History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 54

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1532

USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > History of Litchfield county, Connecticut > Part 54

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" We also feel deeply his loss in common with this community, as an honest and capable adviser, a genial companion, and highly-esteemed citizen."

The Winsted Herald under date Aug. 26, 1864, in speaking of Mr. Phelps, said,-

" Althoughi made aware through these columns of the grave nature of his illness, it was with difficulty that our community could be made to believe, still more to realize, last Monday morning, that Mr. William II. Phelps was to bo no more with us except as a sleeper in the churchi- yard.

" The Hurlbut Bank of this village was started some ten years ago, mainly through Mr. Phelps' instrumentality, and it has been under his Bole management, and singularly successful to the present time.

" In this institution he rapidly added to a reputation already high as a financier; and he thus became by degrees a connselor to almost all who have had moneys to invest, throughout & wide regien.

"In this relation he took pleasure and felt an honorable pride. To his credit, be it said, the relation was never abnsed.

"For his advice he asked nothing, and, however trivial the applica- tion, it was met with uniform kindness and attention.

" The woman, anxious for the security of her single hundred, was treated with patience and consideration no less than the affluent posses- sor of thousands, and his assistance was even more cheerfully bestowed.

" In his bank management, though oft quoting and generally adhering to the principle that 'a bank is not a benevolent institution,' he was uniformly liberal, and the IInrlbut Bank, while it has been richly pro- ductive to its stockholders, has always enjoyed the favor of the com- munity as a public benefit.

" As a citizen, the deceased was a man of genuine public spirit, and had be found a co-operative disposition in other citizens equally affiu- ent, he would have done much for Winsted.

" The beautiful park in our East village is a monument to his energy and liberality. Ile has made repeated (but vnin) efforts to bring about the incorporation of a cemetery association suited to the necessities and reputation of the town.

" In the school project which came near success last winter, and fell through only in consequence of lamentable apathy and causelese hes- tility, he was a prime mover. And so we might mention many other public enterprises to which he lent a hearty sympathy; and that he did not go forward alone in them is a mark of good judgment, and not blamable, Had the usual term of life been allotted him, we koow of our own private knowledge that the proofs of his public spirit would have been still mere conspicnous. Socially, the subject of this inade- quate notice had ne vices,-net many were his faults. A varied reading, the cultivation of travel, happy facility at quotation, and ready wit, en- grafted upon an exceedingly social nature, rendered him the choicest of companions.

" Success always attracts admirers ; but the immense concourse which followed to their burial the remains of William H. Phelps on yesterday

were not merely fascinated acquaintances,-they were friends, fastened hy holy ties; and the blow which severed them plunges a large community in deep and abiding sorrow.

" Mr. Phelps was the son of Dr. Lancelet Phelps, of Colebrook, and brother to Judge Phelps, of Essex, in this State. He wae bern in Cole- brook in April, 1818. He commenced life as a clerk with Alpha Sage in his native town, soon after went into mercantile business for himself in Hitchcock ville, removed te Winsted, and from 1846 to 1848 carried on business with Normand Adams. In 1848 he went to Chicago as a partner in the extensive house of Corley, Wadsworth & Phelps. In 1851 returned to Winsted, and in 1854 assumed the position in the Hurlbnt Bank which he continued to hold until his death."

JOHN G. WETMORE.

There is no prouder or more enduring personal record than the story of a self-reliant, manly, and suc- cessful career. It declares that the individual has not only understood his duty and mission, but ful- filled them. The following biography is highly sug- gestive of these facts.

John G. Wetmore, now a leading manufacturer and capitalist of Winsted, Conn., was born in this town April 27, 1817. He was educated at the com- mon schools, and first embarked in business as a mer- chant with the late Lucius Clarke, on the site of the Clarke House. He was also at one time extensively engaged as a builder. He subsequently commenced the manufacture of woolen goods, and finally the manufacture of pins, which he has continued with great success to the present time.

The present flourishing New England Pin Com- pany, of which he is the owner and manager, was or- ganized in 1854 with Mr. Wetmore as general man- ager. It started with but few machines, and those of an old style and of but little value. At this time large quantities of pins were imported, and what was done in this country was monopolized by the Ameri- ean and Howe Pin Companies, for the reason prinei- pally that they held the only patent for stieking pins. Mr. Wetmore determined to invent a new machine for this purpose, and after two years of constant applica- tion, and'an expense of twenty thousand dollars, he per- feeted a machine which would do the work of ten of those owned and operated by the old companies. From this time the New England Pin Company made rapid strides. It purchased from time to time various com- panies, among which were a New Jersey company, a Boston company, the Empire Pin Company of Co- hoes, a Montreal company, the last purchase being the Pyramid Pin Company, a large establishment lo- cated at New Haven. The establishment is furnished with all the modern improvements, and has a capa- city for the manufacture of ten million eight hundred thousand pins daily.

Mr. Wetmore is a public-spirited citizen of enlarged views, and has been untiring in his efforts to build up that portion of the town known as the " Flat," or what might more properly be called the " Centre Vil- lage," which is the northern terminus of the Nauga- tuck Railroad. In 1872 he erected the Winsted

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RESIDENCE OF J. G. WETMORE, WINSTED, CONN.

Um L Gillar

227

WINCHESTER.

Opera-House, one of the finest and most complete in all its appointments in the State. It has seven pri- vate boxes, and a seating capacity of twelve hundred. Mr. Wetmore also erected and owns the fine brick building west of the Clarke House, known as the Wet- more Block.

Politically Mr. Wetmore was formerly a Whig, and is now a Republican. He has held various offices when doing so would advance the interests of the town. Has been selectman, was one of the first offi- . cers of the borough, was warden of the borough in 1862, '63, '64, and '65, and was a member of the Legis- lature in 1861 and '62.

In 1878 he organized the Winsted National Bank, was chosen its president, and is the present incum- bent. The bank is located in the Opera-House Block, in a portion built expressly for that purpose, and is in all respects a complete banking office.

Mr. Wetmore is descended from Thomas Wetmore, who came from the west of England to Boston, Mass., in 1635, in the eleventh year of the reign of Charles I., and was among the early settlers in the Connecti- cut Colony. His father, John Wetmore, was born in Winchester in October, 1780, and Dec. 20, 1802, united in marriage with Huldah, daughter of Thomas Spen- eer. He died in 1823.

Oct. 3, 1841, he united in marriage with Eliza Frisbe Rosseter, of Harwinton, Conn. She died March 9, 1847. Nov. 1, 1848, he married Eliza Phoebe, daughter of Col. Roswell Lee," of Springfield, Mass. They have one child, Eliza R., wife of J. E. Spaul- ding.

Mr. Wetmore's life has been one of steady and ac- tive devotion to business, and his great success has been the natural result of his ability to examine and readily comprehend any subject presented to him, power to decide promptly, and courage to act with vigor and persistency in accordance with his convic- tions.

WILLIAM L. GILBERT.

William L. Gilbert was born in Litchfield, Conn., Dec. 30, 1806; son of James and Abigail (Kinney) Gilbert; the former a native of Woodbridge, the latter of Washington, Conn. Until he wns twenty- two he spent his time mainly on the farm with his father, attending in the winter the district or select schools of the time. From that age he became actively engaged in business. Beginning absolutely without capital, and having no friends or wealthy relatives to fall back upon, his first venture was in company with a brother-in-law in Bristol, Conn., where they made parts of clocks for one of the heavy clock firms there. He ran in debt for the three hun- dred dollars he first put into the business. It goes without saying that his beginnings were humble.

Not until three years had gone by did this young firm consider themselves competent to manufacture a whole clock. Then, with a new start in the adjoin- ing town of Farmington, they became regular clock- makers, and bringing to this business industry and good management, of course prosperity followed.

In 1835 he returned to Bristol, where, with other partners, he did a large and increasingly successful business, until he took up his permanent residence in Winsted in 1841, at which time he with others purchased the Riley Whiting clock-factory.

With a number of different partners at one time and another, and with branches in other places from time to time, the business has been prosecuted at Winsted as headquarters with a constantly increas- ing vigor and energy until the present time. Through all the various changes in the style of the firm Mr. Gilbert has been the leading member, and more or less responsible in the management of the business. In 1866 a joint-stock corporation, The Gilbert Manu- facturing Company, was organized, and carried on the business with largely increasing prosperity until, after fifty years of service, the works were burned, in 1871. Rebuilding in the most approved style was at onec entered upon, and with a special charter from the State, the William L. Gilbert Clock Company now continues the business. Of both the latter organiza- tions Mr. Gilbert was naturally the president, and to both he has given his best efforts. The present cor- poration is, and for years has been, much the largest single industrial establishment in the place. For it and its predecessors the subject of this sketch has never ceased to feel the special interest which one gives to his first love. While active and useful else- where, the clock company has yet been his pet and pride, and to its success he has always contributed a large measure of prudence and sagacity, although for some of the last years the more immediate manage- ment has fallen to others. In the course of between fifty and sixty years the business, like nearly all others, has become revolutionized. Brass wheels have succeeded wooden ones; division of labor has made it possible to produce the several parts with much greater exactness, cheapness, and variety ; styles have changed from the long seven-foot instrument, whose solemn tick is now most eagerly sought by a host of collector», through an infinite number of varieties to the little affair scarcely larger than a watch. Markets are no longer found by the traveling Yankee peddler selling directly to final purchasers, but from head- quarters at New York and elsewhere the entire globe is supplied to a greater or less degree with Connecti- eut clocks. This revolution comes easily within the compass of Mr. Gilbert's lifetime, and to its progress he has given his share of aid, especially by two jour- neys to the Old World to promote markets there for the goods of his firm.

In 1867 the Winsted Bank at West Winsted closed its business, and was succeeded by the private bank-

* Col. Lee was superintendent of the I'nitod States armory at Spring- field from June 1, 1815, lo August 25, 1833.

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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

ing firm of Gilbert & Gay, the partners being the subject of this sketch, and the former president of the bank. A large banking and Western loan business was built up by the new firm, which continued until the election, in 1874, of Mr. Gilbert as president (which position he still holds), and Mr. Gay as cashier of the Hurlbut National Bank. This closed their private banking business, but their Western loan business continues to be carried on at the Hurlbut National Bank, and has grown to large proportions.

Beside the banking and loan business, Mr. Gilbert has been interested in a number of enterprises having a greater or less connection with the growth and wel- fare of the place. He has lent his aid where it would do good to struggling enterprises having in them elements of promise for building up the place of his adoption, and perhaps a fair return for capital invested.

Mr. Gilbert was an earnest friend from the start of the Connecticut Western Railroad, from Hartford to Millerton. N. Y. While in the Legislature of 1868 he gave his best efforts to securing its charter, and on the organization of the company he became a director and its treasurer, which positions he has held through various changes in the company's organization. Al- though not a lucrative pecuniary investment, the road has been and is invaluable to the towns along the line, which are greatly indebted to the efforts and capital of Mr. Gilbert, and those like him, for the measure of prosperity they now enjoy.

Allusion has been made to Mr. Gilbert's presence in the State Legislature. This has twice occurred, in 1848 and 1868. He has not been an office-seeker, nor given his time to politics. Besides the position named he has been postmaster of Winsted. A Whig at first, he gave his adhesion to the Republican party when that organization was formed, and has been its steady supporter ever since.

In 1835, Mr. Gilbert became the husband of Cla- rinda K. Hine, of Washington, Conn., who died in 1874. None of their three children lived till 1860. In 1876 he married, as a second wife, Miss Anna E. Westcott, of New London, Conn.

Mr. Gilbert, at the age of seventy-four, holds his health and vigor to a remarkable degree. His habits are simple and regular, his wants few, his life frugal. He has always been a temperance man in principle and practice. In connection with strict, careful, and methodical attention to business he has developed a capacity for managing and controlling affairs and men that has secured him a large property, and fairly given him a place in the front ranks of the active business men of his native county.

ELIAS E. GILMAN.

Elias E. Gilman was born in West Hartland, Conn., Dec. 22, 1815. He remained on his father's farm until eighteen years of age, when he went to Torringford,

Conn., and began an apprenticeship at the carriage- making business. After remaining here about five years he returned to his native town and established a carriage manufactory, which he conducted until 1854. In that year Mr. Gilman came to Winsted, and three years later, in 1857, became the agent of the Winsted Carriage Company. He managed this business until 1864, when it was closed out, and in 1867 a new carriage company was formed, called the Gilman Carriage Company, of which he was the agent until its property was destroyed by fire a few years later.

Mr. Gilman has ever been an active business man, and every interest looking to the welfare of the town receives his earnest support. He was one of the in- corporators of the Mechanics' Savings Bank in 1875, was also its first treasurer, and has held that position since. He has also been president of the First National Bank of Winsted since its incorporation in 1879, and is a director in the Hurlbut National Bank at West Winsted.

He is a Republican in politics, and has been called to various official positions within the gift of his townsmen. He was appointed postmaster in his native town in 1847, and held that position six years. In Winsted he has officiated in the various town offices : assessor, board of relief, town treasurer, war- den, and burgess of the borough, and in 1866 repre- sented the town in the General Assembly. He was also elected judge of probate in 1871, and is the present incumbent. His popularity and the esteem in which he is held by the people generally was strikingly illustrated at the last election of judge of probate, where he was nominated by both parties. He is a consistent Christian; is a member of the Congregational Church, and has been over forty years. He is prominently identified with church matters ; is a deacon in the First Congregational Church of Win- sted, and also officiated in the same capacity in the church in his native town.

July 4, 1838, he united in marriage with Charlotte Hudson, a native of Torringford, Conn., who died in October, 1852. In January, 1854, he married Sarah Coe, of Wolcottville, Conn.

Although Mr. Gilman has been successful in the various walks of life, he has gained nothing by mere luck, but everything by well-digested plans and the intelligent appreciation of his energies to the end in view. In social life he is gentlemanly and affable ; is a ruling spirit in the church, and one of Winsted's most honored citizens.

JOIIN HINSDALE.

The subject of this sketch is a descendant in the seventh generation from Robert Hinsdale, who was one of the founders of the church at Dedham, Mass., in 1638. His father, Col. Hosea Hinsdale, was born at Berlin, Conn., Feb. 15, 1775, and March 2, 1798,

Eliers Egilman

Doughty, Photographer, Winsted, Conn.

Harvey. B Steele Ms

HIARVEY B. STEELE, the subject of this sketch, is a noble representative of an honorable profession, which ranks among its devotees the leading and progressive spirits of the age. That man who devotes his life-work to the advancement of a noble profession or to the amelioration of the human race well deserves the pen of the chroni- eler of passing events; and such a one is Dr. Steele, who for over thirty years has practiced in Winsted, and is one of the leading physicians of the State. He was born in New Britain, Conn., Feb. 22, 1827. He studied his profession in Hartford, and in 1846 received his diploma and commenced practice in this village, where he has since retained.

Notwithstanding the multifarious duties incident to an active professional career, he has devoted much of his time to the public service, having been honored hy his fellow-citizens with various official positions for which his qualifications so eminently fit him. He was postmaster at West Winsted under Presidents Pierce and Buchanan. He was a member of the General As- sembly in 1873, of the Senate in 1874-75, and again of the Assembly in 1879-80. He took a prominent position in both the House and Senate, and in 1873 was ehair- man of the House committee on finanee, in 1874 of the Senate committee on corporations, in 1875 of cities and boroughs, and in 1879 on humane institutions, and en- grossed bills, the latter one of the most important and laborious in the House. His popularity was strikingly illustrated in 1874, when he received a large majority for senator in a district strongly Republican, his opponent being the Hon. John T. Rockwell, one of the leading Republicans of the State. Dr. Steele is a public-spirited citizen, ever alive to the best interests of the town. He

bas been warden of the borough; also interested in the organization of Company I, of the Fourth Regiment of Connecticut Militia, which was named in his honor the "Steele Guards." During the late Rebellion he was sent by the authorities of the town to the battle-field of Fred- ericksburg, and was indefatigable in his efforts in admin- istering to the wants of the wounded in that sanguinary struggle. Ever ready to respond to the call of duty, he has won an enviable position in the hearts of the people of his adopted town as well as in that noble profession to which he has devoted his life-work. He has also taken a lively interest in Masonie matters, and is one of the best informed members of the fraternity in this section. He was initiated in St. Andrew's Lodge, July 2, 1851, and in 1854 was chosen its Master. He joined Meridian Chapter in 1859, and was High Priest of the chapter, 1860-61. Business outside of his profession has also claimed a portion of his time. He was a director in the Hurtbut National Bank, is a present trustee in the Mechanics' Savings-Bank, and was associated with Col. Batcheller in the manufacture of scythes at Winsted, and was also interested in the Eagle Seythe Works at Riverton for ten years. April 30, 1861, he united in marriage with Mary Mather, a native of this town, who died in 1872.

Dr. Steele is every ready in debate, being a fluent and forcible speaker. He is Democratie in politics, and an able exponent of the underlying principles of that ancient and honored organization. Possessed of a genial and kind nature, affable in his intercourse with bis fel- lows, with a personal character above reproach, he is esteemed and honored as a private eitizen no less than as an able physician and skillful surgeon.

HENRY GAY, cashier of the Hurlbut National Bank, was born at Salisbury, in this county, April 5, 1834. He entered as clerk the store of Robert B. Mitchell, in that town, in the year 1848, where he remained four years. He was then employed in the Tron Bank, at Falls Vil- lage, for two years. In 1854 he removed to Winsted, where he has been constantly con-

nected with the banking institutions of the town. May 20, 1857, he married Charlotte E., daughter of the late Deacon Thomas Watson. They have one child, Mary W. Mr. Gay is now in the prime of life, and has held many offices of honor and trust, and is untiring in the performance of the duties which devolve upon him.

Johan Hinschule

LYMAN BALDWIN.

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WINCHESTER.

united in marriage with Elizabeth Shepard, a native of Hartland, Conn., who died Jan. 25, 1861.

Col. Hinsdale came from Berlin to Winsted in 1802. He was a tanner by trade, and had made arrangements to begin the world in Western New York, but the discovery at that time made of the tanning properties of hemlock bark changed his plans, and he came here to avail himself of the abundance of this material found in our forests.

In addition to the tanning business, he was largely , engaged in public affairs. He was for several years a deputy, under Sheriff Landon, who prided himself on his selection of a staff of not only able, but portly and fine-looking assistants, thereby sustaining the dignity of the county magistracy.

He closed his public life with the presidency of the Litchfield County Temperance Society, which he filled with punctuality and ardent zeal for seven or eight years.

His social qualities were of a high order. His ae- quaintance with men of the county and State was extensive, and his memory of events accurate in a remarkable degree. At ninety he could recall an acquaintance or event of early days with the readi- ness of a young man. He was a reading man, well posted in all current events. In person and manner dignified; fluent and attractive in conversation ; he was the chronicler and patriarch of the village, the last of the generation of men who laid the foundations and controlled the destinies of our community. He died Oct. 21, 1866, aged nearly ninety-two years.

Johu Hinsdale was the seventh child of Col. Hosca and Elizabeth Hinsdale, and was born in Winsted, May 10, 1817. He was educated at the common schools, and at the New Britain High School, of which Elijah Burritt, brother of Elihu Burritt, the learned blacksmith, was principal. In about the year 1833 he went to Hartford as clerk in a mercantile es- tablishment, but the memorable panie of 1837 threw him out of employment, when he came to Winsted and commenced the mercantile business on his own account, This proving unsuccessful, he went into the shop of the Winsted Foundry and Machine Company, and learned the trade of a machinist. lfe subse- quently entered the employ of the old firm of Beardsley & Alvord, where for three years he re- mained as an efficient and trusted clerk. In 1848 he secured the agency for this section of a number of the leading fire insurance companies, and succeeded in building up one of the largest and most lucrative agencies in the State. He retired in 1871, and was chosen president of the Winsted Savings Bank in 1878, a position which he still hokls. Though not seeking official distinction he has discharged faith- fully the duties of many positions which have been literally thrust upon him by his fellow-townsmen, such as selectman, assessor, board of relief, water com- missioner, clerk and treasurer of the borough, etc. He is a Republican in politics, He was a selectman

during the trying times of the Rebellion, and the people still remember how faithfully and disinterest- edly he served their interests. He is a man of first- class business ability and sound judgment, and has been called upon to settle various estates of deceased persons, bankruptcy estates, etc.

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History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 54

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1532

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1532