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BIOGRAPHY OF CONNECTICUT.
progress under President Nichols, and is one of the ablest and most carefully conducted insurance com- panies in New England. President Nichols is the vice-president of the Charter Oak National Bank, a director in the Phoenix Life Insurance Company and a trustee in the State Savings Bank. In poli- tics he is a republican. He is a prominent member of the Park church in this city. The wife of Judge Nichols, who is still living, was Miss Isabella M. Starkweather, daughter of Mr. Nathan Stark- weather of this city. There is one daughter, Mrs. H. A. Smith of Rochester, N. Y. The life of Judge Nichols has been one of thorough success and honor. He is held in the highest esteem in the city of Hartford, of which he has been a resident since the summer of 1854.
HON. WILLIAM W. BACKUS, NORWICH.
William W. Backus, the son of James and Dorothy Church Chandler Backus of Woodstock, was the sixth of a family of eight children, and at the time of his father's death was but thirteen years of age, - having been born October 22, 1803. His mother was the daughter of Charles Church Chandler, a mem- ber of the Windham coun- ty bar, and one of the leading lawyers at the bar of the state. His whole life has been spent in Norwich, except part of the year 1819 spent in Marietta, Ohio, in the W. W. BACKUS. mercantile establishment of Dudley Woodbridge, Jr. Ill health necessitated his return to Norwich, where, since 1819, he has resided at the home of his ancestors, completing seven generations. His time has been spent mainly in farm operations, causing the old farm, with large additions, to bud and blossom, raising large crops of corn, rye, potatoes, grass, etc .; keeping a large amount of stock - annually fattening one hundred head and buying and selling many more. His losses have been many and his gains considerable - some losses and some gains all the time. An eager student, he worked days and studied nights after going to bed - sometimes into the small hours. His genealogi- cal researches have been tireless, and he has recently published an exhaustive record of the Backus family in a book of about 400 pages, includ- ing memoirs, poems, and many other papers of general interest beyond the limits of the family in- volved. Mr. Backus is a gentleman of large means, and his private charities and public benefactions
illustrate his wisely philanthropic disposition. Ilis recent gift of $75,000 toward the founding of the W. W. Backus hospital in Norwich is an example of his practical sympathy for the unfortunate and distressed. He is now living quietly at his home in Norwich in fairly comfortable health, though bent under the burden of nearly ninety years.
HENRY C. ROBINSON, HARTFORD: Attorney at Law.
Among the members of the legal profession in the city and county of Hartford, there is, perhaps, none who occupies a position nearer the head of the list, in point of per- sonal attainment or the esteem of his contempo- raries, than Henry C. Robinson, the subject of this sketch. Mr. Robin- son is a native of Hart- ford, born August 28, 1832, descended on the pa- ternal side from Thomas Robinson, who emigrat- ed from England and set- tled in Guilford in 1667, and tracing his maternal HENRY C. ROBINSON. ancestry in a direct line to William Brewster, the devout elder of the Pilgrim colony which landed at Plymouth in 1620. Mr. Robinson's early education was obtained at the Hartford Grammar School, and in the High School after its union with the Grammar School. From the preparatory course here he entered Vale College in 1849, graduating with honors in the distinguished class of 1853. He at once commenced the study of law in the office of his brother, Lucius F. Robin- son, with whom, after his admission to the bar in 1855, he became associated in practice and main- tained the relation of partner until the death of L. F. Robinson in 1861. From that time he practiced alone until recently, though taking care of a volume of business scarcely exceeded by any law firm in the state, and maintaining connections as leading counsel for corporations with such vast interests as the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company. the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, and others. His son is now in partner- ship with him, the firm being H. C. & L. F. Robin- son. He has also, in the midst of his exacting pro- fessional duties, found time to serve his city and the state in various capacities. For two years, 1872-74. he was mayor of Hartford, in 1878 he represented the town of Hartford in the general assembly, and has twice been the candidate of the republi- can party for gubernatorial honors. In 1866 he ac-
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cepted from Governor Hawley an appointment as fish commissioner, and through his instrumental- ity laws were placed on the statute book providing for the condemnation of the pound fishery at the mouth of the Connecticut River, and the discontin- uance of that horrible style of fishing. Before these wholesome laws could become fairly opera- tive, under partisan influences they were repcaled and others substituted which were of no practical use, as has been proved, in preventing or arresting the destruction of the shad fishery in these waters, in spite of artificial propagation. The first artificial hatch of American shad was made under Mr. Robinson's direction as commissioner, before the Connecticut Legislature, and in presence of the late Professor Agassiz, who was a deeply inter- ested spectator in the experiments and in the legislative contest upon the subject, then in prog- ress. Mr. Robinson also was the commissioner for Connecticut in the Constitutional centennial cele- bration at Philadelphia in 1889.
Mr. Robinson's connections with the various institutions of his native city are numerous and honorable. Beside being a director in the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad and the Hartford & Connecticut Valley Railroad, he sustains the same relation to the Pratt & Whitney Company, the Connecticut Fire Insurance Com- pany, and the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, is a trustee of the Con- necticut Trust and Safe Deposit Company, and of the Wadsworth Atheneum, a member of the Hart- ford Tract Society, vice-president of the Connecti- cut and the Hartford County Bar Associations, has been president of the Yale Alumni Association of Hartford, is a member of the Hartford Board of Trade, Sons of the Revolution, and of various social organizations. He is an active member of the Second Congregational Church of Hartford, and an officer of the corporation. He is esteemed an important factor in the management of all busi- ness, educational, and charitable enterprises, and his counsel is widely sought in affairs thus beyond the range of professional practice. He is a trustee of the Hartford Public High School, for which in- stitution he feels the tender regard of an alumnus and the common pride shared by every resident of the city.
Mr. Robinson has been a republican since the formation of that party. The political offices which he has held have been conferred by the Repub- licans, though his support has always come in greater or less degree from the best element of all political parties. He was a member of the Chicago convention of 1880. But he is more a patriot than a politician; and his eloquent addresses, whether in the heat of a political campaign or over the graves of the nation's dead at the celebration of
" Memorial Day," savor most of loyalty and devo- tion to country, subordinating always persons and parties to the commonwealth, and the eternal prin- ciples on which the Republic was founded. His admirable oration, delivered in Brooklyn on the occasion of the unveiling of the Putnam equestrian statue in 1887, excited universal commendation as worthy to be classed with the best efforts of Stuart and Deming. Mr. Robinson is an accomplished orator and scholar, and worthily bears the honors successively conferred upon him by his Alma Mater.
In 1862 he married Miss Eliza Niles Trumbull, daughter of John F. Trumbull of Stonington. They have five children: Lucius F., the oldest son, and now his professional associate; Lucy T. (Mrs. Sidney Trowbridge Miller of Detroit), Henry S., John T., and Mary S. It may be mentioned that no less than three matrimonial alliances have con- nected the Robinson and Trumbull families; H. C. Robinson's brother, the late Lucius F., having mar- ried a daughter of Governor Joseph Trumbull, while Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull's wife is a sister of the subject of this sketch.
ISAAC W. BROOKS, TORRINGTON : Banker.
Isaac W. Brooks was born in Goshen, Litchfield County, Nov. 8, 1838, and was educated at the Goshen Academy and Brown University. He was a member of the legisla- ture from Torrington in 1884, occupying the house chairmanship of the com- mittee on finance. For ten years prior to his re- moval from Goshen to Torrington he held the townclerkship of the for- mer, being regularly elected by the republi- cans. He has been the town treasurer of Tor- rington, treasurer of the I. W. BROOKS. savings bank there, and president of the Torrington Water Company. For the past nineteen years he has been engaged in the banking business, being at the head of the banking firm of Brooks Brothers. He was ap- pointed one of the receivers of the Charter Oak Life Insurance Company of Hartford, by Judge Pardee of the supreme court, and has devoted a large amount of time during the past five years to settling the affairs of that institution. Mr. Brooks is a gentleman of superior business capacity and has been eminently successful in his management of financial interests. He is without family.
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BIOGRAPHY OF CONNECTICUT.
HON. JOHN TURNER WAIT, NORWICH: Advo- cate, Jurist, Politician, Statesman.
The subject of this sketch presents so marked a character in contemporary state biography, that the author of these papers is reluctant to attempt to give, in the brief space to which he is confined, so condensed a history as these limits require. A full half century in the state's service, with active intellect, earnest purpose, and constant application, has accomplished what can be scarcely more than hinted at in this brief résume. We must be con- tent, therefore, to refer chronologically to some J. T. WAIT. of the important events in the life of this distinguished son of Connecticut, and leave their more elaborate record to the future historian of the commonwealth.
John Turner Wait was born at New London, Conn., August 27, 1811. He received a mercantile training in early life, and, leaving that, passed a year at Bacon Academy, Colchester, and two years at Washington, now Trinity, College, Hartford, pursuing such studies as would benefit him in the profession he proposed to enter. He studied law with Hon. L. F. S. Foster and Hon. Jabez W. Huntington, was admitted to the bar in 1836, and commenced to practice at Norwich, where he has since remained. He was states' attorney for the county of New London in 1842-44 and 1846-54, and has been president of the Bar Association of that eounty from its organization in 1874 to the present time. He was candidate on the democratic ticket for lieutenant-governor in 1854, 1855, 1856, and 1857, and with his associates on the ticket failed of an election. He was the first elector-at-large as a war democrat in 1864, on the Lincoln and Johnson ticket, the republican state convention nominating him for that position by acclamation. He was a member of the state senate in 1865 and 1866, being chairman of the committee on the judiciary both sessions, also serving the last year as president pro tempore. He was a member of the state house of representatives in 1867, 1871, and 1873, serving as speaker the first year, his party nominating him for the place by acclamation, and subsequently declining that position, but acting as chairman of the committee on the judiciary on the part of the house, and serving on other house committees. He was candidate for lieutenant-governor on the republican ticket in 1874, but with his associates on the ticket failed of an election. He received the degree of A.M. from Trinity College in 1851 and
from Yale in 1871, and the degree of LL.D. from Howard University in 1883, and from Trinity College in 1886. In 1876 he was elected to the forty-fourth congress (to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the Hon. H. H. Starkweather), and re-elected to the forty-fifth, forty sixth, forty- seventh, forty-eightli, and forty-ninth congresses. Subsequently he declined a further renomination. While a member of congress Mr. Wait served on the committee on commerce, on elections, on foreign affairs, and on several subordinate commit- tees; and was also one of the three members of the house associated with three members of the senate, as a joint commission to consider the existing organizations of the signal service, geological sur- vey, coast and geodeticsurvey, and the hydrographic office of the navy department, with a view to secure greater efficiency in those bureaus.
It may also be stated here, that while a member of the house of representatives in 1883 the com- pliment was bestowed upon him of an appointment as chairman of the select committee of the house to attend the unveiling of the statue of Professor Joseph Henry at Washington, his associates on that committee being among the most distinguished and prominent members of the congressional body thus represented.
As a member of congress Mr. Wait cared for the interests of his constituents with untiring vigilance and zeal. The extensive industries which give em- ployment to thousand of citizens in the two eastern counties of the state had in him an intelligent and watchful guardian. As the advocate and friend of home industries he steadily opposed in Congress every attempt to impair or weaken the laws under which Connecticut manufacturing and mechanical interests have sprung up and prospered, and gave his support to every measure calculated to advance the commercial and agricultural prospects of the State.
During his ten years of service at Washington he was invariably attentive to the demands made upon his time and consideration by his constituents in matters affecting their private interests. Courteous and frank toward all who approached him, he allied men to him by the strongest personal ties, and be- came universally popular as a consistent represen- tative and champion of his district and state.
The speeches as well as deeds which marked the congressional career of Mr. Wait, were admirable and effective. Among those best remembered, perhaps, have been his very elaborate and able tariff specch delivered in April. 1884. his speech on the Chinese indemnity fund in 1885, and his earlier effort in ISS2, when the South Carolina contested election case of Sinalls vs. Tillman was under con- sideration in the house; also, earlier than either of tlie preceding, liis speechi in the election case from
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Colorado of Patterson and Belford, delivered De- cember 12, 1877; and that in a similar case from California, of Wigginton and Pacheco, July 6, 1878 - three clear and forcible presentations of evidence ; and his effectual effort in 1880 for an appropri- ation for the New London Navy Yard, finally carrying a bill through giving $20,000 for a build- ing. His address of welcome delivered at Roseland Park in Woodstock on July 4, 1879, has been charac- terized as "a gem of oratorical expression and patriotic sentiment;" and his published eulogy of the late Hon. LaFayette S. Foster, delivered Sep- tember 28, 1880, before the superior court at New London on presenting the resolutions adopted by the bar of New London county, bears testimony to the versatility of his genius, and the depth and sin- cerity of his friendships.
Before entering upon legislative and congres- sional duties, in the interim between sessions, and since retiring from public service, Mr. Wait's law practice has been extensive and profitable, his com- manding influence at the bar insuring him all the business that could possibly be attended to. For forty years he was engaged in nearly all the im- portant cases, civil and criminal, that have come before the New London county courts. His prac- tice has included scores of important cases, not only in his own county and the state, but before the United States courts, all of which he con- ducted in a masterly manner, and was generally able to bring to a successful and satisfactory termi- nation for his clients. He is still in active prac- tice, in his eightieth year, at his office every day, enjoying good health, with faculties practically unimpaired. During the past year Mr. Wait has made several public addresses, all of which were spoken of in very complimentary terms by the press of Norwich. It is believed that there is, at the time of writing this sketch, not another lawyer in this state still in practice who was contemporary with him in admission to the bar.
It should be mentioned that Mr. Wait is one of the corporators of the " W. W. Backus Hospital" of Norwich, incorporated under the general laws of this state, and organized April 8, 1891, to make available the munificent gift of W. W. Backus and W. A. Slater for the charitable purpose indicated. He is also president of "The Eliza Huntington Memorial Home" for aged and infirm ladies in Norwich, a most worthy institution which was created by the benefactions of the late Jedediah Huntington and wife- the latter having been a sister of Mr. Wait. By his will, of which Mr. Wait was one of the executors, Mr. Huntington provided buildings and grounds for the Home, and $35,000 cash to insure the proper maintenance of the charity. Mr. Wait is and has been connected, officially and otherwise, with many financial in-
stitutions and trusts in New London county, to refer in detail to which would require more space than can be given here. Among these may be mentioned his connection, as trustee, with the Nor- wich Savings Society, as vice-president with the Chelsea Savings Bank, and his directorship of the Uncas National Bank of that city.
From his youth up Mr. Wait has been a liberal contributor to the public press. He was a writer for Greeley's New Yorker in 1839, and when in 1840 C. W. Everest (not then Rev.) prepared a beau- tiful gift volume and engaged John Williams (not then Bishop), Mrs. Sigourney, Wm. Jas. Hamers- ley, Park Benjamin, James Dixon, Willis Gaylord Clark, Robert Turnbull, Melzar Gardner, and others of the brightest writers of the day to con- tribute to it, Mr. Wait's contribution was one of the best of the collection. And now, when a special historical event is to be written up or an obituary notice of some prominent citizen furnished, his ready pen is the first one thought of to be called into service.
Mr. Wait is connected by blood with many of the oldest and leading families in eastern Connecticut. On his father's side he is associated with the Gris- wolds and Marvins of Lyme, while on his mother's side he is a lineal descendant of William Hyde and Thomas Tracy, two of the thirty-five colonists who settled at Norwich in 1659. His family has given many prominent members to the legal profession. His father was long one of the leading lawyers at the bar of New London county, and for several years a judge of the old county court. He was a presidential elector in 1793, and cast his vote for Washington. He represented the town of New London for nineteen sessions in the general assem- bly of Connecticut. Before the war of the rebellion Mr. Wait was a democrat. The outbreak of the war, however, found him a strong union man, and from that time his political sympathies and efforts have been with and for the republican party. His son, lieutenant Marvin Wait, of the Eighth Con- necticut Regiment, served with distinguished cour- age on the field, and in the gallant charge of that command at Antietam he fell mortally wounded. Enlisting as a private soldier when but eighteen, the story of his heroic fortitude amid the battle will
be preserved upon Connecticut's historic page along with that of Nathan Hale, the youthful martyr spy. Though severely wounded in his right arm Lieu- tenant Wait refused to go to the rear, and seizing his sword with his left hand, encouraged his men to press on, until he fell, riddled by bullets.
In the history of the part Connecticut took in the war of the rebellion, as written by Rev. John M. Morris and W. A. Crofut, and published by Led- yard Bill, a very high compliment was paid to Mr. Wait by the formal dedication of the work to him.
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BIOGRAPHY OF CONNECTICUT.
This history contains about nine hundred pages, and gives a record of the splendid services of our state regiments, and the leading officers in the same, with portraits of a large number of the offi- cers. The following is the text of the dedication:
TO JOHN TURNER WAIT, LATE SPEAKER OF THE CONNECTICUT HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: A PATRIOT
WHOSE ONLY SON FELL IN DEFENCE OF HIS COUNTRY, AND WHOSE MANY ACTS OF KINDNESS HAVE ENDEARED HIM TO THE SOLDIERS OF CONNECTICUT: THIS VOLUME, THE RECORD OF THEIR SERVICES AND SUFFERINGS, 1S CORDIALLY DEDICATED.
Mr. Wait married, in 1842, Mrs. Elizabeth Harris, who died in 1868. He has not married again. Two daughters are now living; the elder the wife of Col. H. W. R. Hoyt of Greenwich, the younger the wife of Mr. James H. Welles. Those who have known Mr. Wait most intimately in the social relations of life, bear ready testimony to his excep- tional worth as a neighbor and friend. He is a gentleman of the old school, courteous, hospitable, and generous to a fault. It is the sincere hope of his fellow-citizens that he may yet survive many years to enjoy the honors which he has earned and which are cheerfully accorded to him by his con- temporaries of all political parties throughout his district and the state.
CHARLES S. LANDERS, NEW BRITAIN : Cut- lery Manufacturer.
Mr. Landers was born in New Britain June 8, 1846, where he has since continuously resided. He graduated from the New Britain High School in 1860, and entered Willis- ton Seminary, Easthamp- ton, Mass., in Decem- ber, 1861, preparatory to a college course at Yale, but left in 1862 to engage in the manufacturing bus- iness. He has always taken an active interest in politics. Being the son of the Hon. George M. Landers, ex-member of Congress from the First district, he may be said C. S. LANDERS. to have been reared for a democrat, but he has always been an enthusiastic republican. He was a member of the republican state central committee for the campaign of 1884, but beyond this he has always declined to accept
any public office whatsoever. Mr. Landers is at present manager of the extensive cutlery manufac- turing business of Landers, Frary & Clark; also a director in the New Britain National Bank, the Savings Bank of New Britain, and the North & Judd Manufacturing Company. He married in 1869 the only daughter of Mr. Loren F. Judd of New Britain, and has one son, who was a member of the class of '91 at Yale.
HENRY ELMORE RUSSEGUE, M.D., HART- FORD: Physician.
The subject of this sketch was born in Franklin, Norfolk County, Mass., August 11, 1850. He passed his early years in his native town, attending the common schools and afterward Dean Acade- my. In 1867, he left Franklin to enter mercan- tile pursuits in Boston, which held his attention until Boston's " big fire," November 9, 1872, when he was thrown out of his business situation. A year subsequent to this, after occupying a position in a wholesale dry-goods house, he was prevailed upon, through the in- 11. E. RUSSEGUE. fluence of zealous medical friends, to enter the pro- fession of medicine. March 4, 1874, he matricu- lated at the Boston University School of Medicine, where he took a full graded course of three years' study. At the end of the three years, after a com- petitive examination, he was appointed to the posi- tion of resident physician and surgeon in the Massachusetts Homeopathic Hospital, receiving the diploma of the hospital in March, 1878, and afterwards the diploma of M.D. from Boston Uni- versity. He married Caroline, the youngest daughter of Hon. Jos. S. Wheelwright of Bangor, Maine, and in November, 1878, settled in South Framingham, Mass. During his residence in this place, lie built for himself a large practice, remain- ing there until 1884, when, upon the death of the celebrated Dr. Taft, he removed to Hartford. where he has since practiced his profession most successfully.
Throughout his professional career Dr. Russegue has taken a high rank, both with his fellow physi- cians and the public, filling many positions of trust and responsibility. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and has, for several years, held the posi- tion of medical examiner for numerous beneficial insurance associations, among which are the Knights of Honor and the Royal Arcanum.
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