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 75
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CAPT. DANIEL LOYAL BARBER was born March 19, 1855, in Litchfield, Conn., a son of Loyal Rossetter Barber, who was born Aug. 21, 1811, in Harwinton, Litchfield Co., Conn. The father was a farmer and was extensively engaged in the tim- ber business. He was a Republican, and remov- ing to Litchfield when he was twenty-two years of age became a prominent member of the commu- nity, serving for several terms as selectman; and was an active member of the Congregational Church. On June 25, 1833, he was married to Miss Lucretia Buell, born in Litchfield April 25, 1814, and a daughter of Norman and Lucretia ( Webs- ter ) Buell. Loyal R. Barber died May 25, 1885. in the town of Harwinton, where he had been living for some years on his farm. His widow is still liv- ing in Waterbury. Their children were: (I) Amelia B., born Sept. 9, 1835, married Edwin F. Perkins, of Litchfield, who died in the war of the Rebellion : she is now living in Litchfield. (2) Nor- man B., born Oct. 9, 1837, died Oct. 12, 1863. at Alexandria. Va., during the Rebellion ; he married Susan Wood, of Milton, Conn. (3) Lucretia R., born March 17. 1840, married D. M. Hancock, of Raynham, Mass., where she died Oct. 22, 1899. (4) Minerva W., born Sept. 4, 1842, died Aug. 9. 1843. (5) Marina W., born May 30, 1849, mar- ried L. O. Bradley, of Torrington. (6) Lyman B., born March 8, 1847, died April 12. 1897: he married Miss Jennie W. Cooper, of Bristol, Conn., and died in Wallingford. (7) Augusta B., born May 2, 1853. married Edgar H. Chipman, of Water- bury. (8) Capt. Daniel L. (9) Julia M., born Aug. 30, 1859, married George E. Taft, of Unionville, Conn .. and died April 27, 1891.
Asa Barber, the grandfather of Capt. Daniel . L., was born in Harwinton, Conn., where he spent
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his entire life engaged in farming. An active Whig, he held many town offices, although he died when but thirty-one years old, and he was prominent in church matters. He married Miss Mindwell Ros- seter, of Harwinton, and to them were born: Ab- ner, Asa, Loyal and Lyman.
Capt. Daniel Loval Barber had his early edu- cation in his own home town, and then attended the Harwinton schools, whither his parents removed when he was about thirteen years old. Leaving school at the age of eighteen years, he began life for himself in charge of an engine in the Barber & Dayton Spring Bed and Scaffold Bracket Co. He remained with this company about a year and a half, when it failed and he took charge of the wood department of the Stanley Level and Rule Co., at New Britain. Mr. Barber was with this estab- lishment about three and a half years, and then removed to Burlington, where he was foreman of W. R. Hartingan's wood turning establishment, having some twenty-five wood turners under him. He held this responsible position for two years or more, and then came to Wallingford to be assistant foreman of the buffing department of the R. Wallace & Sons Manufacturing Co., where he remained for nearly ten years. At that time he began contract work in the same department, in which he is now engaged, having in his employ about twenty hands.
Capt. Barber joined Co. E, First Conn. Nat. Guards, as a private, at New Britain in 1875, and served for four years. On Sept. 20, 1883, he united with Co. K, 2d Conn. Nat. Guards, at Walling- ford, as a private, and became a corporal May 20, 1885; sergeant, Dec. 30, 1886; first sergeant, Sept. 20, 1890; second lieutenant, June 25, 1891, and cap- tain, Nov. 17th of the same year. On Nov. 17, 1896, he made application to be placed on the re- tired list, and Jan. 1, 1900, Captain Barber was ap- pointed inspector of small arms practice on Col. T. F. Callahan's staff at New Haven.
Capt. Barber was one of the charter members of Ivy Lodge, No. 43, K. of P., and is a member of Compass Lodge, of the Eastern Star Lodge, No. 37, F. & A. M., and of Mira Temple, No. 90, Knights of Khorrassan. He was colonel of the second regiment, U. R. K. P., for two years, where he was on the staff of Major General Carnahan. Capt. Barber is a charter member of Court Samuel Simpson, No. 131, Foresters of America, and was the first Chief Ranger of the Court, where he served two terms. He belongs to the Charter Oak Circle, C. of F., auxiliary to the Foresters. Capt. Barber is a charter member of Putnam Council. (). U. A. M., and for six years was secretary of that body. He is also a member of the Walling- ford Club.
Capt. Barber has served on the town commit- tee for several terms. For a number of terms he has served on the Court of Burgesses, and is one of the solid and influential citizens of the county.
but in local affairs is a Republican with a tendency toward the best man of either side for the office.
Capt. Barber was married, June 25, 1878, to Miss Emma J. Butler, born May 8, 1859, at Harwinton, a daughter of Lewis L. and Pearly ( Brace) Butler, of Torrington, Conn. In 1896 he built one of the most modern and handsome homes in Wallingford, in Church street. Capt. Barber and his wife attend the Congregational Church at Wallingford.
JOHN PHILANDER HOPSON, the very ef- ficient superintendent of the Berkshire Division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, was born in Wallingford, Conn., Dec. 15, 1852, a son of Philander, also a native of Wallingford. and a grandson of Samuel, who was born in Walling- ford, where he followed farming, and died at the early age of thirty-five.
Philander Hopson was only ten years old at the time of his father's death, and was reared on the farm. When quite young he was set to work, and learned the carpenter trade, which became his avocation during life. He worked at it first as a journeyman, and then as a contractor, having a very extensive business on his hands, and building in Branford and elsewhere. At one time he had six hundred men in his service, and he not only did a vast amount of building, but had an extensive lum- ber yard and planing mill. When he was sixty- two years of age he died in Branford from an apoplectic attack. He was a deacon of the Baptist Church, and was a man of much character and ability. His mother, Mary Blackstone Hopson, who died at the age of seventy, came from a prominent family, and was a sister of the father of Timothy Blackstone, who gave the public library to the town ; she was the mother of five children, two of whom are still living in Wallingford, and have their resi- dence on the old homestead, the farming opera- tions being under the care of George Blackstone, a cousin. Philander Hopson married Betsy Ann Newell, who was born in Cheshire, a daughter of Nathaniel Newell (a mason and contractor, who came to Cheshire to work on the Northampton canal, and he also engaged in farming) and his wife, Mary Rogers ( who was born in Vermont). Na- thaniel Newell and wife had three sons and three daughters, three of whom are living: Cornelia, who is Mrs. Crook, of Troy ; Betsy Ann, the mother of J. P. Hopson ; and Edward J., who is in the gentlemen's furnishing business on Fifth avenue, New York. The mother of these children belonged to the Congregational Church and died at the age of eighty-nine. Mrs. Betsy Ann Hopson, who is still living. hale and hearty at the age of seventy- one, had three children, of whom John Philander is the only survivor.
John Philander Hopson spent his early years in - Branford, where he attended the common schools, and at the age of fourteen began life for himself as 1 On national issues he is a pronounced Republican, a clerk in Branford Station, where he was later ap-
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pointed agent. After ten years at Branford he was transferred to New London, where he was agent for six years, when he resigned to go into business as a stock broker. He ran office for Henry Clews, and still has a letter of recommendation from that eminent financier. Mr. Hopson entered the busi- ness of stock broking in October, 1882, and fol- lowed it until June, 1885. At that time he was ap- pointed agent at South Norwalk, where he was en- gaged two years. For eleven months he was super- intendent of the New York, Rutland and Montreal Railroad, when he took charge of the New Haven & Derby Railroad until its consolidation with the New York & New Haven Railroad. The comple- tion of that deal was followed by the appointment of Mr. Hopson as the superintendent of the Berk- shire Division of the reorganized line. He now has 200 miles of the line under his personal supervision, including seventy-five stations, many of which do a very large business. As a railroad man he has made a very high reputation and is rated as one of the most efficient men on the line.
Mr. Hopson was married, in 1871, to Sarah Hull, who was born in Branford, a daughter of Eliza Hull. To this union was born one child, Homer B., now an engineer on the New York & New Haven Railroad, to whom is given charge of all the official trains on the line; Florence Gardner, his wife, was born in Ashford. Mrs. Sarah Hop- son died at the age of thirty-nine, and Mr. Hopson married for his second wife Martha A. Howland, who was born in Danbury.
Mr. Hopson is a Republican, and is a prominent Mason, belonging to Widows' Sons Lodge, No. 66, of Branford; Franklin Chapter, R. A. M .; Har- mony Council ; New Haven Commandery, No. 2, K. T .; Pyramid Temple, Mystic Shrine, of Bridge- port ; and the Knights of Malta. He is also con- nected with the Union League ; the Royal Arcanum ; the A. O. U. W. at New London, and the Hepta- sophs. At one time he was a member of the Pequot Club and now belongs to the Knights Templar Club. In the New England Association of railroad superintendents his experience and ability command attention. At one time he was a director of the Masonic Mutual Benefit Association.
MARTIN HENRY BROWN, the efficient superintendent of the E. A. Bliss Co., manufac- turers, of Meriden, is one of the well-known and highly esteemed residents of that city, in which he has served as a useful member of the council. and now holds a position on the board of public works.
John Brown, father of Martin H., was born in County Clare, Ireland, and came to America when a young man, finally locating at Sydney. Cape Breton, where he engaged in mining. There he married Hannah Ormond, who was a native of Cape Breton. In 1852, with his family, he re-
moved to the United States and located at North . Attleboro, Mass., at which place he was employed as a silversmith, by Tifft & Whiting, and he con- tinned in the employ of this great manufacturing company the remainder of his life. In 1869 he passed away, sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends. His political affiliation was with the Democratic party, but he never sought office, being content to work hard and provide and care for his family and live up to the standard of a good Christian citizen.
John Brown reared his family in the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, and they became ex- cellent citizens, respected in the localities in which they found homes. Mrs. Brown died in 1898, and was buried by the side of her husband at Attleboro. After his death she assumed the care of the family, and much of the success which has attended the career of the subject of this biography may doubt- less be traced to the teaching of his estimable mother. The family consisted of thirteen children, six of whom still survive: Mary, who married Michael Crossey and removed to Bisbee, Arizona ; Martin H., subject of this sketch: William, a sil- versmith of Wallingford; Frank M., a jeweler of North Attleboro, Mass .; and Pattie and Annie, both of whom reside in North Attleboro.
Martin Henry Brown was born at Sydney, Cape Breton, Nov. 10, 1846, and removed with his parents to Massachusetts. His educational oppor- tunities were limited, and at the age of fifteen he engaged as an office boy with the S. Richardson Co., jewelers, working for forty cents a day. There he continued three years. Although he did not prosper financially with this firm, he learned obedience to authority and business methods which proved of value later in life. A very sensible pro- ceeding was his apprenticeship to Tifft & Whiting, manufacturing jewelers, with whom he learned the trade of silversmith, or jeweler, and received $9 per week. In 1868 he obtained a position with the firm of Whitney & Rice, and the five succeeding years were spent as a journeyman in their employ ; he was then made foreman of their factory, which important position he filled satisfactorily for ten and one-half years.
The fertile brain of Mr. Brown saw wider use- fulness in another field, and in 1882 he was one of the organizers, stockholders and directors of the J. R. Nichols Co., remaining with that corporation two and one-half years. In 1885 he accepted a tempting offer from the E. A. Bliss Co., then of North Attleboro, and in January of the following year was made superintendent of the company, which in July, 1890, removed to Meriden. Here Mr. Brown for the past eleven years has been the capable superintendent, and enjoys the confidence and respect of the firm. As a manager he has proven himself very efficient, those under his au- thority esteeming him highly. Mr. Brown is a self-
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made man, of liberal mind, and is the fortunate pos- sessor of an affable manner and a genial person- ality.
In 1874 Martin H. Brown was married. in North Attleboro, Mass., to Miss Mary A. Ken- nedy, a daughter of Patrick and Margaret Ken- nedy, and four children have been born of this union : Walter, a student in the Meriden high school ; Estella ; Charlotte ; and Hazel. A life-long Democrat, Mr. Brown has very liberal ideas. He well served the Fifth ward in the city council in 1892, and in 1897 was elected from the First ward, serving two years. In 1898 he was appointed, by Mayor Ives, a member of the board of public works for a term of four years, and is still filling that office. Socially and fraternally he is popular, and belongs to the A. O. U. W. in Meriden. the Ama- ranth Club, and the Jewelers' League, of New York. The family belongs to St. Joseph's Catho- lic Church. Mr. Brown stands very high in the esteem of the people of Meriden, where he has lived so many years. His neighbors know him to be kind and helpful, charitable and generous, and the general public feels that in Martin H. Brown it finds an honest and upright citizen.
CHARLES B. ALLING. One of the most sub- stantial and highly esteemed citizens of New Ha- ven county, and for a half-century engaged in the manufacture of woolen hosiery and underwear, is a resident of Derby, in which city he is an extensive owner of real property and probably the largest tax-payer. He was born in Orange on June 20, 1824, and traces his ancestry back to Roger Alling, one of the early settlers of New Haven county, who emigrated from England in the spring of 1637. A somewhat detailed history of his line may be found in the sketch of Amos H. Alling on another page of this work. His father, Charles W. Alling, was a pioneer manufacturer in Orange and his mother (nce Lucy Booth) was the daughter of Walter Booth of Woodbridge, one of the patriot heroes of the Revolutionary war. The foundation of both his scholastic and commercial education was laid in his early boyhood, when he alternated attendance upon the district school with collecting wool from the farms around about to be used in his father's mill. It is unnecessary to direct the reader's atten- tion to his primitive methods of securing raw ma- terial and that which now obtains in the great manufactory, with its five hundred employes, of which to-day he is the sagacious, energetic head. Ile early developed a natural aptitude alike for the mercantile and mechanical branches of the busi- ness, and at the age of seventeen was given charge of the wool carding, spinning, weaving and finish- ing of the cloth, which was for the major part sold to the farmers of the surrounding country.
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In 1845. in connection with his brother, Amos H. Alling. he leased the small mill from his father and embarked in the career which, through his keen
acumen, untiring watchfulness and unblemished honor, has not only made him a capitalist, but lias won for him the respect of the commercial world, and the love and respect of his fellow townsmen. The style of the young firm was A. H. & C. B. Alling, and both brothers worked industriously and faithfully, early and late to extend its business. At the outset their capital was very small. Upon the shoulders of Mr. C. B. Alling devolved the weightier share of the actual management of the concern's business affairs, and to the discharge of this task he brought habits of economy, a close ap- plication to business and a mental fitness of no com- mon order. From the making of custom cloth for farmers the line of manufacture gradually devel- oped-first into the production of yarn for the mar- ket, and later into the turning out of hose and hosiery, which find a ready sale in every State of the Union. As the business grew the brothers Alling perceived the limited advantages offered by a com- paratively small town, such as Orange, to a busi- ness of the character and extent which theirs prom- ised to become. Looking about for a new sittia- tion, their attention was attracted to Derby with its magnificent water-power and its exceptionally good transportation facilities. There they established. themselves in 1858, and the value of the mills in the development of the city belongs to the domain of history, not to the realm of conjecture. The original plant was destroyed by fire in 1864, but the firm promptly rebuilt, on a larger scale, locating their new works in the immediate vicinity, and pur- chasing the site once occupied by the copper works of the late Anson G. Phelps. For thirty-five years the Alling woolen mills have stood there, gradual enlargements being made as the exigencies of the. constantly growing business demand.
As their trade expanded the brothers bought real estate in the city of their adoption, having faith that the future of Derby would abundantly justify the wisdom of the investment, and not unnaturally be- ing anxious to aid in the town's development. Their business instinct and keen foresight induced them to buy chiefly near the city's center, and here Mr. C. B. Alling's interest and influence is shown on nearly every street along which the weary stranger may turn his feet. Many of the business blocks and office structures of Derby owe their erection to the sound judgment and public spirit of A. H. and C. B. Alling. Among the best known of these is a handsome brick structure at the corner of Main and Elizabeth streets ; and in this connec- tion it is worthy of mention that the erection of this structure virtually marked a new epoch in the build- ing history of Derby.
Apart from interests which may be character- ized as more or less self-engrossed. Mr. Alling has always shown himself one of Derby's most public spirited citizens. Various public improvements may be traced. more or less directly, to his personal ef- forts, notably the dam across the Housatonic river.
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Since the death of his brother, Amos H., Mr. . C. B. Alling has conducted the business alone. De- spite his seventy-eight years, his physical powers are unimpaired and his mind as active and keen as when in early manhood he laid-broad. deep and .sound-the foundations of the great business which has grown up under his careful scrutiny and watch- ful care. His muscular frame, undimmed eye, and active step, one and all. give convincing evidence of a life of well-directed energy and temperate self- restraint. It is men such as he that shed lustre on their native State, and bring honor upon the name of New England. His nature is kindly, his dis- position genial and his impulses generous. Phil- anthropic in the best and truest sense of that much abused term, his charity is unostentatious ; his life simple and sincere. His religious faith is that of the M. E. Church, of which body he is a devout and consistent member. He is an esteemed mem- ber of the local Board of Trade, to whose delibera- tions he brings a keen intellect and a ripe experience.
His home is one of the most beautiful in Derby. Situated near the heart of the city, it stands upon a high elevation, overlooking the streets which he has built up and beatttified. Two thoroughfares abut against its spacious grounds. Here he passes those hours which he can redeem from business cares to devote to leisure and recreation. Here, too, he may review his past with that pardonable pride which is the legitimate offspring of self-conquered success, and here he can look forward to life's sunset with- out dread.
LEE JOSEPH AUBRY. Among the promi- nent citizens of New Haven who have done much to contribute to the industrial prosperity of that city is Lee Joseph Aubry, proprietor of the L. J. Aubry Carriage Co., located at No. 139 Park street.
The industry which has brought wealth and prominence to Mr. Aubry and which has reflected credit upon this city for a long period is the manu- facture of carriage bodies ironed up and ready to paint and trim, this business being one of the most prosperous concerns in New Haven. Carriage mak- ing in all its branches has been the occupation of the Aubry family for several generations.
Grandfather Francis Aubry was born in France. but later became a citizen of Canada, taking part in the Revolution of 1837. In St. Scholastique. Canada, he established himself in the carriage build- ing trade and was one of the capable, persistent and trust-worthy mien who live successful lives on ac- count of their close and constant attention to busi- ness. Francis Aubry established a reputation for excellent work in his line, which has been supported by both his son and grandson. His death occurred in his seventy-fourth year, after a life of industry. Possessing the strong, wiry frame of his country- men he also inherited the energy and ability of his race. His family consisted of four sons and one daughter.
Gregory Aubry, son of Francis, and father of Lee Joseph Aubry, was born in Canada in 1819 and died in Troy, N. Y., in the autumn of 1887. In his youth he became an expert worker in wood and learned the carriage making trade under his father and when the latter removed to Montebella he engaged in the business for himself in St. Schol- astique, where he prospered exceedingly until 1857, at which time by a disastrous fire he suffered the loss of all he possessed. Unfortunately he had no insurance and thus was left to begin the world over again, meeting this misfortune with a courage and patient perseverance which commanded the re- spect of all who knew him. For three years he worked at his trade in New Haven, Conn., going from there to Troy, N. Y., where he died of pneu- monia one year later.
In 1842 Gregory Aubry was married to Edmire Chaurette, also a native of Canada, a daughter of Joseph Chaurette. Her death took place in Hart- ford, Hartford Co., Conn., in 1900. The chil- dren of this marriage were: Alice, who was born in 1844. married Paul Dupuis, who died some twenty years ago, but she still lives in Hartford, Conn., and has a family of three sons; Lee Joseph, of the L. J. Aubry Carriage Co .; Alfred, who was born in 1852, married Louise Gandron, and is in the employ of the aforesaid company ; and Valarie, who was born in 1854, married Edmund Jacques and died in New Haven in 1880, leaving no children. Gregory Aubry was a good and law-abiding citizen and after locating in the United States became a member of the Republican party, although never a politician. In religion he belonged to the Catholic Church, of which he was always a consistent and most worthy member.
Lee Joseph Aubry was born in St. Scholastique. Province of Quebec, on May 1. 1848, the second child of his parents, and was very liberally educated, attending an English school until he was nine years of age. then receiving instruction in a Frencli school, in Lower Canada, and later entering an Eng- lish school in Upper Canada. Mr. Aubry was four- teen years old when the family located in Troy, N. Y. This was after his father's misfortunes, and young Aubry began to learn his trade, in preparation for a future career under Edward Chamberlain, working hard all day and studying in the night schools after his work was done. The perseverance thus manifested in the lad has been a foundation stone in his business success. For three years his life continued thus in Troy under Mr. Chamberlain and was followed by one year of journeyman work in the same city and then he went to Pownal, Vt., where he found work for three months, but then drifted to New York City.
The ability and energy he displayed in connection with the excellence of his work soon secured for Mr. Aubry a very lucrative position with the R. M. Stiver Co., resulting in a residence there for two years, enabling him to feel justified in marrying.
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