Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 148

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 148

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Judge Levi E. Che, who is the author and compiler of the "Coe Ward Memorial." traces his ancestry to other emigrant ancestors as follows: Ensign William Ward, one of the patentees of Middletown, Conn. : Thomas Mil- ler. freeman of Rowley, Miss . 1039, and one of the original proprietors of Middletown;

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Nicholas Camp, Milford, Conn., 1639; Thomas Robinson, an early settler in Guilford, Conn .; William Cornwell, Rowley, Mass., 1634, at Hartford in 1637, in the Pequot war, at Mid- dletown in 1651; Alexander Bow, at Charles- town, and at Hartford, 1639, who was one of the original proprietors of Middletown, Conn .; Cornet Joseph Parsons, in Massachusetts in 1630, at Springfield in 1636, at Northampton in 1655, a member of the Ancient and Honor- able Artillery Company of Boston ; John John- son, Roxbury, Mass., 1630, made a freeman in 1631, deputy to the first General Court, sur- veyor general of arms and ammunition, the first clerk of the Ancient and Honorable Ar- tillery Company ; . Capt. Isaac Johnson, free- man at Rowley, 1635, made a captain in 1653, killed at the Great Swamp fight in the Narra- gansett war, December 19, 1675 ; Capt. Daniel Harris, at Rowley, at Middletown in 1652, deputy to the General Court; Humphrey Prior, one of the early settlers of Windsor; David Atwater, at New Haven, Conn., a signer of the Plantation Covenant, June 4, 1639; Jo- seph Hawley, Boston, 1639, at Stratford the same year, a deputy to the General Court twenty-nine times; John Kirby, first settled in Boston. at Plymouth, 1643, at Hartford, 1645, at Wethersfield, 1649, at Middletown, 1655; John Taylor, at Windsor, 1639, sailed from New Haven in the "phantom ship;" Samuel Nettleton, at Totoket ( Branford), 1644; Dea- con Paul Peck, at Boston, 1635, at Hartford the following year; Thomas Barnes, at New Haven, 1643, one of the original proprietors of Middletown; Thomas Tappin, a captain and free planter in Milford, 1639, removed to Southampton, L. I., deputy and assistant to the General Court; Elder Edward Turner, at Milford, 1651, an original proprietor of Mid- dletown; Bigot Eggleston, at Dorchester, 1630, at Windsor, 1635; Samuel Eggleston, one of the original proprietors of Middletown ; John Osborn, an early settler at Windsor, Conn .; Richard Oldage, at Windsor before 1640; Thomas Sayre, at Lynn, Mass., 1638, at Southampton, L. I., 1640; John Rogers, called the "settler," a free planter of Milford, Conn., 1639; Alexander Knowles, freeman of Massachusetts, 1636, at Fairfield, Conn., 1653. assistant to the General Court; Thomas Bliss, at Boston, 1635, at Hartford, 1636; Dr. Henry Woodward, at Dorchester, 1635, at Northamp- ton, 1658; Capt. Joseph Weld, a freeman of

Rowley, Mass., 1636, a soldier in the Pequot war, a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company; Nicholas Disbrow, at Hartford, 1630, a soldier in the Pequot war; Edward Birdsey, at Wethersfield, Conn., 1636; Matthew Mitchell, at Charlestown, 1636, at Saybrook, at Wethersfield, Conn., 1639, at Stamford the following year, at Hempstead, 1643, a deputy to the General Court, and a soldier in the Pequot war.

HON. LEVI ELMORE COE, of Meriden, son, of Col. Levi and Sarah (Ward) Coe, is a native of what is now the town of Middle- field (then Middletown), Conn., born June 6, 1828. He received his education in the com- mon schools of his neighborhood and Post's and Chase's Academies, the latter a somewhat noted school at Middletown, from which went out into the world men who achieved fame and success in their various walks of life. Young Coe began teaching school at the age of eigh- teen years, and followed that profession until twenty-five. At that age, in 1853, he located at Meriden, of which city he has been a resi- dent, and through the intervening forty odd years has been most closely associated with the growth and development of that city, which has been remarkable, and so marked as a man- ufacturing center as to become known through- out the civilized world from the variety and high grade of its manufactured product. During this long period Mr. Coe has been one of the foremost among those whose efforts have brought about the proud position the "Sil- ver City" sustains in the manufacturing world, and during this period he has made and sus- tained a reputation as a business man and use- ful citizen of a high order in keeping with his honorable line of ancestors.

In 1854 young Coe was elected treasurer of the Meriden Savings Bank, when the assets of that institution were only $25,000 and the salary of the treasurer only $200; the assets are now four and one-half millions. He has been connected with that institution either as treasurer, director or president ever since. When he took the position of treasurer he was keeping books, making out bills, and; doing other writing for outside parties. For fifty years he was engaged in the real-estate busi- ness, though never on commission. He has taken great interest in agricultural matters and pet stock, and has been identified with various societies in this line, having been secretary of

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the Farmers' Club, president of the Meriden Poultry Association, secretary, treasurer and president of the Meriden Agricultural Society, secretary and treasurer of the Connecticut State Agricultural Society, and a member of the State Board of Agriculture. He has served in various public capacities ; was grand juror in 1857; registrar of vital statistics in 1858-63 : justice of the peace from 1858 to 1881 ; trial justice for many years before the establishment of the city court; first clerk of the city court and judge of the court for eighteen years. H'e has also been agent of the town to convey real estate, was registrar of voters, town clerk, and judge of probate. At the time of the build- ing of the water works, and for several years thereafter, he was water commissioner. For a long period he was a member of the board of compensation. In 1894 Mr. Coe was elected mayor of Meriden, and re-elected in 1896 and 1897. He brought to that office the ripe ex- perience of long years of public service and of a successful business career, and gave the city a practical and dignified administration. In his political faith Judge Coe is a Republican. and has served as a member of the town com- mittee and State Central committee. He was appointed by the Secretary of the Interior a town site trustee for Oklahoma City, Okla. Among other numerous official positions in corporations, etc., held by Judge Coe, are those of director of what is now the Meriden Na- tional Bank (since 1862) ; treasurer of the Meriden Park Company : director of the Meri- den Hospital ; trustee of the Curtis Home; and president of the Meriden Historical Society. He is a member of the Connecticut Historical Society, the Sons of the American Revolution, and of the Home Club. Fraternally Judge Coe is a prominent Mason ; he has been secre- tary, treasurer and worshipful master of Meri- dian Lodge, No. 77 : eminent commander of St. Elmo Commandery, Knights Templar : and representative of the Grand Commandery of South Dakota near the Grand Commandery of Connecticut. In his religious views Judge Coc is an Episcopalian, a member of St. Andrew's Church, Meriden, in which he has been a ves- tryman since 1858. Judge Coe has been an enterprising, liberal and public-spirited citizen. He erected a beautiful memorial library build- ing, which, with its furnishings and the library. he presented to his native town, Middlefield. June 6, 1893, as a free public library, placing it

in control of a self-perpetuating incorporated board of trustees, known as the Levi E. Coe Library Association. Such a life needs no eulogy.

On November 27, 1851, Judge Coe was married to Miss Sophia Fidelia, daughter of Harley and Martha Cone Hall, and they had two children: One son that died in infancy, unnamed; and Charles Levi, born December 4, 1860, who died February 19, 1862.

HON. CHARLES G. R. VINAL, Secre- tary of State, ex-mayor of Middletown, and a member of the Middlesex County Bar. has been closely associated with the best interests of Middletown for many years.

Mr. Vinal was born in Monroe, Waldo Co .. Maine, Jan. 14. 1840, son of Waldo Pierce and Almira H. B. (Rich) Vinal. John Vinal. the founder of the Vinal family in America, who came of an old Sussex family of England, lo- cated in Scituate. Mass .. in 1636. Our sub- ject's paternal grandfather. Capt. Lot Vinal. was a sea captain. He married Nancy O'Dell. The maternal grandfather was Moses Rich.

About 1849 Waldo Pierce Vinal was in- duced by a friend, Dr. Rufus Baker, to join him at Deep River, Conn., where he had lo- cated, and the Vinal family has been identified with Middlesex county during the succeeding half century. After remaining for a time at Deep River, practicing his profession of law. the father removed to Middletown, where he became very prominent, serving as clerk of the Superior Court: Judge of the Probate Court for eight or nine years : and State's At- torney for four years. He died at the com- paratively carly age of fifty-one, his widow sur- viving until August 8, 1896, to the age of sex enty-nine. Both are interred at Middletown. The father was a Douglas Democrat, in politi- cal sentiment, but later became a Republican. Fraternally he was a member of the F. & A. M. and the 1. O. O. F. Mr. and Mrs. Waldo P. Vinal had six children : (1) The oldest. Leonidas C., attended Middletown high school. studied medicine at Yale Medical School, and was connected with the dispensary at Yale. Later he was physician in charge of the State Hospital for the Insane in Rhode Island, where he was injured by a patient, and died from the effects at the home of our subject, in Middle- town, leaving four children. (2) Charles G. R. was second in the order of birth. (1)

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Waldo F. died while in his Senior year at Wes- leyan University. (4) Joseph Post died in childhood. (5) George is a merchant at Dallas, Texas. (6) Fredine is an attorney, and assistant clerk of the Superior Court, re- siding in Middletown.

Charles G. R. Vinal received his early edu- cation in the schools of Deep River, among his early teachers being a Mr. Chapman and a Mr. Gaylord. When he was fourteen the family removed to Middletown, and he entered the high school of that city. In 1857 he entered Wesleyan University, graduating in 1861, and commencing the study of law -with his father and Hon. Moses Culver, was admitted to the Bar in 1864. The following year he was elected clerk of the Superior Court, and has since that time retained the office; was Judge of the Probate Court in 1867-68, and City Re- corder in 1873; town treasurer in 1879; and alderman in 1882. In 1880 he was appointed a member of the committee for the erection of additional buildings for the Connecticut Hos- pital, and was secretary and treasurer of that committee. In 1894-95 Mr. Vinal was mayor of Middletown, and discharged the duties of that office with great credit. In 1897 he rep- resented the Twenty-second District in the Senate, and was chairman of the Committees on Engrossing, Federal Relations and For- feited Rights. In 1899 he was returned to the Senate, and was chairman of the Judiciary and Constitutional Amendments (joint) commit- tees. In addition to the various public offices he has held, and is still holding, Mr. Vinal is the Secretary of State, his name having been presented to the convention which nominated him without any solicitation on his part, his party regarding him as the right man for the office.

During the Civil war Mr. Vinal displayed his loyalty by enlisting in Company A, Twen- ty-fourth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry (which he and Horace E. Balcam raised) : he served as first lieutenant, being mustered in November 18, 1862, and honorably discharged February 4, 1863.

On October 19, 1865, Mr. Vinal was mar- ried to Miss M. Amelia Hotchkiss, daughter of Hon. Julius and Melissa ( Perkins) Hotch- kiss.

Following the 'example of his father, our subject first voted the Democratic ticket, but when Lincoln came before the people, for the

second time, as a Presidential candidate, Mr. Vinal became a Republican, and has remained one ever since, being a prominent adherent of that party in Middlesex county. Fraternally Mr. Vinal is a member of St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M .; and Mansfield Post, G. A. R. Mrs. Vinal is a member of the D. A. R. They re- side in a beautiful home on High street.

ANDREW NELSON SHEPARD. Shep- ard for over two hundred years has been a prominent family name in what is now Port- land, Middlesex county. It is a name that has been borne by many of the best citizens, but, though becoming less numerous with each pass- ing generation, it is not to suffer any loss of prestige if the future of the gentleman whose name appears above is to be measured by what he has already done. He is still a young man, but his career has been highly creditable.

Mr. Shepard was born May 5, 1862, in the north end of Portland, on the old homestead of his father and grandfather, the only son of Nelson and Elizabeth (Tryon) Shepard, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere. He at- tended district school No. 5, in the town of Portland, which was near the place of his birth, and recalls Miss Hattie Culver as among his earlier teachers. When he had advanced far enough he attended the academy at South Glastonbury, when Prof. J. J. Jennings, now a leading attorney at Bristol, Conn., was its head. Young Andrew: completed his school- ing by an attendance of two years at the Che- shire Military Academy. When not at school he was at home, working on the farm under his father's instructions, and that gentleman had no superior in the town as a successful farmer. Thus the son received a practical course in agriculture that has been of great ad- vantage to him all his life. He has carried on farming in all its details, and has operated along the most systematic and progressive plans.

Nelson Shepard was one of the extensive tobacco growers of the town, and in this de- partment of practical farming he made a de- cided success. From him Andrew gathered such a practical knowledge of tobacco culture that he has not only raised it most profitably, but has also bought it very largely, and his success as a dealer has been quite satisfactory. He began buying in 1887, making the Connec- ticut Valley his principal field of operations.

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Every year, however, he broadens his work, and his name is now familiar throughout the tobacco sections of Connecticut. In 1888 Mr. Shepard, in company with J. F. Convey, began the manufacture of cigars at Gildersleeve, the firm being known as Shepard & Co. From an output of a half million cigars their business more than doubled, and their product gained a general reputation, this industry, with that of packing tobacco, furnishing employment to a large number of men. Mr. Shepard's buying and packing tobacco is entirely individual, and has always been separate and apart from the factory business. His interest in the latter was sold to his partner in the spring of 1901. Mr. Shepard is a director and trustee of the Freestone Savings Bank at Portland, and he is regarded as one of the substantial and re- liable young business men of the town.

Mr. Shepard and Miss Harriet Stockwell were married in Windsor Locks, Conn., May I, (1889. She is a native of that place, and a daughter of one of its leading business men, A. B. Stockwell. Mr. and Mrs. Shepard are the parents of Dorathea and Nelson A., both of whom are living.

Mr. Shepard is an active member of the Republican party, and a hard worker for its success. He has been a useful citizen, serv- ing ten years as town auditor, is in his fourth ycar as a member of the board of relief, and in 1900 was elected to represent the town in the State Legislature, in which body he served as a member of the committee on Appropriations. Fraternally he is a Mason, a member of War- ren lodge, No. 53, A. F. & A. M .; belongs to Portland lodge of Odd Fellows, of which he was a charter member ; and is also connected with the A. O. U. W. at Portland. Mr. and Mrs. Shepard are members of the Episcopal Church at Portland, where he officiates as a vestryman. Since their marriage they have re- sided at Gildersleeve, where he erected a hand- some residence in 1902.

DUANE BARNES, who passed away September 22, 1900, was one of the oldest citi- zens of Middletown, to whose distinguished abilities and disinterested public spirit that city owes in no small degree many of the improve- ments which have been accomplished within the last sixty years. Mr. Barnes put time and money into the Air Line Railroad ; was active in the movement for widening the Narrows;

and especially interested in the extension and activity of the Portland quarries. From stone from that quarry he built his Gothic cottage on High street, which has been described as one of the most artistic residences in the coun- try. He gave and planted many of the fine shade trees around the city. For many years he was a leading spirit in every movement looking to the improvement of the material and educational interests of Middletown; and though several times offered office, he always declined, feeling that he could do a better work for the public if untrammeled by official limita- tions and routine.

A school teacher in his early youth, Mr. Barnes was a natural teacher all his life, for he was always a friend to just principles and right ideals. A lover of books, he was an ideal book merchant; for, putting morals before trade, he refused to sell any book which he believed would exert a harmful influence. Gradually accumulating an extensive collec- tion of very valuable works, nothing pleased him more than to put them to good use in the service of the teachers of the city and the pro- fessors of Wesleyan University. He had lit- erary gifts of a high order, and his youthful poems are stamped with the impress of genius which would, had circumstances permitted its development, have brought him carly to fame and renown.

Mr. Barnes was devoted to his family, spar- ing himself no pains to care properly for his fourteen children, nine of whom are still liv- ing. and with the co-operation of a wife of lofty spirit he reared a family that would do credit to any parentage. He died in his eighty-seventh year.

JOHN II. ODBER, who now occupies the responsible position of superintendent of the Middlesex County Home for Neglected and Dependent Children, located in the town of Haddam, is among the prominent and well known citizens of that town.

John Odber, his paternal grandfather, was a native of England, where he grew to man hood and married Elizabeth Coleman. He served in the British army for many years. be longing to the Forty-second Highlanders, re maining in the service until the pensionable age, when in lien of pension money he was giv en, by the British government, a grant of land in the neighborhood of Ottawa, Canada, cum

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grating to Canada about 1808, and locating on his land when our subject's father was but a boy. There the grandfather died at the age of seventy, his wife at the age of eighty. Their children were: John, the father of John H .: William, who died in Pennsylvania; Elizabeth. who died in Canada about 1890; and Henry. living at Arnprior, Canada.

John Odber (2), the father of John H., was born in 1806, and died in May, 1846. He grew up in Canada, where he learned the trade of marble-cutting and monumental work. About 1837 he left Canada and came to Had- dam, Conn., attracted thither by the advantages of the place for his business, which he followed until the time of his death, by drowning, in the Connecticut river, at night ; he was run over by the steamer "Globe," which was out of her course. He was buried in the Haddam ceme- tery.

John Odber married Harriet Ely, who was born December 22, 1812, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Crook) Ely, and died in March, I883. To this union were born: John H .; William E, born October 25, 1842, who is mentioned elsewhere; and Harriet, who mar- ied Joseph Lane, of Killingworth, now of Mid- dletown, Conn., and died August 14, 190I.

John Ely, our subject's maternal grand- father, was the son of Capt. William Ely, who was prominently identified with the town of Haddam, and was a man of affairs, engaged largely in the quarry freighting business. He was a very prominent man in his day, was possessed of considerable wealth, and had much influence. He was married three times, his last wife having been Annie Clark. Capt. William was the son of Richard Ely, who came to Haddam from Lyme, Conn., and was highly esteemed in the community.

John H. Odber was born in Haddam Sep- tember 12, 1840. He received educational ad- vantages of a superior kind, acquiring his early schooling in the district schools, and passing three years, at the well known Brainerd Acad- emy, of Haddam, which was then under the scholarly jurisdiction of Lewis Bodin. This training was supplemented with one year's study at the Middletown Academy, taught by E. H. Kelsey. At about the age of nineteen Mr. Odber left school, and worked for a time on a farm. He then went to New York City, where he had a position in the office of C. E. Hull & Co., compounders of proprietary medi-

cines. He went to New York City with the expectation of going South, but the unsettled condition of the country defeated this plan for the time. Later he went South, not as a civil- ian, but as a soldier, wearing the blue uniform of his country. On August 31, 1862, he en- listed in Company A, Twenty-fourth Connecti- cut Volunteers, for nine months, and as there was great need of men the regiment served thir- teen months. The regiment was in the Bayou Teche country, called the "Garden of Louisi- ana," and for forty-seven days besieged Port Hudson, the last stronghold of the Confeder- acy on the Mississippi river, which succumbed July 8, 1863. In 1864 Mr. Odber enlisted as a blue jacket and served on the sloop of war "Mohican," Capt. Daniel Ammen, with the North Atlantic Squadron, off Wilmington, N. C. He was in the attacks on Fort Fisher, De- cember 25, 26 and 27, 1864, and from January 12 to 15, 1865, and was one of the storming column which volunteered to attack the sea front of the fort to cover the movements of the army, which was to make an attack from the Cape Fear river side of the fort. Over twen- ty-five per cent of those from his ship were killed or wounded, there having been a direct and cross fire from the fort as the men crossed the exposed beach. After three weeks' serv- ice as a landsman Mr. Odber was raised to the grade of ordinary seaman, and later to be cap- tain of the hold. He was discharged by gen- eral orders in June, 1865, at the close of the war.

For three years Mr. Odber taught school during the winter months, and was engaged in coasting the remainder of the year, during the last four years of the time being captain and owner of a Portland schooner which was used to carry stone to New York and other cities. Selling his vessel, he removed to Hartford, and for two years engaged in the grocery and ship chandlery business, for another two years be- ing employed in the Colts Manufactory for firearms. Returning to Haddam with Mr. Burr, his father-in-law, our subject en- gaged in the lumber business, dealing largely in the manufactured lumber, and continuing in this line until the death of Mr. Burr, in 1875, when Mr. Odber and his brother, Capt. William E. Odber, took the conduct of the business, until 1889. At this date John H. Odber was appointed superintendent of the Middlesex County Home for Neglected and

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Dependent Children, and has been at the head of that institution ever since. It is one of the noble charities of the State, and is thor- oughly equipped with appliances and instruct- ors for the advancement and care of the in- mates. There is an average of sixty-five chil- dren to be cared for, and Mr. Odber's duties have been discharged in a manner satisfactory to the county commissioners and the public. It is a model home, love for the children being combined with firmness. Many innovations for the improvement of the home have been introduced since Capt. Odber has been in charge. Mrs. Odber is the efficient matron of the home.

In 1866 John H. Odber married Catherine, daughter of William H. and Elizabeth ( Brain- erd) Burr, and to this union have been born : John, who died in infancy ; Harrison Brainerd, who died at the age of nineteen months; and William B., who was born October 5, 1871. The last named attended the public schools of Haddam, the Middletown high school, and subsequently took a business course in Han- num's Business College, of Hartford. For five years he was with Tracy & Robinson, hardware dealers, in Hartford, and for the past three years has been connected with the National Fire Insurance Company, of Hartford, Con- necticut. On October 8, 1902, he married Bertha Jones, daughter of Charles Jones, of Natick, Massachusetts.

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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 148

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