Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 125

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago : Beers
Number of Pages: 1502

USA > Connecticut > Middlesex County > Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 125

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CHARLES H. ROSE, secretary and a di- rector of The Comstock, Cheney & Co., of Ivoryton, in the town of Essex, is one of the leading and substantial citizens of his section of Middlesex county.

Silent Rose, the grandfather of Charles H., is supposed to have been a native of Lebanon, Conn., came to Essex when a young man, and located at Centerbrook, where he followed his trade of carpenter and joiner, and where he married Jerusha Clark, who survived him to an old age.

Ebenezer Hinckley Rose, the father of Charles H., was born June 2, 1806. in Center- brook, and there attended the district schools up to the age of fourteen, when he went to Old Saybrook and learned the trade of hor11 and shell combmaking from Friend Ingham, with whom he remained seven years as an ap- prentice. Removing to Middletown, he was employed there at his trade for a time, but later removed to New York, living in that city for a period of five years, and going thence to Scituate, R. I., where he remained three years ; for the two succeeding years he worked in Portland. At this date ne came to Center- brook, and, in connection with Kelly A. Ty- ler, under the firm name of Rose & Tyler, car- ried on a business for a number of years, his factory being located on the plat of ground now occupied by the Connecticut Valley Man- ufacturing Company. This partnership was later dissolved, and Mr. Rose entered into his line of business in Essex, following it success- fully for a season, until a serious accident com- pelled him to give up active life, his falling upon a scythe depriving him of the use of one of his hands. His last years

were spent at the home of his son, Charles H., at Ivoryton, where his death occurred May 29, 1883. A regular attendant and consistent member of the Baptist Church, he was sincerely mourned by the whole congre- gation. A Republican in politics, he was well known in public life, having served as select man and also as justice of the peace. Eben- ezer H. Rose married, in Middletown, Elmina Kelsey, daughter of Jesse Kelsey born July 30, 1810, in Middletown, and the children of this union were : Charles H., born May 11, 1837; Celene E., April 26, 1841, who married Henry Snow, of East Hampton, Conn., where she re- sides; and Louisa C., September 3, 1845, who died June 4, 1865. The mother of these chil- dren died March 7, 1856, and Mr. Rose mar- ried (second) Jeannette Cone, of East Had- dam, who died January 14, 1901.

Charles H. Rose was born May II, 1837, in Centerbrook, received his primary educa- tion in the district schools, and later became a student in the famous Hills Academy, kept by Lucius Lyons, then an institution of learning celebrated far beyond New England. After completing his school course, he was employed by S. M. Comstock & Co., in their factory, where he remained until he was twenty-one years old. In July, 1860, a co-partnership was formed under the name of Comstock, Cheney & Co., of which the members were S. M. Comstock, George A. Cheney, Charles H. Rose and William C. Comstock, and this firm remained in existence until 1872, when a stock company was organized under the firm name of The Comstock, Cheney & Co., which is known as such to-day over the whole world. For this great company Mr. Rose long has been and is now the reliable and capable su- perintendent of the ivory department, and is considered one of the chief men in the man- agement of its multitudinous affairs. He is the only survivor of the original members of the firm, Mr. Cheney having died May 25, 1901.

On June 4, 1862, Mr. Rose married Eliza C. Richmond, of East Haddam, who was born September 13, 1838, a daughter of Nelson C. and Mary A. (Cone) Richmond, and died December 14, 1897 ; she was buried in Center- brook. Two children were born of this un- ion : Frances R., a graduate of Grove Hall Seminary, New Haven; and Howard K., a graduate of Dr. Reed's Select School, on Col- lins street, Hartford, Conn., who is now em-

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ployed as a bookkeeper in The Comstock, Cheney & Co.'s offices. The family residence at Ivoryton is a fine one, and affords rest and comfort to Mr. Rose when tired with the ac- tive duties of his position. Among his fel- low citizens he is highly regarded, and is con- sidered one of the substantial and representa- tive men of the town. As a public official he has acceptably filled the position of selectman several terms; has also been grand juror; and was a member of the board of relief. The Republican principles of Mr. Rose are never doubted, as he is an active member of his party, often joining in their deliberations. He is connected with no secret societies. Mrs. Rose was a devout member of the Congregational Church, while Miss Rose is connected with St. John's Episcopal Church, of Essex.

WRIGHT. The family of this name has been established in Connecticut from its earliest Colonial history, and the present representa- tives in the town of Essex, Middlesex county -Alfred Mortimer Wright and his two sons- are worthy scions of an honored name.

Benjamin Wright, the first of the name in America, came from Bolton or Swale. in the north of England, to Guilford, Conn. early in the settlement of that plantation. His name does not appear in the first list of planters who came hither in 1639, but as only the names of heads of families are given he may have been of the number. He took the oath of fidelity, as shown by the town record, May 9, 1645. In September, that year, he was granted permission by the authorities to put up a tan mill and to take the water "yt issueth from ye waste gate provided it hurt not ye town mill." In 1650 a list of planters was made out, and also a list of freemen, and his name appears in the former, but not in the latter, probably because he was not a churchi member. Guilford allowing only members of its church to be freemen, while other Colonies allowed members of any approved New Eng- land Church. In 1659-four years before the survey and allotment of land on what is now Main street, Clinton-he was a freeman and living at Kenilworth (later Killingworth, now Clinton ), and his home is supposed to have been nearly opposite the Pierce Jones place, on the old Clinton and Westbrook road. He appears to have been a very large landholder. in1 1671 giving his land at Hammonasset, in

East Guilford, to his son-in-law, Joseph Hand, and his wife, Jane; and in the Reports of the Colonial Assembly is found frequent mention of his landed property in Saybrook. While living in Guilford he clashed with the authori- ties several times, not as a wilful lawbreaker, but as a man who stoutly defended what he knew to be his rights. His death occurred March 29, 1677. He had children: Benja- min lived to become a freeman, but died with- out heirs. Joseph and James had considerable trouble in the division of their father's estate. John. Jonathan married Asena Hand, and re- moved to Wethersfield. Jane married Joseph Hand, of Long Island. Elizabeth married Ed- ward Lee (or Lay ), of Guilford. Anna mar- ried John Walstone, and, for her second hus- band, Dr. Peter Dallman.

(II) James Wright, son of Benjamin, the immigrant, was born in 1643, and died in 1727. His wife, Hannah Walstone, came from England to marry him, having been se- lected by a mutual friend. She died in 1719. A memorial tablet citing some of these facts is still to be found in the Clinton cemetery. As stated previously, James and his brother. Joseph, had difficulty in the division of their father's estate. In 1791 a cominittee appointed by the Colonial General Assembly brought in their report concerning boundaries of land be- tween James and Joseph Wright, which was accepted by the General Assembly and con- firmed to be a final issue of all controversy over land boundaries between them. In gen- eral terms the line between Killingworth and Saybrook was made the boundary of their farms, James holding on the Saybrook and Joseph on the Killingworth side. James is supposed to have resided at what has been known more recently as the Abner Kirtland place. The records of Oyster River Quarter show that he was a large landowner, deeds of land aggregating several hundred acres, lo- cated in what is now the town of Westbrook. having been given by him to various persons between 1720 and 1727. James and Hannah ( Walstone) Wright had three children. James. Benjamin ( the next in line to Alfred Morti- 11:er ) and Mercy. James married Sarah Wise. by whom he had a son James. For his second wife he married Judith Bushnell, and they had a son Samnel, from whom are descended the Wrights of Pond Meadow. Two brothers of a later generation of this branch, Joab and

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John, went to New Durham, N. Y., and from one of them descended Silas Wright, Govern- or of New York and United States Senator from that State. Mercy Wright married Will- iam Stannard, and one of their descendants, Daniel Stannard, resided in Westbrook.

(III) Benjamin Wright, son of James, was married in 1705 to Elisabeth Hand, of Southampton, L. I., who, it is asserted by some authorities, was a daughter of Joseph and Jane (Wright ) Hand, and thus a cousin of her husband. However, it is elsewhere stated, on good authority, that "she was the daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth ( Whit- tier) Hand." The date of her death is given in the Westbrook Church Records as 1767, when she was ninety years of age. Benja- min Wright died in 1751. Their children were Benjamin, Jeremiah, Josiah, David, Pru- dence, Lydia and Elisabeth. There is record of but two, Josiah and David. The former had a large estate on Horse Hill. David had a large estate by the sea extending to the main road between Saybrook and Killingworth and tradition says they quarreled over the fisheries. David, who was born in 1716, died in 1760 of snrallpox, in a pest-house on Duck Island, and was buried on his own land. His mem- orial is on a large rock in the grove at Grove Beach, Clinton. Among his descendants were Jedediah and Oramel Wright, of Westbrook; Edward and Doty Wright, of Clinton; and Martha Wright, Mrs. Steuben Lay, of Horse Hill. William Wright, who served as Gov- ernor of New Jersey, and as United States Senator from that State, was also one of Da- vid's descendants. He had a son connected with a foreign legation, and the latter's daugh- ter is now the widow of Baron Gerold, who was at one time Ambassador from Holland to this country and subsequently Ambassador from Holland to Russia. She lives in Europe. Her son, the present Baron Gerold, now min- ister from Holland at Washington, is said to be very proud of his American ancestry.

(IV) Josiah Wright, son of Benjamin and Elisabeth (Hand) Wright, was born in 1708, and died in 1783. In 1735 he married Rhoda Dowd, who was born in 1714, daugh- ter of Cornelius Dowd, of Madison, and died in 1790. The marriage is found in the West- brook Church Record. Josiah Wright lived on what is now known as the Josiah Wright farm, a short distance west of the Horse Hill

school house, the dwelling standing back in the fields, a short distance from the present high- way. It is evident he was a large landholder, owning nearly all of what is now the Horse Hill District.

In 1745 a petition was presented to the General Assembly, signed by Thomas Spencer, Michael Hill, Thomas Spencer, Jr., Josiah Wright, Josiah Wilcox, Job Bulkley, Daniel Edwards and Ebenezer Platts, of the towns of Saybrook and Killingworth, declaring that they are sober dissenters from the worship and ministry established by the laws of this gov- ernment; that they are of the persuasion of the people called Baptists, and are true Prot- estants, and pray for the indulgence of this Assembly. Their petition was granted on condition that they take the oath prescribed by Parliament in such cases. These eight were doubtless among the founders of the Bap- tist Church at Winthrop, which was organized in 1744 with seventeen members.

Josiah and Rhoda (Dowd) Wright had children: Jeremiah, Josiah (the next in the line we are tracing), Ezekiel, Mary, Rhoda, Prudence, Jane and Elisabeth. Of these, Jere- miah, born in 1738, lived on Horse Hill, just north of what is now known as the William Burghardt house; he married Hannah Brown and they had two children, Jeremiah and Lu- cretia (Mrs. Nathan Stannard). Ezekiel oc- cupied part of the farm near his father's home, living in a house lately occupied by his grand- son, Josiah Wright ; he had four sons and four daughters, David, Jonathan, Josiah, Ezekiel, Mrs. Justus Clark, Mrs. Barber Grinnell, Mrs. William Johnson, and Mrs. Burghardt. Jane married David Thompson. It is thought one of the other daughters married a man named Burghardt.

(V) Josiah Wright, son of Josiah, was born in 1739, and, according to the West- brook Church Records, was baptized in 1740. He died in 1832, at the great age of ninety- three years. In 1761 he married Lydia, daugh- ter of Joseph Whittlesey, and they lived in the southern part of the Horse Hill District, at what in recent years has been known as the "Uncle Ben place." Their children were as follows: Martin is mentioned below. Paul removed in early manhood to the western part of Vermont, and Cornelius removed in early manhood to the eastern part of New York, settling near Albany. Both reared large fami-

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lies, and their descendants are scattered over the Middle and Western States. Benjamin passed his early life at the John Kelsey place, in Kelseytown, and later removed to his fath- er's old home on Horse Hill, having received as a gift all of his father's property, both real and personal. Lois had a daughter, also named Lois, who married Israel Pelton; their daugh- ter Eliza married Asa Penfield, and their daughter, Mrs. Bela Post, is a resident of Centerbrook, Middlesex county. Huldah mar- ried Daniel DeWolfe, of the Pond Meadow District, Westbrook, and they had three sons, Harvey, John and Daniel; Harvey and Daniel became Methodist ministers.

(VI) Martin Wright, son of Josiah, Jr., was born in 1767 and died in 1826. In 1792 he married Dolly Benjamin, who was born about 1765, and came with her father's family from Long Island to the Connecticut shore when the British army took possession of New York and the western end of Long Is !- and, in August, 1776. It is said that her father and brothers were in the Revolutionary war. She died in 1848. Mr. and Mrs. Wright occu- pied a house just south of the site of the present Martin Wright house. Their children were: Richard, born in 1793, died in 1872; Daniel, 1795-1872; Martin, 1797-1883 ; Russell, 1799-1885 ; Josiah, 1803-1893. Richard, Mar- tin and Russell passed all their lives in the towns of Westbrook and Clinton. Daniel always resided in Westbrook. Josiah removed, about 1850-51, to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and thence in a few years to Utah, where children and grandchildren of his are now residing.

(VII) Martin Wright, son of Martin, was born in June, 1797, and died in 1883. In 1820 lie married Betsy Wright, who was born in 1799, daughter of Jeremiah and Rachel Wright, and died in 1876. Mr. Wright followed farming on Horse Hill, and was considered a prosperous man in his day. For many years he served as justice of the peace. His children were as follows: Charles Benjamin, born March 31, 1821, has resided since 1872 in California. John Burg- hardt, born January 28, 1823, died April 25. 1892. Amelia Matilda, born April 26. 1825. is the wife of David L. Wright, and is now living in Middletown. Rachel Adelia, born August 28, 1827, was first married to Alpheus Wright of Westbrook, and is now the wife of a Mr. Martin, of Boston; they reside in

Marshfield Hills, Mass. Martin Jeremiah, born October 26, 1829, has been a permanent resident of California since 1860, and has been quite prominent in public life in that State. Cornelia Elisabeth, born February 19, 1832, married Joel Northam. of Westbrook. and, after his death, became the wife of Eliphalet Killam, of New Haven, where she has since resided. Henry William, born Feb- ruary 5, 1836, is a minister of the M. E. Church, and since 1875 has been connected with the Detroit Conference of that denomina- tion. Alfred Mortimer is mentioned below. Edgar Lester, born December 23, 1840, died January 14, 1843.

(VIII) ALFRED MORTIMER WRIGHT was born March 5, 1838, in Westbrook, and spent his boyhood on his father's farm in that town. working on the home place during the summer season, and during the winter attending the district school. When twenty years old he attended the Westbrook Academy, and at the age of twenty-one he was engaged in fishing on the Connecticut river, at that period also working for farmers during harvest time. The autumn after he reached his majority he borrowed $io, which, with what he had man- aged to save, enabled him to attend school one term at New Britain, after which he com- menced teaching. The following spring he went to New Jersey, where he taught for six months, and returning to Connecti- cut, was similarly engaged in the Com- stock District of Essex. In the spring of 1861 he and his brother Henry went to Michigan, and on the way had as traveling companions some young men from Springfield. Ill., who had been to Washington to witness the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, and to afford him protection from violence on the route, should it be needed. The brothers studied together one year at AAdrian College. and in August, 1862, Alfred M. enlisted in the Seventeenth Michigan Infantry. He pro- ceeded with the regiment as far as Washing- ton, where he was left in hospital, sick with typhoid fever, and after some months in the hospital he was discharged, and returned to his native State. Not long afterward he re- ceived the appointment of Assistant Assessor of Internal Revenue, which position he held some eight years or longer, until the office was discontinued. In June. 1873. Mr. Wright came to Centerbrook, town of Essex, having

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been appointed trustee to settle up the estate of the Centerbrook Manufacturing Company. In 1874 was organized the Connecticut Valley Manufacturing Company, of which Mr. Wright was made secretary, treasurer and general manager, in fact, the entire responsi- bility devolved upon him, and the greater part of his time and attention since have been de- voted to the development and management of this concern. In time he purchased the inter- ests of the other shareholders and admitted his two sons into partnership, but the name has remained the same throughout all the changes, and Mr. Wright is now president of the company, though he no longer takes so active a part in its affairs, his sons having assumed the more arduous part of the work. The factory is devoted to the manufacture of auger bits and hardware specialties. In 1894 the plant was burned to the ground, and was replaced by a substantial brick structure.

Mr. Wright has always been an ardent Republican in political sentiment, and though he has not craved official honors they have come to him, for no man in Essex stands higher in the public esteem or holds to a greater degree the confidence of his fellow citizens. He served ably as county commis- sioner four years and represented his district in the State Senate from 1897 to 1899, in both positions satisfying his constituency, by his ef- ficient discharge of the duties pertaining there- to, that he was worthy the high trust reposed in him). In 1901 Mr. Wright was one of the vice-presidents of the Pan-American Exposi- tion. Socially Mr. Wright is a Freemason, affiliating with Mt. Olive Lodge, F. & A. M., of Essex, and he is a member of Mather Post, G. A. R., at Deep River. He is a member of and active worker in the Congregational Church at Centerbrook, and serves as superin- tendent of the Sunday-school of that society, and he and his wife are both known as liberal contributors to various religious and benevo- lent enterprises, assisting in the support of various churches.

On January 1, 1864, Mr. Wright married Mary J. Hull, of New Haven, who was born in Canandaigua, N. Y., daughter of Lyman and Betsey (Blatchley) Hull, the former a native of Cheshire, Conn., the latter born in North Madison, daughter of Joel Blatchley. Lyman Hull was a manufacturer. He and his wife had a family of nine children, only three

of whom survive, Andrew, Ruth and Mary J. (Mrs. Wright). Alfred M. and Mary J. Wright are the parents of three children, name- ly: Walter Henry, who is mentioned below ; Northam, who is mentioned below ; and Bessie Mary. The daughter born September 10, 1872, is the wife of H. Wooster Webber, and resides in Ivoryton, Conn., where her husband is superintendent of the action department of the Comstock, Cheney & Co. Ivory Works.

WALTER HENRY WRIGHT, born May 6, 1865, received a thorough preliminary educa- tion in the common schools and subsequently attended, Wilbraham Academy, Easthampton, Mass., from which he was graduated. He has since been associated with his father in busi- ness, and as treasurer of the Connecticut Valley Manufacturing Company assumes a large share of the responsibility of that concern, in whose management he has developed remarka- ble business ability, entitling him to an honora- ble place in the commercial circles of this sec- tion of the State. He resides at Centerbrook and is at present ( 1902) serving as a member of the board of education there. He married Miss Lily Redfield, of Essex.

NORTHAM WRIGHT, born May 3, 1867, like his brother, commenced his education in the local schools, supplementing the instruction there received with a course at Wesleyan Uni- versity, Middletown, Conn., and another at Yale Law School. Though he practices law, his business life has centered around the wel- fare of the Connecticut Valley Manufacturing Company, of which he is now secretary, he and his brother relieving their father almost en- tirely of business cares. These young men have within a brief period won favorable stand- ing among the substantial business men of Middlesex county, and bid fair to hold the rec- ord made by their father for ability and in- tegrity of a high order. On October 5, 1892, Mr. Wright was united in marriage with Laura E. Lancaster, of Hackensack, N. J., and they make their home in Centerbrook.

A. E. OLMSTED, one of the substantial business men of Moodus, Middlesex county, and one who has been prominently identified with its best interests for many years, was born in the town of Colchester, Conn., May 9, 1845. During childhood, his educational advantages were few, but in the great school of life Mr. Olmsted has learned the lessons taught by ex-

Albert E. Olmsted

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perience, which, coupled with his natural abil- ity, have enabled him steadily to advance, and by a wise exercise of his mental and phy- sical resources fearlessly to meet the future. Early in life he learned to "work his own way," and when but eight years old was work- ing upon his father's farm. Being the only son, he remained at home longer than the majority of young men in his neighborhood, and was twenty-four when he left the parental roof-tree. For the last six years of his home life he had devoted the major portion of his time to the placing of lumber upon the market, and to raising tobacco, meeting with unusual success. Upon leaving home Mr. Olmsted embarked in the meat business, carrying on same for two years in Colchester. In 1871 he removed to Moodus, Conn., and continued in the same line, selling his meat from a wagon. In 1877 he purchased his perfectly equipped market. and he also has a line of wagons upon the road covering a large field, about fourteen miles square, and embracing Colchester, Chatham, Haddam, East Haddam and Lyme. In addi- tion to his interests in Moodus itself. Mr. Olm- sted owns a fine farm outside the city limits, where he is often to be seen directing the work, and during the past five years, among other crops, he made a record of 1,400 bushels of potatoes.

On October 7, 1868. in Colchester, before locating in East Haddam, Mr. Oimsted mar- ried Mary Barber, who was born March 30. 1847, a daughter of Charles C. and Hannah M. (Stanton) Barber, and is a most excellent lady. Politically Mr. Olmsted is a Republi- can, and in 1884 served as representative in the State Legislature from the town of East Haddam, and was placed upon the committee on Military Affairs, with Messrs. Noble of Bridgeport, Hodge of Barkhanisted, and Will- iams of New London. Both he and his good wife are members of the Congregational Church, in which he is a deacon, and both take great pride in the organization, which dates back to 1794. Socially Mr. Olmsted is a men- ber of Middlesex Lodge, No. 3. I. O. O. F .. East Haddam, and he also belongs to the East Haddam Grange, having joined in 1889: was its master for a number of years, and became master of Pomona in 1899. By his excellence of character, untiring industry, and strictly honest business methods, Mr. Olmsted has

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Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 125

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Chicago : Beers Number of Pages: 1502

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago : Beers
Number of Pages: 1502