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 2 > Part 73
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1809. Mr. Mather died in Fairfield, N. Y., May 22, 1810.
(VI) Moses Mather, son of William (2), born Feb. 1, 1774, in Suffield, Conn., was later of Marl- boro, Vt., and Fairfield, N. Y. He married June 19, 1799, Sarah Dresser, who died Nov. 15, 1863. Mr. Mather died Dec. 20, 1832. Their children, all born between 1802 and 1819, inclusive, were: William, Jairus, Jacob D. and Martha.
(VII) Jairus Mather, son of Moses, born Aug. 23, 1819, at Fairfield, N. Y., married July 30, 1844, Eliza Jones, and to the marriage came children as follow's : Albert Barnes, born July 13, 1845; Charles Jairus, born Oct. 22, 1847, who married Dec. 21, 1875, Mary B. Getman, and died March 28, 1884; Laura Maria, born Feb. 7, 1850; and Frederick Dresser, born June 20, 1860.
Albert Barnes Mather, whose name introduces this sketch, received his primary education and was prepared for college in the schools of his native town. He was graduated with honors from Am- herst College in 1868, and in the fall of the same year located in Meriden, Conn., having been placed in charge of the Meriden High School for one term. Following this he was given charge of the schools of the Corner District of the same city, and from that time to this has been identified with its schools. Prof. Mather is an intelligent and enthusiastic edu- cator, and is well and favorably known in this line of work throughout the State and beyond State lines. Since 1898 he has been the superintend- ent of the Meriden schools. He has been presi- dent of the State Teachers' Association, and of the State Council of Education, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He has been a prominent mem- ber of the Scientific Association, of which he has served as an officer for a decade or more, and is a Knight Templar Mason, and for a dozen years or more was recorder of St. Elmo Commandery, of Meriden. He is also a member of the Home Club, and has served as its president, and is clerk of St. Andrew's Episcopal Parish. He is a popular and genial gentleman.
On Feb. 27, 1887, Mr. Mather was married to Anne Wylie, daughter of Dr. Wylie, late of Mer- iden.
DAVID STEARN STEVENS was for many years prominently identified with the printing in- dustry of New Haven county, and made for himself an honorable record in business. He was pro- gressive, reliable and energetic, and won the con- fidence and respect of all with whom he came in contact, in either business or social life. He now makes his home in Northford.
The first of the Stevens family of whom we have any authentic record was Rev. Timothy Stev- ens, a native of Bristol, Wales, who came to Hart- ford, Conn., when a young man, and was the first Congregational minister at Glastonbury, being or- dained in October, 1693. He died April 16, 1725.
His son, Joseph, born in Hartford, in 1705, was the father of Elisha Stevens, who was born in Glastonbury, in 1752, and married Agnes Kimberly. Their son, Milton Stevens, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Hartford county, and died in Prospect, New Haven county, when our sub- . ject's father was quite small. He had three chil- dren: Henry; Mary, wife of Timothy Fowler, of New Haven ; and David S.
David Stearn Stevens, Sr., our subject's father, was born July 14, 1823, in Prospect, and there mar- ried Eliza Benjamin, who died at the age of thirty- six years, leaving the following children: Albert died at the age of thirty-six years; Alice, born Aug. 17, 1849, married Jared Bassett, of North Haven, and is now deceased; Eliza Seneca, born March 3, 1851, is the wife of HI. Maltby, of North- ford; Henry, born May 7, 1855, married Ella Augur, a sister of Watson D. Augur, and lives in Wallingford; David S., our subject, is the next in order of birth; and Agnes G., born Oct. 4. 1859, is the wife of Watson D. Augur, of North Branford. For his second wife the father married Frances Hart, of Quinnipiac, town of North Haven, and to them were born two children: Fannie, wife of Lea Revere, and Peter, both residents of Millenbeck, Va. When a young man the father moved to Quinnipiac, where he engaged in the manufacture of spoons, silverware, etc., until 1869, when he sold his business there and came to Northford, town of North Branford, where he continued to manufacture silverware for some years. In 1881 he removed to Lancaster county, Va., where he pur- chased property and lived in retirement for some time, and died in 1895, at the age of seventy-two years.
On the maternal side our subject traces his an- cestry back to Samuel Benjamin, who was married, in 1731, to Elizabeth Boswick, and in 1754 removed from Stratford to Hartland, Conn. His children were John, Patty, Asher and Samuel. The last named was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, en- listing from Hartland, in June, 1776, for one year, under Capt. Woodbridge. He married Rachel Hol- comb, of Granby, and to them were born three chil- dren: David, who married Rachel Moore, and lived in Southwick, Mass .; Eleazer, father of Eliza ; and Samuel, who married Asenath Holcomb, and lived in Granby, Conn, Eleazer Benjamin married Polly Case, of Simsbury, Conn., and to them were born the following children: Rachel, born Aug. 18, 1811, married Dr. Russell H. Tiffany, of Can- ton, Conn., and died April 23, 1863; Abigail, born Feb. 1, 1813, married Anson Holcomb, of Simsbury, and died Jan. 18, 1800; Polly, born Feb. 10, 1815, married Charles P. Clark, of East Granby, Conn., and died Dec. 16, 1892; Mariette, born Nov. 28, 1817, died Sept. 13, 1819; Mariette, born May 21, 1821, died unmarried Sept. 14, 1853; Eliza, the mother of cur subject, was born Jan. 1, 1824, and died Sept. 8, 1860; DeWitt Clinton, born June 4,
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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1826, went to California as a gold seeker in 1849, and is still a resident of Georgetown, that State; Eleazer, born Jan. 6, 1828, died Dec. 25, 1850; and Scott, born Oct. 26, 1830, died October, 1853.
David S. Stevens, Jr., was born in Quinnipiac, town of North Haven, April 4, 1857, and for three vears was a student at Gen. Russell's Institute, in New Haven, and two years at Durham Academy. Soon after the completion of his education he con- ceived the idea of the card printing industry-a business that was soon afterward taken up by scores of firms throughout Connecticut, depending for sales upon newspaper advertising and the mail order system of delivery. He was the first to engage in this business extensively. Beginning as he did in a corner of his father's silverware factory, with a small press, he increased his business by continual application and the use of original methods, to an establishment occupying three floors and employing from seventy-five to eighty hands. Owing to vari- ous causes the business in time lost patronage. and after twenty-two years of successful operation Mr. Stevens discontinued it. In connection with his printing business he dealt extensively in novelties, scrap pictures, etc., and in a single year imported $50,000 worth of scrap pictures alone.
On Oct. 9, 1879. Mr. Stevens married Miss .Clara Hoadley Maltby, a daughter of Chapman Maltby and granddaughter of Julius Maltby, na- tives of Northford. She is the fourth in order of birth in a family of eight children, the others being Harriette : Flora Belle, wife of John M. Dutton, of Hamden, Conn. ; Arthur, a resident of Wallingford ; Robert, who is engaged in the real estate business in Seattle, Wash .; Wilbert, who is connected with a coffee house at Plainfield, N. J. : Douglass Fowler, a resident of Matawan, N. J. ; and Mary Irene, who died at the age of twenty years. Mr. Stevens and his wife have five children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows: Douglass Maltby, Sept. 4. 1880; Clifford Fleetwood, July 8. 1885 : Wilbert Benjamin, Dec. 3, 1886; David Stearn, July 23, 1888; and Clara Margaret, Dec. 31, 1889. The eld- est son is a graduate of the normal school at Blooms- burg, Pennsylvania.
Mr. and Mrs. Stevens are members of the Con- gregational Church, and give liberally to its support. and politically he is an ardent Republican. In 1899 he most efficiently represented his town in the State Legislature, and was a member of the Railroad Committee. He is a member of the Second Com- pany, Governor's Foot Guards. Courteous, genial well-informed, alert and enterprising, he stands to- day one of the leading men of his town-a man who is a power in the community.
AUGUSTUS HOWARD JONES, who is named in honor of the pilot who first brought the steamer "Great Eastern" into New York harbor, was born in the city of New York Dec. 21, 1851.
Joseph Jones, his father, was born in Wales, of
which country his father was also a native. Joseph Jones was reared in his native country, and learned the trade of scroll sawyer. ' Being a natural genius, he could successfully turn his hand to almost any kind of mechanical labor. Before attaining his ma- jority he crossed the Atlantic, and spent some time at Quebec, Canada. Thence he went to New York, where he followed his trade. His death was caused by septicaemia, brought on by the bite of a dog, and his body was deposited in Greenwood cemetery, Brooklyn. While living in Quebec he married Martha Jackson, also a native of Wales, who passed her last days in Meriden tenderly cared for in the home of her son whose name begins this article; her last resting place is in Greenwood cemetery, be- side the remains of her husband. They had six children, namely: William, who died in New York; Nathaniel, a mechanic, who also died in New York ; Jane. wife of William Luckey, of Meriden; Au- gustus Howard: Walter, a citizen of Meriden ; and an infant that died unnamed.
Augustus H. Jones was deprived of a father's care at the early age of nine years. He continued to attend school until twelve years old, and then entered a store, where he might earn something to aid in his maintenance. Anxious to secure an edu- cation, he attended a night school while discharg- ing his duties in the store by day. At the end of three years he left this employment in order to give a year's time exclusively to study. Having a natural taste for mechanics, he determined to master a trade, and secured a position in a brass foundry where his brother, Nathaniel, was a foreman, serving an ap- prenticeship of four and one-half years. For the first six months he received as compensation three dollars per week. Being energetic and ambitious, he soon made himself valuable to his employer, and during the next year he was paid ten dollars weekly. In time he became highly expert as a coremaker, and his salary for the succeeding years was, re- spectively, fifteen, twenty and thirty dollars per week. After completing his trade he worked one year as a contractor in the manufacture of locks.
In 1867 Mr. Jones came to Meriden and spent the two years succeeding as foreman in the brass foundry of the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Co., making gas fixtures and similar articles. He then started a small brass foundry, but at the end of two weeks he received such a flattering offer from his former employers that he sold out to them and made a five-years contract to resume his former position. He continued in a responsible relation with this concern until 1882, when he assisted in organizing the Foster Hardware Co., to carry on the production of brass goods. In 1885 this concern was reorganized, under the name of the Meriden Bronze Co., of which Mr. Jones became president in 1891. His pluck and energy were admired by the older manufacturers of Meriden, who often ten- dered him assistance, and he continued to operate the business fourteen years. The financial de-
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pression of the latter part of the nineteenth century was severely felt by all the industries of Meriden, and Mr. Jones was forced out, with a loss of one hundred thousand dollars. But his ambitious spirit could not be put down, and he began business agam in February. 1901. under the name of the A. H. Jones Manufacturing Co., and is engaged in the manufacture of novelties.
Mr. Jones was married, in Meriden, in January, 1870, to Miss Jennie E. Logan, who was born in Meriden, a daughter of Thomas and Margaret Logan, both now deceased. Mrs. Jones is a culti- vated lady, fit companion for an energetic and in- telligent man. She presides over their modest home with that ease and grace which betoken good breed- ing. Two children have been born to this couple, of whom the youngest died in infancy. The other, William H. Jones, is associated with his father in business. The family are identified with the First Congregational Church.
Of genial and companionable nature, Mr. Jones has naturally allied himself with various social and fraternal organizations of his city. He is a mem- ber of the Home Club, and is a thirty-second-de- gree Mason, affiliated with Meridian Lodge, No. 77, A. F. & A. M. : Keystone Chapter. No. 27, R. A. M .; Hamilton Council, No. 22, R. & S. M. ; and St. Elmo Commandery, No. 9. K. T. In politics he is a stanch Republican. He has served four years as a member of the Meriden common council, and during that period acted on the committees on Fire, Sewers and By-laws. He served for two years more as an alderman, and was mayor pro tem. dur- ing the last year, and chairman of Police, By-laws and Lamps committees.
ALBERT H. BARTLETT was for about twen- ty years one of the successful building contractors of New Haven, and he has left many substantial evidences of his skillful and thorough work in that city and other places in New Haven county.
Mr. Bartlett was born in Northampton, Mass., a son of Samuel Bartlett. The father, who was also a contractor. laid out all the roads in North- ampton. Our subject's mother was engaged during her earlier years as a teacher. Albert H. was one of fourteen children, several of whom still survive.
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Albert H. Bartlett spent his youth in New Jer- sey, where he early engaged in carpemering, and at the age of eighteen he undertook the erection of two houses at Vineland. that State. About 1871 he came to New Haven, where he was a contractor of note until his death, in December, 1890, putting up a large number of houses. Some fine residences in Orange street. New Haven, in Fair Haven and elsewhere testify to the grade of work which he executed, and his financial success would be suf- ficient proof in itself. having been gained solely on the merits of his work. A man of the highest honor and strictest integrity. he commanded respect for his personal qualities no less than for his business
ability, and was held in high esteem by the large number of people with whom he came into daily contact in his busy carcer. His shop was located on the present site of the New England Telephone Co.'s building, and he furnished employment to a number of men. Fraternally Mr. Bartlett was a member of the Knights of Pythias (in which he held the office of treasurer) and the New England Order of Protection. He was a Republican in po- litical affiliation.
In October, 1876, Mr. Bartlett was united in marriage with Miss Marion Bird, a native of Brook- lyn, N. Y .. and two children blessed this union : Frank was a student at Yale Law School, and is en- gaged in business in New Haven ; Alice attended the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Mass., and is now devoting herself to the study of music. The family reside in a comfortable home at No. 312 Orange street, New Haven, and they have many friends in the city. They worship at the Church of the Redeemer.
CHARLES W. S. FROST, M. D., whose sci- entific acquirements, upright character and devotion to his profession have given him a leading place among the physicians of Waterbury, was born in that city Dec. 22, 1857, a son of Warren S. Frost, who traces his ancestry to Samuel Frost, of Eng- land.
Samuel Frost came to America from the mother country in 1700, and on March 21, 1733, wedded Naomi Fenn, of Wallingford.
David Frost, son of Samuel and Naomi, was born in Southington, Conn., Sept. 16, 1743, and died Dec. 15, 1812. During the war of the Revolu- tion he was a soldier in the Continental army. He married Mary Beach Nov. 6, 1761, a daughter of Joseph Beach, a prominent man of his dav.
Enoch Frost, son of David, was born in South- ington Jan. 8. 1765, and died May 27, 1822. ITis entire life was passed as a farmer. Anna Culver was his wife and they became the parents of six children : Anna, Stephen C., Selah, Nancy, Enocli WV. and Eunice.
Selah Frost, the Doctor's grandfather, was born in Waterbury Feb. 2. 1798, and died in 1848. He was engaged as a merchant in Torrington. His wife was Ursula Brooker and they reared a family of two children : Mary and Warren S., the father of the Doctor. Mary married George Mason, who is now deceased.
Warren S. Frost was born in Torrington Jan. 19. 1827, and his long and useful life was terminated April 20, 1899. He married Miss Edna J. Spring, of Collinsville. Conn .. a daughter of Thomas Spring. who was born in Granby. Conn., and was a farmer and wheelwright. The Springs are of English ex- traction and the first representative of the family on the American shores came over about 1680. Mrs. Edna J. Frost died Sept. 20, 1897, and is re- membered as a woman of far more than the usual
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gifts and attractions. She was a good wife to her husband and a wise and helpful mother to her chil- dren. Mr. Frost was a Republican and served many vears in the Waterbury common council. The fam- ily were all connected with the Congregational Church.
Dr. Charles W. S. Frost spent his boyhood days in Waterbury where he acquired his elementary and general English education in the public schools and the Waterbury English and Classical School. He entered Yale Medical School in 1876 and graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York City in 1880. His vacations were spent in the hospitals of the great city, and soon after his graduation he came to Waterbury, opening an office here. The summer of 1880 marked the beginning of a singularly successful professional career. Dr. Frost and Miss Jennie G. Davis were married Feb. 5. 1880. By this union was born one daughter. Edna J. Dr. Frost was again married Dec. 31, 1891, to Mrs. Minnie L. Ryder. the daughter of Leander Wright, of West Ashford, Conn. Two children have been born of this union: Barbara and Sela. The Doctor is a Republican and was president of the board of health for two years, of which he has been a member since 1887. He is city and town health officer and is a member of the staff of Waterbury Hospital. Dr. Frost was secretary of the Water- bury Medical Society for eleven years and is a mem- ber of both the State and County Medical Societies. On the membership roll of the Masonic fraternity, the K. of P., the Red Men, the R. A., the Hepta- sophs, the K. O. T. M., the O. U. A. M., the Sons of the American Revolution and several social organ- izations, such as the Waterbury Club and the Golf Association, the name of Dr. Frost is found; and wherever he appears he is sure to be a welcome presence. Dr. Frost is a member of the First Con- gregational Church and is a man of fine character and superior professional standing.
CHRISTIAN FISCHER, one of Meriden's -
best known German-American citizens, and the ca- pable foreman of the packing department of the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Co., was born at Biskirchen, Rhine Province, Germany, April 27, 1846.
Henry Christian Fischer, father of Christian, was a native of the same place, and was well edu- cated in the German schools. At the age of seven- teen years, according to the law of his land. he en- tered the Prussian army, joining the cavalry branch of the service, and spent three years in defending his country. Among the many experiences of his army life was an expedition upon which he was sent with a detail to capture horses, at Wallachia, Roumania, where he secured a mare with a little colt. He kept the latter for himself and it grew to be a pet of the family for many years, reaching the age of forty-four years. The other members of the family to which Henry Christian Fischer belonged
werc: Frank, who became a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church ; Frederick, who went to Paris, and was there during the Revolution and was lost to his family afterward; and Emma, who married Valentine Konold, came to America, and resides in Collinsville, Conn. By trade Mr. Fischer was a blacksmith and learned his work at his father's forge. For many years he carried on a successful business, reared a large family and was a much re- spected man. His death was caused by cramps at- tacking him when bathing in a river, near his home, June 7, 1846. His marriage was to Katharine Zipp, in Niederhausen, Nassau, Germany. She was a most estimable woman, a devoted wife and the mother of eight children. Both parents were con- sistent members of the Dutch Reformed Church. The children were: Katharine, now deceased, was the wife of August Pistorius, of Meriden: Eliza- beth died in Germany, the wife of Frederick Fischer, superintendent of a factory at Ems, who died from heart failure: Conrad, who died in Collinsville, Conn., in 1894; Ernestine, who married Carl Mon- tanus and lives in Germany : Christina, who married Emil Weidig, died with her husband from asphyxia- tion in Germany: Louisa, who died in infancy ; Louisa (2) was the second wife of August Pistor- ius ; and lastly Christian, the subject proper of this sketch.
Christian Fischer received an excellent German education in his native land and there became pro- ficient in the blacksmith trade. His service was de- manded in the army when he was seventeen years old, but he decided that three years of his life could be better spent in other directions, and with this end in view he left his home and made his way to | Bremen, where he took passage on a sailing vessel for America, arriving in New York in December, 1865. -
As a brother was already located at Collinsville, Conn., the young German lad made his way thither and soon secured employment at his trade with the Collins Company, and there he remained two and one-half years. In 1868 Mr. Fischer came to Meri- den and worked in the machine room of the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Co., until 1869, enter- ing then the shipping department of the business. For a period of thirty-four years he has satisfac- torily filled the position of foreman of this import- ant department, gaining the confidence of the com- pany in greater degree as the years go by, and they more fully realize the earnest and honest service which he renders. Mr. Fischer is gifted with the ability which all do not possess, by which he is able to manage his department in a thoroughly sat- isfactory, orderly and economical manner with the respect of his assistants and to the benefit of his employers.
On September 24, 1870, Mr. Fischer was mar- ried, in Meriden, to Miss Johanna Maschmeyer, a sister of August Maschmeyer. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Fischer five children have been born :
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Henry August, Theodore A., Augusta A., Lillian L. and Catherine E., all of whom reside at home but Theodore, who resides at Medford Hillside, Mass. While Mr. Fischer has a tendency to lean toward the Democratic party in politics, he de- clares himself more of an independent, being a man of intelligence and ability, perfectly capable of de- ciding the merits of a candidate, or to measure for himself. During 1879 and 1880 he was a member of the city council from the third ward, and was a member of several important committees. Mr. Fischer has always been deeply interested in the cause of education and he was the first German resi- dent of Meriden to call a meeting to look toward the establishment of a German-American school, and was one of the trustees of this institution for six years. For a considerable period he had been a trustee of the West school district before the con- solidation. Mr. Fischer has been a member of the German Aid Society for thirty-two years. He and family are all members of the Universalist Church, active in its work in every direction. All his life he has believed in progress and advancement and lends his assistance to all worthy objects. Mr. Fischer enjoys popularity with all classes, is indus- trious and upright, and a man who is devoted to the welfare of his family. To him Meriden means home. and he takes an interest in every measure which is calculated to benefit her locally or abroad. Mr. Fischer has added to the beauty of the city by the ercction of a fine dwelling place on Fourth street, which he built in 1875, at a time when there had been little building on that street. It is a roof un- der which generous hospitality is offered to the hosts of friends who are made welcome by Mr. Fischer and his most estimable family.
GEORGE WILLIAM HENRY HUGHES. A prominent representative of an old and most hon- orable family, which has been conspicuous in the State of Connecticut for many years, is George William Henry Hughes, a citizen who has been identified with the material growth of New Haven for a long period.
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