USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 9 > Part 38
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church. Elijah Hubbard, fourth son of Robert, born in 1745, in Middletown, died May 30, 1808, while attending a session of the State Assembly in Hartford. In May, 1777, he was appointed commissary and superintendent of stores for the Connecti- cut Revolutionary troops. He was a mer- chant engaged in the West India trade, and in banking, and left an estate valued at $144,971.91. He married, January 5, 1772, Hannah Kent, born March 7, 1746, in Middletown, died December 9, 1778, daughter of John and Abigail (Dicken- son) Kent. Their youngest child, Elijah Hubbard, born July 31, 1777, graduated at Yale in 1795, was justice of the peace, mayor, president of a bank, and died De- cember 4, 1846. He married, December 26, 1810, Lydia Mather, born August II, 1790, died March 5, 1850, eleventh and youngest child of Samuel and Lois (Gris- wold) Mather. Their second son, Henry Griswold Hubbard, born October 8, 1814, in Middletown, attended the Norwich Military Academy, at Norwich, Vermont ; and the Ellington High School and Wes- leyan University. Early in life he was associated with Jabez Hubbard, a dealer in woolen goods in New York City, and in 1833, when nineteen years of age, he became a partner of Jesse G. Baldwin in the dry goods business, at Middletown. At the age of twenty-one years, he became general manager of the Russell Manufac- turing Company of Middletown, and in 1844, at the age of thirty years, was made a director of the Middletown National Bank and president of the Middletown Savings Bank. In 1866, he was elected to represent what was then the Eighteenth Senate District of Connecticut, but did not continue in politics, as he preferred to devote his entire attention to his exten- sive business interests. Quick in deci- sion, energetic and able, he was notably successful and became wealthy. He was
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generous, kind to his employees, a man of fine presence, widely esteemed, and died July 29, 1891. He married, June 19, 1844, Charlotte Rosella Macdonough, daughter of Thomas and Lucy Ann (Shailer) Mac- donough, descended from an early Mary- land family, granddaughter of Commo- dore Macdonough, the hero of Lake Champlain.
The first known ancestor of the Mac- donough family was Thomas Macdon- ough, who lived about twelve miles from Dublin, at a place called "Salmon Leap." He married Julia Coyne and they were the parents of Joseph Macdonough, born 1712, at "Salmon Leap," on the Lif- fey river, County Kildare, Ireland, who came to America in 1730 and settled in St. George's Hundred, Newcastle county, Delaware, where he died January 18, 1792. He married, in 1746, Lydia, daughter of Peter Laroux, also of St. George's Hun- dred. Their eldest child, Major Thomas Macdonough, was born in 1747, at a place called the "Trap," Newcastle county, and died November 10, 1795. He was educated as a physician, enlisted at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, was commander of a battalion under General Washington in the Long Island cam- paign, and subsequently during the Revo- lution. He was prominent in civil and church affairs and married, in 1776, Mary, daughter of Samuel Vance, born in 1751, died November 1, 1792. Their second son, Thomas Macdonough, was born Feb- ruary 23, 1783, at the "Trap" and was very active during the War of 1812, com- manding the fleet which defeated a greatly superior British force at the famous bat- tle of Lake Champlain. After the Revo- lution, he settled at Middletown and mar- ried Lucy Ann Shailer, of the Haddam family. They were the parents of Char- lotte R. Macdonough, who became the wife of Henry G. Hubbard, as previously
noted, and mother of Lucy Macdonough Hubbard, wife of Samuel Russell.
Thomas Macdonough Russell, son of Samuel and Lucy Macdonough (Hub- bard) Russell, was born April 11, 1874, in Middletown, where he has achieved dis- tinction as an engineer and as a business man. Although the heir to wealth, he early in life set about marking out his own career and is still industriously pur- suing business and performing his mis- sion as a leading citizen of Middletown, to the best interests of which city he is devoted. As a boy he attended the public schools and Wilson's Private School in Middletown, and subsequently was a stu- dent at St. Mark's Preparatory School, Southboro, Massachusetts, from which he was graduated in 1893. He afterward pursued a course of engineering at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Uni- versity, and in 1895 entered the machine shop of the Russell Manufacturing Com- pany of Middletown, where he gained a practical experience, fitting him for fur- ther usefulness. After four years in this establishment, he opened an office in Mid- dletown and from 1900 to 1910 engaged in general engineering, civil, mechanical and electrical. In 1910 he became chief engineer of the Russell Manufacturing Company, having charge of its extensive plant, and for the succeeding four years was treasurer of the company. In 1916 he became president of the company, which position he still holds. Mr. Russell is actively identified with other interests of Middletown, being director of the Mid- dletown Savings Bank and of the Central National Bank, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a vestry- man of Holy Trinity Church, a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 2, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; of Washington Chapter, No. 6, Royal Arch Masons, and of Cyrene Commandery, No. 8, Knights Templar,
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which latter body he has served as com- mander. For eighteen years he has been a member of the Board of Education of Middletown ; in 1908-09 was mayor of the city, and in 1902 represented his district in the State Legislature, serving as a member of the Committee on Finance. In 1898 he enlisted as a member of Company H, Second Regiment, Connecticut State Guard, was promoted to the rank of cap- tain in 1902, resigning this position in 1908 to become paymaster of the regi- ment, in which capacity he served for two years. In 1909 he was major on the staff of the Governor, and is now lieuten- ant-colonel of the Sixth Regiment, Con- necticut State Guard. In all the various activities in promotion of the recent World War, Mr. Russell bore his part, and he is everywhere recognized as a citi- zen devoted to duty wherever it may call him.
Colonel Russell was married, Novem- ber 1, 1899, to Henrietta Ingersoll, who was born August 2, 1874, in New Haven, daughter of Jonathan and Grace (Skin- ner) Ingersoll, of that city, a descendant of John Ingersoll, who was early at Hart- ford, and subsequently at Northampton and Westfield, Massachusetts. She is a member of Wadsworth Chapter, Daugh- ters of the American Revolution, and ac- tive in all patriotic and social works of the community.
ANDERSON, Carl Frederick, Lawyer, Jurist, World War Soldier.
A native of Portland, Mr. Anderson is a grandson of Jonas Anderson, who came from Uddevalla, Sweden, to America, and settled in Portland, in 1874. Two years later he engaged in farming in the section of the town known as Bucktown, where he continued until his death. His son, Ferdinand Anderson, was born near Ud-
devalla, Elfsborg's Lan, Sweden, and was an infant when he came with his mother to join the father in Portland. For a period of forty-three years he was con- nected with the grocery trade in Portland and Middletown, during the last twenty years of his life being a joint owner with Oscar Thompson of O. Thompson & Company, in Middletown. His death oc- curred February 22, 1921. He married Hannah Sophia Bengtson, who was born in the parish of Akstolna, Halland's Lan, Sweden, daughter of Bengt Johan Nilson and Severina Anderson.
Carl Frederick Anderson, son of Ferdi- nand and Hannah Sophia (Bengtson) An- derson, was born July 7, 1888, in Port- land, where he attended the grammar and high schools, graduating from the latter in 1906. Subsequently, he attended the Connecticut Business College of Middle- town, and on leaving that institution was employed in the treasurer's office of the Corbin Cabinet Lock Division of the American Hardware Corporation, at New Britain, Connecticut. After three years in this employment, having saved much of his earnings, he entered Augustana College, at Rock Island, Illinois, from which he was graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1913. Entering the Yale Law School, he was graduated Bachelor of Laws in 1916. While pursuing his law course, he also took special courses at Columbia University, in 1915. Immediately after leaving the law school, he became asso- ciated with Judge Gustaf B. Carlson, of Middletown, which association still con- tinues. On June 19, 1919, he was com- missioned by Governor Holcomb as asso- ciate judge of the City Court of Middle- town, being reappointed by the General Assembly at the 1921 session. Mr. An- derson entered the United States service, May 1, 1918, as a member of the infantry, but was soon transferred to the quarter-
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master's department, being a sergeant in the Headquarters Detachment and also in Company C of the 104th Supply Train of the 29th Division (National Guard). While in the service in France he pursued a course in law in the Sorbonne, at Paris. He was discharged May 31, 1919, and immediately returned to practice in Mid- dletown, where he now resides. He is a member of the Zion Lutheran Evangeli- cal Church of Portland. While at Yale, he was a member of Book & Gavel, and of Calhoun Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta. He is a member of Warren Lodge, No. 51, Free and Accepted Masons, of Portland ; of Washington Chapter, No. 6, Royal Arch Masons, of Middletown; Columbia Council, No. 9, Royal and Select Masters, of Middletown; Cyrene Commandery, No. 8, of Middletown; Sphinx Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mys- tic Shrine, of Hartford. Mr. Anderson has been very active in the formation of the Middletown Service Men's Club, which is composed of veterans of the World War, serving first as adjutant and later as commander. In political princi- ple, he is a Republican.
MONTEITH, Henry Ruthven, Talented Educator.
It has been well and truly said that the teacher's desk and the pulpit represent the palladium of the finest attainments of civilization throughout the ages. It was in the former place that Henry Ruthven Monteith labored for many years of de- voted and splendidly rewarded service, absorbed in his work, inspired by high ideals, and regardless of distinction or credit if the ends he sought were reached. Thus it was that, whether in high school or college, he came into relation with stu- dents not as a teacher of facts found in books but as an interpreter of life's
truths, as the medium through which they glimpsed the possibilities and opportuni- ties of the future. The weight of years that burdened his body were powerless to affect the youth of his spirit, and so, even when the conferring of the title "profes- sor emeritus" marked the laying aside of his more arduous duties, his place in the hearts of his associates, students and faculty, was his, and his alone, to the end. And beyond, for in that treasure house of memory where life's purest gold is kept, the influence and uplift of his work and example will be eternally guarded.
Son of William Ruthven and Isabel (Gilchrist) Monteith, the former born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and a professor and farmer of Vermont, Henry Ruthven Mon- teith was born at McIndoes Falls, Ver- mont, April 12, 1848, where he attended public school and McIndoes Falls Acad- emy. After college preparation he ma- triculated at Dartmouth College, where he became a member of the Psi Epsilon college fraternity, and whence he was graduated in the class of 1869. He then left his Vermont home and went to New York City, where for two years he was a student with a well-known law firm. Admitted to the bar in New York, in 1871, he spent six or seven years in professional practice in that city, with the exception of a brief period as a teacher in the McIn- does Falls Academy, of his native place.
In 1879 the sudden resignation, because of ill health, of Principal L. L. Clapp, of the Unionville, Connecticut High School, caused Mr. Monteith to be sought as his successor and thus he entered upon the work that, in various phases, occupied him until the close of his life.
Here his natural ability as a teacher and his tireless efforts brought about, in 1882, the first graduating exercises of the Unionville High School, Judge Joseph P. Tuttle, of Hartford, being a member of
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this class. For twenty years Professor Monteith served this school as principal, resigning to accept the professorship of history and English in the Connecticut Agricultural College. In the larger insti- tution, as in the smaller, he won his way to the hearts of the student body and to the admiration and respect of all who came in contact with him. In 1911 he was given a year's leave of absence from the Connecticut Agricultural College, and at this time a group of his former stu- dents at Unionville joined to give an ex- pression of their high esteem which took the form of payment of his expenses on a three months' tour through France, Ger- many, Switzerland and Italy. There was no branch of school or college work that did not hold his sincere interest as affect- ing the welfare and development of the students, and his counsel and suggestions had unusual weight, not as from a profes- sor alone, but as from a proved friend.
In 1919 Professor Monteith was made professor emeritus at the Storrs institu- tion, where he habitually made the jour- ney from his home three days a week to lecture, and was serving thus at the time of his death. A tribute paid him while he was living in itself speaks volumes for his standing in the college. The students wished his portrait for the school library and, none being available, they raised a fund to have Mr. Monteith's portrait painted, commissioning Robert B. Bran- degee, of Farmington, to supervise the work, which was done in his studio in Farmington by one of the students, Har- old Green, of Hartford.
Mr. Monteith was a member of the Church of Christ (Congregational), and fraternally, affiliated with Evening Star Lodge, No. 101, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, also with Masacope Tribe, No. 23, Improved Order of Red Men.
He married, in 1873, in New York City,
Ella Ryder, who survives him with two daughters: Isabel, a talented violinist and teacher of Hartford; and Marjorie, who married Robert K. Vibert, a mer- chant of Panama City, Panama, and has three sons and one daughter.
This record of one of Connecticut's honored educators closes with the fol- lowing tribute from one of his intimate colleagues, Marshall Dawson, chaplain of Connecticut Agricultural College :
Let us now praise famous men, By whom the Lord hath wrought great glory. Such as did bear rule in their kingdoms, And were men renowned for their power, Giving counsel by their understanding.
There is a Western college which annexed a mountain, and added it, by student tradition, to the faculty, decreeing that no student should graduate from the institution until he had climbed to the top and seen the horizon from that van- tagepoint.
It was the good fortune of the students of the Connecticut Agricultural College to have had the friendly compulsion to climb, brought to them, not indeed by a mountain of granite, but by the pres- ence on the faculty of that institution of Henry Ruthven Monteith.
He was a man above the average in stature and in mental attainments. His presence among the student body was that of one "giving counsel by (his) understanding." A classical scholar thrust, by Fate or Providence, into the classrooms of a vocational school, his presence was a living re- minder of attainments which provoke wonder, if not emulation in our minds. It is the presence of such men, in the lecture room, that constitutes a university. There were things in Professor Monteith which his students could not compre- hend; but to the magnitude of which their hearts were responsive. His attainments and person- ality made them conscious of the presence of a mountain, and constantly reminded them of reaches of scholarship that challenge us to climb, seeking the wider horizon.
We are told that the power of the law of gra- vitation, over an object, is in proportion to the mass of that attracting body and also upon the ratio of its nearness. In these two things we find the secret of Professor Monteith's power as a teacher, which opcrated more as influence than as the direct and measurable imparting of facts. Indeed, as Mr. Monteith would say with playful
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seriousness, "Nature has wisely provided that the mind of youth is absolutely immune to ideas." Meaning, of course, to classroom ideas. Aware of that competition which the present day teacher faces in the effort to impart ideas, Professor Mon- teith relied, first, for success in educating young men, upon the power of his scholarship itself, plus his nearness to his students. He made his role that of a scholar moving familiarly among growing minds. The sun of his scholarship shone amongst us.
Hence, those who could learn from him grew in scholarship; and those who cared little to learn, grew, nevertheless, to some measure, in respect for scholarship because they could not but love the Scholar. The realization of Professor Mon- teith's importance to his students grew upon them with the passing years. In the heydey of their thoughtlessness, he was simply a grand old man, a noble lion of which the campus was proud. But, in the days after graduation, when the once rollicking student came back, year after year, to revisit his alma mater he thought, more and more. With that growth in apprehension which life brings, the day would inevitably come when the graduate would say, "Professor Monteith meant more to me than anything else in my college experience."
In his teaching method, Professor Monteith broadcasted his ideas; he did not cramp them to the narrow and exact lines of drills or squares. His faith was that of the sower of old time; that some seed would fall among thorns, some on stony ground, and some in shallow soil, but that other seed would fall upon fertile loam, and bring forth a hundredfold. Hence the prodigality with which this scholar cast, to right and left, the treasures of his mind, "things new and old," things piquant and things profound, things of this world and things of the "outermost rim and be- yond." To talk with him was an education in itself; and to be with him was to catch the man- ner of gentlemen and thinking folk.
Thus, Mr. Monteith's place, in the minds of student and graduate, came to be unique. As the common saying went, he was "popular." It would be truer to say, he was loved. As a beautiful testimony of this, the students of the college dur- ing the last year undertook the responsibility of raising funds for having Mr. Monteith's portrait painted. This portrait, finished by Mr. Green a few days before Mr. Monteith's death, is said to be of a high order, and permission has been asked for exhibiting it.
petuate, as a tradition among the students of coming generations, the place and influence of Mr. Monteith as one of the builders of the Con- necticut Agricultural College. Thus there will be a visible reminder amongst us of his love for the college and its students, and of their devotion to him. In his latter years Mr. Monteith's life became merged more and more completely in the college; and, through his portrait, painted at the instance of his students, he will be amongst us as one who, "being dead, yet speaketh."
MASLEN, Stephen,
Man of Enterprise.
The story of the life of Stephen Maslen, for almost half a century engaged in the monumental and statuary business in Hartford, Connecticut, is the story of steady, persistent efforts towards worthy ambitions and of the success which step by step was won by his industry and tal- ent. For many years he occupied a recog- nized and enviable position among the well known citizens of Hartford.
Mr. Maslen was born September 6, 1845, at Strowbridge, England, and died at Hartford, Connecticut, May 28, 1909. His father, James Maslen, was born Janu- ary 16, 1808, and his mother, Ann (Carr) Maslen, November 12, 1805. His educa- tion was obtained in the schools of Strow- bridge. He came to America, April 24, 1864, settling first at Sturbridge, Massa- chusetts, later removing to Springfield. ' He learned the trade of stone-cutter, and in 1870 came to Hartford, where he en- gaged in the monumental and statuary business on his own account.
Mr. Maslen directed his most earnest efforts to the development of his business, and in 1902 it was incorporated as the Stephen Maslen Corporation, the corpo- rators being: Stephen Maslen; H. L. Maslen, and Charles C. Maslen. During the active years of his life, Mr. Maslen was the president and treasurer of this
By this means the students of to-day will per- company, the son succeeding to the re-
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sponsibility at his death. The latter had been associated in the business since 1891. Under Mr. Maslen's personal direction many commemorative monuments were designed and executed for both public and private use.
Mr. Maslen was a member of the Put- nam Phalanx; and the Hartford Busi- ness men's Association. Fraternally he was a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 4, Free and Accepted Masons; Pythagoras Chapter, No. 17, Royal Arch Masons; Wolcott Council, No. I, Royal and Select Masters; Washington Commandery, No. I, Knights Templar ; Sphinx Temple, An- cient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. His church membership was with the South Baptist Church, and he was an earnest worker in the causes of religion. He was the founder of the mis- sion in Parkville, which developed into the Olivet Baptist Church. He was one of those comparatively rare individuals to whom religion is not a matter of pro- fession pure and simple, but a practical guide for the problems and difficulties of every day life and labor.
Mr. Maslen was gifted with a particu- larly fine singing voice and was a musi- cian of ability. He sang in several churches throughout the city, and was also a member of the male quartet of which Ludlow Barker was the head. Dur- ing his years of singing in churches and other places Mr. Maslen would never ac- cept a cent of recompense ; he freely gave the pleasure of his talent to the public, finding pleasure in pleasing others.
Mr. Maslen married, September 4, 1872, Harriet L. Brown, of Kingston, Rhode Island, daughter of Jeremiah S. and Mary (Conley) Brown, and a descendant of Chad Brown (see Brown line).
Mr. and Mrs. Maslen were the parents of the following children: Charles C .; Carrie L., wife of Frederick Kenyon; Mary E .; and George S.
A man of rather retiring disposition, Mr. Maslen was devoted to the society of his own family, including eleven grand- children, and found his greatest happi- ness in this gentle intercourse. He was a devoted husband, father and friend, and throughout life displayed a noble disin- terestedness in connection with his own happiness, being always ready and will- ing to sacrifice it if by so doing that of others whom he loved could be assured.
(The Brown Line).
Chad Brown, the American ancestor of the Brown family from which Mrs. Har- riet L. (Brown) Maslen is descended, came with his wife, Elizabeth, and his children, to Boston, Massachusetts, in the ship "Martin," in July, 1638, and the same year removed to Providence, Rhode Island, where he became the first settled minister of the First Baptist Church in 1642. The college buildings of Brown University are built on the site of the original homestead of this ancestor, the land being repurchased by John and Moses Brown, great-great-grandsons of Chad Brown. The burying place was originally near the northwest corner of the old courthouse, and in 1792 the re- mains were removed to the North Bury- ing Ground.
Jeremiah Brown, son of Chad Brown, was of Newport, Rhode Island, in 1671, and of Kingston in 1690. The Christian name of his wife was Mary, and they were the parents of Samuel Brown, of whom further.
Samuel Brown was born in March, 1680, and died in 1762. He married (first), October 22, 1702, Mary, whose surname is not on record; he married (second) Mercy Weeden Carr, daughter of Edward and Hannah (Stanton) Carr, of James- town. His grave was located near his house. He was the father of Jeremiah Brown, of whom further.
Conn-10-18
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Jeremiah (2) Brown was born October 29, 1707, and died August 30, 1796. He married, December 9, 1742, Hannah Sher- man, born October 28, 1713, died October 9, 1804, daughter of Abiel and Dorcas (Gardiner) Sherman. His will was dated January 22, 1795, and was proved Sep- tember 27, 1796. They were the parents of Jeremiah (3) Brown, of whom further.
Jeremiah (3) Brown was born January 7, 1747, and died June 28, 1829. He mar- ried, September 29, 1776, Ellenor Lilli- bridge, born in 1755, died February 16, 1831, daughter of John and Susannah (Segar) Lillibridge. They were the par- ents of Benjamin Brown, of whom fur- ther.
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