USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 4 > Part 42
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BUCK, John Ransom,
Lawyer, Congressman.
Among the men prominent in the legal profession and in the political life of Con- necticut none stood higher than John
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Ransom Buck, a representative citizen of Hartford. His ancestors lived in Glas- tonbury from the earliest colonial days. One of them was John Hollister, the first settler of the town. Lieutenant John Hol- lister came, probably, from Weymouth, England, and was in this country about 1642. He was admitted freeman at the General Court in Boston, May 10, 1643, and may have spent a short time at Wey- mouth, Massachusetts, or, at least, owned land there. He was early in Wethers- field, Connecticut, which town he repre- sented in the General Court in 1644, 1654 and 1656. As lieutenant he was a useful member of the militia, and died in 1665. He married Joanna, daughter of Richard and Joanna Treat, among the first set- tlers of Wethersfield. John Hollister, eldest son of John and Joanna (Treat) Hollister, was born about 1644, probably in Wethersfield, and was one of the lead- ing men of the town until his death, No- vember 24, 1711. He married, November 20, 1667, Sarah Goodrich, born August 8, 1649, in Wethersfield, eldest daughter of William and Sarah (Marvin) Goodrich, granddaughter of Matthew and Elizabeth Marvin, who came from London in "The Increase" in 1635. Thomas Hollister, sec- ond son of John and Sarah Hollister, was born January 4, 1672, in Wethersfield, and lived in Glastonbury, where he was a weaver, deacon of the church, and died October 12, 1741. He married Dorothy, daughter of Joseph Hills, of Glastonbury, born 1677, died October 5, 1741. Their fourth son, Thomas Hollister, born Janu- ary 13, 1707, in Glastonbury, settled on a farm in Eastbury parish of that town, where he died September 17, 1784. He married, January 1, 1734, Abigail Tal- cott, who was born 1717, in Glastonbury, daughter of Sergeant Nathaniel and Eliz- abeth (Pitkin) Talcott, of Glastonbury, died March 31, 1812. She was skilled in
healing the sick and very useful to her neighbors. Her eldest son, Thomas Hol- lister, was born September 23, 1738, in Eastbury, where he was a farmer, and died January 27, 1813. He married, Feb- ruary 19, 1767, Jemima Goodrich, born September 16, 1741, in Glastonbury, daughter of William and Rachel (Sav- age) Goodrich. Their second daughter, Lucretia Hollister, born about 1772, be- came the wife of Benoni Buck.
Benoni Buck was a descendant of the ancient Buck family of Wethersfield, and was born about 1768-70. He married, January 2, 1791, Lucretia Hollister, as above noted, and their second son was Halsey Buck, born August 28, 1793, in East Glastonbury, where he was a suc- cessful farmer. He married, September 15, 1814, Sarah Ann, daughter of Alex- ander Wood. Their third son is the sub- ject of this biography.
John Ransom Buck was born De- cember 6, 1835, in Glastonbury, Con- necticut, son of Halsey and Sarah Ann (Wood) Buck. His early life was sim- ilar to that of others reared in a rural environment. Under the intelligent and sympathetic guidance of his mother he developed a taste for good reading, and during an eventful and busy life he always managed to devote con- siderable time to extending his ac- quaintance with the best that has been written in history and literature. He was a student at Wesleyan Academy at Wil- braham, Massachusetts, and at Wesleyan University, attending the latter institu- tion for one year, and in 1877 received therefrom the degree of Master of Arts. Upon the completion of his studies, he devoted his time and attention to the pro- fession of school teaching, and for several years held the position of principal of graded schools at East Haddam and other places, and also taught in high schools
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and in several academies. In 1859 he was entered as a law student in the office of Wells & Strong, of Hartford, and in 1862 was admitted to the bar. Later he formed a partnership with Hon. Julius L. Strong, one of his former preceptors, and a mem- ber of Congress for the Hartford district. They conducted business under the style of Strong & Buck, and the association continued until the death of Mr. Strong, on September 7, 1872. On April 1, 1883, Mr. Buck formed a partnership with Hon. Arthur F. Eggleston, who was then State's Attorney for Hartford county, and under the style of Buck & Eggleston the firm prospered and soon numbered among its clients many business corporations, in- cluding a number of towns and other mu- nicipal corporations. This partnership continued until July 1, 1908, when it was dissolved by the retirement of Mr. Eggleston from active business. During the Spanish-American war Mr. Buck act- ed as legal adviser of Governor Lorrin A. Cooke. On July 1, 1908, Mr. Buck formed a partnership with his son, John Halsey Buck, under the firm name of Buck & Buck, and their practice involved the trial of many important cases. Mr. Buck passed away at his home in Hartford, February 6, 1917. In addition to his pro- fessional career, he had many financial interests. He was a director of the State Bank and Trust Company; Hartford County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and the National Fire Insurance Com- pany. He was for many years a trustee of Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and a member of the Board of Education of Hartford for sev- eral years.
Mr. Buck gave his allegiance to the Re- publican party from the time of attain- ing his majority, believing that party to stand for sound economics and good gov- ernment. In 1864 he was appointed as-
sistant clerk of the Connecticut House of Representatives, in 1865 was appointed to the full clerkship, and in 1866 he was elect- ed clerk of the State Senate. In 1868 he served as president of the Hartford Court of Common Council. From 1871 to 1873 he filled the office of city attorney of Hartford, and from 1863 to 1881 was treasurer of Hartford county. In 1879 he was elected to the State Senate, and was made chairman of the committee on corporations and on constitutional amendments. He reported the amend- ment providing for the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court of Errors, and of the Superior Court by the General Assembly upon nomination by the Governor. This amendment was adopted largely as a result of Mr. Buck's untiring efforts. He conducted the hear- ings before the committee of the General Assembly of 1869 that reported in favor of establishing the Court of Common Pleas in Hartford and New Haven coun- ties. This report was adopted and the court established, and no one was more active in securing the passage of this measure than Mr. Buck. He was also largely instrumental in securing the pas- sage, in 1880, of the joint stock law, and was chairman of the committee on cor- porations that had this measure in charge. He was indefatigable in his efforts on be- half of the law that was passed making Hartford the sole capital of the State, and providing for the construction of the new State House. In ISSO Mr. Buck was elected to represent his district in Con- gress, and was again elected in 1884. He was a member of the committees on In- dian affairs, on revision of laws and on naval affairs, and did his full share in bringing about the construction of the new navy which, in later years, was of such service during our war with Spain. After the expiration of his second term
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as Congressman, he withdrew from active political life, although it was impossible for him to withdraw his interest from politics, nor could he escape acting fre- quently as counsellor and advisor to the leaders of the party who have always valued his opinions and diverse knowl- edge.
Mr. Buck married, April 12, 1865, Mary A. Keeney, of Manchester, Connecticut. They were the parents of two children : I. Florence K., who became the wife of Jacob H. Greenc, of Hartford. 2. John Halsey, a graduate of Yale in the class of 1891, aforementioned as his father's part- ner. He married Edith G., daughter of Hon. John H. Albin, a prominent attor- ney of Concord, New Hampshire, who was born October 17, 1843, at West Ran- dolph, Vermont. Mr. Albin entered the profession of law equipped with a first- class literary and legal education, a strong, well balanced mind, good habits and good morals. He was always an active and industrious student, a keen ob- server, a person of quick action and good judgment, whom years of close applica- tion to the various features of his busi- ness placed in the front rank of his pro- fession in the State of New Hampshire. His breadth of comprehension and trained executive ability made his suc- cess in matters relating to railroads equal to that which attended his legal practice. In fraternal affairs the conjunction of cir- cumstances and ability gave him oppor- tunities to render great and lasting serv- ices to a great and constantly growing body of men, banded together for good, and his faithful discharge of his duties brought him well merited official posi- tions and honors. His professional abil- ity and standing, genial disposition and magnetic personality made him a favorite wherever he is known. Mr. Albin mar- ried, September 5, 1872, Georgia A. Mo-
dica, born August 5, 1847, died July 31, 1902, daughter of Joseph and Achsa (Far- rar) Modica, of Henniker. Their daugh- ter, Edith G., became the wife of John Halsey Buck, as above noted. They are the parents of one child, Richard Albin.
Through an active and useful career, covering more than the ordinary span of life, Mr. Buck worked indefatigably for those measures and enterprises that gave promise of promoting the common good, and he had the satisfaction of seeing his ambitions and visions realized in many instances. He could review the past with but little regret, in fact, rather with a keen sense of satisfaction at having been able to render signal public service to his fellow-men. His prominence in his pro- fession and in public life came as a just recognition of personal worth. A man of broad sympathies and personal mag- netism, he attracted and retained a large following of steadfast friends.
COLLINS, Atwood,
Man of Affairs, Philanthropist.
Educated for the law and duly admitted to the Connecticut bar, it is as a business man with large interests in Hartford, as a public-spirited citizen and humanitarian, that Atwood Collins is known to the pres- ent day and generation. He has followed, in the main activities of his life, the ex- amples of an honored father and grand- father, and since 1819 the name Collins has stood in Hartford as the synonym for enterprise, public service, and benevo- lence. Of Amos Morris Collins, grand- father of Atwood Collins, it was said at his death, November 10, 1858: "Deacon A. M. Collins was among the landmark characters of our city, and a man so posi- tive in every sphere of action or counsel that the void which is made by his death will be deeply felt and for a long time to
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come. There is almost nothing here that has not somehow felt his power, nothing good that has not somehow profited by his beneficence. Banks, savings institu- tions, railroads, the singular anomaly of a large wholesale dry goods trade which distinguishes Hartford as an inland city, the city councils and improvements, the city missions, and Sunday Schools, the Asylum for the Dumb, the Retreat for the Insane, the High School, the Asylum, three at least of the churches, almost everything public, in fact, has his coun- sel, impulse, character, beneficence, and what is more, if possible, his real work, incorporated in it. Whole sections of the city are changed by him. But the church was dearest to him of all * *
* There was never a better man to support and steady a Christian pastor *
* * Who can estimate the value of such a man?"
Of his son, Erastus Collins, the same eulogy can be pronounced-he who, with the prudence of an excellent business man, carried forward the enterprises founded by his father, and with greater opportu- nities widened their sphere of usefulness. He was as wide in his philanthropy and as exalted in his citizenship as his honored father, and transmitted to his sons a name unsullied, as he had received it.
The Collins ancestry traces to John Collins, of Suffolk, England, whose son John Collins, born about 1616, came to New England, where he is recorded as a member of the Honorable Artillery Com- pany of Boston in 1644, a freeman in 1646, and a member of the Boston church. John Collins was a brother of Deacon Edward Collins, a man noted for his piety and charity. He was a confidant of the regi- cides, Colonels Goffe and Whalley, to whom he rendered much needed financial aid. John and Edward Collins were both active commercial men, prominent and influential in the Massachusetts Colony. John had a grant of land in Braintree.
His son, John (3) Collins, was born in 1640, died December 10, 1704. He went to Saybrook, Connecticut. about 1662, when he married Mary Trowbridge. In 1663 he bought land from William Lord, and three years later, in 1666, moved to Bran- ford, Connecticut. He signed the "New Plantation Covenant" at Branford. Janu- ary 20, 1667, his name being the sixth of forty-seven signatures. His wife died at Branford in 1667. In 1669 he moved to Guilford, Connecticut, and married the widow or sister of Henry Kingsnorth, June 2, 1669. On February 23, 1670, John Collins was appointed one of the three townsmen and listers for the town of Guilford, and again was appointed in 1700. He held several offices of trust and responsibility, such as auditor, townsman and clerk. On September 30, 1682, he was chosen to teach the grammar school, and continued in this work for several years. On January 15, 1683, the townsmen allow- ed him as compensation thirty pounds per years, twenty pounds to be paid by the town and ten pounds by the scholars. the same to be paid in wheat at five shillings, rye at three shillings six pence, good mes- lin at four shillings six pence, and Indian corn at two shillings six pence per bushel, and flax well dressed at one shilling per pound. He was schoolmaster as late as 1702. When the patent for Guilford was obtained, May 25. 1685, John Collins was one of the twelve patentees.
His son, John (4) Collins, was born at Saybrook, Connecticut, in 1665, and died January 24, 1751. He married, July 23, 1691, Ann Leete, a granddaughter of Gov- ernor William Leete. Her father was John Leete, eldest son of Governor Leete. and said to be the first white person born in Guilford. He was born in 1639, and died November 25. 1692.
His son. Daniel Collins, was born at North Guilford, June 13, 1701, and died
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October 8, 1751, having married Lois Cornwall, March 15, 1725.
His son, William Collins, was born March 10, 1728, and died April 4, 1775. He married Ruth Cook, of Wallingford, Connecticut, March 25, 1758.
William (2), son of William and Ruth (Cook) Collins, at the age of seventeen years enlisted in the Revolutionary army, serving with an uncle, Major Augustus Collins. In 1822 William (2) Collins moved to Illinois, where he is on record as subscribing the first five hundred dol- lars to establish Illinois College. He mar- ried Esther Morris, and was the father of Amos Morris Collins.
Amos Morris Collins was born at Litch- field, Connecticut, March 30, 1788, died at Hartford, November 10, 1858; married, at Goshen, Connecticut, April 30, 1811, Mary Lyman, daughter of Colonel Moses Ly- man. He commenced business at Bland- ford. Massachusetts, in 1810, moved to Hartford in 1819, and opened a store for the sale of dry goods on the south corner of Main and Temple streets. He was one of the first to engage in the wholesale dry goods commission business in Hartford, and this business, wholly or in part, was continued in the family until 1876. The sales of the house in its last years amount- ed to over four and one half millions per annum. Mr. Collins early identified him- self with the business interests and chari- table and religious institutions of Hart- ford. He was chosen one of the deacons of the North Church at the time of its organization, retaining this office until his death. He was a director in the Hartford Bank for over twenty-five years; a trus- tee of the Society for Savings; a director of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum ; and from 1842 to 1854 he held office in the Connec- ticut Retreat for the Insane as director, auditor, and manager, and was chairman of the board of managers from 1847 until
his resignation in 1854. In 1843 he was elected mayor of Hartford, was reëlected in 1845, but declined renomination for a third term. He was deeply interested in the Hartford, Providence & Fishkill rail- road, and gave most of his tiine for a year or two in securing the building of this road. He was also one of the most active of the early friends of the Hartford High School. This enterprise met at the first with much opposition from some of the influential citizens of Hartford. Mr. Col- lins served as chairman of the first meet- ing held on January 5, 1847, by those favorable to the establishment of a public high school. At a meeting held on Janu- ary II, 1847, Mr. Collins was appointed one of a committee to inquire as to the expediency of such a move. He was later chosen a member of the committee ap- pointed to select a site, purchase land, and erect a suitable building for a public "English and Classical High School." This committee was later authorized to employ teachers and to make all neces- sary arrangements for the opening of the school. The committee contributed from their private purses $2,250 to "enlarge and beautify and render commodious the building for the High School, and in rec- ognition of their generosity and assiduity a formal vote of thanks and resolutions were presented to the committee by the Society."
Erastus, son of Amos Morris and Mary (Lyman) Collins, was born in Blandford, February 10, 1815, died April 8, 1880. He moved to Hartford with his father in 1819, and was associated with him in the dry goods business as a prominent member of the firm. He was a director of the Ætna Insurance Company, and as chairman of its building committee superintended the construction of its first building on Main street, north of the Ætna Life Building. He was a director and vice-president of
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the Hartford Hospital, was a director and school visitor of the American School for the Deaf, was one of the promoters of the Hartford & Wethersfield Horse Railroad, of the Cedar Hill Cemetery, and was a leader in the Young Men's Institute (now the Hartford Library). He was especially active in philanthropic work during the last two years of his life. He was a mem- ber of the old North Congregational Church (now Park Church) until 1852, when he became one of the founders of Pearl Hill Church. When the Asylum Hill Church was founded, he became one of its leading supporters, contributing liberally to its various works. He was a prudent business man and a counsellor of excellent judgment, in 1876 retiring from active commercial life, thereafter giving his attention only to private concerns and the administration of his estate. He mar- ried, January 26, 1848, Mary Atwood, who died March 31, 1874, daughter of John M. Atwood, of Philadelphia. They were the parents of Henrietta A., Atwood, Carolina Lyman, and William Erastus, a graduate of Williams College and a brilliant jour- nalist, now deceased.
Atwood Collins, eldest son of Erastus and Mary (Atwood) Collins, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, September 19, 1851. After graduation from Hartford High School he entered Yale, whence he was graduated with the bachelor's degree. class of '73. On leaving college he en- gaged with his father in the business founded by his grandfather, but then operated by Erastus Collins as Collins & Fenn. He mastered the details of the wholesale dry goods commission business and was admitted a member of the firm, but in 1876 the business was closed out by liquidation, and for three years At- wood Collins was in charge of the family estate and engaged in real estate trans- actions. He then decided to study law.
entered Columbia Law School in 1879, was admitted to the Hartford bar in 1880, but upon the death of his father, in the same year, gave up practice and returned to business life. He formed a partnership with Daniel R. Howe, dealt in stocks and bonds, and was interested in many enter- prises. In 1895 he was elected vice-presi- dent of the Security Trust Company of Hartford, becoming the executive head of that well known and stable institution in 1896. Since that date, although an official of many other large corporations, he has re- mained at the head of the Security Com- pany, shaping its course and guiding it wisely. He is a vice-president of the So- ciety for Savings, director of the Ætna (Fire) Insurance Company, Hartford Steam Boiler & Inspection Company, Hartford Electric Light Company, the Etna Insurance Company, Phoenix Mu- tual Life Insurance Company and United States Bank.
In his philanthropy and public spirit he is a true exponent of the ideals that ever actuated his sires, and by personal work. influence, and contribution aids in many good works. He is ex-president and di- rector of the American Society for the Deaf, president of the Charity Organiza- tion, a trustee of Hartford Theological Seminary, and a director of the Connecti- cut Humane Society. In civic affairs his affiliation has ever been with the forces striving to advance to a higher plane of municipal government, and as council- man. alderman, commissioner of health and charity, he has rendered willingly valuable service. Conservation of public resources and reclamation of waste areas are subjects to which he was given care- ful thought, and at the National Irrigation Congress held at Phoenix, Arizona. in 1896, he represented Connecticut as a delegate. He was a staff officer with the rank of captain on the Governors Foot
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Guard, serving under Majors Kinney and Hyde. He is a Republican in politics, and a inember of the Congregational church.
Mr. Collins married, in June, 1880, Mary Buel Brace. They are the parents of : Gertrude, died aged three years; Fred- erick Starr; Elinor Buel; Marion At- wood, married Matthew G. Ely; and Emily Brace, married William J. Hamers- ley.
Nine generations of the Collins family have lived in Massachusetts and Connec- ticut, their deeds showing forth in the history of these States most worthily in each generation. Useful as those lives have been and closely as they are inter- woven with a century of progress in Hart- ford, Atwood Collins, of the ninth Ameri- can generation, has but added to the value of that record, and in his care the honor- able name borne by his sires has been kept as it came to him.
RATHBUN, John Alden, Civil War Veteran.
John Alden Rathbun, late of Mystic, Connecticut, where he died June 23, 1911, was a descendant of one of the oldest American families, whose traditions and reputation for industry, intelligence and thrift were well borne by him. He was long in the public service, and his career was characterized by probity. faithfulness and unvarying courtesy. The American immigrant ancestor of this family was John Rathbone, son of Richard and Marion (Whipple) Rathbone, born about 1610, in England. He was in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1660, and was one of the original sixteen purchasers of Block Island from Governor Endicott, who had received it as a grant from Massachu- setts for public service, two years previ- ously. John Rathbone was conspicuous among the settlers of Block Island, which
he represented in the Rhode Island Gen- eral Assembly, and served in many local capacities. His wife, Margaret (Dodge) Rathbone, belonged to another pioneer Block Island family. All of his sons were settled on farms on that island before his death. In the fifth American generation, among his descendants, was Captain Sam- uel Rathbun, born 1776, in Groton, Con- necticut. He married Abby Burrows. Their sixth son was Captain Samuel Rathbun, who was a seafaring man, and in 1863 enlisted as a Union soldier in Company C, Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. He died September 23, 1864, in Satterlee Hospital, Philadel- phia. His wife, Phebe A. (Packer) Rath- bun, was a daughter of John and Eliza Packer, and their second son was John Alden, of whom further.
John Alden Rathbun was born March 12, 1839, in Groton Village, now Mystic, Connecticut. He was educated in the common schools of Mystic and Schofield, and pursued a business course in a com- mercial college of Providence, Rhode Island. Following in the footsteps of his forefathers, at the age of thirteen years he began a seafaring life. He first shipped on board a vessel which went to. Hurds Island after sea elephant oil. The vessel had intended to winter near Hurds Island, but was wrecked and the only one lost was the first mate. On these trips two ships go in company and the crew was saved by the crew of the other ves- sel. They were taken first to the Island of Desolation, from there to St. Helena, from there were sent to England and from there they worked their way back on a vessel to New York. Mr. Rathbun remained in New York, his intention being to become a coastwise pilot, as he had a fine eye for that line of work, but about this time the Civil War broke out and he enlisted, May 7, 1861, in defence
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