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 29
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H. WALES LINES, a leading business man of Meriden, carries in his veins the blood of several Revolutionary sires, and partakes of the sturdy character which has made New England pre-emi- nent in the business, the social and the political world. He was born June 3, 1838, in Naugatuck, Conn., a son of Henry Willys and Harriet ( Bun- nell) Lines. The father was a son of Calvin and Sallie ( Booth) Lines. The descent is traced from Elder Brewster, of the "Mayflower" Colony, and Rev. Thomas Hooker, founder of the Connecticut Colony. Among other conspicuous forebears of Mr. Lines may be mentioned: John Hopkins, of Hart- ford ; Capt. Nathaniel White, one of the first settlers
( IV) Samuel Yale ( 2), son of Street, born Aug. 18, 1763, in Wallingford, resided in Meriden. He married ( first ) Eunice Paine, of the same town, and ( second ) Mehitabel Rice. of Wallingford. Mr. Yale is said to have been the first manufacturer in ! the town of Meriden. In 1791 he commenced the ; of Middletown, Conn .; John Coit, one of the first
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settlers of New London, Conn .; Hon. Benjamin Fenn, of Milford, deputy governor of Connecticut ; Rev. Timothy Stevens, first Congregational minister in Glastonbury, Conn .; and Capt. Samuel Newton, who commanded a company in King Philip's war.
Walter Booth, father of Mr. Lines' paternal grandmother, was a soldier from Woodbridge, Conn., in the Revolution, in the Fifth Battalion, Wadsworth Brigade, Col. Douglass' Regiment, Capt. Peck's Company. He was present at the bat- tles of Long Island, White Plains and Kip's Bay. Later he was in Col. Samuel B. Webb's Regiment, and participated in the battles of Rhode Island, and Springfield, N. J. His two terms of service covered a period of six years.
Another great-grandfather of Mr. Lines, an- cestor of Harriet Bunnell, was Enos Bunnell, of Cheshire, Conn., who enlisted in 1775 in the First Regiment, Col. David Wooster, Ninth Company, Capt. James Arnold, and was present at the capture of St. John's and the siege of Montreal. In 1776 he was in Capt. Stephen R. Bradley's Company. In July, 1779, he responded to the alarm to assist in driving the British from New Haven.
Elisha Stevens, also a great-grandfather of Mr. Lines, enlisted from Glastonbury, Conn., in Col. Erastus Wolcott's Regiment, Capt. Jonathan Hale's Company, serving during the siege of Boston, 1776; the next year found him in a regiment of artificers commanded by Col. Jeduthan Baldwin, Capt. Clark's Company, and. he subsequently wintered at Valley Forge and participated in the battles of Brandy- wine, Germantown, Monmouth, Camden, siege of Yorktown and surrender of Cornwallis, his service covering a period of seven years. He was one of seven brothers all of whom were in the military ser- vice of their country.
Lieut. Samuel Newton, of Woodbridge, Conn., a great-great-grandfather of Mr. Lines, was a mem- ber in 1776 of the Tenth Company, or train-band, Second Regiment of Connecticut, and served at the | battle of Long Island ; the next year he was attached to Capt. Samuel Camp's Company, Col. Noadiah Hooker's Regiment.
Fairchild, vice-president ; Lewis A. Miller, secretary. For years this has been one of the most favorably known contracting and building establishments in New England, widely known, and doing its most extensive business, outside of its home city. From the beginning it has dealt both wholesale and re- tail, in building materials and supplies, and is now the largest in this line in the State. The home plant is commodious and equipped with every facility for convenience and the rapid dispatch of business. Nine-tenths of the factories of Mcriden have been erected by this concern, including the extensive plants of the Meriden Britannia Co., the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Co., and the Edward Miller Co. Its handiwork may also be found in great profusion among the churches, schools, busi- ness blocks and fine residences of the city. Some of these are the residence of Hon. Charles Parker, First Congregational church, Meriden high school, Y. M. C. A. building, State School for Boys, and "Winthrop Hotel." Outside of Meriden some of the more important structures erected by this com- pany are : Wallingford-factories of the H. L. Judd Co .; New Haven-Snake & Book Society building, Yale College; Branford-St. Mary's Roman Catholic church, and factory additions of the Malleable Iron Fittings Co .; Shelton-Silk mill's of A. & S. Blumenthal ; Willimantic-State Normal School ; Hartford-Steadman block: New Britain- Russell & Erwin Co.'s factory additions; Torring- ton-library building, Excelsior Needle Co.'s fac- tory and portion of the works of the Coe Brass Manufacturing Co .; Naugatuck-First Congrega- tional church, Salem school, residence of J. H. Whittemore, and factories of the United States Rub- ber Co .; Bridgeport-factory addition of Union Metallic Cartridge Co .; Stamford-factory addi- tions of the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Co .; Middletown-State Industrial School; New Roch- t elle, N. Y .- residence of C. Oliver Islin ; Princeton University-Whig & Clio Halls: Garwood, N. J .- factories of the Aeolian Co .; Hackettstown, N. J .-- Centenary Collegiate Institute ; Bedford, N. Y .- Montefiore Home for Chronic Invalids; Mt. Her- mon, Mass .- Overton Hall, Moody's School.
H. Wales Lines was graduated from the Nauga- tuck high school, after which he mastered the trade ; Since 1891 Mr. Lines has been president of the New England Brown Stone Co., and a director of -- the C. F. Monroe Co. He is a director of the Meri- den Savings Bank, treasurer of the New Haven In- vestment Co., director of the H. Chapin's Sons Co., of New Hartford, and president of The Pacific Real Estate Co., of Meriden. His political affiliations have been with the Republican party, and it is nat- ural that his conspicuous business ability and integ- rity lead his fellow citizens to select him in the ad- ministration of public affairs. He served two terms as a member of the board of school visitors of Meri- den, and in 1872 was elected a member of the lower branch of the State Legislature. For the years 1878-70 he was a member of the State Senate, and of mason. He became a resident of Meriden in 1862, and has ever since been a factor in the mate- rial and moral development of the town. On May 23, 1864, he associated with himself Charles Perkins, under the firm name of Perkins & Lines, to con- tract for all kinds of building work, and to deal in all kinds of building materials. This arrangement continued harmoniously and successfully until 1878, when Mr. Perkins withdrew from the firm, and was succeeded by Henry E. Fairchild. For ten years the firm was known as H. Wales Lines & Co., and in 1888 it was incorporated as The H. Wales Lines Company, younger men coching in who had grown up with the business. The present officers are H. Wales Lines, president and treasurer; Henry E. | served in that body as chairman of the committee
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on Cities and Boroughs, Contested Elections and Capitol Buildings, Furniture and Grounds. He served as mayor of the city of Meriden for three consecutive terms, 1877 to 1879, and during his administration a complete revision of the city char- ter was made, also a thorough reformation in the methods of conducting the various departments, and in the system of keeping accounts. At the third election he received two-thirds of all the votes cast, and was unanimously nominated for the . fourth term, but declined to accept the office fur- ther. In 1888 Mr. Lines was the candidate of his party for member of Congress, but it was a Demo- cratic year, and, though he ran largely ahead of his ticket, he shared the defeat of the party. On Nov. 5, 1901, he was elected delegate to the Constitu- tional Convention of 1902, to revise the constitution of Connecticut. In all that pertains to the welfare of his community Mr. Lines has taken a zealous interest. Every plan for advancing the material de- velopment and progress of the city finds in him a ready helper, and to many of its important improve- ments he has contributed valuable assistance.
In June, 1861, Mr. Lines was married to Sarah 'C., daughter of Rev. Washington Munger, a Bap- tist clergyman of Waterford, Conn. Mrs. Lines is a Daughter of the American Revolution, connected with Susan Carrington Clarke Chapter, of Meri- den, of which she has been several years vice-re- gent. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Lines has been blessed with four daughters, all of whom are married and settled in or near their native State. The first, Harriet, is the wife of Robert L. Peck, of Berlin ; Sarah is Mrs. Frank L. Hamilton, of Meri- den; Clara, wife of Roger B. deBussy, resides in Winchester, Mass .; Ellie, Mrs. Frank MI. Chapin, is residing in New Hartford. One son, Henry Wash- ington, died in infancy. Mr. Lines is a member of the Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution, and has been several years a member of its board of managers, and is president of the local branch ( Capt. John Couch ) of the same organiza- tion. He is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is president of the Pacific Real Estate Co., which owns the Odd Fellows Temple in Meriden. He belongs to Pilgrim Harbor Council, of the Royal Arcanum, and Wilson Lodge, Knights of Honor. He is a thirty-third-degree Mason, and is a Past Master of Meridian Lodge, No. 77, A. F. & A. M., of Meriden ; Past Commander and present Treasurer of St. Elmo Commandery, No. 9, K. T .; Past Grand Commander of the Grand Command- ery of Connecticut ; and for the past sixteen years has been Treasurer of the Grand Encampment, Knights Templar, U. S. A. He is president of the board of visitors of the Masonic Charity Founda- tion of Connecticut, which maintains a Masonic Home at Wallingford, and enjoys the distinction of belonging to the Royal Order of Scotland in America, which is limited to three hundred and fifty members.
HON. HENRY CHARLES GRIGGS, who died at his home in Waterbury, April 17, 1886, after a period of more than a quarter of a century of an active and useful life, was born Dec. 18, 1834, in Tolland, Connecticut.
Charles Griggs, of Tolland and Windsor, Conn., father of our subject, was in the seventh generation from Thomas Griggs, who came to Boston in 1635, and whose great-grandson Ichabod Griggs, settled in 1744 in Tolland, where he was a man of prom- inence for many years, being chosen the moderator of the "first town meeting touching the difficulties between the colonies and England," held Sept. 5, 1774. Ichabod Griggs was a deacon in the Church, and was representative from the town to the Gen- eral Court, from 1773 to 1788. Two of his sons (one the ancestor of Charles Griggs) served in the army of the Revolution.
Frances Catherine ( Drake) Griggs, the mother of our subject, was a daughter of Francis and Lucy (Wolcott) Drake, he in the sixth generation from John Drake, his first American ancestor, who came to Boston in 1630, and finally to Windsor, Conn., in 1639. The line of Francis Drake's descent is through John Drake (2), Capt. Joseph Drake, Thomas Drake and Amasa Drake.
Lucy ( Wolcott ) Drake, the grandmother of our subject, was a daughter of Dr. Simon Wolcott, who was in the fifth generation from his first American ancestor, Henry Wolcott, who came to Boston from Tolland, Somersetshire, England, in 1630, and re- | moved to Windsor, Conn., in 1635. The line of Dr. Simon Wolcott's descent was through Simon Wol- cott. Gov. Roger Wolcott ( a major general at the capture of Louisburg in 1745, and the fifth colonial governor-from 1750 to 1754-of Connecticut) and Dr. Alexander Wolcott.
Henry Charles Griggs came to Waterbury with his parents in 1845, and for a time attended the pub- lic schools and academy. He then clerked in the store of Elisha Turner. At twenty years of age he held a responsible position in the Waterbury Hook & Eve Co., and for several years following 1861 he was connected with the Waterbury Button Co. In 1864 Mr. John E. Smith and Mr. Griggs, as partners, established the business which eventually became the Smith & Griggs Co. Some time after the foundation of the firm of Smith & Griggs ( in 1864) the firm of Holmes, Griggs & Smith, in New York City, bought out the Smith & Griggs business in Waterbury, and also a brass mill in New York. Their management also covered a mill operated at Hopeville, Conn. In 1860 the firm of Holmes, Griggs & Smith was dissolved, and from it two new companies were organized, one the Holmes & Griggs Manufacturing Co., of New York, and the other the Smith & Griggs Manufacturing Co., of Waterbury. Of the latter Mr. Griggs was chosen secretary and treasurer, a position he retained until 1873. Later on he also established a button factory in Water- bury. He becanie a large land owner, and in 1884
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built the business block on Bank street, which bears his name. Mr. Griggs held a number of offices of trust and responsibility, among them those of road commissioner, water commissioner. alderman, while at one time he was nominee of his party for mayor. He represented the town in the Legislature in 1882 and 1886. He was president of the Dime Savings Bank, a director in the Waterbury National Bank, an incorporator of the Waterbury Hospital, and a trustee in the Riverside Cemetery Association.
The writer of Mr. Griggs' obituary notice, which appeared in the Waterbury American, referred to his life as follows:
With the late John E. Smith he formed the Smith & Griggs Manufacturing Company, of Waterbury, and later engaged in business alone, which he conducted up to the time of his death, yet still retained his other interests, keep- up a close connection with their management. He had for many years been prominently identified with the manu- facturing interests of Waterbury, and his judgment in regard to the business of the concerns in which he was interested was held in high estimation. He was considerate, candid and liberal in his views, and wise in their application. His manner was such as to command universal respect, and it may be said that no one in his community better deserved the esteem in which he was held by all with whom he was associated. He had in charge several important trusts, and fully justified the confidence of those for whom he acted. His unquestionable integrity, coupled with his intelligence and good business methods, gave him an influence to be used with great discretion and always to good results to matters of both public and private concerns. No one was better fitted to conciliate opposing aims, to lead to the adoption of what could command general co-operation.
Mr. Griggs had been called to several positions in public life, in connection with local affairs in city and town, and had twice been the representative of the town in the Gen- eral Assembly, in which capacity he showed himself to be a most useful and prudent legislator. He was a director in the Waterbury Buckle Co., the Smith & Griggs Manu- facturing Company, the American Mills Company, was president of the Dime Savings Bank, a director in the Wat- erbury National Bank, an incorporator of the proposed hos- pital and a trustee of the Riverside Cemetery Association, and in them all his advice and character were held in much respect.
At the time of his death, the Waterbury Amer- ican said editorially :
The sudden death of Henry C. Griggs has cast a shadow over the whole community. Mr. Griggs was a man who commanded the universal respect of the people of the city. By his sterling qualities he had earned an enviable reputa- tion, and the vacancy occasioned by his death will not be easily filled. He had been largely identified for more than a quarter of a century with all' interests which have tended to promote the welfare and prosperity of Waterbury. He was an officer in many of the private and public institutions of a business, social and philanthropic nature, has twice represented the town in the legislature, besides holding many private trusts, and in all these varied positions has shown remarkably well-balanced mind and sound judgment. His quiet and unobtrusive manner had won for him a large circle of friends, who feel his taking away to be a personal loss.
On Oct. 9, 1862, Mr. Griges was married to Mary Bassett, daughter of Jared Frote, a linga! de- scendant of Nathaniel Foote, who came from Eng- land, and was one of the early settlers of Wethers- |
field, Conn. The following are the surviving chil- dren of Mr. Griggs: Charles J., Wilfred E., Rob- ert F. and David C.
JOSEPH TUTTLE BENHAM. In the death of Joseph Tuttle Benham, which occurred Sept. 6, 1899, at his home, No. 85 Bristol street, the city of New Haven lost one of its substantial citizens and business men, one who commanded the respect of his fellow citizens.
Born June 9, 1850, in the town of Hamden, New . Haven Co., Conn., son of Sackett G. and Mary Ann (Tuttle) Benham, Mr. Benham was descended from early and prominent New England ancestry. The forerunner and progenitor of many of the Connecti- cut Benhams was John Benham, who. Savage says, came probably in the ship "Mary and John," in 1630. For a time he stopped in Dorchester, Mass., and removed to New Haven in 1640. His name appears on a list of the planters of New Haven in 1643. From this emigrant ancestor the Benhams of Hamden descended.
On his mother's side our subject was in the sev- enth generation from William Tuttle, who, with his wife Elizabeth, and three children, John, Ann and Thomas, sailed from London, England, in the ship "Planter," to Boston, in 1635. Mr. Tuttle was listed as a husbandman, and became one of the Colony to settle Quinnipiac, or New Haven, in 1638. His name is of record in 1639. The death of Will- iam Tuttle occurred in 1673, and his wife Elizabeth passed away in 1684. From this William Tuttle our subject's line of descent is through Nathaniel, Ephraim, Caleb, Amasa and Mary A. ( Tuttle) Ben- ham.
Nathaniel Tuttle, son of William, born about 1652 in New Haven, married in 1682 Sarah Howe, and probably lived for some time in Wallingford, but later removed to Woodbury, where he united with the church in 1695.
Ephraim Tuttle, son of Nathaniel, born in 1684, married in 1707 Dinah, daughter of John Wheeler, of Stratford, one of the signers of the town of Woodbury. Mr. Tuttle probably resided in Wall- ingford prior to settling in Woodbury, and united with the church in Woodbury in 1718; his death oc- curred in 1753.
Caleb Tuttle, son of Ephraim, born in 1721, mar- ried Mary Terrill, who died in 1814. Mr. Tuttle died in 1790.
Amasa Tuttle, son of Caleb, born in 1765. mar- ried Sybil Wooster, and removed from Woodbury to Derby, thence to Hamden, where he died in 1841, his wife surviving two years.
Mary A. Tuttle, daughter of Amasa, born Oct. 8, 1806, married Sackett G. Benham, who was one of the leading members of the Methodist Church in Handen, and there held many local offices, al- ways winning the esteem of those with whom he came in contact.
Josephi Tuttle Benham, our subject proper, at-
ESeuham
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tended the public schools of Hamden, and also those of New Haven, the family having moved to that city in 1861. After his school days were over he was, for some years, engaged as clerk in various business houses in New Haven. When twenty-one years of age, in 1871, he began a business career on his own account, retailing, in a small way, hay, grain and feed, at No. 27 Broadway, and, by his energy, careful attention to business and good man- agement, he developed his trade to large proportions and prospered. At the time of his death his trade was almost entirely wholesale, although he also con- tinued a retail department.
As stated above, Mr. Benham's success was at- tained by careful business methods and industry, and to these qualities should be added that of strict integrity. A good financier, he invested his ac- cumulations judiciously. During his twenty-eight years of business life he held the full confidence of his fellow citizens. He was courteous, kind and generous, which traits of character made for him hosts of friends.
Mr. Benham's political affiliations were with the Republican party, the principles of which he firmly adhered to and strongly advocated. Through one term he served the city as alderman from the Ninth ward, but declined a re-nomination. Mr. Benham was a member of the Union League Club; Hiram Lodge, F. & A. M .; Phoenix Lodge, A. O. U. W .; the Red Men; and the Royal Arcanum. In November, 1888, he was elected a member of the Chamber of Commerce.
On April 7, 1874, Mr. Benham married Miss Lizzie Thompson, a daughter of Capt. W. B. and Louise B. (.Cobb) Thompson, of Nantucket, Mass., where she was born. One child of this marriage, Elliott T., died in infancy, and the relatives who still survive Mr. Benham are his widow and one .son, Ralph Thompson, born July 27, 1885; a brother, Gilbert S. Benham, postmaster of Hamden; and three sisters, Mrs. Antoinette B. Hubbell and Mrs. S. D. Miller, both of New Haven ; and Mrs. Charles H. Jorey, of Seymour, Conn. Another sister, Mrs. W. H. Cox, died several years ago.
CAPT. EDWIN CLINTON DOW, a dis- tinguished member of the legal profession, now as- sociate judge of the New Haven City Court, is a veteran of the Civil war, and comes of good old Revolutionary stock.
father's side Capt. Dow is descended from Jonathan Dow, an early settler of Exeter, New Hampshire.
Benajah Dow, the Captain's grandfather, was born July 25, 1770, in Exeter, where he married Joanna Mitchell, who was born April 5, 1777. They moved to Woodstock and there died, he in 1852, and she in 1859. Of their seven children Huse Dow was born in January, 1801. He married Zilpha Drake, who was born March 6, 1805, a daughter of Alpheus and Sybil ( Fairbanks) Drake, Oct. 9, 1824. Mr. Dow became an eloquent and successful minister in the Methodist Church, and died May 25. 1842, in Jay, Maine, his widow surviving until April 28, 1888, when she passed away at Gray, Maine. To this couple were born children as fol- lows: (1) Lorenzo, born in 1825, married for his first wife Elizabeth Penfield, of Middletown. Conn .. and for his second wife Sabrina, the daughter of Rev. James Smith, of Fayette, Maine. He went west and became the first mayor of Topeka, Kan- sas, playing a prominent part in the stormy politics of the days before the war in that State, and was chosen as one of the judges of the Supreme Court under the Leavenworth Constitution. Later he was a resident of the city of New York, where he died in 1900. (2) William MI., born in 1827 (died at Gray, Maine, Feb. 24, 1902), was married in 1854 to Me- hitable T. Libby, of Gray, Maine. (3) Simon, born in 1829, is a resident of Malta Bend, Mo. (4) Ed- win Clinton.
On his mother's side Capt. Dow is a descendant in the eighth generation from Thomas Drake, who was born in Colyton, Devonshire, England, about 1635, was a son of William, and a follower of his relative, John Drake, of Taunton, Mass., and Wind- sor, Conn., to New England about 1653. Settling in Weymouth, Mass., he took an active part in King Philip's war. His first wife, Jane, was a daughter of Thomas Holbrook, of Weymouth. Mr. Drake died in 1691.
From this emigrant ancestor, Thomas Drake, Capt. Dow's line of descent is as follows: John, Joseph, John (2). Ebenezer, Alpheus and Zilphia (Drake) Dow.
John Drake, the son of Thomas, born in 1659, married Sarah King, daughter of Samuel King, of Weymouth, in 1687. They settled in Easton, where he died in 1717. and she in 1727.
Joseph Drake, son of John, born in Easton, mar- ried Mercy, a daughter of Samuel Smith, of Taun- ton, and was a soldier in the French and Indian War, marching to the relief of Fort William Henry, in 1757, in a company under command of Capt. Ebenezer Dean. He died in 1780, and his wife in 1759.
Capt. Dow was born Aug. 22, 1835, in Paris, Maine, a son of the Rev. Huse Dow, a noted clergy- man of the Methodist Church, and his wife Zilpha (Drake), both representatives of old New England families. Paris is historic as the birthplace of Maine's greatest statesman, the Hon. Hannibal John Drake (2), son of Joseph Drake, was born in 1723, and was married in 1750 to Hannah, a daughter of William Hayward. Mr. Drake died in 1750. and she in 1756. Hamlin, the vice-president of the United States dur- ing the first administration of President Lincoln ; in Paris was also born William Deering, whose name is known far and wide as the head of the ! Ebenezer Drake, son of John (2), was born in Deering Harvester Company, of Chicago. On his | 1754, in Easton, and was married to his first wife, 82
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Susannah Leavitt, in 1772, and to his second wife, Martha Gurney, of Bridgewater, in 1782. Mr. Drake settled in the town of Hebron, Maine. and served throughout the Revolutionary war, and his service in a number of organizations is a matter of record. At different times he was in Capt. John Porter's Company; Capt. Josiah Hayden's Com- pany, of Col. John Thomas' regiment ; and Col. John Porter's Light Infantry, in which he enlisted in 1777 for three years. Mr. Drake was at Valley Forge, and at the famous crossing of the Delaware river, in which he crossed in the same boat with Gen. Washington. He died at Sumner, Maine, in 1829.
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