USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 7 > Part 45
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
He is a partner in the firm, Gordon & Gordon, of Hazardville, that firm buying from the Dupont Powder Company their old powder manufacturing plant at Haz- ardville, and converting it into a modern textile extracting plant. He has other business interests of importance, includ- ing directorships in the Assawaga Com- pany and Warren Woolen Company. He is widely known in business circles, and is one of the strong men of the textile in- dustry.
In politics Mr. Gordon is a Republican, but political office holds no lure for him. He is a Master Mason of Doric Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Thomp- sonville, Connecticut ; a companion of Washington Chapter, Royal Arch Ma- sons, of Suffield, Connecticut; in Cryptic Masonry, he is affiliated with Suffield Council, Royal and Select Masters ; a Sir Knight of Washington Commandery, Knights Templar, of Hartford; and a noble of the Sphinx Temple, Ancient Ara- bic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is one of the veteran members of the
Hazardville Volunteer Fire Department. He is a member of the Hazardville Meth- odist Episcopal Church, which he serves as steward, and in 1916 was elected lay delegate to the quadrennial general con- ference of the church, which met at Sara- toga Springs.
Mr. Gordon married, February 5, 1889, Harriet May Covil, born in Providence, Rhode Island, February 2, 1868, daughter of .William B. and Mary E. (Chase) Covil. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon are the par- ents of eight children : Greta C., married Bertram O. Moody, of Hazardville, and has two sons, Gordon and Lincoln Moody ; Edna C .; Jean C .; David, mar- ried Doris Clark, of Bridgeport, Connec- ticut, and has a son, William Clark Gor- don ; Donald C .; Elizabeth C., died in in- fancy ; Carlton C .; Lois C.
GORDON, Howard D.,
Business Man.
Howard D. Gordon, son of David and Fidelia Martha (Woodworth) Gordon (q. v.), was born September 28, 1870, in the town of Enfield, Connecticut, and his elementary education was obtained in the schools of Hazardville, and at the Con- necticut Literary Institute of Suffield. He graduated from the latter institution in 1888, and four years later from Wesleyan University of Middletown, Connecticut.
The year following, Mr. Gordon was connected with the importing house of Horace Dutton Company. of New York, and in 1894 he became associated with the Gordon Brothers Company, now hold- ing the position of purchasing and sales agent of the company. He has imbibed worthy characteristics and possesses busi- ness acumen which, combined with his genial nature, makes him altogether an admirable business man and executive. Outside of his own business interests, Mr.
319
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Gordon takes an active part in several other enterprises, and is a member of the board of directors of the Warren Woolen Company, of Stafford Springs, Connecti- cut.
Mr. Gordon is a Republican in political principle, and his interest is more than a passive one. He gave most satisfactory service as a member of the Hazardville, Connecticut, school board. Mr. Gordon finds recreation in his membership in the Nyasset and Winthrop clubs, both being located in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Mr. Gordon married, October 2, 1895, at West Roxbury, Massachusetts, Hattie Gertrude Kelsey, born November 10, 1869, in Iowa, daughter of James and Emma Kelsey. James Kelsey was a "forty-niner," and went to California in that year. He died in Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon are the parents of two sons : John Stewart, born March 29, 1901; and Alexander Donald, born February 19, 1904.
SMITH, James Dickinson, Banker.
A writer in the Stamford "Advocate," apropos of the death of Commodore Smith, remarked: "No one could write a history of Stamford for the last fifty years without numerous mentions of the name of James D. Smith." In comment- ing on the foregoing sentence, Mr. E. T. W. Gillespie, in an address before the Stamford Historical Society, said :
In this sentence as terse as it is true * we find an epitome of his relationship to the commun- ity happily suggested in a single expression. That relationship was manysided. * It illus- * trated always a broadminded and brotherly spirit, which had a genial smile, a kind word for the humblest, while the advantages of his fortune, the habitual suavity of his deportment and the manly distinction of his presence, made him both an ideal host and a welcome guest among the
most highly organized circles of society. His pres- ence in the toastmaster's chair at a public ban- quet was a guarantee that the feast would be spiced with a bright and genial humor to stimu- late enjoyment and to promote good fellowship. His social instincts were strong and broad enough to include all classes of his fellow citizens in the scope of their interest and concern. These traits of his character deserve emphasis in estimating his worth as a citizen. They represent qualities of mind and heart which go to ameliorate the sometimes harsh lines of social and political divi- sions in a community, and thereby exert a use- ful influence in the cause of peace and order and general content. And they indicate a dis- position too rare among those who are able to afford the luxury of living wholly to themselves and for themselves. The day of a militant, revo- lutionary, socialism would long be postponed if those who have accumulated or inherited lib- eral incomes had more the broad, genial temper, the wide human sympathy and consideration for his less fortunate fellows, which was so charac- teristic of Commodore J. D. Smith. The man, whose greatest pleasure in the production of a splendid annual exhibit of chrysanthemums was to invite the whole body of his fellow townsmen and townswomen to come and share with him in the enjoyment of their bloom and beauty, dis- played a spirit finer and wider than that which too generally prevails in our social organiza- tion. * * *
Naturally, such a man was in request in the councils of the political party with which he had always affiliated. But he was seldom induced to appear as a candidate for office and on those few occasions only when it was made apparent that the party needed his personal candidacy, and needed it emergently. Thus, in 1880, he accepted a nomination for the Legislature and was elected, though the candidate with him on the representa- tive ticket failed. A year or two later, owing to the death of the gentleman who had been elected Treasurer of the State, it devolved on Governor Bigelow to appoint a successor. There was a very important piece of work to do in that office. The State had a large debt that was to be refunded at a lower rate of interest if possible. The Governor felt that the occasion called for a man of uncommon ability and large financial ex- perience. Such a man he found in Stamford, who promptly responded to the Governor's call. The debt was refunded at a lower rate of inter- est than the State had ever till then paid.
This added greatly to Commodore Smith's fame
320
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
and popularity, and he was again asked to become a candidate for Governor, but, as on previous similar occasions, he declined the well-merited honor. He served his home city as councilman- at-large for some years, never failing of election in any instance in which he appeared as a candi- date. But he never became a seeker for public office or entered the business of practical politics. He was prominent in the various presidential campaigns of his party, and was always in request for the chairmanship of great popular meetings. The manly distinction of his figure, his ready wit and overflowing good humor, together with that background of genial, popular, good will, which was always his, seemed to make his selection for the chairmanship of such occasions the most fit- ting that could be made. The chief seat at board or banquet or mass meeting, seemed by common consent to be his proper place. Like the Doug- las, where he sat, there was the head of the table.
As commodore of the New York Yacht Club, Mr. Smith became well known in- ternationally as one of the leading Amer- ican exponents of the sport of yachting. Under the headline "The Commodore in Port at Last," "The Daily Advocate," his home paper, published an appreciation from which the following expressions are quoted :
"His death makes a vacancy in the community life of Stamford that none can fill." "He was respected by every class of people from the big financiers of New York to the humblest work- man in Stamford." "The crew on his yacht adored him, recognizing a real sailor." "His fellow- townsmen esteemed him because they found in James D. Smith a real man." "The predomi- nant impression of his life on the minds of his fellow-citizens was the pervading geniality of his temperament, his broadminded, warmhearted dis- position, which knew no bounds of class or creed, but everywhere and always marked in intercourse with his fellow-men, wherever their lives touched his in the wide circle of his business and social relationships. And it is these habitual and con- stant elements of his character whose sincerity and depth have been shown in so many ways, that rise first to the thought and sharpen the edge of regret and sorrow for his passing away. If that name leads all the rest, 'who loved his fellowman,' surely that position of distinction and primacy belonged to him whom Stamford so deeply mourns to-day."
Conn-7-21
It is not only interesting, it is instruc- tive to inquire, Who were the antecedents of such a man? What manner of persons were they? We find that Commodore Smith was the worthy scion of honored and honorable forebears. In his veins flowed the blood of families prominent in establishing on this continent a new reli- gious, political and economic order of life that in its development has placed Amer- ica in the forefront of civilized nations. Among the names prominent in Colonial history that appear in Commodore Smith's lineage may be mentioned William Par- tridge, one of the founders of Hartford ; Lieutenant James Treat ; Hugh Gaylord ; John Woodruff; Colonel Thomas Low- ery, a New Jersey patriot in the Revolu- tion.
Family names were derived from a number of sources, such as places of resi- dence, personal peculiarities, occupations and so forth. The name of Smith belongs to the latter class, and was applied in ancient times as it is to-day to artificers in many kinds of metal, such as gold- smith, silversmith, coppersmith and so forth. Smith was one of the oldest pat- ronymics adopted in England, being found on record soon after the Norman Con- quest (1066) while the practice of taking surnames did not become general until two or three centuries later.
(I) The founder of the family of Smith in America to whom Commodore Smith belonged was Samuel Smith. According to the Candler Papers in the Harleian Li- brary, he and his wife Elizabeth were thirty-two years of age when they came to America in 1634. They left Ipswich, England, and became part of the Water- town, Massachusetts, settlement. On September 3 of that year, Samuel Smith was admitted freeman. He was a mem- ber of the band of sturdy pioneers who settled Wethersfield, Connecticut, where he immediately became a leader. He was
321
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
unquestionably a man of exceptional in- tellectual endowment and superior train- ing, and of the highest character, for he held the full confidence of his fellow- citizens. He was chosen representative for more terms than any other man of his time, serving almost continuously from 1641 to 1653. In 1658 he was exempted from military training. He served on many town committees, among which was the committee chosen to settle for the purchase of Saybrook and its dependen- cies. Samuel Smith sided with Rev. John Russell in the "Hartford Controversy," and was one of the leaders among those who removed from Connecticut and founded the town of Hadley, Massachu- setts, in 1659. He represented that town in the General Court from 1661 to 1673; served as lieutenant in command of the militia from 1663 to 1667; also as magis- trate of the town. He died in 1680, and was survived by his widow, Elizabeth, who was aged ninety when she died, March 16, 1685.
(II) John Smith, fourth son of Sam- uel and Elizabeth Smith, was born in England, about 1636. On November 12, 1663, he married Mary Patridge, of Had- ley. She was probably the daughter of William Partridge, one of the founders of Hartford. John Smith was killed in the Falls fight with the Indians, May 30, 1676. In his "History of Hadley," Mather says: "And though encompassed by numerous swarms of Indians, who lay in ambush behind almost every tree and place of advantage, yet the English lost not one man, until within one hundred rods of the town when five of ours were slain, among whom was a precious young man, whose name was Smith, that place having lost many in losing that one man." His widow married Peter Montague, and survived until 1680.
(III) Benjamin Smith, youngest son of
John and Mary (Partridge) Smith, was born in Hadley, Massachusetts, January 10, 1673. About 1700, he removed to Wethersfield, where he had land set off to him by the courts of Northampton as his share of his father's estate. On March 14, 1700, he married Ruth, daughter of Henry Buck, of Wethersfield, and their youngest son was Josiah, of whom fur- ther.
(IV) Captain Josiah Smith, son of Ben- jamin Smith, was born January 31, 1707 (according to Stiles, 1708-09), died Octo- ber 17, 1773. His title as captain of the train band, conferred by the General Court, was the highest in any town. It entitled him to the best seat in the church, and he necessarily became a leader of the social element; he married into one of the most famous families in the colony. His wife, to whom he was married Sep- tember 4, 1740, was Mary Treat, born March 7, 1715, daughter of Joseph Treat, nephew of Governor Robert Treat, and son of Lieutenant James Treat.
(The Treat Line).
Lieutenant Joseph Treat was born in Weth- ersfield, about 1680, and died September 15, 1776. He married, July 16, 1716, Mary Robbins, born July 10, 1692, died September 7, 1760, daughter of Captain Joshua and Elizabeth Robbins, of Wethersfield. He was appointed ensign of the South Company in May, 1714; lieutenant in 1716. In 1705, he served as hayward; selectman in 1716; his will was dated April 8, 1754.
Lieutenant James Treat, his father, was born in Pittminster, England, in 1634, baptized July 20 of that year, and died February 12, 1708. He mar- ried, January 26, 1665, Rebecca Lattimer, daugh- ter of John Lattimer, one of the first settlers of Connecticut. She died April 2, 1734. The epitaph on her tombstone, now almost illegible, reads : "That Godly Woman, Rebecca Treat." Lieuten- ant Treat was listed as a trooper in 1658, and was elected lieutenant of the Wethersfield train band in 1679. He served in the Indian wars, and was one of the most active citizens in town affairs. He was constable in 1682; deputy to the General Court, 1672-1707; justice of the peace,
322
WOODRUFF
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Hartford county, 1608-1708; member of the Governor's Council, 1606-07-08, besides serving as selectman, auditor, and in other offices.
Richard Treat, father of Lieutenant James Treat, and founder of the family in Connecticut, was born in Pittminster, County Somerset, Eng- land, August 24, 1584, and died in 1669-70, in Wethersfield. He first appears of record in this country at Wethersfield in 1641, but it has been supposed that he came to Connecticut with Sir Richard Saltonstall's company in 1630. He was one of the founders of Wethersfield, of which he was one of the most influential citizens, being ac- corded the title of "Mr." In 1644 he was chosen deputy to the General Court, and was elected to that office annually for fourteen years. He was elected assistant magistrate eight times from March, 1647-48, to 1655. In 1663 he served as a member of Governor Winthrop's council. Rich- ard Treat was chosen corporal of the train band of Wethersfield, the first body of cavalry in Con- necticut. He married. April 27, 1615, Alice Gay- lord, daughter of Hugh Gaylord, another noted founder of the Colony.
(V) James Smith, son of Captain Jo- siah and Mary (Treat) Smith, was born in Wethersfield, January 20, 1756, and died February 20, 1832. He probably served in the Revolution, but the records show so many of the same name that it has been impossible thus far to identify him. His first wife, whom he married on March 14, 1780, was Sarah Hanmer, daughter of John Hanmer ; she died April 21, 1800. Their son, John, is of further mention.
(VI) Rev. John Smith, son of James Smith, was born in Wethersfield, Septem- ber 2, 1796, and died in Stamford, Febru- ary 20, 1874. He was graduated at Yale in 1721, and at Andover Theological Sem- inary. His first regular pastorate was at Trenton, New Jersey, where he served the Presbyterian church for three years, until 1828. The following year he ac- cepted a call from the Congregational church at Exeter, New Hampshire ; his services there were followed by pastor- ates at Wilton, Connecticut, Kingston,
New Hampshire, and York, Maine. He was a man of great intellectual abil- ity, splendid learning, profound thought, deep piety, and was a forceful, inspiring speaker. Wherever he labored he was recognized as a powerful influence for good, not only in a religious sense, but in matters relating to the general civic wel- fare. While at Wilton, he conducted a notable revival which left a permanent impression upon the community. He married Esther Mary Woodruff, daugh- ter of Hon. Aaron Dickinson Woodruff. Rev. John and Esther Mary (Woodruff) Smith had the following children : Susan Woodruff ; James Dickinson, of whom further ; Esther Mary; Walter Mitchell ; Maria Lowery.
(The Woodruff Line).
The Woodruff family is an ancient one in America and had early attained prominence in England. It is a compound name formed from Wood, meaning in this sense a hunting ground or game preserve, and ruff, also spelled roffe, ruffe, rough, roff, meaning an officer of legal capacity. In the sense it is used here it means bailiff, or keeper of the King's preserves or hunt- ing ground. In 1579 Sir Nicholas Woodroffe was Lord Mayor of London. The Woodruff (Wood- roffe) coat-of-arms is as follows :
Arms-Azure on a chevron engrailed argent three bucks' heads couped gules; a chief per fesse, ermines and erm.
Crest-A dexter arm embowed, habited ermines, the cuff, argent, holding in the hand proper a like buck's head.
John Woodruff, the founder of the family in America, came from Wooley, near Wakefield, in West Riding, Yorkshire, England. He was a resident of the Massachusetts Bay Colony pre- vious to 1637, and settled first at Lynn. He left there with the little colony that founded South- ampton, Long Island, among whom was John Gosmer, whose daughter Anna he married.
John Woodruff, their eldest son, was adopted by his maternal grandfather, from whom he in- herited large tracts of land. He removed with his wife Mary to Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and is named in the list of Associates. He acquired
323
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
there a plantation of one thousand acres to which the name "Woodruff Farm" clings to this day. He was a man of prominence, honored with many public offices. He was made constable, December 1I, 1674; ensign, July 15, 1675; and high sheriff of the county, November 28, 1684. He married Mary
John Woodruff, son of John and Mary Wood- ruff, was born about 1655, and was an early As- sociate of Elizabethtown. Like his father, he was called to serve in public offices. He was one of the burgesses of the Colonial Legislature, and was appointed high sheriff of Essex county in 1697. His wife, Sarah, was born in 1666, and died July 2, 1727.
David Woodruff, son of John and Sarah Wood- ruff, was born about 1678, and was only about twenty years of age when he was admitted an Associate of Elizabethtown. By his wife Eunice he had eleven sons, of whom Elias was the sixth.
Elias Woodruff, son of David and Eunice Woodruff, was born in March, 1727. He re- moved with his family to Princeton, New Jersey, in 1772. He early took part in the War of the Revolution, and was appointed commissary of supplies for the New Jersey troops, remaining in the service until the close of the war. He married Mary Joline, daughter of John and Phoebe Joline, Huguenot settlers.
Hon. Aaron Dickinson Woodruff, eldest of nine children born to Elias and Mary (Joline) Wood- ruff, was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Septem- ber 12, 1762. He was graduated at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) as vale- dictorian of his class. He was admitted to the bar, having won by his uncompromising integrity the confidence of all. His splendid ability and unswerving fidelity to every trust reposed in him won for him the highest esteem of his fel- low-citizens. He served for a time in the New Jersey Legislature, and was instrumental in hav- ing Trenton selected as the State Capital. A man of strongly benevolent impulses, he was the un- ostentatious friend of the poor, and the defender of the fatherless. He married Grace Lowery, daughter of Colonel Thomas Lowery, of Alex- andria, Hunterdon county, New Jersey.
(The Lowery Line).
The Lowery family, which was long settled in Ireland, was originally Scotch. The name is said to have been derived from Laurel, the name of the bush dedicated to Apollo, the leaves of which were used in making wreathes for the crowning of the victors in the Greek games. It is thought
that Thomas Lowery, the progenitor of the fam- ily in America, was a descendant of James Low- ery, Esq., who emigrated from Scotland to Ire- land in the seventeenth century. Thomas Lowery was born in Ireland, September 3, 1737. His mother was a Miss Patterson, descended from an old Scotch family who settled in Ireland, prob- ably during the Cromwellian period. Thomas Lowery was ten years of age when he came to this country with his widowed mother and her brother, Thomas. This brother, Thomas Patter- son, reared him and educated him. Thomas Low- ery's remarkable success in after life would seem to indicate that he had received excellent mental training, and had gained a valuable business ex- perience in the counting room of some able mer- chant or financier. He was possessed of great natural shrewdness, fine executive ability, bound- less energy, boldness in enterprise, and unremit- ting vigilance. In 1750, he made his first pur- chase of real estate, six hundred fifty square feet of land sold him by his father-in-law. On this lot he erected a building in which he established the first store opened in Flemington, at that time simply a hamlet known as Fleming's. That he prospered is evidenced by the fact that he began acquiring land in 1761. In 1772, he formed a partnership with his son-in-law, Thomas Skel- ton, to conduct a store at Amwell, Mr. Lowery holding a two-thirds interest in the business and doing the firm's buying in New York and Phila- delphia. The following year Mr. Lowery erected a grain and produce store, which he carried on in connection with a mill that he operated on the South Branch.
He was among the first to offer his services in the defense of his adopted country, and from that time to the close of the War of the Revolution, he was one of the most ardent and active patriots in his section. He was given the rank of colonel and was appointed as commissary. The Con- tinentals stored a lot of muskets in Colonel Low- ery's mill. Learning of this the British raided the place, carried off the guns, and the mill was long famous because of that incident. Colonel Lowery enjoyed the confidence and friendship of Gen- eral Washington, who had been a guest at his home during the war. In 1780, when the Ameri- can army was suffering from a scarcity of sup- plies, Mrs. Lowery was chosen one of a commit- tee of ten ladies to cooperate with similar com- mittees in other counties in soliciting contribu- tions for the relief of the soldiers. They col- lected $15,408, in twelve days. In 1789, Mrs. Lowery was one of the matrons in charge of the
324
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
ceremonies at Trenton of the occasion of the reception to General Washington.
Colonel Lowery represented Hunterdon county in the Provincial Congress of 1773, and was a member of the Legislature for several years after the war. At one time he owned about one thou- sand aeres of land where Frenchtown is How located. The Frenchtown part he sold for £ &00. By 1800, he had completed the old red mill and the saw mill at Milford, which was first called Low- erytown. He was the founder of Frenchtown, where he resided until his death, November 10, 1809. His widow, Esther, survived him until October 13, 1814, being seventy-six years of age at her decease. She was the daughter of Samuel Fleming, who was born in Ireland, April 2, 1707, and died at Flemington, February 10, 1790; he came to this country, it is said, with the Widow Lowery, and his son, Thomas, and Thomas Pat- terson. In 1750, he purchased what is now Flemington village, and at later dates acquired other properties. He also was an ardent patriot during the Revolution. He built the first house in the village, which he kept as a tavern. It is claimed that the Fleming family is descended from Archibald Fleming, a nobleman of Flanders, who went to England with William the Con- queror, and acquired the manor and lordship of Bratton. His descendant, AArchenbald Fleming, attended Henry II. in his invasion of Ireland, and obtained the lordships of Alsmayn and Eskertenen in Tipperary and New Castle and Slane on the river Boyne. He was a great baron in Ireland, and from him the Irish Flemings are said to be descended.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.