Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 26

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 26

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Harvey E. Buell was born December 31 1825, on his father's farm in the eastern par of Clinton. Until he was fifteen years old he attended the common schools, but by tha time the family had increased and the hom

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began to be crowded, and the youth decided to try to earn his own living. Hiring out to a neighbor, John Stanton, he did farm work so efficiently that in spite of his youth Mr. Stanton was satisfied, and there he remained until he was twenty-one. While in the employ of Mr. Stanton he saved enough money to buy a small piece of land near his father's home, and in the evenings, after his day's labor for his em- loyer was done, he would go and clear up his own bit of property, pick up stones and build fence by moonlight, displaying an energy ind industry which were characteristic of him hroughout life. After his marriage he moved o the house which was then owned by his grandfather, his father having given him his nterest in it, and later became the sole owner of same by purchase from. the other heirs. Necessarily his farming was commenced in a mall way, but as success. attended his efforts le added to his land until, at one time, he was he largest landed proprietor in the town, own- ng a great deal of valuable timber land. Ready ale was found for this timber, for it was ound and true, and was used for vessel keels, elegraph poles, etc., immense quantities being manufactured for those purposes. His witch tazel brush found ready sale after it came nto general use as a medical agent, and with he proceeds he was enabled to carry on arge farming operations.

In addition to being an extensive farmer, Ir. Buell engaged in shad fishing each spring Long Island Sound, this also proving profit- ble, the large fish being shipped to market, chile the smaller ones furnished a perfect fer- ilizer for the land. Mr. Buell possessed a ertile mind, and saw! openings in business which he was always quick to take advantage f. During the Civil war he opened a meat market in Clinton, doing a good business, ending delivery wagons into the surround- ig towns, and also engaged in the manu- icture of a pure article of vinegar. His stock as also a source of great profit, the care hich he took of his animals making them ways desirable when put upon the market. he growing of sheep seemed to him to offer emunerative returns, he having made a scien- fic study of the animal, and he became one of le largest sheep growers in the State, dividing nors with the late Jamies Bill, of Lyme, as a ading breeder and successful grower. For any years he was one of the judges of sheep

at the Connecticut State fair and was a familiar figure on such occasions.

During his busy life Mr. Buell bought and sold much land, and always did some farming, but in his later years did not follow it so ex- tensively as formerly, although he could never entirely give up his interest in the soil. Had he gone to the West and followed out his progressive methods of farming he would have made a name and fortune for himself, but the rocky soil of Connecticut never responded as would a more fertile one under the same condi- tions of cultivation.

The death of Mr. Buell was the result of paralysis, and his loss was one felt deeply by the community. His educational advantages had been so meager that he often regretted this lack, yet he possessed so excellent an under- standing that few could ever detect any branch of learning that was not familiar to him, for he studied literature and the Bible constantly. Gifted with a mind of legal bent, if he had early turned his attention to the law he would have had a successful career in that profession, his oratorical powers being great, and his pub- lic discourses logical, and to the point. His excellent judgment, good common sense and general powers of observation caused him to be frequently consulted, and his decision was rarely disputed by his fellow citizens. Mr. Buell was deeply attached to his home and community, and did all in his power to ad- vance their interests, was a generous and loyal friend, and a man of prepossessing personality.

Early in life Mr. Buell was a Democrat in his political opinions, but at the time of his demise was a Republican. His religious. connection was with the Baptist Church, in which he was highly esteemed. The marriage of Mr. Buell, which meant so much to him, was to Nancy M. Bushnell, and was celebrated December 31. 1846. She was born October 31, 1828, in Westbrook, daughter of Col. Aaron and Betsey ( Stannard ) Bushnell, and died March 2, 1900. To this union were born chil- dren as follows: (1) Ellen M. is deceased. (2) Grace is deceased. (3) Ella MR. born An- gust 6, 1854, was married May 12, 1881. by Rev. William Turkington, to Wilson A. Bar- ber, a well-known farmer and tobacco raiser, residing at Windsorville, Conn., and the event was well attended by a large circle of friends from far and near. They have had four chil- dren, Gracie Buell, Olin W., Earle (deceased) ..

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and Ella May. (4) Gracie A., born March 26, 1857, was married September 21, 1882, by Rev. William) Warriner, of the M. E. Church of Clinton, assisted by Rev. Mr. Bliss, of the Congregational Church, and Rev. Mr. Chandler, of the Baptist Church, to Hubert C. Beach, a native of Hebron, Conn., the wed- ding being one of note in social circles. Mr. Beach is a member of Beach & Clarridge, suc- cessful manufacturing chemists of Boston. They have had two children, Cleveland Harvey Buell, and Hubert Buell, the latter dying when two years old. (5) Charles Harvey, died in 1864, when three and one-half years old.

Mr. Buell was socially connected with Clin- ton Grange, No. 77, P. of H., of which he was a charter member, and also with the State Grange, taking a deep and abiding interest in these organizations, and being highly valued in thent. His opinions and remarks were al- ways listened to with approbation, and if he had belonged to the public social clubs his witty and original remarks and anecdotes would have made him a reputation as an after- dinner speaker. Long will he be remembered, and his family feel the honor of having borne his name.

TITUS HALE. For several generations the Hale family has been conspicuous in the social and business life of Portland, Middle- sex county, and the name is typical of sturdy manhood and good citizenship . Titus Hale, the head of the family of whom we write, of Gildersleeve, is a plain, unassuming, country gentleman, after the old fashion, dignified, yet social and genial, with a word of good cheer to all comers to his hospitable home, where the latch-string is ever out, and to which all are welcomed with a warmth that makes one glad he is alive.

The Hales are supposed to have come from Wales, and the earlier generations are said to have been men of uncommon size and strength. In the rough backwoods days, when the stout- est man was the "bully" of the town, a man who bore that name in another community heard of the feats of Mr. Hale of Glastonbury, and came over to try conclusions with him. He met Mr. Hale on the road, with a load of cider barrels, and made known his errand. The latter readily consented, and agreed to meet him the following day. In the meantime he invited him to have a drink of cider; and

knocking out the bung of one of the barrels, took it in his hands by the chimb, and, raising it to his lips, drank deeply, and then invited the astonished stranger to help himself. He declined, and Mr. Hale, replacing the barrel, drove on. That was the last ever seen of the ambitious aspirant, who thought such strength was too much to encounter.

Titus Hale stands pre-eminent among the older business men of Portland, whose lives have been spent in honest trade. Without a record of their deeds and character their names would be lost, and posterity be ignorant of their worth, their learning, and their genu- ine manliness. Tradition soon fails, and is as inadequate as it is unreliable. Mr. Hale de- scends from one of the old Colonial families, and his ancestors appear as land owners in Glastonbury two hundred and thirty-five years ago. Samuel and Thomas Hale were the progenitors of the family, which, while numer- ous in Hartford county, is now scattered all over the United States. Samuel Hale was in Hartford as early as 1637, and served in the Pequot war. His descendants have been very numerous in Glastonbury.

Titus Hale was born March 12, 1824, in what is known as the Matson Hill District, in South Glastonbury, son of Chester and Nancy (Chapman) Hale. Chester Hale was born in what was then Chatham (now Portland), in December, 1794. His wife was born in 1800, in South Glastonbury, and was a daughter of Asael Chapman, who was a ship carpenter, and lost his life by falling from a vessel which he had built, while it was being launched at Log Landing, Glastonbury. When but a young man Chester Hale was thrown on his own resources. He found work in the Port- land stone quarry, and, bearing frugal and in- dustrious, from his savings he secured a start in life. He married when young, and went to housekeeping in South Glastonbury, on the farm where his children were born and reared, and where he resided until the spring of 1854, when he came to live in the home of his son Titus, in Portland, dying there July 28, 1854. When Chester Hale was a young man his pros- pects seemed bright. He had a good physique, an extraordinarily powerful grip, and pos- sessed much more than the ordinary intelli- gence. His great strength, combined with in- dustry and thrift, apparently assured a bright and successful career. But at the very cul-

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

mination of his manly powers, he was pros- trated as the result of overwork, and for years was incapacitated for hard labor. A par- tial recovery was followed by a relapse, which greatly prolonged the period during which he was almost helpless. In the latter part of his life his strength came back to him in a meas- ure, yet his period of activity had passed, and he could not undertake any great and exten- sive labor. During his long illness the noble and beautiful nature of his wife became ap- parent. Her management was excellent, the training of her sons, then growing up, was perfect, and, like the woman of old, "her chil- dren rise up and call her blessed." The family had a good home. Mrs. Hale lived until Feb- ruary 20, 1881, dying in Portland, when eighty-one years old, and was buried by the side of her husband in the South Glastonbury cemetery. Chester Hale was a good citizen, and exercised much influence in his com- munity, and his integrity and honesty were never questioned. Politically he was a Demo- crat. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Chester Hale were as follows: (1) Henry, born in 1820, died in August, 1897, in Glastonbury. He was employed in his early life in the Port- and quarries, carried on general farming for some years in Glastonbury, and was then in the market business for a time, after which he went into tobacco raising. He left two sons and one daughter. (2) Hector died in child- 100d. (3) Titus is the subject proper of this writing. (4) Truman never married. He is me of the successful farmers of Hartford county, and lives in Hockanum. (5) Hudson s a farmer of Portland, Conn. (6) Obed was 1 farmer, and resided in Glastonbury, where le died.

Ephraim ,Hale, the grandfather of Titus, vas born in Glastonbury in 1769, and died March 24, 1842. He was a son of Elisha Tale, who was twice married. Ephraim Hale married Betty Morley, a native of Glas- onbury, born in 1770, and died October 30, 838. Both were buried in the South Glaston- viry cemetery. By occupation he was a armer, and he was a man highly respected by Il who knew him. The following is a brief ccount of his children : Annie married Sam- el Billings, and died in Glastonbury. Betsey tarried Anson Chapman, and died in Glaston- ury. Ruth married Daniel Ackley, of Chatham, and died in Portland. Emily mar-

ried a Mr. Simpson, and lived and died in Glastonbury. Caroline never married. Ches- ter was the father of Titus Hale. William was a farmer, and died in Portland. Josiah died in Glastonbury, where he was a clothier and farmer all his life. The father, Ephraim Hale, was drafted as a soldier in the war of 1812, and his son Chester was en route to the seat of war from New London, as his substi- tute, when news of peace was received.

Titus Hale was reared in South Glas- tonbury, as a farmer boy, and attended school in the Matson Hill District; he remembers Nelson Goodrich and Quentin Cur- tis among his earlier teachers. Work for Con- necticut farmer boys in those days was plentiful, and young Titus soon found his: schooling limited to the few winter months. He had a term of school at the Glastonbury Acad- emy which was all the education he received outside of the district school. He worked some. seven seasons, beginning at the age of seven- teen years, in the Portland quarry, and his parents held his earnings until he was of age. While working in Portland he formed the acquaintance of the young woman who, on December 22, 1846, became his wife, Miss Mary K. Strong, daughter of Kellogg and Almira ( House) Strong. Her father was. a farmer, and resided on the farm where Mr. Hale is now' living, with the widow of his son,. Henry T. Hale. Kellogg Strong was born October 30, 1791, and his wife May 30, 1792.

After leaving the quarry Titus Hale as- sumed the management of his father-in-law's farm, and in this work his business ability be- came quickly apparent. After five years he- purchased the estate, which then consisted of seventy acres, improved it every year, and made frequent additions of the surrounding lands. He bought the Bartlett farin, of 120 acres, and a wooded tract of fifty acres, and. became one of the most extensive landowners of this part of the State, and though he sold- some land very advantageously he owned at one time a magnificent rural estate. It was called the best farm in the county, and its cultivation was conducted with forethought and energy. When he bought his farm it cost him six thousand dollars, and he had nothing left with which to operate and stock it. This. did not discourage him, for two years later he bought more land, at a cost of twenty-two hundred dollars. Mr. Hale was a director of

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the Shaler & Hale Quarry Co. for several vears. He found, as the years crept by, that his interests were becoming too burdensome, and the farm was sold to his two sons, Chester K. and Edward S. He now resides at the old homestead, where he has lived for fifty years. Mr. Hale has had a long and busy career, dur- ing which he has established himself in the esteem of all who know him. He keeps in close touch with the world, and has a surpris- ing command of his bodily and mental powers, for one who has reached his years, after such close and absorbing labors.

Mr. Hale is the father of the following family : Asaph H. is a member of the lumber firm of Strong & Hale, of Portland, and his biography appears elsewhere in this work. Jenny Lind, the eldest daughter, was born March 19, 1851, and died at the age of nine- teen. Chester K. is the subject of a separate sketch in this work. Edward S. Hale, and Harry T., are also mentioned elsewhere.

Mrs. Titus Hale died July 20, 1898. She was a true wife and mother, and a most excel- lent woman in every respect. The character and standing of all the children attest the in- fluence of the parents from whom they sprang, and under whose influence they were reared. Mrs. Hale was a woman of rare business traits, and her husband always found her ad- vice valuable. The golden wedding of Mr. Hale and his estimable wife was celebrated in the room where they were married, and was a grand affair.

Mr. Hale is a public-spirited citizen, and has served on the board of selectmen and the board of relief, and held various minor posi- tions. He is a Democrat on all State and Na- tional issues, but in local affairs demands char- acter and ability, rather than partisanship. Mr. Hale was for years a prominent member of the famous Portland Lyceum, which had a wide reputation as a debating club, being several years its president, has filled a large place in the world, and has exerted a wide influence for good, but finds his greatest com- fort and satisfaction in the honorable standing and fortunate conditions of life that have at- tended all his children.

, WILLIAM FOWLER, magistrate, and the emigrant ancestor of all or most of the Fowlers in Connecticut, arrived in Boston from England June 26, 1637, in company with John

Davenport, Theophilus Eaton, Peter Prudden and "others of good character and fortunes.' He accompanied Mr. Davenport and others to what is now New Haven, Conn., in 1638, was at the famous meeting in Mr. Newman's barn June 4, 1639, when the constitution of the New Haven Colony was adopted, and sub- scribed to that agreement. He afterward moved to Milford, and was one of those tc whom the deed of Milford was given in trus: for the body of planters. Mr. Fowler was chosen one of the first judges of the Colony. In 1643 he was chosen magistrate, and acted until 1654, and he was one of the seven pillars of the Milford Church. His death occurred in 1660.

(II) John Fowler married, in 1647, Mary. daughter of George Hubbard, and in 1649 removed with his father-in-law to Guilford, where he remained. He is mentioned as one of the original proprietors. He was chosen deacon of the church in Guilford; depu- ty to the Colonial Court at 'New Haven in 1661 and 1664; and after the Connecticut and New Haven colonies united, in 1665, he was deputy to Hartford, in the General Assembly, many times. He died September 14, 1676, and his wife died April 13, 1703.

(III) Abraham Fowler, born August 29,, 1652, married August 29, 1677, Elizabeth Bartlett, daughter of Deacon George, of Guil- ford. Mr. Fowler was a carpenter, but a man of talent. He was many times a deputy to the General Court and to the House of Assistants. In 1705 he was appointed a justice of the peace, and one of the judges of the County Court, which station he held until his death, in December, 1720. His wife died October 4, 1742.

(IV) Josiah Fowler, born in 1688, mar- ried January 6, 1723, Hannah Baldwin. He removed to Durham as early as 1714. He was appointed to take care of the public lands, was lister, surveyor and captain. His 400-acre farm is referred to in the records of the town, and he built the largest house in the town, which he ever kept open for hospitality. He died September 7, 1757.

(V) Caleb Fowler, born January 6, 1727, inherited the family homestead in Durham. He married, January 10, 1759, Anna Rose, of North Branford, born September 20, 1735, who had been a school teacher, and he him- self taught a district school, winters, for about

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irty years. Their children received a better lucation than was common in those times. [r. Fowler was a large farmer. He was ninently a pious man, and was regular and ery systematic and methodical in all his habits. uring the war of the Revolution he was an ·dent Whig, took pains to manufacture salt- tre for powder; furnished a soldier for the my for some time; and lent money to the overnment, some of which was still due in 358. He died June 21, 1807, in the eighty- st year of his age. His wife, Anna ( Rose), ed May 10, 1798, in the sixty-third year of er age.

(VI) Reuben Rose Fowler, born in Dur- im June 17, 1763, married March 14, 1790, atherine Chauncy, who was born August 6, 765, daughter of Elnathan and Elizabeth Worthington) Chauncy, the former a descend- it in the fourth generation from the emigrant icestor Charles Chauncy (who came from ngland to Plymouth in 1638, and became the cond president of Harvard College), his line ing through Rev. Nathaniel and Rev. Na- aniel Chauncy.

As mentioned previously, the parents of euben Rose Fowler were both school teach- s, and at fifteen the son himself taught a strict school in Guilford, and afterward else- here repeatedly. So thorough an English ucation did he obtain in the process of time at James Wadsworth, of Genesee, N. Y., mself a highly educated man, said of him at "he understood the English language, in vocabulary and construction, better than any an I ever knew." He also became an excellent 'ench scholar. On leaving Durham he es- folished himself as a merchant in New Haven, here he was successful, and was of the same unding with Titus Street and Abraham adley. With success his views became broad- and his hopes higher. Taking letters from esident Stiles and other gentlemen in New iven, he established himself as a merchant in wbern, N. C. Not finding his business equal his expectations, he returned to Connecticut. purchased a tract of several hundred acres wild land in Whitestown, N. Y., and soon erward commenced clearing a part of it, d after his marriage, in 1790, he went with 1; wife upon his new farm. There he la- ired with good success ; but the climate or the cupation not agreeing with his health, or with 1: tastes of either his wife or himself, he

sold his farm and returned to Connecticut, and for some years resided in Killingworth, now Clinton. There, with Dr. Aaron Elliott, he was engaged in the manufacture of steel. He was also occupied in land speculations in various parts of the country. From 1800 until 1807 he cultivated the home farm in Durham, and in 1809 removed to East Guilford (now Madison), Conn., where he engaged, first in mercantile pursuits, and then in agriculture, and where he continued to reside while he lived.

Mr. Fowler was a man of great energy of character, of great enterprise in business, and of great confidence in his own perceptions of truth and duty. He was discriminating and acute in his judgments, able in argument, and sharp in reply and retort when unfairly pressed. In early life he made a public profession of religion, and became well acquainted with the doctrines and evidences of the Christian re- ligion, and with principles of law and of poli- tics. He was a stanch Federalist, and then a Whig, who never wavered.

( VII) William Chauncy Fowler, LL. D., educator, son of Reuben Rose Fowler, born September 1, 1793, in Killingworth, married, July 21, 1825, Harriet Webster Cobb, daughter of Noah Webster,' LL. D., and widow of Ed- ward Cobb, of Portland. She died March 30, 1844. Their children were: Emily Ellsworth ; Charles Chauncy ; William Worthington; and Webster Winthrop, born March 3, 1835, who died September 1, 1842.

When William Chauncy Fowler was four years of age his parents removed to Durham, Conn., where he was educated until he cn- tered Yale College, from which he was gradu- ated in 1816. While at Yale he studied theolo- gy, and officiated as rector of the Hopkins Grammar School. He became a tutor at Yale in 1819, remaining two years, when he was niade pastor of a Congregational Church in Greenfield, Mass. In 1825 he accepted the pro- fessorship of Chemistry and Natural Philoso- phy in Middlebury ( Vt. ) College, whence lie resigned to take the chair of Rhetoric and Oratory in Amherst College, in 1843. He engaged in various literary labors, and after his marriage with the daughter of Noah Web- ster edited for his father-in-law the university edition of Webster's Dictionary. With all his literary work he found time to serve in the Legislature of Massachusetts in 1851, and in

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the Senate of Connecticut in 1864. He was a voluminous writer and his "English Gram- mar" was extensively used as a text-book in the schools. He died in Durham, January 15, 1881. Mr. Fowler was a member and chair- man of the school board in Durham for twenty- five years, also served as selectman of the town, and, as may be inferred, was public- spirited. He was a gentleman of the old school, and very hospitable.

Charles Chauncy Fowler graduated from Anherst College, and was admitted to the Bar in New York. He married Ella, daughter of Edward Camp, of Durham, and both are now deceased. They had three children, Har- riet Webster, Catherine Worthington and Charles Chauncy, all of whom) now reside in New York City.

WILLIAM WORTHINGTON FOWLER gradu- ated from: Amherst College in 1854, as valedic- torian of his class, was admitted to the Bar in New York, and practiced for fiften years in that city, where he commenced with Schell, Slasson & Hutchins. In 1870 he settled in Durham, where he passed the remainder of his useful life, dying there September 18, 1881. He was active in public life, serving as town clerk, justice of the peace, member of the Sen- ate in 1875, and of the Legislature in 1879-80. However, it was to his literary work that he gave his whole attention, and that had special charm for him. He was a member of the American Philological Society. ..

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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 26

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