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 62
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As a thinker, the mind of Rev. Dr. Clowes was of no ordinary cast. Whether viewed as a fellow- citizen, a neighbor, a theologian, an acute scholar, or as a man, his contemporaries found in him every- thing to respect and admire. Full of life and en- ergy himself, with uncommon facility, he infused the same spirit into others. Wherever he was found, there, too, was found a master spirit. He possessed mental qualities of uncommon activity, never wearying with the multiplicity of his labors. His mind was stored with such an unusual variety of knowledge as to extend . far beyond the boun- daries of his professional pursuits. "When the ear heard him, it blessed him: and when the eve saw him, it gave witness unto him." His fund of solid and general information upon every variety of topic, his forcible and happy manner of communication,
joined with a social and cheerful disposition, ren- dered him upon all occasions a safe counselor and friend, an agreeable and interesting gentleman, the delight of every circle in which he moved. He lived, to borrow the words of a quaint writer, "by old ethics and classical rules of honor." His life was of so exact and even a type that it might almost be styled mathematical. The simple epitaph upon his tombstone at Hempstead tersely describes him : "Dr. Clowes was the most of his life devoted to the cause of education ; his reading was immense ; his learning extensive and various ; and, as a mathe- matician, he had few equals and no superiors."
If the subject of this notice derives some of his best qualities to ensure success in life from his dis- tinguished father, he is no less indebted for many of his most manly characteristics to his mother. Her maiden name was Miss Mary Hewlett, and her mother's name was Mary Sands. She came from a long and noted ancestry. Her lineage is distinct- ly traced, step by step, to the middle of the 11th century in England, and her family was exclusively of Saxon origin. The name was originally Sandys in the olden times, but has since been spelled Sandes, Sandis and Sands. Dr. Benjamin Sandys was Archbishop of York in the time of Cromwell, who confiscated his vast estates just as he treated everything of value with which he came in con- tact. There is at present an association of the Sands family heirs, of which Mr. Clowes is a mem- ber, seeking for a restoration to them through the British Parliament of these estates, aggregating $100,000,000. In America, the Sands family first appears in the person of Sir Edwin Sandys, who, in 1617, became governor and treasurer of the Vir- ginia Colony. Subsequently, in 1640, representa- tives of the parent stock in England settled in Bos- ton, Mass. A few years later, Block Island came into the possession of the Sands; portions of the family twenty years later removed to Long Island and became extensive owners of property in the vi- cinity of Sands Point, which from them takes its name. The genealogy of the Sands family from this point to the present, covering nearly three cen- turies, is both interesting and instructive, but our narrow limits forbid its introduction here. Suffice it to say, that it comprised members of all of the three recognized professions, men prominent in business circles in New York and elsewhere, of- ficers, soldiers and patriots of our wars of the Revo- lution and of 1812, bankers, members of Congress, judges, naval officers and scholars. It would be difficult to point out a family in this country with a more honorable record through each of its suc- cessive generations, or one which has been held in higher esteem by its contemporaries. Although it is true that
"The glories of our birth and state Are shadows,-not substantial things."
yet is it equally true that one may take a just pride
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in having descended from such worthy stock, and may fairly ascribe to its blood flowing in his veins, many of those ennobling qualities which go so far to ensure success in life. "Men do not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs from thistles."
George Hewlett Clowes, the subject of this sketch, was born at Clinton, Oneida Co., N. Y., June 17, 1842, during the period of his father's presidency of the Clinton Liberal Institute. His father died when he was but five years of age. Upon his widowed mother devolved the care, edu- cation and training of two children, both of tender years. Until he was eleven years of age, Mr. Clowes attended the Hempstead Seminary and Jamaica Academy, and for the four following years, he was a student of the Thetford Academy, Thet- ford, Vermont. At the age of fifteen, his brother, then a banker in De Pere, Wis., gave him a position in his banking-house, which he retained until he entered St. Lawrence University, at Appleton, Wis. From his college davs, until 1875. he made his home with his mother, in Brooklyn, N. Y. Mr. Clowes has also an honorable record, as a young and patriotic citizen, in our late Civil War. Un- der the competent instruction of Col. Tompkins, who had been commissioned to educate officers for military positions, he passed a successful examina- tion before the board of U. S. Examining Officers, and was at once appointed adjutant of the Mc- Clelland infantry. Having aided in recruiting 600 men for a new regiment, an order of consolidation with another and smaller body of recruits was is- sued by the War Department, and the entire regi- mental staff of the latter body was placed in com- mand of the full regiment. This did not in the least diminish the patriotic ardor of Mr. Clowes, but on a second call for troops, he at once re-enlisted, a musket on his shoulder. with the 47th N. Y. N. G. Soon he was appointed sergeant major of the regi- ment, which' position he held when mustered out. He had, likewise, during the War of the Rebellion, an extensive experience in the navy of the United States. For a year and a half he served on the U. S. gunhoat "Flambeau," doing duty off the coast of North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Later he was transferred to the U. S. storeship "Home," and was faithful to duty aboard this ship, until she was ordered home in the summer of 1864. His elder brother, Joseph Clowes, now retired, was also in the service of the Navy of the Union as Ad- miral's Secretary, and the loss of a leg at the fall of Fort Fisher sufficiently attests his love of country and his sacrifice for her in her hour of sore distress. This is all the more marked as he volunteered his services for shore duty against the Admiral's ad- vice not to go ashore with the marines.
In 1882 Mr. Clowes was united in marriage to Miss Mamie T. Blacknall. daughter of Dr. Geo. W. Blacknall, of Raleigh, N. C., and their home is a model of refinement, happiness and domestic felicity.
The first experience of Mr. Clowes in a mer- cantile life began as book-keeper, and afterwards as salesman, for the flourishing house of Garden & Co., New York. This was late in 1864. At the end of two years he received a flattering offer from the Middlefield Fire & Building Stone Co., 1269 Broadway, New York. While thus engaged he was appointed paymaster's clerk on the U. S. gun- boat "Juniata," ordered to a European station, and sailed in July, 1869, and he was abroad till 1872. Returning to the United States, he at once was en- gaged as loan and discount clerk for the New York Loan Indemnity Company. In this position he won the respect and admiration of all who dealt with him, and, through their confidence in him person- ally, he influenced to this company, during the two years of his connection with it, deposits of his friends of upwards of a quarter of a million of dollars. It was with this banking house that the old firm of Brown & Brothers, of Waterbury, Conn .. with a reputation world wide for upwards of forty years, then kept their New York account. Late in 1874, when the New York Loan Indemnity Co. were arranging to discontinue business, Mir. Philo Brown (the then president of Brown & Bros.) asked its president, in the course of a business conversa- tion, if he could recommend one of the employes of the bank to him-a man who would have the re- quisite character, stamina and ability, if engaged, to grow up and become identified with his large business establishment in Waterbury. Calling up Mr. Clowes, the president at once remarked to Mr. Brown: "Of all those employed in this bank, I speak in every respect most highly of this one." That recommendation was sufficient, an engagement of Mr. Clowes at once followed and as a result, on January 1, 1875. Mr. Clowes came to Waterbury and entered upon his duties as head book-keeper of Brown & Bros. During the entire period of his connection with Brown & Bros., covering about eleven years, it should, however, be stated that Mr. Clowes had no part in the direction, policy or man- agement of the concern. Owing to financial diffi- culties and embarrassments and other causes. entire- ly foreign to a discussion here, in January, 1886, it was deemed advisable for the once powerful and solid company of Brown & Bros. to make an as- signment. This event occurred under the presi- dency of Franklin Farrel, Esq., the elder Brown having died some years before. The trustees of the company, however, recognizing the ability and integrity of Mr. Clowes, retained him for his aid to them in winding up its involved and intricate af- fairs. His keen mercantile sagacity told him at once that the purchase of the Seamless Tube. Brazed Tube and Boiler business from the trustees might be made the nucleus of a great industry. This. however, was at that time but a small portion of the original plant of Brown & Bros. To secure its control required an outlay of $37.500. The pur- chase price of the kettle business of the late com-
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pany was fixed at $5,000 additional. At once and without delay Mr. Clowes applied to a friend of years standing-Mr. Edward F. Randolph, a man of wealth and with large business interests in New York -- for the capital necessary to make this pur- chase. After a conference, Mr. Randolph at once agreed to furnish conditionally the requisite sum. The imposed condition was in substance that the entire responsibility of the direction and manage- ment of the plant, when bought, should devolve upon Mr. Clowes. It was an immense undertaking for one man to assume, especially when a new com- pany, under new conditions and surroundings, must be built up on the wreck of the old. The entire purchase price of $42,500, was, however, at once furnished. Mr. Clowes assumed all personal rc- sponsibility of management, and in April, 1886, the sale was effected by a transfer of the portion indi- cated of the former Brown & Bros. plant from the trustees to Randolph & Clowes. The partnership capital of the new firm was at that time fixed at $75,000 (though subsequently many times in- creased), and the partnership of Randolph & Clowes was launched upon its business career. At that time (April, 1886) they employed fifty men and one clerk. Their office quarters consisted of a small room, about fourteen feet square. By com- parison, they now employ eight under superintend- ents, and over five hundred hands. The main of- fice-a fine· brick structure, beautiful in its archi- tectural design and its convenience, where all books, records and accounts are kept, gives employment to fifteen clerks. The firm also at present has its own offices in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Cin- cinnati, together with a large distributing depot in Chicago. After their first purchase, as before de- scribed, in 1886, for three years Mr. Clowes put forth all his energies toward building up the little business so acquired. From small beginnings, the volume of business transacted rapidly increased. In three years only $105,000 in cash had been paid in, yet at the end of that time this thriving part- nership in its seamless tube, brazed tube, boiler business, and kettle departments, was transacting a business exceeding $600,000 per annum, a surpris- ing showing upon the original investment. At this juncture the energy, executive ability and business skill of Mr. Clowes stood him well in hand. Con- suming, as they did, large quantities of sheet brass and sheet copper, his business sagacity suggested the propriety of his firm engaging likewise in its , manufacture. Their increased business also had out- grown the quarters which it then occupied. Con- sequently, in March, 1889, the present partners pur- chased of the trustees, at a cost of $75,000, the old rolling mill of Brown & Bros .- the largest single rolling mill in the country-together with the re- mainder of the property. It was a business venture at which many old and experienced manufacturers shook their heads, predicting only impending ruin and disaster to the young and thriving firm, but, as
we have seen, among his qualities Mr. Clowes does not number the cowardice of a faint heart. He was not to be satisfied until he could reach a point where he could see his firm second to none, either in its capacity for volume of business, credit in its finances, or ability in its management. Whether or not he has succeeded the figures alone will show. Starting with about 200 customers on their books, this concern now has nearly 3,000. Up to the pres- ent time over $500,000 has been spent in improving the property, as originally purchased. The cost, therefore, of this plant, starting in such modest pro- portions but eight years ago, is to the partners over $650,000. The betterments to the property, taking into consideration the constantly increasing success of the enterprise, give it a value more than double their entire cost. In the management and develop- ment of this enormous industry Mr. Clowes has had no aid from any source, except the generous financial assistance of his partner, who, however, has given no time whatever to its conduct, policy or supervision. It must also be remembered that during these few years of the growth and maturity of this firm it has been compelled in the open mar- ket to face and combat the competition of old and established corporations, with limitless credit and recognized experience born of many years. Its suc- cess is, therefore, an added cause for congratula- tion to Mr. Clowes, as its manager. Perhaps one of the main causes for this rapid and enormous growth may, under the circumstances, be found in the rigid system of economy upon which Mr. Clowes has insisted in every detail. Expenses of selling and marketing goods, as well as the general expenses of the management, all outside of the actual cost of production, have been reduced by him to a mini- mum. The cost to the company of this item has never exceeded three per cent. of their sales. The difference between this figure and the selling ex- penses of other Waterbury companies in the same line running from seven per cent. to twelve per cent. on their output, goes far toward explaining why Randolph & Clowes can make so good a financial exhibit, and how carefully, judiciously and system- atically their business is managed.
Mr. Clowes is still the active. energetic, perse- vering manager and partner of this great and pros- perous firm. Their extensive and magnificent works, occupying a central portion of the city of Waterbury, covering an area of nearly seven acres, fronting on the New York, New Haven & Hart- forn Railroad on the one side and the New York & New England on the other; their unlimited and never-failing water supply from the Naugatuck river, which is in close proximity; the size, con- venience and neat condition of their buildings : the immense, powerful, modern and varied character of their machinery; all these go to make of Randolph & Clowes a grand and unsurpassed manufacturing establishment. This alone is an enduring monument to George H. Clowes. Few business men in the
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country can point to such stupendous results, ac- complished in so few years, by their own personal. individual, unaided efforts. No wonder that the city of Waterbury, with its immense manufacturing interests, has been glad to honor Mr. Clowes with the presidency of its Board of Trade, to which po- sition he was elected Jan. 8, 1894. Who, in view of all these facts, will not agree with us, when we say, as in the opening paragraphs of this sketch, that Mr. Clowes is the happy possessor of all the in- herited and inherent qualities of head, brain and heart for which we there give him credit?
ALFRED NORTH, M. D., late of Waterbury, where for a third of a century he had been a suc- cessful physician and surgeon of high order, was descended from one of the oldest and most ener- getic families in Torrington, Conn, in both paternal and maternal lines. His ancestors were among the early settlers of Connecticut.
John North, the emigrant, came from England between 1640 and 1650, and is given in the Memor- ial History of Hartford county among those who purchased land of the original proprietors of Farm- ington. He died there in 1692.
Dr. North was in the seventh generation from John North, the emigrant, the line of his descent being through Thomas North, Ebenezer North, Ash- bel North, Phineas North and Phineas North (2).
(II) Thomas North, son of John North, mar- ried Hannah Newell, and became one of the original settlers of Nod, in the northeast part of Avon. He died in 1712.
(III) Ebenezer North, son of Thomas North, married in 1730, Sybil Curtiss. In connection with Zebulon Curtiss, he bought two farms in Torring- ton, and moved to them in the spring of 1741. Mr. North died in 1789, in the eighty-fifth year of his age, and his wife died in 1794, in her ninety-first year.
(IV) Ashbel North, son of Ebenezer North, born in 1731, married in 1757, Ruth, daughter of Ebenezer Lyman, Jr. He was a farmer and enter- prising man, and died in 1800, in his sixty-ninth year ; his wife died in 1812, in her seventy-eighth year.
(V) Phineas North, son of Ashbel North, born in 1762, married in 1787, Chloe Skinner. He was a farmer, and was a genius in mechanical lines. He made by hand several brass clocks of the high case style, which would run nine or ten days, and keep the day of the month.
Phineas North (2), son of Phineas North. and the father of the late Dr. Alfred North, was born Feb. 9, 1803. He lived on the old homestead, where his death occurred. He had, however, built a new house in Wolcottville, which was about completed at the time of his death, and which was afterward the home of his widow. He was a very energetic farmer and business man, and his name occurs frequently in connection with industrial and business
enterprises of that locality. On Oct. 10, 1832, he married Louisa Wetmore, and to them were born children, as follows: Helen, born in 1833, married in 1856, James W. Holmes, of Waterbury, and died in 1866; and Alfred, is our subject. Phineas North died May 7, 1867.
The late Dr. Alfred North, son of Phineas North, was born Oct. 5, 1836, in Torrington, Conn. He attended school at Goshen and at East Windsor, Conn., and after graduating from the academy in Norfolk, and while yet in his teens, he made up his mind to become a physician. His father sent him to Brown University, from which he was graduated in 1859, after which for a few months he studied medicine under Dr. Buell, of Litchfield, Conn., and then entered the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, studying at the same time under Dr. Gurdon Buck, Surgeon to the New York Hospital. Dr. North was graduated from the New York Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons, in March, 1861, and on May 7. 1861, was appointed a member of the home staff of the New York Hospital. Here he continued until May, 1862, when he went to the front to do army surgery with Dr. Robert F. Weir, of New York city, and Dr. George L. Porter, of Bridgeport. All three were commissioned surgeons at Washington, D. C., and sent to Frederick City. MId., where a hospital was established at the time of the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. Af- ter some months of service Dr. North returned to the New York Hospital and finished his term there. In 1863 he located in Waterbury, Conn., and speed- ily secured for himself a large and lucrative practice. He became widely known as a skillful and thorough- going physician and an expert surgeon. In surgery he exhibited not only knowledge, but exceptional promptness and courage. A writer in the New York World spoke of him after his death as "a bold and versatile surgeon, enthusiastic in his profession, ceaseless in his toil. and possessed of business acu- men as well," and added. "Probably not a Doctor who has lived in Connecticut has condensed into thirty years so vast an amount of varied profession- al work."
In 1881 Dr. North associated with him in the practice Dr. Thomas L. Axtelle, and the partnership continued until July, 1893. when owing to Dr. North's failing health it was dissolved. For more than a decade prior to his death the Doctor had been the medical examiner for the town of Waterbury. He was. also for years the chief of staff of the board of consulting physicians of the Waterbury Hospital. He was surgeon for the New York & New England Railroad, and the Naugatuck rail- road, and also for the Meriden road during its ex- istence as a separate corporation. He was medical examiner of a dozen different life insurance com- panies, and one of the medical directors of the Con- necticut Indemnity Association. He was vice presi- dent of the Waterbury Medical Society for a num- ber of years, and at the death of Dr. Platt became
-
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its president. Dr. North was an honorary member of the New Haven County Medical Society and the State Society. He was a stockholder in and a di- rector of the Apothecaries Hall Co., and a member of the Waterbury Club. In religious connections he belonged to the First Congregational Church, of Waterbury. For years Dr. North stood at the head of the medical profession in Waterbury, and had the respect, regard and esteem of the other physicians and surgeons of the city. His reputation extended beyond the limits of his immediate practice. As a surgeon he possessed the natural ability possessed by few, and in this field he made the greater success of his life, making a name for himself, and acquiring a considerable property. He traveled extensively, having crossed the Atlantic three times, and was familiar with the country east of the Mississippi. When he and his family removed from their Grand street home to the elegant new residence on North Main street they filled it with valuable souvenirs and relics of their travels, and made it one of the most attractive homes in Waterbury.
On Sept. 24. 1863. Dr. North married Amelia Henrietta, daughter of Dr. Gurdon Buck, an emin- ent surgeon in New York, and sister of Dr. Alfred Buck, a noted Otologist of New York. To this union were born Susie S., who, in 1894, married Herbert Rowland, of Waterbury; and Annie W. Three children died in childhood, and two in in- fancy. Mrs. North died at her home in Waterbury, Dec. 18, 1899. Dr. North died Nov. 17, 1893.
JOHN T. TROTT, one of Waterbury's well and favorably known citizens for a period of nearly fifty years, was born in 1831, in Saxony, Ger- many, son of Frederick and Elizabeth Trott. He came to America when cighteen years of age, land- ing in New York. Later he went to Cleveland, Ohio, thence to Danbury, Conn .. and in 1857 lo- cated in Waterbury, where he afterward resided. Upon his arrival in Waterbury he entered the em- ploy of C. A. & D. T. Meigs, and after some time became a partner, the firm engaging in the baking business, and so continuing until 1890, when the personnel of the firm was changed and the firm name became. Trott, Lauton & Co. In 1891 Mr. Trott became the sole head of the concern, which has since been doing a large and successful busi- ness under the head of the Trott Baking Co. Mr. Trott was one of the city's prominent business men, ever deeply interested in its welfare, and in various ways aided and supported measures which tended to the city's substantial growth. He was identified with the First Baptist Church of Waterbury through a long period of years, and was church treasurer for thirty-seven years. In politics he was a Republican. His influence for good was felt in many ways, and as a man and citizen he commanded the esteem and respect of the commu- nity. His death occurred at his home May 31, 1897.
In 1857 Mr. Trott was united in marriage with Martha Roberts, daughter of Simon and Esthier ( Nason) Roberts, and to them were born five chil- dren, three of whom survive the father, namely : C. Frederick, Albert N. and Warren S. Mrs. Trott was born in Wakefield, N. H., as was her fa- ther, Simon Roberts. There he married Esther Nason, and became the father of eight children, three of whom died young. The others were: Sarah, now deceased: Mary, who married Charles Bronson, of Waterbury: Martha, twin of Mary; John, who resides in Seymour, Conn .; and George, who makes his home in Waterbury. A few years after his marriage Mr. Roberts moved to Hunting- ton, Fairfield Co., Conn., and was engaged in farm- ing there, but later he moved to Waterbury, where he and his wife died. Both were of English ex- traction.
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