USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 4 > Part 26
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Their son, the Rev. Gurdon Robins, grandfather of Charles H. Robins, was born February 6, 1786, at Windsor, Con- necticut. He was pastor of the North Baptist Church at Hartford for a number of years, and published the "Christian Secretary," a magazine which has been continued to the present day. He also engaged in the book publishing business, the most notable of the books issued by him being "Peter Parley's Tales." On October 7, 1809, he married Miss Julia Savage. Rev. Gurdon Robins died on February 4, 1864.
Their son, Gurdon Robins, Jr., was associated for a number of years with his father in the book publishing business. Later he travelled for several New York publishing houses. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in the Sixteenth Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infan- try, of which he became quartermaster. He remained in active service until he was captured at Plymouth, North Caro- lina. He was confined in Libby prison and later at Andersonville, and when at the end of nine months he was exchanged, his health was so broken that he was not expected to live. Upon his return to Hartford, however, he entered the em- ploy of the Woodruff & Beach Iron Works as paymaster, a position which he held for many years.
Mr. Robins was always deeply inter- ested in politics and all events of public
interest. He was a Republican. His ability and fitness for office and his pleas- ing personality placed him in popularity, and he was constantly sought for office. Until his strength began to fail him, mak- ing retirement necessary, he spent most of his time in public service, filling the post of town clerk, to which he was elected in April, 1872, for several years, after which he was elected a member of the council from the old Fourth Ward. He was a thirty-second degree Mason, and a member of the Odd Fellows. His death occurred on May 23, 1883. On May 16, 1840, he married Miss Harriet Jerusha Williams, of Norwich, Connecti- cut. There were two children born of this marriage, of whom only one, Robert Williams Robins, lived to maturity. On April 25, 1849, Mr. Robins married for his second wife Miss Mary Jane Redfield, daughter of Elias Redfield, of Essex, Con- necticut. Their children are: Mary M., who married W. W. Stillman; Julia A., who married Frank D. Munger; and Charles H.
Charles H. Robins, with whom this sketch has more particularly to do, was born July 9, 1859, at Essex, Connecticut. He was educated in the elementary and high schools of Hartford, and upon leav- ing the latter entered the Hartford post office as an assistant stamp clerk. He held this position for four years, upon the expiration of which time he went to Meri- den, Connecticut, to fill the position of assistant postmaster for one year. Re- turning to the Hartford post office, he filled the position of relief clerk for four years until 1885.
In that year Mr. Robins terminated his connection with the Post Office Depart- ment, and resigned to become bookkeeper for the United States Stamping Works and the Portland Stamping Works at Portland, Connecticut. He gave the work
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his undivided attention, determined to master all of its phases. The consequent grasp of the business and knowledge of conditions which he gained brought him promotion, and he was given full charge of the office. In 1888 he resigned this position to accept a similar one with the Dwight Slate Machine Company of Hart- ford. While there, in 1890 he was ap- pointed record clerk in the Internal Rev- enue office under Collector John 1. Hutch- inson. Mr. Robins was later promoted to the post of deputy collector which he filled for four years. In March, 1894, he resigned this office.
The month following his resignation Mr. Robins was elected on the Republican ticket to the office of city auditor, which office he has administered from that time to the time of present writing (1917), being reelected at each succeeding elec- tion. Further evidence of the esteem and favor in which he is held can not be found than the fact of his recurrent election to the same post. His administration has been highly successful and profitable to the city. Since the time of his first elec- tion the name of his office has been changed to that of controller.
Mr. Robins was a charter member of Lincoln Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of which lodge he is past chancellor. He is also past president of the endowment rank of that order. He is a member of Hart- ford Lodge, No. 19, Benevolent, Protec- tive Order of Elks, of the Putnam. Pha- lanx of which he is treasurer ; of the Mid- dletown Yacht Club, and of the Hartford Gun Club.
On November 5, 1890. Mr. Robins mar- ried Miss Jennie Williams, daughter of Henry G. Williams, of Portland, Connec- ticut. They have one daughter. Ethel Williams.
His career in public life in the positions of trust which he has held, have amply demonstrated his dependability and abil-
ity to carry responsibility. Mr. Robins' loyalty to his work in the service of Hart- ford has been unfaltering. He is a man of great public spirit, and possesses, as must every public official, the power of winning and holding friends. No more sincere tribute can be given Mr. Robins than the honor and admiration of his friends.
BELL, George Newton,
Surgeon.
George Newton Bell, successful sur- geon of Hartford, Connecticut, is the son of the late Newton Stephen Bell, a former well known practitioner of Windsor. He is descended from an ancient Scotch fam- ily which was established in Dumfries- shire previous to year 1300. A branch of the family subsequently settled in Ire- land when King James colonized the northern part of that country with Scotch Presbyterians and English Episcopalians. The first of the name found on Irish rec- ords was Andrew Bell, but it is unknown whether he was the progenitor of all the family which is still numerous in the County Armagh. We do know, however, that he was the tenant of John Hamilton, who had a grant of five hundred acres in that county in the year 1619 and that sev- eral of the family came to New England from the Scotch counties of Ireland about a century later. In 1743 John Bell died in Londonderry, New Hampshire. His son James saw service during the Revolu- tionary War, and was the father of Sam- nel Bell, who was also in the Revolution, serving as a private in two New Hamp- shire regiments. Samuel Bell married Samantha Gibbs, of Brecket, Massachu- setts, and had by her a son, William Bell, who was the father of Dr. Newton S. Bell.
Dr. Newton S. Bell was born in Ches- ter, Massachusetts, and died in Windsor,
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Connecticut, in April, 1910, aged seventy- one years. He studied medicine under another Dr. Bell, in Westfield, Massachu- setts, and later attended the University of Vermont Medical School in Burling- ton, where he received the degree of Doc- tor of Medicine in 1864. Then he prac- ticed his profession in Blandford, Massa- chusetts, for eight years, and finally set- tled in Windsor, where he spent the re- mainder of his life in successful practice. He was a member of the Masonic order in Windsor, and was married to Mary Hatch, daughter of Walter Hatch, of Blanford, Massachusetts.
Their son, George N. Bell, was born in Blanford, Massachusetts, May 30, 1870. He was educated at the high school in Windsor, Connecticut, and later was graduated from the Hartford High School in the class of 1889. Upon graduation he entered the Yale Medical School, and re- ceived the degree of Doctor of Medicine i11 1892. The following two years he spent as an interne at the Hartford Hos- pital, and then began general practice in Hartford. Subsequently he became an assistant to the late Dr. Oliver C. Smith, and gradually made surgery his specialty. He is now visiting surgeon to the Hart- ford Hospital, consulting surgeon to the Hartford Isolation Hospital and to the Litchfield County Hospital. He is a fel- low of the American College of Surgeons, and is a member of the New England branch of the American Urological Asso- ciation, the American Medical Associa- tion, the Connecticut State Medical Soci- ety, the Hartford County Medical Asso- ciation, Hartford Medical Society, the Yale Alumni Association, the Hartford and the Hartford Golf clubs.
Dr. Bell married, September 26, 1900, Elizabeth Colston Palmer, daughter of Loren and Sophia Gardner Palmer, of Middle Haddam, Connecticut.
SMITH, Henry Frederick, Public Official.
Henry Frederick Smith, who has served in the capacity of town and city clerk of Hartford for two decades, and whose re- election in the hard-fought campaign of 1916 testifies better than any words that might be written of his ability, character and the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow-citizens, is a native of Weimar in the Grand Duchy of Saxon- Weimar-Eisenach, Germany, born July 12, 1853, son of Robert Henry and Eliz- abeth (Krumpholz) Smith.
Robert Henry Smith, father of Henry Frederick Smith, was also a native of Weimar, born September 20, 1828, and died July 23, 1907. He was educated in the citizen's school, and learned the trade of file-maker. After serving his appren- ticeship, he went to Berlin, where he en- tered the army and served the regulation term of three years. He then returned to Weimar and worked at his trade with his brother. During that period Mr. Smith became acquainted with and married Elizabeth Krumpholz. They set sail for the United States in September, 1853, and after a voyage of nearly thirteen weeks arrived in New York on Thanksgiving Day. After following his trade for a short period of time in Brooklyn, he re- moved with his family to Hitchcocksville, Connecticut, where he was employed dur- ing the winter, and in May, 1854, came to Hartford, Connecticut. He entered the employ of James W. Arthur, a locksmith and file-maker, and remained with him until 1868, when he purchased an interest in the business, the partners adopting the firm name of Arthur & Smith. This asso- ciation was continued until about 1884, when Mr. Smith withdrew from the busi- ness and entered the employ of the New York & New Haven Railroad, where he
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remained for some years, retiring on ac- count of old age. His declining years were spent with his daughter, Mrs. Rose (Smith) Brunner, in Brooklyn, and with his daughter, Mrs. George Prutting, of East Hartford, his visits alternating be- tween the two homes, dying at the home of the latter.
Henry Frederick Smith acquired his preliminary education in the German- English school in Hartford, and from the time he was ten years of age until he was twelve years of age he attended the Brown School. On July 19. 1865, he re- turned to his native place, Weimar, and for the following three years was a stu- dent in the Real-Schule. He returned to his home in Hartford, Connecticut, in July, 1868, and in the fall of that year began his business career by entering the employ of Foster & Company, wholesale grocers. As might be expected of one of his birth and training, Mr. Smith was thorough and accurate in all his work. He attended strictly to business, and as the years went by his responsibilities were increased until, when he resigned after a service of twenty-seven years and three months, to resume his present office, his position with the firm was one of im- portance and responsibility.
During these years he had also taken an active interest in municipal affairs, and the time came when his party made him its nominee for the office of town clerk. That was in October, 1893, and he failed of election by thirty-nine votes. At the following election, in the fall of 1895, he was elected by three hundred and sixty- four votes, and assumed office on January 6, 1896. Since that time he has been regu- larly reelected, and has performed the duties of his office in the same painstak- ing and efficient manner that character- ized his work in the grocery business. The people of Hartford feel that the in-
terests over which he has been given charge will receive careful and intelligent attention, and Mr. Smith's career proves conclusively that he is entitled to the trust reposed in him. His first election to office was in 1887, when he was chosen to represent the old Fourth Ward in the City Council. He was reelected in 1888. While a member of that body he served on the claims committee, of which he was clerk, and he was also a member of the amusements committee.
It is quite natural for a man of Ger- man ancestry, and a native of Germany, to take an interest in military affairs, and Mr. Smith has been no exception to the rule. In 1872 he joined the Connecticut National Guard and remained in the serv- ice for nineteen years. He is now on the retired list as a first lieutenant. In 1896 he joined the Putnam Phalanx and since 1897 has been its adjutant. He has taken an active interest in fraternal matters and holds membership in a number of the im- portant orders as follows: Lafayette Lodge, No. 100, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons : Pythagoras Chapter, No. 17 Royal Arch Masons; Wolcott Coun- cil, No. 1, Royal and Select Masters; Cyrus Goodell Chapter of Rose Croix; Hartford Council, Princes of Jerusalem ; Charter Oak Lodge of Perfection, An- cient Accepted Scottish Rite: Washing- ton Commandery. No. 1. Knights Tem- plar : Connecticut Consistory ; Sphinx Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of which he has been marshal for many years : Sphinx Temple Arab Patrol Association (honorary) ; Sphinx Temple Band (honorary) : Shrin- ers' Oasis : Hartford Chapter, No. 64, Or- der of Eastern Star : Charter Oak Lodge. No. 2, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows : Lincoln Lodge. No. 55, Knights of Pythias: Hira Temple. No. 90, Knights of Khorassan: Teutonia Lodge, No. 9,
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D. H. S .; Hartford Lodge, No. 19, Be- nevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Mizpah Tent, No. 11, Knights of the Maccabees ; Miriam Rebekah Lodge, No. 18, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Veteran Association, Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows, and the City Club of Hartford. He has always been inter- ested in music, especially choral singing, and is a member of the Hartford Saenger- bund and the Hartford Maennerchor ; he is also a member of the Hartford Turner- bund, German Rifle Club, Republican Club, Get Together Club, the Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Smith married, October 29, 1878, Rose, daughter of William Bihl, of Hock- anum, Connecticut. She was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut, December 26, 1859. From this union one son was born, Ernest W., whose death at the age of six years came as a terrible blow to the par- ents.
Mr. Smith is president of the Land, Mortgage & Title Company of Hartford ; vice-president of the Hartford Mortgage Investment Company ; contributing men- ber of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation ; trustee of Charter Oak Lodge, In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows ; trustee of Lincoln Lodge, Knights of Pythias; member of executive committee of the Putnam Phalanx and chairman of the grand committee on the one hundredth anniversary of Odd Fellowship to be cele- brated in April, 1919.
MATHER, Frank Malvern, Lawyer, Public Official.
There are few names so prominently connected with our early New England history as that of Mather, some of whose members played a most important part in the affairs of that time and region and were instrumental in the establishment of
customs and traditions which have be- come in time to be regarded as funda- mental in American life. That branch of the Mather family which is at the present time represented by Frank Malvern Mather, clerk of the Probate Court of Hartford, Connecticut, is descended from one John Mather, of Lowton, Winwick parish, Lancashire, England, where he flourished in the early part of the six- teenth century. He was the grandfather, and his son, Thomas Mather, of Lowton, was the father of the Rev. Richard Mather, the immigrant ancestor and the founder of the family of Mather in this country.
The Rev. Richard Mather was born in the year 1596 at Lowton, Winwick par- ish, Lancashire, and came to this country at an early age. He settled at Dorches- ter, Massachusetts, where his death oc- curred April 22, 1669. He was twice mar- ried, his first wife having been Catherine Holt, a daughter of Edmond Holt, of Bury, with whom he was united Septem- ber 29, 1624, and whose death occurred in 1655. He married (second) Sarah (Story) Cotton, widow of the Rev. John Cotton, and daughter of Richard Hank- ridge, of Boston. The Rev. Richard Mather was the father of the following children: The Rev. Samuel, Timothy, mentioned below; the Rev. Nathaniel, Joseph, the Rev. Eleazer, and the Rev. Dr. Increase Mather.
Timothy Mather, of Dorchester, Mas- sachusetts, was born at Liverpool, Eng- land, in the year 1628. He accompanied his parents to the new world, and made his home at Dorchester, where his death occurred January 14, 1684. He was twice married, his first wife having been Cath- erine Atherton, a daughter of Major-Gen- eral Humphrey Atherton. He married. (second) Elizabeth Weeks, a daughter of Amiel Weeks, March 20, 1678-79. Timo-
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thy Mather was the father of the follow- ing children : The Rev. Samuel, Richard, mentioned below; Catherine, Nathaniel, Joseph and Atherton.
Richard Mather was born December 20, 1653, at Dorchester, Massachusetts. He removed, however, from that place to the colony at Lyme, Connecticut, where he resided during the major portion of his life, and where his death eventually oc- curred August 17, 1688. He married, July 1, 1680, Catherine Wise, and they were the parents of the following chil- dren : Captain Timothy, Elizabeth, Sam- uel, and Lieutenant Joseph, mentioned below.
Lieutenant Joseph Mather, of Lyme, Connecticut, was born at that town, June 29, 1686, and died there September 30, 1749. We are not acquainted with many details of his life, and even the maiden name of his wife is unknown to us, though we are aware that her Christian name was Phebe. They were the parents of the following children: Joseph, Dr. Eleazar, Phebe, John, Jerusha, Samuel, Benjamin, mentioned below; Ann and Simeon.
Benjamin Mather was born September 19, 1731, at Lyme, Connecticut. He re- moved. however. to Whately, Massachu- setts, where he spent most of his life, and where his death occurred December 25, 1821. At the time of the Lexington Alarm he marched to the relief of Bos- ton, being a sergeant in the company from the town of Colchester. He was twice married, the first time to Irene Parsons, August 10. 1753. Her death occurred August 22, 1761. and on March 14. 1763. he married (second) Abigail Worthing- ton. By his two marriages he was the father of the following children: Irene. Gibbons, Annie, Gibbons (2), Betsey Worthington, Abigail, William, Rhoda. Elias, Samuel, Joseph, mentioned below ;
and Benjamin (twins), Cotton and Marsh- field P.
Joseph Mather, of Whately, Massa- chusetts, was born at that place, March 15, 1776, and died there August 30, 1861. He married (first) Lucinda Morton, and (second) Adency Graves. He was the father of the following children: George W., Frank, mentioned below; Lucinda, Benjamin, Julia S., Joseph and Levi.
Frank Mather, of Painesville, Ohio, was born at Whately, Massachusetts, May 13, 1810. He went west during the Civil War and made his home at Paines- ville, Ohio, where his death occurred in 1901. He married Clarissa T. Fisk, May 7, 1835, and they were the parents of the following children : Ira Arms, mentioned below; Pliny Fisk, born November 8, 1840, married Louise McCaslin, Novem- ber 30, 1871; Henry William, born June 15, 1845, married Emma A. Chevalier, Oc- tober 1, 1868.
Ira Arms Mather was born February 3, 1837, at Shelburne, Massachusetts. While still merely a lad, he worked on his father's farm in that region, and for his education attended the local public schools. This life continued until he had reached the age of sixteen years, when he went to Springfield, Massachusetts, and there was employed in a large dry goods store, where he worked for a number of years. At about the beginning of the Civil War, he removed from the east and settled in Ohio at the town of Paines- ville. Lake county, and there engaged in the dry goods business on his own ac- count for a number of years. He con- tinued in business at Painesville, and later at Cleveland during the major part of his active life, and was connected with a number of various enterprises, notably that of the oil refining business, being with a concern of which his brother was secretary and general manager. He also
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engaged in various manufacturing pro- jects, most of these in Cleveland, Ohio. It was at this city that his wife died in 1900, after which event Mr. Mather re- turned to the east and took up his abode with his son, Frank Malvern Mather, the subject of this sketch. For a number of years he was associated with the Ætna Insurance Company. His death occurred January 16, 1917, at his son's house. Mr. Mather was a man of very strong re- ligious proclivities. He was born of Con- gregational parents, but he early em- braced Unitarianism and was a member of the Unitarian church in Cleveland for many years and superintendent of the Sunday school there. Upon his removal to Hartford, he joined the First Uni- tarian Church of that city, and for a time was president of the society and superin- tendent of the Sunday school, but during the last three years of his life he became greatly interested in Christian Science and attended the Second Church of Christ, Scientist, in Hartford. Ira A. Mather married, August 15, 1860, Jennie A. Jewett, of Granby, Connecticut, a daughter of Dr. Peter Jenner Jewett, a well known resident of that place. They were the parents of two children: Frank Malvern, mentioned below; and Alice Gertrude, who died in childhood.
Frank Malvern Mather was born at Painesville, Ohio, and received his edu- cation at the public schools of Cleveland, whither his parents had removed when he was but one and a half years old. Upon leaving school he was employed in a number of business concerns. He had, however, determined to make the law his profession, and with this end in view en- tered the law department of the Univer- sity of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1888 and the degree of Bachelor of Laws. At this time he was admitted to the bar of the State
of Michigan, and later to that of Ohio, and began the practice of his profession in the city of Cleveland in the latter State. In the month of December, 1896, he came to Hartford, where he was sworn in as clerk of the Probate Court by Judge Har- rison B. Freeman, January 1, 1897, a post which he has held ever since. He was soon after admitted to the Connecticut bar, and is well known now to both bench and bar in this State. He was a member of the City Council for four years. Mr. Mather is one of the trustees of the First Unitarian Congregational Society, and a member of the society's committee and treasurer of their board of trustees. He is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He has always been much interested in amateur dramatics, and is a member of the Playlovers Club of Hartford, which has for several years produced some very creditable amateur theatrical perform- ances. He also belongs to the Veteran Second Division Naval Reserves, and on the occasion of the outbreak of the war between the United States and Spain he volunteered for service, but was rejected on account of physical disability. He is a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 4, An- cient Free and Accepted Masons ; and of Summit Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Mather takes a keen interest in the subject of local history and genealogy, and is a member of the Con- necticut Historical Society and the Con- necticut Society of the Sons of the Ameri- can Revolution.
Mr. Mather was united in marriage, June 24, 1903, with Florence E. Moses, a daughter of William H. Moses, of Hart- ford. To Mr. and Mrs. Mather three chil- dren have been born, two of whom are now living: Malvern Jewett, born Sep- tember 1, 1908, and Sylvia Lenore, born October 10, 1910.
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BONE, Robert D.,
Public Official.
Robert Douglas Bone, member of the board of assessors, and a highly regarded citizen of Hartford, Connecticut, in which city he was born January 15, 1860, is the son of John and Catherine (Douglas) Bone.
John Bone was a native of New Gallo- way, Scotland, and from that country mi- grated to America in 1849, locating im- mediately thereafter in Hartford, Con- necticut, where he remained for the re- mainder of his life, which was a life of useful worthy citizenship. In Scotland he had been apprenticed to the trade of pattern-making, and in the New World followed that useful occupation for the greater part of his life. He is well re- membered in Hartford as one of the members of the old Volunteer Fire De- partment, having affiliated with the or- ganization on the same night as Chief Eaton. He subsequently was a mem- ber of the veteran organization. Pos- sessed of steady habits, strong personal- ity and conscientious honest actions, John Bone gained during his long residence in Hartford very many firm friends.
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