USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 5 > Part 10
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the Guard Lafayette, Fifty-fifth New York Regiment (French Zouaves), and went out under General LaGall, and was later with General De Trobriand. He was mustered out at Plattsburg, New York, where he settled and practiced sur- gery until 1875. He was unusually suc- cessful, and built up a large and lucrative practice. He was highly regarded by members of his profession, and he enjoyed the unlimited confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. While at Plattsburg he was closely allied with Smith M.Weed, the famous political leader, and per- formed considerable political work, al- though never a seeker for political office. He was for several years, however, medi- cal officer of the State prisons of New York. In 1875 Dr. Wolff removed to Brazos Santiago, Texas, where he served as health officer of the city, and practiced his profession until his decease. He was a member of the Masonic lodge in Platts- burg, from which he demitted to the lodge in Brownsville, Texas, in which he filled the office of worshipful master for a term. He was also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Dr. Wolff married Sarah Ansell, daugh- ter of Jacob Ansell, a prominent barrister in London. He was a native of Ipswich. Dr. and Mrs. Wolff were the parents of eleven children, four of whom are living at the present time (1917), namely : Mrs. Caroline Zander, of Brooklyn, New York; Arthur J., of whom further ; Mrs. Blanche Loew, of Brownsville, Texas; Mrs. Leah Cain, of Brownsville, Texas. The father of Dr. Arthur S. Wolff was an engineer in the army of the first Napoleon.
Dr. Arthur J. Wolff graduated from the Plattsburg High School, but did not pur- sue classical studies further. He was reared in a home of culture and refine- ment, surrounded with the best of litera- ture, his father's library containing the journals devoted to public sanitation. He
choicest creations of the writers of many languages and covering well the fields of literature, art, history and biography. The elder Dr. Wolff was a master of eight languages, and his son, Dr. Wolff, of this review, speaks French, German and Span- ish fluently, having received considerable instruction from his father, not only in the languages but in other branches of learning. He began to read medicine under the preceptorship of his father, and pursued the course in the Texas Medical College and Hospital at Galveston, from which he was graduated in 1876. The following six years were spent in the medical corps of the United States army on the southwestern frontier, where he not only obtained wide experience in the practice of his profession under circum- stances that threw him largely on his own resources, but his experience also in- cluded those of the then primitive social conditions of the pioneer settlement, etc.
After leaving the army, Dr. Wolff pur- sued a post-graduate course in Bellevue Hospital Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1883. He then came to Hartford, Connecticut, and has practiced in that city ever since, except during the intervals when he was in Europe. He went abroad in 1889 and studied in the Paris hospitals, and again in 1896, and in 1901 studied in London and Edinburgh. At first, his practice in Hartford was gen- eral in character, but after a number of years more and more of his time became taken up with surgery and bacteriology until these specialties have occupied his attention exclusively, this being the case for several years. He also performed a vast amount of medico-legal work, as an expert in murder cases, making chemical analyses, etc. He has written many papers on medical, surgical and bacterio- logical topics for medical journals and
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has served on the staff of St. Francis Hos- pital as a specialist on diseases of women since the hospital was organized, and he is also one of the directors of the institu- tion. He organized the bacteriological department of the health board of the city of Hartford in 1894, and Dr. Wolff's lab- oratory was the second municipal labora- tory to be established in the world. He has served as bacteriologist for the city since that date. He is a fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society of London, Society of American Bacteriologists, City, County and State Medical societies, Amer- ican Medical Association, and the Con- necticut State Board of Health. Dr. Wolff is domestic in his tastes, devoting his entire time aside from his professional duties to his family and home. The de- mands of his professional work, study and writing have made it impossible for him to give attention to outside interests.
Dr. Wolff married Harriet, daughter of Samuel Krotosliner, of Hartford, Connec- ticut. They are the parents of one child, Arthur S. (2nd).
CRANE, Harry Wesley, Government Official.
A native of Wethersfield, Mr. Crane has long served the community in the capacity of postmaster, to which position he was appointed at the age of twenty- four years by President Cleveland. He has been continuously reappointed by successive presidents, and is popular with all classes of people in his native town.
He is descended from one of the oldest families of Connecticut, the founder of which was Benjamin Crane, born about 1630, and settled in Wethersfield at the age of twenty-five years, in 1655. On February 24, 1656, he was granted a home lot, was made a freeman, May 12, 1658, was a tanner by trade, acquired a large
estate, and died May 31, 1691. He mar- ried, April 23, 1655, Mary Backus, daugh- ter of William and Sarah (Charles) Backus. Their sixth son, Abraham Crane, born 1668, died July 5, 1713, leaving an estate valued at three hundred and forty- five pounds, three shillings and seven pence. His wife's baptismal name was Hannah, and they were the parents of Abraham Crane, born October 5, 1713, lived in Wethersfield, and died March 25, 1756. He married, March 15, 1739, Re- becca Hurlbut, born January 12, 1713, died November 13, 1794, daughter of Thomas and Rebecca (Meekins) Hurl- but. She joined the Wethersfield church in 1739. Their youngest child, Joseph Crane, was born August 13, 1755, and was a Revolutionary soldier. In 1790 he purchased a house in Wethersfield, which is still occupied by his descendant, Harry Wesley Crane. He died June 21, 181I. He married, December 3, 1778, Abigail Dix, baptized 1764, died March 27, 1813, daughter of Jacob and Mary Dix. Their sixth son, David Crane, born May 28, 1797, in Wethersfield, died there April 23, 1848. He married, September 25, 1822, Pamelia Deming, born November 8, 1800, died December 28, 1872, daughter of Levi and Sarah (Grant) Deming. Their eldest son, David Crane, born March 13, 1826, in Wethersfield, was a farmer, as were his ancestors, and died January 29, 1882. He married, February 13, 1861, Kath- erine Callahan, who died in 1875. They were the parents of three children : George, Edith and Harry Wesley, all of whom live in or near Wethersfield.
Harry Wesley Crane, junior son of David and Katherine (Callahan) Crane, was born December 11, 1868, in Wethers- field, where his life has been passed. In boyhood he shared in the labors of the homestead farm, attended the public schools, and followed agriculture until his
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appointment as postmaster, May 13, 1893, by President Cleveland. In political prin- ciple he is a Democrat, but his uniform courtesy and faithful discharge of his duties made him popular with all parties and his reappointment by successive pres- idents is the result of the demand made by his constituency. Mr. Crane is a mem- ber of the First Congregational Church of Wethersfield, and is active in promot- ing the moral influences which tend to elevate society. He is a member of the Business Men's Association of Wethers- field, takes an active part in neighbor- hood affairs, and is respected and esteemed throughout the community. He married, May 9, 1900, Catherine Christie, who was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, and died January 14, 1917. They were the parents of two children : Howard G. and David C. Crane.
Mr. Crane is descended from another old family in Connecticut, the Deming family. The founder of the Deming family in America was John Deming, an early settler of Wethersfield, Connecticut, where in 1641 his homestead included a house, barn and five acres of land on the east side of High street and west of the Great Meadow. He married Honor, daughter of Richard Treat (another pio- neer), who may have been the daughter of his second wife, Alice (Gaylord) Treat. John Deming was a deputy in 1645, and as such was appointed on a committee "to give best safe advice they can to the In- dians." He was among the first to ob- tain a lot on the east side of the river, on the "Naubic Farms," now town of Glas- tonbury, and it is recorded in the year 1640 to John Demion. He probably did not live there, as his house was in Weth- ersfield and he sold land on the east side BLISS, Francis Edward, of the river in 1666. He purchased land at various times in Wethersfield, much Publisher. of which he gave to his sons before his Francis Edward Bliss, whose death death. The last recorded act of his life occurred in Hartford, Connecticut, No-
was the signing of a codicil to his will, February 3, 1692. The will was proved November 21, 1705.
Ebenezer Deming, fifth son and young- est child of John Deming, was born about 1659, in Wethersfield, and in 1698 received a deed of land from his brother David, of Cambridge, and inherited other lands in that vicinity from his father. He mar- ried there, July 16, 1677, Sarah, whose family name has become obliterated in the records. Their eldest child, Ebenezer Deming, born May 5, 1678, in Wethers- field, was a hatter by trade, a landowner in Wethersfield and Newington, and died April 16, 1763. He married, December 27, 1704, Rebecca Treat, who was born about 1686, and died December 26, 1753, daughter of Lieutenant James and Re- becca (Lattimer) Treat. Her second son, Oliver Deming, born December 31, 1709, was buried in Wethersfield, Sep- tember 30, 1789. He married, April 3, 1735, Lucy Hale, born September 6, 1718, daughter of Nathaniel and Abigail (Fran- cis) Hale. Their eldest child, Lemuel Deming, born October 16, 1735, was buried in Wethersfield, April 25, 1790. He married Hannah Standish, born May 22, 1739, died February 3, 1826, daughter of Josiah and Hannah (Butler) Standish. Their third son, Levi Deming, born No- vember 25, 1764, baptized December 2, following, died September 27, 1848. He married, December 18, 1792, Sarah Grant, daughter of Aaron and Mabel (Easter) Grant, of East Windsor, Connecticut. Their daughter, Pamelia Deming, born November 8, 1800, became the wife of David Crane, and grandmother of Harry Wesley Crane.
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vember 9, 1915, was one of the best known citizens of that city. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, September 23, 1843, son of Elisha, Jr. and Lois Ann (Thayer ) Bliss. He won a position among the leading publishers of the coun- try entirely as a result of his own ex- ceptional ability and his own industry, sound business judgment and business character above reproach.
In writing the biography of a noted physicist, Ira Remsen remarked that some people are interesting because of their ancestors and some ancestors become in- teresting on account of their descendants. This rule would seem to work both ways in the case of Mr. Bliss, for while he was a scion of one of New England's oldest and most honored families, he had by his own achievement added fresh luster to the family name. According to family tradition the Bliss family had been settled in the south of England for some two hundred years prior to the coming to America of Thomas Bliss, the progenitor of Francis Edward Bliss. The family owned houses and lands, and were enti- tled to vote for members of Parliament. From time immemorial, they had been in- clined to Puritanism and detested the loose manners of most of the church clergy and laymen and the Sunday sports in which they indulged with the approval of Queen Elizabeth and her successor, James. The Bliss family joined with others in opposing the unjust taxes im- posed by the king. On one occasion two of them were included in a party of about thirty who accompanied their member to Parliament to London to withstand the tyranny of the king. James was angered by such demonstrations, and among the cthers the Blisses were seized, thrown into prison, and one time they had to pay five thousand dollars. Another year, the King's officers seized their cattle. Thomas
Bliss and his eldest son, Jonathan, were thrown into prison. Thomas Bliss's other sons, Thomas and George, raised the money on the old ancestral estate with which to secure the release of their father, and after a time were compelled to sell the estate, the father and mother going to live with their daughter, the wife of Sir John Calcliffe. The father divided the remainder of the estate among his three sons, Jonathan, Thomas and George, tell- ing them to go to America. Thomas and George were afraid to wait for Jona- than, who was still suffering from the cruel lashing he had received at Exeter and from his confinement. Accordingly Thomas and George, with their families, in the fall of 1635, left England. At vari- ous times Lady Calcliffe sent them boxes of shoes, clothing and other things which could not be procured in the colony.
Thomas Bliss, the emigrant ancestor of the Hartford branch of the family, was born in Northamptonshire, England, about 1580 or 1585. He married, in Eng- land, about 1612-15, Margaret, whose maiden name is not known. She accom- panied him to America with six of their children. Upon their arrival in Boston, Thomas Bliss located for a time in Brain- tree, and removed from there to Hartford, Connecticut, where he died in 1640. After his death his widow managed the family affairs with great prudence and judgment. In 1643 she sold her property in Hartford, and with her goods and cattle and eight children journeyed through the forest to Springfield, where she arrived after eight days. Her second and fourth sons, Na- thaniel and Samuel, had preceded her there and built a dwelling place. Mrs. Bliss died in Springfield, August 28, 1684.
Their son, Samuel Bliss, was born in England in 1624. On November 10, 1664- 65, he married Mary, daughter of John and Sarah (Heath) Leonard, of Spring-
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field, born September 14, 1647, and died in 1724. He died at the age of ninety-six years, March 23, 1720.
Their son, Ebenezer Bliss, was born July 29, 1683, in Springfield. He was a farmer. He married, in January, 1707, Mary, daughter of John and Mary (Clark) Gaylord, of Windsor, Connecticut, where in 1715 Ebenezer Bliss purchased sixty- three acres of land. He died September 7, 1777.
Their son, Jedediah Bliss, was born Au- gust 17, 1710, and followed his father's trade of tanner. He married, July 2, 1733, Rachel, daughter of Joseph and Mary Sheldon, of Suffield, Connecticut. Jede- diah Bliss was noted for his eccentricity.
Their son, Zenas Bliss, was born Feb- ruary 3, 1756, and married, in December, 1784, Mary Babcock, born August 20, 1758, and died September 25, 1824. He died May 26, 1822.
Their son, Elisha Bliss, was born No- vember 25, 1787, in Springfield, Massa- chusetts, and married, March 31, 1816, Almira, daughter of Rufus and Adula Sikes, who was born October 31, 1790.
Their son, Elisha Bliss, Jr., was born October 13, 1821, in Springfield, and died in 1880. He married, November 3, 1841, Lois Ann, daughter of Micah and Try- phona Thayer. The latter was descended from Richard Thayer, who came from England and settled in Braintree, Massa- chusetts, in 1636. Elisha Bliss, Jr., was a resident at different times of New York City and Hartford. He was the presi- dent and manager of the American Pub- lishing Company, a business name that had been adopted prior to 1859 and which had passed through hands of several own- ers until April, 1865, when it was form- ally incorporated under that name. This company was one of the pioneers in the subscription book business and one of the most successful.
Francis Edward Bliss, son of Elisha
Bliss, received his education in the schools of Springfield, Massachusetts, and pre- pared himself for the taking up of the work managed by his father. He suc- ceeded to this position upon the death of the latter, and he brought to the respon- sibilities of this position a mind well trained by systematic study and by a wide and varied experience. Mr. Bliss spent several winters in logging camps in Michigan, and at the outbreak of the Civil War sought to enlist in the defense of his country, but his physical condition, coupled with his youth, were barriers to his acceptance ; but such was his enthusi- asm that during the war he made several visits to the army on the field. When he had attained his majority he entered the employ of the Ninth National Bank of New York. His keen intelligence and close application won rapid promotion. He was also in the employ of the Tenth National Bank for a short period. Mr. Bliss came to Hartford in 1866, and be- came identified with the American Pub- lishing Company, of which his father was president. In 1868 he was made secre- tary and treasurer of the company. In 1887 he became president of the company and continued in this position until his death. Under his able managership the business continued to grow and prosper. He was far-sighted and progressive, and while by no means a visionary, he pos- sessed a constructive imagination. The company began the publication of Mark Twain's books as far back as 1869, when "Innocents Abroad" was brought out. This was followed in turn by "Roughing It," "The Gilded Age," "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," "A Tramp Abroad," "The Stolen White Elephant," "The Prince and the Pauper," and "Following the Equator ;" later a uniform edition of Mark Twain's works were published. In 1905 the company published a uniform edition of Charles Dudley Warner's writ-
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ings. The company also published the books of Marietta Holly, J. T. Headley's "History of the Rebellion," Albert D. Richardson's works, and many other widely read publications.
Mr. Bliss was a former member of the Governor's Foot Guard. In politics he was a Republican, but never an aspirant for political preferment. He always took an active interest in public affairs and as a private citizen did all in his power to promote those measures and enterprises that promised to enhance the public wel- fare. At one time he was a member of the Lotus Club of New York City.
Mr. Bliss married, September 28, 1870, Frances T., daughter of John W. and Frances Ann (Trefethen) French, of South Hadley, Massachusetts. The cere- mony of marriage was performed at the Summit House on Mount Holyoke. Mr. and Mrs. Bliss were the parents of two sons: Francis Edward, Jr., and Elisha French Bliss.
Mr. and Mrs. Bliss have been identified with the Asylum Hill Congregational Church for many years, Mr. Bliss having served as clerk of the society for forty- seven years. His religion was of the practical kind that finds expression in an upright daily life and the observance of the golden rule. In manner he was modest and unassuming, generous and charitable, but his giving was without ostentation. Mr. Bliss was highly es- teemed in business and financial circles for his sound judgment and high ethical standards, and his kindly disposition and attractive personal qualities won for him the unfailing confidence and friendship of his fellow-citizens.
COCHRAN, Levi Bennett, M. D., Physician.
Dr. Levi Bennett Cochran was born at Durhamville, Oneida county, New York,
December 8, 1867. He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
Hugh Cochran, his great-grandfather, married Nancy Beatty, and lived at Woodgrange, near the city of Down Pat- rick, in the eastern part of County Down, Ireland.
His grandfather, Alexander Cochran, was born at Woodgrange, married Nancy Martin, and lived for several years at Dromara, then called Milltown Dromara, in County Down. With his wife and three children, Alexander Cochran emi- grated from there to America in 1802, and settled at Ripley, Chautauqua county, New York, where Dr. Cochran's father, Andrew Cochran, was born.
Rev. Andrew Cochran was educated at Washington and Jefferson College and at Princeton Theological Seminary. He became pastor of a mission church at Dur- hamville, New York, and later was pas- tor of the Presbyterian church at Oneida Castle, New York, for thirty years. In remembrance of him, this church is called the "Cochran Memorial Church." Rev. Andrew Cochran married Catharine More, daughter of Robert L. More, who was son of John T. More, and grandson of John More, of Moresville, now Grand Gorge, Delaware county, New York. They had six children, three of whom are now liv- ing: John M., of Oneida Castle, New York; Levi B .: and- Katherine M., of Hartford, Connecticut.
Dr. Levi Bennett Cochran received a high school education at Oneida, New York. He worked as a drug clerk for three years at Oneida and in Philadelphia and graduated at the Philadelphia Col- lege of Pharmacy. Later he entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1893. He be- came house physician in the Cooper Hos- pital, Camden, New Jersey, resigning from there to accept a position as assist- ant physician at Lattimer Mines, Penn-
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sylvania, and finally located in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1896. He is one of the visiting physicians to the Hartford Hos- pital, a member of the City, County and State Medical societies and of the Ameri- can Medical Association. He is a mem- ber of several clubs and of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church. In Decem- ber, 1898, Dr. Cochran married Mary Louise Bronson, of Lowville, Lewis county, New York.
PRESTON, Major Edward Varrance, Civil War Veteran, Insurance Official.
Major Edward Varrance Preston, gen- eral manager of agencies of the Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, is one of the best known insurance men in Con- necticut, his native State. He was born June 1, 1837, in Willington, son of Joshua and Caroline (Eldredge) Preston. Major Preston was born under the handicap of having to maintain the prestige of a dis- tinguished ancestry, which has been traced back through a number of families to early Colonial days. Major Preston has made good, not only as a volunteer when the unity of the Nation was threat- ened, but in the more peaceful paths of business, and as a worker in the cause of religion, in which his family through many generations has been prominent.
The Prestons have been in Connecticut for many generations, and prior to locat- ing in this State were early settlers of Massachusetts. He also traces to Elder Thomas Dimock, Dorchester, Massachu- setts, 1635; Lieutenant Abel Wright, to whom a "homelot" was granted in Springfield, Massachusetts, January 2, 1665; Zoeth Eldredge, a soldier in the Revolution from Willington, Connecti- cut; Samuel Hinckley, of Scituate, in 1635, whose descendants were patriots of the Revolution. The list of Revolution-
ary soldiers published by Connecticut shows twenty-five representatives of the Preston family of Connecticut in the serv- ice. Another ancestor was Deacon Joseph Huntington, of Norwich. The Preston family is one of the oldest in New Eng- land, and the surname Preston is of great antiquity in North Britain. It was as- sumed by the family from territorial pos- sessions in Mid-Lothian, in the time of Malcolm, King of Scots, Leophus de Preston, of the time of William the Lion, in 1040, was grandfather of Sir William de Preston, one of the Scotch noblemen summoned to Berwick by Edward I. in the competition for the crown of Scot- land between Bruce and Baliol, the divi- sion having been referred to Edward. After the death of Alexander III., in 1291, this Sir William de Preston was suc- ceeded by his son, Nicol de Preston, one of the Scottish barons who swore fealty to Edward I. He died in the beginning of the reign of David II. of Scotland, son of Robert Bruce, and was succeeded by his son, Sir Lawrence de Preston, who was seated at Preston in Westmoreland in the time of Henry II. Sir Richard de Preston, fifth in descent from the above Richard de Preston, represented the county of Westmoreland in Parliament in the seventeenth year of Edward III. His son, Richard de Preston, had likewise the honor of being knight of the shire of Westmoreland in the same reign, twenty- seventh, Edward III., and in the same year, 1368, obtained license to embark five hundred acres. His successor was Sir John de Preston, of Preston Richard and Preston Patrick, and was a member of Parliament for Westmoreland in the thirty-sixth, thirty-ninth and forty-sixth years of Edward II. His son Richard had no male issue. His son John was the judge of the Court of Common Pleas in the reigns of Henry IV. and VI. and re-
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