History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 70

Author: Bayles, Richard M. (Richard Mather)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: New York, Preston
Number of Pages: 1506

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The "History of Windham County," written and published by Miss Ellen D. Larned, has won a high place among local his- tories. About fourteen years were spent in collecting material and preparing this work. No pains were spared to ensure ac-

WW Preston &CONY

Ellen D. Larnul

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curacy and thoroughness, and the result justifies the cost. The citizens of Windham county have reason to be proud of their history. Miss Larned represents the family of William Larned, who removed to this section in 1712, and is the last of the name in town. Another Thompson authoress, Mrs. A. K. Dunning, rep- resents the family of Doctor Dow, as the daughter of Mrs. Nancy (Dow) Ketchum. Mrs. Dunning has been very successful in re- ligious works and stories, contributing notably to Sunday school literature.

Thompson hill is peculiarly favored in the character of its summer residents-its own children, not transient strangers. Its young men who went out from Thompson homes to engage in business come back to found new summer homes for their families. These village boys have made successful business men. One of the most prominent is Mr. John W. Doane of Chicago, a merchant prince, engaged largely in importing trade, president of Chicago's Board of Trade, prominent in the Pullman Car Company, and in many important business enterprises. Mr. Doane is very highly esteemed in his adopted city, and has won by his unaided exertions a most honorable place among the fore- most business men of the day. A pleasant rural home in Thomp- son is occupied by his family half of the year.

Another representative of old Thompson families, Mr. Henry Elliott, starting out alone for the great city in early youth, has won a most honorable position and good name among the " solid men " of Brooklyn, N. Y. His near kinsmen, Messrs. John E. Jacobs and Jerome E. Bates, are successful business men, and like Messrs. Doane and Elliott, have summer homes in Thomp- son village. Another successful business man, now of Grand Rapids, Mich., Mr. Edgar Olney, has transformed the former residence of Judge Crosby into an idyllic summer resting place. The sons of Mr. Scarborough, Mrs. Erastus Knight, Mrs. George Shaw, Messrs. Bates and Marvin Elliott are welcomed among the usual summer sojourners. Mr. Andrew Mills has three sons in Boston, two of them connected with the administration of the Conservatory of Music, whose visits bring a welcome addition to the chorus of summer song.

Many sons of Thompson from all parts of the town have achieved success and distinction in varied fields. Norwich is in- debted to Thompson for her veteran citizens, Mr. Franklin Nichols, president of the Thames National Bank, and Mr. Lucius

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W. Carrol, president of the First National Bank. Few men in our country are more widely known or better serving their gen- eration than Reverend Samuel W. Dike, D.D., prime leader in the anti-divorce movement, and secretary of the National Divorce . Reform League. Mr. Dike belongs to another old Thompson family, still occupying the original homestead of their ancestor, James Dike. Reverend Joseph P. Bixby, grandson of the ven- erable Deacon Aaron Bixby, is a popular and successful pastor at Revere, Mass., and president of the Bible Conference Insti- tute, established at Crescent Beach. Two grandsons of the ven- erated Elder Grow, Reverends Jerome P. Bates and W. Elliott Bates, and Reverend James F. Hill, son of " Father James Hill," are honored and successful Baptist ministers. Another grandson of Elder Grow, Captain George W. Davis, performed most valu- able service during the war, and built for himself an enduring monument by carrying forward and completing the National Memorial at Washington. Representative John Waite re- ports : "It was Capt. Davis who arranged and perfected all the elevating machinery that carried the stones one after another from the surface of the earth as they went up toward the sky. It was his skill and rare ingenuity that invented the machinery which was so vitally important as a most efficient agent in the the rapid and successful prosecution of the work. In the im- portant matter of strengthening and perfecting the foundation of the monument the suggestions and assistance of Capt. Davis were invaluable."

Very valuable military service was also performed by another Thompson boy -- John E. Tourtellotte; graduated from Brown University in 1856, studied law and commenced practice in Min- nesota; joined the Fourth Minnesota Infantry regiment as cap- tain in 1861, served in the same regiment as lieutenant-colonel to the close of the war, accompanied General Sherman on his march to the sea, breveted brigadier-general in 1865, resigned volunteer service, and appointed captain in the regular army in 1866, appointed colonel and aide-de-camp on the staff of General Sherman in 1871. While in this position he enjoyed the unique privilege of attendance upon the Princess Louise and Marquis of Lorne during their visit to the United States, as the accredited representative of the national government-a son of the sovereign people entertaining the daughter of the queen and empress.

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Three sons of the late Thomas E. Graves, Esq., born on Thompson hill, were conspicuous during the war. Colonel Em- mons E. Graves entered upon service in 1861 first lieutenant of of the Thirteenth Connecticut regiment, continued in service throughout the war, and had the honor of raising the Union flag upon the state capitol after the taking of Richmond. Lieutenant Frank H. Graves was the first Union officer to enter Fort Fisher. T. Thatcher Graves, returning from an interesting sojourn in Africa in 1863, entered at once upon service as volunteer aid to General B. F. Butler, received commission from President Lin- coln as captain in the 114th Kentucky volunteers, detailed as aid to Major-General G. Weitzel, and served at the front until the close of the war; assisted in the occupation of Richmond, being the first Union officer to enter Libby Prison, and to take possession of the house vacated by Jefferson Davis; served un- der General Weitzel on the Rio Grande, with rank of brevet- major for two years, and was mustered out with the last volun- teer officers in 1867. He pursued medical studies at Harvard, graduating at the head of his class in 1871, has practiced medi- cine at Lynn, Mass., Danielsonville, Conn., and Providence, R. I., with characteristic energy and promptness. Doctor Graves is pre-eminently an "emergency man," always ready for the occasion.

Daniel R. Larned, born in West Thompson village, engaged in volunteer service as captain ; was promoted to rank of lieu- tenant-colonel for gallant conduct at seige of Knoxville ; private secretary to General Burnside; serves as paymaster in regular army, with rank of major.

Joseph E. Gay, mining broker, an active republican and influ- ential member of the Union League Club, New York, grew up on Thompson hill.

Isaac N. Mills, of Brandy hill, graduated with distinction at Harvard College, engaged successfully in the practice of law at Mount Vernon, N. Y., and soon received the honorable appoint- ment of judge in the court of Westchester county, succeeding one of the great judges of the state.

" Westward the course of empire takes its way," but a goodly number of Thompsonians have found fame, wealth or compe- tency in eastward cities. The ancient Converse family is well represented in Boston. James, son of Elisha Converse, began

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his honorable life-work in that city a poor boy, thirteen years of age. In 1833, at the age of twenty-five, he aided in organizing the business firm of Field & Converse, so widely known in busi- ness circles. Remarkably successful in business, he has been still more eminent in works of mercy and beneficence, founding missions, building churches, strengthening the hands of fellow laborers. His brother, Elisha S. Converse, after engaging a short time in business on Thompson hill, removed to Boston in 1844, and since 1853 has served as treasurer and general man- ager of the Boston Rubber Shoe Company, having his residence in Malden. The stately and beautiful Converse Memorial Build- ing, given to the citizens of Malden in 1885, for the use of a free public library and gallery of art, by Mr. and Mrs. Converse. in memory of their oldest son, will bear their names in grateful remembrance to later generations.

Year after year, upon the roll of Boston's legislative represen- tatives and sterling men is found the name of Jacob A. Dresser -fourth in descent and name from the first white boy born in Thompson. Richard L. Gay, Ashley and William Mills were born in Thompson. Other business men in Providence, Wor- cester and various parts of the land emigrated from the same old town.

Space allows but a brief record of emigrants of preceding gen- erations. All over the land they may be found; through the West and beyond the Rockies, descendants of those who in earlier years helped build up Vermont and New York. Carrying out into the world a certain stability and tenacity that enabled them to make their way amid hardships and toil, they have borne an important part in building up and developing the nation. Un- able to follow them in all their various callings, we give a list of those only who have served as ministers:

Baptists .- John B. Ballard, born 1795; ordained 1823; "es- tablished Sunday schools in every town in North Carolina ;" labored as missionary in New York city. Benjamin M. Hill, D. D., ordained in Stafford, September 23d, 1818; corresponding secretary of American Baptist Home Missionary Society. Lewis Seamans, preached at De Ruyter, N. Y., died November, 1826, aged 29 years. John Pratt, licensed to preach September 2d, 1822 ; professor of Greek and Latin in Granville College, Ohio. Austin Robbins, licensed to preach 1835; labored faithfully in Maine and mission fields.

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Congregational .- Joseph, son of Reverend Noadiah Russel, settled in Princeton, Mass., but dismissed on account of ill health. Stephen, son of Elijah Crosby, a much beloved and useful pastor in Penn Yan, N. Y., died early. Henry Gleason settled in Dur- ham, Conn .; died early, respected and lamented. Joseph T. Holmes, labored in the West. D. Nichols Coburn, settled in Ware, Mass. John Bowers, pastor in Wilbraham, Mass. Her- bert A., son of William Reed, Esq., West Thompson, preached at Webster, Mass; removed to Michigan. William A., son of George Larned, Esq., settled over the church in Milbury, Mass .; obliged to relinguish preaching from bronchial trouble; taught in the Theological Seminary, Troy, N. Y .; appointed professor of rhetoric in Yale College in 1840 ; died February 3d, 1862-a thorough scholar, a brilliant speaker, sound in judgment, prompt in action, genial and attractive in private life.

Methodist .- Jefferson Hascall, born 1807; converted in early youth and exercising his gifts in exhortation. Mr. Hascall was distinguished for power and eloquence from the beginning of his ministry. His labors in his first pastorate resulted in the professed conversion of more than 150 persons. Independence and originality of thought, accompanied by fervid imagination and a magnetic delivery, gave him a high place among the many distinguished pulpit orators of the Methodist ranks. The mere announcement of his presence would fill the seats at any meet- ing. For more than twenty years he served as presiding elder, and twice represented New England in the General Conference. A man of strong faith and enthusiasm, but with simple, child- like spirit, he impressed himself strongly upon the generation. A popular hymn, written upon instant inspiration, will help commemorate his honored name :

" My latest sun is sinking fast. My race is nearly run, My strongest trials now are past, My triumph is begun."

Doctor Hascall died February 13th, 1887. His brother, Rev- erend Squier Hascall, also served acceptably in the ministry.

The Thompson Grange is a new institution here. It was es- tablished about two years since, and now numbers about forty members, residing in different parts of the town. The present master is George N. Comins; steward, George Ballard.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

EDWARD ALDRICH .- Edward Aldrich, the grandfather of the subject of this biography, resided on the homestead farm in Thompson. His son Easick, a native of Douglas, spent the chief portion of his life in Thompson. He married Miriam Howland, of Burrillville, R. I., whose children were: Elizabeth, Edward, John, Viletta and Eddy. Edward Aldrich, the eldest of these sons, was born on the 25th of July, 1808, in Thompson, where he became a pupil of the neighboring school and afterward pur- sued his studies for one or more terms at Dudley, Mass. His education was, however, more the result of judicious reading and of habits of reflection, than of training under masters, and he may therefore be spoken of as self-taught. His father having pur- chased a farm in Thompson, Mr. Aldrich devoted his life to agri- culture until 1870, when failing health compelled a cessation from active labor. He then retired to the residence in Wood- stock which is the present home of Mrs. Aldrich. He was for many years engaged in the purchase and sale of stock, which transactions were conducted with much success.

An early whig and later a republican, he served many terms as selectman, was for a long period justice of the peace, and fre- quently represented his town in the legislature. During the late war he was a loyal and zealous supporter of the government. Mr. Aldrich was a man of excellent judgment and undoubted integrity. His services were therefore often sought as appraiser and arbitrator, and in the settlement of estates. He was one of the directors of the Thompson Bank. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Grosvenor Dale, and one of its building committee during the erection of the present edifice.

Mr. Aldrich was married February 22d, 1830, to Ardelia, daughter of Israel Comstock, of Union, Tolland county, Conn. Their only child, a son, Edward Harrison, married Harriet Gager, of Woodstock. Both died at an early age, leaving five children as follows: Edward Gurdon, Imogene Osborn, Isadore Estelle, wife of Randolph Chandler; Inez Harriet and Irene Fanny. With the exception of the last named daughter, all these children were taken by Mrs. Aldrich, on the death of their parents, reared and educated as her own. The death of Mr. Aldrich occurred at his home in Woodstock on the 12th of Au- gust, 1874.

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Erone E. Bates

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JEROME E. BATES .- Clement Bates, of Hertfordshire, England, aged 40, with his wife Ann, and their children, James, Clement, Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin, came to America in the ship "Elisabeth," April 6th, 1635, and settled in Hingham, Mass. Clement Bates died in Hingham, September 17th, 1671. His son Joseph, by wife Hester, was the father of Joseph, who was the father of eight children, settled in that part of Scituate now Hanover, in 1695, and died there July 9th, 1740. His son, Joseph, married Mary Bowker, who died a widow, July 30th, 1759. Jacob Bates, the ancestor of the Thompson branch of the Bates family, left Hingham as early as 1730, and after spending some years in Bellingham, Mass., settled in Thompson with his two sons, John and Elijah. His son, Elijah, spent his life as a farmer in his native town, and was the father of George, Tyler, Reuben, Moses, Elijah, William and Jacob. William Bates, born 1784, whose life was devoted to agricultural pursuits, married Sally, daughter of Edward Joslin, whose children were three sons-William, Walter and Winsor-and five daughters. Wal- ter Bates, a manufacturer of furniture, was born in Thompson, January 31st, 1814, and still resides in his native town. He mar- ried Mary Jacobs, daughter of Thomas Elliott, of the same town, and became the father of eleven children: Jerome E., Lowell H., Mary J., William N., George F., Julia A., John L., Josephine W., Frank J., and two who died in infancy. The coat of arms presented to the early English branch of the Bates family was for valorous deeds performed during the Crusades.

Jerome E. Bates was born in Thompson, and began his busi- ness career as clerk in a country store in the same town. In Oc- tober, 1863, he removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., and entered a retail boot and shoe store as clerk. In February, 1866, Mr. Bates estab- lished himself as a wholesale dealer in boots and shoes in New York, under the firm name of A. J. Bates & Co. This venture from small beginnings gradually increased in dimensions. Their business requires the room afforded by three stores, and has, from its first inception, steadily grown in importance and in its successful results. In 1884 the firm added the manufacture of boots and shoes in Webster, Mass. Mr. Bates is a director of the Clinton Bank of New York. He was married in 1873 to Eliza Whitmore, daughter of Woodruff L. Barnes, who was a son of Doctor Enos Barnes, a leading man and one of the early settlers of western New York. They have had five children, two of whom, Jessie W. and Edna B., died in youth. The sur- vivors are Clara W., Leonard W. and Ethel E.

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WILLIAM SULLY BEEBE was born at Ithaca, N. Y., in 1841, and educated with a view to his appointment to the Military Academy at West Point. He was one of the president's appointments there in 1858, on account of the services of his uncle and adopted father, Captain John C. Casey, himself a graduate of 1829, a member of the board of visitors of 1843, chief commissary on General Taylor's staff in Mexico, " whose zeal, intelligence and devotion to duty to the hour of his death, gave a peculiar claim and promise of faithful service to his young relative." He grad-

uated in 1863, fifteenth in a class of twenty-five, was appointed a second lieutenant of ordnance and assigned to St. Louis Arsenal except during the time of Morgan's raid, when he served as volun- teer aid with the forces opposing Morgan in Kentucky and Indiana. At his urgent request he was ordered to the field in the Department of the Gulf as assistant to its chief of ordnance. He applied for detail with the Red River Expedition then starting, and was appointed its chief ordnance officer, taking part in all the battles and actions of that campaign, acting as aid to the general commanding at the battle of Sabine Cross Roads, lead- ing the supports of Nims' Battery in an attempt to recover it from the enemy, when his horse was killed under him inside the battery and he himself was wounded, for which service he was reported to headquarters by the chief of staff, an eye-witness of the occurrence. In the action of the same day, when the 19th Army Corps repulsed the confederate advance, he was sent to re- store the extreme right of the federal line, in which effort he was successful, taking advantage of the confederate check to drive them in turn and capturing many prisoners, thus securing the first authentic intelligence of Taylor's reinforcement by Churchill's Missouri Column, for which he received the thanks of the 19th Corps commander, and was again commended to army headquarters. At the battle of Pleasant Hill he was com- mended by the general commanding the army and 19th Corps for his promptness and energy in leading the supports into ac- tion. At the evacuation of Alexandria, and the conflagration that took place during a gale, he, at the head of a detail of picked men, attempted to stay the fire by blowing up the buildings in its path. During this time the party again and again escaped de- struction by premature explosion, in some cases the flakes from burning buildings falling into the receptacles for powder when they were about to be filled. For this he was thanked by the citizens of the town, headed by a brother-in-law of General Albert

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Sidney Johnston, who pledged the good name of the town for the safety and release of the party in case of its capture by the confederate advance.

When the fleet under command of Admiral David D. Porter had been forced to lighten draught by landing their guns, the first intention had been to burst them, but on Lieutenant Beebe's stating that he was confident he could move them below the falls and reload them on the vessels to which they belonged, he was given the men to make the attempt and succeeded in saving all but five old model 32s, which he had to leave through lack of time. For this service Admiral Porter wrote as follows: "It was under Captain Beebe's orders that that most efficient ord- nance party worked so laboriously and efficiently to save the guns of the fleet from falling into the hands of the enemy, and but for Captain Beebe's energy and perseverance the guns would have been so abandoned."

At the battle of Cane River Crossing, while the rear guard were being pressed by the enemy, and while the head of the column was held in check by some 8,000 confederates strongly entrenched, with artillery in position, in fact, when success was vital, he was directed by the new chief of staff, General Dwight, to join the column detached to dislodge this force and "on his arrival to signal what he thought the strength of the opposing force and to unremittingly urge the necessity for speed, in which action he would be sustained by his superiors." On his arrival, finding the confederate skirmish line on the advance instead of being pushed, he volunteered to lead the regiment in front of him in assault if suitably supported, which offer was at first de- clined with some asperity, but on its being renewed when the confederates showed signs of attacking in force, was promptly accepted. He led the assault, being the first man inside the con- federate lines, from which they were driven in full retreat and for which their commander was relieved from his command and was tried by court martial. In this assault the attacking column lost some 200 men. On his return he was complimented by the column commander on the spot, and on arriving at headquar- ters was informed by the chief of staff, who sent him, that while waiting for his report by signal, he received the news that the enemy had been driven out of their works by an assault led by the staff officer he had sent. Lieutenant Beebe was brevetted captain in the U. S. Army to date from this battle as follows: "For gallant and meritorious services and for intrepidity and

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daring and skill in handling men in the face of the enemy."

On the run down the Mississippi, when the headquarter boat was under fire at Tunica Bend, the battery was engaged at close quarters by a rifle placed on the boat's upper deck with such satisfactory results that although the boat itself was riddled, no lives were lost, and the transports following passed without re- ceiving a shot. This gun was manned by members of the gen- eral staff, Lieutenant Sargent, Doctor Homans and others, under Lieutenant Beebe's direction.

When the expedition terminated Lieutenant Beebe received leave of absence with a view to his acceptance of a volunteer command, for which he was recommended by the general com- manding and every corps commander in the department, as fol- lows: " He has shown upon various occasions intrepidity and . daring and skill in handling men in the face of the enemy that merit the highest applause, and should secure for him any posi- tion he may choose to seek. At Cane River Crossing he partic- ularly distinguished himself by leading a regiment on a charge, most gallantly carrying a strong position held by the enemy.

You will find him fully competent to command a regi- ment or even a larger body of men."

General W. B. Franklin, commander of the 19th Army Corps, said : "I am sure that a regiment under his command cannot fail to distinguish itself, and I cordially endorse his application." Owing to the appearance of smallpox on the transport on which he sailed and the consequent quarantine, Lieutenant Beebe lost the opportunity he had in view, and as he found that political influence would be required in any new direction, something he had neither time nor inclination to seek, he returned to his sta- tion at New Orleans, where he found that without his knowledge an order had been issued assigning him to duty on the staff of General Gordon Granger, then about to undertake the expedi- tion for the capture of Forts Gaines and Morgan, the outer de- fenses of Mobile bay. Against General Granger's friendly con- tention he had this order recalled, preferring the position of chief of ordnance of the expedition to even such a complimentary po- sition as that offered him. During the siege of Fort Morgan the method of supply for the batteries by wagon along the beach being tedious, he was asked by his chief if he thought he could run a light draught steamer captured from the enemy, under cover of darkness and relying on the fire of our sharpshooters to

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History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 70

Author: Bayles, Richard M. (Richard Mather) Publication date: 1889 Publisher: New York, Preston Number of Pages: 1506

Author: Bayles, Richard M. (Richard Mather)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: New York, Preston
Number of Pages: 1506