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 61
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Mr. Downs was married to Eliza A. Bassett. born March 12, 1818, and to them were born chil- dren as follows: Mary Elizabeth ( now deceased ), Frances M., William Sidney and Charles Nelson. MIrs. Downs died June 5, 1867.
NELSON H. DOWNS, son of Lewis and brother of Sidney A., was born Nov. 18, 1821, in the town
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of Huntington, Conn. At eighteen years of age he left the farm and went to the neighboring village of Birmingham to engage in mercantile business with his older brother, Sidney A., who had preceded him thither a year or two. Some seven years later Nel- son H. engaged in the manufacturing business on his own account, at first making carriage joints, then matches and later tacks. He was among the first to engage in the manufacture of hoop skirts, and the very first in the village of Birmingham to make corsets. He possessed great business fore- sight, and early saw the advantages, and with char- acteristic promptness he anticipated all others in the erection of the first factory on the west side of the Housatonic river. He was also attracted by the beautiful eminence beyond, and quickly made pur- chases to the right and to the left, and early erected on a point commanding a charming view one of the grandest and most complete residences in that whole section of country. He was a most system- atic and methodical business man. He believed in and practiced a pay-as-you-go system, never execut- ing a mortgage, it is said, and not giving more than two or three notes in his business career. He was in the habit of paying his employes every fort- night, and with his own hands, and in this failed but once during the period of eighteen years of an active, busy life, and then owing to sickness. As may be inferred from the foregoing he was a care- ful and judicious business man and made a for- tune. He built four factories along the Housa- tonic and to his energy, enterprise and public spirit much of the growth and progress of Shelton and Birmingham were due. He was at the front in all measures which tended to the advancement of that locality, always aiding work of public utility. He was a noble man, warm-hearted, kind and gener- ous ; no poor man was ever turned away from his door.
In the anti-bellum days Mr. Downs was a Whig of the Bell and Evert stamp, and later identified himself with the Republican party. He held vari- ous offices of public trust.
Mr. Downs was married to Elizabeth B., born Nov. 6, 1821, daughter of Abijah and Pauline (Wakeman) Wallace, and to the union came chil- dren as follows: (1) Sarah E., born July 30, 1845, died in infancy. (2) Hattie W., born Feb. 28, 1849, married June 14, 1869. H. F. Wanning, and among their children are, Grace E., Frank N. and Hattie D. Mr. Wanning for years has been identi- fied with the Birmingham Iron Foundry, as its sec- retary and later as president and agent of the con- cern, a position he now occupies. (3) Edward W., born Oct. 20, 1852, married May 4, 1874, Mar- garet Barker, born in 1852. She died in 1876, leaving one son, Frank W. Mr. Downs married (second) April 30, 1879, Alice Benedict, and died in 1886. Nelson H. Downs died April 26, 1881, and his widow passed away Dec. 2, 1896.
JUDGE WILLIAM SIDNEY DOWNS, son of Sidney
A., was born March 16, 1857, in the town of Derby, Conn., and was educated in its public schools and also in private schools. Having decided upon the legal profession for a life work, he entered the Albany Law School at Albany, N. Y., from which he was graduated in 1879. He also furthered his legal studies under the direction of the late Samuel MI. Gardner at Derby, Conn., and was admitted to the Bar in New Haven County in June, 1879, since which time he has maintained an office in Derby and practiced in the courts of the County and State, and by his straightforward course has gained the con- fidence of the people and become established in a good practice. In his earlier career, in 1884 and 1885, he served with efficiency as the assistant clerk of the House of Representatives, and of the State Senate in 1886. From 1883 to 1885 Mr. Downs was warden of the borough of Birmingham. He has served, too, as prosecuting attorney of the town court, and has just retired from several years' serv- ice as judge of the city court. The judge is one of the substantial men and citizens of Derby, and is among the leading lawyers of the New Haven County Bar.
On July 7, 1892, Judge Downs was married to Ella M. Hinman, of Oxford, Connecticut.
CHARLES NELSON DOWNS, son of Sidney .1., was born June 24. 1859, in the town of Derby. He was graduated from the public schools of his na- tive town in 1877. Several years later he became engaged in the manufacturing business, making corsets, and in this continued until 1890. Retiring from the manufacturing field in that year he opened an office in Derby for the transaction of a business the same in character as that of the Home Trust Co., which was incorporated in 1893, and of which Mr. Downs is now secretary and treasurer. This institution acts as agent for a large number of fire insurance companies, buys and sells real estate, takes charge of rents and properties in the locality. acts as trustce, executor, administrator, receiver and guardian for trusts, etc. The company has a capital of $25,000, and a surplus of $5,000, and is a most commendable adjunct to the business inter- ests of Derby.
On Feb. 8, 1892, Mr. Downs was appointed postmaster of Derby by President Cleveland, and most efficiently filled that important office during that administration. He was instrumental in bring- ing about important improvements to the local mail service. Mr. Downs was a member of the board of borough burgesses in 1887 and 1888, before the in- corporation of Derby as a city. He is popular as a man and citizen, and stands high in business circles.
EDWIN CADY ( deceased) was well known to the citizens of Meriden as superintendent of the Meriden Cutlery Co., at South Meriden, and throughout his long business career maintained the high standard of business methods that first won for him recognition in the commercial and manu-
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Edisco Lady
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facturing world. He was born in Woodstock, this State, Oct. 21, 1833, a son of Charles Edwin and Clementine (Cheney) Cady.
Charles Edwin Cady was born June 3, 1804, in Killingly, Coun., son of Jonathan Cady, who was killed in an accident at Norwich, Conn., when the son was only seven years old. Charles E. Cady grew to manhood in his native place, and learned the trade of blacksmith. In 1837 he removed with his family to Southbridge, Mass., there establish- ing a machine shop in what is now called Saunders- dale, where he commenced business, making mill and machine work a specialty. In 1857 he sold his property in Southbridge, intending to go West, and re-engage in business in a new field. On ac- · count of the hard times, however, he did not carry out this plan, but bought a new home and re- mained in Southbridge until his death, Aug. 7, 1893. In religious faith he was a Baptist, and consistent in the practice of the doctrine he professed. Hc married Clementine Cheney, who was born in Southbridge, a daughter of Capt. Joel Cheney, and five children blessed this union, as follows : Edwin, who is mentioned below; Franklin, of Southbridge, who died Feb. 10, 1901 ; Henry C., of Southbridge; Newton, who died in 1870; and George W., of Southbridge. The mother died in 1871, in the faith of the Baptist Church, and was laid to rest in the beautiful cemetery at South- bridge.
Edwin Cady was educated in the public schools at Southbridge, and finished his education in Wil- braham Academy. When he left the school room, after some training in his father's shop, he went to Worcester, where he remained six months, in one of the machine shops there, learning the trade. In June, 1856, he went to Buffalo, where he met George Parr and entered his factory as superin- tendent, remaining there two years. Mr. Parr hav- ing failed in business, he went into the factory of the Pitts brothers, manufacturers of threshing ma- chines, where lie remained two years, and thence returned to Southbridge. In 1861 he went to Springfield, Mass., entering the government armory to engage in gunmaking. At the end of seven years he removed to South Meriden to take the position of assistant superintendent of the cutlery works there. A year later, on the death of the superintendent, he was promoted to that office in these works, and held it to the day of his death- a period of over twenty-six years, during which time he faithfully performed the duties connected therewith, winning by his faithfulness the respect and confidence of his employers, and the estecm of those under him. Mr. Cady was an expert me- chanic, and always ready in any emergency. His genial manners won him many friends, and his death, which occurred at his home on Cook avenue June 6, 1895, was most sincerely regretted. His remains were taken to Southbridge, Mass .. for burial. In his political affiliations he was a Re-
publican. He represented his ward in the common council, but was in no sense an office seeker. Fra- ternally Mr. Cady belonged to Meridian Lodge, No. 77, A. F. & A. M .; Keystone Chapter, No. 27, R. A. M .; the Knights Templar, St. Elmo Command- ery, No. 9; Hancock Lodge, I. O. O. F .; Monto- wese Tribe, No. 6., I. O. R. M .; and Columbus Council, No. 5. O. U. A. M. In his religious views he was a Congregationalist, was broad minded and liberal, and regarded the Golden Rule as the only motto of right living. A kind and considerate man, his memory will ever be cherished by all who were privileged to know him. He commanded the respect of all with whom he came in contact, for he. harbored no ill-will and believed no ill of any one. His kind heart ever reached out toward the whole world, and everybody was his friend.
On Dec. 25, 1856, in Albany, N. Y., Mr. Cady wedded Roselia Marble Lathe, who was born in Grafton, Mass., May 1, 1835, a daughter of Levi Lincoln and Frances ( Marble) Lathe, of South- bridge. The only child of this union was born July 22, 1862, and died Aug. 14, 1865. Mrs. Cady is one of those women "nohly planned" who find in their homes their truest happiness. In her de- votion to her husband she left nothing undone, and when the final parting came she met it with the sub- lime faith of the true Christian who knows that those so truly joined in life cannot be separated in death.
In February, 1902, Mrs. Cady was sorely be- reaved in the deaths of her brother-in-law and sis- ter, T. Elmer and Fanny Gould, of West Brook- field. In an explosion on Feb. 14th, of acetylene gas, with which their house was lighted, the home was wrecked and Mrs. Gould was killed, and Mr. Gould suffered such injuries that he died a few days afterward, and was buried on the 25th of February, just one week after the funeral of his wife. They left an only daughter, Miss Rose Gould.
WILBUR FISK GILLETTE, the president of the G. M. Grant Company, of New Haven, and one of the most prominent mason builders of that city, whose business is conducted from the office at No. 133 Union street, was born in Randolph, Portage Co., Ohio, Feb. 9, 1837, a son of Eli Gillette, a na- tive of Derby, Connecticut.
Anson Gillette, the father of Eli, was also born in Derby, where he combined farming with tan- ning leather and making shoes. He married Betsy Mansfield, who was born in Derby, and this union was blessed with fourteen children, all of whom are now dead. The mother died in 1864, at the age of eighty-four, strong in the faith of the Methodist Church.
Eli Gillette was reared in Derby, where he was engaged in farming. Some ten years were spent by him in Ohio, but the remaining years of his life were spent in Derby, where he died Sept. 13, 1900,
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at the age of eighty-nine. In early life he was a Whig, but became a Republican on the formation of the party. Eliza Bassett, his wife, was born in Oxford, a daughter of Ezra Bassett, who was a farmer, and one of the pioncer settlers in Ohio in 1830, where he died at the age of ninety years, while his wife, who was one of a family of nine children, lived to be one hundred years old. To Eli Gillette and wife were born four daughters and one son, of whom three of the daughters are living : Mrs. F. M. Clemens, of Shelton, is a widow ; Mrs. Sarah E. W. Clark, of Derby; Mrs. Edward S. Davis, a widow, in Fair Haven. The mother, who died at the age of seventy-nine, was a devout mem- ber of the Methodist Church, and one of her daugh- ters also belongs to this church. The father be- longed to the church, in what was then Derby, but is now Seymour.
Wilbur Fisk Gillette spent his early years in Derby, and when he was sixteen years of age went to Waterbury to learn the mason trade with a friend in that city, at which he spent five years; for two years while learning his trade he worked for one man, and spent nine years in all there. In 1859 he came to New Haven, and 1861 enlisted in Com- pany D, Ist Conn. V. I., going out in response to the call for three months' men. At the expiration of this term of enlistment he entered Company E, 5th United States Cavalry, where he rendered faith- ful services for three years, two years of that time being orderly sergeant. His command was under Gen. Merritt, and later under Gen. Sheridan, and Mr. Gillette served in many fierce and memorable engagements. He participated in thirty-two re- corded battles, among them being the first battle at Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, the Wilderness, the Shenandoah battles, Winches- ter, Cedar Creek, Five Forks, before Petersburg, and in the engagements leading up to Appomattox. With the coming of white-winged peace, his military career was ended.
Mr. Gillette came to his present concern in No- vember, 1867, and was employed for a year as a journeyman, when he was made foreman, which position he held until 1894. At the end of that long and creditable period of service, he was admitted to the firm, and held the position of vice-president of the company up to the death of Mr. Grant, in February, 1901, when he succeeded him as presi- dent. This concern is the second largest in the city; and among other important constructions they have built the Peabody Museum, the Railroad Building, the Winchester Building. the Sheffield Scientific School, York Square School, many private resi- dences, and other large and costly structures.
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In 1866 Mr. Gillette was married to Miss Amelia Rice, a native of New Haven, and a daughter of Joel Rice, a well-known politician of New Haven, where . he died when he was sixty-five. To this union were born two children: Katherine, who married Randolph A. Osborn, a traveling sales-
man; and George W. Fisk, who married Bertha Curtis, and has one son, George Curtis. George W. F. is a civil engineer, a graduate of the New Haven high school, and of the Sheffield Scientific School, and has already taken high position in the world. Mrs. Wilbur Fisk Gillette died Nov. 11, 1900. MEr. Gillette is a Republican, and is a Mason of high degree, having passed through the several subor- dinate organizations to receive the Thirty-second degree. In the Union League and Young Men's Republican Club his character and personality have been felt. He attends the First Baptist Church.
DAVID B. WHEELER, late a prominent and popular citizen of West Haven, was at the time of his death, April 4, 1900, approaching his sev- enty-ninth birthday, his memory green, his mind unclouded, and his hope unruffled. His life drew toward its close in the same town with whose in- terests he had been long identified, and from whose citizens he had long commanded universal respect. He was born Nov. 9, 1821, in Monroe, this State, as were his father and grandfather. Monroe sent a full company of patriot soldiers to the army of the Revolution, and Mr. Wheeler's grandfather did not hesitate to offer his fortune and his life to the Colonial cause. He was a farmer by occupation. He died at the home of his son Samuel (MIr. Wheeler's father ).
Samuel Wheeler was reared upon the paternal farm, but learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner, which he followed through life, passing away at the age of eighty-six. He married Betsey Smith, who was born in Oxford, and died in her twenty-fourth year. Both Samuel Wheeler and his wife were communicants of the Episcopal Church. Of the three children born to them David B. was the last survivor.
David B. Wheeler assisted his father upon the farm and attended school during boyhood and early youth. At the age of seventeen he learned the trade of making spectacles, which he followed sev- eral years, and when he had reached his twenty- second year found employment in New Haven, re- maining with one firm for seventeen years. Early in life he began to display those habits of thrift and self-denial which have done much toward build- ing up his present handsome fortune. Every day he walked to and from work, a distance of two and one-half miles, and by practicing other econ- omies gradually accumulated the nucleus of a com- petence. From New Haven he went to Whitney- ville, where he secured a position with the Whitney Arms Co. The story of his success there well ex- emplifies those qualities which characterized him through life. He entered the factory at first for a probationary period of two weeks, and showed such skill, good judgment and industry that his pro- motion was rapid, and he was soon employed to make the finest grade of tools used in the works, gaining the well-deserved reputation of being one
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Dfs Wheeler
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of the finest mechanics in the State. One striking illustration of the nicety and perfection of his skill is worthy of being especially noted. He was re- quested to make four safe keys, of a most complex pattern, the work upon which was so delicate as to call for precise accuracy to the one-thousandth of an inch, in order to cause four tumblers to drop. into crescent-shaped receptacles. The task was one of no small difficulty, and no such work had ever before been undertaken in the shops, but Mr. Wheeler performed it so successfully that each key fitted with absolute perfection. Several important changes were suggested by him in the process of turning out the company's product-which at that time consisted of rifles of the highest grade-and were adopted with excellent results. He was finally made an inspector in the finishing department. and his compensation doubled, the salary paid him be- ing exceptionally high. From Whitneyville he was sent to the new works of the company at Yonkers. N. Y., and made inspector of rifle barrels.
On leaving the Whitney Co. Mr. Wheeler went to Bridgeport to enter the employ of the Winchester Arms Co., and it may be said, without fear of suc- cessful contradiction, that the foundations of Win- chester's success were laid in no small part through the conscientious, painstaking, indefatigable efforts of Mr. Wheeler. He was virtually given complete control-having charge of the work done, oversee- ing the men and keeping the books. The best com- ment upon his fidelity and success is afforded by the fact that after quitting the company's service he was repeatedly and earnestly urged to return. the request being accompanied by financial inducements of the most tempting sort. To all these proposi- tions, however, he turned a deaf ear, and in 1868 he retired to devote his time and attention to the management of his own private business. Eight years before he had bought four acres of land in West Haven for $1.250, and had erected the hand- some house which stands at the intersection of Elm street and Washington avenue. In the pur- chase of this property he showed rare judgment, and in its management and disposition he displayed a sound business sense equally conspicuous. He divided it into building lots, which he sold at an average price of fifteen dollars per foot, and on those lots which he himself improved he inaugu- rated the custom of erecting dwellings as well as stores on foundations of stone. For several years he also owned property in Roxbury, where he was accustomed to go, with friends, to hunt and fish.
Mr. Wheeler was a Republican in politics. He was a citizen of broad and generous public spirit. For eight years consecutively he served the town as assessor and collector, and never were West Haven's taxes more honestly assessed or more faithfully collected. At the expiration of his last term, however, he positively declined to accept any further nomination for public office. His religious faith was that in which he was born and reared,
and he was an active and influential member of Christ Episcopal Church, toward whose mainten- ance and work he was a liberal contributor. While living in New Haven he was also actively inter- ested in church work in the parish of St. Paul and later of Trinity, leading the choir in both churches. In his earlier years he was said to have had a fine tenor voice, and was considered one of the best leaders within the borders of Connecticut. He also took a prominent part in organizing and training the choir of the West Haven parish and was for many years its leader.
On Sept. 9, 1851, Mr. Wheeler was married to Sibyl Elizabeth Stannard, who was eight years his junior. She was born in Westbrook, and died April 23, 1900. Edward Stannard, father of Mrs. Wheel- er, was born Feb. 10, 1800. He was captain of a vessel which he owned, sailing between Boston and ports on the Mediterranean sea, and also engaged in farming at Westbrook. He died May 20, 1854. in Sacramento, Cal. On Oct. 24, 1824, he married Beulah Jones, and they had six children: (I ) Frances M., born Feb. 25, 1827. married John Hop- kins. (2) Sibyl Elizabeth, born Aug. 10, 1828, died April 23, 1900. (3) Edward Job, born May 24, 1830, is mentioned below. (4) Abel H. was born in April, 1834. (5) Ely J. was born Sept. 9, 1837. (6) Lydia Scranton, born Feb. 16, 1842, married Lyman Squires, of Branford.
Edward Job Stannard was educated in West- brook. He spent most of his life at sea, on mer- chant vessels. He died May 13, 1858, in South American waters. In May. 1855, he married Mary Haynes, a native of Bristol, England, and they had one daughter, Mary Frances, born in Brook- lyn, N. Y., who was married in Flushing, L. I., to Dennis J. Carroll, and has two sons, Edward and William Carroll. Mr. and Mrs. Carroll reside at the old Wheeler home in West Haven, Connecticut.
GEORGE HEWLETT CLOWES, member of the firm of Randolph & Clowes, manufacturers of sheet brass and copper, seamless brass and copper tubing, brazed tubing, etc., Waterbury. To explain and to appreciate the marked business success of the subject of this sketch, one only needs to under- stand the man himself. Although quiet, unobtru- sive. affable and ever courteous, he is of a type of business men who possess at bottom sterling hon- esty, absolute independence and limitless persever- ance. In every enterprise, with him "To think is to perform." Inheriting through a long line of an- cestors what may be called the severely Saxon qual- ities-integrity, determination and clear-headedness -he yet adds to them the peculiarly American traits of push, pluck and self-reliance. This rare combin- ation in itself is enough to guarantee success in any man. To the possession of this compound of quali- ties both of mind and heart, the present high posi- tion of Mr. Clowes in the manufacturing world is largely due.
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In the latter part of the seventeenth century, the name of Clowes first appears in America. Here, its starting point was in that old, historic and thriving town of Hempstead, L. I. Indeed the burying ground of St. George's Church, in Hempstead, is, in its epitaphs, a sufficient history of the family, since its first advent to this country. It is a surpris- ing fact, in looking over its records from the begin- ning, to find so many of the name in succeeding generations who have pursued professional and scholarly lives-doctors, lawyers, clergymen, almost exclusively --- many of them quite distinguished in their life work. Perhaps, however, no one of the name acquired so high a position in the world of letters and scholarship as the Rev. Timothy Clowes, LL. D., the father of our present subject. This man, most eminent in his profession, was born March 18, 1787, was graduated as Master of Arts at Columbia College in 1808, was a clergyman, in 1809, of the Established Church, with a parish at Jamaica, L. I., and later one in Jersey City, was rector of St. Peter's Church, in Albany, from 1810 to 1817; at the end of which time he returned to Hempstead, and for three years taught with marked success one of the leading classical institutes of the country. Recognizing his vast and varied erudi- tion, he was honored in 1821 with the degree of doctor of laws by Allegheny College, and the same year was appointed the principal of Erasmus Hall, Flatbush, L. I. In IS23 Dr. Clowes received a call to the presidency of Washington College, Mary- land, which he accepted. Over this institution of learning he presided for six years. During a part of this period he was also Rector of the Episcopal Church in Chestertown, Md., and of St. Paul's, Kent County, Md. In 1829 Washington College was destroyed by fire, and Dr. Clowes again opened his classical school in Hempstead, L. I. This sem- inary in the succeeding nine years became widely celebrated as an institution of learning. The Clin- ton Liberal Institute, Oneida County, N. Y., called him in 1838 as principal-a position which he cred- itably occupied for four years. Dr. Clowes died at Hempstead, Long Island, June 19, 1847.
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