USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 5 > Part 22
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with Captain Dowd, a farmer in the town of Clinton, where he remained seven years.
While still a boy he evinced consider- able inventive genius and mechanical ingenuity, one of the practical results of which was a corn sheller, which proved very useful and popular. When sixteen years old, he went to Chester, Connecti- cut, where he began to learn the carpen- ter trade under Potter & Wheaton. After about eighteen months this firm dis- solved, and young Frisbie went to Mid- dletown, where he found employment in the patternmaker's department of the W. & B. Douglass Company. He had long since made himself master of many tools, and his quick perception of mechanical subjects gave him rapid progress. For twenty-six years he continued in the shops of the Douglass firm and in that time accumulated a substantial sum with which to engage in business on his own account. During this period he perfected several articles of small hardware which were manufactured and sold by the J. & E. Stevens Company, of Cromwell, on a royalty. In 1866 this company made him an offer, under which he took charge of its works at a liberal salary and came into possession of a quarter-interest in the establishment. The business of the com- pany greatly increased under his admin- istration, and a great quantity of hard- ware novelties and toys were produced, which found a wide sale. Mr. Frisbie became assistant treasurer of the com- pany. For many years Mr. Frisbie made his home in Cromwell, and was very help- ful in building up various enterprises in that town. He was a man of most kindly disposition, with confidence in his fel- low-men, and was ever ready to help the deserving or ambitious, not only in a financial way but with sound advice and genial good fellowship. A man of most
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Charlie Betriebies
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unassuming and modest nature, he sought no credit for his kind acts and enjoyed a most happy life without ostentation or display. Through his own perseverance and unflinching courage he conquered many obstacles. In 1876 Mr. Frisbie was elected on the Republican ticket to the State Legislature, receiving a majority of fifty-two votes. This was his only con- nection with political activities. though he was a man of firmly established prin- ciples, every ready to sustain his opin- ions. The operation of his business required close personal attention, and he left practical politics to those whose taste led in that direction. He was the presi- dent of the Cromwell Plate Company ; a director in the Cromwell Savings Bank ; a director in the Middletown Bank ; direc- tor of the Power Hardware Company ; and a director of the Meriden & Crom- well Railroad Company. For many years he was an active member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, having membership with Central Lodge, No. 12, of Middletown. In 1844, Mr. Frisbie mar- ried Mary Ann Brown, daughter of Sam- uel C. Brown, and they were the parents of four children: Henry R., resides in Belleville, New Jersey; Agnes Melville, married, in 1870, I. B. Pryor; Charles B., receives further mention; Carrie Eliza- beth, born 1854, died in 1861.
Charles Brown Frisbie, second son of Russell and Mary Ann (Brown) Frisbie, was born July 17, 1849, in Middletown, Connecticut, where he spent his boyhood, and acquired his elementary education in private schools. Subsequently, he com- pleted the course in the City High School, and was later a student at the Green Mountain Institute, South Woodstock, Vermont. After leaving the high school, he served three years as clerk in the store of H. B. & F. J. Chaffee, of Middle- town. At the end of this time the family
removed to Cromwell, and soon after Charles Brown Frisbie attained his ma- jority. At the age of nineteen years, he began the study of civil engineering, and has had considerable experience in rail- road construction and operation. He was employed on the survey of the Valley Railroad, and also on government work along the Connecticut river. For one and one-half years he was employed on the foundation of the piers and railroad bridge of Middletown. In March, 1877, Mr. Frisbie entered the employ of the J. & E. Stevens Company, manufacturers of toys and other hardware specialities, at North Cromwell, Connecticut, and continued with this establishment until 1908, when it went out of business, having joined a combination of hardware and metal toy manufacturers. For the last ten years Mr. Frisbie had held the position of su- perintendent of the company. In 1912 Mr. Frisbie purchased the plant as it then stood, and incorporated the business under the title of The J. and E. Stevens Company, and continued the manufac- ture of light hardware, toys, pistols and hatchets. In the incorporation, Mr. Fris- bie was made president and treasurer. The business was established in 1843, and is the oldest iron toy factory in the world. Wherever commerce makes its way about the globe, the wares of this establishment find market. About ninety people are employed. Like his honored father, Mr. Frisbie has been active in promoting the varied interests of his home town, and enjoys the esteem and appreciation of his fellow-citizens. Having espoused the principles of the Republican party, he has long acted in its interests, although he never allows partisanship to bias his judgment or principles. For twenty years he has been chairman of the Republican Town Committee of Crom- well, and fourteen years chairman of
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the Board of Relief of the town. In 1897 he represented the town in the Lower House of the General Assembly, and in 1912 represented his district in the State Senate. He is a member of the Congregational church of Cromwell, in which he has filled several positions, and is a member of Central Lodge, No. 12, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Middletown. He is a member of the Mid- dletown Yacht Club ; succeeded his father as trustee of the Middlesex County Bank ; one of the corporators and a director of the Cromwell Savings Bank; a trustee of the Connecticut School for Boys at Meri- den. Mr. Frisbee's home is one of the most handsome and substantial in Crom- well, and there the spirit of hospitality finds permanent abode.
He married, May 21, 1873, Emma M. Roberts, born September 21, 1852, a daugh- ter of Abner and Mary Stocking (Hub- bard) Roberts, the last named a twin sister of George S. Hubbard, of Middletown. Mr. and Mrs. Frisbie are the parents of three children : Russell Abner, receives further mention ; Mattie May, born January 22, 1882, died February 27, 1903; Harry Copeland, born December 7, 1885, died September 2, 1903.
FRISBIE, Russell Abner, Manufacturer.
Russell Abner Frisbie, eldest child of Charles Brown and Emma M. (Roberts) Frisbie, was born February 21, 1874, in Middletown, Connecticut. He came to Cromwell at the age of four years, and there passed his boyhood and youth. He received his elementary education there, and subsequently was a student at the Wesleyan School at Wilbraham, Mas- sachusetts. Possessing much aptitude for drawing, immediately after leaving school, he engaged in the service of vari-
ous firms in New Jersey and Connecticut as draftsman and designer. In 1902 he founded the Frisbie Motor Company of Middletown, Connecticut, and engaged in the manufacture of motors and station- ary engines designed by himself. In this business thirty-five skilled mechanics are employed, and the product is distributed over the world. In 1917 the factory of the company had increased to about dou- ble its original size in order to accom- modate its ever increasing business. Mr. Frisbie seems to have inherited the me- chanical genius of his grandfather, and he has achieved a remarkable success for one of his years. He makes his home in Middletown, where he participates in the social life of the community, and is esteemed as a business man. 1. He has made no effort to share in practical poli- tics, but is a sound Republican in prin- ciple and is ever ready to support his opinions. He is an active member of the Masonic Order, affiliating with Washing- ton Lodge, No. 81, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Cromwell, Connec- ticut; of Washington Chapter, No. 6, Royal Arch Masons, of Middletown; Cyrene Commandery, No. 8, Knights Templar; of Sphinx Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Hartford. He is also a mem- ber of the Congregational church.
He married, June 4, 1895, Harriet Esther Coe, daughter of Orren and La- vinia (Bacon) Coe, and granddaughter of Osborn Coe, of Middletown.
FENNELL, Rev. William George, D. D., Clergyman, Lecturer.
Contemporary opinion rarely errs in its estimate of a man's character and ability, much as it may differ with him in doc- trine or belief. To have lived in the light of publicity as an eminent minister of the
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Russell a Frisbie
W.h. Fennell
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Gospel for over a quarter of a century, and to emerge with not only the honors of his holy calling but with the highest regard and respect of his contemporaries of every creed, stamps Dr. Fennell as one of those noble souls whose lives dignify whatever calling pursued, one whose gifts of mind and heart were rightly used, one who knew the truth and dared to make it the law of his life. He had a passion to know the truth, which sent him from a hill country farm to work his way through the difficulties that stood be- tween him and an education, a passion which kept him keenly alive, fed him with heavenly manna daily and made him a Christian leader of rare balance and prac- tical effectiveness. His sterling char- acter was graced by a kindness that never failed, a love which went out to all and was as freely returned. While a man of rare gifts and graces, his goodness made him great. He was a thorough stu- dent, his enthusaism for scholarship only equalled by his accuracy. It was not an uncommon sight to see him upon the street with a book in his hand, and not only was he constantly gathering but as constantly scattering, and his influence was felt far beyond his immediate parish. He was a many-sided man, and his ver- satility amazed even his nearest friends. He was interested in all that interested his fellowmen, and could be counted on for service in every good cause. His active mind was quick to grasp the trend of events and to discriminate in all ques- tions of moral and religious significance. He was truly and fully a man of God, a lover of his fellowmen, a broad-minded, warm-hearted, sympathetic and efficient worker in every good cause.
Rev. William George Fennell was born in Goshen, Litchfield county, Connecti- cut, November 15, 1859, son of Enoch and Eliza (Pierce) Fennell, natives of Eng-
land, who emigrated from England, in the year 1854, locating in Goshen, Con- necticut. When he was seven years of age, he removed with his family to East Cornwall, where his father purchased the Benedict farm, and the family resided thereon for many years, the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Fennell occurring there, after which it was purchased by the Rev. Dr. Fennell, who was the owner of it for a number of years. All of the boyhood days of Dr. Fennell were spent at work on the farm, work that he very much disliked, because he loved to study and longed to secure an education. At the age of eleven he united with the Baptist church at East Cornwall, Connecticut, and was baptized by the Rev. D. F. Chap- man, pastor of the church. When he was fourteen years of age, he began to think about studying for the ministry, but did not make his decision until two years later. After primary and intermediate courses, at the age of sixteen years, he taught a country school in a nearby town called "Hardscrabble," and with this money he was enabled to enter school the fall he was seventeen. This was the Con- necticut Literary Institute at Suffield, and here he prepared for college and gradu- ated in 1880. Prior to this time, when he was seventeen years of age, he was licensed to preach by the church at East Cornwall, and every year thereafter he preached an annual sermon in that church on the first Sunday in August, which day was set apart as "Fennell Day." This service was held for thirty-nine succes- sive years without a break, and at the time of his death Dr. Fennell was antici- pating and preparing for the fortieth an- niversary sermon in said church. In 1881 he taught school in the town of Mar- ion, Connecticut, and in the fall of that year he entered Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, and during the
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spring term of his freshman year he left college to assist the Rev. T. A. T. Hanna, D. D., who was secretary of the State Convention of Connecticut. In this way he became very well acquainted with the Baptist work of the State, in which he was interested as long as he lived.
In the following fall he returned to Colgate University, having made up the term's work during the summer months, and graduated therefrom in 1885. In ad- dition to his work in college and semin- ary, Dr. Fennell was pastor of a small church in Sidney, New York, for four and one-half years. He went there in 1882 and preached on Sundays until he left the seminary to accept a call to the First Bap- tist Church of Middletown, Connecticut, and he received the degree of Master of Arts from the Seminary in 1888, and the degree of Doctor of Divinity from his Alma Mater in 1908. He was ordained to the ministry, April 26, 1887, and was pas- tor of the First Baptist Church for five years, and during this time the church edifice was almost entirely remodeled. He also evidenced his peculiar fitness for his sacred calling, and his earnest work for the spiritual progress of the church won him the affection and esteem of the members. His second pastorate was in the First Baptist Church of Meriden, Connecticut, where he remained eight years. In that period two hundred and forty new members were received into the church.
His activities were not all confined to the pastorate. During his pastorates at Middletown and Meriden, he was much interested in Bible class work, and his inspirational talent in that line gave him a reputation that led to his being placed at the head of Bible study promotion work among the Baptist churches of the State. Under his auspices as president of the Connecticut Baptist Bible School
Union a summer school was held in the Tabernacle at Crescent Beach, in which the Baptist Bible scholarship of the State was enlisted. In that school was brought out, in a series of lectures by the Rev. E. Blakeslee, the first draft of that original student's life of Christ, which afterward developed into the Blakeslee system of graded instruction, an idea that was taken up and finally absorbed by the larger denominational publishing societies. For two years Dr. Fennell wrote a series of Sunday school lessons called the "Senior Inductive Bible Studies." During his pastorate at Meriden he was the State president of the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor.
His next call was from beyond the limits of his native State, and it was with considerable regret that he accepted the call as it meant the severance of relations very dear to him. In 1900 Dr. Fennell was called to the South Baptist Church of Newark, New Jersey, where he served as pastor for eight years, years blessed in the memory of that church. In 1907 the Rev. George M. Stone, D. D., who had been pastor of the Asylum Avenue Bap- tist Church of Hartford, Connecticut, for twenty-nine years, chose Dr. Fennell as his successor, and he was called to the church in October, 1907, and began his work, May 1, 1908. He served the church for nearly nine years, until the final call came and he heard the Master's approv- ing words. "Well done, good and faithful servant."
During many of these years Dr. Fen- nell gave much time to lecturing for the Young Men's Christian Association, the Young Women's Christian Association, Teachers' Bible Study Institute, and for six years taught the Old Testament in the Kennedy School of Missions con- nected with the Hartford Theological Seminary. These thirty years in the min-
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istry had been years of broadening intel- lectuality and deepening spirituality for Dr. Fennell, and of blessing to the churches he served. He richly abounded in the spirit life, was the servant of God, resourceful and convincing in establish- ing the truth, strong and fearless as a herald of righteousness, a true servant of God, friend of man and apostle of better, greater things. He wrought well, loved much, was honored by his people and exalted by his Master.
Dr. Fennell was for many years a mem- ber of the Board of the Baptist Ministers' Home Society of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. He was a trustee of the Connecticut Literary Institute in Suf- field, also president of the Alumni Asso- ciation of that school. At the time of his death he was secretary of the State Bap- tist Education Society, of which he had been president for a number of years ; he was a prominent member of the Baptist State Convention, serving on several of its important committees; the work of the Connecticut Children's Aid Society especially appealed to him, and he will- ingly lent his energies to the cause, serv- ing the society as its first vice-president. In January, 1917, he was chosen chaplain of the Senate in Hartford, and during the few weeks he had served made many friends among the Senators and State offi- cials. Dr. Fennell was also very active in the work of the McAll Auxiliary, a world-wide society to aid in the cause of the McAll Mission in France. He also took an especial interest in the large number of attendants and patients at the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, which had previously been a much neg- lected field.
Dr. Fennell was a great lover of books, and in his early life this love was as keen and almost as discriminating as it was in later years. When he made his pastoral
calls he generally carried a book or read- ing matter with him. These he was accus- tomed to show to some person, many times a boy or girl in the home where he was calling, and he urged them to read and return the volume. Another excel- lent trait was his attachment for his mother. He hardly ever preached a ser- mon but what he spoke of the little woman up in the Litchfield hills, and while pastor of the church in Middletown she paid him a visit, much to the delight of his parishioners.
Dr. Fennell married, June 30, 1885, Inez Clarine Warner, of Suffield, Connec- ticut, who survives him. Children : Guinevere, born December 21, 1887, now secretary and pastor's assistant to the Rev. Arthur T. Fowler, D. D., pastor of the North Orange Baptist Church, North Orange, New Jersey ; and Marjorie W., born May 27, 1889, lives at home.
Dr. Fennell was always a great lover of his home, and of flowers, and he took great pride in planting trees, shrubbery and flowers. He maintained a summer home at Suffield, Connecticut, and while on a visit there was suddenly stricken with paralysis, February 26, 1917, and breathed his last at the home of his friend, ex-Assemblyman Edward A. Fuller, a few hours later. His remains were interred in the family plot at Suffield.
On the day following the announce- ment of the death of Dr. Fennell, the clerk of the Connecticut State Senate read the following message from Lieuten- ant-Governor Clifford B. Wilson :
It is the sad duty of the president of the Senate to advise you gentlemen of the sudden and re- gretted death of our chaplain, Rev. W. G. Fen- nell, D. D. Although he has served a few short weeks only, and came to most of us as a stranger, yet his Christian character has left its impress upon all, and we realize that in his demise a true spiritual leader and a loyal friend has been re- moved. His high spiritual life was typified in his
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daily walk and habits of life. His conception of the high calling of a minister of God was that true Christianity was not a matter of doctrine or dogma, but a recognition of One God, and the same privileges of service to all. He will be missed in all his many fields of friends.
After the reading of the message reso- lutions were adopted by the State Senate :
Whereas, the Senate has learned with deep re- gret of the death of its chaplain, Rev. Dr. W. G. Fennell, now therefore,
Be it Resolved by the Senate: That a commit- tee of three senators be appointed by the presi- dent pro tempore to draft resolutions of respect to his memory, and with the President of the Senate to attend his funeral.
And be it further Resolved: That, in respect to his memory, the Senate do now adjourn.
The following is a tribute from a friend, published in papers after Dr. Fennell's death :
He found happiness in the simple things of life, the commonplace, which to him was never com- monplace. His garden was a source of great de- light to him and in his garden, working among his vegetables and flowers, he found strength and spiritual lessons to bring to his people.
The Federation of Churches in Hart- ford, Connecticut, passed the following resolutions on the death of Dr. Fennell :
Resolved: That in the sudden death of the Rev. William G. Fennell, D. D., Pastor of the Asylum Avenue Baptist Church, our whole fra- ternity of churches loses one of its noblest friends and leaders. The same qualities of brain and heart which endeared him to the church of which he was the devoted and successful pastor gained for him a large place in the wider circles of our civic and religious life. His trained and scholarly judgment was animated by a kindling zeal for righteousness in every relation of life, and his brotherly democratic spirit made him the friend and helper of all men, and vitally interested in all that concerned the welfare of his neighbors and fellowmen. Few among us possessed the rare balance that made him the valued champion of every good cause, and the ideal comrade in every advance movement of the Kingdom of God.
Possessing a personal experience of God that was the keynote of his life, he was generously
sympathetic with every sincere attempt to make the world a cleaner, better place, and he ever urged us forward, in his suburb leadership, to the sanest and most Christlike aims in our federated life.
He was a brother beloved and trusted-a cheery, eager, wise, methodical, balanced, forceful man, whose saintly spirit and manly powers touched with sure and effective strokes the noble enter- prises to which he gave himself so sacrificingly. In him we saw revealed the indwelling Christ. His life challenges all who would evade social responsibility. He lived upon the faith that Christ and his ideals are not only possible, but the only wise and satisfactory way of life. His memory calls us to-day to the great unfinished task of our Lord's divine task for the world.
The following tribute is from the "Watchman-Examiner :"
We think of him proudly as a son of Connec- ticut, when we remember the exemplary line of constructive leaders who, arising from humble rural stations, have beneficently linked that State with the vital beginnings of higher life and prog- ress in all our country and the world. His well- timed position as Chaplain of the Senate, by a fit- ting coincidence, brings the whole civil common- wealth into the procession of his mourners. That Dr. Fennell adorned the strong and creative Con- necticut spirit in the high sphere of the Christian ministry, until he became in a large way a prince among his fellows, is our reason for honoring him as an ornament to his church and as a potent factor in that church's work of uplifting humanity
I cannot say and I will not say, That he is dead; he is just away. With a cheery smile and a wave of the hand He has wandered into an unknown land, And left us dreaming how very fair It needs must be since he lingers there. And you, O! you who the wildest yearn For the old-time step and the glad return : Think of him faring on as dear In the love of Him there as the love of here; Think of him still as the same, I say, He is not dead, he is just away. -JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY
ATCHISON, Frederick Hart, Merchant.
The Atchison family, of which Fred- erick Hart Atchison, of Hartford, is the present representative, is of Irish origin. and came to this country in the person of
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Fred K. achizon.
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Adam Atchison, the grandfather of Fred- erick H. Atchison, who was born at Col- erain, Ireland, in the year 1795, and was about twenty-two years of age when he migrated to this country. He married Catherine Bonner, who was born March 5, 1797, in Baltimore, Maryland, and they came to Hartford from Easton, Pennsyl- vania, where they made their home for a time. They settled permanently in Hart- ford, where Mr. Atchison became a car- penter and engaged in this business dur- ing his entire life. He was a member of the Center Congregational Church of Hartford and became a deacon there.
Among their children was John Atchi- son, who was born in Hartford, and re- ceived his education in the public schools of that city. When a young man he became a steam engineer and spent most of his life engaged in this occupation, being employed very largely in this capac- ity on steamers engaged in the coastwise trade. He married Olive Wright Chapin, a daughter of Daniel and Lucy (Orchard) Chapin, and a native of Springfield, Mas- sachusetts, where she was born Decem- ber 6, 1834, a descendant of Deacon Sam- uel Chapin, "The Puritan," undoubtedly the progenitor of all in this country of the name. There is a tradition that he was of Welsh origin and another that he was of Huguenot descent. The late Pres- ident A. L. Chapin, of Beloit College, after an exhaustive study of philological records abroad, was of opinion that he was of French Huguenot descent and probably fled with other persecuted Hu- guenots to Holland, where he associated with the English Puritans who had also fled to Holland. The coat-of-arms also points to French origin and the name of Deacon Samuel Chapin's wife, which was Cicley or Cecile, is one found in early French families. Tradition says that he was born or lived in Dartmouth, Eng-
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