USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 3 > Part 6
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(Bragg) Day, great-granddaughter of John (I) and Mary (Smith) Day. John (I) Day was a son of Thomas and Sarah (Cooper) Day, grandson of Robert Day, born 1604, who came to America from Ipswich, England, in April, 1634, arriving at Boston, and settled early at Hartford. Nothing is known of his first wife. He married (second) Editha Stebbins, sister of Deacon Edward Stebbins, of Hartford, and she was the mother of Thomas Day, above noted. There is a record in Ches- ter, Massachusetts, of the death of Cap- tain Samuel White, September 6, 1830, at the age of seventy years. If this is the Samuel White who lived in Chester, and whose Revolutionary record is given above, it would indicate that his birth took place in 1760. His daughter, Eunice E. White, became the wife of Francis At- wood, as above related.
EGAN, Thomas Francis,
Superintendent of State Police.
Thomas Francis Egan, one of Connec- ticut's leading citizens, who is now serv- ing as superintendent of State police, was born January 10, 1854, in Southing- ton, son of William E. and Catherine (Gorry) Egan, both natives of Kings county, Ireland. The father came to America in 1849, locating in southeastern Southington, where he was at first em- ployed as a farm hand. The following year his parents, Thomas F. and Cather- ine (Tracy) Egan, also crossed the At- lantic, and took up their residence in Southington, Connecticut, Thomas F. Egan being engaged in farming in the southeastern part of the town. His chil- dren were: Michael; Ann, wife of Thom- as Mahon; William E., Thomas, James, Patrick and John. The maternal grand- parents of Thomas Francis Egan were Daniel and Mary (Kelly) Gorry, of Kings
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
county, Ireland. During the Civil War, William E. Egan, father of Thomas F. Egan, enlisted in Company G, Ninth Con- necticut Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered into the United States service as a private in October, 1861. He died at New Orleans, Louisiana, in August, 1862, from disease contracted in the army. In his family were five children who reached maturity : Thomas F., Daniel D., Joseph A., James C., and William E.
The early life of Mr. Egan was passed in Southington, and he received a common school education. On attaining his ma- jority he began an apprenticeship to the culter's trade, serving three years, and later he worked as a journeyman at that trade for four years. He entered the em- ploy of Peck, Stow & Wilcox Company in 1881, in the box department of their works, and has continued his connection with them up to the present time. In 1884 he was elected constable of South- ington, which office he held continuously until June. 1895. when he was appointed deputy sheriff, from which position he resigned in 1904. He held that office con- currently with his present office, to which he was appointed July 13, 1903, at which time the department was established. Sub- ject to call by the Governor, any State's attorney, coroner or any regularly ap- pointed prosecuting officer in all criminal matters throughout the State have the same authority as sheriffs, but the activity of the department is confined to criminal matters. Under the supervision of the State police commissioner and direction of Mr. Egan, the department has been built up and a high degree of efficiency developed. He has been connected with many of the important criminal cases in the State since his office was created. In July, 1905, the State fire department hav- ing been abolished, Mr. Egan became State fire marshal by legislative enact-
ment. In 1911 the Legislature established the office of State Superintendent of Weights and Measures, and provided that it should be held by the superintendent of State police. In this department the equipment is complete and up-to-date. Mr. Egan and his family are members of the Cathedral Roman Catholic Church. and he is also a member of the Knights of Columbus; Ancient Order of Hiberni- ans; Ancient Order of United Workmen ; Trumbull Camp, Sons of Veterans, and of the Southington Fire Department, Hook & Ladder Company No. I, of which he was foreman from 1897 until October, 1899.
Mr. Egan married, February 18. 1878, Ellen M. White, a daughter of John and Mary (Fox) White, of Ireland. Their children, all born in Southington, are: William Edward, whose sketch follows ; Catherine, born 1881, married Michael J. Sullivan, of New London, Connecticut ; Thomas F., born September 1, 1882, mar- ried Annie Sullivan, of Hartford; Anna T., born September 22, 1884; John B., born April 20, 1889, of Hartford; Joseph P., born June 13, 1893, a student in Georgetown Law School, class of 1917.
EGAN, William Edward,
Successful Lawyer.
William Edward Egan, whose profes- sional ability and personal energy have won him an acknowledged standing at the Connecticut bar, is a representative citizen of Hartford, and he wields a force- ful mastery by the sheer force of his firm and decided character.
William Edward Egan was born in Southington, Connecticut, May 6, 1880. He was educated in the Lewis High School, from which he was graduated in 1897. He began preparation for an active career by apprenticing himself to learn the trade of tool maker in the factory of
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Hilhan E- Eggw.
T1
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Peck, Stow & Wilcox, after which he WINSLOW, Fred Gideon, worked in various large plants in Hart- ford, among them Pratt & Whitneys, Pope Manufacturing Company, also in the Corbin Motor Vehicle Company of New Britain and the International Paper Company, of Bellows Falls, Vermont. Having a decided preference for a profes- sional career, he began his preparation by becoming a student in the Yale Law School, from which he was graduated in 1908. After successfully passing a com- petitive examination, he was admitted to the bar of his native State in June, 1908, and has been engaged in active practice since that time, gaining the esteem of the members of the bar and laymen alike. His practice, which has steadily grown to large and important proportions, is gen- eral in character, he gaining the confi- dence of his patrons by the care which he exercises in handling the cases en- trusted to him, and the litigation with which he has been identified has been handled with a skill and effectiveness that have won him enviable prestige. He is a man of marked intellectual strength and congenial nature, is public-spirited, and he can be depended upon to contribute and heartily cooperate in any movement tending to advance the general interests or promote the material welfare of his adopted city, Hartford. He held mem- bership in the Governor's Foot Guard for four years, and at the present time (1917) is a member of Putnam Phalanx, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, Knights of Columbus, Automobile Club of Hartford and member of its board of governers; the Eyelet Club, Phi Delta Phi, Kau Tau Kappa of Yale.
Mr. Egan married, September 16, 1909. May G. Noonan, daughter of James J. Noonan, of Hartford, Connecticut. Chil- dren : William Edward, Jr., born April 4, 1912 ; James N., born January 11, 1916.
Business Man.
When John Winslow came from Eng- land, about 1846, he brought with him his infant son, Gideon D. Winslow, who be- came a prominent man in the State of Connecticut, and was a long time resident of Hartford. At the time of his death he was president of the Spring Brook Ice Company, a position now held by his son. Fred Gideon Winslow, a native son and rising young business man of Hartford. When the family first came from England settlement was made at Broad Brook, Hartford county, Connecticut, and there the boy, Gideon D. Winslow, attended the public schools, supplementing that study by a course at Eastman's Business Col- lege, Poughkeepsie, New York. After completing that course he established in business in Hartford, eventually owning a prosperous grocery business located at the corner of Front and State streets. There he continued until appointed State dairy commissioner by Governor Bulke- ley, an office he held until 1897. He then became president and treasurer of the Spring Brook Ice Company, continuing as head of that company until his death in September, 1914. He was a member of the old board of Hartford fire commis- sioners for about ten years; member of the Board of Aldermen, member of Com- pany F, old City Guard, affiliated with St. John's Lodge, Free and Accepted Ma- sons, a man of high character and ability. He married Clara J. Charter, daughter of William M. Charter, of Hartford. Mr. and Mrs. Winslow were the parents of two daughters and a son: Florence, mar- ried A. Hayden Arnold, and resides in New York City: Fred Gideon, of further mention ; Elsie W., widow of George W. Rowley, of Hartford.
Fred Gideon Winslow, only son of
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Gideon D. and Clara J. (Charter) Wins- low, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, January 20, 1879. Until eighteen years of age he attended the grade and high schools of Hartford, beginning his busi- ness career in 1897 as an office employee of the Ætna Life Insurance Company. Twenty years have since elapsed and the association still continues, many different positions, each one of greater importance, having been held before reaching his present post, cashier. Upon the death of his father, Mr. Winslow succeeded him as president of the Spring Brook Ice Com- pany, one of the most important ice com- panies in the State of Connecticut. He fills his dual positions with satisfaction to those concerned and neither suffers through his connection with the other.
Through his maternal ancestry, Mr. Winslow has gained membership in the patriotic order, Sons of the Revolution ; is a Republican in politics, representing his ward in Common Council; member of Hartford Chamber of Commerce, the Hartford City, Republican, Automobile and Yacht clubs of Hartford, popular so- cially and highly esteemed as a business man. He married Katherine, daughter of Henry C. Forbes, of Manchester, Ver- mont.
Mr. Winslow, through his mother. Clara J. (Charter) Winslow, traces descent to an ancient English family and to the "May- flower" passenger and signer of the Com- pact, Edward Fuller. Through his ances- try he is eligible to membership in the Society of Mayflower Descendants, the Society of Colonial Wars and the Sons of the Revolution.
A pedigree of the Robinson family in the British Museum (Harleian H. S. S. No. 1350) goes back to the year 1208, and names as the founder, John Robinson, of Domington, a market town in Lincoln- shire, seven miles southwest of Boston.
who married a daughter of Thomas Paule. Two pedigrees are recorded in the "Vis- itations of Lincolnshire, 1502-04," by Robert Cooke, Cestor Herald at Arms and may be found at pages 104-05 of the edition 1881.
I. Nicholas Robinson, born at Boston in Lincolnshire, in 1480. He was the first mayor appointed in 1545 by King Henry VIII. II. Nicholas Robinson, born 1520. III. Rev. John Robinson, born 1610, came to America in the ship "Lyon" in 1631. IV. Lieutenant Peter Robinson,born 1655. V. Lieutenant Peter Robinson, born 1697, married Ruth Fuller (see No. 5 "May- flower" record). VI. Captain Abner Rob- inson, married Mehitable Palmer. VII. Mehitable Robinson, their daughter, mar- ried Elizer Smith. VIII. Abner Smith. their son, married Clara Tracy. IX. Char- lotte A. Smith, their daughter, married William M. Charter. X. Clara Josephine Charter, their daughter, married Gideon D. Winslow. XI. Fred Gideon Winslow, their son, married Katherine May Forbes.
Abner Robinson (VI.) was ensign of the Fourth Company of a regiment raised at the first call for troops by the Connec- ticut Legislature at special session in April-May, 1775. It was recruited in Windham county: He was commissioned, May, 1775. This regiment was stationed in camp near Boston during the siege, in Putnam Center Division at Cambridge until expiration of service, December 10, 1775. He reentered the service in 1776 and served as second lieutenant in Colo- 11el Mott and Swift's battalion, to reën- force the Continental forces at Fort Ti- conderoga, and served under General Gates. He afterward was captain for one year in Colonel McClellan's regiment, re- cruited March, 1778, served in Tyler's brigade under General Sullivan in Rhode Island in August-September, 1778.
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THET
خدمة
in
Frederic barking
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
(Mayflower Line).
I. Edward Fuller, of the "Mayflower," inarried Ann -. II. Matthew Fuller, born about 1610, their son, lieutenant in Captain Miles Standish's company and surgeon-general. III. Captain Samuel Fuller, their son, died March 25, 1676; married Mary - . IV. Samuel Fuller, born 1678, their son, married Elizabeth Thatcher, October 8, 1700; their daugh- ter : V. Ruth Fuller, born April 12, 1706, died January 8, 1795 ; married Peter Rob- inson, June 30, 1735 : their son: VI. Cap- tain Abner Robinson, of the Revolution. born February 22, 1738, died November 24, 1815 ; married Mehitable Palmer, April 7. 1763; their daughter: VII. Mehitable Robinson, born January 29, 1768, died Oc- tober 31, 1856; married Elizer Smith, Feb- ruary 4, 1790 (see Robinson VII).
ATKINS, Frederic Cunningham, Manufacturer.
The success that has attended Mr. At- kins, of the Taylor & Atkins Paper Com- pany, is most gratifying to him, not more for the personal benefit that he has de- rived than for the opportunity it gives him to carry out the theories of coopera- tion between employer and employee, which he believes should exist. It was in 1916 that the Taylor & Atkins Paper Company was put among the profit shar- ing companies of New England, and men long identified with the company had the opportunity to acquire an interest, par- ticipate in profits and reap more than weekly reward, which comes to them through the medium of the pay envelope. This spirit of cooperation and mutuality of interest now permeates every depart- ment, and is the fruition of a hope long cherished by Mr. Atkins, president and treasurer of the Taylor & Atkins Paper Company of East Hartford, Connecticut.
Mr. Atkins descends from Josiah At- kins, who early came from England to New England, but did not appear in Middletown, Connecticut, until 1650. In March of that year he was a member of a committee to explore lands in Connec- ticut, and in Middletown he remained un- til his death, September 12, 1690. He was succeeded by his son, Solomon Atkins, born in Middletown, in 1678, died there in 1748. Solomon Atkins married Phoebe Edwards and had a large family. He was a man of influence in Middletown, serv- ing for many years as deacon of the church.
Solomon (2) Atkins, son of Deacon Solomon (1) and Phoebe (Edwards) At- kins, was born at Middletown, August II, 1720, died February 26, 1804, at Whately, Massachusetts, having moved to Whately about 1778. He married, Feb- ruary 25, 1748, Thankful Lee, born 1727, died April 7, 1806. They were the par- ents of: Thankful, born January 14. 1749, married, April 29, 1786, John Crafts; Sybil, born February 19, 1750; Chloe, March 16, 1752; Abia, March 30, 1756, married William Cone; Solomon (3), of further mention; Giles, born April 4, 1765; Elijah, January 26, 1769.
Solomon (3) Atkins, fifth child of Solo- mon (2) and Thankful (Lee) Atkins, was born at Middletown, May 4, 1762. In 1778 the family moved to Whately, Mas- sachusetts, and there resided until 1825, when he moved to New York State, where he died. The house he built in Whately was later used as a parsonage, and near there he built a shop in which he con- ducted a shoe manufacturing business. He built a tannery on Gutter Brook and long continued business there, being a man of forty-seven years when he sold his properties and moved to New York. He married, March 9, 1787, Electa Graves. born December 27, 1764, daughter of Dea-
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
con Oliver Graves. They were the par- ents of seven children : Enoch, born Au- gust 28, 1788; Henry, June 16, 1789; Electa, November 20, 1793, died young ; Chloe, April 18, 1798, married John El- well; Joel, September 7, 1800; Hannah, july 14, 1803, married a Mr. Talmadge; Solomon (4), of further mention.
Solomon (4) Atkins, youngest child of Solomon (3) and Electa (Graves) Atkins, was born at Whately, Massachusetts, Oc- tober 8, 1805, died in Worcester, Massa- chusetts, and is buried in South Deerfield. He learned the tanning and shoe manu- facturing business with his father, and while still a young man joined his brother in Columbus, Georgia, the brother having established there a factory for the manu- facture of boots and harness sold to the planters thereabout, tanning the leather in his own tannery. Solomon Atkins was soon made manager of the business, and there remained twelve years, losing his money once through a bank failure, but having won the confidence of the planters by his straightforward, honorable methods, was able to make a fresh start and eventually rebuild his fortunes. Upon his return North he located in Conway, Massachusetts, established the tannery business of Clapp & Atkins and there con- tinued for several years. In 1850 he re- tired from the firm and moved to South Deerfield, Massachusetts, where most of his later years were passed. He was an active Whig, later a Republican, and he and his wife and daughters were active members of the Congregational church. Solomon (4) Atkins married, June 16, 1833, Wealthy Arms, born January 23. 1804, died March 17, 1870, daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Boyden) Arms, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts. They were the parents of three children: I. Mary Jane, born September 8, 1835 : mar- ried, October 16, 1860, Andrew Dutton.
2. Fidelia R., born August 25, 1839, died July 26, 1905; married, May 19, 1864. Eurotas Morton, born at Whately, July 6, 1828, died August 27, 1905; they had two sons: Gilbert E. and William A. Morton, the latter killed in a railway ac. cident, September 18, 1891, aged seven. teen years. 3. Frederic Cunningham, of further mention.
Frederic Cunningham Atkins, only son of Solomon (4) and Wealthy (Arms) Atkins, was born in Conway, Massachu- setts, January 23, 1849. He was educated in the public schools of South Deerfield and old Deerfield Academy, being em- ployed during vacations and out of school hours by Charles Arms, a manufacturer of pocket books. The manufacture of pocket books was rather an inherited taste with the young man, as his grand- father, Thomas Arms, and his brother, Dennis Arms, were both engaged in that line, being pioneers in the pocket book manufacture in South Deerfield. Mr. At- kins became manager for Houghton & Clarke, of Worcester, Massachusetts, con- tinuing as such until about 1870, when he purchased the business. He bought out the Cobb & Johnson business of Lan- caster, Massachusetts, and added to his line of pocket books their line of old fashioned farmers' wallets. He moved his plant to Lancaster, Massachusetts, and prospered until the panic of 1873 caused severe losses which resulted in his clos- ing out and retiring from the manufactur- ing field for a time.
About 1886, Mr. Atkins reentered the business field as a paper broker in New York City. At his office on Broadway he handled the output of five mills on a com- mission basis, the product of the mills varying in grade and purpose. He trans- acted a large and prosperous wholesale business for thirteen years, then came to East Hartford, Connecticut, where in 1897
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOP, LETOX HILDEN FC I.O TIONS
-
Fred. R. Will
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
the Taylor & Atkins Paper Company was organized for the manufacture of writing papers, tablets, papeteries, envelopes and stationery supplies. A feature of the busi- less is that the paper is made on the premises from raw material, the printing is all done in their own shops from their own forms, and this is probably the only plant in the country where from pulp to finished product every operation is per- formed. The product goes through jobbers to every part of the country. Mr. Atkins was president of the com- pany until 1916, when the death of his partner occurred. He then purchased that interest from the estate and added to his duties the office of treasurer. His life from boyhood until the present has been spent in these two lines of manufacture, leather goods and paper, excepting the thirteen years as a commission paper mer- chant in New York which gave him ex- perience in the selling field that has been of great value to him. His knowledge of the business covers every phase of mill and office, and he is thoroughly qualified for the management of his important busi- ness. He is a man of broad, liberal mind. conducts his business along the line of mutuality, and takes a deep interest in the welfare of those who labor with him. Integrity and uprightness distinguish him, and he has the highest esteem of his community.
The social side of life and the obliga- tions of religion are not neglected. He is a member of Orient Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of West Hartford : Wyllis Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Wolcott Council, Royal and Select Masters ; Wash- ington Commandery, Knights Templar ; Sphinx Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and of Connecticut Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree.
Mr. Atkins married Cora Isabelle Par-
sons, daughter of Charles Theodore Par- sons, of Northampton, Massachusetts, of Revolutionary ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Atkins are the parents of three daughters : Florence S .; Perle, married - Blom- quist ; Ruth.
BILL, Frederick Roswell,
Enterprising Business Man.
Frederick Roswell Bill, president of The Bill Brothers Company, of Hartford, is in the ninth generation of direct lineal descent from John Bill, who in 1635, or at some time earlier, became a member of the Massachusetts Colony, and was pro- genitor of American branches of a family which has held prominent place in the records of many states since Colonial days, and has in the branch to which Frederick Roswell Bill, of Hartford, be- longs, been identified with Connecticut history for about two hundred and fifty years.
The patronymic, Bill, is of ancient ori- gin, and although of early English asso- ciation, it is asserted to have been un- questionably of Norman origin. In the time of the Norman Conquest, the Nor- man soldiers were of three distinct classes, as are our own ; we have artillery, cavalry and infantry ; they had knights, who were all clad in full armor and mounted ; then, battle-axe, or bill, men ; then, the archers ; these classes ranking in the order given. Milton uses the word as meaning a sword, or a battle-axe. Hall says: "There were sent into France hundreds, and some not able to draw a bow or carry a bill" (axe). The name was also carried into Denmark.
In the county of Shropshire, England, the name of Bill has been traced for five hundred years. Dr. Thomas Bill, the first of the name of whom any especial ac- count has been preserved, was born about 1490, in Bedfordshire. He was a learned
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
physician, and an attendant of the Prin- cess Elizabeth in 1549. Much genealogi- cal data is extant of the Bill family of England, but authentic records of the di- rect antecedents of the immediate ances- tors of John Bill, immigrant ancestor of the American branches of the family, are not at the present ascertainable. The American records, however, authenticate the arrival in Boston, of a boy named John Bill, aged thirteen, who disembarked from the ship "Hopewell" in 1635; also that one Mary Bill, aged eleven, came in the ship "Planter" about the same time. There is little reason to doubt that these children were the children of John and Dorothy Bill (who were already of the colony and must have arrived in Boston prior to 1635), for we find the girl, Mary Bill, apparently a member of the Tuttle household, her name following theirs on the list of passengers. On January 21, 1638-39, Richard Tuttell became respon - sible to the town of Boston for "one Dorothie Bill, widdowe, a sojourner in his house." It is presumed that she was his sister, the widow of John Bill. The name of Bill is first mentioned in the records of the town of Boston, the refer- ence being: "John Bill died, tenth month, 1638." No record has been preserved of the death of his widow. They had a num- ber of children, and Philip Bill is believed to have been their third child and son. He was born in England, about 1620. In 1660, there is trace of him as a debtor to the estate of William Burnell, of Pulling Point, then a part of Boston. On May II, 1663, he was a resident of Ipswich. Miss Caulkins, in her "History of New Lon- don," places him among the arrivals in that town at "about 1668." He settled on the east side of the Thames river, in that portion of the town of New London in- corporated in 1705 as the town of Groton. His near neighbors were Robert Allyn
and George Greer, and eventually he be- came possessed of considerable land. He died on July 6, 1683, and his widow, Han- nah, later married Samuel Bucknall, of New London. She died in 1709.
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