USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v.2 > Part 35
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the silver trade. His genius and ability are alone responsible for bringing the process to that degree of perfection which made it practical for commercial pur- poses. Realization of the possibilities of his discovery led him to patent it, and he was the first man to apply to the govern- ment for a patent on sectional plate. He carried on the silver-plating industry alone until 1847, in which year, on account of its growth, he organized the celebrated firm of Rogers Brothers. The manufacturing plant occupied for a time the old jail building on Pearl street, and was later moved to quarters built espe- cially for it on the site of the Jewel Belt- ing Company. In 1862 the factory was discontinued, though the industry was continued and the manufacturing was done under the direction of William Rogers as superintendent by the Meriden Brittania Company, which did the work for a royalty. This factory, which is now the International Silver Company, em- ploys a working force of a thousand men. William Rogers died February 2, 1873, at the age of seventy-one years.
In 1828 he was married (first) to Par- thenia Tyler, who died on January 3, 1831, without issue. On December 7, 1831, he married (second) Nancy Will- son, who was born at Golden Bridge, New York, a daughter of Nehemiah Will- son. To this union were born eight chil- dren, three of whom are now living: Ellen F., wife of John H. Brace, of Syra- cuse, New York, both deceased; Lucy W., deceased, was wife of the late Dennis Sage, of East Milton, Massachusetts ; Mary E., widow of James S. Belden, of Hartford, Connecticut; Sarah A., de- ceased, was wife of Joseph A. Wooley, of Hartford, Connecticut ; Georgiana, widow of Isaac H. Coe, of Hartford, Connecti- cut ; Isabella J., deceased, was wife of Stephen Raymond, of Rochester, New
York; Frank Willson, mentioned below. William H. Rogers and his wife were both members of the First Methodist Epis- copal Church of Hartford, and for many years Mr. Rogers was the superintendent of the Sunday school of the church which he attended.
Frank Willson Rogers, who is now the only representative of the celebrated old house of Rogers as it was organized, re- ceived his education in the elementary and high schools of Hartford. After graduation from the latter he went to Montpelier, Vermont, where he remained for four years, until the spring of 1875, serving an apprenticeship to the jewelry trade under Ira H. Town in that city. At the end of that time he returned to Hart- ford. and for two and a half years was employed by C. H. Case, jeweler. He then decided to enter the silverware busi- ness independently and became secretary and director of the William Rogers Manufacturing Company, in which capac- ity he served for twelve years. Mr. Rogers then entered the insurance busi- ness as solicitor. In this field of en- deavor, through sheer force of applica- tion to his principles and executive abil- ity, Mr. Rogers has risen to the impor- tant capacity of manager for Connecticut of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insur- ance Company. He has charge of all the agents in the State. In comparison to its size as a city, the insurance interests of the city of Hartford are greater than those of any other city in the United States, and to men of the type of Mr. Rogers these interests look for their future maintenance. Mr. Rogers' politi- cal affiliation is with the Republican party. He is a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 4, Free and Accepted Masons. of Hartford. He has held all the offices possible of attainment in that society, and is now a past master. He is a member
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of the Masonic Club, the New Britain Club of New Britain, the Home Club of Meriden, the Republican Club and the City Club of Hartford. The family are members of the First Baptist Church.
On December 31, 1879, Frank Willson Rogers married Elizabeth E. Haff. Mrs. Rogers is the daughter of the late Joel Haff, a well known hatter of Hartford, where he died in 1886, at the age of sixty- eight years. He married Elizabeth Mar- ble, of East Hartford. She died in 1880, at the age of fifty-eight years. Their chil- dren are: Elizabeth (Lizzie) E., born in New London, Connecticut, the wife of F. Willson Rogers; Joel P., who resides in Hartford. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Willson Rogers are: Erle, born March 19, 1881 ; Harold, born April 28, 1883, married, November 10, 19II, Carolyn Chisholm; William I., born June 4, 1886, married, March 3, 1916, Dorothy Lyman ; Grace I., born February 26, 1890.
ENSWORTH, Horace Hayden, Head of Important Industry.
That branch of the Ensworth family of Connecticut of which Horace Hayden Ensworth, the present head of L. L. Ens- worth & Son, of Hartford, is a member has been prominent and active in the affairs of the State for several genera- tions. Like many other fine old families its sons have always been well forward in the public notice, and honored and re- spected for their achievements in the vari- ous lines of endeavor which they chose. They have been politicians in no sense of the word, but have done fully and to the good of the community the duty of every true citizen as regards public service. The Ensworth family was among the early settlers of Canterbury, Connecticut, and traces its line of ancestry back to Elder William Brewster (and to the Haydens),
who settled in Connecticut in the year 1620 (making the pilgrimage to the New World in the "Mayflower").
John and Polly (Backus) Ensworth, great-grandparents of Horace Hayden Ensworth, were residents of Canterbury, and here his grandfather, Major Horace Ensworth, was born February 3, 1812. Horace Ensworth grew to manhood in that wonderful period of national prog- ress and advance which immediately fol- lowed the conclusion of the War of 1812. He removed to Hartford, where he estab- lished the firm of Ensworth & Company, which engaged in the drayage business in that city and surrounding territory. He had a strong bent for military affairs and had a genius for organization. In 1855 he organized a company of cavalry of which he was made captain. In his later years Major Ensworth was con- spicuously identified with the Putnam Phalanx and several times acted in the capacity of chief marshal at election and also parades. He was one of the best known and widely liked citizens of Hart- ford at the time of his death, which occurred May 23, 1875. His funeral was attended by Major Boardman and the staff and officers of the Governor's Horse Guard in full uniform. Officers of the various city military companies were present and the Putnam Phalanx attend- ed in full ranks. On April 19, 1840, Major Ensworth married at Windham, Connec- ticut, Jerusha Antoinette Lasell, a de- scendant of Elder William Brewster.
Lester Lasell Ensworth was born in Hartford, Connecticut, September 4, 1841, the son of Major Horace and Jerusha Antoinette (Lasell) Ensworth. His edu- cation consisted solely of that offered by the public schools of Hartford, and as a young man he entered the employ of Clark & Company, steel merchants, and the leading firm in that industry at the
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time. He was industrious and observant, level headed and clear in his perceptions. During the years that followed Mr. Ens- worth so acquitted himself that in 1868 he was made a partner in the business. His ability was marked and his value to the firm very great. Upon the death of George H. Clark, in 1881, senior partner in the firm, Mr. Ensworth succeeded to his place. Under his management the business flourished and developed until it was one of the largest of its kind in New England. Mr. Ensworth became recog- nized as one of the leaders of industry in Hartford, and rose to prominence in the confidence and esteem of his fellows. He was in no way a politician, beyond taking the interest in public affairs that every progressive, broad-minded and thinking citizen does. He was fully cognizant of his duties as a citizen, however, and when sought for the office, he served for several terms in the Court of Common Council, and was active in the educational affairs of the West Middle School District. He was prominent in the financial circles of Hart- ford, holding the office of director in the First National Bank and the Mechanics' Savings Bank. Mr. Ensworth was a mem- ber of the Hartford Club ; and had been a thirty-second degree Mason for many years prior to his death. He was a member of the board of trustees of the Church of the Redeemer, though in his later years he became interested in Christian Science, and became identified with the First Church of Christ Scientist. On Novem- ber 5, 1867, he married Martha C. Hay- den, daughter of General William and Abby (Denslow) Hayden. Their chil- dren are: Horace Hayden, mentioned at length below; George Hunt Clark, born June 20, 1876, who became a well known singer of New York City ; and Antoinette, born October 14, 1873.
Mr. Ensworth was a man of generous
impulses, high ideals, which he brought to bear on all phases of his life, and the strictest integrity. He had an indomita- ble will, of the sort that accomplishes that which it sets out to do, sweeping aside obstacles through the sheer force of its momentum. He was very popular in the circles in which he moved because of those traits of his character, such as geniality, courtesy, honesty and fidelity, which appealed universally to those with whom he came in contact. His interest in current happenings was keen, and his knowledge of affairs extensive; but he was, withal, essentially home-loving in his tastes. He always had the better- ment of the community at heart, and his service to his fellowmen, though unosten- tatious, was of the quiet, telling sort, which has the greatest effect. His death occurred on December 1, 1907.
Horace Hayden Ensworth, son of Les- ter Lasell and Martha C. (Hayden) Ens- worth, was born in Hartford, Connecti- cut, June 12, 1870. He received his early education in the elementary and the high schools of Hartford, being graduated from the latter in 1886. He was inter- ested in electrical engineering and be- came a student at the Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology, graduating from there in 1891 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He immediately returned to Hartford, and entered business with his father, studying the steel industry from the ground up. At the death of his father, Horace H. Ensworth succeeded to the management of the business and is at the present time (1917) the head of L. L. Ensworth & Son. He is considered a ris- ing figure in Hartford industry-one of the type of men on which the city pins the hope of its future. Daniel S. Morrell and Horace Hayden Ensworth were elected directors of the Connecticut River Bank- ing Company to fill vacancies caused by
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the death of Stanley B. Bosworth and the resignation of Arthur D. Coffin.
Mr. Ensworth is a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 4, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Hartford, and a member of Pythagorous Chapter, Royal Arch Ma- sons. He is active in the Hartford Club, the Hartford Golf Club, the Republican Club, and the University Club.
HAYES, Abner Pierce, Lawyer, Legislator.
Abner Pierce Hayes, of Waterbury, who, although a comparatively young man, has attained a place of distinction and influence in the affairs of his native State, is a descendant of fine old New England stock on both sides of the house, the members of the various generations performing well their part in the affairs of the communities wherein they resided.
Captain Stephen Hayes, grandfather of Abner Pierce Hayes, was a prominent figure in the life of Bethlehem, Connecti- cut, active in public affairs, and serving as captain of cavalry in the old State militia. He married Lucy Amelia Platt, who was also an active factor in the social circles of Bethlehem, and who bore her husband seven children, three of whom are living at the present time (1916) namely: Franklin Pierce, Samuel P., Alice, who became the wife of Henry Canfield. The death of Captain Hayes occurred at the venerable age of ninety- one years and his wife also passed away after attaining the equally venerable age of ninety years.
Franklin Pierce Hayes, father of Abner Pierce Hayes, was born in Bethlehem, Connecticut, and has resided there ever since. He spent his boyhood in assisting his father in the management of the farm, and in attendance at district and academic schools, and is now a retired farmer and
is well known in the community as a public-spirited citizen, having served two terms in the General Assembly and hold- ing many public positions of trust and responsibility. He married Catherine Pierce Bloss, a native of Bethlehem, Con- necticut, now deceased, daughter of Sam- uel Lambert and Mary Jane (Pierce) Bloss, of Roxbury, Connecticut, Mr. Bloss having been very active in public affairs during his life and having served in both houses of the State Legislature. Mr. and Mrs. Hayes were the parents of two chil- dren: Abner Pierce, of whom further, and George Franklin, who died April 29, 1893, when not quite twenty-one years of age.
Abner Pierce Hayes was born in Beth- lchem, Connecticut, January 25, 1876. He passed the years of his boyhood and early youth in his native place, attended the local schools until he was fourteen years of age, and then became a student of Mt. Hermon School, a school for the preparation of young men for college. Here he demonstrated his aptness as a scholar, especially in such matters as mathematics and all subjects that brought into requirement the faculties of reason and logic. Upon completing his course in this institution, he entered Yale Uni- versity and there continued his career as a brilliant student, graduating therefrom with the class of 1898 with high honors. While in college he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. His work in college led to his receiving a splendid position for so young a man, being ap- pointed statistician for the lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company lying west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For two years he performed his complex tasks with great efficiency, severing his con- nection with the company at the expira- tion of that period of time, his reason for this move being found in the fact that an
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interest, already strong, in the subject of the law rapidly grew upon him and finally became sufficiently powerful to impel him to give up all other work, no matter how successful he was in it, for this more com- pelling interest, and, perhaps, there was an added impulse in his taste for a more public type of activity. Nor is it wonder- ful that this should have been so, for Mr. Hayes' talents, while they undoubtedly fitted him for his work as statistician, are not less appropriate for the career of a lawyer, and it is certain that there are additional traits of character that make for him a life of close contact with his fellows the best. He thereupon returned to Yale University, entered the Law School and graduated with the class of 1902. He then took up his residence in Waterbury, Connecticut, and at once established himself in practice, opening an office at No. 717 Lilley Building in that city, a location in which he has con- tinued ever since. Success marked his efforts from the outset, and from then until the present his practice has been important and his handling of it has been in such a manner as to establish his reputation for probity and ability. But Mr. Hayes' talents did not permit him to remain long in a merely private capacity. He is a member of the Republican party. In 1901, while a student of law at Yale, he was chosen as a delegate to the Con- stitutional Convention from his native town and was the youngest member of that body. Later he was elected to the General Assembly of the State from the city of Waterbury ; was elected in 1907, reëlected in 1908, serving both terms, and during the latter held membership on the judiciary committee of the Legislature.
In addition to his legal and political activities, Mr. Hayes is conspicuous in the general life of the community he has chosen for his home, and takes a promi-
nent part in social and fraternal circles, his name being included in the member- ship of many important organizations, in- cluding the local lodge, Free and Accept- ed Masons, and the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. He attends the Congregational church, taking an active interest in its work and contributing lib- erally toward its support.
Mr. Hayes married, November 4, 1908, Margaret Ingoldsby Fitzpatrick, a native of Waterbury, Connecticut, where she has lived all her life, a daughter of John and Mary (Ingoldsby) Fitzpatrick, na- tives of Ireland, but old residents of Waterbury.
GOODWIN, Wallace Burdette, Real Estate Operator.
The name of Goodwin is very ancient, having been found in Germany as far back as the fifth century when it was spelled Gudwin and Godwin. The name is evidently a compound one, composed of the Gothic guda, meaning good, or goda, meaning God, and vin or wini, meaning friend, so that the name signi- fies good friend or God's friend, depend- ing on which of the derivatives of the first element of the name is accepted. In England the name has been traced back to the period when surnames were first coming into use, and the Mr. Goodwin of this review is a worthy scion in the ninth generation of this family, which is one of the oldest and most distinguished in Connecticut, one that has ever been noted for its patriotism, public spirit and for its high ethical ideas.
Robert Goodwin was a resident of Nor- wich, England, in 1238. In 1300 the burgess of Colchester was Adam Good- win, and when Edward III. levied an assessment for the marriage of his son Galfridus Goodwin was one of the num-
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ber taxed. From that time on the name appears with unceasing frequency. At the close of the fifteenth century there were to be found three numerous families of the name in County Norfolk, another wealthy family in Suffolk, with other well-to-do families of the name in other counties, notably, Essex, Bedford and Cambridge. While the immediate ante- cedents of Ozias Goodwin, the progenitor of the branch of the family herein traced, have not been identified, research in Eng- land at the instance of the late J. J. Good- win, to whose valuable work we are in- debted for much of the information in this sketch, makes the presumption strong that he came from the Essex family of Goodwins.
(I) Ozias Goodwin was born in 1596. His name is first found on record in New England at Hartford, Connecticut, where he received a grant of land in February, 1639-40. His name appears on the monu- ment erected in the center of "The An- cient Burying-Ground of Hartford" to the memory of the "Founders of Hart- ford." His home lot was on Trumbull street, near Church street. He was one of the company from Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield, who on April 18. 1659, signed an agreement to remove to Had- ley, Massachusetts, but the records indi- cate that he finally decided to remain in Hartford. His name appears on the list of freemen dwelling on the north side of the river in that city on October 13, 1669. He died in the spring of 1683.
(II) William Goodwin, the eldest child of Ozias Goodwin, was born about 1629, and died October 15, 1689. He was made freeman, May 21, 1657, and was chimney viewer in 1662, 1665, 1671. Under date of December 29, 1676, "The townsmen agreed with William Goodwin to sweep the meeting house, and ring the Bell Sab- beths and public meetings of the Town or
Side and at nine of the Clock at night for which he is to have seven pounds per annum. He is also to dig graves and warn publick meetings as the townsmen shall appoint for which he shall be paid as Robert Sanford was." It is not known who his wife was except that she had a sister, Sarah Fruen, who was betrothed to Thomas Greenhill, who died before the time for their marriage.
(III) Nathaniel Goodwin, son of Ozias Goodwin, was a shoemaker by trade. In March, 1734, he was elected deacon of the First Church in Hartford and held that office until his death in November, 1747. He married, 1688, Mehetable Por- ter, born September 15, 1673, and died April 6, 1726, daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Stanley) Porter, of Hadley, Massachusetts. Samuel Porter was born in England in 1626. He was made free- man, March 4, 1635. He removed to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1636, where he was a merchant, and removed to Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1659, and died there, September 6, 1689. In 1659 he married Hannah Stanley, born in England, daugh- ter of Thomas Stanley, who came from England in the ship, "Planter," locating in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1635. She died December 18, 1702. Jonathan Por- ter, father of Samuel Porter, was, accord- ing to English records, in the sixteenth generation from William de la Grande, a Norman knight, who participated in the Conquest in 1066 and acquired lands in Warwickshire. Ralph (or Roger), son of William de la Grande, became "Grand Porteur" to Henry I., A. D. 1120, from which he derived the name Porter. Jona- than Porter was a member of the com- pany that settled in Dorchester, Massa- chusetts, in 1630, and in 1635 was a mem- ber of the company that under the Rev. Jonathan Warham settled what is now Windsor, Connecticut. He was for that
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period a man of considerable substance. His wife Rose died in July, 1647, and he died April 22, 1648.
(IV) Isaac Goodwin, son of Nathaniel Goodwin, was baptized November 10, 1695, and died August 15, 1766. He re- sided in what is now West Hartford ; was grand juror in 1741 and selectman in 1742. He married for his second wife Ruth Gaylord, born October 18, 1704, died after May, 1773, daughter of William and Hope Gaylord, of Hartford.
(V) Ebenezer Goodwin, son of Isaac Goodwin, was baptized May 29, 1743, and died May 18, 1810. He received from his grandfather, William Gaylord, in 1762, fifty-seven acres of land in New Hartford and removed there, becoming one of the leading citizens of the town. He was lister in 1772 and 1774; one of the com- mittee of inspection in 1775, 1776; mem- ber of the committee of the Ecclesiastical Society in 1780 and 1796, and held a num- ber of other positions. He married Amy Webster, baptized January 26, 1746, died at New Hartford, Connecticut, January 8, 1835, daughter of Isaac Webster, who was baptized at Hartford, June 15, 1718, and died September 19, 1801. He located in West Hartford, and his name appears in connection with a number of real estate transactions. He married, Novem- ber II, 1739, Anne White. She became a member of the church in West Hartford in 1741, and her husband in 1770. She died June 23, 1807. Captain Stephen Webster, father of Isaac Webster, was born January 1, 1693, and died in 1724. He married, June 6, 1717, Mary Burn- ham, baptized December 19, 1690, daugh- ter of John and Mary (Olcott) Burnham. After the death of her husband, she mar- ried (second) Ebenezer Merrill. Deacon Jonathan Webster, father of Captain Webster, was born January 9, 1656-57, in Middletown, Connecticut, and died in
1735. He was a merchant in Hartford. He married for his first wife on May II, 1681, Dorcas, daughter of Stephen and Dorcas (Bronson) Hopkins, and grand- daughter of Jonathan and Jane Hopkins, among the first settlers of Hartford, also of Jonathan Bronson, of Farmington. Jonathan Webster and his wife joined the Second Church at Hartford, March 7, 1695. She died during that year. Lieu- tenant Robert Webster, father of Dea- con Webster, was born in 1627, and died about May 31, 1676. He was chosen re- corder of Wethersfield upon the organi- zation of the town in September, 1651. In 1652 he settled in Middletown Upper Houses. He represented Middletown in the General Court from September, 1653, to May, 1655 ; from May to October, 1656; from October, 1657, to October, 1658, re- turning to Hartford in the latter year. On May 18, 1654, he was confirmed lieu- tenant in Middletown, and the same year was appointed on a committee to impress men and necessaries for the Narragan- sett expedition ; was juryman at Hartford in 1662, 1663; on May 9, 1672, Hartford granted him three hundred acres of land ; in 1673 he was appointed one of the sur- veyors of lands on the Naugatuck river ; on October II, 1675, he was appointed on a committee to arrange defences of the town; this was evidently a measure of protection against the Indians in King Philip's War. Savage says he was "on service in the war of 1675." and on May 22, 1712, the governor and council ordered that he be paid two pounds thirteen shil- lings and six pence for service as a sol- dier. He married, in 1652, Susannah Treat, born in 1629, died in 1705, daugh- ter of Richard and Joanna Treat, the former named being among the first set- tlers of Wethersfield. The apartment house at No. 1915 Retreat avenue is prob- ably upon or near the spot where the
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