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 4
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"Mr. English's position at this time was a very exceptional one. The number of War Democrats in Congress was small, and most of them were very timid. But there was never any doubt from the first where Mr. English stood or how he would vote when the final crisis came.
"While thousands of men in our country have been examples of conspicuous success in business. in political life, and in generous benefactions. few have had the opportunity, and fewer still the sagac- ity and the courage. to appreciate a great political emergency, where duty calls for a sacrifice of the ties which ordinarily bind a man in public life to act in harmony with the party to which he is at- tached. It is sometimes a great thing to have the courage of one's convictions, and the favorable mention of his name at one time as a candidate for. the Presidency of the United States was an honor- able recognition of the public appreciation of his vote, as having been dictated by conscience and a sense of duty."
Blessed with abundant means Mr. English gave liberally to many institutions and objects. Several years ago he gave $10,000 to the Law School of Yale
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College to establish a library fund, and also $20,000 to the Sheffield Scientific School to found a chair in mathematics. He later contributed the sum of $21,- ooo to build the English Drive in East Rock Park, and also made numerous generous donations to the General Hospital and to various other charities. St. Paul's Episcopal Church, where he regularly at- tended for over forty years, bears him in grateful remembrance.
On Jan. 25, 1837, Mr. English was married to Caroline Augusta Fowler, of New Haven, and of their four children-three sons and one daugh- ter-the youngest, Henry F., alone survives. Mrs. English died Oct. 23, 1874. at the age of sixty-two years, and on Oct. 7, 1885, Mr. English was mar- ried to Miss Anna R. Morris, of New York, daugh- ter of Lucius S. and Letitia C. Morris.
' DONALD GRANT MITCHELL, LL. D., author and lecturer, and whose beautiful country home, "Edgewood," in the vicinity of New Haven, has been made famous and familiar to the readers of some of the author's writings, comes of sturdy New England stock of State and National rep- utation.
Mr. Mitchell was born April 12, 1822, in Nor- wich, Conn., son of Rev. Alfred and Lucretia (Woodbridge) Mitchell, and grandson of the dis- tinguished jurist, Hon. Stephen Mix Mitchell, LL. D., of Wethersfield, Conn. The latter was a native of that town, born Dec. 9, 1743, son of James Mitchell (an emigre from Scotland) and Rebecca (Mix) Mitchell. Stephen was graduated from Yale in 1763, and was a tutor in that institution during the years 1766-69. He then studied law, was admitted to the Bar in 1772, and settled in the practice of his profession in Wethersfield. In 1783 he was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress, and re-elected in 1785 and 1787. He was appointed associate justice of the Hartford County Court in 1779; he was presiding judge from 1790 to 1795; and was then made judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut. In 1807 he became Chief Justice, and in that year Yale conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. He was elected a senator of the United States, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. Roger Sherman, taking his seat in that body Dec. 2, 1793, and serving till 1795. In 1805 he was a Presidential elector. It was largely through the efforts of Justice Mitchell that the State of Connecticut was able to establish her title to the tract of land in Ohio known as the Western Reserve, which was sold, and the proceeds devoted to the School fund. He died in Wethersfield, Conn., Sept. 30, 1835.
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Justice Mitchell was a grandson of Rev. Stephen Mix, son of Thomas Mix, of the New Haven Colony. Rev. Mr. Mix had been graduated at Harvard but three years when called to the church at Wethersfield, and in 1603 he began a long and successful pastoral term in Wethersfield. His wife,
whom he married in 1696, was Mary, daughter of Rev. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, Mass. His house was one of the six fortified in 1704. Rev. Mr. Mix died after forty-four years service, in 1738.
Rev. Alfred Mitchell, son of Justice Mitchell and the father of Donald Grant Mitchell, was born May 19, 1790, in Wethersfield, Conn. He was graduated from Yale in 1809, and studied theology under the direction of Ebenezer Porter and at And- over (Mass.) Theological Seminary. He preached for a short time in Bridgewater, Mass. On Oct. 27, 1814, he was ordained pastor of the Congre- gational Church in Norwich, Conn., and continued in such relations until his death, which occurred Dec. 19, 1831. Many of his sermons, mostly me- morial, were published, and were printed in the Evangelical Magasine.
Donald Grant Mitchell, the subject proper of this sketch, was prepared for college at a boarding school in Ellington, Conn., and by Dr. John Hall. From that school he entered Yale, from which he was graduated in 1841. He spent the next three years upon the farm of his maternal grandfather, in the town of Salem, Conn., where he likely re- ceived his impressions of country life which he later so beautifully portrayed in his books. He was much interested in agriculture and wrote a number of letters to the Albany Cultivator, and took a prize given by the New York Agricultural Society for a plan of farm buildings. In 1844 he went to Europe, where he spent about two years: he passed a part of one winter on the Isle of Jersey and the following spring and summer in rambling over England on foot, visiting every county and contributing occasional letters to public journals. On his return to this country he began the study of law in New York. The confinement in a law office was not, however, conducive to his health. which was not robust and the state of which was the occasion of his farm life at Salem after his graduation. While pursuing his law studies he published "Fresh Gleanings : or a New Sheaf from the Old Fields of Continental Europe, by Ik Mar- vel." In 1848 he again went abroad, and traveled through England and Switzerland. He was in Paris during the revolution of that year, the experi- ences of which he gave in the "Battle Summer," published in 1849. On his return to this country he published at New York a weekly periodical in the size and style of "Salmagundi," called "The Lorgnette," and later it was issued in book form. and under the nom de plume of "John Timon." Although this work attracted much attention for the brilliancy and style the author's incognito was preserved for nearly a year. Following this Mr. Mitchell brought out his more popular work. "Rev- eries of a Bachelor," the basis of which was orig- inally a contribution to the Southern Literary Mes- senger, under the title "A Bachelor's Reverie." In 1851 he isued "Dream Life," written in the same
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vein of hazy reminiscence, in which many find glimpses of their own lives. Some one lias said that these compositions are to American literature what a wood fire is on a dreary day. They are all warmth and cheer and light. They somewhat re- semble Irving's "Sketch Book," in their tender sentiment, and in the elegance and delicacy of their diction, which has placed them among the classics of American literature.
Mr. Mitchell. in 1854, was appointed United States consul to Venice, where he began collecting material for a history of the Venetian Republic. This, however, was never completed, but some of its material is set forth in his lecture, "Titian and his Times." delivered before the Vale Art School, and included in his volume entitled "Bound Together." Returning to America in 1855, Mr. Mitchell purchased a farm in the vicinity of New . Haven, Conn., which he named "Edgewood," upon which he has since resided, and which has become famous through his books on rural life, "My Farm of Edgewood," and "Rural Studies with Hints for Country Places." These works were preceded by "Fudge Doings," which appeared originally in the Knickerbockers Magasinc.
Mr. Mitchell has been an occasional contrib- utor to Harper's Magasine and the Atlantic Month- ly, besides writing for other periodicals and de- livering lectures and addresses on subjects con- nected with literature and agriculture. In 1868 he edited the Atlantic Almanac, and in 1869-70 edited for a year or more the Hearth and Home. He was appointed one of the judges of Industrial Art at the Centennial Exposition, 1876. He has been one of the council of the Yale Art School since its establishment. He was United States commis- sioner to the Paris Exposition of 1878. In that year Yale University conferred upon him the de- gree of LL. D.
Mr. Mitchell's publications, besides those men- tioned, include "Wet Days at Edgewood," 1865; "Seven Stories with Basement and Attic," 1864; "Dr. Johns," a novel, 1866; "About Old Story- tellers," 1869; and "Pictures of Edgewood," 1877; also a series of literary papers delivered before various educational institutions and published un- der the general title of "English Lands, Letters and Kings," four volumes ; "From Celt to Tudor," 1889; "From Elizabeth to Anne," 1890; "Queen Anne and the Georges," 1895; "The Later Georges to Victoria," 1897 : also "American Lands and Let- ters," two volumes.
In 1853 Mr. Mitchell was married to Mary, daughter of William B. Pringle, of Charleston, S. C., and a great-granddaughter of Rebecca Motte.
HON. HARMANUS M. WELCH, in whose memory a dormitory was erected at Yale University in 1892, was born in East Hampton, Conn., July 18, 1813, and died in New Haven, May 29, 1889.
At about sixteen years of age he went to Am-
herst intending to fit himself eventually to practice medicine, but was induced to enter a commercial life, and before he became of age he had com- menced in his own name a business career which extended over half a century, and which was one of unswerving rectitude and marked success. Starting in Bristol and Plainville, Conn., he later became interested in some of the most prosperous manufacturing enterprises of the State-made so in large measure by reason of his clear judgment. In many respects his might serve as the model busi- ness career, especially so in its industry and thor- oughness, and in his willingness to serve the pub- lic in positions where the duties were arduous and criticism certain.
While living in Plainville he was chosen to rep- resent Hartford county in the State Senate, and served in different periods in the General Assem- bly. He moved to New Haven in 1848, and be- came the partner of Hon. James E. English, who was afterward member of Congress, Governor of Connecticut and United States Senator. This part- nership continued until his death.
In 1860 Mr. Welch was elected mayor and con- tinted in that office until 1863. While mayor his equipment and forwarding of troops were especially conspicuous, but his greatest service to his country was the promptness with which he and his asso- ciates tendered financial aid to the Government in the time of its greatest need in 1863, by the forma- tion of the First National Bank of New Haven, of which he was the organizer, and for over twenty years the president. This bank, while numbered two on the list of the Comptroller of the Currency, was really the first to fully comply with all the re- quired conditions, and the moral effect upon others by his early action was, in view of his well-known conservatism and that of others connected with him, very beneficial.
For the last thirty years of his life Mr. Welch was constantly entrusted by the people of New Haven with positions of fiduciary responsibility. Most of that time he acted as town and city treas- urer, but, perhaps, by his services upon the board of education he will be best remembered locally. When he assumed office the credit of the School District was at its lowest, and its notes had gone to protest. He advanced the money to complete the Eaton School, and was instrumental in the creation of a strong public sentiment in favor of the common schools, giving as he did for a generation much of his time to the interest of public education
in New Haven. He watched and largely guided its evolution from the chaos in which he found it- but a little in advance of the methods of the red school house of his youth-to the Hillhouse High School, which at his death had become the feeder to the University and conspicuous for thorough- ness in the preparation of its pupils. He not only believed in compulsory education, but was decidedly of the opinion (and he was well fitted to intelli-
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gently discuss the subject ) that through such means the so-called problem of immigration would be solved. Few men outside of those connected with educational institutions have been able to serve so long a period and to accomplish so much.
Nor was his work in this direction confined to the school board. Until within a few years the Young Men's Institute furnished the only avail- able public library, and the general public was sin- gularly indifferent to its needs. Mr. Welch was .a trustee of the little property of the institute, and by patience, together with wise judgment in invest- ments, he lived to see it firmly established in its own building and become self-supporting. His last service before returning home for the day, and but a few hours before his death, was the fulfill- ment of an appointment in the interest of this library.
The quality which above all others distinguished Mr. Welch was the keenness with which he felt the responsibility of any private or public trust con- fided to him. These trusts were many, but, whether small or large, they received from him attention to the last'detail, such as few men give to their own affairs and still less to the interests of others. It was this acute sense of his duty, rather than care of his own property, that prevented his ever taking needed rest, and though he htted himself by ex- tensive reading for the enjoyment of travel abroad, and always looked forward to such a trip, he never found an opportunity when he could even tem- porarily put aside his cares, without seeming to be neglectful of what he conceived to be his duty, and without doubt his unwillingness to take needed rest greatly shortened his life. He was possessed of an active mind, gifted with a remarkable mem- ory, and, spending his entire leisure in his library, his intellectual attainments became, especially in American history, of a high order. Indeed, he was an excellent example of the fact that an active business career is not inconsistent with studious habits.
PARKER. Probably no name in New Eng- land is more extensively and favorably known to the manufacturing world at large than that of Parker. the products of the Parker factories reaching all parts of the civilized world. The several large cor- porations of the Charles Parker Co., of Meriden and vicinity, in which in recent years the sons- Charles E. and Dexter W .- of the late Charles Farker, have figured so prominently, have not only given the name world-wide fame, but have also giv- en prominence to the city of Meriden as a manufac- turing center.
Charles Parker, whose life spanned almost a cen- tury, passed away at his home in Meriden on the morning of Jan. 31, 1902. Grand in achievements, he passed a life surely not lived in vain. Mr. Par- ker was descended from William Parker, who was an original proprietor of Hartford, Conn., in 1636.
Hle removed to Saybrook, Conn., probably within ten years. His wife's Christian name was Margery. Charles Parker was in the sixth generation from them, the line of his descent being through John, Edward, Joel and Stephen.
(II) John Parker, son of William, born in 1648. married in 1670, Hannah, daughter of William Bas- sett. John Parker was among the early settlers of Wallingford, Conn., and from him the name was given to the farm still known as the "Parker farm."
( 111) Edward Parker, son of John, born in 1692, was three times married, and his first wife's name was Jerusha.
(IV) Joel Parker, son of John and Jerusha, born in 1723, married in 1746 Susannah Hotchkiss.
(V) Stephen Parker, son of Joel, born Aug. 5, 1759, married (first) in 1787 Sally, daughter of Joseph Twiss, and ( second ) Widow Rebecca Stone, daughter of Joshua Ray. Mrs. Rebecca Parker died July 1, 1846. The children born to the first mar- riage were: Clarissa, Zeri, Stephen, Stephen (2), Sarah, Clarissa (2), Joel and Isabella. To the sec- ond marriage were born John, Betsey, Charles and Edmund. Stephen Parker was a soldier in the Revolutionary army.
(VI) CHARLES PARKER, son of Stephen, was born Jan. 2, 1809, and at the age of nine years went to live with Porter Cook, a farmer of Wallingford, Conn., with whom he remained five years, during which period he was occupied in doing chores and work on the farm. In the winter seasons hie at- tended the neighboring schools. When eighteen years of age he entered the employ of Anson Mat- thews, a manufacturer of pewter buttons. in South- ington, Conn., and received for his services six dol- lars per month and his board. A year later he be- gan employment with Harry & Horace Smith, who were also engaged in making buttons, and received for his labor his board and an advance on his for- mer wages of six dollars per month. In 1828, after six months' service with the Smiths, he went to Meriden and became employed by Patrick Lewis, a manufacturer of coffee-mills. By close attention and application he mastered this business in one year's time, and in December, 1820, entered into a contract with Patrick Lewis and Elias Holt to make for them a specified number of coffee-mills per month. Starting with a capital of only seventy dol- lars, he made under his contract in thirteen months a profit of SI,Soo. In 1831 he became associated with Jared Lewis, and they continued in the same line under contract. In January. 1832, Mr. Parker sold his interest to his partner and bought an acre . of land, on which he began the manufacture of coi- fee-mills and waffle-irons. In November, 1833. his brother Edmund and Heman White became asso- ciated with him as partners, under the firm name of Parker & White. Under the depressing influences of the financial panic of 1837 the firm temporarily suspended. but before the expiration of the year 1842 liquidated their indebtedness in full. with in-
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terest. In 1845 the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Parker continued the business alone, under the name of the Union Works. He made additions to the plant, and putting in a Corliss engine of eigh- ty-horse power entered upon a career of prosperity and success. In 1877 Mr. Parker organized a joint- stock company under the name of the Charles Parker Co., under which style the business of the Union Works has since been carried on. The prod- ucts of the company are chiefly wood serews, pat- ent bench vices, coffee-mills, lamps and piano stools.
The Charles Parker Co., of which Mr. Parker was president, his son Dexter Wright Parker treas- urer, and a son-in-law, William H1. Lyon, secretary, own a large factory in Meriden, where are manufac- tured machinists tools, and breech-loading double- barrelled shotguns, known to all sportsmen as the "Parker Gun." In this factory, during the Civil war, Mr. Parker made guns for the United States Government. A factory at Yalesville, Conn., is owned and operated by the Charles Parker Co., for the manufacture of packing boxes, and a portion of the coffee-mills and piano stools; and they have another factory at East Meriden, for making tinned steel spoons and forks. In these varied industries about one thousand hands are employed. The com- pany also own and operate the Meriden Curtain Fix- ture Co., having the most complete manufactory for curtain fixtures in the world. The Parker Clock Co., of Meriden, is also principally owned and con- trolled by the Charles Parker Co. These combined interests mentioned give employment to about fif- teen hundred persons. The successful management of the various industries under the control of others must have required an unusual executive ability, keen foresight, rare judgment, shrewd power of calculation, and a knowledge of men, not often found possessed by a single man.
There have been incidents in the life of the fa- ther which show that the necessity of economy and shrewdness neither hardened his heart nor closed his hand when the welfare of those about him called for his aid. At one period in his career the late Will- iam L. Bradley, of Boston, widely known as the wealthy manufacturer of land fertilizers, was in his employ, at a salary of $3,000 a year. Mr. Bradley with his consent, engaged, in partnership with a friend, in an enterprise which, through the misman- agement of his partner, resulted in a loss and in- debtedness of $20,000. He could not be induced to compromise with his creditors, but determined to use every effort to pay his indebtedness in full. In order that he might carry out his laudable determination Mr. Parker doubled his salary, and paid him four years salary in advance. This was the turning point in the career of Mr. Bradley, and to the generosity of Mr. Parker the remarkable success of his future life was undoubtedly due. How rare in these days are such men as Charles Parker and William L. Bradley!
Mr. Parker was a member of the M. E. Church 2
I of Meriden, and when the society was organized he generously fitted up one of his shops for its use. In 1847 the society erected a church costing $6,000, and three-quarters of this amount and the lot on which it stood were the gifts of Mr. Parker. In 1866, when the present edifice was built at a cost of $80,000, one-half of the cost was paid by the same gentleman. The citizens of Meriden, in recognition i of his public spirit, his worth as a man and the es- teem in which he was held, made him mayor of the city at its incorporation, in 1867.
In 1831 Mr. Parker was married to Abi Lewis Eddy, of Berlin, Conn., and ten children were born of this union. Those living are: Dexter Wright and Annie D., the latter the wife of William H. Lyon.
LYON. For fifty years or more the name of Lyon has been prominently identified with the growth of Meriden, and during that time one of its veteran manufacturers, George W. Lyon, has fig- ured conspicuously-along with other distinguished men, many of whom have long since been called to their reward-in founding, fostering and expand- ing the many corporations which have placed MIeri- den in the first rank among the manufacturing cities of this country.
Humphrey Lyon, who for forty years was one of the estimable citizens of Meriden, was born in East Haddam, Conn .. Dec. 19. 1797, son of Charles and Lois (Grimes) Lyon. He was reared in East Had- dam, where he lived until after his marriage. Mov- ing to the State of New York, he made his home there until near the middle of the nineteenth cen- tury, when he located in Meriden, whither his son, George W., had preceded him. There he passed the. remainder of his life, and, until the infirmities of age caused his retirement, he was engaged actively in business. Interested in the growth of Meriden. he efficiently served his fellow citizens in local posi- tions, among others as selectman and tax collector. In his political views Mr. Lyon was first a Demo- crat, but he joined the Republican party on its or- ganization, the change being brought about by his love of liberty and abhorrence of the wrongs of slavery. A man of strong convictions and uncom- promising opinions in political and religious mat- ters, he was respected for his kindness of heart and his absence of bitterness and anger toward those who differed from him. During the struggle for National life he was outspoken and active in his support of President Lincoln and the war measures.
Mr. Lyon was a firm believer in Freemasonry, and was one of the oldest Masons in the State at the time of his death, which occurred April 13. 1887. He was made a Master Mason in Columbia Lodge. No. 26, East Haddam, April 8. 1818, was a charter member. W. M. and treasurer of Meridian Lodge. of Meriden; was a charter member of Keystone Chapter. No. 27, in 1854, and II. P. in 1855-56-57 : a charter member of Hamilton Council, No. 22, March
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10, 1856, and T. P. M., 1857-58 ; and was treasurer of the chapter and connell until failing sight com- pelled him to decline further election to office. For the last ten years of his life he was totally blind, but he was always bright and cheerful and ready to en- joy a joke. Masonry with him meant something more than mere form, and as he believed it to be something to be lived for he always gave it willing and loyal service. So far as was known, at the time of his death there were only two older Masons in Connecticut-Abijah Ressique, of Ridgefield, raised in 1812, and Israel Coc, of Waterbury, from 1816. Mr. Lyon was a member of the Society of Masonic Veterans from its formation until his death, and attended every annual meeting until age and other infirmities prevented. Masonry has had many able exponents in Meriden, but to none was it more in- debted for the favorable position it occupied in the city for nearly forty years than to Humphrey Lyon.
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