Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 169

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 169

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(III) Stephen Chalker, son of Samuel and Phebe, was born September 11, 1677, and he died June 2, 1727. He married June 3, 1703, Elizabeth Chapman, and their children were: Elizabeth, born March 12, 1704, died July 4, i 707; Phebe, born August II, 1705; and Ste- phen, born July 19, 1707. is mentioned below.

(IV) Stephen Chalker, son of Stephen and Elizabeth, born as above stated in 1707, was the first of the family to locate on Cook's Hill. He married and in his family of children was a son named Stephen.

(V) Stephen Chalker, son of Stephen, and the grandfather of Robert B .. is a native of Old Saybrook, where he engaged in farming. Ou March 6, 1785, he married Annie Chapman, a daughter of Elisha Chapman, and a direct descendant of Robert Chapman, the original settler of that name. She died at the advanced

age of eighty-eight years. The children born to Stephen and Annie Chalker were as follows : Stephen, born February 17, 1787; Jedediah, born December 1I, 1788; Sylvester, born De- cember 31, 1791 : Friend. born December 27, 1793; Elisha, born November 6, 1795; and Anna, born January 22, 1786. In politics Stephen Chalker, the father of these children, was a stanch Federalist, and both he and his wife were members of the Congregational Church. He died at the early age of thirty-five years.

(VI) Stephen Chalker, of the above de- scribed family, born February 17. 1787. and the father of Robert B., was a life-long resi- cent of Saybrook, where he followed farming and shad fishing during his more active years, but the latter part of his life was entirely de- voted to farming. He lived on property which has since passed into the possession of his son, Robert B., and built, in 1823. the house that gentleman now occupies. During the War of 1812 he served in the American army as a captain of a battery of light artillery, and was engaged in the defense of New London against the English. For his services in that war he was given bounty lands in Iowa. In politics he was a Whig, and in his last years assisted in the organization and development of the Republican party. Taking an active interest in town affairs he was called on to fill several offices, and was highly regarded as a business man and a citizen. Both himself and his wife were members of the Congregational Church.

On March 2. 1813. Stephen Chalker was married to Silence Breed, who was born De- cember 1, 1791, and who died August 24. 1800. the same year the husband and father died, his death occurring January 15, 1860. They were the parents of the following family: Jane. born January 4. 1814, died April 8. 1804: Stephen, born January 15, 1816, died July 28. 1835: Susan, born March 20, 1817. married Stephen R. Bartlett, of Guilford, Conn., and had three children; Jedediah. born April 14. 1 821, died December 30, 1825 ; and Robert B .. born October 31. 1833.

Robert B. Chalker was born in the house he now owns and occupies Here he grew to manhood and received his olucation in the common schools, finishing at Saybrook and Westbrook academies In Saybrook academy lie was under the tutelage of lohn W. Marvin (now deceased ), who afterward become one pi

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the leading men of the community. Harvey Sanford, Perry Haskell, and a Mr. Colton, who was a Yale graduate, were among his teachers. In early manhood he took up pound-net fish- ing with his father, and from 1858 has followed it down almost to the present time. He was working in the interest of the Fulton Fish market of New York City, and he was sta- tioned in many localities, including the Georgia Waters, North Carolina Sounds, Delaware Bay, Monroe, Mich., in Jefferson county, N. Y., Alburg Springs, on Lake Champlain, car- rying on the business in all branches, buying and selling for the market. While still in this work Mr. Chalker became associated with the Government Department of Fisheries, gather- ing statistics and making observation of fish habits. For some three years he was connected witli Captain Ellis at Montauk Point, where he was engaged in this work, and for six years he was a fish commissioner of the State.

Mr. Chalker was compelled by long-contin- ted ill-health to give up the fish business, and he returned home to devote his entire time to farming and milling. His mill, which is lo- cated on the Oyster river across the street from his home, has something of a history. In 1648 a Mr. Post began by building the dam, and started on the mill, when he died. His partner, Francis Bushnell, also a millwright, had just erected a mill at Guilford, but was persuaded to come on and complete the work. The mill was in operation in 1651, and accord- ing to a grant of the General Court the prop- erty is exempt from taxation, a privilege which still holds good, though efforts have been made in recent years to collect the taxes. Mr. Chalker has operated this mill since 1887.

On June 10, 1862, Robert B. Chalker mar- ried Sarah E. Clark, born October 20, 1838, a daughter of Erastus and Amelia (Shepard) Clark, whose family history may be found else- where under the name of John N. Clark. To Mr. and Mrs. Chalker were born the follow- ing children : Stephen E., born April 9, 1864, died April 9, 1866; Anna Breed, born Novem- ber 16, 1865, was married April 10, 1888, to Richard M. Bushnell; Robert Alexander, born June 1, 1869, was married October 31, 1900, 'to Emily Kirtland Ingham, a daughter of George C. Ingham, and has a son, Merritt Baldwin, born May 22, 1902, at Plainville, Conn .; Benjamin Haskell, born December 12,

18774, is engaged in milling and the ice busi- ness in Saybrook, Connecticut.

In politics Mr. Chalker has always been a Republican and has been quite active in local affairs. He represented the town in 1876 in the General Assembly, and was in the last ses- sion under the old system and the first under the new. In the Legislature he was chairman of the committee on Fisheries. In the town he has held nearly all the local offices, has been assessor, selectman, member of the board of re- lief, and during the war was chairman of the town board. He stood five drafts. Mr. and Mrs. Chalker are both members of the Congre- gational Church. He is a charter member of the local Grange, which was organized in his house, and of which he was one of the first officers.

ISAAC SPEAR, of Middletown, Middle- sex county, is the founder of the business of Spear Brothers, millinery and fancy dry goods, the most metropolitan business house in the town, and probably nowhere else in New Eng- land will be found in a city the size of Middle- town this line of business as ably represented. The business was started by a boy of nine- teen, with five hundred dollars capital, yet in a career of over twenty-four years not a bill has been allowed to go one day overdue. With boundless energy and remarkable business tact, Mr. Spear has made a fine record.

Mr. Spear was born in Hartford, Conn., December 25, 1858, and comes of German par- entage. His father, Aaron Spear, was born near Frankfurt, Germany, in 1827, and in 1854 married Nannie Kohn, who was born in the same locality January 3, 1834. The father came to the United States in the later 'forties, and settled in Hartford as a poor young man. He began peddling goods with a pack, saved his money, and presently went into a general store, doing business on Asylum street, as a member of the firm of Spear & Kohn. He was just beginning to prosper when his death oc- curred. In 1860, while passing a building un- der construction, a loose board with nails in it fell and struck him on the head, the nails penetrating his brain. To all signs he recov- ered from this injury, but after a time he died suddenly, and his death was attributed to the accident. Mrs. Spear came to the United States with her mother about 1846, and some of her

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family have gone to the far West, and live in San Francisco, where they are wealthy people.

After Aaron Spear had come to the United States his parents presently came also, and set- tled in Hartford, where the father died. The widow was left with three sons, the eldest but seven years old ; Isaac was five, and Simon but a babe. There were not sufficient means to care for the family, and to the self-denying and heroic efforts of the mother to rear her children as they should be, much credit must be given. She lived to see her boys all successful business men, and for a number of years before her death enjoyed the comforts that grateful sons extended. In 1890 she came to Middletown to live, and there she died February 10, 1899.

Isaac Spear grew to manhood in Hartford, and there received all his schooling, attending for some time the old Brown school, of which Prof. Barrows was principal. When twelve years of age he left school and went out into the world, to bear his burden of the share of the family support, and to make a way for him- self. He had ambition, energy and industry, and with these as his capital he went into the store of Bernhard Levy, in Hartford, as gen- eral utility boy. He became quite proficient at sign writing. There he received $2.50 a week. and he remained in the employ of this man, the only one he ever worked for, until 1878. By this time he had learned the business so thoroughly that he was the buyer for the store, and had a salary of $18 a week. He had been economical and saved a little money, and de- sired a store of his own. When he suggested his ambition to Mr. Levy, he met with all but ridicule. However, he had confidence in him- self, and was not discouraged. Mr. Levy took the young man to New York, introduced him to the various wholesale houses, and guaranteed his bills. Such a move from as conservative a business man as was Mr. Levy certainly im- plied implicit confidence in young Spear's busi- ness ability and integrity. After a thoughtful inspection of the business opportunities of sev- eral Connecticut cities, Mr. Spear determined upon opening a store in Middletown, and the result has justified his judgment. He opened his first place of business in October. 1878, in the north half of the Nourse store. In 1880 Jacob Spear, his brother, who had been clerking for Theodore Clark, in Hartford, became a part- ner, and six years later the establishment was removed to its present location, No. 336 Main

street, where the growth of the business has necessitated two enlargements of its quarters since that time. In 1890 Jacob Spear retired. and his brother Simon came into the firm. Jacob is now connected with the Stone Broth- ers Manufacturing Company, a jewelry house in New York. Simon Spear. the junior mem- ber of the firm, was born February 15, 1862. and is unmarried. He works in closest accord with his brother. and they are among the rep- resentative business men of the city, where the firm of Spear Brothers has long since taken a foremost position among the most substantial mercantile houses, there being none whose com- mercial integrity is better established. Isaac Spear has been an active member of the Mid- dletown Board of Trade since its organization.

Isaac Spear was married. in New Bedford. Mass .. April 15, 1891, to Miss Caroline E. Pit- man, a native of that city. daughter of George WV. and Elizabeth ( Kirkland) Pitman. Her paternal grandfather was one of the pioneer manufacturers at Fall River. Mass. His wife was Elizabeth Perkins. Mrs. Spears' ancestors were of old families in New England : some of them fought in the Revolution, and she is eli- gible to the society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Spear are the parents of three children: George Pitman. born February 19. 1802: William Perkins, June 5. 1806: and Robert Lyndon. May 25. 1898. In politics Mr. Spear is non-partisan, and voted for Garfield. Cleveland and MeKin- ley. Hle built his elegant home on Lincoln street in 1804. Mrs. Spear belongs to the South Congregational Church.

HERBERT J .. MILLS, Few young men have shown as much business sagacity as this well-known hardware dealer of New Britain. and in his success may be seen the promise of a bright future. As a representative of one of the leading families of the State he all maintains its reputation for gwal citizenship. his energies being so far devoted, however, to his business interests.

Mr. Mills was born in Middlefick1. Middle- sex Co. Com. February 20, 1868, son of Hlou Lyman A. Mills, now lieutenant governor of Connecticut The late Rey Charles 1. Mills, our subject's grandfather, was for many years an honored minister of the Congregational Church at Andover, Mass, He married Bliza beth Lyman, sister of the late David Loman

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(president of the Air Line road), and a de- scendant of a well-known family.

Hon. Lyman A. Mills was born February 25, 1841, in Middlefield, then a part of Mid- dletown, and still makes his home there. He received a public-school education only, but from an early age has manifested a keenness of intellect which could master the particular problems of life unaided. As a young man he became an official in the Metropolitan Man- ufacturing Company, at Middlefield, not long after its organization in 1860, and from that time has been prominent in the management of their extensive interests. Until recently he was the manager of the Middlefield plant of the American Wringer Company, and at present he is president of the gun-sight business of the late William Lyman. He also has the care and management of various property and estate in- terests, and is a director of the American Wringer Company, a trustee of the Middle- town Savings Bank, president of the Levi E. Coe Library Association, and holds other po- sitions of trust and responsibility. He has held important town offices by unanimous vote, and in 1895 he was a member of the State Legisla- ture, serving on the committee on Finance. Aside from his other business pursuits Mr. Mills has been widely known for thirty years as a successful breeder of Jersey cattle, and in all the lines in which his numerous activities have taken him, he has won an enviable name for honorable dealings, as well as for excep- tional business capacity.

Herbert L. Mills was prepared for college at the Wilson Grammar School and Dr. Hol- brook's Military College, at Briar Cliff, below Peekskill, N. Y. In 1887 he entered Yale Col- lege, where he remained one year, taking the academic course, being ranked throughout his stay in the first of the five divisions into which the students were organized. He has al- ways been interested in athletics, and while in the preparatory school was a member of a base- ball nine and captain of a foot-ball team. On leaving Yale, in 1889, he became a clerk for the Orr & Lockett Hardware Company, the larg- est retailers in that line in Chicago, and in 1892, having gained a thorough knowledge of the business, he purchased what was left of the stock of C. D. Lewis, of New Britain, who was then closing out. As the business was at a very low ebb Mr. Mills had practically to build it up from the start, but he has succeeded

in establishing a fine trade. Politically he is a Republican, but has never been actively in- terested in party management.

In 1892 Herbert L. Mills was united in marriage with Miss Bessie D. Kendall, daugh- ter of the late J. P. Kendall, of Chicago, and one child, Catherine Lyman, brightens their home. Socially Mr. Mills is a member of the New Britain Club, and in his fraternal rela- tions is a member of Washington Command- ery, No. I, Knights Templar, of Hartford.

ARCHIBALD W. INGLIS is not only a most efficient police officer, but was the young- est chief of police ever appointed to that posi- tion in Middletown at the time he took the office, in 1893.

Chief Inglis comes from good old Scottish ancestry, and exhibits many of the best traits of that nationality. His father, Alexander In- glis, one of the number of his countrymen who came to Portland, Conn., to work in the stone quarries, was a man of strong character and great natural endowments. Archibald W. Inglis was born on Pleasant street, in Middle- town, August 14, 1857, son of Alexander and Euphemia (Dick) Inglis. He was reared in that city, and attended the William street school, and later the Central school. When he was about fourteen years old he began his life work, entering the employ of the Middletown Plate Company, and remaining with that insti- tution for almost twenty-one years, working up through various departments to a responsi- ble and lucrative position.

Mr. Inglis has had an honorable career also in connection with the Middletown fire depart- ment. . In 1874 he became a member of the O. V. Coffin Hook and Ladder Company, of which he was second assistant, later first assist- ant, and then captain for two years. He served as second assistant to chief engineer Frederick W. Wiley, and later was made first assistant to Chief Wiley, remaining in these capacities for nine years and was still serving as such when he was elected chief of police, in Octo- ber, 1893. This position he still holds with credit to himself and satisfaction to the public.

Mr. Inglis and Miss Minnie L. Martyn, of East Hartford, a member of an old and well- known family in Hartford, were married June 27, 1885. They are the parents of two children, Ethel C. and Warren W., both of whom are living. Mr. Inglis has been an Odd Fellow for

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more than twenty years ; he is a member of the Connecticut Grand Lodge of that order, is one of the trustees of Central Lodge, Middletown, and a member of the Sowheag Encampment of that organization. He also belongs to the New England Order of Protection. Politically he is a Republican. He is a public-spirited and progressive citizen, and his record as a police officer is beyond reproach. He has a strong physique and fearless disposition, and is pos- sessed of a good memory. Nature has fitted him for the work he is doing, and his pop- ularity is widespread.

HARRY TITUS HALE (deceased) was the youngest child of Titus Hale, whose bi- ography appears elsewhere in this work. He was born September 3, 1865, on the family homestead at Gildersleeve, Portland, and was reared on the farm. His first teacher was Miss Rachel Shepard, in the Gildersleeve school, and he subsequently attended a school in Portland taught by Victoria Jamieson, fin- ishing his literary education at the Glaston- bury Academy, under Prof. F. E. Brewster. Brought up on the farm, under the wise ad- monitions and shrewd business counsel of his father, he remained at home until 1884, after which he spent four years as an employe of the Shaler & Hall Quarry Company. In 1888 Mr. Hale was associated with his brother, Chester K. Hale ( at that time purchasing the interest of another brother, Edward S. Hale), in the production of tobacco, the business being con- ducted under the title of C. K. & H. T. Ilale. Besides growing tobacco they engaged quite extensively in the purchase and curing of the article, continuing thus until the death of the subject of this notice, which occurred January 4, 1900. The utmost harmony characterized this partnership, and the brothers became known as successful and representative farmi- ers and tobacco growers.

Mr. Hale was a quiet, unassuming gentle- man, industrious and thrifty, an honor to the family name, which has long been a synonym for integrity and character in Portland, and throughout Middlesex and Hartford counties. In political principle he cherished the family traditions, being known as a straightforward Democrat, though he never songht official honors or emoluments.

On October 8. 1800. Mr. Hale married Miss Lephe E. Sears, who was born November

9. 1865, in Portland, and three children came to bless their home, namely : Hazel. Harry Leslie and Truman Hudson. To the aged grandfather, whose home has been with this family for several years. these children are a source of comfort, as they have ever been to the parents. Mrs. Hale continues to make a pleasant home for her late husband's father. who appreciates her at her true worth, and she is regarded as a valuable member-of society. a true danghter, wife and mother.

CHARLES T. DAVIS is one of the en- terprising and energetic farmers of the town of Middletown, Middlesex county, extensively engaged in dairying, and is located in the West Long Hill District. The family of which he is no unworthy representative is one long established in New England. and traces its history back to Wales. In Killingworth the Davises have been very numerous. The first of the name in that section was Solomon Davis, who probably came from Guilford. In !709 he married Sarah Hayton, and their chil- dren were: Samuel. Hannah. Martha, Solo mon. Peter. Hayton and Samuel (2).

Samuel Davis (youngest child of Solu- mon ) and his wife Elizabeth had five children. the eldest, Elizabeth, born February 22. 1753. The others were Peter. Solomon, Samuel and Lemuel.

Lemuel Davis (son of Samuel) and his wife Jemima had six children. Peter, Peter (2). Mehitable, Elam. Roxianna and Jemin. The first child was born June 5. 1283.

Peter Davis, noted above, was the great grandfather of Charles T. He was a farmer. and lived on Pea Hill, in Killingworth, where he married Polly Kelsy. They reared the following family : (1) Alvin, the grandfather of Charles T .: (2) Watson, who married Olive C. Hale, and was the grandfather of Witham C. Davis, of Durham: 43) George V. who married Matilda Davis: Gp Nelson ; (5) Lewis T., who married Sarah Bir, and was the father of Richard, Henry and Julius Davis ; and (6) Cynthia, who married Morgan Davis. brother of Matilda, whose name appears above. The father of this family died in 18 ;- Alvin Davis, the oldest child in the family just mentioned, was born December 14, 1807. Pea Hill, Killingworth where he grew to manhood, and where his entire life was spent in the cultivation of the wil A well read and

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outspoken man, he had independent views. While he was a stanch supporter of Demo- cratic principles, he was never what would be termed a party man, or an office seeker. In- dustrious and economical, he became quite prosperous. He died December 14, 1860, and was buried in the Stone House cemetery. In 1827 he married Julia Wright, who was born in 1807, and died in 1886. Jesse and Nancy (Hull) Wright, her parents, were farming people in the Pine Orchard District of Killing- worth. Her father, born in 1786, died in 1878. He was a son of Asher and Beulah (Strong) Wright, the former a Revolutionary soldier, born in 1755, died in 1833. To the union of Alvin and Julia Davis were born : (I ) Ora, who was three times married, to Samuel Tibballs, Henry Doane, and Levi Leonard; (2) Sophia, who married George Kilbourn, and is now liv- ing in New Haven; (3) Ellen, wife of Charles Dickerman, a farmer and stock raiser at Car- bondale, Ill .; (4) Sydney Talcott, father of Charles T .; (5) Watson, a mechanic, who married a Miss Chittenden and is now deceased (he served in the Twelfth Connecticut Volun- teer Cavalry, through the Civil war) ; (6) Christina, who married John L. Holmes, a tinner in Meriden; and (7) Randolph, who was in the Twelfth Connecticut Volunteer Cavalry, and died in the service.

Sydney Talcott Davis was born June 24, 1837, on Pea Hill, where his early life was spent. The educational privileges that came to him were limited, as he was obliged to leave school at a very early age and help his parents. The health of his mother being very poor, he assisted her greatly. Leaving school at the age of fourteen, he remained at home until he was married. Marrying with little or no resources but pluck and courage, he settled in the neigh- borhood, and worked as a farm hand for wages ranging from seventy cents to one dol- lar per day. He would cut wood, and burn it for charcoal. He sold wood in Middletown, and when he was about twenty-five years old went to Winthrop, Conn., where he was em- ployed in a factory which prepared rough tim- ber for spokes, felloes, beams, etc. For about eight years he continued in the factory, learn- ing every detail of the business, and then, in company with George Bogart and a Mr. Pratt, each owning a third interest, he established a like business in the same town, under the firm name of Bogart, Davis & Co. Mr. Davis con-

tinued in that enterprise for some five years, meeting with a very substantial success, when he crippled his hand, and, as soon he found he could not work longer in the factory, he sold out to his partners and went to Killingworth, where he bought the interest of the other heirs in the home farm. For a number of years he was engaged in its cultivation, finally disposing of it, and, in company with his son-in-law, Frank Bartlett, buying the farm adjoining on the south, where he lived for thirteen years, when Mr. Bartlett retired. Mr. Davis con- tinued three years longer, and then sold out, investing the proceeds in tenement houses in Middletown, where he is now living. Politi- cally Mr. Davis is a Democrat, and he has held several minor offices in the town. In 1880 and 188t he represented the town in the State Legislature, where he served on the committee on Agriculture. When he moved from Kill- ingworth he was a selectman. Mr. Davis be- longs to Killingworth Grange, of which he was one of the organizers. Mrs. Davis belongs to the Episcopal Church.

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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 169

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