USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 70
USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 70
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 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96
The boyhood of A. G. De Wolfe was spent in Morris, where he re- ceived a very limited common school education, as he was early put to work in his father's shop. Here he gave the first evidence of his strong perceptive faculties and great mechanical skill. When but 14 years of age he built a lathe without having one to pattern after, and had become very skillful in mending guns, watches and other machin- ery. In May, 1826, when he was not yet 16 years old, he went to Goshen, where he engaged to build a set of clock making machinery, and by the following October had performed that work, so that his em- ployer, A. Hart, was enabled to turn out 5,000 clocks per year. He next went to Plymouth Hollow, the same fall, where he was engaged by Eli and Henry Terry, at that time making wooden clocks, and for five years was their tool maker and general machinist, often working 15 hours per day. In this period the making of wooden clocks was at its height and the business was very active.
Having attained his majority, he associated himself, in the fall of 1831, with a man by the name of Dennison, to go to Havana, Cuba, to build and set up Jennings' camphene street lamps. They sailed on a brig from New York, which experienced heavy seas off Cape Hatteras, which damaged the vessel, but it finally reached Charleston harbor in safety. Here their plans were changed, and the two young adventu- rers went to Georgetown, S. C., where De Wolfe worked in a gun shop. In the summer of 1832 he went to New York, where he was employed in the shops of Pike, the philosophical instrument maker. The fol- lowing year he worked for E. & G. W. Bunt, makers of mathematical and nautical instruments, of the same city. In the meantime a second sojourn in the South, the previous winter, had impaired his health to
598
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
such an extent that he was advised to take an extended sea voyage to improve it. Accordingly, he and a companion determined to join a whaling expedition. In the fall of 1834 they shipped from New Bed ford, Mass., and after three years, three months and twenty days re turned home in rugged health. Much of this time De Wolfe served as the blacksmith of the vessel, without having any previous experi- ence in that work.
In 1837 he was again at Thomaston, where he arranged the ma- chinery in the Terry shops for the manufacture of woolen goods. He next built machinery for Seth Thomas, of the same place, for making brass clocks, and remained several years at that village. In 1846 he moved to Springfield, Mass., where he was associated with others as the Wasson Car Works, which enterprise was for a time very success- ful. He next removed to Harlem, in 1850, where he carried on a ma- chine shop, and there began his work as a builder of rubber making machinery, which led him into his later avocation, in which he attained distinguished success, and wherein he holds a place as a mechanical genius of more than ordinary ability. About this time he entered into the service of the New York Toy Company, of Staten Island, and in 1853 devised a method of pressing into shape hard rubber goods out of rubber dust, scraps or plates, which was successfully applied by the Novelty Rubber Company to the manufacture of rubber buttons, etc. That industry was established at Beacon Falls in 1855, with ma- chinery arranged by A. G. De Wolfe. This company soon removed to New Brunswick, N. J., where he also went for a short time.
In these years Mr. De Wolfe had associated with Henry B. Good- year and other inventors and experimenters of rubber goods, and had himself become an expert in the new art. As such he went to Beacon Falls, in 1856, but was soon after engaged by Mr. A. G. Day to come to Seymour in the same capacity. His labors as a rubber expert, and his success in properly cleaning East India gum, as well as having greatly improved all the machinery in use, soon justified the wisdom of Mr. Day in selecting him for that position, and he directed those affairs many years, to the manifest advantage of the works at Seymour.
About 1860 Mr. De Wolfe began experimenting upon the proper insulation of wire, endeavoring to cover the same with machinery. These processes were well under way when the Day factories were burned in 1864. They were soon rebuilt and supplied with better ma- chinery, much of it constructed by Mr. De Wolfe, including machinery to properly cover wire so as to secure perfect insulation, with Kerite, a compound here exclusively used since 1866, under his superinten- dence. Mr. De Wolfe has been an incessant worker, applying all his mental and physical energies to the successful solution of the various problems which have presented themselves in his sphere of action, and as a consequent result has devised or perfected more than 60 different articles. Several patents have been awarded him, but like most in-
599
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
ventive geniuses he has failed of receiving proper reward from them. He has, however, through his skill benefitted mankind, and in this way has been a most useful citizen, not only of Seymour, but of the world at large.
Mr. De Wolfe was married, in 1839, to Lucy Ann Hotchkiss, of Watertown, Conn., who died September 4th, 1857. His family con- sists of five daughters, all living, viz .: Hulda, single; Elizabeth, mar- ried Charles Sears, of New York; Maria, married James Barber, de- ceased; Helen, married Joseph Ineson, deceased, and for her second husband, John Jackson; Frances, married W. R. Brixey, of England, but now of Seymour.
William W. Dibble, born in Brookfield, Conn., November 1st, 1828, is a son of Amon, born January 14th, 1796, and grandson of Levi, born July 6th, 1770. Levi married Charity Wheeler, in 1789, and their chil- dren were: Isaac W., Amon, Eliza L., Ezra W., Horace B. and Leah A. Amon Dibble was married, November 17th, 1818, to Sarah, daugh- ter of William Silleck. Their children (living) are: William W. and Phebe. William W. Dibble was married, December 24th, 1848, to Sarah G. Hawkins, of Derby. Their children are: Charles E., Lillian I., William A., Elizabeth, Mary F., Olin L., Cora, Clara, Frederick W. and Florence. Charles died in 1870. William W. Dibble came to Seymour about 1865, and since that time has been in the employ of A. G. Day, rubber manufacturer. Olin L. Dibble was born September 22d, 1863. He has been in the employ of the Fowler Nail Company since 1878, as shipping clerk, and later as bookkeeper.
Charles E. Fairchild, born in Oxford in 1831, is a son of Ebenezer, born July 30th, 1803, and grandson of Nathan Fairchild. The chil- dren of Nathan Fairchild were: Nathan, Ebenezer and Hanford. Ebenezer Fairchild was a carriage maker. He came to Seymour about 1851, and carried on business there many years. He was married, in 1827, to Sarah, daughter of Captain Job Candee, who was in the revo- lutionary war, and a descendant of Zacheus Candee, born in New Haven in 1640. The family were French Huguenots, and fled from France early in the sixteenth century to Scotland. One of the family afterward emigrated to America and settled in Connecticut. The children of Ebenezer and Sarah Fairchild were: Charles E., Mary J. and Henry L. (deceased). Mary J. married Henry Beecher. Charles E. Fairchild has been twice married: to Martha Davidson in 1861, and to Mrs. Ida Coffin in 1887. Ebenezer Fairchild died February 20th, 1880.
RAYMOND FRENCH was born January 7th, 1805, and died at his na- tive place, Seymour, February 19th, 1886. He was a pioneer manu- facturer at Humphreysville, and in his day one of the most active and energetic men in the lower part of the Naugatuck valley. His ances- tors descended from William French, of Essex, England, who, with his wife, Elizabeth, came to America in the ship "Defense" in 1635, and
600
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
settled at Billerica, Mass., 18 miles from Boston. One of his sons, Francis, in 1650 moved to Milford, in this county, where he perma- nently located, and from this branch of the family came Raymond French. His great-grandfather, Francis, junior, was a son of this Francis, and father of Israel French, one of the first settlers of the Humphreysville section. The latter was married to Sarah Loveland, and one of their children was a son, Charles, the father of Raymond. Charles French was married to Anna Woodcock, of Milford. February 25th, 1784, and died in 1859. She also became very aged, deceasing when 87 years old. They had a large family, Raymond being the eleventh child.
December 11th, 1833, Raymond French, at that time in the Isle of Trinidad, married Olive Curtiss, of Middlebury, Conn., who died in 1855, aged 49 years. Their family consisted of four children: Carlos, the only son; Harriet, married Samuel H. Canfield, of Seymour; Sarah, married Judge W. B. Stoddard, of New Haven; Ann, married Cor- nelius W. James, of Seymour.
Carlos French was born August 6th, 1835. He was educated at Seymour, and for four years was a member of General Russell's mili- tary school, at New Haven. He then assisted in his father's business until 1859, and has since been a manufacturer on his own account at Seymour, being engaged, first, in the manufacture of a car spring in- vented by himself. He has helped materially to build up the town erecting in 1891 the handsome Humphreys Block. His career in pub- lic life embraced elections to the state legislature in 1860 and in 1868, and to the Fiftieth congress of the United States. He served with credit in those bodies, and is now a member from Connecticut of the democratic national committee.
Carlos French was married, April 30th, 1863, to Julia H. Thomp- son, of New Milford, and the children by this union were: Carlotta, died July 16th, 1890, aged 22 years; and Raymond T., born February 23d, 1864. The latter is a graduate of the Yale Scientific School, and was married October 1st, 1891, to Alice R. Hayden, of Columbus, Ohio.
Raymond French shared the lot of most farmers' sons of that time, being soon put to work, to the disadvantage of his school opportunities when a boy. He was early apprenticed to learn the blacksmith's trade with Isaac Kinney, whose shop was near where is the Methodist church at Seymour. There he made himself thoroughly proficient in a trade which in those days embraced almost everything manufac- tured in iron, and the mastery of that art greatly contributed to his future success. After he had completed his apprenticeship he began working in an auger shop in his native village, and became skillful as a tool maker. In 1828 he was induced to go to the Isle of Trinidad, West Indies, where for six years he was engaged in fitting up sugar mills with machinery, and also worked in the shops of the British
- Raymond . Bronchi 1
601
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
government. In 1834 he returned to America and permanently lo- cated at Seymour. Soon after he formed a copartnership with John C. Wheeler for the manufacture of augers, but in 1837 became the sole proprietor of the shops, having, after a year or so, Hiram Up- son as a partner, but also bought out his interests after several years.
About 1843 he joined Jolin and Timothy Dwight to form the firm of Dwights & French, who became extensive manufacturers of augers, bits, plane irons and other tools. A larger plant was soon needed, and with a view of providing a site and power for it, Mr. French bought the Kinneytown property, below Seymour. In 1844 he built the fine dam at that place, selling the property to Anson G. Phelps in 1845. The same year he bought the property of the Humphreysville Manu- facturing Company, and prepared it for his new works. His already large business was much increased in 1849, when two more members were added to the firm, which now became Dwights, French & Co., and the manufacture of railway cars was also begun. Soon after new buildings were added to the already large plant, and their industry became the most important in the place. In 1852 the interests of the firm were divided, the car work being done by the newly formed American Car Company, and the making of tools being continued by the Humphreysville Manufacturing Company, Raymond French being a controlling spirit in both corporations. In 1853 the American Car Company also built large works in Chicago, but in 1855 sold them, and they eventually became the property of the Illinois Central Railroad Company. The same year the company disposed of its interests at Seymour to the Humphreysville Manufacturing Company, of which Raymond French was now the president, and served until the disso- lution of the company in 1870. He then secured a third interest in the factories and power of the old Humphreysville company, and en- gaged in the manufacture of ox shoes, which industry he carried on until failing health compelled him to retire from active life. In this period he had also been identified with many other interests of Sey- mour, such as the Eagle silk mills, the Humphreysville Copper Com- pany, the Bank of North America, etc. He built the present dam at the lower falls, and had the contract for constructing the Rimmon dam, in 1866. Few public enterprises were begun without receiving his encouragement or support, and whatever he undertook to do he en- deavored to push to a successful result.
Mr. French was a man of strong physique, and great powers of endurance. He was energetic and industrious, had a large fund of good sense, and for his privileges was intelligent to a marked degree. His mechanical skill was great, and lie possessed inventive talents of a superior order, which he successfully utilized. Added to these qualities were his plain habits of life and speech, his integrity and in- terest in those associated with him and the community at large, which made him not only a successful man, but also one of the most honored in his time of life.
602
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
Thomas F. Gilyard, born in Seymour in 1844, is a son of William F., born 1816, and grandson of Thomas Gilyard, who was born in Leeds, England, March 20th, 1786, and came from England in 1807. He settled in Humphreysville, and for many years was employed in General Humphreys' woolen factory as a cloth finisher. He married Lois French, of Bethany. He died in 1853. William F. Gilyard mar- ried Wealthy A. Hotchkiss, and their children were: Mary A., Thomas F. and Sarah L., who married Ransom Chatfield. Mary A. (deceased) married Henry Buckingham. Wealthy A. Gilyard died May 9th, 1891. Thomas F. Gilyard has been twice married; first in 1870, to Antoinette Bryant, and in 1880 to Hattie French. They have two sons: Arthur T. and Raymond E. William F. Gilyard died in 1884.
Robert Healey, born in London, England, in 1842, is a son of Rob- ert, who came to this country in 1846, and to Seymour four years later. Robert Healey, Sr., was in the United States navy several years be- fore the war. When the war broke out he enlisted in the 1st Ken- tucky Regiment, was soon after taken prisoner, and for 14 months was confined in Salisbury prison. Upon his release he enlisted in the navy. He died at Norfolk, Va., in 1867. Robert Healey, Jr., enlisted in the 22d Indiana Regiment in 1861. He was color bearer and served until the close of the war. He was severely wounded at Perryville, Ky. At the close of the war he returned to Seymour, and for 12 years was in the employ of the Douglass Manufacturing Company, since which time he has been engaged in farming. He has served the town as selectman for seven years, has also been assessor and member of the board of education. He was elected representative in 1889. He is a member of Morning Star Lodge, F. & A. M., and of the Indepen- dent Order of Red Men. He is past commander of Upson Post, No. 40, G. A. R. He married, in 1866, Alice J., daughter of Amos Bassett, of Seymour.
Edward L. Hoadley, born in Naugatuck, Conn., in 1836, is a son of Lewis Hoadley. He married Mrs. Sarah Randall, daughter of Lever- ett Pritchard, of Seymour. Lewis Hoadley settled in Seymour in 1842, and was engaged in farming and dealing in lumber. He died in 1866. Edward L. continues the business, running several saw mills, and gets out from 300,000 to 400,000 feet of lumber annually. He has been selectman several times. He was married in 1857, to Martha J. Wheeler, of Oxford.
Charles Hull, born in Seymour in 1835, is a son of John C. and grandson of Alfred Hull, a tanner and shoemaker in Humphreysville. His mother was a sister of Doctor David Hull, of Fairfield, and Gen- eral William Hull, of revolutionary fame. John C. Hull was a shoe- maker by trade. He married Sarah, daughter of David and Sarah Tomlinson. Their children were: Charles, De Witt C., Mary and Isaac, who died in infancy. Mary Hull married Egbert Cogswell, of New Preston, Conn. De Witt C. Hull was born in Seymour in 1844,
603
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
and is a carpenter by trade. He married, in 1865, Juliet Brown, of Harwinton, Conn .. and they have one son, Ernest D. Charles Hull is also a carpenter. He was married in 1873, to Lillie I. Davis. They have three children: Afred, Mary and John.
THOMAS JAMES, who was for several scores of years the leading spirit of the New Haven Copper Company, of Seymour, was born at Swansea, Wales, August 3d, 1817, and died at his adopted home July 4th, 1887. He was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth James, and one of a family of ten children. His parents were poor, and nearly all the education he obtained in the early years of his life was from attend- ance of night schools, after working in the mills all day. But he had an inquiring mind, which prompted him to be a student through the greater part of his life, thus enabling him to become not only saga- cious in his business affairs, but he also acquired a large fund of in- formation on many other topics.
When a mere lad Thomas James began his life work as an artificer in copper, and by unremitted toil and intelligent application became one of the masters of his art in this country, none exceeding him in the extent of his practical knowledge. He thoroughly understood the refining of metals and the subsequent processes, and instructed his sons in every detail of the business. His own experience began when, as a young boy, he entered one of the mills of his native town in Wales, where he was instructed in all the branches of copper smelt- ing, his father and his grandfather before him being adepts in the same business, the last named being one of the first smelters at the "White Rock" smelting works in Swansea, which works were com- pleted in the year 1744. So we see here, in a direct line, four success- ive generations following the same occupation. At their establish- ment in Seymour the men in charge of the rolling and refining pro- cesses are also Welshmen. They are acknowledged to-day, as they have been in the past, to stand at the head of their industry, and the Welsh methods are adopted by the principal smelters all the world over.
Like many other ambitious young men of the old world, Thomas James early determined to cast his lot in this country, purposing when he was 21 years of age to join an uncle, who had preceded him to America. With that view a correspondence was kept up, and he left his home April 25th, 1838. He sailed from Liverpool May 3d, and after a very tedious voyage he landed in New York June 23d, 1838. He there learned to his great disappointment that the relative whom he expected to meet, thinking that he would not come, had sailed for Chili the preceding day. His sorrows were further increased by the knowledge that his limited means were about exhausted, his total funds being only about one shilling. Fortunately in this strait he found a Welsh family from Swansea, which offered him a temporary home, and directed him to a source of employment which led to his
604
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
becoming a citizen of Connecticut instead of Pennsylvania, as had been the original purpose. Thus often do adverse circumstances tend to our future destiny and welfare. The Jones family, knowing that he had been trained as a copper worker, referred him to Anson G. Phelps, who had but recently established his mill at Birmingham. He was promptly engaged, and was soon at work as a roller in that new mill. When the works were transferred to Ansonia, he went with the working force and remained in that village about three years. In this period it became known that he was more than an ordinary workman. His training gave him a knowledge of every department of the works, and he brought to the attention of his employers several new compounds, which he thought might be advantageously manu- factured, among them being yellow metal, which was first made by him in this country.
After the Humphreysville Copper Company was organized, Ray- mond French persuaded Mr. James to come to Seymour in 1848 and take charge of the rolling mill, which he did, performing in addition the work of the refiner, until he had some one properly trained for that position. Through all the changes which attended the venture at Humphreysville he remained at the works, doing his best to make a success of the enterprise. His energy and practical knowledge made him a valuable man, and as he was frugal his earnings enabled him to purchase an interest in the company, whose stock, in the course of years, he fully controlled, and under his management the industry was firmly established.
When the New Haven Copper Company was organized, in 1874, Thomas James became its president, and served five years, when his son, Thomas L., was elected to that office and has since filled it. The elder James was next the treasurer of the company until his death, when his son, Conelius W., was called to that place.
Thomas James was a very methodical man, and exacted from all those associated with him an observance of system and order. He had, moreover, great executive ability as well as a genius for inven- tion and a knowledge of mechanism, and possessed a remarkably well- balanced mind. These traits aided him materially in obtaining great business success. In his nature he was genial, public-spirited and especially benevolent toward his old and faithful employees. None, even after they had become incapacitated by age, were permitted to leave his service; and it is a pleasure to here record the fact that his sons have honorably preserved that custom. Always interested in the public welfare, and encouraging every public improvement, he con- fided the trusts and honors of offices to others, but supported the prin- ciples of the republican party. In his religious belief he was an Epis- copalian, and was one of the most liberal supporters of the interests of Trinity parish, of Seymour.
Mr. James was twice married; first, November 17th, 1839, to Emily
605
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
H. Abbott, of Danbury, who died June 7th, 1841. Her only child was a son, Cornelius W., born April 14th, 1841, who married Ann B. French in November, 1864. For his second wife Thomas James married Minerva H. Rowe, of Oxford, June 19th, 1843, and she still survives. This union was blessed with seven children, three dying in infancy. and four growing to mature years, namely: Thomas L., born May 7th, 1846, married July 21st, 1870, to Julia Du Bois, of Fishkill, New York; Elizabeth Emily, born March 16th, 1848, married October 2d, 1877, to L. A. Camp; George A., born August 25th, 1850, married May 25th, 1875, to Sarah M. Riggs; Louisa Ellen, born December 18th, 1854, married to F. A. Rugg, October 25th, 1876. All the family reside at Seymour, being among the leading citizens of the town.
John King, born in Manchester, England, in 1840, came to America in 1863, and settled in Ansonia, where he resided until 1870, then set- tled in the town of Seymour. From 1863 to 1880 he was in the me- chanical and electrical department of Wallace & Sons' factory at An- sonia; from 1880 to the present time in the ice business in Ansonia and Seymour. He also carries on a saw mill, cider mill and distillery, and is a maker of cider machinery. He married, in 1862, Annie Potts. They have two children living: Mary A. and Alfred H.
CHARLES HENRY LOUNSBURY, one of the leading merchants and business men of Seymour, was born in the western part of Bethany, September 18th, 1848, and is the only son of Ransom and Mary (Joyce) Lounsbury, now residing in the town of Beacon Falls. The other members of their family were two sisters: Eliza Jane, married Her- bert Beers, of New Haven, deceased in the spring of 1890; and Ella B., married to Fred Colvin, who was drowned at Milford Beach. The father is a son of Josiah Lounsbury, a man of excellent parts, and much respected by all who knew him. The latter was married to. Sally Lines, whose father held a commission from Governor Jonathan Trumbull in the revolutionary service. The father of Josiah Louns- bury and great-grandfather of Charles H., Linus Lounsbury, one of the first settlers in the western part of Bethany, was also a soldier in the revolution. The Lounsbury paternal home is still owned by the family, being one of the oldest improved places in the eastern section of the town of Beacon Falls.
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.