USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 7 > Part 11
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& Company, at Camden, New Jersey. Another son, Frederick W. Bottomley, is in the manufacturing business in Brad- ford, England.
Charles S. Bottomley was born at Shelf, July 16, 1866. After attending the schools near his home, he continued his education at Thorp-Arch Grange, a Cam- bridge preparatory school. He was then associated with his father in the firm of Briggs Priestly & Company, the worsted manufacturers of Bradford, England, noted the world over for the excellence of their goods, which are sought by dis- criminating consumers on account of their uniformity of weave and stability of dye. Mr. Bottomley, as a young man, went through all the departments of the factory and made himself thoroughly familiar with every practical detail of worsted manufacturing, including textile designing. In 1886 he came to America, and became associated with his brother in the firm of A. Priestly & Company, at Camden, New Jersey. He remained there until May, 1897, when he accepted the position of designer for the American Mills Company, of Rockville, Connecti- cut, where he remained until January, 1900, then went to the Hockanum Mill, of Rockville, in the same capacity. In August of that year he went to the New England Mills, giving his ability wider scope in the office of superintendent. From there, in 1907, he was transferred to the Hockanum Mill, as superintendent. When the Hockanum Mills Company was organized, he was appointed as the assis- tant general superintendent, also a direc- tor of that organization, both of which positions he now holds.
In his public life Mr. Bottomley throws his influence into such activities as feel the need of business sagacity, since, while they benefit those with whom they
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deal, their very existence depends upon the confidence of their patrons. He is director of the Rockville Building and Loan Association ; the Rockville Aque- duct Company, and a corporator of the Savings Banks of Rockville. Politically Mr. Bottomley is a staunch Republican, although he rarely takes the foreground in political affairs. In social as well as in business life, he is one of the leading men of Rockville. He is a member of Fay- ette Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; Adoniram Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; Adoniram Council, Royal and Select Mas- ters.
Mr. Bottomley married, January 20. 1897, Lucy Mary, daughter of Jonathan and Eliza M. (Thomas) Pickering, of Camden, New Jersey. Mrs. Bottomley was born in Manchester, England. There was one child of this marriage, Margaret. The family attend and aid in the support of the Union Congregational Church, of Rockville.
HOUGH, Frederick J., Manufacturer.
Three generations of this family have resided in Collinsville, Connecticut. Jo- siah Hough, grandfather, coming when a young man. He was succeeded by his son, Emerson A. Hough, Collinsville's druggist for half a century and well be- loved citizen, and now his son, Frederick J. Hough, is the business representative of the family in Collinsville, being assis- tant superintendent of the Collins Com- pany, a corporation with which his entire business life has been spent. When Emerson A. Hough returned from the Civil War in October, 1864, he resumed his position in the Polk drug store in Col- linsville, and from that time until his death, half a century later, he was en- gaged in the drug business, operating his
own store from 1867, and whether as part- ner or sole owner was its capable, effi- cient, directing head. He was more to his townsmen than their druggist, he was their friend, their postmaster for long years, and when they attended Congrega- tional worship it was his rich vibrant bass voice which led them in song. When he passed away in 1915 it was as though cach home in Collinsville had lost a dear friend.
The Houghs are of Scotch ancestry. It is a local place name, coming from the Saxon and Dutch, Hoch, Hoog and How, meaning high. There is a place named Hough in the County of Lincoln, Eng- land. Robert Hough, great-grandfather of Frederick J. Hough, was a resident of Glastonbury, Connecticut, and there his son, Josiah Hough, was born and grew to manhood. He was an expert worker in wood, and in youthful manhood located in Collinsville, where he was for years in the employ of the construction depart- ment of the Collins Company. Later he became a manufacturer of wooden boxes, working under a contract with the Col- lins Company. In politics he was a Dem- ocrat, and for many years he was a mem- ber of the Congregational church. Josiah Hough married Laura Rice, of Bark- hamsted, Litchfield county, Connecticut, who was the mother of six children : Jane E., married Henry A. Gleason ; Henry J., who lived in Brooklyn, New York; George R., a locomotive engineer, who resided at Clayton, Illinois; Dayton E., a locomotive engineer; Lucella, mar- ried Deacon H. E. Harrington, of Hart- ford, Connecticut; and Emerson A., of whom further mention follows :
Emerson A. Hough was born in Col- linsville, Connecticut, November 24, 1842, died in the town of his birth, March 25. 1915. He attended primary, grammar and high school in Collinsville, then became a
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clerk in the Polk drug store. He con- tinued with Mr. Polk until November 18, 1861, when, inspired with patriotic fer- vor, he enlisted in Company H, Twelfth Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infan- try, Captain Joseph R. Toy, of Simsbury, and Colonel Henry C. Demming, of Hart- ford, commanding company and regi- ment. After six months in service he was ordered to New Orleans, and by order of General Butler was appointed hospital steward, his knowledge of drugs and med- icines being such that he was of great value to the medical department in which he served until honorably discharged and mustered out at the end of three years' service in 1864. He resumed his position in the drug store in Collinsville, and about two years later, in November, 1867, he with a partner bought the business which for several years they managed under the firm name Polk & Hough. That firm then dissolved and a new firm arose, Hough & Bidwell, which had but a short life. Mr. Hough then became sole owner of the business and ably conducted it until his death in 1915. He prospered abundantly, and for many years con- ducted his store in the Harrington block which he owned. For more than twenty years he was postmaster of Collinsville, was an organizer, secretary and trustee of the Farmington Valley Agricultural So- ciety, and was always an admirer of the light harness horse. He was a man of sterling worth and pleasing genial man- ner, qualities which won and retained him the friendship of all who knew him, and who in Collinsville did not?
the people might have an opportunity to hear good music by famous companies. He frequently brought the Boston Ideal Opera Company to Hartford, and he toured the large cities of Connecticut with that well known organization. Special trains were run so that the music lovers of the small village might attend the per- formance, and in that way he brought good music to the people. At all local happenings he was always called upon to furnish the music. His own voice was a deep bass and he was always ready to aid in the musical part of the program in church, lodge, or society. He was a mem- ber of Village Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Columbia Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Washington Commandery, Knights Templar ; highly regarded and beloved by his brethren of the order.
Emerson A. Hough married, May 23, 1866, at Collinsville, Sarah A. Bidwell, daughter of Franklin A. and Lucia Ann (Dyer) Bidwell, the latter a daughter of Zenas and Sarah (Chidsey) Dyer, of Can- ton, Connecticut. Franklin A. Bidwell was a leading citizen of Collinsville, son of Thomas (4) and Dencey (Case) Bid- well, of Canton ; grandson of Thomas (3) and Lavinia (Humphrey) Bidwell, of Canton; great-grandson of Thomas (2) and Esther (Orton) Bidwell, of Canton ; and great-great-grandson of Thomas (1) Bidwell, the first of the name to settle in Canton, he born in 1701 in Windsor, son of John Bidwell. Thomas (1) Bidwell married Ruhama Pinney. Lavinia Hum- phrey, wife of Thomas (3) Bidwell, was a daughter of Oliver and Sarah (Garret) Humphrey, her father the first magistrate of West Simsbury. He was the son of Jonathan, son of Samuel, son of Michael Humphrey, a pioneer of Simsbury. Mr. and Mrs. Emerson A. Hough were the parents of two sons and a daughter: I.
From 1869 forward, Mr. Hough was treasurer of the Congregational church ; from 1864 he was a member of the church choir, and from 1870 he was chorister. His love of music was a passion and it was one of his pleasures to bring good musical organizations to his section that . Frederick J., of whom further mention
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follows. 2. Harold Wilbur, a graduate of Collinsville High School, then became an employee of the Aetna Life Insurance Company of Hartford ; his present posi- tion, assistant cashier. 3. Florence B., a graduate of Collinsville High School; married Dr. Ralph B. Cox, of Collinsville, who during the recent war with Germany was a captain in the Canadian army.
Frederick J. Hough was born in Collins- ville, Connecticut, December 26, 1871. He was educated in the public schools, finishing with high school graduation, class of 1890, after which he entered the employ of the Collins Company as ship- ping clerk. From the shipping depart- ment he entered the factory department, and since 1907 has been associated with the manufacturing end of the business. In 1907 Mr. Hough was appointed assis- tant superintendent of the company, which in normal time employs about one thousand hands. He has worked his way to his present position, and is thoroughly master of all the duties of his position. Mr. Hough is a director of the Col- linsville Savings Society; past master of Village Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; of Columbia Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Washington Command- ery, Knights Templar, of Hartford, and Sphinx Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Hartford.
Mr. Hough married Etta Tilly, daugh- ter of Edgar Tilly, of Meriden, Connecti- cut. Mr. and Mrs. Hough are the par- ents of a son and two daughters : I. Leon- ard, who is an ambulance driver with the American Expeditionary Forces in France; he was an early volunteer for the service, although he was but seven- teen years of age, and was sent to France, reaching the front, where he endured the severest exposure and perils when our armies became active ; prior to enlistment he was a student at Amherst College,
class of 1920. 2. Marion. 3. Florence. The family are members of the Congre- gational church, Mr. Hough also treas- urer of the Ecclesiastical Society.
LONGAN, Peter J.,
Business Man, Public Official.
The ancient Irish name was originally O'Longain, but has been anglicized Long, Longan, Langan and Langham. The word in the Irish meaning, Long, a ship; an, one who. The Irish family bore arnis :
Arms-Vert, three lions rampant or. Crest-A lion rampant.
There are few countries who have con- tributed so generously to the makeup of our citizenship as Ireland, who has poured her sons and daughters in a mighty stream into the United States for many years. But Ireland's gift has not been in quantity alone, but in the matter of quality these adopted children have played a part which has been invaluable to our national evolution and develop- ment. The quickness with which they have adopted our ways and seized the opportunities offered would indicate that at heart we are one race, and that the Irishman with his Heaven-born aspira- tion for liberty is already an American, and needed but our congenial environ- ment to develop him.
Peter J. Longan, of Collinsville, Con- necticut, is a son of Patrick and Margaret (Hogan) Longan, his father a native of Ennis, capital of County Clare, Ireland. Patrick Longan was born March 10, 1844, and died in Collinsville, Connecti- cut, January 2, 1902. He came to the United States alone at the age of nine- teen years, having previously learned the butcher's trade under an uncle who kept a butcher shop in Ennis. In the United
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States, Patrick Longan was employed in Washington Market, New York City, until 1863, when he entered the Union army as a substitute, serving in a New York company under Captain Ryan, in a New York regiment. He continued in the service until the war closed and wit- nessed the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox.
After the war Patrick Longan returned to Ireland, and there in August, 1865, married Margaret Hogan, of an Irish fam- ily equally as ancient as his own. The family was seated in Munster where O'h-Ogain flourished, that name having been anglicized O'Hogan, Hogan, Ogan, and Ougan. The family bore arms :
Arms-Gules, three lions passant in pale or, each holding between the fore paws an esquire's helmet proper.
Crest-A dexter arm in armour embowed, the hand grasping a sword all proper.
The name Hogan in the Gaelic means a young man, from "Og," young. Hogyn in the Welsh means "A stripling." In the Cornish the word means, "Mortal." After their marriage Patrick and Mar- garet (Hogan) Longan sailed for New York City, where he followed his trade of butcher. Later he went to Detroit to visit an uncle, Captain John Considine, a well known grocer of that city, and while there secured a position on a gov- ernment boat plying the Great Lakes. This employment did not suit him and soon afterward he returned East, locating in New Britain, Connecticut. At first he worked at his trade, but later he secured a good position with the Corbin Company there which he filled until his removal to Collinsville in 1874. From the date of his arrival in Collinsville until 1890 he was in the employ of the Collins Company, then from 1890 until his death in 1902 he con- ducted a meat market there which he
established and owned. Patrick and Mar- garet (Hogan) Longan were the parents of eight children: Dennis, John, James, Peter J., of further mention; Elizabeth, married Clement Beauchemin; Mary, Edward, and Elsie.
Peter J. Longan, son of Patrick and Margaret (Hogan) Longan, was born in New Britain, Connecticut, January 9, 1873. He was educated in the public schools, and after finishing his school years entered the employ of Edward B. Finnin, who taught him the meat busi- ness. After Patrick Longan opened his meat market in Collinsville in 1890, Peter J. entered his father's employ and was his trusted assistant until the death of the senior Longan in 1902. The son then suc- ceeded his father as head of the business which he has since continued very suc- cessfully. He is a good business man, conducting his market along sound mod- ern lines, practicing those principles of fairness and justice which also distin- quished his father. He holds the good will and esteem of his fellow townsmen, as has been twice evidenced by his elec- tion to the office of justice of the peace. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Winsted; Foresters of America ; and in politics is a Democrat. He takes an active interest in town affairs, and in the administration of the duties of the justice's office strives to judge honorably and fairly the matters submitted to him.
Mr. Longan married Mary A. McDon- ald, born in Hartford, in August, 1877, daughter of Edward McDonald, her father born in Ireland. Edward McDon- ald came to the United States when a young man, became a skilled gardener, and for the past thirty years, 1888-1918, has been employed at State Capitol grounds in Hartford. He married, in Hartford, Hannah Hurley. Mr. and Mrs.
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Longan are the parents of two children : Marion Margaret, born in Hartford, in July, 1913; Eleanor Patricia, born in May, 1915, in Collinsville.
HOLBROOK, Dwight Gerard, Insurance Manager.
There were several families of Holbrook very early in New England and the de- scendants of all of them have proven their worth as citizens and active and successful business men. The family from which Dwight G. Holbrook is de- scended was founded in America by John Holbrook, who came from Derby, Eng- land, and settled at Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York.
(II) Deacon Abel Holbrook, son of John Holbrook, was the first male born in that settlement. His birth occurred in 1653. On attaining man's estate he went to Milford, Connecticut, and about 1676 settled in Derby, Connecticut, where he had already received a grant of land. There he kept an ordinary (tavern), and died May 30, 1747. He married Hannah Merriman, born May 15, 1653, died Octo- ber 20, 1740, in Derby, daughter of Cap- tain Nathaniel Merriman, an early settler of New Haven.
(III) Daniel Holbrook, second son of Deacon Abel Holbrook, born about the close of the eighteenth century, resided on the paternal homestead in Derby. He married in that town, January 22, 1729, Elizabeth Riggs, born June 7, 1706, daughter of Captain John and Elizabeth (Tomlinson) Riggs, of Derby.
(IV) Daniel (2) Holbrook, youngest child of Daniel (1) Holbrook, was born September 21, 1744, was deacon of the church, and colonel of the militia. He married, October 8, 1766, Anne Hitch- cock, who was undoubtedly a descendant of the Hitchcock family of Derby, but
whose birth and parentage have not been discovered.
(V) Josiah Holbrook, son of Daniel (2) Holbrook, was baptized in 1788, a very honest man who sought to improve the educational methods of his time, in which notable work he was closely asso- ciated with Horace Mann, one of the best known reformers of that day. Under their efficient management, the Boston School System was reorganized. Realiz- ing the need of better educational acces- sories, Mr. Holbrook settled at Roxbury, Connecticut, where he engaged in the manufacture of materials and apparatus. An idealist and an enthusiast, he worked for many years in association with Mr. Mann and the educational system of the entire country is very greatly indebted to their efforts. In 1840 Mr. Holbrook re- moved his business to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and in time settled in Berea, that county. In 1843 he retired from business and his sons, Alfred and Dwight, con- tinued it; the latter throughout his life producing many very useful instruments for illustrating astronomy. The former withdrew in 1844 and engaged in teaching for many years at Lebanon, Ohio, where he founded a school of wide reputation. Josiah Holbrook married in Derby, in May, 1815, Lucy Swift, born March I, 1796, daughter of Rev. Zephaniah and Sarah (Packard) Swift, of Derby.
(VI) Dwight Holbrook, second son of Josiah Holbrook, was born April 10, 1817, continued the business established by his father, and in 1854 removed from Berea to Wethersfield, Connecticut, where for four years his wares were produced by contract in the State Penetentiary. In 1858 he settled at Windsor Locks, where he continued business, and was succeeded in 1870 by his son, Charles W. Holbrook, His last years were spent in Chicago, Il- linois, where he died in 1890. Among the
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principal articles produced were globes, numerical frames and tellurians. The latter instrument was highly perfected by Mr. Holbrook, who constructed a geared apparatus illustrating the movements of the heavenly bodies and on which he was granted a patent. The apparatus which he produced has been used widely in the schools of the United States. He married (second) about 1860, Kalista Thayer, born October II, 1840, in Williamsburg, daughter of Joseph Thaxter and Orrel (White) Thayer. Her mother was a de- scendant of William White of the "May- flower."
(VII) Dwight Gerard Holbrook, son of Dwight and Kalista (Thayer) Hol- brook, was born July 27, 1867, in Wind- sor Locks. Before attaining his major- ity he went to New York and found em- ployment in the passenger department of the New York Central Railroad Com- pany, and later obtained a position in the actuarial department of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. Sub- sequently he was employed in the execu- tive office of that company, and in 1893 was sent to Dakota to organize an agency of the company. He drew about him men of initiative and ability, some of whom have since become distinguished in the life insurance world. Five of his asso- ciates became managers there and else- where for the Mutual Life of New York; three became managers or general agents of other companies, and two agency su- perintendents in the home offices of other insurance companies. In 1906 Mr. Hol- brook was called to Hartford to take charge of the interests of his company in that insurance center, and has continued as manager for the Mutual Life Insurance Company's business in Connecticut to the present time, gaining the good will of his competitors in business, and as a citizen working to further the best interests of
his city and State. In the Connecticut Association of Life Underwriters, Mr. Holbrook has served successively as chairman of the executive committee, vice-president and president. In the Ma- sonic order he takes high rank under the Scottish Rite. Mr. Holbrook is a mem- ber of the Hartford Golf and other clubs, and through his Revolutionary ancestry in both lines of the Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution.
In 1898 Mr. Holbrook married Char- lotte Baldwin, daughter of Joseph D. Long, of Minneapolis, a member of an old Massachusetts family. Mr. and Mrs. Hol- brook have two sons: Robert Dwight, born June 7, 1899, and Darwin Long, July 5, 1903.
(The Thayer Line).
The Thayer family, of which Mrs. Kalista (Thayer) Holbrook is a scion, was founded in this country by Thomas Thayer, who was probably the Thomas Thayer baptized August 15, 1596, in Thornbury, County of Gloucester, Eng- land. He was supposed to have been a brother of Richard Thayer, who was, like himself, a settler in Braintree, Massachu- setts. He was married in Thornbury, April 13, 1618, to Margery Wheeler, and about 1630 they came to America accom- panied by three sons and probably other children. Thomas Thayer was admitted a freeman in Braintree in 1647 and lived about one-quarter of a mile east of the present North Braintree Railroad station, near the Menotoquet river. For many years an iron mine was worked on this farm and a portion of it continued in possession of his descendants until 1892. He died June 2, 1665, and his widow, Margery, Feb- ruary 11, 1672.
Their eldest son, Thomas Thayer, born about 1624 in England, received the bulk of the homestead in Braintree by will of
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his father, and lived there until his death, August 9. 1693. His wife, Hannah, born 1624-25, died February 7, 1698.
Their third son, John Thayer, born De- cember 25, 1656, in Braintree, was buried in that town, December 19, 1746. He married Mary, daughter of Henry and Hannah (Pray) Neale, born May 11, 1664, and was buried July 26, 1724.
Their eldest child, John Thayer, born June 30, 1686, died December 10, 1745, in Braintree; his second wife bore the baptismal name of Lydia.
Their youngest child, Elkanah Thayer, born August 14, 1737, lived in the Mid- dle Parish of that town and served the town in various official capacities. He married, November 30, 1771, Mary Adams, born February 9, 1755, in Braintree, eld- est child of Boylston and Mary (Allen) Adams, of that town. She was descended from Henry Adams, the immigrant ances- tor of what is known as the "Presidential Family." He was the father of Joseph Adams, who married Abigail Baxter, and had a son, Joseph Adams, who married Hannah Bass, of Braintree. Their son, Ebenezer Adams, married Ann Boyls- ton, and was the father of Boylston Adams, whose daughter married Elkanah Thayer. Ebenezer Adams was a brother of Deacon John Adams, who was the father of President John Adams.
Elkanah Thayer, son of Elkanah and Mary Thayer, was born September 6, 1781, in Braintree, and married, in Octo- ber or November, 1805, Hannah Thaxter, born December 4, 1784, a daughter of Rev. Joseph Thaxter, a distinguished clergyman and patriot of Revolutionary times. He was born April 23, 1744, in Hingham, Massachusetts, graduated at Harvard in 1768, and as a young man fought at Concord, Lexington and Bunker Hill, and prior to the Declaration of In- dependence was commissioned chaplain
by the Colonial Legislature of Massachu- setts, one of the earliest chaplains ap- pointed in that struggle. After the war he became pastor of a church at Edgar- town, Massachusetts, and ministered to the Indians of Eastern Massachusetts and the islands. He conducted the reli- gious exercises at the laying of the cor- nerstone of Bunker Hill Monument, and is said to have been the eldest chaplain of Massachusetts troops then living. He died July 18, 1827, in Edgartown. His grandson, Joseph Thaxter Thayer, son of Elkanah Thayer, was partly reared in the grandfather's family. He settled at Wil- liamsburg, Massachusetts, and there mar- ried Orrel White, as above noted.
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