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 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91
ʻ
127
COMMEMORATIVE .. BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
his wife passing away in 1889 at about the same age. They are buried in Riverside cemetery at Waterbury.
Charles E. Longden was but an infant when brought to the United States, and to Waterville, Conn. The voyage was a long one, lasting over thirty. days. In Waterville he grew to manhood, receiving his education in the district schools of the neighborhood. After the age of fourteen he did not attend regularly, so that all in all his ad- vantages were somewhat limited. From early boy- hood he was somewhat "handy" with tools, and showed adaptness for work around machinery, and before he was far advanced in his teens he began work as a forger in a knife manufactory, being thus employed the greater part of the time until after the breaking out of the Civil war.
On Aug. 5, 1862, our subject enlisted, becom- ing a private in the first detachment of the ed Con- necticut Light Battery, and the first important en- gagement in which he took part was the battle of Gettysburg. Later he went with his command to New York to quell the riot in that city, and re- mained there on duty for six weeks, after which he went to New Orleans, and with the Army of the Gulf operated around that city. As a part of the land battery they assisted Farragut in taking Fort Morgan, at the entrance of Mobile Bay, and then went to Pensacola, Fla. Later they crossed the Bay to Mobile, and helped take what was known as Spanish Fort, a few days before the stir- render of Gen. Lee. Mr. Longden was with his detachment all through the war, and took an active part in all the engagements in which they partici- pated. He was honorably discharged at New Ha- ven Sept. 10, 1865, and returned to Waterville.
A few months after his return from the serv- ice Mr. Longden went to Naugatuck, where he was in the employ of the Union Knife & Cutlery Co. until 1873. In that year he embarked in business for himself at Prospect, near Naugatuck, as a man- ufacturer of harness trimmings, and was thus en- gaged until 1875, when, in company with George Hine, he erected a plant at Union City and began the manufacture of seamless rubber goods, he be- ing the inventor of the seamless method and the pioneer manufacturer in America. Two years later a stock company was organized under the name of the Seamless Rubber Co., of which Mr. Longden became secretary and superintendent, and in Oc- tober, 1877, the establishment was moved to New Haven, where business has since been carried on, and where are manufactured all kinds of seamless rubber goods. Employment is furnished to from 300 to 400 men and women. In April, 1901, Mr. Longden severed his relations with this company. During his connection therewith it was a recognized fact that his services were of far greater value to the concern than might be expected even of one filling successfully so important an incumbency. Not only his managerial skill, but also his inventive genius, contributed toward the success of the busi-
1
ness, in which as its founder he felt a keen pride. Laboring for its advancement, he taxed his powers of invention, year after year improving the ma- chinery and adding to the assets and earning ca- pacity of the plant by giving to it a number of val- uable patents that facilitated the manufacture of its product, whichi bore a distinctive mark of super- iority in the judgment of the consumer. Several of these patents gave the concern a practical monopoly of certain goods, and likewise enabled them to take a foremost rank among manufacturers in that line. Mr. Longden's recompense for all this, however, was no more than his share as an ordinary stock- holder entitled him to, every other holder of stock being equally benefited. Mr. Longden has taken out at least a dozen patents on different articles and devices. Two years before he severed his con- nection with the company he took out a patent for the automatic manufacture of seamless rubber goods. On May 30, 1899, he patented a stopper for a hot-water bottle, which at the time was the best thing of its kind in existence. These and many others were practically given over to the company, so interested was he in its prosperity. Had he been less unselfish he could doubtless have realized thou- sands of dollars on his own account. On Sept. 17, 1901, he patented an improved rubber bottle stopper, which patent he retains. This is undoubt- edly the best article of its kind now known, and should prove extremely valuable to its owner. Our subject's skill as a mechanic and his great inventive genius were quite effectively shown when he first embarked in the rubber business, at which time he designed all, and made most of, the tools and ma- chinery necessary in the first manufacture of seam- less rubber goods. He made the first rubber bi- cycle tire turned out in America, tires having pre- viously been imported, and was the sole manufact- urer for the first three years that this article was made in the United States.
Mr. Longden was married. in Waterbury, Conn., Jan. 1, 1867, by Rev. Dr. Clark, to Miss Sarah Taylor, of Naugatuck, who was born Feb. 27, 1847, in Sheffield, England, daughter of Thomas and Mary Taylor. Mrs. Longden was a child of five years when brought to the United States : the voy- age lasted over sixty days. Mr. Longden has been fortunate in his selection of a wife, as Mrs. Longden has, by her able assistance and counsel, proven a most valuable helpmate. Mr. and Mrs. Longden have had two children, of whom the younger died in infancy. Emma L. is now the wife of Edward R. Street, manager of the Evening Leader, in New Haven, and has two children, Allen Taylor and Phyllis.
Whatever the capacity in which Mr. Longden has acted he has shown an unusual ability for both mental and physical labor. He possesses a robust constitution, and for one of his years is most re- markably well preserved, being to all appearances a decade younger than he really is. This circum- stance may be attributed, to no small extent, to his
.
.
128
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
fondness for and indulgence in athletics, especially outdoor sports. From his youth he has been more than an ordinary athlete. For several years when a young man he was a member of one of the strongest base-ball teams in western Connecticut, their success entitling them to a position in the front ranks of the amateur teams of the State. Mr. Longden's fondness for outdoor sport has never decreased, and has been gratified along such lines as his advancing years and the demands of his business life permitted. He has been for a number of years a member of the New Haven Gun Club, of which for eight years he was president, and has shown wonderful skill with the shotgun, his reputa- tion extending outside of the city and State; he has met in competition niany of the noted shots in the United States, with more than a fair degree of success. Fraternally he is an honored member of Wooster Lodge, No. 79, F. & A. M. Though a stanch supporter of the Republican party, Mr. Longden is by no means a politician, taking simply the interest of a public-spirited citizen in party affairs.
Mr. Longden made his home in New Haven continuously from 1877 to 1895, when he bought the farm of forty acres where he now lives, resid- ing there during the summer months until 1899, when he built the excellent home there which he has since occupied. The farm is situated on the Hartford turnpike, a short distance north of New Haven, and Mr. Longden has made many improve- ments upon the place, converting it into a fruit farm. It is now one of the most attractive su- burban homes in the vicinity of New Haven. Mr. Longden's life is a practical illustration of what may be accomplished through industry, persever- ance, good management and a determination to succeed. He is an excellent example of the self- made man, and the qualities which have won him success are not made less agreeable by the air of self-assertion which so often marks a career like his. Indeed his relations with others have been invariably marked by modesty, and he has shown a decided distaste for prominence.
CHARLES H. NETTLETON. Among the names of those who have contributed largely to the development of all that is good in the community, the honest historian of this vicinity must write that of Charles H. Nettleton who, born in New Haven, Conn., in the year 1850, soon moved with his par- ents, Charles and Ellen (Hine) Nettleton, to the city of New York, where he attended the public schools and fitted for the College of the City of New York, from which he graduated in the class of 1870.
In 1871 Mr. Nettleton came to reside in Derby, Conn., and immediately entered upon a business career which has been marked by signal success. Being interested in the Derby Gas Company he at once took charge of the construction of its plant,
and has continuously since that time held the office of treasurer and general manager of the corpora- tion. The importance of this position is manifest when we remember that the company supplies the gas and electric light, both private and public, for the cities of Ansonia and Derby and the borough of Shelton, besides furnishing electricity for manufac- turing purposes in these municipalities. In 1874 Mr. Nettleton was chosen manager of the Birming- ham Water Company (of which he is the treas- urer), and still serves the concern in that capacity. In 1894 he was elected president of the Birmingham National Bank, located at Derby, through which the banking business of Derby and Shelton is trans- acted, and still occupies that position. For many years Mr. Nettleton has been an acknowledged au- thority in the manufacture and distribution of il- luminating gas and allied industries, having intro- duced into the community all the most approved methods for utilizing the commodities placed upon the market by the Derby Gas Company. He has been prominently identified with the New England Gas Association, of which he was secretary from 1885 to 1891 and president from 1893 to 1894. In 1897 he was the president of the American Gaslight Association. Upon the removal of Hon. H. Holton Wood to Boston, Mass., and his consequent resig- nation as president of the Derby and Shelton Board of Trade, Mr. Nettleton was chosen to fill the im- portant office thus made vacant.
The business and social interests of Derby and Shelton are so interminably. interwoven that the more prominent citizens of the one municipality are often equally identified with the other. This is true of Mr. Nettleton ; but while his vast business enterprises seem to center largely in Derby, his beautiful home and extensive grounds are situated on the Shelton banks of the Housatonic river, and he is always loyal in his devotion to the town and borough in which he resides. All measures con- ducive to their true advancement have always re- ceived his hearty support. When Shelton was in- corporated as a borough Mr. Nettleton was elected its first warden and served in that capacity for two official terms with credit to himself and honor to the municipality, in which many improvements were carried forward under his administration. In pol- itics Mr. Nettleton is an unswerving Republican- one whose devotion to his party has never been doubted. With him Republicanism is a conviction and its success in Huntington is in part attributed to his suggestions and support. Yet, however strong his party affiliations may be, in him the upright pa- triot is never lost in an office-seeking politician : and it may be truly said of him that he represents the type of citizen in whom, as voter and statesman, rests the hope of the State and Nation, and all that is best in American civilization.
Mr. Nettleton is a vestryman of St. James Church, Derby, and has served as treasurer of that society since 1885. In these days of intense com-
.
,
thanks A tiellelow
129
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
petition which try the moral fibre of men he has reached an enviable eminence in the business world, while yet a comparatively young man, living mean- while a life so true that those who know him best love him most. With him
"To do the will is more than creeds As words are less than deeds."
With marked executive ability, undoubted moral integrity, and a dignity which, to a stranger, might seem severe, Mr. Nettleton has a kind, genial na- ture. No man abhors more deeply than he any- thing like a Pharisaical display of virtue or benev- olence, yet it is but justice to add that he never turns a deaf car to the voice of the worthy poor, niany of whom have found in him a friend in their necessity, while many a young man owes his success in life to his wise counsel and substantial encour- agement.
In 1874 Mr. Nettleton was married to Miss Katherine Arnold, daughter of the late Joseph Ar- nold, a prominent citizen of Derby, and two daugh- ters-christened Katherine Arnold and Ellen Ar- nold-were born to them, the former on June 29, 1880, and the latter on July 21, 1883.
DWIGHT. Few families in the annals of Mas- sachusetts and Connecticut, from the early Colonial period to the present, have been more conspicuous than the one whose name is here given. We have in mind the ancestral line of the venerable Rev. Tim- othy Dwight, D. D., of New Haven, late President of Yale University, and the immediate family of the first Rev. Timothy Dwight. S. T. D., LL. D., also President of Yale, and of these it is the purpose of this article to briefly treat.
Rev. Timothy Dwight, D. D., of New Haven, is a son of James and Susan ( Breed) Dwight, and a descendant in the eighth generation from John Dwight, the common ancestor, it is believed, of all the Dwights in this country, who with his wife, Hannah, and two sons came from Dedham, Eng- land, to New England in 1634 or 1635. settling first in Watertown, Mass, of which town he was a proprietor. He early removed to Dedham, where he was a farmer of means and an eminently use- ful citizen and a Christian. He was selectman for sixteen years. He died Jan. 24, 1660, and his wife, Hannah, passed away Sept. 5. 1656.
From this emigrant settler Dr. Dwight's line is through Capt. Timothy. Justice Nathaniel, Col. Timothy, Maj. Timothy, President Timothy and James Dwight.
(II) Capt. Timothy Dwight, son of John, born in England, in 1629, came to this country with his father in 1634-5. He was for ten years town clerk, selectman for twenty-five years and a rep- resentative of the town in the General Court in 1601-2. He was cornet of a troop in his younger years, and afterwards a captain of foot. He went 9
out ten times against the Indians. He married (third) Jan. 9, 1665, Anna Flint, daughter of Rev. Henry, of Braintree, Mass. Capt. Dwight died Jan. 31, 1717, and his wife Anna died Jan. 29, I686.
(III) Justice Nathaniel Dwight, son of Capt. Timothy, born Nov. 20, 1666, removed from Ded- ham to Hatfield, Mass., at first, and afterwards (about 1695) to Northampton, where he passed the remaining sixteen years of his life. He was a trader and farmer, and a justice of the peace and surveyor of land on a large scale. He married Dec. 9, 1693, Mehitable Partridge, born Aug. 26, 1675, daughter of Col. Samuel Partridge, of Hat- field, Mass., and Mehitable Crow. Justice Dwight died Nov. 7, 1711. His wife lived in widowhood for forty-five years, and died at Northampton Oct. 19, 1756.
(IV) Col. Timothy Dwight, son of Justice Na- thaniel, born Oct. 19, 1694, at Hatfield, Mass., mar- ried Aug. 16, 1716, Experience King, born April 17, 1693, daughter of Lieut. John King (2), of Northampton, and Mehitable Pomeroy, and lived and died in Northampton. He was a lawyer by profession, and was held in high esteem for his talents and his worth. He possessed ample means, and was much engaged in matters of business. pri- vate and public. He was especially remarkable for his great energy and decision of character-a man of great influence. He was selectman, judge of pro- bate and of the county court of Hampshire county, then including in it also what is now Berkshire, be- ing some of the time its Chief Justice. He was for many years a representative from the town in the Legislature. He was colonel of a regiment, and in the old French war was captain of a company. He figured conspicuously on the frontier. He died April 30, 1771, and his wife passed away Dec. 15, 1763.
(V) Major Timothy Dwight, son of Col. Tim- othy, born at Fort Dummer, Vt., May 17, 1726 (his birth and death both occurring away from home), was graduated at Yale in 1744, married Nov. 8. 1750. Mary Edwards, born April 4. 1734, daughter of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, of North- ampton, Mass., and Sarah Pierpont. Major Dwight was graduated from Yale in 1744. and became a merchant of Northampton. He was selectman, 1760-74; town recorder, 1760-75: register of pro- bate and judge of the Court of Common Pleas, 1758-74. succeeding the father in the same posi- tion, who resigned it in 1757. He was a man of large physique, six feet four inches in height, of fine proportions and great physical strength. He purchased a large body of land at Natchez, Miss .. in 1776, went thither and there died June 10. 1777. His wife died at Northampton Feb. 28, 1807.
(VI) PRESIDENT TIMOTHY DWIGHT, son of Ma- jor Timothy. born May 14, 1752, at Northampton, Mass., married March 3. 1777, Mary, born April II, 1754, daughter of Benjamin Woolsey, of Do-
130
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
soris, L. I., and Esther Isaacs, of Norwalk, Con- necticut.
Young Dwight spent one year at Middletown, Conn., under Rev. Enoch Huntington, in preparation for college. He was graduated from Yale College at seventeen, and ever afterward supported himself. He taught in the Hopkins Grammar School at New Haven for two years, and was tutor in Yale, 1771- 77, and during this time he went thoroughly through, for his own pleasure and profit, the Prin- ciptia of Newton; and he also pursued the study of law, with the expectation of making it his chosen profession for life. In 1774 he made an open pro- fession of religion, and turned away his thoughts from the many brilliant inducements offered him to enter upon legal practice and political lite.
Mr. Dwight was among the earliest advocates of the independence of the American colonies, be- ing in his whole mental makeup a man of progress and of patriotism, and was swayed by his ideas of what was right and best, instead of by his fears of what might come out of the effort to put them into effect. In June, 1777, he was licensed to preach, and in September following he was ap- pointed a chaplain in the army in Gen. Parsons' brigade, but owing to his father's death he resigned the position in March, 1779, going to Northampton to comfort and aid his mother in her great bereave- ment, and to provide for the maintenance of the large family cast upon his care, which he did by carrying on the farm, teaching and preaching. He was a member of the Legislature of Massachusetts in 1782, and was there urged to accept a nomina- tion for Congress, but he refused to be drawn away from the Church. In November, 1783, at the age of thirty-one, he entered upon a rural pastorate, accepting a call to Greenfield Hill, Fairfield coun- ty, and for twelve succeeding years performed his duties laboriously and happily. He conducted at the same time a large and prosperous co-educa- tional school during the whole period.
From Greenfield Hill Rev. Dwight was called, in 1795, at the age of forty-three, to the presidency of Yale College, as successor to Dr. Ezra Stiles, and for twenty-two years of high intellectual and spiritual activity he filled out the full measure of his capabilities of usefulness.
The published works of President Dwight would fill many, many volumes, and his unpub- lished manuscript would fill as many more. He wrote his "Conquest of Canaan" at nineteen. His pastoral poem, "Greenfield Hill" (1794), in which was introduced a vivid description of the burning of Fairfield by the British in 1779, was popular. His "Theology Explained and Defended" in a course of 173 sermons (5 vol., Middletown, Conn., 1818; London, 1819: new edition with memoirs by his son, Rev. Sereno E. Dwight, New York, 1846), has gore through a score of editions in this coun- try and at least 100 abroad, and on it rests his reputation as a theologian. While chaplain in the
army he wrote several stirring, patriotic songs, one of which "Columbia," became a general favorite. He won great merit as a writer of sacred lyrics. He versified thirty-three of David's Psalms. No other American poet has yet written so many hymns that the church has gladly accepted as its own, and none have been written by any one in the land which have been greater favorites than some that have come from his pen. His "Travels in New England and New York" (4 vols., New Ha- ven, 1821 ; London, 1823) was pronounced by Rob- ert Southey the most important of his works. He wrote many works and numerous discourses.
Probably President Dwight's chief services to mankind were not so much those of a preacher as of a teacher. For forty-six years continuously, ex- cept the one and a little more of his chaplaincy in the army, he spent the united force of his great in- tellect and heart girding up such of the youth of his generation, as he could reach with his influence, to the best possible use of their times and talents for their own good and the glory of God. For twenty-one years of this period, until his death, he abounded, in every way, in the most magnani- mous and untiring interest in the duties and priv- ileges of the presidency of Yale. On this long and successful administration of the affairs of Yale College Dr. Dwight's claims to distinction largely rest. When he assumed control there were but 110 students; the curriculum was still narrow and pedantic : the freshmen were in bondage to the up- per-class-men, and they in turn to the faculty. President Dwight abolished the primary school sys- tem and established among the class-men, and be- tween them and the faculty, such rules as are usu- ally observed by gentlemen in social intercourse. He introduced the study of oratory into the cur- riculum, and himself gave lectures on style and composition. At his death the number of students had increased to 313.
In his political views President Dwight was a Federalist of the Hamilton school, and he earnestly deprecated the introduction of French ideas of ed- ucation. He received the degree of M. A. in 1,72, and on taking it delivered a dissertation on the history and poetry of the Bible, which attracted much attention. He received the degree of S. T. D. from the College of New Jersey in 1787. and that of LL. D. in 1810 from Harvard. He died while president of Yale, Jan. 11, 1817.
Several of the brothers of President Dwight were men of prominence and distinction, notably Theodore Dwight, of Hartford, Conn., and New York, and Dr. Nathaniel, for a time assistant sur- geon in the United States army; both born in Northampton, Mass., in 1764 and 1770, respective- ly. Theodore studied law in New Haven under his cousin, Judge Pierrepont Edwards, and became eminent in his profession. He was a cousin of Aaron Burr and at one time removed to New York to become his law partner, but disagreed with
131
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Burr's political opinion and returned to Hartford, where he edited the Courant. He was a brilliant writer and journalist. He published for a time the New York Daily Advertiser. He died in New York in 1846. While Dr. Nathaniel Dwight, who studied medicine at Hartford, after leaving the service, practiced medicine in various points in Con- necticut and at Providence, Rhode Island.
(VII) James Dwight, son of President Tim- othy, born Sept. 1, 1784, pursued the first two years of the college course at Yale (class of 1804), and went into the hardware business with his brother Timothy, at New Haven, which he afterward car- ried on at Petersburg, Va., for ten years or more with success, when he removed to New York and there established the hardware firm of James & George A. Dwight. In later life he returned to the South and spent several years as a merchant in Columbus, Ga. In 1854 he retired from all further active business to New Haven, Conn., where he spent the rest of his life.
Mr. Dwight was thoroughly upright and guile- less, while also clear and ardent in his convictions, and fearless in uttering them. The sense of duty was the law of his life. He was very fond of read- ing, at all times as he had opportunity, and seemed almost more at home among his books than any where else. While his favorite reading was of the most varied kind, as especially history, poetry and fiction, he loved to read continually. over and over again, beyond all other books, the Holy Scriptures, which at the time of his death he had read from beginning to end one hundred and twelve times. He joined the Presbyterian Church in Petersburg, Va., in 1824. His faith in God was simple and child- like. He possessed superior business qualities and unfailing energy of character at all times. He was of sanguine temperament, but quite self-distrustful in his religious experiences. The mingled earnest- ness and gentleness of his character often drew those of his younger kindred who knew him with tender interest to his side, when venerable with years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.