Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 7

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 7

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Mrs. Mary D. (Roberts) Wilcox is one of the most respected ladies of the East Long Hill District. She resides in a very handsome dwelling, which she erected in 1892, and where she dispenses a liberal hospitality, heartily en- joying the frequent visits of her many warm friends.

JACKSON. There are residing at Mid- dletown a number of the family bearing this name, among them Robert N., president of the Middlesex Banking Company, and Charles E., second vice-president of the same institution, and of the firm of C. E. Jackson & Co., brokers and dealers in investment securities. They come of distinguished New England ances- try. The widows of the Hon. Ebenezer Jack- son and Commodore Charles Hunter Jackson, and several of the daughters of the latter, of the same ancestry, also make their homes in the city. These two men of note are descend- ed from

(I) Edward Jackson, the first American ancestor of the family, who was a son of Cliris- topher Jackson, and was baptized in 1604-5 in St. Dunstan's Church, Stepney, London, Eng- land. In the summer of 1643 he emigrated to America and settled in Cambridge, Mass. He bought and' sold land largely, owning at his death nearly 1,600 acres. He took the freeman's oath in May, 1645, and immedi- 3

ately became one of the leading men of Cam- bridge. He was deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts for eighteen sessions, between 1648 and 1676. In 1648 he was one, among others, including the Governor, of a commit- tee to revise the Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies. His first wife was named Frances, and in 1648-49, he was married. (second) to Elizabeth Oliver, daughter of John Newgate, of London, England, and Bos- ton, Mass. He died in 1681, his second wife in 1709.

(II) Seabeas Jackson, son of Edward and Frances Jackson, according to tradition, was born when his parents were on their voy- age to America, in 1643. In 1671 he married Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Baker, of Roxbury. He died in 1690.

(III) Edward Jackson (2), son of Sea- beas, was born in 1672, in that part of Cam- bridge which afterward became Newtown. He died in 1748.

(IV) Michael Jackson, son of Edward (2) and Mary Jackson, born in 1709-10, in Newton, married, in 1733, Phebe Patten. He was a tanner by trade. The inventory of his. estate is dated October 27, 1757.

(V) Michael Jackson (2), son of Michael, born December 18, 1734, married, in 1759, Ruth, daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah (Sea- vers) Parker, of Newtown. She was born May 24, 1731. Michael Jackson was a lieutenant in. Capt. Richard Gidley's Company, which went in the expedition to Crown Point, serving from February 18 to December 5, 1756. He was. also lieutenant in a company commanded by Capt. Johnson Moulton, and served from De- cember 13, 1761, to May 27, 1762. Subse- quently he was promoted to captain, and on receiving the news of the intended expedition of the British troops to Lexington and Con- cord, he marched at the head of a company to the scene of conflict, and did good service. On June 2, 1775, he was commissioned major in the regiment commanded by Col. Thomas Gardner, and was in the battle of Bunker Hill. The regiment was the Twenty-Fifth of the Continental Army, and was part of the forces at Cambridge in November, 1775. at which time William Bond was its Colonel and Micli- ael Jackson lieutenant-colonel. The regiment was next ordered to the defense of New York City. Col. Jackson was seriously wounded in the battle at Montressors Island, in the East

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

river, in 1776. On January 1, 1777, Lieut. Col. Jackson was commissioned colonel of the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, which he commanded until June 12, 1783, when he was transferred to the command of the Thirty-Sec- ond Massachusetts. By a resolution of Con- gress, September 30, 1783, Col. Jackson was commissioned brevet brigadier-general, and served until November 3, 1783. The five sons of Gen. Jackson (being his only chil- dren), the youngest less than eleven years of age, enlisted in their father's regiment and served through the war with honor to them- selves and their country. Gen. Jackson and his five sons were original members of the "Society of the Cincinnati." After the war Gen. Jackson returned to his home at New- town, where he died April 10, 1801. His widow died in Middletown, Conn., January 14, 18IO.

(VI) Ebenezer Jackson, son of Gen. Michael, born December 18, 1763, in New- town, Mass., married, July 25, 1792, Char- lotte (Fenwick) Pierce. She was born July 21, 1766, at Charleston, S. C., daughter of Edward and Mary (Drayton) Fenwick, and was the widow of Major William Leigh Pierce, of Georgia. She died April 4, 1819, at Savannah, Ga. Ebenezer Jackson died Oc- tober 31, 1837, at Middletown, Conn. Their children were: Edward F., Mary C., Eben- ezer, Jr., Harriet M., Michael, Charles H., Harriet F., Amasa, Mary S. and George W.

Ebenezer Jackson performed honorable ser- vice in the war of the Revolution, attending his father much of the time. In 1770, at the age of sixteen, he was made quartermaster sergeant, and for six months did the duty of quartermaster and quartermaster sergeant. Soon after this he was appointed a lieutenant in the Massachusetts Regiment of Artillery, in which he served until the close of the war. In 1787 he became a resident of Savannah, Ga., where he was engaged in business. In 1801 he purchased property just outside of the city of Middletown, Conn., and resided at Middle- town, excepting when at Savannah on business.

(VII) Charles Hunter Jackson, son of Ebenezer, born April 30, 1801, at Savannah, Ga., married (first) September 1, 1832, Cath- erine T., daughter of Thomas and Martha C. (Dowdally) Shedden. She was born July 12, 1809, at Newark, N. J., and died at Middle- town, Conn., July 7, 1833. He married (sec-

ond), February 14, 1839, Martha L. Willard, born September 17, 1812, at Washington, N. H. At an early age Mr. Jackson entered the United States Navy. He was appointed mid- shipman in 1818; was commissioned lieuten- ant in 1828, with rank from 1827; was pro- moted to the rank of commander in 1848; and in 1855 was placed on the retired list. In 1867 he was promoted to the rank of commo- dore. He made several voyages to the Medi- terranean, stopping at Matanzas, Havana, Trinidad, Panama, Valparaiso, Callao, Lisbon, Gibraltar Bay, Algiers Bay, Port Mahon, Toulon, Genoa, Leghorn, Naples, and Malta. From about 1819 Middletown, Conn., became his residence when off duty, and there he died August 3, 1878. His child by the first mar- riage was Charles A .; the children by the sec- ond were Catherine T., Mary A. (wife of Rev. Francis Goodwin, of Hartford,) Martha L. and Alice F.

(VII) Hon. Ebenezer Jackson, Jr., son of the soldier, and the father of Robert N. Jackson, president of the Middlesex Banking Company, of Middletown, was born January 31, 1796, at Savannah, Ga. He was gradu- ated from St. Mary's College, Baltimore, Md., and was a law student at Litchfield, Conn. He practiced law about four years in Philadel- phia. In 1827 he removed to Middletown, Conn., just prior to and in the early years of the old Whig party. Mr. Jackson was quite influential in the politics of Connecticut, being the associate of the late Chief Judge Storrs, Gov. Foote, and other eminent citizens of the State at that period. In 1834 Mr. Jackson was the National Republican candidate for senator from the Middletown district, which was then strongly Democratic, but he came within eighteen votes of being elected over a - very popular gentleman, the late Hon. John Stewart, of Chatham. Hon. Samuel A. Foote, who then represented what was known as the Second District in the Federal Con- gress, was at that time elected governor, and i he resigned his place at Washington to be- come the executive of the Commonwealth. An election to fill the vacancy in Congress was ordered, and Mr. Jackson was the Whig candi- date, Hon. Samuel Ingham, later of Essex, being the Democratic candidate. Congress- men were then elected on a general ticket, the whole State voting for them. Mr. Jackson was elected very unexpectedly to the Demo-

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

crats. He took his seat in Congress the fol- lowing December, and served with credit to himself and the State until the close of the session. The next spring he was the Whig candidate for the seat, but there was a sort of Democratic revival in Connecticut that year, and Mr. Ingham was elected. Notwithstand- ing his eminent qualifications for filling high positions in State and Nation, his great popu- larity, Mr. Jackson's sensitiveness inclined him to withdraw from irritating party contests, and although manifesting at all times profound in- terest in political questions of National impor- tance, he seemed to have no ambition to hold office. He represented his town in the Gen- eral Assembly, 1829-1830, 1831-32, and again in 1846, and could have aspired, with reason- able hope of success, to any office within the gift of the people of the State. He was a gen- tleman of high culture and scholastic tastes; polished and courteous in his manners; of the most sensitive honor; and a true Christian. Of attractive manly presence, a graceful or- ator, with a rich tone of voice, he was sure to command the attention and respect of any cir- cle which he should enter.

But as a citizen of Middletown, interested in all that tended to promote the welfare of her people, Mr. Jackson has been best remem- bered by his fellow townsmen. No public im- provement or enterprise had to solicit his aid, for it was always given voluntarily, with hearty earnestness. He was associated with the late Dr. Casey and others in setting apart Indian Hill as a public cemetery ; but we need not here dwell upon his efforts in that associa- tion, for that beautiful city of the dead will speak of his wise influence and cultivated taste for generations to come. Sombre as such a memorial may seem to the untutored mind, there is nothing that more distinguishes the highest type of civilization than the choice dis- played in selecting and the tasteful care given to resting places of departed friends.

Mr. Jackson was a devout and faithful member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. For years he was a member of the vestry of the Middletown parish, and he was frequently a delegate to the diocesan convention, and also a delegate from the diocese to the general con- vention. He was one of the few surviving members of the vestry who held that position when the old church in Broad street was con- secrated. His interest in the Church was

heartfelt and unceasing, and in his death the parish lost a true friend and helper; and the community and State a citizen whose many virtues will long preserve his memory, and whose character any youth may well strive to emulate.

Mr. Jackson was twice married, and his first wife, Eliza Ann, was born at Antrim, Ire- land, July 28, 1801, and died in Middletown, Conn., May 28, 1838. Mr. Jackson married, for his second wife, Hannah S., daughter of Elizur Hubbard.

Charles E. Jackson, son of Hon. Ebenezer, born January 25, 1849, in Middletown, mar- ried in 1873 Miss Evelyn Quintard, daughter of E. A. Quintard, of New York City. Mr. Jackson was educated in St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H., where he was thoroughly prepared for the activities and duties of life. After his school days were over he became engaged as a clerk in a mercantile establish-

ment, and later in a banking office in New York City. For years, associated with his brother, Robert N., he has been identified with the banking business at Middletown. He is the first vice-president of the Jackson Com- pany, and second vice-president of the Middle- town Banking Company, both financial institu- tions of Middletown. Mr. Jackson has other business connections in the city and his reputa- tion in business circles is that of an able and honorable financier, whose business methods and management entitle him to the utmost confidence of the community. As a citizen Mr. Jackson stands deservedly high. He was for years treasurer of the Berkeley Divinity School, and of the Russell Library Company. He is a member and senior warden of Holy Trinity Parish, of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Middletown. Of the eight children born to Mr. Jackson and his wife, seven sur- vive.

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HON. THOMAS RICHARD PICKER- ING, whose death occurred February 21, 1895. was a citizen of prominence in the State of Connecticut and of National reputation, a man whose force of character and true worth brought him to the front. His birth took place in Manchester, England, the family be- ing of Norman ancestry. His father, Thomas Pickering, a mechanical engineer of Manches- ter, came to the United States late in the thir- ties, his family, consisting of his wife and two

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

children, Thomas R. and Mary, following him to this country. Mary is now the widow of William Marshall, and resides at Meriden, Conn. The mother died soon after arrival in the new home, and later Mr. Pickering re- married, William H. Pickering of Hartford, being a son of that union.

For some time Thomas Pickering followed mechanical engineering, but he finally went into the tea and coffee business in New York. His son and namesake was sent to the best schools his father could afford, and as a youth worked for his father in the store, but this did not agree with him, as his natural bent was toward mechanics. When about sixteen years old he obtained employment in the Delameter Iron Works, of New York, and rapidly com- ing to the front in this line, became thoroughly interested, and was soon inventing various improvements, many of which were immedi- ately seen to be of great practical value. Since those days his greatest invention, now known as the Pickering governor, has become known and is in use all over the world. The first mpdel was formed by the youth at his bench, with the crudest of tools, and can be seen in the Patent Office in Washington, with the spring that, for want of a better, the young inventor took from a pair of hoops like those worn by the women of that time. This in- vention proved a success, a company for its manufacture was formed in Portland, the in- ventor being made president thereof, and thus he became known over the country; the Pick- ering governor is now in use on almost every steam engine manufactured.

In 1876 Mh. Pickering was selected by the government as a commissioner to the Centen- nial Exposition, and later was sent to the Paris Exposition, representing the company and his country with the greatest credit. Without re- gard to politics he was again selected, when a commissioner was required to be sent to Australia, and to Vienna, Mr. Pickering being considered the best qualified for the position. During the progress of the Centennial Exposi -. tion Mr. Pickering issued a pamphlet on Con- necticut exhibits that attracted widespread at- tention and increased his fame. When the great Cotton Centennial was held at New Or- leans he was appointed assistant commission- er. He was decorated by the Emperor of Austria with the Order of Franz Joseph, and by the President of France with the cross of

the Legion of Honor. Mr. Pickering never sought political honors, but was elected to the Senate in the fall preceding his death. It was only to please his friends that he had per- initted the use of his name, but while a mem- ber of that august body he did his full duty.

Thomas R. Pickering first married Miss Elizabeth Bird, a native of Hunterdon, N. J., who died in 1865, the mother of two children : Adelaide, the first of these, died in 1890; she married Dr. George Lunney, of Washington, D. C., who died when his child was but three weeks old, and he was adopted by the present Mrs. Pickering, who had his name changed to T. Lunney Pickering; Joseph B., the second, died of typhoid fever, which he contracted at the Centennial Exposition, in 1876, when eighteen years old. The second marriage of Mr. Pickering was to Miss Myra Davis, a na- tive of New Jersey, who had been reared in Virginia, and now lives in Portland, in the ele- gant home where she and her late husband had delighted to dispense a generous hospitality, for the Senator had hosts of friends all over the country and also in foreign lands. Dur- ing the summer season he enjoyed cruising in his naphtha launch "Myra."

Socially Senator Pickering was a member of the Lotus Club, of New York. In business relations he was vice-president of the Mechan- ical Engineers, and vice-president and direc- tor of the Portland National Bank. He was a vestryman in Trinity Church, Portland, of which he had long been a member. Quiet and unostentatious in his manner of living, he was most liberal and gave abundantly to every char- itable enterprise. Portland lost, in the death of Senator Thomas R. Pickering, one of its most useful and distinguished citizens.

SETH H. BUTLER. The Butler family, of which this gentleman is a worthy member, is one of the oldest in New England, the first of the line being Deacon Richard Butler, who in 1632 came to Boston, Mass., from Brain- tree, County of Essex, England. He settled in Cambridge, Mass., and had lands assigned to him, on which he erected a house; he was made a freeman in 1634. He was a member of a church under Rev. Mr. Hooker, and was made a deacon of the first church in Hartford, whither he and an elder brother had removed in 1635, in the company of Rev. Mr. Hooker and Elder Stone. He served as grand juror,

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

for several years, was one of the selectmen of the town, and was repeatedly chosen as repre- sentative to the General Assembly. Deacon Richard Butler was twice married. He died August 6, 1684, in Hartford. He was the an- cestor of the Wethersfield family of Butlers, our subject, Seth H. Butler, being a member of samle.

Stephen Butler, father of Seth H., was born February 9, 1802, in the Maromas Dis- trict, town of Middletown, son of William But- ler, and was reared in his native town, his en- tire education being secured in the district schools there. His work throughout life was for the most part in shipbuilding yards, his specialty being that of a caulker, in which line he took contracts, and in this business he bore an excellent reputation along the Connecticut Valley. After his marriage he resided at Mid- dle Haddam, and there passed the rest of his days, dying April 7, 1852; his widow survived until June 13, 1868, her demise taking place in Middletown, Conn., where she had made her home for some time previous. In his political preferences Stephen Butler was a Democrat, and he was a regular voter, but aside from that he took little or no interest in politics. Taken all in all, he was a man of good reputation, industrious, and respected.

By his wife Nancy ('Higgins), who was born December 28, 1804, Stephen Butler had children as follow's : Alonzo, born April 19, 1821, died February 7, 1890, in East Hamp- ton, Conn .; he was a farmer and mechanic. Otis C., born May 20, 1823, on June 2, 1844, married Sarah Allen; he died January 6, 1872, in Portland. Mary E., born February 24, 1825, married November 12, 1845, J. Payson Van Epps; she died June 10, 1849, in Ben- nington, Vt. Cyrus, born March 6, 1827, married Eliza Jane St. Junior in 1848; he lives in Meriden, and for years was a carpenter. Seth H., born March 5, 1829, is our subject. Stephen H., born December 13, 1831, married August 7, 1853, Clarissa A. Emmons; he re- sides in Middle Haddam, Conn .; for years he was an invalid from injuries received in a cotton mill when comparatively a young man. Harriet D., born September 8, 1834, died Sep- tember 25, 1836. Jeanette T., born August 16, 1838, married January 27, 1857, John H. Evans ; she died November 5. 1874, in Middle Haddam. Theodore T., born January 3. 1843, married January 23, 1867, August R. Clark,

and resides in Meriden, Conn. ; he is a carpen- ter by trade. Harriet M., born November 7, 1844, married October 14, 1869, Ellery C. Gaines; she died October 4, 1876, in Glaston- bury.

Seth H. Butler, whose name opens this sketch, was born March 5, 1829, in the town of Chatham in that. section known as Middle Haddam, and attended the Pine Brook District school of the locality, among his teachers be- ing Horatio G. Chapman, Ezra Gillette, Titus Williams and. Laura Markham. At about the age of fifteen years he worked during one sum- mer as a farm hand for Hezekiah Selden, his wages being $8. per month, and at the end of the season (seven months) had the sum of $56 coming to him, not having drawn a cent of money in all that time. When sixteen years old he entered Goodspeed's store in East Haddam, and there remained until March, 1850, his salary being $60 per annum, with board. So faithfully and efficiently did he per- form his duties that Mr. Goodspeed could not avoid remarking that young Butler was "the best boy he ever had."

In March, 1850, Mr. Butler became book- keeper and general assistant in Gillett's in- surance office, at Springfield, Mass., and in September, 1851, he went to Philadelphia to take a similar position with Alfred S. Gillett, now: president of the Gerard Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia, continuing with him (with the exception of two years which he passed in New York City), similarly engaged, until 1864. In the latter year he came to Mid- dletown and helped to organize the People's Fire Insurance Company, of which he was the manager from 1865 to 1890, for eighteen years acting also as secretary and treasurer. and then for eight years as president and treas- urer. In 1891, after a successful career of forty-one years, the company went out of busi- ness without litigation, and after paying every obligation. For twenty-five years the share- holders had received twenty per cent dividends annually, and were returned three dollars for every dollar invested-a record somewhat un- usual even for a prosperous enterprise.

In addition to the duties attached to his various incumbencies in the insurance concern above mentioned, Mr. Butler acted for a num- ber of years as vice-president of the First Na- tional Bank of Middletown, and in 1893 he became president of the same, continuing as

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

such to the present day. In January, 1897, the old pump manufacturing firm of W. & B. Douglas was in peril. Mr. Butler was made treasurer, and though when he assumed con- trol the treasury was empty, ad there were many debts, he succeeded in liquidating every one of them and restoring the credit of that famous firm. In this and many other instances Mr. Butler has by his timely financial assist- ance and wise council given evidence of strength and efficiency which could not fail to win the hearty approval of his fellow citizens, and his popularity and power in commercial circles needs no explanation. In January, 1900, he became president of the W. & B. Douglas Company.

On October 6, 1851, Mr. Butler was mar- ried to Miss Emily M. Cooper, of Springfield, Mass., born April 15, 1830, a niece of David Bush. Children as follows came to this union : (I) Abbott Goodspeed, born in New! York City, May 14, 1855, married October 16, 1879, Miss Minnie L. Shaw, of Middletown, Conn. He is a resident of Middletown, and is in busi- ness in Hartford. (2) Earle C., born Novem- ber 21, 1862, in Philadelphia, married Octo- ber 21, 1885, Miss Bertha J. Scranton, daugh- ter of S. S. Scranton, of Durham, Conn .; Earle C. is assistant cashier and teller in the First National Bank of Middletown. (3) Dale Dudley, born June 29, 1866, was married De- cember 19, 1895, to Miss Adele McCrea, of Washington, D. C .; he represented Middle- town in the Connecticut Legislature in 1899. He is in the insurance business in Middletown. The mother passed from earth October 25, 1894.

In politics our subject is a Republican, but takes no active interest in party affairs. In re- ligious connection he holds membership in the South Congregational Church of Middletown, with which he united in 1865, and for fifteen years he has been clerk of the church, and for thirty-five years has served as one of the so- ciety's committee; he was a member of the so- ciety's committee when the present South Church edifice was built in 1868.

Mr. Butler has played an important part in the business history of his section, and in his connection with various enterprises has dis- tinguished himself as a financier and manager of unusual acumen and executive talents. For a period of twenty-five years he was promi- nently connected with the People's Fire Insur-

ance Company, which went out of business in 1891, after a long and successful career, and he has held his present position for the past nine years with characteristic ability and the hearty approval of all concerned. He is es- sentially a self-made man, having risen to the substantial position he now occupies by faith- ful service in minor positions, and he is a citi- zen of whom Middletown may well be proud, his straightforward business career furnishing as good an example as can be found in his native county.

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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 7

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