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 3 > Part 21
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In figure he was tall, erect, striking and dignified, but in measure so kindly sympathetic that he won his way at once to the confidence of his patients. He was not sat- isfied with the diagnosis of the case and a prescription of remedies. but he took into account all the merits of nursing and the limitations of the situation, and, with much in- genuity and no chemical skill, he would improvise means from surrounding material, and buy comfort and con- venience out of circumstances that were often unfavorable. While he kept up well with the progress of the profession, he still retained a knowledge and liking for many of those
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domestic remedies which were dear to the hearts of past generations. His knowledge of Medical Botany was much beyond what is considered necessary for the modern practi- tioner. To relieve, and so far as possible, to prevent human suffering. was his brief summing up of the physician's call- ing, and he justly regarded it as a public one, requiring all a man's devotion, and in which success brought its own abundant reward .in the consciousness of well doing. His moral standard was a very high one, but he was broad in his sympathies and not severe in his judgment of others. His religious faith was well formed, calm and serene, and shone forth as a ruling power of his life. His work afforded a clear and steady delineation of the character and purpose of a line of men like himself of Puritan life and lineage. It may be said. without the slightest dis- paragement to present or future practitioners of the art of healing, that this honored and beloved physician was the last example of the departing line that Waterbury will know, for the time that made such a man and such a life possible has gone forever. Probably since the death of Rev. Dr. Clark no man in this community has passed away whose loss will be keenly felt as a personal grief in so many hearts and homes as that of Dr. Platt.
JUDD. For upward of two hundred and sixty years the Judds have been known to New England -i. e., since the arrival at Cambridge, Mass., in 1634, of Thomas Judd, the emigrant ancestor of the New Britain and Wallingford branch of the family, of which it is the purpose of this article to treat. For two hundred or more years the posterity of Deacon Anthony Judd have figured in the his- tory of New Britain, where through the first half of the last century John Judd, and his sons and his grandsons, in turn, have been prominent in mechani- cal and manufacturing lines ; and the son Morton, and his sons, through the latter half of the century, in New Haven and Wallingford, respectively. No- table among the Judds thus engaged at these sev- eral points have been John, the blacksmith: his sons, Morton and Oliver S., and Morton's sons, Hubert L., Albert D. and Edward M. Of these, Hubert L. Judd was for one and a half decades president of the extensive manufacturing plant of H. L. Judd & Co., at Wallingford, where until his death, on Dec. 11, 1899, he was one of the promi- nent citizens and leading business men. President Judd was a descendant in the sixth generation from Deacon Anthony Judd, who was descended from Thomas Judd, the emigrant ancestor, of Farmington, Conn. Anthony Judd married Su- sannah Woodford, and became the first deacon in the Great Swamp Church. The line of descent of President Judd is through John, John (2), John (3) and Morton Judd.
(II) John Judd, son of Deacon Anthony. born in 1718, married Mary Burnham, daughter of Rev. William Burnham, fist pastor of the Great Swamp Church. Mr. Judd was one of the first settlers of the central part of the town of New Britain, having his home and farm on the north side of West Main street. He was a lieutenant in the local militia, and also held some civil offices. He was a member of the Ecclesiastical Society in Farmington in 1752, and was there mentioned by Dr. Smiley as from
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the church in Kensington. His death occurred Oct. 16, 1781.
(III) John Judd (2), son of John, born in 1746, married, in 1769, Lydia Mather, and resided on West Main street, in New Britain, west of his father. He died Jan. 6, 1796.
(IV) John Judd (3), son of Jolin (2), was born May 8, 1772, and married in 1792 Ursula Stanley. He resided on West Main street, New Britain, on the site where his son Morton later built. Mr. Judd was a blacksmith by occupation, having learned the trade with his uncle, James North. His shop was opposite his house, and on the site where i his sons afterward engaged in the manufacturing business. Mr. Judd died July 18, 1822. His chil- dren were: Nancy, born Sept. 17, 1793, married in 1813 Austin Woodford, and died in Vermont ; Aurora was born March 20, 1795; John B., born March 25, 1796, married in 1822 Betsey Hart ; Polly, born Sept. 14, 1797, married in 1816 Pliny Slater; Marilla, born May 7, 1799, married in 1820 Rollin Dickinson, and (sec- ond) in 1852 Gilman Hinsdale ; Minerva, born in 1801, died in infancy ; Marinda, -- born in 1802, died young; Harry, born Nov. 2, 1804, married in 1828 Julia A. Lewis; Anna, born -- Nov. 4, 1807, married in 1826 Lawrence Richards, and (second) in 1840 Gilman Hinsdale; Morton, born Nov. 5, 1808, married in 1828 Lucina Dun- ham, and (second) in 1855 Julia A. Blinn ; Lydia was born Feb. 9, 1810; Oliver S., born Nov. 30, 1816, married in 1838 Emily A. Lewis, and ( sec- ond) in 1860 Eveline Atkins.
(V) Deacon Morton Judd, son of John (3), and the father of the late President Hubert L. Judd, of Wallingford, was born Nov. 5, 1808, in New Brit- ain, where he attended the neighborhood school until his thirteenth year. His boyhood was accom- panied with no special advantages. It was a time when the originators of the industrial prosperity of New Britain were struggling to lay the foundation of its greatness, and young Judd felt the influence of the life about him, and at thirteen years of age went into a brass foundry to learn the trade of cast- ing brass. Later, after working for a ume in South- ington, and in the shops of Seth J. North and Ira Stanley, in New Britain, he engaged in business for himself on West Main street, adjoining his father's shop on the east. In about 1833 he went into part- nership with his brother Oliver S. Judd, the style of the firm being M. & O. S. Judd. They soon afterward established their business at another point in the town, and the product of their shops was plated harness hames. In 1846 this part of their business was sold to Henry North, and they commenced the manufacture of other goods. By 1847 Morton Judd had succeeded in gaining a firm foothold in the manufacturing world. He invented a sash fastener (the first ever made in America). patented Sept. 4, 1847, which, together with window springs, etc., the brothers manufactured extensively.
MARY B. JUDD. ALBERT D. JUDD.
EDWARD M. JUDD. MORTON JUDD.
MARTHA L. (JUDD) MARTIN. HUBERT L. JUDD.
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
In 1853 Albert D. Judd became a partner under the firm name of M. Judd & Co. They continued to do business until 1863, when Albert D. Judd pur- chased the establishment from his father and uncle, Oliver S. However, he conducted the same but a few weeks, when he resold it to his uncle, Oliver S. Judd, of late years the manufacturer of builders' and saddlers' hardware in the old original factory on West Main street, New Britain.
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In 1864 Morton Judd's sons, Hubert L., Albert D: and Edward M., entered into partnership in New Haven for the manufacture of upholstery hardware. Two years later Morton Judd moved to New Haven and entered into partnership with his sou Albert D., for the manufacture of builders' hardware, and out of this investment grew the Judd Manufacturing Co. Albert D. Judd became presi- dent, and the business of the company was greatly enlarged. It was continued in New Haven until 1877, and then removed to Wallingford, where the company erected a large plant on the west side of the railroad, and began the manufacture, on a large scale, of stationers' and druggists' hardware. The principal stockholders were Morton Judd and his sons, Albert D., Hubert L. and Edward M., Hubert L. acting as the company's agent for the sale of their goods in New York. In 1886 H. L. Judd & Co., who had been engaged in the manufacture of upholsterers' hardware in Brooklyn, bought out the business and plant of the Judd Manufacturing Co. in Wallingford. In 1887 they moved a part of their Brooklyn plant to the Wallingford factories, and the remainder in 1897. In 1890 a large build- ing was added to the Wallingford factories for the making of brass bedsteads and a line of artistic brass goods. In 1892 another building was added to meet the demand for a general enlargement of their business, and especially the manufacture of iron bedsteads. In 1896 a still larger building was erected to accommodate the rest of the Brooklyn plant, which was now moved to Wallingford. At this time the company ordinarily employs about five hundred and fifty hands. They have a store in New York and offices in Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago. The capital stock is $350,000, and there is considerable surplus. The company have also in Chattanooga, Tenn., a large factory, built in 1890, for the manufacture of wooden curtain poles and trimmings. The principal products of the concern are fancy art goods, upholsterers', station- ers', and druggists' hardware, brass and iron bed- steads, and bright wire goods.
For many years before his demise, Morton Judd's business connections were ornamental and without labor, rather than active. His name and association gave character to the enterprises, rather than de- manded of him personal attention. He lived at ease in the town, on its main street, and in the course of years his children gathered about him and built magnificent residences, highly ornamental to the town. Among the many enterprises fostered in.
their infancy by Mr. Judd was the Dime Savings Bank, of which he was one of the original incorpor- ators, and of which he served as vice-president until his resignation on account of advancing years.
Mr. Judd lived to the eve of his ninety-third birthday, passing away Nov. 4, 1901, and retained to a remarkable degrec a good physique and the full possession of all his faculties. He was erect in stature, his eye bright and manner animated, and full of sunshine for those about him. His visits among his children and neighbors spread the light of a happy, humorous nature wherever he went. He was a Christian gentleman, who hesitated not to declare his reverence for things sacred and his faith in God. In New Britain and in the Center Congregational Church, which enrolls so much of his family history, he was known as "Deacon," and so in general called "Deacon Mor- ton Judd." He was most highly esteemed and greatly appreciated in the communities in which he lived during his long life. His charitable efforts re- lieved the poor in many a struggle, and the un- fortunate have risen again by reason of this "Good Samaritan's" hand. He bore a willing part in the social activities for good ends, which contribute in every live community to the general welfare, and by example and precept he was a distinct builder of social and religious worth in society. Mr. Judd was one of the very few who remembered Gen. LaFayette when he visited Hartford in 1823, and was always a hearty admirer of the noble French- man, to whom we owe so much. When Deacon Morton Judd was but fourteen years of age he planted the large elm tree that stands in front of his late home in New Britain, and now bears a plate giving his name and the date of planting. In politics Mr. Judd was rather retiring, yet under pressure he held some of the highest town offices, serving two terms in the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut.
On Jan. 26, 1828, Mr. Judd was married to Miss Lucina Dunham, of Southington, Conn., daughter of Samuel Dunham. She was a Christian that might serve as the impersonation of Solomon's de- scription of the good wife and mother, who looked well to the training of her children until her death, March 21. 1853. In 1855 Mr. Judd married (sec- ond) Miss Julia A. Blinn, daughter of Horace Blinn, of Wethersfield, Conn. She died Nov. 19, 1887. To the first marriage were born four chil- dren, namely: Hubert L., Albert D., Edward M. and Martha L. To the second marriage was born one daughter, Mary Burnham, who now makes her home in Wallingford. So fully did the second Mrs. Tudd succeed to the mother's place in the family that her step-children learned to regard her with filial love and strong affction.
HUBERT LLEWELLYN JUDD, eldest son of Deacon Morton Judd, was born April 1, 1829. In the midst of his busy life he found time to look after the interests .and the comfort of those he loved. Of
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kindly nature, he was wont to relieve the unfortun- ate, and with the true charity that works in silence and in the night. Many stories are told of his good deeds, but his dearest friends and confidants cannot recall a single instance when his charity "vaunted itself." He was a liberal supporter of the First' Congregational Church, and faithfully and consistently followed the tenets of that faith. In politics he was a Republican, but his active lite did not allow him time for office-seeking, even had he so desired. A deep thinker and a student of human nature, he associated with himself in busi- ness only such men as he could rely upon for ability and integrity, and those who proved eminently worthy were rapidly promoted. The beautiful home he built on South Main street is one of the most delightful residences of the town, and will stand a monument to his good taste and judgment.
On Aug. 14, 1851, Hubert Llewellyn Judd was united in marriage with Miss Julia Ellis, daughter of William Ellis, of New Britain. She died Oct. 10, 1885. Their children, seven in number, were as follows: (1) Julia Ellis, deceased in infancy : (2) Morton, Jr., deceased in infancy; (3) Flor- ence B., who died at the age of forty years; (4) Edward Henry, deceased in in- fancy ; Emma Julia; (6) Morton El- lis, born March 10, 1864, in New Britain, who married, Dec. 23. 1885, Lenna Gertrude Clark, of Brownville. N. Y., daughter of George Alexander Clark, and has one child-Morton Hu- bert, born Oct. 14, 1886; and (7) Hubert Dexter, deceased in infancy. The father of these children, beloved and respected by old and young, entered into his last rest Dec. 11, 1899.
ALBERT DUNHAM JUDD, second son of Deacon Morton Judd, was born Dec. 4, 1830, in New Brit- ain, Conn. He took advantage of such opportun- ities for an education as were offered him, and after some attendance at the common schools was . for some time a student in the Easthampton ( Mass.) school. It was not an age of luxury and ease- such a life does not make men strong enough to found such enterprises, such nations, as the sons of New England have given to America. On leav- ing the school room Albert D. Judd went at once to work, assisting his father and uncle, M. & O. S. Judd, on harness hames. He remained with them until the firm sold out to Henry North, when he turned his attention to the manufacture of the sash fastener invented by his father. At the end of four or five years he was admitted. into partnership, and twelve years later purchased the business, retaining it, however, but a few weeks, when he resold it to his uncle, Oliver S. Judd. Idleness was not at- tractive to him, and in 1864 Albert D. Judd re- moved to New Haven, purchasing the buildings of Beech Burwell, a contractor and builder, and the firm of M. & A. D. Judd, manufacturers of uphol- stery hardware, was launched. Two years later . E. M. Judd & Co. consolidated with the Turner &
Clark Manufacturing Co., and the Seymour Manu- facturing Co., both of Torrington. The factory was removed to the western part of town, and the manufacture of builders' hardware was added. In 1 1870 the firm became the Judd Manufacturing Co., and all of the Judds held interests in it. They con- tinued to run the factory in New Haven until 1877, when it was removed to Wallingford. Albert D. Judd became president of the company and so con- tinted until 1888, when he sold his interest to H. L. Judd & Co. He is still a large stockholder in the company, which on the death of its president, H. L. Judd, in 1899, was sold to his New York partner, and at present he (Albert D.) is the only stockholder bearing the name of Judd. He was : one of the original incorporators of the Wallingford National Bank, and has since served as director. He is also a director in the Dime Savings Bank. -- . and one of the appraisers of the Savings Bank, and he also served a short time as vice-president of the First National Bank, but was obliged to resign on account of ill health. In all the large enterprises of the community Albert D. Judd has left his im- press-in nearly all he has taken an active part, but it has left him little time for himself. In his politi- cal affiliations he has been a strong Republican, and , has served on the board of burgesses and held other offices, giving to the affairs of the people the same , care and consideration ever given to his private affairs, and throughout his entire life, public and private, he has kept his honored name free from blemish. Mr. Judd has also been a faithful worker in the religious world. He is a member of the First Congregational Church of Wallingford, of which he has served as deacon since his residence there. He held the same office in the Center Congre- gational Church in New Britain, and while in New Haven he was instrumental in the building of the Dwight Place Congregational Church, being one of a committee of three who selected the site, and was also one of the building committee during the construction of the church edifice. Later lie became a member of the Society's committee, and of the church committee, and also served the church as deacon.
On April 25, 1855, Albert D. Judd wedded Miss Lucelia Wells, who was born Oct. 27, 1828, a daughter of Horace and Pamela (Sedgwick) Wells, the former a native of New Britain and the latter of West Hartford. Mrs. Judd died Aug. 5, 1900. They had the following named children : (1) Katherine Wells, at home. (2) George Mor- ton has, since 1885, been connected with H. L. Judd & Co. He married Miss Nellie Martin, daughter of Henry Martin, and they have three children -- Alice, Katherine and Philip Sedgwick. (3) Alice May died at the age of two years. (4) Albert Lemuel, bookkeeper for H. L. Judd & Co .. married Ethel Gardiner, of Green Bay, Wis., and | their children were Gardiner Wells, who died aged three years, and Howard Stanley. Albert L. Judd
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
has been a deacon in the Congregational Church since 1898.
EDWARD MORTON JUDD, third son of Deacon Morton Judd, was born Nov. 11, 1837, in New Brit- ain, Conn., and has proved himself a worthy member of the honorable family to which he belongs. He at- tended the schools of New Britain and spent three years in the high school there. At the age of eighteen he, too, entered the manufacturing world. In 1856 he began the manufacture of the first metal curtain fixtures (of which he was also the patentee ) , and in 1861 removed to New Haven, the firm becom- ing E. M. Judd & Co. Upon his location in New Haven he added a general line of upholstery hard- ware. Later the firm was consolidated with the Turner & Clark Manufacturing Co. and the Sey- mour Manufacturing Co., of Torrington, and Ed- ward M. Judd became the general manager of the Torrington plants. The firm was known as the Tur- ner, Seymour & Judd Co. In 1870 he sold out his interest in the company and assisted in the forma- tion of the Judd Manufacturing Co. at New Haven. The new company engaged in the manufacture of general hardware, as well as upholstery hardware. Under his management these various companies prospered beyond all expectations, and in 1874 Mr. Judd went to Brooklyn, and, while still retaining his interest in the Judd Manufacturing Co., started the firm of H. L. Judd & Co. After three years he located in Wallingford, where the Judd interests have since been centered. For thirty years Mr. Judd was actively engaged in the large manufacturing interests of the family. and in 1887 he retired to pass the latter half of his life in the rest and enjoy- ment his early labors would warrant. He is the inventor of a number of curtain fixtures, and his last venture was a stamp cancelling machine, which he considers his best work. This machine, which completely destroys the stamp, has been patented in this country, and it is the intention of the patentee to have his riglits protected in foreign countries as well. During his busy life Mr. Judd did not fail to find time to attend to his civic duties. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. While he is not an office- seeker, he has not sought to evade the responsi- bilities of citizenship. He has served on the board of burgesses and on the school committee, while in 1897 he was elected judge of the borough court, and is now serving his second term. In every way that he can he lias worked for the welfare of his town and State, and gives his aid. financial and moral, to the support of any enterprise that will in any way benefit the community. He was one of the original incorporators of the First National Bank. In his religions faith he is a Congregationalist, and a member of the First Church, in which he has served as superintendent of the Sunday-school, and as chairman of the Society's committee. Of gener- ous disposition, he gives largely to charity, but car-
ries on the custom of his family in that he does his good deeds quietly.
On March 27. 1860, occurred the marriage of Edward Morton Judd and Jane A. Peck, daughter of Joel and Charlotte ( Scoville) Peck, and to this union have come children as follows : William Theodore, born March 1, 1866, died Feb. 24. 1867. Jennie Susan, born March 8, 1872, married on Oct. 1, 1895, Charles G. Phelps, of Wallingford, secre- tary to Orville H. Platt, senator from Connecticut, and clerk to the committee on Cuban Affairs. Ed- ward Peck, born Aug. 3, 1877, is at home ; for tlirce years he was a student in Yale Law School.
MARTHA LOUISE JUDD, born July 9, 1847, was married Oct. 14, 1880, to Henry Hall Martin, of Wallingford, who died Feb. 26. 1896. Their chil- dren were Louise Ariel and Oliver Wadsworth.
MARY BURNHAM JUDD, born April 8, 1857, is unmarried, and kept house for her father.
WILLIAM CHANDLER POTTER was one of the brave defenders of the Union during the dark days of the Rebellion, and is now an honored and highly respected citizen of Cheshire, New Haven county, where he has made his home since 1891.
Mr. Potter was born in New Haven Sept. 25, 1829, and traces his ancestry to John Potter, the first of the name to cross the Atlantic, a native of England, who came to this county about 1640, and located in Hamden. The father of our subject, who also bore the name of John Potter, was born in Ham- den in 1805, and was reared in that town. By trade he was a chairmaker. He married Clarissa Parkiss, who was born in Branford, New Haven county, a daughter of Chandler Parkiss, and both died in Burlington, this State, in 1894. Of their ten chil- dren, only two are still living : William C., our sub- .ject : and Austin, of Waterbury.
William Chandler Potter acquired his literary education in the schools of Hamden, and there grew to manhood. When the Civil war broke out he en- listed, at Hartford, Conn., in 1861, in Company E, Ioth Conn. V. I., for three years. With the Army of the Potomac he participated in the battles of Roanoke Island, Newbern, Tarboro, Little Wash- ington and Goldsboro, N. C., and he also took part in the celebrated march to the sea. He was mus- tered out of the United States service at Alexan- dria, Va., and honorably discharged at Hartford, Conn., in 1865. On the maternal side he is of Revo- lutionary stock, his great-grandfather having been a soldier in the war for independence.
In 1855. at Burlington, Conn., Mr. Potter mar- ried Miss Emily Baldwin, a native of Watertown, and a daughter of Joel Baldwin. Four children have been born to them, namely: Frederick, who is now in the West; Melissa, who died in her eight- eenth year ; Louis, who was killed by the cars; and Clara, Mrs. Arthur Smith, a resident of Birming- ham, Connecticut.
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Since coming to Cheshire, in 1891, Mr. Potter has been engaged in market gardening. He is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, and an earnest advocate of temperance. Socially he is a member of Grand Army Post No. 8, at Meri- den, and religiously adheres to the faith of the . Methodist Episcopal Church, of which his wife is a member. Both are well known and highly respect- ed for their sterling worth and many excellencies of character.
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