USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 3 > Part 22
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Simon Lake, whose inventions are many and valuable, inherited mechanical and in- ventive genius from his father, who was an anomaly in his family, three of his brothers being well known ministers of the Methodist Episcopal church. The family had been prominent in now At- lantic county, New Jersey, from the time of William Lake, a son of John Lake, who was one of the patentees and set-
tlers of Gravesend, Staten Island, now South Brooklyn, in 1643. In 1694 Wil- liam Lake moved to Great Egg Harbor, then Gloucester county, New Jersey, and prior to 1702 purchased one hundred acres of land, and there died in 1716, leaving a large estate. From William Lake there sprang a large and influential family, noted for their devotion to the cause of temperance and to the church. Three towns in New Jersey were founded by Simon Lake, of the fifth generation, and his ministerial sons, towns in which the sale of liquor is forever tabooed and the religious sentiment made paramount - Ocean City, Atlantic Highlands and Na- tional Park, all in New Jersey.
The line of descent to Simon Lake, the inventor, to whom this sketch is dedi- cated, is through Daniel Lake, son of William Lake. He died in Great Egg Harbor in 1772, leaving a son, Daniel (2) Lake, who married Sarah, daughter of Captain Simon Lucas, of Burlington coun- ty, New Jersey. Daniel (2) Lake was a soldier of the Revolution, as was his father-in-law, Simon Lucas.
John Lake, son of Daniel (2) and Sarah (Lucas) Lake, lived at Lakeville, just across the meadows from Atlantic City, but his brother, Daniel (3) Lake, a sur- veyor, laid out the shore road and had the village given its present name, Pleasant- ville. He married Abigail Adams, and had nine children, all born at Pleasant- ville.
Simon Lake, eighth child of John and Abigail (Adams) Lake, was one of the leading men of his day and a large owner of beach, meadow, farm and timber land. He was one of the founders of Ocean City, now a populous summer and winter resort of the Atlantic coast, and with his sons owned nearly the entire island on which it is built. He was United States internal revenue collector, State Assem-
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blyman and prominently identified with his section. He married Sarah Blake, who bore him nine children, three of his four sons becoming ministers and noted for their success as community builders.
John Christopher Lake, eighth child of Simon and Sarah (Blake) Lake, was born at Pleasantville, Atlantic county, New Jersey, September 2, 1847. He was an inventive, mechanical genius and broke away from home and family traditions. He invented a number of improvements in window shade rollers, and in Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, and in Aurora, Illi- nois, manufactured lock and balance shade rollers in great numbers. Later he estab- lished a foundry and machine shop at Toms River, and at Ocean City, New Jer- sey, but after his retirement from manu- facturing located his residence in Bridge- port, Connecticut, where he continued work as an inventor only, and experi- mented with heavier-than-air flying ma- chines. He married (first) Miriam Mary Adams, daughter of Captain Elisha Adams, a sea captain and a direct descendant of Jeremy Adams, who was one of the foun- ders of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1636. He married (second) Margaret Corson.
Simon Lake, only son of John Christo- pher Lake and his first wife, Miriam Mary (Adams) Lake, was born at Pleasantville, New Jersey, September 4, 1866, and there spent the first eight years of his life. From eight until fourteen years of age, he at- tended the public schools of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the family home, next at- tending Clinton Liberal Institute at Fort Plain, New York. He then returned to Philadelphia, completing his school years with a course in mechanics at Franklin Institute. He was of a decidedly mechani- cal turn of mind and as soon as his school years were finished he began working with his father in his Ocean City foundry and machine shops. The practical work
of the foundry and machine shops de- veloped him rapidly, and with the en- larged opportunities that plant gave his genius, he forged rapidly forward and when, shortly afterward, his father went to Aurora, Illinois, to open a shade roller factory, the son, Simon, was left in full charge of the Ocean City shops and foun- dry.
His inventive genius early asserted it- self, and when but fifteen years of age he had conceived an idea of a submarine boat and had made some progress. This idea never afterward lay dormant, but other ideas crowded his brain, and in 1888 he was in Baltimore, selling and installing steering gears he had invented for use on vessels. He continued fully employed in his particular field, finally working out his plans for a submarine on what is known as the "even keel" type, a boat designed to travel on the surface, submerged or on the ocean bed. a type of which he is the inventor.
In 1894, having secured his patents, he located at Atlantic Highlands, New Jer- sey, and during the winter of 1894-95 built (principally with his own hands) the "Argonaut, Jr.," a small submarine, four- teen feet in length, four and one-half feet in width and about six feet between keel and deck. The small size of the boat was made necessary by the fact that he was limited in capital, nobody being willing to advance him money to build a large boat, his idea being considered a "crazy" one. So he used his own money and worked along slowly until he did succeed in finding a friend in William T. Malster, president of the Columbian Iron Works and Dry Dock Company of Baltimore, the first man to appreciate the possibility of Mr. Lake being a genius instead of a "fool inventor."
During the spring, the little craft that was destined to revolutionize modern
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methods of warfare-and, eventually, modern methods of peaceful transporta- tion-was completed, and during the months of July and August, 1895, was thoroughly tested, remaining submerged, under one test, for one hour and fifteen minutes at a depth of sixteen feet. Mr. Lake, in his submerging tests, had two companions, S. T. and B. F. Champion, of Atlantic Highlands.
These successful tests, made in New York bay, were witnessed by many, and when, in November, 1895, the Lake Sub- marine Company was organized, sufficient capital was secured to build a larger boat. but not enough to permit one the size the inventor wanted. But he did as he did with the first,-built according to his means, the result being the "Argonaut, I.," thirty-six feet in length. It was that craft that successfully navigated two thousand miles of Chesapeake bay and Atlantic ocean coast, demonstrated that she could navigate the surface, travel along the bottom or submerge at any depth and outride any storm, the first sub- marine to navigate the ocean. The dem- onstration ended December, 1898, when the "Argonaut, I.," entered New York harbor. after weathering the fierce winter storms.
In 1901, another boat was built, by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, of which Mr. Lake was president, named the "Pro- tector." a boat superior to its predeces- sors. With proverbial slowness to adopt new naval or military inventions, the United States Government delayed action in securing the "Protector" and she went to Russia, then at war with Japan. Mr. Lake accompanied his boat to Russia, in- structed her purchasers how to operate her and built a shipyard in Russia in which he later built four other submarines for the Russian Government. He also sold several, built in the United States, to
Russia and Austria. It was not until 1910 that he obtained an order for three boats of the "even keel" type from the United States Government.
The value of the submarine is now too well known to require argument. The idea borne in the fertile brain of Jules Verne found lodgment in the receptive mind of a ten-year old boy of New Jer- sey, who never abandoned that idea, but through the years that followed, planned, studied, suffered and labored under the discouragement of lack of means, lack of human sympathy in the face of derision of his neighbors, and through the apathy of his own government was deprived of much of the glory to which he was en- titled as the inventor and builder of the first submarine to navigate the ocean. To far-away Russia goes the honor of be- ing the first to recognize the value of this product of the brain of an American boy, for he was but twenty-nine when he per- fected "Argonant, Jr." and sank beneath the waters of New York bay to emerge triumphantly one hour and fifteen minutes later.
Mr. Lake has spent several years abroad, in Russia, Germany and England, design- ing, building and acting in an advisory capacity in the construction of submarine torpedo boats, and has also built many submarines for the United States and for- eign countries. He is president of the Lake Submarine Company, the Lake Tor- pedo Boat Company and the Merchant Submarine Company. His inventions cover a wide range and his fame as an inventor is not solely based upon the sub- marine torpedo boat. He is the inventor of an apparatus for the locating and re- covery of sunken vessels and their car- goes : of a submarine apparatus for use in sponge and pearl fishing ; of a heavy cil internal combustion engine for marine purposes and of other important devices
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برى ستة كنتبتنا
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how Buckingham
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and machines. He is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, American Society of Mechani- cal Engineers, American Society of Naval Engineers, Institute of Naval Architects (London), Schiffsbautechnische Gesell- schaft (Berlin), and other scientific so- cieties.
He has resided for several years at Mil- ford, Connecticut, where he purchased and remodeled the Judge Fowler mansion, filling it with rare paintings and artistic treasures gathered abroad and in his na- tive land. He has been president of the Milford Village Improvement Association, is a member of the Milford Board of Fi- nance, member of the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias. His principal business and office is in Bridgeport, Con- necticut, where he is a member of the Manufacturers' Association. He, also, has an experimental laboratory at Milford, and takes a deep interest in the material prosperity and moral uplift of both com- munities. His clubs are the Engineers', of New York; the Seaside Outing and Algonquin, of Bridgeport. He is also a member of The Society of Patriots and Founders of America, Society of Colonial Wars and Sons of the American Revolu- tion.
Mr. Lake married, June 9. 1890, Mar- garet Vogel, born in Baltimore, Maryland, daughter of John Vogel and granddaugh- ter of John Vogel, the latter coming from Nuremberg, Germany, to Baltimore, in 1845. Children of Simon and Margaret (Vogel) Lake: Miriam, Thomas E., and Margaret.
BUCKINGHAM, William Alfred, War Governor, Statesman.
In the annals of Connecticut, the name of William Alfred Buckingham will ever hold a preëminent place. He was a pa-
triot true to the best traditions of his na- tive State, whose destiny he guided dur- ing the most trying period of the nation's history. Always a hearty supporter of the abolitionist cause, he disregarded pri- vate interests, and without taint of per- sonal ambition he gave himself so whole heartedly to the work of preserving the nation that he inspired his fellow citizens to emulate his devotion to the public good. He was placed in the Governor's chair for eight terms, serving twice as long as any other Governor; only five others of Connecticut's sixty-four Governors have served as many as four years. This fact, more than any statements that might be made, indicates the unfaltering confidence and high esteem in which he was held by the people; and he received no honors that were not justly his due.
Governor Buckingham was in the seventh generation of one of Connecti- cut's oldest families. Thomas Bucking- ham, the progenitor of the family in America, was a native of England, and came to America in 1637 as one of the company that sailed with the ministers Davenport and Pruden and the merchants from London. Hopkins and Eaton. In 1638 they settled in New Haven. At that time he had four sons in his family, and as his share in the enterprise amounted to f60 sterling. he was allotted land in the first division. In 1639 he removed to Mil- ford, and was one of the Rev. Peter Pru- den's company. Thomas Buckingham was one of the seven charter members of the church organized at New Haven, August 22, 1639, and his name appears on a list of the free planters in Milford, November 29, 1639. His will was dated September 22, 1657. His wife Hannah, whom he married in England, joined the New Haven church February 9, 1639.
Their son, Rev. Thomas Buckingham, was baptized November 29, 1646. He be-
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gan his career as a preacher in 1665 at Saybrook. He was ordained in 1670, and remained over the church there until his death on April 1, 1709. He was one of the founders and fellows of Yale College from 1700 until his death. Rev. Thomas Buckingham was a member of the synod which convened at Saybrook in 1708, and formed the platform for government of the churches. His first wife was Hester. daughter of Thomas Hosmer, of Hart- ford; they were married September 20, 1666, and she died June 3, 1702.
Their son, Daniel Buckingham, was born October 3, 1673. He was justice of the peace for many years, and held other important town offices. He was promi- nent in church affairs, and owned a large acreage in Lebanon. He died March 25, 1725. On May 24, 1693, Daniel Bucking- ham married Sarah Lee, of Lyme, Con- necticut.
Their son, Daniel Buckingham, was born April 9, 1698; he married Lydia Lord, on March 3. 1726.
Their son, Samuel Buckingham, grand- father of Governor Buckingham, was born in May, 1740, and died December 30, 1815. He married Lydia Watrous, who died June 12, 1833.
Their son, Deacon Samuel Bucking- ham, was born at Saybrook in 1770, and lesided there until after his first child was born. In company with some others he built two fishing piers at the mouth of the Connecticut river for catching shad. He retained his interest in these fisheries, which later became very valuable. In 1803 he removed to Lebanon and engaged in farming, marketing his products in Hartford, raising large quantities of the choicest fruits of his day. Deacon Buck- ingham was enterprising, industrious, methodical, and possessed of unusually good judgment, through the exercise of which traits he acquired what was con-
sidered a large property in his time. In 1815 he represented the town in the Leg- islature, using his influence and personal resources toward the maintenance of the town schools. He was a deacon in the church and a liberal supporter of church endeavor and reform, being one of the first to espouse the cause of temperance reform. Such was his hospitality that his house was known as "The Minister's Tavern." On March 8, 1798, he married Joanna, daughter of Nathaniel and Dinah (Newton) Maston, of Colchester. She was a superior woman, of great executive ability and good judgment. She had six children, of whom William Alfred Buck- ingham was the second.
Like Abraham Lincoln, whom he loved and knew intimately and who loved him well, William A. Buckingham spent his youth on a farm, receiving his education in public and private schools of Lebanon, his native town, and at Bacon Academy in Colchester. After being graduated he became a land surveyor for a short time, but not finding this work congenial, he returned to the farm, where he assisted his father for three years. At the age of twenty he entered the employ of an uncle who was engaged in the dry goods busi- ness in Norwich. This business he deter- minted to master, and after two years with his uncle he secured employment in a wholesale house in New York, but re- mained there only a short time. Return- ing to Norwich in 1826, he established himself in the dry goods business, and four years later began the manufacture of ingrain carpets, in addition to his other business. This enterprise proved success- ful. In 1848 Mr. Buckingham lent money to a friend who desired to begin the manu- facture of rubber shoes, and became so interested in the undertaking that with a few other men he organized the Hayward Rubber Company, of which he was treas-
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urer from the beginning. The venture proved so profitable that he gave up his other business interests to devote his whole attention to the manufacture of rubber goods. Under his management the enterprise developed into one of the leading industries of the State. He was a man of splendid poise, keen perceptions, accurate in his conclusions, and possessed of an initiative and an indomitable will that enabled him to overcome every diffi- culty and surmount every obstacle in the accomplishment of his purposes. These qualities carried him successfully through several financial panics and enabled him to build a large fortune.
William A. Buckingham was a public spirited citizen, and naturally took a keen interest in the questions and problems of his day. He was not a politician, how- ever, and never aspired to public office to such a degree that he would seek it for personal preferment. His fellow citizens, recognizing the need for abilities such as his in public service, repeatedly elected him mayor of Norwich, his terms of office covering the years 1849, 1850, 1856 and 1857. He served the city with the same industry and regard for the people's wel- fare that he gave his own affairs, at the same gaining an insight into the problems of a public official that was to be of great value to him in the trying years in which he was to serve his State as its chief ex- ecutive. During 1857 he was a presi- dential elector.
In 1858 the new Republican party made him its candidate for Governor. It will be remembered that this was a time of commercial disaster and political unrest. Mr. Buckingham was then almost un- known to the voters outside his own sec- tion of the State, yet he received a ma- jority of 2,449 votes at his first election. Already the controversy with the South- ern States over the question of slavery
was acute, and Governor Buckingham's first message to the General Assembly showed plainly his strong opposition to the slaveholding power. His administra- tion was so satisfactory to the people of Connecticut that he was reelected in 1859 and 1860. In the latter year every voter in the Union had positive convictions as to the momentous issues at stake, and the political contest was nowhere sharper than in Connecticut. Governor Bucking- ham's opponent was the Democratic "war- horse," Thomas Hart Seymour. Abra- ham Lincoln was sent to aid in the cam- paign, and he made six speeches in the State. The Governor was Lincoln's com- panion during his travels here, and usual- ly made the speech introducing Lincoln to the audience. Thus began a warm friendship that ripened through the few remaining years of Mr. Lincoln's life. The contest was close, and the result was awaited with feverish anxiety. Mr. Sey- mour was given majorities in the larger cities, while Governor Buckingham was the choice of the smaller cities and towns, and he won by a majority of only 541 votes. In 1861 he received a majority of more than 2,000 votes.
In 1858 the total number of militiamen in the State was only 2.045 ; so that when Lincoln issued his first call for troops (April 15, 1861) there was scarcely a regi- ment of organized militia in the State. Without authority under the law, Goy- ernor Buckingham, acting on his own in- itiative and with characteristic wisdom, issued a proclamation on April 16th for troops to meet Lincoln's call for a regi- ment from Connecticut. Men enough for ten companies were called for, but fifty- four companies enlisted ; and when the Legislature was convened on the first Wednesday in May it validated the Gov- ernor's action and appropriated $2,000,000 for military expenses. It also authorized
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the enlistment of ten thousand men. A subsequent Legislature removed the re- striction as to the number of men, and gave the Governor authority and means to enlist and equip as many soldiers as the President might call for. Under this authority and with the cooperation of his fellow citizens, Governor Buckingham raised 54.882 men, which was 6,089 more than the State's quota. At that time the population of Connecticut was 461,000 people, of whom approximately 80,000 were voters, and of these there were esti- mated to be about 50,000 capable of bear- ing arms. The Connecticut troops were the first sent from any State fully equipped for service. Connecticut's rec- crd during the Civil War is one of which her sons may ever be proud. Governor Buckingham was especially concerned that no State should send better troops to the front, and that none should be better equipped. He was constantly solic- itous for the welfare and comfort of the soldiers. "Don't let any Connecticut man suffer for want of anything that can be done for him. If it costs money, draw on me for it," and "Take good care of the Connecticut men," are examples of the messages he frequently sent to the front.
As his eighth term drew toward a close, Governor Buckingham declined to be a candidate for reëlection, it being his in- tention to retire to private life for a much needed rest. But during the troublous days of the reconstruction period, men were needed at Washington who had breadth of view, who were not swayed by prejudice, but arrived at conclusions after calm, dispassionate consideration. His fellow citizens decided that they needed Governor Buckingham as their represen- tative in the United States Senate, and he accordingly took his seat in that body on March 4, 1869. He was chairman of the committee appointed by the Senate to in-
vestigate the Custom House frauds in New York, and chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. 'His death occurred before the completion of his term, on February 5, 1875.
Governor Buckingham was a warm friend of the cause of education. He gave liberally to Yale College, and with one ex- ception contributed more than any other individual to endow the Norwich Free Academy, of whose board of trustees he was president. He was an active worker in the temperance cause, and served as president of the Connecticut State Tem- perance Union. He was an earnest mem- ber of the Broadway Congregational Church of Norwich. In 1865 he was moderator of the National Council of Congregational churches in Boston, and was a corporate member of the American Board of Foreign Missions.
Some of the most distinguished men in the country attended his funeral, and his loss was widely mourned, for he had won the lasting love of all who knew him. On February 27, 1875, eulogies were delivered in his memory in the United States Sen- ate. Among those who paid eloquent tributes to his life and character were Senators Eaton and Ferry, of Connecti- cut ; Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey ; Ste- venson, of Kentucky; Wright, of Iowa; Bayard, of Delaware; Pratt and Morton, of Indiana, and Thurman, of Ohio.
On September 27, 1830, Governor Buck- ingham was married to Eliza, daughter of Dr. Dwight Ripley, who was a famous merchant of Norwich in the early years of the nineteenth century. She died April 19, 1868, aged sixty years. Eliza Coit, born December 7, 1838, was the only child from the union which grew to maturity ; she was married to General William A. Aiken.
In the western end of the Capitol at Hartford, the State of Connecticut has
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ASTOR, LIDT TILDEN FEL !!!
Itsthorn C. Finner
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placed a statue of the famous "War Gov- ernor." It represents him in a sitting posture. Olin L. Warner, of New York, was the sculptor. The statue cost $10,000, and $6,000 was appropriated for the un- veiling ceremonies, which took place on June 18, 1884. The statue was unveiled by Governor Waller, and an address was delivered by United States Senator Or- ville H. Platt.
No encomium could do justice to the splendid personality and achievements of Governor Buckingham, and in this brief review it has been possible to touch only the most striking features in his notable career. The following quotation from the "Norwich Bulletin" will give to the pres- ent and coming generations, who were not privileged to know Governor Buck- ingham, a brief description of a character worthy of emulation by all :
In private life, Governor Buckingham was char- acterized by great sweetness of disposition and an urbane courtesy in his social relations which won the sincere regard of all with whom he was per- sonally in contact. He possessed that polished dignity of manner which we of this day character- ize as the gentility of the old school, and the re- finement of its minor details was strongly marked in all his habits of life. *
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