USA > Connecticut > Genealogical and family history of the state of Connecticut, a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Volume IV > Part 34
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1869
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thirty-five the second. During this time, how- ever, he continued his studies in the evenings and early mornings. He picked up a knowl- edge of drugs and became a skillful chemist and pharmacist. In 1838 the senior partner withdrew from the firm and Mr. Williams was admitted to the firm, the name becoming Keeney & Williams. In 1840 he sold his share in the business, with the exception of the drug department, to the late Christopher A. Wood- bridge, and then formed a partnership with his brother, George W. Williams. in the drug business. In connection with the apothecary store, the firm manufactured a variety of com- pounds, such as all druggists sell, but few make. While in Manchester Mr. Williams became convinced that there was a great and increasing demand for a better quality of hav- ing soap than was to be had and he began to experiment in making soap. For two years he continued this work, giving away his prod- uct to friends and neighbors to test. He fin- ally placed on the market a superior article under the name of "Williams' Genuine Yankee Soap"; its success led to countless imitations and led the Williams Brothers into much liti- gation to protect their product. The business was continued at Manchester until 1847 when the firm was dissolved. George W. Williams retained the drug business and later moved to Hartford. James Baker Williams moved to Glastonbury where he leased from his father- in-law, David Hubbard, a small grist mill, and continued to manufacture shaving soap and a few other articles. After a year or more, another brother, William S. Williams, joined him, and the name was changed to James B. Williams & Company, remaining thus until 1885 when the business was incorporated under the laws of the state of Connecticut under the title of The J. B. Williams Con- pany. James B. Williams was president to the time of his death; David W. Williams was vice-president : his nephew, George G. Wil- liams, treasurer, another nephew, Bernard T. Williams, secretary, and his son, Samuel H. Williams, chemist. The original plant oper- ated by Mr. Williams at Glastonbury had less than two thousand five hundred square feet of floor space. while the company now has nearly two hundred thousand feet. The ca- pacity has increased eighty-fold and shows constant growth. The product finds a ready sale in all parts of the world. There is per- haps no concern in the multitude of manufac- turing establishments of Connecticut that reaches with its product as many persons and has achieved as extended a reputation as the Williams Company. The business history has been highly creditable. Though beginning
with borrowed capital, his credit was always of the best. He acquired a large fortune in the legitimate channels of trade and never lost the good will of a customer. Year by year, almost without exception, the business of the concern increased, from the start to the present time. Mr. Williams was also president of the Williams Brothers Manufac- turing Company of Glastonbury and of the Vermont Farm Machine Company of Bellows Falls, Vermont.
Mr. Williams enjoyed a remarkably long life, retaining his health and faculties to an extreme age. From 1886 to the time of his death he spent his winters in Florida, mostly at the town of Leesburg. He was fond of out- door exercise and used to work daily in his garden. He never used tobacco and when a boy of nine signed the total abstinence pledge and always kept it. His influence on the side of temperance was very great in the commun- ity. He cast his first presidential vote for William Henry Harrison in 1840 and three of his brothers supported the same candidate. He remained in the Whig party until the Re- publican party was organized and afterward gave his support to the principles and can- didates of that party. He represented his town in the general assembly in 1863-64 and during his first term was a member of the committee on education : during the second a member of the committee on engrossed bills. Prior to that time he had refused several times to ac- cept nominations for public office. He refused a re-nomination to the legislative office and declined all further honors that were offered to him. While a resident of Manchester he served as recorder of votes during the exist- ence of that office.
At the age of eighteen he enlisted in the East Hartford Artillery Company and was chosen corporal, but he soon resigned on ac- count of the confining duties of his position as a druggist.
In 1838 he joined the First Congregational Church in Marchester and in 1848 was re- ceived into the First Church of Christ in Glas- tonbury, of which he was chosen deacon in 1839. continuing in that office the remainder of his life. He was very active and useful in the church. He was a member of the Con- nectient Historical Society, the Connecticut Congregational Club, the Harrison Veteran Club, the Independent Order of Good Tem- plars and the Sons of the American Revolu- tion.
He earned and enjoyed the respect and con- fidence of his neighbors and townsmen as well as the business world in which he moved for so many years. He set a high standard of liv-
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ing and was kind, charitable and sympathetic to men in all walks of life. The extent of his good works will never be known, he was so modest and thoughtful in his ways of giving and helping others. In both business and private life his record was stainless, a model for his successors. Few finer careers of self- made American business men can be found than that of James B. Williams. He died March 2, 1907.
He married ( first ) September 24, 1845, Je- rusha MI. Hubbard, born at Glastonbury. May 5, 1825, died November 20. 1866, eldest daugh- ter of David and Jerusha ( Hollister ) Hubbard, of Glastonbury. She was buried in her na- tive town. He married (second), in 1869. Julia Elizabeth Hubbard, a younger sister of his first wife. For many years the names of Hubbard and Hollister were the most num- erous and prominent in the town of Glaston- bury. The first of the name of Hubbard to locate there was George Hubbard, who set- tled there when the town was part of Weth- ersfield. Mrs. Williams was born May 10. 1839, died 1902.
Children of first wife: 1. Mary Ellen, born November 29, 1850. 2. David Willard, born April 12. 1853, died June 8, 1909: he had succeeded his father as president of The J. B. Williams Company, and as deacon in the church : he had been president of the church from the time of its incorporation in 1896; he was of a peculiarly winsome disposition, and made many warm friends among those he was thrown into contact with in matters he interested himself in outside of his business : he served two terms in the general assembly, 1893 and 1895, was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. the Society of the Colonial Wars, the Hartford Club, the Vale Club. of New York, and a trustee of the Hartford Theological Seminary. He mar- ried (first ) October 23, 1876, Helen Penfield Rankin, daughter of Rev. S. G. W. Rankin ; she died in 1901. and he married ( second) August 30, 1905, Jennie G. Loomis, danghter of Judge Dwight Loomis, of Hartford: chil- dren of his first wife: Helen Louise. born 1878; James Willard. 1885: Mildred. 1887 : Ruth Clarice. 1890: Isabel Stoddard, 1894; one son of his second wife, Dwight Loomis, born 1900. 3. Martha Baker, born October 17, 1854. 4. Jessie Elizabeth, born Novem- ber 17, 1857, married Henry F. Welch. of Charleston. South Carolina, and died there in 1901. 5. James Stoddard, born September 8. 1859, graduated from the Massachusetts Ag- ricultural College in 1882: after several years spent in farming he entered the Williams Brothers Manufacturing Company, makers of
silver-plated ware, and has been successful in building up a large business, succeeding his father as president of the company ; he also served a term in the general assembly in 1907; he is president of the Glastonbury Power Company, a director of The J. B. Wil- liams Company and of the Vermont Farm Machine Company of Bellows Falls, Ver- mont, a member of the Hartford Club, and president of the corporation of the First Con- gregational Church of Glastonbury. He mar- ried. May 26, 1887, Katharine Phillips. daughter of Judge R. L. B. Clarke, of Wash- ington ; children : Katharine Stoddard. born 1889: Helen Devotion, 1891 ; Percy Hunting- ton, 1894: Edith Clarke, 1896: Jessie Hub- bard, 1899; James Rufus, 1902. 6. Samuel Hubbard, mentioned below. Children of sec- ond wife: 7. Anne Shelton, born November 5. 1876. 8. Richard Solomon, born July 8, 1880, graduate of Amherst College in 1902: married, October 18, 1904. Marian Homer Farnham, of Ossining, New York ; son, Rich- ard Gordon, born June 20. 1908.
(VIII) Samuel Hubbard, son of James Baker Williams, was born September 28. 1864. He attended the public schools and academy at Glastonbury and entered Amherst College. from which he was graduated in the class of 1885 with the degree of A. B. He took a post-graduate course in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, making chemistry a specialty. For some years after- ward he was chemist for The J. B. Williams Company, soap manufacturers. He was made secretary, assistant treasurer and treasurer successively, and is now vice-president of the corporation which his father established. In politics he is a Republican. He has been towa treasurer. secretary of the board of school visitors, president of Glastonbury Free Acad- emy, which is now the public high school, as- sessor of the town and is now chairman of the school committee of Glastonbury. He was elected from his native town to the general assembly of the state in 1900 and was house chairman of the committee on education. He is a member of the Hartford Club, the Con- gregational Club, the University Club of Hartford. Daskam Lodge, No. 86. Free and Accepted Masons; of Pythagoras Chapter. Royal Arch Masons: of Wolcott Council. Royal and Select Masters: of Washington Commandery, No. 1. Knights Templar. He is a prominent member of the Congregational church. of which for twenty years he has been superintendent of the Sunday school, and he succeeded his brother D. W. Williams at hi- death as deacon of the church, an office their father had beld for forty years. Mr. Wil-
84Williams. -
1871
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liams is president of the Connecticut Sunday School Association, and of the board of trus- tees of the Hartford School of Religious Ped- agogy, and is one of the best-known Congre- gationalists in the state. In business, in pub- lic life and in social and church affairs, he has proved a worthy successor of his father.
He married, in India, January 9. 1889. Frances A. Scudder, born September 4, 1864, daughter of Rev. William W. Scudder, a mis- sionary in India, who had been for eleven years pastor of the church in Glastonbury, who died in Glastonbury in 1895. Children, born in Glastonbury: Carol Scudder, born May 1, 1890: Frances Rousseau. November 17. 1891: Martha Huntington, October 26. 1896: James Baker, July 29. 1900.
(V) Nathan Williams, son WILLIAMS of Isaac Williams (q. v.). of Stonington, Connecticut, was baptized July 22, 1720. He married, in 1744, Elizabeth Haley. Children: Prudence, born December 18. 1745: Lucy, March 11, 1747: Joshua. (twin) July 18, 1749; Caleb, (twin) : Isaac, (twin) June 10, 1751 ; John, (twin ) : Martha, July 10, 1754; Elizabeth, July 7. 1750, Catherine. (twin) February 27. 1758; Mary, (twin).
(VI) Caleb, son of Nathan Williams, was born July 18. 1749. By occupation he was a farmer. and spent his life in Groton. He married Freelove Fanning, of Groton, Con- nectieut. Children: Jesse, born June 28. 1774, mentioned below : Alfred, Caleb, Miner. Edmund1.
(VII) Jesse, son of Caleb Williams, was born June 28. 1774. He married, October 13. 1802. Betsey Elizabeth Avery. Children : Eliza, born December 22. 1803 : Caleb Mliner, March 30. 1806, mentioned below: Alonza, June 26, 1808: Ebenezer, June 6, 1811; Ly- dia, May 1, 1813: Frederick, May 11, 1St6.
(VIII) Caleb Miner. son of Tesse Wil- liams, was born March 30. 1806, in Groton, and died there, at the age of eighty. He was a farmer by occupation, and was also in busi- ness as a merchant in Noank, Connecticut. He was prominent in town affairs, and filled many positions of trust. He also represented the district in the legislature. Ile married Sabra Gallup, born at Groton, November UI, 1800, died there. November 27, 1884. She was the eighth child of Gurdon and Sibell Gallup, who were married February 15. 1795. Gurdon Gallup was born at Groton, December 18, 17;1, and his wife, Sibell ( Capron) Gal- Inp, at Preston, Connecticut. He was of the sixth generation from John Gallup, the immi- grant, who came to America from the parish
of Mosterne, county Dorset, England, in 1630. John Gallup was the son of John Gallup, who was the son of Thomas and Agnes ( Watkins ) Gallup, of North Bowood and Strode, whose descendants still own and occupy the manors of Strode. He sailed from Plymouth, Eng- land, March 20, 1630, in the ship "Mary and John" and arrived in Nantasket, May 30, of the same year. He went first to Dorchester. and soon after to Boston. His wife and chil- dren followed him in 1633. He rendered im- portant service to the infant colony. Both he and his son John were distinguished for bravery in the Pequot war an Hin King Phil- ip's war. He was the leader of the friendly Mohegans, in the swamp fight at Narragansett, December 19, 1675, and with several other captains was slain. The name was originally Gollup, and the family was of Franco-German ancestry, from Lorraine. Children of Caleb Miner Williams: Betsey Ann, born 1831 : Gurdon. January 30. 1832; Lucy Elizabeth, April 18, 1833: Emily, January 30. 1835; John Coleman, April 24, 1836: Nancy. Feb- ruary 17, 1838; Jesse Miner, October 1, 1840; Charles Fish. April 24. 1842, mentioned be- low : William Ledvard, October 18, 1843 ; Ellen Adelaide, March, 1845; Frank Edgar. July 15, 1849.
(IX) Charles Fish, son of Caleb Miner Williams, was born April 24. 1842, in Gro- ton, died in Thomaston, Connecticut, Decem- ber 17. 1907. He received a common school education, and when eighteen years old went to work in the drug store of Dr. Seth Smith. of New London, where he remained four years. He was then employed as clerk by Lee & Osgood, of Norwich. and by W. S. Tyler & Son, of the same place. For a mm- ber of years he was in partnership with Mr. Tyler, of Greenville, and later opened a drug store in Ansonia, which he carried on for about nine years. In 1878 he bought the old Seth Thomas drug store in Thomaston, Con- necticut, and soon established a good business. which increased yearly. In politics he wa- a Democrat of the conservative type. He had the confidence and esteem of his fellow-towns- men wherever he lived, and held various offi- ces of trust. In Greenville he was postmaster and held other minor offices; in Ansonia he served as warden of the borough: in Them- aston he was selectman for several years. fire commissioner, etc. He was one of the di- rectors of the Thomaston National Bank. In religion he was a Baptist, and his wife a Con- gregationalist. He was a man of superior intelligence, of genial disposition and a uni- versal favorite. He married. November 5. 186 ;. Elizabeth Cooke, daughter of Henry
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1872
CONNECTICUT
Foote Reynolds, a prominent farmer of Thomaston, and his wife, Lorinda E. ( Ed- wards ) Reynolds. Henry F. Reynolds was the son of Russell and Mary ( Castle ) Rey- nolds. Russell was the son of Samuel and Sarah ( Foute , Reynolds. Samuel was the son of Samuel and Sarah ( Warner ) Rey- nolds. Samuel was the son of Samttel and Susanna (Turner) Reynolds. Samuel was the son of Jolin and Abigail ( Preston ) Rey- nolds. John was the son of John and Ann Reynolds. Children of Charles Fish Wil- liams: Charles Henry, born September 11, 1868, mentioned below ; Frederick, April 12, 1870, died August 26, 1870.
(X) Charles Henry, son of Charles Fish Williams, was born September 11, 1868, in Norwich, Connecticut, and came to Thomas- ton with his parents when ten years of age. He was educated in public and private schools, and the New York College of Phar- macy, where he graduated in 1889. He was with his father as clerk for several years, and later was taken in as partner. Up to 1889 the business was carried on under the name of C. F. Williams & Son ; since that time Mr. Williams, the younger, has run it alone, under the name of C. H. Williams. He is a direc- tor in the Thomaston National Bank. a mem- ber of Free and Accepted Masons, Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, of Thomaston, and of the Sons of the American Revolution. He married. October 31, 1894, Martha, daughter of Gideon Walter and Sylvia ( Maithy ) (Hartsock ) Woodruff, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. She was born in the latter town, January 1, 1872. They have no chil- dren.
WILLIAMS William Williams, immi- grant. was born about 1625. died December 17. 1689. He came from England and settled in the east- ern part of Hartford in 1646. He was a cooper by trade. He was admitted a freeman in 1654. He married. November 20, 1647. Jane Westover, who died December 25. 1680. His will was dated in 1688. Children: William, John. mentioned below. James. Gabriel. Sam- tel. Elizabeth. Jane. Ruth. Mary.
(II) John. son of William Williams, was born in Hartford. His will was dated in 1713. He had five children.
(III) Jacob, son of John Williams, was born at Hartford in 1690. He married Rebec- ca Hubbard. His will was dated in 1750. He had nine children.
(IV) Israel, son of Jacob Williams, was born June 13. 1744. at Hartford or Windsor. He removed to West Hartford, where he died
June 7, 1812. He married ( first) July 22, 1772, Beulah Loomis, born June 22, 1746, died December 5. 1784. He married ( sec- ond). February 23, 1780, Catherine Coe, born January 16, 1744. died November 27. 17&). He married i third ) October 31. 1791. Martha Stanley, who died April 18, 1818. Children of first wife: Anna, born May 17, 1776, died March 18. 1854: Israel, October 17. 1778, died April 29, 1846: Warham, October 20. 1781, died September 30, 1831. Child of sec- ond wife: Anson, December IS, 1786, died January 24, 1826.
(V) Warham, son of Israel Williams, was born October 20, 1781. in West Hartland, died September 30. 1831. He was a farmer. He lived and died at Hartland, and hekl various town offices. He was a Free Mason. He married Lydia Ensign, 1809. Children : Dwight .- Timothy, Chloe and Clarissa.
(VI) Timothy Ensign, son of Warham Williams, was born at West Hartland, Con- necticut, in ISI1, died September 1805. He followed farming in his native and surround- ings towns, and taught school for a number of years. He represented the town many termis in the general assembly of the state and was state senator. He possessed great exec- utive ability and was held in the highest es- teem in the community. He was judge of probate for a number of years. He married Octavia Persis Gaylord, born at West Hart- land. died July 2. 1905, aged eighty years. They had only one child, Warham Howard, mentioned below.
(VII) Warham Howard. son of Timothy Ensign Williams, was born in West Hartland. October 9, 1853. died in Winsted. Connecti- cut. July 14. 1904. He attended the public schools, and the Winchester Institute, under Colonel Ira W. Pettibone, and Williston Sem- inary at Easthampton. Massachusetts. He also took the Chautauqua Literary and Seien- tific Course. He worked on his father's farm during boyhood and until September. ISRI, when he came to Winsted, Connecticut, and commenced his business career. He accepte.1 a clerkship in the Mechanics' Savings Bank and became its secretary in 1886 and hell that office until the time of his death. He was also assistant treasurer. He was also senior partner of the firm of Williams. Hallett & Griswold, investment brokers: director in the Hurlbut National Bank, the Winsted He-iers Company and the Winsted Edge Too! Works; secretary of the Litchfield County Hospital ; treasurer of the Winsted Real E -- tate Company: treasurer of the First School District; treasurer of the First Ecclesia-tical Society and deacon of the First Congrega-
WAS Williams.
1873
CONNECTICUT
tional Church. Mr. Williams was a member of Winsted Lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen. He was a Republican in politics. He represented the town of Hartland in the legislature of the state. He died suddenly, being ill but a week. He underwent an oper- ation for appendicitis.
Rev. George W. Judson, pastor of the First Congregational Church, in a tribute to Mr. Williams at the funeral, said :
"Mr. Williams will be missed-unspeakably missed by his neighbors and friends. None of them are yet able to speak of their loss without a choking voice and tear-filled eyes. His was not a demon- strative nature. but rather the calm, quiet, yet ten- der and true spirit, a nature you could always de- pend upon. Once you had entered into personal friendship with him, you knew you possessed some- thing that would ahide with the passing years. Still waters run deep. Quiet souls are those which ere we realize it, have found a place in the affection of our hearts, a place which is not the vestibule nor the outer court nor the formal audience chamber or re- ception hall, but the living room where love abides. The family circle, the place where we welcome those we love. those who without outward demand. have a heart claim to its warmth and affection and make a place for themselves which is all their own. I do not know a man in this community to whom I would have sooner gone in trouble or perplexity than to him whose absence from our midst makes all hearts mourn to-day. The laborer on our streets. not yet . able to speak our language, knew Mr. Wil- liams for a friend and he was planning to study Italian that he might befriend them better in time to come.
"Mr. Williams will be missed-who of us yet knows how much-in our church. I well remem- ber how he shrank from his election to the office of deacon a few years ago. He dreaded its pub- licity and honor, feeling he did not deserve they should fall to him. I talked with him about it, tell- ing him that to be a deacon meant to be a helper. a helper in church work, a helper to his pastor, a helper to the Lord Jesus Christ, the great head of the church. And that is what Mr. Williams had been before he became deacon, what he has been all these years, a helper of his pastor, by his ap -. preciative hearing of the Gospel message and as- sistance in every good word and work, a helper in bearing the burden of the church's financial sup- port, in its regular expenses, its new church con- struction and its missionary Gospel extension work. A helper in keeping parish accounts and adminis- tering church trust funds, a helper in the Sunday school as nupi! and teacher, a helper in the mid- week service where his prayers were an inspiration and help to us all, a helper in the Men's Club, in which he had a personal interest and took an impor- tant part, believing it capable of great things in benefiting the men of the church as well as those who are without.
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"It goes without saying that our brother was one whose life compared with his religious profession. Religion was life to him, the life which is hid with Christ in God. He had no habits which ran counter to the main purpose of his life, and this fact led his physicians to hope that he might rally from the severe shock, which. he almost did. * * * He had the unreserved confidence and trust of everyone of us. of all his business associates, acquaintances and friends. His word was as good as his bond, and
he was being sought more and more by those who would put trusts both large and small in his hands L'pen such integrity as his the public business wel- fare rests. Without it, each of us would have to hoard his own and find himself able to make little use of it. With it, one and another my unite their little savings and be sharers in the returns which the use of accumulated funds may honorably secure. Upon integrity buttressed by sagacity and business judgment rest the confidence of widows and or- phans in their need, knowing well that their littie is as safe and secure as the investments of the rich and great. Business, in a word. was with Mr. Wil- liam- a public trust and he discharged its obliga- tions in the spirit of the Apostolic injunction, 'Dili- sent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord .* *
Mr. Williams married, September 14, 1881, Sara Gilman, of West Hartland, daughter of Samuel Blakeslee and . Harriet Theresa (Newton) Gilman (see Gilman VII).
(The Gilman Line).
(II) Richard (2) Gilman, son of Richard (I ) Gilman, was born in Hartford, in 1679. ( III) Elias, son of Richard (2) Gilman. died before February 18, 1754. when his es- tate was distributed among his children.
(IV) Elias (2), son of Elias (1) Gilman, was born about 1720. His brother Richard quitclaimed to him, December 23. 1761. He deeded to Josiah Gilman, March 30, 1774. Various other deeds of his are recorded at Hartford. He married twice. His first wife was Sybil -. One child, Epaphras. Sy- bil Gilman died when Epaphras was five weeks old.
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