History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 71

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

USA > Connecticut > Windham County > History of Windham County, Connecticut > Part 71

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).

725

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

prevent its being sunk, up to the mortar batteries, which were within a few hundred yards of the fort, with a deck load of pow- der and shell. This he undertook to do the next morning at daylight, and when about to land his cargo, saw in the dusk the flag of truce just sent out with a view to the surrender of the fort. He accordingly ran by the batteries and over the torpedo ground, trusting to his light draught, and tied up at the fort wharf. Owing to this circumstance and the politeness of the confederate ordnance officer, who came down to the end of the wharf and invited him to make the tour of the fort, he was the first person inside the works from the federal side, which was then on fire and was surrendered that day at noon. He was, on General Granger's nomination, brevetted major, to date from the capture of the fort, "for gallant and meritorious services at the siege of Fort Morgan."

A few months later the expedition under command of General E. R. S. Canby, for the reduction of Mobile and its out- lying defenses, Forts Blakely, Huger and Tracy, and Spanish Fort, was undertaken, when Major Beebe was, at his own re- quest, ordered to duty as its chief ordnance officer, his especial charge being an ordnance and siege train that was drilled for the purpose, reviewed by the commanding general and received his written commendation. While the troops were being trans- ferred across the bay after the outlying defenses and the city itself surrendered, Major Beebe took the yawl of one of his transports, and with her captain and mate as crew, a confederate pilot pressed into the service, and Colonel Palfrey, chief en- gineer, as fellow-passenger, ran across the obstructions and tor- pedo ground and put up the first flag in the city of Mobile, on the spire of the Episcopal church, the confederate cavalry raid- ing the streets while they were thus engaged, and the party only escaping capture by the confederates being so sharply pressed by our infantry as not to have time to dismount.

Major Beebe was one of a half dozen officers sent to Meridian, Miss., to receive the surrender of General Dick Taylor's army and supplies, after which, the war being over, he was sent to command Mount Vernon Arsenal, Ala., from there to Frankford Arsenal, Pa., where in securing the arrest of a night expedition of river thieves he, with two enlisted men, captured their whole outfit, a sloop and yawl, one of the party, and were forced to kill another who fired the first shot and died pistol in hand. The men with him were commended in post orders.

726

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

From Frankford he was ordered to Fort Monroe, and during an explosion that took place in an ammunition house in one of the redoubts, a building some twenty feet square, in which, " when the explosion took place there were some twenty barrels of powder " and five men, two of whom were mortally wounded and three killed, " the powder and wounded were safely gotten out of the way by Major W. S. Beebe and Richard Oldfield, William Hayward, James Cooney and Private Carter, Company A, Third Artillery. The conduct of Major Beebe was highly commendable in his efforts to save life and property, as he ex- posed himself to more than ordinary danger in doing so."

From Fort Monroe he was ordered to Watervliet Arsenal, Troy, N. Y., and from there to Alleghany Arsenal, Pittsburgh, Pa., and finally to Rock Island, Ill., from which place he resigned, to take "effect at the end of the year as an unusual mark of favor." Previous to his resignation Major Beebe had gone abroad with a circular from the State Department, worded as follows : "That the Department took peculiar pleasure in com- mending him as one who had conducted himself with distin- guished ability and gallantry in the field, during the late Civil War," and "that he came highly commended by General Grant, General Meade and General Dyer, Chief of his Corps."

Before and since his resignation Major Beebe has been a close student of American mythology, especially in its relations to European and Asiatic religions, and is firmly of the opinion that common religious property is due altogether to American loans. He upholds the following theory, which in the main is his own :

I. A great philosophical culte once occupied all the Americas, originating in Peru.

II. The backbone of this culte was a theory of number founded on recurrence, which had early attracted the attention of the aborigines, and that this theory of number is founded in fact.

III. That the tablets found at Davenport, Ia., and Piqua, Ohio, are authentic, and that he not only has read them but can restore missing portions.

IV. The phonetic values of these pictographs are Shemitic, including many well-known proper names, the legends, the same as the Accadian on which the Genesis Cycle is founded, and that they had their origin here, in short, are American.

727

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

To prove these statements he has collected a mass of illustra- tion, a very large part of which is entirely new, and now has his work well under way, doing all the labor of text, illustration, and print himself.

LUCIUS BRIGGS was born in Coventry, R. I., December 21st, 1825. He is the son of Wanton and Mary Tift Briggs, of Coven- try, R. I. Wanton Briggs was the son of Jonathan Briggs, also of Coventry, who served in the revolutionary army from the be- ginning to the end of the war, taking part in many important, hard fought battles, and received an honorable discharge signed by General Washington himself. Mary Tift Briggs was the daughter of Solomon Tift, of Groton, Conn. He served the cause of his country during the revolutionary period on the ocean. He was taken prisoner and confined for months in the hulk known as the old Jersey prison ship, in New York harbor. The horrors endured by the prisoners is a matter of history.

Wanton Briggs was a farmer of Coventry, having a family of seven sons and three daughters. Cotton manufactories were then springing up all over New England, and particularly in Rhode Island, and he decided to leave his farm and locate in a factory village. He selected the village owned by the late Gov- ernor Harris in Coventry, and there he remained many years, bringing up his children to habits of industry, and a knowledge of the business three of them have so successfully followed. The subject of this sketch took his place in the mill as soon as his age permitted, and with only intervals to attend the village school, and one year in Smithville Seminary, of Smith- ville, R. I., followed the factory bell until nineteen years old, becoming proficient in all the branches of cotton manufactur- ing. He then took two years apprenticeship in building cotton machinery, followed by two years of repairing machinery in Governor Harris' mill. The gold fever was now taking many young men to California, and Mr. Briggs and his brother, Wanton, Jr., decided to try their fortunes there. They sailed from Warren, R. I., in the ship " Hopewell," January 28th, 1849, and reached San Francisco August 9th. They spent two years in mining, teaming and trade, when Lucius decided to return, while his brother remained some years longer. Soon after his return, Mr. Briggs, in accordance with a previous engagement, married Harriet Taylor Atwood, of Warwick, R. I. Four chil- dren were born to them, two sons and two daughters. A boy

728

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

and a girl died in infancy, leaving Charles W. Briggs, now in business in New York, and Evelyn Clara Cranska, wife of Floyd Cranska, a successful manufacturer of fine combed yarns, of Moosup, Conn. Soon after his return from California and mar- riage, Mr. Briggs went to Masonville, Thompson, Conn., to repair the machinery in the lower or wooden mill belonging to the Masonville Company. The machinery had become consid- erably worn, and the engagement of Mr. Briggs was expected to be temporary, only long enough to put it in order. But he liked the place, and at the solicitation of his employers, he re- mained, and in the following spring took charge of all repairs in the company's three mills. So well pleased were the Mason- ville Company with Mr. Briggs' services that a year later he was made superintendent of the mills, and local agent of all the com- pany's business and interests in the village. At this time Wil- liam Mason of Thompson, owned a majority interest in the Masonville Company, and the late Hon. William Grosvenor of Providence, R. I., who married à niece of Mr. Mason, was agent, but with no direct interest in the company. In less than a year after Mr. Briggs became superintendent Doctor Grosvenor bought the entire interest of Mr. Mason, except one-sixteenth, which was purchased by Mr. Briggs. Doctor Grosvenor and his sons soon after bought all remaining interests except the sixteenth of Mr. Briggs.

These purchases marked an era in the history of the Mason- ville Company, and of the individuals interested. The property now consisted of three small mills, with less than 8,000 spindles and 189 looms. Everything about the mills, except the ma- chinery in the two upper ones, was old fashioned and out of date. The water wheels were of wood and placed under the mills. The canals leading water to the wheels were narrow and insufficient. The races taking it away were shallow, losing a good percentage of the power of the water in getting to and from the wheels. But the situation for manufacturing was favorable, and while the time for such small mills and such equipments was rapidly passing away, the new owners of Ma- sonville bought more with reference to the future and what they could make of the property than for the present and what it then was. Quietly but rapidly, as prudence permitted, the property began to be modernized. Dams were rebuilt, canals and waterways were widened and deepened. The wood water

Van Shock ". C- Boston.

Lucius Briggs

729

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

wheels gave place to those of iron and bronze, placed outside of the mills. The two upper mills were built together, mak- ing one mill of 11,000 spindles, in place of two of 5,000. Later the wood mill at the lower fall was moved and changed to tenements, and a nice brick structure with 20,000 spindles of the very best patterns took the place of the 2,700 worn out ones, and the wood mill. This brought the 8,000 spindles and three mills to 31,000 spindles and two mills, and completed for the present the programme as far as that village was concerned. The village next above, called Fisherville, had a mill of 5,000 spindles and a large fall of water, less than half of which was developed. In 1864 Mr. Grosvenor and Mr. Briggs purchased the property and set about plans for its utmost development. Further water rights were secured, and the pond enlarged from about 10 acres to 84, and the fall of water increased from 11 feet to 263. Im- mense embankments were raised for long distances, and at the approaches of the wheel pits the water was carried above grade, held in by high and heavy retaining walls.

An immense factory was built of brick, of splendid architec- tural designs, capable of holding easily 60,000 spindles and ample preparation. This mill was put in operation in 1872, bringing the number of spindles owned and operated by the company to about 96,000. In the meantime, and while these great changes were in progress, the names of "Fisherville " and " Masonville " had given place to "Grosvenor Dale" for the whole valley, in- cluding an unoccupied privilege between Masonville and Me- chanicsville, and the young sons of Doctor Grosvenor, William and James, had completed collegiate courses and become part- ners in the company, and occupied important positions, William as an assistant to his father, and James as agent for the sale of the company's products in New York.

The above seems more the history of a company than the in- dividual, but it is impossible to write the history of one without the other. From the day of the new ownership to the close of his connection with the property in 1883, Mr. Briggs had full charge of manufacturing and building, and was the author of all plans and projects for developments and enlargements, and pur- chased all machinery and material of every kind, made all con- tracts for building, including mills, warehouses, and several hundred tenements for help employed in the mills. Doctor Grosvenor, while not a practical manufacturer, was one of the

730

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

best business men ever raised in New England. With a judg- ment that almost never erred, with an enterprise that was tem- pered with caution, but which never hesitated or turned back from the greatest undertakings when his judgment had once ap- proved them, his great means and resources made almost any undertaking possible. Mr. Briggs, from the moment he took the management of the mills, gave his whole time and abilities to the conducting of the business and the development of the prop- erty. Year after year of intense and close application gradually impaired his health, and soon after the completion of the large mill at North Grosvenor Dale this became so marked that his physician ordered him abroad, and December 15th, 1875, with his daughter Evelyn for a companion, he sailed from New York for Liverpool, and spent six months in travel in England, France, Italy, and the East, visiting Alexandria, Cairo, and other points in Egypt, Constantinople and minor cities in Turkey, the Ionian Islands, Athens and the various interesting localities in Greece. He returned in the following summer, much improved in health.

In 1883 it seemed necessary for the company to organize as a corporation. While agreeing fully as to the propriety of the change, Mr. Briggs did not wish to join the corporation, and an amicable arrangement was made by which he transferred hisin- terest to Mr. Grosvenor. He is now (1889) half owner and man- ager of the Glasgo Yarn Mills, of Glasgo, Conn., a stockholder and director in the Norwich Bleach & Dye Works, an owner and director in the Glasgo Thread Company, of Worcester, Mass. He is also a large holder of the stock of the Ponemah Mills, near Norwich, Conn., one of the largest and finest plants for manu- facturing fine cotton goods in America, if not in the world. For some years before leaving Grosvenor Dale Mr. Briggs was presi- dent of the flourishing Savings Bank of Thompson. In politics he has always been a republican. He has occupied seats in the house of representatives and the senate of Connecticut. During Mr. Briggs' absence in Europe, his son, C. W. Briggs, occupied his place as superintendent of the mills at Grosvenor Dale and North Grosvenor Dale, with credit to himself and the satisfac- tion of the company. Mrs. Briggs died in 1886.

JAMES W. and ELISHA S. CONVERSE .- The descent of the Con- verse family, of Thompson, from Roger de Coigneries, one of the trusted chieftains of William the Conqueror, has been else-

W.W Preston & CON.Y.

4 -

731

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

where given in this volume, and need not be repeated here. The first member of the family to emigrate from England to America was Deacon Edward Convers, who settled in Woburn, Mass. His grandson, Samuel Convers, in 1710 removed to Thompson parish, then Killingly, and became the progenitor of all branches of the family who bear the name, in Thompson. In the line of descent was Edward Convers, whose son Jonathan was the father of Deacon Jonathan Converse (the orthography of the name having been at this time changed), who resided in Thompson. His son, Elisha Converse, born in 1786, married in 1807 Betsey, daughter of Deacon James Wheaton, of the same town. Their sons, James W. and Elisha Slade Converse, are the subjects of this biography.

James W. Converse was born in Thompson, Windham county, Conn., January 11th, 1808, and in early youth removed with his parents successively to Woodstock, in the same county, to Do- ver and Needham, Mass. In 1821, while yet a mere lad, he started for Boston, a poor boy, and there began an eventful, use- ful and very successful career. He obtained employment with his uncles, Joseph and Benjamin Converse, who afterward as- sisted him to begin business in the Boylston Market. In 1832 he formed a co-partnership with William Hardwick, for the pur- pose of conducting the boot, shoe and leather business in Bos- ton. One year later he joined Isaac Field in the hide and leather trade. Later he became a partner of John Field, and the firm of Field & Converse ranked as one of the leading and most reliable concerns in this line of business, enjoying excel- lent credit during all the panics that occurred throughout a pe- riod of thirty-seven years. In 1870 Mr. Converse retired from business, and has since been absorbed in his railroad, banking, real estate and other commercial schemes. In 1836 he aided in the organization of the old Mechanics' Bank of Boston, was made a director, and in 1847 its president, which office he held until January, 1888, when he retired, after having served the bank more than fifty years. Mr. Converse has for more than sixty years been an exemplary working member of the Baptist church, and for fifty years has served in various churches as deacon. He has been active in personal labors, liberal in charities and a perpetual inspiration to the Christian men around him. Mr. Converse married, September 5th, 1833, Emeline, daughter of Nathan Coolidge, of Boston. Their children are: James W.

732

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

(deceased), Costello Coolidge and Emma Maria, wife of Isaac W. Chick, of Boston.

Elisha Slade Converse, the third son of Elisha and Betsey (Wheaton) Converse, was born in Needham, Mass., July 28th, 1820. When he was four years of age his parents removed to Woodstock, Conn. Spending his childhood there, under the wholesome restraint and kindly influences of New England ru- ral life, he was trained in habits of industry and integrity, and in the essentials of an English education. In his thirteenth year he was sent to Boston, that he might have the advantage of its superior schools. He remained there until sixteen years of age, when he returned home.

During the next three years he learned the trade of a clothier, and when nineteen years old he engaged in that business on his own account in the village of Thompson, continuing there five years. In 1844 he again went to Boston, where he made a change to the wholesale shoe and leather trade. The business was new to him, but he soon familiarized himself with its de- tails, and during his connection with it the reputation and suc- cess of the firm became well established. In 1847 he removed his place of residence to Stoneham, Mass., and in 1849 to Mal- den, where he has ever since resided. In 1853 he accepted the office of treasurer of the Malden Manufacturing Company. Early in 1855 this company's corporate name was changed to that of the " Boston Rubber Shoe Company," when, by the ear- nest solicitation of the directors, he was induced to relinquish his previous business, and, in addition to the office of treasurer, to assume that of buying and selling agent. These offices he has held to the present time, and the direction and control of all operations, both at the factories and stores of this immense concern, have been unreservedly intrusted to his care. He is president of the First National Bank of Malden, president of the Boston Belting Company and of the Rubber Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Company, director of the Revere Rubber Com- pany and of the Exchange National Bank of Boston, trustee of the Five Cent Savings Bank and a member of the board of trus- tees of Wellesley College. He has served the commonwealth two years (1878-79) in the house of representatives and two years (1880-81) in the senate. In 1882, when Malden had been incorporated as a city, he was, by universal acclaim, awarded the honor of serving as its first mayor.

Wmn. E.Wood Bank Note Co Boston

2. 1. Conouse 2

733

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

Mr. Converse is a successful business man, active in thought, untiring in work and conservative in method. He was, on the 4th of September, 1843, married to Mary D. Edmunds, daughter of Captain Hosea and Ursula Edmunds, of Thompson. Their children are : Frank Eugene (deceased), Mary Ida (wife of Cos- tello C. Converse), Harry Elisha and Frances Eugenia.

In all of Mr. Converse's life history he has had a true helpmate in his wife. Her kind, sympathizing nature, her bountiful hospi- tality, her good judgment and her true womanly qualities have been to him of inestimable value. The names of Mr. and Mrs. Converse are inseparable in the history of Malden, and the mother's love and woman's generosity, no less than the father's love and his public spirit, have made for themselves a name which will last long after they have passed to their reward-

The church connections of Mr. Converse are with the First Baptist society of Malden. His private benefactions are as judiciously placed as his public bequests are wisely bestowed.

While he has done much for the public good in many ways, his greatest gift has been that of the Converse Memorial Build- ing, in which the Malden Public Library hasits home. This ex- quisite gift, which is one of the finest library buildings in the country, and which its talented designer, the late Henry H. Richardson, considered as one of his greatest works in many qualities, is in every way worthy of the noble uses to which it is dedicated. It was built by Mr. and Mrs. Converse as a memorial of their eldest son, whose tragic death caused a thrill of pity and sympathy throughout the community ; and it is characteristic of the donors, who are ever one in good works, that their wish to preserve his memory bore the fruitage of a great public bene- faction.

This building, when completed, was given to the trustees of the Malden Public Library, "for the benefit of the inhabitants of the city of Malden." It is of brown sandstone from the Long- meadow quarries, and is in the Romanesque style, in which Mr. Richardson did so much noble and effective work. It is depend- ent upon form and proportion for its beauty, rather than upon exaggerated details and startling effects. Ornament it has, but its mouldings and graceful carvings were placed by the hand of an artist as if they grew from necessity in their places. There is nothing obtrusive in its features, nor is there a straining for effect ; but it is picturesque in an eminent degree, and its pic-

734

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

turesqueness, in all its parts, is a natural result of a perfect adap- tability to structural necessity, and so fulfils a high artistic law.

Besides the library room and a large and convenient reading room, the building contains a noble room for an art gallery, which is filled with pictures which are valuable in themselves, and more valuable as a means of education and as promoters of public taste. Statues and pictures are in all parts of the build- ing. In works of art Mr. and Mrs. Converse have been liberal givers, and their gifts in books for the library, and in funds for its improvement and maintenance have been unstinted and fre- quent. The memorial which they have raised will never decay, nor grow old, for it is a benefaction which has in it the spirit of eternal youth.

HENRY ELLIOTT .- The progenitor of the Elliott family in Thompson was Francis Elliott, a mariner, who settled in Salem, Mass., in 1686, and the same year married Abigail, daughter of John Nichols. Their son Thomas, who early in life resided at Middletown, in the same state, in 1723 married Lucy Flint. With his son Joseph he came to Thompson parish in 1749. Jo- seph Elliott was a revolutionary soldier, and commanded a com- pany at the battle of Bunker Hill. He married Jesusha Bury, whose son Thomas was born in 1759 and died in 1843. He mar- ried Chloe, daughter of Issacher Bates, and had children : Aaron, Ebenezer, Ira, Thomas, and a daughter, Catherine. Thomas of this number was born in Thompson, December 24th, 1793, and died February 24th, 1872. He was three times married, the sec- ond union being with Polly Dexter, of Killingly. Their chil- dren were: Sally, Horace, Marvin D., Henry and Jane E., who died in 1859.

Henry Elliott was born July 12th, 1831, in Thompson, and re- ceived such an education as the public schools of the town af- forded, supplemented by a limited period at Dudley, Mass. The routine of a farmer's life not being in accord with his energetic temperament, at sixteen he sought a clerkship in Woodstock, and was for two years thus employed. The year 1850 found the young man en route for New York city, determined by his own inherent force and industry to open the road to success and all the opportunities which follow in its train. He secured a posi- tion in a jobbing rubber boot and shoe house, where the first six months of service were given without remuneration. His

W.W.Preston & CP N. Y.

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.

History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 71

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