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 26

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1040

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 26

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They are now located at Nos. 396-398-402-404 Sate street, and do a whole- sale and retail business, selling goods all over Con- necticut, and doing the larger part of their business outside of the city. Mr. Thompson is Independent in politics, and has served as councilman from the Fifth ward. Fraternally he is a member of Hiram Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M., the Red Men and the Sterling Lodge, A. O. U. W. On Oct. 11, 1882. he married Mary H. Hubbell, who was born in Bridge- port, daughter of Albert Hubbell, of that city, and they have two children, Frederick and Harold. Mr. Thompson and his family attend St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Mrs. Thompson is a member of Mary Clapp Chapter, D. A. R. (3) Frederick A. is now in Arizona, where he is engaged as a clerk; he married Mary Ainer, of Scranton, Pa. (4) Charles P. is proprietor of the "Thompson Shop." He married Lucy Lake and they have two sons, Charles P., Jr., and Paul. The Thompsons are identified with the Episcopal Church.

Elihu Ives. the father of Mrs. Thompson. was born in New Haven, where his father, Dr. Eli Ives, practiced medicine throughout his active life. be- ing one of the best-known practitioners of his day. He attended to his professional duties until his death, at the age of seventy. He served as surgeon during the American Revolution. When New Ha- ven was invaded he sent two of his children, Elihu being one of these, to his father in North Haven,

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

while he was away assisting in the defense of the town. They had a silver tankard, which was thrown down the well to save it from falling into the hands of the British, and which they afterward recovered and made into table spoons, etc. Elihu Ives was reared in New Haven, and commenced business life there as a merchant, but he was after- ward engaged in dealing in Merino sheep, in Ohio, under the patronage of David Humphreys, and in his later life he kept the light at Lighthouse Point, being thus occupied for twenty years. He was a great traveler, especially for his time, had crossed the Rocky Mountains eighteen times, and was widely and favorably known in this section. He died in New Haven at the age of seventy. Elihu Ives married Lucy Whittemore, a native of Derby, and they had ten children, of whom Lydia, Mrs. Thompson, is the only survivor. Mrs. Lucy Ives died at the age of seventy.

CATLIN. The family of this name at Meriden, of which the late Benjamin H. Catlin, M. D., a dis- tinguished physician and prominent citizen of the city, was the head, and where still resides his son, William H. Catlin ( secretary and treasurer of the Meriden Savings Bank), and family, is a branch of one of the oldest and most prominent families of Connecticut.

Going back to the mother country, we find the family name is frequent at Newington, Rochilan, County of Kent, England. They have held prop- .erty in that county since the Norman Conquest. "R. de Catlin was one of the followers of William the Conqueror, and is mentioned in 'Domesday Book' as possessing two Knight's fees of land at the time of his succession in the County of Kent, and several individuals of the same name appear in Eng- land as honorably employed in the King's service. Sir Robert Catlin was knighted for honorable ser- vice at the battle of Agincourt under Edward, the Black Prince, and the Catlin coat of arms is that granted to him" (Hinman's "Puritan Settlers," p. :869). The Arms are: Per chevron Or and Azure. Three lions passant guardant in pal. counter charged in chief, Argent. Crest: A leopard's head couped at the neck, Argent, ducally collared and lined, Or, reguardant. Motto: Semper fides. [English Annals.]

The first Catlin who appears to have come to this country was a boy. Thomas Catlin came to Hartford, Conn., in 1632. Later he left his master and went to Saybrook, Conn., returning to Hart- ford about 1645-46, where he settled. He ac- quired a good deal of property, and took great pains with the education of his only son, John. It is stated in the "Memorial History of Hartford Coun- ty," edited by the late J. Hammond Trumbull, LL. D., that Thomas Catlin was born about 1612, was first mentioned in the Colonial Records in 1644; was chimney viewer 1647, 1648 and 1653 ; surveyor

of highways in 1655; townsman in 1659; constable in 1662-74, "an office at that time one of the most honorable and trustworthy in the Colony;" that he married (first) Mary, and ( second) Mary, widow of Edward Elmer, and died in 1690. [Elsewhere it is stated that Thomas Catlin was living in 1687, when testified in court that he was eighty-seven years old. Savage says that "he died in 1690, aged about seventy-eight."]

The late Dr. Benjamin H. Catlin. of Meriden, was in the sixth generation from Thomas Catlin, the line of his descent being through John, Ben- jamin, Sergeant Jacob and Benjamin (2).

(II) John Catlin, son of Thomas Catlin, mar- ried in 1665, Mary, daughter of Capt. Samuel Marshall, of Windsor, Connecticut.

(III) Benjamin Catlin, born in 1680, in Hart- ford married Margaret Kellogg, and died in Har- winton, Conn., in 1767.

(IV) Sergeant Jacob Catlin, born in 1723, in Hartford, married Hannah Phelps, born in 1731, in Windsor, Conn. He was a farmer in Harwin- ton, and died in 1802. She died in 1812.

(V) Benjamin Catlin (2), son of Sergeant Jacob Catlin and the father of Dr. Benjamin H. Catlin, was born Oct. 6, 1772, in Harwinton, Conn., where he was occupied as a farmer. He married Nov. 27, 1797, Rhoda, daughter of Isaac Catlin (2) (he in the fifth generation from Thomas, through John, Samuel and Isaac). Rhoda Catlin was born Nov. 8, 1774, in Litchfield, Conn., and died in Harwinton, Sept. 3, 1863. Benjamin Cat- lin died July 10, 1835. He was for twenty years deacon in the Congregational Church. Their chil- dren were: Anna, Rhoda, Lucy, Benjamin H., George, Sheldon, Clorinda, Henry and Julius.

BENJAMIN HOPKINS CATLIN, M. D., deceased, formerly of Meriden, eldest son of Benjamin and Rhoda (Catlin) Catlin, was born Aug. 10, 1801, in the town of Harwinton, Litchfield Co., Conn. His advantages for obtaining an education were limited to the district school near his fathers residence, till his sixteenth year, when an academy was built in his native town, in which he had the opportunity of pursuing the higher branches of study not then taught in the common schools. At this academy, and under the tuition of the Rev. Luther Hart, of Plymouth, he pursued his preparatory studies. He studied medicine and surgery nearly four years un- der the instruction of different physicians, and at the Medical Institutions of Yale College from which he was graduated March 4. 1825. On July 12, of that year, he opened an office at Haddam, Conn., filling a vacancy made by the death of Dr. Andrew Warner. The first week he had patients to attend. and in two or three months was in full practice. He remained at Haddam over sixteen years, his practice extending into all the adjoining towns. On March 31, 1842, Dr. Wyllis Woodruff. of Meri- den, died, and the same evening a messenger was

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

sent to Dr. Catlin by some of the leading citizens of Meriden requesting him to come to Meriden to fill the vacancy. The following day, April I, Dr. Cat- lin went to Meriden, made arrangements for his re- moval, and commenced practice there on April 5. He was elected a Fellow of the Connecticut Medi- cal Society, and in 1840 received the honorary de- gree of M. D., from Yale College. In 1854 he was elected vice-president of the Connecticut Medical Society, re-elected in 1855, appointed president in 1856, and elected in 1857.

The following is taken from an obituary of Dr. Catlin which appeared in one of the Meriden papers at the time of his death, Feb. 18, 1880:

Dr. Catlin was one of our oldest inhabitants and most prominent physicians, and he has taken a very high rank in the medical profession of the State and of the country. For forty-eight years previous to his death he had prac- ticed in Meriden, and enjoyed the fullest confidence and esteem of the whole community. In his private life he was unassuming, and he wore the honors conferred upon him by his professional associates modestly, and no act of his long life ever caused his friends to blush for him. He was by nature upright and honest, and his life was a consistent following of the principles he professed. He had been a prominent member of the American Medical Association from 1853 until the time of his death. and at- tended the annual meetings as delegate from the New Ha- ven County Medical Society, and from the State Society. In 1860 he was elected an honorary member of the New York State Medical Society, and in 1869 a corresponding member of the Gynaecological Society of Boston. He had also held the office of vice-president of the American Med- ical Society, and was one of the most active members. He was president of the annual meeting held in 1871 at San Francisco, and was the first president of the Rocky Moun- tain Medical Society, composed of members who attended the annual meeting at San Francisco. He was a very active member of the medical profession in Connecticut. and it was largely due to his efforts that a State Board of Health was appointed. which was one of the wisest pro- visions ever passed in the State. Dr. Catlin was also very much interested in the influences of sanitary condi- tions upon health, and his writings upon this important matter represented the most advanced position of medical science. Apart from the offices connected with the med- ical profession which Dr. Catlin filled. he was a director of the Home National Bank from its organization, and was either president or vice-president of the Meriden Savings Bank from its organization. He held the latter office at the time of his death. At the time the Congre- gational Church removed to West Meriden, Dr. Catlin was elected deacon for life, and for many years he was senior deacon. He held the office of treasurer of the church until the Ist of January before his death. when his son, Will- jam H. Catlin, was appointed to the office.

On Sept. 9, 1835, Dr. Catlin was married to Amelia Deborah Spencer, born Nov. 4. 1811, daughter of William and Deboralı ( Selden ) Spen- cer. To this marriage came: (1) Benjamin Spen- cer, born Sept. 14. 1837, died Feb. 15, 1871 ; he was in the Civil war from 1862 to 1865. serving as sur- geon of the 2d N. Y. V. I., and 21st N. Y. V. C. (2) William H. is mentioned below. The mother died Aug. 7, 1883.

in Barton county, Mo., to Helen Mar Bailey, who died June 23, 1880. For his second wife, he mar- ried, on Oct. 10, 1883, Jane Winslow, of North Brookfield, Mass., daughter of David Lilly and Dolly Powers ( Harwood) Winslow. She was born Aug. 28, 1854. Her father was a son of Jolin Winslow (7) [Capt. Joshua (6). Thomas (5), Col. Thomas(4), Kenelm(3), Kenelm(2), Kenelm( I) ]. Kenelm Winslow ( I) was brother of Gov. Edward Winslow, and is supposed to have come over when the "Mayflower" made her second voyage. Mrs. Catlin's great-grandfather, Major Peter Harwood, was in the Revolutionary war, and was officer of the day when Andre was hung. She is a direct descendant of Gov. Prence and Elder William Brew- ster, through Edmund Freeman and Major John Freeman, who married Mercy Prence. Her great- great-grandfather, Ebenezer Harwood, was killed at Louisbourg, Cape Breton, June 17, 1745.

William Hopkins Catlin attended the district school at Meriden and the Hopkins Grammar school at Hartford. He taught school at Northeast, Erie Co., Pa., during the winter of 1861-62. Returning to Meriden in the spring of 1862, on June 11th of that year he enlisted as a volunteer in the Union army, being among the first half dozen to form Com- pany A, of the 15th Conn. V. I. They went into camp at Oyster Point, New Haven, Conn., July 23d, were mustered into the army Aug. 25th, and in a few days left for Washington. The cannonading of the second battle of Bull Run sounded in their ears as they crossed Long Bridge to their camp at Ar- lington Heights. Qur subjeet was with his regiment until the close of the war, and was mustered out in June, 1865, drawing pay for three years and one day. He was at Erie, Pa., from 1865 to 1867 as book- keeper in the hardware store of John C. Selden. The winter of 1867-68 he spent at home and in the spring of 1868 left for Barton county, Mo., and bought a ranch. There he married and lived until 1873, when he returned to Meriden with his wife.

In 1877 Mr. Catlin entered the Meriden Savings Bank as elerk, and in 1890 was chosen secretary and treasurer, which position he still occupies.

In 1880 Mr. Catlin was chosen deacon of the First Congregational Church of Meriden, and served fifteen years. For two years he was president of the Young Mens Cliristian Association. He is a mem- ber of the Board of Park Commissioners of that city.

Twenty-five or more of our subject's ancestors took part in the early Indian wars and were mem- bers of the General Court. Five served as soldiers in the Revolutionary war, one, Col. Samuel Selden, being captured at the taking of New York City in 1776. He died in prison soon after his capture. Mr. Catlin's great-grandfather enlisted in 1777, when he was fifteen, and received a pension for his services. He is a direct descendant of Rev. Thomas Hooker. founder of Hartford; of Rev. John Wilson, who

WILLIAM HOPKINS CATLIN, second son of Ben- jamin H. and Amelia Deborah (Spencer) Catlin, born Aug. 24, 1842, was married Sept. 13, 1871, ; came to America in 1630, and was pastor of the

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

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First Church of Boston; of Rev. Roger Newton, first pastor of the Farmington Church; of Rev. John Warham, who came from Plymouth, England, in 1630, and was first pastor of the Church at Windsor, Connecticut ; and of Chad Brown, who, in 1642, was ordained as the first settled pastor of the Baptist Church at Providence, Rhode Island.

HON. WILLIAM JUDSON CLARK was born in the town of Southington, Hartford Co., Conn., Aug. 19, 1825, of a parentage descended from three separate lines of Clarks, who were among the "Founders" of the Connecticut and New Haven Colonies, 1635-1639, as will appear later on in this sketch. He was the third child of Theodosius and Chloe Clark, and was reared on his father's farm.

Mr. Clark's primary education was received at the district school of his native town-the tradi- tional "little red school house." with long, heavy, slab benches for seats ; and a row of six or eight pu- pils occupying each bench. As soon as old enough, he was employed on his father's farm, in the sum- mer, studying only in the winter and spring terms, but he kept up with his classes, few of those who enjoyed the full year's course surpassing him in recitations. At the age of fifteen he began attend- ance at the Southington Academy, three miles from his home, walking daily six miles ; and by studying evenings, easily kept up with the students who had the advantage of the full year's tuition. In this way he was nearly prepared for college when, in the spring of 1845, a severe attack of ophthalmia cut short his educational career, changing, no doubt, the whole tenor of his life.

The autumn of 1846, however, found him suffi- ciently recovered to take charge of the high school at West Avon, Conn. His success as an instructor did not prevent him, however, from seizing an op- portunity which presented itself in the spring of 1847, for engaging in commercial pursuits, by en- tering into a partnership with his brother-in-law, Hezekiah C. Cummings. The new firm-Cum- mings & Clark-leased a country store at Hitch- cock's Basin, located on the Farmington Canal, in the southern part of the town of Southington, where the Waterbury & Meriden turnpike crosses the canal. At that time all the heavy freight for this and the other Southington stores was brought by boats from New Haven, and a large part of the Waterbury freight was also brought to the "Ba- sin;" the firm running a boat, for general trans- portation, between New Haven and the home port. They also discharged much Waterbury freight, at Beach Port (now West Cheshire).

The enterprise of the firm led them to branch out from the ordinary country store goods and add a coal and lumber yard, the first in the town. The following year, 1848, the railroad succeeded the canal, and the name of the place was changed to Hitchcock's Station, but the business was continued successfully until the end of the three years' lease,

and then, as it could not be renewed, the copartner- ship was dissolved.

The California gold fever broke out in the win- ter of 1848-49, and young Mr. Clark thought it a favorable opportunity to see the world and prove the truth-or the untruth-of the marvelous stories that floated eastward from the far-away country on the Pacific coast. He was one of the company of fifty-six members who bought the schooner "G. H. Montague," of 200 tons capacity, and stocked it, at New Haven, in January, 1849, with provisions for the long voyage around Cape Horn, and the ma- terials deemed best by an old and experienced North Carolina miner, W. S. Porter, to carry to an almost unknown land. On the 23d of that month the vessel's lines were cast off, and the white sails spread for the twenty-thousand-mile trip, and amid much enthusiasm the "forty-niners" started off, like their forefathers of 1638, to found a new common- wealth. Five months from that time the voyage- successful, except that a sailor was washed away in a gale off Cape Horn-was ended; and on June 26th the little schooner, with all sails bellying to the breeze, entered the gateway to the beautiful bay, proudly ploughing her way up to the anchorage in front of the new El Dorado-the canvas-built city of San Francisco. No ship leaving the eastern States that year had beaten her into port, though she had battled with adverse gales and rough seas for twenty-one days off Cape Horn. She had led the procession to her destination without loss of a spar, or a damaged sail, and the old mariners at 'Frisco looked upon the history of the successful voyage as a fairy tale until their own eyes verified it from the log-book of the brave little ship.

A three days' tarry at San Francisco sufficed, and the "Montague" was headed up the river to Sacramento, another city of white cotton, nailed to scantling framework. This place being nearer the seat of the gold discoveries, the rush of people they had witnessed at San Francisco was intensi- fied, and almost immediately the excitement of the older gold-seekers was communicated to the newly arrived. After spending the 4th of July at this place they ran the vessel twenty miles farther up the Sacramento, moored it to the bank, and, as soon as teams could be bought, made up and equipped a party for mining on the Yuba river. Mr. Clark was a member of the party that sallied forth upon the pathless prairie in search of the golden nuggets, fol- lowing the general course of the Feather river until they approached the Yuba, a branch or feeder of the former, and in three days found themselves at the diggings. Sufficient space on the river bottom, above "Corduay's Bar," was pre-empted for the company, a camp established, and gold-digging suc- cessfully begun. An ounce of gold to the man per day was not unusual, and sometimes two or three ounces would be the yield from a lucky pay streak. The confinement and diet on shipboard and the radical change occasioned by roughing it in the-

William Judson black

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

mountains, however, brought on illness that baffled the ship's doctor, and thirteen of the party were buried in three months, while many more became chronic invalids. It was thought best to give the invalids a chance to return to the States if they wished to do so. As Mr. Clark had been ill for three months, and was so emaciated that he weighed only ninety pounds, he decided, in October, to start for the coast. He was conveyed the fifty miles to the schooner on a mattress laid on the wagon bot- tom, as he was too weak to sit up; the two days' trip was successful beyond expectation, and he reached the vessel in a slightly improved condition. After remaining there two weeks he had gained sufficient strength to attempt the trip down the river, and the twenty miles to Sacramento, as pas- senger on a row boat, were safely accomplished. Re- maining there a few days to recuperate, he took the steamer "Senator" (an old Hudson river side-wheel steamer that had been brought around through the Straits of Magellan) for San Francisco, the fare for the 150 miles being twenty-five dollars.

Mr. Clark had contemplated returning home, but at San Francisco he met a physician who gave him hopes of recovery, and as business opportunities were at hand for those qualified to take them he decided to spend the winter there and test results. He found that good coffee was hard to obtain in the ground condition, all that had been thus brought from the States being tasteless. There was but one primitive hand-mill working in California and that turned out low-grade goods by using damaged coffee-berries. Finding another hand-mill for sale in the city, and three young men anxious to do the work, but with no means to start the business, Mr. Clark made a contract with them for the winter, bought .the coffee-mill outfit, with tents adequate, hired a vacant lot in Pacific street and launched into business. His factory had a capacity of three hun- dred pounds per day, finished by hand power, and as he bought only the best quality of raw coffee and turned out a delicious product, he easily got two or three cents more on a pound than the only competitor there, and his trade soon grew to the capacity of his mill. No steam engine suitable could be found, so he worked the three hand power by changes of one hour each until spring. The coffee venture was successful, but the contract made with the doctor at seventy-five dollars per month, sick or well, was not quite so good in results, for, while Mr. Clark's health had improved, it had not reached its normal condition, and in March it was apparent to both parties that it would be a danger- ous experiment for him to spend another summer in California. Consequently a purchaser for the plant was found, and, with regret at leaving a profitable business and his newly-made friends. Mr. Clark took steamer for Panama and New York, reaching home in April, 1850, having been fifteen months absent. During the homeward voyage, with the many stops and unusual experiences, there were numerous opportunities for a wide-awake young 8

man to see, as in a panoramic view, a great deal of men and things in tropical and semi-tropical countries.

The homeward voyage proved so beneficial to Mr. Clark's health that within a month after his re- turn he felt all the energy of his manhood restored, and realizing the broadening of his business per- spective, due to his observations of people and countries during his fifteen months' journeyings, he began to look about for some business in which he could utilize this new capital. As a starter he un- dertook a contract with a local manufacturer of car- riage-bolts, to make a trip "out West" (which then meant as far as Buffalo, the western limit of wholesale trade), to sell their goods. Lest Mr. Clark should make improper credits, owing to his inexperience, he was required to guarantee his sales, for which a special commission was agreed upon. Early in June he started off on the new enterprise, with samples of goods and high hopes of success. Three weeks were spent in "drumming trade," two weeks more in visiting western relatives. The orders obtained were sent in to be filled, and when the young "drummer" returned the settlement showed that the guarantee had brought him over two hundred and fifty dollars to the profit side. The firm, seeing their mistake, were willing then to accept the risk and save the $250, but Mr. Clark had no idea of going back on a bargain, and in due time the business was settled without the loss of one dollar by bad credits. In the early fall another trip of three weeks was made over the same route with a fair but not so large a result, owing to the short interval between the trips. This seemed to be the opening for him, and as he had guaranteed the sales and the customers were his own by agreement he decided to "set up business for himself."

On the Quinnipiac river, near Mr. Clark's home. was a dilapidated building with a small water-power known as Morse's Mill. In the early days of the century it had been a satinet mill, weaving into cloth the yarn which was the product of the farm- ers' sheep and the housewives' spinning-wheels. This work was given up in 1834-35, and one of the primitive "bolt-shops" soon thereafter started in its place. This had a short life there, and then for a short time a horse-nail machine was operated in the old mill. This was followed by a clock manu- facturer, who filled the old shop with business for two or three years, when he, too, failed, and the premises were rented to a party making cold pressed nuts for the boltmakers, who had become estab- lished with improved machinery in other parts of the town. It required much courage for a young man just starting business to take a mill with so unlucky a history, but Mr. Clark's brave spirit was equal to facing the "hoodoo," and in November, 1850, he bought the premises, subject to the least that expired that year, so that he made prepara- tions to occupy, with a small amount of machinery, early in '51, tearing away the old building and erecting a new one more suitable for his require-

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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 26

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1040

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1040