USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 7 > Part 10
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Rev. Milton Hamblin was born in Ca- yuga, New York, in 1843, and died in 1887. He was educated for the ministry, but before ordination engaged in the con- flict raging between the armed forces of the North and South. He enlisted in the One Hundred Eleventh Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, won a lieuten- ant's bars for bravery and fought until severely wounded at Gettysburg. He was invalided home and when peace came both to his beloved land and to his own tortured body he entered the service of the Prince of Peace. He was regularly ordained a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was settled pas- tor over churches in Ithaca, Syracuse, Rochester and other New York State churches. Rev. Milton Hamblin married
Pamelia Tuttle Warrick, of Cayuga, New York, and they were the parents of Rev. Charles Hamblin, who served with the Young Men's Christian Association forces in France; Bertha Jennie Louise Clark ; Frank Milton, of further mention; Alys M., married Dr. A. A. Dewey, of Bris- tol, Connecticut. Rev. Milton Hamblin died April 17, 1887; his widow survived him until December 25, 1896.
Frank Milton Hamblin, son of Rev. Milton and Pamelia Tuttle (Warrick) Hamblin, was born in Rochester, New York, September 21, 1873. He was edu- cated in the public schools of Rochester and Auburn, New York, and after gradu- ation from Auburn High School in 1891, continued study at Syracuse University, whence he was graduated A. B., class of 1895, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He choose the profession of medicine as his life work, entered New York College of Homœo- pathy, New York City, and in 1899 was awarded his degree of M. D. by that insti- tution. Dr. Hamblin began practice in Owego, New York, as a resident physi- cian in a private insane asylum, here re- maining two years. He spent the next four years as resident physician at Bar- nard Sanitarium, Baltimore, Maryland, going thence to Chambersburg, Pennsyl- vania, where he established in the private general practice of his profession. He continued in Chambersburg until 1909, then located in Bristol, Connecticut, where for the past ten years he has been in practice. He has won public confi- dence not only as a skillful physician, but as a citizen, friend, and neighbor. He is a member of the American Institute of Homœopathy; Connecticut State Medi- cal Society; Franklin Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Columbus Lodge, In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows ; Knights of Pythias ; Improved Order of Red Men ;
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is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Congregational church.
Dr. Hamblin married, August 30, 1906, Beulah, daughter of Samuel and Cassan- dra Clement. Dr. and Mrs. Hamblin are the parents of a son, Francis, born May 4, 1908.
WAGONER, William Richard, Business Man.
We give the name of public benefactor to the man who donates large sums of money to hospitals, asylums and other public institutions. We laud the man who gives his life to scientific research. We honor the man who foregoes wealth or privilege to follow a life of self-abnega- tion. But there is a class of men from whom, perhaps, we withhold honor when honor is due. The purveyor of the daily necessities of life receives scant apprecia- tion for his services to mankind. His is a most exacting business for at least two reasons; because there is no seasonal re- laxation, and because he meets his trade as one who serves, not as an autocrat who has his convenience in his own power. But surely, no less than a public benefac- tor is the man who conscientiously sup- plies the townspeople with good food, when he uses every precaution to safe- guard the health of his patrons. In the town of Collinsville, Connecticut, Wil- liam Richard Wagoner stands in such a relation to his fellow-citizens.
The name of Wagoner is derived from the occupation of its progenitors, the evi- dence of this surviving in the present form and spelling of the name. In the days when names were originated the man who made any article of so great im- portance as a wagon was a man of high standing in the community. This was due to the fact that he had dealings with the landed people who were, of course,
more wealthy than the peasantry, and were, indeed, the only people who had use for vehicles or money with which to buy them.
Richard Wagoner, father of William Richard Wagoner, was born in Hessen- Nassau, March 13, 1840, and died Decem- ber 31, 1910. He learned the trade of butcher in Germany, a trade which his direct ancestors had followed for five or six consecutive generations. He came to America in 1861 and took up his resi- dence in New York City. After follow- ing his trade there for a year or two he came to Collinsville and started in the butcher business. That was in the days before this line of business had been con- centrated into the hands of a compara- tively small number of concerns who practically control the industry. It was also at a time when much stock was grown in New England for home con- sumption. Mr. Wagoner killed and dressed his own beef, pork, and mutton, and cured his own hams and bacon, turn- ing out far more delicate smoked meats than can be found in the market to-day. His skill as a butcher was far-famed. There are men now living who can re- member the occasion when, in twenty- one minutes from the time he knocked a steer in the head, the carcass was hang- ing in quarters from the hooks. He did a large business, buying his own live- stock, and covering territory extending forty miles from Collinsville. He was a member of the Village Lodge of Masons, of Collinsville. His wife, Catherine (Draude) Wagoner, was born in the same town in Germany as he was, but their children were born in America. The children are: Louise, who married Wil- liam H. Crowley; Mary, who married Michael J. Crowley; Louis; Theresa ; Catherine; Clara; and William Richard. Richard Wagoner's father never came to
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America, but lived and died in the town which liad been the home of the Wagon- ers for many generations.
William Richard Wagoner was born in Canton, October 8, 1864. He was edu- cated in the public schools of Collinsville, then learned all the details of the meat business in association with his father. Beginning when he was twelve years old, he took an interest in the work and estab- lished himself in the confidence of the pa- trons so thoroughly that when he suc- ceeded his father in the business he held the trade of the best people of the town, and still caters to a wide and discriminat- ing class of customers. This business which his father established in 1862 has been conducted in its present quarters since 1871. The Wagoners, father and son, have been progressive and up-to-the- minute, keeping abreast of every new de- velopment in their line of business. Col- linsville is not a large village, yet there is no modern equipment to be found in a large city market that Mr. Wagoner has not installed. Their refrigerator and meat counter are cooled by an automatic ammonia refrigerating plant, and their equipment also includes an up-to-date slicing machine for slicing boneless meats, an electric meat grinder, the latest type of computing scales, etc. Especial atten- tion is given to sanitation. The success of this business from a financial point of view shows that even in a small town the man who adopts modern business meth- ods and devices wins recognition and the substantial evidence of public apprecia- tion. Furthermore, it is the progressive retail dealer of Mr. Wagoner's type who attracts to a town like Collinsville the patronage of the more remote country dwellers, and make it a center of trade. Mr. Wagoner is a member of the Village Lodge of Masons, of Collinsville; Wash-
ington Commandery, Knights Templar ; Connecticut Consistory ; and Pyramid Shrine, of Bridgeport; and Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Win- sted.
Mr. Wagoner married Annie, daughter of Frederick W. Konold, of Collinsville. A sketch of Mr. Konold appears else- where in this work. Mr. Wagoner has four children: Anna, who married Or- ville Orne; Raymond William, Elizabeth Faith, and Richard Leslie.
CROSTHWAITE, Frederick H.,
Manufacturer.
Art in these days governs the simplest and most useful product of manufacture. The time was when art was considered to be the prerogative of artists. If an artist painted a canvas or a ceiling, it became a picture. If anyone else did the work it was merely a painted surface. A genius created a tapestry and it was art. But the fabrics of commerce were, for the greater part, merely woven threads. In architecture, perhaps, was art first made a governing impulse, to a degree where it was felt in other than its own immediate circle. Art, as applied to castles and cathedrals, now lives in many useful ob- jects, as well as in art forms. The study of line and color has followed the pro- gress of useful invention, until the sim- plest tool or utensil is attractive in form and tint. The demand for artistic inter- iors is not confined to institutions of cul- ture, but wherever men pass or congre- gate, even in the business office and workshop of the everyday world, the finish, the fittings, the whole effect, must be artistic. Among the many and varied industries in the city of Hartford, the modest factory of the Hartford Wire Works Company on Allyn street stands
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as an exponent of applied art. Some of the work turned out by this concern for office fittings is entirely worthy of being classed among the fine arts. Frederick H. Crosthwaite is the president of this company, and the moving spirit of the establishment.
The suffix "thwaite" occurs chiefly as the second element in local names, espe- cially in the lake district of the North of England ; as Bassenthwaite, Stonethwaite, and Crossthwaite. Thwaite is equivalent to a "field," or "felled place," or woodland clearing. The name of Henry de Cros- thwaite appears in Writs of Parliament, and John de Crostwyt appears in Placeto de Warranto.
Frederick H. Crosthwaite was born in London, England, March 22, 1851, and is the son of Daniel and Julia (Shultz) Crosthwaite. His father was a ship- builder and lived for some time in South- shields, near the ship-yards, and his pa- ternal grandfather was a preacher, and the son of a preacher. The Crosthwaite Church in London was named for his great-grandfather. Frederick H. Cros- thwaite was brought to America when but six months old, the loss of his father in infancy being filled by the devotion of his mother, who brought him to this country and trained him to an upright and useful manhood. He was educated in the public schools, and being a bright lad, with a genuine thirst for knowledge, he made the most of such advantages as offered. When he was twenty-one he faced the world in earnest. He felt that the man who stands alone and makes his own way is the man who will make last- ing success. So he began in a very small way, on his own account; his first pro- duct was wire designs for florists- wreaths, crosses, and the more elaborate forms which constitute the foundations
of floral designs. From that beginning the business branched out into other lines and, as was to be expected, the result of good management, dependable products and courtesy to all customers, it was only a matter of time when it assumed con- siderable proportions. Now the concern manufactures a general line of wire goods, including office railings, wire elevator par- titions, etc. They employ about twenty people and have the most modern mechan- ical equipment. The business reaches to a radius of fifty miles of Hartford.
Mr. Crosthwaite is a substantial busi- ness man, a progressive citizen, interested in all that makes for the public welfare, a man of high ideals, which he carries into his business and social life. In his long residence here in Hartford he has won the esteem of all who have had the opportunity to know him. He is a con- stant attendant and earnest supporter of the Christian Science church. Mr. Cros- thwaite is a member of Lafayette Lodge, No. 100, Ancient Free and Accepted Ma- sons; was a member of the City Guards for five years, and is now a member of the Veterans' organization.
Mr. Crosthwaite married Mrs. Maria Porter, daughter of William (2) Gray, of Hebron, Connecticut.
ANDERSON, Oscar, Public Official.
Oscar Anderson, commissioner of pub- lic work, Bristol, Connecticut, was born in Qarod, Sweden, December 1, 1864, and there spent the first seventeen years of his life. He obtained a good public school education, and was variously em- ployed until 1881, when he came to the United States, locating in Bristol, Con- necticut, there spending six years in fac- tory and private employ. He then re-
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turned to his former Swedish home, his COOLEY, Norman Peck, intention being to remain there. He en- gaged in a business of his own, but soon decided to come again to the United States, having kept in touch with his friends in Bristol, through whom he re- ceived an offer from a Bristol merchant. Late in 1887 he sold his business in Swe- den and returned to Bristol. He re- mained three years with the merchant who had induced his return, then estab- lished in business under his own name, conducting the same successful business until 1911, when he closed out to accept his present position with the city of Bristol.
Bristol was chartered a city in 1911, and Mr. Anderson was elected a member of the first City Council. He only sat in that body a short time, however, but re- signed to accept appointment as commis- sioner of public work. He has served his city in that capacity continuously until the present time, his service having been of the highest quality and rendered to the satisfaction of each succeeding adminis- tration. He is a member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks; The One Hundred Men; and the Order of Vasa.
Mr. Anderson married, March 4, 1889. Jennie Anderson, and they are the par- ents of four children : 1. Pauline, edu- cated at Roanoke College, Roanoke, Vir- ginia. 2. Bertha, educated at Martha Washington College, D. C., and now an instructor in domestic science in Bristol schools. 3. Oscar, prepared in Bristol public schools and Andover Academy, a student at Dartmouth two years prior to his enlistment in the United States Na- val Aviation Service ; he was stationed at Pensacola, Florida, but now is honorably discharged with commission as ensign. 4. Pearl, attending Bristol High School.
Manufacturer.
As one writer has aptly said: "Some men are great because of their forbears, and some forbears become great through their descendants." In the life and career of Norman Peck Cooley, of New Britain, this fact is doubly true. In his business and public life he has succeeded in adding more honor to an already honored name and family. For two generations the family have been identified with the inter- ests of New Britain, and its members have been active in furthering the inter- ests of that city in various ways.
(I) The immigrant ancestor of the Cooley family was Benjamin Cooley, who married, probably in America, Sarah -, and she died August 23, 1684, his death preceding hers by six days, occur- ring August 17, 1684. His will was filed the September 30th following.
(II) Daniel Cooley, son of Benjamin and Sarah Cooley, was born May 2, 1651, at Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and died there February 9, 1727. He married, at that place, December 8, 1680, Elizabeth Wolcott, a descendant of Henry Wolcott, the immigrant of Connecticut. She died January 31, 1739.
(III) William Cooley, youngest son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Wolcott) Cooley, was born August 12, 1698, in Long- meadow, and settled in the adjacent town of Enfield, Connecticut, which was then a part of Massachusetts. He sold land at Enfield, March 14, 1733-34, and again August 21, 1739. He appeared to have sold his farm, May 3, 1742, to Joseph Olmstead, of Bolton, Connecticut. At that time he removed to Bolton. He held various town offices in the town of En- field, and died at Bolton, March 10, 1775, in his seventy-seventh year, according to
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the town records. He joined the Bol- ton Congregational Church in 1759. He married, April II, 1727, Elizabeth Clark, who died at Bolton, February 12, 1772. She joined the Bolton church in 1749. Their children, born at Bolton, were: William, mentioned below; and Eliza- beth, born March 23, 1734; probably others not recorded.
(IV) William (2) Cooley, son of Wil- liam (I) and Elizabeth (Clark) Cooley, was born in Bolton, February 28, 1730. He married Elizabeth and they were the parents of Samuel.
(V) Dr. Samuel Cooley, son of Wil- liam (2) and Elizabeth Cooley, was born at Bolton, January 21, 1755. He studied medicine under Dr. Ichabod Warner, of Bolton, and practiced there for twenty years. In the war of 1812, he was a sur- geon in the United States Army. Late in life he removed to Portage county, Ohio, and practiced in the town of Northamp- ton, where he died November 12, 1812, aged fifty-seven. He was a skillful phy- sician and attorney. In referring to the success of his teacher, he used to say that Dr. Warner had a better "How-do-you- do" than he. In the census of 1790 Sam- uel Cooley was reported as of Coventry, Connecticut, with his family, consisting of two males over sixteen and two under that age, and three females. It is possible that he was the Samuel Cooley, of Con- necticut, who was a member of Captain Farr's company in the Revolution, which was located at Salem, New York, in 1780. He married, in Bolton, September 7, 1780, Aurelia Abbott, of Easton, Connecticut. The Tolland County History gives his children as five sons and one daughter. Among them were Dr. William, men- tioned below; Simeon; and Dr. A. A., who was for years a druggist in Hart- ford.
(VI) Dr. William (3) Cooley, son of Dr. Samuel and Aurelia (Abbott) Cooley, was born at Bolton, May 10, 1781, and died at East Hartford, January 10, 1839. He learned the profession of medicine from his father and settled in what is now Manchester, Connecticut. For many years he was a prominent and successful physician, and highly respected as a citi- zen. He married (first) Mary, daughter of Aaron Buckland, of Manchester; (sec- ond) Diantha Spencer, also a native of Manchester; (third) a Miss Roberts; (fourth) Jerusha Pitkin, born at East Hartford, a direct descendant of Gov- ernor Pitkin, of Connecticut. The chil- dren of the first wife were: . William and Mary ; child of second wife, General Hor- ace S. Cooley, who settled in the State of Illinois, was editor of the Quincy "Her- ald," a leading paper of the times, super- intendent of the schools of the State, and was Secretary of State for six years; his address on the "History, Spirit and Ten- dency of Free Masonry," delivered before the Grand Lodge of Illinois, October, 1844, on which occasion he was Grand Orator, at a time when the anti-Masonic feeling was still violent, is one of the most eloquent and forceful expositions of the virtues of the order ever published ; he died in 1850. The children of the fourth wife were: Jerusha Pitkin, born 1823, died 1829; Elizabeth Lord. born November 28, 1824, died September, 1840; Charles Samuel, born June 10, 1826, mar- ried Elizabeth Meacham; George Pit- kin, mentioned below; and Jerusha, born 1830, died 1833. Of Dr. Cooley a friend wrote, after his death :
In the death of Dr. William Cooley the com- munity in which he lived sustained a loss that is and will long be extensively felt. As a physi- cian he had extensive practice, was eminently successful and universally beloved by those to
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whom he ministered. Possessed of an acute, but eccentric mind, he obtained celebrity not only as a physician, but as a politician such as few enjoy. Elected on repeated occasions to represent Manchester, the place of his nativity, where he resided until a few years past, he was faithful to his trust. His wit, sarcasm and eccentric speeches in the Legislature will long be remembered. In all political matters he took an absorbing interest, and was to the last mo- ments of his life an ardent supporter of Demo- cratic principle, an advocate of the present ad- ministration, an excellent companion and a sin- cere friend, with an inexhaustible fund of humor, great originality and genuine benevolence, he was always welcome to every circle. For many years he suffered with a painful disease that ter- minated his existence. His spirit never forsook him; he died with composure and resignation to the Divine Will.
(VII) Dr. George Pitkin Cooley, son of Dr. William (3) and Jerusha (Pitkin) Cooley, was born in Manchester, Connec- ticut, November 28, 1828. He attended the public schools of East Hartford, Hartford Center School, and the Phelps Academy, at East Hartford. After leav- ing school he was clerk in a drug store owned by A. A. Cooley, of Hartford. He began to study medicine with Dr. C. A. Taft in 1850, and attended the New York Medical College the following year. Later he was a student at the Hahne- mann College, of Philadelphia, 1853-54, and was graduated with the degree of M. D. He first practiced at Bristol, Con- necticut, for three years. In 1857 he lo- cated at New Britain, and until very recent years was still in active practice there. He was one of the oldest and most highly respected physicians in the State, and for years was attending physician of the New Britain General Hospital. He was made a master mason in 1854, and is a member of Franklin Lodge, of Bristol. He married, April, 1865, Lucy Ann Peck, a native of Berlin, Connecticut. The
children were: Dr. George Pitkin (2) and Norman Peck, both mentioned below.
(VIII) Dr. George Pitkin (2) Cooley, son of Dr. George Pitkin (1) and Lucy Ann (Peck) Cooley, was born in New Britain, Connecticut. He attended the public and high schools there, and the Greylock Seminary in Williamstown, Massachu- setts. He prepared for his profession in the Medical School of the New York Uni- versity, and at the Hahnemann Medical School, Chicago. He is surgeon-in- charge of Grace Hospital, Detroit, Michi- gan; also assistant surgeon-in-chief of the Michigan Central Railroad Company. (VIII) Norman Peck Cooley, son of Dr. George Pitkin (1) and Lucy Ann (Peck) Cooley, was born in New Britain, August 8, 1869. He received his education at the public and high schools of New Britain and Greylock Seminary, Massachusetts. He entered the employ of the Russell & Erwin Manufacturing Company of New Britain, manufacturers of hardware, and remained with them for three years. He then entered into a partnership with How- ard S. Hart for the manufacture of cold rolled steel. The plant was in South Chi- cago, Illinois, and he continued there for nine years. The business was then con- solidated with other interests and he re- turned to New Britain. Here he was one of the founders of Hart & Cooley Com- pany, manufacturers of steel registers and steel lockers. This company has come to be one of the important manufacturing establishments of New Britain. Mr. Cooley has been actively interested in the management of the company ever since its organization, and much of the success of the company has been due to his natural gift for the practical application of progressive business principles. Mr. Cooley is a Republican in political affilia- tion, though never seeking political pre-
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ferment. He is a director of the New Bri- tain Trust Company, the Hart & Hutch- ing Company, and Fafnir Bearing Com- pany. He is one of the organizers of the Shuttle Meadow Club, of which he is the president. He is a member of the Episcopal church.
Mr. Cooley married, June . 20, 1895, Mary Stanley, daughter of James Stan- ley, of New Britain.
BOTTOMLEY, Charles S., Textile Manufacturer.
The world of industry is built upon the needs of mankind. Each separate man- ufacturing establishment goes to make the foundations secure and enduring. And upon the integrity of some man or some group of men does the existence of each individual industry depend. In the busy little city of Rockville, Charles S. Bottomley holds an important position among the men who provide a means of livelihood for the constantly growing population of the city.
The name Bottomley is one of those names derived from location; com- pounded of the words "bottom" and "lea" meaning literally, bottom, or lower meadow, thus designating definite loca- tion. For many generations the Bottom- ley family of Shelf, near Bradford, Eng- land, has been interested in the manufac- ture of textile goods. The father of the Rockville manufacturer, William Bottom- ley, was a manufacturer of woolen goods at Shelf, and later was connected with Briggs Priestly & Company, at Bradford, England.
William and Elisabeth (Lister) Bot- tomley were the parents of six children. Both are now deceased. Herbert, the eld- est son, came to America, and was for a time a member of the firm of A. Priestly
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