USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 1 > Part 21
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Gideon Welles was prepared for col- lege at the Episcopal Academy of Connec- ticut, at Cheshire, and entered the Nor- wich (Vermont) Academy (now univer- sity) in 1823, and was graduated in 1826, and receiving the Master of Arts degree from the same institution in 1836. In 1826, the year in which he graduated, he became part owner and editor of the "Hartford (Connecticut) Times," and re- mained in connection with that journal until 1854, although he vacated the edi- torial chair in 1836. The paper was for many years the chief Democratic organ in the State ; it stoutly supported Andrew Jackson in his presidential candidacy, and sustained his administration. Mr. Welles was a member of the State Legislature from 1827 to 1835, and in that body and also in his editorial columns severely at- tacked a legislative measure intended to exclude from the courts witnesses whe did not believe in a future state of re- wards and punishments. He also labored for years for the repeal of laws providing for the imprisonment of debtors, oppose special and private legislation, and began an agitation for a low postage law before the subject had attracted much public at- tention. He also secured the passage of a law for the efficient organization of financial corporations. He was elected
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State Comptroller in 1835 by the Legis- lature, and in 1842 and 1843 by vote of the people, during the intervening years serving as postmaster of Hartford. From 1846 to 1849 he was chief of the bureau of provisions and clothing in the Navy Department.
Mr. Welles had always been an earnest opponent of slavery, and was particularly opposed to its extension into free terri- tory. In 1856 he was one of the organiz- ing members of the Republican party, and was its unsuccessful candidate for Gov- ernor. In the Republican National Con- vention of 1860, which nominated Abra- ham Lincoln for the presidency. Mr. Welles was chairman of the Connecticut delegation. Immediately after his in- auguration, President Lincoln called Mr. Welles to his cabinet as Secretary of the Navy, and he remained in that post until the close of President Johnson's adminis- tration, March 3, 1869. Mr. Welles's ad- ministration of his department was en- tirely acceptable to the navy, and to the country at large. In his first report, of July 4, 1861, he announced an increase of naval vessels from forty to eighty-two; this and the subsequent increase from time to time during the Civil War period to a total of more than five hundred was mainly due to his energy and persistency. He also introduced the iron-clad type of war ship, and which rendered all others obsolete throughout the world. In cabi- net councils he always opposed arbi- trary measures, and objected to the block- ade of southern ports, holding that such a declaration was equivalent to an acknowledgment of belligerent rights, and that the preferable course would be to close American ports to foreign com- merce. He presented these views in writ- ing, at the request of President Lincoln, but the cabinet held to the views of Sec- retary of State Seward, who sustained the
blockade. In the first year of the war, Secretary Welles ordered that negro refu- gees should be enlisted in the navy.
In 1872 Mr. Welles allied himself with the Liberal Republicans. In 1876 he sup- ported Mr. Tilden for the presidency, and he afterward took strong ground against the findings of the Electoral Commission in the seating of Mr. Hayes. In 1872 he published a paper claiming that the cap- ture of New Orleans was entirely due to naval operations; and in 1873 was pub- lished his volume, "Lincoln and Seward." He made many contributions on Civil War events to the principal magazines ; and his "Diary," which first appeared in the "Atlantic Monthly," and later was put into book form, was a most valuable contribution to the political and Civil War history of the country. Mr. Welles was a man of commanding figure, and of a strong personality. He married Mary Jane Hale, of Lewistown, Pennsylvania.
BUCKINGHAM, William A.,
Civil War Governor of Connecticut.
William Alfred Buckingham was born at Lebanon, New London county, Connec- ticut, May 28, 1804, eldest son of Samuel Buckingham and Joanna Matson, of Lyme, Connecticut. His father was a prosperous farmer in Lebanon, and owned a shad fishery at the mouth of the Connecticut river. The town of Saybrook had been the residence of his family since the im- migration of their ancestor, Thomas Buckingham, who left England in 1637. His youngest son, Thomas, direct an- cestor of Governor Buckingham, was born in Milford, Connecticut, in 1646, and became pastor of the church in Saybrook. He was one of the ten ministers who founded Yale College, which for fourteen years was located in Saybrook; and was also moderator of the synod which
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founded the system of doctrine and gov- ernment under which the churches of Con- necticut were organized, historically known as the "Saybrook Platform." Governor Buckingham was sixth in de- scent from this ancestor, whose inter- mediate descendants resided in Saybrook until 1803, when his father removed to Lebanon.
Young Buckingham attended the local schools and Bacon Academy, Colchester, Connecticut. He taught in a district school for one winter, and worked on his father's farm three years, and at the age of eighteen took a clerkship in a store in Norwich, followed by a short service as clerk in New York, then returning and engaging in the drygoods business on his own account. In 1830 he added the manu- facture of ingrain carpets, and carried his business successfully through the great crisis of 1837. In 1848 with two or three associates he began the manufacture of rubber shoes and was connected with that industry the remainder of his life.
His public career began in 1849 when he was elected mayor of Norwich, to which office he was reelected in 1850, 1856 and 1857. He was a Republican presidential elector in 1856. In 1858 he was elected Governor, to which office he was chosen for eight consecutive terms, receiving in the last a majority unpre- cedented in the history of the State, and no one in Connecticut since Oliver Wol- cott (1818-27) having held the office so long.
At the outset of the Civil War, his lofty character and large credit was a potent aid toward the promptness of Connecti- cut in forwarding the first completely equipped regiment furnished by any State. The legislature not being in ses- sion at the opening of the war, he pledged his private means at the banks to provide funds for the equipment of his troops, and the banks showed their patriotism
and confidence in him by prompt and full response. The successive quotas of Con- necticut, under calls of the President for volunteers, were always more than filled, and her troops equipped with wonderful promptness. Directed by the "War Gov- ernor," as he was and is still called, fifty- three thousand sons of Connecticut went to the field-almost one-half of her able- bodied men fit to bear arms-and in a state of such complete preparedness as to elicit the repeated commendation of the national authorities. President Lincoln said of him : "We always like to see Gov- ernor Buckingham in Washington. He takes up no superfluous time. He knows exactly what he needs, and makes no un- reasonable demands." Such remarks were frequently emphasized by Secretary Stanton, of the War Department. The correspondence of Governor Buckingham with the President and Secretary further demonstrates the source of his influence through the affectionate respect in which they held him. In response to a letter sent him during one of the darkest periods of the war Secretary Stanton wrote: "In the midst of toil and care that wearies my spirit and exhausts my strength, such words of comfort revive and strengthen me greatly." During those fateful four years Governor Buck- ingham never for a moment wavered in his belief that the government must and would succeed. His personal relations with the officers and men who entered the service from Connecticut were most cordial. When the regiments left the State he was, if possible, always present with an encouraging farewell. When they returned, he received from their hands, with words of fervent emotion, those tattered flags, which to-day, in the "battle flag vestibule" of the State capi- tol, fittingly surround his statue.
The war ended and the affairs of Con- necticut with the general government
CONN-Vol I-10
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well adjusted, Governor Buckingham de- clined further reelection. In 1868 he was elected to the United States Senate, and although never before in Congress, his record as "War Governor" insured at once a flattering recognition by his colleagues, and a wide influence. He was made chairman of the committee on Indian affairs during a period when public atten- tion was earnestly fixed upon the respon- sibilities of our government toward its wards, and threw himself with great in- tensity into the work. Those who would make the necessities of the Indian their own greedy opportunity found in him no friend. As a member of the committee on commerce his extensive and practical experience gave weight and authority to his opinions. He was not an orator; but his speeches were marked by clearness, force and great earnestness.
He was a corporate member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions ; president of the Amer- ican Missionary Association, the Western College and Education Society, and mod- erator of the first national council of Con- gregational churches, at Boston, in 1865. He was a prominent member of the Sec- ond Congregational Church, and one of the founders of the Broadway Church of Norwich, in which he was an officer until his death. He was one of the founders of the Norwich Free Academy and presi- dent of its board of trustees. He gave generously to Yale College, and a chair was named in his honor in the Divinity School of that institution. The secret of Governor Buckingham's influence lay in the wonderful balance of his powers, physical, intellectual and moral. He was everywhere and always the impersona- tion of courtesy. His power of reaching the core of a difficult question was almost intuitive; and his tact in dealing with men under trying circumstances was ex- traordinary. His love for children was
very strong; he would sometimes leave the writing of an important state paper to frolic in his library with an interrupt- ing grandchild. The gentleness of his manner would have led a superficial ob- server to underrate his strength of char- acter. It was in the fervid expresssion of his intensest convictions or in an occa- sional burst of his righteous indignation that the full man was revealed.
Governor Buckingham was married, at Norwich, September 27, 1830, to Eliza, daughter of Dr. Dwight and Eliza (Coit) Ripley, by whom he had two children : William, born October, 1836, died De- cember, 1838; Eliza Coit, born December 8, 1838. She married General William A. Aiken, one of Governor Buckingham's staff during the Civil War, and who was the first to reach the seat of government with dispatches from the North, when Washington was beset with enemies, and the approaches to the capital were ob- structed. He delivered these dispatches in person to President Lincoln. Mrs. Buckingham died April 19, 1868. The family life of Governor Buckingham was most attractive, the spirit of the house- hold being one of cheerfulness, kindness and boundless hospitality. He died at his home in Norwich, Connecticut, February 5. 1875, a short time before his senatorial term was completed. The day of his funeral was observed throughout the State, and was one of general mourning in the city of his residence. His hospit- able home, with had included among its guests Lincoln, Grant, Garfield, and many other notable men, was thronged for hours by a ceaseless procession of the high and the lowly, to take a last look at the face they had loved and reverenced. Upon his monument in Yantic Cemetery in Norwich is this inscription: "William Alfred Buckingham, Governor of Connec- ticut (1858-1866), United States Senator (1869-1875). His courage was dauntless.
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His will inflexible. His devotion to duty supreme. His faith in God absolute." In 1898, the home of the "War Governor" was bought by Sedgwick Post, No. I, Grand Army of the Republic, to be known as the "Buckingham Memorial." Previously the Connecticut branch, Sons of the American Revolution, had bought, as a memorial of the "War Governor of the Revolution," Trumbull's "war office" at Lebanon.
BUNCE, James Marvin, Honored Citizen of Hartford.
Thomas Bunce, immigrant ancestor, was born in 1612 in England and was of English or Scotch ancestry. He died be- fore August, 1682. In 1639 he was a pro- prietor of the town of Hartford, Connec- ticut, "by courtesie of the town." His house lot was near the site of the State capitol. He served in the Pequot war and was granted sixty acres of land for his serv- ices by the general court in 1671 and fifty acres more in 1672. He and his wife were members of the South Church in 1670. His son, John Bunce, was born about 1650, died about 1734. He inherited the house and barn and the homestead bounded by land of Thomas Gridley and others in Hartford. He was admitted to the South Church in 1686 with his wife, Mary (Bar- nard) Bunce. His son, John (2) Bunce, was born about 1690, in Hartford, died in 1743. He married Abigail Sanford. His son, John (3) Bunce, was born 1718. He married Ann, daughter of Joseph Bunce, of Hartford, who died in 1750, as he and his wife are mentioned among the heirs of Joseph Bunce. Among his chil- dren was John Bunce, born 1750. He married Susannah, daughter of Captain Nathaniel and Abigail (Jones) Kilbourne. Children : Russell, mentioned below ; Na- thaniel. Russell Bunce was born in Hart- ford, October 10, 1776. He became a
leading merchant and substantial citizen of Hartford, and for many years was dea- con of the First (Centre) Congregational Church. He married Lucinda Marvin, of Lyme, Connecticut, a descendant of Thomas Lee, of Saybrook (1641). His son,
James Marvin Bunce, was born Oc- tober 13, 1806, in Hartford, died there July 25, 1859. He was educated in the public schools, and in 1825 began his career as clerk in the Phoenix Bank and later was teller. He went into business on his own account as member of the firm of T. K. Brace & Company, Febru- ary 1, 1830. The firm carried on an ex- tensive commission business. At that time Hartford was an important center of this line of business. After a time the name of the firm was changed to Brace & Bunce and when the senior partner re- tired, V. A. Bailey entered the firm, the name becoming J. M. Bunce & Company. Mr. Bailey died suddenly and was suc- ceeded by Drayton Hillyer. Mr. Bunce continued at the head of the business until his death. For some time the firm dealt chiefly in wool and cotton. Mr. Bunce was also a member of the firm of Hillyer, Munyan & Company, dealers in groceries, and located in the same build- ing with J. M. Bunce & Company. He had large interests outside his firm. He was one of the active agents of Hartford in opposing the construction of the Air Line railroad bridge over the Connecti- cut river at Middletown. The contro- versy over this bridge lasted from 1847 to 1849 and during its progress Mr. Bunce became well-known throughout the State for a sturdy and able fighter. He was chosen president of the Hartford Provi- dence & Fishkill Railroad Company and devoted all his energies to the construc- tion and development of this road. He was a prime mover in the effort to have an adequate and fitting high school build-
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ing in Hartford and forwarded the agita- tion by circulating documents, publishing newspaper articles, and, as a member of the building committee afterward, he contributed liberally toward the comple- tion of the edifice in accordance with the ambitious ideas he himself held. Need- less to say, Hartford has been grateful to him for the foresight and persistence he showed. He was originally a Whig in politics. He was in sympathy with the anti-slavery movement, but continued with the Whig party to the end, assisting to organize the new Republican party. He was a delegate to the first Republi- can National Convention at Pittsburg His pledge that Connecticut would give a plurality for the Republican candidate was received with incredulity. "We doubt if any man in the State gave more generously to the cause (of the new party) here or in Kansas, or rejoiced more heartily over the splendid vote of Connecticut in 1856." His temper was naturally most ardent and impetuous, im- patient of obstacles, leading him straight towards his object. But he was exceed- ingly generous and his warm affections were easily touched by distress or the de- mands of any good cause. He left a goodly estate, but he gave away more than he left, for his benefactions began early, increased as his means allowed and continued to the time of his death.
Many years he was a member of the Centre Church, but he joined the colony from that church to establish the now flourishing Pearl Street Church. He was an active and earnest Christian, taking every opportunity to do good to others and to lead them to the faith in which he believed. His death was caused by a run- away accident, while he was yet active in business and social life. His great force of character, his zeal for the public wel- fare and determination to do all in his power to promote the public good, his in-
flexible integrity, strong will and high purposes, placed him among the foremost and most useful and honored citizens of Hartford and made his death lamented as that of few men have ever been in that city.
He married (first) March 15, 1830, Frances A. Brace, born April 8, 1808, died September 9, 1838. He married (second) October 9, 1839, Elizabeth H. Chester, born October 31, 1807, died March 6, 1861.
FOOTE, Andrew H., Brilliant Naval Commander.
Admiral Andrew Hull Foote was born in New Haven, Connecticut, September 12, 1806, second son of Samuel Augustus and Eudora (Hull) Foote. His father was Governor of Connecticut, and his mother a daughter of General Andrew Hull.
Andrew Hull Foote was a cadet in the United States Military Academy which he left in 1822, a youth of sixteen, to enter the navy as a midshipman; as- signed to the United States schooner "Grampus," of the West Indian squad- ron, engaged against piratical craft an- noying American commerce. In Decem- ber, 1823, he was transferred to the "Pea- cock," and sailed to the Pacific, and soon being transferred to the frigate "United States." In 1827 he was again in the West Indies on the "Natchez," from which he was soon transferred to the "Hornet." He was married in June, 1828, to Caroline Flagg, of Cheshire, Connecti- cut, and in February of the next year was on the "St. Louis," in the Pacific squadron. He was promoted to lieuten- ant December 9, 1831, and was ordered to the "Delaware" July 30, 1833, sailing her to the Mediterranean. He was with the East Indian squadron, 1837-41, and while absent circumnavigated the globe.
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He was on duty as instructor of midship- men at the Marine Hospital, Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, 1841-43; and was again with the Mediterranean squadron, 1843-47, on board the flagship "Cumber- land." He was then ordered to the Bos- ton Navy Yard, and in 1849-50 com- manded the brig "Perry" engaged in slave trade suppression on the African coast. He was made commander in 1856, and with the sloop-of-war "Plymouth" sailed up the Canton river. Being fired upon by the Chinese forts, he obtained permis- sion from Captain Armstrong to obtain an apology or silence the forts, and carried the forts by storm after breaching the largest of the works, losing forty men in the engagement, while the Chinese lost four hundred. His action com- manded respect for the American flag, and paved the way for friendly treaties.
He was in command of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 1858-61, and at the outbreak of the Civil War was sent to the Mississippi river, where he took a prominent part in building and equipping light draft gun- boats. Part of his flotilla under Com- mander Walke assisted General Grant in landing his troops at Belmont, Missouri, November 7, 1861, and protected the Fed- eral troops in their retreat when Con- federate reinforcements arrived. At Fort Henry, Tennessee, February 6, 1862, he led the gunboat attack, and captured the works. On February 14, he took part in the reduction of Fort Donelson. The "Carondelet," Captain Walke, made demonstrations on the river front Febru- ary 12, and on the 13th shelled the fort at close range while General Grant landed his troops and gained the rear. On the 14th, Flag-Officer Foote arrived with six other gunboats, but was so effectively answered that he was obliged to retire to long range. Meanwhile Grant sur- rounded the fort, cut off retreat, and re- ceived the capitulation of the fort, on the
evening of February 15, 1862. Flag- Officer Foote was wounded on the 14th, and returned to Cairo on the morning of the 15th, where he received the news of the surrender of Fort Donelson, and at once issued congratulatory orders to the officers and crews of the gunboats. After repairing damages to the flotilla he de- scended the river on March 4 to Hick- man, Kentucky, to cooperate with Gen- eral Pope in the capture of Island No. 10. Flag-Officer Foote opened a bombard- ment of the river batteries and forts en route, and this continued from March 17 to 25th. On April 4, he ordered the "Carondelet," Commander Walke, to undertake the passage of the batteries, and this was accomplished on the nights of the 4th and 5th during a thunder storm, with material damage to the "Ca- rondelet," which, however, silenced the Confederate batteries below Island No. IO and enabled Pope's army to get into position to continue the bombardment at the island. On the morning of the 8th the remainder of the fleet arrived, and found the batteries deserted, the guns spiked, and the Confederate army wait- ing to surrender.
Flag-Officer Foote, suffering from his wound and exposure, was now relieved from active duty and was made chief of equipments and recruiting July 22, 1862, and on the 30th of the same month was raised to the rank of rear-admiral. He received the thanks of Congress and of State Legislatures, and was presented with a sword by the citizens of Brooklyn. New York. On June 4, 1863, he was as- signed to the command of the South At- lantic blockading squadron to succeed Rear-Admiral Dupont, but died while en route to his post. He was a devout Chris- tian, and among his good works was the establishment of a regular system of re- ligious instruction among the workmen in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, extending
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the mission to the inhabitants of the out- lying city district. He instituted nightly prayer meetings on the receiving ship "North Carolina;" lectured on temper- ance and kindred subjects ; and conducted religious services at Cairo, Illinois, in 1861-62. He published "Africa and the American Flag" (1854). See his biog- raphy by Professor J. M. Hoppin (1874). He died at the Astor House, New York City, June 26, 1863.
SEYMOUR, Major Thomas Henry, Soldier, Governor, Diplomatist.
Major Thomas Henry Seymour was born at Hartford, Connecticut, Septem- ber 29, 1807, second child of Major Henry Seymour and Jane Ellery, daughter of Captain William and Susan (Keith) El- lery, and a descendant of Richard Sey- mour, of Hartford (1635), and later of Norwalk.
He was educated in the schools of Hartford and at Captain Partridge's mili- tary school at Middletown, and on his graduation returned to Hartford, studied law, and in 1833 was admitted to the bar. He had a taste for military affairs, and for some time he was commanding officer of the Governor's Foot-guard. In 1837- 38 he edited a Democratic newspaper, "The Jeffersonian," and about the same time was judge of probate for the dis- trict. In 1843 he was elected to Congress from the Hartford district, and on the expiration of his term was renominated, but declined. In March, 1846, he was commissioned major of the Ninth (New England) Regiment of Volunteers for service in the Mexican War. In the as- sault on Chapultepec, Colonel Ransom, the regimental commander fell, and Ma- jor Seymour led the men, and with his command was the first to enter the for- tress. He was promoted to the command of the regiment, and took part in the cap-
ture of the City of Mexico. In 1845 he was nominated for Governor, and ac- cepted, but suffered defeat; in 1849 he was again defeated, though the majority of the successful candidate was small; in 1850 he was elected by a handsome ma- jority, and was reëlected in the three suc- ceeding years. In 1852 he was a Demo- cratic presidential elector. In June, 1853, President Pierce appointed him Minister to Russia, and he resigned the governor- ship, serving in his new official capacity for four years, and forming a close friend- ship with the czar and his son. After a year spent in travel in Europe, Mr. Sey- mour returned to Hartford in 1859, and was accorded a military reception. He was the leader of the Connecticut Peace Democrats during the Civil War, and in 1862 the opposition to his opinions was so strong that the State Senate voted to have his portrait removed from the coun- cil chamber, not to be replaced until the comptroller was convinced of his loyalty. In 1863 Seymour was again nominated for Governor, but after an exciting con- test was defeated by William A. Buck- ingham. He was a member of Washing- ton Commandery, Knights Templar, at Hartford, and for many years eminent commander.
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