USA > Connecticut > Illustrated popular biography of Connecticut > Part 22
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lished February 4, 1889, its place of business being in the Hills block, opposite Exchange corner. The house carries the largest stock of artists' materials in the state; also extensive lines of photographer's supplies. The firm devotes special attention to wall papers and decorations and altogether employs a force of fifty hands. Mr. Preston is an active participant in both of these firms, being one of the busiest managers in the city.
He was one of the founders and vice-president of the Hubbard Escort, the best political organization in this locality. He has been a member of the Putnam Phalanx for twelve years, and at present occupies the position of quartermaster on the staff of Major O. H. Blanchard. He is a member of Amos Beecher Lodge, F. and A. M., of New Hart- ford, and belongs to the higher orders of Masonry in this city, being a member of Wolcott Council, Pythagoras Chapter, and Washington Command- ery, Knights Templar. He is a past chancellor of Washington Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and is a member of Hartford Lodge of Elks and of Trum- bull Council, National Provident Union. His political career has been as honorable as it has been successful. For a number of years he was the chairman of the democratic committee in the first ward in this city. Although the precinct is a republican stronghold it gave Mr. Preston a majority of forty-one for sheriff in November. He was not a resident of the ward at the time and had not been for a considerable period. The tribute was in recognition of his manliness and integrity of character and was the more gratifying as it was spontaneous and unsought. Mr. Preston was one of the East Hartford bridge commissioners at the time it was transferred to the towns of Hartford, East Hartford, Manchester, Glastonbury, and East Windsor. During the administration of President Cleveland he held the responsible position of Deputy United States Marshal in this state. receiv- ing the appointment from Marshal N. D. Bates of Norwich, who made him chief deputy. It was in this office that Sheriff Preston's best official work was executed. He showed marked adaptability for the duties and performed them with exceptional success. When he retired from the deputy's office in ISgo it was with the knowledge that lie had won and received the-fullest approval from the public. His nomination for sheriff added strength to the democratic ticket from the outset, and his election was by the largest majority of any candidate on the general ticket. Mr. Preston is a member of the First Methodist church in this city and is connected with the Young Men's Christian Association. He has been married twice. His first wife was Miss Hattie H. Seymour, daughter of ex-Sheriff O. D. Seymour of this city. Her deatlı occurred five years ago. The two children, the fruit of this
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marriage, died in infancy. The second wife, who was recently married to Mr. Preston, was Miss Nellie F. Dole of Springfield, Mass., stepdaughter of Francis H. Richards of this city, the patent ex- pert and mechanical engineer. The rapid progress which Sheriff Preston has attained during the past twelve years, both in business and politics, has been the result of personal merit. He is profound- ly interested in the measures and reforms that have been instituted for the advancement of working- men, and his sympathies and counsel will invaria- bly be in favor of improving their condition.
JOHN PALMER, BROOKLYN : President Wind- ham County National Bank.
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John Palmer, the son of James B. Palmer, was born in Ashford, Windham county, Conn., April 24, 1820. His education was acquired in the com- mon schools of his native town and in Wilbraham academy. During his mi- nority he was employed as a clerk in a country store in Eastford, and in 1839 removed to Brooklyn, where he conducted a mercantile business for ffteen years, disposing of his interest in 1854 to a successor. He was dur- ing a part of this time JOHN PALMER. postmaster at Brooklyn, under the administration of Postmaster-General Collamer. Mr. Palmer was town clerk and treasurer of Brooklyn for five years. He has held since 1857, and now holds, the office of secretary and treasurer of the Windham County Mutual Fire Insurance Company; and is president of the Windham County National Bank, which po- sition he has occupied since 1880. He is also at present a trustee of the Brooklyn Savings Bank. Mr. Palmer has resided in Brooklyn uninterruptedly for fifty-one years, and his whole life has been one of distinguished honor and usefulness; while his name has been closely identified with the successes of the staunch financial and fiduciary institutions of which he has been so long the chief or associate manager. He is a member of the Episcopal church of Brooklyn, one of the ancient religious societies of the commonwealth, whose roll of membership has included some of the most distinguished citizens of the state in former generations. He is a republican in politics, having been identified with that party since its original organization in 1856. Mr. Palmer was married in 1850 to Miss Frances M. Davison, daughter of Septimus Davison, Esq., of Brooklyn. She is still living, with three daughters, Frances L., Charlotte H., and Helen M.
HON. PHILIP CORBIN, NEW BRITAIN : Hard- ware Manufacturer.
Philip Corbin was born in Willington, October 26, 1824, the son of a farmer with a large family, whose genealogical tree goes back to the Puritans. From earliest school age to nine years he received, the year through, such educational advantages as the common schools af- forded. From the age of nine to sixteen he could attend only the winter terms, being busy on the farm at other seasons. Six full weeks at the academy completed what may be technically called his schooling, but his later PHILIP CORBIN. travels, observation, and wide reading have given him a liberal education. Two years afterward, or in 1844, he went to New Britain, where he was apprenticed to North & Stanley, hardware manufacturers in a small way, in what was then a village. So thoroughly did he apply himself to the principles of the business that when he came of age he applied for and secured a large contract for some of the best work given out. For five years he went from success to success, and then, in 1849, having an ambition not for wealth, but to become a larger employer of labor, he and his brother, Mr. Frank Corbin, founded what has grown into the present extensive hardware manu- factory of P. & F. Corbin. It is one of the leading firms in the country, and employs 1,200 persons in its various departments. Mr. Corbin has always been at its head, carrying it through the most dis- couraging circumstances, with a sagacity that places him in the front rank of our captains of in- dustry. Ever an active member of the whig party first, and then of its successor, the republican, he has never cared for office, content to see, from a private station, the best interests of the country conserved. In 1849 he was induced to accept the position of warden of the borough, and when New Britain was incorporated became a member of the common council. The establishment of the water works was largely his work, and he has served many years upon the board of water commissioners. He is also a trustee of the New Britain Savings Bank. In 1884 he was chosen to the house, and served as house chairman of the exceedingly im- portant committee on insurance. It was character- istic of him to spend a great deal of time in examin- ing the technical merits of the measures submitted. His nomination for state senator in the fall of 1888 was wholly unsolicited, but was demanded by the interests of the district. His election which followed
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proved the wisdom of the convention's choice, and gave to the district an able senator and a loyal worker. As in all other fields of service, his ex- perience in the senate chamber was one of great usefulness to his constituents and the state, and of lasting credit to himself.
GEORGE W. FOWLER, HARTFORD: President The Fowler & Miller Company, Commercial Job Printers.
George W. Fowler, who has been at the head of town affairs in Hartford as selectman since 1883, was born in Westfield, Mass., October 15, 1844. He received a public school education, and learned the printer's trade in the office of The West- field News Letter. Dur- ing the war he was with The Springfield Repub- lican. In 1864 he re- moved to Hartford, and entered the employ of The Hartford Times. Eight years were spent in the composing-rooms of that paper. In 1873 G. W. FOWLER. Mr. Fowler organized the printing firm of Smith, Fowler & Miller. After- wards the organization was incorporated under the name of The Fowler & Miller Company. Mr. Fowler became the president, and has since re- tained that office in the company. He is a man of exceptional business ability, and the company under his management has become one of the lead- ing printing houses in the city. Mr. Fowler en- tered political life as a member of the council board from the Sixth ward. He represented that precinct in the board of aldermen for eight years, and was one of the best informed members of the city government. He was appointed a member of the special committee on revision of ordinances, serving with Messrs. John H. Brocklesby and Henry E. Taintor. He has been a member of the board of selectmen for eleven years. He was elected to the first place on the board in October, IS82, and has served continuously in that office since 1883. During the past three years he has been nominated by both political parties for the position. During his administration the new alms- house has been erected, and the old town property that was formerly used for the purpose has been transformed into one of the most delightful and at- tractive sections of the city, increasing the grand list by $200,000. The committee in charge of the sale of the old town property has been composed of First Selectman Fowler, A. E. Burr, E. W.
Parsons, J. W. Dimock, and E. C. Frisbie. Mr. Fowler is also the chairman of the free bridge com- mission. He is a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 4, F. and A. M., of this city, Hartford Lodge of Elks, Wangunk Tribe of the Improved Order of Red Men, the National Provident Union, and the Gentleman's Driving Club. Mr. Fowler has a wife and one daughter. Mrs. Fowler prior to her mar- riage was Miss M. Louise Rowles, daughter of Judge Rowles of Tennessee. In politics Mr. Fow- ler is an out-and-out democrat, and is one of the sincerest leaders of that party in the city. It is an interesting fact that the first selectman and ex- Mayor John G. Root were born in the same town. During Captain Root's administration as mayor the town and municipal departments were under the control of two honored citizens who made their way here from Westfield.
REV. H. MARTIN KELLOGG, LEBANON : Pas- tor First Congregational Church.
Rev. Henry Martin Kellogg was born at New Boston, N. H., April 2, 1851, and received a collegiate education. He graduated from the Man- chester High School in 1868 and from Dartmouth College in the class of IS73. He studied the- ology at Princeton and in Union Theological Sem- inary, New York, grad- uating from the latter in 1876. His pastorates have been First Presbyte- rian church, Atlantic City, N. J., Congrega- tional church at Frances- town, N. H., First Con- H. M. KELLOGG. gregational church, Greenwich, Conn., and the First Congregational church at Lebanon. Mr. Kellogg has been mar- ried twice, his first wife being Miss Cora O. Alton. the marriage occurring October 16, 1879. This lady's death took place March 5, 1SS2. The sco- ond wife, who is still living, was Mrs. Stella G. West, the marriage with her being solemnized May 5, ISS5. The family includes three daughters. In politics Mr. Kellogg is a prohibitionist. During his college career Mr. Kellogg was a member of the Delta Kappa and the Theta Delta Chi societies, He has been a somewhat extensive writer for the secular and religious press. He is the author of " Twelve Hours with Young People," and " The Gencalogy of the Billerica French Family." Mr. Kellogg is an earnest preacher and pastor in the church and is regarded with marked favor in eastern Connecticut.
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THOMAS S. WEAVER, HARTFORD: Journalist.
Thomas Snell Weaver was born in Willimantic Feb. 5, 1845. He received a common school edu- cation and was one of the graduates of the old stone school-house, a historical educational institution of Windham county. At fourteen years of age he entered the office of the Willimantic Journal to learn the printer's trade, and was engaged there for eight years during a greater part of the time, his father, the late William L. Weaver, being the edi- tor, and for a short time he was editor of that T. S. WEAVER. paper himself. He went to Worcester, Mass., in 1867, and after several years connection with the job printing business be- came attached to the Worcester Daily Press, to which daily newspaper he contributed local and paragraphic work. In 1878 he assumed the position of telegraph editor and paragraph writer on the New Haven Register, and was connected with that paper for four years, during which time he made a national reputation for writing sentimental and humorous paragraphs, being more widely quoted by the newspaper press of the country than any one in the business, with the exception of " Bob " Bur- dette. He also did a large share of the editorial work for the Register. He assumed a position as a special writer on the Boston Globe in 1882, but remained there only a few months. He was then offered the chair of editorial writer on the Hartford Evening Post, which position he held for eight years, adding considerably to the reputation of that paper by his sharp political work and brief para- graphs under the head of " Postings." The dutics of the position becoming onerous and his health be- ing in danger of breaking down he consented, after repeated urging, to return to Willimantic and assume the editorship of the Journal, his alma mater. He is now with that weekly, attending to all the multifarious duties which fall to the lot of the editor of a weekly newspaper, doing his own reporting and editorial work. He resides in Hart- ford, where he has important newspaper connec- tions with out-of-town dailies. He is regarded as a newspaper man of untiring industry and capacity, covering a wider range in his work than almost any other newspaper man in the state. He married Delia A. Chipman of Willimantic in 1870, and has five children, his oldest son being connected with the New Haven Register as general reporter. He is prominent in Royal Arcanum circles, and a mem- ber of the Grand Council. He is a republican
" from the word go," having cast his first vote for Joseph R. Hawley for governor of Connecticut, and voted the straight republican ticket at each election since. He is a member of the Windsor Avenue Congregational church of Hartford, and has taken a lively interest in its affairs.
WILLIAM HENRY PRESCOTT, ROCKVILLE, Secretary and Treasurer of The White, Corbin & Company.
William H. Prescott is a native of Loudon, New Hampshire, where he was born Aug. 12, 1840. At the age of four years his parents removed to Man- chester, in the same state, three years later to North Chelmsford, Mass., and again, after two years, to Holyoke. in which lat- ter city his education was chiefly acquired. After ten years in Holyoke, at the age of nineteen, the young man went to Rock- ville and entered the em- ploy of Messrs. White & Corbin, as accountant in the office of the firm, which had recently com- W. H. PRESCOTT. menced the then comparatively new industry of envelope manufacturing by machinery. Mr. Pres- cott developed at once a very marked ability for business management, and from being frequently consulted by the firm on important issues, he came in a few years to be considered as an indispensable factor in the company's affairs, though not pecu- niarily interested therein. In 1866 he was admitted into the firm as a partner, which then became White, Corbin & Company, with the office business entirely in his charge. As time passed, Mr. White, the senior partner, became interested in manu- facturing enterprises outside, and the whole burden of management came upon Mr. Prescott. Since the incorporation of " The White, Corbin & Com- pany " in ISSI, although Mr. White has occupied the position of president of the corporation, Mr. Prescott has been its secretary, treasurer, and gen- eral manager, as well as a director, and has dis- charged the duties of his position with such mas- terly ability as to place the company at the head of envelope manufacturers of the country, if not of the world, in point of enterprise, financial strength, and capacity for production. His judgment in all business affairs is rated as of the highest order, in recognition of which every considerable financial concern in the city of Rockville has first or last called him to a place in its management or control. Additionally to the position he occupies in his own
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company, Mr. Prescott is a director in the American Mills Company, in the First National Bank, in the People's Saving Bank, and in the Rockville Water Power Company; president of the Rockville Mutual Insurance Company, and of the Standard Envelope Company; trustee and director in the Rockville Building and Loan Association; auditor of town accounts; and sustains various minor official re- lations among the institutions of the town and city. He is an active and influential member of the Union Congregational society, is thor- oughly interested in educational affairs, and in all matters appertaining to public improvements. He is a stockholder in nearly or quite every pros- perous corporation in Rockville, and owner of much real estate in the city and its vicinity, all acquired by his own individual exertions, and by the careful application of business principles which he had learned by close study and observation to be wisest and best.
Mr. Prescott married Miss Celia E. Keeney, daughter of the late Francis Keeney, who for many years was proprietor of the Rockville hotel, and a highly-esteemed gentleman. They have two children.
COLONEL JACOB L. GREENE, HARTFORD: President Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Jacob L. Greene was born at Waterford, Maine, August 9, 1837. His father, Captain Jacob H. Greene, was a man of staunch character, distin- guished for physical vigor, intellectual force, positive convictions, and strong religious views. His mother was a lady of most affable character, winning and graceful in manner, thoroughly in- telligent, and earnestly devoted to the welfare and advancement of her children. At an early age the subject of this sketch manifested a strong J. L. GREENE. disposition for study, and sought every opportunity within his reach for in- tellectual attainment. The Michigan University at that time opened its doors without cost, so far as tuition was concerned, and the young student turned his steps thitherward. There he completed his course of studies, and engaged in the practice of law at Lapeer. Hardly had he begun his profession when the war broke out, and he en- listed as a private in the Seventh Michigan in- fantry, being soon afterward made a commissioned officer. His regiment was ordered to the School of
Instruction at Fort Wayne, where it was filled up, and in August was sent to the front. Colonel Greene served until the spring of 1862, advancing to the first lieutenancy of his company. In 1862 he suffered a long and exhaustive illness, prostrating him for an entire year. He recovered, however, during the summer of 1863, and returned to the field; accepted an appointment as assistant adjutant-general on Custer's staff, and served with him until the battle of Trevellyan Station, where he was captured, June 11, 1864. He was in Libby, Macon, and Charleston prisons. While at Charleston he was one of the Union officers placed under the Union fire by the rebel authorities. He was afterward removed to Columbia, where he was paroled and transferred to the Union lines. He was not able, however, to secure an exchange until April 8, 1865. Immediately after his exchange he returned to the front, joining General Custer at Burksville Junc- tion, April 10. After the grand review of the Army of the Potomac at Washington, General Cus- ter was ordered to New Orleans. Colonel Greene accompanied him, and went with him up the Red River to Alexandria, where a division of cavalry was organized. Thence Custer advanced into Texas, having been made commander of the cen- tral division of Texas, and of the cavalry in the department, with headquarters at Austin. Colonel Greene was made chief of staff in both commands; meanwhile he had been promoted to the full rank of major, and was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for distinguished gallantry. When Custer was mus- tered out as a major-general of volunteers, Colonel Greene applied for his muster out, and finally re- ceived it in April, 1866, one year after the close of the war. He spent the next four years at Pitts- field, Mass., where he became assistant secretary of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company. He began his insurance career as an agent of that com- pany, but his executive ability soon manifesting itself, he was asked to take a position on the office staff. He was called to Hartford June 1, 1870, as assistant secretary of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, was made secretary in April, 1871, and president of the company in March, 1875. succeeding the late President Goodwin. He is at the head of one of the largest insurance organiza- tions in the United States, to which honorable posi- tion he brings the qualifications of undoubted abil- ity, the most absolute fidelity, a clear conception of duty, and a loyalty to principle which under no circumstances either surrenders or compromises.
As a citizen, Colonel Greene's abilities and habits of industry lead him into various useful activities. He is a frequent and popular speaker at meetings of religious and scholastic bodies, and has been selected as tlic orator of the day on several import- ant state occasions. He is senior warden of Trinity
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church, a leading member of the Church Temper- ance society, and trustee of the Bishop's fund. He is a director of the Connecticut Trust and Safe Deposit Company, and of the Society for Savings; a director also of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, and the Phoenix National Bank. His social connections include membership in the Con- necticut Society of the Sons of the Revolution, trusteeships in the Watkinson Library, Church Home, and other local organizations; and he is a man of superior intellectual endowments, which render him not only an able business manager, but a thoroughly useful and greatly-valued citizen.
FRANK F. WEBB, WINDHAM: Merchant and Banker.
Frank F. Webb was born in Scotland, November 6, 1852. He is the son of Paschal and Rhoda (Kingsley) Webb, and his father, now some years deceased, is remembered as a man of the highest respectability, who en- joyed the confidence of his townsmen, and was by them frequently dur- ing his lifetime called to occupy positions of honor and trust. F. F. Webb lived at home on his father's farm in Scotland during his youth, and had the advantages of the F. F. WEBB. public school there, which were later supplemented by a finishing course at the High school in Willi- mantic. After the death of his father in 1870, the old homestead was sold, and the family moved to Willimantic. Here, after attaining his majority, he embarked in trade with Jerome B. Baldwin, under the firm name of Baldwin & Webb; and for several years conducted a successful business in clothing and furnishing goods. In 1878 he was married to Miss Janette Lincoln of Willimantic. He was elected clerk and treasurer of the borough of Willimantic, and last fall was elected to repre- sent the town of Windham in the state legislature, being the candidate of the democratic party. He is a director in the Windham National Bank and the Willimantic Savings Institute, of which latter he was treasurer for two or three years. He is a member of the Congregational Society of Willimantic.
Mr. Webb is a gentleman of quiet habits, careful and conscientious in his expressions of opinion, of undeviating honor and integrity, and is regarded as an excellent judge of men and affairs from a business standpoint. His mercantile career and brief public service have been alike honorable and successful.
SILAS PALMER ABELL, LEBANON: Farmer.
Silas P. Abell was born in Lebanon, August 10, 1822, the youngest of seven children. His father dying in 1825, and the family not being blessed with much of this world's good, the subject of this sketch when nine years of age was put out to work for his board and clothes, and was to attend school in the winter months un- til sixteen years of age. At the age of sixteen he made another bargain with his employer, in which he was to stay with him until he was twenty- one years of age, and was S. P. ABELL. to receive in addition to his board and clothes, one hundred and twenty-five dollars. Young Abell, by improving time at school and his evenings at home, was able to teach school two winter terms before he was of age, for which his employer received ninety dollars. During all these years there was no written agreement be- tween the parties. The young man was faithful to his employer, and the latter was as kind as a father to his ward. He attended a select school for one term after his "time was out," and continued to work for his old friend during the summers and to teach school during the winters, until he was married. Mr. Abell and his wife live on the same farm still, which they have owned since the death of their old friend. The old gentleman (Col. Julius Clark) died in 1868. Mr. Abell married Miss So- phronia Robinson of Lebanon, March 22, 1846. They have had six children, of whom three are still living, viz .: Mrs. C. A. Brown, Mrs. Elisha P. Spafard, and Myron R. Abell. Mr. Abell has been an assessor, a member of the board of relief, select- man, town agent, notary public, justice of the peace, - appointed to the latter office for the first time in 1850 by the legislature. He has probably written more wills than any other person now living in his part of the town, and has settled, either as executor or administrator, nineteen estates of de- ceased persons in his district and those adjoining. He was a member of the legislature during the ses- sions of 1860 and ISSo. In his early manhood Mr. Abell was a democrat and voted with that party. He has subsequently been identified with the free soil party, the republican, and the prohibitionists; being led to change his political affiliations first be- cause of his abhorrence of slavery, to which he be- lieved the democratic party to be wedded, and last, for the reason that he held the temperance reform to be paramount in importance to any political party whose platform is not soundly constructed on
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