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 93

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 93

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Mr. Mason was married, Nov. 28, 1854, to Elizabeth, daughter of John and Eliza Holland, of Webster, Mass., and they had two children: Har- riet Eliza, wife of F. H. Bissell, of Old Windsor; and Fannie, wife of R. H. Bartlett, of East Wind- sor. Mr. Mason is a member of Morning Star Lodge, No. 28, F. & A. M .; and of Converse Post, No. 67, G. A. R. He has supported the Repub- lican party since its organization, having voted for John C. Fremont, in 1856. Mr. and Mrs. Mason are members of the First Congregational Church of East Windsor, at Scantic.

NATHANIEL JONES. When a boy of seven years the successful agriculturist whose name is mentioned herewith moved with his father's family from Hartford to the town of South Windsor. Here he grew to manhood and received the edu- cation which usually fell to the fortune of country lads a half century ago. He adopted the occupa- tion of his father, followed it with interest and energy, and has prospered.

The ancestral history in Connecticut dates back five generations to about the year 1714, when Na- thaniel Jones migrated from Massachusetts to Hart- ford. His grandson, Nathaniel, the grandfather of our subject, was a teamster among the patriots who fought for liberty, and his son, John P. Jones, in his carly manhood bore the arms of his country in the war of 1812.

Nathaniel Jones, our subject, was born in Hart- ford, March 19, 1840. Besides attending the com- mon schools he was a student at the academy in South Windsor for one term. He remained on his father's farm until 1871, when he removed to the farm now occupied by Dennis Driscoll. Two years later, in 1873, he removed to the farm which he now owns and occupies, located about five and one-half miles from Hartford, on the old road run- ning from that city to East Windsor Hill. He has since purchased additional land, and now owns sixty acres, twelve of which are on the home place. Mr. Jones raises about ten acres of tobacco yearly, and as a tobacco grower he has been very successful. He has made all the improvements upon his place, including house, outbuilding, sheds, etc. In poli- tics he is a Democrat.

Mr. Jones was married, April 27, 1878, to Miss Helena M. Abbey, a native of Maine, and a daugh- ter of llenry J. Abbey. To Mr. and Mrs. Jones have been born five children : John Henry, Albertus E., Frederick C., Carroll N. and Lena.

FRANK ROBERTS BURNHAM, of Bloon- field, was born Oct. 16, 1842, and is of the ninthi generation in direct descent from Thomas Burn- ham, the founder of the family in America, who

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came to the New World in 1649, locating in Hart- ford. Members of the family have attained prom- inence in nearly every walk of life, and they have been represented in all the different wars in which the nation has been engaged.

Calvin Burnham, grandfather of our subject, was born March 9, 1776, and died Oct. 11, 1846. He married, May 13, 1803, Clarissa Northrup, who was born May 16, 1783, and died Dec. 13, 1806, and on Feb. 27, 1812, he wedded Mary Ford, who was born June 1, 1787, and died Sept. 15, 1878. The children born to these marriages were Orvilla C., Shayler F. and Elias E.

Shayler F. Burnham was born July !, 1813, in Lenox, Mass., and died in September, 1886. He married, June 1, 1837, Elizabeth Roberts, who was born Oct. 26, 1811, a daughter of Lem Roberts, and died March 22, 1858. On May 15, 1867, he married Mrs. Fanny Pease, who was born Aug. 23, 1828, and died Nov. 2, 1882. Shayler F. Burn- ham settled in Bloomfield at the age of twenty-six years, was a tobacco grower and a speculator, and became a man of much prominence as well as of usefulness, being a director in the Farmers & Me- chanics Bank, and in the Collins Co.,of Hartford. He served as postmaster, town clerk and representative of Bloomfield, and as county commissioner, and fra- ternally was a member of St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M., at Hartford. His children were George Ford Burnham, born Sept. 26, 1839, and Frank Robert Burnham, whose name opens this biography. The former entered the Manufacturers & Merchants Bank of Hartford as chore boy, and rose steadily until he attained the position of paying teller, which he held until failing health caused his retirement. He died Oct. 3, 1861.

Frank R. Burnham received his primary educa- tion in the public schools of Bloomfield, attended a private school in Northampton, Mass., and later took a course at the Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. In Bloomfield he married Miss Katie V. Gillette, daughter of Augustus B. Gillette, and to this union were born two children, Grace Gillette and Jeanie Roberts. Mr. Burnham is a strong supporter of the Republican party, but he has never sought political preferment.

Mrs. Burnham's great-grandfather, Asa Gillette, was born in Bloomfield, a son of Jacob Gillette, and married a Miss Case, by whom he had four children, Asa, Fred, James and Harriet. For many years he lived in the West. James Gillette was born in Bloomfield in 1784, and died in 1852. When a lad he was bound out in Simsbury, and in that town married Miss Violet Case, daughter of Benijah Case, to which union were born four children: Eli- zabeth, who was married to Thomas Case, and is now deceased; James Burton, deceased ; Mariette ; and Augustus B.

Augustus B. Gillette was born in June, 1823, in Simsbury, Conn .. and when a boy went to Ohio, where he began the jewelry business, as a peddler.

For several years he was in the retail jewelry busi- ness at Warren, Ohio, thence removing to Bloom- ington, Ill., where he carried on the wholesale and retail business until about 1875. In that year he located in Indianapolis, Ind., where he was engaged in the wholesale jewelry trade until his death, April 1, 1897. He was a member of the Congregational Church. Mr. Gillette was married at Bristol, Ohio, to Miss Eliza Kibbe, who bore him two children : James L., of Moline, Ill .; and Katie V., now Mrs. Burnham.

Mariette Gillette, alluded to above, was married in Simsbury, Conn., to Nathaniel Bidwell, son of Nathaniel Bidwell, and grandson of Jonathan Bid- well, and they had one child, Marietta Elizabeth. Nathaniel Bidwell, Sr., was a school teacher for many years, but passed the major portion of his life as a farmer in Bloomfield, and died at the age of eighty years, a member of the Congregational Church, of which he served for a long time as treasurer.

HENRY Z. THOMPSON, one of the most en- terprising and progressive general farmers and to- bacco growers of the town of East Granby, was born Aug. 2, 1862, on the old homestead where he still resides. The Thompson family is an old and hon- ored one in Hartford county, its members being honest and industrious citizens, who have born their part in its upbuilding and advancement.

Edmund Thompson, the great-grandfather of our subject, was a native of Simsbury, this county, where he engaged in farming for a number of years after reaching man's estate, but spent the last years of his life in Bloomfield, where he was honored and respected by all who knew him. The grandfather, who also bore the name of Edmund Thompson, was born and reared in Simsbury, where in early life he learned the trade of carriage making, which he subsequently followed for some time in what is now East Granby. He also became extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits, and was a large land owner in that section of the county. He was a lifelong Democrat in politics, and most ably rep- resented the town of Granby in the State Legisla- ture. He was noted for his honesty and upright character, was very highly respected, and made . a host of friends. He married Sophia Pinnev. a native of what is now East Granby, and a daugh- ter of Aaron Pinney, and to them were born three children : Delia, wife of Warhan Griswold ; Edward P., father of our subject ; and Norwood, deceased. Edmund Thompson died April 21, 1861, his wife on Dec. 6, 1863, and both were buried in the East Granby cemetery. They were consistent Christians, faithful members of the Baptist Church.

Edward P. Thompson was born Aug. 25, 1819, and began his education in the district schools of Granby town, later attending the schools of Hart- ford and Westfield, and the Suffield Institute. Thus he became a well-educated man, and by subse-

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quent reading and observation kept well in- formed on the leading questions and issues of the day. With his father he learned carriage mak- ing, and carried on that business for many years, meeting with marked success. He also oper- ated the old home farm, on which he made ex- tensive improvements, including the erection of a fine residence, good tobacco sheds, barns, etc. He was one of the first tobacco growers in his section of the county, and in that undertaking was also successful. In September, 1841, Mr. Thompson wedded Miss Mary G. Holcomb, a daughter of Fratus Holcomb, and to them was born one daugh- ter, Nancy, now the wife of Judge Martin H. Smith, of Suffield, Conn. The wife and mother died Jan. 13, 1843, and was buried in East Granby. In October, 1843, Mr. Thompson was again mar- ried, his second union being with Miss Mary J. Case, a native of Simsbury, now Bloomfield, who was one of a family of nine children born to Zelah and Jennette ( Benton) Case. There were five chil- dren by the second marriage: Norwood and Jose- phine, who both died young; Katie M., widow of M. H. Sanford, of Tariffville; Delia S., wife of William W. M. Ward, now of Denver, Colo .; and Henry Z., our subject. The father died on the old homestead June 22, 1880, and was buried in East Granby cemetery. He was an ardent supporter of the Democratic party, but never an aspirant for po- litical honors. He was, however, one of the fore- most men of East Granby, was public-spirited and enterprising, and was widely and favorably known. Religiously he was a consistent member of the Baptist Church, to which the mother also belonged. She was a true and earnest Christian woman, much respected by all who knew her; she died Jan. I, 1899, at the home of her son, Henry Z.

After attending the public schools of East Gran- by for some time Henry Z. Thompson became a student in the Hartford grammar school, and com- pleted his education at Suffield Institute. His en- tire life has been devoted to farming and tobacco culture, and since his father's death he has most successfully managed the old homestead. In 1886 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary S. Rose, a native of West Suffield, and a daughter of Morti- mer and Lucy Ann (Sheldon) Rose. In his re- ligious views Mr. Thompson is liberal, and in his social relations is a member of the Grange. Like his ancestors, he is a stalwart supporter of the men and measures of the Democracy, but he has never sought political preferment, though he takes an active interest in the success of his party and does all in his power to advance its interests. He is quite popular in both social and business circles, and has many warm friends in the community where he is so well known.

ALFRED DRIEU, who holds the responsible position of superintedent of what is known as the old Tunxis Mill of Poquonock, is a worthy illus-

tration of what may be accomplished by a young man if he be sober, reliable and industrious, even thoughi he is in a strange country and unfamiliar with the language and customs of the people.

Mr. Drieu was born in Roubaix, Nord, France, March 22, 1854, a son of Louis and Adelaide Drieu, in whose family were ten children. He attended the schools of his native land, such as his parents' limited means permitted, and they offered him bet- ter advantages, but his ambition did not lie along the line of study. At an early age he manifested a fondness for machinery, displaying an aptness for anything in the mechanical line, and he learned the machinist's trade during his youth. He concluded to come to America, but, being the only son in a large family, this decision was not welcomed by his parents. The promise to return soon served to soothe the anxious mother's heart, however, and in 1876 he sailed from Havre on the vessel "Labra- dor.'

On reaching the shores of the New World, Mr. Drieu came at once to Poquonock and entered the service of liis present employers, with whom he has been ever since. This fact alone is evidence of his ability, and he is acknowledged to be one of the most thorough business men in his line in this section of the State. At the end of two years Mr. Drieu returned to France on a visit, and soon after- ward the entire family, with the assistance of our subject, came to the United States and located in Poquonock, where the parents still reside, the fatlier being overseer of a department in the mill, of which his son is superintendent. The latter was at first overseer in the drawing and spinning department, but has gradually worked his way upward until he now has entire charge of the spinning-mill of the Health Underwear Company.

Mr. Drieu has been twice married, his first wife being Miss Henrietta Dumont, a native of France, by whom he had two sons: Louis, an emplove in the electric plant of the Hartford Street Railway Co .; and Alfred, Jr., at home. His present wife bore the maiden name of Philomena Sagert, and is also a native of France. To them have been born four children: George, Rosa, Albert and Lucy. Mr. Drien is a Republican, and a stanchi protectionist, but takes no active part in politics aside from voting. He has not only made his own way in the world from boyhood, but has also been of great assistance to his parents, and is one of the unostentatious and reliable citizens of whom any community might be justly prond.

JASON RUSHMORE VIETS is one of the successful agriculturists of the town of East Granby. and as a citizen is held in high esteem for his sterling qualities of character. While he is not an aspirant for public honors, he does not shirk any duty involved in citizenship, and his influence is readily given in support of progressive movements.

The Viets family is numerously represented in

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this section, and an extended genealogy appears elsewhere, making it unnecessary to do more than trace briefly the line of descent from Dr. John Viets, a pioneer settler of Simsbury, through the intervening generations to our subject. Dr. John Viets and his wife Catharine had four children, among whom was a son Henry; Henry married twice, and had six children, his second wife, Mar- garet Austin, having one son, James; James mar- ried Elizabeth Brown, and had four children, in- cluding a son Festus, our subject's father. Festus Viets (June 12, 1790-Sept. 24, 1874) married Maria Hathaway (June 24, 1802-Sept. 27, 1860), and had ten children, viz .: James Hathaway. a resident of East Granby; Harriet Maria (Mrs. Henry Griffin) : Candace Eliza (Mrs. Linus Hayes) ; Philo Horace; Adaline Jael, who died in her seventh year; Lamira Jane (Mrs. Willis L. Hayes) ; Daniel Benjamin and Annis Susan, who died young; William Dixon, a resident of Copper Hill ; and Jason R.

Our subject was born Jan. 17, 1846, on the old homestead at Copper Hill, where his early years were spent in the helpful and wholesome activities of farm life. At the age of eighteen he left home, and after working for some time as a farm hand he settled, in 1867, on his present farm of one hun- dred acres, a portion of the Viets homestead. In addition to general farming he has been interested in dairying and tobacco culture, making a decided success of both lines of effort, and his homestead gives evidence of judicious management. He is public-spirited, and has been one of the active workers in the East Granby Grange, serving most of the time as chaplain, while he is prominent in re- ligious work as a member of the M. E. Church at Copper Hill, in which he holds the office of steward. Politically he is a Democrat, and his fellow citi- zens have frequently shown their appreciation of his ability and worth by electing him to town of- fices, including those of assessor, member of the school board and second selectman, and in 1888 he was elected to represent the town in the State Legislature. On Dec. 9, 1867, Mr. Viets married Miss Rhoda Phelps, daughter of Apollos Phelps. She died Sept. 14, 1874, leaving one child, Miss Adella M., born March 7, 1869. On Oct. 30, 1876, he was married, at Windsor Locks, to Miss Wil- helmina Grohman, daughter of Peter Grohman, and three children have been born of the union, as fol- lows: J. Edward, Dec. 25, 1878; Lena M., Sept. 25, 1883 ; and P. Grohman, Dec. 6, 1897.

William Dixon Viets, our subject's brother, was born May 17, 1842, at the homestead, then within the limits of Granby town. From early manhood he has been engaged in farming at Copper Hill, and he is one of the leading citizens of the locality, being an influential worker in the Democratic or- ganization. For twenty years he has been post- master at Copper Hill, his efficiency leaving nothing to be desired, and he takes an active interest in the

work of the Methodist Church at that village. On Feb. 15, 1872, he married Miss Jennie M. Griffin, who was born March 15, 1849, daughter of Lyman Griffin, and died in 1882, her remains being interred in Copper Hill cemetery. They have three children ; Shermie L., born May 29, 1873, died Dec. 2, 1877 ; Hattie M., born June 28, 1875, died Dec. 10, 1877 ; and William L., born Nov. 2, 1878, is at home.

The Hathaway family, to which our subject's mother belonged, is well-known in this section. His grandfather, Ebenezer Hathaway, was a native of Suffield, and followed farming there for some time previous to his removal to New York State, where his remaining years were spent. He married (first) Miss Mehitabel Cowdrey, and ( second) a Miss Morehouse, and had ten children, all by the first marriage: Ebenezer, Melitabel, Jael, Lydia, Candace, Maria, David, Jason, William and Ardon.

GEORGE EDWIN BAISDEN, the well-known deputy warden of the Connecticut State Prison at Wethersfield, was born in the town of Cromwell, Middlesex Co., Conn., April 30, 1842, and is of English descent.

James H. Baisden, his father, was born in the Bermuda Islands, and was the son of a sea captain who was lost at sea. He was reared in his native land, and when a young man came to the United States, locating first in Middletown, Conn., and later in Cromwell, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a wheelwright and house builder by occupation, a Democrat in politics, and a Bap- tist in religious belief, and he was well liked and respected by all with whom he came in contact. He married Miss Marietta Savage, a native of Cromwell, where she also died, and to them were born eight children : James S., a carpenter of Hart- ford ; Charlotte J., who married Mandly S. Burdick, of New Britain, foreman in the foundry some fif- teen years; Phœbe, who married L. C. Burdick, of Cromwell, Conn .; Henry A., a carpenter at Meri- den; George Edwin; Charles, of New Britain ; Robert A. Saylor; and George W., a farmer of Madison, Connecticut.

During his boyhood our subject received only a district-school education, and most of his knowl- edge has been acquired by reading and contact with the world. While still young he commenced work- ing as a farm hand, and was thus employed until seventeen years of age, when he shipped aboard a coasting vessel as cook. From that humble posi- tion he was gradually promoted until he became captain of a coaster, in which capacity he sailed for seven years. Altogether he spent sixteen years upon the water. He then obtained the position of night watchman in the State prison, under Capt. E. B. Hewes, then warden of the institution, and was later appointed overseer in the shops, a posi- tion he acceptably filled for fourteen years. In 1889 he was appointed deputy warden, and has filled

geo Le Boisdon

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that responsible position in a most creditable and satisfactory manner ever since. He is well liked by the officers and men under him, who have for him the highest respect.

At Rocky Hill Mr. Baisden married Miss Julia E. Kelley, a native of Kent, Conn., who died leav- ing one child, Robert, now a painter and paper hanger of New York City. In 1883 he was again married, in East Hartford, his second union being with Miss Hattie L. Vibberts, a native of that place, and a daughter of S. Nelson Vibberts. Both he and his wife hold membership in Wethersfield Grange, of which he is now overseer, and he also belongs to the Order of United American Mechan- ics. His political support is given to the Demo- cratic party. He is a self-made man, one whose success in life is due to his own unaided efforts, perseverance and enterprise, and he merits and re- ceives the confidence and high regard of his fellow citizens and associates.

DWIGHT FRANCIS NEWTON is justly rec- ognized as one of the most energetic and enterpris- ing citizens of the town of Granby, where he is now successfully carrying on operations as a gen- eral farmer and dairyman. A man of progressive ideas, fine attainments, high-minded, who has made the most of his opportunities in life, he has arisen to a foremost place among the representative citi- zens of the community.

Mr. Newton was born in North Granby, on the Massachusetts line, July 3, 1855, a son of Fran- cis George and Mary E. (Cornwall) Newton. The father was born in Manchester, Conn., Oct. 4, 1833, and is a son of Gorden and Mary Newton, in whose family were only two children, the other being Chauncey, who died in 1869. Francis G. was only two years old when he lost his mother, and he was then taken to the home of Pholetus Cooley, a farmer, with whom he remained until that gentle- man's death, in the meantime attending the public schools of Granby to a limited extent, and assist- ing in the arduous labors of the farm from a very early age. Later he spent two years with a son of his foster-father, and at the age of sixteen be- gan working as a farm hand. For six weeks he was employed by Albert Kent, who paid him fifteen dollars, of which sum he placed ten dollars in a bank, and during the two years he worked as a farm laborer in Hartford county he managed to save ninety dollars. Going to New Yory City, he then shipped as a sailor on a three-deck merchant vessel carrying cotton from Mobile, Ala., to Liver- pool, England. While in the South he contracted smallpox, and it required all the money he had saved to pay his expenses while ill. After two years spent at sea he returned to Granby, and learned the trade of a whip lash cutter with a Mr. Holcomb, with whom he remained two years, and later, in partnership with Anson A. Collins, he embarked in the same business, but a year after-

ward their shop was destroyed by fire. Mr. New- ton then rented a farm in the town of Granby, which he operated until 1874, and from there removed to a small farm on Granby Street, which he had purchased two years previously from Major Malt- bie. It has now been his home for a quarter of a century, during which time he has engaged in general farming, dairying and poultry raising. His love of country was manifested during the dark days of the Civil war by his enlistment, in 1862, at New Haven, in Company E, 13th Conn. V. I., under Capt. Eugene Tisdale and Col. Birge. With his regiment he went to Ship's Island, and later to New Orleans, where he was taken ill and confined in St. James Hospital for several weeks. As a passenger on an ammunition train on the railroad he, with other volunteers, started to rejoin his com- pany, but a bursting shell caused an explosion on the train, and fifteen men were killed and twenty- five wounded. He was among the latter, having his left hip fractured by a piece of shell, which has resulted in shortening that leg. He was again in the hospital for a number of weeks, and was finally mustered out of service May 12, 1863. He is now a stanch Republican in politics, is temperate in his habits, and is a consistent member of the Congregational Church.

In 1854 Francis G. Newton married Miss Mary E. Cornwall, a native of Granville, Mass., and a daughter of Ephraim and Lucy (Collins) Corn- wall, representatives of old and respected families of that place. Of the five children born of this union our subject is the eldest ; Hattie A., deceased wife of Edward Fowler; Murray A., a conductor residing in East Hartford, married Eliza Martin, of Holyoke, Mass., who died leaving three chil- dren, Ralph, Lila and Walter, and he has since wedded Louise Silvernail; and Elmer and George both died young.

During his boyhood and youth Dwight F. New- ton acquired a good English education as a student in the public schools of Granby, the Enfield high school and the Granby Academy. He remained on the home farm until eighteen years of age. and during the last two years his father paid him $100 per year for his services, this being the first money he ever earned. At the age of nineteen he rented a farm of sixty acres at Salmon Brook, town of Granby, and for one year gave his attention to general farming and tobacco culture. In 1875 he entered the cutlery factory of Mr. Maltbie, at Gran- by, as an apprentice, and after spending two years there lie, at the age of twenty-three. obtained the position of superintendent at the cutlery factory of Lockwood & McClintic, in Holyoke, Mass .. for seven years filling that position of trust and re- sponsibility to the satisfaction of all concerned. Returning to Granby township, he rented the Wil- bur Holcomb farm for one year, the Allen Holcomb farmi for two years, and the farm of the late Chaun- cey Holcomb for two years. During that time, by

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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 93

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