USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 4 > Part 47
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"dead-lock" session and as the floor leader of the Democracy. In November, 1892, he was reelected and was again the leader of his party in the Senate. As jus- tice of the peace of Hartford county, he administered the oath of office to Gov- ernor Morris and his associate State officers, and was the recognized spokes- man for his party during his four years of senatorial service. In the session of 1893 he was chairman of the committee on cities and boroughs, which committee, after six weeks devoted to public hear- ings, reported the General Street Railway Law of 1893. The committee considered one hundred and fifty-three applications for street railway charters and during the session the charter of almost every city in the State was completely revised or amended.
As chairman of the committee, Senator Pierce gave careful attention to these applications, in many cases rewriting and revising them, the work of revising the applications and drafting the bill, as fin- ally presented, being left almost entirely to him. He was chiefly credited with securing the charter for the borough of Bristol and in establishing the present high school. An eloquent, forceful and popular public speaker, he has performed yeoman service "on the stump" and in every presidential campaign from 1876 until 1894 was one of the speakers much in demand.
Mr. Pierce has numerous business in- terests in Bristol and Hartford other than professional. He was one of the organ- izers and the first president of the Bristol and Plainville Tramway Company : was the first president of the Consolidated Companies, now director and general counsel, and for twenty years until 1913 was director of the Free Public Library of Bristol. In 1902 he was a member of the Connecticut Constitutional Conven-
tion and in 1893-95 was county treasurer. He is a prominent member of the Ma- sonic order, belonging to Franklin Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Pe- quabuck Chapter, No. 32, Royal Arch Masons ;
Washington Commandery, Knights Templar, of Hartford, and Sphinx Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of Ethan Lodge, No. 9. Knights of Pythias, and of Bristol Lodge, No. 1010, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His clubs are the Bristol, of which he was the first president, and the City, of Hartford.
Senator Pierce married, July 16, 1879, Harriet E. Kendall, who died October 26, 1895, daughter of Z. A. Kendall, of Angelica, New York. Senator and Mrs. Pierce were the parents of two children : Gertrude and Kendall M. Pierce. Kendall M. Pierce was educated at Bristol High School and Phillips Andover Academy ; studied law with his father as preceptor, was admitted to the bar, January 10, 1911, and became a member of the law firm of Pierce & Pierce, of Hartford ; is a member of the Bristol Club ; he married, January 19, 1914, Ruth Fenn, daughter of Frank A. and Elizabeth (Lane) Fenn.
HOLDEN, Benedict Michael, Lawyer.
Mr. Holden preaches the gospel of work, "not for compensation, but for the satisfaction derived from the work itself." While his own career is yet in the making, he is a living exemplification of the value of his own precepts, having gained the honorable position he now holds at the Hartford bar and in public esteem through the most persistent effort. He was not born with the proverbial "golden spoon," but on farm and in factory earned the money that paid for his legal education. He is enthusiastic in all he does, whether it be work or play, for he
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believes in play and thoroughly enjoys motoring, walking and sports a-field with rod and rifle. He is a strong, self-reliant man, developed under the influence of conditions that compelled constant men- tal and physical effort. He lias never been afraid to assume responsibilities, for one of his axioms is "Take on responsibil- ities and then take on more, and keep smiling." From his Irish ancestors he has inherited a strong body, an alert mind, an unfailing cheerfulness, a strong sense of humor and a resourcefulness that never fails him.
Benedict M. Holden was born at Bris- tol, Connecticut, February 17, 1874, son of Felix and Jane (Farley) Holden, and a great-grandson of Owen Holden, of County Cavan, Ireland, who founded the family in the United States. From the time he reached school years, until his admission to the bar in 1895, his life was a struggle for an education. Outside of school hours and during vacations he worked on his father's farm and in neigh- boring factories. He knew he must carve his own way, and this fact early gave birth to a spirit of self-reliance and inde- pendence that has ever been one of his valuable assets. He completed the com- mon and high school course of study in the Bristol schools, and in addition to the manual labor he performed out of school hours he did a great deal of advanced reading, including law books, for he had from boyhood determined that sooner or later he would become a lawyer. During that period of his life he read Blackstone, Shakespeare and constitutional histories of European countries and the United States. After graduation from high school, and with his own earnings to de- fray the expense of the first year, he entered Yale Law School and was gradu- ated Bachelor of Laws, class of "95," and reached the goal of his hopes at the age of twenty-one years. He located in the
city of Bristol and there practiced in part- nership with Governor Holcombe and Noble E. Pierce until 1898, and the out- break of the Spanish-American War. From 1898 until 1901 he was in the mili- tary service of his country in the Philip- pines, sergeant-major of the Second Bat- talion, Twenty-seventh Regiment, United States Volunteer Infantry.
After his three years of military life in the Philippines, he was honorably dis- charged and returned to the United States. He located in the city of Hart- ford, Connecticut, resumed legal practice and so continues, one of the leading law- yers of the Hartford bar. He has been admitted to and practices in all State and Federal courts of the district, is a member of the various bar associations, and has been connected with much of the impor- tant litigation of recent years. He is still the hard worker, is devoted to his profes- sion, has had meted out to him a generous measure of success and approaches the future with confidence born of that spirit of self-reliance and independence devel- oped in his youth. He is a member of the firm of Holden & Hogerty, formed in 1912 with offices in the Equitable Life Insur- ance building, New York City. He is general counsel for some of the largest public service companies of New York City. He is a director and general coun- sel for the Keyless Auto Clock Company, director and secretary of the Pearson Engineering & Construction Company of Hartford, Connecticut, a member of the American Academy of Social and Polit- ical Science, and one of three members of the Military Emergency Board of Con- necticut, appointed by Governor M. H. Holcombe. He is a Republican in poli- tics.
Mr. Holden married, November 18, 1902, Grace Francis Farrell, daughter of James and Ellen Farrell. He has a daughter, Mary, and a son, Ben, Jr.
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PORTER, John,
Man of Great Enterprise.
The Porter family is one which traces its descent with unusual directness back to the early period of English history. The name at that time was LaGrande, in which form we first find it borne by Sir William LaGrande, a Norman knight, who came over in the train of William the Conqueror and took part in the battle of Hastings in 1066 A. D. He was given lands by his royal master, undoubtedly as a reward for the services rendered in the conquest, which were situated in Warwickshire in the region of Kennil- worth, where a number of the greatest Norman families settled. William La- Grande's son was Ralph (or Roger) La- Grande, and was one of the important figures in the court of Henry I. He was given the post of "keeper of the doors" in the household of that monarch, and as a result was called "Grand Porteur." This was in the year 1120-1140 A. D., and from this office the surname of Porter is de- rived. The Porters in various parts of England bear different arms, but that branch of the family which continued to live in Warwickshire has, in common with several branches, one theme which, although slightly varied, is fundamentally the same. The Porters of Warwickshire have for their arms: Sable, three church bells argent. Crest : Between two pillars roofed and spired or, a church bell ar- gent. The family has always been a dis- tinguished one in the mother country, and has played a part of importance in the affairs of the community.
The name is first found in America at Dorchester, Massachusetts, which place was first settled in 1630 by members of the Windsor church, which had been formed at Plymouth, England, by a num- ber of people from Devonshire, Dorset-
shire, Somersetshire and Warwickshire, who came to the American colonies at a very early period. We are told that the settlement of Dorchester became "crowd- ed" after about five years owing to the numerous arrivals, and that a number of its members decided to move on and form a new settlement at Quinniquket, on the river of that name. It seems curious to us to-day to think of Dorchester being overcrowded in the midst of an illimitable wilderness, but such was the spirit of ad- venture in those days that men seemed to prefer to move out into new places and found for themselves new homes. On October 15, 1635, these pilgrims accord- ingly set out, taking along with them their church organization, and for two long weeks journeyed uninterruptedly through the wilderness. In that time they passed over more than one hundred miles of trackless way, with no guide to lead them, and nothing more than their compass to tell them in what direction they were moving. If we wonder at their desire, we cannot help admiring their courage, which upheld them throughout the long journey and led them across swamps and rivers and over mountains which were scarcely passable to any- thing save the wild beasts and red In- dians. These latter, indeed, constituted one of the chief perils of the way, but they were fortunately able to come to their objective without having trouble with them. At the end of the fortnight the company came to a spot called by the natives Matteneang, and to this place they gave the name of Windsor.
(I) It was in the year 1639 that we first find the name of John Porter in the public records of Windsor. The same year in which the Rev. Ephraim Hewett, of Wraxhall, in Kennilworth, England, was called to the assistance of the Rev. Mr. Warham, the clergyman of the
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colony. It seems likely that John Por- ter accompanied Mr. Hewett on the trip to England. John Porter was the pro- genitor of the family in America, and from the outset took an active part in the affairs of the Windsor colony. He was a man very well to do, considering the period, but he did not live for many years after coming to Windsor, his death occur- ring there April 22, 1648. His wife Rose, of whom we have no other name record- ed, died in July, 1647.
(II) Their son, Samuel Porter, was, like his parents, a native of England, having been born there in 1626. He was a merchant, and in 1659 married Hannah, a daughter of Thomas Stanley, who was one of the party which came from Eng- land in the good ship "Planter" to Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1635. Samuel Porter's death occurred September 6, 1689, and that of his wife December 18, 1702.
(III) Their son, John Porter, was born December 12, 1666, at Windsor, Connec- ticut, but when thirty-six years of age re- moved from Lebanon to Hebron, Con- necticut. On April 3, 1690, he was mar- ried to Mary Butler, and his death oc- curred at Hebron, January 4, 1747.
(IV) Their son John was born Octo- ber 3, 1694, probably at Lebanon, Con- necticut, but removed to Hebron while still a very young child, with his parents. He took up his abode in the latter place and continued to live there during the rest of his life, and was a prominent figure in its affairs. He was the deacon of the church for a number of years, and on March 9, 1720, was married to Esther, in all probability a daughter of Samuel Deane, of Stamford, Connecticut. She died July 10, 1726, and his death occurred January 5, 1753.
(V) Their son Daniel was born in Jan- uary, 1726, and was married, October 25, 1747, to Diana Dunham, who died Janu-
ary 27, 1760. He made Hebron, Connec- ticut, his home during his entire life.
(VI) Their son Gaylord was born Oc- tober 4, 1748, and married (first) Miriam Brown. She died July 15, 1797, and his death occurred August 5, 1823.
(VII) Their son, David Porter, was born February 4, 1794, and married, on March 20, 1819, Jerusha Sumner, at Gilead Parish, Hebron, Connecticut. Their deaths occurred respectively May 24, 1869, and September 29, 1865.
(VIII) Their son, John Sumner Por- ter, was born January 12, 1833, and mar- ried, January 26, 1859, Electa Ann Brown, and they lived in Hebron, Connecticut, during their entire lives. John Sumner Porter was the father of the John Porter of this sketch. He was a farmer, and after his marriage took up his residence on the Brown farm, which he cultivated until the time of his death. He was a strong Republican in politics, and repre- sented the town of Hebron in the Gen- eral Assembly in the State of Connecti- cut in 1887. They were the parents of two children-Annie Jerusha, the wife of James H. Goslee, of London, Minnesota ; and John Porter, the subject of this sketch. Mrs. Porter died in the year 1874.
(IX) John Porter, the second child and only son of John Sumner and Electa Ann (Brown) Porter, was born at the village of Gilead, in the township of Hebron, Connecticut, May 25, 1873. During his childhood he attended the local public schools, and in his spare time worked on his father's farm, spending all his vaca- tions in this way. At the age of seven- teen years, however, his father sent him to Hartford, Connecticut, where he at- tended the Hannum and Steadman Busi- ness College, where he picked up a strong taste for business. He was very anxious to remain in Hartford, but at length
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yielded to his father's solicitations that he return to the home farm and live there, as it was the elder man's strong desire to keep the little family of father, son and daughter together. The father, however, died when young Mr. Porter was nine- teen years of age, but he continued to conduct the home farm, his sister attend- ing to the household duties, for two years longer, or until he gained his majority. He then went to Glastonbury, where he secured a position with the J. B. Williams Company, the great soap manufacturers, whose plant is one of the largest of its kind in the world. He was sent on the road by the Williams Company to sell their goods, especially the product known as Ivorine, which was a specialty of theirs at the time. He was unfortunate, how- ever, in that he became ill when he had only been out a few months, and after the restoration of his health, he decided to engage in the retail business. With this object in view, he secured a position with R. P. Kenyon, who was at that time one of the oldest hatters and furriers in the city of Hartford, this position being as salesman. So well did he acquit him- self in his new task, that Mr. Kenyon re- tained him on his staff of salesmen until he disposed of the business. Mr. Porter then went to Highland Park, Manchester, Connecticut, where he was employed as a clerk in a general store for about one and a half years, or until February I, 1899, when he formed a partnership with O. F. Toop, under the firm name of Por- ter & Toop.
The firm of Porter & Toop engaged in the retail grocery business, with a store in South Manchester, where they re- mained for three years. At this period of Mr. Porter's life he was constantly on the outlook for some new chance of bet- tering his condition, and so strong was his desire that he was continually taking
up some new project which seemed ad- vantageous to him, and, indeed, his judg- ment was rarely at fault, for he scarcely ever engaged in business without meeting a high degree of success therein. After three years of a partnership with Mr. Toop, in 1902 he sold his interest to his partner, and in the same town opened what was known as Porter's Cash Gro- cery, which he conducted until January I, 1903, when he disposed of the business to Mr. F. E. Williams. His abandoning the grocery business was due to the fact that during the last few months of his conduct of the store, his attention had been strongly drawn to the lunch room situation, and he believed, and rightly, that great opportunities existed there. He concluded that in some large city it would be possible to develop a business of prac- tically unlimited proportions. He per- ceived that this being a strictly cash busi- ness, the capital invested was turned over much more frequently than is possible even in a cash grocery, an advantage which appealed strongly to him. His knowledge of the cost of food materials gave him a decided advantage over most novices in this business, and he felt sure that he could make a success. Accord- ingly, in June, 1903, after looking over the field carefully and making the necessary preparations, he decided upon Hartford as the scene of his activities. His first lunch room was opened at No. 711 Main street, August 3, 1903, and was one of the type which is familiarly known as "arm chair lunches." He called the first place the Capitol City Lunch, and suc- cess crowned his efforts from the begin- ning. In about a year another restaurant was opened, which he located in the city of Springfield. Massachusetts, and since that time he opened another one in Hart- ford. Later he formed a partnership with Curtis R. Blanchard, under the firm name
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of Porter & Blanchard, and this concern operates three lunch rooms in Worcester, Massachusetts; one in Waterbury, Con- necticut ; and four in New Haven, all of which are run under the name of "Capi- tol Lunch."
On September 1, 1907, Messrs. Porter and Blanchard took into partnership J. O. Phillips, and two corporations were organized, one in New York State, known as the "Capitol Lunch, Inc.," and the other in Maine under the name of the "Capitol Lunch Company." The New York Company operates a chain of lunch rooms in Greater New York, consisting of eight places, one of which is the largest of its kind in the country and seats four hundred people. In Portland, Maine, two lunch rooms are operated by the other corporation, making a total of twenty- one lunch rooms in which Mr. Porter is interested. The complete organization is known commercially as the Capitol Lunch System and maintains executive offices at No. 346 Broadway, New York City, and No. 703 Main street, Hartford, Connecticut, from which the principal purchases are made direct from producers and manufacturers.
Mr. Porter, with his usual clear fore- sight, instituted the practice in 1910 of purchasing real estate in various places, and on April 1, 1910, acquired the build- ing at No. 709 to 711 Main street, Hart- ford, in which the original lunch room is located. Other purchases of central real estate have been made from time to time, with the express purpose of owning loca- tions in operation by the system. The real estate department has, however, de- veloped to such an extent that a separate concern is maintained which not alone handles the property handled by them- selves, but specializes in leasing stores in the best retail districts throughout New England. Mr. Porter is also a
stockholder in the Bowles Lunch of To- ronto, Ontario, Canada, an enterprise similar to the Capitol Lunch System. Among other large enterprises in which Mr. Porter is interested is the East Springfield Home Builders' Company, which is developing a seven hundred acre property in that place, and building houses there for working men on terms of payment within the reach of almost any ambitious workman. He is a direc- tor in this company, and also holds a similar office in the City Bank and Trust Company of Hartford.
Mr. Porter is a member of several im- portant associations and clubs in Hart- ford, among which should be numbered St. John's Lodge, No. 4, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Pythagoras Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons; Washington Commandery, Knights Templar; and Sphinx Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Hartford Club, City Club, Nayasset Club of Spring- field, the Chambers of Commerce of Hart- ford, Waterbury, Worcester, Springfield and Portland, the Board of Trade of Springfield, and the Republican, Rotary and Auto clubs of Hartford.
Mr. Porter married, December 9, 1903, Carrie E. Wetherell, of Manchester, Con- necticut, a daughter of Captain Wetherell, of that city.
(The Sumner Line).
(I) William Sumner, the progenitor of the family of that name in the United States, was born at Bicester, Oxfordshire, England, in 1605. He was a son of Roger Sumner, of that place, and after spending the years of his youth in his native region, came to New England, where he settled at Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1636. He was very prominent in the affairs of Dorchester and represented that town in the General Court. He was married in
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England to Mary West, who died in Dor- chester, June 7, 1676. His death also occurred in Dorchester, October 22, 1692.
(II) Their son, William Sumner, was born in England, but came to the Amer- ican colonies with his parents while still young. He married in this country, Eliz- abeth Clement.
(III) Their son, Clement Sumner, was born October 6, 1671, and married, May 18, 1698, Margaret Harris, of Eng- land.
(IV) Their son, Dr. William Sumner, was born March 18, 1699. He was pas- tor of the Second Church in Boston, Mas- sachusetts, and in 1732 retired therefrom and removed to Hebron, Connecticut, where he became a physician, and prac- ticed until the time of his death there and in Claremont, New Hampshire. He re- moved to the latter place quite late in life, and his death occurred there March 4. 1778. He married, October 10, 1720, Hannah Hunt.
(V) Their son, Reuben Sumner, was born May 27, 1727, and died April 2, 1807. He married, March 6, 1754, Elizabeth Mack, of Hebron, Connecticut ; she died July 10, 1805.
(VI) Their son, the Rev. Henry P. Sumner, was born June 10, 1773. He married, October 11, 1796, Jerusha Per- rin, of Hebron.
(VII) Their daughter, Jerusha Sum- ner, born January 22, 1798, became the wife of David Porter, and lived in Heb- ron, Connecticut.
BARNES, Roy Timothy Higgins, Investment Broker.
The founder of the Barnes family in England is believed to be Sir Hugo de Berners, who came over with William the Conqueror and is duly inscribed on the roll of Battle Abbey. He was as-
signed lands which are now in posses- sion of the Berners of Wolverton Park, Ipswich. Arms-Quarterly, or et vert. Crest-A monkey ppr. Motto-Del fugo I avola (I escaped from the fire). The simplicity of the coat-of-arms proper in- dicates its great antiquity. Complicated coats-of-arms are all of more recent date. The crest and motto in this case were added by later generations. There was a branch of the family bearing the same coat-of-arms, but modified by intermar- riage with another noble family which spelled its name de Barners, thus partly accounting for the change of orthogra- phy.
The clear pedigree begins with Sir John Berner, of West Horsley, in Surrey, and of Berners-Roding, Essex, ob. 1347. His eldest son, Sir James (of Berns-Rod- ing) was beheaded on Tower Hill, 1388. Sir James' eldest son, Sir Richard, of West Horsley, was created baron, temp. Henry IV., ob. 1421. A second, William, was the ancestor of the Berners of Finch- infield, Essex, with which branch the coat-of-arms in its simplest form is iden- tified. The most illustrious of Sir James' children was a daughter, Julyana or Juli- ana, whose last name is spelled Berners, Barners, Bernes, but most frequently Barnes. She was the authoress of a treatise on "Hawking, Hunting and Cote Armour," otherwise known as "The Boke of St. Albans," now highly prized by col- lectors as one of the earliest printed books, having been issued in 1488 by that mysterious printer, the "Schole-mayster of St. Albon." Dame Juliana was prior- ess of Sopwell, a nunnery near St. Albans, in which Abbey of St. Albans her book was printed.
In the next generation, Margery Ber- ners, daughter of Sir Richard, married John Bourchier (fourth son of Earl of Ewe), who was summoned to Parliament
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as Lord Berners (temp. Henry VI.) jure uroris, ob 1474. His grandson, Sir John Bourchier (ob. 1532), became famous as the translator of "Froissart's Chronicles," and writes himself in his will as "John Bourchier, Knt., Lord Barnes." Leland calls John Lord Berners, the translator of Froissart, Lord Barnes, and again we have "the Lorde Barnes" as killed at Bar- net, and in the same volume it appears that "Syr Henry Neville married one of the daughters of the Lorde Berners." One of the early de Berners married a great-great-granddaughter of Oliver Cromwell. The early settlers of the name in Long Island came from the neighbor- hood of Maidstone, Kent, and their set- tlement was at first called Maidstone on that account.
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