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 65
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fraternal organizations, and had high standing in many. He was a member of some twenty so- cieties in Bridgeport and Waterbury, among which may be mentioned the Waterbury Turnverein ; Steuben Lodge; the Order of Harugari; the Union City Maennerchor ; the Bavaria-Verein of Bridge- port ; Friendship Lodge, O. D. H. F .; Tunxis Tribe, I. O. R. M .; Court Fruitful Vine, A. O. F. of A .; Friedrich Wilhelm Lodge, K. of P .; the Concordia Singing Society ; and the Lyra Singing Society.
In 1867, at Bridgeport, Conn., Mr. Hellmann was married to Sibilla Merg, who is yet living. The following children survived the father: Will- iam, who died Feb. 13. 1898; Mrs. W. D. Richard- son; Mrs. Ferdinand Stener; Charles M .; and Otto L.
HENRY A. MATTHEWS. The life of Henry A. Matthews, of Southbury, Conn., illustrates a fact strikingly exhibited in this country, namely, that prominence and wealth and honor may come to the boy whose future seems narrowed to the most modest of spheres. The son of a machinist, and by circumstances fated to become an operator in a cotton mill at the early age of eight years, our subject has nevertheless won wide social and po- litical recognition, and has by his energy and abil- ity as a manufacturer occupied an honored place in the unexcelled industries of his native State.
Mr. Matthews was born in Goshen, Conn., Nov. 24, 1825. His father was a machinist, and the boy at eight years of age left leisure behind and began to work in a cotton mill. When thir- teen years old he removed with his parents to Waterbury, and there found employment in the Webb factory of Hotchkiss & Merriman, with whom he remained five years. Thereafter he en- gaged in the manufacture of saddlery hardware, stove trimmings, etc., until 1865, when, owing to ill health, he retired to the farm which he now occupies, and where, at the end of five years of agricultural life, he had regained health, strength and ambition. Accordingly he returned to Water- bury and became senior partner in the firm of Matthews, Stanley & Co., manufacturers of hard- ware, saddlery, etc., and after the death of Mr. Stanley five years later the firm of Matthews, Wil- lard & Co. succeeded, and conducted a large and prosperous business until 1891. That year Mr. Matthews organized at Seymour the well-known manufacturing business of H. A. Matthews & Co., and two and a half years later disposed of his manufacturing interests and retired to his pres- ent home on the farm near South Britain. This finely improved possession is known as the old Mitchell homestead, and there Mr. Matthews still manages the general and prosper us farming which his fertile and well-improved acres permit.
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On Jan. 15, 1849, Mr. Matthews married Sarah Peck, of Southbury, to whom has been born three
children : Charles H., a carriage manufacturer of Detroit, Mich .; Florence, wife of John F. Ireland, of Detroit; and William F., who died in 1880. Mr. Matthews, while a thorough and efficient busi- ness man, has been public-spirited as well and has frequently been summoned by his fellow citizens to positions of honor and responsibility. While a resident of Waterbury he served as a member of the State Legislature in 1863-64, and again in 1880-SI. In 1886-87 he was a member of the State Senate, and in 1884-85 he was elected mayor of Waterbury. For many years he served continu- ously as a member of the school board of Water- bury. In politics he is a Democrat. For fifty-one years he has been an active and prominent mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has been one of the largest and most success- ful manufacturers of Waterbury, and at one time employed about 800 men and conducted a business aggregating $1,000,000 a year. He is widely known and universally esteemed for his many sterling qualities.
GEORGE HODGSON TOWNSEND, M. D., a prominent physician of Stony Creek, this county, has brought zeal and enthusiasm to the practice of his profession, for which he has been thoroughly fitted by study and experience under especially fa- vorable conditions.
Of English and French extraction, Dr. Town- send was born in Hartsdale, Westchester Co., N. Y., June 4, 1867, and is a son of Samuel B. and Mary A. ( Brundage) Townsend. His father in early life was a Methodist minister, and in his later years was engaged in a mercantile business at Hartsdale. Dr. Townsend obtained his general and literary training in the high school at White Plains, N. Y., and in 1890 began the study of medicine at the Bellevue Hospital College, New York City, from which he was graduated in March, 1893. ' He im- mediately located at Danbury, Conn., and entered upon his professional career, continuing there until September of that year. In June of the following year he opened an office in Stony Creek, where he has since remained, and has met with gratifying success. He has won the patronage of many of the leading families of the community, and com- mands the respect and confidence of the public to a marked degree. Dr. Townsend is recognized as one of the rising young men of his profession in this locality. He belongs to the New Haven County Medical Society and to the State Medical Associ- ation ; and is a member of several fraternities, being enrolled with the Widows Sons Lodge, No. 66, F. & A. M .; Star of Hope Lodge, No. 1051, I. O. O F .: and the M. U. In politics he is a Re- publican.
In his earlier years Dr. Townsend was actively devoted to awhiletics, and from 1885 to 1888 was catcher for the Athletic Base Ball Team of Phila- delphia, and from 1888 to 1891 lie served in the
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same capacity for the Baltimore team of the Na- tional League. He was the founder of the Mt. Vernon Athletic Association, of Mt. Vernon, N. Y., and served as its first president. The Doctor still retains a lively interest in all manly and athletic recreations.
Dr. Townsend was married, March 26, 1897, to Maud Bryson, a daughter of Richard and Lottie (King) Bryson, of Mt. Vernon, N. Y. Mrs. Town- send is a woman of many charming characteristics, and has a large circle of friends.
FREDERICK A. JACKSON, a resident of West Haven, where he is held in the highest re- spect as one of the most useful, loyal citizens of the place, is a descendant of Henry Jackson, who came in 1635, at the age of twenty-nine, to this country from England in the ship "Elizabeth & Ann;" he located first in Watertown, Mass., and afterward removed to Wethersfield, still later, in 1642, to Fairfield, being one of the original settlers and proprietors of the last named place. His tract of land, among the "long lots" at Poquonnock, became at a later day the boundary line between Fairfield and Stratford. He followed farming, had a mill at "Jackson's Nook," and died in 1686. His will, dated Nov. 11, 1682, was proved in September, 1686. This document, still in a fine state of preservation, is in Fairfield. Henry Jackson's wife was Mary, daughter of George Abbott, of Norwalk.
Daniel Jackson, the great-grandfather of Fred- erick A., was a soldier of the Revolution. On Feb. 20, 1783, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Whitney, of Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Samuel Jackson, son of Daniel and Elizabeth, was born Aug. 6, 1786, and he died April 1, 1867. His education was acquired at Dwight's Academy, Greenfield Hill, Conn., with Calhoun and other prominent men. He married Betsey, daughter of William Welles, a descendant of Thomas Welles, a Colonial governor of Connecticut. Of this marriage were born six children, all now deceased. The mother died in 1869, at the age of seventy-six.
George Frederick Jackson, father of Frederick A., was born July 15, 1820, in Stratford, Conn., and died Oct. 18, 1866, at the age of forty-six years. He engaged in manufacturing in the South until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he returned to Stratford. He married Frances Augusta O'Neill, of Bridgeport, a daughter of Charles O'Neill ( son of John O'Neill, who married Sarah, daughter of Ebenezer Sherman, of Stratford, a soldier of the Revolution ), of Bridgeport, and his wife, Meranie Sage (a daughter of John Clark and Lois ( Rich- ards) Sage of West Haven, the former of whom was a descendant of Henry, of Dragon Woods, one of the early settlers ( 1664) of East Haven). [Dodd's "East Haven Register."] To George F. Jackson and wife was born one child that grew to maturity, Frederick A. The mother is yet living, now aged seventy-four years.
Frederick A. Jackson received his education in Philadelphia at Dr. Mitchel's school, and then went to New York to take a position on the Scien- tific American, where he remained for a number of years. In 1864 he returned to Connecticut, and in 1869 entered the employ of Sargent & Co., of New Haven, and is now, in point of service, one of the oldest in the employ of the firm. During the years he has been with it he has seen the business double itself in size and reach its present mammoth pro- portions. Notwithstanding the arduous duties of the position he holds, he yet finds time to be cour- teous and polite to all, employer or employe alike, and by one and all of the 2,500 hands engaged in the business he is held in the utmost respect. In the community at large of West Haven, whither he removed from New Haven in 1892, he is regarded as one of the best citizens. His house abounds with good cheer, and his frank and genial manner has won for him hosts of friends.
Mr. Jackson is a man of scholarly attainments, a close student of men and affairs, and a great reader, not only well posted on the current events of the day, but thoroughly conversant with the history of New Haven and Fairfield counties, in the affairs of both of which he has taken an active interest, and has in his possession every volume that has been published pertaining to them. In his library are to be found the choicest works, including those of the most eminent authors-historians, poets, etc .- of this continent. As a genealogist Mr. Jackson is an authority, owning not only the Whitney and Wells "Genealogies," in both of which his family are fully represented, but also many other genealogical works. He is also greatly interested in science and art. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, in which society he takes a great in- terest.
On Feb. 12, 1872, Mr. Jackson married Violet El Dora Loomis, daughter of Francis Dwight Loomis, of Westfield, Mass., and two children were born to them in New Haven, viz .: Dorothy B. L., Oct. 3, 1874; and Frederick F. Whitney, Sept. 15, 1879, at present a member of the class of 1902 at Yale. The Jackson family have always been ad- herents of the Episcopal Church.
Mrs. Jackson is a descendant of Joseph Loomis, - who came from Braintree, County of Essex, Eng- land, and settled at Windsor, Conn. Through in- termarriage slie is also descended from John Alden, "the man who first set foot on Plymouth Rock," and Capt. Miles Standish.
JACOB DIETRICH GODE, a well-known dairyman and farmer of Cheshire, New Haven county, was born in Hagen, Hanover, Germany, July 5, 1853. a son of John and Dora ( Myers) Gode. also natives of that country, where they are still living. The mother was born in Hagen and the father near by. For several years the father was engaged in the manufacture of sugar in Eng-
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land, but since his marriage has followed farming i and was a pioneer in the settlement of the Gn his native land. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Lutheran Church. Our subject is the eldest of their children, the others being Annie, at home with her parents; John, a resident of Brooklyn, N. Y .; Dora, wife of Herman Delles, of Brooklyn; Gesine, widow of George Briggs, and a resident of Germany ; and William, of Brook- lyn, N. Y. John Gode, grandfather of Jacob, owned a vessel which he commanded, and followed the sea for a livelihood. Mrs. Dora ( Myers) Gode is a daughter of Jacob Myers, a civil engineer, who was born in Hagen and lived there all his life.
Jacob D. Gode acquired a good practical edu- cation in the schools of his native land. Wishing to see something of the New World, he left home in 1870, at the age of seventeen years, and at Bre- men took passage on the steamer "America," of the North German Line. He landed in New York, and soon found employment as clerk in a grocery store of that city, receiving $5 per month, which was the first money he had ever made. During the eight months he spent in that employ he man- aged to save $8. He next worked for a milk dealer, and later was clerk in a liquor store. From New York he came to Meriden, Conn., where he worked in the shops nine years, and managed to save enough money to embark in business for himself. Returning to New York, he opened a grocery store, which he successfully conducted ten years, but in 1893 he sold out his business there and came to Cheshire, where he purchased what was known as the McCabe farm, then owned by his uncle, Louis Gode. It consists of fifty acres, which our subject has placed under a high state of cultivation, and upon which he is now successfully engaged in gen- eral farming and market gardening.
In New York City Mr. Gode was married, in 1889, to Miss Margarette Larberg, a native of Achmer, Hanover, Germany, and a daughter of Herman Larberg. She came to America when a young woman. Four children have been born of this union, John, Oscar, Randolph and Mildred.
Mr. Gode is progressive, energetic and indus- trious, and is straightforward and honorable in all his business dealings. He is a supporter of the Re- publican party, but aside from voting takes no act- ive part in political affairs, and is liberal in his re- ligious views, though a member of the Lutheran Church while in New York. He is well liked by the people of Cheshire, and has made many friends during his residence here.
CHARLES T. McFEETERS, a prominent and successful contractor and builder of New Ha- ven, whose office is at No. 370 Orchard street, was born in Sheldon, Vt., Dec. 13. 1849, son of William McFeeters, and grandson of James McFeeters, who came from Scotland and farmed in Ver- mont until his death, at the age of eighty- nine years. William McFeeters was also a farmer,
vicinity of Sheldon, Franklin county, where he cleared a farm on which he reared his family, and where he died at the age of seventy-nine. In his active years he held several town offices, and was a prominent member of the Methodist Church, in which he was Sunday-school superintendent for many years. His wife, formerly Ann Todd, was born in Vermont, and became the mother of twelve children, of whom nine are named: James, who is a farmer in Vermont; William, a Vermont farmer ; Samuel, who died in the army; Charles T .; Eliza, Mrs. Dunton; Joseph, who is superintendent of building for a large firm in Minneapolis; Susan ; Anna ; and Ella. Mrs. McFeeters was a member of the Methodist Church; she died at the age of sev- enty years.
Charles T. McFeeters spent his early life in Vermont, and was quite a young man before he left his parents' home to engage in building in the far West. In 1869 he came east to New Ha- ven, and followed the trade as a journeyman builder in 1871. Then commencing contracting, his first enterprise in that line proved so suc- cessful that he has since been similarly employed. To-day he is the second oldest contracting builder in New Haven, and keeps about twenty-five men constantly employed on the most important and desirable work in the city. The Menalle & Weed- man building was built by him, as was the Schonen- hezer building, on Meadow street, besides several churches in New Haven.
In 1872 Mr. McFeeters married Catherine Ad- dison, a native of Boston, and to this union there has come one charming little girl, Ella.
Mr. McFeeters is a Democrat, and upon the occasion of his nomination for alderman in his ward he ran ahead of his ticket, though the ward is strongly Republican. He is connected with Olive Branch Lodge, No. 84, A. F. & A. M ; Frank- lin Chapter, R. A. M .; Harmony Council ; the I. O. O. F .; the Red Men, and the N. E. O. P. He attends the Dwight Presbyterian Church. Mr.Mc- Feeters is a man of more than the ordinary intelli- gence, thoroughly understands his trade, and has served as an expert in a number of complicated and important building cases.
EDWIN S. THOMAS, attorney and counselor at law, is in practice at New Haven, with an office at Room 213 Church street, but resides in West Haven, his home being at the corner of Savin avenue and Church street.
A native of Woodstock, Ill., Edwin S. Thomas was born Nov. II, 1872, the son of George W. and grandson of Edwin E. Thomas. His grandfather was a native of New York State, but went to Wood- stock at an early period in the development of that section, and engaged in the real-estate busi- ness, in which he was very successful. His influence was strongly felt in business circles, and he was
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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a director in several banking and other corpora- tions. He became one of the leaders in local af- fairs. Originally a Whig, he became a prominent worker in the Republican party, and held all the im- portant offices in the town and county. For many years he was an active member of the Masonic fra- ternity and held all the offices of the lodge, chapter and commandery, including that of past eminent commander. In religious faith he was a Congrega- tionalist, and he did much to assist in building up the church in Woodstock, where he died at the age of seventy-two. His wife, Naomi R. Patterson, who was born in Vermont, is still living in Wood- stock, and is much esteemed for her fine qualities of mind and heart. Of their four children, Charles G. is with Patterson Bros., Union Stock Yards, Chi- cago; Earle D., a major in the 5th Cav., U. S. A., is now serving as judge advocate in the provincial court at Porto Rico; George W., father of Edwin S., was the next in order of birth; Cora married Charles F. Dickinson, secretary of the Manhattan Soap Company.
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George W. Thomas was born and reared in Woodstock, and practiced law there and in Chi- cago, but his death at the age of twenty-eight inter- fered with what was considered brilliant promise. He married Mary Stark, who was born in Vermont, daughter of Benjamin Stark, and a descendant of Molly Stark, of Revolutionary fame. She survived him, and married for her second husband Charles D. Hine, by which union there were two children : Daniel, now a student at the Boston ( Mass. ) School of Technology, and Charles (deceased). Two chil- dren by the first marriage are still living, Edwin S. and Alfred W., the latter a practicing physician at Clifton, Staten Island, New York.
Edwin S. Thomas was three years old when his father died, and he spent the next five years in Omaha, Neb., with a summer in camp at Pike's Peak, At the age of eight he came to Newington, Conn., where he remained until he was fourteen. His elementary education was secured in the gram- mar and high schools of Hartford, and the high schools of New Britain and New Haven, and when eighteen he engaged in educational work, as prin- cipal of a graded school in Voluntown, Conn. In 1891 he entered the Academic Department of Yale College, but at the end of the Freshman year went to New York and became assistant manager of the Hotel "Bartholdi," in partnership with a cousin. In 1893 he went to West Haven, and in the fall of that year entered the Law Department of Yale College, graduating in 1895. Since that time he has been actively engaged in general practice in New Haven.
. having died in infancy. Her grandfather, William A. Peck, was one of the pioneers of West Haven, where he owned about five hundred acres of land, and was a leader in all that pertained to the best interests of the community. Her mother, whose maiden name was Henrietta M. Thompson, was a native of the town, and a daughter of John Thomp- son, a well-known citizen.
Politically Mr. Thomas is prominent as a work- er in the Democratic party, and he has held a num- ber of offices, including those of clerk of the com- mittee on public health, chairman of the commit- tee on the State Library, and auditor of New Haven county. At present he is one of a com- mittee of eight appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to examine different voting machines and report to the next General Assembly. In November, 1898, he was elected rep- resentative, by a majority of eighty-four, although the general Republican ticket won by a majority of one hundred and fifty. His popularity in his own party is shown by the fact that he ran 234 votes ahead of his associates on the ticket. He is a 32d degree Mason, and belongs to Annawon Lodge, No. 115, F. & A. M., at West Haven ; Joseph Andrews Chapter, No. 46; Crawford Council, No. 19, New Haven ; New Haven Commandery, No. 2; and .La- fayette Consistory, Bridgeport. He has held all but the three highest offices in the local lodge, and all the offices in the chapter, in which he is now high priest. He and his wife are leading members of the Episcopal Church at West Haven.
EDWARD HAMILTON HIGGINSON, an enterprising farmer and proprietor of the Meriden Disinfectant Co., was born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland, July 4, 1855, son of William Hig- ginson. The father was also born in County Ty- rone, where he spent his life as a tenant farmer, and where he died in 1870. Mr. Higginson was a member of the Church of England, and belonged to the I. O. O. F. His wife, formerly Mary Jane Hamilton, was a descendant of one of the old fam- ilies of County Tyrone. After the death of hier husband she came to the United States, and died in Meriden, at the home of her son Edward H., in 1872. Mrs. Higginson was buried in Walnut Grove cemetery ; she is remembered as a woman of fine character, an earnest worker in the Episcopal Church, and a devoted mother. To MIr. and Mrs. Higginson were born the following children: Sa- rah, who married John Kenyon, of Belfast; Will- iam, who lived in Meriden : Hugh, a molder in Mer- iden ; Eliza, who married John Dunlap, of Meriden ; Edward H .; and Sophia, who married George H. Reeves, of Meriden.
On Sept. 7, 1894, Mr. Thomas was united in marriage with Louise L. Peck, of West Haven, and Edward H. Higginson had but a limited edu- I cation in his native land. When seventeen years old he sailed from Liverpool for New York, May they have one daughter, Louise. Mrs. Thomas is the only living child of Warden James H. Peck, a prominent citizen of West Haven, another child , 10, 1873. On reach'ng American shores he came
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at once to the home of his brothers, William and Hugh, in Meriden, and found employment for four years with Bradley & Hubbard, as a joiner. Afterward he was with Will Loverett for some time, and at the expiration of his service was re- ceiving two dollars a day. As foreman at the Meri- den Bronze Co.'s plant he was employed two years, and for six monthis he was with the Iron Foundry, after that attaching himself to the American Silver Plate Co., receiving a dollar a day the first year, two dollars a day the second year, and three dollars a day the third year. With Manning, Bowman & Co. he put in eight years at piece work, and there- after was employed by the Malleable Iron Co., re- maining twelve years in their service. In the mean- tinie lie had built a house, and in May, 1883, he bought the farm where he now resides, on the North Colony Road. This property is under a high state of cultivation, and in 1893 a fine new barn was built, after the destruction of the old one by fire. The residence, erected in 1895, is pronounced the finest on the road. Extensive improvements have been made from time to time, and the well-tilled acres yield abundantly with the coming of every season.
In 1888 Mr. Higginson obtained the contract to collect the city garbage for $875, and so satis- factorily was the task performed that he secured the contract in 1895, 1896 and 1897, for the sum of $2,400 a year. This contract was again given him .in 1899, 1900 and 1901, at $2,550 a year. Nine teams are required for this work, and the busi- ness has been profitable from the start. Mr. Hig- ginson is also president of the Meriden Disinfectant Co., which has proved an exceedingly profitable en- terprise.
On Jan. 6, 1879, Mr. Higginson married, in Meriden, Lizzie A. Sully, who was born in South- ington, daughter of James and Anna Sully, the former of whom died in Burlington, Conn., where he was engaged in farming. To this union came: Grace May, born Oct. 18, 1880; Edward Garfield, born June 9, 1882, who is at home, and engaged in the dairy business; Maud A., born Aug. 29, 1884; Isabelle S., born May 8, 1886, who died the same year ; Lillian, born May 12, 1887; Lyman Mather, born July 20, 1889; Thomas A., born Oct. 11, 1890; Clara Elizabeth, born Aug. 19, 1892; Burton; See- vy; and Etta. Mr. Higginson is a Republican, but has never sought official recognition. He belongs to the I. O. O. F. and ilie A. O. U. W., and attends the Episcopal Church.
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