USA > Connecticut > Illustrated popular biography of Connecticut > Part 20
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BIOGRAPHY OF CONNECTICUT.
Beardsley, the daughter of James Walker, Jr. It is kept very choicely, and regarded sacredly as the home of his ancestors for three generations, or since 1739. Mr. Beardsley was a member of the Connecticut legislature in 1848, representing the town of Monroe, and being elected to the office by the democratic party. He is an influential member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and a liberal contributor to its charities.
EDWARD V. PRESTON, HARTFORD : Superin- tendent of Agencies of the Travelers Insurance Company.
Major Edward V. Preston was born in Willing- ton, Conn., June 1, 1837, being the second son of Joshua and Caroline Eldredge Preston. The fam- ily consisted of seven children, three of whom reside in Hartford. The major's grandfather, Amos Preston, and great- grandfather, Darius Pres- ton, were born in the same house in Willington in which his father and himself first saw the light. This ancient structure, which has been the birth- place of four generations in the family, is still E. V. PRESTON. standing. The Prestons in this country are descendants of William Pres- ton, who emigrated from England in 1635, reach- ing Boston on the True Love, the last of the sev- enteen ships from London to Boston in that year. The genealogy of the family, however, is traced back to the time of Malcolm, King of the Scots. The name of Preston was assumed on account of the territorial possessions of the family in Mid-Lo- thian, Scotland. The first of the name on record is Leolphus De Preston, living in the time of William the Lion, about 1040. His grandson, Sir William Preston, was one of the Scotch nobles summoned to Berwick by Edward I. in the competition for the Crown of Scotland between Bruce and Baliol, the decision having been submitted to Edward. Subsequently, Westmoreland county, England, was represented in Parliament by members of the fam- ily. Edward III. being king at the time. John Pres- ton, also a member of the family, retired from the bench in 1427 on account of his great age. William Preston, from whom the American branch is de- scended, originally located in Dorchester, but after- wards removed to New Haven, where he died in 1647. Some of his children remained in Dorchester. The Eastern Connecticut Prestons are traced from John Preston of Andover, Mass., who married
Mary Haynes of Newbury in that state in 1706 and removed to Windham county, where he died in 1730. The Connecticut branch of the family figured conspicuously in the Revolutionary war, the Lex- ington alarm, April 19, 1775, calling them to the front. The list of Revolutionary soldiers published by this state shows twenty-five representatives of the Connecticut Prestons in the service. The fam- ily has been equally active and prominent in church interests. The history of Windham county is rich with narratives concerning their work in this direc- tion.
At the outbreak of the war in 1861, the subject of this sketch was engaged in business in this city, being a member of the firm of Griswold, Griffin & Co., which was located at the southeast corner of Asylum and Trumbull streets. April 22, 1861, he volunteered temporary assistance as a clerk in the adjutant-general's office under General J. D. Wil- liams. In July, Col. Orris S. Ferry of the Fifth Connecticut, which was then organizing, requested the appointment of Major Preston as quartermaster of the command. July 17th he received the appoint- ment, being given the rank of first lieutenant, and was mustered into the service July 23d. In Sep- tember, 1861, he was detailed by Col. Dudley Don- nelly and afterwards by Gens. G. H. Gordon and A. S. Williams to be acting assistant quartermaster of the First Brigade, Gen. Banks's division, and re- tained the position until Jan. 1, 1862, when he re- turned to his old place in the Fifth Connecticut. In March, 1862, Lieutenant Preston was detailed as an aid-de-camp on the staff of Gen. Ferry, who had re- ceived a brigadier's commission. During a part of the time until Feb. 19, 1863, he was acting assistant quartermaster of the division. On that date he was commissioned by President Lincoln as " addi- tional paymaster U. S. Volunteers, with the rank of major," and held this position until July 31, 1865, when he was honorably discharged by the secretary of war. Millions of dollars passed through his hands during the war and his accounts squared to a cent in the final settlement with the government. Major Preston is a member of the veteran association of the Fifth regiment; also of the Army and Navy Club of Connecticut, and of Robert O. Tyler Post. G. A. R. He is one of the trustees of the $10,000 fund owned by the Post. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Connecticut Literary Institution at Suffield, of the Baptist state conven- tion, and president of the Baptist Social Union of the state. For the past twenty years he has been the treasurer of the Asylum Avenue Baptist society in this city. He is at present a member of the board of aldermen from the second ward, and has also served from that precinct two years in the council board. In politics he is a republican. His business life since the war has been connected with
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the Travelers Insurance Company, where he has held the position of superintendent of agents for a quarter of a century. The duties of the office re- quire executive ability of the highest order. In the discharge of these duties he has visited every section of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The family of Major Preston consists of a wife and two children, one son and a daughter. Mrs. Preston, prior to her marriage, was Miss Clara M. Litchfield, daughter of the late John G. Litchfield of this city. The son, Mr. Harry E. Preston, is also connected with the Travelers. Major Preston's career from the outset has been one of honor and integrity, and he is regarded throughout the country with the ut- most esteem and respect.
AVERY A. STANTON, STERLING: Farmer and Lumberman.
The subject of this sketch was born in Preston in 1837, and is the great-great-grandson of General Thomas Stanton, who came from England and settled in Stonington. He is brother of Captain John L. Stanton who fell at the seige of Port Hudson, and of Rev. William E. Stanton who was for several years pas- tor of the First Baptist church at Lowell. In 1848 Mr. Stanton and his mother (his father having died one year previous), removed to Voluntown in this state. He received A. A. STANTON. his education at the schools of Voluntown, East Greenwich, R. I., and at the Connecticut Literary Institution of Suffield. He taught school about eight years in eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island, and in 1862 settled in the town of Sterling, where he has since resided, engaged in farming and lumber business.
In 1864 he was elected one of the school visitors of Sterling, which position he held for twenty-four years. In 1873 he was elected first selectman, and has held other important town offices, being town agent and auditor for a number of years. In 1874 he represented the town of Sterling in the state legislature. In 1884 he was chosen to fill the unex- pired term of R. H. Ward, county commissioner, and by the same legislature was chosen county commissioner for the term of three years. He still holds this position, having been appointed for a second term of four years. Mr. Stanton married the daughter of Benjamin Gallup of Voluntown -- has five sons and three daughters. He belongs to a family that is able to trace 6,000 relatives. He is a Baptist, and in politics a zealous republican.
SAXTON B. LITTLE, MERIDEN: School Teacher.
Saxton Bailey Little, a descendant of the seventh generation from Thomas Little, who came to Ply- mouth, Mass., from near London, England, in 1630, was born in Columbia, Conn., April 19, 1813. His ancestral mother was Ann Warren, whose father, Richard Warren, was one of the company who came over in the Mayflower in 1620. His education was in the com- mon schools, supple- mented by some instruc- tion in Tolland, East Hartford, and Bacon academies. Beginning to teach school at the age of S. B. LITTLE. sixteen, he taught fifteen winters, "boarding 'round," as was the custom sixty years ago. He taught in Bacon Academy in 1836, one year; six winters in Goshen Hill, Lebanon, Conn .; two and a half years in Willimantic; and in Greeneville three years. In 1850 he removed to Rockville, in the town of Vernon, Tolland County, and remained there nearly four years, which completed his ser- vice in the public schools. In April, 1854, he was appointed assistant superintendent and teacher in the Connecticut State Reform School at Meriden, and upon the death of the lamented Dr. E. W. Hatch, Feb. 7, 1874, he was appointed acting super- intendent. He closed his connection with the in- stitution July 31, 1875, after a continuous service there of twenty-one years and four months. The trustees of the school, in their report to the general assembly in 1874, speaking of Mr. Little said: " We should fail in our duty if we did not signify to you our high appreciation of the well-applied and faith- ful services of this officer during these many years, and to testify that his labors in the position of as- sistant superintendent and teacher have contrib- uted largely to the marked success of the school." Since he left this school he has made the tour of Europe, going as far as Naples and Pompeii. He has traveled quite extensively in the United States and Canada, visiting Central and Southern Califor- nia, Florida, the New Orleans exposition, Yosem- ite Valley, Luray and Mammoth Caves, etc. He was married Aug. 19, 1836, to Sarah Maria Tracy. She died Dec. 31, 1844, leaving two sons, Charles L. and Frank Eugene, the former a well-known contractor and builder in Meriden; the latter is post-office inspector. Both were in the Union army. Frank served four years and was breveted major in the One Hundred and Seventh colored regiment.
Mr. Little has filled many public offices in Meri-
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BIOGRAPHY OF CONNECTICUT.
den. He has been a member of the common coun- cil, of the high school committee, and is now, and has been for many years school district committee. He is a republican and a member of the First Con- gregational church in Meriden. He is a great lover of books, and has been an efficient helper in establishing a free library in Columbia, his old home. He gave to it $1,500 as a permanent fund, the interest only to be used for the purchase of books; and he has also given the library more than a thousand volumes. He is one who believes that it is wise to give to public objects of charity while living, leaving no chance for one's heirs to practi- cally question his sanity or thwart his wishes. It may be added that Mr. Little has throughout his life been very strict in his habits. He never used tobacco in any form, and has been a total abstainer from all alcoholic drinks for sixty-one years. Has personally employed a physician but once for over fifty years, and that solitary exception was a case of measles.
HORACE WHITE, MANCHESTER: Farmer.
Horace White, honored, respected, and called " Uncle Horace " by all classes, and whose name is a familiar one in Manchester and adjoining towns, was born at the old pine tree homestead of his father (Henry White) in East Windsor, Conn., in the year 1801; was given by his parents a good common school education, which was the best thing possible for a farmer to do for his children in those days and times. He re- mained in the service of his father during his minority and continued in the care of the farm until HORACE WHITE. the death of his father, some few years later, and in company with his brother Willard (long ago de- ceased) had the full care and control of the old Tol- land turnpike until it was abandoned or discon- tinued as a turnpike. In 1842 the part of East Windsor where the old homestead was located, to- gether with the village of Oakland, was set off to and became a part of Manchester; some three years later a goodly portion of said East Windsor was set off to what is now known and called South Windsor.
Mr. White was married to his first wife, Asenath Fuller, in 1827, and soon after erected for himself, on the eastern portion of the old homestead, a new and model farmhouse and buildings, where he con- tinued to live a sturdy, prosperous, and thrifty New England farmer until 1875. Then finding him-
self at the age of seventy-four years, and in com- fortable financial circumstances, he decided to abandon farming and retire to more pleasant and social surroundings. He therefore sold his farm and stock complete and purchased a residence property in North Manchester, near the depot, and fitted it up with all the requisite improvements and luxuries of the present time, and now lives there, an old gentleman in his ninetieth year of age, in com- fortable health, with his daughter, Wealthy A., as housekeeper, who keeps a watchful and careful eye to his every comfort, enjoying the fruits and means of his well-spent life. His first wife died in 1866 while at the farm, leaving, as the fruits of their un- ion, two children, H. Tudor White, now a promi- nent citizen of Windsor, and Wealthy A. White, now having care of her father in his declining years.
Mr. White married for his second wife (in March, 1869) the widow of the late Warren Fuller of Mon- son, Mass., and they lived nearly twenty-one years in happy companionship of one another (she dying January, 1890), a venerable old couple.
Mr. White, in his early years, and especially after becoming a resident of Manchester, has been honorably and prominently connected with all, or nearly all, of the town's industries, enterprises, and progress. He was for many years connected with the manufacture of stockinet at Manchester Green, and with the concern known as the " New Pacific" at the extreme eastern part of Manchester, now Lydallville. During his almost lifelong residence in Manchester he has occupied every position of prominence within the gift or suffrage of his towns- men. He was elected a member of the legislature in 1857; was appointed and elected a county com- missioner of Hartford county in 1862, and served with eminence and credit to his county and constit- uency for the term of three years; was appointed by the honorable superior court one of the commis- sion of three (his colleagues being the Hon. Wm. Hamersley of Hartford and Civil Engineer Rice of New Britain) to establish the disputed boundary line between the towns of Suffield, East Granby. and the Massachusetts border, Governor Hubbard acting as counselor for Granby and Buck &- Eggleston for Suffield,-a contest lasting sixteen days, in which Mr. White proved himself a compe- tent and effectual arbitrator for the towns directly interested.
Mr. White has been in politics a lifelong repub- lican, always standing prominent and firm in what he believed to be just and fair, never recognizing tlie tricks of cheap politicians furtlier than to stamp upon and spurn them. He has been connected with the Second Congregational church of Man- chester from its organization to the present time. and always an honorable, consistent member there- of. C. W. C.
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FRANCIS GRANGER ANTHONY, NEW HA- VEN: Deputy Collector.
Francis G. Anthony was born in Lima, Living- ston county, New York, October 6, 1830. He is the son of William Miles Anthony, who was a native of Harwinton, in this state, where he was born in August, 1804. Mr. Anthony's education was acquired in the public schools of Lima and the neighboring town of West Avon, with part of a year at a select school in Ba- tavia, N. Y. The death of his father when the lad was but thirteen years of age terminated his attend- F. G. ANTHONY. ance at school, as the family were left without means, and thus were unable to incur the expense of a liberal education. During the year of his father's death Mr. Anthony came to New Haven, - part of the trip, from Rochester to Albany, being made on a canal boat, -to live with his uncle, Willis M. Anthony, who proved to be better, if possible, than a father to him. Here he spent nearly four years as clerk, first in Washington Yale's dry- goods store, and then with Fairman & Johnson. He is one of the original " Forty-niners," having taken the California gold fever on its first outbreak. On the 6th of February, 1849, he sailed from New York with a party of gold-seekers for California on the bark Clarissa Perkins, going around Cape Horn, the trip occupying two hundred and seven- teen days. Arriving in San Francisco, the party disbanded, and Mr. Anthony went to the mines. He was a practical gold miner for two years, meet- ing with varying success, inaking some days $200 a day, other days nothing. Was a baker in Nevada, California, for about one year, at which business he did better than at mining - the income being more certain, and not so much up and down as in " pros- pecting for diggings." He returned east in 1852; lived in Michigan two years, operating a foundry; went to Kentucky in 1854, where he was in general merchandizing eleven years at Athens, in Fayette county, seven or eight years of which time he was postmaster. The succeeding five years he spent in New York city, and in 1870 he returned to New Haven, where he has since been employed in the tax collector's office; at the present time is the deputy tax collector, and for the last thirteen years has been the rate-book maker. He has been a director in the Masonic Mutual Benefit Association of New Haven for fourteen years, and is at present executor of several estates. He is also a commis- sioner of the superior court for New Haven county.
His acquaintance with New Haven people is very extensive, his business giving him familiarity with nearly every tax-payer in the city. He has been a lifelong democrat, though not an active politician; is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has taken all the degrees up to and in- cluding the thirty-second. He has held the office of recorder of New Haven Commandery, Knights Templar, since 1880; belongs to the Arabic order of the Mystic Shrine.
Mr. Anthony was married July 31, 1854, to Miss Electa Hulbert of Ann Arbor, Michigan, by whom he has had three children. Mrs. Anthony died February 29, 1888, and but one of the children, the youngest, has survived her.
HON. DUDLEY P. ELY, SOUTH NORWALK : Banker.
Dudley P. Ely is a native of Connecticut, having been born in the town of Simsbury, Hartford county, on the 16th of November, 1817. Thirty years of his business life were spent in New York city, where he secured a competency. In 1861, he returned to his native state, becoming a resident of South Norwalk, where for many years he was one of the most active and prominent citizens of that place, and until increasing years required him to lay aside some of the burdens and responsibilities which D. P. ELY. his numerous and varied interests had laid upon him. He was the youngest child of Benjamin Ely, who was a graduate of Yale College of the year 1786, and a prominent citizen of this state. The Ely family are of French descent, the first of the name in England having come there from France. John Ely, a great uncle of Dudley P. Ely, was colonel of the Third Connecticut regi- ment in the revolutionary war, and carried the French coat-of-arms engraved on his sword hilt. The first American ancestor of Dudley P. Ely was Richard Ely, who arrived in America about the year 1660, and settled in Lyme in this state. Mr. Ely's maternal ancestry was English, and his grand- father was an officer in the revolutionary war. Mr. Ely was educated at the public schools of Simsbury until the age of fourteen years, when he was sent to Hartford and took a two years' course at Mr. Olney's school, a noted institution of that day. He then started to make his own career. His first em- ployment was at a store in his native town. His aptitude and activity were such that at the age of
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BIOGRAPHY OF CONNECTICUT.
eighteen years he had placed in his entire charge and management a store in West Hartland. After remaining there a year, his ambition led him to seek his fortune in New York city. He first be- came a bookkeeper there for his brother, with whom he subsequently became a partner, and whom he afterwards succeeded in the business. His ability and energy found full scope here and brought him a substantial fortune. After going to South Norwalk, he identified himself with many of the business and public interests of that place. He invested largely in real estate, and is to-day the largest owner of real estate property in that pros- perous city. He built the Hotel Mahackemo block on the corner of Washington and Main streets, the largest business block in South Norwalk. In April, 1865, Mr. Ely was elected president of the First Na- tional Bank of that place, which position he still re- tains. When South Norwalk was incorporated as a city in 1870, Mr. Ely was chosen its first mayor, and was re-elected to that office four subsequent terms. He was president of the Norwalk Gas Light Company for more than twenty years, but recently resigned that office to relieve himself of the burden of its duties. He was also president of the South Norwalk Savings Bank for more than ten years, but retired from that office to free him- self from its cares. He was the first president of the Norwalk Iron Works Company, and the first president of the South Norwalk Printing Company. In addition to these positions, he was a director of the Danbury & Norwalk Railroad Company, the Norwalk Horse Railroad Company, the Fairfield County Fire Insurance Company, the Norwalk Fire Insurance Company, the Relief Fire Insurance Company of New York, and the Peter Cooper Fire Insurance Company of New York, which latter po- sition he still retains. In agricultural matters Mr. Ely has taken a lively interest, and for many years was president of the Fairfield County Agricultural Society, which had an exceptionally prosperous career under his administration. More for the pur- pose of recreation than of profit, he has carried on a farm owned by him in the suburbs of the city, and has been an enthusiast on the subject of poul- try and pigeons, having raised many varieties of the best species. In his business career, Mr. Ely has furnished an example of honor, integrity, and reliability worthy to be imitated by the younger generation, who can see in him and his career what can be accomplished by industry, thrift, and good character. Mr. Ely is of social disposition, a good story teller, and an entertaining talker upon topics that have come under his personal observation and experience, or within the range of his reading, always having intelligent and often original ideas of value upon both public and private matters. He has been a valued and a valuable adviser of many
people, and in many good causes, which he has aided both by his counsels and his means. He has been a large, though modest, contributor to chari- table causes, and particularly interested in charities like the Children's Aid Society and such institu- tions, which seek to protect and make better the children and youth of the land. He is a member of the Congregational church of South Norwalk.
HENRY E. TAINTOR, HARTFORD: Attorney-at- Law.
Henry Ellsworth Taintor was born at Hampton, Windham county, Conn., Aug. 29, 1844. He is a son of the late Hon. Henry G. Taintor of Hampton, who was for many years a prominent citizen of that town, and at one time the state treasurer of Connecticut. On his mother's side Mr. H. E. Taintor is a great-grand- son of Oliver Ellsworth, formerly chief justice of the United States su- preme court. Mr. Tain- tor prepared for college at Monson, Mass., and entered the class of 1865 at Yale University, con- H. E. TAINTOR. tinuing a member until he left in January, 1864. to enter the army. After leaving the United States service he did not return to college, but received a degree in regular form as if he had completed his course there. His military record covers nearly two years: he enlisted Jan. 14, 1864, asprivate in Company A, First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, served with his regiment till the close of the war, and was dis- charged as second lieutenant Sept. 25, 1865. In 1866 he established his residence in Hartford, and soon afterwards began the practice of law here. which he has since continued uninterruptedly. He was married May 13, 1869, to Miss Jane G. Bennett, daughter of Lyman Bennett of Amsterdam, N. Y., who is a descendant of an old Hampton family. They have one child. Mr. Taintor was executive secretary to Governor Jewell in 1872-73, and asso- ciate judge of the Hartford city court at the same time. He has been a member of the court of com- mon council several terms, and of the board of aldermen two years; was clerk of the Hartford city court for thirteen years. He is now assistant judge of the Hartford police court and coroner for Hartford county. He is also one of the trustees of the State Savings Bank, as well as one of its attor- neys, and attorney for the Society for Savings on Pratt street. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and has held several offices therein
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