Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 138

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 138

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AUGUSTUS S. BACON. For many years the people of Middletown have marked the old carriage shop on Washington street, between Main and Broad street, as one of the old-time institutions of the city. It has been established for more than half a century, and was founded by Cornell & Warner. Alfred Cornell became sole proprietor, and on his death the property was purchased from the estate by Augustus S. Bacon, who has remodeled it to suit his busi- ness needs. He does no carriage building or

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

repairing, rents the blacksmith shop, and has a full line of vehicles of every description. He has converted the large buildings in the rear into a fine livery and feed stable, having com- fortable accommodations for more than forty horses. His is a clean and well kept establish- ment, thoroughly up to date in every respect.

Mr. Bacon comes from one of the oldest families of Middletown, Middlesex county, and is a member also of the Southmayd family, long known in Colonial affairs. He is in the seventh generation from Nathaniel Bacon, who came to Middletown as one of the first pro- proprietors, and in the eighth generation from William Bacon, who lived and died in Stret- ton parish, Rutlandshire, England, his line of descent from Nathaniel, 1630-1705, being through Elder John, 1662-1732; Lieut. John, 1695-1781; Joseph, 1728-1785; Capt. John, 1776-1837; and John P., 1814-1898.

Mr. Bacon was born May 22, 1851, on Cherry street, Middletown, in what was known as the old "Sage house," youngest son of John P. and Sarah E. (Southmayd) Bacon, who are mentioned elsewhere. Mr. Bacon was reared in his native town, attended the Green street school and the high school, and was a pupil in the private schools taught by Daniel H. Chase and Prof. Colton. When a young man he worked for his uncle, William Bacon, in the meat business, and for a time had a business of his own in that line in company with his cousin, Andrew Waterbury. He clerked for his brother, John B., and for some eight years was baggagemaster at the Middle- town depot of the Air Line Railway. Mr. Bacon made a trip to southern Michigan, in -. tending to locate in the West, but not being satisfied with the outlook, came back to his na- tive State. He was three years in the employ of the Middletown Plate Company, leaving them to become janitor of the public schools of Middletown. He worked for S. M. Bacon & Co., in the coal business, and in the fall of 1890 began for himself, as noted above. He is a reliable and progressive business man, and has many warm and devoted friends. He is a Democrat in political faith.

Augustus S. Bacon married Miss Rose King, of Middletown, a native of Stratford-on- Avon, England, who came to this country with her mother when only seven years of age. Her father died in England, and her mother came to the United States with her three daughters,

Mrs. Bacon is the only one living of the fam- ily. Mr. Bacon built a good home on the corner of Grand and Pearl streets.

BRAINERD. The Brainerds in America are descended from Daniel Brainerd, one of the proprietors of Haddam. Undoubtedly he came as a child, with some relatives who were emi- grating from Essex or Warwick County, to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. When about eight years old, in 1649, he was brought to Hartford, and lived in the family of Gov. George Wyllys, who had in 1636 purchased a property which included the land on which the Charter Oak grew, and had occupied it in 1639. The Brainerd boy grew to manhood in his family, and in 1662, when twenty-one, became one of the twenty-eight original proprietors of the old town of Haddam. He is described by Dr. Field as a prosperous, influential and very re- spectable man, a justice of the peace and a deacon in the church, and the largest land- holder in the town. He married ( first ) Han- nah Spencer, a daughter of Gerrard Spencer, of Lynn, Mass., who afterward removed to Haddam, and subsequently married one Han- nah Sexton. All his children, seven sons and one daughter, were by the first marriage. Daniel Brainerd died April 11, 1715. and is buried in the old burying-ground in the village of Haddam. His children all lived in Haddam or East Haddam. The only daughter. H'annah, married George Gates, one of the proprietors, and also dwelt in the old town of Haddann

"The descendants of Daniel Brainerd set- tled in Vermont, in central and western New York, on the Connecticut Reserve in Ohio, and in various parts of Connecticut, but many of them remained in Haddam; so that Dr. Field, in his genealogy, says that when he settled in that town the descendants bearing the family name 'were more mmerous in the congregation and in the schools than those of any other settler.' The Brainerds of Haddam are almost all thrifty, industrious, sober land- holders, hokling to the Calvinistic doctrines and Congregational Church order of their an- cestor.

"The most eminent of these descendants was David Brainerd, the Indian missionary. who died October 0, 1717. aged twenty-nine years and six months. His qualities of head and heart won the regard, adn iration and af-

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fection of so great a man as Jonathan Edwards. Miss Yonge, in her book, 'Pioneers and Found- ers,' calls him the 'Enthusiast.' Dr. Sherwood, in his edition of the life of Brainerd, recently published, says: 'No eulogy can exalt such a man. The simple story of his life proves him to be one of the most illustrious charac- ters of modern times, as well as the foremost missionary whom God has raised up in the American church, one whose example of zeal, self-denial and Christian heroism, has probably done more to develop and mould the spirit of modern missions, and to fire the heart of the Christian church in the latter days, than that of any other man since the apostolic age. One such personage, one such character, is a greater power in human history than a finite mind can calculate.' "

John Brainerd, David's youngest brother, took his place in the Indian mission, carry- ing on the work he began, and was hardly in- ferior to his elder brother in the great qualities which go to make up the missionary character.

Many of Daniel Brainerd's descendants have attained to position in the land. Jere- miah Gates Brainerd was for twenty-three years a justice of the Superior Court of Con- necticut, dying January 7, 1836. His eldest son, William F. Brainerd, of New London, was a prominent lawyer, and quite famous as a wit and orator. He died April 27, 1844. His third son, John G. C. Brainard, is of fame as a poet, occupying, it is said by critics, a very high rank among the minor poets of America. He died in 1828, at the age of thirty-two. Many of these people served in the Revolu- tionary war, both in the army and on board privateers.

David Brainerd was an eminent medical professor and surgeon in St. Louis, and sub- sequently in Chicago, where he held high ap- pointments in surgical institutions. Rush Medical College holds his name in traditionary reverence.

Thomas Brainerd was a foremost clergy- man of the Presbyterian Church, long settled in Philadelphia, famous as a faithful preacher and pastor, eminent as a platform speaker, and a leader in patriotic effort during the war of the Rebellion. He was in Philadelphia what Beecher was in New York and Brooklyn.

Lawrence Brainerd was well known as a thriving farmer and merchant at St. Albans, Vt., where he accumulated a large estate. He

was prominent as a leader in the anti-slavery movement and at one time represented his State in the United States Senate. He died shortly after the close of the Civil war.

Silas and Erastus Brainerd, brothers, ac- quired both prominence and wealth as the own- ers of one of the largest sandstone quarries in the country at Portland, Connecticut.

Jeremiah Brainerd, of Rome, N. Y., had great reputation, in the days of the building of the Erie canal, as a builder of bridges, an inventor, and a natural civil engineer.

In local fame, Ezra Brainerd, who resided in Haddam Neck, is entitled to the first place. Born April 17, 1744, in early manhood he became manager of the quarrying interests near him, which soon grew to large im- portance. He was a deacon in the Middle- Haddam Church for sixty-six years, a justice of the peace for very many years, and for a. long series of terms represented the town in the General Assembly, where he acquired to a universal degree the confidence of his asso- ciates.

Leverett Brainard, of Hartford, of the im- portant printing firm of Case, Lockwood & Brainard, for many years prominent in public enterprise, and honored by his townsmen of Hartford, is not to be omitted from this brief list

Perhaps the best known member of this family, who still retains an active interest and home in Haddam. is CEPHAS BRAINERD, of New York, the sixth in direct descent from Daniel Brainerd, who has long been a promi- nent member of the New York Bar. He still re- tains as his home the farm of his grandfather and father, at Haddam, where he was born September 8, 1831. Mr. Brainerd passed an old-time New England boyhood, working upon his father's farm, and studying at the district school, and for a short time at Brainerd Acad- emy, in the village, then a well-known institu- tion. After two years of general and his- torical reading, preparatory and the spe- cific studies necessary for his chosen profes- sion, he came at twenty-one to New York, where he entered the office of the late Chief Justice Curtis. After two years of practical training in this office he was admitted to the Bar, and shortly after became managing clerk in the office of Hon. Truman Smith and Eb- enezer Seeley. Both became warm personal friends of the young man, and Mr. Brainerd's

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first appearance before the Supreme Court of the United States was as junior counsel with Truman Smith, in Mr. Smith's last case before that tribunal. In the ten years' struggle before Congress over the Geneva Award, Mr. Brainerd took prominent part, making five oral arguments and printing six, the decision of the Congressional committees being in favor of the uninsured shipowners whom he repre- sented. His legal practice has been important and varied, and he has rendered valuable ser- vices on political and legal committees through- out his long activity in New York .

While arbitrator of the mixed court formed by President Lincoln under the slave treaty with Great Britain, Mr. Brainerd began that study of International Law which led to his lectures on that subject in the Law School of the New York University, and of late years to his active participation in the congresses of the Society of International Law.

Mr. Brainerd has given much time and thoughtful study to various philanthropic labors, that with which he has been longest and most intimately connected being the Young Men's Christian Association. He entered the New York Association in 1857, and has been active in its work from that time. Later he became a member of the International Com- mittee, serving for twenty-five years as its chairman.

FRANK C. FOWLER is a great-grand- son of a Revolutionary soldier. His paternal great-grandfather, Gordon Fowler, was born in Vernon, Conn., in 1772, and removed to East Haddam, where he married Achse Ack- ley. Early in life he engaged in trucking. and later purchased property on Fowler Hill. where he engaged in farming. Being a man of more than ordinary ability, he made his im- pression upon the times, and when he died in 1854. his loss was deeply felt. To this good man and his wife were born: Ackley, Sam- uel. William L. (grandfather of Frank C.). Sarah. Asa and Acenith.

William L. Fowler, the grandfather, was born in the town of East Haddam June 10. 1807, and married Caroline L. Green, a de- scendant of one of the Colonial families. To them were born the following children : Will- iamı L., Jr., Henry M., Leonora L. and Etta B. The father was a shoemaker by trade.

Henry M. Fowler, father of Frank C ..

was also a native of East Haddam, having been born there June 25, 1835, and married Elizabeth Rich, of East Hampton, Conn. In early life he resided in East Haddam. later becoming an insurance agent, and at the time of his death, at Grand Rapids, Mich., was general agent for the leading New York and Hartford insurance companies. He and his wife had but two children: Frank C. and Carrie ; the latter married B. H. Pettingill. of Moodus, Connecticut.

Frank C. Fowler was born in Moodus, Conn., Deceniber 26, 1859. His father dying when he was a mere child, he received a rather limited education, and was obliged to com- mence work for himself when but a boy. His first occupation was with the farmers of the neighborhood, but in 1882, actuated by the ambition which has controlled his life, he orig- inated and began the sale of a medical special- ty, becoming so successful as to require the assistance of a large office force, more than seventy-five people. Later he became the pro- prietor, with G. P. Lecrenier, of the Connecti- cut V'alley Advertiser, one of the best weekly newspapers in the State, and which enjoys the support of the better class of the people throughout Connecticut.

Mr. Fowler is an enthusiastic sportsman, possessing the finest collection of modern shot- guns in the world. At one time he had a fine stable of trotting horses, and built one of the best half-mile tracks in the State for his own use. H'e also had an extensive dog kennel. where he bred fine animals, from imported stock, his fine Irish setters having won, re- peatedly, the national championship, but of late years he has only kept a few horses and dogs for his own private nse. He also, until re- cently, possessed large game preserves, con- taining over two thousand acres. Mr. Fowler is very fond of yachting. having owned the handsome craft "Huntress," which was the fastest cruising yacht of her day afloat, and which he sold to the Government during the Spanish-American war. Within recent years Mr. Fowler has built the handsomest residence 11 Moodus, a large, modern structure. sifr- rounded with well kept grounds. The steam ferry-boat plying on the Connectiont river at findspeed's is named the "F. C. Fowler." in honor of Mr. Fowler, who donated the . to build the boat.

Mr. Fowler married Enantha Thompson,

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who died leaving him two sons, Frederick B. C., now ( 1902) aged fourteen, and Henry M .. aged fifteen. Mr. Fowler's second marriage, in December, 1896, was to Miss Lena A. Loomis, of Lebanon, Connecticut.

In politics Mr. Fowler is a stanch Republi- can, and represented his town in the Legisla- ture, serving on several committees, includ- ing Capitol Furniture and Grounds, also the committee on Transportation and Legislative Expenses, and was chairman of the committee on Manual and Roll. Socially he is a Royal Arch Mason, belonging to Columbia Lodge, No. 26, F. & A. M., and Burning Bush Chap- ter, R. A. M., of Essex, Conn .; he is also a member of Middlesex Lodge, No. 3, I. O. O. F., of East Haddam, Conn., and the Encamp- ment.

Mr. Fowler is a man whose financial in- stinct is unerring; whose frankness and all- round fairness, as well as his willingness to render large and generous service to the com- monwealth, cause him to be respected by all and followed by the majority of his fellow cit- izens.

CHARLTON M. PRATT, one of the leading business men of Deep River, Middle- sex county, one who has built up his present enterprise by his own industry and acumen, was born April 18, 1856, son of Obadiah P. and Achsa Ann ( Hale) Pratt. He is in the eighth generation from Lieut. William Pratt, his line being through (II) Ensign John, (III) John (2), (IV) Thomas, (V) Jesse, (VI) Jesse (2), and (VII) Obadiah P.

(IV) Thomas Pratt, son of John (2), was born in 1701, married Jerusha Beckwith in 1728, and resided in the Second Society of Saybrook. He was a farmer by occupation.

(V) Jesse Pratt, son of Thomas, was born in 1751, married Temperance Bull in 1781, and resided in Saybrook, where he was a farmer. He died in 1842 at the age of ninety-one years.

(VI) Jesse Pratt (2), son of Jesse, born in 1781, in Saybrook, married (first) Betsey Platt in 1806, and (second) Hannah Sterling in 1828. He was a resident of Deep River and became a farmer there. Both he and his wife were members of the Congregational Church of Deep River.

(VII) Obadiah P. Pratt, son of Jesse (2), born June 27, 1816, at a place on the Middle- sex turnpike, was married February 27,

1843, to Achsa A. Hale, of North Madison, a native of that town, born May 10, 1822. Their children were: Betsey Ann, born November 19, 1845, married Emory C. Parker, of Deep River ; Emma Hale, born December 7, 1848, married S. E. Southworth; Isabel, born No- vember 25, 1851, died October 20, 1852; Fred- erick W. C., born September 7, 1852, married Emma Wenk, of Hartford; Ida B., born March '16, 185-, died at the age of fifteen; Charlton M. is mentioned below; Louis D. married Anna McNamara, of Chester, Conn. Early in life Mr. Pratt was engaged in farm- ing; but his business career took a wider range, and he devoted considerable of his time to the water, running boats along the Long Island shore. He was also engaged in quarry- ing stone, and carried the same to the various points on the Sound, and was at times actively and successfully engaged in selling books, ex- tending his work to the West Indies, and sell- ing largely in Cuba. Finally returning to his farm, he started the first milk route in Deep River, which was continued for fifteen years. In all of his undertakings he was very success- ful. He died May 18, 1880, and his wife sur- vived him, reaching the age of seventy-seven. Both were active members of the Congrega- tional Church at Deep River. He was a strong adherent to the principles of the Re- publican party.

Charlton M. Pratt, the subject proper of this sketch, attended the district schools of Deep River, and the Morgan School, at Clin- ton, Conn. He then went West, first to Sand- wich, Ill., where he worked for the Sandwich Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of farm machinery. He later went to Valpa- raiso, Ind., where he attended a Business Col- lege for six months. Having thus rounded out his education, Mr. Pratt returned to Deep River and began work on the home farm, con- tinuing thus for two years, and then em- barked in the grocery business with L. H. Shailer. After three years, however, he sold his interest to his partner, and then purchased the clothing establishment of W. O. Post, in Deep River, now conducting one of the finest clothing and men's furnishing establishments in that place.

Mr. Pratt married Annie Li Prann, a na- tive of Wethersfield, Conn., daughter of John and Helen (Webb) Prann, and to them have been born: Kirby C., June 19, 1884; Jesse

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Hale, December 4, 1887; Edith May, Sep- tember 8, 1889; Shelley L., February 7, 1891; and Philip R., April 26, 1899.

Mr. Pratt is a stanch Republican and in 1884 represented the town in the State Assem- bly serving on the School Fund committee. For five years he has been on the school board, serving upon the Fund committee; and has been tax collector seven years, in every capac- ity giving entire satisfaction. Mr. Pratt attends the Congregational Church, of which Mrs. Pratt is a member. He is a member of Webb Lodge, No. 81, I. O. O. F., having connected himself with that organization in 1879. In every walk of life Mr. Pratt has proven him- self a worthy and high-minded citizen, and the respect which his upright life and thorough business methods have commanded is well merited.

JUDGE WESLEY U. PEARNE, who ranks high in this section of the State, is one of the ablest members of the Middlesex County Bar.

Rev. William Nathaniel Pearne, his grand- father, was born in London, England, son of an Englishman of means, and (so tradition says ) was disinherited by the father for marry- ing contrary to his father's wishes. Rev. Will- iam N. Pearne married, in England, Hannah Hall, daughter of Thomas Hall, who for years was in the British excise service. To this union were born, in England, two children : Thomas H. and William H. Of these, Thomas H. was presiding elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Hillsboro, Ohio, and was a divine of considerable note in his day. He was one of the pioneers of Oregon, and prominently identified with the carly history of that State. He established the "Pacific Christian Advo- cate," and for many years was editor of that publication. During the Civil war he served on the Christian Commission, and after the close of that struggle he located in Knoxville. Tenn., where he was proprietor of the Knox- ville W'hig. Later he served as United States consul to the island of Jamaica, and was filling that incumbency at the time of the "Virginins affair. A man of much ability, and fearless, he made an enviable mark in his career. He left one daughter. William H. Pearne, the other son of Rev. W. N. Pearne born in Eng- land, was a prominent Methodist minister, for some years was agent for the Methodist Bible

Society, and during the Civil war served on the Christian Commission. For a time he was a resident of New Orleans, later making his home in Memphis, during the lawless days in that city, inaugurated a crusade against gambling there, and, although serving as a minister of the Gospel, was made superintendent of police, and succeeded in stamping out that vicious ele- ment entirely. He died at Preble, N. Y., leav- ing two sons-William D., an attorney in Chi- cago, and Frank-and two daughters.

In 1825 Rev. William N. Pearne came to the United States, settling near Utica, N. Y., where for a few years he was employed as a bookkeeper in the New York Mills. Taking up the ministry, he during the remainder of his active life was connected with the Oneida Con- ference of the M. E. Church. He died at the advanced age of over seventy years, as did also his wife. In the United States were born to them six children: (1) Benjamin M., a sketch of whom follows; (2) John W., who was foreman on a New York daily, but his health failing, went to the State of Mississippi, where he died; (3) Francis, deceased at the age of twelve years; (4) Nathaniel, who was a clothing merchant in New York City: (5) Mary, married to Harmon Hubbard, of Cort- land, N. Y .: and (6) Harriet, who married Edwin Hatch, and died in New York State.

Benjamin M. Pearne, father of Judge W. U. Pearne, is a native of New York State. born near the city of Utica, and was there reared and educated. When a young man he and his brother John went to New York City. the latter taking up the printer's trade, while Benjamin found employment in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, in what was known as the "pat- tern loft." In 1852, after the death of his brother John, Benjamin moved from New York to Chenango county, same State, locating in the town of MeDonough, and there making his home until 1859, in that year removing to Ox- ford, Chenango county, where he has since resided, being retired from active business. For a time he was in the carriagemaking business. While residing in New York City he married Miss Emily A. Swathel, daughter of William and Sarah (Clark ) Swathel, a descendant from Edward Shipman, one of the first settlers of Saybrook. To Benjamin M. and Emily A. Pearne were born three children : Wesley U., the subject proper of these lines: Emma E .. wife of William M. Miller, of Oxford, N. Y .:

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and Thomas R., who died in 1863, in boyhood. The father in his political preference is a Re- publican, is active in the affairs of his party, has held various local offices, and was president of the board of trustees of the incorporated village where he is now living. Socially he is a Master Mason, and a member of the Chapter.

Wesley U. Pearne was born April I, 1851, in the city of New York, and from the age of six years until he was nine made his home with his grandfather Pearne, who be- ing a man of culture himself took great inter- est in his grandson's earlier education, per- sonally looking after the young lad's primary education at home. Accompanying his par- ents to central New York, our subject at- tended Oxford 'Academy, where he was pre- pared for college, graduating in 1869. A year later he was graduated from the State Normal School at Cortland, N. Y., being a member of the first graduating class from that school. That same year he became a student in the Wesleyan University, at Middle- town, Conn., of which he is now one of the trustees, and has since been a resident of that city. Here he read law in the office of the late Hon. Samuel L. Warner, and was ad- mitted to the Bar in 1879; has since been act- ively engaged in the practice of law, and has been variously before the people of Middle- town and the State. On the creation of the City court, in 1879, our subject was appointed its clerk, and retained the position until elect- ed judge of the same court by the Legisla- ture, in 1895, which office he is yet filling.

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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 138

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