History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 111

Author: Burpee, Charles W. (Charles Winslow), b. 1859
Publication date: 1928
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1390

USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III > Part 111

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His interest in community affairs was shown in his connection with the Hart- ford Chamber of Commerce, of which he was a director, and his service as a trustee of the Suffield School. As a republican he supported those political principles which he deemed essential elements in good government. He was well known in club circles, having membership in the Hartford, Hartford Golf and University clubs, all of Hart- ford, and in the Yale Club of New York. His social qualities attracted to him many friends, all of whom esteemed him for his geniality and kindly spirit as well as for those strong and sterling qualities which gained him prominence in business.

EDWARD HART FENN

Special training in the educational field and comprehensive experience in the field of journalism well qualified Edward Hart Fenn for service in the legislative halls of the nation in which he is now a member. He had aided in shaping the history of his state as assemblyman and as senator and his capability and loyalty therein displayed led to his selection for still higher political honors.

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, September 12, 1856, he is a son of Edward Hart and Frances Pitkin (Talcott) Fenn. The paternal and maternal ancestral line are of equal interest and antiquity. Ten years after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth Rock, Benjamin Fenn, who was born in Whittington, Musworth, England, in 1612, arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and was one of the proprietors of that city in 1637 at which time he was a young man of but twenty-five years. He afterward established his home in New Haven, where he filled the office of magistrate and in 1653 was representative to the general assembly, and subsequently he lived in Milford, Connecticut. He filled the position of assistant from 1665 to 1672, when he passed away, leaving a large estate in America and in County Bucks, England, the latter being inherited by his son Samuel. On the 12th of March, 1664, he had married Susannah Ward, whose will, dated September 9, 1674, was made when she was about to embark for England, where she probably passed away, as the inventory of her estate was filed in November, 1676, and among her beneficiaries was her mother, Susannah Ward, of Buckley, County Worcester, England. Lieutenant James Fenn, the youngest child of Benjamin and Susannah (Ward) Fenn, was born May 14, 1672, and established his home in Milford, Connecticut, also owning land in Water- bury, this state. His wife, Johanna Prudden, who was born in May, 1676, was a granddaughter of Rev. Peter Prudden, who was born in England in 1600 and who owned a goodly estate at Edgeton, Yorkshire, from which his heirs received rental for several generations. He accompanied the Rev. John Davenport to Boston, Massa- chusetts, lived in New Haven in 1638 and became the first pastor at Milford, Con- necticut, the following year. In England he married Johanna Boyce, who died in 1654. Their son, Samuel Prudden, born in Milford in 1644, was married December 31, 1669, to Grace Judson, who was born February 19, 1657, and was a granddaughter of William Judson who was born in Yorkshire and died July 29, 1662, in New Haven,

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Connecticut. He had become a resident of Concord, Massachusetts, in 1634, later lived in Hartford, went to Milford in 1639 and afterward resided in Stratford and New Haven. His wife, Grace, died in 1659. They were parents of Joseph Judson, who was born in England in 1619 and was an ensign and lieutenant in King Philip's war, while in 1655 he served as deputy to the general court from Stratford and died October 8, 1690. On the 24th of October, 1644, he had married Sarah, daughter of John and Rose Porter. She was born in 1627 and died March 16, 1697. Her daughter, Grace Judson, who became the wife of Samuel Prudden, was the grandmother of Johanna Prudden, who married Lieutenant James Fenn.

The son of this last marriage was John Fenn, who was born in 1714 and died September 4, 1793. His wife, who in her maidenhood was Susannah Gibson, was born in 1727, was a daughter of Gamaliel and Susannah Gibson and died February 13, 1797. Her son, Captain Aaron Fenn, was born in Milford, December 1, 1746, and in 1767 established his home in that part of Waterbury, Connecticut, which subse- quently became Watertown and afterward Plymouth, his home being on a tract of land which he inherited from his grandfather, Lieutenant James Fenn, and a part of this homestead is still in possession of his descendants. His wife was Mary Bradley, of Woodbridge, and their eldest child was Lyman Fenn, born August 26, 1770. Hart Fenn, undoubtedly a son of Lyman Fenn, was born in Plymouth about 1800, became a wheelwright and carriage builder and died at the age of thirty-seven, survived by his widow, Belinda Blakeslee, who was born in Plymouth in 1806 and passed away in 1876.

Their son, Edward Hart Fenn, born about 1830, married Frances Pitkin Talcott, who traced her ancestry to the Worshipful Mr. John Talcott, founder of the family in Connecticut and of English descent, the first of the name in America having come from Warwickshire to County Essex. Their coat of arms is:

Arms-Argent, on a pale sable, three roses of the field. Crest-A demi-griffin erased, argent, wings endorsed collared sable, charged with three roses of the first. Motto-Virtus Sola Nobilitas.

A descendant of the Warwickshire family was John Talcott, living in Colchester, County Essex, England, prior to 1558, and there he passed away near the close of 1606. He married a daughter of the Wells family who became the mother of John . Talcott, of Braintree, Essex, England, who died early in 1604. His wife, Ann, was the daughter of William Skinner, of Braintree, and to their marriage was born a son, John Talcott, who on the 22d of June, 1632, sailed on the ship "Lion" for New England, settling at Cambridge, where he was admitted a freeman, November 6, 1632. He held other offices and owned large landed interests in the town but in 1636 sold his property there and joined Rev. Thomas Hooker's company, becoming one of the founders of Hartford, where the previous year he had sent Nicholas Clark, a car- penter, to build him a house which stood on the present site of the North Baptist church. He it was who filled many positions of honor and trust in the colony and was called the Worshipful John Talcott. His wife, Dorothy Mott, daughter of John and Alice (Harrington) Mott, of Wiston, County Suffolk, England, died in February, 1670, having for ten years survived her husband. Their grandson, Joseph Talcott, was governor of Connecticut from 1724 until 1741. His second son, Captain Samuel Talcott, probably born in Cambridge about 1635, died in Wethersfield, Connecticut, November 11, 1691. He was a Harvard graduate of 1658, was admitted a freeman in 1662, was commissioner in Wethersfield from 1669 until 1684 and through the same period was deputy to the general court. In 1679 he became a lieutenant of the Wethersfield Train-Band and on the 16th of October, 1681, was chosen captain of the troop of Hartford county. At the outbreak of King William's war in 1670 he commanded a company of dragoons and he served as assistant during the Andrus administration from 1683 until his death save the year 1688. On the 7th of Novem- ber, 1661, he had married Hannah Holyoke, daughter of Captain Elezur and Hannah (Pyncheon) Holyoke and granddaughter of William Pyncheon, who founded Spring- field. She died in Wethersfield, February 7, 1678.

Samuel Nathaniel Talcott, youngest child of Captain Samuel and Hannah (Holy- oke) Talcott, was born in Wethersfield, January 28, 1678, and built a house in Glas- tonbury long occupied by his descendants. He was a deacon of the church, lieutenant of the Glastonbury Train-Band in 1733, captain, 1738, representative, 1735, and died January 30, 1758. He married, March 18, 1703, Elizabeth March born 1693, died August 26, 1768. Their third son, Joseph Talcott, born 1722, in Glastonbury, lived

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in that town, where he died June 30, 1788. He married Sarah Kilborn, born January 21, 1725, died December 29, 1748, daughter of Abraham and Mary (Tudor) Kilborn. Their second son, Abraham Talcott, born March 31, 1757, in Glastonbury, married Bathshebah Hale, of that town, born February 10, 1761, daughter of Daniel Hale. Their youngest child was Ansel Talcott, born September 8, 1789. He married Emily Robbins. Their youngest child, Frances Pitkin Talcott, born September 15, 1830, became the wife of Edward Hart Fenn. Their children were: Louis Hart, who was born in 1853 and died in 1859; Edward Hart; and Francis Hart, who was born in 1859 and died in 1886.

The youthful days of Edward Hart Fenn were largely devoted to the acquirement of a grade and high school education in his native city and for three years he was a student at Yale as a member of the class of 1879 but left college to enter upon a journalistic career. He was associated with the Hartford Post for several years, becoming city editor, and afterward was well known in connection with the Hartford Courant until 1909, when he responded to a call for service in the legislature. He had previously acted as special writer in reporting legislative activities for a number of years and had been state editor on the Courant from 1878 until 1907. In the latter year he was elected to represent Wethersfield in the lower house of the general assembly and in 1908 was chosen by the largest vote ever cast in the fourth district for the office of state senator, serving in the sessions of 1909 and 1911 as chairman of the committees on fish and game and on labor. He was also as a member of the federal relations committee, being chairman altogether of five committees during the two sessions. Later he was appointed to the state fish and game commission by Governor Weeks. In 1915 he was returned to the house of representatives and in 1921 became a member of the sixty-seventh congress. He continues in the halls of national legislation to the present time through reelection and has done not a little to shape public thought and action in congress. His reelections are the evidence of public faith in his ability and his loyalty to the welfare of the country. He is now chairman of the census committee and a member of the banking and currency committee, the World war veterans legislative committee and the labor committee.

On the 30th of June, 1902, Mr. Fenn married Margaret Bacon Clark, of Old Lyme, Connecticut, daughter of Erastus and Emily (Bacon) Clark, and she numbers among her ancestors John Hancock and Abraham Clark, both of whom signed the Declaration of Independence. The latter was born February 15, 1726, in Elizabeth- town, New Jersey, and filled various public offices, acting as sheriff, as a delegate to the Continental congress from June, 1776, until November, 1783, except in the year 1779. When America declared her independence he became a member of the state legislature and in 1790 he was elected to congress, where he served until his death, on the 15th of September, 1794, at Rahway, New Jersey. He was mar- ried in 1743 to Sarah Hapfield, of Elizabethtown, and it was his descendant, Margaret Bacon Clark, who became the second wife of E. Hart Fenn. By his first wife Mr. Fenn had two sons and a daughter: Hart Conklin, Francis Talcott and Isabel Shepard. His residence is one of the old historic places of Hartford-the Silas Deane mansion on Main street in Wethersfield, built in 1776, at which George Washington was enter- tained in that year, when he was on his way to take command of the army at Boston. The property was purchased by Mr. Fenn's mother about 1874 and has been occupied by him since 1899.

Mrs. Margaret Bacon (Clark) Fenn belongs to the Daughters of the American Revolution and Mayflower Society and has taken active part in Red Cross work and in many movements leading to social and moral progress in her community.

Another chapter of interest in the life history of Mr. Fenn concerns his military record, covering service with the National Guard as a member of Company F, Fifth Regiment, in which he served for five years, and he was formerly major of the Veteran Association of this regiment. He belongs to the Republican Club of Hartford and has been identified with various measures for local advancement, having served as vice president of the Association for the Improvement of the Lower Connecticut river, as a commissioner of the Wethersfield fire district and as a director of the State Business Men's Association. He is identified with various patriotic societies, including the Connecticut Society of Sons of the Revolution, of which he has been secretary, the Society of Founders and Patriots and the Connecticut Historical Society. Along fraternal lines he is a Mason, having attained the Knight Templar degree in the York Rite and the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite. The principles that

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govern his conduct are further indicated in his connection with the Congregational church and his more strictly social interests come through his connection with the Hartford Club, and the National Press Club, the Metropolitan Club and the Con- gressman Country Club, all these of Washington, D. C. His entire career is in harmony with that of an honored ancestry, connected through many generations with the progress and upbuilding of the state-a work to which he has made valuable contribution, while national affairs have also been safeguarded and directed by his ability and devotion to country.

HERBERT ELMER PUTNAM

Every face bears the impress of the character within, and the outstanding qualities of Herbert Elmer Putnam-forcefulness, fairness and determination-have left their impress upon his countenance and have found expression in his business career. He is conducting a general concrete construction business of large propor- tions and measures up to the high standards of the modern-day executive who not only accomplishes his present-day tasks but looks forward to the future and formu- lates his plans according to the opportunities of the oncoming time.

Herbert Elmer Putnam was born in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, November 5, 1865, being the second of the children of Francis Emery and Theodosia Victoria (Graves) Putnam and a representative in the tenth generation of a family of English origin mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1660 and then known by the name of Puttenham. The coat-of-arms was: Arms-Sable between eight crosses, crosslet fitchee, argent a stork of the last, beaked and legged gules. Crest-A wolf's head gules.

John Putnam, of Aston Abbott, Bucks county, England, born about 1580, came to New England about 1634, accompanied by his wife, whose maiden name was Priscilla Gould. He was admitted to the Salem church in 1641 and he died Decem- ber 30, 1662. Deeds in his handwriting are still extant and show him to have been a good penman. His eldest son, Lieutenant Thomas Putnam, baptized at Aston Abbott, March 7, 1614, died in Salem, Massachusetts, May 5, 1686. He was in the Narragansett fight. At Lynn, Massachusetts, August 17, 1643, he married Ann Holyoke and they were grandparents of Major General Israel Putnam and great- grandparents of Major General Rufus Putnam. After the death of his first wife Lieutenant Thomas Putnam was married September 14, 1666, to Mary, widow of Nathaniel Veren.

Sergeant Thomas Putnam, son of Lieutenant Thomas and Ann (Holyoke) Put- nam, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, January 12, 1652, was the largest taxpayer there and a man of great influence. He was married September 25, 1678, to Ann Carr and their son, Seth Putnam, was born in Salem in May, 1695, passing away in Charlestown, New Hampshire, November 30, 1775, his tombstone bearing the in- scription: "The memory of the just is blessed." On September 16, 1718, he married Ruth Whipple and their sixth son, Thomas Putnam, was born in Billerica, Massa- chusetts, October 22, 1728, while he died in Charlestown, New Hampshire, August 20, 1814. He took part in the French and Indian wars, was active in the work of the church and filled various public offices. In Lunenberg, Massachusetts, January 24, 1754, he married Rachel Wetherbee, of Charlestown, Massachusetts. They were the parents of Thomas Putnam (II) who was born in Lunenberg in 1758 and was prob- ably the ancestor of Seth Putnam, who was born in 1788. Seth Putnam (III) was born February 8, 1788, in Vermont and journeyed by ox team to the wilderness of New York, where he became a pioneer lumberman. He married Jane K. Hall. The eldest of their family of six sons and one daughter was Joshua Lancaster Putnam, who was born in Concord, Vermont, and was associated with his brother, Franklin Putnam, in lumber manufacturing. He married Lorinda Wedge and they became the parents of Francis Emery Putnam, who was born January 9, 1840. He was but seven years of age at the time of his mother's death. He received few educational or other advantages, but a laudable determination to advance in life and win success brought its substantial rewards in due course of time. In young manhood he pur- chased a farm in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, and he used the timber upon his place to good advantage, developing a large lumber business and operating several

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(Photograph by The Johnst( ne Studio)

HERBERT E. PUTNAM

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mills. He acquired numerous other tracts of timber land until the family owned over eleven hundred acres of land from which the timber had been cut. He also had six hundred acres of cleared land on his farm and his progressive methods resulted in the successful production of general crops. During the Civil war he en- gaged in building bridges for the government and was honorably discharged after hostilities had ceased. He ranked as a public-spirited citizen as well as a representa- tive business man and enjoyed the high regard of all who knew him. His wife, Theodosia Victoria (Graves) Putnam, was born in Harpersville, New York, and was a daughter of George Graves. Their family numbered twelve children. In the affairs of his community the father took an active part. He was particularly prom- inent in the work of the church and for forty years served as class leader and was also Sunday school superintendent. He passed away in 1911, leaving behind him not only a substantial fortune but also the priceless heritage of a good name.

His son, Herbert Elmer Putnam, began his education in the public schools of his native town, also attended the Starrucca public school, the Millerville State Normal School and a boys' school at Alford Center, New York. His home training was that of the farm-bred boy and he received the further advantage of business training under the direction of his father, whom he assisted until he had attained his majority, after which for four years he was very active in the management of the business that had been established and promoted by his father. There was an excellent stone quarry on the home farm and shortly before his marriage Mr. Putnam acquired a half interest in the business of operating this quarry, of which he subsequently became sole owner. Thus he took the initial step which brought him to his present business connections. It was a desire to afford his daughters better educational opportunities that led him to establish his home in Hartford in 1899, at which time he began business as a contractor. However, he continued to operate the quarry for a couple of years but found it difficult to manage the industry, which was so far distant from his home. On his early days in Hartford he took contracts for laying sidewalks but gradually increased the scope and character of his activities until today he does a general concrete construction business, doing every kind of concrete work and also handling an extensive trade in mason's supplies. He has worked diligently and persistently, never stopping short of the successful accomplishment of his purposes, and his unfaltering industry and determination have enabled him to overcome many difficulties and obstacles and advance steadily to the goal of success.

Mrs. Herbert E. Putnam was in her maidenhood Miss Mary Louisa Cook, a daughter of Francis O. Cook, of Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, and they are the parents of two daughters and a son: Macy Marie, who was graduated from Holyoke College in 1917; Alma Lucile, who was graduated from the Girls' Seminary of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1919; and Herbert Elmer, Jr. The religious faith of the family is that of the First Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which Mr. Putnam has taken an active and helpful interest, serving as a trustee and also as chairman of the finance committee. He belongs to the Rotary Club and is in accord with its high ideals as to citizenship and civic duty. He also exemplifies in his life the basic principles of Masonry and has membership in St. John's Lodge, No. 4, F. & A. M .; Washington Commandery, No. 1, K. T .; the Connecticut Consistory; and Sphinx Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He has never sought to figure prominently in public connections, but each day has marked off steady progress in his business and fidelity to duty in every relation of life.

SOUTH MANCHESTER LIBRARY

About 1850, during the early history of the Cheney silk industry, when many of the operations were performed by hand, a group of ten Manchester girls worked to- gether skeining silk in what was known as the Old Mill. Their work was of a monotonous variety, involving no machinery, and it was found that by having one of their number read aloud while the others toiled, more was accomplished and the tedium of the labor was forgotten. Their petition for the establishment of a library was favorably received and a set of Harper's Family Library in two hundred and twenty-five volumes was purchased for a beginning. The books were housed at first in the office of Cheney Brothers and then in the basement of Cheney Hall. From

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1880 until the fire of 1913 the library was situated in comfortable and attractive quarters in a converted dwelling house on Wells street. During these years a reading room with periodicals was added and the books were made available generally to the townspeople. After the fire, the books, which had been saved by prompt action, were installed in the Eldridge homestead on Main street. In this more central loca- tion the use of the library was greatly increased. In 1923 Cheney Brothers trans- ferred the books and equipment of the library to the ninth school district and since then the library has been supported by an appropriation from the district and an additional gift from Cheney Brothers which covers building maintenance expenses. There is one branch library located in the West Side Recreation building. The library now contains twenty-two thousand volumes and during the past year had a circula- tion of eighty-one thousand books. It has steadily grown in extent and usefulness, becoming a strong force for cultural development and a great asset to the community.

CHARLES EDWARD GROSS

Among those whose lives have conferred honor upon the city of Hartford is numbered Charles Edward Gross, who passed away December 31, 1924. Few have been more widely or sincerely mourned because of his high standing as a member of the bar, because of his loyal and patriotic citizenship and because of his devotion to all of the highest ideals in his relations with his fellowmen. Eminent ability commanded for him the respect of all, while cordiality, friendliness and consideration gained for him the warmest personal regard.

He was born in Hartford, August 18, 1847, and the ancestral line is traced back to Isaac Gross, who it is believed was born in or near Cornwall, England. Coming to the new world with his brother Edmond, he settled in Boston, Massachusetts, where his name was variously spelled as Groce, Grose and Grosse. The records show that Isaac Gross was admitted to the Boston church April 17, 1636, but later accepting the teachings of Wheelwright he was dismissed from that church to Exeter, New Hampshire, January 6, 1638. In 1636 he had received a grant of land in the great allotment at what is now Brookline and after his dismissal to Exeter he re- turned again to Boston, where his will was proved June 5, 1649.

Clement Gross, son of Isaac and Ann Gross, was born in England and accom- panied his parents to Boston. His son, Simon Gross, was born in Boston in 1650 and died in Hingham, Massachusetts, April 26, 1696. Simon's second son, Thomas Gross, was born at Hingham in 1678, and resided in that town and at Eastham, Massa- chusetts. Thomas married in 1709 Experience Freeman, daughter of Lieutenant Edmund and Sarah (Mayo) Freeman, a granddaughter of Major John and Mercy (Prence) Freeman, a great-granddaughter of Governor Thomas and Patience (Brew- ster) Prence and a great-great-granddaughter of Elder William Brewster, who came to the new world on the Mayflower. Experience (Freeman) Gross also traced her ancestry to Edmund Freeman, the pioneer, and Rev. John Mayo, the pioneer clergy- man. Their eldest child, Freeman Gross, was born at Eastham, or Truro, about 1710-11 and died in 1742. He joined two of his uncles at Hartford, Connecticut, and was admitted to the Hartford church October 15, 1732. Freeman Gross married Susannah Bunce. Their son, Thomas Gross, who was born in 1738, married Huldah Seymour, a daughter of Richard Seymour and a descendant of Richard Seymour, who was one of the original proprietors of Hartford in 1639. Thomas Gross died August 26, 1773, and his widow removed with her children to Litchfield, Connecticut.

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History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928. Volume III, Part 111

Author: Burpee, Charles W. (Charles Winslow), b. 1859 Publication date: 1928 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Number of Pages: 1390

Author: Burpee, Charles W. (Charles Winslow), b. 1859
Publication date: 1928
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1390