USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 5 > Part 15
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vices on the market, and Mr. Des Jardins had more than one unfortunate experi- ence owing to over-capitalization by financiers ; also the first rewards of more than one of his inventions were lost to him by his indiscreet surrender of con- trol to promoters. ] In the case of his Type Justifier, Mr. Des Jardins person- ally found a purchaser for part of the patent rights, using the proceeds to wipe out a corporation debt of practically thirty thousand dollars, which he felt himself morally compelled to meet; and later, in the case of the typewriter-adding machine, he liquidated another debt of twelve thousand dollars, by similar pro- cedure. His experience brought him cau- tion, and he further safeguarded himself by actually entering upon the reading of law, so that he might qualify as a patent attorney, and in that way adequately en- sure secrecy and absolute protection to his subsequent patent interests. These precautions have of late years consider- ably increased his financial returns. In 1905, Mr. Des Jardins purchased a hand- somne residence in Washington, D. C., and there, in close proximity to the Patent Office, the talented inventor has of late years pursued his research and experi- ments at his leisure and pleasure.
The true estimate of a man is best ob- tained in his home; likewise, the full sig- nificance of an invention may be more truly gauged by the impression it pro- duces on those for whose facility it was devised. Consequently, it will be per- missible herein to include an excerpt from the Hartford "Post" article of March IO, 1900. The excerpt reads :
The machine (Des Jardins Type Justifier) will space type and justify as rapidly as the most expert operator can manipulate the keys of a typesetting machine, and the work is smoother and more accurate than can be done by hand. Mr. Des Jardins's invention is the first which has
been produced to justify movable type. Type setting machines, of which there are many differ- ent kinds, were all lacking in this very important feature. The linotype, which casts a line from molten metal, has a justifying attachment, and is in general use in large newspaper offices. But there has always been a demand for a machine that would justify movable type automatically, and after struggling with the problem for eighteen years, Mr. Des Jardins has succeeded in perfecting it to stand the test of usage. The process of justifying a line of type is strictly automatic, and occupies only about ten seconds, and the justifier may be speeded high if neces- sary, but in ordinary work the machine as adjusted will outstrip the swiftest operator, so that by the time the second line has been set, the justifier is waiting to receive it and repeat the process.
This may be considered valuable testi- mony, constituting as it does the inde- pendent opinion of the trade directly ben- efited by the invention.
Mr. Des Jardins's home life has been happy ; his wife has followed him through most of his adversities ; she gave him her hand while he was yet a humble inventor with a doubtful future, and their appre- ciation of each other is thereby the stronger. It was while residing at Evans- ton, Illinois, in 1889, that Mr. Des Jardins married Cora Viola Snyder, daughter of Herman and Harriet J. (Smith) Snyder, of that city. Mrs. Des Jardins was born in McHenry, Illinois, but her father, who died in 1898, was a native of Hudson, New York ; her mother, who died in 1910, in the home of her daughter and son-in- law, was born in Cambridge, Vermont.
Mr. and Mrs. Des Jardins have become prominent in the social life of Washing- ton, partly because of Mrs. Des Jardins's charm and skill as a musician. They also have a palatial summer residence, "Buena Vista," at West Hartford, Connecticut, where they spend many happy summer months. A pronounced fondness for the company of children has manifested itself in Mr. Des Jardins, arising, maybe, from
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his many years of association with the Sunday schools, later that of West Hart- ford Baptist Church. Mr. Des Jardins was Sunday school superintendent there for many years, and his West Hartford summer home has often been enlivened by the merry laughter of many children of the village and of course of the Sunday school, who have gathered at his invita- tion at charming little "flower parties" and other children's entertainments Mr. and Mrs. Des Jardins have provided and themselves much enjoyed; and often while at work in Washington, Mr. Des Jardins will seek recreation from his la- bors by entertaining at his home, or at his "camp" along the banks of the Poto- mac, the children of his two classes of boy and girl members of Calvary Baptist Sunday school. Later under his direction, with talented assistance irom visiting children of former years at Washington and at his Buena Vista playgrounds at West Hartford, he has organized Wood- craft lodges and turned much of the hearty enthusiasm to systematic nature study and child development. That he is a true lover of nature, as well as of child- ren, and that he carries within him the inspiration of the poet, will be obvious from a brief reading of some of his poems contained in a little volume he produced, entitled "Wild Flower Poems," which poetry stamps him as a man of versatile genius, and pure sentiment, and shows that his true nature has been unspoiled by the hardening influences of money, nor embittered by the buffetings encountered during a life-long struggle in a hard world.
HILLS, Charles Sidney, Merchant.
Charles Sidney Hills, of the Hartford firm of C. S. Hills & Company, dry goods
merchants, was born in Hartford, Septem- ber I, 1853, the son of Sidney and Sarah M. (Rogers) Hills.
The Hills family is an old and honored one in New England, Colonial records determining that William Hills, the first of the name to come to this country, and American ancestor of many American families of that name, landed in Boston, September 16, 1632, and as hereinafter noted removed to Hartford, Connecticut, about three years later. Anterior to the emigration, the Hills family had some prominence in English records, extending back for many generations. Careful re- search has shown it to be distinct in origin from the name Hill. Edward Has- ted, English historian, stated, in his "His- tory of Kent," which was published in 1778, that the name Hills, which was common in that county of England at that time, could be traced back to the Middle Ages, and that it originated as a patronymic in the following manner :
About a mile southeastward from Darant Church is the hamlet of Helles Saint Margaret, commonly called Saint Margaret Hills *
* This manor afterwards came into the possession of a family called Hells, who had much land at Dartford, and at Ash, near Sandwich, and from them this place acquired the additional name of Hells, or more vulgarly Hilles. One of these, Thomas de Helles, had a charter of free warren granted to him and his heirs for his lands here and at Dartford, in the seventeenth year of King Edward the First. One of his descendants, Rich- ard Hills, for so the name was then spelt, about the beginning of King Henry the Seventh's reign, was possessed of this manor of Saint Margaret Hilles.
As has been the case with almost all ancient names, this was spelt in various ways, even by those who were undoubt- edly of the same family stock. In the thirtieth year of King Edward III, one Gilbert de Hells, of Hells Court, in Ash, and of Saint Margaret Hells in Darant,
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was sheriff. His father, Bertram de Hells, was lieutenant of Dover Castle, under Reginald de Cobham. Henry de Helles was summoned to Parliament as one of the Knights of Kent. early in the reign of King Edward III. No less than seven coats-of-arms were granted to that many branches of the Hills family. The ancestors of the American branches of the family almost all resided within a radius of about twenty miles from the manor of St. Margaret Hills, where the name originated, and scrupulous search, at the instance of the family genealogist, William Sanford Hills, to whose collected information must be attributed many of the records herein contained, established it beyond doubt that the family to which the line now represented by Charles Sid- ney Hills, of Hartford, belongs, is by hereditary right entitled to the coat-of- arms described below :
Arms-Argent, a cross between four crescents, azure, a chief of the last.
Crest-A horse courant, gules. In the mouth, a broken spear-head, sable.
William Hills, the progenitor of the family to which the Hills, of Hartford, belongs, was born about 1609, at Up- minster, Essex, England, the son of Thomas and Jane Hilles. He died in Hartford, or Hadley, in 1683. His first wife was Phillis, daughter of Richard Lyman, who was born in 1611 at High Ongar, and came with her father to Bos- ton in 1631. William Hills came on the ship "Lyon," which arrived in Boston Harbor, September 16, 1632. In that year he was bound to service, probably to pay for his passage as was often the case in those days. He was admitted freeman of Roxbury, May 14, 1634. About the middle of October of the succeeding year, he joined the church at Cambridge, and with that body, in which was his father-
in-law, removed to Hartford. His first wife died probably before 1648, and Will- iam Hills was twice subsequently mar- ried ; purchased a large tract of land where now is East Hartford, and removed there in October, 1669. In the records of the First Church of Hartford is the following entry regarding him: "dis- missed, July, 1683; moved to Hadley."
His son, William Hills, was born in Hartford about 1646, and, according to Savage, was buried there, August 15, 1693. He married Sarah
Their son, Ebenezer Hills, was born at East Hartford in 1676, and died Feb- ruary 12, 1750. He married Abigail, who presumably was the daughter of Caleb Benjamin, of Wethersfield.
Their son, Ebenezer Hills, born Janu- ary 14, 1708, died January 14, 1772. He married Hannah Arnold.
Their son, Ezenezer Hills, was born in March, 1733, and died March 28, 1773. He married Hepzibah Keeney, who was born in Manchester, Connecticut, May, 1733, and died at East Hartford, Febru- ary 15, 1826.
Their son, Ebenezer Hills, was born February 7, 1756, and died April 4, 1826. He married, at East Hartford, November 16, 1775, Ruth Damon, who was born there July 9, 1754, and died September 22, 1802. He served in the Revolutionary Army for the period, April 21 to Novem- ber I, of the year 1777.
Their son, Joel Hills, was born July 16, 1778, and died May 7, 1851. He mar- ried, at Manchester, Connecticut, March 5, 1802 (for his first wife, through whom Charles Sidney Hills, of Hartford, is de- scended), Milly Kenney, who was born December 22, 1781, and died October 3, 1824.
Their son, Sidney Hills, father of Charles Sidney Hills, was born in East Hartford, October 1, 1812. His education
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was obtained in the public schools of Hartford, and after leaving school he was apprenticed to the marble and stone cut- ting trade. He was still quite a young man when he sought to establish himself independently in business as a sculpter of monuments. Ill-health necessitated his removal to East Hartford, in 1857, and there, having purchased the old home- stead of the family, he sought health in the vigorous occupations of a farming life, continuing thus engaged for the re- mainder of his life. His wife was Sarah M., daughter of Martin L. Rogers, of Tolland, Massachusetts. Of four children born to them, one died in infancy. The other children were: Isadore, who mar- ried Henry E. Risley, of East Hartford, and died at the age of seventy ; Rollin, who died about fifteen years of age; and Charles Sidney, of whom further. Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Hills were members of the Congregational church, East Hart- ford, and resided in the southeastern part of the town, in the locality now desig- nated Hilltown.
Their son, Charles Sidney Hills, re- ceived all the education possible of ob- tainment in the public schools of the town, and then, for further commercial training, entered the Brown's Business College, Brooklyn, New York. In 1869 he became an employee of the firm of Joseph Langdon & Company, which well- known business house was established about one hundred years ago by Reuben Langdon, and passed under the control of Joseph Langdon in 1835. Within twelve years of his first engagement un- der the firm, Charles Sidney Hills was admitted to partnership, though for some years prior to that recognition he had been active in the direction of the busi- ness. In 1885, Mr. Hills and Mr. Cook purchased Mr. Langdon's interest in the firm, and thereafter expanded it steadily
and appreciably. The premises now oc- cupied by the firm of C. S. Hills & Com- pany cover the space originally occupied by six stores, four on Main street and two on Pratt street. When Mr. Hills first entered the employ of the Langdon Company, the business demanded the labor of not more than twelve people ; to- day the staff numbers more than one hundred and fifty persons, regularly em- ployed, and notwithstanding many temp- tations to add other somewhat allied lines, Mr. Hills has adhered strictly to the dry goods business. Mr. Hills has ap- plied himself closely to business for the greater part of his life, but has found time for some public duties. During the years 1875 to 1880, he was a member of the City Guard, and has since been a member of the veteran organization. He is a trustee of the Society for Savings and until its dissolution was a director of the Charter Oak National Bank. He holds membership in the Hartford Club and the Farmington Country Club.
On September 22, 1880, Mr. Hills mar- ried Martha E., daughter of Benjamin Harris, who was born in Jersey City, but traced descent from a family of Canadian origin. Mr. and Mrs. Hills have one child, Annette, who married Frank A. Olds. The Hills family attend the Asylum Ave- nue Baptist Church, of which they are members.
BISHOP, Fred L., Manufacturer.
The surname of Bishop is of very an- cient origin, being derived beyond doubt from the office of that name, although just how the title of a sacred office of the Catholic church came to be used as a sur- name, is lost in the obscurity of ancient history. It has been suggested that it must have been a personal name, or a
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nickname of some progenitor, just as our titles major and deacon are sometimes given. Other names like Pope are of this class, numerous examples of which may easily be called by anyone to mind. Bishop was in common use in England as a surname many centuries ago and no less than eleven immigrants came to this country from there and settled in Massa- chusetts with their families prior to the year 1650. Various branches of the Eng- lish house are entitled to armorial bear- ings and many men of the name have held titles and dignities of various kinds. The Bishop family is one of the oldest in Connecticut.
Fred L. Bishop, secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Hartford Fai- ence Company, was born June 16, 1869, in the city of Hartford, Connecticut, a son of Seth W. and Ann L. (Hart) Bishop. His father was a native of West Hartford, where he died in 1895, at the age of seventy-three. The elder man had been educated in the public school of his native community, and learned the trade of machinist, which he followed in the machine shops of New Britain, Connec- ticut, until 1849, when he joined the great group of men who went to Cal- ifornia when the news of the discoveries of gold in that State had spread abroad. His voyage to the Western State was made by ship around Cape Horn and he remained in California about ten years, engaged in gold mining. He then re- turned to Hartford, where for twelve years he was engaged successfully in the tobacco business and became a member of the firm of Pratt & Whitney, an asso- ciation which continued for more than fifty years and was only terminated with- in a short time before the death of Mr. Bishop. He retired in 1894 and spent the last year of his life in well-earned retire- ment. Details of the business of Pratt
& Whitney will be found in the sketch of Amos Whitney, who is the subject of extended mention elsewhere in this work. Mr. Bishop had charge of the company's foundry and his efforts contributed large- ly to the high degree of success enjoyed by the concern. Mr. Bishop was a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity, having joined that order while residing in Cal- ifornia. He was also a director of the Gray Telephone Pay Station Company, being one of those who recognized the possibilities of this pioneer invention and had the courage to stand by it, until it became a financial success. He and his family attended the Park Congregational church. On April 26, 1866, he married Ann L. Hart, of Avon, Connecticut, a daughter of Luther Woodford Hart, an old and highly respected resident of that place. Three children were born to them, as follows: Benjamin Seth, born Septem- ber 10, 1867, now deceased; Fred L., of whom further; and Gertrude, deceased. Mr. Bishop's grandfather was Benjamin Bishop, who lived most of his life at West Hartford and Avon, Connecticut, and died at the venerable age of eighty-nine years. He was a farmer by occupation. He mar- ried Betsy Woodford.
Fred L. Bishop received his education in the public schools of Hartford, attend- ing both the grammar and high school there, and upon completing his studies in the latter institution, became associated with the firm of Chaffee & Company ; not long afterwards, in the year 1894, he with- drew from this connection and with Clar- ence Whitney and Eugene Atwood or- ganized the present important business house which at that time was known as the Atwood Faience Company. Upon the withdrawal of Mr. Atwood from the firm, however, the present name of Hartford Faience Company was adopted. Mr. Bishop has been secretary and treasurer
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of the concern from its origin to the pres- ent time. The product of this concern was originally faience, a clay tile product made from the coarser clays like terra cotta, but finished more carefully and with color glazes, what now is known as polychrome terra cotta. This was used principally in interiors, for mantels, etc., and has gradually given place as a prod- uct to electrical porcelain, which the com- pany now manufactures principally. This product is shipped all over the country to manufacturers of electrical apparatus. The concern is a large one and employs on an average of about one hundred and seventy-five hands. Mr. Bishop does not confine his activities to this individual concern, however, but is connected with others as well, among which should be mentioned the Gray Telephone Pay Sta- tion Company, in which he has succeeded his father as director. Mr. Bishop is a prominent figure in the social and club life of Hartford, and is affiliated with a number of important organizations in that city such as the Highland Country Club, the East Haddam Fish and Game Club, the Tuesday Night Bowling Club, the Hartford Canoe Club, and Farmington Country Club. A glance at Mr. Bishop's clubs at once suggests the fact that he is a man of active and athletic tastes and devoted to out-door sports and pastimes of all kinds, a suggestion which is en- tirely correct, as Mr. Bishop finds his rec- reation in these things.
On November 11, 1890, Fred L. Bishop was united in marriage with Florence North, a daughter of A. W. North, of Hartford. Three children were born to them : Gertrude N., Benjamin L. and Katherine W. A. W. North, Mrs. Bish- op's father, was for many years connected with the firm of Hatch & North, one of the largest concerns dealing in coal in Hartford. His death occurred April 18, 1908.
The maternal ancestry of Fred L. Bish- op was a distinguised one and well merits extended notice here. His mother was Ann L. Hart, a daughter of Luther Woodward Hart, of Avon, Connecticut, and Farmington, Ohio. Her birth oc- curred October 4, 1842. Luther W. Hart was born at Avon, June 16, 1796, and married, in 1819, Almira Gillet, a daughter of Amos and Esther (Bishop) Gillet. She was born in 1800, and died in 1852. They removed to Farmington, Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1837, and still later, after the death of his wife, Mr. Hart removed to Delevan, Faribault county, Minnesota, where he was living with his son, George Hart, in 1872, in enjoyment of a robust and vigorous health.
His father, Gideon Baldwin Hart, was born at Avon, February 14, 1776. He married, December 29, 1795, Marilla Woodford, a daughter of Joseph Wood- ford, Jr., of Avon, where she was born July 7, 1777. They resided east of the Farmington river and it was on his place there that his death eventually occurred, August 31, 1842, and that of his wife, August 22, 1863.
His father, Gideon Hart, was born at Farmington, Connecticut, September II, 1730, married, November 15, 1759, Eliz- abeth, daughter of William Hart, and a native of Avon, where she was born April 9, 1739. Gideon Hart and his wife were admitted to the church at Farming- ton, in 1814, and it was there that her death occurred January 1, 1825. He was a prosperous farmer and his house was on the north side of the narrow lane lead- ing to the bridge across the Farmington river at Cider brook. His death occurred November 17, 1807.
His father, Joseph Hart, was born in 1700 at Farmington, and he married, December 6, 1722, Mary Bird, a daughter of Joseph Bird, Jr., and his wife, Mary (Steele) Bird. He was engaged in busi-
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ness as a shoemaker. Both he and his wife were members of the church at Northington, in 1751, and he was the first deacon thereof. He was also magistrate there. His wife died January 23, 1774-75, and his death occurred March 10, 1777. The Bible said to have been his, printed at London in 1585, was exchanged with the Connecticut Historical Society for an ordinary family Bible by his grand- daughter, Mrs. Rhoda Thompson.
His father, Sergeant Thomas Hart, of Nod and Farmington, was born in 1666 at Tunxis. Ile married, September 18, 1689. Elizabeth Judd, a daughter of John and Mary (Hawkins) Judd, a native of Farmington, where she was born in 1670, and where she united with the church on February 2, 1691-92. He inherited the west half of his father's house lot, oppo- site the Female Seminary, where he re- sided, and in addition to this owned large tracts of land in the region. His death occurred March 23, 1727-23. and that of his wife on March 18, 1743.
His father, Stephen Hart, was second son of the immigrant ancestor, and was born at Braintree in the County of Essex, England. On coming to this country with his parents he located at Farming- ton, and had his house east of the church and opposite the residence of John Hooker. He was made a freeman in May, 1654, and died about 1689, leaving an estate which was appraised at
1633.14.0.
His father, Deacon Stephen Hart, was born about 1605 at Braintree, England, and came to Massachusetts about 1632, locating for a time at Newtown, now Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was one of the fifty-four settlers of that town and was admitted freeman there, May 14, 1634. He was a deacon in the church of the Rev. Thomas Hooker, and came to Hartford with his company in 1635. He
was named as one of the proprietors of the town in 1639, and his house lot was located on the west side of what is now Front street, Hartford, near the intersec- tion of Morgan street. He was one of the original settlers of the town of Farming- ton in 1645, and became one of its eighty- four proprietors in 1672. He was one of the "Seven Pillars" of the church and was chosen their first deacon. He owned a large tract on the border of what is now Avon, and which is known to this day as Hart's farm. He was one of the first deputies of the town to the General Court of Connecticut, beginning with the May session of 1647 and continuing for fifteen sessions until 1655, and again in 1660. No man in the town was more active, influential and useful. His house lot, which was four or five times as large as any other in the community, was on the west side of Main street, opposite the meeting house, and comprised some fif- teen acres. It was given to him as an inducement to build and continue a mill on the premises. His will was dated March 16, 1682-83, and his death occurred in the same month and year.
The origin of the name of Hart is not known. In common with most old sur- names it was and is spelled in a variety of ways. The ancient coat-of-arms of the Hart family was as follows: Per chevron azure and gules three harts trippant or. Crest, a lion's head couped ermine ducally crowned gules.
Florence (North) Bishop. wife of the Mr. Bishop of this sketch, is descended from an old and distinguished New Eng- land family. She was born on October 8, 1869, a daughter of Albert W. and Louisa M. (Ward) North.
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