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 4 > Part 25
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Mr. Carter is a man of broad and generous pub- lic spirit and takes especial interest in the cause of popular education, having been for many years chairman of the school board of Derby. He is a member of King Hiram Lodge, No. 12, of Derhy, having been first initiated into the Masonic order at Bethel. He was married, when he reached the age of about thirty years. to Miss Julia E., a daughter of Burr Edwards, of Bethel, Fairfield county .. Three children have been born of this marriage: Harriet E., Adelaide and Ruby J. The eldest daughter. Harriet, married Mr. Hubbell, her father's business partner. The others are both dead; Adelaide dying when but four years old and Ruby passing away when a girl of fourteen.
JAMES E. NICHOLS, a worthy representative of the agricultural interests of West Cheshire, New Haven county, is a native of this State, horn in the town of Plymouth, Litchfield county, June 20, 1850, but belongs to a family originally from this county, his grandfather, James Nichols, having been a far- mer of Waterbury.
his first wife he married Levia Blakeslee, of North- field, and to them were born two children: Ora Ann, wife of Addison Bunnell, of Plymouth; and Levia, wife of James T. Clark, of Fair Haven, Conn. His second wife was in her maidenhood Julia Maria Judd, a native of Northfield, and a daughter of Elisha Judd, and the only child born of this union was James E., our subject. The mother is still living and makes her home with her son in West Cheshire.
James E. Nichols received only a district school education. He remained at home with his parents, in Plymouth, until eighteen years of age and then went to New Britain, where he was employed until coming to Cheshire in 1886. For six years he en- gaged in teaming for H. J. Moss and since then has followed farming and market gardening in West Cheshire, where he purchased the Orin Fields farm of forty acres. He is now meeting with well-de- served success in his labors and is recognized as a valued and useful citizen of the community. He was married in New York City to Miss Elizabeth Dinwoody, a native of England, who has proved a faithful helpmeet to him. They have no children of their own, but have reared Mrs. Nichols' nephew, Eric D. Finlayson, who is now a student at the Episcopal Academy. Both are members of the Epis- copal Church, in which Mr. Nichols is now serv- ing as vestryman and he also belongs to L. A. Thomas Lodge, No. 9, I. O. O. F., of Cheshire, in which he has passed the chairs. He is rather inde- pendent in politics, but usually supports the men and measures of the Republican party and is ready to aid every movement for the public good.
HON. S. HART CULVER, insurance agent, town clerk and representative from Seymour in the General Assembly of the State, is one of the self- made men of his town, where he has figured in public life from boyhood.
Born Feb. 3, 1851, in Seymour, Mr. Culver is a son of the late Stephen Hopkins Culver, grand- son of Stephen Culver, and great-grandson of Amos Culver, and is of an historie and distinguished ancestry, descending in one and likely two lines from the Pilgrims of the "Mayflower," 1620.
Amos Culver, the great-grandfather of S. Hart, was a patriot of the Revolution, serving in Capt. Gallup's Company. In 1770 he married Sarah Ilop- kins, who was born Oct. 1, 1750. Their son, Stephen Culver, born in 1773, married, Nov. 7. 1793, Anna Franeis, and their son, Stephen Hopkins Culver, born Dec. 20, 1810, was married March 7, 1847, to Sarah J. Adve. They were the parents of S. Hart Culver, of this sketch. These Culvers figured in Waterbury and towns formed from it in the Nauga- tuck valley. Stephen Hopkins Culver was a farmer of Seymour, one of the town's substantial men and useful citizens, serving his fellow townsmen as selectman in 1800 and 1867, and commanded the
Henry Nichols, our subject's father, was born and reared on his father's farm in Waterbury, and when a young man removed to Plymouth, where he also followed farming in early life, but later filled the position of sexton of the Episcopal Church, with which he was connected. He was a Democrat in politics and was highly respected and ost wasd by all who knew him. He died in Plymouth March 6. 1888, and was buried in the cemetery there. For | esteem and respect of the community in which he
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lived. He and his wife were members of the M. . was born in New Haven July 24, 1704, son of E. Church. His death occurred Oct. 7, 1889, and she passed away March 7, 1862.
Through his great-grandmother, Sarah ( Hop- kins ) Culver, S. Hart Culver is a descendant in the ninth generation from John Hopkins, of Cambridge, Mass., 1634 ( or earlier ), and an original proprietor of Hartford, 1039 (there in 1636). The Christian name of his wife was Jane. This John Hopkins, of Hartford, was possibly a son of Stephen Hop- kins, of the "Mayflower." Says Anne Arnoux Haxtum, in her "Signers of the Mayflower Com- pact" ( 1896), "No signer of Mayflower Compact, 1620, opens more historical possibilities in his story than Mr. Stephen Hopkins. To secure what I have so eagerly sought for I will write of him in many aspects, bringing all possible circumstantial evi- dence to bear upon a kinship I so earnestly desire and hope to prove-that he was the father of John Hopkins, of Hartford, Conn." From this John Hopkins, of Hartford, S. Hart Culver's lineage is through Stephen, John (2), Stephen (2), John (3), Sarah Hopkins and Amos Culver, Stephen Culver and Stephen Hopkins Culver.
(II) Stephen Hopkins, son of John, of Hart- ford, born about 1634, married Dorcas Bronson. He died in 1689, and she passed away in 1697.
(III) John Hopkins (2), son of Stephen, mar- ried, in 1683, and settled in Waterbury. He died in 1732, and his wife, Hannah, passed away in 1730.
(IV) Stephen Hopkins (2), son of John (2), born in 1689, married in 1717. Susan Peck, and lived in Waterbury. He died in 1769, and she passed away in 1755.
(V.) John Hopkins (3), son of Stephen (2), born in 1718-19, married in 1749 Sarah, born in 1729, daughter of Benajah Johnson and his wife Sarah, who was formerly Mrs. ( Brewster ) Haw- kins, a granddaughter of Rev. Nathaniel Brews- ter, of Long Island, a great-granddaughter of Jona- than' Brewster, and great-great-granddaughter of William Brewster, of the "Mayflower," 1620.
Several branches of this Hopkins family became distinguished in the professions in which they en- gaged. Confining ourselves to those of the locality of Waterbury and vicinity, descendants of Stephen (2), and where the name is one of the most honor- able, we mention stich men as Samuel Miles Hop- kins, LL. D., Samuel Miles, Jr., D. D., and Dr. Lemuel Hopkins, the latter one of the most dis- tinguished physicians in the State.
(VI) Sarah Hopkins, daughter of John (3), married Amos Culver.
(VII) Stephen Culver, son of Amos, married Anna Francis.
(VIII) Stephen Hopkins Culver, son of Stephen, married Sarah J. Adye.
The JouNSON Family, too, was att early as well as a prominent Connecticut family of the Colonial period. Benajah Johnson, who married Sarah ( Brewster) Hawkins, referred to in the foregoing, , ance on dwellings in Seymour in the last named
Jeremiah Johnson (2) and his wife Elizabeth ( eld- est daughter of Col. Ebenezer Johnson ), and grand- son of Jeremiah Johnson, of New Haven, who is likely the Jeremiah Johnson given by Savage as of New Haven, 1662. Jeremiah Johnson received a grant of land on Sentinel Hill, in Derby, Conn., March 2, 1672. He married Sarah Hotchkiss, and their son Jeremiah (2), born April 25, 1664, mar- ried as above stated; and Benajah Johnson, son of Jeremialı (2), settled in what is now Beacon Falls, and died April 13, 1763; his wife, Mrs. Sarah Brewster ( Hawkins) Johnson, passed away May 7, 1773.
S. Hart Culver received a common-school educa- tion in his native town, and at sixteen years of age, in 1867, began his business education in the drug store of the late S. H. Canfield, who was also the village postmaster, and continued with that gentle- man for thirty years-until Mr. Canfield's death, in 1898. Much of this time Mr. Canfield's store was not only the post office, but the telegraph office as well, so from his very boyhood Mr. Culver has been, as it were, a public servant. For a decade before Mr. Canfield's death, owing to his feeble health, the duties and responsibilities of the office and business devolved upon Mr. Culver, and so well did he dispatch them, and so entirely had he gained the confidence of his fellow townsmen, that he was honored by election in 1890 as town clerk, to which position he was thereafter re-elected an- nually until a change was made to a two-years term, and since then he has been chosen every sec- ond year until the present time, his term not expir- ing until Jan. 4, 1904. A Republican by birth, his father before him being of that political faith, Mr. Culver has taken a deep interest in his party's wel- fare, and from his fitness for legislative duties he was nominated for the town's representative in the General Assembly of the State in 1900. His nom- ination was endorsed in the election that followed by a majority of 346, he receiving 564 votes against his competitor's 218. He was present at every ses- sion, during his term, and served as a member of the committee on Insurance, a subject that long years of experience has made him master of. Mr. Culver was also chosen as county auditor for a term of two years.
Since 188! Mr. Culver has been engaged con- tinuously in the insurance business, which he has carried on for years in connection with his other duties in the store of Mr. Canfield, and on the death of the latter established himself more extensively therein in an office of his own. He represents the Continental Insurance Co. of New York : the New York, Greenwich, Hanover'and United States, all of New York; the Boston, of Boston ; the Phoenix, of London ; the Manchester, of Manchester, Eng- land, and the Middlesex, of Middletown. Conn. He now carries more than one-half of the insur-
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company. He also represents the Fidelity & Casualty, a plate-glass and burglary company. Mr. Culver is a charter member of Castle Rock Lodge, No. 6, A. O. U. W., of Seymour, and he and his wife and family are attendants of the Congregational Church, to the support of which he is a contributor.
On Aug. 10, 1873, Mr. Culver was married to Helen A. Downs, born April 25, 1853, in Bethlehem, Conn., a daughter of Albert Z. and Sarah Pritchard Downs, and to them has come one daughter, Helena A., who is now the wife of O. M. Williams, of Seymour; they have one son, Stephen Culver Williams.
WILLIAM HASSETT was born March 15, 1850, in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is a son of Thomas Hassett, who was born in the same. com- munity, where he died in 1852 when he was about thirty-five years of age. He was a farmer by oc- cupation. Hannah Cummings, his wife, died in New Haven, Conn., and was the mother of the fol- lowing children: (1) Bridget died at the age of thirty-five years at Jersey City, N. J. (2) John died in the same city at the age of forty-five years. (3) Patrick, a blacksmith by trade, is still living in Jersey City. (4) William. (5) Thomas is in the grocery business at Wallingford. John Hassett, the grandfather of William. was a farmer in Ireland and did a large contracting business.
William Hassett was born in Ireland, where he received his somewhat limited schooling. When thirteen years old he came with his mother to this country and settled in Jersey City, where for a num- ber of years he was engaged in various capacities, clerking in a grocery store, and in 1870 he became associated with the Judd Manufacturing Co., and for fifteen years was in the iron finishing room of their factory at New Haven. When their plant was removed to Wallingford lie came with them to do contracting work in the brass department. In 1888 he was made assistant superintendent of the factory, and in 1894 he became superintendent of the factory, having charge of an industrial army of 550 men. A few years ago Mr. Hassett bought ont the coal busi- ness of the late John Kendrick, which he has .since conducted, building up the largest business in this line in the town. His yards have a capacity of 2.000 tons and are taxed to their utmost. Mr. Hasset: has never hesitated to meet the responsibilities of citizenship, and his services on the School Dis- trict committee have been conspicuously valuable. A stanch Democrat, for the third time he has been elected by a large and flattering vote to the Court of Burgesses. He has also served on the board of relief.
Mr. Hassett is a member of the Court Winde- mere, Foresters of America, and his name is on the rolls of the Knights of Columbus and the Hepta- sophs, where he is an active worker. Mr. Hassett and his family are members of the Holy Trinity Church, of Wallingford.
Mr. Hassett was married May 18, 1880, to Miss Helen M. Hoey, one of the brightest young women of Wallingford, and a daughter of Lawrence Hoey. This union has been blessed with the birth of the following children : Thomas, Esther, Mary, Robert, Ellen, Ethel, George, Florence, Ruth, William H. and Charles. In 1880 Mr. Hassett built one of the most charming homes on Scuth Whittlesey ave- nue, in Wallingford.
GEORGE THOMSON, who is now success- fully engaged in the dry goods and notion business at No. 49 Sixth street, Derby, was born in Shelton, Conn., Sept. 19, 1863, and is of Scotch descent, his paternal grandfather being a lifelong resident of Scotland. The father, John Thomson, is a native of Galashiels, Scotland, and in that country he fol- lowed the trade of a woolen spinner. When a young man he came to America and located in Shelton. Conn. He followed his trade in Derby for some | years, but is now living retired at that place, en- joying a well-earned rest. He married Miss Eliza- beth Watson, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and was reared in that country. She died in 1897. Of the nine children born to this worthy couple our subject is the eldest. Thomas is engaged in farm- ing in the town of Derby; John is a machinist liv- ing in the West; William is a die sinker in Platts- ville, Conn .; James is a mechanic of Bridgeport, Conn .: Albert is a piano tuner of Derby; Annie is the wife of Thomas Morgan, of Waterbury; and Jessie and Grace are at home with their father.
In early childhood George Thomson removed with his parents to Mount Holly, N. J., where he was reared and educated. but at the age of sixteen years he returned to Bridgeport, Conn., where he worked for the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Co. for two years. At the end of that time he came to Derby and entered the employ of the Star Pin Company, with which he remained for about four years. Having learned the molder's trade he worked in the Birmingham Iron Foundry for about eight years and also in other foundries, including one at Ansonia for three years.
Mr. Thomson married Miss Bell Ruthford, a native of Ireland, and a daughter of Frederick Ruthford, who is a shoemaker by trade and now re- sides in Derby, Conn. Our subject and his wife have one child, Leslie. In 1803 Mr. Thomson started his present store. and while away his wife attends to the business. With her assistance he has steadily prospered and is now the owner of two large brick store buildings and has built up an ex- cellent trade. They are highly respected and es- teemed by all who know them.
EDWARD I. ATWATER, one of the leading young business men of New Haven, is a son of William J. Atwater. for many years identified with the real estate interests of this city and a man well- known throughout the vicinity.
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Edward I. Atwater was born April 27, 1864, and spent his boyhood days in New Haven, his na- tive place, attending school, both public and private, among which institutions was the well-known Jo- seph Giles School, where he remained two years, and the Yale Business College. After completing his business course Mr. Atwater entered the employ of McAllister & Warren, insurance and loans, re- maining with this firm for four years, when he joined his father, at a time when the latter was en- gaged in contracting for the construction of sewers and cellars, and gave employment to many men. Edward Atwater took charge of this branch of the business and rendered very effective service. Three years later the wholesale and retail paper, twine and stationery business was established under the firm name of W. J. Atwater & Co., of which Edward I. became manager, and he remained in that capacity for twelve years. Believing the time to be propiti- ·ous for the real-estate business, Mr. Atwater entered that field in 1901, and expects to meet with well- merited success, his knowledge of this line being ·extensive and comprehensive. In 1901 W. J. At- water & Co. discontinued the paper business and engaged in the building material and mason supply business, in the location occupied for more than thirty years by H. S. Clark & Co.
On Sept. 19, 1888. Mr. Atwater was married to Miss Lila Mather Brooks, of Cheshire, Conn., a daughter of Samuel H. and Mary ( Mather) Brooks, of Cheshire, Conn., and Troy, N. Y., re- spectively. The father of Samuel H. Brooks was David Brooks, and the Mathers trace back directly to the celebrated Cotton Mather family. Two chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Atwater, Mar- garet Brooks and William Irving. Politically Mr. Atwater is a strong Republican, and has been hon- ored by his fellow townsmen with various offices of prominence, he having served for a year in the coun- cil and for two years on the board of aldermen. So- cially Mr. Atwater is a member of the A. O. U. W., and of the Red Men; he is also a member of the Union League; the Young Men's Republican Club; and president (elected March, 1901, re-elected in March, 1902) of the Business Men's Association, of which he has been director for eight years; he has also served five years as a member of the Gov- ernor's Foot Guards, 2d Co. In religious matters both Mr. and Mrs. Atwater are members of the Con- gregational Church and earnest workers in that or- ganization. Genial in manner, possessed in marked degree of the qualities requisite to success in both business and social life, Mr. Atwater stands high in the community and numbers his friends by legions.
JENS NIELSON, who has charge of the ex- tensive business of Hotchkiss & Sons, at Ansonia, was born in Denmark Feb. 10. 1852. a son of Nielse Nielson.
His father was a native of Denmark, and, a farmer, passed his life in that country. In religious
faith he was a Lutheran. He died in early manhood, and his wife, Maren Olsen, also a native of Den- mark, died aged sixty-eight years. She was a daughter of Ole Neilson, who was born in the town of Jegindo, Denmark, and was engaged in farming there throughout his life. He died at the age of ninety-nine years, after seventy-five years of mar- ried life. His wife, Anna, reached the advanced age of one hundred years, and after she attained the age of eighty sometimes walked four miles at a time. Of their nine children three are living : Christian Olsen, Anna Marie and Marianna, all residents of Denmark. Our subject was the younger of two children, and his elder brother, Ole, is now a farmer in Oxford, Connecticut.
Jens Nielson remained in his native land until he reached the age of eighteen, receiving a com- mon-school education, and on coming to this coun- try he located upon a farm in Oxford. During the years spent there he learned butchering and has since been in the employ of Hotchkiss & Sons, making twenty-three years in all with that firm. For fifteen years he has acted as manager for the Ansonia branch of their business, doing all the buy- ing and selling for their enormous establishment, where the output is sometimes 50,000 barrels per week. He is now the oldest man in active business in the town and has always been one of the most progressive. He has built two handsome houses on Cliff street, the finest residence street of the city, and in addition to the duties of his position with the firm mentioned he has always had some retail business. At one time he engaged in the candy business and for a time he carried on markets in Seymour and Naugatuck. At present he conducts a retail meat market in Ansonia known as the West Side Market, which is exceptionally well-arranged, and he employs three clerks and two wagons in con- nection with the business.
In 1877 Mr. Nielson married Miss Sophia Iver- son, a native of Denmark. He attends the Episco- pal Church, and is identified with Morning Star Lodge, F. & A. M., of Seymour, and the Danish Brotherhood at Ansonia. Politically he is a Repub- lican, and in 1899 he was elected to the common council, to serve until 1901.
WESLEY BENNETT ALLEN, a bright and hustling young business man of New Haven, was born in North Haven Dec. 24, 1868, and is a son of Delos Allen, who was born in Waterbury, Conn., Dec. 10, 1820, and died Jan. 7, 1889.
Delos Allen was descended from one of the old- est Allen families on record, and one of his forefathers was among the earliest slaveholders in the South. Delos Allen lived in various places in Connecticut and followed an agricultural career. Esther Bennett, his wife, was born Jan. 11, 1831, and died Jan. 10. 1878. To their union were born five children: Frank E., Martha L., Merritt L., Wesley Bennett and Burton E. Merritt is an in-
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spector in the Winchester Repeating Arms Com- pany, and Frank and Burton are employes of Wes- ley B.
Wesley B. Allen was born in North Haven, but was reared to manhood in New Haven, where he attended the local schools. When he became old enough he was received as an employe into the factory of the Winchester Repeating Arms Com- pany, where at first he worked in the summer and still attended school during the winter season. His entire business life lias been spent with this com- pany, and he has worked himself up step by step un- til now he is a contractor in the hox department. The details of the business are thoroughly under- stood by him, and as an all-round mechanic his reputation is very high.
On April 10, 1900, Mr. Allen was married to Margaret H. Jaenicke, the eighteen-year-old daugh- ter of Franz Jaenicke. One child, Russell, born May 23, 1901, has blessed this union.
Mr. Allen is a Republican, and belongs to Har- mony Lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F .; he is also a mem- ber of the Equitable Life Assurance of the United States, the Golden Rule Encampment and the New England Order of Protection. He attends the First Methodist Church. Personally he is a man of fine character, and has a host of friends in the commu- nity who wish him all prosperity.
JOEL RICE HOUGH. The Hough family of Wallingford is one of the oldest and most re- spected families of New England, the first of that name in Wallingford being Samuel Hough, who was a'native of New London, Conn. By trade he was a millwright. He was a son of William Hough, and a grandson of Edward Hough, whose home was in Cheshire, England.
William Hough settled in New London, and from there came Samuel, intending to build a mill and then return, but the beauty of the surround- ings and the fertility of the land caused him to re- main, and in Wallingford his life ended, March 14, 1714. The first marriage of Samuel Hough was to a native of his own locality; she died in 1684, and on Aug. 18, 1685, he married Mary Bates, a daughter of John Bates, of Haddam. Three chil- dren were born of each marriage.
William Hough. the eldest son of Samuel, was born in 1680, and was a farmer of Wallingford, where he spent his entire life. The children of his two marriages were: Mary, Samuel, William and Mehitable (twins), Deborah, Ann, Joseph, Abia, Nathaniel and Simeon. Of this family, Joseph Hough was born in 1719, and lived out his ninety- two years in the town of Wallingford. On Jan. 27, 1745, he married Catherine Yale, a daughter of Capt. Theophilus and Sarah ( Street ) Yale, and who died Oct. 5. 1767. The children of this mar- riage were: Joseph, born in 1745; Mary, in 1746; Lois, in 1747; Lent, in 1751 ; Lo's, in 1752; David, in 1754; Joel, in 1757; James, in 1762; Catherine,
who married Edmund Smith ; and Sarah, who mar- ried and settled in Homer, New York.
James Hough, the grandfather of Joel Hough, of this sketch, was an extensive farmer and owned much land in North Farms, in Wallingford. He was a man who had the respect of the whole com- munity. His family of children consisted of two sons and three daughters: James, who married Mary Rice, a daughter of Nehemiah Rice; Joel, who became the father of Joel R. and of Miss Alice L. Hough, of North Farms; Mary, who al- ways lived at the old homestead, and died in 1880, aged eighty-two; Lucy, who married Hezekiah Root, of Meriden, and died leaving no children ; Emeline, who married William Bunce, a tailor and farmer of Kensington, by whom she had four sons, William (deceased), George (a farmer in Berlin, married and has four sons), James ( a successful dry-goods merchant in Middletown, has two sons and two daughters, of whom the eldest daughter married and moved West, and the younger wedded a captain in the regular army, who served with his regiment in Cuba in the Spanish-American war ) and Leander ( who remained on the old farm until his retirement a few years ago and he now lives in New Britain ).
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