USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 3 > Part 15
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ticut, in early life and there resided until his death, attaining distinction as a pub- lic official. His son, Walter Henry Twitchell, is a native son of Naugatuck, and there has spent his entire life. For twenty-three years he gave his individual interests to an employer, then began busi- ness for himself, and is one of Nauga- tuck's honored merchants, well known, prosperous and highly esteemed. Robert Twitchell was born in Oxford, Connecti- cut, but early in life located in Nauga- tuck. He was collector of taxes for many years and also served as sheriff of New Haven county. He married Jeanette Clark, born at Prospect, Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Twitchell were the parents of three children: Edward, who died at the age of fifty years, proprietor of the Union City market; Walter Henry, of further mention ; Robert C., deceased.
Walter Henry Twitchell, son of Rob- ert and Jeanette (Clark) Twitchell, was born in Naugatuck, Connecticut, October 17, 1858, and there still resides. He ob- tained his education in the public schools, and when his school years were over, en- tered the employ of Colonel F. W. Tolles, with whom he remained for twenty-three years, leaving with the proud record of not having been absent from his work even one day during that entire period. After that long term of service with an- other he decided to enter business for himself and purchased the business of F. W. Tolles. He conducts a very success- ful business in furniture, carpets, paper hangings, stoves, ranges, trunks and bags, also carries a line of undertaker's supplies and has an undertaking establishment. He operates this under his own name, Walter H. Twitchell, and requires the services of eight men to transact the busi- ness which has more than trebled under his able management. Mr. Twitchell has attained all the degrees of Scottish Rite Masonry, for eighteen years has been
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOP, LE .... IILD N FUUND T. 2 -3
Charles Engelke, M.D.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
treasurer of Sheperd's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and for five years has held the office in Alton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. He is also a member of the Improved Order of Red Men and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 967, of Naugatuck. In politi- cal faith he is a Republican.
Mr. Twitchell married, in Naugatuck, Adelaide M. Richards, born in South Hartford, Connecticut, who died in 1913, without issue.
ENGELKE, Charles, M. D., Physician.
There is something intrinsically ad- mirable in the profession of medicine that illumines by reflected light all those who practice it. Something that is concerned with its prime object, the alleviation of human suffering, something about the self-sacrifice that it must necessarily in- volve that makes us regard, and rightly so, all those who choose to follow its diffi- cult way and devote themselves to its great aims with a certain amount of re- spect and reverence. It is true that at the present time there has been a certain lowering on the average of the standards and traditions of the profession, and that there are many within its ranks who have proposed to themselves selfish or un- worthy objects instead of those identified with the profession itself, whose eyes are centered on the rewards rather than the services, yet there are others also who have preserved the purest and best ideals of the calling and whose self-sacrifice is as disinterested as that of any who have preceded them. A man of this type is Dr. Charles Engelke, of Waterbury, whose work in that city in the interests of its health, both as a private practitioner and in his capacity as health officer, has done the public an invaluable service.
Henry Engelke, grandfather of Dr.
Charles Engelke, and a sot of Conrad and Sophia Engelke, was born in Meutzen, Germany, April 4, 1812, and died Decem- ber 10, 1894. He married, in Bremen, Germany, June 24, 1836, Christine Ber- nadina Von Eckle, born in Elsflath, Ger- many, February 5, 1815, died January 20, 1882. She was a daughter of Christian Bernhardt and Katrina (Schultze) Von Eckle, the former named born in Ovel- germe, Germany, and the latter named in Elsflath, Germany. Henry and Christine B. Engelke sailed from Bremenhaven, Germany, to the United States, October 17, 1836, and settled at first in New York City, where they resided for two years, then removed to Pine Plains, New York. Their children were: I. Frederick, born in New York City, 1837, died in infancy. 2. Bernhardt Henry, born in Pine Plains, August 24, 1839, died 1909 ; married (first) Susan Newcomb, and (second) Elizabeth Lovejoy Brandt. 3. Sophia Marie, born 1841, died in infancy. 4. Niles Justus, of whom further. 5. Angelina Davis, born August 2, 1845, now the widow of Miller Pulver, residing in Pine Plains, New York. 6. Stephen Vail, born April 2, 1847 ; married Harriet Harrison ; divorced ; now residing in Pine Plains, New York. 7. Henry, born July 10, 1849, died in 1893. 8. Milton, born 1851, died in infancy. 9. Dorathea, born April 18, 1853; became the wife of Joseph B. Holmes, residing in New York. 10. Theodore Hegaman, born March 29, 1855; residing in Pine Plains, New York. 11. Marie Elise, born April 30, 1857; widow of William M. Sayres; residing in Red Hook, New York. 12. Clara Amelia, born April 27, 1859: be- came the wife of Charles Wilson Mastin ; residing in Millbrook, New York. Chris- tian B. Von Eckle, father of Mrs. Engelke, was disowned by his father, Baron Von Eckle, for marrying beneath him in social position.
Niles Justus Engelke, father of Dr.
IOI
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Charles Engelke, was born October 7, 1843, at Pine Plains, New York. He en- listed, before the age of eighteen years, in the Forty-seventh New York Volun- teers and served over four years to the end of the war; he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. He married, October 7, 1868, Elizabeth Brusie, born in Copake, New York, 1849, now residing in Waterbury, Connecticut. She is a de- scendant of Francis Bruzee, born in Hol- land, April 2, 1714, and of Fitie (Halin- beck) Bruzee, his wife, born in 1729. Their son, Andreas Bruzee, was born January 24, 1752, married Elshe Bruisie, born March 14, 1754. Their son, Francis Brusie, was born at Copake, New York, January 23, 1779, one of six children. He married his cousin, Caroline Bruzee, and their son, Jeremiah Brusie, born Novem- ber 28, 1813, married Samantha Lester, born November 3, 1822, a granddaughter of Jacob F. and Phemia Decker, of Co- pake, New York. They were the parents of five children : Warren, born 1842, re- siding at Copake; Mariette, born 1846, widow of Lyman Loomis, residing at Co- pake; Elizabeth, born 1849, aforemen- tioned as the wife of Niles Justus En- gelke, residing at Waterbury; Frank, de- ceased ; Abbie, deceased. Descendants of Andreas Bruzee are among the prosper- ous agriculturists of Columbia and Dutch- ess counties, New York. Two children were born to Niles J. and Elizabeth (Brusie) Engelke: Charles, of whom fur- ther; Clay, who died in 1876, aged five years.
Dr. Charles Engelke was born at Copake, New York, July 20, 1869. At a very early age he accompanied his parents to Pine Plains, New York, so that the greater part of his youthful associations were with the latter place, and it was there that he also began his schooling. After a residence of ten years at Pine Plains his parents
moved to Waterbury, Connecticut, and this city has remained his home ever since with the exception of the time spent in the study of his profession. He attended the public schools of Water- bury, graduating from the high school in 1888. He then secured employment with the "Waterbury Republican," a paper of standing and influence in that region. He did not remain with this paper long, how- ever, but secured a position in the mills of the Benedict & Burnham Manufactur- ing Company and remained in this em- ploy for some time. His youthful am- bition was to study medicine and he did not forget this as the years advanced, but was always seeking a way whereby he could gratify his ambition. In 1898, ten years after leaving school, having accu- mulated some capital by dint of persever- ance and economy, he matriculated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons con- nected with Columbia University of New York, pursued the regular course and was graduated with the degree of M. D. in the class of 1902. The following two years and over he spent as an interne in the Methodist Episcopal Hospital in New York City, thus gaining the requisite ex- perience for his responsible calling. In 1904 he returned to Waterbury, and there established himself in a practice that has continued to grow rapidly ever since that time. His reputation has spread outside the city limits and he has become well known in the surrounding region. In 1910 he was appointed city health officer by the mayor of Waterbury and served most efficiently in that office for two years. He is a member of the Waterbury Medical Society, the State Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Dr. Engelke is a Baptist in his religious belief and attends the church of that denomina- tion in Waterbury.
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W 5 Hailand
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Dr. Engelke married, in Waterbury, October 19, 1912, Bertha Murray Hart, born in Waterbury, Connecticut, October II, 1876, daughter of Jay Hiscox and Ber- tha Louise (Platt) Hart, of Waterbury, Connecticut. Jay Hiscox Hart was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, De- cember II, 1847, son of Jay Hiscox Hart. He engaged in business in Great Barring- ton, Massachusetts, and New Haven, Bridgeport and Waterbury, Connecticut. He was secretary of the Patent Button Company and treasurer of Platt Brothers & Company. He was tax collector of the city of Waterbury, and member of the Board of Fire Commissioners and of the Common Council. Bertha L. (Platt) Hart was born in Waterbury, Connecti- cut, and traced her ancestry to Deacon Richard Platt, who settled at New Haven, Connecticut, in 1638, and was one of a party of sixty-one who formed a church settlement at Milford, November 20, 1639. He was chosen deacon at Milford in 1669 and bequeathed a Bible to each of his nineteen grandsons. In August, 1889, a memorial stone, snitably inscribed, was placed to his memory in the new bridge over the Mapawaug. The line of descent is traced through his son, Josiah Platt, born in Milford, 1645, married, at Milford, December 2, 1669, Sarah Camfield. Their son, Josiah (2) Platt, born in Milford, January 12. 1679, married, January 8. 1707, Sarah Burwell. Their son, Josiah (3) Platt, born October 13, 1707, married Sarah Their son, Josiah (4) Platt, born 1730-35. married, November 13, 1758, Sarah Sanford. Their son, Na- than Platt, born at Newtown, March 3, 1761, died at Wallingford, 1845, and was buried in Waterbury; he was a soldier in the Revolution ; he married Ruby Smith. Their son, Alfred Platt, was born in New- town, April 2, 1789. died December 29, 1872; he was one of the earliest members
of the firm known as A. Benedict, after- ward the Benedict & Burnham Manufac- turing Company, and he was the first to manufacture brass and copper wire in Waterbury; he married, June 8, 1814, Irene Blackman, daughter of Nimrod Blackman, of Brookfield, Connecticut. Their son. Clark Murray Platt, was born at Waterbury, January 1, 1824, died De- cember 20, 1900; he devoted his attention to the manufacture of buttons, etc., in the firm of Platt Brothers & Company, and he invented many useful and valuable de- vices and machines nsed in the manufac- ture of buttons ; he married, May 20, 1849, Amelia Maria Lewis, daughter of Sel- den Lewis, of Naugatuck, Connecticut. Among their children was Bertha Louise. mother of Mrs. Charles Engelke. Chil- dren of Dr. and Mrs. Engelke: Christine, born December 1, 1914; Jean, born July 11, 1916.
HAVILAND, William Thorn,
Lawyer, Clerk of Superior Court.
With Isaac Haviland, son of Jacob and Amy (Gilbert) Haviland, the Bridgeport history of this branch of the family be- gins, William Thorn Haviland, clerk of the Superior Court of Fairfield county, being a prominent twentieth century rep- resentative of the family, son of Isaac Haviland, and grandson of Jacob Havi- land. Isaac Haviland, born October 20, 1820, spent the greater part of his life in Fairfield county, Connecticut, although for several years he was engaged in busi- ness in New York City as a manufacturer of tobacco. In 1866 he retired to a com- fortable home in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he ended his useful life at a well advanced age. He married Mary Augusta Thorn, born May 20, 1831, died January 8, 1881, daughter of Walker W. and Em- meline (Fanton) Thorn. Mr. and Mrs.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Isaac Haviland were the parents of three sons: Isaac F., William Thorn, of fur- ther mention, and Ernest Clifford Havi- land.
William Thorn Haviland, second son of Isaac and Mary Augusta (Thorn) Havi- land, was born at Ridgefield, Fairfield county, Connecticut, March 29, 1856, but in boyhood his parents moved to Brook- lyn. New York, where his education be- gan. Later they returned to Connecticut, purchased a fine farm in the Pembroke district of the town of Danbury, Fairfield county, their residence until 1868, when the family moved to Bridgeport where William T. Haviland completed his studies. Mr. Haviland graduated from Yale College in 1880, and at the Yale Law School in 1882. He was admitted to the bar at New Haven, June 28, 1882, and practiced at Bridgeport. He was asso- ciated with Goodwin Stoddard and Wil- liam D. Bishop, Jr., until May II, 1891, when he was appointed clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of Fairfield county, and assistant clerk of the Superior Court in said county, and in June, 1908, he was appointed clerk of the Superior Court, which position he still holds.
Mr. Haviland married Mrs. Pauline Swords Stevenson, of South Norwalk, June 4, 1902. Children : Tallmadge Downs, born June 14, 1903, died August 26, 1913: Paul, born September 6, 1905; Louise, born March 17, 1907.
MORGAN, William D., M. A., M. D., Physician.
William D. Morgan, M. A., M. D., highly regarded physician of Hartford, Connecticut, graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (which is the medical department of Columbia Univer- sity) and a medical scientist who in the early years of his professional effort
undertook much research in European universities and centres of medicine, to the subsequent material benefit of those who became his patients, is in direct lineal descent from one of the old Colonial fam- ilies of Connecticut, the family having been prominent in the community of New London, Connecticut, almost from its earliest days of settlement.
Celtic in origin, the name Morgan, Mor- ganwg. Ap Morgan, and various other variations of the root, is frequently en- countered in British history, of early times especially. In the principality of Wales, to which part a considerable por- tion of the Britons retired before the in- roads of the Saxons and Anglos, the name holds honored place. The derivation has not been conclusively determined, but Dixon, an English authority on surnames, says that it signifies "by sea, or by the sea." This, to an extent, is substantiated by the allied Scotch (also Celtic) words "ceann mor." meaning "big head," or, perhaps, "big headland." Another feas- ible derivation is from the Welsh "more can," which, translated, is "sea burn," and therefore essentially ranges with the former interpretation, "by the sea." At the time of the Norman Conquest (1066), the Morgan family, or clan, was appar- ently great in numbers, as the name ap- pears prominently in the Domesday Book, and in the Battle Abbey Roll. Records trace the name to very early Welsh history, several sovereign princes and other potentates of the Morgan pa- tronymic appearing in the archives of so far back as A. D. 300 or 400. Of this line of princes was Morgan, or Ap Morgan, of Gla Morgan, through instrumentality trial by jury was established, as the prac- ticed procedure of the dominion, he under- standing it as "the apostolic law," which demanded that "as Christ and the twelve apostles will finally judge the world, so
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
therefore should human tribunals be com- posed of the king and twelve wise men."
The progenitor of the American branches of the Morgan family, which now reach into every State of the Union, was James Morgan, who was born in Wales in 1607. The exact locality of his nativity cannot be stated with authentic assurance, but has been stated to have probably been the city of Llandaff, Gla- morganshire. Since the coming of the Normans, Cardiff, or Caerdydd, has been the principal governmental centre of South Wales, but the importance of Llandaff (which adjoins Cardiff and now is one of the smallest cities of Britain) to the native Welsh, or Britons, arose from its holy associations. It is claimed for Llandaff that within its confines was established, in the fourth century, the first Christian church organized in Great Britain, and that to it St. Augustine once came. And among the Lord Bishops of Ilandaff, the name Morgan appears. In further support of the presumption that James Morgan was born in Llandaff, is that one of the early American branches of the family held the tradition, corrobo- rated by a small volume, the property of James Morgan, and dated before 1600, in which book was inscribed the name of William Morgan, of Llandaff. The con- nection of William Morgan with the James Morgan family is also authenti- cated by some antique gold sleeve-buttons stamped "W. M.," which finally came, as a family heirloom, into the custody of the late James Morgan, and other instru- ments state these buttons to have be- longed to William Morgan, of Llandaff.
In 1636 James Morgan, with two younger brothers, Miles and Thomas (?), left the port of Bristol, England, and in April, 1637, reached Boston, Massachu- setts. His name does not come into Colo- nial records until 1640, when he married
Margery Hill, of Roxbury, Massachusetts. Three years later, he was made a freeman in Roxbury, and was a freeholder there until 1650, when he removed to what is now New London, Connecticut, and there was assigned a house-lot, the record stating that "James Morgan hath given him about six acres of upland." He ac- quired land where now is the third burial ground, in the western suburbs of the city of New London, but sold it in 1656, and later took up land on the eastern side of the settlement, now the southern part of Groton. He was an extensive land- owner, "distinguished in public enter- prise," and of marked administrative ability, his adjudication of civil and ec- clesiastical differences and difficulties bringing him general esteem. "He was a good neighbor, and a Christian in whom all appear to have reposed a marked de- gree of confidence and trust." He was for several years a selectman of New London, and was one of the first deputies sent to the General Court at Hartford, in 1657. He was eight times reelected, his last term being in 1670. Named by New London and accepted by the General Court, his decision, as arbitrator, deter- mining the controversy between the two bodies, regarding the delineation of boun- daries and jurisdiction, was deemed "to have satisfied all parties." In 1661, he was of the committee which, at the behest of the General Court, surveyed and de- lineated the true boundaries of New Lon- don, "on the east side of the Great River." He died in 1685, aged seventy-eight years.
His son, Captain John Morgan, who was born March 30, 1645, married, for his second wife, Elizabeth Williams, a widow, daughter of Lieutenant-Governor William Jones, and granddaughter of Governor Theophilus Eaton. About 1692 he re- moved to Preston, and died in 1712. He took prominent part in public affairs ; was
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Indian commissioner and adviser, deputy to the General Court in 1690 from New London, and in 1693-94 from Preston.
His son, William Morgan, was born in 1693 ; married, July 3, 1716, Mary, daugh- ter of Captain James Avery, Jr., of Gro- ton ; died October, 1729. His widow's de- mise did not, however, occur until 1780, fifty-one years after his death.
Their son, William Morgan, was born June 17, 1723; married, July 4, 1744, Temperance, daughter of Colonel Chris- topher Avery, of Groton. Captain Wil- liam Morgan resided in Groton, and there died April 11, 1777. His widow survived him until October 7, 1801.
Their son, Captain William Avery Morgan, was born November 24, 1754. He married (first) Lydia, daughter of Nathan Smith, of Groton, May 4, 1776. She died January 4, 1804. He settled first in Groton, but later removed to Col- chester (now Salem), where he resided from 1796 until March, 1814, then taking up his residence in Lebanon, Connecticut, where he died on March 22, 1842. He held the military rank of sergeant during the Revolutionary War, and was present at the battle of Bunker Hill. He is re- puted to have been a man "of good natural ability and of some reading."
His son by his first wife. Denison Morgan, was born October 29, 1790 ; mar- ried, October 10, 1815. Ursula, daughter of John Brainard, of Haddam; died in 1854. He was a successful wholesale merchant of Hartford, and was a con- scientious church worker. Mrs. Ursula (Brainard) Morgan was born May 22, 1793, and died July 13, 1866.
Their son, Henry Kirke Morgan, was born December 15, 1819. His primary education was obtained in the public schools of Hartford, from which he graduated to a boarding school in Ell- ington, and later he entered his father's
business as a member of the firm, which was known as D. Morgan & Company, wholesale grocers, of No. 35 State street, Hartford. After his father's demise in 1854, he continued in business until 1860, when he retired, handing over the direc- tion of the business to his associate, S. G. Farnham. Henry Kirke Morgan sought not political office, but was much inter- ested in public affairs, and undertook some public offices. He was on the Board of Relief for many years, and was first lieutenant of the Governor's Foot Guard. He passed away on March 5, 1911, his remains being interred in Spring Grove Cemetery, Hartford. Connecticut.
On April 14, 1846, he married Emily M., daughter of George Brinley, of Hart- ford. George Brinley was a native of Boston, in which city his daughter, the mother of Dr. William D. Morgan, was born, and in that city his business was that of glass manufacturer. Succeeding well, he retired in middle life, spending his leisure years in Hartford, where he died. His wife was Catherine, daughter of Colonel Putnam, and granddaughter of Israel Putnam. To Henry Kirke and Emily M. (Brinley) Morgan were born the following children: George Brinley, a doctor of divinity, deceased ; William D., of whom further; Henry K., now of Morristown, New York ; Edward B., who died in February, 1874; Emily M., of Brooklyn, Connecticut.
William D. Morgan, son of Henry Kirke and Emily M. (Brinley) Morgan, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, No- vember 20, 1850. Educated at the Hart- ford public schools, and at Hopkins Grammar School, New Haven, he subse- quently entered the Episcopal Academy in Cheshire, in which collegiate institu- tion he remained for more than three years, and supplemented his extensive classical knowledge by instruction from
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private tutors, but when he applied, well qualified in knowledge, for admittance to Trinity College, he was not allowed to matriculate, being about one year younger than the minimum fixed by the college as requisite for entrance. Consequently, his parents sent him to St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire. There ill- health pursued him, and he was forced to temporarily relinquish his studies, and on the advice of the family physician was sent to join his uncle, George D. Morgan, who was at that time travelling in Europe, with his family. William D. Morgan joined his relatives in London, and their travels took them through France, Swit- zerland, Italy, Egypt, to Palestine ; thence to Beirut, Isle of Rhodes, Smyrna, Con- stantinople, Palermo, Naples and various cities of Italy back to Paris and London, returning home by the packet, "American Congress."
With regained strength, he then re- sumed his studies, entering Trinity Col- lege, from which he graduated in 1872, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, sub- sequently gaining the major degree. De- termined to enter medicine, he, after gaining his minor letters, registered as a student with Dr. Sands, of New York City, and concurrently attended the lec- tures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating as Doctor of Medi- cine with the class of 1876. During his studentship, however, he made another trip to Europe, in 1874, accompanying his father, who was ill. After becoming entitled to enter practice, he wisely deter- mined to first obtain considerable prac- tical knowledge, and for that purpose passed a year of keen observation i various New York City clinics, after which he received, by competitive exam- ination, appointment to the house staff of New Haven Hospital. One year later he went to Germany, for post-graduate
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