USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 3 > Part 24
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53
(The Alden Line).
(I) John Alden was born in England in 1599, and died in Duxbury, Massachu- setts, September 12, 1687. He was one
of the signers of the "Compact," a docu- ment drawn up and signed by the passen- gers on the "Mayflower" for their gov- ernment ; was a member of the little army of Pilgrims commanded by Captain Myles Standish ; member of the Duxbury Company in 1643; assistant to all the governors of the colony, 1650-86; repre- sentative to the General Court, 1641-49; member of the Council of War, 1646-60; acting deputy governor, 1664-77. He married, in 1622, Priscilla, daughter of William Molines (Mullins).
(II) Captain Joseph Alden, son of John and Priscilla (Molines) Alden, was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1624, and died there February 8, 1697. In 1643 he held the rank of captain in the com- pany commanded by Captain Myles Standish. He married Mary, daughter of Moses Simmons, Jr., of Duxbury.
(III) Joseph (2) Alden, son of Captain Joseph (1) Alden, was born in Bridge- water, Massachusetts, in 1667, and died there December 22, 1747, He married, in 1690, Hannah Dunham, born in 1670, and died in Bridgewater, January 14, 1747.
(IV) Daniel Alden, son of Joseph (2) Alden, was born in Bridgewater, Massa- chusetts, January 29, 1691, and died in Stratford, Connecticut, May 3, 1767. He married, in 1717, Abigail Shaw, born in 1694, and died July 12, 1755.
(V) Daniel (2) Alden, son of Daniel (1) Alden, was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, September 5, 1720, and died in Lebanon, New Hampshire, May 18, 1790. He was a deputy to the Gen- eral Court from Stratford, Connecticut, twelve times, 1760-71, also justice of the peace for Hartford county from May, 1766, to May, 1777. He married, in 1747, Jane Turner, born in Weymouth, Massa- chusetts, March 30, 1725, and died in Lebanon, New Hampshire, May 6, 1817.
164
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
(VI) Abigail Alden, daughter of Daniel (2) and Jane (Turner) Alden, was born in Stratford, Connecticut, in October, 1750, and died in May, 1814. She married, about 1772, Jude Converse. Their daugh- ter, Hannah Converse, married Samuel Blodgett. Their daughter, Jane Blodgett, married Dr. Calvin Skinner. Their son was Colonel William C. Skinner.
(The Roberts Line).
Samuel Roberts, American ancestor of Florence Clarissa (Roberts) Skinner, is believed to have been born in England. He settled in Stratford, Connecticut, and married Sarah, daughter of Edward Hin- man, who was also the first of his family in America. Their son, Samuel (2) Roberts, was undoubtedly born in Eng- land, lived in Middletown, Connecticut, and died in 1726. He married Catherine Leete, who died October 13, 1693. Their son, Deacon Samuel Roberts, resided in Middletown, Connecticut, as early as 1691, and died there in 1739. He mar- ried, September 22, 1691, Mary Blake, daughter of John Blake, of Malden, Eng- land, born January 16, 1673, and died De- cember 16, 1724. Their son, Ebenezer Roberts, born October 29, 1697, married, March 17, 1721, Mary Johnson, and had issue. Their son, Ebenezer Roberts, was an officer of the Revolution, serving with General Washington at New York, Tren- ton and Yorktown. He married and had a son, Ebenezer Cornwall Roberts, who married and had a son, Ebenezer Roberts, father of Mrs. William C. Skinner.
Ebenezer Roberts was born at West- field, Connecticut, October 28, 1819, and died in Hartford, Connecticut, March 7, 1896, and in collateral line was also a de- scendant of Rev. Peter and Rev. Gershom Bulkley and Charles Chauncey, second president of Harvard College. He at- tended public school until fifteen, then
entered the employ of N. and W. Keney, advancing rapidly until 1855, when he was admitted to a partnership. Later the firm became Keney, Roberts & J. N. Goodwin, later Roberts & Keney, later Keney, Roberts & Company, finally Roberts, Tucker & Goodwin. The house was the oldest wholesale grocery concern in the State and one of the most success- ful, the Keneys and Mr. Roberts all accumulating substantial fortunes. The house established and ever maintained an enviable reputation for integrity, fair deal- ing and progressive spirit, Mr. Roberts being also well known in Hartford for his kindly manner, charity and activity in all good works. He was a director of the Hartford National Bank, Travelers In- surance Company, National Fire Insur- ance Company, Collins Company, For- sythe Manufacturing Company, Andros Paper Company, and trustee under the will of Henry Keney. He never sought nor held public office, and was a member and regular attendant of the Park Con- gregational Church.
Mr. Roberts married, January 18, 1843, Clarissa Bancroft, who died January 12, 1883, daughter of Bela and Clarissa (Root) Bancroft, of Granville, Massachu- setts. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts were the parents of an only daughter, Florence Clarissa Roberts, who married Colonel William C. Skinner.
On the day of the funeral of Mr. Rob- erts the wholesale houses of Hartford were closed from two until four p. m., and at a meeting of the board of directors of the Hartford National Bank held March 10, 1896, the following resolution was adopted and ordered placed upon the minutes of the board :
Mr. Ebenezer Roberts died at his home on the seventh instant in the seventy-seventh year of his age and since fifteen years old a resident of the city. In him departed a good citizen, an honest,
165
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
deservedly successful merchant, leaving a good name. Mr. Roberts has been a useful, conservative director of this bank since 1870. To the members of the board it is the loss of an honored associate. With some of the older members he had longer and more intimate relations, and these deeply feel the absence of an old familiar friend.
U. S. BRIDGMAN, Cashier.
TUTTLE, Hon. Joseph Parsons, Lawyer, Jurist.
The legal profession of Hartford has many representatives, yet none who are more devoted to their profession, or any more earnest in the discharge of profes- sional duties than the Hon. Joseph P. Tuttle, whose thorough knowledge of all branches of law has enabled him to main- tain a foremost position. Judge Tuttle is a member of one of the oldest families in New England, a family noted for its pa- triotism, the members thereof having won positions of prominence in political, pro- fessional and mercantile circles.
(I) William Tuttle, the pioneer ances- tor of the branch of the family here under consideration, crossed the ocean from England, accompanied by his wife Eliza- beth, in 1635, and located in New Haven, Connecticut, he then being twenty-six years of age. It was said of him that "he was a man of courage, enterprise, intelli- gence, probity and piety, and that none of the colonists stood, higher socially than he."
(II) Joseph Tuttle, son of William and Elizabeth Tuttle, was baptized in New Haven, Connecticut, 1640, and died there in 1690. He married, in 1667, Hannah, daughter of Captain Thomas Munson.
(III) Joseph (2) Tuttle, son of Joseph (1) and Hannah (Munson) Tuttle, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1668. He married, in 1691, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Sanford, of Milford, Connecti- cut.
(IV) Noah Tuttle, son of Joseph (2) and Elizabeth (Sanford) Tuttle, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, Octo- ber 12, 1694. He married, December 1, 1720, Rachel Hoadley. She died April 7, 1749.
(V) Joseph (3) Tuttle, son of Noah and Rachel (Hoadley) Tuttle, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, July 18, 1734. He resided on that part of the paternal estate known in recent years as the Townsend farm. During the Revolu- tionary War his house and barn were burned by the British. In 1799 he re- moved to Durham, Connecticut. He mar- ried, in 1761, Mary, daughter of Daniel and Abigail (Denison) Granger, of Suf- field, Connecticut.
(VI) Joseph (4) Tuttle, son of Joseph (3) and Mary (Granger) Tuttle, was born in East Haven, Connecticut, July 4, 1769, and died in Durham, Connecticut, Janu- ary 16, 1857. He purchased his father's estate in East Haven. He enlisted his services in the War of 1812 and became a member of the Sixth Company, Connec- ticut State Troops, under Captain Butler. He married (first) -, and (second) Phebe Smith.
(VII) Joseph Nelson Tuttle, son of Joseph (4) and Phebe (Smith) Tuttle, transformed his given names and always wrote his signature as Nelson J. Tuttle. He was born August 5, 1836, and died in Hartford, Connecticut, January 18, 1910. In 1886 he became a resident of Hartford, and engaged in the carriage business there until 1898, in which year he retired from active pursuits. He was a staunch adherent of the principles of the Demo- cratic party, took an active interest in public affairs, and served for six years as a judge of probate. He was a member of Evening Star Lodge, No. 101, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Union- ville. He married Antoinette Clara Par-
166
THE IVVA PUPLIC LIBRARY
A TOR, LETOY TILDIN FOUNDATIONS
1
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
sons, of Unionville, Connecticut, who bore him three children, two of whom attained years of maturity, namely, Jo- seph Parsons, and Antoinette Frances, who became the wife of J. Arthur Smea- ton, of Springfield.
(VIII) Joseph Parsons Tuttle, son of Nelson J. and Antoinette Clara (Parsons ) Tuttle, was born in Unionville, Connec- ticut, June 12, 1865. He prepared for col- lege in the high school of his native town, and was graduated from Yale University in 1889. Such was his industry and capacity, that in addition to the regular studies of his college course, he advanced himself sufficiently in the study of law so as to pass the examination for the senior class of the Yale Law School, after his graduation from the classical course. He remained in the law school but a short period of time, and then entered the law office of Judge William F. Henney, under whose competent instruction he pro- gressed rapidly. On January 6, 1891, he was admitted to the bar of his native State, and immediately afterward began the active practice of his profession. On December 1, 1893, he formed a partner- ship with Albert C. Bill, under the firm name of Bill & Tuttle, and this connec- tion continued for two decades, when it was dissolved at the time of Mr. Tuttle's appointment to the bench. The partner- ship was ideal in its warm friendship, harmony of thought and action, both partners being men of the highest integ- rity, well versed in the law and its appli- cation, and they enjoyed an extensive patronage. On February 25, 1913, Mr. Tuttle was appointed judge of the Su- perior Court, his term to expire in 1921. Previous to this, in 1891, he became a member of the City Council, and served until 1894. He was president of the lower board during the first year. He also served as clerk of the Hartford Police
Court from 1891 to 1893. He casts his vote for the candidates of the Democratic party, to which he has given his allegi- ance since attaining his majority. Judge Tuttle is a member of Hartford Lodge, No. 88, Ancient Free and Accepted Ma- sons ; Washington Commandery ; Knights Templar; Connecticut Consistory, Sov- ereign Princes of the Royal Secret ; Sphinx Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He also holds mem- bership in Crescent Lodge, Knights of Pythias.
Judge Tuttle married, March 21, 1894, Edith A., daughter of Walter S. and Ade- laide (Phelps) Mather. They are the parents of two children: Rubena and Marion. The family is identified with the Asylum Hill Congregational Church.
Judge Tuttle is a careful student, a keen observer and an accurate thinker. In all his professional duties he acquits himself as is befitting the well equipped man of affairs, being quick in grasping the fundamental point involved in a ques- tion, and he states his opinion in a lucid manner, and as briefly as is consistent with making his position clearly under- stood. Personally he is popular, and socially occupies as high a position as he does professionally, and that is in the front ranks.
DAVENPORT, John G.,
Clergyman, Historian, Antiquarian.
The Rev. John Gaylord Davenport, D. D., was born in Wilton, Fairfield county, Connecticut, November 24, 1840, son of Charles Augustus and Sarah Maria (Gay- lord) Davenport, and is a descendant in the eighth generation from, the Rev. John Davenport, first minister of New Haven, 1638. His father, a farmer, and who served in various school and militia offices in Wilton, died at the early age of
167
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
forty-one. He is a descendant in the sey- enth generation from Deacon William Gaylord, of Windsor, Connecticut.
Dr. Davenport passed from the public school of his native place to the Wilton Classical Academy, and thence to Wil- liams (Massachusetts) College, from which he was graduated in 1863 with high honors, being salutatorian and class day poet ; and he received the master's degree from his alma mater in 1866. For a year he taught in a classical academy at Jewett, New York. He was a student in the Union Theological Seminary in 1865-66, and for two years following served as a tutor in Williams College, during the same period studying divinity under the distinguished Dr. Mark Hopkins. He was ordained to the Congregational min- istry in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on July I, 1868, and served as pastor of Park Street Church in that city for thirteen years, 1868-1881 ; in the latter year going to the pastorate of the Second Church of Waterbury, with which he yet remains, having been made pastor emeritus in 1911. He is an old and valued member of the Naugatuck Valley Association of Congregational Churches and Ministers, was Moderator of the General Associa- tion of Connecticut in 1897; for fourteen years was a corporate member of A. B. C. F. M. and is still an honorary member of the same.
Dr. Davenport has been a lifelong de- votee of literature and history. His pub- lished volumes include "The Fulfillment," 1900: "Something Beyond, and Other Poems," 1914; and "Life of Moses Stuart ;" besides numerous historical arti- cles for the periodical press, and many addresses and poems for anniversary occasions. He is at present preparing an autobiographical volume which will prove rich in local historical material. He is a member of the Mattatuck, Connecticut
and National historical societies; the National Geographical Society; the Founders and Patriots of America, was a governor of the Connecticut Society and now for ten years is its chaplain ; was also chaplain of the General Court, and deputy governor during the governor- generalship of the late Admiral Dewey; a member of the Civil Service Reform Association of Connecticut, and the American Hygiene Association. He is a past grand worthy patriarch of the Sons of Temperance; is a holder of Phi Beta Kappa honors, and in 1893 received from Williams College the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
Dr. Davenport married, at Wilton, Con- necticut, November 29, 1866, Alice, daughter of George Burwell and Arethusa Lincoln Westcott. Of this marriage were born children: 1. Clarence Gaylord, born April 21, 1868; died in the service of his country during the Spanish-American WVar, at Ponce, Porto Rico, 1898. 2. Lilian Louisa, born June 23, 1874; now wife of William A. Jones, of Wilton, Con- necticut. 3. Mary Lindley, born March 12, 1877 ; now wife of Herbert J. Wilcox, of Waterbury, Connecticut.
FULTON, William Shirley, Man of Affairs.
William S. Fulton, a representative cit- izen of Waterbury, has won the regard of the community in which his entire life has been passed. He has worked his way upward to responsible position with one of the leading manufacturing establish- ments of Waterbury, and has proved his public spirit and interest in many of the movements calling for the aid of all loyal friends of the city by active participation.
William Edwards Fulton, father of William S. Fulton, was born August 8, 1852, in Brooklyn, New York. It was
168
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
here that he passed his childhood and early youth until he had reached the age of thirteen, when his parents removed to New York City, after which he made his home there for a number of years. He had begun his education in the Brooklyn public schools and continued it in those of Manhattan, attending the Thirteenth Street Grammar School for a time. He completed his education at the College of the City of New York, from which he graduated, and immediately entered the woolen commission business in New York. His unusual ability in the realm of business was early apparent, and was noted by no less a man than A. S. Chase, the great Waterbury manufacturer, with whom the younger man was acquainted. The latter did not remain long in business in New York, but was persuaded by Mr. Chase to abandon it, and he therefore removed to Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1873. Since that time he has been asso- ciated with the various interests in the city, and held many important posts in that great establishment. But Mr. Ful- ton's ability is of so large an order, and his powers of organization and manage- ment so unmistakable, that it was not long before he became an important figure in the financial and industrial world irrespective of his connection with the Chase concerns, and he is now iden- tified with a number of the most impor- tant institutions of the city, such as the Manufacturers' Bank of Waterbury, of which he is vice-president, the Colonial Trust Company, of which he is director, and the Dime Savings Bank, of which he is a trustee.
Mr. Fulton is not one of those men who are wholly wrapped up in business inter- ests, although in his case the demands made upon his time and energies are exacting in the extreme. His viewpoint is too broad, however, to permit him to
forget the other aspects of the life of his community, and he is consequently active in many of the movements undertaken for the general advancement of the city. An Episcopalian in religious belief, he is a member of St. John's Church of that denomination and most prominent in the affairs of the parish, being a vestryman and a liberal supporter of its philanthropic work. He is a member of the Republican party, but does not take an active part in local politics, and is unambitious of anything like political preference or pub- lic office. Mr. Fulton is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
He married, October 23, 1877, Ida Eleana Lewis, daughter of Edward C. Lewis, a sketch of whom follows. To Mr. and Mrs. Fulton three children have been born as follows: Lewis Edwards; Wil- liam Shirley, of whom further; and Irving Kent, engaged in farming at Sal- isbury, Connecticut, married Elizabeth Warner, a daughter of Judge Donald T. Warner, of that place.
William Shirley Fulton, son of William E. Fulton, was born in Waterbury, Con- necticut, November 23, 1880, and there has ever resided. After preparatory study he entered the Hotchkiss School, whence he was graduated in 1899. In September of the same year he entered Yale Univer- sity, there completed the academic course and was graduated with the class of 1903. He then began a connection with the Waterbury Machine Company and its successor, the Waterbury Farrell Foun- dry & Machine Company, which has never been interrupted. He began as a worker in the shop, but soon passed to a position of office responsibility, and stead- ily advancing he became in 1905 assistant treasurer, and in 1906 treasurer. He con- tinued in the last named position until 1911, when the Waterbury Machine and
169
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
the Farrell Foundry companies consoli- dated under the corporate title, The Waterbury Farrell Foundry & Machine Company. With the merging of the two interests, Mr. Fulton was returned to his former position, assistant treasurer, but in 1914 was again elected treasurer, serv- ing until 1916, when the additional dis- tinction of vice-president was accorded him by the board of directors. His decade of service in the treasurer's office has given him a wide experience in corpora- tion finance, and he has served the com- pany faithfully and well, contributing to its general prosperity by a wise adminis- tration of his office. He has other and varied business interests, among which being a member of the board of directors of the Colonial Trust Company, but gives to the duties of his office the majority of his interest and time. He is a member of the Waterbury Club and the Country Club of Waterbury, and seeks relaxation from business cares in the recreations they offer as well as in their social enjoyments.
Mr. Fulton married, January 10, 1906, Rose Henkly Hayden. daughter of Ed- ward Simon and Elizabeth Gilder (Kel- logg) Hayden, former highly esteemed residents of Waterbury, now deceased, her father having been an inventor of a proc- ess of separating metals by electricity. Mr. and Mrs. Fulton have two children : William Hayden, born March 12, 1907, and Elizabeth. January 14, 1910.
LEWIS, Edward C.,
Manufacturer, Financier.
There are few men of the many who have been connected with Waterbury's manufacturing interests who started with a fecbler prospect of ever reaching the eminent position to which he rose, and fewer still who more richly deserve the success attained. His life from the age of
ten years was devoted to some form of manufacturing and in practical foundry work, and in executive ability nor in the art of managing men had he any superior. The Bridgeport Iron Works, in which he learned his trade, he afterward controlled, and in Waterbury and surrounding towns he had large manufacturing interests. He came to this country a child of four. began work at ten, yet such was his native in- telligence, so keen his powers of observa- tion and absorption that he became a well informed man, managing with rare skill the large interests committed to his care. For forty years he was associated with the Farrell Foundry & Machine Company, of Ansonia, and in all that period there was 110 act committed against the welfare of an employee, nor was an unkind word spoken by any of the principals of that corporation intended to wound or annoy, or in any way mar the relations which ever existed. In these days of self as- sertion and intense rivalry, such a record is most unusual and reflects the greatest credit upon Mr. Lewis and the Farrells, father, son and grandson.
Edward C. Lewis, son of John and Mary Lewis, was born at Welsh Pool, North Waters, Great Britain, September 23. 1826, and died at Waterbury, Connecti- cut, in 1901. When four years of age he was brought to the United States by his parents, who settled at Bridgeport, Connecticut, where his father, a master spinner, secured employment in the cotton mills operated by Thatcher & Burnell. The lad attended public school until ten years of age, then began working in the same mill as his father, continuing until eighteen years of age. He then became an apprentice in the Bridgeport Iron Works, learning the moulder's trade and becoming an expert in all that pertained to foundry work, moulding, casting and superintending. The skill and knowledge
170
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
he there acquired was the stepping stone to his later success, and was won by hard work and industrious application.
In 1847, being then twenty-one years of age, he went to Birmingham, Connec- ticut, as foreman in the foundry of Col- burn & Bassett, a prominent firm of iron masters in their day. In 1847 he first entered the employ of Almon Farrell, superintending the erection and starting of his original foundry and machine shop at Ansonia, Connecticut, from which grew one of the largest businesses of its kind in the United States. Mr. Lewis returned to Bridgeport in 1849, and for about a
year worked in the Bridgeport Iron Works, the plant in which he learned his trade. In 1850 he was again in Birming- ham for a time in charge of the Birming- ham Iron Foundry. He came to Water- bury in 1852 as foreman of the Water- bury Foundry Company, then controlled by the Messrs. Farrell, of Ansonia. He was in virtual charge of the Waterbury plant and soon gave tangible evidence to both his employers and his employees of his fitness for the position. He soon ac- quired an interest in the company, the Farrells recognizing the fact that they had secured the services of a superior manager as well as a practical workman. In a short time he became the active man- ager and head of the Waterbury concern, and later became treasurer of the Farrell Foundry & Machine Company, of An- sonia, a further testimonial to his ability. It is also worthy of remark that from 1857 until his death he was a director of that company.
The Farrell interests in Ansonia and Waterbury were united until 1880, when Mr. Lewis, wishing to become head of his business that he might thereon indelibly stamp the impress of his own individual- ity, purchased the Farrell stock in the Waterbury plant, became head, and ever
remained the chief executive of the Waterbury Foundry Company, in which his was the controlling interest. He asso- ciated with him as stockholders and direc- tors young and virile men, whose quality he had tested, namely: William E. Ful- ton, George B. Lamb and W. Curtiss, upon whom later the business of manage- ment fell.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.