USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 1 > Part 42
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higher among the preparatory schools of the country, and at Yale College it was almost invariably the case that among the best scholars of each class were to be found representatives of this school.
On the occasion of his first visit to Eu- rope, Mr. Capron was accompanied by his wife and sister, and five other relatives, but he stayed in Europe four months longer than the other members of the party, the greater part of this time being spent in Germany, where he made a thorough study of the language of the country. He visited Europe a second time in the summer of 1871, in the company of three of his pupils, when the entire time was spent in Great Britain and Ireland. His return from his first European trip was in November, 1864, in the midst of the Civil War turmoil, and at the period of the most alarming depression of the cur- rency. His resignation had not been ac- cepted by the board of trustees of the grammar school, but feeling that the funds of the school, though affording a fair salary in ante-war days, would not now give a comfortable support, and being urged to engage in the business of manu- facturing he left Hartford and returned to his native town. It should be said, also, that he had brought from Europe a stock of vigorous health, which his previ- ous experience made him disinclined to risk in the confinement of school teach- ing. But the subject came up again and in a new aspect. After a time he was fol- lowed to Uxbridge by a committee of the high school, who contemplated a reorgan- ization of the school, and urged him to accept the post of principal-a post of much more than his former influence and responsibility, and now attended with an offer of nearly double his former salary. He again took the subject under consider- ation, and the result of his deliberations was his return to Hartford.
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Mr. Capron married, in November, 1854, Eunice M. Chapin, whom he had known from early youth. Five children blessed this union, of whom the two first mentioned died in childhood: Helen Maria, Alice Louise, Clara Day, Bertha Chapin and William Cargill. Mr. Capron was a deacon in the Asylum Hill Congre- gational Church.
In order to give a faint idea of the high esteem in which Mr. Capron was held, it is fitting that this brief review of his life should close with a few remarks by Thom- as A. Thacher, Professor in Yale College :
If now we ask what was the cause of his suc- cess as a teacher, our answer must be, that it was in the man, in what he was, in his qualities and characteristics. It was the outworking of the man within into the sweet, and consistent and busy activities of his life, that made him the great and growing blessing to the community. The good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brought forth good things. The substratum of a strong and, at the same time, lovely character, was the essential thing. Without that his out- ward life could not have been what it was, or, even if it could have been, it would have wanted that intangible life giving power which has a * deeper spring than is visible to the eye. * *
Whatever he had to do he had the habit of doing judiciously. He was quick to discover what was worth while, and what was idle and useless, and thus escape the waste and annoyance to himself and to others, which come from the hesitation of a feeble judgment. He was a thorough scholar, and he made his pupils feel that no other scholar- ship was worthy of the name nor of any great value. *
* * * Who that was ever under the instruction of Mr. Capron does not still feel the influence of his personal character upon himself ? He was eminent for his nice scholarship, but as a man he was more. In his combination of the rare scholar and the rare man he became a model teacher.
KIRKLAND, Samuel,
Missionary to Indians.
The Rev. Samuel Kirkland was born in Norwich, Connecticut, December I,
1741. He was the son of Rev. Daniel Kirtland, but changed the family name to agree with its more ancient form. In early youth he entered Dr. Wheelock's school at Lebanon, Connecticut, and be- gan preparation for his chosen work as a missionary among the Indians. In school he was much beloved for his gentleness and kindness of manner, and likewise afterward at Princeton College, where he received his degree in 1765, although he left the college before com- pleting his education, dwelling with the Seneca Indians from 1764 to 1766.
In June of 1766, at the age of twenty- five, he was ordained at Lebanon as a missionary to the Indians, under the sanction of the Scotch Society for Propa- gating the Gospel among the Heathen. Two months later he took up his resi- dence among the Oneidas at their council- house a little southwest of Fort Stanwix (now Rome), New York. There he built a house with his own hands, and labored day and night for the good of the Indians. His health broke down, however, on account of toil and exposure, and in 1769 he returned to Connecticut, where he re- mained for a time enjoying necessary rest. In the autumn he married a niece of Dr. Wheelock, who a year afterward accompanied him into his field. She re- mained for a time at the house of General Herkimer, at the little falls of the Mo- hawk, where in 1770 she gave birth to twin sons, one of whom became President Kirkland, of Harvard College. Mr. and Mrs. Kirkland then began together their missionary labors, which lasted until the beginning of the Revolution, when the insecurity of frontier life caused Mr. Kirk- land to remove to Stockbridge, in West- ern Massachusetts. He labored, however, through all the period of the ensuing war, not only for the spiritual benefit of the Indians, but in endeavors to keep the Six
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Nations neutral, but he was successful only with the Oneidas, the influence of Sir William Johnson and other agents of the British being greater than his. Wash- ington wrote to Congress in 1775: "I cannot but intimate my sense of the im- portance of Mr. Kirkland's station, and of the great advantages which have and may result to the united colonies from his station being made respectable. All accounts agree that much of the favorable disposition shown by the Indians may be ascribed to his labor and influence." Mr. Kirkland was chaplain at Fort Schuyler for some time, and in the same capacity accompanied General Sullivan in his ex- pedition from Wyoming against the Senecas in 1778. After that he was at Fort Schuyler and vicinity acting as chaplain, or with his family at Stock- bridge, until peace was declared. He then received a liberal grant of land from Congress in consideration of his services, and in 1788 from the Indians and the State of New York a large and valuable tract on which was founded the present town of Kirkland. Mrs. Kirkland died in 1788. The bereaved husband resumed his religious duties among the Indians, and in 1790 accompanied a delegation of Senecas to Philadelphia, being rewarded therefor by the conversion to Christianity of the great chief "Corn-Planter." In 1791 Mr. Kirkland made a census of the Six Nations, and at the same time suc- ceeded in founding an institution of learn- ing for the education of American and Indian boys, which was incorporated in 1793, under the title of the Hamilton Oneida Academy, and which was the origin of Hamilton College. His life was written by his grandson, Rev. Samuel K. Lothrop, and published in Sparks's "American Biography." He continued his labors among the Oneidas until his death, which occurred in Clinton, New York, February 28, 1808.
WHITMAN, Charles Loring,
Trusted Citizen.
The death of the Hon. Charles Loring Whitman on March 8, 1886, deprived the town of Farmington, Connecticut, of one of its most highly valued citizens, and the State of a most distinguished Democrat, a man loved and respected by all. He was sprung of one of those splendid old houses which, settling in New England early in the Colonial period, have grown up and identified themselves with the his- tory of that region through all the stirring years that preceded the birth of the new Nation, and the years of peaceful develop- ment subsequent thereto.
John Whitman, the founder of the fam- ily in this country, came from the region of Holt, England, to the little colony at Weymouth, Massachusetts, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, there be- ing a record of his admission as a freeman there in 1678-79. It was in the days of his grandson, the Rev. Samuel Whitman, that the removal to Farmington, Connec- ticut, took place, to which place he was called as minister, and which from that day to this has been the home of the fam- ily. The great-grandson of this worthy and able clergyman was William Whit- man, the father of Charles Loring Whit- man, a native and lifelong resident of the beautiful old homestead which had been occupied by the family since its arrival in Farmington, and which during his life was used as a hotel. Mr. Whitman, Sr., was a well known figure in the neighbor- hood, and "Whitman's Hotel," as it was universally known, gained, together with its shrewd and intelligent proprietor, a wide reputation. He married, October 12, 1812, Elizabeth Whiting, of Beverly, Mas- sachusetts, and a daughter of Zenas and Leah (Loring) Whiting, of that place. They were the parents of four children, as follows: Ann Sophia, born September
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15, 1816, afterwards became Mrs. Henry Farnam, of New Haven, and the mother of Professor Henry Walcott Farnam, of Yale University; William Henry, born March 18, 1823; Charles Loring, of whom further; George Bronson.
Charles Loring Whitman, the third child of William and Elizabeth (Whiting) Whitman, was born in the old Whitman home in Farmington, May 27, 1826. He passed his entire boyhood in his native town, and there attended the public schools, where he laid the foundation of his splendid education. He later attended a school at Hingham, Massachusetts, the Hingham Academy, from which he gradu- ated. Although his course at this institu- tion completed his schooling, it was very far from ending his education, which, as in the case of all true students, only ended with his life. He was a constant reader and a keen observer, an untired seeker after knowledge so that throughout all his years he added to his store. He took up the management of the Whitman Hotel more and more, until at his father's death there was no perceptible difference in its management. He shortly discontinued the business entirely, receiving about that time the appointment as judge of probate. He retained the old mansion as his home, however, a home filled with intimate and ancient tradition and association.
From early youth up Mr. Whitman was greatly interested in the political issues which confronted country, State and town, and upon his return from Boston to Farmington, identified himself with the local organization of the Democratic party, of whose principles he was an ardent supporter all his life. It was not a great while before he became the recog- nized leader of his party in that part of the State. He was urged to accept the nomination to the State Senate by his fel- low Democrats in view of his great promi-
nence in the party and his general popu- larity. He accepted the honor and was duly elected to the office, serving as a member of that body until his death, which was, indeed, the result of a stroke of apoplexy with which he was stricken while attending a legislative session.
Mr. Whitman was a man of strong re- ligious feelings and beliefs, but independ- ent in thought and action. He had been reared in the Congregational church, the traditional mode of worship in the Whit- man family, but became strongly inter- ested in the Episcopal doctrine and form, and eventually joined that church. He and Mrs. Whitman were conspicuous among the founders of the Episcopal church at Farmington, through their ac- tivity securing a mission there. Mr. Whit- man did not live to see the actual erec- tion of the church building, an occurrence which took place some years after his death. As in every other matter which he took up, Mr. Whitman was most ener- getic in the work he did in connection with the church. He entered into it with heart and soul, and left no stone unturned to accomplish his cherished project.
Mr. Whitman married, in August, 1863, Caroline E. Thompson, native of Roches- ter, New York, and the daughter of Lem- uel and Eliza Allen (Hall) Thompson, who were natives of Rochester, New York, and of Cornish, New Hampshire, respectively.
There is no doubt that the career of Mr. Whitman, successful as it had already been, would have known a still more bril- liant future, had not death so abruptly cut it short. One of the chief factors in his success was undoubtedly his remarkable power of making friends, but this power in turn depended upon some of the most fundamental virtues for its existence. That he should first attract those who came in casual association was doubtless
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due to the attractive exterior, the ready wit and simple candor, but the transfor- mation of these into faithful friends was possible only to the profound trust which all men felt in the perfect sincerity of his nature and the honest disinterestedness of his intentions. The certainty of their con- fidence in him is nowhere better illus- trated than in the common appeal that was made to him to settle disputes and quarrels. Mr. Whitman had never taken up the practice of the law, yet people flocked to him in large numbers with their complaints, and although his reward was rarely more than a "thank you," yet he never failed to win the lifelong friendship of those he counselled. His popularity was very widespread, and the news of his death was felt as a loss in all parts of the State, but the strongest affection was felt for him in his own home district and it was there that he gave most generously of his friendship and service. It has al- ready been remarked that he was an en- thusiastic Democrat and an ardent Epis- copalian, but he never allowed his gener- osity to be limited by considerations of creed or political belief, but gave freely to all who stood in need. His generosity was proverbial, and yet his benefactions were so unostentatious that but few were aware of their extent. It was truly said of him that "the world is better for such men as Charles Loring Whitman having lived in it." His death has left a gap in the life of his community, which despite the twenty-nine years that have elapsed is still unfilled.
HOLLEY, Horace, Clergyman, Educator.
The Rev. Horace Holley was born at Salisbury, Connecticut, February 13, 1781, son of Luther and Sarah (Dakin) Holley, and brother of Myron Holley, the re-
former. His great-great-grandfather, John Holley, was a prominent settler of Stamford, Connecticut, about 1644; was deputy to the New Haven General Court in 1654-55 and 1663, deputy to the Con- necticut General Court in 1670-73, and commissioner of justice for Stamford, Greenwich and Rye, for fourteen years.
Horace Holley was educated at Wil- liams College and Yale College, graduat- ing from the latter institution in 1803. He studied law in the office of Riggs & Radcliffe in New York City, but re- turned to New Haven in 1804 to study theology under Dr. Dwight. He was ordained September 13, 1805, and served as pastor of churches at Greenfield Hill and Marblehead, Massachusetts ; Middle- town, Connecticut; Albany, New York; and other places; and also preached at the Old South Church in Boston. In March, 1809, he was installed as pastor of the Hollis Street Church, Boston, re- maining there until 1818. He was at this time a member of the Boston school com- mittee, and of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University. Though bred a Calvinist, he came in time, after much research and reflection, to espouse the Unitarian doctrines then gaining support through the preaching of Dr. Channing and others.
In November, 1818, he became presi- dent of Transylvania University in Ken- tucky, and entered heart and soul into the work of building up the institution. Previous to the date of his election there had been a constant strife among the sectarians of the State for control of the board of trustees, and of the institution. A majority of the faculty had been Pres- byterians, and this sect claimed a sort of ownership of the university. The State Legislature, however, had recently elected a new board composed of some of the most eminent citizens of the State, but
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those of no strong sectarian prejudices. By his influence mainly, the State made considerable endowments to the univer- sity, and adopted the special care of it; its most distinguished men gave it their aid and influence ; men of ability and reputa- tion were brought from the east to build up her three several departments ; and the halls of the university were soon thronged with students from the entire Mississippi valley. The growing town of Lexington, the seat of the institution, became known soon in foreign countries, and distin- guished in gazetteers and geographies as the seat of Transylvania University, and was now commonly styled "The Athens of the West." In short, the university under Dr. Holley exerted a marked and elevating influence upon the whole popu- lation of the Mississippi Valley. Between 1803 and 1818 degrees were conferred upon only twenty-two graduates, but be- tween 1818 and 1826, 666 degrees, forty of which were honorary, were conferred. This prosperity, however, was shortlived. Too liberal to be a narrow partisan or sectarian, and too independent to submit to dictation or to conceal his sentiments, and deceived by the apparent liberality awarded him as a stranger, he under- estimated the stern spirit of sectarian opposition, which bided its time. Ground- less charges of infidelity, the outgrowth of this opposition, and the lack of ade- quate assistance and encouragement from the State government, at length induced him to resign in 1827. He went to New Orleans, where he undertook to reëstab- lish the College of New Orleans, and entered into the work with characteristic zeal. By July he was prostrated by an insidious climatic disease and on a voyage to New York he died of yellow fever, July 31, 1827. Dr. Holley was preëmi- nently a pulpit orator. He never read his sermons or used notes.
On January 1, 1805, Dr. Holley was married to Mary, daughter of Elijah and Esther (Phelps) Austin, of New Haven, Connecticut. Two children were born to them: Harriet W. (1808-1900), who was married to William M. Brand, of Lexing- ton, Kentucky ; and Horace, who died un- married in 1854. His widow Mary (Aus- tin) Holley (1784-1846) wrote a large part of the memoirs of her husband, pub- lished in 1828, and later wrote a widely known "History of Texas" (1883).
WRIGHT, Benjamin,
Famous Civil Engineer.
Benjamin Wright was born at Weth- ersfield, Connecticut, October 10, 1770. He early manifested a taste for mathe- matics, and at sixteen learned the rudi- ments of surveying from an uncle at Plymouth, Connecticut. After the re- moval of the family to Fort Stanwix (now Rome, New York) in 1789, he aided in opening the country settlement by laying out into farms some five hundred thous- and acres in Oneida county and Oswego county. In 1792 the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company was formed under the presidency of George P. Schuy- ler, under an English engineer; a few years later the company employed Wright to make a map and profile of Wood creek. In 1803 he surveyed this stream to Oneida Lake, and the Mohawk to Schenectady, a distance of about one hundred miles, and advised "a compound of dams, locks, and short canals, to form a slack-water navi- gation ;" but the plan was beyond the ability of the company. In 1811 he exam- ined the north bank of the Mohawk river from Rome to the Hudson, for the canal commissioners (see volume I of their reports). In 1812 he continued this task from Seneca Lake to Rome, and thence south of the river to Albany, submitting
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maps and profiles with his report. At this time he was a man of varied avoca- tions-county judge (1812-1816), member of the Legislature, and agent for many owners of land. By an act of April 17, 1816, the construction of the canal was directed, and the middle section was given into Wright's hands, and work was begun July 4, 1817. The passage of the first boat, from Rome to Utica, on Octo- ber 22, 1819, was made the occasion of much rejoicing. Tolls were levied July 1, 1820, fourteen months later the canal was finished to Little Falls. The remain- ing and more difficult portion to the Hud- son river was under contract, for which Wright, now chief engineer, determined the route by way of Cohoes. In the fall of 1822 the canal extended two hundred and twenty miles to the Genesee river, and in October, 1825, connection was made with Lake Erie. James Geddes was engineer of the western section, and he and Wright deserved and received the chief credit for the success of the under- taking. Governor Clinton wrote in 1820: "We are most indebted to this man for our work."
Wright's services were now in great demand. Between 1821 and 1827 he was engaged as chief or consulting engineer on the canal from tidewater to the Con- necticut river at Northampton, Massachu- setts; on that from Providence to Wor- cester, Massachusetts, and on the Chesa- peake and Delaware, Chesapeake and Ohio, and Delaware and Hudson canals. Later, he was employed on the St. Lawr- ence ship canal 1833-34; the Welland canal; and that from Chicago to the Illi- nois river, 1837. He removed to New York about 1830, and was street commis- sioner there in 1833, but disliked the post. He soon turned his attention to railroads, and in 1834 was appointed by Governor Marcy to determine a route for the New
York & Erie Railroad. In 1835-36 he made the first surveys for a road from Havana to the interior of Cuba. For a time he was chief engineer of the Tioga & Chemung Railroad. His last years were chiefly occupied in Virginia. He died in New York, August 24, 1842. (See C. B. Stuart's "Civil and Military Engi- neers of America," 1871, p. 560).
ALLYN, Robert,
Enterprising Citizen, Public Official.
The death of Robert Allyn on February 2, 1896, in Hartford, Connecticut, deprived that city of one of its most prominent citi- zens, and a man who all his life had been identified with the progress and advance- ment of the community. He was a mem- ber of a family which had long made its residence in that city, and the son of Timothy M. Allyn, one of the foremost of its citizens in his day. The Allyn arms are as follows: Paly of ten argent and azure. Over all a cross potent or. Crest : A lion salient sable and a tower or and argent. Motto: Fortiter Gerit Crucem.
Timothy M. Allyn was born in the year 1800 on his father's farm in the vicinity of Hartford, and there passed the years of his childhood and early youth engaged in gaining his education and in the work of the farm. He was the youngest of eleven children, and much of his time was occu- pied in working the brick kiln which his father ran in connection with his other work. He cut the wood and mixed and baked the bricks and it is said that he himself made in one year one hundred and twenty thousand bricks, which were eventually sold in Hartford at the rate of four dollars and fifty cents a thousand. He remained on the farm until he had reached the age of twenty-five years, when he went west as far as Ohio. Two years later he returned east and settled for a
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time in New York City, where he was connected with a wholesale drygoods business for three years. In 1830 he came once more to Hartford and located in the city proper, where, in partnership with his brothers, he started a store on Asylum street. The venture was success- ful, and Mr. Allyn, Sr., remained in busi- ness until 1848, when he retired entirely from his mercantile enterprises and de- voted himself to caring for his large estate.
While still but a young man he had foreseen the growth to which Hartford was destined, and with more than usual business judgment had set himself to take advantage of it by wise and extensive in- vestments in real estate in the districts in which he believed the development would prove greatest. The event justified his policy. His property rapidly grew in value and he soon began large building operations, erecting in 1860 the well- known hotel called Allyn Hall, and a little later the Charter Oak Bank Build- ing and a number of other large and im- portant edifices. His activities were by no means purely selfish, for although he was of course made wealthy by these operations, the city generally was also greatly stimulated in its development and strongly benefited thereby. His services and the general integrity and ability of his character were recognized by the district in which he dwelt, and he was elected an alderinan for several terms, and in 1858 became a member of the water commis- sion for a period of three years. He was a staunch Republican in politics, and in 1843 was elected to the Connecticut State Legislature, in which body he most effec- tively represented his city. He was a man of very great public spirit and had the welfare of his native city greatly at heart. He at one time offered it the sum of $100,000 on condition that an equal sum
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