USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 9 > Part 39
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Benjamin Brown was born June 6, 1777, and died April 10, 1855. His first wife was Elizabeth Watson, born June 24, 1790, daughter of Elisha and Susannah (Perry) Watson; he married (second) Prudence Rose, of New Shoreham. Ben- jamin Brown was the father of Jeremiah S. Brown, of whom further.
Jeremiah S. Brown married Mary Con- ley, and they were the parents of a daugh- ter, Harriet L., who became the wife of Stephen Maslen, as above noted.
HOWARD, Wingate Chase,
Manufacturer, Long a Public Servant.
For some twenty-four years, the effi- cient and obliging clerk of the town of Middletown, Mr. Howard, made many friendships by the faithful performance of his duty, by his uniform courtesy and by his untiring industry in serving the community. His paternal ancestor, Lloyd Howard, was among the recent immi- grants from England and settled in Cats- kill, Greene county, New York, where Lyman Howard, the son, was born and spent the first twelve years of his life. Lyman Howard then went to New York
City and was for some time employed on the Connecticut river steamers. With a gift for mechanical operations, he soon became a fireman and after a time was employed in the same capacity on an ocean steamer. At the end of three years he became first engineer, and within a brief time thereafter was made inspec- tor of the Morgan Line of sea-going steamers, with office in New York. In time he formed a partnership with Rich- ard Peck, and founded the Washington Iron Works, located on West street, New York, which was conducted under the name Peck, Howard & Company. An extensive business was built up in the manufacture of steam engines and boil- ers, and the fitting out of ocean steamers with power machinery. During Presi- dent Cleveland's first administration, he was made local inspector of Government steam boilers and steam vessels, with an office in the Post Office Building in New York. Owing to declining health, he re- signed this position in December, 1901, and removed to Middletown, where he made his home with his son, Wingate, and where he died, March 25, 1902. Mr. Howard was a self-made man, achieving honorable and responsible positions by his own force of character. He was a close student of men and affairs, and was respected for his sterling honesty and faithful industry. He married, July 2, 1855, at Deep River, Connecticut, Han- nah Brockway, who was born in that place, daughter of Roswell and Catherine (Tyler) Brockway, and granddaughter of Elijah and Sarah (Avery) Brockway. Her maternal ancestors were prominent in the Revolutionary War, as were also those of Mr. Brockway.
The Brockway family is descended from Wollston Brockway, who, born about 1638, was settled at Lyme, Connec- ticut, as early as December 3, 1659, at
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which time he purchased land on the east side of the river, opposite Saybrook. In 1703, he purchased forty acres near the present site of Brockway's Ferry, and in 1688 was assessed on property valued at 103 pounds. He was often in the public service, and was a useful citizen. He married Hannah Briggs, widow of John Harris, of Boston, born August 28, 1642, in that town, daughter of William and Mary Briggs, died February 6, 1688. Their eldest son, William Brockway, born July 25, 1666, in Lyme, received from his father a deed of land, June 8. 1697, and in 1709 was living at Brockway's Ferry, where he died March 29, 1755. He estab- lished the ferry, in association with Wil- liam Pratt, who lived on the west side of the river in 1724. He married, March 8, 1692, Elizabeth, whose family name has not been preserved. Their fourth son, Ebenezer Brockway, born October 29, 1704, in Lyme, married, February II, 1735, Sarah Buckingham, born August I, 1712, descendant of Thomas Brockway, of Milford, who arrived at Boston, June 26, 1637, removed next year to New Ha- ven with Rev. John Davenport, and in 1639 settled at Middletown. His first wife, Ann, died June 28, 1646, closely fol- lowing the birth of her son, Rev. Thomas Brockway, who was baptized November 28, 1646, and died April 1, 1709, at Say- brook, where he was long pastor of the church. He married, September 20, 1666, Hester Hosmer, daughter of Thomas Hosmer, of Hartford. She died June 3,
1702. They were the parents of Heze- kiah Brockway, born June 21, 1622, lived in Saybrook, and died in 1752. He mar- ried, December 15, 1703, Sarah Laye, and their eldest daughter, Sarah Buckingham, became the wife of Ebenezer Brockway, as previously noted. Their third son, Eli- jah Brockway, born November 29, 1744, at Saybrook, lived opposite Brockway's
Ferry, where he was a farmer. He mar- ried Sarah Avery, a descendant of Chris- topher Avery, a weaver, of Devonshire, England, who married there, August 26, 1616, Marjorie Stevens. Their only son, Captain Joseph Avery, born about 1620, in England, came with his father to Glou- cester, Massachusetts, and received a grant of land in New London in 1650. The following year he settled there. He married, November 10, 1643, Joanne Greenslade, of Boston. Their third son, Captain John Avery, born February 10, 1654, in New London, was living Novem- ber, 1727, when he was listed among the members of the church. He possessed large tracts of land lying in several towns about New London, and deeded land to a son in 1724. He married, November 29, 1675, at Stonington, Abigail Chesebrough, daughter of Samuel and Abigail Chese- brough. She was living in 1714. Their eldest son, John Avery, baptized April I, 1683, in the First Church at New London, who inherited land from his father and also acquired lands by purchase, was often an officer of the town and died in October, 1762. He married, August 23, 1705, Sarah Dennison, born April 14, 1689, died August, 1774, daughter of Wil- liam and Sarah (Stanton) Dennison. Her eldest child, John Avery, born May 14, 1706, in Groton, was a member of the First Church there with his wife. They removed to Franklin, where he died about January, 1766. He married Lydia Smith, born January 24, 1713, daughter of Nehe- miah and Dorothy (Wheeler) Smith. Their daughter, Sarah Avery, became the wife of Elijah Brockway. Their son, Ros- well Brockway, was born July 1, 1785, in Saybrook, where in early life he engaged in the coasting trade, transporting pro- duce from Connecticut river ports to the city of New York, and becoming the owner at different times of several schoon-
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ers and sloops. The last which he owned was the sloop "Hero," and shortly after disposing of this vessel he was fatally injured by a falling tree on his farm, his death occurring June 7, 1827. He mar- ried, November 18, 1810, Catherine Tyler, who was born March 27, 1792, in Had- dam, daughter of Nathaniel and Hannah (Bushnell) Tyler. She died at the home of her daughter, in Essex, April 14, 1875. Their daughter, Hannah Brockway, mar- ried Lyman Howard, and became the mother of Wingate Chase Howard.
Wingate Chase Howard, son of Lyman and Hannah (Brockway) Howard, was born September 25, 1865, in the village of Deep River, and, when eight years of age, went with his parents to Essex, Con- necticut, and later, to New York City. While in Essex, he attended the public school, and after the family began spend- ing the winters in New York, was a stu- dent at the Thirteenth Street School. Later he attended the Weston Military School at Weston, Connecticut, and after the family removed to Jersey City, com- pleted his preparation for Yale at Has- brouck Institute, a business school near Jersey City. When he was about to enter college, a very desirable business oppor- tunity was presented and Mr. Howard decided to accept it. In association with his brother, William P. Howard, he began the manufacture of ivory and bone novel- ties at Ivoryton, Connecticut. After three years of successful business, they sold out and the subject of this sketch removed to Hartford, where he engaged in newspaper work, first on the Hartford "Times," later on the "Telegram," of which he was city editor for two years. In 1887 he removed to Middletown, to take the posi- tion of assistant bookkeeper for the Mid- dletown Plate Company, which con- nection he maintained for eight years. In 1897 he was elected town clerk of Mid-
dletown, with a majority of two hundred and fifteen, and two years later was re- elected with a majority of nearly one thousand. As the town is normally Re- publican, this is good evidence of the character and standing of Mr. Howard. He is a staunch Democrat, and while liv- ing in Essex, began his political activi- ties by serving as a delegate to the con- vention which nominated Washington F. Wilcox for Congress. Immediately after his retirement from the office of town clerk, early in 1920, he assisted in the organization of the Frissell Fabric Com- pany in which he is a stockholder and of which he is treasurer and office manager. From the beginning, this organization achieved a success which, in no small measure, is due to Mr. Howard's superior business ability. He has long been asso- ciated with the leading fraternal organi- zations of the town, being a member of Central Lodge, No. 12, Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows; of St. John's Lodge, No. 2, Free and Accepted Masons; of Washington Chapter, No. 6, Royal Arch Masons; and of Cyrene Commandery, No. 8, Knights Templar, of Middletown. He is a charter member of Middletown Lodge, No. 771, Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks, and a member of the Middletown Yacht Club, of which he is ex-commodore. He is also a director of the Russell Library and of the Middle- town Building and Loan Association ; sec- retary of the Middletown Board of Fire Underwriters; and was long secretary of the Middletown Silver Company.
Mr. Howard married, in 1890, Grace A. Perry, of Lowell, Massachusetts. She is a member of the South Congregational Church, of Middletown, and is eligible to the Society of Daughters of the American Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Howard have an agricultural hobby, having always had a fondness for out-of-door life. In 1912
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they purchased the Captain Barry farm of more than sixty acres, in the Westfield District. This farm is situated on the "Ridge" road, from which is had a pano- ramic view of the city of Middletown, the winding Connecticut river, the hills of Portland, and the Meriden mountains. It is about five hundred feet higher than the city of Middletown. The old colonial house is provided with every convenience, and the premises are equipped with pri- vate gas, sewer, heating and water sys- tems. The picturesque old colonial house of sixteen rooms, with its five large open fireplaces, together with its large old- fashioned barns and other buildings, and its spacious grounds, is one of the show places of Middletown.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard have two chil- dren: Hope, who married John E. Bul- lard, of Middletown, in 1918, and resides in that city; and Rae, who married Cole- ridge W. Hart, of Peekskill, New York, where they reside at the present time.
WARNER, Samuel Larkin, Lawyer, Legislator.
The memory of the eminent career of this able man will long be cherished by the bar of Middlesex county. He was universally esteemed and respected as a citizen, and especially regarded by his contemporaries and successors in the legal fraternity. His family is among the oldest of Connecticut, founded by Wil- liam Warner, who came from England, and was in Ipswich, Massachusetts, as early as 1637, when he had a house-lot there. The surname Warner appears in the Domesday Book and thus it will be seen that it is one of the oldest of English names. It seems to have been similar in origin to the old high German word warjan, meaning "to defend." The Eng- lish significance of the name seems simi-
lar, owing to the practice of people in the southwestern section of England of protecting themselves by sending out dis- creet men to give warning of the ap- proach of an enemy, hence the name "Warner." The arms of the family are : A bend engrailed between six roses, three and three, gules, and the motto: Non nobis tantum nati. This is found carved in several parts of the ceiling of the south aisle of the Church of Great Waltham, England. Burke gives the significance of the motto as: "We are not born for our- selves alone." William Warner was the son of Samuel Warner and was born Oc- tober 20, 1594, at Braxted, in the county of Essex, England. He died, probably, before 1648, as his name disappears from the tax list at that time.
Daniel Warner, son of William War- ner, born about 1618, in England, was a freeman in Ipswich, June 2, 1641, and died there September 9, 1683. His first wife, Elizabeth Denne, died November I, 1659, daughter of Dr. John Denne, an early resident of Ipswich. Among the children of Daniel and Elizabeth (Denne) Warner, was William.
William Warner, lieutenant of militia and deacon of the church, born about 1645, at Ipswich, settled in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1660, was made a free- man in 1669, lieutenant of the Train-Band 1689, served for many years as a deputy to the General Court and, with his wife, was a member of the Wethersfield church. He died in Wethersfield, February 28, 1714, in his sixty-ninth year. His epitaph describes him as "Deacon-elect, pious, grave, modest and true." He married, November 1, 1667, Hannah Robbins, born April 10, 1643, died March 3, 1714, daugh- ter of "Gentleman John" and Mary (Welles) Robbins, and they were the par- ents of Daniel.
Daniel Warner, third son of Deacon
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William and Hannah (Robbins) Warner, born January 1, 1680, in Wethersfield, in- herited the homestead on Broad street at the lower end. His will was made March 24, 1750, and the inventory of his estate was made May 28th following, and in- cluded five negroes and amounted to about 20,000 pounds. He married, October 3, 1706, Mary Boardman, who was born No- vember 3, 1683, eldest child of Samuel and Sarah (Steele) Boardman, and grand- daughter of Samuel Boardman, of Ips- wich and Wethersfield, founder of a very numerous family. She died in 1770, leav- ing a son, William.
William Warner, only son of Daniel and Mary (Boardman) Warner, was born in 1715, and died May 1, 1790. He mar- ried (second), March 25, 1752, Prudence May, who was born February 26, 1727, and died October 14, 1807, second daugh- ter of Hezekiah and Anna (Stillman) May, the former long deacon and many years representative from Wethersfield. Among their children was John.
John Warner, youngest child of Wil- liam and Prudence (May) Warner, was born October 6, 1762, and died November 10, 1838. By his father's will he received lands in Wethersfield, and there he con- tinued to reside. He married, December 22, 1784, Abigail Hale, who was born May 1, 1758, and died November 11, 1840, second daughter of Bennezer and Anne (Woodhouse) Hale, representatives of two of the oldest families of Wethersfield.
Levi Warner, youngest child of John and Abigail (Hale) Warner, was born December 26, 1800, in Wethersfield, where he was an industrious and pros- perous farmer, and died October 17, 1872. He married, May 22, 1823, Sally Larkin, who was born August 25, 1803, of Isaac and Abigail (Warner) Larkin, grand- daughter of Christopher Warner and Elizabeth Adams. Their second son re- ceives extended mention below.
Samuel Larkin Warner was born June 14, 1828, in Wethersfield, and in his early years attended the common schools of that town, subsequently preparing at Wil- braham, Massachusetts, for entrance to college. After teaching school for four years, he turned his attention to the study of law in the office of Judge William N. Matson, of Hartford. Later he was a student at a law school in New Haven. In 1852 he entered the Harvard Law School, from which he was graduated, being ad- mitted to the bar of Suffolk county, Mas- sachusetts, in 1854. It was his intention to take up the practice of law in Hart- ford, but through the influence of an old friend of the family, an ex-Governor of the State, he was appointed executive sec- retary to Governor Pond, who was then quite ill, and much of the business of the office was despatched by young Warner. Here he displayed such ability and judg- ment that he won the approval of the citi- zens and officials. Before the close of the year, 1854, he located in Portland, Con- necticut, where he began the practice of law and very rapidly acquired business. He continued to reside there some years, but the press of business soon made it de- sirable to open an office in Middletown. He was a close student all his life, made very careful preparation of his cases, and was able to gain a strong foothold at the Middlesex bar, where his competitors at the time included many of the ablest at- torneys. In 1858, he represented Port- land in the State Legislature, and in 1862 was elected mayor of Middletown, in which city he had settled the previous year. He served four years in the mayor- alty and during this time succeeded in establishing an efficient system of water works for the city, the first municipal establishment of the kind in the State. In 1862 he was nominated for Congress, but was defeated by his Democratic com- petitor, Governor English. Two years
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later he was again a candidate and was elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress by a majority of 1,700 in a district which was normally Democratic at that time. He was nominated to succeed himself in this office, but declined to accept and de- voted himself industriously to his large legal practice. He was a member and one of the secretaries of the National Repub- lican Convention in 1860, when Abraham Lincoln was nominated for the office of president. Mr. Warner made memorial addresses on Presidents Lincoln and Gar- field, and at the centennial celebration of the city of Middletown, held July 14, 1884, he made the principal address, which has been described as one of the ablest his- torical addresses ever made in the county. In nature generous, Mr. Warner drew to him many warm personal friends. In the trial of cases he had great influence with juries and he was especially noted for his cross-examination of witnesses. In 1861 Mr. Warner purchased the Nehemiah Hubbard homestead, on the west side of Main street, Middletown, in which he continued to reside and maintained his office until his death, which occurred Feb- ruary 6, 1893.
At a meeting of the Middlesex Bar As- sociation, following the death of Mr. War- ner, the presiding officer, Judge Silas T. Robinson, paid the following tribute to his character :
To say that in the death of our Brother Warner the bar of the State has met with a great loss, expresses but weakly my feelings. The bar of this county, to a man, I think, feels the loss more sensibly than they can express. It seems but yesterday that we saw him in this room, earnest, active and vigilant in the cause of a client. Our brother died, so to speak, with the harness on. I think he perferred it so; with the restless activ- ity of mind which he possessed, a life of enforced idleness or a lingering death, would have been well nigh intolerable. He has gone direct from the activities of his profession into the rest which eternity affords. I think he had almost no doubt
as to the future life. He always talked of it calmly, and never believed, at least in later years, that the growth and development of the human mind, the soul, ccased with this existence. He believed that the present was but a preparatory school for the grander education to begin at death; and always said that he had no fear of the change. His faith in the wisdom and goodness of God was profound.
I think those who knew him best admired him most. No one who knew him well could retain anything but kindness for him. He had the frank, impulsive nature and sympathies of a boy, with the strong will and the strong intellect of a man. In many respects Brother Warner was a remarkable man. He came of an ancestry of hard sense; people who thought, and thought scriously; people who read and remembered; people to whom it was not the sole problem of life how to be fed and clothed; people who believed in char- acter and character-building ; an ancestry of hard, rugged sense, who believed in work and the ben- efits of work more than in the inspiration of genius. Born and bred in a New England atmos- phere, with the education of the common school, the academy, and the law school, he, a boy from a farmer's home, rose to an enviable position at the bar of this state. Brother Warner was one of the best fruits of such an ancestry. Our friend had exceedingly bright talents, but he was a tre- mendous worker withal. He had a genius for work. He seemed to let go of work when obliged to, and take it up again with a facility that to me was astonishing. It seemed as if in the interim, whatever he may have been about, the unfinished work was carried right along in his mind. It seemed as if it never left him. He thoroughly believed in work, and in the efficacy of work; and, as a worker, as an industrious, thorough preparer of cases, he has through his entire career been an example for the whole bar. No man ever sat down at the counsel table to try a cause with Mr. Warner for his antagonist who did not appreciate this, and who did not arise from it with a pro- found respect for his sagacity, his quickness, his learning, and his masterful strength. He was a hard antagonist, but he was a generous one. No one ever knew him to take a mean advantage of his opponent.
He was invariably kind to the young men in the profession. He secmed never to have forgotten his own timidity and sense of weakness as a young and inexperienced advocate, and it seemed to give him pleasure to offer encouragement to younger men.
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Our brother was also one of the most gener- ous men towards the weaknesses and faults of those of our profession. He was loyal to the profession. If any one spoke of the faults or weaknesses of a brother lawyer he would say- "Who has not his faults and his weaknesses? I have mine. We must take men as we find them. There is good in everybody, if we get close to them and get to know them well." He tried to think well of his brethren and threw the mantle of charity over their shortcomings. I think I never knew a man whose sympathies responded so quickly to the voice of one oppressed or in suffering as his did; and his defense of such was always vigorous; and his assistance, pecuniary or otherwise, on such occasions, was rendered in such a way as to show that what he did was a real pleasure to him. Ten years and more we sat at the same desk, and in the same office, and I never knew him to refuse to espouse the cause of a man or woman because they lacked means to pay him.
He married, May 30, 1855, Mary E. Harris, daughter of John Harris, of Norwich, and of Preston, Connecticut. She traced her ancestry to several pio- neer New England families and was descended through seven different lines from William Denison, early of Rox- bury, through his son, Colonel George Denison, of Stonington, one of the most distinguished early citizens of Connecti- cut, in both civil and military affairs. Mr. and Mrs. Warner were the parents of two sons: Samuel Harris, of further men- tion; and Charles Winthrop, also of fur- ther mention in this work.
WARNER, Samuel Harris, City Judge.
The senior son of the late Samuel L. Warner (q. v.), Judge Warner was born October 26, 1858, in Portland, and was a small child when his parents removed to Middletown. Here he attended the Dan- iel H. Chase School, the high school and Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven, and was subsequently a student for two
years at Wesleyan University, after which he entered Columbia University Law School, from which he graduated in 1881. In the following year he was ad- mitted to the New York bar, later being admitted to the Connecticut bar, and was for several years engaged in legal work at the New York law office maintained by his father and a partner. Here he had excellent opportunities, of which he made the most. On February 1, 1890, he was appointed postmaster at Middletown by President Benjamin Harrison, and in this capacity he served for nearly five years, until the appointment of his successor by Grover Cleveland. On leaving the post- office, he formed an association with his uncle, Levi Warner, of Norwalk, and with Washington F. Wilcox, for the practice of law. After a year or so, the senior War- ner withdrew from the firm, and for sev- eral years the firm was Warner & Wilcox, conducting a general law practice. Later, Judge Warner spent much time in the West in the collection of defaulted bonds and securities and was also one of the pro- prietors of a large ranch in Idaho, which was ultimately sold to some railroad and bank men, who constructed a raiload over the property. For the last eighteen years he has conducted a general law practice, independently, at Middletown. For many years he served, by appointment of the State Legislature, as associate judge of the City Court, and in 1919 was advanced to the position of judge of the same court, which office he now fills. Judge Warner, from the organization until the muster- ing out of the Sixth Regiment, Connecti- cut State Guard, served with the rank of captain, and during the recent World War he was military instructor in the service of the State. His devotion to mil- itary and patriotic interests is testified during peace times by his membership in the Sons of the American Revolution ; and
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