Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 79

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 79


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his attention to dairy farming, and is doing it thoroughly. In politics Mr. Chapman is a Republican, and takes a deep interest in edu- cational matters. He has served on the board of education for years and also on the board of relief, in 1874 represented his town in the State Legislature, and was on the Finance committee. All the family are members of the Congregational Church, of which Mr. Chap- man has been a deacon since 1875, and he was Sunday-school superintendent from 1889 to January, 1901.


John and Sarah Tully, children of John and Sarah (Fenner) Tully, came with their widowed mother to America from Horley, England. The mother was born in 1620. She married, after her arrival in this country. Robert Lay, and Sarah, the daughter, mar- ried a Mr. Dennison soon after her arrival. John Tully went back to England, to take care of the family fortunes, but was treated as an imposter, and with much difficulty secured what was due him. He was born in Septem- ber, 1638.


John Tully, who settled in this country, was the publisher of Tully's New England Almanac, a publication found in almost every household, and copies of which are still in existence. In 1671 he married Mary Brant- dren, daughter of William Brantdren, of the County of Cumberland, England, and to them were born: (1) John was lost at sea. (2) William, born January 5, 1672, died July 5, 1744. He is next in the ancestral line. (3) Sarah died unmarried. (4) Lydia married John Smith, and had a daughter, Lucy, who married Andrew Beach, of Branford. (5) Mary married Daniel Clark, of Haddam. (6) Deborah. (7) Lucy. (8) Hepsibah.


William Tully married Abigail Maverick, of Boston, Mass., who was born in September, 1675, daughter of a clergyman who left Eng- land in times of persecution, and died Decem- ber 9, 1750. They were the parents of the following children : John : Margaret; Abigail, who married Capt. John Lee, and had two children by him, Eunice and Andrew; Will- iam; Lydia, who married Humphrey Pratt, and became the mother of Humphrey, Will- iam, Lydia, Elias and Andrew ; Elias, the next in the ancestral line; Sarah, who married Capt. Joseph Buckingham, and became the mother of six children, Sarah, Esther, Margaret, Lou-


H. WBulkly


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isa, Abigail, and Annie; Mary; Samuel, the "honest shoemaker"; and Daniel. William Tully, the father, followed shoemaking all his life.


Elias Tully, son of William, born January 17, 1714, died July 19, 1773. He married Nancy Pratt, who was born in the Parish of Pettipaug, Essex, Conn., July 17, 1715, and died April 26, 1800. Their four children were : (1) Samuel, born May 2, 1750, died March 2, 1827; (2) Elias, the next in the ancestral line, was born July 30, 1752; (3) Mercy, born April 14, 1755, died August 26, 1775: (4) Eunice, born August 5, 1758, died February IO, 1815.


Samuel Tully, the eldest son of Elias, mar- ried February 6, 1783, Sarah, youngest daugh- ter of his uncle, John Tully, and had children as follows: Sarah, Mary Barker, John, Sam- tel M., Eunice and Sophia.


Elias Tully, born July 30, 1752, married Azubah Kirtland, daughter of Deacon Sam- nel Kirtland, and their children were: Polly; Mercy ; Betsy: Azubah; Lucia, the mother of Robert Chapman (she was born May 15, 1791) ; Harriet; and Lydia, who married Will- iam Rufus Clark. Elias Tully married, for his second wife, Lydia Buckingham, and they had two children, Jenette and Ann.


HENRY WILSHIRE BULKLEY, a substantial and much respected citizen of Cromwell, was born September 28, 1833, and is in the seventh generation from Rev. Peter Bulkley, the line of descent being through Rev. Gershom, Edward, Jonathan, Stephen and Burriage Bulkley.


The Bulkley family in Connecticut is one of the oldest in the State. The American an- cestor was Rev. Peter Bulkley, B. D., of no- ble descent, being in the tenth generation from Robert Bulkley, Esq., one of the Eng- lish barons. Rev. Peter Bulkley was born in 1583, a son of Rev. Edward Bulkley, D.D., and was educated at St. John's College, Cam- bridge. Succeeding his father as minister in his native town, Woodhill, Bedfordshire, he was on a fair road to prosperity and honor. This he gave up for liberty of thought and conscience, and came to Massachusetts, settling in Concord, where he became an extensive land owner.


Gershom Bulkley, son of Rev. Peter by his 28 X


second wife, Grace Chetwood, was born in 1636, and married Sarah Chauncey, becoming father to


Edward Bulkley, son of Gershom and Sarah, married Dorothy Prescott, and died at Weth- ersfield, Conn.


Jonathan Bulkley, son of Edward, was born in 1716, and married Abigail Williams in 1746. They were the parents of Stephen Bulkley, grandfather of Henry Wilshire.


Stephen Bulkley was born in 1749. He was twice married: Martha Marsh, his first wife, died in 1804, and in 1805 he married Su- san Riley. His death occurred in 1813. By his first marriage he became the father of eight children, as follows: Honor, Stephen, Catherine, Katie, Stephen, Allen, Frederick and a daughter ( name not given). The chil- dren by his second marriage were: Burriage and Wait. Mr. Bulkley was a farmer, a mill- er, and a baker. He lived in Rocky Hill, Conn., and led an honorable and useful life, For two years he served in the War of the Revolution, and furnished a substitute for the remaining years.


Burriage Bulkley, son of Stephen and fa- ther of Henry Wilshire, was born December 22. 1805, in Rocky Hill, where he attended district school, and the Rocky Hill Academy, becoming a fine scholar and an excellent pen- man. He was a man of varied occupations. followed fishing in the spring, farmed in the summer, and in winter kept books for Roder- ick Grimes, a store keeper in Rocky Hill. In his later years he was a time-keeper, a book- keeper and a mechanic in the shop of Butler & Sugden, shear makers at Rocky Hill. in which town he died. On April 3. 1832, Mr. Bulkley was married to Caroline Miller, who was born in Cromwell, a daughter of Joseph and Jemima (Johnson) Miller, farming peo- ple of Cromwell. To this union were born the following children : Henry Wilshire: an infant unnamed: Albert, born Janu- ary 26, 1838, was drowned in the Connecticut river August 16, 1845: Mary, born Septem- ber 19. 1840: Joseph, born November 3. 1843. married Emma Whitmore, and died in Rocky Hill; and Caroline, born March 4. 1846, mar- ried Frank Davenport, and lived in Auburn, Ind., where she died.


Henry Wilshire Bulkley was born in the northern part of Cromwell. at the home of his


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grandfather, Joseph Miller, where he received a common school education. After the age of ten years he was an inmate of the grandfa- ther's home, and worked on his farm until he was seventeen years of age. At that age he entered the shop of J. & E. Stevens, to learn the molder's trade. He served an apprentice- ship of three years, and for a number of years following worked in that shop as a molder. In maturer life he bought a turning shop, and giving employment to several men, was engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of handles. For a time he conducted the busi- ness and then sold out to William P. Allison, and worked for him in the winter season. In the summer he farmed and teamed, making money rapidly. After a year passed in this way he left the turning shop, and devoted his entire time to farming and teaming. Mr. Bulkley went West in 1878 and worked in Illinois as a joiner for about a year, when he returned to his native State, and took charge of the farm, where he is found at the present time. The house in which he lives he put up in 1860. The farm contains about thirty-five acres, situated in the Nooks, and is a very in- viting place.


Mr. Bulkley was married first to Ellen M. Butler, a native of Cromwell, and a daughter of Sylvester Butler. To this union came two children : Herbert S., who died in infancy ; and Wilbert S., born August 5, 1875, who is engaged in a Cromwell livery, and who mar- ried Kate Dane, October 5, 1897, and by whom he has two children, Ellen May (born May 5, 1898) and Alice (born December 7, 1899). Mrs. Ellen M. Bulkley died November 19, 1890, and on January 17, 1895, Mr. Bulkley was married to Mrs. Loretta Southwick, who was born November 4, 1840, and was the widow of Lyman Southwick, a merchant of Cromwell, who died November 28, 1888. Mrs. Bulkley is the daughter of Alfred H. and Lo- retta ( Robinson) Bailey. Mr. Bulkley is a Re- publican, but has refused town offices. He is a member of the Congregational Church, and his wife is a Baptist. All his life he has been industrious, and he is much respected in the community.


NORMAN S. BOARDMAN has an hon- ored ancestry in New England, where the fam- ily was established by Samuel Boreman. He


was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, son of Christopher and Julian ( Carter) Bore- man, came in the ship "New Supply" from Gravesend, England, in 1638, and was first of Ipswich. He removed to Wethersfield, Conn., in 1641, and about this time married Mary, daughter of John and Mary Betts. Mr. Boreman was for many years selectman, and was deputy to the General Court in 1657 and many times after that, in all being elected for eighteen terms. His death occurred in 1673, and his wife, Mary, died in 1684.


(II) Lieut. Jonathan Boreman born Feb- ruary 4, 1660, in Wethersfield, married Oc- tober 22, 1685, Mercy Hubbert (Hubbard), daughter of John, and had part of the home lot, which he later exchanged for land in Rocky Hill. He held several offices, was ensign and lieutenant of the trainband, and also select- man. He died September 21, 1712.


(III) Jonathan Bordman (2), born May 16, 1697, married June 30, 1725, Mabel Holmes, who was born May 20, 1693, daugh- ter of Jonas and Sarah Holmes. For years, from 1716, Mr. Bordman was a school teacher in Stepney Parish. His first wife died No- vember 15, 1741, and on March 10, 1743, he married Elizabeth Beckley. He died Decem- ber 25, 1775, and his widow, Elizabeth, died August 30, 1776.


(IV) Capt. John Bordman, born Decem- ber 5, 1729, in Rocky Hill, was a seafaring man. He became a master of vessels employed in the West Indies trade, and was lost at sea. His first marriage was to Grace Riley, who was born July 5, 1730, daughter of Stephen and Abigail Holmes, of Rocky Hill. She died December 17, 1754, and he married Elizabeth Warner, daughter of Capt. John. She died March 17, 1825.


(V) Jason Boardman, the grandfather of Norman S., born January 16, 1762, was, like his father, a sea captain, succeeding to the homestead and to his father's seafaring busi- ness. He commanded vessels, and besides be- ing employed in the West Indies trade he is said to have owned a line of packets which sailed regularly from the Connecticut river to Richmond, Va. He died February 6, 1844. On July 7, 1784, he married Hepsibah Curtis, daughter of Deacon Thomas Curtis. On Jan- uary 3, 1808, he wedded for his second wife Lydia Deming, and to this union were born


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four children: Jason, Norman, Mary Jane (who married Thomas Williams) and Luther.


(VI) Luther Boardman, the father of Norman S., was born in Rocky Hill, Conn., De- cember 26, 1812. Beginning his career in the world as a poor boy, without relatives or friends, unaided he in time became one of the wealthy men in East Haddam. During the winter months he attended school, in Meriden, Conn., until he was sixteen, when he became an apprentice to Ashabel Griswold, the uncle of the young woman who afterward became his wife. Mr. Griswold was engaged in the Britannia ware trade in Meriden, Conn. Mr. Boardman remained with this em- ployer until he was of age, when he


went to Reading, Mass., and took charge of a similar business owned by Bird Yale. At the end of a connection of three years with this establishment he became its proprietor. In 1837 he returned to Meri- den, and subsequently removed to Chester, Conn., where he established himself with Rus- sell & Beach, manufacturers of Britannia and hollow ware, soon beginning for himself the manufacture of spoons in the same place. In 1842 he removed to East Haddam, where he engaged in the manufacture of plated ware, in that year taking possession of the ground in East Haddam, where he erected his ex- tensive factory, devoted to the making of plated flat ware. In 1865 he built a new shop, 100x40 feet, introducing a turbine wheel and a thirty-horse-power steam engine. The plat- ing of Britannia ware was commenced in this shop in 1856, and in 1866 the manufacture of nickel silver ware goods was begun. On January 1, 1864, Mr. Boardman's only son, Norman S., was admitted to the firm. Mr. Boardman was one of the original proprietors, the largest stockholder and the first vice-presi- clent of the Connecticut Valley Railroad. For a number of years he was land commissioner of the road, and as such assisted in its con- struction. He was also one of the original incorporators and a large stockholder in what is now the National Bank of New England. In 1862 and 1865 he represented his town in the State Legislature, and. he was one of the Presidential electors at the election of Gen. Grant for his first term.


Luther Boardman was married October 18, 1838, to Lydia Ann Frary, and to this


union came one child, Norman S., born Au- gust 5, 1840, now at the head of the business, which is still carried on under the firm name of L. Boardman & Son. Luther Boardman passed away March 29, 1887.


THE FRARY. FAMILY was founded in America by Ensign Eliezer Frary, of Hartford, Connecticut.


(II) Lieut. Samuel Frary, born April 15, 1674, married Sarah Boardman, of Cromwell, and settled there.,


(III) Joseph Frary, born in 1696, died May 13, 1767. His wife was named Han- nah.


(IV) Samuel Frary (2), baptized August 8, 1742, was married, in Middlefield, to Lucy Ward, and their children, all born in Crom- well, were: Samuel, Lucy (who married Ashabel Griswold), James A. and Elisha Ward. The father died at the age of eighty- four years. He served on a man-of-war in our infant navy.


(V) James Ashabel Fray, born in Meri- den, Conn., baptized October 1, 1780, settled in Meriden, and died in 1820. He married Ann Taylor of Middle Haddam, who was born in 1789, daughter of Jeremiah and Lucy Tay- lor, and died in 1840. James A. Frary was a tailor, and, following the fashion of the times. traveled from place to place, and it is supposed he was murdered while journeying thus. His children were: ( 1) Cordelia, who married Ira Couch; (2) James, who married Susan Ben- ham: (3) Lydia Ann, Mrs. Luther Boardman ; and (4) Roxanna, who married William W. Lyman. Lydia Ann, the mother of Nor- man S. Boardman, was born in 1815, and is still living, at the age of eighty-seven years. Re- cently her beautiful home was filled with friends, who gathered to celebrate her birtli- day, on which occasion she officiated as hostess. an art which she has not lost.


Norman S. Boardman spent his early school days in East Haddam, up to the age of ten, when he went to the private school of Miss Hattie B. Wood, of Saybrook, Conn. Later he attended Rev. C. W. Everest's Mili- taly Academy, in Hamden, Conn .. Chase's In- stitute, in Middletown. and French's School, ou Wall Street, New Haven. As previously stated. he is now at the head of the business established by his father. The factory is now making only plated flatware, such as forks,


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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


spoons, and similar articles. Mr. Boardman is a director of the National Bank of New England. Fraternally he is a member of Co- lumbia Lodge, No. 26, F. & A. M., and of Middlesex Lodge, No. 3, 1. O. O. F. In re- ligious faith he is an Episcopalian, and he is a vestryman in his church.


Norman S. Boardman was married, De- cember 25, 1863, to Mary Green Warner, daughter of Daniel B. and Mary Ann (Green) Warner, and to them came two children : Eu- gene and Grace Warner, the latter born Jan- uary 21, 1875. She is now the wife of B. L. Lawton, a telephone manufacturer in Meriden, Conn., and has two daughters, Mary and Dorothy.


THE WARNER FAMILY had its beginning in this country in the arrival of Daniel Warner from Scotland with three brothers. He set- tled in Massachusetts in 1640. John Warner was one of the first five settlers of the town of Haddam. Daniel Warner, born in East Had- dam, married Nancy Brainerd, of that town, and they became the parents of eight children, namely : Phebe Ann, Daniel B., Elijah, Bet- sy R., Floretta, Jenette, Catherine and John.


Daniel B. Warner, son of Daniel, was born March 24, 1807, in East Haddam, where he died at the age of eighty-four years. He was educated in the public schools, except for two months which he spent in the private school of Peter G. Clark. When a young man he moved to Clinton, Mich., where he carried on a mercantile business. After his return he engaged in shipbuilding, and in his later years devoted himself to the business of handling native woods. He began dealing in ship lum- ber in 1828, and for ten years was engaged in that line, when he began to build ships, which he continued successfully for twenty vears, and many of the largest ships in the United States in that time were constructed in his yards. The "Chauncey Jerome, Jr.," built in 1851, registered 2,000 tons. Mr. Warner was elected to the Legislature in 1849, and again in 1880. Elected to the Sen- ate in 1852, he took a prominent part in its de- liberations, and was elected president pro tem, of that body on account of the accession of the lieutenant governor to the gubernator- ial chair. For three years Mr. Warner was county commissioner, and for many years was postmaster at East Haddam. A


director of the East Haddam Bank, when that institution became embarrassed in 1865, on account of the sudden death of its cashier, he was made its president, and closed its busi- ness in a most gratifying manner. During his early life he was much interested in military affairs, and was at one time on the staff of Gen. Oliver Warner. In 1837 Mr. Warner married Mary Ann Green, granddaughter of James Green, who manufactured muskets for the Revolutionary Government in the Ameri- can struggle for independence, and daughter of Oliver and Damaris Green, and they were the parents of the following named children: Charles B., born in 1839, is now a lumber and coal dealer of East Haddam. Mary Green, born August 6, 1842, is the wife of Norman S. Boardman. Sidney B., born in 1848, re- sides on the old homestead in East Haddam. Georgiana L. was born April 3, 1852. Jenette L., born September 22, 1854, married H. M. Morgan.


EUGENE BOARDMAN was born May 15, 1865, in East Haddam, where he attended pub- lic school until he was nine years old, when he went to Seabury Institute, at Saybrook, . Conn. In 1882 he graduated from Cheshire Military Academy, and entered the plating works as assistant in the office, interesting him- self in all branches of the business, to prepare himself for the management when it should eventually come into his hands. On Janu- ary 1, 1900, he was admitted as a partner in the company with his father. He is also a director of the National Bank of New Eng- land. In politics Mr. Boardman is a Republi- can. He has been a member of Columbia Lodge, No. 26, F. & A. M., since 1896, and since he was twenty-one years of age has been enrolled in Middlesex Lodge, No. 3, I. O. O. F. He attends the Episcopal Church of East Haddam.


Mr. Boardman was married November II, 1891, to Gertrude Douglass, daughter of Charles and Abbie (Keney) Douglass. Her father was a native of East Haddam, and died when comparatively young. Mrs. Boardman, their only child, was born September 29, 1869. Her mother was previously married to J. Ray- mond Mayer, by whom she had chil- dren as follows: J. Raymond, of Brook- lyn; Annie Elouisa, who married Sim- eon E. Theus, of Savannah, Ga .; and


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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


Edward F., of Brooklyn. Mr. and Mrs. Board- man are the parents of Norman Douglass, born September 20, 1893, and Lydia, born January 19, 1896.


JAMES A. JONES, one of the enterpris- ing business men of Deep River, Middlesex county, whose name is closely identified with the history of the New England States, was born May 22, 1845, at Tremont, Tazewell Co., Ill., a son of Ansel and Eliza Gilbert (Noe) Jones.


The American ancestor of Mr. Jones was Thomas Jones, who came to America in 1650, and doubtless was an early settler at Saybrook. The records show that his son Samuel was constable at Saybrook in 1669 and one of the freemen, as he signed the list of the freemen in the town April 8, 1669. Samuel Jones was prominent man and in 1663 was appointed to assist in the settlement of the boundary line between Saybrook and Killingworth. The di- rect line from Samuel Jones is through Thom- is, Sr., whose son Thomas, Jr., lived in Say- rook and had a son Daniel, whose son Dan- el, Jr., was the great-grandfather of our sub- ect.


Daniel Jones, Jr., was born in Saybrook in 1750, and removed to Killingworth October 19, 1773. He bought property of Oliver Hull, of Clinton, and located on Roast Meat Hill, n what is now Killingworth, near the present Morton Franklin place and became a land own- r of considerable note. He, together with his wo brothers, Eliday and Stephen W., served n the Revolutionary war. Both Eliday and Stephen W. were massacred at Groton in 781. Daniel, Jr., served his time, and re- urned to his home in Killingworth.


Elnathan Stephens, an ancestor of our sub- ect, and a resident of Killingworth, where he vas a leading citizen, had seven sons in the french and Indian war, serving in Capt. Peleg Redfield's company.


Ansel Jones, son of Daniel, Jr., and grand- ather of our subject, was born at Killing- vorth, and there grew to maturity, and mar- ied Charlotte Griffin, of Clinton, Conn. After er death he married Deborah Clark. To his rst marriage were born: Griffin, Edwin E., insel and James E. ; and to his second, Sam- el, Horace, George W., Meritta and Lydia inn. During his life Mr. Jones followed farm-


ing as an occupation, also conducting a gen- eral store, and was very successful. Polit- ically he was a stanch Whig.


Ainsel Jones, son of Ansel, was born Oc- tober 23, 1804, in Killingworth, near Chester, where he resided until he attained the age of sixteen, when he began to learn the trade of carpenter at Clinton. Later he went to New York City, where he remained twenty-one years, plying his trade. . In 1844 he migrated to Tremont, Tazewell Co., Ill., but after en- gaging in farming there for six years, he lo- cated at Deep River, Conn. In 1852, he re- moved to Clinton but in 1856 returned to Deep River where he died January 12, 1893, deeply mourned. His political principles were those of the Republican party, and he was honored by election to numerous local offices, the duties of which he discharged in a very satisfactory manner. During his residence in New York City, about 1828, Mr. Ansel Jones was married to Eliza Gilbert Noe, born in Eng- land in 1810, a member of a distinguished English family; she died at Deep River in 1877. To Mr. and Mrs. Jones were born : Mary Frances (deceased), married John H. Wilcox; Charlotte Elizabeth; Minerva Lou- ise, married H. N. Barnes (deceased), of Deep River; Eliza died in Illinois, aged four years; and James A.


James A. Jones enjoyed the advantages of the excellent eastern schools, his parents hav- ing returned to Connecticut when he was but five. His education was completed by a two years' course at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Mass. His first entry into the bus- iness world was as a dry goods clerk in Hart- ford, but at the end of six months his health broke down and he returned to Deep River, where he engaged in work in a paper box fac- tory. He was thus employed for two years and he then embarked with the Deep River Luniber Company, becoming a stockholder, and continuing this connection until 1893. At this time he engaged in the guano business at Long Island. and was also interested in brush-making at Chester. In 1896, with his son and Thomas Niland. one of the most experienced cit glass man- facturers of the State. he formed the Niland Cut Glass Company, but as Mr. Niland withdrew shortly after the organiza- tion of the company, Mr. Jones and his son


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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


have very successfully carried on the business, their enterprise being one of the important in- dustries of Deep River.


On January 8, 1871, Mr. Jones married Hannah Shailer Rogers, a daughter of Calvin B. and Hannah Rogers, the former of whom was identified with the ivory trade all of his life. To Mr. and Mrs. Jones have been born : Ansel Rogers, February 4, 1875; and Rosa- belle, February 24, 1880. Since he was sev- enteen, Mr. Jones has taken a deep interest in politics, his convictions causing him to cast his influence on the side of the Republican party. When but twenty-eight, he was se- lectman, and prior to that had held the office of registrar and town agent. Mr. Jones was deputy sheriff under Thomas Brown from February, 1894, to June 1899; in 1891, he represented the town in the General Assembly, serving on the committee on claims, and he introduced the first wide tire bill, which was passed at a subsequent session of the General Assembly, and has since been copied and adopted by several other States-a most ex- cellent and badly needed piece of legislation. In 1896 Mr. Jones was appointed State Aud- itor by Gov. O. V. Coffin. Fraternally he is a member of Trinity Lodge, No. 43, F. & A. M., of Deep River, and Burning Bush Chap- ter No. 29, of Essex. Few men have taken a deeper interest in the upbuilding of Deep River than Mr. Jones, and to his persevering efforts the town is greatly indebted for its fine high school building. He is widely known and highly respected not only for the promi- nence he has attained in the political field, but also for the business acumen he uses in every day life, and the public spirit which he dis- plays upon every occasion.




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