USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 9 > Part 26
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Gottleib Bence, father of Mr. Bence, was born in Germany, and died in 1873, aged fifty-eight years. He came to Amer- ica when he was a young man and fol- lowed his trade of brass turner. He lived in that part of the town of New Hartford known as "Nepaug." Mr. Bence married Katherine Knell, and they were the parents of the following children : Hattie, married George Rice, and resides in California; they are the parents of a daughter, Cora, wife of Archibald Mun- ger; Fred, died unmarried; Henry, a resident of New Britain; Charles A., of further mention.
Charles A. Bence was educated in the public schools of New Hartford, and then for a number of years worked in the lum- ber woods until coming to New Britain. In the latter city he worked in the truck- ing business for a few years, and then went into business for himself. His start was a small one with one team, and he now uses ten horses. Besides his truck- ing business, Mr. Bence has a steam shovel which is used in excavating in connection with his trucks. He also has two auto trucks. At times there are as
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many as thirty-five men employed. About twelve years ago, Mr. Bence began to handle the Buick car, and now has a ter- ritory including New Britain, Berlin and East Berlin.
Mr. Bence is held in high esteem by his business contemporaries, and outside of his business interests is much interested in the public welfare of his adopted city. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity. He is a member of Har- mony Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and the Patriotic Order Sons of America.
Mr. Bence married Orlean Louise Hol- combe, daughter of Deuel and Anna F. (Henderson) Holcombe. Mrs. Bence's ancestry traces to the early Colonial fam- ilies. Her father, Deuel Holcombe, was born in Bloomfield, Connecticut, July 4, 1839, and died in Hartford, Connecticut, in November, 1917. He married, Decem- ber 17, 1867, Anna Floretta Henderson, born April 20, 1847, daughter of Shubael Henry and Anna (Merrell) Henderson. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Holcombe were: Anna K., deceased ; Orlean L., wife of Mr. Bence; Stanley Deuel; Essie Minna ; William Gordon ; Lislis E .; Cadis. Mr. Holcombe was a farmer during his lifetime, and became a resident of Bur- lington, Connecticut, when a young man. He taught school at one time in his younger days, and later served as a mem- ber of the committee to examine teach- ers. In politics, he was a Republican, and served as tax collector. The family were members of the Congregational church in Burlington. Mrs. Holcombe survives her husband, and is remarkably well pre- served, despite her advanced years.
The father of Deuel Holcombe was Milo Holcombe, born August 1, 1799, in Bloom- field ; died December 6, 1867. He mar- ried January 2, 1837, for his second wife,
Catherine Deuel. For many years he traveled as a salesman through the South and subsequently was employed in the treasury department of the Government. Originally a Whig in politics, Mr. Hol- combe later became a Republican. Mr. Holcombe spent the last years of his life on his home farm. His father was Abra- ham Holcombe.
Abraham Holcombe was born October 10, 1777, and died February 14, 1866. He married Rosanna Adams, July 10, 1798. The following curious epitaph is on the tombstone of Abraham Holcombe :
"Here lies Abraham Holcombe, the eldest and most respectable of the Holcombe family."
(The Henderson Line).
Shubael Henry Henderson, whose daughter, Anna F., married Deuel Hol- combe, was born July 22, 1814. He mar- ried November 10, 1842, Anna Merrell. He was a farmer in what is now Nepaug, Connecticut, and represented his town in the Legislature of 1877. For twenty-one years Mr. Henderson was tax collector, and also served as constable for a long period. His father was Gordon Hender- son.
Gordon Henderson, one of twins, was born December 7, 1785. He married in 1808, Betsey Crow, of New Hartford, and she died in 1858. In 1843 and 1844, Mr. Henderson represented New Hartford in the Legislature. He died August 14, 1860.
John Henderson, father of Gordon Hen- derson, was born, probably in New Hart- ford. According to the records of St. George's Church, of Hempstead, Long Island, he was married July 17, 1726, at Oyster Bay, to Ann Prime.
James Henderson, father of John Hen- derson, was born in New Hartford, prob- ably about 1675. He married January I, 1701, Mehitabel, daughter of John Graves
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and Susanna (Webster) Graves. She was great-granddaughter of Governor John Webster, of Connecticut. John Hender- son was a weaver, but he does not seem to have followed that trade, for the records show that he dealt extensively in real estate. In 1734-35, he purchased several parcels of land in New Hartford, of which town he was one of the original propri- etors, and in which he died, in 1745-46. His widow was living as late as February, 1761.
Research has thus far failed to disclose where James Henderson was born, or who was his father. On the old records the name is spelled "Henderson" and "Handerson."
MARSH, Albert Palmer, Enterprising Citizen.
Albert Palmer Marsh, a leading citizen of New Britain, Connecticut, is also of that same ancestry of those who founded New England. Although born in Eng- land, he needed no Americanization in the sense of learning our ideals, for his ideals are a heritage of the common ancestors who won the Magna Charta. In his American patriotism, Mr. Marsh sets an example to many native born, who have grown up in enjoyment of American priv- iliges and opportunities without suffi- cient appreciation of their significance. Mr. Marsh was born July 1, 1867, in Bir- mingham, England, son of William and Mary Ann (Palmer) Marsh. His father was a native of Birmingham, and a nat- ural genius. He grew up as a metal worker and there was nothing in connec- tion with the working of metals that he could not do, from the varying of the various ingredients necessary to produce different qualities in metals, to the finest work in the finished product. Withal, he was a sculptor of great natural talent,
and some of the finer homes of New Britain are now adorned with beautiful bronzes made by himself from his own plaster models. Two notable examples are a fine relief portrait of Abraham Lin- coln, and a fine relief of a racing horse in action.
Mr. Marsh came to America about 1867, and located for a time in Boston, Massa- chusetts, where he was joined by his fam- ily. For the next four or five years he worked in a large number of cities of the East, evidently seeking an environment that was exactly to his taste. He finally settled in New Britain and entered the employ of P. & F. Corbin. There he intro- duced "methods" which greatly improved the appearance of the finished metal prod- uct, and at the same time greatly lowered the cost of production. In 1872 he had a contract with that concern for an amount a day which was considered almost a fab- ulous salary. Mr. Marsh married Mary Ann Palmer, born in Birmingham, Eng- land, and a member of an old family in that city. They were the parents of the following children: Nellie L., wife of Henry Boehm, of Southington; Alice, wife of George Kron, of that city ; Albert P., of further mention; Emily E., mar- ried Albert Skinner, of Waterbury, and is now deceased; Charles H., of New Haven.
The educational opportunities of Albert P. Marsh were exceedingly limited, but he has been a voracious reader, with a natural taste for the worth while litera- ture, and is the possessor of a naturally logical mind. His unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and his application and concentration of mind, have more than made up for his lack of formal training. He was only ten years old when he went to work in the Malleable Iron Works on Myrtle street in New Britain. He per- formed labor that was arduous for one of
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such tender years. Later he had an op- portunity to attend a night school for a time. Until he was nineteen years of age, he worked in various factories in New Britain, and then decided to learn the painting and decorating business. Be- fore he had completed his apprenticeship, his employer failed in business, and Mr. Marsh had to take over the business and tools to cover the wages due to him. Nothing daunted by being thus thrown upon his own resources, he employed ex- perienced men and watched closely the financial side of the business, and was so successful that he continued in business for thirty years as the leading painter and decorator of New Britain. At times he had as many as twenty men in his employ. At that time New Britain was a much smaller city, so it will be seen that Mr. Marsh was an important factor in the business community.
He has done a good deal of church work, and while his business naturally has been largely local, he has had contracts as far away as Brooklyn, New York, and many of the towns and cities of Connec- ticut. About three years ago, he sold his business with the intention of devoting his time to public service, but it was not long before certain influences induced him to go into the motor trucking business, and now Mr. Marsh has several trucks op- erating, and also does an extensive stor- age business in connection therewith. His trucking operations extend to Wash- ington, D. C., to Boston, New York City, and points farther west.
Mr. Marsh is a member of the Sons of St. George, and is past worthy president of this organization. He has been espec- ially active in the Americanization work undertaken by the order, especially in showing its members the desirability of becoming citizens. Everything seems so natural to the average Englishman when
he comes to this country, that he feels at home at once and does not take the trou- ble to assume the privileges and responsi- bilities of the voter. This attitude he tries to change. Mr. Marsh is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, Order of Owls, and Burritt Grange.
He is actively interested in every phase of his community's life, and regardless of personal comfort, or convenience, is ever ready to do more than an individual's share in work, necessary to forward pub- lic enterprises. He is eminently practical, and has the faculty of getting things done. For that reason he has come to be classed as a "pinch hitter," in the phrase bor- rowed from baseball. When something must be done in an apparently impossible limit of time, A. P. Marsh is the man called upon to do it, and it is said that up to the present time he has never failed to make good.
Mr. Marsh has been credited as much as anyone else with the success of the Britain's Day celebration in New Brit- ain, for it was as a result of his powers of persuasion that the large firms were induced to prepare the wonderful display of floats that will make the parade on that occasion long remembered. He was also a leader in the preliminary work that made "Welcome Home" day such a suc- cess. Always a staunch Republican, Mr. Marsh has been an active party worker. Possessed of a wonderful voice, both as regards timbre and carrying power, he is a forceful and pleasing speaker, and while addressing an audience is fortunate in having at his command all that is apropos in the large fund of information garnered in his extensive reading and study. He was a member of the Legislative Com- mittee representing the Chamber of Com- merce of New Britain, attending numerous legislative hearings of importance during the 1921 session of the Legislature. He
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has also represented the Grange before Legislative committees. He has been a member of the town Republican commit- tee for three years, and recently com- pleted a term of about ten years as dep- uty sheriff for Hartford county. In this office, perhaps more than in any other one phase of his career, Mr. Marsh's qual- ity of human kindness has come to the fore. To him the duties of the office meant much more than the serving of legal processes. When it became his duty to arrest an individual, Mr. Marsh immediately sought means to alleviate the unpleasant features of the unfortunate's situation, and to help him or her to a happy solution of the difficulties. In these activities he was so successful that many times he won the lasting friendship and loyal regard of those upon whom he had to call as a representative of the law. Only once in all his years in this office, did he find it necessary to use force on an individual. With a knowledge of human nature and a power to influence men akin to that possessed by some famous men, he was enabled to peaceably serve legal processes.
Mr. Marsh married Jennie E. Gilbert, daughter of Daniel W. and Ella (Kent) Gilbert, born in New Britain, of old Rev- olutionary stock, and they are the parents of: Gladys H., a graduate of the Willi- mantic Normal School, and a teacher at the present time at Fortress Monroe ; and Gilbert Palmer, a graduate of the Bliss Electrical School, at Washington, D. C. Mr. and Mrs. Marsh attend the Methodist Episcopal church and contribute to its support.
RAMAGE, Ripley J.,
Retired Building Contractor.
Ripley J. Ramage, retired building con- tractor of New Britain, Connecticut, was
born November 4, 1846, in Norwich, that State, son of Charles Thomas and Mary Ann (Smith) Ramage. His father, Charles Thomas Ramage, was born in London, England, March 20, 1812, and died March 30, 1891. He was only a boy when he began to go to sea, and followed the water until within ten or fifteen years of his death. His voyages before com- ing to America were in the old packet ships. He began as a cabin boy and worked his way up in that department until he became steward, and after com- ing to this country he was employed as steward on the steamboat line between Norwich and New York City, until he gave up seafaring life. Mr. Ramage made his home in Norwich, and the last ten or fifteen years of his life were spent ashore, and he worked intermittently at various things. In England Mr. Ramage joined the Manchester Order of Odd Fellows. He married Mary Ann, daughter of Henry Smith, born in London, in 1814. She was the mother of sixteen children, including one set of triplets and two sets of twins. Of these children nine grew to maturity : Charles T., died in Uncasville, Connecti- cut ; Annie, married Alonzo H. Sherman, of Norwich; John, now a resident of the Connecticut Independent Order of Odd Fellows Home; Ripley J., of further men- tion ; Jennie, deceased ; Mary Ann, mar- ried Oscar Hildreth, now a resident of Norwich ; Alfred, of Montville; Frederick, deceased, formerly a resident of Hartford. The family attended the Episcopal church.
Ripley J. Ramage attended the public schools of Norwich in the winters, and assisted in the summers until he was six- teen years old. He then started and learned the mason's trade, which he fol- lowed as a journeyman for twenty years or more. He then engaged in the con- tracting business on his own account, and in 1872 became a resident of New Britain.
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A section of the Stanley works was built by Mr. Ramage, the part now used as a police station, and other public buildings, and a very large number of residences of the better class were also built by him. Before his retirement, he employed twenty-five men on the average. In 1919, Mr. Ramage retired from active business cares to enjoy well deserved leisure.
Mr. Ramage is a member of the Hart- ford Lodge, No. 82, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Comstock Encampment, of New Britain, of which he is past chancel- lor patron. He was initiated in Hartford Lodge, October 5, 1869, and November 4, 1919, the Lodge presented him with a uni- versal badge with the figure "fifty" inlaid with diamonds, to commemorate the fif- tieth anniversary of his joining the order. This is the tenth badge to be issued.
He married Josephine A. Griswold, daughter of George and Lucinda (Cheney) Griswold, born in Upton, Massachusetts, January 13, 1851 ; died October 30, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Ramage were the parents of two children: Edward R., married Jean Baird; and Bertha Griswold, who lives at home. With his family Mr. Ramage has been an attendant of the Congregational church for many years.
He is a self-made man in the highest sense of that phrase, upright in his busi- ness dealings, and more than that, a lover of his fellow-man, always ready even at considerable personal sacrifice to do a favor, and among his townspeople he is held in universal esteem.
FISHER, William Edwin, Physician.
Among the members of the medical profession in Connecticut who have added dignity and honor to their profession, there is none more worthy of mention
than Dr. William E. Fisher, of Middle- town, Connecticut.
Dr. Fisher was born November 6, 1855, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, son of Wil- liam (2) and Susan (Haas) Fisher, and grandson of William (1) Fisher. The latter was a native of England and early settled in Pennsylvania. He served in the War of 1812.
William (2) Fisher, son of William (1) Fisher, was born in Pennsylvania, and was long engaged in the business of contract- ing and building. He married Susan Haas, daughter of Jacob Haas, of Phila- delphia, a manufacturer of stockings.
After completing his elementary edu- cation, Dr. William E. Fisher attended the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1876, with his de- gree of M. D. For the ensuing year he was an interne of the Jefferson Hospital, and in 1878 removed to Middletown, Con- necticut, where he became a member of the staff of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane of that city. For almost four decades he continued in this relation, and on May 1, 1917, was assistant superin- tendent. Dr. Fisher also served as assist- ant to Dr. A. Ross Diefendorf, instructor in physics at Yale University. During the World War he served as a member of the Medical Advisory Board at Meriden, Connecticut. In 1917 he purchased a handsome house in Portland, Connecticut.
A Democrat in political principle, Dr. Fisher has not been active in many out- side affairs, although ever willing to aid in general welfare movements. He has never sought to hold public office, and has found his greatest interest in his profes- sion. He is a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 2, Free and Accepted Masons ; Wash- ington Chapter, No. 6, Royal Arch Ma- sons ; Cyrene Commandery, No. 8, Knights Templar, of Middletown; and also is a member of the Connecticut Medical Asso-
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ciation; the American Medical Associa- tion; and of the New England Psychi- atric Association.
On March 11, 1897, Dr. Fisher married, at Middletown, Connecticut, Dr. Jessie Meyers Weston, born August 10, 1872, at Cherry Hill, Maryland, daughter of John Wesley and Laure Elizabeth (Jones) Weston. John Wesley Weston was a native of Maryland, and a Methodist min- ister; his wife, Laure Elizabeth Jones, was born in Harrington, Delaware. Dr. and Mrs. Fisher are the parents of a son, William Weston Fisher, born June 5, 1904, now a student in the Loomis Insti- tute, at Windsor, Connecticut.
Dr. Jessie M. (Weston) Fisher gradu- ated at the Woman's Medical College of Philadelphia, and engaged in private prac- tice in that city. Subsequently, for some years, she was pathologist at the Connec- ticut Hospital for the Insane at Middle- town. She is now city bacteriologist of Middletown and pathologist of the Mid- dlesex Hospital and Cromwell Hall, of Cromwell, Connecticut. During the early years of the recent World War, she was a member of the Medical Advisory Board of Middletown, and served nine months with the Red Cross in France during the latter part of that struggle.
HALSEY, Henry, Respected Citizen.
The name of Halsey is of Saxon origin, and is formed from the two Saxon words, "hals" and "ey," meaning an island, water, the island neck. There were four early immigrants of this name in New Eng- land, and one of these, Thomas Halsey, was born in England, in 1591-92, and was one of the settlers at Lynn, Massachu- setts, in 1637. A few years later he re- moved to Southampton, Long Island, and it is through this line that Henry Halsey,
for many years one of the useful and prominent citizens of the town of Wind- sor, Connecticut, descends.
(I) Philip Halsey, great-grandfather of Henry Halsey, was born at Southampton, Long Island, in 1760, and he was a son of Zebulon and Sarah (Sayre) Halsey. He died in 1846, and during his active life- time followed the occupation of tanner and shoemaker. During the Revolution- ary War he served his country, and with his regiment was on retreat from New York, after independence had been de- clared, and they were discharged at White Plains, New York. With some of his comrades he started for his home, but learned that a company of British dra- goons were in the vicinity, and so they crossed the island to Oyster Point, and then by boat crossed the sound and en- tered the Connecticut river. Eventually Philip Halsey came to Windsor, Connec- ticut, where he located, and it was thus that this family became established there. He married Esther Moore, daughter of Elisha Moore, and their second son, Henry, is of further mention.
(II) Henry Halsey, grandfather of Henry Halsey, was born October 17, 1784. He followed the calling of sea captain. He was thrice married. His first wife was Abigail Allyn, daughter of Colonel Job Allyn, and their only child was Henry A., of further mention.
(III) Henry A. Halsey, father of Henry Halsey, was born in Windsor. For the time he received a very excellent educa- tion, and subsequently learned the trade of shoemaker. In his later life he was engaged in farming, and as one of the foremost workers of the Democratic party he was often called upon to fill positions of trust and responsibility. For many years he ably discharged the duties of selectman, and was in many other ways active in working for the welfare of
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Windsor. Mr. Halsey married Fanny Maria Ellsworth, daughter of Giles Ells- worth, and a descendant of one of the earliest Windsor families.
(IV) Henry Halsey, son of Henry A. and Fanny Maria (Ellsworth) Halsey, was born in Windsor, in 1844, and died there March 24, 1919. His education was obtained at the Windsor Academy and at a private school. Upon completing his formal education, he worked with his father for a time, and in 1868 went to Long Branch, Nebraska, and for four years engaged in farming there. On his return to Windsor, Mr. Halsey also fol- lowed farming there, making a specialty of the raising of tobacco, and was highly successful in his undertaking. During his long residence in Windsor, Mr. Halsey was active in many public ways. He was among the highly esteemed men of the town, and through his industry and thrift contributed considerably to the upbuild- ing of Windsor. Just as his ancestor answered the call in 1776, so Mr. Halsey, in October, 1861, enlisted in Company B, 22nd Connecticut Volunteers, and except for a short absence due to illness, remained with his company until his discharge, July 7, 1862. He was a member of the Vet- eran Corps of this company.
On Christmas Day, in 1878, Mr. Hal- sey married, in Hartford, Josephine C. Waterhouse, born in Chester, Connecti- cut, March 14, 1848, daughter of Albert and Catherine (Seymour) Waterhouse. They were the parents of two sons : Harry Allyn, and Howard Philip, both now re- siding in Windsor.
Mr. Halsey's life was marked by many splendid qualities, and with the help of the product of his own work, and faithful application, he became a man of promi- nence and of influence in his community.
WADSWORTH, Adrian Rowe, Civil Engineer, Legislator.
A prominent and progressive citizen of the town of Farmington, Connecticut, Adrian Rowe Wadsworth was born there November 26, 1855, son of Winthrop Manna and Lucy Anna (Ward) Wads- worth.
(I) The family of Wadsworth has long been a leading one in Connecticut annals, having been founded in America by Wil- liam Wadsworth, who was born about 1600 in England and came in company with his brother, Christopher, in the ship "Lion," landing at Boston, Massachu- setts, September 16, 1632. He was ad- mitted a freeman of Massachusetts Bay Colony, November 6, 1633, and settled at Cambridge, that State. Upon the organ- ization of the town in 1634-35 he served as a member of the first Board of Select- men. He formed one of the company of Rev. Thomas Hooker, and was a founder of Hartford, Connecticut, where he died in 1675. He served as selectman, collec- tor, and took an active part in church affairs, being one of the wealthiest pro- prietors of the town.
(II) John Wadsworth, son of William Wadsworth, was born in England before November 6, 1649, and died in Farming- ton, where he had settled early in life. He was a prosperous and influential man. He appeared third on the tax list in 1669; was sergeant of the militia company, and was a member of what later became the State Senate. John Wadsworth was a brother of Captain Joseph Wadsworth, who made the name immortal in Connec- ticut records by virtue of his valient deed in concealing the Charter of the Colony from emissaries of the King who sought to revoke the Charter. John Wadsworth married Sarah Stanley, daughter of Thomas Stanley, of Hartford, in 1636.
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