USA > Connecticut > Illustrated popular biography of Connecticut > Part 25
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JOSEPH ANDREWS, WEST HAVEN (ORANGE): Carpenter and Builder.
Joseph Andrews was born in Meriden, February 14, 1832, and was educated in the common schools. He is at present first selectman and town agent in Orange, where he is en- gaged in the building business. He has held the position of warden of the borough. In politics he is a republican. Mr. Andrews is a past master of Annawan Lodge, F. and A. M. in West Haven, and has been a represent- ative in the Grand Lodge. He has resided in the towns of Wallingford and 1 New Haven, and is prom- JOSEPH ANDREWS. inently known in his sec- tion of the state. His wife, who was Miss Eliza Jane Peck prior to her marriage, is still living. One son is a physician in Buffalo. Mr. Andrews is a member of the Congregational church.
JOHN H. LEAVENWORTH, ROXBURY: Farmer.
John H. Leavenworth was born in Roxbury, Aug. 13, 1830, and received a common school and academic education, completing the course in the Woodbury Academy. He has devoted his life to farming and teaching. He commenced the latter pursuit in the public schools of Roxbury and Woodbury when he was seventeen years old, and taught for twenty-nine terms. In 18So he was a member of the general assembly from Roxbury, serving on the democratic side of the house. He J. H. LEAVENWORTH. has held all of the impor- tant town offices, serving as selectman for eight years, member of the board of assessors six, mem- ber of the board of relief, juror, and grand juror. For twelve years he was the superintendent of the North Congregational church Sunday-school, which
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he attended in Woodbury, and is at present a mem- ber of the church committee, having declined the chairmanship of the society's committee. Mr. Leavenworth lives in the same home in which he was born sixty years ago. He was married April 12, 1852, to Miss Mary Ann Peck, daughter of Marquis D. Peck. She is still living. The family also includes one son and one daughter. Mr. Leav- enworth is a member of King Solomon's Lodge, No. 7, F. and A. M., of Woodbury, and is one of the most honored citizens in the community where he resides.
R. N. FITZGERALD, HARTFORD: Wholesale Merchant.
Ransom N. Fitzgerald was born in Manchester, May 3, 1848, being the youngest son of the well- known paper manufacturer of that town, who was . engaged in the business upwards of forty years, the firm name being Keney & Fitzgerald. The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of Manchester, and at the age of sixteen he commenced learning the business of paper- making in his father's mill. Eventually he was admitted to partnership R. N. FITZGERALD. in the establishment. At the death of his father in 1872 he purchased the mill and formed a partner- ship with Messrs. George W. Cheney and Edwin Bunce, under the firm name of R. N. Fitzgerald & Co. This partnership existed until 1874, when the mill property was destroyed by fire. Mr. Fitzgerald then removed to Hartford, and purchased the boot and shoe business at No. 201 Main street, conduct- ing it successfully for a number of years. In 1880 he became a partner in the wholesale grocery house of Bronson & Fitzgerald, No. 142 State street, where he is still engaged in business. The firm is widely known through the Connecticut Valley, conducting a large and successful business. Mr. Fitzgerald is a member of the court of common council from the Fourth ward, and represents the council board on the city hall committee. He is a democrat in poli- tics. The councilman was one of the founders, and has been for two years the president, of the Gentleman's Driving Club in this city, and is a prominent member of the Hartford order of Elks. He is a member of LaFayette Lodge, F. A. M., of this city, an officer in Washington Commandery, Knights Templar, and has held various offices in the Scottish Rite bodies. He is also a member of the Mystic Shrine, and has attained to the thirty-
second degree in Masonry. Councilman Fitzgerald was married in 1876 to Miss Alice C. Bunce of Manchester, only daughter of the late Edwin Bunce of that town. Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald reside at 36 Main street in this city, owning one of the pleasantest residences in that section of the inuni- cipality.
CHARLES DENNIS BARNES, SOUTHINGTON : Merchant, and President Southington National Bank.
Charles D. Barnes, senior member of the boot and shoe firm of Charles D. Barnes & Son, was born in Southington, December 12, 1841. He en- joyed the ordinary ad- vantages of the district schools, with a finishing experience at the Meriden High School; and became an apprentice at the car- penter's and joiner's trade, which he followed until 1872, and then took charge for two years of the shipping department in the bolt works of the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Company. In 1874 he es- tablished the boot and C. D. BARNES. shoe business in Southington now conducted under the firm name of C. D. Barnes & Son. Mr. Barnes sustains official relations with several of the busi- ness institutions and corporations of his native town, being secretary, treasurer, and general man- ager of the Southington Lumber and Feed Com- pany, which position he has occupied since 1881; one of the directors and on the loan committee of the Southington Savings Bank ; a director, and elected vice-president, of the Southington National Bank in January, 1889, and appointed president of the institution in January, 1890; also president of the Oak Hill Cemetery Association. He was a se- lectman and grand juror in 1873; town clerk, treas- urer, and registrar of births, marriages, and deaths in 1874, and continuously since with the exception of a single year; also treasurer of the school fund. When the borough of Southington was formed, he was nominated for warden on the only ticket in the field, but declined and was finally persuaded to accept a position as one of the burgesses; and is now on the committee on highways and sidewalks, and chairman of the sewer committee. He is rep- resenting the town of Southington in the general assembly the present year, being a member and clerk of the appropriations committee. Among his society connections it may be mentioned that he is vice-president of the Merchants Club of Southing- · ton; was one of the charter members of Trumbull
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Post, No. 16, Grand Army of the Republic, and its first post commander, holding the office for some years. Mr. Barnes was in active military service during the war of the rebellion. He enlisted in In- fantry Company B, Fifteenth Connecticut Volun- teers, June 22, 1862, and was with that regiment every time it left camp, until wounded and cap- tured at the battle of Kinston, N. C., March 8, 1865. He spent the remaining time, until Rich- mond was surrendered, in " Hotel Libby," and was discharged as sergeant, June 9, 1865.
Mr. Barnes has been twice married ; first to Sarah E. Hamlin of Southington, in September, 1865, the issue of which marriage was two children, one dying in infancy, the other, a son, Frank H., now living and in business with his father. Mr. Barnes' second marriage was with Sarah H. Grid- ley, widow of Lieut. Henry Lewis of the Twentieth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry.
Mr. Barnes has always been a staunch republi- can, as may be inferred from the many positions of trust to which he has been called as the candidate of that party. He is a member of the First Con- gregational church of Southington, active in church and society work, and in harmony always with whatever is undertaken to elevate and improve the moral and religious status of the community.
JOHN H. LEE, NORWALK : Warden of the Bor- ough.
John Hawley Lee was born in Redding, August 9, 1850, and was educated in the public schools and under Albert B. Hill, tutor at the Sheffield Scientific School in New Haven. Since 1871 he has resided at Norwalk, and is prominently asso- ciated with public affairs, as warden or mayor, member of the board of education, school commit- tee, and vice-president of the board of trade. He is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal church, and has been master for three years of St. John's Lodge, No. 6, F. and A. J. H. LEE. M., of Norwalk. He was one of the founders of the Masonic Temple, and is third vice-president of the Cooperative Building Bank, located in the World building, N. Y. city. He is a member of the Norwalk Club, its first president for two years, and chairman of the local democratic committee. He is the manager of the Cleveland Baking Powder Company, Boston, Mass. The wife of Mr. Lee was Miss Annie B. Heins prior to her marriage.
KARL GERHARDT, HARTFORD: Sculptor.
Karl Gerhardt, the artist, whose country house is at Cottage Grove, in Bloomfield, was born in Bos- ton, January 7, 1853, and was educated in Phillips school in that city. He is of German parentage, and is a fluent linguist, speak- ing English, German, and French gracefully. Mr. Gerhardt, who has at- tained noted eminence as a sculptor, spent a year and a half in the regular army. He began his business life as a designer of machinery, and first worked with the Ames Manufacturing Company KARL GERHARDT. of Chicopee, Mass. In 1874 he visited California, and on his return was em- ployed by the Pratt & Whitney Company of Hart- ford, as a designer in their extensive machine works. While thus engaged he made a bust of his wife in his leisure hours, and subsequently a life-size statue of a " Startled Bather." These two works not only attracted the attention of the Hartford press, but so greatly interested Charles Dudley Warner and Samuel L. Clemens that they requested J. Q. A. Ward, the eminent sculptor, to pay them a visit and examine them. The object of this invitation was to ascertain whether Mr. Gerhardt gave such proofs of talent as would warrant the attempt to raise a sum of money large enough to pay his ex- penses to Europe, and to educate him under the best masters of the art in Paris. Mr. Ward's opin- ion was emphatically in favor of the idca. After several efforts to enlist the cooperation of wealthy citizens had failed, Mr. Clemens (" Mark Twain ") and his wife determined to assume the expense themselves, both of travel and maintenance - a pledge which they nobly redeemed, although the fact is known to few persons outside of the sculp- tor's personal friends. On his arrival at Paris, he successfully passed the preliminary examination. Among sixty competitors, most of them having been favorably circumstanced to study the art, the self-taught Hartford sculptor was recorded as the twenty-eighth. At the end of the first year. Mr. Gerhardt received, in the annual examination, an honorable mention; at the end of the second year he was received at the annual Salon; and in 1884, the last year of his study abroad, two pieces were received -" Echo," a marble statuette now in the possession of Mark Twain, and " Eve's Lullaby." a life-size group, which received a diploma of honor at the World's Exposition at New Orleans.
The statue of Nathan Hale, which is stationed in the east corridor of the state capitol, and the bronze
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statue of Governor R. D. Hubbard on the capitol grounds, were designed by Mr. Gerhardt. Both of these statues have received the highest praise from competent sculptors. The home of Mr. Gerhardt in Bloomfield is a delightful one. Besides the wife who was the inspiration of his first attempts in sculpture, there are two children, daily adding joy and delight to his domestic surroundings. He is connected with the Congregational church and is independent in politics.
CHARLES PHILIP BRADWAY, WEST STAF- FORD : Inventor, and Manufacturer of Turbine Water Wheels and Motors.
C. P. Bradway was born in South Glastonbury, May 23, 1843. Having completed his education at Monson Academy, he served the Monson firm of Merrick, Fay & Co., straw hat manufacturers, as boiler tender the follow- ing winter. His health becoming delicate, he joined a fishing party, coasting along the New England shore, Sable Island banks, etc., taking the position of cook when at every landing the stew- ard invariably became dis- abled. Evidence of his C. P. BRADWAY. early inventive genius may still be seen on the chamber-floor, the pentagonal checker-board, and the old bedstead head-boards of his boyhood's home in Monson, where designs of water-wheels formerly covered every available surface. His knowledge of machinery seemed intuitive. His first water-wheel that came into actual service was used for running the home shop. In its manufac- ture he obtained permission to use a lathe in a factory, seven miles away, just as the hands were going out to dinner. On their return the superin- tendent was astonished to find the lad busily at work. "Where did you learn to turn iron?" in- quired the superintendent. " Right here," was the reply. In this home shop he spent his spare mo- ments, repairing an infinite variety of articles for the neighboring boys, manufacturing pistols, pow- der, etc., grinding the latter in a coffee mill and surviving an explosion that singed his eyebrows, and imprinted the form of the dish in his forehead. In the intervals of helping about the farm he also built a saw-mill on the home place, using one of his wheels as motive power. The first wheels for which he received a remuneration were sold to a Mr. Finlay of East Glastonbury and a Mr. Jones of Woodbury, for which he received $150 and $200 re-
spectively. On this wheel he neglected to take out a patent, and the design was appropriated by another. Thus he was obliged to abandon the manufacture of his own invention. He then tried his fortune as a book agent with marked success, in Vermont and Pennsylvania. He afterward fitted up a store in Danville, Pa., from which he equipped scores of agents. It was in Danville that he found his wife, Sarah J. Houghawout. They were mar- ried in 1873. Eight children have been born to them, seven of whom are living. Mr. Bradway has been a prominent member of the Y. M. C. A. and is connected with the Congregational church. In politics his principles are republican. Since his return to the east he has purchased a pleasant home in West Stafford, including a large machine shop where he has been engaged in producing cul- tivators and other agricultural implements in their season, water-motors, and especially the giant tur- bine wheel, which from the fact of its having twelve gates, it has been suggested should be called the " New Jerusalem."
JESSE MILTON COBURN, M.D., BROOKLYN: Physician and Surgeon.
Dr. Jesse Milton Coburn was born in Pittsfield, N. H., March 27, 1853, being a descendant of Wil- liam Colborne, Esq., herald under Queen Elizabeth of Dudley Castle, near Dudley, Worcestershire, Eng. His father was Rev. J. Milton Coburn of Manchester, N. H. Dr. Coburn was educated in the public schools of that city, Pembroke academy, and the Boston Universi- ty. He pursued his med- ical studies under Prof. J. H. Woodbury of Boston and received the degree of M.D. at the university in 1874. He commenced DR. J. M. COBURN. the practice of medicine at South Framingham, Mass., but subsequently removed to Shrewsbury, where he married Miss Abbie M. Cutler, daughter of Aaron G. and Lucy Nourse Cutler. In 1880 he settled in Brooklyn, Conn., succeeding to the prac- tice of the late Dr. James B. Whitcomb of that town, where he has since resided. He has an ex- tensive practice and is regarded as one of the most successful physicians in Eastern Connecticut. Dr. Coburn has two sons. He is a member of the Bap- tist church in Brooklyn and is a prohibitionist in politics. He belongs to the order of Odd Fellows, and is a gentleman of decided popularity in the town where he resides.
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JOSEPH SELDEN, NORFOLK: Manufacturer.
Joseph Selden was a member of the general assembly in 1885, serving on the republican side of the house. He is connected with the Ætna Silk Company, and is one of the leading business men in this section of the state. He was born in West Hartford, October 17, 1823, and was educated in the common schools and the Westfield Academy. In the military service he attained the rank of lieu- tenant-colonel. Prior to his election to the legisla- ture he was honored with political position and had served on the board of JOSEPH SELDEN. selectmen. The business life of Colonel Selden has been spent in the town of Norfolk for the most part. A part of his career, however, was passed in Rock- ville. He has been married twice; his first wife, Lavinia Fuller, died in 1857. The present wife was Miss Emma Fuller. One child is living. Colonel Selden is a member of the Norfolk Congregational church, and is held in high esteem in the com- munity where he resides.
STEPHEN BALL, HARTFORD: Secretary Hart- ford Life and Annuity Insurance Company.
The accompanying vignette fairly presents the familiar features of Stephen Ball, who for twenty- four years has been officially connected with one of the most popular and pro- gressive life insurance corporations of Connecti- cut. Mr. Ball is a native of New Haven, where he was born in 1839. Most of his life has been spent in this state, and a large part of his active business experience has been in Hartford with the com- pany in whose service he is still engaged. He was in the employ of the gov- ernment at New Orleans STEPHEN BALL. before coming from that city to Hartford in April, 1867. In the following August he formed a con- nection with the Hartford Life and Annuity Com- pany as its assistant secretary. In 1874 he became its secretary, and has since been its chief manager. Mr. Ball has a thorough knowledge of the science and practice of life insurance, and in the manage- ment of that company he has been instrumental in giving it a reputation and standing which few
kindred corporations have achieved. Ile is so thoroughly identified with the company that its his- tory is practically his biography. Mr. Ball, at fifty-two years of age, is still in the prime of life, and devoting his undivided energies to the main- tenance of the high standard of excellence in life insurance which, under his management, this com- pany long ago reached.
REV. EUGENE MELNOTTE GRANT, STAM- FORD: Universalist Clergyman, Editor, and Cor- respondent.
Mr. Grant was born at Auburn, N. Y., August 29, 1847. His father, Franklin W., was born at Nashua, N. H. The family is descended from a Scotch clan of Grants in the same line with the late General U. S. Grant, but which separated some four generations back. His mother, Miss Sarah Ann Dias, was born of English parents in the city of London, but came to this country when only seven years old, and never returned. The Grant family of the last genera- tion were all educated machinists and successful E. M. GRANT. railroad men, Franklin holding various positions, including master machinist, assistant superintend- ent, and contractor. This made the child life of the subject of this sketch a roving one. Auburn, Syracuse, Corning, Rome, Sackett's Harbor, Cape Vincent, and Buffalo, in New York state, and Toronto, Ontario, were successively places of resi- dence until the family returned to Auburn to settle down. Here the young man was early put to learn the trade of his father, machinist, soon after which the latter died, leaving him the eldest of five child- ren at seventeen years of age, with the responsi- bility of their maintenance. His trade completed. he accepted a business offer, which he pursued for somewhat more than two years, when his attention was attracted to the ministry. He at once began preparations for study, which ended with the Theo- logical school of St. Lawrence University. His first pastoral settlement was at;Madrid, N. Y .. in the spring of IS70, some months before leaving school. A year later he removed to Churchville. N. Y., where he was elected standing clerk of the Niagara Association of Universalists, and again to Tidioute, Penn., then a thriving oil town. While there he married Miss Emma E. Pepper of Little Falls, N. V. Four children have been born to them, one son and three daughters. A call to a double pastorate at Waterville and West Waterville
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(now Oakland) took him to Maine, where he held his only public office - that of chairman of the school committee, to which he was elected by a large majority for the purpose of reorganizing and properly grading the public schools, according to his expressed ideas, which was afterwards accom- plished to the satisfaction of the town. In the fall of 1876 he accepted a call to the church at Ports- mouth, N. H., one of the oldest in the denomina- tion, having had for pastors some of the most noted of her preachers. During a harmonious and suc- cessful pastorate of more than five years he held the office of standing clerk of the Rockingham As- sociation of Universalists, and successively trustee and president of the New Hampshire Universalist convention. Late in 1881 he removed to Stamford, Conn., to take charge of the Second Universalist church (the First church being at Long Ridge, in the northern part of the town), where he still con- tinues. Unity and prosperity have accompanied his ten years' pastorate. He has established a promising mission at Mianus, under the care of his church. He and his church are greatly respected, and their works highly commended by the people of the town. Every department of church activity is carefully superintended by the pastor.
Mr. Grant has been active in every effort to pro- mote the welfare of his church in the state, as will appear from the number of offices he holds in her interest. He has been several times elected dele- gate to the general convention of Universalists, has twice been elected assistant secretary, and by virtue of holding the office of state secretary he becomes a permanent member of that body. He is secretary of the state convention, the executive committee thereof, and the missionary board; is standing clerk of the Southern Association, and secretary of the Connecticut Universalist Club, of which he was one of the founders. He is editor of the Connecti- cut department of the Gospel Banner of Augusta, Me .; Connecticut correspondent of the Christian Leader of Boston, Mass., the leading denomina- tional organ in America; and he also edits and publishes The Message, a small weekly paper, having the local importance of being the recognized organ and advocate of his own church, the Long Ridge church, and the Mianus mission. He is the author of a vesper service book, and contributor to various publications. He is a Free and Accepted Mason, with the rank of Knight Templar, and an Odd Fellow. He has achieved considerable suc- cess during the last half dozen years as the organ- izer and conductor of summer excursion parties throughout New England, the St. Lawrence, and the Province of Quebec. In politics he has uni- formly voted the republican ticket, casting his first vote for his distant relative, General Grant, for president of the United States.
WILBERT N. AUSTIN, PLYMOUTH.
Wilbert N. Austin was born in the town of Goshen, June 23, 1859, and was educated in the Torrington high school. He is the proprietor of the stage line between Thomaston and Terry- ville and carries the Uni- ted States mail. He is a vestryman of St. Peter's church in Plymouth and is thoroughly interested in the work of the church. In politics Mr. Austin is a democrat. He lived in the town of Goshen until he was thirteen years of age, when he removed to Torrington, residing there for five years. Most of W. N. AUSTIN. his business life has been spent in Plymouth. He was married in 1882 to Miss Minnie I. Mattoon of Plymouth. They have one son, Ellsworth Wells Austin, born May 23, 1891.
NORRIS BENNET MIX, HAMDEN: Ice Merchant. Norris B. Mix is a native of the town of Hamden, and one of a family of ten children. He was born February 3, 1826. His parents being in moderate circumstances, at the age of ten years the boy was put out to work for his board and clothes with Judge Dyer White in New Haven. While there he had the opportunity of attending John E. Lovell's school, and thus during the four years that he re- mained with the judge he acquired considerable lit- erary culture. At four- teen he went to West- port to learn the tailor's N. B. MIX. trade, but the length of his legs rendered the fa- vorite posture of a tailor uncomfortable, and he abandoned this design and turned his attention to the cabinet-maker's trade, at which he worked until the confinement of indoor-life affected his health. He then for two or three years worked at housc- carpentering, and in the open air succeeded in fully regaining his health. Subsequently he was em- ployed in the shops of the New York & New Haven railroad, and in 1864 moved back to Hamden, his native town, where he engaged in and has since followed the ice business. While in New Haven he was elected to the common council and to a place on the board of street commissioners. After-
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