USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 7 > Part 39
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Mr. Goodwin's pride in his city has al- ready been remarked, and we may add that its present prosperity, to say nothing of its beauty, owes not a little to his efforts and activities. His efforts, too, on behalf of the preservation of old records have been of great service for the more exact study and writing of the city's history, and the Historical Society is richer in the possession of some very rare and valuable works through his generosity, especially noticeable being the gift of that great work, "The Victoria History of the Coun- ties of England," not yet completed, but already a library in itself. He bore the expense of editing and publishing, as two volumes of the society's collections, the most important of Hartford's early rec- ords.
Mr. Goodwin married Josephine Sarah Lippincott, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 19, 1873. Mrs. Goodwin is a de- scendant of Richard Lippincott, who was a settler of Massachusetts some time prior to 1640, at which date he was living there, and who twenty-five years later was a planter of the first English settlement in New Jersey. To Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin there were born three sons who, with their mother, survive him. They are Walter Lippincott Goodwin, James Lippincott Goodwin, and Philip Lippincott Goodwin.
A man at once of native power and a high degree of culture, Mr. Goodwin's was a character which instantly made an impression upon those with whom he came in contact, an impression which has never weakened, of essential strength. virtue, and kindly charity. He had the power of inspiring devotion on the part of friend or employee, and he repaid it
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Geo, N. Ellon
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with a faithfulness on his part very note- worthy. Nor were his relations with the community less commendable than with its individual members. Many specific examples of this might be adduced, but it must suffice to reassert and emphasize in a general way that llartford has known few such devoted friends, few that have been at once so willing and able to further her interests, or so intimately connected with all that was best in her progress.
ELTON, George Herbert, Merchant.
The Elton family has been a prominent one in the annals of the State of Connecti- cut for many generations. It has con- tributed its quota of upright citizens, and descendants of this family have won rec- ognition on their own merits wherever they happen to reside.
One of the leading citizens of the city of Bristol, Connecticut, George Herbert Elton, of this ancient family, has upheld the reputation and integrity of the name. Mr. Elton was born July 31, 1866, in West Burlington, Pennsylvania, during a resi- dence there of his parents. His father, James Elton, was born in Bristol, in Oc- tober, 1833, where he was a farmer and a burner of charcoal. While still a lad he ran away to sea, and upon returning set- tled for a year in Wisconsin. From there he went to Pennsylvania. While in the latter State he married Harriet Ludlam. He was a son of Alonzo Elton, the family originally being settled in Burlington, Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Elton were the parents of two daughters and a son : Addie, Cora, and George Herbert. Mrs. Elton died in January, 1912.
The only son of the family, George H. Elton, went to work at an early age in the cotton mills, remaining for over two years. In 1883, the year he came to Bris-
tol, he engaged in the meat business, con- tinuing for seven years. Although he desired to follow mercantile business, he did not particularly care for the grocery line, and in 1890 started in a wall paper business, which soon proved very profit- able and more to his liking. In the spring of 1907, his business had grown to the extent that he found it desirable to in- crease its scope and, accordingly, pur- chased the Stewart-Paper & Paint Com- pany's business, which he combined with his own. He now conducts a flourishing business and has opened a branch store in Winsted, Connecticut. His customers are numbered among the residents of many of the surrounding towns, and through his careful management and attention to the wants of these people, he has achieved a wide reputation in his line of business. Mr. Elton affiliates with Steven Terry Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, and is a member of the Sons of Vet- erans.
Mr. Elton married (first) Etta Wilcox, and (second) Amy Baldwin. By his first wife there were the following children : Sylvia E., Bessie E., James E., Charles E., Irving E., deceased; and Debora E. Mrs. Elton died March 22, 1904. By his second marriage his children are: Amy D., and George Herbert, Jr.
Charles E. Elton, son of George Her- bert and Etta (Wilcox) Elton, was born July 3, 1898. He served in the World War and was with the Army of Occupa- tion in Germany, a private in Battery F, 77th Field Artillery, a peculiarity of the regiment being that it was formed from volunteers who enlisted in April and May, 1917. Battery F participated in many operations, and its chief characteristics were freedom from internal disturbances and willingness to meet all demands made upon it with energy and enthusiasm.
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LILLEY, George Leavens,
Governor Who Died in Office.
Governor Lilley, the sixty-third chief magistrate of the Commonwealth, was the first to die in office since the adoption of the constitution of 1818. Short as was his life, his death occurring before he had completed his fiftieth year, it was filled with the activities which spring from earnestness of purpose and loyalty to principle and to friends, and he left a marked impress upon his time.
He was born in Oxford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, August 3, 1859, son of John Leavens and Caroline Ward (Adams) Lilley, and a descendant of George Lilley, who settled in Reading, Massachusetts, in 1636. His father, a farmer and marketman, is described as "a bundle of nervous energy and activity ;" his mother exerted a great moral force in the life of her son. The lad followed his common school studies with entrance to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, but his father's declining health obliged him to leave at the end of the first year to take charge of the home farm and interests connected therewith, and these responsi- bilities were further increased by the death of the parent soon afterward. His industries now became varied, but in their midst he never lost sight of self-improve- ment, and gave all his spare hours to judicious reading, history being his espe- cial delight. With his last dollar, he chartered a schooner and voyaged to Nova Scotia, returning with a cargo of potatoes which he disposed of to good advantage. Turning his attention to the meat business, which had been among the occupations of his boyhood under his father, he made an engagement with the meat packing firm of Swift & Company, and opened a branch house in Worcester, his name appearing first in that of the
firm, and he developed this business to great proportions. Later he took up his residence in Waterbury Connecticut, where he interested himself in real estate, as he did also in Torrington and Winsted.
His public career dates from 1890, when he came into prominence in Waterbury for his unsparing criticism of the town government's administration of its finan- cial affairs. He was made the candidate of the Republicans for the General As- sembly, was elected, and on taking his seat attracted the attention of the entire State by his independence and straight- forwardness as a member of the joint committee on railroads. He secured the enactment of a law consolidating the town and city of Waterbury. He intro- duced a bill to redistrict the State, in order to secure the election of an addi- tional Congressman, to which the State was entitled by reason of increased popu- lation. This bill failed of passage, but in its stead was created the position of Con- gressman-at-Large, and to this he was elected by a substantial vote, followed by two reëlections. In the Fifty-eighth Con- gress he served on the committee on ter- ritories ; in the Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth on the committee on national affairs; and for two sessions on the committee on ex- penditures in the Post-Office Department. He was also for a time a member of the board of visitors to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.
In 1904, Mr. Lilley was elected to the Republican State Central Committee, upon which he served until his death. In 1906, he was chairman of the Republi- can State Convention. While in Congress, for two terms, he represented his State on the National Republican Congres- sional Committee, and was a member of its executive committee.
Elected Governor in 1908, he had been seated less than three months when he
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was stricken with an illness which carried him away a month later, his death occur- ring April 21, 1900, in the executive man- sion in Hartford. He had already, how- ever, left a deep impress upon the legisla- tion which was to be enacted after his demise. Questions of grave concern had received his earnest consideration, and he had laid the foundations of various bene- ficial enactments. It is said that his end did not come unexpected. He made fre- quent reference to the fact that from the coming of his progenitor in 1636, no male of the Lilley family had exceeded fifty-six years; and when he entered the Legisla- ture in 1901 he remarked to a friend that he had but a ten year life expectancy, and that he had much to do in that time.
Governor Lilley married, in June, 1884, Anna E. H. Steele, daughter of Norman Steele, a well known citizen of Water- bury, and their life was one of mutual devotion and helpfulness. Their children were three in number: John Leavens, Frederick Pliny, and Theodore; the first and third were Yale graduates; the sec- ond, of the United States Naval Academy.
RUSSELL, Charles Addison, Member of Congress.
The Russell family of New England is descended from several English emi- grants, among whom was one William Russell, whose name appears as early as 1645 in the records of Cambridge, Mas- sachusetts. He was a carpenter by trade, and resided in that part of the town that subsequently became known as Menot- omy. From this pioneer settler descended as follows: Jason (2), Hubbard or Ho- bart (3), Jason (4), Hubbard (5), Moses (6) and Isaiah Danster Russell (7), the father of Charles A. Russell.
Charles A. Russell was born at Mason, New Hampshire, August 1, 1820, and
married, April 7, 1845, Nancy Maria Wentworth. He received only a limited education. When hardly out of boyhood, lie entered the employ of John Boynton to sell tinware, and in 1843 he engaged in business for himself at Worcester, Massachusetts, in the line of hardware supplemented with tin, steel, iron and copper work. He became one of the sub- stantial business men of his adopted city, and there his only son, Charles Addison Russell, was born on March 2, 1852.
The elementary education of Charles A. Russell was obtained at the common schools of Worcester, Massachusetts. He was prepared for college under the tui- tion of Rev. Harris R. Green, entered Yale University, where as a student he stood high, and he was socially popular, owing to his genial manner and his en- thusiasm in college sports. Graduating in 1873, he devoted himself to journalism and for the following five years was ac- tively engaged as city editor of the "Wor- cester Press." After this he was con- nected with the "Worcester Spy" as asso- ciate editor for a year. Mr. Russell came to Connecticut, in 1880, locating at Day- ville, in the town of Killingly, and became treasurer of and an interested party in the Sabin L. Sayles Company's woolen mill. In his new home his tact, energy and abil- ity soon brought him recognition. He was appointed in 1881 aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor Hobart B. Bigelow, and was a popular member of the official gubernatorial family. He was chosen, in 1883, Representative from Killingly to the General Assembly, where he was made chairman of the Committee on Cities and Boroughs. While a member of the House he distinguished himself in debate and for his skill in disposing of public business. Mr. Russell was elected Secretary of State on the Republican ticket headed by Henry B. Harrison for Governor in 1885, and
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during his term of office he was nominated from the Third District for member of the Fiftieth Congress. He took his seat in the Lower House of Congress, March 4, 1887. He served eight successive terms in Congress, and was nominated for the Fifty-eighth Congress, but his death occurred at Killingly, Connecticut, October 23, 1902, before the election. His eight terms in Congress were distin- guished by the same ability and popular- ity which had been characteristic of all his previous public positions.
Mr. Russell married, in 1880, Ella Fran- ces Sayles, daughter of Sabin L. Sayles, of Killingly, Connecticut. The widow and two children, Sabin S. and Deborah, sur- vived him.
GOODSELL, William Orlando, Merchant.
The Goodsells of Bristol, Connecticut, trace descent to Thomas Goodsell, a na- tive of Wales, who came to New England from Liverpool, England, about 1678, and located in East Haven, Connecticut. His son, Rev. John Goodsell, was educated at Yale College, and was the first minister settled over the Church of Christ, on Greenfield Hill, in 1726.
Samuel Goodsell, of Southington, Con- necticut, married Lucy Horsington, and they were the parents of nine children, as follows : Amasa, born July 16, 1779; Sam- uel, born August 26, 1781 ; William, born December 19, 1783; Lucy, born in 1785; Dennis; Betsey, born in 1788; James, born in 1790; Augustus, born February 3, 1794; and Josiah, of further mention.
Josiah Goodsell was born in Southing- ton, June 9, 1796, and died in 1872. He learned the carpenter's trade and became a contracting builder. He was a captain of Connecticut militia, a man of public spirit and progress. Captain Josiah Good-
sell married Eunice Lester, and they were the parents of six children : Elnora, Sarah Ann, Eliza, Mary, Lester, and William Orlando, of further mention.
William Orlando Goodsell was born in New Hartford, Connecticut, March 27, 1847, and was educated in the public schools. He spent the early part of his life on a farm, but in 1872 located in Bris- tol, Connecticut, where he was employed in the E. N. Welch Clock Factory for five years. He then removed to Burlington, Connecticut, where he was engaged in farming and lumbering, there remaining until 1884, when he moved again to Bris- tol, and in 1890 established in business as a dealer in flour, feed and grain, first open- ing in the Tuttle building. When the in- crease of business made larger quarters imperative he moved to the new Elevator building, there continuing in successful business until his retirement. He then turned the business over to his sons, Les- ter W. and Samuel J., who still conduct it along the same successful lines. In Burlington, Mr. Goodsell was selectman for two terms, and president of the Plain- ville Creamery.
Mr. Goodsell married (first) November 22, 1880, Annie M. Dewey, who died Feb- ruary 14, 1914, leaving children : Mary E., Lizzie J., Sarah A .; Lester W., who died at the age of nine years; Edward Dewey, and Samuel J. Mr. Goodsell mar- ried (second) June 17, 1915, Mrs. Anna E. Pettibone, widow of James Pettibone.
TALMADGE, Col. Benjamin, Soldier of the Revolution.
Colonel Benjamin Talmadge, who served with distinction during the Revolutionary War, and enjoyed in highest degree the confidence of Washington, came of a notable ancestry. The founder of the family in America, Thomas Tallmadge,
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WOGoodsell,
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came from England in 1631 to Charles- town, Massachusetts, and eventually set- tled in Southampton, Long Island. His son Robert removed thence to New Haven, Connecticut. James Talmadge, grandson of Robert Talmadge, was a noted man in Colonial times, and com- manded the only troop of cavalry in Con- necticut. His son, Benjamin Talmadge, born in New Haven, graduated from Yale, studied theology, and for over thirty years was pastor of the church at Se- tauket, Long Island. He married (first) Susanna Smith, of White Plains, New York, a descendant of Rev. Thomas Hooker; and (second) Zipporah Strong, of Brook Haven, Long Island.
Colonel Benjamin Talmadge, son of Rev. Benjamin Talmadge by his first wife, was born in Brook Haven, Long Island, February 25, 1754, and died in Litchfield, Connecticut, March 7, 1835. He graduated from Yale College at the age of nineteen, and for three years taught school. In 1776 he entered the Con- necticut military service with the rank of lieutenant ; in December of the same year was promoted captain; and major in the spring following. He commanded the confidence of General Washington, who on occasion gave him an independent command and entrusted him with confi- dential missions. He fought at Short Hills, Brandywine and Germantown, and did good service at Monmouth, and was promoted to colonel. Perhaps his most notable feat was his attack on Fort George, Long Island, in 1780, which he captured, returning without the loss of a man. Congress sent him a resolution of thanks, and General Washington a letter of congratulation. His achievements are given in his official correspondence with the commander-in-chief, and in his own autobiography. He was in command at the execution of Major André, whom he
accompanied to the scaffold. His ac- quaintance with the unfortunate man caused him sympathy and grief, and André fittingly appreciated his kind and thoughtful conduct. One of Colonel Tal- madge's most prized souvenirs of the Revolution was the portrait of Washing- ton which he received from that great man. Colonel Talmadge posed for the lower part of the famous portrait of Washington by Trumbull, at request of Washington himself, who was much oc- cupied with public affairs, and who declared that Colonel Tahuadge's legs were an exact pattern of his own.
After the war, Colonel Tahnadge made his home in Litchfield, Connecticut, where he became a successful merchant and banker. He was a member of Congress from 1801 to 1817, when he retired. He married (first) March 18, 1784, Mary, daughter of General William Floyd, of New York, a representative in the Con- tinental Congress, a signer of the Declara- tion of Independence, and a governor of New York. They were the parents of a notable family of children. The mother died June 3, 1805. Colonel Talmadge married (second) Maria Hallett, daugh- ter of his old friend, Joseph Hallett, of New York. She survived her husband a little more than three years, dying Sep- tember 18, 1838.
INGERSOLL, Charles Roberts, Lawyer, Legislator, Governor.
Governor Charles Roberts Ingersoll, a man of lofty character and an official of commanding ability, came of a distin- guished ancestry. The family originated in England, and the American branch was planted in Connecticut, at Hartford, prior to 1655, by John Ingersoll.
Jonathan Ingersoll, grandson of John Ingersoll, born in Stratford, Connecticut.
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graduated from Yale College, studied theology, and served in Presbyterian pas- torates at Newark, New Jersey, and Ridgefield, Connecticut; was chaplain of Colonial troops in the French and Indian War, and served at Lake Champlain. He was a man of great ability. He married Dorcas, daughter of Rev. Joseph Moss, of Derby, Connecticut.
Their son, Jonathan Ingersoll, a grad- uate of Yale College, was a lawyer, a man of fine parts, residing in New Haven. He made a notable public career; was for many years a member of the General As- sembly, and was elected to Congress, but declined. From 1798 to 1801 he was on the bench of the Superior Court, and in 18II succeeded Governor Smith on the Supreme Court of Errors, serving until 1816. Subsequently returning to political life, he was one of the most prominent fac- tors in the overthrow of the Federalists. In 1818 he was elected Lieutenant-Gov- ernor, and continued in office until the adoption of the new State constitution. He married Grace, daughter of Ralph Isaacs, of Bradford, Connecticut.
Ralph Isaacs Ingersoll, son of Judge Jonathan and Grace (Isaacs) Ingersoll, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, February 9, 1789, and died August 26, 1872. He graduated from Yale College, studied law, and engaged in practice in New Haven, coming to be regarded as one of the most accomplished lawyers of his day. He early interested himself in politics. A Federalist, like his father, his views on the separation of church and State, however, led him into the ranks of the Tolerationists, and as a candidate of that party he was elected to the General Assembly from New Haven, previously a Federalist stronghold, and came to the leadership of his party in that body. In 1825 he was elected to Congress, and his membership in that body covered a period
of eight years. During his first two terms he supported the Adams adminis- tration, but in the next two terms he was allied with the National Republicans under Henry Clay. During his Congres- sional service, he was also mayor of New Haven for one term. In 1834 he supported Jackson for the presidency. He declined an election to the United States Senate, and also declined the gubernatorial nom- ination several times. In 1846 President Polk (with whom he had formed an inti- mate friendship when both were in Con- gress), without consulting him, appointed him Minister to Russia. This honor he accepted, and after two years' service in St. Petersburg, he returned home and to his profession, to which he devoted him- self for twenty years with unabated en- ergy and success. He married Margaret Catherine Eleanor Van den Heuval, a woman of great force of character, of an old Dutch family of New York.
Governor Charles Roberts Ingersoll, son of Hon. Ralph Isaacs Ingersoll, by the marriage above referred to, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, September 16, 1821, and died in 1903. He was edu- cated at the Hopkins Grammar School, New Haven; and Yale College, from which he was graduated in 1840. For two years he traveled with his uncle, Cap- tain Voorhees Ingersoll, commander of the United States frigate "Preble." Return- ing home he entered Yale Law School, from which he graduated in 1844. In the following year he was admitted to the bar, and entered upon practice in association with his father, continuing for thirty years, and eventually succeeding him.
A Democrat in politics, his public ca- reer began in 1856, when he was elected to the General Assembly, and he served again in the same body of 1858, 1866 and 1871, holding important committee as- signments. He declined a nomination for
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Albert F. Rockwall
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
State Senator when his party was in power, and an election reasonably certain. In 1864 he was a delegate to the Demo- cratie National Convention at Chicago, and served on the committee on resohi- tions; and also the convention of 1872 in Baltimore, where he was chairman of the Connecticut delegation. In 1873 he received an unsought honor-the nom- ination for the governorship, and his elec- tion followed, he receiving a much larger vote than any of his fellow candidates on the ticket. He gave the State a clean and judicious administration, and served by reëlection until 1877, declining a renom- ination. During his official term he signed the act of Legislature making State elec- tions biennial ; and it was largely through his instrumentality that Connecticut was enabled to make such a creditable array of its industries as it did at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876.
Governor Ingersoll was an incorporator of the Connecticut Savings Bank of New Haven, and a member of a number of other business organizations. He was an advisor of the New Haven Colony His- torical Society, and held various local offices. In 1874 he received from Yale University the honorary degree of LL. D. He married, December 18, 1847, Virginia, daughter of Rear-Admiral Francis H. Gregory, United States navy, of New Ha- ven, Connecticut.
ROCKWELL, Albert Fenimore, Manufacturer.
As one of the most progressive manu- facturers of the State of Connecticut, Al- bert F. Rockwell has attained the promi- nent and leading position he holds to-day through his own initiative and force of will. He owes his rise to no fortuitous circumstances, for since the age of thir- teen years Mr. Rockwell has supported
himself, and his success is real and well earned.
Mr. Rockwell was born April 8, 1862, in Woodhull, New York, son of Leander and Fidelia (Locke) Rockwell. The Rockwell family is of Norman origin, and the first ancestor of this branch of the family in America was John Rockwell, who is recorded in Stamford as early as 1640. The first quarter of a century of the life of Mr. Rockwell was filled with varied employments ; although his taste and in- clinations had always been along a me- chanical and inventive line, he did not en- gage in manufacturing until his twenty- sixth year. Ilis early days were spent in Morris, Illinois, where he attended school, and made the most of his educational op- portunities. Subsequent to leaving school, young Rockwell was employed in the de- partment store of the Field & Leiter Com- pany, of Chicago, remaining for two years. Then he went to Florida and worked at general carpenter work, which also in- cluded the clearing of land and digging stumps. His next venture was as the manager of a country store, followed by fruit growing, and the next four years were spent in Jacksonville, Florida, in the hardware business.
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