USA > Connecticut > New London County > History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 176
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 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149 | Part 150 | Part 151 | Part 152 | Part 153 | Part 154 | Part 155 | Part 156 | Part 157 | Part 158 | Part 159 | Part 160 | Part 161 | Part 162 | Part 163 | Part 164 | Part 165 | Part 166 | Part 167 | Part 168 | Part 169 | Part 170 | Part 171 | Part 172 | Part 173 | Part 174 | Part 175 | Part 176 | Part 177 | Part 178 | Part 179 | Part 180 | Part 181 | Part 182 | Part 183 | Part 184 | Part 185 | Part 186 | Part 187
" At about the age of fifteen Clark embraced the religion of Jesus, and united with the old Hopkinton Church, under the pastoral labors of Elder Matthew Stillman. He afterwards removed his standing to the church in Westerly, where he remained a member until the organization of the church in Greenman- ville, of which he was a constituent member, and where he was an earnest and faithful worker until his final sickness. Even in early life he was remarkably conscientious and trustworthy, scrupulously honest in dealing, and greatly pained at the thought of having done wrong.
" His work was that of a common laborer, and when a mere boy he went out among farmers and manufac- turers, laboring for hire to aid his father in support- ing the family. Thus early he began to develop those habits of thoroughgoing industry and earnestness which characterized him through life. At the age of eighteen he began ship-building with his father and brothers, carrying their tools from place to place, seeking jobs far and wide, and often walking long distances to reach their work. Recognizing his father's right to his services during all the years of his mi- nority, his wages were freely given over until he was twenty-one years old. At the age of twenty-four he entered into partnership with his three brothers, Silas, George, and Thomas, and labored in ship-build- ing from the spring of 1832 till the autumn of 1834. The following summer he accompanied his brother Thomas and W. B. Lewis to South America for the purpose of building a steamer, and on returning con- tinued labor with his brother George until the spring of 1838. At this date the firm of George Greenman
& Co. was formed, of which he was a member until the day of his death. The willingness with which he always carried his part, the earnestness with which he applied himself to toil, and his wonderful thor- oughness in all he undertook made him an example in industry, and won for him a place in the affections of many a fellow-laborer.
" But his noblest record was not made in the ship- yard. He valued human souls too highly to spend all his energies in labor for the perishable things of earth. His desire for the elevation of fallen man was too great for him to withhold his influence and neglect to labor in the moral realm. His recognition of hu- manity as a common brotherhood enabled him to feel for every sufferer and sympathize with the oppressed, and he could not rest until every effort had been made to disenthrall men from both moral and physi- cal bondage. Thus in the higher field of life, and in the truest sense of the word, Clark Greenman was a reformer. Unaided by school advantages, he was obliged to gather his education from the world, and whatever information he could gain from general reading. In this respect he was no idler, and his naturally keen mind and uncommonly quick percep- tions, penetrating and sifting every moral question with which he grappled, until the very bottom prin- ciple was reached and the foundation tried, enabled him to think clear ahead of the masses, reaching the ultimate truth, and occupying an advanced position that others only gained through long successive stages. On this account he received many a severe criticism, and was many times misunderstood. Men far behind in moral reforms could not comprehend the feelings and solicitude of one whose keener con- science and moral intuitions placed him far in ad- vance. And he in turn could not understand why others should be so slow to apprehend truths that to his far-reaching mind seemed self-evident, and which, as the result has shown, were the very ones to which they would come after years of resistance. It was for such reasons that he sometimes seemed severe, when in his heart of hearts there was none but the kindest feelings. We need no further explanation than this to account for his position even in the very earliest days of the temperance reform. It was this same far-reach- ing, conscientious moral judgment that enabled him, in a time when intemperance was most popular and every influence favored the use of ardent spirits, to take the advanced and consistent ground of "total abstinence,"-a position that was not reached, even by some of the most avowed temperance workers, for several years after. From that early day onward he was an carnest worker, both by moral support and financial aid, in the cause of temperance.
" Again, in the early anti-slavery days, when op- pressed humanity sent up that bitter wail of woe, and the clanking chains of outraged millions gave the falsehood to America's boasted liberty, Clark was an earnest champion of freedom and in the first line of
46
718
HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.
battle. From the depths of his sonl he pitied the oppressed, and conscientiously accepted the truth of human equality. Therefore no amount of penalties imposed by a sinful nation's law, nor yet the oppro- brium attached to an unpopular movement, could swerve him for a single moment from an appre- hended line of duty. He was true and unflinching in a time when it required moral stamina to be an Abolitionist. In a time when the great mass of the Christian world was against them, and it was almost impossible to obtain a house in which to advocate the cause of freedom for the slave, his home, with that of his brothers, was always headquarters for advocates of reform, and in him they found a true and willing supporter. In 1856, while the contest of this reform was still raging, he was elected to the State Senate, where he was an efficient and earnest worker, and won many commendations for the keen insight and good judgment there displayed. He also did good service in the passage of the "Maine Law" bill. While selectman of the town he won the love and esteem of the poor by his efforts in their behalf and heartfelt sympathy with them in time of need.
" In matters of religion he was eminently practical, sincere, and thoroughly in earnest. He saw little advantage in and had little sympathy with a mere sentimental theory that did not change men's lives and make them better. While he had a high regard for the forms and externals of religion as helps, he would still make them secondary, and plead for a Christianity of working faith, and that by love of deeds as well as words, of watching as well as pray- ing, of fruitage as well as blossoms. Therefore he made religion cover a man's whole life. Towards the last of his life he embraced with all his soul the love- teachings of Christ regarding the non-resistant peace principles that pertained to his kingdom.
" During most of his last painful sickness he had little hope of recovery, and felt perfectly confident that his work was done. He was ready and anxious to go, and only expressed a desire to live on account of those who would be bereaved by his loss, and who would miss his counsels and need his care.
" In his death the church lost a willing and earnest worker, society a benefactor, and all a wise and com- petent counselor."
He married, Jan. 4, 1841, Harriet, daughter of Peleg and Hannah Almy, of Portsmouth, R. I. She was born July 30, 1812. Of their five children one only is now living,-Harriet E., wife of Dr. Charles F. Stillman, a prominent surgeon, of 104 West Thirty- fourth Street, New York City. They have one son, Kirtland.
Thomas S. Greenman .-- Thomas S. Greenman was born Oct. 5, 1810, in Westerly, R. I. Like his brothers, his life was passed in labor from very early years, and with the same limited advantages of education. He learned from his parents the same love of labor and directness of purpose so characteristic of the name,
and commenced life for himself at his majority with a determination to do honest work, and an inflexible purpose to be ever found first right, next laborious. It was a hard task the young man had, from humble circumstances to carve competency and position from the great world careless of his existence. And yet, as foundation for that success, the goal of youthful ambition, did he not have the very best possible ma- terial ? Who knows but that same honest, industri- ous poverty was the most important factor of the sub- sequent successful career ? Money can do much in life, but it cannot do all. We must know the province of it, and confine it there. Thomas Greenman knew this, and money has never been the sole or even first aim of his life. He learned the trade of ship-car- penter with his brothers, worked in perfect harmony, and acting on the old maxim of " Union is strength," they have always worked together, and thus they have won success financially, and an enviable position in society. The details of their business career have been given in connection with George Greenman's biography, and need not be recapitulated here.
Thomas married, Nov. 21, 1842, Charlotte, daughter of David Rogers, of an early Connecticut family of high repute, and which traces its genealogy away back through the English martyr, John Rogers, to the early days of England, and to men in high po- sition even then. They have one daughter, Charlotte Elizabeth, who married Thomas E. Stillman, a lawyer of Brooklyn, N. Y. She has four children,-Jessie, Ellen, Mary, and Charlotte. Mrs. Greenman died May 14, 1879.
In 1836, Thomas accompanied his brother Clark to South America, under an agreement with Silas E. Burrows to build a steamer for the Magdalena River. Burrows relinquished his contract, however, and the brothers returned home. Thomas then went as car- penter on a ship bound for the same place, and re- mained absent from Connecticut about two years. He is a good and fluent speaker, with an analytical and legal mind, and has always been a debater in society- meetings and town-meetings, holds pronounced opin- ions, and can support them by logic and reason. A strong Whig, a pronounced Free-soiler and Repub- lican, he was always a Prohibitionist; was elected justice of the peace on the temperance issue, and held that office twenty-five years, and until disqualified by age. For the last thirty years he has been grand juror, and represented Stonington in the State Legis- lature of 1866. He is a director of the First National Bank of Mystic Bridge.
Among the active, positive men of Stonington prob- ably few enjoy the friendship and esteem of a larger number than Thomas Greenman. His social nature and warm sentiments have caused his home to be ever a pleasant one, and strangers to be attracted by his personality, although holding very different political sentiments.
Greenmanville and Business Interests in 1881 .-
Clark Preemin
VIEW OF C.B. COTTRELL & COS. PRINTING PRESS MANUFACTORY; PAWGATUCK RIVER WITH WESTERLY IN THE BACK. GROUND.
& B Cottrell
719
STONINGTON.
Greenmanville was named in 1849. When bought by the Greenmans, in 1838, it was Adams' Point, and was given to the little village springing up around their works for the sake of convenience, and to name the Greenmanville Manufacturing Company, then started to manufacture fine woolen goods, and for which a mill was erected. This mill was not large enough to satisfy demand for goods, and in 1860 Messrs. Stillman & Brown, of Westerly, bought one- half interest, thus giving an accession of capital, en- larged the mill to its present size, and ran the busi- ness in their own name, the Greenmans only owning the property, until Stillman & Brown were succeeded by Thomas Clark & Co., and the failure of the new firm in 1873, when George Greenman & Co., W. F. Prosser, and George H. Greenman reorganized it under the old name of Greenmanville Manufacturing Company, Mr. Prosser becoming superintendent, and G. H. Greenman treasurer. The capacity of the mill is five sets of machinery.
George Greenman & Co. are controlling stockhold- ers of the Standard Machinery Company of Mystic River. This company manufactures a full line of bookbinders' machinery, power paper-cutters, and all kinds of cotton-gin machinery and materials. It is a stock company, organized about 1878, with capital stock of $103,000. George Greenman & Co. estab- lished a general store at Greenmanville in 1863 to supply their many employés and others. It is still in prosperous existence, under care of George H. Greenman. The same firm also owns ten dwellings in Greenmanville, and two fine farms of about two hundred acres.
C. A. Fenner & Co., Mystic River, Groton, manu- facturers of extension toy cribs, cradles, and exten- sion canvas boats, commenced business in 1877. Their success has been great and their sales have increased rapidly. In 1879 they sold 20,000; 1880, 40,000; 1881, 50,000. These goods are made under patent of Mr. Fenner for his invention of a new application, and are manufactured under his personal supervision.
Calvert B. Cottrell, son of Libbeus Cottrell and Lydia Maxson, was born in Westerly, R. I., Aug. 20, 1821. In 1840, at the age of nineteen, he went to learn the machinist business with Messrs. Lavally, Lanphear & Co., of Phenix, R. I., manufacturers of cotton-machinery, by whom he was employed fifteen years, most of the time as contractor. He saved dur- ing that time sufficient money to start in business, and in July, 1855, he came to Westerly and settled on the Stonington side of the Pawcatuck River (which for a number of miles is the boundary line between Connecticut and Rhode Island), forming a copartner- ship with Nathan Babcock, under the firm-name of Cottrell & Babcock. They engaged in the manufac- ture of cotton and wood-working machinery, also printing-presses, and continued in these branches of the machine business until 1861, when they began also manufacturing woolen-machinery, building all
the machinery necessary for the production of fancy cassimeres and woolen goods. In connection with this, they were also engaged during the war in manu- facturing gun-appendages, supplying largely the ap- pendages for the Springfield armory and private armories.
In the year 1868 they turned their attention to the manufacture of printing-presses as a specialty. In July, 1880, twenty-five years from the beginning of the copartnership, Mr. Cottrell purchased Mr. Bab- cock's entire interest in the concern, since which time the business has been continued by C. B. Cottrell & Sons.
Mr. Cottrell had only such educational advantages as the common schools of his early day afforded, but having an ambition for a better education, employed a large portion of his leisure time for many years in study, setting apart a portion of each day after work- ing hours for that purpose.
Mr. Cottrell has done much in the way of improving the printing-press, having within the last few years obtained some fifteen different patents for various im- provements, which have given their machinery a lead- ing place in the market. Among the improvements may be mentioned the patent sheet-delivery, dispens- ing with the tapes formerly used for carrying the printed sheet to the fly, thereby saving much time and trouble ; a patent hinged roller-frame, the dis- tributors being arranged in a frame, thus enabling the operator by a simple movement to swing them clear of the form-rollers, leaving them free for remo- val, and a patent device for controlling momentum of the cylinder. By this device a higher rate of speed is obtained, and perfect register is secured as a natu- ral result. A patent air-spring, enabling the operator to obtain at will the amount of power necessary for stopping and reversing the bed. The spring can be accurately graduated from the greatest amount of power necessary to the least with the utmost ease. A patent governor-attachment for throwing the spring on or off automatically when starting or stopping the press ; a patent geared bed and slider-arrangement, insuring perfect travel between bed and slider, and preventing sliders from bumping against the end of the tracks ; patent vacuum valve, etc.
Messrs. Cottrell & Sons have an extensive establish- ment. They at present employ about two hundred and fifty hands, and are rapidly extending their works. The buildings, including main structure, pattern-shop, foundry, blacksmith-shop, engine-room, etc., cover about two acres of ground. The location is an admirable one, on the Pawcatuck River, about five miles from Long Island Sound, where coal and iron can be brought direct to the firm's docks, and whence their heavy machines may be shipped at but a small cost for freight.
The reputation of their presses extends not only throughout the United States, but to Mexico and the South American country and Europe as well.
720
HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.
Mr. Cottrell was formerly a Whig until the Repub- lican party was organized in 1856, when he joined that party, and has since been one of its stanch sup- porters.
At an early age he identified himself with the tem- perance movement, and has been all his life a total abstainer from intoxicating liquors.
He married, May 4, 1849, Lydia W. Perkins, daugh- ter of Elisha Perkins and Nancy Russell. They have six children, viz. : Edgar H., Hattie E., Charles P., C. B., Jr., L. Angienette, and Arthur M., all born in Stonington except the first two mentioned.
The three eldest sons are connected with their father in the manufacturing business. Mr. Cottrell is a man of great force of character, of quick perception, of a social disposition, prudent, yet very liberal towards all charitable institutions. He is a member of the Sev- enth-day Baptist Church, and one of the leading citizens in his community.
Nathan Babcock, the subject of this sketch, was born in Westerly, R. I., Nov. 19, 1824, and was the eldest child of Oliver and Phebe Babcock. James Babcock, the progenitor of the family from which Mr. Babcock sprang, was born in Essex, England, about the year 1580; he was a Puritan, and emigrated with his family to Leyden, Holland, in 1620, and subse- quently sought the shores of America, arriving about July, 1623. He had four children born in England, -James, John, Job, and Mary,-who came with him to this country. About 1650 he married a second wife, by whom he had one son, Joseph, who subse- quently settled near Saybrook, Conn.
A legend of the family states that John Babcock, second son of James, Sr., came from Plymouth, Mass., to " Acquidneck" (the island of Rhode Island), where he was employed by Thomas Lawton, a prosperous man, who had one lovely daughter, Mary. Lawton soon discovered signs of an attachment ripening be- tween his workman and his daughter, and being a true aristocrat, determined to put an end to the whole matter by dismissing the man from his employ and forbidding him his house. The old adage that "love laughs at locksmiths" was herein exemplified. John and Mary, as the story goes, sailed away together in a small boat, and made their way to the mouth of the Pawcatuck River, which they entered, and landed at Massatuxet Cove, in the present limits of Westerly.
This was about the year 1648, before the purchase of the Narragansett country from "Sosoa," an Indian chief, by a company formed in Newport. This pur- chase was perfected in 1660.
John Babcock and his wife Mary were the first white settlers in Westerly, R. I. They had a family of eight sons and two daughters, and lived to a ripe old age. Several of these children settled in the east- ern part of Connecticut, where many of their de- scendants are still living. Their eldest son, James, was the first white male child born in Westerly; he married Elizabeth, daughter of Tobias Saunders, of
Westerly, and had six children, four sons and two daughters, of whom the eldest son, James, was the paternal, and the second son, Daniel, the maternal ancestor of the subject of this article.
Daniel Babcock, paternal grandfather of Nathan, was the grandson of James last mentioned, and son of Oliver and Anna Avery Babcock, both of North Stonington, Conn., being the youngest of nine chil- dren. His father died when Daniel was but nine years of age. He was born in North Stonington, Conn., Aug. 31, 1762. Arriving at manhood, he be- came a blacksmith, and commenced business at Potter Hill, where in 1783 he married Content, daughter of Joseph Potter. They had nine children, eight of whom grew to maturity : Daniel, Betsey, Jacob D., Nancy, George, Oliver, Lucy, Mary, and Emily H. Of him Rev. Frederick Denison, in his " Westerly and its Witnesses," speaks as follows : " As one of the witnesses and noble representatives of Potter Hill and Hopkinton, mention should be made of Deacon Daniel Babcock, or Judge Babcock, as he was often called. For forty-six years he was a justice of the peace ; for nine years he was a member of the Upper House of the State, elected by general proxy, and car- ried with him the suffrages of all parties, retaining the office by a unanimous vote. For ten years he was a judge of the County Court of Washington County ; he was the intimate friend and counselor of Governors Fenner, Knight, and others. As a Christian man, he honorably maintained his profes- sion for sixty-three years, and for fifty-eight years he was a deacon in the stanch old Sabbatarian Church in Hopkinton, in which church he also served as chorister for nearly half a century. He belonged to the soundly evangelical portion of his denomination, was the intimate friend and relative of Rev. Rufus Babcock, was loved and honored by Rev. Stephen Gano and others of Providence, and was sent for far and near as arbiter and counselor in difficult cases in church and in private life. He served for a short time in the Revolutionary war, and died in Hopkinton, Sept. 18, 1846."
Oliver Babcock, fourth son of Daniel and Content, and father of Nathan, was born Dec. 12, 1797; he learned his father's trade, and subsequently wrought at it for a few years near the Road meeting-house, in Stonington, Conn. In 1823 he formed a partnership with his brother Daniel at Potter Hill, R. I., under the firm-name of D. Babcock, Jr., & Co., for the manu- facture of edged tools. Their work was noted for its excellence, and patronage came from far and near.
In January, 1824, he married Phebe, daughter of Stephen and Phebe (Burtch) Babcock, of Stonington, Conn., by whom he had eleven children, eight of whom lived to be men and women, as follows: Na- than, Amanda, Daniel, Ann Elizabeth, Stephen, Lucy, Almy, Phebe Jane, and Julia M .; these all are still living (1881) except Ann Elizabeth.
The partnership of Oliver with his brother con-
Nathan Babcock
STEPHEN BABCOCK.
721
STONINGTON.
tinued until 1860, when advancing age and failing health of both compelled them to give up business.
He was from twelve years of age a member of the First Seventh-day Baptist Church of Hopkinton, and held a high place in the regards of his fellow-towns- men. He was a man of unnsually strong convic- tions, and dared to carry those convictions into action. A Whig, and later a Republican in politics. He was an ardent temperance man, being among the first who dared to be so unpopular as to sign the temperance pledge. He died Sept. 9, 1869, aged seventy-one years. His widow still survives (December, 1881), now nearly eighty years of age, with her mental facul- ties nnimpaired, enjoying that love and esteem which come from a long life of active usefulness and untir- ing devotion to her family.
Nathan Babcock, the subject of this sketch, spent the most of his life until fifteen years of age with his maternal grandparents, Stephen and Phebe Babcock, in Stonington, Conn., where he attended common school ; afterwards he went to his father's, where he attended school two winters. In May, 1842, he went to Warwick, R. I., and became an apprentice to the machinist trade ; he worked there as apprentice, jour- neyman, and for the last seven years sub-contractor ; in all, thirteen years.
March 2, 1847, he married Phebe W., daughter of Ray and Esther (Russel) Johnson, of Warwick.
In April, 1855, he entered into partnership with C. B. Cottrell, under the firm-name of Cottrell & Babcock, for the manufacture of cotton and woolen machinery, and in July of the same year moved to the village of Pawcatuck, in Stonington, Conn., where the firm began business, employing at first not more than half a dozen men. In a short time the manufac- ture of power printing-presses was commenced, and soon became the principal branch of the business. Mr. Babcock was identified with the business for twenty-five years, during which time it increased until the number of men employed was nearly two hundred. During this time he had the entire man- agement of the works; from the first he attended to all the details of the business, devised plans for build- ings, organized the several departments of work, no part of which escaped his observation, and no machi- nery was sent away from the manufactory without his personal inspection and approval. So close was his application to the business that for years together he was not absent for a single day.
It is not too much to say that the successful estab- lishment of this enterprise, which for a quarter of a century has given employment to so large a number of men, is due largely to the ability and untiring energy of Mr. Babcock. He took an especial interest in the men in his employ, as many can now attest, giving them counsel as a friend, and visiting and car- ing for them when sick. Hundreds of men who have been employed by the firm remember Mr. Babcock, not only as a just employer, but also as a sympathizing
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.