USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v.2 > Part 45
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
meline Eno, daughter of Salmon Eno, of Simsbury, Connecticut.
(VIII) Ozias Burdette Bassett, son of Ozias Buell and Emmeline (Eno) Bas- sett, was born in New Britain, where he grew up, and received instruction in the local public school. In his young man- hood he removed to Hartford, Connecti- cut, and secured a position in the employ of William Bulkeley, proprietor of the old Bee-Hive, a large department store, which was located on the site of the present Brown, Thomson & Company. This estab- lishment, a very unusual one for its time, was destroyed by fire about 1882. Mr. Bassett, however, withdrew from this concern at a much earlier date, and went into the haberdashery business on his own account, at No. 10 State street, and con- tinued in this line until his death, which occurred in 1881 or 1882. The death of his wife, Alice (Brockett) Bassett, oc- curred in 1903.
(IX) William Burgis Bassett received his education in the public schools of Hartford, and was graduated from the high school there in 1897. He at once entered the employ of the State Bank & Trust Company, where he remained for about six months, and then came to the Phoenix National Bank in the humble capacity of messenger, thus beginning the long association which is continuing to- day. His willingness and aptness in the discharge of his duties drew to him the favorable regard of his employers, and he rapidly rose in rank, having held up to the present time all the positions in the bank up to that of vice-president. Mr. Bassett enjoys the distinction of being the youngest vice-president in a national bank in the State of Connecticut. What is implied in this statement is greatly emphasized by the fact that the Phoenix National Bank is the largest bank in the State. Mr. Bassett is very active in all
312
1
1
IL Ancher? mil
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
the departments of the community's life, and takes a leading part in many of themn. He served six years as a member of the Court of Common Council and Board of Aldermen, and was appointed in April, 1916, a member of the Board of Police Commissioners. He is a prominent figure in social and fraternal circles, and is affili- ated with St. John's Lodge, No. 4, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Pythagoras Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Wolcott Council, Royal and Select Masters ; Wash- ington Commandery, Knights Templar ; Sphinx Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. For some years Mr. Bassett was a member of the old Hartford Military Order, known as the Governor's Foot Guard, and when he resigned held the rank of sergeant. He is at the present time a member of the Vet- eran Corps. He is also a member of the Hartford Club, of which he is now treas- urer, and the Hartford Golf Club.
Mr. Bassett married, February 16, 1904, at Hartford, Bertha Messinger, daughter of William C. Messinger, a native of Hart- ford, born September 8, 1881. They are the parents of one daughter, Ruth, born January 6, 1909. Mr. Bassett is a member of the Farmington Avenue Congrega- tional Church, while Mrs. Bassett attends the Trinity Episcopal Church of Hart- ford.
BOUCHER, John Bernard, Physician, Surgeon.
There is a strong tendency in the pro- fessions to-day towards specialization, a tendency normal and healthy in the main and characteristic of all development, so- cial and otherwise. But although it is productive of many good results in the increase of knowledge in particular branches of science, the actual practi- tioner may easily carry the matter too far
unless his mind possesses that breadth of view that enables it to keep in sight the more general relations, the balance that is not lost in the face of new and special detail. Such a mind is the possession of Dr. John Bernard Boucher, of Hartford, Connecticut, whose professional career in that city has been attended with a high degree of success.
As the name indicates, Dr. Boucher's family is of French origin, though his im- mediate ancestors were natives of County Cork, Ireland. There, Dr. Boucher's father spent the first eighteen years of his life engaged in agricultural pursuit. Upon coming to America in 1854, he located in East Windsor where he engaged in to- bacco raising for many years until his death in April, 1907. In 1857 he married Mary Halloran, at that time of Windsor Locks, but also a native of County Cork, Ireland. This union was blessed with the following children : Ellen, married John Smyth (now deceased), of Enfield, Con- necticut ; Joanna L., of East Windsor ; Thomas Francis, died in April, 1897 ; John Bernard, mentioned below; Dr. Richard P., who was graduated from the Balti- more Medical College in 1896, located in Providence ; William Edward, a dentist of Hartford, who was graduated from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery with the degree of D. D. S: Dr. James Joseph, who was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore and is practicing in Hartford : Dr. Francis A .. D. D. S., graduate of Baltimore Dental College, a resident of Hartford, Connec- ticut.
Dr. John B. Boucher, with whom this sketch has more particularly to do, at- tended the common schools of East Wind- sor. In 1875 he entered the Enfield High School and completed the course under Professor Cooley. During this time he learned telegraphy during his spare hours,
313
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
and soon after his graduation he became a telegraph operator and station agent at East Windsor. After three years he was transferred to Melrose, Connecticut, where he held a similar position for four years, and he then went to Plainville, Connecticut, where he remained nine months in various capacities as ticket agent, operator and agent. He then en- tered the employ of the Consolidated Railroad as a clerk in the freight depart- ment of the terminal station in New York City. His abilities soon won him promo- tion, for he had been there only seven months when he was made second clerk in the office.
During all these years his ambition to become a physician was growing more insistent in its demands, and in Septem- ber, 1890, he heeded the call and entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore. He brought to the study of medicine a natural mind, alert and trained to close application, and he gave himself with zest to the accomplishment of his long cherished purpose. So well did he acquit himself that when he was graduated in April, 1894, in a class of one hundred and six, he received the second gold medal for highest standing in medi- cal studies throughout the four years of the course. During his last year at the medical college, he served as assistant at the City Hospital. On June 1, 1894, Dr. Boucher began the practice of his pro- fession in Hartford. It was not long until he had built up a large practice and soon he found his surgical skill in growing de- mand. In the summer of 1899 he went to Europe and did post-graduate work in Berlin, Vienna and Berne. Dr. Boucher is surgeon to the Wilson Private Hospital, Hartford; ex-surgeon on the staff of St. Francis Hospital, consulting surgeon of Middlesex Hospital, Middletown, and St. Mary's Hospital, Waterbury, and ex-
aminer for the Berkshire Life Insurance Company. He is a member of the City, County and State Medical societies and of the American Medical Association; a fellow of the American College of Sur- geons and a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine.
On June 20, 1900, Dr. Boucher married (first) Marie Louise Kennedy, of New Haven. She died in 1902. In 1911 Dr. Boucher married (second) Kathryn O'Neil, of Hartford, by whom he had three children : John B., Jr., Thomas O., and Mary K. They are members of St Peter's Catholic Church.
SHERMAN, Wilton Wales,
Man of Enterprise.
Wilton Wales Sherman, president of the Roger Sherman Transfer Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, and breeder of registered cattle, is a worthy scion in the winth generation from Philip Sherman, one of the founders of the family in this country. The line has been traced in England three generations back of the immigrant ancestors and among Mr. Sher- man's ancestors are to be found many names that stand out in the pages of Colonial history as sturdy pioneers and courageous patriots who helped to lay the foundation of the liberties we now enjoy. Among these names, especially worthy of mention, besides Philip Sherman, who was one of the original proprietors of Rhode Island, appear those of Thomas Lawton, Thomas Fish, Thomas Whitte- more and John Howe. As will be seen from the following paragraphs, the family has been identified with Connecticut for many generations, and while contributing to the material advancement of the com- munities in which they lived, its members, by their upright lives, have helped to maintain the moral standards established
314
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
by the Puritan forefathers. The name of Sherman is an ancient one and is of Anglo- Saxon origin. It is common in Germany to-day. and like all old names was and is spelled in various ways, among which should be mentioned Schurman, Schear- mann and Scherman, as well as the more common and familiar English forms. In the early Rhode Island records it is spelled Shearman. The name is derived from the original occupation of the family, which was that of cloth dresser or shearer of cloth. Many centuries ago the family made their appearance in London, Eng- land, and from there a branch removed to Dedham, Essexshire. This family con- tinued to follow the occupation of its early ancestors and in time grew to be wealthy and prominent in the community. Various branches of the family are en- titled to bear arms and their various escutcheons have a similarity to one an- other which seems to imply a common origin. The Essex county branch, from which the Mr. Sherman of this sketch is descended, bore the Suffolk-Sherman coat-of-arms, as follows: Or, a lion ram- pant sable between three oak leaves vert. Crest : A sea-lion sejant sable charged on the shoulder with three bezants two and one.
Henry Sherman, the first in this line of whom anything is known, died at Ded- ham, Essexshire, England, in 1589. and his wife Agnes in 1580. Their son, Henry Sherman, was a clothier in Dedham, mar- ried Susan Hills, and died in 1610. Their son, Samuel Sherman, was born in Eng- land in 1573, and died in Dedham, Eng- land, in 1615. He married a Miss Phil- lippa or Phillis
Hon. Philip Sherman, son of Samuel Sherman, and the immigrant ancestor of the branch of our subject's family, was born in Dedham, England, February 5. 1610. In 1633 he settled in Roxbury.
Massachusetts, and on May 14, 1634, was made a freeman. In the Anne Hutchinson troubles he took the popular side, but as Governor Winthrop ultimately prevailed, Philip Sherman and others who held his views were warned on November 20. 1637. to deliver up all gems, pistols, swords, powder, shot, etc. He and eighteen others who were banished from Massachusetts signed a civil compact under date of March 7. 1638, for the occupation of Rhode Island. In Providence they met Roger Williams who advised them to purchase the Island of Aquetnet (now Rhode Island) from the Indians. The purchase was completed March 24, 1638. He was present at a general meeting held at Portsmouth on May 13, 1638. A regu- lar government was established on July 1, 1639, and Philip Sherman was elected secretary. His records show him to have been an expert penman and an educated man. He was made freeman, March 16, 1641, was general recorder from 1648 to 1651, inclusive. In 1665-67 he was deputy to the General Court. Because of his in- telligence, wealth and influence. he was often consulted by those in authority. In Rhode Island he left the Congregational church and became identified with the Society of Friends. His will shows him and his son Samuel to have been joint owners of four Indian slaves. His will was proved March 22. 1687. He was mar- riedl to Sarah Odding. a daughter of Mrs. John Porter by a former marriage.
Their son, Peleg Sherman. Sr .. was born Portsmouth in 1638. On July 25. 1657. he married Elizabeth Lawton, a daughter of Thomas Lawton. The latter died in 1681. His name is on record in Portsmouth at an early date and appears later in con- nection with several real estate transac- tions. He was a freeman in 1655 and served as commissioner that year and in 1656-58 and 1661. Peleg Sherman served
315
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
as juryman in 1664 and many times in subsequent years. He was overseer of the poor in 1689, was admitted a freeman in 1692 and was elected deputy to the General Court the following year. He cultivated the homestead farm. His wife died in 1711. His will was proved in 1719.
Their son, Peleg Sherman, Jr., was born October 8, 1666, and remained on the homestead. He married Alice Fish, No- vember 16, 1697 (whose birth occurred September 15, 1671), daughter of Thomas Fish. The latter married, December 10, 1668, Grizzel, a daughter of John and Alice Strange. Thomas Fish died in 1684. His father, Thomas Fish, was married to Mary He died in 1687, and she in 1699. Land was granted to him in Portsmouth in 1643 and his name appears in later real estate records. He was made a freeman in 1655.
Caleb Sherman, son of Peleg and Alice (Fish) Sherman, was born in 1708. He married Elizabeth Lawton, November 4, I739.
Their son, David Sherman, was born in Swansea, Rhode Island, July 19, 1748. He married Abigail Slade. They came to Connecticut and settled in Pomfret, where he died December 25, 1822, aged seventy- four years.
Their son, Mason Slade Sherman, the great-grandfather of Wilton Wales Sher- man, was born at Pomfret, Connecticut, June 4, 1783, and died at the town of Danielson in that State, April 13. 1860. He was married at Mansfield, Connecti- cut, February 22, 1821, to Evelina Whitte- more, a daughter of Samuel Whittemore, of that place, where she was born De- cember 29, 1796. Her death occurred in 1862. Samuel Whittemore was born at Mansfield, January 12, 1767, and married there, January 1, 1794, Sarah Wales, a native of Hebron, Connecticut, born May
II, 1773. They made their home for some time at Bolton, Connecticut, where her death occurred June 23, 1802. In the year 1797, while living at Bolton, Mr. Whitte- more purchased land at Mansfield, and in 1802, after his wife's death, sold his Bol- ton property to his father, Captain Joseph Whittemore, who was also a resident of Mansfield and had been born there July 4, 1736. His death appears to have oc- curred there about May 4, 1811. He mar- ried in the month of November, 1763, Sarah Howe, a daughter of Ebenezer Howe, of Sudbury, Massachusetts, who was born in that town about 1697, and died at Brookfield, Massachusetts, June 30, 1753. He was a blacksmith and his establishment was appraised in the tax list at £487, a large sum for those days, and which proves him to have been in- dustrious and thrifty. His father, Colonel Samuel Howe, was born at Sudbury, Mas- sachusetts, October 20, 1642, and died there, April 13, 1713. He was twice mar- ried, and his second wife, with whom he was united September 16, 1685, was Sarah Clapp, nee Leavitt, the widow of Nehe- miah Clapp. Samuel Howe's father was born in England in 1602, and died at Marlboro, Massachusetts, May 28, 1680. Of his wife we only know that her Chris- tian name was Mary and that she died in 1698. Before coming to this country he was of Hodinhull, Warwickshire, and was connected with Lord Charles Howe, who flourished during the reign of Charles I. He settled at Sudbury in 1638, was made freeman there in 1640 and was the first settler at Marlboro, in 1657, and held office there. Captain Joseph Whittemore, who married Sarah Howe, enlisted, it is said, as second lieutenant in the company of Captain Wales, Colonel Jeremiah Ma- son's regiment of militia, which responded to the Lexington Alarm. On June 30, 1781, he enlisted for one year as private
316
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
in Captain Nehemiah Rice's company, Fifth Regiment Connecticut Line, under the command of Colonel Isaac Sherman. His father, Joseph Whittemore, was born April 13, 1694, and died May 15, 1742. He married, October 9, 1734, Ann Slate, born April 29, 1710, and died March 28, 1772. Joseph Whittemore, Sr., was a clothier and resided in what is now the town of Revere, Massachusetts, coming to that place in 1719. On April 26, 1727, he was made a freeman at Windham, Connecti- cut, and there is a record his having bought land in Mansfield, Connecticut, in 1735. His father, Daniel Whittemore, was born April 27, 1663, died September 21, 1756. He married Lydia Bassett, born about 1671, and died April 6, 1755. He resided at Charlestown and Malden, Mas- sachusetts. His father, Daniel Whitte- more, was baptized in Hitchin, England, July 31, 1633, and died May II, 1683. He married, March 7, 1662, Mary Mellens, who died November 18, 1683. His father, Thomas Whittemore, was baptized in England, January 6, 1593. and died at Malden, Massachusetts, May 25, 1661. He was three times married, but we know very little concerning his wives and of the third of them only that her first name was Hannah. He came to this country between 1639 and 1645. "Earlier than the year 1300, we find the first recorded name, i. e., John, Lord of Whytemere, having his domicile at Whytemere, on the north- east side of a parish of Babbington, in the Manor Claverly in Shropshire County, England. At the present time the same locality bears the name of Whittemore. It is recorded by two historians that Whitte- more Hall was the place of the origin of the Whittemore family. The Anglo- Saxon of the word Whytemere, is 'white meadow,' or 'lake,' and the first John, Lord of Whytemere, derived the name of the family from the place where they originally resided."
Mason Wales Sherman, son of Mason Slade and Evelina ( Whittemore) Sher- man, was born at Eastford, Connecticut, January 5, 1822, and died December 21, 1902. He was married at Pomfret, March II, 1849, to Susan Sessions, born Septem- ber 10, 1819, and died May 19, 1900. In the year 1858, Mason Wales Sherman established himself in business at Hart- ford as a carman, at that time little dreaming of the magnitude to which the business would grow during his lifetime. He was a man of quiet disposition and domestic taste and found his strongest attractions within the home circle.
Roger Wales Sherman was born May 18, 1857, at East Hartford, Connecticut, and died May 21, 1909. Ile was educated in the public schools of Hartford and then went to work for his father in the truck- ing business. In 1883 he went to New York City, where he engaged in business on his own account, but in 1&)1 returned to Hartford, where he formed a partner- ship with his father, the firm of M. W. Sherman & Son. In 1900 Roger Wales Sherman had charge of the business and became the sole proprietor and thereafter conducted it under the name of Roger Sherman until his death. Under his man- agement the business grew until it gave employment to more than seventy men and sixty horses. During the latter years of his life, he built up in connection with the transfer business a contracting busi- ness that required the services of more than a hundred men. On April 6. 1887. Roger Wales Sherman was married in Brooklyn, New York, to Minnie Wilton, a daughter of William C. and Anna (Greene) Wilton, of Brooklyn, where she was born. Mr. Wilton was a well known editor and publisher of books. To Mr. and Mrs. Sherman one child was born, Wilton Wales, who is mentioned at length below. Roger Wales Sherman was an In- dependent Republican in politics, but, al-
317
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
though he was something of a factor in local affairs, never aspired to public office of any kind. He served, however, for one term as a member of the Common Council of the city, but declined to be a candidate for reelection. He always maintained a keen interest in public affairs and was ever ready to aid by every means at his command those measures and enterprises that were calculated to enhance the com- mon good. He enjoyed the society of his fellow-men and, having a strong sense of humor and a very genial personality, was an attractive companion to those who were sufficiently fortunate to call them- selves his friends. He was straightfor- ward in his business methods and won for himself a host of steadfast friends. He was associated with a number of impor- tant organizations, social and otherwise in the community, and was a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 9, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Pythagoras Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Wolcott Coun- cil, Royal and Select Masters, as well as of the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Wilton Wales Sherman, only son of Roger Wales and Minnie (Wilton) Sher- man, was born June 13, 1889, in his father's home at Hartford, Connecticut. He was educated in the public schools of his native city and graduated from the Hartford High School in the year 1908, He then went to Phillips Andover Acad- emy and graduated from that famous in- stitution the following year. His studies were then interrupted for a period of about a year, because of his father's untimely death, during which time he was em- ployed in his father's large trucking and contracting business, but in 1910 he ma- triculated at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University and graduated from the same with the class of 1913, taking the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. Since
his graduation Mr. Sherman has been in charge of the business founded by his father. In September, 1913, he purchased the John D. Brown farm at West Hart- ford, where he has a herd of one hundred registered Guernsey and Holstein cattle, and supplies milk to the Connecticut Tu- berculosis Hospital. He exhibited for the first time in 1915 at the Hartford fair, to which he sent four animals, with which he took two third prizes, two first prizes and one reserve championship. Since then he has purchased some of the finest Hol- stein in the country. He is a member of the Berzelius Society of Sheffield Scien- tific School, City Club, University Club, and Hartford Golf Club. Mr. Sherman is a level-headed young man, who acts de- liberately after careful consideration. He is regarded by his associates as one of the rising business men of the city whose methods are at once conservative and pro- gressive. He takes an active interest in public affairs, but is not a politician in any sense of the word.
HASTINGS, James Eugene, Business Man, Legislator.
The name Hastings, or Hastang, is older than the Norman Conquest in Eng- land. It is one of the oldest surnames. The castle and seaport of Hastings were owned by the family that adopted this surname as early as 911-before the Nor- mans were in Gaul. The name is derived from the seaport of Hastings in Suffolk, the battle of Hastings being one of the landmarks of history. Robert de Hast- ings, portgrave of Hastings, lord of Fil- lonley, in Warwickshire was dispensator, or steward, to William the Conqueror. The family has established itself to nearly every county in England. Its members, who have been distinguished, are numer- ous. Many branches of the family bear
318
James Eugene Hastings
THE NEW MITK PULMIC LISPARY 1
TOP, LETOY N : . D LION-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
coats-of-arms. That claimed by the Amer- ican branch is: Arms: A maunch, sable. Crest : A buffalo's head erased sable, crowned and gorged with a ducal coronet, and armed or. Supporters: Two man tigers, affrontee or, their visages, resem- bling the human face proper. Motto: In veritute victoria ("In truth there is vic- tory") ; also: Honorantes me honorato. A plate on which this memorial was en- graved was brought to America by the pioneer ancestor of the family and de- scended through his son Thomas (2), to Dr. Waitstill (3), Hopestill (4), Dr. Seth (5), Dr. Seth (6), whose brother lost it about 1835 in pursuit of one of those elu- sive, if not imaginary, English estates. On one side were the arms as given above, and an antique ship with two flags; on the reverse side the arms of England.
(I) Deacon Thomas Hastings, the im- migrant ancestor of James E. Hastings, was born in England in 1605. At the age of twenty-nine, with his wife Susanna, who was then thirty-four, he embarked at Ipswich, England, April 10, 1634, in the ship "Elizabeth," William Andrews, mas- ter. He settled at Watertown, Massachu- setts, where he was admitted freeman, May 6, 1635. He owned land in Dedham, but never lived there. He was selectman, 1638-43, and 1650-71; town clerk, 1671- 77, and in 1680; deputy to the General Court in 1673. His wife Susanna died February 2, 1650, and he married (sec- ond) in April, 1651, Margaret, daughter of William and Margaret Cheney, of Rox- bury. She was the mother of his eight children. He long held the office of dea- con. He died in 1685. William Cheney, the father of Margaret, was a very early resident of Roxbury, where he was a landowner prior to 1640. He was a mem- ber of the board of directors of the Rox- bury Latin School, though himself a man of meager learning. He was a member of
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.