USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 1 > Part 38
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But when the border stream is crossed, And we have reached the farther shore, It cannot be, we are not lost To all our loved ones-evermore.
Death cannot conquer in the strife, For God is love, and Love has planned That death shall yield to Life, Love finds its own in "Better-Land."
And ere we leave this world so fair, The last sweet effort of the mind
Shall be an earnest, ardent prayer, God bless the loved ones left behind.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith were the parents of three sons and a daughter: Friend William (3), a graduate of Yale Law School and a member of the Fairfield county bar, specializing in the law of patents; Oliver Cromwell, secretary- treasurer of the Smith & Egge Manufac- turing Company ; Charles Esmond, super- intendent of the Smith & Egge Manufac- turing Company ; Maybelle, married Hor- ace H. Jackson, of Bridgeport. Friend W. Smith died March 3, 1917.
CANFIELD, Henry O.,
Manufacturer.
The late Henry O. Canfield was a son of Jared H. Canfield, inventor and rubber manufacturer, well known in France and the United States. After extended service in other lines, Henry O. Canfield adopted his father's business, and in 1889 became a manufacturer of rubber goods under his own name. He was a man of high char- acter and versatile genius, and won high reputation as a business man. He was a grandson of Captain Ira B. Canfield, a master mariner, who was finally lost with his ship in one of the catastrophies of the sea. Jared H. Canfield was born at Say- brook, and early became identified with the rubber manufacturing industry. He became thoroughly familiar with the chemistry of rubber as well as an adept in its manufacture, was the father of sev- eral inventions relating thereto, and spent several years in France introducing these patents. On his return to the United States he secured a patent for a rubber dress shield of superior value and to its manufacture the Canfield Rubber Com- pany of Bridgeport devoted its four-story
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factory, the output reaching five million pairs annually. He married Mary A. An- drews, daughter of Benaja Andrews, of Meriden, Connecticut. They were the parents of Isaac A., Elizabeth C., and Henry O.
Henry O. Canfield was born in Nauga- tuck, Connecticut, November 9, 1847, died July 25, 1910. He began his education in the Naugatuck public schools, but when his father went to France in the interest of his patents his son accompanied him and during his years of foreign residence completed his education in French and German institutions of learning. Upon his return to the United States he spent a few years in the dry goods business, but in 1871 he went west and entered the employ of the Peoria, Pekin & Jackson- ville Railroad Company, becoming station agent at Pekin, Illinois. In 1876 he was promoted general freight agent of the company, continuing until 1880 when the Wabash obtained control. From that time until November, 1885, he was com- missioner for the railroads in the various pools they formed to equalize freight business and rates, a position requiring great tact as well as knowledge of the freight business. In November, 1885, he resigned his post to become secretary and general superintendent of the Campbell Rubber Company of Bridgeport, Connec- ticut, continuing in that position until January 1, 1889, when he resigned to en- gage in the rubber business under his own name. A man of social, genial nature, Mr. Canfield affiliated with his fellowmen in many business, fraternal and social or- ganizations. He held all degrees of Scot- tish Rite Masonry up to and including the thirty-second and was a past officer of the rite. He belonged to the Seaside, Algon- quin and Brooklyn Country clubs, was a Republican in politics, and a member of the South Congregational Church.
Mr. Canfield married Immogene C. Freshour. They were the parents of three sons : I. Joseph B., born January 21, 1874, died February 20, 1904. 2. Albert H., born in Pekin, Illinois, September 19, 1875 ; he was educated at the Peekskill Military Academy and the Cascadella School, Ithaca, New York, and was two years at Cornell University; in 1898 he engaged in the rubber business with his father and is now the president of the H. O. Canfield Company of Bridgeport ; Mr. Canfield married Ann Frances Stewart, a native of New York City, and they have had two children: Jared Odgen, born April 10, 1901, died May 19, 1910, and Jean, born August 5, 1914; Mr. Canfield is a thirty-second degree Mason, a mem- ber of the Elks, University, Cornell, Al- gonquin, Brookline, and Black Rock Yacht clubs. 3. Henry B., born April 21, 1877, in Pekin, Illinois ; obtained his early schooling at the University School, Bridgeport; the Cascadella School at Ithaca, New York; studied art in New York and Paris, and is now following that profession.
HOWE, Harmon George, M. D.,
Practitioner, Hospital Official.
The spirit which inspired the life of Dr. Harmon G. Howe was one of helpfulness, and when minutes only were left him, as he well knew, his thought was for the other sufferers from the accident which had brought him low, and he left these words, "Look after the others first" as his last spoken message. That had ever been his slogan, "others first." and every waking hour of every day of his life had been filled with thoughts and deeds for others. He was a man of singularly happy, loving disposition, genial and sincere, never los- ing the enthusiasm of youth, as eager to attend clinics as any young man of the
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profession, and untiring in his efforts to gain more light and deeper surgical knowledge. His profession to him was not a career but a ministry. He joined to the cure of bodies, in an unobtrusive fashion, the healing of human hearts, and the most tender, personal feeling existed between him and his patients. He adorned the profession he loved and won eminent success.
There was a side to Dr. Howe's nature rarely found in a professional man with the heavy responsibilities he carried. With his hours fully occupied, he was one of the most faithful of worshipers at Sun- day morning and evening services and rarely absent from Thursday evening prayer meeting. His faith shone forth in his works, and on the official board, in choir organization or men's class, he labored for the good of the Fourth Church and made his influence felt in every de- partment of its work. His purpose was high and the beauty of his spirit shone in his countenance, the sunshine of his na- ture and his friendliness toward all men mirrored in his face that cleanliness and manliness of soul which drew all men to him.
Dr. Howe was descended from an an- cient and honorable English family, his American ancestors settling in Vermont. In paternal and maternal line his connec- tions were distinguished men of their lo- calities, including the Bliss family of Con- necticut and Vermont, Captain Thomas Chittenden, of Chester, Connecticut, and the first Governor of Vermont, Governor Martin Chittenden, and the Galusha fam- ily of Vermont. This ancestry included men of eminence in every walk, particu- larly in public official life, and in the wars of the Colonial and Revolutionary period. Social position, education, patriotism, piety and moral worth distinguished them, and in his own life and achievement this
twentieth century representative main- tained the high standards of the race from which he sprang. Dr. Howe was a son of Lucian B. and Clarissa J. (Galusha) Howe, of Jericho, Vermont, his father a mer- chant and manufacturer.
Harmon George Howe was born in Jericho, Vermont, September 3, 1850, died at Stamford, Connecticut, June 13, 1913, a victim of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad wreck at Stamford, on that date. With the exception of a winter spent in Canada and another at an Ohio school, his youth was spent in Vermont. After completing the courses of Essex Classical Institute at Essex, Vermont, and Underhill Academy, in 1870 he entered the University of Vermont, taking a spe- cial course in chemistry prior to entering the medical department, whence he was graduated M. D., June 30, 1873. The two years following were spent as interne at Hartford Hospital (Connecticut), as as- sistant superintendent at Sanford Hall (Flushing, Long Island), and at the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons, Colum- bia University, there completing post- graduate studies in 1875 and receiving an additional M. D. He permanently located in Hartford, in May, 1876, and began the private practice of his profession, his first office in the city being at No. 4 Village street. Later he located at No. 44 Pratt street, where he remained one year ; then moved to No. 103 Trumbull street, then to No. 51 Church street, where he resided twelve years, then purchased the property at No. 137 High street. His early experi- ences were encouraging, and he was soon made to feel that Hartford had adopted him and was showing deep appreciation of the merits of the young physician who had settled in the city. His practice con- stantly increased, and ere long he had at- tained his rightful position not only as a physician and surgeon but as a man and
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citizen. The confidence he won as a young man deepened as the years went by, and he continued high in public re- gard until the end of his thirty-seven years' service in Hartford as a healer of human ills.
Along with a large private practice and constant service as a consultant, Dr. Howe maintained intimate relations with Hartford Hospital, Dispensary and Re- treat.
The year between graduation from the College of Physicians and Surgeons and May, 1876, when he began private medical and surgical practice, Dr. Howe spent as assistant to Dr. H. P. Stearns at the Hart- ford Retreat for the Insane, a position he resigned. Soon after beginning practice he was appointed a member of the Hart- ford Dispensary staff, and from 1878 he was continuously a member of the staff of the Hartford Hospital, and for years was also a member of the executive committee. In 1903 he was elected a member of the board of directors and chairman of the medical and surgical staff. He was thus intimately connected with the hospital for thirty-five years, and was the senior surgeon for whom the entire staff had the greatest respect and admiration. His was a potent voice in the councils of the institution, and his official connection carried him to its presi- dency. He was also visiting physician to the Hartford Retreat, and medical ref- eree in the service of several of the lead- ing insurance companies. He wrote many valuable papers which were read before medical societies of which he was a mem- ber, and demands for his services as a consultant came from all over the State, and in certain lines of surgical operations he was considered an authority.
He held membership in the city and county medical societies, serving both as president ; the Connecticut State and the
American Medical associations, also in societies devoted to surgery, a branch which he made his special interest dur- ing the last decade of his life. When a young man of eighteen he served in the First Regiment, Vermont Militia, as pri- vate and hospital steward, and in Hart- ford as medical officer of the First Regi- ment, Connecticut National Guard, from 1879 until 1890. Later he was assistant surgeon with rank of major, and then surgeon of the First Company, Governor's Foot Guard, which post he ever afterward filled. He was an enthusiastic student of art, and adorned the walls of his home with beautiful and valuable paintings. His medical and literary library was one of the finest in the State, and he keenly en- joyed the hours he was privileged to spend with his books.
As a physician Dr. Howe realized the benefit to be derived from out-of-door exercise, and as he was fond of the sports of forest and stream, a great part of his recreation periods were spent on the pre- serves of St. Bernard's Fishing and Hunt- ing Club, in the Province of Quebec, he being one of the five Hartford men who were members of that club. He was also a member of the Country Club of Farm- ington, the Automobile, Republican and Hartford clubs of Hartford, and of the Connecticut Historical Society. His sum- mer home "Windhart" was at Lake Suna- pee, New Hampshire, and in practice he proved his theory: "A sound body is a fine foundation for a fine mind, and the modern method of training the body as well as the mind should be advocated and followed by all of us."
As a member of the Fourth Congrega- tional Church of Hartford, Dr. Howe gave liberally of his time to its work and interests. His engagements were so timed that he might attend the regular preach- ing services on Sunday. He was presi-
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dent of the board of trustees and gave due attention to the by no means light burdens of that office. He was also president of the Fourth Church choir organization, and president of the men's class. He bore his full share of the responsibilities of church membership, and actively par- ticipated in Christian work.
So his life was spent, and were aught needed as testimony as to the extent of his influence and the esteem in which he was held the scene at the Fourth Church on the day of his funeral would supply it. There were the staff of the First Com- pany, Governor's Foot Guard; the board of directors of the Hartford Hospital; the internes of the hospital; the training school classes of the hospital ; the Sunday school class of men which he taught : Hartford Medical Society, in a body, and a throng of his friends from every walk of life who came to honor the memory of the beloved physician.
Dr. Howe married, April 12, 1876, Har- riet M. Stevens, daughter of Luther M. and Mary Ann (Catlin) Stevens, of Jeri- cho, Vermont. Mrs. Howe survives her husband. Their children : 1. Frances Bliss, who died in 1911, some time previous to her father, was the wife of Alfred W. Muchlow, and mother of Brereton H., Lucien H., and Frances A. Muchlow. 2. Horace Stevens, born September 19. 1878, a graduate of Hartford High School, 1898, student of Hotchkiss School, Lakeville. and of Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University ; he decided upon a business career, and in 1903 established a general insurance business in Hartford which he still successfully continues. 3. Lucia, died in infancy.
GRIPPIN, William Avery,
Manufacturer.
ufacturer of malleable iron and head of a great corporation, a wave of genuine re- gret swept over the community in which he was so well known. To his associates in the many interests he served his loss seemed an irreparable one, for they had leaned heavily upon his clear vision, sound judgment and great executive ability. His standard of commercial integrity was high, his conception of duty very exact- ing and to the trusts committed to him he was loyally devoted. Above all was a spirit of pure Christianity which embraced every department of life, holding him true to every obligation of manhood and citi- zenship.
Mr. Grippin was of Welsh-English ar- cestry, his progenitors first settling in Vermont, later in Corinth, New York. He was a great-grandson of Elijah Grip- pin, a soldier of the Revolution. His father, Alonzo J. Grippin, was a farmer of Corinth, New York, a man of character and worth, highly esteemed. Alonzo J. Grippin married Mary Burritt, a woman of deep. spirituality, and under the influ- ence of these Christian parents their son imbibed the principles that were a com- pelling force in his after life.
William Avery Grippin was born at the homestead in Corinth, Saratoga county, New York, February 23, 1851, died at Grand Canyon, Arizona, February 28, 1911, just past his sixtieth birthday. He passed the first fifteen years of his life at the homestead, attended public schools and assisted his father. The spring and summer of 1869 was spent at Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, and in the September following he began his business career by entering the office employ of a Troy, New York, firm engaged in the iron manufacturing busi- ness. This was in accordance with his own preferences, his ambition being for a business life. He began with the motto :
With the passing of William Avery Grippin, of Bridgeport, the pioneer man- "If anything is worth doing at all it is
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worth doing well" and rapid advance- ment rewarded him. Fifteen years after his entrance into the business world, a lad of sixteen, he was elected president of the Troy Malleable Iron Company, and from 1884 until his death continued its able executive head. The same year (1884) he was elected treasurer of the Bridgeport Malleable Iron Company. In November, 1890, he was elected presi- dent of the Vulcan Iron Works of New Britain, Connecticut, holding all of these executive positions until his death as well as serving as a director of several other industrial manufacturing corporations.
After his Bridgeport interests became important he made that city his residence and became very influential. In addition to his manufacturing interests, which be- came very large, he served the Pequon- nock National Bank of Bridgeport and the Century Bank of the City of New York as a director. He was one of the pioneers in the malleable iron industry and the corporations whose destinies he guided were all prosperous, their expan- sion and success largely due to his won- derful executive ability, and he will ever stand as one of the "great iron masters" of his day. His eminently successful business life had as its foundation stones industry, promptness and integrity, and at the height of his career, speaking to young men, he advocated a close adher- ence to the foregoing traits and in addi- tion said: "Stand firmly for principle, avoid debt and keep expenditures well within income. If you do not find just what you would like to do, take what you can find and do it so well that something more desirable will follow as a natural result."
A Republican in national politics, Mr. Grippin exercised the greatest independ- ence in local affairs, supporting the man he deemed the best fitted for the office
aspired to, regardless of party. Between 1894 and 1904 he served two unexpired terms and one full term of three years on the Board of Apportionment and Taxa- tion of the City of Bridgeport. A Baptist in religious preference he took a deep interest in church work. From October, 1896, until October, 1900, he was presi- dent of the Connecticut Baptist Conven- tion, and from April, 1904, was a member of the executive committee of the Ameri- can Baptist Home Mission Society of New York. During 1901-02 he was pres- ident of the Connecticut Baptist Social Union and ever thereafter a member. He loyally and generously supported the local church, and in his private life ex- emplified the virtues of the Christian faith. He enjoyed the society of his fel- lowmen in his hours "off duty," was very hospitable, genial and friendly, a member of the Seaside, Yacht and Contemporary clubs of Bridgeport, and of the Historical and Scientific Society. He generously supported all good causes and was ever ready to lend a helping hand to the de- serving.
Mr. Grippin married (first) November 10, 1875, Adell Jackson, of Ballston Spa, New York, who died in April, 1907. They were the parents of a son, William Jack- son, and a daughter, Edna Adell, who married Dudley M. Morris, of Bridge- port. William Jackson Grippin was born in Troy, New York, was brought to Bridgeport by his parents in 1884; pre- pared in Bridgeport High School, entered Yale University, whence he was gradu- ated class of "97." He then entered the office employ of the Bridgeport Malleable Iron Company, advancing through vari- ous promotions to his present office of treasurer. He is a capable man of affairs, and in his citizenship aspires to the best things. He is a member of the Brook- lawn, University and Yale clubs. He mar-
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ried, April 10, 1907, Ethel Kimber, of Bridgeport, and has a son Kenneth and a daughter Rosalind. Mr. Grippin married (second) Minnie L. Tillou, who survives him, and is living at Marina Park street, Bridgeport. She is the daughter of Wal- ter G. and Louise (Smith) Tillou, of New Haven, Connecticut.
HALL, Seth Jacob, Financier, Public Official, Philanthropist.
In the year 1857, Seth Jacob Hall be- came a resident of the city of Meriden, Connecticut, and for over half a century his business ability, his public spirit, and every attribute of his great nature, were freely employed in the development of his adopted city. His ability as a business man brought him prominently among the leading men of the commercial and finan- cial world of his city, while his public- spirited interest in affairs political, phil- anthropic and religious, brought him the esteem, and confidence of the public. His life of nearly eighty years was one of ceaseless activity, and until its very close he retained his interest in business and in the various organizations with which he had been officially connected for so long.
Mr. Hall was of the seventh generation of the family founded in Connecticut by John Hall, born in England in 1605, died in Wallingford, Connecticut, in 1676. He was one of the early settlers of Hartford, where he was granted six acres in a divi- sion of land. He married, in 1641, Jane Wollen, who died November 14, 1690, the mother of his nine children. The line of descent to Seth J. Hall was through Thomas Hall, fifth son of John Hall, the founder, who was born in New Haven, March 25, 1649, married June 5, 1673, Grace Watson, this being the first mar- riage appearing in the records of Walling- ford, Connecticut. Their son, Joseph
Hall, born July 8, 1681, died November 3, 1748, married, November 13, 1706, Bethiah Terrell.
Ephraim Hall, son of Joseph and Be- thiah (Terrell) Hall, was born April 25, 1723, and resided at North Farms, Wall- ingford. He married (second) October 13, 1763, Chloe Moss, daughter of David and Mindwell (Doolittle) Moss. They were the parents of nine children, the line of descent following through their son Comfort.
Comfort Hall was born February 25, 1773, and lived in Wallingford until about 1797, when he moved to Middletown, Westfield Society, and later bought a farm upon which he resided until his death, November 20, 1855. He was an earnest devoted Methodist, and an orig-
inal trustee of the Middlefield church, and at his home kept "open house" for the entertainment of the traveling ministers of the early church. He married, Feb- ruary I, 1796, Jemima Bacon, born Feb- ruary 2, 1775, died February 24, 1847, daughter of Phineas and Sarah (Atkins) Bacon.
Sylvester Hall, son of Comfort and Jemima (Bacon) Hall, was born Novem- ber 22, 1796, and died October 3, 1875. He was a farmer of Middletown, a man of good education, filled many town offices, and by appointment of Governor Foot, made April 25, 1834, was captain of the First Company, Fourth Regiment of Cavalry, State Militia. He, too, was a Methodist, and in politics a Democrat. He married (second) November 30, 1825, Rosetta Johnson, born October 15, 1806, died October 30, 1869, daughter of Com- fort and Sarah (Bacon) Johnson.
Seth Jacob Hall, eldest son of Sylvester Hall and his second wife, Rosetta John- son, was born at the homestead in Mid- dletown, Connecticut, September 4, 1829, died in Meriden, Connecticut, May 27,
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1909. He was educated in the public schools and Moore's Select School, and until reaching legal age remained at the home farm as his father's assistant. During these years he had pursued courses of self study, and with a sound body also developed a strong intellectu- ality. On arriving at the age of twenty- one he began teaching during the winter months in a school near Middletown, and for nine years taught the winter term, and spent the summer months as a bur- nisher in the factories of Jesse G. Bald- win and the Charles Parker Company. In 1857 he began his residence in Meriden, and there continued until his useful life ended.
On first coming to Meriden, Mr. Hall entered the employ of Harrison W. Cur- tis, a crockery and hardware merchant, remaining with him four years. There were intervals during this period when, business being dull, he obtained leave of absence and again taught a winter school. In 1861 he established in business for himself as a flour dealer. Later, he added grain, feed and coal to his lines, and a period of prosperity began which ever continued. For a time he was a member of the firm of I. C. Lewis & Company, but that association existed for only about two years, and for well over forty years the business was conducted under his own name.
As prosperity came, Mr. Hall added to his activities a line of real estate invest- ment, became a large property owner, and did much for the development of the city. As he came more and more into the pub- lic eye he was sought for by other cor- porations. He was a director and vice- president of the Meriden National Bank ; president and treasurer of the Meriden and Middletown Turnpike Company ; member of the board of appraisal of the City Savings Bank of Meriden; and to these corporations gave the same careful,
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