USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 5 > Part 42
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On June 4, 1862, Mr. Cheney married, at Exeter, New Hampshire, Ednah Dow Smith, daughter of Samuel Garfield and Elizabeth (Dow) Smith. She was born in South Berwick, Maine, May 12, 1841, died September 17, 1915. Children: I. Ellen Waitstill, born October 16, 1863; married, April 23, 1895, Alexander Lam- bert. 2. Elizabeth, born September 18, 1865, died April 7, 1898; married, Novem- ber 28, 1890, Alfred Cowles, to whom she bore children : Alfred, Knight, John and Thomas Hooker. 3. Harriet Bowen, born February 4, 1867; married, Febru- ary 12, 1896, William Hutchinson Cowles, and had children: Harriet, William Hut- chinson and Cheney. 4. Helen, born March 7, 1868; married, October 8, 1895, Hugh Aiken Bayne; their children were: Helen and Elizabeth Cheney. 5. Knight Dexter, Jr., born June 1, 1870, died Au- gust 17, 1910; married, October 13, 1896, Ruth Lambert, who bore him one child, Knight Dexter (3), who however died in infancy. 6. Ednah Parker, born Febru- ary 3, 1873. 7. Theodora, born Septem- ber 12, 1874; married, September 20, 1905, Lieutenant-Colonel Halstead Dorey, of the United States Army; they have two children : Georgianna and Ednalı Cheney Dorey. 8. Clifford Dudley, born January 3, 1877; married, May 25, 1904, Elizabeth Cheney. 9. Philip, born May 8, 1878. 10. Thomas Langdon, born No- vember 20, 1879; married Judith S. Cal- kins. II. Russell, born October 16, 1881, died October 23, 1916.
CHENEY, James Woodbridge, Retired Silk Manufacturer.
James Woodbridge Cheney, of South Manchester, Connecticut, is the oldest
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member now living of the eighth Amer- ican generation of the Cheney family of that place, the enterprise and business ability of which, in association with those of the seventh generation, established and developed in South Manchester a silk manufacturing plant, the product of which was destined to make the name of Cheney known throughout America, in connection with sewing silk and other silken products. He was born in Man- chester, Connecticut, February 9, 1838, the son of George Wells and Mary (Wil- son) Cheney.
James Woodbridge Cheney was edu- cated in the public schools of that town, the progress of which has depended so much upon the enterprise of the Cheney family. In due course, he entered the business of the family, and has lived prac- tically his entire life in the vicinity of the Cheney Brothers' manufacturing head- quarters. He has considerably aided the advancement of the business to a leading place among the silk manufacturers of America, and until he retired, in 1915, held responsible office. He is still a direc- tor of the firm of Cheney Brothers' Silk Manufacturing Company. During his long residence in South Manchester he has entered actively in public affairs, and has held many town and State offices. He was president of the Connecticut State Prison Board for fifteen years, and a di- rector for twenty-two years. He was par- ticularly interested in the movement which resulted in the accummulation of the necessary funds to assure the erection in Spring Grove Cemetery, Hartford, of a monument to fittingly memorialize the achievements of Henry Clay Work, author of "Marching Through Georgia," and other popular Civil War songs. Mr. Cheney acted as treasurer of the associa- tion formed in 1908 for that purpose, and to his interest and personal indefatigable
endeavors may be attributed the success- ful consummation of the project. Politi- cally, Mr. Cheney has always been a zeal- ous and active worker in the interests of the Republican party of the State and Na- tion. In 1871 he represented Manchester in the Connecticut General Assembly, and for nearly thirty-five years was asso- ciated with Charles H. Arnold and the late Maro S. Chapman on the Republi- can town committee of Manchester, and has represented that district in conven- tions of the party-State, Senatorial, county, and Congressional-for more than half a century. He was elected delegate from the First Congressional District to the National Republican Convention at St. Louis in 1896, and ardently supported the nomination of William McKinley for United States President.
Of interest also to record, in connec- tion with Mr. Cheney, is the fact that he joined the Hartford City Guards in May, 1861, to give military service during the Civil War, and thus became a charter member of that historic organization. Mr. Cheney has had a remarkably long and successful business career. He re- tired in 1915, after having held respon- sible official connection with the Cheney Brothers' Silk Manufacturing Company for sixty-four years, during which time he earned the sincere regard of those with whom he associated, both in business and public affairs. Fraternally, he is affili- ated with the Order of Free and Accepted Masons, and has passed through all the chairs of the Manchester Lodge. And, by reason of his ancestry, was elected to membership in the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the Revolution.
On February 5, 1868, Mr. Cheney mar- ried Harriet Elizabeth, daughter of Hal- sey and Adeline (Blish) Cheney. They have two children: John Platt, born No- vember 12, 1868; and Adeline, born December 2, 1890.
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Geo Talcott
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CHENEY, Frank Jr.,
Silk Manufacturer.
Frank Cheney, Jr., president of the na- tionally known Cheney Brothers' Silk Manufacturing Company, owners of the extensive silk mills in Soutlı Manchester, Connecticut, was born in that town on August 14, 1860, the son of Frank and Susan Jarvis (Cushing) Cheney, and in the eighth generation of descent from John Cheney, progenitor in America of that family which, in earlier generations extending back to the time of the Norman Conquest, came in many instances promi- nently into English history.
Frank Cheney, Jr., received a good academic and technical education, his primary years of study being passed in private and public schools of South Man- chester. Eventually he took the high school course at the Hartford High School, and was then sent for technical instruction to the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology, from the mechanical engineering department of which he grad- uated in the class of 1882. Then followed a period of two years, during which he served in the capacity of superintendent of repair. and construction in the South Manchester mills of Cheney Brothers, and in 1883 he became superintendent of the spun silk spinning mills of the com- pany. His entire business life has been devoted to the development of the Cheney Brothers' hugh silk manufactur- ing enterprise, and he has proved himself fitted for the high executive offices entrusted to him. He advanced in responsibility from director to vice-presi- dent, and eventually to president, in which capacity he is still a member of the firm. His organizing and executive ability have also brought him into official connection with the management of several other concerns, corporations of public service
and finance. At present he is president of the South Manchester Water Com- pany, of the South Manchester Light, Power, and Tramway Company, and of the Savings Bank of Manchester. He is also director of the Phoenix National Bank of Hartford. Politically, he is a Republican, of active interest, and he has taken prominent part in State politics, and had he so wished might have received nomination to many offices in that rela- tion. He is highly regarded in South Manchester, and throughout the State, and his popularity was demonstrated when in 1905 he was the chosen represen- tative of Manchester, Connecticut, in the State Legislature. He served in the State Legislature during the years 1905-07, and enhanced his reputation as an able and conscientious public servant thereby. Mr. Cheney is not a member of any church. He belongs to the Hartford and the Hart- ford Golf clubs.
On January 6, 1897, at Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. Cheney married Florence W. Wade, born in Christiansburg, Vir- gina, daughter of Dr. David and Eliza (White) Wade, the former of whom was a surgeon in the Confederate Army. They have one child, a daughter, Fran- ces, who was born on May 27, 1902.
GEORGE, Talcott,
Dean of Bank Presidents.
On January 20, 1917, George Talcott, president of the First National Bank of Rockville, Connecticut, received the con- gratulations of his business associates and many friends upon having attained his ninetieth birthday. For fifty-three years he has been a director of the First National Bank, and for forty-nine years has been its able chief executive officer, yet there is little about him to indicate that he is a nonogenarian, for the years
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have dealt lightly with him and each day he is at his desk in the president's room at the bank or at the offices of the Amer- ican Mills Company, of which he is also president, an office held for the past thirty-two years. He has also been con- nected with the Savings Bank of Rock- ville since 1863, a bank of which Libbeus F. Bissell, who died in 1903, aged ninety- three years, had been secretary-treasurer for forty-five years. Perhaps there is no bank president in the harness to-day who has reached Mr. Talcott's age, and to properly commemorate his ninetieth birth- day and to show their appreciation of the fact that their president is the dean of living bank presidents, the directors of the First National Bank presented Mr. Talcott with a silver loving cup suitably engraved with the facts concerning his age and service with the bank.
Mr. Talcott is a descendant of an ancient Colonial family dating back to earliest days. His grandfather, Phineas Talcott, was born in 1758, was a soldier of the Revolution, and represented the town of Vernon, Connecticut ; in the State Legislature, he was one of the delegates to the State convention which framed the constitution of 1813 and was one of the prominent men of his time. He married Hannah Kellogg.
Their son Phineas (2) Talcott, was born in Vernon, Connecticut, August 7, 1793, began his career as a school teacher and at one time was principal of the Stone Schoolhouse in Hartford, with ten teachers and six hundred pupils under him. He was steward of the Connecticut Insane Retreat for seven and a half years, then became agent for the Rock Mill from which Rockville derives its name. After five years as agent, he bought the Scott- away Henkley farm, and lie farmed his purchase until 1846, then began the erec- tion of the American Mills, was the larg-
est stockholder of the corporation owning them and president until his death, June 6, 1863. He was also owner of a third interest in the Springville Mill, president of the Rockville Railroad Company, treas- urer of the Acqueduct Company, presi- dent of the Savings Bank of Rockville, judge of probate ten years, a trial justice, and held many town offices. He married Lora McLean, daughter of Francis Mc- Lean, founder of Rockville.
George Talcott, son of Phineas and Lora (McLean) Talcott, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, January 20, 1827, and there resided until eight years of age, when his parents moved to Rockville, which has now been his home for eighty- two years. Rockville was then but a hamlet and not one person then residing there is there to-day ; it is a new Rockville and in its upbuilding George Talcott has borne a prominent part. He was deli- cate as a boy, in fact, lung trouble has been the one trouble of his life. After being obliged to leave school, he was clerk for a time, but his health was so poor that he gave it up and tried out-of- doors work on the farm, but he seemed to grow weaker and various health resorts were tried. In 1852 he went to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, return- ing by Nicaraugua. He was still in a precarious condition in October, 1861, when he started for Buenos Ayres, South America, remaining there until May, 1862. He fully recovered, although occa- sional trips have been taken for his health and he has been constantly "on guard" during all the years of his life. Now a picture of good health, at the age of ninety, with erect form and quick elastic step, it is hard to imagine that for all his younger years he was subject to lung trouble. In 1863 he succeeded his father in his various enterprises and continues the active head of the American Mills
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Company, vice-president of the Savings Bank and a director since 1867, and treas- urer of the Rockville Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company. On February 24, 1863, the First National Bank was chartered, and in 1864 he became a director. In 1868 he was elected president and has been continuously in office until the pres- ent time, 1917.
Prior to 1863, Mr. Talcott was con- stable and deputy sheriff, and on his father's death he succeeded him as trial justice and later as associate judge of the city courts, over which he presided three years. He then became associate judge, continuing in that office until 1897, when he reached the age limit of seventy years and retired from the office. He possesses the judicial temperament and was one of the ablest trial justices, administering the office with fairness and impartiality. Not the least interesting chapter of his life is this judicial chapter, and to this day he is as often greeted with the title of "Judge" as by any other.
For three-quarters of a century Mr. Talcott has been a church member. He was baptized in the South Congregational Church, Hartford. In Rockville he became a member of the old First Church, later joined the Second Church and con- tinued a member until it consolidated with the Union Church, his membership still in force and his attendance regular. He was one of the early church singers, his boyish alto changing to a tenor and finally he ended his choir singing as a bass soloist. He was also a member of the Talcott Brass Band, named for his father, who gave the band its instruments. Talcott Park was also made possible by Phineas Talcott, who started the subscription paper with half the amount needed to buy the property. He also planted many of the great elms and as long as he lived took pride in the park, a pride that de- scended to his son, George Talcott.
Mr. Talcott married (first) Rosanna McLean; (second) Ella McLean; (third) Clara McLean, who is now living. He has two sons: George F., residing in Pennsylvania; and Phineas M., of the Ideal Manufacturing Company of New Haven, Connecticut.
TUCKER, William,
Wholesale Merchant.
In the year 1830, a wholesale grocery business was established at the corner of Main and Ely streets, Hartford, by Jo- seph Keney, which later became H. & W. Keney, in 1855, Keney, Roberts & Good- win, and subsequently Keney & Roberts. In 1889, William Tucker and H. H. Good- win were admitted, and upon the death of Walter Keney the firm became Keney, Roberts & Company. Later when Henry Keney died the firm reorganized as Rob- erts, Tucker & Goodwin, continuing until March 7, 1896, after the death of Mr. Roberts. At this time the firm was again reorganized as Tucker & Goodwin, with William Tucker, then as now, the senior head. His connection with the business covers a period of thirty-eight years; eleven years as a clerk, and twenty-seven as a partner, and twenty of the latter as head of the firm. The business is one of the oldest and best established in the city and has ever been prosperous, and now after eighty-eight years of existence is solidly fixed upon foundations that should ever endure.
Mr. Tucker is a son of Erastus Tucker, and of the seventh generation of the fam- ily in America, founded by Robert Tucker. Robert Tucker was of Weymouth, Mas- sachusetts, in 1635, removing to Milton, Massachusetts, in 1662. He married Eliz- abeth Allen. Their son, Ephraim Tucker, was born in 1652, and for many year was town clerk and selectman of Milton. He married Hannah Culver. Stephen Tucker,
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their son, was born April 8, 1691, in Mil- ton, and in 1715 settled in Preston, Con- necticut. He married, August 30, 1716, Hannah Belcher, and their son, William Tucker, was born in Preston, May 28, 1737, and died November 5, 1819. He married Esther Morgan. Stephen Tucker, the son of William and Esther (Morgan) Tucker, was born in Preston, April 30, 1768, and died August 15, 1853. During the War of 1812, he was captain of an artillery company at Stonington Point. He married, January 17, 1793, Eunice Baldwin, of Stonington, Connecticut, and their son, Erastus Tucker, was the father of William Tucker, of this review. He was born in Griswold, Connecticut, Au- gust 10, 1794, and died in Hartford, Sep- tember, 1868, He was a paper manufac- turer, and was located in Hartford the greater part of his life. In 1812 he was called out as a soldier and served at Stonington. He married (first) Eliza Hovey, born July 29, 1804, and died March 9, 1837, the daughter of Duelley and Mary (Moore) Hovey, of Windham, Connecticut. They were the parents of four children: Mary Frances, who mar- ried D. W. C. Pond; Edwin, deceased ; Henry, married Amelia E. Olmstead ; George, married Emma H. Hunt. Mr. Tucker married (second) March 6, 1838, Emma Augusta Dresser, born May II, 1812, and died June 14, 1874, the daugh- ter of Captain Samuel and Dolly (Ingalls) Dresser, of Abington, Connecticut. Her father was captain of a New London Company during the War of 1812. By his second marriage Erastus Tucker was the father of the following children : John Dresser, born December 19, 1838, married (first) Sarah Louise Ingham (second) Kate Abbott Fox; Eliza Emma, born June 3, 1846; William, of further mention.
William Tucker, son of Erastus and
Emma Augusta (Dresser) Tucker, was born in New Britain, Connecticut, Feb- ruary 5, 1848. He was quite young when his parents moved to Hartford, where he has resided ever since. His early educa- tion was received in the public schools, after which, at the age of nineteen years, he became a clerk in the wholesale dry goods house of Collins Brothers & Com- pany, continuing with that house for eleven years, acquiring a sound business education and valuable experience. In January, 1878, he formed a connection with the business house of which he is now the honored head. He became a partner in 1889, and has maintained that relation until the present time, the firm reorganizing under its present name of Tucker & Goodwin, March 7, 1896. They are wholesale grocers, doing a large and profitable business. Mr. Tucker has devoted the best years of his life to the development of his business, and has con- fined himself closely to its management, having few outside interests. He is a thorough master of his business, a hard worker and capable in every department, ever courteous and kindly. The firm bears a high reputation, the result of long years of fair dealing with customers. Mr. Tucker was a member of Park Church, Hartford, and is identified with its suc- cessor, the Immanuel Congregational Church, Incorporated, and is a member of the Twentieth Century Club. He has never married.
MASON, Carlos V.,
Business Man.
An enterprising and progressive citi- zen of Bristol, Connecticut, Carlos V. Mason holds a foremost place among the business men of that town. He was born November 23, 1863, in Unionville, Con- necticut, son of Carlos L. and Frances E.
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Cumason
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(Goodwin) Mason, of that town. Mr. Mason is a scion of one of the oldest fam- ilies in Connecticut, being a direct descendant of Major John Mason, who was born in England about 1600, was a lieutenant in the army, served in the Netherlands under his friend, Sir Thomas Fairfax. He came to America about 1630, possibly with Winthrop. He set- tled in Dorchester, and in December, 1632, he was sent as a lieutenant with twenty men against a pirate, for which service in the following July he received fio. His name is the first on the list of freemen, March 4, 1635, and distinguished by the title of captain. He was elected representative in 1635-36. In October of that year he removed to Windsor, Con- necticut, in company with Rev. John Warham, Henry Wolcott, Esq., and others, taking part in the first settlement of that town. In May, 1637, he com- manded the successful expedition against the "Pequots" near New London. He was elected representative, serving from 1637 to 1641, and assistant or magistrate until 1659. The next eight years he was deputy-governor of Connecticut and ma- jor-general of the Colonies. In July, 1639, he married (second) Anna Peck, and removed with his family in 1647 to Saybrook, Connecticut. In 1660 he be- came one of the first settlers of Norwich, where he died January 30, 1672, and his wife died shortly afterward.
1673, and in August of the same year was appointed schoolmaster at Norwich, Con- necticut ; was deputy in 1684, and repre- sentative in 170I. He was confirmed quartermaster of the Stonington Milita, October 9, 1695, at the time the Colony feared war with the Dutch, and later was promoted from the rank of lieutenant to that of captain.
Peter Mason, son of Daniel and his third wife, Rebecca (Hobart) Mason, was born at Stonington, November 9, 1680. He married Mary Hobart, July 8, 1703, and settled at Stonington, whence he re- moved to Colchester (now known as Salem), and then moved to New London (North Parish), now called Montville. He held the rank of captain in the Colon- ial army, and was placed in command of a company of fifty-four Indians procured by Governor Saltonstall that joined the expedition against Canada in 1711, during the French and Indian War.
Peter Mason, Jr., son of Peter and Mary (Hobart) Mason, was born at New London, December 28, 1717, and died at Castleton, Vermont, in 1805. He mar- ried, in 1741, Margaret, daughter of Jona- than Fanning and Elizabeth Way, born at Groton, Connecticut, and died at Cas- tleton, Vermont, in 1803.
Robert Mason, son of Peter and Mar- garet Mason, was born at Groton, in 1749, and died at Simsbury, Connecticut, Feb- ruary 5, 1835. He married Chloe Case, at Simsbury, in 1774, and they removed to Castleton, Vermont, where they re- mained until 1779, in which year they returned to Simsbury. Chloe Case was a daughter of Charles and Phoebe Case, born July 19, 1756, at Simsbury.
Daniel Mason, son of Major John and Anna (Peck) Mason, was born April, 1652, in Saybrook, and died at Stoning- ton, in 1737. He was a schoolmaster at Norwich in 1679, and married his third wife, October 10, 1679. She was Rebecca, daughter of Rev. Peter Hobart, minister Luke Mason, son of Robert and Chloe (Case) Mason, was born at Simsbury, March 19, 1800, and died there March 21, 1840. He married, March 12, 1831, at of Hingham, Massachusetts, born in 1654, and died at Stonington, April 8, 1727. Daniel Mason was made a free- man, with his brother Samuel, May 8, Simsbury, Diana Higley, born there
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March 19, 1815, died at Unionville, June 6, 1888.
Carlos Luke Mason, son of Luke and Diana (Higley) Mason, was born at Simsbury, Connecticut, May 1, 1839, and for thirty years was engaged in the insur- ance business in Unionville. Subsequently he was in the employ of the American Telegraph and Telephone Company, where he remained for twenty-five years. He married, September 23, 1862, at Unionville, Frances E. Goodwin, born there April 3, 1843, and died there May 5, 1884. They were the parents of four children: I. Carlos V., of further men- tion. 2. Frederick G., born at Unionville, April 30, 1866; married, October 23, 1894, at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Emily J. Liness; two children: Frederick L., born in New London, August 30, 1901, and Marian F., born at Springfield, Mas- sachusetts, February 27, 1903. 3. Alfred J., born December 29, 1872; married, Oc- tober 3, 1896, at Newport, Kentucky, Mrs. Effie H. Banister, born at Tangipahoe, Louisiana, daughter of Alfred Hennen. 4. Edward C., born February 9, 1877; married, September 7, 1898, at Saratoga, New York, Jessie S. Ide, born at Corinth, New York, September 10, 1875.
Carlos V. Mason, son of Carlos Luke and Frances E. (Goodwin) Mason, was educated in the district schools of Union- ville, Connecticut. After completing his schooling he came to Bristol, in October, 1883, and engaged in the real estate and insurance business. He has built up a large and flourishing trade, and through his upright methods of doing business has attained a prominent and enviable reputation among the leading men of that town. He has ever taken more than a passive interest in all matters pertaining to the general welfare and has served in many offices. He is treasurer of the Third School District for the last fifteen
years. In 1902 he was elected Represen- tative, and served as clerk of the railroad committee. Mr. Mason is a director of the Dunbar Brothers Company, and fra- ternally he affiliates with Franklin Lodge, No. 56, Ancient Free and Accepted Ma- sons; Washington Commandery, No. I, of Hartford; Sphinx Temple, of Hart- ford; Stephen Terry Lodge, No. 59, In- dependent Order Odd Fellows; Knights of Pythias Lodge, No. 9; and of Bristol Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of the Bristol Club.
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