USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Commemorative biographical record of New Haven county, Connecticut, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families, V. I, Pt 1 > Part 14
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From early manhood and all through life our subject took an active part in the affairs of the city and was greatly interested in its welfare. In 1840 he joined the Young Men's Institute, and after- ward served on its committee. At the first meet- ing of the Colony Historical Society he was elected a life member and made a director thereof. In 1835 he became a member of the New Haven Cham- ber of Commence, one of the oldest institutions of the kind in New England, its existence dating back
to 1800. In July, 1837, he was appointed one of the first fire wardens of the city, the fire department having been organized in that year under a board of wardens and engineers, of which he was made secretary. He also served as a member of the common council. He was chosen a director of the New Haven & Derby Railroad at its organization, and in 1875 became vice-president of the road, for years continuing to sustain such relations in the company. In 1877 he was made president of the Yale National Bank, of New Haven, but after one year's service resigned on account of his health.
Politically Mr. English in early life was a Demo- crat, but left that party in 1850. He served as chairman of the first Republican Convention in Con- · necticitt, was soon afterward a delegate from that convention to the National Republican Convention which nominated Gen. Fremont for the Presidency. and there served on the committee on Platforms and Resolutions. He was also a member of the Repub- lican State Central Committee in 1856, and the same year was sent as a representative from New Haven to the State Legislature. In that body Mr. English took an active and prominent part, and was · chairman of the Republican Legislature Census and also chairman of the House committee on State Prisons. During the great Slavery agitation of the time Mr. English was radically opposed to carrying slavery into the Territories and was one of the signers of the famous remonstrance sent at that time by Dr. Nathaniel Taylor and others to Presi- dent Buchanan, calling his attention to the diffi- culty in Kansas. Through all these exciting times Mr. English was in the front of the fight in develop- ing the new party. and was one of the founders of the Republican party in Connecticut. He ever afterward remained identified with that party, was several times its candidate for State senator, and in 1874 was its candidate for lieutenant governor, re- ceiving the full party vote. During the last twenty years of his life Mr. English was an active mem- ber of St. Paul's Church, a member of the vestry, and a generous supporter of the church and its interests.
On April 19, 1848, Mr. English was married to Harriet D., daughter of Philemon Holt. and had four children, Henry, Charles, Julia Adela and Edwin Holt, all of whom are deceased with the ex- ception of his daughter Julia Adela. Mrs. English was born Ang. 16, 1817. in East Haven, and was a descendant in the seventh generation from William Holt, who was born in 1610 and came from Eng- land, settling in New Haven as early as 1644, in which year his name appears of record there. He removed to Wallingford about 1675. He married, probably in England, and his wife's name was Sarah. His death occurred in 1683. Mrs. Eng- lish's line of descent from this first American an- cestor is through John, Joseph, Daniel, Dan and Philemon Holt.
(II) John Holt, son of William the emigrant,
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born in 1645 in New Haven, married, in 1673, Elizabeth, daughter of John and Tabitha Thomas. Hle located after 1721 in East Haven, and died there in 1733.
(11E) Joseph Holt, son of John, born in 1680. in New Haven, married ( first) in 1705 Abigail daughter of Samuel and Sarah ( Cooper) Heming- way.
(IV) Daniel Holt. son of Joseph, born in 1711. in East Haven, married in 1735 Anna, daughter of Samuel and Hannah ( Morris ) Smith. Mr. Holt was one of the prominent men in the town and took much interest in public affairs. Hle died in 1756. (V) Dan Holt, son of Daniel, born in 1744, in East Haven, married in 1765 Anna, daughter of Daniel and Abigail ( Chedrey) Hitchcock. Mr. Holt was lieutenant of a company that went to the assist- ance of New York during its occupancy by the Brit- ish, in 1776. He died in 1829.
(VI) Philemon Holt, son of Dan, born in 1775, married in 1802 Desire Smith, and moved to Fair Haven, Conn. He was a prominent man in East Haven, and held many offices of trust, serving four terms in the Legislature.
EDWIN HOLT ENGLISHI, son of Charles L. and Harriet D. ( Holt) English, was born in New Haven Sept. 28, 1854, and there died Oct. 6, 1899. Mr. English was a man of much character and ability, and would have attained a high place had not all his life been weighted by the burden of ill-health. Edu- cated at French's Private School and the Hopkins Grammar School, he entered Yale College with the class of 1875, but his health failed and he had to leave school. He then entered the offices of Calvin Gallup & Co., in which firm his father was a part- ner. In 1876 he took his father's place in the firm of English & Holt. the name being retained until the retirement of Mr. Holt, in July, 1897, when it became E. H. English & Co.
On Oct. 5. 1882, Edwin H. English was married to Miss Lucy W. Kellogg, daughter of Hon. Ste- phen W. Kellogg, of Waterbury, and spent several months following his marriage traveling in Europe and the far East. During the last years of his life his health was very poor. lung trouble having de- veloped. While facing and fighting with pluck and determination a fatal disease, he was constantly at the head of his extensive business, retaining even in his last days its management in his own hands. Mr. English was a man of much worth, and well liked by all who knew him. He left a wife and seven chil- dren, Lucia, his eldest child, having died May 22, 1892, at the age of eight years. The seven sur- viving children are Marguerite Griswold, Stephanie Kellogg. Charles Leveret, Harriet Holt, Edwin Holt. Katherine Atherton and Frank Kellogg. Mr. English belonged to Center Church and the Quin- nipiac Club, and was a director in the Merchants National Bank. C. Cowles & Co., and the New Ha- ven Colony Historical Society.
COLLINS. The Collins family, of Meriden, are old settlers of New England. Lewis Collins, the founder of the family, a native of England, came to America in the early settlement of the country, locating at Charlestown, Mass,, in 1630, with his four sons, Nathan, John, Albert and Dex- ter. Nathan had two sons, John and Edward.
John Collins was born in England in 1616. came with his parents to New England prior to 1640, and lived in Boston and Braintree, Mass. His wife's name was Susannah. In 1640 he was admitted to the church in Boston, and the same year was made a freeman, and he appears to have been an active and prominent man in the Massa- chusetts Colony, belonging to the Honorable Ar- tillery Company of Boston. His children were John, Susan, Thomas and Elizabeth.
John Collins, son of John, born about 1640 in Boston, was twice married, first, in 1662, to Mary Trowbridge, who died in 1667, and second, in 1669. to the widow Kingsworth. He died at Guilford in 1704. This John Collins was one of the patentees of the town of Guilford, was townsman and school teacher as late as 1702, and as early as 1682 taught a grammar school there. By his first marriage he had children: Mary, John and Robert.
Robert Collins, son of John (2), married Lois Burnett, and their son, also named Robert, married Eunice Foster.
Edward Collins, son of Robert (2), married Susannah Peck, of East Hampton, Ang. 29. 1738.
Daniel Collins, son of Edward, was born Feb. 16, 1741, and married Susannah Lyman, May 17. 1774. They became the parents of six children : Molly, Susannah, Lucy, Aaron, Lyman and Betsey. Daniel Collins, known as Capt. Dan Collins, was a member of the 2d Company, Capt. Havens, in which he was sergeant from May 6 to June 10. 1775. dur- ing the Revolutionary war, and he re-enlisted in 1777, resigning the next year. In 1779, at the time of the New Haven alarm over Gen. Clinton's move- ments, he took part, under Col. Thaddeus Cook, and also, under Capt. Nathaniel Chapman and Capt. Jabez Wright, assisted in repelling Ledyard's in- vasion. In 1780 he was made captain, under Col. William Worthington, and his company, with that of Capt. Vail, was stationed in Guilford to assist in the defense of the coast. In 1818 an Act of Con- gress gave Capt. Collias a pension.
Lyman Collins, son of Capt. Daniel, was a farm- er in Connecticut, and took part in the war of 1812. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Salmon Carter, a cabinetmaker of Wallingford, and three children were born to this union: Aaron Lyman, Charles H. and Lucy A. ( who married N. P. Ives).
CHARLES HINSDALE COLLINS was born in Meri- den Jan. 14. 1823, and was reared in that city, which has been his home ever since, with the ex- ception of two years which he spent in Hartford, gaining experience as a clerk in a yankee notion store. Later he became a clerk in a grocery store.
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in Meriden, where he thoroughly learned the busi- ness and prepared for his successful career in the same line. For fifteen years he conducted a very prosperous business of the kind in Meriden, prior to 1863, and for the ten succeeding years engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods, returning then to the grocery trade. Mr. Collins is now senior member of the well-known grocery firm of Collins & Miller.
In April, 1852, Mr. Collins was married to ; 1635. Ile was a son of Richard Brooks, of Lynn,
Sarah C., daughter of James S. and Millicent A. ( Clark ) Brooks, of Meriden, and one daughter. Sarah Elizabeth, has been born to this union. Miss Collins is a highly cultured lady, and a member of Susan Carrington Clark Chapter, D. A. R., of Mer- iden. The religious connection of the family is with the Congregational Church.
In his political sympathies Mr. Collins is a Re- publican. In his early manhood days he was a member of the local militia. Through a long and honorable business life Mr. Collins has been identi- fied with much of the prosperity of the city, and has ever been a public-spirited and progressive man.
AARON LYMAN COLLINS, brother of Charles H. Collins, was born in December, 1820, on the old homestead, where he grew to manhood and has al- ways resided. For many years he has been associ- ated with the Meriden Cutlery Co., and for forty years was its president, and also, for a number of vears, until its consolidation with the International Silver Co., was president of the Wilcox Silver Plate Co. He married Sylvia, daughter of Rev. Mr. White, of Middlefield, Conn., and his three surviv- ing children are Charles Lyman, Edward John and Benjamin White.
Aaron L. Collins is what may be called a self- made man. His father, Lyman Collins, was a farmer, and lived on the site of the T. F. Breese residence, on East Main street. He owned a large tract of land, though, of course, land valnes were insignificant at that time. Aaron Collins had only a common-school education. When in his twen- ties, with his brother Charles, he started in the grocery business at the "Center." In 1856 he dis- solved partnership with his brother, who is now senior partner of the grocery firm of Collins & Miller, to enter the employ of the cutlery firm of Pratt, Roper & Webb, whose mill was on the site of the Meriden Cutlery Co.'s plant in South Meri- den. In 1846 the business was brought from Maine. where it was established by David Roper in 1832. Julius Pratt and Walter Webb were the other gen- tlemen interested. Nine years later, in 1856, Mr. Collins entered the employ of the company, which in the same year was incorporated under the name of the Meriden Cutlery Co. From then on he made rapid progress, until, in 1878, he was elected to fill the most responsible position, that of president. He has been the executive head of the company since. Mr. Collins is also interested in various other Meri- den industries, and for a number of years was pres- ident of the Wilcox Silver Plate Co., until the ab-
sorption of that company by the International Sil- ver Plate Co. He is also a director of the Home National Bank and a trustee of the City Savings Bank. He is president of the Meriden Grain & Feed Co., of which his son, B. W. Collins, is the manager.
BROOKS FAMILY. (1) Thomas Brooks was one of the first settlers of Hladdam, coming to America | at the age of eighteen, in the "Susan & Ellen," in and married Alice, daughter of Jared Spencer. Their children were: Sarah, Thomas, Mary and Alice.
(11) Thomas Brooks (2), son of Thomas, was married Nov. 16, 1696, and he and his wife Su- sanna had children : Thomas, Abraham, Jabez and Joseph.
(III) Abraham Brooks, son of Thomas (2), born March 12, 1712, married Nov. 5. 1729. and he and his wife Martha had children: Susanna. Martha, Lydia, Jerusha, Jonathan, Abraham and Peter. He was ensign of the 11th Company, in the 7th Regiment : was lieutenant in 1746: captain in 1747; captain again in 1755-1766-1767 ; and deputy to the Assembly in 1757-58.
(IV) Abraham Brooks (2), son of Abraham, born Sept. 16, 1750, married May 4, 1780, Abigail Clark. He served in the Revolutionary war, enlist- ing May 8, 1775, and was discharged Dec. 18. 1775, as a member of Company G. At the call for service he left the plow in the field, his wife and daughters attending to the harvesting. During his service he was taken prisoner and placed on the prison ship "Jersey," from which he escaped by swimming six miles to shore. His children were: Laura, Jerusha, Lydia, Rebecca, Martha, Samuel, James S. and Willard.
(V) James S. Brooks, son of Abraham (2), was born March 1. 1796, and married Aug. 31, IS23, Millicent A. Clark, and their children were: James, Laura, Sarah C., Samuel, Eliza, Colin, Catherine, William, Mary and one whose name is not given.
CHARLES EMMETT GRAVES, a prominent lawyer of New Haven, comes of one of the historic families of the Colonial period of New England. Born Dec. 10, 1830, at Ira. \'t., Mr. Graves is a son of George and Lucretia Adeline ( Collins) Graves, and a lineal descendant in the eighth gen- eration from Thomas Graves, who with his wife and five children came to New England and Hartford as early as 1645, in which year he is of record in Hartford. Conn., which was then his place of resi- dence. The family were intelligent members of society and were prominent in religious and public affairs. Thomas Graves died in 1662, in Hatfield. Mass., whither he had removed in 1661.
From this Thomas Graves our subject's line is through John, John (2), John (3), Nathan, Daniel and George Graves.
Jolin Graves, son of Thomas, the settler, born in
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England, took up his residence in Wethersfield, Conn., where he was made a freeman in 1604. His first marriage was to Mary, daughter of Lieut. Sam- 11el Smith, of that town, and in 1661 he removed to Hadley, Mass. John Graves was a man of probity and education, and was employed to run the bound- ary line between Wethersfield and what is now Middletown, in 1655, and again in 1659. In the at- tack upon Hatfield, Mass., by the Indians, Sept. 19, 1677, he was killed at the same time with his brother, Sergeant Isaac Graves.
John Graves (2), son of John, born in Wethers- field about 1653, married Feb. 12, 1677, Sarah White, who was born in 1661, a daughter of John White, Jr., and his wife Sarah (Bunce). Mr. Graves resided in Hatfield, Mass., and died Dec. 2, 1730, and his wife passed away in 1741.
John Graves (3), son of John (2), born March 28, 1681, married May 5, 1715, Jemima Graves, born about 1693. Mr. Graves died in August, 1716.
Nathan Graves, son of John (3), born March 20, 1716, married Leonard Scott, born in 1726, daughter of Joseph and Lydia (Leonard) Scott, and lived on Chestnut Mountain, in what is now Whately, Mass., where all of his children were born. Himself and sons were famous marksmen and hunters. Nathan died April 2, 1786, and his wife passed away June 7, 1784. Nathan Graves was a soldier in Lieut. Billing's company in the French and Indian war.
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Daniel Graves, son of Nathan, born Sept. 26, 1769, married Sept. 20, 1792, Lois Rice, born July 12, 1768, daughter of Adam and Lois Rice, of Ira, Vt. They removed to Ira, Vt. where Mr. Graves was a prominent man, was captain in the militia, postmaster, member of the Legislature, etc. He died Oct. 11 , 1833, and his wife passed away Jan. 12, 1849, at Louisville, New York.
George Graves, son of Daniel, born Sept. 26, 1803, at Ira, Vt., married, Dec. 17, 1826, Lucretia Adaline Collins, born Sept. 7, 1806, daughter of Deacon Joseph and Arabella ( Bromley) Collins, of Ira, Vt. George removed to Rutland, Vt .. where he was prominent in business, a man of great en- ergy and one who held pronounced anti-slavery views. His business connections were large, and he was well known.
Charles Emmett Graves, son of George and the subject of this sketch, was prepared for college by Rev. Dr. Hicks, in Rutland, Vt., and was graduated from Trinity College, at Hartford, Conn., in 1850. Following his graduation he took up the practice of law in Rutland, and during the Civil war was made chief clerk of the Ordnance Department of
in municipal affairs, for nine years was president of the board of education, being re-elected three times for a period of three years each time; served on the board of aldermen; for two terms he served as councilman, and he was a recognized leader. It was through his efforts that the Normal school was brought to New Haven. For many years he was president of the Young Men's Institute, and his enthusiastic work as its chief executive infused new life, and he materially aided in establishing it in its present location on Chapel street. As a leading member of Trinity Church and its senior warden, he has been a promoter of all benevolent and charitable enterprises. For years he has been a delegate from that church to the conventions of the diocese, and has been sent by the diocese as delegate to the Triennial General Conventions.
In 1858 Mr. Graves was married, in Cambridge, Mass., to Sarah L. Buttrick, a daughter of Eph- raim and Mary Buttrick, the former of whom was a leading member of the Massachusetts Bar. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Graves were: Ed- ward Buttrick, born Jan. 22, 1859, was gra fuated from Yale College in 1881, Yale Law School in 1884, and is now a resident of St. Paul, Minn .; George Heber, born March 25, 1861, was graduated from Yale in 1882, took a course in Sheffield Scien- tific School, married Mary C. Goodsell, and is now a resident of Bridgeport, Conn., where he is super- intendent and chemist for the General Chemical Co .; Walter Greenwood, born May 19, 1865, was graduated from Yale in 1886 and is a resident of Cleveland, Ohio; Charles Herbert, born June 21. 1867, died May 25, 1868; Arthur Collins, born Aug. 2, 1869, at New Haven, Conn., was graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, in 1891, studied law at the Yale Law School in the office of Alling, Webb & Morehouse, of New Haven, and was ad- mitted to the Bar in that city in June, 1893; and Richard Stayner, born March 18, 1872, in New Ha- ven, Conn., was graduated from Trinity College in 1894, was graduated from Yale Medical school in New Haven, in 1896, and now practices his pro- fession in Brooklyn, New York.
Graham was a planter, and also a soldier in the British army, carrying Her Majesty's commission. His son, also named John, and the father of Hon. James Graham, was likewise a Scotchman by birth, although a loyal American by adoption. He was educated in his native country, and after spending
JAMES GRAHAM. The name of Graham is so indissolubly associated with the tales of Scottish struggles and triumphs, so intimately with some of the grandest and most dramatic pages in the history of that noble race, that merely to mention the pat- ronymic is to suggest either Scottish birth or Scot- tish ancestry. Hon. James Graham, of West Ha- ven, came of this distinguished family. His grand- father, John Graham, and also his paternal grand- the Navy, in Washington. Then he returned to . mother, were natives of the "land o'cakes." John Rutland and resumed practice, remaining there 1111- ! til 1867, at which time he removed to New Haven where he was made secretary and treasurer of the American Chemical Co., and in 1880 was made treasurer of Trinity College, a very responsible po- sition. At times Mr. Graves has been very active
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Jums pohon
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some years in Dublin emigrated to the United States, settling in Albany, N. Y., where he died be- fore the birth of our subject. For many years he was a prosperous and successful merchant. His wife, Mary Ann Fair, was a daughter of Sir John Fair. She entered into rest in her sixty-third year. To Jolin and Mary Ann ( Fair) Graham were born five children, the last survivor of whom was the dis- tinguished gentleman whose name appears at the opening of this memoir. Both parents were mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
James Graham was born in Albany Jan. 23, 1831. He attended the common schools in boyhood, receiv- ing a good English education and at the age of sey- enteen entered upon his apprenticeship as a brass founder, rapidly mastering the trade in all its branches and becoming so expert in his chosen pur- suit that on attaining his majority (1852), he was offered the position of foreman in the Branford Lock Works (Squires & Parsons, proprietors), at Branford, Conn. The firm employed a large num- ber of workmen and, while the position was one of great responsibility for so young a man, so credita- bly did he discharge its duties that he filled the post for nearly ten years. At the end of that period, in 1861, through industry and thrift, he found him- self in a position to open a foundry of his own in New Haven. For thirty-nine years he was engaged in the same line of business in that city and enjoyed the distinction of being the oldest as well as one of the most successful manufacturers in New Haven. The foundry of Messrs. James Graham & Co., lo- cated at No. 293 Wooster street, was a large, sub- stantial structure of brick, three stories in height, and was erected in 1874. The offices of the firm were formerly at No. 292, directly across the street, but later were removed to the foundry building. A large number of hands were employed, and the out- put of the works embraced brass castings of all de- scriptions. In 1868 Mr. Graham built the beautiful home now occupied by his son.
Mr. Graham's keen sense and sound judgment, no less than his unassailable probity and genial, generous temperament, made him one of West Ha- ven's most esteemed and popular citizens. In all public affairs, religious, commercial and political, he took a conspicuous and influential part. He and his family were earnest, consistent members of the Congregational Church, to which he was a liberal contributor. Among the various important mer- cantile enterprises with which he was prominently identified as director, or officer, or both, may be named the following: The Boston Buck Board & Carriage Co., of which he was a director and vice- president ; the Evening Leader Publishing Co., in which he filled the president's chair ; the West Ha- ven Water Co .; and the Winchester Avenue Elec- tric Street Railway Co. He was also a director in an extensive mining company which is developing property in the Alaska gold fields. Socially he was a director of the Samosett Club, and belonged to the
Union League Club and the Young Men's Republi- can Club of New Haven. In politics he was a Re- publican, active and influential in the councils of his party, was one of the incorporators of the Republi- can League, and at one time was its president. Ilis first vote was cast for John C. Fremont for Pres- ident, in 1856. Mr. Graham was a delegate to State conventions from 1891 until his death, and in 1896 was the delegate to the National Convention at St. Louis which nominated the late President McKin- ley. That year he was also on the Connecticut Pres- idential Electoral ticket and was selected to carry the vote of the State to the Electoral College at Washington. His fellow citizens of his town and district (which comprises nine towns in New Ha- . ven county) honored both him and themselves by elccting him to various offices of weighty trust and grave responsibility. in all of which he displayed rare acumen and scrupulous fidelity. For two terms -during the 'seventies-he held the office of sc- lectman for the town of Orange, and for nine years was assessor, warden and burgess of West Haven. In 1878 he was chosen a member of the Lower House of the Legislature and was re-elected in 1885 and again in 1886. In 1887 he was made State Senator and again in 1889. To the discharge of his public duties he brought the same sound, dis- passionate judgment and the same unwavering in- tegrity with which he had met every other obligation of life. While serving in the House he was thrice made chairman of the committee on Railroads and during two sessions filled the same important posi- tion in the Senate. It was at this time that the memorable "parallel fight" absorbed the committee's attention. He also held the chairmanship of the committees on Military Affairs, on Fisheries and ou License. His death, which occurred March 19, 1900, removed one of the invaluable public men of the State.
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