USA > Connecticut > Illustrated popular biography of Connecticut > Part 43
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The firm of Loomis Brothers has met with some
hard luck in business, having suffered by a disas- trous conflagration in 1877, but by perseverance and plenty of hard work they have conquered obstacles and achieved a splendid success. They have recently completed a new edifice for their business, which will give them one of the finest country stores in the state.
CHESTER P. LOOMIS, GRANBY: Merchant.
The subject of this sketch was born at Southwick, Mass., November 20, 1834, the younger of two brothers, whose relations, both business and social, have been most intimate from childhood until the present time. He received a good rudimentary education at the district school, finishing at Dick- inson Academy, an excel- lent institution of that town. Here he laid a foundation for the success
which he achieved in later life, in mercantile pur- suits, to which he seemed C. P. LOOMIS. to be adapted and which was clearly in the line of his taste and ambition. He left home at eighteen years of age to become a clerk in Lee, Mass., in which position he worked faithfully until he became of age, when he removed to Granby, Conn., and shortly afterward entered into partnership with J. N. Loomis, his elder brother, in the establish- ment of a general country store in the village of Granby, the firm being Loomis Brothers. This connection has continued uninterruptedly from that time until the present, and the establishment has become one of the best known and most prosperous and extensive in that part of the state. During the war Mr. Loomis was engaged in business in New- berne, North Carolina, for upwards of four years, maintaining the while his connection with the Granby firm. In addition to his personal and part- nership affairs, he has found time to serve his fellow-citizens in various capacities. He has been town clerk since 1872, and still holds that office. He represented Granby in the general assembly in 1880, and previous to that date was postmaster for nearly or quite ten years. He has been republican town committee, and otherwise active in promoting the interests of that party, by whom he was elected to ยท his seat in the legislature. He is a member of the South Congregational church, also of St. Mark's Lodge, No. 91, F. and A. M. Mr. Loomis is married and has two children. His wife was Miss Eliza L. Harger, daughter of the late Deacon John W. Harger of Canton. A younger brother, George L., lives in Northampton, Mass.
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ASA SINCLAIR COOK, HARTFORD: Manufac- turing Machinist.
Asa S. Cook, eldest son of John and Sarah (Sin- clair) Cook, was born at Sandwich, N. H., Jan. 10, 1823. His father, a sturdy and respected farmer, recognized the importance of mental as well as phys- ical culture for his child- ren, and thus the slender advantages of the district school were supplemented in his case by several terms at the high school then taught by Daniel G. Beede, an instructor of ability and considerable local distinction. At the age of eighteen he started out to seek his fortune, A. S. COOK. his chief and almost sole equipment being a fair education, robust health, and a resolute will. Having determined to learn the trade of a machinist, he served a regular ap- prenticeship, and spent his first five years as a jour- neyman at Gloucester Point, N. J., during which time he was sent by his employers to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to assist in setting up the machinery of one of the pioneer cotton mills of the south. In 1850 he moved to Hartford, Conn., and entered the employ of the Colt's Patent Fire Arms Company, where as workman, foreman, or contractor, he remained during the next fifteen years, with the exception of a few months given to the cause of freedom in Kansas, during the border-ruffian imbroglio of 1858. In 1865 the petroleum excitement drew him to the Canadian oil regions, where he spent three years somewhat fruitlessly. Returning to Hart- ford he at once entered into an engagement with the National Screw Company to make, from their patterns and drawings, machinery for the produc- tion of wood screws. When a few years later this company was absorbed by its powerful rival in Providence, R. I., he began to manufacture wood- screw machinery for the trade, from designs of his own, introducing several important improvements for which he secured letters patent. Since then he has equipped many screw factories in America and Europe. In 1872 Mr. Cook began to manufacture Stephens' patent parallel vise, of which he has since turned out over thirty thousand. He has also made special machinery to order, employing from fifty to a hundred men at his establishment in Colt's ar- mory building, and disbursing from $50,000 to $75,000 a year in wages. He has had a business career of remarkable prosperity, and has accumu- lated a handsome property, the result of patient in- dustry, wisely directed efforts, and honorable dealing. In politics Mr. Cook is a republican, and has been
a recognized leader in the councils of his party in all affairs of municipal government. He served two years in the common council of Hartford, and four years as alderman, representing the Fourth Ward. When the Hartford board of trade was organized in 1888, he was selected for one of the directors. He is also a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; and has been for some years a director of the Pratt & Whitney Company. He has traveled extensively south and west, and has made at least one trip abroad, com- bining in these journeys the interests of his business and his personal gratification.
Mr. Cook married, Oct. 31, 1850, Mary J., daugh- ter of John and Harriet (Coburn) Cole, of Lowell, Mass., to whose wise counsels and hearty coopera- tion Mr. Cook attributes very much of the happi- ness and prosperity that have fallen to his lot. They have had five children, all but one of whom are now living. Two of the children are married, namely, John F., to Josephine E. Garrison, and Harriet E., to Philemon W. Robbins, both fami- lies residing in Hartford. The sons, Albert S., and Millard F., are both unmarried. The latter, with his brother, John F., both practical mechanics, assist their father in carrying on the business; thus giving assurance that the establishment and its success will be perpetuated through succeeding generations.
Mr. Cook's pleasant home in Hartford is on Char- ter Oak Place, overlooking the valley of the Con- necticut, with its delightful landscapes; and, for a summer residence, he has recently erected a cottage on an island in Squam Lake, in Moultonborough, N. H., near the home of his boyhood.
JOSEPH F. GILPIN, ANSONIA: Master-mechanic.
Joseph Frederick Gilpin, superintendent of the copper mill, wire mill, and wire covering depart- ment of the Ansonia Brass and Copper Company, began life as a millwright and machinist. By ability and industry he has at- tained the position of master-mechanic with the company, and is held in high esteem in the com- munity where he resides. He is a member of the board of burgesses of An- sonia, and was elected fire marshal in IS90. He was born in England, July 18, 1837, and received a thorough school educa- J. F. GILPIN. tion. He learned the trade of an engineer and wheelwright. He arrived in New York in April. 1864, and in January, 1866, removed to Ansonia.
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where he has since resided. He first engaged in work with the Farrell Foundry & Machine Com- pany. October 15, 1866, he became connected with the Brass and Copper Company, and has remained in its employ since then. He belongs to the Masonic and Odd Fellow fraternities, and is a mem- ber of the Ansonia Club. He is a republican in politics, and is a member of the Episcopal church. His wife, who is still living, was Miss Sarah Simp- son before marriage. The family consists of three children, two daughters, and one son. Mr. Gilpin is a popular citizen of Ansonia.
SAMUEL J. P. LADD, CANTERBURY: Postmaster.
The subject of this biography is of New London county origin, having been born in the town of Franklin. The date of his birth is recorded as September 9, 1822. He was brought up on a farm, and educated at the dis- trict and select schools of Franklin. His father died when he was a lad of thirteen, and after that the responsibilities of the farm were largely on him. Naturally robust, his habits of life tended to his best physical develop- ment, and he reached his S. J. P. LADD. maturity with a constitu- tion and power of endur- ance worth more to him than any pecuniary outfit could be as a preparation for the stern duties of life then before him. At the age of twenty-two he went to Ashtabula county, Ohio, bought a drove of three hundred and fifty-five head of cattle, and drove them to his farm in Franklin, being forty- eight days on the road. He has from that time onward dealt more or less in cattle and horses, and very largely in real estate. In 1846 he contracted to draw from Norwich to Coventry all the granite of which the Hale monument was constructed, which he did with an ox-team, personally driving the team on the several trips necessary, back and forth, twenty-two miles each way.
In 1845 he married Miss Philena B. Hazen, daughter of Colonel Henry Hazen of Franklin, and a graduate of Wilbraham academy. She died in 1860. He married, second, in September, 1861, Catherine G. Kenyon of Plainfield, a cousin of the late Hon. David Gallup. By his first marriage Mr. Ladd had three children: Philena Josephine Ladd, now Mrs. Lovell. K. Smith of Willimantic; Samuel Pierrepont Ladd, now the leading physician and surgeon of Moosup; and Arthur C. Ladd, now postmaster at Jewett City.
In 1856, and for some years afterward, Mr. Ladd was temporarily a resident of Hartford. During this time he became a member of the old Fourth church. He was actively instrumental in assisting to organize the republican party in that year, and became prominent among the politicians of Con- necticut in the first Lincoln campaign. In 1861 he represented the town of Franklin in the state legis- lature. It was during this year that the new town of Sprague was created from adjoining portions of the old towns of Franklin and Lisbon. Mr. Ladd went to the legislature a citizen of Franklin; he re- turned to his home at the close of the session a citi- zen of Sprague. Previous to this time, when Gov- ernor Sprague (senior) of Providence first contem- plated the purchase of water powers and erection of a manufacturing plant on the Shetucket River, where the village of Baltic now stands, he employed Mr. Ladd to accomplish the difficult feat of buying all the real estate contemplated in the proposed pur- chase, at a given price, from the twenty-seven owners who then held it. This Mr. Ladd succeeded in doing, obtained the twenty-seven deeds, and was directly instrumental in the creation of the village of Baltic. Some years after the Baltic privilege was taken up, he was employed by the younger Spragues to secure all the water rights between Baltic and Willimantic, being fifty-five feet fall,- equal to two such privileges as Baltic,- which would have been occupied if the Spragues had not met with financial reverses.
In 1868 he sold the old homestead and removed to Windsor Locks, purchasing a farm there, on which he resided five years. During this period, as before, he was employed as purchasing agent and as adjuster of claims against the Hartford, Providence & Fishkill Railroad (now the New York & New England), serving in this and similar capaci- ties for some twelve or fifteen years. He was also engaged in various outside work and speculations for firms and corporations, involving good judgment and experimental knowledge of men and things. Lawyers in the employ of companies and corpora- tions which employed him valued his services in carrying on suits at law, in preparing the cases brought to trial, for which he received many compliments from them. Some years ago he removed to the town of Canterbury, having bought the house on "Canterbury Green" which occupies the site of the old Judge Judson residence, long ago demolished. On his premises is "Cobble Hill," the eminence from which the cannon was fired nearly a century ago, when the valiant citizens of Canterbury succeeded in driving Prudence Crandall out of the town for the offense of teaching colored children in her school. Mr. Ladd has held various town offices here and elsewhere, and is now the postmaster of Canter-
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bury. His religious connections are now with the Congregational church of Plainfield.
Mr. Ladd is of choice Puritan stock, being the ninth in direct descent from Elder Brewster, the famous leader of the pilgrim band who landed on Plymouth Rock from the Mayflower in 1620. The record of his lifework abounds with practical achievements for the public welfare in the various localities in which his lot has been cast, and he has the satisfaction of seeing results which abundantly demonstrate that he has worthily served his day and generation.
SIDNEY W. CROFUT, DANIELSONVILLE: Fire Insurance Agent.
Mr. Crofut was born Oct. 17, 1847, in the town of Ossining, Westchester county, N. Y. He was educated at a military academy, and afterwards made his home in Brook- lyn, N. Y. He began his business career as a clerk in the office of an insurance company in New York, and later on occupied official positions for several years. He served in the National Guard of that state for the full term of seven years. He removed to Danielsonville in 1884,and bought an interest in a S. W. CROFUT. fire insurance and real estate agency. In 1886 he acquired the entire in- surance interest. He has continued the business with success, conducting a large agency, and rep- resenting several of the best and leading companies. He has been president of the People's Library Association, has served the borough in the capacity of a burgess, and in 1888 was elected warden of the borough. Re-elected in 1889, and again in 1890, he is now holding the office his third term. During his administration the most notable things accomplished have been the entering into of con- tracts for a system of fire hydrants throughout the borough, and lighting its streets by electricity, both of which are now in operation. It has been written of him: " The intelligence and executive ability exhibited by him in that office (warden) have proven him thoroughly competent to fill offices of greater importance." Mr. Crofut is also vice-pres- ident of the Windham County Savings Bank, chair- man of the school district committee, and treasurer of the Baptist society. In politics he is a republi- can, and was the acting chairman of the executive committee of the local campaign club in ISSs. He is a member of the Baptist church; is married, and has one child, a daughter.
CHARLES ARNOLD, THOMPSON: Cashier of the Thompson National Bank.
Mr. Arnold was born in Coventry, R. I., Septem- ber 12, 1843, and was educated at the common schools, and at the Westerly, R. I., high school. He followed the business of a carpenter in early life, but for the most part has been a bookkeeper, and latterly a banker. He was bookkeeper for the Grosvernordale Com- pany at North Grosver- nordale, for twelve years, and has been con- nected with the Thomp- son Bank for five years. At present he is cashier of the Thompson National Bank, and treasurer of CHARLES ARNOLD. the Dime Savings Bank of that place. He is a republican, but has never held public office. He is a deacon of the Baptist church in Thomp- son, and is connected with the Putnam Council, Royal .Arcanum. His wife was Annie A. Sweet, and they have one son and two daughters. Mr. Arnold is as well known as any man in the northeastern section of the state, is recognized as a financier of more than average ability, and has the respect of business men everywhere.
A. W. SPAULDING, HARTFORD: Merchant.
Alva W. Spaulding, who has held the office of sheriff in Hartford county for ten years, was born in Morristown, Vt., March 1, 1825, and received a common school education. In 1865 he removed to New Britain, and in 1870 represented that city in the legislature, his col- league being T. W. Stan- ley. Sheriff Spaulding held the office of deputy sheriff for nine years, re- ceiving the appointment originally from Westell Russell of Hartford. He was chief of police at New Britain for ten years prior to his election as county A. W. SPAULDING. sheriff. He had also held the offices of constable and bailiff. He was first elected sheriff in Isso. and served consecutively through three terms. the latter being for four years. His official career has been thoroughly satisfactory to the public. In retiring from the position which he occupied with so much of honor and success he carried
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with him the sincerest respect and esteem of the community. Mr. Spaulding is widely known throughout the county and state. He is now connected with the furniture business, owning a half interest in the firm of C. C. Fuller & Co. Sheriff Spaulding has a wife and adopted son, Clinton E. Spaulding. His wife was Miss Josephine A. Beckley of New Britain, but formerly of Berlin. Sheriff Spaulding and wife were members of the Center church in New Britain before removing to Hartford. After settling in this city they trans- ferred their membership to the Windsor Avenue Congregational church. The sheriff was formerly an Odd Fellow in New Britain, but has not been affiliated with any society organization for a number of years.
HENRY A. WHITMAN, HARTFORD: President Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance Com- pany.
The subject of this sketch was born in the town of Farmington, being a son of the late Judge Lemuel Whitman, a prominent lawyer of ability and reputation through- out the county, occupying important civil and judi- cial positions in the state, and representing the com- monwealth four years in the national congress.
Mr. Whitman was grad- uated at the then famous " Hart Preparatory School" in his native town, and early in life en- tered upon what has H. A. WHITMAN. proved to be a successful business career. In 1851 he removed to Hartford, and entered the employ of one of the largest wholesale commission houses of the state. Five years later he was admitted a part- ner in the dry-goods commission house of Day, Griswold & Co .; and in 1863, when this firm was dissolved, he, together with Messrs. Wareham Gris- wold and Daniel F. Seymour, continued the busi- ness in Hartford and New York. This firm was succeeded by Griswold, Whitman & Welch, after- wards Whitman & Welch, and still later Whitman & Co .- all successful and well-known houses.
Mr. Whitman is now president of the Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance Company, one of the prosperous institutions of the state, with which he has been connected for over a quarter of a century as director, holding the office of vice-president for more than a decade previous to his election to the presidency. He is also a director in other well- known financial institutions, such as the National Fire Insurance Company and the First National
Bank, both of Hartford. In 1863 Mr. Whitman married Miss Emma C. Griswold, daughter of his then senior partner, an amiable and accomplished lady, well known in Hartford society, her name being prominently connected with many worthy charitable and benevolent undertakings.
Mr. Whitman has never sought political prefer- ment, often declining such honors, preferring to confine himself closely to those walks of business life which were his early choice, and in which he has reaped the harvest of a generous competency.
WILLIE ARTHUR COUNTRYMAN, HART- FORD: Journalist.
Willie Arthur Countryman was born in New Haven, July 4, 1852. His christian name was Wil- lie, after Willie P. Mangum, a North Carolina statesman, but wrong- fully believing it to be in- variably a diminutive, at manhood he changed it to William, having for a while called himself Willis, out of his mother's regard for Nathaniel Parker Willis, poet 'and journalist. The Arthur was conferred out of a similar esteem for Tim- othy Shay Arthur, the author. He is the second W. A. COUNTRYMAN. of the children in this list, all born at New Haven: Franklin, Willie Arthur, Charles Lewis, Edwin, Louisa, Robert Eugene, and Stella Elsie (who died in infancy). His parents are Nicholas Countryman, born in the town of Stark, near the village of Starkville, Herkimer county, New York, October, 1825, and Louisa (Talmage) Hine, born in Prospect, New Haven county, Connecticut, 1825. On his father's side he descends from John. Fred Conterman - afterward corrupted to Countryman - who settled near Cats- kill, N. Y., in 1709, coming with many others from the German Palatinate, which had been devastated by Louis XIV. The family afterward removed to the Mohawk Valley, where they remained through the French-Indian war and the butcheries of Butler and Brant during the revolution. The maternal grandfather of Nicholas - Jacob Eckler - was taken captive by the Indians to Canada during one of the border raids, and held seven years. His pa- ternal great-grandfather, Jacob Countryman, was in the militia of Tryon county in the revolution, under Herkimer, and was probably with his com- pany at Oriskany. On his mother's side William Arthur is of English ancestry - the Talmages and Hines coming to this country from England in 1640
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BIOGRAPHY OF CONNECTICUT.
or thereabouts, and living for the most part in New Haven county, Connecticut.
After schooling at John E. Lovell's later school, corner State and Court streets, opened about 1860, at Sydney A. Thomas's on St. John street, and at the Business College, managed by Thomas A. Stevens, under Music Hall, Crown street, New Haven, Mr. Countryman became bookkeeper at his father's sash, door, and blind factory on Water street, and was taught the trade of a sash and blind maker. He had also a short apprenticeship at carpentering. In the spring of 1871, as his aims had been literary and newspaporial, Major Minott A. Osborn, editor and proprietor of the New Haven Evening Register employed him as city editor. When the New Haven Daily Union was established by Alexander Troup some two years and a half later Mr. Countryman transferred his duties to that journal. A few months afterward he was invited to become the assistant of Frank D. Root, in the city department of the New Haven Palladium, whose editor was Edward Butler. After five years' service there he was re-called to the Register, where he remained until July, ISS3. During this time he was also editor of the Edu- cator, a small monthly publication devoted to lit- erary and educational themes. Then he removed to Hartford to become a general writer, with special attention to literary and legislative matters. on the Hartford Evening Post. His newspaper experience was characterized by severe application, astonishingly rapid work, and a persistent and generally successful inquiry after facts. Upon the Post he became the gatherer of its " Old Days in Hartford " papers, and was generally its authority on economic subjects. During the secret ballot agitation he advocated the Australian system with pen and voice, in the newspaper and before the legislaturc. He was otherwise identified with the interests of the working people. In August, 1889, by appointment of Commissioner Hotchkiss, he be- came chief clerk of the State Bureau of Labor Sta- tistics. In IS90 he was chosen first president of the Hartford Press Club, and has been secretary of the Connecticut Press Association. He is a mem- ber of the Connecticut Sons of the Society of the American Revolution and of the Grand Council of the Royal Arcanum, which is a cooperative insur- ance society, and has Masonie (Adelphi lodge No. 63, Fair Haven,) and Odd Fellowship (Harmony lodge No. 5, New Haven) affiliations.
December 23, 1874, he married Mary Adella Perry, born January 16, 1850, fourth child of Sam- uel Perry (born Montville, Connecticut, October 19, ISTI; died in Fair Haven, September 26, ISS6; and Emeline Chapin, born in Chicopee Falls, Mass., February, IS19). Her ancestry thus goes back to the early days of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and
Connecticut; to the ancestry of the Perry of naval fame and the Chapins of Springfield, Mass. Her brothers and sisters are: Harriet Elizabeth, born Springfield, 1844, married John P. Augur, whole- sale spice dealer, New Haven; George Elbert, born Fair Haven, 1846, now of Providence, R. I .; Gene- vieve Isabella, born Fair Haven, 1848, married El- bridge F. Barnes, proprietor Barnes Tool Co .; Emma Sarah, born Fair Haven, 1852, died July 2, IS72; B. Frank, born Fair Haven, 1854. died 1859; Frederic Chapin, born Fair Haven, 1860.
He has two children, Emeline Perry, born New Haven, August 28, 1882, and Willis Arthur, born Hartford, November 16, 1884.
MARVIN H. SANGER, CANTERBURY : Judge of Probate.
Marvin Hutchins Sanger was born in Brooklyn, in Windham county, April 12, 1827. In his infancy his parents removed to Canterbury, where he was educated in the public schools, and at Bacon Academy in Colchester, and was kept at home assisting his father upon the farm until he reached the age of eighteen. Then followed two years of ex- perience in a country store as clerk, which served as a preparation for the busi- ness of general merchan- dizing which he followed in Canterbury for twenty years, from 1849 to 1869, M. H. SANGER. since which latter date he has not been actively en- gaged in any business. November 14, 1855, he was married to Miss Mary J. Bacon, daughter of the late Benjamin Bacon of Plainfield. They have had two children, both daughters. Mr. Sanger has been a lifelong democrat, and for many years an active and influential member of his party, per- forming much service in its behalf and receiving many honors through its agency. He has long been a justice of the peace and has thus been much occupied in the trial of eriminal cases. He was elected town clerk and treasurer in 1852, and has been re-elected ever since with the exception of two years. He has been judge of probate for about a quarter of a century, and was postmaster at Canterbury for fifteen years under various presi- dential administrations, He has been on the board of directors of the Brooklyn Savings Bank. and now for several years has been its pres- ident. He represented Canterbury in the state legislature in 1857. 1860, 1882, ISS;, and 1889: was secretary of state for four successive years.
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