Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 131

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 131

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Elijah Wetherell was born in the town of Glastonbury. When a boy he worked in his father's shop, and at the age of seventeen se- cured employment in a manufactory of Glas- tonbury. Subsequently he was superintendent of a mill at Rock Fall, and he came to Mood- us as superintendent of the Atlantic Duck Mill. Later he was at the head of a mill in Leesville owned by Stanton S. Card, and prior to locat- ing permanently in Moodus was interested in the manufacturing business in Portland. For fully thirty years he was actively engaged in business in Moodus, and in connection with his sons he owned and operated a grist and saw mill north of the village for six years. In Newington, Conn., Mr. Wetherell married Janette Merrill, a daughter of Mark Merrill. She was born in Little River, N. Y., April 20, 1823, but, her parents dying when she was young, was reared by an aunt in Newington, Conn. She died February 19, 1887, and Mr. Wetherell died May 19, 1893. Mrs. Williams is the eldest of their five children. Evelyn, born March 6, 1849, died February 4, 1851. Elijah Merrill, born August 2, 1851, married Abbie Emmons and is a resident of East Had- dam. Selena Janette, born September 16, 1855, is the wife of Adelbert Beebe, of Nor- wich, Conn. Marcus Sylvester, born Novem-

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ber 22, 1857, married Lena Mosher; he is a clerk employed by Thaddeus Spencer of Moodus.

MARION H. WATROUS, a representa- tive business man and town clerk of East Had- dam, belongs to one of the old and honored families of Middlesex county.

Aaron Watrous, his grandfather, was a native of Chester, of which town his parents were probably also natives. On reaching man- hood he married Esther Dickenson, who was born in the same town where both died, he hav- ing engaged in farming there throughout life. Their children were as follows: Aaron was a lumberman of Watrousville, Mich., where he died; Enos a lumberman, also died in that place ; David, father of Marion H., is men- tioned below; John was for years employed in a piano key factory at Deep River, Conn., Esther, wife of Joel Hull, also lived at Deep River; Sophronia was the wife of William Pope, of Highland Station, Mich .; Silas was a carriage manufacturer in Pennsylvania; Su- san was the wife of George Sell, of Bay City, Mich .; and Oliver is a carriage spoke manu- facturer of Detroit, Mich. All are now de- ceased, with exception of Oliver.

David Watrous was born December II, 1814, in the town of Chester, where he grew to manhood and married Esther Maria Buell, daughter of Bela. and Sally ( Hull) Buell. She died in 1896, aged seventy-nine years, and his death occurred April 30, 1899. ' For a num- ber of years, when a young man, he was en- gaged in the manufacturing business, and for a period was employed by rotary pump makers at Deep River, and in ivory comb shops at the same place. For some time he was engaged in the hotel business, and had charge of the steamboat dock at Deep River for twelve years. He next operated a meat market in Hartford one year, and in 1866 came to East Haddan, where he purchased the property known as the "Champion House," sitnated at the Upper Landing, which he conducted winter and sin- mer until selling out to Ferdinand Ward of the brokerage firm of Grant & Ward, Wall street, New York, in 1870. Ile then moved to Say- brook, Conn., where he was proprietor of the "Pease House" one year and the "Oyster River House" one year, after which he returned to East Haddam and lived a retired life until his death. As one of the prominent Democrats

of his community, he represented the town of East Haddam in the State legislature in 1875, and was also a member of the board of select -. men. In religious faith he was a Baptist. Marion H. is the youngest of his four children. Of the others, Charles H., the eldest, is a wood engraver, and has resided in New York since the age of seventeen years; Cecil I. represent- ed the importers, H. B. Kirk & Co., of New York, for a number of years, and died in 1890, at the age of forty-six ; and Olivia died in 1866, at the age of twenty years.

Marion H. Watrous was born April I, 1848, in Deep River, Conn., where he spent the first sixteen years of his life, attending the common schools, and in 1864 removed with his parents to Hartford, where he took a full course at Bryant & Stratton's Business Col- lege. He accompanied them on their removal to East Haddam and assisted his father in the hotel for two years, at the end of which time he learned the carpenter's trade, having considerable natural ability in that line. For two years and a half he was employed as a journeyman at Middletown under one boss. On his return to East Haddam in 1872, Mr. Watrous erected a store building at the Upper Landing, which he stocked with groceries, flour and feed, and has since successfully engaged in business at that place, having built up a large and profitable trade.

On December 25, 1871, Mr. Watrous mar- ried Miss Lucy A. Martin, who was born De- cember 26. 1853 a daughter of Saumuel and Abby (Tracey) Martin. Three children were born of this union, uamely : Clara Lonisa, born in 1875. was one of the staff of instructors at the New York Conservatory of Music, and is now a teacher and solo singer in that city : Leo Marion, born in 1877, died in 1884 : and Grace, M., born in 1880, graduated at the Normal School at New Britain, Coun., with the class of 1901, and is now a teacher at the College Street School in Middletown, Coun. In poli- tics Mr. Watrous was a Democrat until 1896. but now affiliates with the Republican party. He has served as town clerk since 1884. and has been justice of the peace since 1802, and his official duties have always been performed in a most commendable and satisfactory man- ner. In 1874 he united with the Masonic fra- ternity, joining Columbia Lodge, No. 26 Ile is now serving as vestryman of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church of East Haddam.

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ELMER A. ELY, proprietor of the boat- building establishment at the foot of Green street, near the Connecticut river in Middle- town, Middlesex county, has made a reputation not only as a most competent boat builder, but as an artistic and practical designer of water craft.

Born April 30, 1844, at Hamburg, Conn., Mr. Ely is a son of Horace and Rhoda (Took- er) Ely, both natives of that locality. Horace was the eldest in a family of children whose father, John Ely died when Horace was yet a lad, and upon the boy naturally fell much of the responsibility of rearing the younger children, William, Griswold, Ansel and Calvin. Of these, William, who was a fisherman, died at Hamburg; Griswold was a cooper in Ham- burg, afterward living the life of a fisherman; Ansel was a vessel captain, and was drowned in New York harbor ; Calvin was first a cooper, later a fisherman. The mother of this family lived to old age, and died suddenly. When a young man Horace Ely ran a sloop between Hamburg, Conn., and New York, as well as various points on the Sound, his cargoes out- ward bound consisting for the most part of farm produce, and on his homeward trips bringing in merchandise. In this undertaking he was in partnership with Harvey Tooker, his brother-in-law, and in addition they conducted a store in Hamburg. After a time Mr. Ely took up the trade of cooper, from that going into boat building, his vessels (a few sloops, but chiefly fishing boats) being sold in both the North and the South, and for thirty-five years he followed that pursuit, becoming the best known man in that line in his day, and the recognized head of builders of small craft. He was not only a builder of boats, but also a navi- gator, and he was pilot of the first steamboat to ply on the Connecticut river. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-two years, his wife dying when seventy-five years old.

In politics he was a Republican ; in religious faith a member of the Congregational Church, and, socially, was affiliated with the Sons of Temperance. Physically he was a powerful man, weighing 225 pounds, and was a hard worker. The children born to Horace and Rhoda (Tooker) Ely, who reached maturity, were: Lur" who married Monroe Brock- way, died in Hamburg, Conn .; William, who died when a young man (married), was in the boatbuilding business with his father at the

time of his death; Catherine is the wife of Thomas Brockway, of Middletown ; James died when seventeen years old; Miss Elizabeth re- sides in Middletown; Elmer A., our subject, is the youngest.

Elmer A. Ely attended the common school of his birthplace until he was thirteen years of age, and then for three years received instruc- tions at a private school established in Ham- burg by Ebenezer Brockway, a merchant there. When sixteen years old, he commenced in the boatbuilding business with his father, and has ever since ( with the exception of a period men- tioned later on) been engaged in that line, meeting with great success. For twenty-two years he carried on the business in his native town, by the end of which time the products of his skill and genius had become so well known throughout the country that it became desirable for him to get nearer to the center of trade. Consequently he moved to Middle- town, and there he constructed a boat house 20x70 feet in size, and he recently arranged for additional store room. His shop is fitted with electric power, is well equipped in all respects, and he gives employment to five skilled ship carpenters. Since 1860, when Mr. Ely ma. his first start in business, he has constructed twenty-two steamers from 20 to 80 feet in length. The popularity of smaller power boats in recent years has greatly augmented his busi- ness; in 1901, sixty-five such craft were built by him. Aside from steam craft Mr. Ely has built many row and sail boats, a number of which have brought fame to their constructor on account of their fine sailing qualities. Some of his boats have been built chiefly for speed, some wholly for comfort, others with a view of combining both these qualities. Uniform success has attended his efforts along all these lines, until in boating circles his reputation as a designer and builder places him in the front rank. In 1898 he completed for Henry Bull- ard, of Middletown, a steam yacht 77 feet long, which is regarded as the finest boat on the Con- necticut river. In the construction of boats Mr. Ely is always willing to follow the ideas of prospective owners, as far as they may be consistent with practicability, and the best re- sults are to be obtained when the matter is left to the ripe judgment and skill of the builder.

About the year 1870 Mr. Ely bought out a grocery and dry goods store at Hamburg, at the end of some six years selling out and again

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

embarking in the boatbuilding industry, this time in association with his nephew, W. H. Ely, the partnership lasting six years. Our subject then, having lost every dollar, removed to Middletown, and here he went to work for the Victor Sewing Machine Company, later being in the employ of the Middletown Plate Company, also in Middletown. In course of time, having once more accumulated a few dol- lars, he began building rowboats for hire, his yard being located at the foot of Center street. In the fall of 1874, he removed to his present location at the foot of Green street.

On May 4, 1869, Elmer A. Ely was mar- ried, in Hamburg, Conn., to Miss Frances Reynolds, who was born September 5, 1848, in Salem, Conn. a daughter of Henry B. and Mandana (Merriss) Reynolds, well-to-do farming people. Mrs. Ely is the youngest in a family of nine children-six sons and three daughters-of whom four sons and two daugh- ters are yet living. A brief record of the chil- dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Ely is as follows : Blanche M. is the wife of Charles J. Manwar- ing, of Niantic, Conn., and has two children, Kenneth C. and Clyde; Isabella R. is the wife of Walter Newell, of Middletown, Conn., and has three children, Reynolds, Elmer E., and Walter; Horace E. died in Middletown, De- cember 10, 1882, aged six years; Maurice Reynolds and Gordon James are both at home. The family residence on Washington street, Middletown, built by Mr. Ely, and completed in 1896, is a neat and comfortable home. Mrs. Ely is a member of the Baptist Church, and of the Daughters of the American Revolution at Middletown. In politics, Mr. Ely is a stanch Republican : in the fall of 1900 he was elected member of the city council, a position that came to him unsolicited. He is a member of the Congregational Church. Mr. Ely may justly be classed among the typical self-made men, having about 1880 lost everything he pos- sessed, and from a new beginning, by dint of energy, grit and perseverance, he has attained his present high standing as a prosperous, well- to-do citizen, living in the respect and esteem of the community at large.

MARIUS WALTER WILCOX, a sub- stantial and highly respected farmer and gal- lant ex-soldier residing in the northwestern part of the Westfield District, Middletown, Middlesex county, was born there December 4.

1840, in a house then occupied by his grand- father, Joel Bacon, and now occupied by Mi- nellas Bacon.

Mr. Wilcox descends from an old Connecti- cut family, and Elijah Wilcox, his great-great- grandfather, was a resident of Bristol, then a- part of Farmington, Conn., was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and died April 12, 1809, in his ninetieth year. Elijah Wilcox, his son, was born in 1748, farmed extensively, and erected the dwelling now occupied by Marius W., where he died July 12, 1836. He was thrice married, the third time to Lois War- ner, who died August 13, 1847, when eighty- three years old.

Linus Wilcox, son of Elijah and Lois, and grandfather of Marius W., was a farmer and manufacturer, and lived on the farm now oc- cupied by Carlos Wilcox, in Westfield. His lock and hinge factory was located at Zoar, near Middletown, and he also operated a saw- mill about a mile southeast of his home in Westfield. He married Anner B. Clark, who was born in 1802, and died December 9, 1878. and his own death took place March 15, 1882. To Linus and Anner B. Wilcox were born twelve children, in the following order: Wal- ter; Justus, who died at the age of fifteen years; Leverett, a farmer, who died in Penn- sylvania ; Amelia, who was the wife of Dennis Cornwell, a farmer and joiner in Westfield ; Elbert J., who married Sarah McKee, and is now a retired shoe-dealer in San Jose, Cal .: Sarah, widow of Isaac Hull, living in New Haven, Conn. ; Wallace W., who married Fan- ny Belden, and is in the silver-plating business in Boston, Mass. ; Celestia, wife of Joseph Case. of Cheshire, Conn .; Wilbur J., married, and at present superintendent of water-works in San Jose, Cal. ; Enoch E., who enlisted in Com- pany B, Fourtenth Connecticut Vohinteer In- fantry, and was killed at Fredericksburg: Car- los A., who married Mary Reed, and is a farm- er in Westfield ; and Isabella A., wife of Will- iam Booth, a farmer in East Meriden.

Walter Wilcox, father of Marins W., was born in 1818, was reared a farmer, and received a district school education. He continued to live on the home place until his marriage, and then resided for about a year on his father-in- law's farm, after which he purchased the place on which his son, Marins W., now lives, where he began farming in a small way. He added materially to his estate and carried on

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general farming until late in life, when he presented the farm to Marius W. and went to San Jose, Cal. Shortly afterward, however, he returned to Connecticut, and for awhile lived in Meriden, but the latter years of his life were passed on the old homestead with his son, and there he died May 20, 1893. His remains were interred in the West Street cemetery, in Westfield. His widow still has her home on the old place with her son.

Walter Wilcox married Esther Minerva Bacon, who was born May 5, 1820, in West- field, daughter of Joel and Lucina (Taylor) Bacon. Five children were born to this union, namely: Marius W. is mentioned below. Harriet A., born in June, 1846, died March 19, 1848. Wilmot B. married Mary Maynes ; he was an employe of the Meriden Britannia Company for many years, but, his health fail- ing, he went to Los Angeles, Cal., where he died, leaving a widow and one son, Pomeroy, the latter now a resident of Meriden, Conn. Florence A. is the wife of A. E. Pomeroy, a real-estate dealer in Los Angeles, Cal. Em- ma A. was married to Charles L. Brower, a resident of Chicago, Ill., where he died Sep- tember 25, 1895, she now making her home with her mother on the old home farm.

Marius Walter Wilcox was educated in the district school of Westfield, and after leaving school assisted his father on the homestead un- til he had attained his majority, when he en- listed in Company H, Seventh Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, under Capt. J. B. Dennis, and Col. Joseph Hawley. With his regiment he took part in the campaign in Florida, was at the siege of Petersburg, Va., and at Chapin's Farm, near Petersburg, where he was wounded, He was first taken to a field hospital, then to Fortress Monroe, Va., and was finally trans- ferred to a hospital in New Haven, Conn., where, on recovery, he was honorably dis- charged in October, 1865. Returning to the home farm of 130 acres, he engaged extensively in general farming and dairying. He owns land which was included in the original Wilcox tract, and has never since been out of the fam- ily. On December 1, 1870, he was married to Miss Louise W. Dean, a native of Middle- town, born June 21, 1847, daughter of Will- iam H. and Louise (Kent) Dean. This union was blessed with four children, viz .: Frank D., born March 25, 1873; T. Walter, born August 6, 1875 ; Maria L., born July 16, 1878,

who died July 26, 1879; and Howard M., born April 1, 1883. Mrs. Louise W. Wilcox was called from earth February 20, 1899. Her- death was a terrible shock to Mr. Wilcox, and materially changed the affairs of the home. He disposed of his dairy equipment, turned the management of his farm over to his eldest son, retired from active labor, and now passes the winter months in California and the sum- mer months on the old Connecticut homestead.

Politically, Mr. Wilcox is a Republican, and has served on the Board of School Visi -- tors of his district. He is a member of the Westfield Congregational Church, in which he has been a deacon for many years, and no name- in the town of Middletown is more honored. than that of Marius Walter Wilcox.

EDWIN E. HARVEY, a prosperous and respected farmer residing in the lower John- son Lane District of Middletown, Middlesex county, was born October 22, 1847, in Had- dam, son of Edwin and Betsey (Nettleton) Harvey, whose ancestral history will be found in the sketch of Chauncey Irving Harvey, of Durham town, a brother of Edwin E.

The farmhouse in which Edwin E. Har- vey was born is now occupied by Henry Weise. There Mr. Harvey passed his boyhood days,. acquiring his education at the neighboring dis- trict schools. He was employed a year and a half in the lock factory of Parker & Whip- ple, at Coon Hollow, in Meriden, and with this exception aided his father on the home farm and cared for his parents until their death, when he purchased the interest of the other heirs to the place and carried on general farm- ing there until November, 1897. He then sold the property and purchased a farm of 160 acres from the Thomas Spencer estate, on which he has made many decided improve- ments, including new barns, etc., and is now engaged in general farming, dairying, fruit growing and the burning of charcoal. He also added to this tract until he has now about 170 acres.

Mr. Harvey was first married to Jane E. Bailey, daughter of Russell and Nancy Bailey, the former a farmer of Haddam. Mrs. Jane E. Harvey was called away July 12, 1883, leav- ing to mourn her loss her husband and two children: George W., born September 21, 1874, and Ira E., born August 17, 1877. On April 14, 1901, George married Miss Etta

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Roberts, of Johnson Lane, town of Middle- town. The second marriage of Edwin E. Harvey took place May 23, 1896, to Miss Grace Palmer, who was born May 5, 1852, in Montowese, New Haven Co., Conn., daugh- ter of Francis and Grace N. Palmer, also farm- ing people. To this union no children have been born.

Mr. Harvey is a non-partisan in politics, and is no office seeker, being saitified with simply exercising his franchise, selecting the best men regardless of party. He is not a member of any secret society, but both his sons are members of the Mattabessett Grange, in which they take a lively interest, the father being a substantial farmer and they his effi- cient helpers. Mr. Harvey has himself al- ways been a hard-working man, has an excel- lent property, is very pleasantly situated, and has won the respect of all who know him. Few men in the town are any better known, his charcoal business having brought him into contact with so many people that he has an unusually large acquaintance, and in his deal- ings with his many patrons he has established a high reputation for straightforwardness and honest practices.

FREDERICK DE PEYSTER, general manager of the Brainerd, Shaler & Hall Quar- ry Company, at Portland, Middlesex county, the best known and most extensive concern of the kind in the United States, is one of the rep- resentative and leading men of that town.

The De Peyster family is of old Dutch- Huguenot stock in New York. Mr. De Peys- ter's maternal grandfather, Joseph Bethel, came from England. Frederick De Peyster was born July 20, 1862, in Kent, Portage Co .. Ohio, son of Byron B. and Elizabeth ( Bethel) De Peyster. His grandfather, Joel Beakman De Peyster, was a pioneer in the fullest sense of the Western Reserve, where he endured the privations and hardships incident to that ca- reer in the first years of the last century. He was the first postmaster at Franklin, which later became Kent, and with his brother, George De Peyster, he built and operated the first gristmill in that section. They brought their millstones from near the shore of Lake Erie, through an almost unbroken wilderness. George De Peyster sat in the first Legislature after Ohio was made a State.

Byron B. De Peyster was born in the old 40

town of Franklin, and was reared after the fashion that obtained on the frontier line for farmer boys. After reaching manhood he mar- ried Elizabeth Bethel, who was born at Cuya- hoga Falls, Ohio. He was a farmer, and also carried on a general store, and though he died at the comparatively early age of forty-four, he had attained a high standing as a man and a citizen. Politically, he was a Whig, and at the breaking up of the old parties cast in his influence with the Republican party, at its or- ganization. His widow remarried, and is now Mrs. T. C. Nighman, of North Market street, Canton, Ohio.

Frederick De Peyster was reared and edu- cated in Kent, Ohio. He graduated from the Kent high school in 1877. As a boy he was given an insight into practical life, working both on the farm and in his father's store. Soon after leaving the high school he took up the study of law under the instruction of D. L. Rockwell, of Kent, one of the best known at- torneys of northern Ohio, though disliking the lack of out-of-door life it necessitated. A trifling incident turned him from its pursuit. Walking home to dinner one day with Mr. Marvin Kent, the leading capitalist of Kent. this gentleman learned that his young friend disliked the law because of its confined life, and offered him a position on a surveying party he was just sending out under the direction of General Stewart to lay out the line of the Co- notton Valley Railway, running from the Southern coalfields to Cleveland. The young man secured the position through the inter- cession of Mr. Kent, and remained with the railroad until it was completed. Mr. De Peys- ter had shown such tact in the work. and had adapted himself so well to it, that he was of- tered a position on the West Shore railroad in the civil engineering department. He accept- ed, and had his headquarters for some months at Canastota, N. Y., later at Little Falls, filling responsible positions, and acquitting himself creditably. Hle was so efficient that he was transferred to the Hudson River division of the road, and given charge of the cross-section- ing and laying ont the beginning of the con- struction between Marlboro and Highland. N. Y. He was made assistant engineer of the company, and put in charge of the heaviest ents and rock work of the division, remaining on this division until it was completed and in running order. From the Hudson River di-

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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 131

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