USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 3 > Part 31
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
213
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
ing, fire and life insurance. His splendid capacity and unimpeached character won for him the highest respect of his fellow- men, and although during his last years he was almost blind, literally "died in the harness," being stricken at his desk in the president's office of the Aetna Life In- surance Company. He died February 13, 1872, aged sixty-nine years.
He married, January 13, 1830, Lydia S Morgan, of Colchester, a woman of strong character and high ideals, possess- ing those womanly graces that enabled her to exert a beneficial influence over not only her own family but over the com- munity. Their sons all became promi- nent in law, business and public life, the eldest, Captain Charles Edwin Bulkeley, giving up his life during the Civil War, and in command of Battery Gareshe, Vir- ginia, February 10, 1862. William Henry, a younger son, was Lieutenant- Governor of Connecticut, and a highly connected business man. Their first born, a daughter, died in infancy; their last born daughter, Mary J., married Lever- ett Brainerd; the youngest child, Eli- phalet Adams (2), died in infancy.
From so eminent an ancestry comes Morgan Gardner Bulkeley, of the twen- tieth recorded generation of his family and of the eighth American generation. That he measures up to the full Bulkeley standard is the greatest praise that can be bestowed upon him. Now almost an octogenarian, with a record of achieve- ment in public and business life either of which would dignify the record of any man, he is yet the active forceful man of affairs, the interested citizen, and the pro- jector of new enterprises. A history of the last half century of his life is almost a history of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, a political history of the city of Hartford, and the State of Connecticut. To determine the mainspring of so
wonderful a life, after passing by and giving due credit to heredity and environ- ment, one is led irresistibly to the con- clusion that resourcefulness and decision have led him triumphantly from office boy to president, from the soldier boy of 1861 to a seat in the United States Sen- ate, from the timid voter of 1858 to the executive chair of his native State in 1889. Those traits, resourcefulness and decision, have made him the sound financier, the able executive, the wise legislator and the valuable citizen. That he possesses all the sterling qualities of manhood, a strength of character that still shines brightly, is but natural; but resourceful- ness and decision have been the qualities that have accentuated his others, and have placed his name at the very top of Connecticut's Roll of Fame.
Morgan Gardner Bulkeley was born at East Haddam, Connecticut, December 26, 1837, his home being in that village until he was nine years of age. His parents then moved to Hartford, where he at- tended the public schools until fourteen years of age. He then in 1851 entered the employ of the Aetna Life Insurance Company in perhaps its humblest posi- tion, office sweeper, at a salary of one dollar weekly. After a short time he left that job to become bundle clerk in the Brooklyn mercantile house of H. P. Mor- gan & Company. There he started his upward way, proved his mettle, and in seven years was admitted a partner. This brought him to the Civil War period, and, true to example of his race, he quickly decided to bear his part in the conflict to decide whether a government "of the people, for the people and by the people" should be destroyed. He enlisted in 1861 in the Thirteenth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, went to the front, and served with credit during the period lead- ing to and including the Peninsular cam-
214
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
paign of the Army of the Potomac. He then returned to his Brooklyn business, there continuing until the death of his father, president of the Aetna Life Insur- ance Company, on February 13, 1872.
As soon as possible he returned to Hartford and assumed the management of the family estate. He met all the de- mands made upon him, and soon im- pressed himself upon the business life of Hartford, an impression that has been deep, lasting and most beneficial. The earliest monument to his business saga- city and enterprise stands in the United States Bank, which he founded and con- ducted as its executive head from 1872 until 1879. There he displayed the abil- ity of the financier with the sound judg- ment of the capable business man, that made him a desirable acquisition to other and greater corporations.
In 1879 Thomas O. Enders, who had succeeded Eliphalet A. Bulkeley as presi- dent of the Aetna Life Insurance Com- pany, retired from that office and was succeeded by Morgan G. Bulkeley. With the exception of the seven years term of President Enders, the Aetna has been under the Bulkeley executive manage- ment since 1850. The only criterion by which to estimate the strength and value of that management is the last annual report of the Aetna, an institution that stands as a model of solidity, progress and liberal construction of its contracts with the insuring public.
Thirty-eight years Mr. Bulkeley has guided the destinies of the Aetna, his powers of organization, managerial and executive skill and able financiering per- vading, every chapter of the company's history. There have been times of severe trial in the Aetna's history-times when the resourcefulness and decision of its executives were tested to their utmost ; and, in common with all financial institu-
tions, there have been crises when only the skill of the pilot could save the ship from being swept from her moorings and dashed to pieces upon the rocks of finan- cial disaster. But in such times, now happily passed, the qualities that distin- guish Mr. Bulkeley only shone the brighter, and never has he been obliged to surrender the helm to another. Sa- gacious, keen, high principled and able, he has ever and does command the re- spect of the leaders of the financial world, and ranks with them in every phase of ability.
His corporate interests further include directorships in the Aetna Fire Insur- ance Company, the United States Bank which he founded, and the Hartford Elec- tric Light Company, while his private business is widely extended.
On this record alone the fame of Mr. Bulkeley might securely rest, but to it he has added a long term of public serv- ice of exceptional honor. Three years after his return to Hartford (1872) he was elected councilman, and the follow- ing year alderman. Men knew that he was in public life, his city legislative "light" not "hidden under a bushel," and in 1880, when there was a demand for a strong man in the executive chair, he was chosen mayor and held in that office for eight years. Perhaps those eight years brought him closer to the lives and hearts of his people than has any other public service he has performed. He con- scientiously and ably filled every require- ment of the office, exercised vigilant care over city finances, but, as affecting the welfare and happiness of the people at large, his administration was exceptional. Each year he spent many times the amount of his salary in benevolences affecting Hartford's poorer classes, in utilizing the opportunities afforded by the Connecticut river, and in improvements
215
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
along the river; free excursions, fresh air for the babies and the feeble, were fully paid for from his purse, and no sanitary or work of uplift neglected.
This period of his public life ended in 1888, and in even the most distant part of the State there was a call for him to "come up higher." When the Republican State Convention of 1888 met, he was nominated for Governor by acclamation. The verdict of the polls was intensely gratifying to him, and he assumed the duties of his office in January, 1889, with the knowledge that he possessed the entire confidence of the people over whom he was to preside. He met the expecta- tions of that people, and as Governor added fresh evidence of his wisdom, pub- lic-spirit and executive ability. Then came the trying situation of 1891, when, there being under Connecticut's peculiar law no choice by the people, and later a deadlocked Legislature, grave questions arose, not only affecting a successor in the Governor's chair, but State appropri- ations and State finances. In this crisis Governor Bulkeley displayed that re- sourcefulness and decision that never was more in evidence than then. He held the Governor's office until a successor was chosen in 1893; advanced from the funds of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, on his own guarantee of repayment, all moneys needed to maintain the State institutions, the Legislature having failed to make any appropriation, and by his tact, judgment and loyal devotion, saved State honor, and brought order out of political chaos.
In 1893 he was named for United States Senator, but withdrew in favor of Gen- eral Hawley, whom he succeeded in that high office in 1905. He represented Con- necticut in the United States Senate until IQII, and during that time displayed in full earnestness and effectiveness his
great public spirit, his political acumen, his opposition to corporate influences, and his great ability. With the expiration of his senatorial term in 1911, he retired from active political life, having received the highest honors his State could bestow.
There is one monument to Mr. Bulke- ley that it was his privilege to inspire, follow to completion, and dedicate-the great bridge at Hartford spanning the Connecticut river. After the burning of the old bridge in 1895, he saw in his vision the great structure as it now stands; and when in 1897 he was chosen president of the board of bridge commis- sioners, he began in deadly earnest a work that did not cease until the com- pletion in 1908 of that unrivaled bridge that spans the Connecticut at its most important point. So deeply did the com- pletion of this great work, the result of his inspiration and largely the result of his efforts, affect Mr. Bulkeley, that he conceived, largely planned and made pos- sible by his generosity, those three won- derful days devoted to its dedication in October, 1908. Hartford gave itself to festive and triumphant celebration-his- torical pageant, patriotic jubilee, and every form of rejoicing marking the com- pletion of a wonderful, useful, enduring structure, the symbol of a new chapter opened in municipal and State progress.
That the city realized to whom "honor was due," a memorable meeting held in Parson's Theatre, December 3. 1908, tes- tifies. That gathering was held expressly to do homage to Morgan G. Bulkeley for his great service to his fellowmen. At its close the hearty enthusiasm, displayed in a truly New England manner, culmi- nated in the presentation to the guest of honor of a magnificent silver service com- prising one hundred and fifty-six pieces. In 1911 further appreciation of his suc- cessful efforts in improving Connecticut
216
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
river landings was shown in the presenta- tion of a silver loving cup. The broad boulevard, the park on the east side, to- gether with the great bridge, will yield benefit, pleasure and profit to coming generations, and keep the memory of his great public service ever green. He was also president of the State Commission to erect the State Library, and also of the Town Commission to erect the Soldiers' Memorial monument in Bushnell Park.
For forty years Mr. Bulkeley has been a guest at Fenwick and Fenwick Hall, and has given freely time and money to its improvement. He and a few associ- ates working for an ideal family sea- shore resort, secured a special charter from the Legislature, making the one hundred acres of the peninsula a separate borough. They bought up the hundreds of building lots, withdrew them from the market, and converted them into fine golf links. Recently a fine State road was built to connect Fenwick with Saybrook village.
With such an ancestry as his, there is scarcely a patriotic or Colonial society to which he is not eligible. Those whose privileges he has availed himself of are: The Society of the Cincinnati, Sons of the Revolution, Society of Foreign Wars, Society of Mayflower Descendants, So- ciety of Colonial Wars, Society of the War of 1812, Grand Army of the Re- public, and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. He is a member of the Masonic order, the Congregational church, and the Hartford Club and other social organizations. There is no subject affecting the welfare of his fellowmen in which he is not interested; no charity, philanthropy or institution of his city re- quiring public support, but has but to indicate their need no friend to whom he will not extend a helping hand. Great as is his past achievement, he does not live
in retrospect, but in the great present, with its opportunities, responsibilities and possibilities-a man of yesterday, a man of to-day, planning for the work of to-morrow.
Mr. Bulkeley married, February II, 1885, Fannie Briggs, daughter of James and Caroline A. Houghton, of San Fran- cisco, California. They are the parents of Morgan Gardner (2nd), Elinor Hough- ton, and Houghton.
ST. JOHN, Howell Williams,
Actuary Aetna Life Insurance Company.
Howell Williams St. John, of Hartford, Connecticut, actuary of the Ætna Life Insurance Company, is a descendant of a number of the old colonial families of New England, families that have been true patriots, withholding no service or sacrifice in time of war, and proving their sterling character and worthy citizenship in the less trying times of peace, by ex- emplifying the highest ethical ideals in personal conduct.
The name of St. John in early days was also spelled Sension and Sention, the lat- ter two styles being evidently a phonetic representation of a very short pronuncia- tion of St. John. Who were the imme- diate antecedents of Matthias St. John, the immigrant ancestor of the family herein followed, has not been ascertained. In volume liv, page 341, of the "New Eng- land Historical and Genealogical Regis- ter," an English writer says:
I believe these families (St. John, Throckmor- ton, Willoughby, and Sands) are the four great pillars of Elizabethan England, replacing the great feudal earls.
The St. John family was essentially English, and brethren of the royal family of Tudor by the half-blood, hence their powerful position. In the first generation they were divided into two sec- tions-the senior line at Bletsoe in Bedfordshire; and the junior line at Lidiard Tregoze, in Wilt-
217
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
shire. Both these localities were hotbeds of puri- tanism, and many of our early pioneers were con- nected with the two St. John houses. In the struggle for religious and political liberty, two St. Johns, a cadet of either house, were especially prominent. From the Bletsoe line came Oliver St. John, the terrible solicitor-general (Cromwell's "black lanthorn"), who brought successively to the block the heads of Thomas Wentworth, Wil- liam Laud and Charles Stuart by his sledge-ham- mer logic drawn from the constitutional practice of England. Sir Oliver St. John attracted over to Ireland many of the most ardent spirits of puritanism and many of his own cousenry, and the trumpet of the court faction on St. John's recall doubtless drove many of these adventurers into Ireland to cross the ocean to New England. At least we know that many of our early settlers had been in Ireland. Viscount Grandison was the second son of Nicholas St. John and Elizabeth (Blount) St. John. His younger brother Richard was ancestor of the Irish St. Johns, and, I think, possibly of our Matthew St. John, who, by the way, lived in St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, London, before going to Connecticut.
Matthias St. John (Sension or Sen- tion), who is the first of the family found in America, arrived in Dorchester, Massa- chusetts, 1631-32, and was made a free- man there on September 3 of the follow- ing year. On January 14, 1635, he re- ceived a grant of twenty acres "at the bounds betwixt Roxbury and Dorches- ter." Subsequently he became possessed of other lands. In 1638 he sold his house, and two years later removed to Wind- sor, Connecticut. Soon after his arrival in 1640 he was granted a lot in the Pali- sades containing ten roods. As late as 1890 this was occupied by Mrs. Anson Loomis. "Mathewe Sension" was a grand juror, November 19, 1643, and in December, 1644. The name of Matthias Sension appears on a list of settlers in Wethersfield between the years 1636 and 1645. He was a juryman at Hartford on March 28, 1650, and again on May 7 of that year. On June 1, 1654, "Matthias Sension of Wethersfield" was brought be-
fore a particular court at Hartford be- cause "he had sold syder to Indians by which they was Drunke." He was also both plaintiff and defendant in a number of small civil cases. In 1654 he removed to Norwalk, Connecticut. His name ap- pears in a list of freemen of Norwalk dated October 11, 1669. He was chosen townsman, February 15, 1660. He died in Norwalk, in October or November, 1669.
His son, Matthias St. John, was born in 1630, and died in December, 1728-29. He served as selectman of Norwalk; was fence viewer in 1659, and we find his name in connection with various town affairs. He married Elizabeth
His son, Matthias St. John, was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, 1667-68. His name appears in connection with a num- ber of town proceedings. On February 21, 1700-01, he or his son was appointed to beat the drum on Sabbath days. His name also appears on record in connec- tion with a number of real estate transac- tions. In 1712 he received a grant of home lot No. 16 from, the proprietors of Ridgefield. In 1714 he was a grand juror, and in 1717 served as sexton of the church for an annual stipend of thirty-five shil- lings. In 1716 he received a grant of fif- teen and a half acres in Ridgefield. He married, about 1690, Rachel, born Decem- ber 16, 1667, daughter of Jonathan and Abigail (Marvin) Bouton. Matthias St. John died in Wilton, August 17, 1748.
His son, Benjamin St. John was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, about 1700. He was fence-viewer, 1726-40; surveyor of highways, 1730-36; grand juror in 1732; tythingman, 1749. He married (first) Mary - -- , born in 1708, and died De- cember 3, 1774. He removed to New Canaan in 1744, and he and his wife joined the church there by letter that year. He died in 1782.
218
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
His son, Matthias St. John, was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, in 1734, and died in New Canaan, March 20, 1819. He was surveyor of highways. 1773; grand juror, December 7, 1778; was corporal in Lieutenant Curtis's company, Ninth Regi- ment Connecticut Militia, from October 25, 1776, to January 25. 1777; ensign of the Ninth company alarm list, Ninth Regiment, in October, 1779. He served sixteen days in Captain Samuel "Hand- ford's" company of militia, Colonel Jona- than Hart's regiment, in alarm for relief of Fort William McHenry. He married (first) June 28, 1758, Naomi, born in 1734, died August 27, 1780, daughter of Abraham and Naomi (Pond) Weed, of New Canaan. Matthias St. John and wife were admitted to the church, March 25, 1759.
His son, Colonel Enoch St. John, was born in New Canaan, Connecticut, Octo- ber 14-15, 1765, and died there, April 23, 1846. He was surveyor of highways, 1790-99; lister. 1793: was pensioned at forty dollars, March 4, 1831. He mar- ried. in Norwalk, November 17, 1788, Sibyl Seymour, born August 3, 1765, died July 22, 17-, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Rockwell) Seymour.
His son, Samuel St. John, was born in New Canaan, Connecticut, August 25, 1793, and died at Hartford, Connecticut, July 21, 1866. For many years he en- gaged in the cotton commission business at Mobile, Alabama, and at New Orleans, Louisiana. He left the south long before the Civil War, retiring from active busi- ness life with a competence somewhere in the thirties. He resided at Newport. Rhode Island, and subsequently in New Canaan and Bridgeport, Connecticut. "He was the first man to write letters upon the Government being the only au- thority and power for creating a currency and supplying it to the people. From this
originated the 'Greenbacks,' so-called, and the National Banking System. To him was issued the first insurance policy in the United States, not, however, on his own life. He furnished the $10,000 to Texas to accomplish her Independence." He married, in Baltimore, in November, 1826, Sophia Jenkins, born in Brooklyn, Connecticut, August 19, 1798, and died in Bridgeport, Connecticut, December 27, 1855, daughter of Howell and Dorothy (Wheat) Williams, of Brooklyn, Connec- ticut. Of their five children, three grew to maturity, namely: William Henry, born in October, 1829, and died Jannary 26, 1860; Howell Williams, of whom fur- ther; Caroline Grosvenor, born August 27, 1832, married James Campbell, and re- sided in Pasadena, California.
Their son, Howell Williams St. John, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, near the old stone mill, April 3, 1834. He was prepared for college under private tutors, was for some time a pupil of Stiles French, a noted educator, and later grad- uated from Sheffield Scientific School, a member of the class of 1855, under Pro- fessor William A. Norton, in the civil engineering course, with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. He then fol- lowed engineering in Central Texas and Iowa. His maternal uncle, Samnel May Williams, planted the first American colony in Texas, in association with Stephen F. Austin, and the land appor- tioned them was termed the Austin and Williams grant. Mr. St. John located the line of the Houston & Texas Central rail- road, and after following his chosen vo- cation, civil engineering, in Texas for a number of years, removed to Iowa, where he associated with Mr. T. A. Wilcox, who later became his brother-in-law, and they there engaged in locating railroads. Dur- ing this period the panic of 1857 occurred, and their business was deferred in conse-
219
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
quence. Mr. St. John then went to Clear- water, Minnesota, where he engaged for a number of years in the manufacturing business with his brother-in-law, James Cambell. He also served as private in the Kandiyohi Rangers; they were mounted, and patrolled the frontier to guard against Indians ; in the State serv- ice under Captain Nelson ; that was in the early sixties.
During the latter years of the Civil War, Mr. St. John returned to Connec- ticut and in October, 1867, entered the employ of the Ætna Life Insurance Com- pany in the capacity of actuary under the presidency of the father of Morgan G. Bulkeley, the present president and chief executive of the company. Mr. St. John was the first incumbent of that office, and has preformed the duties up to the pres- ent time (1917) and is probably the old- est actuary now active in the profession. He is ex-president of the Actuarial Soci- ety of America, in the founding of which he was one of the prime movers, and served as its second president. He is a member of the Connecticut Historical Society ; the American Economic Society ; and formerly of the American Statistical Society, of which he was one of the early members; the University Club of Hart- ford; was made a Mason in St. Mark's Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Ma- sons, of Granby, Connecticut, also took chapter degrees there : became a member of the Council, Royal and Select Masters, while a resident of Mobile; he was the only northern man then given the de- grees in that lodge.
Mr. St. John married Elizabeth E., daughter of Justus Wilcox, M. D., of Granby, Connecticut. They have one son, William Henry St. John, of Hart- ford.
(The Williams Line).
The Williams family is undoubtedly of Welsh origin, though the immediate ante-
cedents of Robert Williams, the immi- grant ancestor, have not been traced. A memorandum found among the papers of an early member of the family gives the following description of the coat-of-arms : "He beareth sable-a lion rampant-ar- gent-armed-and langued gules"-by the name of Williams, of Flint, in Wales, and in Lincolnshire, and Matthew, of Yorkshire; which families are indeed now one and the same, for John Williams, Esq., in the time of Edward IV., married the daughter and heiress of Jonathan Matthew, Esq. His son assumed the sur- name of Matthew, which he retained ever since. Their crest is a moor cock. This pedigree is from Thoresby's Ducatua, etc. "This coat belongeth to the family of Williams." The engraving accompany- ing the above description in the book re- ferred to shows a common cock instead of a moor cock, and subsequent investi- gation indicates the correctness of the en- graving, and with this the side motto, Cognosce occasionem ("Watches his op- portunity"-agrees). The motto of the family is Y fyno Dwy Y fydd, meaning "What God willeth, will be."
It has been generally believed that Rob- ert Williams, the immigrant ancestor of the family, came from Roxbury to Amer- ica. He was admitted freeman in Rox- bury in 1638. He evidently sympathized with the Puritans in England, and no doubt emigrated to escape the persecu- tions to which they were subjected. He married (first) Elizabeth Stratton, who bore him four sons. She died July 28, 1674, aged eighty years. He died at Rox- bury, September 1, 1693. There is some discrepancy of opinion in relation to his age, but as he survived his first wife for nearly twenty years, and she was eighty at her death, the presumption is that he lived to be nearly if not quite one hun- dred years old.
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.