USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 4 > Part 44
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Deerfield, Connecticut, the latter through his father, William D. Macdonald, him- self a native of Scotland, who came to this country as a youth, married and set- tled here in New Haven.
The death of his father occurring when Colonel Macdonald was a mere lad, it be- came necessary for him to give up the schooling it had been the intention of his parents to give him, and start in his ven- ture upon the world of men at a very early age. His first occupation was the humble one of carrying newspapers for the newspaper house of Thomas H. Pease, in which way he won his own living and aided his mother in the support of the household for some time. But the lad was of that alert type which learns some- thing from every or any situation, and though his more formal education in the men-made schools was thus brought to an end, the lessons which he learned in the more difficult school of life and ex- perience were but the more vivid for their very difficulty, and stood him in good stead throughout his career. Noth- ing escaped his quick perceptions, and the knowledge that he gained was digest- ed in his mind so that it became of prac- tical value to him and ready for use upon every occasion, in any emergency. While still very young Colonel Macdonald se- cured a clerical position in the establish- ment of Warner & Dudley in Chapel street, New Haven. The quickness and industry of a lad such as Colonel Mac- donald were not long in finding recog- nition, and he found it no difficult matter to gain employment in the Bradstreet Mercantile Agency in New Haven, whose business required men of just such tal- ents. With the Bradstreet people he re- mained about eight years, in which time he had been placed in a position of re- sponsibility and trust and had saved some little money, the product of his own hard
labors and frugality. Since his early boy- hood, when he had begun carrying news- papers for the Thomas H. Pease concern, the newspaper business has always ap- pealed to his imagination as desirable, and as he grew older, this impression was confirmed by his observation. When, therefore, it became possible and he saw his way clear to do so, he combined with a number of other enterprising young men, who, with himself, organized the New Haven paper known as the "Lead- er." For four years he remained with this sheet, doing admirable service and insuring its success, remaining devoted to this work until the duties of his public life called for his entire time and atten- tion.
It was, indeed, not as a newspaper man, nor as an exponent of any private enter- prise, that Colonel Macdonald became best known in his native city, but rather through his connection with politics in which he distinguished himself highly. An ardent Republican in principle, he had, at an early age, identified himself with the local organization, his confreres soon discovering that he was of the ma- terial of which leaders are made. As soon as he became of an age to render it ap- propriate he was the candidate, and the successful candidate, for the office of town agent, and he served in this capac- ity with evident capability, and won the respect of his fellow citizens. It was but a short time to his appointment to the clerkship of the board of selectmen, and a little later he was chosen a member of the board of assessors, of which he be- came the chief clerk, his term expiring in 1906. He was then appointed by Gov- ernor Rollin S. Woodruff to an office in which he did some of his most character- istic work for his State. With the readi- ness to absorb knowledge, already com- mented upon in speaking of his young
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manhood, he had become thoroughly ac- quainted with the subject of insurance generally and its condition in that day in his own State. He was accordingly ap- pointed by the Governor already men- tioned insurance commissioner for Con- necticut, and promptly entered upon the discharge of his new duties. It was due to his excellent work in this difficult posi- tion in no small measure that the insur- ance affairs of the State thrived so admir- ably during that period, many abuses being quickly corrected and the whole field cleared so that all who were en- gaged in the business felt secure of their position and a general tone of confidence induced. This office Colonel Macdonald held, not only through the administration of Governor Woodruff, who originally ap- pointed him, but also through that of his successor, Governor Weeks, who reap- pointed him because of the invaluable service he had rendered, and was still ren- dering in that capacity. Perhaps the con- nection in which Colonel Macdonald was best known in the community was as chairman of the Republican town com- mittee of New Haven, an office that he held for sixteen years, during which period he proved of the most value to his party, not only in the city itself, but throughout the State, where he became one of the best known Republicans of the day. He was finally succeeded in the work by Seymour M. Judd, another Re- publican of wide reputation.
Colonel Macdonald retired from active public life with the intention of spending his latter years in a more easy manner of life, the more so that his health had suf- fered severely from the unremitting labors his offices had entailed upon him. But it is not so easy a matter for a man who has made himself so useful for so long a period to withdraw from the activ- ities he is used to, and others are accus-
tomed to have him perform. He was one of the best known figures in the insurance world at that time and it was conse- quently the most natural thing for him to be appointed one of the receivers of the Ætna Indemnity Company at the time of that concern's difficulties, and the next thing to an impossibility for him to de- cline. Accordingly he became involved in a great deal of hard work in this con- nection, which was calculated to do any- thing rather than aid his ebbing health. However, this duty, too, was ended in time, and Colonel Macdonald was en- abled to indulge in a well-earned rest. Another part which he played and for which his political party owe him grati- tude was as member of the Young Men's Republican Club of New Haven, of which he was one of the leading spirits, and for five years its secretary.
A man of great energy, Colonel Mac- donald was during the larger portion of his life a conspicuous figure in many other departments of the city's activities, especially those which had for their ob- ject the common weal, or the advantage of any particular class or group of fellow citizens. As a young man he was deeply interested in military matters, and for over twenty-seven years was identified with the military service in his native State ; he was for about ten years a mem- ber of the old body known as the New Haven Grays, entering as a private and serving in every rank from that to second lieutenant inclusive. He afterwards joined the well known organization of the Governor's Foot Guard, where he had the rank of sergeant in the Second Com- pany, and served as quartermaster-gen- eral on the staff of Governor Henry L. Rogers. In social and fraternal circles also Colonel Macdonald was a prominent figure, and a member of many important organizations of that nature. He be-
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longed to the Free and Accepted Masons, the New Haven Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Legion of Honor. He was also a member of the Union League and the United Service clubs.
Colonel Macdonald was married, on November 10, 1896, to Flora L. Hitch- cock, of New Haven, a daughter of Henry and Emma J. (Smith) Hitchcock, old and honored residents of that place. To Colo- nel and Mrs. Macdonald was born one son, Harry Nims Macdonald, who with his mother survive him.
The death of Colonel Macdonald was the occasion of a general expression of affection and sorrow on the part of the community. Out of respect for his char- acter and the signal services which he had rendered his State, Governor Hol- comb ordered the flag floating over the State arsenal at Hartford at half mast until after the hour of the funeral. The funeral was, indeed, one of the largest and most impressive the city had seen, attended by many eminent men and a number of organizations in groups, as well as by hosts of Colonel Macdonald's friends from every walk in life. For it was one of this man's chief distinctions that he possessed friends in all classes. He was one of those characters which penetrate beneath the superficial distinc- tions of the exterior and choose their friends and companions upon the basis of their essential natures. Sincere and direct himself, he instinctively looked for the same traits in others, and was not satis- fied until he fastened upon such. Toler- ant towards all, he yet required the same essential honesty that he himself pos- sessed before truly granting the favor of his comradeship, but hesitating not at all
to grant it when it was found for any other consideration. Although he never held any of the highest offices in the gift of the people, nor became one of the most influential figures in the financial world, yet there is no doubt that he was one of the best known and most popular men in Connecticut, and deservedly so. It is well that his life should be recorded to serve as an example of devoted service and single-minded honor to the youth of his own community in the years to come.
WILCOX, William,
Manufacturer, Inventor.
The life of William Wilcox was identi- fied with the industrial development of Middletown, Connecticut, in the closest manner, so that his personal efforts to found and establish the great concern which bore his name for many years, his early difficulties and final success, are, as it were, an epitome of what was taking place in the community as a whole, at about the same period. He deserved to be regarded as one of the pioneers of Middletown's present prosperity, and as one of the representative manufacturers of the State of Connecticut. His death on March 13, 1904, at the age of eighty- five years was a very real loss to his city, for the advantage of which he had so long and successfully labored.
Mr. Wilcox's ancestors were residents of Connecticut from the earliest Colonial period, the first of the name of whom we have record being Joseph Wilcox, who in 1663 was mentioned as one of the pro- prietors of the plantation of Hammonas- sett in the order of the general court of Connecticut establishing the same in the month of October of that year. Ham- monassett later became known as Kenil- worth, and this still later was corrupted into Killingworth, and as the hamlet
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grew to a village and that to a town, the descendants of the proprietor retained their place as prominent figures in the community, three members of the family successively representing it in the State Legislature, between the years 1790 and 1805. The father of William was Thomas C. Wilcox, who lived all his life in Kill- ingworth, as his forebears had before him, and there carried on the occupation of farmer. He was married to Eunice Smith, a daughter of Jonathan Smith, of Haddam, Connecticut, who bore him ten children.
William Wilcox, the third child of Thomas C. and Eunice (Smith ) Wilcox, was born in the home of his ancestors, Killingworth, Connecticut, October 10, 1819. His parents were far from wealthy and the lad shared the life of the average farmer's son, a life very far from ease and luxury. School in the winter with such odd jobs as were to be found about the place, and farm work during the sum- mer holidays, were his tasks from the time he was strong enough to engage in labor until he reached his eighteenth year and completed it. Like so many of the young men of that region and time, the hard conditions under which Mr. Wilcox grew to manhood served but to develop his character in simplicity and strength, and fit him for the battle of life which he was about to undertake. At the age of eighteen, he left the parental roof and making his way to Middletown, the near- est large place, there sought for employ- ment that would give him a start in life. His first position was in the factory of Smith & Cooley, manufacturers of guns on a large scale, and successors to the famous old establishment of the John- sons, the best known of the early gun makers. With these people young Mr. Wilcox remained four years, and during that period accomplished a number of
things which illustrate well the sterling qualities of his character. His conscien- tious nature felt scruples against leaving his father and withdrawing his valuable assistance from the work of the farm, so that, in order to recompense him in some manner, he actually paid the elder man a portion of his hard earned wages, amount- ing in all to one hundred and thirty dol- lars. The other thing which he accom- plished was a mastery of the machinist's trade. During his employment with the gun manufacturers, he worked with one great end in view, that is, his own inde- pendence, and accordingly his diligence was immense, and he lost no opportunity to learn many parts of the trade not directly connected with his own task. This earnest young man, who showed such zeal and ability in learning his craft, drew the favorable regard of his superior- upon him, but it was not through them. nor as an employee of anyone that Mr. Wilcox was destined to move forward in the world. In 1842 he left Smith & Cooley and formed a partnership with W. H. Lewis for the manufacture of locks. The enterprise prospered, but in 1845 he removed to the present location of his great manufactory and there con- tinued his making of locks, this time in partnership with Lot D. Van Sands. The business thus begun continued to grow unbrokenly to great dimensions until the business was discontinued in 1905. This was principally as the result of the busi- ness capacity of Mr. Wilcox, and his un- impeachable integrity, which insured the confidence of all who dealt with him. For a time the shop at Zoar made a specialty of plate locks, in which the young men had worked up a large trade with the south. Later, however, they turned their attention to padlocks which became and have ever since remained one of the prin- cipal articles of manufacture. For a time
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the concern remained a partnership, but in 1875 it had grown to a great size, and the appropriate incorporation took place under the style of the William Wilcox Manufacturing Company. The company was capitalized at fifty thousand dollars and Mr. Wilcox was the president. In its new form the business continued to develop greatly until it became one of the largest and most important industrial enterprises of Middletown. At the be- ginning of the present century in the neighborhood of one hundred men were employed in the plant, where the whole operation of lock manufacture was per- formed, from the first cutting of the sheet metal to the finished product. French and American rim locks were among the best known articles produced there, and an enormous variety of padlocks were supplied to a great and widespread mar- ket.
The credit for the development of this great business belonged to Mr. Wilcox, and it was due to a fortunate combina- tion of characters that he was so success- ful. A born man of business, he was also very much of a mechanical genius, and actively supervised every department of the industry. He was himself a most skillful mechanic and could perform with his own hands all the various tasks neces- sary to the production of the locks. He was also an inventor of no little ability, and was the originator of many most use- ful devices, including the rotary key hub and the flat key which has almost wholly superseded the older forms in the trade. Besides inventing these, he was also the first to manufacture them and put them on the market. Mr. Wilcox was a direc- tor in the Middletown National Bank and a director and trustee of the Middletown Savings Bank and a director in the Mid- dlesex Insurance Company. He was in
the best sense of the word a self-made man, and it was through his own unaided efforts that he surmounted the difficulties which beset his path in youth and brought himself to the enviable place which he finally occupied in the community.
While Mr. Wilcox did not take an active part in politics, yet he was always greatly interested in the questions of pub- lic policy which agitated the country in his time, and not less so in the local issues which concerned his immediate commu- nity. He was not the man to be bound by partisan consideration of any kind, and gave proof of his independence of mind in his political course. Starting as a Democrat in his youth, he later turned to the Whig party, and finally became a supporter of the Republican party, voting consistently for the candidates of that party during the latter years of his life. Mr. Wilcox was not a member of any church, yet he was by nature a man of strong religious feeling and did not hesi- tate to aid the cause of religion by gener- ous donations to the churches. In this work he excepted none of the sects, but was always ready to give to any one of them for any purpose which seemed to him likely to be of advantage to the com- munity. Nor was this the case only with the churches, for it was rare indeed that he was not ready to give generously of time, effort or money to any movement in line with what he believed progress.
Mr. Wilcox married (first) Sarah G. Edwards, who died leaving no children. He married (second) Elizabeth Gray Ed- wards, a native of Middletown, and a daughter of Charles and Hannah M. (Bailey) Edwards, old residents of that city. Mrs. Wilcox survives her husband, and still resides in the beautiful old Wil- cox home situated on South Main street, Middletown.
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BRISTOL, William H.,
Manufacturer, Inventor.
William H. Bristol, instructor, inventor, manufacturer, and the organizer of The Bristol Company, now employing over four hundred people in the manufacture of recording instruments of every kind, being put to over two thousand different uses, has in the conduct of this business contri- buted in substantial measure to the com- mercial development of Waterbury, his native city. Throughout his entire life he has been actuated by a spirit of pro- gress, and is constantly seeking for im- provement in every field to which he has directed his attention and efforts.
Born on July 5, 1859, he is a son of B. H. and Pauline (Phelps) Bristol. The father was born in Waterbury, and was a son of Hiel Bristol, who settled in this locality at a very early date. For many years B. H. Bristol was connected with the Platt Brothers, and upon the organi- zation of The Bristol Company joined his son in that undertaking.
William H. Bristol acquired a public school education in Naugatuck, and was afterward graduated from the Stevens In- stitute of Technology, with the class of 1884. He afterward spent two years in charge of the technical department of the Manual Training School for the Ethical Culture Society of New York, and later became a teacher in the Stevens Institute, in which he was appointed Professor of Mathematics in 1899. He there remained until 1906, when he resigned his position in order to give his entire time to the busi- ness, although he is still retained on the faculty of the Stevens Institute as a spe- cial lecturer.
The Bristol Company, of which he is now president, was organized in 1889 as a partnership concern by W. H., B. H. and
F. B. Bristol, and was incorporated in 1894 for the manufacture of recording steam gauges and steel belt lacing. To-day, however, the company is engaged in the manufacture of recording instruments of every kind, their line being the most complete in the world. They have over seventy-five patents upon inventions of Mr. Bristol, and these instruments are to- day made for over two thousand uses. They occupy a large plant, having one hundred and seventy-five thousand square feet of floor space in buildings from one to six stories in height, which are equip- ped according to the most modern and progressive ideas of factory building. With four hundred highly skilled work- men used in production, their product is to-day sent all over the world, adding to Waterbury's international fame as a manufacturing center. They have branch houses in many cities of the Union, and various agencies in foreign lands, and their products are made known to the trade through a very large number of descriptive and illustrated catalogues and trade bulletins.
Mr. Bristol is identified with many scientific societies, including the Ameri- can Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute of Electrical Engi- neers, the American Electro-Chemical So- ciety, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Amer- ican Society of Automobile Engineers. He holds very high rank as a practical business man and inventor, and also as a scientist, and the productions of the com- pany have established a standard in his line.
In 1884 Mr. Bristol was united in mar- riage to Miss J. Louise Wright, of New York, who passed away in 1888. In 1899 he married Elsie H. Myers, of Jersey City, New Jersey.
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HILLS, Edwin,
Industrial Leader.
New England in general and Connecti- cut in particular can furnish us with a most noteworthy number of records of business men and industrial leaders which might serve as models for their kind the world over, and amongst such a number it would be difficult to pick out the worth- iest of note, yet certainly he who decided upon that of Edwin Hills, of Plainville, Connecticut, could not be challenged for want of judgment. It would certainly be difficult to find anyone who combined with the steady conservatism so necessary to substantial business conditions so high a degree of intelligent, progressive in- sight and the willingness to adopt new methods that promised to benefit his enterprises. He was a man who never lost an opportunity to advance himself and yet never trespassed upon the rights or needs of his neighbors, so that his death on November 9, 1909, was felt as a real loss to the community at large.
The family of which Mr. Hills was so worthy a scion is an old and highly re- spected one in Connecticut, where the members thereof have resided since the very beginning of the colony's history. The founder of the Hills family in this country was William Hills, who set sail from England, his native land, for the American colonies in the year 1632, and was one of the party which, under the Rev. Thomas Hooker, founded the city of Hartford in the wilderness. William Hills removed to Hockanum, Connecti- cut, and his death occurred there in July, 1683 (see list of original proprietors of Hartford, Trumbull's History, Hartford County, Volume I, page 245). His de- scendants, in the particular line herein traced, continued to reside in Hartford and Farmington for more than one hun- dred years.
Chauncey Hills, great-grandfather of Edwin Hills, was born at Farmington in 1761, and died June 21, 1831, after a life of prominence in the community. He de- voted his active years to the occupation of farming, in which he was highly suc- cessful. He married Eleanor Gillette, born in 1760, died October 22, 1836. It was during the early life of Chauncey Hills that the family removed to Plain- ville, Connecticut, where they have since made their home.
Elias Hills, grandfather of Edwin Hills, was born in Plainville, Connecticut, in the year 1781, and died May 20, 1868, aged eighty-seven years. He devoted his attention to farming for a number of years in early life, then became a wheel- wright and builder, in which lines of work he prospered abundantly. He mar- ried Sally Curtiss, of Farmington, a daughter of Abner and Mabel (Squires) Curtiss, of that town, the ceremony being performed March 8, 1800, and they were the parents of eleven children, as follows : Harriet, who became the wife of James Hamlin ; William, married Charlotte Pur- dee; Charlotte, who became the wife of Jeremiah Neale; Hiram, of whom fur- ther; George, married (first) Charlotte Eddy, (second) Caroline Eddy ; Eliza, who became the wife of Amon Woodruff ; Franklin, married Huldah C. Parmalee ; Julia, who became the wife of Leonard A. Wheeler; Sheldon, married (first) Al- meda N. Recor, (second) Nancy E. Clark ; Sally M .; Jeannette E., who became the wife of Emner McIntyre. The mother of these children died October 13, 1853, aged seventy years.
Hiram Hills, father of Edwin Hills, was born at Plainville, Connecticut, Oc- tober 9, 1810, and died there June 25, 1875, spending his entire life in the place of his birth. He began his career as a manufacturer in Plainville in 1834, at the age of twenty-four years, and at that time
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