sentiment he was a Republican. Fra- ternally he held membership for many years in the Masonic and Odd Fellows societies, belong- ing to Manchester Lodge, No. 73, A. F. & A. M. In religious connection he was a member of the Manchester Center Congregational Church. To Aaron and Mabel (Lyman) Cook were born four children: Mabel, who died in 1896; Aaron, Jr .; Benjamin L., living in New York City, who holds the position of superintendent of the salesroom of the Nonotuck Silk Mills, of Florence, Mass .; and Mary E., born in 1856, who is the wife of John M. Williams, of Manchester. The mother passed away in 1886, at the age of seventy years. Mr. Cook attained the age of ninety years and six months, and died at the old home in Manchester June 19, 1899, honored and esteemed by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances whom he had gathered about him in his long and useful life.

Aaron Cook, Jr., the eighth of the name in direct line, was born Sept. 12, 1842, on the farm in the town of Manchester, where he still makes his home, and he received his education' in the neighborhood of his birthplace, attending the com- mon schools and Manchester Academy. When twenty-two years of age he entered the machine shop of Keeney Bros., at Manchester Green, where he remained two years, and then for three years was in the employ of the Hartford Eyelet Co., at Hartford. Returning to Manchester he took up agricultural pursuits, which he continued for ten years, resuming work at his trade of machinist with the Colt's Arms Co., Hartford, with whom he remained until 1896. He has since been occupied with the care of his farm, which is a very de- sirable tract of thirty acres, well improved, and yielding him a good income. Like his father, he has always taken his place among the best citi- zens of the community, but he is not active in pub- lic affairs beyond casting his vote and giving his influence to matters which concern the local wer- fare. His political support is given to the Repub- lican party. On Sept. 1, 1862, Mr. Cook enlisted in Company A, 25th Conn. V. I., was mustered in

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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 67

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