USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 25
USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 25
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 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86
206
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
WILLIAM E. DOWNES, of New Haven, was born in the town of Milford, Conn., August 22d, 1824, and was the third son of Horatio and Nancy Downes. His paternal grandfather, John Downes, was a soldier in the war of the revolution, and a very interesting relic in the shape of a diary, kept by him from 1764 to 1810, is now in the possession of the family. It contains, with a very few exceptions, an entry for every day during that long period. Through his grandmother, Hannah Stone, the subject of this sketch is in direct line of descent from the Reverend Samuel Stone and the Reverend Thomas Hooker, of Hart- ford. Among her ancestors his mother numbered Governor Robert Treat, the Reverend Samuel Andrews, of Milford, for some years rector of Vale college, and Edmund Tapp, one of the first settlers, and one of the first five judges of Milford. His father had much of the Puritan in his character and aspect, with a brave, warm heart beneath it all; while his mother, of a quiet, gentle nature, was withal so loving and self-sacrificing as to give added worth even to the name of mother.
As a boy Mr. Downes attended the district school in Milford, and afterward completed his studies preparatory to entering college, with the Reverend A. M. Train, of Milford. He entered Yale College in 1841. His first greeting came from Professor Thatcher, and so cor- dial and timely was it that it has never been forgotten. The vigorous insistance afterward on proper Latin accents seemed at times"at vari- ance with the earlier impressions, but was so kindly meant it has long since been forgiven. After three years of hard study, and one of pleasant memory, Mr. Downes, with 73 others, was graduated, James G. Gould, a fine scholar and most gifted man, being the valedictorian. Having chosen the legal profession as his life work, Mr. Downes re- cited for one year to the Hon. Alfred Blackman, of New Haven, now deceased, a kind friend to the student then, and beloved ever after. He then entered the Yale Law School, and after the usual course of study was admitted to the bar of the state of Connecticut in 1848. In December of that year he opened an office in Birmingham, Conn., and began the practice of his profession.
In 1851 he was married to Miss Jane M. Howe, only child of Doctor John I. Howe, then of Birmingham. Doctor Howe began a successful career as resident physician in Bellevue Hospital, New York, but be- coming interested in the manufacture of pins, came to Birmingham to look after his interests in the corporation now known as the Howe Manufacturing Company, of Birmingham, Conn. He was a man of rare ability and attainments, and is widely known as the inventor of of the first practical automatic pin machine.
Mr. Downes continued in the practice of his profession until 1863, when he relinquished it, and succeeded Doctor Howe in the manage- ment of the business of the Howe Manufacturing Company. As a lawyer he gained and kept the confidence, respect and esteem of the community in which he lived, as well as that of his brethren at the
ME Downes
207
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
bar. His business surely and steadily increased as his worth and ability became known, and when he relinquished his practice it was a source of sincere regret to a numerous clientage. He remained in the active management of the Howe Manufacturing Company until 1875, when the burden of the work was turned over to other hands.
Since that time Mr. Downes has not been actively engaged in busi- ness, but in the management of his own affairs, and in the perform- ance of the duties of the many positions of trust and responsibility which he has filled and now fills, he assuredly has not been an idle man. He has been for the past seven years, and now is, president of the Derby Savings Bank. He is a director and member of the execu- tive committee of the Ousatonic Water Company, and a director and valued counsellor and adviser in many other corporations in Derby and elsewhere. With the Ousatonic Water Company he has been promi- nently identified from the beginning, having been employed as one of the counsel to obtain a charter for the company from the legisla- ture of Connecticut.
He has been elected three times as a representative of the town of Derby in the legislature of his state; the first time in 1855, the second in 1882, and the third in 1883. He took a prominent part in the estab- lishment of the "Board of Pardons," and was chiefly instrumental in procuring the passage of the " Act Concerning Insane Persons," in the year 1889, and he modestly says that such satisfaction as he has de- rived from his legislative experience arises from his connection with these two acts. For several years Mr. Downes, at some self-sacrifice, filled the office of justice of the peace in the town of Derby. This would hardly be worthy of mention here but for the fact that to the performance of the duties pertaining to this humble magistracy he brought such rare good sense, ability and impartiality, as to make his incumbency memorable.
In the year 1887 Mr. Downes, with his family, removed from Bir- mingham to New Haven, where he now resides. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Downes are: Mrs. Helen G. Atwater, of Birmingham, Conn .; William Howe Downes, of Boston, Mass., and Mrs. Catherine J. Whiting and John I. H. Downes, of New Haven.
Mr. Downes is possessed of certain qualities rarely found, as in him, in harmonious combination. While a lover of books, and of reading, and with the instincts and tastes of a scholar, he is at the same time a practical man of affairs, with an aptitude for business born of a thor- ough legal and business training, and of a large and varied experience. In the many corporations with which he is connected, his opinion car- ries much weight, and his counsel is rarely disregarded. While mod- est and retiring in disposition, and willing to yield to the judgment of others in matters of minor importance, he is steadfast in matters of principle and loyal to his convictions at all times, without regard to consequences. His conclusions are generally reached only after ma-
208
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
ture reflection and although they are held with firmness, the firmness never degenerates into obstinacy. He has an instinct for justice, and a sense of honor "that feels a stain like a wound." His keen percep- tion of the humorous side of human nature and conduct, coupled with a genial, kindly disposition, make him a delightful companion, and relieve the "prosiness" of many a business meeting.
In politics Mr. Downes has generally acted with the republican party, but he never hesitates to sink his allegiance to party in the higher allegiance to whatever is for the best interests of his country, or of the community in which he lives.
Mr. Downes is a member of the Congregational denomination, but with him religion is an unfolding life rather than a creed.
Simple in his tastes and unostentatious in his manner of life, he finds his chief enjoyment in a pleasant circle of friends and compan- ions and amidst his own family, to whom he has always been devot- edly attached.
DEXTER R. WRIGHT, who was in his day one of the best known and most honored men of the county, was born at Windsor, Vermont, June 27th, 1821, and died at New Haven July 23d, 1886. He was edu- cated at the Wesleyan University, at Middletown, from which he grad- uated in 1845, having as classmates men who became eminent in all the learned professions. In the year Mr. Wright graduated he became the principal of the Meriden Academy, serving in that capacity not quite two years. In 1846 he began the study of law in the office of E. K. Foster, of New Haven, and in 1848 he graduated from the law de- partment of Yale, locating that year at Meriden to follow his profes- sion, in which, in later years, he became so eminent. In 1849 he at- tained his first political distinction, being elected to the state senate from the Sixth senatorial district; but becoming imbuded with the spirit of the "Argonauts" he relinquished these honors and went to California, where he spent two years, much of the time practicing in the territorial courts and helping to shape the destiny of the future state. In 1851 he returned to Meriden, where for eleven years he was one of the leading attorneys of the bar of that town, in whose material development he was also warmly interested.
The civil war received not only his support as one of the most elo- quent speakers in the state, but in 1862 he himself enlisted and was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the 14th Regiment, and later was made the colonel of the 15th Regiment. In August, 1862, he went with his men to the front and was with his command at the battle of Fredericksburg December 13th, 1862. Failing health compelled him to leave the service in 1863, but at home and elsewhere he labored un- ceasingly until the nationality of the union of states was acknowledged supreme.
After the war Colonel Wright removed to New Haven, where he established a law practice which made him one of the most influential
209
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
members of the bar. He was also called to serve in official capacities and was the speaker of the Connecticut house of representatives in 1879. This office he filled with distinguished ability and with so much courtesy that he evoked the admiration of all parties. Although so unremitting in his attention to his profession, Colonel Wright was such an intelligent student and so assiduous in his application to the mastery of any subject, that he acquired a wide range of knowledge in literature and science. until he was one of the best informed men in the county. He had become so familiar with medical studies that the honorary degree of M. D. was given him by a medical college, as a recognition of that knowledge, and degrees were bestowed on him by other institutions of learning, among them being those of master of arts from Wesleyan University and A. M., Causa Honoris, from Trinity College, of Hartford.
HENRY BALDWIN HARRISON, governor of the state of Connecticut from 1885 to 1887, was born in the city of New Haven September 11th, 1821, and received his elementary education in the famous Lancaste- rian school of John E. Lovell, whose assistant he was for several years. Entering Yale, he graduated at the head of the class of 1846, and then began the study of law and its practice with Lucius G. Peck, Esq. Mr. Harrison allied himself with the fortunes of the whig party, which elected lıim state senator in 1854, and from that time he has been more or less active in political matters, as he subsequently became an ardent republican, and was called a number of times to lead the forces of that party. He served his town with distinction and usefulness in the state legislature, and after being once defeated for governor was elected and was the governor two years, very creditably filling that office. His ability as an attorney gave him a reputation not excelled by any other in the state, and his fairness, sincerity and unimpeacha- ble honesty, whether in politics or in business, secured for him great esteem. In public and private affairs he has been progressive, always aiding where it would promote the greatest good. Since 1872 he has been a member of the corporation of Yale College, in whose welfare he has always taken a warm interest. In addition to Governor Harrison, three more of New Haven's attorneys have filled that office: Roger S. Balwin. 1844-6: Henry Dutton, 1854-5; and Charles R. Ingersoll, 1873-7.
ROGER SHERMAN BALDWIN was born in New Haven, January 4th, 1793, and was the second son of Judge Simeon Baldwin. He grad- uated from Yale College in 1811, was admitted to the bar in 1814, and practiced law until his death, February 19th, 1863, except when en- gaged in public capacities. His reputation as a lawyer was not con- fined to the limits of his state, and he was for many years one of the best known men in Connecticut. He was early a pronounced anti- slavery man, and when occasion offered, ably defended the cause of the oppressed Africans. After serving two years as governor he was
210
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTV.
elected United States senator, in 1847, serving a term in that body. In 1860 he was a Lincoln presidential elector, and one of his last publie actions was his service on the "Peace Congress," in 1861. He was a man of very earnest convictions, and everywhere devoted his great powers to to the cause of truth and humanity, being thus a most valu- able citizen.
HENRY DUTTON, LL. D., was born in Plymouth, Conn., February 12th, 1796, and died at New Haven, April 26th. 1869. In 1818 he grad- uated from Vale, where he became a tutor in 1821 After teaching in the college two years he commenced to practice law at Newtown, where he remained until 1837, then removed to Bridgeport. In 1847 he was appointed professor of law at Yale, and then took up his resi- dence at New Haven. He served in both houses of the general as- sembly of the state, and filled the office of governor one term. In 1861 he was elected judge of the supreme court of errors, and served until 1866, when he was unfitted by the constitutional limit of age for longer service. He had a keen, discriminating intelleet, and was an able and sound expounder of the law. In all his life he was pure and upright, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him.
CHARLES ROBERTS INGERSOLL was born in New Haven, September 16th, 1821, and is a son of Ralph I. Ingersoll. He was educated at the Hopkins Grammar School and at Yale, graduating in 1840. In 1845 he was admitted to the bar of New Haven county, and has been a law- yer ever since. He represented New Haven in the state legislature four terms. In 1873 he was elected by the democrats as the governor, and was reelected, serving until January, 1877. He declined a re- nomination, although strongly urged to again allow the suffrage of the state to be cast for him. He is able and popular in public and private life.
JAMES MULFORD TOWNSEND, New Haven, Conn., is the son of William Kneeland and Eliza Ann (Mulford) Townsend, and was born in New Haven, January 20th, 1825, and is seventh in descent from Thomas Townsend, or Townshend, who settled in Lynn, Mass., in 1683. He descended from good revolutionary stock, his grandfather, Isaac Townsend, having enlisted at the age of 16 years, and served until the close of the war for independence.
On the east side of New Haven harbor runs north and south for a considerable distance a ridge of elevated land, sloping down westward to the water's edge. It is called " Bay Ridge." There are beautiful and picturesque landscapes along its western sides, and one of the most beautiful of these is situated about three miles southeast of the New Haven Green, on Townsend avenue. Here is "Raynham," the estate of the late William Kneeland Townsend, and the family home of his sons. Here reside James M. and George H. Townsend, the second and third sons of the family, who are living on the land their ancestors bought of the Indians, in addition to the original grant to their ancestors made over 200 years ago.
211
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
"Raynham" is an imported name. It is in England the ancient family seat of the Townsends, and comprises 22,000 acres. The old moated Hall, located in the park, near the church by the river side, and builded of Roman brick, A. D., 1200, is a picturesque ruin. The family mansion is in the center of the 22,000 acres, and on either side of the same is a lawn of 400 acres. It was builded by Sir Roger Towns- hend, the Puritan baronet, early in the seventeenth century (1630). Sir Roger died January 1st, 1637, aged 41 years.
" Raynham " in England had at that date been the residence of the Townsend surname nearly 400 years, for as early as February 16th, 1466, a Townsend will directs that the body of the testator be buried in "the church of St. Mary's, Raynham." But the present mansion, which has sheltered so many generations since, was builded by Sir Roger Townshend, the Puritan baronet, in 1630. When in England in 1891, the subject of this sketch, together with his grandson, Winston Trowbridge Townsend, visited the old family mansion at " Raynham " upon invitation of the present owner (the most Noble The Marquis Townsend, whom Mr. Townsend met in Paris, and received from the Marquis a most cordial reception). The parties in charge of Raynham Hall entertained Mr. Townsend and his grandson most hospitably, and upon leaving gave them a large hamper filled with most delicious hot house grapes (and other fruits), some of them lasting until their arrival home in New Haven, Conn., and on the day of sailing a basket of most beautiful flowers Mr. Townsend received from the Raynham Hall garden.
In family loyalty the ancient name has been given to the beautiful estate, " Raynham," on the east side of the New Haven harbor. This " Raynham " was purchased by William Kneeland Townsend, father of James M., from his father and uncle some years before retiring from mercantile pursuits in 1830. It was part of the original grant of the New Haven colony to William Tuttle, the maternal ancestor of his wife. At the same time it included land purchased from the In- dians. There William K. Townsend passed the remainder of his life, occupying his time in scientific agriculture, and bringing up his family in enterprising American fashion.
When the school days of James M. were over, he became clerk in an importing house in New York. Then for three years he carried on the clothing trade in New Haven, the firm being Knevals, Hull, Townsend & Maltby. But retiring from mercantile life, he became secretary and treasurer, and afterward president of the City Savings Bank of New Haven. He has served in several prominent financial positions besides. He has been a director of the Quinnipiac (now Yale National) Bank, and also for 16 years a director of the New Haven Bank, in which his father, grandfather and great-grandfather served as directors. He has also been director, vice-president and president of the Shore Line Railroad Company, a director of the
212
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
New Haven & Derby Railroad Company, a director of the New Haven Clock Company, and also a director and treasurer of the Gettysburg Railroad Company, Pennsylvania, besides being a life director of a number of public societies of New Haven, executor and trustee of large estates in Connecticut and western states, also director in rail- road and other corporations in other states.
These meager outlines of business relations are only suggestive of many others, and of Mr. Townsend's prominence in the financial world. The positions of trust he has refused far outnumber those he has accepted. In all these relations he exhibited untarnished honesty and integrity, adorned by careful attention to business trusts. There is one enterprise of his business life which cannot be passed over without a more particular notice. It concerns the development of the petroleum industry in this country. (See Atwater's " History of the City of New Haven," McCarthy's " History of Petroleum," and Pro- fessor I. L. Newburry, LL. D., of Columbia College, New York, article in Harper's Magasine for October, 1890). The presence of "rock oil " in the earth has been known for a very long period, but how to obtain it in large quantities so as to make it a commercial product was a puzzle to both capital and labor waiting for employment. The Penn. Rock Oil Company had been organized in 1856, and had purchased some 1,200 acres of land. together with a leasehold right to all the rights and values lying below the surface of the ground on the prop- erty adjoining the purchase, if evidence of oil should appear there, or upon which it was supposed oil could be found, which lease ex- tended to a large area of Oil creek. Mr. James M. Townsend, of New Haven, was one of the chief stockholders. It was the company's policy to sublet rights to lessees for working on the oil district, and to receive a royalty on the product. But in October, 1857, a lessee in New York discovered what he regarded as a serious defect in the title by which the Penn. Rock Oil Company held its Oil Creek property, and grasped at the discovery as an excuse for throwing up his lease. The prospects of the company became greatly clouded, but one man, Mr. Townsend, did not lose faith in the venture.
Mr. E. L. Drake was at that time a conductor on the New York & New Haven railroad, and like Mr. Townsend, boarded at the Tontine Hotel in New Haven. Weary and sick, Mr. Drake inquired of Mr. Townsend what topics of special interest were filling his thoughts, and conversation drifted to the condition in which the Penn. Rock Oil Company found itself. As Mr. Drake needed recreation, since he was just recovering from a severe fever, Mr. Townsend pro- posed that he should go to the company's property in Pennsylvania, examine it, perfect the title, and report what he might find. Mr. Townsend furnished Mr. Drake with the essential equipment in money, and he visited the oil regions. He reported that the oil, pos- sessing medicinal properties confirmed by the Seneca Indians as a cure
Daily Downsendp
213
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
for rheumatism, could be collected in paying quantities, and sold by the bottle or the gallon. Upon the strength of this report, Mr. Town- send at once organized " The Seneca Oil Company," putting Mr. Drake forward in the organization in place of himself, and furnishing nearly all the capital.
Immediately after the organization of the company the bulk of the stock, taken in Mr. Drake's name, was transferred to Mr. Townsend, who had furnished the money, and Mr. Drake was appointed manager on the field, voted a salary of $100 a month and entrusted with $1,000 to proceed to Oil Creek and begin operations. But progress was słow and discouraging. It was proposed at last to bore a well after the manner of the salt wells of New York. The salt works at Syracuse, N. Y., were visited and a well borer secured, but the process of boring rock was slow in those days, and as the months passed by several of the stockholders lost faith in the plan of boring and fell out of the company. At last only two were left and Mr. Townsend, who was the principal capitalist and had been the most enthusiastic, was one of them. He sent forward as a last installment of money $500, with instructions to Mr. Drake that if he had not "struck oil" by the time the money reached him, to settle all bills, pack up and come home. But on the day before the money arrived-the memorable 29th of August, 1859-the auger, now down 68 feet, fell through into the oil reservoir, and the oil flowed up to within a few feet of the surface. This was the opening of the great industry in "Rock Oil," which has since grown to such enormous proportions in the market quotations of the world. Mr. Townsend gave his brother, Captain Chas. H. Town- send (who commanded the steamships "Fulton" and "Ontarion" to Havre), a small bottle of the oil, which was probably the first petroleum ever taken to Europe. Captain Townsend had an analysis made by a celebrated French chemist, who reported "the lubricating, illuminat- ing and other qualities are such if there is much of it in your country it will revolutionize the world."
The Venango Spectator, published in the very heart of the oil conn- try, says of Mr. Townsend: "Drake was in fact his foreman. It is no more than right that Mr. Townsend should have at least a full share of the honors of a pioneer in developing the great product which has revolutionized the world. If General Grant captured Vicksburg, Mr. Townsend bored the first successful oil well in Venango county."
But other phases of character in Mr. Townsend appear as conspicu- ous as the very honorable part he has borne in business, and a sketch of him would be very incomplete without a view of them. From boy- hood days he has been greatly interested in military organization and military movements. The peculiar manners of the military chieftain are natural to him and the liking for military life drew him into membership of the New Haven Grays, of which company he is now the living senior captain. The "Grays" is a military organization dating from 1816
214
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
or the close of the war of 1812, and is proud of its history. Young Mr. Townsend entered with all ardor into the life of the company and when only 21 years of age, became captain. Though from fail- ing health he was obliged soon to retire from his position, his en- thusiasm remained at its height. Later he was again called to the captaincy and was always one of the most popular commanders.
But the country was advancing to the war of the rebellion. Mr. Townsend deprecated the drift of events and favored at the begin- ning some compromise that would save the slaughter of America's sons, but when the first gun of the rebels emptied its terrible charge upon Fort Sumter, all hesitancy and compromise as a policy to be followed passed out of his thoughts, and Mr. Townsend's ardor to vindicate the authority of the old flag kindled to a white heat. The "Grays" went to the front, and Mr. Townsend out of his private purse did much for the equipment and comfort of the company in re- spects not provided by the government.
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.