USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 5 > Part 34
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Thomas: Lush
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Terry, daughter of Joseph and Lucy Terry, who was born October 24, 1769, and died December 9, 1849. Their son, Solomon Allen, born in Enfield, August 19, 1801, resided there. He married, March 24, 1831, Alice Terry, daughter of Lemuel and Huldah Kingsbury. She was born in Enfield, March 18, 1807, and died February II, 1894. Solomon Allen died December II, 1882. They were the par- ents of Ellen Maria Allen, who was born August 12, 1835, in Enfield, and died No- vember 8, 1872. She married, December 4, 1856, Warren Button, and they became the parents of Alice Button, wife of John Bostick, as previously noted. John and Alice (Button) Bostick were the parents of the following children : I. Warren John, born June 22, 1888; a graduate of Dartmouth Medical School, and a prac- ticing physician at Springfield, Massachu- setts; he married Gertrude Weinbrecht, of Springfield, and they have an adopted son, Dudley Stoddard. 2. Arthur Ran- dall, of further mention. 3. Charles Wil- liam, born March 20, 1892; a violinist at Springfield; married Grace Seaver. 4. Ruth Marion, wife of Louis B. Cook, a son of Alexander Cook, of Enfield; he is a carpenter in Thompsonville, and they are the parents of Vivian R. and Donald B. Cook.
Arthur Randall Bostick, second son of John and Alice (Button) Bostick, was born May 21, 1890, in Enfield, and en- joyed excellent educational facilities. His boyhood was spent on the paternal farm, and he was early introduced to those ac- tivities which are inseparable from farm life. There he developed a sound phy- sique, and was able to pursue his studies with rapidity and success. After attend- ing the local common schools, he gradu- ated from the High School at Thompson- ville, and entered the law course at Bos- ton University, where he graduated in
1913. Since that time he has been engaged in the practice of law, with offices in Springfield and Enfield. In 1915 he was appointed prosecuting attorney for the latter town, and is now filling that sta- tion with ability and acceptability to his constituents. He is a lifelong member of the Church of the Apostles. Politically, he espouses the principles of the Repub- lican party and has been active in pro- moting them, believing that they are best calculated to provide for the general welfare. He is a member of the college fraternity, Phi Delta Phi, and is affiliated with Doric Lodge, No. 94, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Thompsonville.
QUISH, Thomas James,
Postmaster.
Among the self-made men of Manches- ter, Mr. Quish has made his way and is esteemed by his fellow-citizens. His grandfather, Thomas Quish, came from Killeen, Limerick, Ireland, and took up his home in Manchester, Connecticut, about 1864, remaining there until his death. He was a well-known figure in the town in his day. His son, Thomas J. Quish, was also born in Killeen, Limerick, Ire- land, came to America when a year old, grew to manhood in Manchester, and followed the insurance business during the greater part of his life, being con- nected at various times with the Connec- ticut Company of Hartford, and the Pru- dential Insurance Company of Newark, New Jersey. He lived for a time in Springfield, Massachusetts, but returned to Manchester about 1890. He married Margaret Burns, of West Suffield, Con- necticut, and reared four sons: Edward P., formerly employed in the silk mill offices of Cheney Brothers, Manchester, and now in the United States naval forces abroad; Frank J., formerly a member of
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the Manchester police force, now at the United States Naval Training Station, Pelham Bay, New York; William P., an undertaker in Manchester; and Thomas James, of whom further.
Thomas James Quish was born March 8, 1889, in Springfield, Massachusetts, and was a child when he came with his par- ents to South Manchester. There he at- tended the public schools, and made such excellent use of his time that he was grad- uated from the High School in 1907. Soon after he entered Trinity College, in Hartford, from which he was graduated with the degree of B. S. in 1912. During his course in college he utilized some of the time as a reporter on the Hartford "Evening Post," and was thus enabled to earn his expenses in college. After graduation, he continued in the service of newspapers up to the time of his appoint- ment as postmaster at South Manchester, for which he received a commission, July 10, 1913. His home has been continu- ously in Manchester, and before his ap- pointment to his present office, he served as justice of the peace, beginning at the early age of twenty-one years. He was also for two years town auditor, and has been a member of the Democratic town committee for several years, having been active in promoting the interests of that party since attaining his majority. He has been active in many social interests, is a faithful member of Saint James' Roman Catholic Church of Manchester, of the local lodge of the Knights of Columbus, and Modern Woodmen of America. He has served as grand knight of the former lodge, and was delegate to the Supreme Convention of the Order, which was held in Davenport, Iowa, in 1916. Mr. Quish is president of the Manchester City Club, and a member of the Manchester Cham- ber of Commerce, and was very active in the campaign of 1916, as a member of the
Wilson and Marshall Democratic Club. He is well-known as actively interested in every undertaking calculated to pro- mote the progress and the welfare of his native city. His popularity has not been gained through inherited wealth or any temporary manifestation of public ap- proval, but by his universal courtesy, his genial nature and kindness to all with whom he may be brought in contact.
SMEAD, Edwin Billings, Practical Philanthropist.
The most practical philanthropy is that which enables those to be benefited to help themselves. That is the principle upon which the Watkinson Farm School was established, its object being the pa- ternal care of boys who through adverse circumstances are in need of employ- ment and inspiration to develop them into good and loyal citizens. From 1884 to 1917, a period of thirty-three years, Mr. Smead was principal of the school which was established through the liberality of David Watkinson, who by will made the school and the Watkinson Reference Li- brary equal residuary legatees. That he was so long retained as head of that valu- able institution was the best evidence of his fitness for the position.
The Smead line in New England traces to Widow Judith Denman, who about the year 1634 married a Mr. Smead, by whom she had a son, William Smead, born in 1635, who was made a freeman of North- ampton, Massachusetts, in 1660, and died prior to 1704. He married Elizabeth Lawrence, of Hingham, Massachusetts, who was captured by the Indians in 1704, and died on the journey to Canada. Their son, Ebenezer Smead, born in 1675, mar- ried Esther Catlin. Their son, Jonathan Smead, born in 1707, married Mehitable Nims. Their son, Jonathan Smead, born
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Edwing BSwed.
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in 1735, was a soldier of the French and Indian War, and was engaged in the operation around Crown Point, New York. He married Rosanna Patterson. Their son, Jonathan Smead, born in 1773, married Lucy Purple, and resided at Greenfield, Massachusetts. Their son, Jonathan Smead, born April 8, 1812, died January 21, 1866. He married, October 25, 1835, Lucy B. Adams, a descendant of Samuel Adams, of Newbury, Massachu- setts, born February 18, 1799, owned land in Suffield, Connecticut, and is believed to have died there, September 4, 1836. His wife, Elizabeth Adams, died in West Haven, Vermont, September 27, 1820. Their son, Horace Adams, was a native of Massachusetts, from whence he re- moved to Suffield, Connecticut, and later to West Haven, Vermont, where his death occurred November 28, 1866. He mar- ried Ora Billings, who died June 16, 1857, daughter of Ebenezer Billings, of Green- field, Massachusetts, a son of the Rev. Edward Billings, a Congregational minis- ter, the first settled pastor of the first church at Greenfield, Massachusetts. Ebenezer Billings married a daughter of William and Sarah (Bishop) Joyce, and granddaughter of John Joyce, a native of London, England, where he died about the year 1736. He was at one time high sheriff of Bridgetown, Barbadoes, West Indies, and from there his son, William Joyce, and his mother, emigrated to the American colonies, locating in Middle- town, Connecticut.
Edwin Billings Smead, son of Jonathan and Lucy B. (Adams) Smead, was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, January 19, 1849. He was educated in public schools, including the high school, and in the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst, being a member of the class of 1871, the first class graduated from the Agricultural College. He had obtained a
practical knowledge of civil engineering, and after completing his course at col- lege was engaged in that profession in the South, and with the State Line & Juniata Railroad in Pennsylvania. Later he was engaged in the coal business with Diggs Brothers, in Baltimore, Maryland, and in the flour and grain business with Bushey, Carr & Company in the same city. In 1884, the year the Watkinson Farm School was established, the trustees ap- plied to the Massachusetts Agricultural College for assistance in selecting a man to fill the responsible position of princi- pal. That college being his Alma Mater, and he being an applicant for a position, the college authorities gave him so strong an endorsement that he was engaged. The choice was an admirable one, and under his principalship the "School" has been developed along the lines intended by the founder, David Watkinson. While the "School" is under the management of a board of trustees, Mr. Smead, during his long term of service, had a voice in all matters relating to the courses of study and school management. He had the capable assistance of an assistant principal and a corps of instructors. The Handicraft Farm is located at Albany and Bloomfield avenues, Hartford, and all pertaining to school or farm is thor- oughly modern, the boys being taught those useful occupations which, with the intellectual training they receive, will fairly equip them for the battle of life. Principal Smead was thoroughly imbued with the spirit which actuated the founder of the school, and was devoted to the interests of the boys whom he trained to become useful citizens. In 1915, Princi- pal Smead tendered his resignation to the board of trustees, but they did not accept the same until 1917, and in appreciation of his faithful services they gave him an annuity for life. With his resignation
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Mr. Smead did not lay aside his interest in the boys or the institution, but is keep- ing in touch with both by his member- ship on the Board of Counsel. After his resignation, Mr. Smead returned to the home of his birth, Greenfield, Massachu- setts, where he is leading a retired and useful life.
Mr. Smead married (first) November 12, 1874, in Baltimore, Maryland, Annie Whitney, born on the Island of Bermuda, West Indies, died January 25, 1876. He married (second), October 30, 1878, Rosel- vina Whitney, a sister of his first wife, daughters of David Whitney, a native of Bermuda, and descended from the Whit- ney family of Buckingham county, Vir- ginia. Mrs. Smead died September 5, 1915. Both were members of the Congre- gational church.
CHRISTENSEN, Anders, Gardener.
Modern New England owes much of its prosperity and industrial development to European immigrants who have brought to bear the native industry and thrift which are a necessity in European life.
Anders Christensen, of Hartford, was born May 15, 1870, in the extreme north- ern part of Germany, which was formerly a part of Denmark, and is of Danish an- cestry. His early education was supplied by the schools of his native town where his father was a farmer. At the early age of fifteen years he left his native land to find a home and prosperity in the free American Nation. An elder brother had previously settled in Hartford, and here Anders located on coming to this coun- try. For a period of two years he was employed on a dairy farm in the Blue Hills section of Hartford, and for eight years thereafter was employed as gar- dener by Paul Thompson, of West Hart-
ford, during most of which time he served in the capacity of farm foreman. In com- pany with his brother, Nels Christensen, he engaged in farming for three years on rented land in the Blue Hills region, after which the two brothers purchased from their savings a portion of the farm which they occupied and which they still own and operate. They gave their atten- tion chiefly to the production of garden products, and by their careful husbandry and industry brought the land from a previous depleted condition into a most productive state. Their farm is now rated among the best producing in the vicinity of Hartford, and as they prospered they gradually purchased additional lands ad- . joining, and also erected larger and bet- ter buildings. In 1909 their holdings were divided and each has since continued in independent operations.
Anders Christensen has traveled exten- sively throughout New England to study the methods of market gardening in other places, and by adopting improvements which he observed, he has developed one of the best equipped truck farms in the State of Connecticut. This is supplied with water works operated by wind-mill power, and a large amount of produce is grown under glass, thus enabling Mr. Christensen to supply the market with many kinds of early spring vegetables. During the busy season he employs some fifteen men and women, and the aid af- forded by members of his own family is no inconsiderable factor in the success of his business. During every day in the season two large wagon loads of vege- tables are delivered into the city, and in this business a large auto truck is em- ployed. Nearly all the larger stores are supplied by Mr. Christensen, in addition to a considerable amount which he fur- nished to peddlers. His success in busi- ness is due to his own enterprise and in-
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dustry, and he has demonstrated what has come to be accepted as an everyday fact-that brains are necessary in any kind of business.
While Mr. Christensen is very busily occupied with his own affairs, he does not fail to take a keen interest in the pro- gress of his adopted country, and he has long been a citizen. Of an independent character, he thinks for himself, and is not bound by party organizations, though he is a believer in the principles of the Republican organization. He does not seek to share in practical politics, but his influence is felt in the community. He is a member of the Pentecostal church of Hartford, keenly interested in its mission- ary work, and is especially active in the support of missionary workers in Africa, South America and India. His interest in humanity is not confined to regions beyond the seas, and he is often found actively engaged in ministering to the needs of those about him in the most quiet and unobstructive manner. Mr. Christensen is a member of the Hartford Chamber of Commerce, thus sustaining the prosperity and development of the city of Hartford, and is also a member of the Hartford Market Gardeners' Associa- tion. A common saying often heard re- garding the character of men; namely, "his word is as good as his bond," especially applies to Mr. Christensen. He believes in fair and honest dealing, and by adhering to this principle he has earned the confidence and esteem of bus- iness men generally, and much of his suc- cess in business is due to this fact.
Mr. Christensen was married March 26, 1898, to Elsie Anderson, the daughter of Peter and Anna Anderson, of Hartford, natives of Denmark. Mr. and Mrs. Chris- tensen are the parents of nine children, the eldest of whom is eighteen years and the youngest two years of age.
GODARD, George Seymour,
State Librarian.
George Seymour Godard, B. A., B. D., M. A., librarian of the Connecticut State Library since 1900, and editor of the Connecticut State Records, was born in Granby, Hartford county, Con- necticut, on June 17, 1865. He is connected with some of the oldest fam- ilies of Connecticut. He is in direct lineal descent from Daniel Gozzard (or God- ard) who came from England to Hart- ford previous to 1646, and from Moses Godard, who served in the Revolution. On his maternal side he is descended from John Case, who was probably the immi- grant of that name, who came in the ship "Dorset" from Gravesend, England, Sep- tember 3, 1635, settled in Hartford, sub- sequently going for a time into New York State, but eventually returning to Con- necticut, and taking residence in Wind- sor in 1656, and in Simsbury about 1669, his name appearing among those to whom land was granted, in the first division of public lands, at Simsbury, in 1667. Wil- liam Spencer, who was one of four broth- ers referred to in early records of the Massachusetts Colony, and who eventu- ally became one of the original settlers at Hartford, and Thomas Beach, who was in New Haven before March 7, 1647, when he took the oath of fidelity and who is recorded in Colonial history as a settler in Milford, Connecticut, in 1646.
George Seymour Godard is the third of five sons and a daughter of Harvey and Sabra Lavina (Beach) Godard. His father was probably the largest owner of farms and woodland in his section. Oc- cupying the Godard homestead he raised the usual crops of his locality and con- tinued to run the saw-mill, grist-mill and cider-mill known as the "Craig Mills." He was a man of strict integrity and of
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generous and social nature and temperate to the last degree. His large farmhouse became headquarters for his numerous friends who came to hunt and fish on the large tracts of land which he owned. While always a busy man, he was never too busy to welcome an acquaintance in health, to visit him in time of sickness, or to assist in laying him to rest. As a member of the General Assembly and the first master of the Connecticut State Grange he had a large circle of acquaint- ances.
As a boy, George S. Godard attended the district school in his native town and assisted his father in the many occupa- tions upon his extensive farms and in the grist and saw-mills on the homestead in Granby. He prepared for College at Wes- leyan Academy, at Wilbraham, Massa- chusetts, where he graduated in 1886. Mr. Godard continued his studies at Wes- leyan University, Middletown, Connecti- cut, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1892, and North- western University, Evanston, Illinois, and Yale University, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1895. In 1916 his Alma Mater conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts. In college he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
Beginning by collecting and arranging his early school books and the books in his own home, he continued library work as librarian of Philo Society at Wilbra- ham, then librarian of his local Sunday School Library, and in 1890 the first libra- rian of the Frederick H. Cossitt Library near his home at North Granby, where a building was planned, erected and equipped. Mr. Godard still retains an active interest in this, his first public library. In 1898, he was selected by State Librarian Dr. Charles J. Hoadly to assist him in the State Library, then located in
the State Capitol. Two years later, when after a continuous service of forty-five years as State Librarian, Dr. Hoadly died, Mr. Godard was selected to succeed him in that important position. Under his direction the Connecticut State Library has been reorganized and its activities extended. It is now adequately housed in a new building substantially built, beau- tiful in its architecture, convenient in its arrangement, harmonious in its decora- tion, and homelike. The State Library and Supreme Court Building, which is built of granite, and is one of a group of State buildings of which the Capitol is the center, is considered a model for its purpose. In it are embodied the hopes, plans, efforts and ambitions of the best years of Mr. Godard's life. It is a library by the people, of the people and for the people. The Connecticut State Library includes :
Supreme Court Law Library ;
Legislative Reference Department ;
Department of Local History and Genealogy ; Archives Department ;
Depository of Public Records;
Examiner of Public Records;
Depository of Connecticut State, Town, Mu- nicipal and Society official publications ;
Depository for the official publications of the United States, the several States of the Union, the Canadian Government and Provinces, and of the Australian Colonies ;
Library Exchange Agent for Connecticut State Publications ;
Exchange Agent for Connecticut Geological and Natural History Survey Publications ;
Custodian of Portraits of Governors ;
Custodian of State Library and Supreme Court Building.
Depository of historical and genealogical gifts to the State. Among these gifts are the following : a. Sherman W. Adams Collection of Official Rolls and Lists relating to the French and In- dian War;
b. Dorence Atwater Collection of Manuscripts relating to Andersonville ;
c. William F. J. Boardman Collection of Books and Manuscripts relating to Genealogy ;
d. Brandegee Collection of Portraits of Chief Justices of the United States ;
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e. Stephen Dodd Collection of Manuscripts re- lating to the Early History of East Haven;
f. Enfield Shaker Collection ;
g. Sylvester Gilbert Collection of Papers relat- ing to the American Revolution;
h. Charles Hammond and H. M. Lawson Col- lections of Manuscripts relating to the Early His- tory of the Town of Union ;
i. Col. Edwin D. Judd Collection of Civil War Military Rolls and Papers.
j. Dwight C. Kilbourn Collection of Books, Pamphlets and Manuscripts relating to Connecti- cut and New England ;
k. Ellen D. Larned Collection of Books and Manuscripts relating to New England ;
1. Daniel N. Morgan Historical Collection, in- cluding table on which Emancipation Proclama- tion was signed;
m. Deacon Lewis M. Norton Collection of Man- uscripts relating to the Town of Goshen;
n. Orville H. Platt Collection relating to Fi- nance, Indians, and Insular Affairs;
o. Capt. John Pratt Collection of Military Papers, 1778-1824;
p. Major E. V. Preston Collection of Civil War Military Rolls and Papers ;
q. Col. Daniel Putnam Letters;
r. Governor Trumbull Manuscripts ;
s. Gideon and Thaddeus Welles Collection of American Newspapers from 1820 to 1840, ap- proximately ;
t. Charles T. Wells Collection of Books relat- ing to New England;
u. Robert C. Winthrop Collection of Manu- scripts relating to early Connecticut ;
v. Samuel Wyllys Collection of Manuscripts relating to Witchcraft and Other Crimes in Early Connecticut.
Mr. Godard has been active in State and National organizations interested in the several lines of activities connected with the Connecticut State Library. Among these may be mentioned the Na- tional Association of State Libraries and the American Association of Law Libra- rians, both of which he has been president, and the American Library Association and American Historical Association, in both of which he is serving on important com- mittees. Among the more important committees with which he is connected should be mentioned the Joint Committee of Law and State Librarians upon a Na- tional Legislative Reference Service of which he has been chairman since 1909, the Public Affairs Information Service, the Law Library Journal and the Index to legal Periodicals, and the committee on Public Documents and Public Archives.
Mr. Godard is an active member of the Connecticut Historical Society, vice-pres- ident from Connecticut of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, Boston, fellow of the American Library Institute; historian of the Connecticut Society of Founders and Patriots of America ; member of the Wesleyan Uni- versity Alumni Council; editor of the Connecticut State Records ; trustee of the Wilbraham Academy. He is also in charge of Connecticut State Military Census, and Custodian of the Connecti- cut State Library and Supreme Court Building. As a member of the Center Congregational Church, the University Club, the City Club, the Twentieth Cen- tury Club, and the several Masonic bodies he is vitally interested in their work.
On June 23, 1897, Mr. Godard married Kate Estelle Dewey, daughter of Watson and Ellen Bebe Dewey. They have three children : George Dewey, born August 8, 1899, a senior in the Hartford public High School; Paul Beach, born Febru- ary 17, 1901, a junior in Wilbraham Acad- emy; and Mary Katharine, born October 3, 1903, who is a senior in the Northwest Grammar School.
HUBBARD, Albert George,
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