USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 9 > Part 53
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On October 23, 1872, Mr. Lane married Sarah Mather, born December 5, 1850, daughter of Charles and Cornelia (Good- win) Mather, a member of one of the old- est and most esteemed families of Hart- ford county. Mr. and Mrs. Lane were the parents of the following children: I. Charles Mather, born July 18, 1873. 2. Sarah Ella, now the wife of Ernest N. Way. 3. Frank A., born April 9, 1877. 4 .- 5. Richard E. and Robert G., twins, de- ceased. 6. Harold E., born March 9, 1890.
SHIPMAN, William Davis, Lawyer, Jurist.
William Davis Shipman, son of Ansel D. and Elizabeth (Peters) Shipman, was born at Chester, Middlesex county, Con- necticut, December 29, 1818. He was of English descent, grandson of Colonel Ed- ward Shipman, of Saybrook, and of Major Nathan Peters, of Preston, both officers in the Revolutionary army. He was edu- cated at the district school of Chester, where from his tenth to his seventeenth
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James El Tainton
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year, he worked upon a farm, and then in a manufactory there until he was twenty- four. During the next six years he was engaged in teaching, at that period de- voting his leisure time to the study of law. In 1849 he removed to East Haddam, Con- necticut, where he continued his legal studies under Moses Culver, afterwards a judge of the Superior Court of that State; in 1850 he was admitted to the bar of Middlesex county and began practice, retaining his residence at East Haddam. In 1852 he was elected judge of probate for the district of East Haddam, and at the session of the General Assembly of the State, in the spring of 1853, repre- sented that town in the Lower House. In July of the same year he was appointed by President Pierce as United States at- torney for the District of Connecticut, and was reappointed in 1856, meantime (1854) having removed to Hartford. He held that office continuously until the spring of 1860, when he was appointed United States district judge for the Dis- trict of Connecticut, and held the office for thirteen years. During a large part of this time he held the regular terms of the Circuit Court in the city of New York, and occasionally sat in the Northern Dis- trict of New York and in Vermont, in ad- dition to performing the duties of his own District of Connecticut. His written opinions delivered in that tribunal are published in Blatchford's "Reports" (Vols. IV-X), and were occasionally quoted in the London "Law Times." He resigned this office in May, 1873, then be- came senior member of the law firm of Barlow, Larocque & McFarland, of New York City. In 1877 he removed to New York City, and continued to be a member of that firm and its successors until 1896, when he retired from practice. For sev- eral years, while United States district judge, he delivered a course of lectures on
constitutional law at Trinity College, Hartford, which conferred upon him the honorary degrees of M. A. and LL. D.
Judge Shipman married, in 1847, Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of John Richards, of Springfield, New Jersey. Of their seven children five survive. He died at Astoria, New York, September 24, 1898.
TAINTOR, James Ulysses, Business Man.
One of the most prominent men in the fire insurance field of his day, James Ulysses Taintor, was likewise intimately identified with general business interests in Hartford, and as secretary of the Board of Trade for the latter years of his life was able to advance the welfare of his city materially. Mr. Taintor was a descend- ant of Scotch-Irish ancestry, his family founded in America by Charles Taintor, an early settler at Fairfield, Connecticut. He was the father of Michael Taintor, who was an original proprietor of the town of Branford, Connecticut, where he was a man of prominence. Another prominent ancestor was Captain Josiah Burnham, who was master of the brig-of- war, "Oliver Cromwell," in the Revolu- tionary War. On the maternal side he descends from Thomas Lord, who formed one of Rev. Thomas Hooker's band in the settling of Hartford in 1635. On both his paternal and maternal sides the ancestors of Mr. Taintor were Pilgrims. Notable among them was the Rev. Ralph Smith Taintor, noted in Colonial history, who preached before Governors Winthrop and Bradford. Ralph Smith Taintor, father of James U. Taintor, was well known in Colchester, where he removed in 1848. He was most industrious and thrifty, pos- sessed of a kind and generous nature, and held a high place in the respect and es- teem of his townsmen. He was honored
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with many town offices and was a mem- ber of the Upper House in 1857. He married Phoebe Higgins Lord, a woman of refinement and upright character, whose influence was strong in the mold- ing of the life of their son.
James Ulysses Taintor was born in Pomfret, Windham county, Connecticut, October 23, 1844, and his early education was obtained in Bacon Academy of Col- chester, Connecticut, whence he was graduated in June, 1862, proceeding at once to Yale University, being graduated A. B. in 1866. Before his graduation from Yale he was elected assistant clerk of the Connecticut House of Representatives, an unusual honor and a unique experience for a college student. In the following year he was elected clerk of the House of Representatives and in 1868 clerk of the Senate. In 1869 he received the degree of Master of Arts from his alma mater, and in June of this same year became inter- ested in the principal fire insurance agency in Meriden, Connecticut. This was the line of endeavor in which he was destined to perform a valuable work, and in July, 1869, he became an adjustor of losses for the Phoenix Insurance Com- pany of Hartford, being called to the home office of the company in 1881, re- maining until his resignation in June, 1888. At this time he accepted the secretaryship of the Orient Fire Insurance Company, retaining this official place until June, 1900, when the company was sold to the London-Lancashire Insurance Company, and Mr. Taintor resigned and retired. The activities of the Board of Trade of Hartford interested him greatly, and the closing years of his life were devoted to its affairs in the capacity of secretary. He was trustee of the Mechanics Savings Bank of Hartford, and was known to his city as a public-spirited citizen who lost no opportunity to advance the welfare of his fellows. Mr. Taintor was a Republican
in political sympathy, and in 1888 was appointed by Mayor Root a member of the Board of Street Commissioners, filling this office ably and faithfully until 1894 His fraternal affiliations were with St. John's Lodge, No. 4, Free and Accepted Masons, and from his college days he was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity. His clubs were the Hartford and Republican of Hartford, and he and his family were members of the Asylum Hill Congrega- tional Church of this city.
He married (first), in 1868, Catherine Augusta Ballard, who died in 1875. He married (second), October 23, 1878, at Hartford, Isabelle Spencer, daughter of Calvin and Clarissa M. (Root) Spencer, her father of Suffield, her mother of Gran- ville, Connecticut. Their children are: James Spencer, born October 5, 1879 ; and Nelson Case, born February 5, 1887.
James Ulysses Taintor died April 13, 1907. He had planned a life which un- folded in high endeavor and usefulness, and those qualities to which he steadfastly adhered were "temperate habits, industry, economy, tenacity of purpose, persever- ance, and patience."
PETROCELLI, Gaetano Gerado, Physician.
The proud position of the United States among the nations of the world is largely due to the combination of a multitude of elements drawn from the older nations. The enterprising sons of many European countries have found a home in America, and have contributed in no small degree to the development and influence of this country. Among the cultured and intelli- gent sons of Italy who have gained credit for themselves and been of great service to the nation in their enlightenment of their companions may be mentioned Dr. Petrocelli. He was born March 5, 1877, in Armento, Basilicata, Italy, son of Jo-
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M. I. Peiler
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seph and Maria Theresa (De Frima) Pe- trocelli. His father was the owner of real estate in Armento, which was improved, and he derived an income from the rental of this property. He was descended from an old Italian family of the Monarchial party of Italy.
Gaetano G. Petrocelli was reared in his native place and enjoyed the advantages of the best educational facilities of his country. After attending the University at Naples for six years, he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1905. At once he set out for America, and landed in New York City, in October of that year. After a residence of three months there, he came to Middletown, Connecticut, and embarked in the general practice of medi- cince and surgery in 1906. He has been very successful and has a large and lucra- tive practice among his fellow-country- men. He is a member of various Italian societies, and a member in good standing of St. John's Roman Catholic Church of Middletown. Dr. Petrocelli has not given much time to political matters, and is not bound by any party feeling. His action in elections is independent of party bias.
Dr. Petrocelli was married, in New York City, November 1, 1906, to Teresina Mennillo, daughter of Italian parents, and they are the parents of two sons and a daughter : Joseph, born January 7, 1910; Amalie, born May II, 1913; and Alfred, born December 31, 1918.
PEILER, Max H., Insurance Actuary.
Max H. Peiler, actuary of the Aetna Life Insurance Company of Hartford, Connec- ticut, was born in Althoefchen, near Schwerin, in Province of Posen, Germany, February II, 1850, son of Constant and Julia (Felsch) Peiler. His grandfather was a music teacher and married a Polish
lady who was a member of one of the first families in Poland and Russia.
Constant Peiler was born in the city of Posen in 1800, and died in 1869. Tlie Peiler family is an ancient and honorable one there, and descendants can easily trace their genealogy from the public records of that city. Mr. Peiler was edu- cated at the universities of Berlin and of Halle, and specialized in law. He became a Privy Councillor and a prominent man in Posen. After the revolutionary move- ment of 1848 he retired from public office. He was very liberal and progressive, and sympathized with that movement. After his retirement Mr. Peiler took over a large estate which had been in his wife's family for generations, and became what is known in that country as a "gentleman farmer." Mr. Peiler was a member of the Masonic fraternity. He married Julia Felsch, a member of an old established family of the country gentry of Posen. Of this union there were thirteen chil- dren, of whom nine grew to maturity and three came to America. The latter were: Ernest, who taught music in Hartford, where he was organist of St. John's Epis- copal Church for many years, and where he died; Karl, resided in Boston, and Providence, Rhode Island, many years and died in the latter city; Max H., of further mention.
Max H. Peiler was educated at Lissa, in Poland, and Freinwalde, near Berlin. He came to America at the age of eighteen and after a few months came to Hartford, where, in the fall of 1868, he entered the employ of the Aetna Life Insurance Com- pany, in the actuarial department. Mr. Peiler was naturally inclined in mathe- matics, and he spent several months under special tutors in the study of this subject. Since 1890 he has been a member of the Actuarial Society. He is also a member of the American Statistical Society and of
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St. John's Lodge, No. 4, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
Mr. Peiler married Emilie, daughter of John Stamm, of Hartford, and they are the parents of two children: I. Karl E., a mechanical engineer with the Hartford Fairmont Company ; received a degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology, in 1904; married Mae Backes, and has two children: Louise and William Henry. 2. Louise, married W. C. Pratt, of Detroit, and has six children: Warren Karl, James Barnard, Ruth Madeline, John Herbert, Charles William, and Bar- bara Jane. Mr. Peiler and his wife attend the Church of the Redeemer, of Hartford.
HEWETT, Frank Atwood, Transit Official.
Among the early New Jersey families was that of Hewett, which still has many able representatives in that State. Frank A. Hewett was born April 12, 1861, at Cedar Run, Ocean county, New Jersey, son of Isaac F. Hewett, a native of the same place, who resides at Vineland, New Jersey. He was for many years a mariner and was captain of a schooner engaged in the Government transportation service during the Civil War. His wife, Jane Parroit (Cranmer) Hewett, was a native of Cranmertown, now Staffordville, Ocean county, New Jersey.
Frank Atwood Hewett passed his first twelve years in Tuckerton, New Jersey, and attended the public schools, and later at Trenton, New Jersey, and at Gloucester City, New Jersey. In 1876 he entered Pennington Seminary, where he continued one year, and was subsequently a student one year at the Pierce Business College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began his business career as clerk in a grocery store at Camden, New Jersey. For some years he went to sea with his
father, and among others of his voyages went to Europe in 1876, and in 1880. In October, 1894, their vessel was wrecked about 250 miles off the coast of Georgia, and the crew was picked up and taken to Liverpool, England. In 1895 he was en . gaged in the transportation department of the Camden Horse railroad, of which he was made superintendent one year later. There he continued ten years, and went to Pottsville, Pennsylvania, with the Eastern Pennsylvania Railroad Company as superintendent, where he continued until October, 1907. In that year he came to Middletown, where he became super- intendent of the district for the Connecti- cut Company, which operates all the prin- cipal trolley lines of the State. Since that time he has continued in this capacity and has proved himself master of the situa- tion. In religious affiliation, Mr. Hewett is a Methodist. Politically, he is a sound Republican, but has never mingled in the conduct of public affairs. He is a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity, affiliating with Washington Chapter No. 6, Royal Arch Masons, of Middletown.
Mr. Hewett married, August 12, 1882, Susie Stafford Ward, a native of Bridge- port, New Jersey, daughter of James and Abigail (Lamb) Ward, of that town. Mr. and Mrs. Hewett are the parents of a daughter and son, Olive and Isaac F. Hewett. The former is the wife of George Howard, a business man of Camden, New Jersey, and the mother of Margaret, George, Oliver, Maria and Vincent How- ard. Isaac F. Hewett married Ruth Louise Hale, a native of Middletown, and has a son, Isaac F. Hewett, Jr.
LOEWENTHAL, Gustav, Manufacturer, Merchant.
Among the self-made men of Connecti- cut may truly be classed the subject of
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Gustav Lowenthal
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this biography, who came to this country when a boy and before attaining his majority, established the foundations of his present large and prosperous business, unaided. He was born October 18. 1865, in a small village called Hagen, in Schleswig-Holstein. His father died in his infancy and the only father he knew was John Storjohan, whom his mother, Mary Ehlers, married when he was a small child. The family soon removed to Neumunster, and there he continued to attend school until fifteen years of age. He was then apprenticed to a carpenter and applied himself so industriously that he soon became master of the trade, al- though he did not complete the term of his apprenticeship. In 1884 he came to America to join an uncle, Herman Ehlers, who was then established in Middletown. For two years he labored on a farm and in the meantime gained considerable familiarity with the English language. When only twenty years old he started in business as a carpenter and contractor and continued in active labor about twenty-four years, from 1886 to 1910. In 1896 he established a planing mill at South Farms and soon after began dealing in lumber. In 1910 he secured an ample and convenient site beside the air line railroad, on Berlin street, in Middletown, and here he operates a large planing mill, doing various kinds of mill work, cabinet work and stair building, and dealing in lumber, plaster, cement, and other building mate- rial.
The success attained by Mr. Loewen- thal has not been the result of fortunate circumstances, but is the natural conse- quence of his industry, capability, univer- sal courtesy, and upright methods. In 1898 the business was incorporated as The Gustav Loewenthal Company with Gus- tav Loewenthal as president and treas- urer, and his son, George H., as secretary
A small amount of stock is held by some of the employes and everything about the establishment moves forward efficiently and harmoniously. Mr. Loewenthal is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a member of Schiller Lodge, No. 92, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Middletown, in which he has filled all the principal offices. He is also a member of the Middletown Lodge, No. 771, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, which he has served as trustee. He is a member of the German society, Sons of Herman, and has been head of both the local and State bodies of that organiza- tion. He is president of the Odd Fellows Home Corporation of Middletown, which owns the temple occupied by the order, and also of the Home Corporation of the Sons of Herman. He is a member of the Middletown Chamber of Commerce and is always found ready to aid in any move- ment calculated to promote the welfare and progress of his home city. Politi- cally, he is independent.
He married (first), in 1888, Sophie Wirth, a native of Bavaria. She died early in 1890, leaving one son, George H. Loewenthal, who is now secretary of the company, and who married Jennie Wilson and has two children, Olive and George. Mr. Loewenthal married (second), in November, 1891, Elizabeth Buchter, who is a half-sister of his first wife. The chil- dren of this marriage are: Bertha, Lucy ; Raymond, now employed in the yards of his father; Albertina; Harold, attending school; Dorothy, Helen and Mary Ann.
ENGEL, Henry,
Theatrical Manager.
Henry Engel was born September 12, 1867, in New Britain, Connecticut. His father, Frederick Engel, a native of Ger- many, came to America about 1857,
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shortly before attaining his majority, and settled at New Britain. For a time he was employed as a mechanic and later en- gaged in the hotel business. He was a soldier of the Civil War, enlisting in the Sixteenth Regiment, Connecticut Volun- teer Infantry, and was captured and held ten months as a prisoner in the notorious Confederate prison pen at Andersonville. Because of the privations and exposure at this place, he remained some time in the hospital at New Haven after his release. He married Elizabeth L. Niebling, also a native of Germany, who came to New Britain with her parents, Henry and Char- lotte Niebling. She died February 9, 1917. Mr. Engel died January 4, 1922, at his home, in New Britain. His first child, Henry, died in infancy. The second child, also named Henry, is the subject of this biography. William, the third, died in New Britain, leaving one child, Frederick, who resides in Meriden. Elizabeth is the wife of De Witt Hancock of New Britain, and the mother of a daughter, Helen Han- cock.
Henry Engel grew up in New Britain, attending the public schools and early in life developed considerable business abil- ity. He became associated with a theatri- cal company, with which he traveled on the road five years. He then decided to settle down, and returning to his native place embarked in the theatrical business, managing two houses, one in New Britain, and one in Bristol. About 1892 he settled in Middletown as manager of the Middle- sex Theatre, which is owned by the Mid- dlesex Mutual Insurance Company. For seven years he continued in this capacity and then assumed the lease of the theatre, which he has held for a period of twenty years, during which this leading amuse- ment house of Middletown has enjoyed considerable prosperity. He is the owner of the Middletown Poster Advertising
Company, which is conducted under his name. A man of upright character, he is respected by the community, to whose pleasure he is always a careful caterer. Mr. Engel is a trustee of Middletown Lodge No. 771, Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks, and secretary of the Elks Home Corporation of Middletown. He is a busy man and finds little time for mingling in public affairs. In political movements he is independent of party dictation. He is a member of St. John's Roman Catholic Church, of Middletown, and esteemed as one of its most useful parishioners.
He married, August 7, 1889, Margaret McDonough, daughter of Thomas and Bridget McDonough, natives of Ireland, who settled at New Britain on coming to America. Mr. and Mrs. Engel were the parents of four children : Henry, the eld- est, died in infancy; the second, Joseph B., born October 5, 1892, is employed by the Middletown Gas Light Company ; and Nellie and Alice, who died in childhood.
WHITNEY, James A.,
Undertaker.
The Whitney family is one of the old- est and most distinguished of the early families, and can be traced back as far as the twelfth century. Originally the name was written De Whitney, and it is derived from the name of the parish where the castle stood. Aluard, a Saxon, held the land before the Conquest, but at the time of the Domesday Survey, 1086, it was "waste," with no owner save the King as lord paramount. One of the knights of William the Conqueror, Sir Turstin, commonly known as "Turstin the Flem- ing," had a son or grandson who built a stronghold and took up his residence on the banks of the Wye, and thus, after the custom of the time, they acquired the sur-
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& h. Whitney
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name of De Whitney. The first mention of a De Whitney in any record now ex- tant is that of "Robert De Wytteneye," in the Testa de Nevil, in the year 1242.
James A. Whitney, son of John Colby and Sarah Elizabeth (Woodbury) Whit- ney, was born in Lovell, Maine, Novem- ber 19, 1865, and attended the public schools in Casca. Until he was twenty- one years of age he was engaged in various occupations, and at that time re- moved to Connecticut, where he worked at the Hartford Retreat in Hartford. For almost four years, from September 26, 1886 to August 15, 1890, he remained there, and then became associated with W. R. Morgan to learn the undertaking business. In 1899 he engaged in this pro- fession on his own account, beginning in East Hartford ; after two years he opened an establishment in Hartford, at No. 175 Main street, maintaining both of them, and after eighteen years purchased the property at No. 65 Buckingham street, moving the Hartford branch to this lo- cation. In 1901 Mr. Whitney built a place of business at his present East Hartford location, which was burned in 1910, and immediately restored.
Mr. Whitney is a member of Orient Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of East Hartford; Crescent Lodge, No. 25, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he was treasurer for thirteen terms, member of the G. Fred Barnes En- campment, and the Rebekahs of Hartford ; Foresters of America, Royal Arcanum, Knights of Pythias, of East Hartford, Golden Cross, and Hartford Chamber of Commerce. For many years he was presi- dent of the Village Improvement Society of East Hartford.
Mr. Whitney married Nellie Caulkins and they reared two children: Gertrude and Arthur, whom they have adopted. With his family Mr. Whitney is an at-
tendant of the First Congregational Church, of which he has been one of the trustees for a number of years.
CLARK, Hon. George Marshall, Ex-Senator, Manufacturer.
Hon. George Marshall Clark, ex-Sena- tor, manufacturer, and president of the Cutaway Harrow Company, was born in Haddam, Middlesex county, Connecticut, June 11, 1833, a son of George Washing- ton and Cynthia (Selden) Clark, the lat- ter a daughter of Thomas Selden.
George M. Clark received but a limited school training, and as he was but twelve years old when his father died, he was early obliged to put his shoulder to the wheel, the support of the family devolving upon him and the eldest son, who was but fifteen. He was already familiar with agricultural work, however, having com- menced active work on the farm at the tender age of nine. For about two years after his father's death he was employed doing odd jobs for the neighboring farmers, all his wages being turned over to his mother. He then worked at wool- carding, and subsequently, for seventeen months, at blacksmithing, and the making of edged tools. Finding that it was not likely that he would ever be able to re- turn to school, he resolved to continue his studies at home, and immediately after his father's death commenced to buy and study the best works upon mechanical art, spending from three to five hours every evening in their perusal. He also bought and used such scientific instru- ments as he judged would be of practical value to him, so that at the age of seven- teen he was unusually well equipped to begin the business at which he was en- gaged so many years, having a practical knowledge of shipbuilding, civil engineer- ing and general construction. It may
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