USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 4 > Part 29
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prior to November 17, 1696, daughter of Sergeant Job and Mary (Wolcott) Drake.
(III) David Dewey, son of Israel and Abigail (Drake) Dewey, was born at Windsor, Connecticut, January 11, 1676, and died at Westfield, Massachusetts, No- vember 30, 1712. He was a weaver by trade and settled at Westfield about the year 1700. He joined the church, July 25, 1700. He served as constable in 1705; was selectman, 1708-09, and deacon of the Westfield church in 1712 and later. In 1707 he served as schoolmaster at West- field and was paid ten pounds as a quar- ter's salary. He was prudent and thrifty, and his estate was appraised at £554. He married, about 1699, Sarah -, born in 1682, died August 3. 1756. His will was proved February 3, 1712-13.
(IV) Isaac Dewey, son of David and Sarah Dewey, was born in Westfield, Massachusetts. September 10, 1708, and died at Granby. He moved to what is now Granby, Connecticut, about 1736, and was admitted freeman there, Septem- ber 3, 1740. He married (intentions dated July II. 1734) Abigail Bagg, born Sep- tember 15, 1707. at Westfield, and died May 12, 1773. daughter of Daniel and Hannah Bagg.
(V) Aaron Dewey, son of Isaac and Abigail (Bagg) Dewey, was born at Sims- bury (now Granby, Connecticut), July 27, 1747, and died February 11, 1825. He fought in the Revolutionary War. and probably was the Aaron Dewey who was a corporal in Captain Eliphlet Bulkeley's company on the Lexington Alarm. April 19. 1775. He married Bedee Gillett, born in 1747. and died December 15. 1840.
(VI) Aaron (2) Dewey, son of Aaron (1) and Bedee (Gillett) Dewey. was born at Granby, Connecticut. in 1781, and died there. September 30, 1826. He married, in 1810, Louisa Gillett. born in 1787, died Au- gust 25. 1860, daughter of Deacon Gillett.
(VII) Watson Dewey, son of Aaron
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(2) and Louisa (Gillett) Dewey, was born at Granby, Connecticut, October 8, 1813, and died there, March 4, 1884. He was educated in the public schools of Granby, and after completing his studies learned the trade of carriage maker. He was in business on his own account for many years as a manufacturer and repairer of carriages, wagons, etc., and was success- ful in this undertaking. He was in turn a Democrat, Whig and Republican, and always took an active interest in town affairs. He served as selectman, justice of the peace and judge of probate, with credit to himself and to the entire satis- faction of his fellow citizens. He married (first) July 8, 1840, Jane C. Alderman, born in 1817, died May 21, 1847, daughter of Ezekiel and Julia (Gillett) Alderman. They were the parents of two children : George Melville and Jay Alderman. Mr. Dewey married (second) November 4, 1847, Susannah H. McLean, born in Sep- tember, 1823, died May 29, 1854, daugh- ter of Henry and Susannah (Gillett) Mc- Lean. Mr. Dewey married (third) Octo- ber 9, 1854, at Granby, Ellen Jane Beebe, born at West Springfield, March 10, 1833, died at Hartford, July 12, 1908, daughter of George and Elizabeth (Thompson) Beebe. They were the parents of four children : Bertha Florence, deceased ; Ed- ward Watson, of whom further; Kate Estelle, wife of George Seymour Godard, State Librarian, Hartford, Connecticut ; and Charles Thompson, born in Granby, Connecticut, December 22, 1864, edu- cated in public school and Williston Seminary, was associated in business with his brother, Edward W., for a year, then removed to Hartford and has since been identified with the commercial life of that city ; he married Lucy Ellen, daughter of Park and Hannah (Davis) Avery, of Led- yard, Connecticut.
(VIII) Edward Watson Dewey, son of Watson and Ellen Jane (Beebe) Dewey, was born at Granby, Connecti- cut, October 29, 1857. He was educated in public schools, and at Williston Semi- nary, Easthampton, Massachusetts. Ex- cept for the period from 1880 to 1884, when he was clerking in Westfield, he resided on the old homestead until 1901. After his father's decease in 1884, he re- turned to Granby to settle the estate, and he purchased a store there which he con- ducted successfully for four years. In the fall of 1906 he, with his widowed mother, removed to Hartford, where he has re- sided continuously since. It is but natu- ral that from earliest youth he should have taken a keen interest in public affairs, as he breathed this spirit in the atmosphere in which he was reared. He was elected to represent the town in the General Assembly in 1889; he served as chairman of the Republican town com- mittee ; he held the office of judge of probate in his district from 1886 to 1898; from 1891 until 1907 he served as county commissioner for Hartford county, and since 1907 has been high sheriff of Hart- ford county. In all these positions of trust and responsibility, Sheriff Dewey has sought to serve the best interests of all the people, and the duties and respon- sibilities of the various offices he filled were performed in an efficient and satis- factory manner. The sheriff does not arrive hastily at conclusions, and once he has made up his mind he has the force- fulness to carry to a successful conclu- sion any undertaking that has his ap- proval. Withal, he is diplomatic and courteous, and his genial personality has won for him a host of friends. He is a member of St. Mark's Lodge. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Granby, of which he is past master.
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(The Thompson Line).
It is a tradition in the Thompson family that William and Margaret Thompson left Scotland for America in the year 1716, ac- companied by their family of seven sons and two daughters. For some reason they tarried in County Kerry, Ireland, where William Thompson died; that in his last hours he urged the family to carry out their original intention of settling in America. Accordingly the fatherless fam- ily sailed for the New World, about 1718, with other Scotch families, the Harpers, Scotts, etc. They were proud and exclu- sive, marrying mostly among themselves during the earlier generations.
(II) Samuel Thompson, son of William and Margaret Thompson, was born in Scotland, 1691, and died February 23, 1782. He married Elizabeth Mckinney, who died October 22, 1776, in her ninetieth year.
(III) James Thompson, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Mckinney) Thompson, was born 1724, and died June 20, 1790. He married Elizabeth McKnight, of East Windsor, Connecticut, who died March 18, 1825.
(IV) Colonel William Thompson, son of James and Elizabeth (McKnight) Thompson, was born November 17, 1762, and died April 2, 1829. He married for his second wife Tamar Holton, who died April 5, 1858, aged eighty-six years. They were the parents of Elizabeth, of whom further.
(V) Elizabeth Thompson. daughter of Colonel William and Tamar (Holton) Thompson, was born February 5, 1802. She married (first) January 13. 1825, George Beebe, and they were the parents of Ellen Jane Beebe, aforementioned as the wife of Watson Dewey. After the death of George Beebe, she married (sec- ond) Gurdon Smith, and her death oc- curred in Granby, Connecticut, in 1891.
HAGARTY, Frank Andrew,
Attorney, Public Servant.
It is the fond boast of America that under its beneficent institutions any citi- zen may advance himself in all that makes for good citizenship and prosperity. Espe- cially is this true of the youth who is sur- rounded by multitudes of educational in- fluences, free of access to those who seek. Gifted with an investigating mind and pos- sessed of worthy ambition, the subject of this biography started early in life to ad- vance his prospects.
Frank A. Hagarty was born January 29, 1870, in Hartford, one of a large fam- ily, and very early in life set out to main- tain himself and to aid in the maintenance of his younger brothers and sisters. The father was employed for many years by the Hartford Gas Company, and later by the Street Railway Company. The son attended St. Peter's Parochial School, and when still a small boy employed the hours after school in lighting gas lamps in the city. With his ladder and box of matches he made his rounds faithfully, and the lamps in his circuit were always found lighted at the proper time. At the age of thirteen years he found regular employ- ment with the Atlantic Screw Corpora- tion, his first job being the sorting of screws. This discouraging and monoto- nous task he assailed with vigor and in- dustry, and in a short time was promoted to the position of shipping clerk, where he continued for more than a dozen years. Having been deprived by circumstances of the opportunities given to most Ameri- can boys in education. he employed his leisure hours in reading. He made long excursions for one of his years in the field of literature, and thus his mind was ex- panded and his ambitions strengthened. Though his development was somewhat slow, it was sure, and the foundation of
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his subsequent career of usefulness was well laid. At the age of twenty-eight years he determined to enter upon the study of law, and this he carried on at night for some time, and subsequently pursued a course under the instruction of William F. Henney, one of his loyal and appreciative friends, where he studied afternoons, while continuing his work as shipping clerk in the forenoons. The minimum time laid down by the bar asso- ciation for study-three years-sufficed to secure his admission to the bar. Hav- ing had no college training, he was re- quired by the board of examiners to pass a literary examination as well as one re- garding his legal acquirements. Both ex- aminations he passed successfully, and in accordance with the recommendation of the board was admitted to practice in 1902. In that year he was elected a coun- cilman from the Seventh Ward of Hart- ford, and thus entered upon his political career which has been successful, credit- able to himself, and highly satisfactory to his constituents. He was reëlected in 1903 and in 1904 was chosen alderman. In that year and again in 1906 he was candidate for State Senator from the Third District, a district which was very strongly Democratic in political senti- ment. Mr. Hagarty has always been a consistent and earnest Republican, and though he ran ahead of his ticket in each campaign, he was defeated by a very narrow margin. In one election the ma- jority declared against him at first was only one, but recount developed a major- ity of thirteen votes against him.
In the meantime, Mr. Hagarty was as busy in practicing law as he had been in study, and in 1905 he was appointed spe- cial prosecuting attorney, and one year later a member of the board of park com- missioners. In 1907 he resigned both these offices to accept the position of post-
master of the city of Hartford. For eight years he conducted the affairs of this in- stitution, during a rapid growth of the city and its requirements, and left to his successor one of the most finely organized establishments of its kind in the United States. Many devices for saving time and labor and otherwise increasing the effi- ciency of the office were introduced dur- ing his administration. When the city failed to secure appropriations from the national government for the erection of a new post office, Postmaster Hagarty set to work to improve as far as possible the existing building, and erected the mez- zanine floor, now in operation, which gave much additional room. Under his ad- ministration the parcel post and postal savings bank departments were inaugu- rated, and were put into smooth operation by him. One of his innovations which secured the approval and appreciation of many Hartford people was the establish- ment of an all-night service in the sale of postage stamps. In the spring of 1916 the Republicans of Hartford began to look about for a candidate for mayor, and after much persuasion Mr. Hagarty was in- duced to accept the nomination and make the campaign. He had never been an office seeker, and has been forced into most of his campaigns by the wishes of his friends and his party. While he is a firm believer in the principles of the Re- publican party, he is not by any means a blind partisan, and believes in fairness toward all.
After his election the "Hartford Cou- rant" said of him : "He is the possessor of attributes which may be described as the 'big four' of the letter 'S' for he is safe and sane and sound and sincere." While Mayor Hagarty is a man of prompt action and usually ready decision, he is never hasty in action, and gives to every prob- lem that comes before him the serious
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consideration which it deserves. One of the most prominent points in his record is his faithfulness in keeping every prom- ise. He has not been a promiser in politi- cal campaigns, but his sincerity has never been doubted, and he has ever been guided by his own sense of justice and right. While not without a sense of humor, he is ever earnest and serious, and seems always striving to perform to the best of his ability the duties laid upon him by his fellows. He is not an emotional man, is ever calm and steady. He is always ac- cessible to the public, is courteous and fair, but has no time for quibblers or double-dealers. He is described by his friends as tolerant, considerate and sym- pathetic. He has been in close contact with all classes of the community, and understands the feelings of all. His first aim is to give an honest, efficient and faithful administration, and all other am- bitions are sacrificed to this aim.
CHRIST, Ernest W.,
Corporation Executive, Councilman, Alder- man.
Ernest W. Christ, an enterprising, optimistic resident of New Britain, active in most movements that promise munici- pal, industrial or social betterment of the city, has demonstrated his earnestness and ability in public office on more than one occasion.
He was born in New Britain on April 12, 1876, the son of Ernest K. and Jennie Burnett (Wilson) Christ, and in the forty-one years of his life there has had a good record of earnest endeavor and up- right purpose, and so, having also enter- prise, energy and ability in good measure, as well as a comprehensive knowledge of the principles of sound city government, he has been instrumental in introducing or furthering many projects that have brought advantage to the city, and as a
natural sequence has also himself been voted to positions of honor and con- sequence in the city.
His school days were all passed in the city, and when eighteen years of age he graduated from the New Britain High School. On May 3rd of that year (1894) he entered business life, taking the capacity of office boy at the Stanley Works, New Britain, in the employ of which corporation he has since remained. Not only does this length of service indi- cate well-proven industry and merit; it also indicates steadfastness and loyalty, and a desire to do well for his employer. And the responsible position-that of purchasing agent for the company-to which he was promoted some years ago and still holds, not only demonstrates his capacity for responsible office, but also conveys a clear indication of his moral characteristics, his trustworthiness par- ticularly. The true character of Mr. Christ came to light many years ago in his association with the work of the Young Men's Christian Association, with which he has been identified since his youthful days. Latterly, he has inter- ested himself in the Boys' Club, and his popularity among the boys and his labors in their behalf may be best appreciated by stating the office, that of president, he has held. Convinced, by his personal experience, of the advantages that accrue to youths by early association with others of clean thought and upright manly pur- pose such as are found among the mem- bers of organizations like the Young Men's Christian Association, he has given much of his leisure to foster the move- ment. Assuredly his own career has been much influenced by his early affiliation with the association.
Mr. Christ is a forceful speaker, in much demand, and in consequence often present in prominent capacity at public functions. To what extent his readiness
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of speech and composure when on the public platform can be attributed to his early efforts in the debating club of the Young Men's Christian Association, can- , not of course, be estimated with any de- gree of certainty, but undoubtedly such practice has been of much benefit to him, and must have been a contributing factor in establishing within him the fluency and confidence needed when, later in life, public responsibilities devolved upon him and it became necessary for him to give lucid expression to his opinions in the deliberations in the municipal council chamber. Possibly, nay probably, the first indication exhibited by Mr. Christ that he might become an able public servant, was upon some occasion when in public utterance his good command of language and appropriateness of public expression indicated that quality to his hearers; and probably that celerity of speech was the direct outcome of the frequency of utterance and alertness of mind developed during the argumentative tussles of his youthful days, when the pro or con arguments voiced in the heat of debate at the Young Men's Christian Association (he was president of the de- bating club) were matters of serious moment to him.
Reviewing the public record of Mr. Christ, it becomes at once evident that, having regard to his age, his advance- ment in public office has been such as to bring genuine satisfaction to his friends. His entry to civic office and political work was in 1906, when he became a member of the Republican Town Com- mittee. As a representative of the Third Ward he served on that committee under Edward Wiegand, and when Mr. Wie- gand retired he was elected chairman, Mr. Christ taking office just prior to the National campaign which elected Wil- liam H. Taft to the presidency of the
United States. The Republicans of New Britain, under the energetic chairmanship of Mr. Christ, contributed their quota to that result, and he was retained in the chairmanship until December, 1910, when he was succeeded by Mr. E. F. Hall. As a member of the city administration, Mr. Christ's work began in June, 1908, when he was elected councilman, to fill a vacancy. In the council chamber he be- came an active and strong personality, and was advanced to the board of alder- men by the voters of his ward ; and while serving as alderman he was elected presi- dent pro tempore of the common council, notwithstanding that as such he was senior in executive office to many who were much his senior in age. Ability to give convincing expression to particular theories and opinions is the factor of chiefest importance in the public servant, and presumably that was a factor in se- curing Mr. Christ preferment to the high- est office in the Common Council. Mr. Christ has served three terms as alder- man, and has been president pro tem. of the Common Council for five consecutive years, so that his prominence in city politics has not been merely temporary, transitory ; he has been well tried, and found to possess the fundamentals most essential to good success in public work. The most essential factor for permanent success in public office is integrity, in its several aspects; next would probably come the power of speech. The latter, without the former, however, would rarely bring more than a transitory advantage. Mr. Christ has both.
In community affairs he takes good part, ready at all times when possible to further any useful project. He is gener- ally popular among the people of New Britain, and has few spare moments. His business associations have brought him into membership of the American
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Iron and Steel Institute, and socially he is a member of the New Britain Club, the Shuttle Meadow Country Club, and the City Club of Hartford. He and his family attend the First Church of Christ (Center Congregational), New Britain, of which he is a member.
Mr. Christ married, on May 18, 1898, Gertrude, daughter of Henry A. and Lucy J. Hall, of New Britain. They have five children: Edward Hall; Curtis Wilson; Henry Adelbert; Margaret Elizabeth ; Barbara Burnett.
The Connecticut State Legislature, during the last session, authorized Gov- ernor Holcomb to appoint a commission of five, consisting of two manufacturers, two engineers or sanitary experts, and one other, to act with the State Board of Health in considering the disposal of fac- tory waste, as regards pollution of streams, etc. Mr. Christ was appointed to the commission, as one of the two manufacturers.
THOMPSON, Alfred Loomis, City Clerk.
Alfred Loomis Thompson, city clerk of New Britain for many years, and identi- fied with the city administration in execu- tive capacity since 1896, has in his long residence in that city advanced so solidly into the esteem of the community that in 1912 he was the unanimous nominee of his party for the mayoralty, and was only defeated by a majority of seventy-five votes. And at the last election, Mr. Thompson received a majority of over two thousand over all the votes cast for opposing candidates for the city clerkship.
The Thompson families are numerous throughout New England, and probably are linked to one of the Colonial families of that name. John Thompson came to this country "in the third embarcation
from England," debarking at Plymouth early in the month of May, 1622, being then only six years of age, and under the guardianship of his stepfather, whose name "is concealed from the memory of man, behind that impenetrable veil of oblivion which time is spreading over the generations of man," as stated in a "Thompson Genealogy" printed and pub- lished in Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1842. Then a James Thompson was one of the first settlers of Charlestown, Mas- sachusetts, and Colonial church records show that he, with his wife Elizabeth, was admitted to membership in the First Church of Charlestown, August 31, 1633. The name Thompson is quoted in the early records of Connecticut. The line from which Alfred Loomis Thompson, of New Britain, sprang, were early settlers in the vicinity of Portland, where Alfred L. was born in a house that had stood for "over two hundred years ;" and among the entries in the Portland Burying Ground Records, now on file with the Connecticut Historical Society, is one recording that Margaret Thompson died at Portland, on December 3, 1834, aged eighty-two years, and was there buried. And in the maternal line, his descent con- nects with the Case family, the American progenitor of which was John Case, who arrived from England at the Massachu- setts Colony on September 3, 1635, de- barking on that date from the ship "Dor- set." He was one of the original proprie- tors at Hartford, and is mentioned in the Colonial records as having sold six pieces of land in Hartford and vicinity in Feb- ruary, 1640.
Alfred Loomis Thompson was born in the town of Portland. on December 5, 1851, the son of John Loomis and Mari- etta (Case) Thompson. His father was a native of Vernon, Connecticut, but his mother had been born in Portland, and
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spent her entire life there, both before and after her marriage, up to the time when the Thompson family removed to New Britain. Alfred L. as a boy attended the Portland district schools, but when he was thirteen years of age the family re- moved to New Britain, where he con- tinued his schooling, graduating from the common to the high school, after passing through which he determined to immedi- ately enter upon a business career. His first employment was with the Stanley Company, in the fall of 1867, but six months later he became an employee of the Basket Company. During the winter of 1869 he again attended school, follow- ing the plan he had adopted earlier when at Portland, where he, as a boy, used to work hard on the paternal acres in sum- mer, and work as hard, but at studies in the district school, each winter. In 1870, young Thompson was placed on the pay- roll of the Stanley Rule and Level Com- pany, and with the exception of a few weeks of the next year, during which he was in the employ of the James Minor Paper Box Manufacturing Company, returning to the Stanley Works in June, 1871, remained with that well-known company until August, 1892, in the capac- ity of contractor.
During the previous decade, Mr. Thompson had come into some promi- nence militarily as an officer of the Na- tional Guard and as an enthusiast in military tactics, and in 1892, when he closed his connection with the Stanley Works Company, he found enjoyment in undertaking the duties of military in- structor at the Connecticut Episcopal Academy at Cheshire. The following year he returned to New Britain to assume the managership of the People's Coal and Wood Company, which office he held until 1896, resigned when he was elected city clerk of New Britain on the
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