History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 80

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

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Colonel Bates has been prominently identified with the re- publican party in politics, and represented his constituents in the Connecticut legislature in 1887 and 1888, on which occasion he was chairman of the committee on cities and boroughs. He was in 1888 a delegate to the national republican convention con- vened at Chicago. In addition to his various business enter- prises he is a successful farmer and breeder of blooded stock. He is a member of A. G. Warner Post, of the G. A. R., and of Quinnatisset Grange, No. 65, of Thompson. His religious views are in harmony with the creed of the Baptist church, of which he is a member. Colonel Bates on the 17th of June, 1867, married Ellen A., daughter of Benjamin F. Hutchins, of Putnam.

JOHN A. CARPENTER .- Robert Carpenter, of Greenwich, R. I., the great-grandfather of John A. Carpenter, on the 26th of Oc- tober, 1755, married Charity Roberts, of Warwick, in the same state. Their children were: Christopher, John, Phebe and Marcy. John of this number, who resided in West Greenwich, `married Sarah Stone, and had children: Christopher, Phebe, Patience, Robert and Amos. The last-named and youngest of these children, Amos, on the 19th of June, 1813, married Mary, daughter of Joseph Bailey, of West Greenwich. Their children were: Maria, Sarah C., Marcy S., Patience S., Olive B., George W., John A., Charles B. and Mary E., of whom five are deceased.

John Anthony, the second son, was born June 23d, 1828, in West Greenwich, and at the age of eight years removed to Put- nam, then Pomfret, where he pursued his studies at the district school, and meanwhile until 1846 assisted his father in the work of the farm. He then engaged in teaching in the schools of Putnam and vicinity, the intervals when not thus occupied being

W.W. Preston & CO N.Y.

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employed as before, on his father's farm. In 1857 he entered the office of the Morse Mills Company as accountant, paymaster and manager of the merchandise department, and remained thus occupied until 1866, when he was elected cashier of the First National Bank of Putnam, of which he was one of the incorpor- ators, and has since that time been its active manager. He was the treasurer of the Putnam Savings Bank from 1866 to 1874, and on his resignation from that office continued to act as one of its trustees. Mr. Carpenter was, irrespective of party ties, elect- ed judge of probate for the Putnam district in 1863 and has since that time held the office. He has filled various local positions, and cordially supported all measures tending to the advance- ment of the town, and its material prosperity. His sympathy with the cause of education assumed practical form in the aid he gave with others, toward the establishment of a high school in Putnam, when a member of the school board of the town.

Mr. Carpenter has been twice married. He was first united to Ann Elizabeth, daughter of Byram and Nancy Johnson Wil- liams. Their two children are Nancy Janette (deceased) and Byram Williams. Mrs. Carpenter died August 12th, 1856, and he married a second time, Marcia J., daughter of Moses Chand- ler, whose ancestors settled in Woodstock in 1686. Their three children are: Jane Elizabeth, wife of Edgar Morris Warner ; Anna Chandler and John Frederick.

JOHN O. Fox was the son of Captain Abiel Fox and his wife Judith Perry. He was born in West Woodstock, July 5th, 1817, and received his education at the common schools near his home, and at the Nichols Academy, at Dudley. His father kept a store at Woodstock, but later removed to Providence, where he was the landlord of a popular public house, well known as " Fox's Tavern." On his decease the family returned to Woodstock. Mr. Fox, before his majority was attained, had formed a copart- nership with his brother-in-law, John P. Chamberlin, in trade, and in the manufacture of shoes. They were successful until the financial crisis of 1837, which swept away not only the firm of Chamberlin & Fox, but many other business men of the town. In this failure was involved not only the patrimony, but the earnings of Mr. Fox, and a new start in life was the only al- ternative. He therefore, in 1840, removed to Putnam, then a rising young village, and was soon appointed to the charge of the depot. This connection was maintained for a period of

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thirty years, and he himself was the headquarters for the mar- keting of much of the produce for the adjoining towns, which was shipped to Boston and Providence. He kept for years the only livery stable in the town, and was the first person to bring finished lumber into the place for building purposes.

He was one of the leading and influential men of the town, foremost in every enterprise resulting in its growth and develop- ment, and ever ready to fill any local office, however inconven- ient, that was bestowed upon him. He was for years a director of both the First National Bank and the Savings Bank of Put- nam. In all his relations, whether of a public nature or con- nected with private business, his course was characterized by the most absolute integrity. He was a man of indomitable will and unbounded perseverance, acting in all things consistently with his view of the subject, irrespective of the opinion of the majority. In politics a democrat, he was never offensive, yet al- ways ready to defend his convictions. Self-reliant, observant, and possessing excellent judgment, his business career readily marked him as a successful man. Mr. Fox, in connection with his lumber interests, purchased a tract of land in Florida, which he devoted to the uses of an orange grove. Here he was ac- customed to spend his winters, and each succeeding season found him looking forward with great pleasure to his period of rest in the South.

In 1848 Mr. Fox married Miss Eliza Phillips, whose two chil- dren are a son, John O., Jr., and a daughter, Hattie. The death of John O. Fox occurred in Florida, on the 11th of February, 1889.

LUCIUS H. FULLER .- Both English and Scotch blood coursed through the veins of Mr. Fuller's ancestors. His great-grand- father, Deacon Abijah Fuller, had the honor of assisting in the fortification of Bunker Hill, on which occasion he directed the throwing up of the earthworks the night before the battle. He died in 1835 in Hampton, where he was a farmer and a leading citizen. He married Abigail Meacham, whose children were : Abigail, Lois, Arthur, Seymour, Clarissa and Luther. Seymour Fuller resided in Hampton, his birthplace, until 1816, the date of his removal to Tolland, Conn. He married in 1811, Louisa, daughter of William Butler and his wife, Louisa Huntington. Their children were: Lucius S., Abigail, wife of Sylvander Har- wood, Caroline C., William B. and Melissa J .; of whom Lucius

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S. is the only survivor. He was born March 12th, 1812, in Hampton, and now resides in Tolland, where he has been a foremost citizen and prominently identified with both county and state affairs. He married July 4th, 1838, Mary Eliza, daughter of John Bliss, Esq., and his wife Sally Abbott, of Tolland. They celebrated their golden wedding July 4th, 1888. Their two sur- viving children are Lucius H. and Edward E.

Lucius H. was born August 31st, 1849, in Tolland, and re- ceived a high school and academic education. On returning from school, after a brief interval on the farm, he removed to Putnam in February, 1868, and engaged in the insurance busi- ness, representing, as agent, many of the most important fire in- surance companies in the country. This has, under his able management, grown and extended itself until it now takes rank as one of the most important agencies in the state, outside of the cities. Mr. Fuller is also interested in various other enterprises ; he is president of the Putnam Water Company, having been one of its earnest promoters and warmest advocates ; treasurer of the Putnam Dairy Company ; director of the Putnam Foundry Cor- poration, of the Mystic Valley Water Company, the Palatka Water Company, of Florida, and also of the Tolland Fire Insur- ance Company. He has been an earnest worker for the town of Putnam and its material prosperity, having at times influenced the investment of considerable capital at this point. As a re- publican he was twice elected to the office of justice of the peace, but each time declined to act. He is now serving for the second term as member of the school board, and is also at present one of the acting visitors. He is greatly interested in the fire de- partment, of which he was for many years chief engineer, and has been warden of the fire district, of which he was one of the principal promotors.

Mr. Fuller was in 1881 elected to the Connecticut house of representatives from Putnam, and reelected in 1882, making an excellent record. He is the present senator from the Sixteenth district, being chairman of the committee on incorporations, one of the most important committees in the legislature. He has also been a delegate to various state conventions. As a pub- lic speaker he has gained something more than local prominence ; his ease and fluency in this respect having aided greatly in his political advancement, besides giving him a leading position as a legislator.

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Mr. Fuller was on the 31st of August, 1871, married to Helen A., daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Briggs, of Pomfret, who died May 21st, 1875, leaving one son, Maurice Bernard, born May 7th, 1874. He was again married June 30th, 1880, to Abby Clara, daughter of Joseph W. and Abigail N. Cundall, of Worcester, Mass., who died November 10th, 1884, leaving a son, born on the 7th of August, 1881.

GEORGE W. HOLT, JR .- Jonathan Holt, a soldier of the revolu- tion, was the father of Josiah Holt, a native of Hampton, Conn., who during his active life followed the trade of a machinist. He married Mary Prior, who became the mother of a large fam- ily, the eldest son, William L., being well-known as a successful manufacturer, and a man of much mechanical skill, both in New England and in the South, to which section he subsequently re- moved. Another son, George W. Holt, the father of the subject of this biography, was born March 16th, 1816, in Plainfield, Conn., and in 1831 removed to Slatersville, R. I., where he re- mained until 1870, when Providence became and is at present his home. Entering the cotton mills when a boy he rose through the successive grades, finally becoming superintendent, agent and part owner. Having abandoned active business he still con- tinues the efficient president of the Monohansett Manufacturing Company. Mr. Holt was on the 3d of September, 1839, married to Lucy Dodge, daughter of Barney Dodge, of Smithfield, R. I. Their children are a son, George W., Jr., and a daughter, Ellen Porter.

George W. Holt, Jr., was born July 21st, 1840, in Slatersville, where his early education was received .at the village school. In 1857 he became a pupil of the Phillips Academy, at Andover, Mass., and one year later entered the Scientific Department of Brown University, where he completed a two years' course of study. His father was at this time manager of the Slatersville Mills, and also engaged in building and starting the Forestdale Mills, in which Mr. Holt became assistant superintendent, and continued to act in that capacity for ten years. He then spent a year in Providence, and in 1871 came to Putnam, as superin- tendent for the Monohansett Manufacturing Company, which had become lessees of certain manufacturing property and water power at that point. The business which had been conducted under a partnership with Estus Lamb and George W. Holt as the owners, was in 1882 incorporated as the company above

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mentioned. Mr. Holt on his advent in Putnam assumed charge of the property, placed the machinery, started the mills and acted as superintendent until 1888, when he became agent, having since the date of incorporation had an interest in the business. The product of the mills consists of plain sheetings and shirt- ings, for which New York city affords a ready market. Mr. Holt has been since 1873 a member of the board of trustees of the Putnam Savings Bank, and has interested himself in various enterprises tending to advance the growth of the village, espe- cially in the introduction of the electric light. As a republican he was elected to the Connecticut house of representatives for the session of 1889, and served as chairman of the committee on manufactures.

Mr. Holt married November 6th, 1865, Marion A., daughter of Estes Burdon, of Blackstone, Mass., who died soon after. He was again married April 27th, 1872, to Rosalie. F., daughter of Samuel F. Dyer, of North Kingstown, R. I. Their children are a son, William Franklin, now a pupil of the Greenwich Acad- emy, at Greenwich, Conn., and Mary Florence, who is pursuing her studies in the Putnam High School.

JAMES WINCHELL MANNING .- The earliest representative of the Manning family in America emigrated from England in 1634 and settled in the suburbs of Boston, Mass. Ephraim, rep- resenting the third generation in line of descent, located in Woodstock, Windham county, where he lived and died. His son William was a patriot, held a commission as captain dur- ing the war of the revolution, and served until the close of the conflict. His children were six daughters and two sons, William H., the youngest son, being a native of Woodstock, where his birth occurred September 10th, 1776. He later re- moved to Pomfret, where he died in June, 1862. By his mar- riage to Lucy Tucker were born five children: Lory, Mary, Ephraim, Lucy and William. He married a second time Lois Paine, of Pomfret, whose children are : James W., John M., Henry F., Edward P. and Edward P., 2d. The survivors of this number are William, John M. and James W.

James W. was born in Pomfret March 8th, 1822, and remained until his twenty-fifth year a resident of that town. He was educated at the Thompson and Woodstock Academies, and the Connecticut Literary Institution, at Suffield, meanwhile at intervals giving a hand at the work of the farm. He then

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accepted a clerkship and served for two years in that capac- ity, removing in 1847 to. Putnam, where he embarked in the dry goods trade. This business he has continued until the present time, either alone or with partners, the present firm of Manning & Leonard having existed since 1869.

Mr. Manning has been prominent in local affairs, and on the organization of the town of Putnam was elected the first town clerk, which office he has held continuously until the present time. He has also filled the offices of town treasurer and registrar of births and marriages. He was in 1866, as a republican, elected a member of the Connecticut house of rep- resentatives, and in 1869-71-72 filled the office of state comp- troller. He was for many years a director and is now the president of the First National Bank of Putnam, as also one of the incorporators of the Putnam Savings Bank. He has, from the organization of the town, manifested the deepest in- terest in its moral and material advancement, and was on its for- mation president of the Business Men's Association of Putnam, which has proved a powerful agent in its commercial develop- ment. Mr. Manning is a member and deacon of the Baptist church of Putnam. He is a firm believer in the truths of Chris- tianity and lends a willing hand to the support and propagation of the gospel. In the days when the question of slavery was agitated with much personal bitterness, he was an avowed abo- litionist.

Mr. Manning was, on on the 5th of May, 1846, married to Em- ily, daughter of Daniel Fitts, of Pomfret. Their only child is a daughter, Helen A., wife of Doctor J. B. Kent, of Putnam.

MILTON STRATTON MORSE .- Oliver Morse, the father of Mil- ton Stratton Morse, and a native of Sharon, Massachusetts, was first a carpenter, then a farmer. He married Waitstill Stratton, of Foxboro, where their son, Milton Stratton, was born, Decem- ber 25th, 1799. When very young his father removed to Wren- tham, Massachusetts, the scene of Milton's earliest connection with cotton manufacturing. He began work in a small factory, his first task being that of picking cotton and placing it on the cards, which labor was continued for two years. He was then apprenticed to the blacksmith's trade, but the terms of the con- tract not being complied with, he returned home at the age of thirteen, his father having removed his family to Attleboro, while he sought employment at Pawtucket. The lad remained

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at home about a year, engaged in braiding straw and picking cotton by hand for firms in Pawtucket. He next worked for Zeba Kent, in his mill at Seekonk and on his farm, often going to the woods with two yoke of oxen and a horse to load ship timber destined for the shipyards at Warwick, Rhode Island.

Early in 1815 his father removed to a farm in East Providence, where his son assisted him for a year, subsequently living with his uncle at Foxboro. At the end of a year he entered a cotton mill at Attleboro, and was speedily made overseer of the card room. In this room was a pair of mules, and by their aid he learned mule spinning. A year and a half later he removed to East Wrentham, near the Foxboro line, and assumed charge of the carding and spinning in Blake's factory for about two years. After a brief interval spent in farming he assumed charge of the mule spinning in a mill at Walpole, remained at this point one year, and then became superintendent of Elisha Sherman's factory at Foxboro, where warps were manufactured by contract for firms in Pawtucket. After spending a year at Foxboro he assumed charge of a mill in North Attleboro, devoted to the man- ufacture of cotton sewing thread. Though this business, being in competition with that of Coates and other English manufact- urers, was regarded as a difficult one, Mr. Morse resolved to teach inexperienced operatives to perform it-a policy which he carried out with such success that a half century ago he was able to make, from Sea Island cotton, yarns of No. 130, or one hun- dred and thirty skeins to the pound.

After an engagement of one year with the Manville Company at Cumberland, Rhode Island, he assumed charge for a brief time of the carding room of a mill at Central Falls, in the same state, and a few months later formed a copartnership with Avery Gilmore, under the firm name of Morse & Gilmore, for the man- ufacture of cotton goods. Hiring a small mill at. Central Falls, they effected a contract with Crawford Allen, of Providence, to stock the mill and sell the goods on commission. They soon es- tablished a profitable business, which continued for three years, when Mr. Morse sold his interest. During this period he was also engaged for a year in running the Lefavor mill at Paw- tucket. In 1832 he took the Lyman mill at Woonsocket, ran it by contract for Crawford Allen, and removed with his family to that town. In 1833, in connection with Mr. Allen, he purchased the Abbott Run mills at Cumberland, and transferring his res-

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idence to Valley Falls, assumed charge of the property, repaired the old and put in much new machinery. He continued in the ownership of this property, his half interest having been in- creased by the addition of a fourth interest. In 1842 and 1843 he ran by contract a mill at Valley Falls owned by Mr. Allen, and also one owned by Henry Marchant, of Providence. The latter contract, which was for three years, was broken by the owner of the mills on finding that Mr. Morse was making the mills profitable;

In 1843, in connection with Mr. Allen, Mr. Morse operated the Arkwright Mills, at Cranston, Rhode Island, of which he as- sumed the superintendence. In this relation he continued for eleven years. In 1844 the machinery was removed from the Valley Falls mills to a brick mill then recently built at Put- nam, Connecticut, and owned by Mr. George C. Nightingale, of Providence, and in 1857 machinery was brought from a factory at Greenville, Rhode Island, to the present stone mill belonging to Mr. Nightingale. These mills were successfully operated by Mr. Morse under contract. In 1848 the large stone mill known as the Morse mill was built and operated by M. S. Morse, G. C. Nightingale and S. Dorr, Jr., of Prov- idence, the mill and village around it having grown up in a single year. In 1862 Mr. Morse, with his brother Alfred, pur- chased a cotton factory at Holden and one at Farnumsville, both in Massachusetts. He later disposed of the latter and became sole owner of the former interest. Messrs. Morse & Nightingale erected in 1872 the Powhatan mill, at the privil- ege above that which furnishes power for the mills owned by them at Putnam.

Mr. Morse married on the 30th of September, 1824, Susanna Blake, of Wrentham, Mass. Of their four children, the eldest, Stillman F., was drowned at Valley Falls in his thirteenth year. The surviving children are: George M., born at Central Falls August 25th, 1830; Fanny B., born at Valley Falls October 3d, 1834, and married to Andrew J. Crossman, of Providence, and Susan A., born at Valley Falls August 24th, 1838, and married to Henry A. Munroe, also of Providence. Although Mr. Morse lived to reach the border of four score years, he continued in the active supervision of his affairs until his death on the 17th of May, 1877, the result of an injury received three days previously.

Mr. Morse was much interested in the political events of his

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W.W.Preston & C. N.Y.

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day, and willingly co-operated in the various projects which re- sulted in benefit to the state and country. He, however, never aspired to office, being always engrossed in the care of his im- portant business. His untiring ambition, accompanied with sound judgment, led to success as a business manager. During a period of forty years he never failed to meet his obligations or fulfill all financial contracts. Socially he was approachable to the most humble individual in his employ, and on his decease more than a thousand employés felt the loss of a benefactor and friend.

GEORGE M. MORSE, the second son of Milton S. and Susanna Blake Morse, spent his youth in and about the city of Provi- dence. His early years were devoted to study at the schools of Providence, where he remained until the age of eighteen, when on removing to Putnam he interested himself for a year in the store belonging to the company with which his father was con- nected. Again making Providence his home, he spent several years in that city, and at Putnam, ultimately locating in the spring of 1856 in the latter place, where he was made the super- intendent of the Morse mills. This responsible position he filled for many years and finally assumed the entire management of the property. In 1869 the company was granted a charter, and the year following Mr. Morse became one of the corporate own- ers. The Nightingale mills under the firm name of M. S. Morse & Son, were from 1858 to 1868 operated by the yard. In 1872 the Powhatan mills were erected under the personal supervision of Mr. Morse, who superintended every detail of their construc- tion, placed the machinery, and successfully started them. Of the three corporations located at Putnam, Milton S. Morse and his son were the managers, the entire responsibility devolving upon the subject of this sketch on the death of his father. He still continues the competent head of this extensive manufactur- ing interest, of which his eldest son, Augustus I., is the superin- tendent. Mr. Morse is president of both the Morse and Pow- hatan companies, president of the Abbott Run mills at Cumber- land, R. I., and a third owner and manager of the Holden cotton mills at Holden, Mass.

Mr. Morse is much absorbed in the varied duties pertaining to his business, and has neither taste nor leisure for matters of a political character. He is a firm advocate of the principles of the republican party, and in full sympathy with the protective

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tariff views which it endorses. He has done much to promote the cause of education in his town, is a member of the manag- ing committee, and was one of the building committee of the high school recently erected in Putnam. Mr. Morse may, with great propriety, be spoken of in connection with his sympathy and interest in all forms of Christian work. He became a member of the Baptist church of Putnam in April, 1858, in which he is a deacon, and among its most liberal supporters. His Christianity finds expression in earnest Christian labor, in a broad sympathy for his fellow-men of whatever class or condition, and in a cheerful and spontaneous giving. Not re- stricted by rules or tenets, he gives with a firm belief that he is simply the custodian of means which should be devoted to the glory of God and the welfare of others.

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History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 80

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